Greetings and Lamentations, I AM Lord Malignance, and you Will Crouch! before me Now;
(Villains excepted, of course).
Once more, and for the Fourth Year, we honor the Lesson and Memory of one of the founding members of Villainy, GrandMaster Calamity, a respected Villain who early on taught Villainy a simple lesson which we remember and uphold to this day.
You have to be able to leave on your own terms.
And after his contributions and efforts in Villainy, he did just that. But his legend and his lesson are acknowledged and upheld to this day through the Annual GrandMaster Calamity SuperVillain Challenge.
Some of the previous years contests, and winners;
Year 3
Winner: Colorado's own Nagneto
Year 2
Winner: Malvado
Year 1
Winner: Agent Beryllium, Fatal Phylo, and the Aluminum Chef.
One has never won this award though, but One does try.
You could take his lesson in a number of ways, but One likes to believe that it is a lesson about What is Real, and the Fantasy we create online. To Know the difference between Villains and "superheroes" is that Villains understand that costumes and characters have their place in MetaFiction, and Not in the Real World. Except in the Fun of the Absurdity of it all - Rex Velvet and Doctor Holocaust as example.
It is that Difference - the Knowing and Understanding fantasy from reality that gives Villains an advantage. A clarity of purpose upon which we build our Further Difference - we are Not and Will not engage in Criminal Activity.
The superheroes are inherently weakened by their core beliefs which are in conflict with these two principles. They confuse their fantasy with real life, and they believe they are above the law. These flaws in their characters - in the core of their belief system, gives Villainy a Moral Superiority which has been used very successfully in the past to pass judgment on superheroes. And - deliciously, it takes Away from Them, their primary weapon. That they are "better". "Super". Their intentions to pass arbitrary and random superhero "justice" on those they encounter. We Take the high ground, the strategic position and we have used it successfully against them.
Villainy has in my small perspective, gone on for almost 5 years now - our Tapestry of Evil, which began with A Posting on io9 on May 15, 2009. It was only 3 Months later that One stepped out of the Shadows.
So this year, as in years past, a Contest to see who has the best picture of themselves Out in the World, demonstrating that Costumes are for Halloween, and Not an excuse for vigilantes to terrorize citizens year round as self proclaimed moral police in the guise of "superheroes".
A salute to you, my old friend, Unknowable Villain, gone but never forgotten,
-Lord Malignance
October 31st, 2013
The Lair, Colorado Holdfast
