SAM’S SCHOOL for SUPERVILLAINSBayonne, NJLesson #7: Selecting the Proper HenchmenIf you, as an up-and-coming villain, have big dreams – such as on the order of billion-dollar heists, for example – you’re going to need help, unless you have the advantage of being from another planet or have acquired extraordinary powers through some kind of mutation. Which means, you’re going to need assistants (or, the old-school term, “henchmen”).For villains, there is an added complication to this process, as the budding bad guy must walk a fine line between selecting people with sufficient intelligence to carry out a simple task, ambitious enough to take risks for a profit, yet NOT ambitious/intelligent enough to dump you, take over your organization and run it themselves.In our case study above, obviously our aspiring antagonist has opted for assistants not quite bright enough to think “on their feet” and realize that sending a pre-teen girl (who has obviously been exposed to the desert for some time) thirty miles away for help only increases the chances of her turning up dead somewhere. Even skeletonized, remains are evidence, will eventually be found and can yield a ton of good information for the authorities to identify her and possibly tie her demise to their employer.Giving her “a lift” gets her out of their hair, off their employers’ property without hard feelings and makes the kid more likely to think kindly of the parties concerned. But then, for villains, good help is especially hard to find…
SAM’S SCHOOL for SUPERVILLAINSBayonne, NJLesson #7: Selecting the Proper HenchmenIf you, as an up-and-coming villain, have big dreams – such as on the order of billion-dollar heists, for example – you’re going to need help, unless you have the advantage of being from another planet or have acquired extraordinary powers through some kind of mutation. Which means, you’re going to need assistants (or, the old-school term, “henchmen”).For villains, there is an added complication to this process, as the budding bad guy must walk a fine line between selecting people with sufficient intelligence to carry out a simple task, ambitious enough to take risks for a profit, yet NOT ambitious/intelligent enough to dump you, take over your organization and run it themselves.In our case study above, obviously our aspiring antagonist has opted for assistants not quite bright enough to think “on their feet” and realize that sending a pre-teen girl (who has obviously been exposed to the desert for some time) thirty miles away for help only increases the chances of her turning up dead somewhere. Even skeletonized, remains are evidence, will eventually be found and can yield a ton of good information for the authorities to identify her and possibly tie her demise to their employer.Giving her “a lift” gets her out of their hair, off their employers’ property without hard feelings and makes the kid more likely to think kindly of the parties concerned. But then, for villains, good help is especially hard to find…