User blog:Misry6/Pure Evil Proposal: Hadrian



Okay, so I proposed Hadrian twice already, and it's been established that he counts. However, now that Pure Evil proposals from the discussions are being moved to the post blogs, I'll do so as well, starting with this one. Here, I'll be copying from the latest Hadrian proposal because it has more information than the original, but the links for both are down below.


 * Original proposal link: [//villains.wikia.com/d/p/3179493162221867319 https://villains.wikia.com/d/p/3179493162221867319]
 * Reproposal link: [//villains.wikia.com/d/p/3179493162221867536 https://villains.wikia.com/d/p/3179493162221867536]

So, let's begin.

Character's Traits
(Does the character have a define personality? Or is it a one-dimensional character such as a mindless destroying beast?)

Hadrian can be defined as utterly sadistic, cowardly, and pompous, as shown when he and Mevia run "the Games", a competition between many different colored teams to see which one will avoid being "eliminated" (i.e. being relocated to large cells with all your inventory gone after being struck with a blow). He enjoys watching the Competitors being tortured in his quartz mines in the Nether as well, which is a dimension of lava and fire that exists in both vanilla Minecraft (which has no villains at all) and in the Minecraft: Story Mode series.

Heinous Standards
(Does the character commit acts that are extremely heinous and unforgivable? Does the character stand out from the rest of the villains featured in the story they are part of?)

Okay, so here's where things get very tricky, but I'm going to explain this.

The Wither Storm was a destructive monster created by Ivor to track the Amulet of the Order of the Stone (an organization Ivor formerly belonged to), but became way out of his control, and was able to destroy Jesse's entire world, unearthing much of it until Jesse (the main protagonist of the game series him/herself) destroys the Command Block which Ivor used to create the Wither Storm, thus killing it once and for all. However, it left a very tragic moment in the series when it is shown that the monster murdered Reuben, Jesse's late pet pig.

Romeo was one of the three Admins (immensely powerful humans), alongside his (former) friends, Xara and Fred, and is the main antagonist of the entire game series, even killing Fred before the main story began. In the episode Above and Beyond (the Minecraft: Story Mode series finale), while disguised as Jesse, Romeo either destroys Champion City and the hundreds (or thousands) of people living there, just to make a point about why Axel and Olivia (Jesse's old friends from his/her treehouse) should stay in Beacontown (Jesse's city) with Romeo himself (if Xara is given her bed and thus shown that there is still hope); or he murders Xara who tries to fulfill her vengeance on him for killing Fred and imprisoning her in the Sunshine Institute (Romeo's prison) (if Xara is not given her bed and thus shown that nothing matters except her quest for vengeance).

So, Hadrian's actions can't compete with the likes of the Wither Storm nor Romeo, despite neither of them being Pure Evil. However, please keep in mind that those other two are very powerful beings, while Hadrian is a mere human with advanced architectural building abilities, just like the other Old Builders: Mevia, Otto, and Harper. Going by the tier system, he easily passes the Heinous Standards for all of the minor villains of the series. Hadrian commits mass torture on the competitors who lost the competitions during the Games out of pure sadistic pleasure, and does so in the Nether, never showing any remorse for his actions. Mass torture without death is objectively a much more serious crime than mass murder. (This compares with Dr. Gross from the Adventure Time series, who can't stand out from GOLB nor the Lich, but, going by the tier system, she is the most evil of all the minor villains in the series as she accidentally commits mass murder by a viral outbreak which exterminated several humans; yet, she never feels remorse for the said action.)

MORAL EVENT HORIZON
(Has the villain crossed the Moral Event Horizon?)

Hadrian crosses the Moral Event Horizon several times.


 * First off, he and Mevia have rigged the Old Builder Games, turning it from a fun competition to an excruciating torturing method. They have fun watching the competitors getting tortured both during the Games and in the Nether. When Jesse and his/her friends first entered the Games, they don't know what the heck is going on and that they have entered a torture system.
 * Second, he bears false witness to the competitors and gave them false hope by lying that Tim was actually hero, a role model who was supposedly able to beat the Games and return home. Later on, he sadistically reveals to Jesse that Tim never existed.
 * Third, he has Mevia abduct Olivia and Axel, Jesse's friends from the beginning of the game. Hadrian also knew that Jesse had a friend named Reuben (the pig who helped him/her destroy the Wither Storm, who tragically died afterwards), and has Mevia capture him too, with neither of them realizing they got the wrong Reuben (an usher who worked at EnderCon, a convention which takes place in the beginning of the game series).
 * Fourth, he sadistically changes his deal toward Jesse. The original deal was that if Jesse and the New Order of the Stone win the Games, they will be given the Portal Atlas (a book which acts as a guide to the Portal Network, a hallway, created by the Old Builders, of different portals to different worlds) so they can return home, but if they lose the Games, Harper will be forced to work in his mines as well. However, during the middle of the episode he's in, A Journey’s End?, he changes his deal, saying, “If you lose the next match and go work in my mines, then I'll let your friends go. All of 'em. You'll just have to stay behind in their place.” Because of the fact that Hadrian is a cheater, it's extremely unlikely that he would've kept his end of the bargain. Instead, he probably would've sent Jesse and his/her friends to the quartz mines in the Nether regardless of whether or not he/she loses, while claiming, “That was the original deal,” which is stated by Harper, one of the Old Builders, and Em, one of the competitors. Judging by this, it's also extremely unlikely Hadrian would've kept his original deal.
 * Last, he eliminates Jesse, thus sending him/her to a large cell with his/her inventory gone. However, Jesse's friends are able to retrieve Tim's Armor, which they have gotten from Hadrian's palace. As said before, Tim was a fictional character made up by Hadrian to give false hope to the competitors.

