Recent discussion of the last Harry Potter novel on the internet has frequently referenced Peter Anspach's "Evil Overlord List." In case you were wondering what that was, here's the explanation:
It consists of the top 100 things that an evil overlord must always keep in mind.
A sample:
- My Legions of Terror will have helmets with clear plexiglass visors, not face-concealing ones.
- My ventilation ducts will be too small to crawl through.
- My noble half-brother whose throne I usurped will be killed, not kept anonymously imprisoned in a forgotten cell of my dungeon.
- Shooting is not too good for my enemies.
- The artifact which is the source of my power will not be kept on the Mountain of Despair beyond the River of Fire guarded by the Dragons of Eternity. It will be in my safe-deposit box. The same applies to the object which is my one weakness.
I particularly like the last one:
Finally, to keep my subjects permanently locked in a mindless trance, I will provide each of them with free unlimited Internet access.Read the whole list and how it came to be here.
Happy overlording. Remember -- shooting is not too good for your enemies.
