07/16/08 [DMFA #922] - If you won't tell, I will

[Sunblink]

'When you have to kill a man it costs nothing to be polite.'

   - Winston Churchill

For some reason, I'm reminded of an image Zarla made which showed Morgan Fey from Phoenix Wright: Justice For All going, "I'm so sorry for breaking your clavicle but it was really your own fault for making me upset." XD

Only in Dark Pegasus's case it possibly could be, "I'm sorry for breaking your neck but it was really your own fault for interfering in my plans. Now I suppose I might as well use your skull as an ashtray; I need furniture and you shouldn't waste perfectly good cadavers."

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Stygian]

Wow... um... all of a sudden my respect for DP has shot up half a dozen points or so. Hm, I need to think about this, but currently I'm having visions of Havelock Vetinari of Ankh-Morpork of the Discworld placed beside DP, and that is frightening. What is DP up to?

I can't but feel that Lord Vetinari has Pegasus to beat when it comes to being a sheer Magnificent Bastard. However, dear Vetinari doesn't have the same magnitude of personal power. I would refrain from trying to pit one against the other though. It might be hazardous to the surroundings. And particularly, to anyone actually trying to manipulate either of them...

For me though, the one great question here is not 'what is Dark Pegasus up to?'. That is far too mundane, and as has been thought and said before, theoretically, if anyone actually manages to guess what is going on Amber just might change her plans, just to snub people and to be creative. No, what question occupies my mind is actually: Is 'Dark Pegasus' his real name? If so, which is the surname? Or will it just turn out to be a simple alias? And if so, what might his real name be?

...David?

[Aurawyn]

I love walls of text! espically when they are this informative!

[Twist]

Reading the arc where he and dan fight for the first time I had origionally thought Dark Pegasus was the cliche supervillan type with unnecessarily hopless and complex plans.  The newfound depth is definitely enjoyable.

Also, his shoulder pads remind me of my days painting warhammer 40,000 shoulder pads for my space marine army.

[Tapewolf]

Now that I know this about DP's perspective, I think I like him even more now.
~Keaton the Black Jackal

I agree.  I have always had a bit of a soft spot for him, probably something to do with my voicing him in the radio project.
And yes, an evil character who has another side to him, or motives you can sympathize with is always best.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

I can't but feel that Lord Vetinari has Pegasus to beat when it comes to being a sheer Magnificent Bastard. However, dear Vetinari doesn't have the same magnitude of personal power. I would refrain from trying to pit one against the other though. It might be hazardous to the surroundings. And particularly, to anyone actually trying to manipulate either of them...

I don't know. I don't think Vetinari _needs_ any personal power. He's got that whole "out-thinking everyone else" thing going on.

And so far, he's actually _planned_ to be caught and thrown in his own prison, for example; if he _wanted_ to be thrown in there, why would be bring out any power in fighting it?


And then there's the camouflage classes; he turned up religiously, but was never seen by the tutor. That there is a lot of power; how do you kill someone you can't find?

[Brunhidden]

of course the true defense of the patrician is that he makes a world with him in it infinitely preferable to a world without him- remove his life and everything falls apart, with people looking at you, expecting you to put it all back together again.

[kaskar]

    D.P seems to have almost set this all up. Why else would have he have got such baaad staff in the castle. Talk about how hard it is to get good help ?

[Akisohida]

Morale-breaker yes, but infants and babies are nearly useless as soldiers. A child soldier is indeed a possibility, but I think DP would have wanted more physically fit young-adult and adult soldiers for his armies, rather than small children.

It's almost like DP doesn't want to do any more than is necessary for world domination... which either doesn't make sense or means that he is a truly effective villain.

Who said DP desires world domination?

I will say this much...the thing to try to remember with DP is that he doesn't particularly strive to be a villain or evil.  He doesn't care for wasteful carnage or pointless acts of violence, and views those that engage in them as childish and lacking a true vision.  In many ways he will often put civility as a priority.  It is just that DP has goals, and he is more than willing to do things that are not "good" to achieve them.  He doesn't really revel in acts of evil moreso than he sees them as an unfortunate necessity. 

I am bad with D&D alignments but does that make DP Neutral Evil?
'Neutral Evil is called the "Malefactor" alignment. Characters of this alignment are typically selfish and have no qualms about turning on their allies-of-the-moment. They have no compunctions about harming others to get what they want, but neither will they go out of their way to cause carnage or mayhem when they see no direct benefit to it.'

[Jairus]

That basic description sounds about right, but you know more about DnD that me.

So, DP's goal is something big... really big. It might be world domination, it might not be. Whatever it is, it is something where a certain amount of "evil deeds" is necessary to accomplish it, and whatever it is is important enough that DP doesn't seem to care that people consider him evil. Interesting...

Wait a minute... could DP's grave being robbed (or planned to be robbed) be the potential snag that Rose sensed? Ho boy, this could be bad.

[KelseyPotter]

And basically, Amber, what you're telling us is that DP isn't evil...he's just determined. My mind compared him to the witch in Into the Woods ("I was just trying to be a good mother!") and now I'm going to forever imagine Bernadette Peters playing DP and singing "The Last Midnight"...

Great, now I've got that image stuck in my head too. That is really appropriate though...
"Careful the spell you cast, not just on children. Sometimes the spell will last, past what you can see, and turn against you. Careful the tale you tell, that is the spell."

Especially the "not just on children" bit. I think DP's motives in creating the Undead race were a lot like most of the motives of the people in that play--he was so busy thinking about his goal that he disregarded some of the consequences that could happen. And, by the way, if the cast of DMFA ever put on Into the Woods, Dan would be the Big Bad Wolf/Cinderella's Prince. And Jyrras would make a great Jack.

I am bad with D&D alignments but does that make DP Neutral Evil?
'Neutral Evil is called the "Malefactor" alignment. Characters of this alignment are typically selfish and have no qualms about turning on their allies-of-the-moment. They have no compunctions about harming others to get what they want, but neither will they go out of their way to cause carnage or mayhem when they see no direct benefit to it.'

Actually, Fourth Edition has streamlined the alignments by eliminating all the "Neutrals" and making the alignments Lawful Good, Good, Unaligned, Evil, and Chaotic Evil. So DP, under the new system, is technically Evil, Lawful and Neutral Evils having been combined to form Evil.

...But I digress...yes, under the "old" standards, DP would have been Neutral Evil.

[Ganurath]

I am bad with D&D alignments but does that make DP Neutral Evil?
'Neutral Evil is called the "Malefactor" alignment. Characters of this alignment are typically selfish and have no qualms about turning on their allies-of-the-moment. They have no compunctions about harming others to get what they want, but neither will they go out of their way to cause carnage or mayhem when they see no direct benefit to it.'

Actually, Fourth Edition has streamlined the alignments by eliminating all the "Neutrals" and making the alignments Lawful Good, Good, Unaligned, Evil, and Chaotic Evil. So DP, under the new system, is technically Evil, Lawful and Neutral Evils having been combined to form Evil.

...But I digress...yes, under the "old" standards, DP would have been Neutral Evil.

Even those his philosophy seems closest to that of Hextor, a Lawful Evil deity.

[Madmann135]

Being evil does not mean you have to be baby eating, child beating, puppy kicking evil.  You could be victory by any means necessary but be polite evil.