Characters / Brony Dand D Villains

The villains of Welcome to the Show

Arkoth Wormwood

Warden Arkoth Wormwood

Home: Directian
The Warden of the gladiator arena the heroes were imprisoned in. He utilized special collars that shocked the wearer if they disobeyed. Dominating, merciless, and sadistic, he torments the heroes in their dreams. Or so it seemed.

Following his death, he found himself in Malbolge, the third layer of the Nine Hells with his daughter Hana, and has been making attempts to redeem himself, which he eventually did.

Tropes

• 0% Approval Rating: Absolutely no-one likes him. He definitely prefers being feared to being loved.
• Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: His willingness to sacrifice himself for Hana is what finally gives him a human body and passage into Heaven.
• Action Dad: To Hana
• The Atoner: He becomes this while travelling with the group through the Nine Hells.
• Avenging the Villain: Is a member of the Old Regime and likely wants to avenge their defeat. Subverted with the reveal that he was actually loyal to Simula the whole time, this was just a long gambit on her part.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: Is able to learn the Banishment spell just by seeing Oin do it once.
• Ax-Crazy: As twisted as Simula. Well, almost. He gets better.
• Big Bad: Becomes this in Season 2. Subverted, he’s actually still The Heavy the entire time.
• Black Knight: Heavily armoured and utterly sadistic.
• Breakout Character: According to Word of God, he was only ever meant to be a minor Starter Villain, but positive response to the character lead to Josh giving him a much larger role.
• The Bully: Uses his power and authority to torment and abuse others.
• The Captain: According to a brief exchange between him and Ravvas, this was his official rank when he was alive.
• Children Raise You: Caring for Hana ultimately made him a MUCH better person.
• Control Freak: "I am in control" is practically his catchphrase.
• The Dragon: To Simula.
  • Dragon with an Agenda: There are hints throughout Season 1 that he’s acting independently.
  • Dragon Ascendant: In Season 2. Subverted with the reveal that he really was working for Simula all along.
• The Dreaded: The heroes are terrified of even sleeping in case he shows up again.
• Electric Torture: He can electrocute people with his shock collars.
• Evil Sounds Deep: He speaks in a deep baritone.
• Eviler than Thou: To Simula. Subverted as it turns out his betrayal of her was nothing more than a ruse on her end.
• The Faceless: Hidden behind his helmet.
  • Dramatic Unmask: That is, until after he risks his own soul to save Hana.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: From some lowly soldier of the old regime, to a petty and tyrannical warden of the Directian Arena, to a monster that Oin uses to haunt the heroes dreams, to eventually becoming the Big Bad or so it appearedof Season 2.
• Hate Sink: Competes with Aymer for the title of: “Most loathsome creep in the series.”
• Hero Killer: "Power Word: Kill". It kills Jalerom. For those who don't know, when this spell is used, the target instantly dies if it has 100 HP or less. Jalerom had EXACTLY 100 HP.
• The Heavy: Simula's appearances in the first half of season one are rare. Instead, the party spends most of its time either dealing with the Monster of the Week, or The Warden actually Oin tormenting them in their dreams.

• Knight of Cerebus: Not at first. But once he starts Mind Raping people in their dreams, he becomes seriously disturbing. Played with in that while he was never the one invading their dreams, his image and the idea of him turn every scene they come up in darker.
• Magic Knight: A heavily armoured knight with the power to kill people with just a word.
• Mind Rape: The Warden can manipulate people's dream and uses this trope to terrifying effect.
• Nightmare Weaver: Torments the heroes in their dreams. Played with in that Oin was the one actually creating the dreams and using the Warden as a scapegoat. He didn’t have to work very hard to make the others fear the Warden though.
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: He seemed at first like a run-of-the-mill Starter Villain that would be defeated fairly early. Once he seemingly starts haunting their dreams however, he becomes honest to god TERRIFYING.
• Obviously Evil: A heavily armoured Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant named "Wormwood". Yeah, he sounds like a nice bloke!
• One-Way Visor: It hides his face.
• Order Is Not Good: He embodies the tyrannical, oppressive side of order.
• Papa Wolf: If you even so much as think about harming Hana in any way, shape, or form, Arkoth can and WILL end you.
  Arkoth: Hana. Stay here. Daddy has work to do.
  'Lunacorva: And that was the moment Baalzebul died. The rest is just detail.