Individual Capability
(Does the villain use every resource they have at their disposal to cause a maximum of evil?)

Yes. As said before, Hadrian has advanced architectural building abilities just like the other Old Builders. Together, they have built the Games, which Harian and Mevia have rigged later on.

Hadrian is also impressively strong, which is shown when he kicks Jesse one with the latter wearing his/her armor on; he posthaste takes out one fifth of his/her health. In vanilla Minecraft, just one punch can take away one twentieth of a player's health, which means that Hadrian's kick by itself in Minecraft: Story Mode can cause four times more damage than a player's punch in Minecraft.

He is also indubitably intelligent, as he and Mevia knew how to rig the Games without anyone knowing.

Overall, Hadrian is as bad as he can be with his resources.

Moral Agency
(Does the villain have an agency over their actions, and can distinguish right from wrong?)

Absolutely. Hadrian is a sadistic human who abuses his power for his own entertainment and there's no indication that he lacks moral agency, which shows he clearly has it.

Only Individuals
Hadrian is a single human who rigged the Games with Mevia as a pawn, so he easily passes this.

No Redeeming Qualities
(Is the villain completely devoid of any altruistic quality?)

Yup. While he does allow Slab the Immovable (one of the gladiators in the Games) to spend time in his office, it's very likely he only does it for his own convenience, as he has used him as a pawn in the Games along with the other gladiators, as well as Mevia. No matter if the player chooses Jesse to be a genuinely nice person or a selfish jerk, Hadrian cannot be redeemed.

No Sympathy
(Is the villain completely unsympathetic and unforgivable with no Freudian excuse?

Yes, and the reasons for this are down below.


 * Hadrian's backstory is that he, Mevia, Otto, and Harper have run the Games for a very long time, and invited people all over the worlds into their own world to compete in the Games, which were originally fun and entertaining. However, over time, Hadrian and Mevia grew more and more sadistic, and rigged the Games, turning them from being a fun competition to being an excruciating torturing method. Harper left, presumably because of this reason. It's unknown why Otto stayed behind with Hadrian and Mevia despite the two clearly being sadistic, but it's possible he was trying to change the Games back to their original ways. There is no tragic backstory for Hadrian.
 * Now, for his defeat: after Jesse got Tim's armor from his/her friends, he/she decides to face Hadrian and Mevia him/herself. After a brief fight, Jesse is able to eliminate Mevia, and then faces off Hadrian, with his/her friends supporting him/her and taunting Hadrian. Per Em's suggestion, Jesse breaks the part of the obsidian bridge that Hadrian is standing on, causing him to fall and get eliminated himself. After being eliminated, Hadrian and Mevia get beaten up by three of the gladiators (Clutch, Facemeat, and Capital T (not an actual capital, but a person)), who overcame their fears of the two sadistic Old Builders. Jesse eventually uses the Portal Atlas to banish both Hadrian and Mevia to either the land of zombie-sized chickens, or chicken-sized zombies. Either way, Hadrian gets his comeuppance, and he gets what he deserves.

Screen Time
(Are the villains' worst acts on-screen?)

Almost. Hadrian was shown sadistically changing his deal toward Jesse, end eventually eliminating him/her. However, it isn't visibly shown that he rigged the Old Builder Games with Mevia, gave the Competitors false hope by lying about Tim, nor sent Mevia to abduct Jesse's friends. However, there are very subtle hints that he did so.


