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Worldbuilding with a dash of myth. That's me. Probably explains why I'm having so much trouble writing a magic system, haha.

You forgot the Sword of a Thousand Truths, the one thing capable of killing that which has no life.

A fascinating experiment demonstrating the strengths and limitations of GenAI in magic systems. Claude really is demonstrating its superiority to the other big model. I'll have to keep that in mind. Still rooted to ChatGPT+ for work due to force of habit. Anthropic is looking good, but every time I type a prompt there's an underlying fear of running out of messages. Keep hoping they will grow their capacity. For now, my credit is too tight, so I'll have to make do with free Claude. Thanks again!

Killing the Messenger Cliche - every time the Villain gets bad news, the scene ends with the messenger being killed by him. I can understand killing a General who kept failing, but killing someone just updating him on current events is dumb and done just to show how 'evil' the Villain is.

This. Exactly this. I was playing a particular long-running story-heavy mobile game. A few years ago, they released the second major arc and introduced a roster of new antagonists who were originally part of a group we had saved but put away in cryo to recover. They absolutely destroyed all of the hard work the protagonist does and get a number of beloved supporting characters killed. The next arcs would focus on each of them, with a sympathetic story for each. I didn't buy any of them, because it all felt tired and lame, as if they were trying to sweep what they did under the rug.. At the same time, in contrast they gave this blatantly evil antagonist who relished in it. I found her far more entertaining than any of them. Why can't a bad guy just be a bad guy anymore these days?

Thank you for this! I found this page last week and subscribed. I own The Writer’s Journey :)

Wow you left out Elric and Stormbringer. From Tolkien you left out the Sword of Turin Turamber, the black sword Gurthang. The slayer of Morgoth’s great dragon Glarung.

Dreamworks still makes pure the evil villains.For example big jack

I have a tendency to write nebulous villains, like it's a social system, etc, and struggle to write a truly awful villain. So far I've only managed it once. I'm going to give it another try in current WIP, tho. Someone truly motivated by pure selfishness, not a misguided or toxic level of "good intentions".

Megamind was actually good, partly because Megamind not only undertook his own hero's journey as part of his redemption, he had to defeat a villain of his own creation, overcome his own shortcomings and correct his mistakes as it were. Like you said, there are ways to make it work, but only if you care enough about what you're doing to put in the effort. I'm inclined to think that the lack of effort and care combined with an excess of greed is what's ultimately ruining fiction. You're *Absolutely* right that we need stories of good vs evil, but a healthy dose of *Good* redemption stories are great, too. Edit: In short, "choose to embrace the good of both, rather than abandoning one for the other."

Relevant and Supportive Comment to feed the Algorangim

Relevant and Supportive Comment to feed the Algorangim

I came to the video thinking you'd talk about mythology and folklore of countries that originated these weapons in recent franchises. You could've gone deeper into Nordic mythology when talking about Mjolnir, for instance, and talked about Gungnir or , or you could've talked about Arthur's other swords or his spear. It's just a pretty superficial look about some movie franchises and only western franchises. Muramasa, Masamune or Kusanagi, from Japanese folklore, or Gada or the Arrow of Brahma, from Indian folklore, or even the Crescent Blade, made from green dragon's blood from Chinese folklore... I mean, they all made into movies, games, cartoons, anime, manga, manhwa, etc... Next time, name the video "10 legendary weapons I know because I have a western-centric view of the world" or dig deeper. Journey to the West is a tale that inspired a lot of western media and you ignored China. Every writer shouldn't even start by these 10, in my opinion. Every writer should have a more comprehensive view and look for inspiration beyond western tales. You mentioned Link and the Master Sword and they are a japanese creation. I'll give you that one. And then there's another problem with you analysis. The Master Sword is an exception, being the only one that isn't from a European/American tale and the other problem is you only mentioned blades, with the exception of Mjolnir. Why do you only see blades from western tales as legendary weapons is a question you should ask yourself. There are bows, spears, shields, a lot more. Even Zeus' bolt is considered a weapon. Jesus was pierced by a spear, which a lot of games and tales bring in a metaphor. Anyway, sorry for talking so much or for all the criticism. I hope you see it as constructive.

I'm not afraid of ai, it's a good writing partner, it edits my drafts, it analyses my work and compares them with what i intend it to deliver, it helps me fix my sentences to better deliver the idea, i haven't use it for idea creation but it is not something we don't do, nobody ever produced sixty four different tiny drafts in photoshop by bashing insect pictures together trying to find an idea to design your enemy space craft for the story? Why not get that in a far better direct able effort, we never use the raw idea, we get it and develop it and refine it and add our own personal touch to it, then it is as original as any other idea we get, ai is a tool, it can replace your creativity 9nly if you are lazy enough to ask it to, and then it will fall short because without your creativity it is just a well informed assistant... it's your side kick, don't be a lazy hero...

My favourite villain in movies is probably Rickman's Hans Gruber from Die Hard. He's completely immoral but clever, reasonable, logical and charming. We open with him threatening and then killing the very brave Mr Takagi. We know the character is bad. He doesn't need Takagi to give him the password but it would make his job easier and he is willing to kill someone to make his job easier. He uses someone else's "righteous?" cause as window dressing for his crime. He is setting someone else to suffer the consequences for his crime. He has no morally redeeming feature. What made him like this? Who cares? Right now you have a murderous psychopath who will kill you if you get in his way. Kill him first. His minions are soldiers in a war talking on police officers who don't know they are in a war and when they do realize it, aren't really capable of conducting warfare. They mirror Gruber's lack of concern for other people's lives. This is a person and people who need to be stopped quickly and completely.