• Redemption Equals Death: While he was technically already dead, his redemption is what allows him to pass on to Heaven.
• Redemption Quest: When the party find him in Hell, his spirit is undergoing one following a My God, What Have I Done? moment upon his death.

• Sadist: He clearly loves the power his psychological torture gives him over others.
• Sink or Swim Fatherhood: He very clearly had NO idea what he was doing when the Gods tasked him with raising Hana
• Smug Super: He's very powerful and very aware of it.
• The Starscream: A rare, successful version of this trope. Subverted, as he was actually loyal to Simula to the grave.
• Villainous Legacy: He's a former soldier of the Old Regime.
• Walking Spoiler: Played with in that his actions mostly have minor affects on the story, but his image is used by Oin and Simula to accomplish several gambits. And just look at all the entries for the group's time in the Nine Hells.
• Wardens Are Evil: The Warden torments the group for over a year.

Asmodeus

Asmodeus

Home: Nessus, the 9th Layer of Baator//

The Lord and Master of the Nine Hells. He resides in the Giant Fortress of Malsheem. He is the one who took Jeminya from the mortal plane in the first place.

Tropes

• All According to Plan: See The Chessmaster below.
• The Chessmaster: Oh yes. Just as much, if not moreso than Simula. It makes sense, given that he's her grandfather. Throughout the party's entire journey through Baator, He was keeping an eye on them. He had a spy in Speculo Malum, and had even anticipated a rebellion from his daughter, Glasya, and the ruler of Cania, Mephistopheles. He let it happen anyway, because he wanted to put them in their place. In the end, everything happened exactly as he planned. He even gambled on the fact that his great-granddaughter would refuse to help Mephisto after she became a goddess, and he won.
• Eviler than Thou: To Mephistopheles. He easily saw through his plan and negated it with almost casual flair.
• Evil Laugh: Asmodeus gives off a really bone-chilling cackle after he incinerates Mephistopheles. Good job, Josh.
• It's Personal: Kidnapping and torturing Jemiyna has made him one of the party’s most hated enemies.
• Karma Houdini: The party was unable to beat Asmodeus. In fact, the only reason the party was let out of Baator at all is because Asmodeus traded the freedom of the party (including Jeminya and Hana) for seven favors.
  • Karma Houdini Warranty: He is finally defeated properly in the campaign finale.
• Read the Fine Print: Just like in canon, this was Asmodeus’ response when the other Gods accused him of overstepping his contract.

Aymer Helegolar

Aymer Helegolar

Race: Grey Elf / Rakhasha
Eyes: Green
Hair: Black
Home: Lefethyr
Age: 25
Faerthurin's father. Psychologically abused her from an early age. Grafted his soul into a Rakshasa. A willing colluder with Simula to help her break into the Abyssal Plane.

Tropes

• Abusive Parents: Psychologically abused Faerthurin.
• Back from the Dead: Despite being killed near the tail end of Season 2, he's back, alive and well, as of Season 4.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Fancies himself a major threat, but is taken down rather easily.
• Dirty Coward: Quickly loses his cool when things don’t go his way.
• Faux Affably Evil: He tries to put on a polite facade, but it only highlights how much of a slimy creep he is.
• Hate Sink: There is absolutely nothing likable or admirable about this character.
• It's All About Me: Only cares about his own power.
• Just Think of the Potential!: Why he wants to break into the abyssal plane.
• Large Ham: When he’s not speaking in a Creepy Monotone
  ”BEHOLD, THE NIGHTMARE BEAST!!”
• Mad Scientist: A magical version of one.
• Manipulative Bastard: Tries to turn the party against each other.
• Polite Villains, Rude Heroes: Speaks in flowery, polite tones, while the heroes respond with Shut Up, Hannibal!
• Smug Snake: Slimy, condescending and severely oversetimates his own abilities.
• Terms of Endangerment: Calls Faerthurin his “Little Songbird”.
• Trap Master: Sets up traps all over his temple.
• What Is Evil?:
  ”Oh, please, you druids are so drab. ‘It’s against nature!’ So, when YOU kill an animal, when YOU cut down a tree, when YOU wear an animals skin, it’s ‘Part of the cycle of life.’ But when I do something, it ‘Goes against nature’.”