 * First, when Jesse and his/her friends first enter the Games, they have no idea what the heck is going on around them, and two of his friends (Lukas and either Ivor or Petra) have been eliminated, and he/she and either Petra or Ivor is around with him. That's when Hadrian, Mevia, and Otto are introduced. (Otto is the only heroic person in the trio here.) Eventually, Harper reveals to Jesse that she was with Hadrian, Mevia, and Otto until the first two became sadistic and rigged the Games without anyone knowing. Since she is an honorable person who keeps her word, we can trust that she is telling the truth. Another hint to this is that after Hadrian and Mevia are defeated, Otto states he will “make the Games fun again”, which heavily insinuates that the Games were once fun before Hadrian and Mevia took over and rigged it.
 * Second, there are actually images of the supposed "hero" Tim all over the competitors' village, and the competitors actually believe in the legend. However, before Hadrian changes his deal toward Jesse, he gives a subtle hint that Tim never existed, with a sadistic grin on his face: “No one ever wins the Games unless we want them to, not even Tim.” If Jesse asks him if Tim is even real, Hadrian reveals Tim isn't real by responding, “I knew you were a smart one, bucko. Hrmph. Of course he's not real.”
 * Third, Hadrian reveals to Jesse he had Mevia abduct his/her old friends, Axel and Olivia, from his/her treehouse. Mevia also kidnapped a person named Reuben hostage, with neither her nor Hadrian knowing that was the wrong Reuben. If Jesse asks Hadrian if the person is Reuben, tells him he's not very bright for an Old Builder, or stays silent, the usher Reuben from Endercon reveals the Reuben who was Jesse's friends was actually a pig, and Hadrian expresses extreme disappointment of Mevia for capturing the wrong Reuben.

Worst
(Is the villain the worst, or at least one of the worst characters in the story?)

Absolutely. The Wither Storm seemed to have moral agency as it refused to listen to Ivor's commands, but it had little to no personality. Here's all the other main antagonists in the series: Aiden (who spread lies about Jesse and tried to take control over a city, but feels remorse for his actions), Cassie Rose/the White Pumpkin (who was a tragic serial killer), PAMA (who was an extremist sentient computer controlling Crown Mesa to make everything more adequate and useful), and the Warden (who tortures his victims like Hadrian does, but unlike him, has at least one honorable intention).

Then there's Romeo, the main antagonist of the Minecraft: Story Mode series as a whole. Sure, he did some horrible things, but he still feels remorseful for killing his fellow Admin, Fred. Despite either destroying Champion City or murdering Xara (depending on whether Jesse gave Xara her bed or not), he finally redeems himself by trying to rescue Jesse and his/her friends, and depending on the player's choices, succeeds in doing so. He would count as Pure Evil, however, if he was begging for Jesse to save him only to leave him/her and his/her friends to die in the process (similar to Lots-O' Huggin' Bear from the Toy Story series).

There are also hostile mobs in the game series, which are not villains in vanilla Minecraft, but do count as villains in the Minecraft: Story Mode series, as they try to kill innocent people. A few of these hostile mobs are the Icy Golem, the Giant Ghast, and the Magma Golem, all three of which appear in the videogame Minecraft: Story Mode - Season Two, the second (and last) videogame in the series. However, they lack moral agency and personality.

Another villain is Soren, who betrayed Jesse and his/her friends so they can get eaten by the Wither Storm(s), just so he can run away with his own life. However, he did seem to care about Magnus/Ellegaard before he/she dies, which might have led to his own villainy. He also seems to express some remorse when Ivor exposes him for the lying fraud he is. However, he could actually count as PE because of his betrayal, so I might eventually do a proposal on him.

Unlike the rest of the villains which are amoral monsters, have freudian excuses, have mitigating factors, or just doesn’t have the capability of being purely evil, Hadrian can distinguish right from wrong, he has no freudian excuse, and he has no redeeming qualities. That alone makes him the most evil character to ever appear in the Minecraft: Story Mode series.

Story Type
(Is the story "normal", or purposefully over-the-top appalling? In which case, the Heinous Standards would be so high that it would be almost impossible to have a Purely Evil villain in the story.)

The Minecraft: Story Mode series is a science-fantasy, alternate-reality video-game series. At first, it involves Jesse and his/her friends as they try to win a building competition. However, the story gets darker over time.

Petra (another one of Jesse's friends) gets a deal from one of the (former) members of the Order of the Stone, Ivor, to trade a Wither skull with a diamond. However, the deal is scammed, as she gets lapis instead of the diamond she was supposed to get. Ivor later uses the Wither skull to create the Wither Storm—by placing the skull on an enigmatic object called the Command Block. A single block of soul sand is placed on the two sides of the Command Block and the bottom of the object each. With that, the Wither Storm is created, and it tries to destroy Jesse's world. However, Jesse eventually destroys the monstrosity, although it murders Reuben in the process, which might be considered the saddest death in video-game history. Ever since the Wither Storm's death, the story becomes about Jesse and his/her friends battling against many dark opponents to save the worlds.

Now, when the gang reaches the Old Builders' world, they fall into the Games, which Hadrian and Mevia rigged in the past. What kind of horrible monster would do such a thing, turn the fun competition into a torturing method, and give the competitors in the Games false hope about a legend he himself made up? Yep; when one thinks of it that way, the Minecraft: Story Mode series is actually pretty dark.

Thoughts
I'd definitely vote a big "yes" to Hadrian is this weren't my proposal, but I'll let you vote on him being Purely Evil. However, I'll give one request: if there is a single person to vote "no", please explain why. For people who vote "no" after that, they don't have to explain if they don't want to, as these are good reasons to why I strongly believe he counts.