u/OutrageouslyGr8

I’ve been thinking about villain concepts for Emma Frost, and I wanted to throw them out there.

1. Someone who feeds on psionic energy

DC Comics' Upside Down Man

I came across a post on the DC Comics subreddit showing the history of magic from the Zatanna solo, and it reminded me of the Upside Down Man. The Upside Down Man is basically the personification of the dark side of magic and he feeds on magical energy.

What if Emma had a villain who essentially feeds on psionic/mental energy? I was thinking about how characters like Psylocke can create constructs out of mental energy, and how Emma has even been shown concentrating psionic energy and throwing it.

From Generation X (issue #18)

That got me thinking: what if there was a character who could literally consume that energy? Essentially, a being that feeds on the energy telepaths use to fuel their abilities. Instead of using psionic energy, their presence actually drains it.

I think that could be a really interesting problem for Emma because telepathy is one of her biggest strengths. She still has her diamond form, obviously, but suddenly taking away one of her main abilities would force her to approach a fight very differently.

I also think Emma could use another villain in her rogues gallery besides HC and Sebastian Shaw constantly being brought back.

As for the character himself, I don’t really want him to just be some modern-day villain who suddenly appears and says, “I’m an all-powerful being who feeds off telepaths.” I think there could be an interesting way to tie him into mutant history.

Maybe he was one of the earliest mutants to emerge around the time of Apocalypse. Not necessarily a secret fifth Horseman or anything like that, but perhaps someone who was originally considered to become one of Apocalypse’s generals before rejecting him or him getting rejected. Instead, he could have chosen to follow his own life path and feed on psionic energy wherever he could find it.

I’m still not entirely sure what consuming all of this psionic energy would actually do for him, though. Does it make him stronger? Is he just hungry? I haven’t really figured that part out yet.

I also like the idea of using this concept to explore what telepathy/psionic based powers actually are. If telepaths are somehow drawing on a form of mental energy to read, influence and interact with minds, then what happens when something feeds on that energy?

Then there’s actually another idea I have involving psionic energy, how it works and if it can be channelled, but I’m still working that one out. I don't want to give that idea away just yet because I think it could be a pretty cool development for Scott, Emma and another character (u/Jack-mclaughlin89 you might like the idea I'm thinking off).

2. A game-show host

Left: King Dice from The Cuphead and Mugman Show and Right: Dr Facilier from The Princess and the Frog

The second idea is supposed to be more Silver Age villainy. I was thinking about a villain who is basically a combination of King Dice and Dr Facilier. You're probably thinking this is just Mojo but hear me out

I think I’d make him a mutant whose power allows him to create or pull people into a confined pocket of warped reality. Once they're inside, the environment becomes something resembling a television game show or talk show.

The villain is the host, the heroes/victims are the contestants, and they're forced to participate in a series of challenges.

The important part is that there are rules.

I don't want him to just be able to pull someone into his reality and then do literally anything he wants. There should be limitations to his reality-warping, and I think making those limitations part of the “rules” of the show would make the concept much more interesting.

For example, maybe there are certain questions the host isn't allowed to ask. If he tries to force someone to reveal information they're not supposed to reveal, the rules of the game break down, and the space he's created starts becoming unpredictable. Suddenly the host isn't completely in control anymore.

I'm still trying to figure out whether this should be an actual physical pocket dimension or something closer to a telepathic plane. Something similar to Grey Matter Lane, except instead of creating an entire school, this guy creates a small, highly concentrated “studio” where he controls the rules.

And then you have the Dr Facilier aspect. He doesn't necessarily force people to play. He offers them something they desperately want. Maybe he can read people extremely well, or his powers allow him to see their deepest desires once they enter his space. He can then offer them exactly what they want in exchange for playing the game (even let it be a monkey's paw type of prize). The catch, obviously, is that he takes something from them when they lose.

I'm not entirely sure what he takes yet either. Their memories, powers or something else? That's something I'd have to figure out. But what I really like about this villain is that he doesn't necessarily have to be a serious, threatening villain all the time. He could be one of those weird, fun Silver Age villains who could have a legitimate television show in the Marvel Universe that people actually enjoy watching, completely separate from his villainy. Like imagine Cyclops genuinely being a fan of the show.

Emma: “You know he's one of my villains, right?”

Cyclops: “Yeah.”

Emma: “And you're watching his show?”

Cyclops: “It's a good show.”

Emma: “Scott.”

Cyclops: “The opening song is catchy.”

And the show itself could actually be entertaining. He could interview heroes and villains and basically put them on the spot with ridiculous questions. A villianous Conan O'Brien. I think that could make him a really fun addition to Emma's rogues gallery because he's dangerous when he's playing the game, but outside of that he's almost just a bizarre celebrity.

Those are two villain concepts I've been playing around with. If you made it this far thanks for going through my ramblings