Baalzebul

Baalzebul

Home: Maladomini, the 7th Layer of Baator//

Formerly a beautiful and charismatic Archdevil, a failed coup against Asmodeus lead him to be forever transformed into a grotesque slug monster.

Tropes

• Curbstomp Battle: The moment Baalzebul eats Hana, the battle turns COMPLETELY in the party’s favour.
  • Curbstomp Cushion: He was dominating the party before that, though. To the point where it looked like nothing was working and that surrender was their only option.
• It's Personal: Trying to eat Hana, made the party INSTANTLY drop their Technical Pacifist attitudes and try to kill him as quickly and brutally as possible.
• Large and in Charge: One of the biggest Archdevil’s the party meets and one of the most powerful.

Grimjaw

Grimjaw

Race: Green Dragon
Home: Directian
Grimjaw was a casual-toned, cheerful dragon that met the party outside the escape tunnels. As he was working for Simula, he attempted to bring them back to Directian. When they refused, he sowed discord amongst them with mindgames. While they were distracted, Simula slew Grimjaw, citing him "being more trouble than he was worth."

Tropes

• Affably Evil: He’s quite charming and friendly for a villain.
• Brooklyn Rage: Talks like a 1920’s American gangster.
• Defeat Means Respect: He willingly serves Simula after she outwtted him.
• Killed Off for Real: Simula murders him when he becomes an inconveniance.
• Manipulative Bastard: The first character to sow discord among the party.
• Noble Demon: For all his faults, he was surprisingly loyal.
• Social Darwinist: Interestingly, he seems to apply this to himself. Seeing Simula as worthy to command him as she outwitted him.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Is killed in his first appearence.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Calls Amber out on her Fantastic Racism.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Simula kills him for being “More trouble than he was worth”, she likely planned on the party doing it for her, but decided to do the job herself when they instead tried to negotiate with him.

Levistus

Levistus

Home: Stygia, the 5th Layer of Baator//

The Archdevil of treachery, Levistus was imprisoned in Stygia after causing the death of Asmodeus' wife. See Saint Suviel's folder in Brony Dand D Other Characters for more information.

Lolth

Lolth

Home: Cania, 8th Layer of Baator//

The Demon Queen of Spiders and patron saint of the drow. Exterminating her is part of the reason Ravvas joined the party on their trip through Hell.

Tropes

• All Women Are Lustful: She decides to make out with one of her consorts during the party's fight with them.
• Badass Fingersnap: It's how she summons her consorts.
• Do Not Taunt Cthulhu: Subverted. Taunting her was all part of Ravvas’s plan to trick her into breaking the Primeval Pact and causing her own death.
• Faux Affably Evil: She speaks in a casual, flirtatious tone that is subtly dripping with evil.
• Giant Spider: Her lower half is that of a large, bulbous spider.
• God Save Us from the Queen!: Her title is "Demon Queen of Spiders" and destroying her is part of Ravvas's mission in Hell, hoping it will free his people.
• Hypnotic Eyes: Josh describes her black eyes like this. She even uses them to charm Jalerom into telling her where Rose and Shiloh are.

Princess Simula Malum

Simula Malum

Race: Tiefling disguised as a Human
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black
Home: Directian
Age: 25
The usurper Queen of Directian. Jeminya's evil twin sister.