I just learned how to get past the overly worldbuilding stage. Once I got as much as I needed right now, I started writing, and now I'm eight chapters in. If I need something, I'll come up with something quick and move on.

Ruyi Jingu Bang is stronger than most of these and more iconic considering Journey to the West is more iconic than any of the stories you mention

Constructive critcism: when narrating your essay, please consider using a different tone for different sections. If EVery SENtence is preSENted with an INdignated STRESSing of ONE out of every FOUR SYLLables, it starts to SOUND like a LONG story of aLARM. Try using your lower regster once in a while. Some sentences can be voiced without too much stressing. It will help to present your views better, and the viewer will be able to mentally compartmentise your arguments.

Dune, story telling? You jest. Dune is a classic example of spectacle over story telling, exactly what you dislike. Dune is a self indulgent mess. Your projecting onto the screen your own preceptions (sic) of what it's supposed to be. It isn't.

"Evil is a point of view." - Palpatine.

I get it, but you're judging Sauron too quickly. he's a master manipulator. Nothing he says to Galadriell should be taken at face value.

Another good one is the Soul Reaver from the Legacy of Kaine video game series.

Prince was a Wimp! I rooted for Maleficent! The Prince was given a Magic Sword, a Magic Shield, and a Well Trained War Horse and got his butt kicked. It was 4 against 1! But why don't you question Snow White? Yes, it was 7 to 1, but the Dwarves didn't have Magic and weren't Gimli types! The Evil Queen had Magic, fair fight! And she accidentally took herself out!

It's not unrealistic to switch from making sympathetic fictional villains to making sympathetic villains.

I love maleficent

Something I find refreshing is when the hero doesn't win, there's no happily ever after. It's why I liked the Silent Hill movie and Final Fantasy 16's ending.

The economics section reminded me a bit of the episodes in the TCW where the Republic deregulates the banking institutions and later nationalizes them

In Cassandra Clare’s Shadowhunter universe, Cortana is a historic holy sword containing the feather of an angel, with the capacity of cutting through any object. It works only if the wielder is worthy of the blade. IRL it’s a square tipped sword only used by English royalty for coronations. Kind of cool the author gave it a cool use

Captain America’s shield Green Lanterns ring The One ring Legendary weapons right?

Modern liberal philosophy requires this “no evil villians” because acknowledging human evil undermines one of our pre standing social assumptions (the assumption that all ppl are fundamentally good & that evil is a product of circumstances NOT nature).

Not really a metal, but in my world there's a magical material called ''lunar sand'' or 'slivers', that's so strong, it can pears through space, time, and souls. This material is the base of a world-hopping society. It's everywhere, in energy, and in travel. This material is also very magical, and pepole can use runes to control it.

2:30 I think it’s a tremendous mistake to think at least the Americans audience for The Witcher read or cared about the books and how they were adapted. The vast majority of the existing Witcher fanbase in the US only played the games.

In my unpopular opinions, the ruling class are the real villains of the story.

It’s sad that modern movies have no respect for the source materials on fantasy books.

There’s no need to adapt older fantasy works like LOTR for a “modern” audience. Try writing new works that are more adapted to so called modern sensibilities and see if they compete with the established ones. If they triumph then you were right about the modern audience. If they don’t, accept it.

Fantasy and sci fi both, mistaking appearance for substance then blaming the fan base for not liking the shit sandwich we wer fed.

According to you a metal that was a symbol of a race's golden era but now a mere shadow works. Especially if its' properties make it the reason why the fight's still on going . I have a metal that makes it perfect for assassination, recoinnasaance and intel gathering since you can't even see the light reflected off it but also allows its wearers to hide in literal shadows for as long as they want if a bonding ritual is made, otherwise you can stay at random and often short intervals in the shadows. And just so you know I mean a world of shadows, like a mirror world. Does this metal sound good to you?

5:39 false dichotomy. Budget for CGI doesn't impact the writing. It's not like the writers can't do their job if they don't receive hundreds of millions of dollars. No, visual effects and special effects, as well as costumes and sets, have no impact on the writing.

The moonlight greatsword, a legendary sword to rule them all

All animated but Arcane, Pantheon, X-men 97, Blue Eye Samurai and Scavenger's Reign are stellar examples of engaging on screen fantasy. The Rings Of Power is an embarrassing, cringe-inducing torture that would insult the intelligence of a child. Bright should have been titled Not Very Bright.

These are stories written by people who dislike if not utterly loathe the idea of SIN. They don't want evil to be a matter of OUR CHOICES. They promulgate a worldview that dismisses individual choice and subordinates it to group identity. They believe that the "wicked", the criminal, the villain only exist because they have been MADE that way by some form of oppression. They are VICTIMS of an oppressive (prejudiced, racist, discriminatory) society - a society that is usually a fairly thinly veiled caricature of ours (see the upcoming movie based on the musical based on the book). They want to sell our whole culture on the idea that the people we consider "wicked" are acting out against an inherently unfair capitalist system, and inherently racist cultural system, an oppressive political system, and a backwards, closed-minded religious system. Thus their wickedness is not only understandable, but JUSTIFIED by the unjust system they are acting out against.

I think that the problem are semantics. There are just villains and villains, two different types of characters. There is first type of villain let's say "classic villain". His evil is not explained, just showed he is more force of nature than a person. And there is second type, "modern villain" that is a hero of his own story. We see that he is a victim of circumstances, choosing evil because he thinks that is the best option. Both types are so different that it's almost degrading to compare them. Recently I found a fanfic that reframes Sauron as the second type and you konw what? He is still threatening, but at the same time we can sympathise with him. But maybe its strange case, because he is kinda main character there. Still great video, just wanted to share my thoughts.