Tropes

• Ax-Crazy: It's hidden, and she keeps her composure most of the time, but there are several hints that she's not quite right upstairs.
• Badass in Distress After The Warden betrays her. Subverted when it’s revealed that the Warden was really working for her the whole time, it was all an elaborate plot by Simula herself.
• Bad Boss: Has no qualms about killing her own minions if they step out of line.
• Bad Samaritan: It was her who gifted Kross his golden viper.
• Batman Gambit: Frequently pulls these on the party, and even manages one on herself after her memories were erased.
• Big Bad: Of the entire series, or at leas the first two seasons as of this edit.
• Black Mage: Her magic is purely offensive.
• Cain and Abel: Simula overthrew her sister's reign and has been tormenting her and her friends.
• The Caligula: She treats her throne and her subjects as just another toy to amuse herself with.
• Card-Carrying Villain: Unrepentant and unashamed about her own cruelty.
• The Chessmaster: She has power over multiple creatures and factions and manipulates them all. Notably, she is more interested in PLAYING the game than actually winning it.
• Combat Pragmatist: In her final battle, she eschews direct attacks in favour of subversive magic that locks down the party and neutralises their abilities.
• Complexity Addiction: An invoked case, her plans are far more convoluted than they need to be. But that's because winning is not the goal, playing is.
• Cooperation Gambit: She does this in Season 2, in order to get her throne back, but it’s actually so that she can acquire the last piece of the ritual needed to open the Underworld.
• Crazy-Prepared: Extended the time limit of her memory spell from a few hours to centuries long, just "In case”.
• Creepy Monotone: Constantly speaks in an eerily soft monotone.
  • Cold Ham: Despite this though, there is a fervent intensity to her speech.
• Crucified Hero Shot: The party finds her like this at the end of episode 38.
• Deadpan Snarker: Bitingly sarcastic.
• Did You Just Scam Cthulhu?: Was an instrumental part of Ravvas’ Batman Gambit against Lolth.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Has black hair and pale skin. At least in her human form
• Enemy Mine: Joins the team after The Warden betrays her.
• Equal-Opportunity Evil: She employs various species under her service.
• Evil Matriarch: To her Child by Rape
• Eviler than Thou: Pulls this off against Grimjaw and her own assassin. Is on the receiving end from The Warden.
• Evil Plan:
  • Usurp the throne of the most powerful nation in the land.
  • Bring together a group of people with ties to the other nations, knowing they will seek the aid of their homelands to form a giant army against you.
  • Pretend to have been betrayed, usurped, raped and impregnated by your Dragon (modify your own memory to make it more convincing) so that the party will take you in to protect your unborn child.
  • Use said unborn child as a mind for your Dragon to scry, letting him follow the party to the secret dragon lands.
  • Have him cause an atrocity to motivate them to join the war against him.
  • Have him kidnap you back and restore your memory.
  • Kill him and the child now they’re no longer useful.
  • Sacrifice your own citizens to rip open a gash to the abyss and let the demon hoards pull through.
  • Break out the popcorn and watch the war unfold.
• Evil Versus Evil: In Season 2, against The Warden
• Expy: Of Jim Moriarty, to the point where her introductory scene is a direct Shout-Out to the infamous "Pool Scene" in Season One.
• Faux Affably Evil: She acts surprisingly friendly towards the party, but this does little to disguise how much of a sadistic sociopath she is. If anything, the contrast just makes her creepier.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: An evil version of the latter. While she’s not “foolish”, see The Caligula above for how she treats her role.
• God Save Us from the Queen!: Inverted. Since Jeminya is the rightful queen, that would make Simula legally a princess. In other words, ”Welcome to the Show” is the story of a band of heroes joining forces with a good queen to defeat an evil princess.
• Godhood Seeker: After Lolth is killed while Simula is disguised as Ravvas, Simula ends up taking her place.
• Hell on Earth: What she plans to create.
• Imperiled in Pregnancy: In season 2.
• Irony: After betraying and discarding her servants, one of her servants betrays and discards her. The irony is not lost on her. Invoked as part of her Batman Gambit.
• It Amused Me: Her entire motivation for everything she does seems to be mere boredom.
• Knight of Cerebus: The tone of the story becomes significantly more serious once she shows up. Whenever she makes an appearance, expect the tone to get much darker.
• Lady of Black Magic: A cold, calculating and occasionally seductive woman with extremely powerful magic that has some very nasty effects.
• Madden Into Misanthropy: Her sociopathy grew from her increasing frustration at what she saw as the pettiness and mundanity of ordinary people. Being unable to really feel anything also made it increasingly harder to care about their lives, thus making their daily plights feel like whining chatter.
• Manipulative Bitch: Is skilled at manipulating people and uses it to constantly play mind games with the party.
• Meaningful Name: "Simula". As in "Simulacrum". A false image or copy of something.
• Pregnant Badass: Being pregnant doesn’t stop her from casually banishing an elemental that was giving the party enormous trouble.
• Pass the Popcorn / Surrounded by Idiots: Simula’s attitude shifts back and forth between these two tropes while watching the party explore Hawthorn’s tower.
• Pregnant Badass: Able to one-shot an elemental that was giving the party trouble, even while pregnant.
• Psychopathic Womanchild: Her personality evokes a bored rich kid burning ants with a magnifying glass.
• Rebellious Princess: A villainous case, she doesn’t care about her royal duties and is simply abusing her throne for her own entertainment.
• Sadist: "He was right you know... it is better to savour the moment"
• Save the Princess: Inverted. In this case, the princess is the ‘’villain’’.
• Social Darwinist: Has a very “Strong prey on the weak” view of the world.
• The Sociopath: A textbook example. Lack of Empathy and devoid of conscience? Check. Consummate Liar and Manipulator? Check. Pathological need for stimulation? She's engineering a war out of sheer BOREDOM. Check. Grandiose sense of self worth? She treats everyone around her like a collection of defective toys. Check. Shallow effect and an inability to form emotional attachments? Check.
• Token Evil Teammate: Becomes this in Season 2.
• Troll: Even while travelling with the party
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Jeminya said that she and her sister always used to get along, but their always seemed to be something... off about her.
• The Usurper: Simula impersonates her sister to take the crown.
• Victory Is Boring: She probably could have slaughtered the party months ago if it weren't for her pathological need to keep her game going.
• Villainous Rescue: She saves Kross from her own assassin (Who was acting against her orders) and gifts him with his golden viper.
  • If it hadn’t been for her, the battle against Lolth would have gone FAR worse for the party.
  • Subverted against Asmodeus however. The party expects her to make a Dynamic Entrance. She declines.
• Villains Never Lie: Points out that nothing she has ever actually said to the party has been a lie. Which is true.
• War for Fun and Profit: Her entire goal in the first two seasons is to engineer a war for her own entertainment.
• Well, Excuse Me, Princess!: Sarcastic and condescending.
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Tricks the party into thinking that she was betrayed and raped by The Warden so that they’ll protect her and her child and lead her to the Dragon Lands.

Simula’s Assassin

Simula's Assassin.

Race: Human
Hair: Unknown
Eyes: Unknown
Home: Directian.

Tropes

• Big Bad Wannabe: See Hyper-Competent Sidekick below. While he has no obvious desire to take power from Simula, he clearly feels that he is the smarter and more dangerous of the two.
• Bond Villain Stupidity: Thinks Simula is suffering from this. However, see Wrong Genre Savvy below.
• The Dragon: Tries to be one to Simula. It doesn't work out.
  • Dragon-in-Chief: Again, he THINKS he's one.
• Hyper-Competent Sidekick: He THINKS he's one to Simula. Unfortunately, he underestimates the level of control she actually has over the situation.
• No-Nonsense Nemesis: He tries to be one by invoking Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? on the heroes. Unfortunately for him, Simula doesn't appreciate it when people try to end her game early.
• Underestimating Badassery: Not only does he underestimate how much control his boss has, but he also has no idea about who Kross is.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: If Simula actually WAS suffering from Bond Villain Stupidity like he thought she was, he could have been an effective villain. What he doesn't realise though, is that this series ISN'T an action fantasy series, and Simula isn't some evil overlord. It's a psychological Saw movie set in a fantasy world. And the games will end when Simula says they end.

Vorgrin Vineblight

Vorgrin Vineblight.

Race: Dwarf
Hair: Medium Tone
Eyes: Unknown
Home: Optimar
Age: Less than 150 years
A criminal wanted for a LOT of crimes. Related to the noble Oin impersonated.

Tropes

• Antagonistic Offspring: He doesn’t get along with his father, Vurdok Vineblight.
• Ascended Extra: Only appeared in a wanted poster, but has quickly become a major focus of the story despite never appearing once. Or so we thought. In actuality, Vorgrin has been hiding as Oin Lightbringer.
• Beard of Evil: His wanted poster depicts him with one.
• The Dreaded: All those who know of him fear him.
• The Ghost: Has yet to appear outside of a wanted poster, but he is mentioned frequently. Subverted with The Reveal that Oin was Vorgrin all along.
• The Jinx: Merely touching him is bad luck.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: “Vineblight” does not sound like the name of a heroic character.
• Self-Made Orphan: The first victim of his bad luck curse was his mother. Subverted when it’s revealed that she died in childbirth, but not due to Oin’s curse. Oin hadn’t been cursed yet, so the bad luck was simply that.