Antagonist Starting Ranks

The Battle Fantasia universe has a degree of gray morality, but for the most part the battle lines of good and evil are fairly clearly drawn.

As our application indicates, there is a distinction, at chargen, between a 'permanent antagonist' who will (probably) never turn to the side of love and justice, and a 'temporary antagonist' who will find, or who at least retains the option of eventually finding, redemption without a fundamental alteration to their character's powers.

Permanent Antagonists

Permanent antagonists, in terms of the combat system, are in some ways 'played non-player characters'. They don't have to follow the rules. They generally start at Master Rank B, and can start at A. Some even start (and will stay, for the duration of their villainous career) at S. They still gain character points through roleplay, but for the most part they run on a separate advancement track from the norm; they are given exactly enough power to be fun to fight against, and may gain more as plot, and the playerbase, requires. Permanent antagonists should not expect to never lose, or to always remain a power tier above the rest of the game; in the end, most stories end with the magical girls gaining in strength, coming of age, and delivering their antagonists' comeuppance, after all.

If a permanent antagonist is redeemed, they lose all their powers and become a regular civilian. This is a fairly common fate in the genre, though a villain who suffers this fate canonically can generally be apped as a temporary antagonist in the first place (and thus avoid depowerment), at the option of their applicant. If they wish to re-join the battle on the side of love and justice, they will have to find a Path to Power and begin their career at the very beginning of Master Rank C, built on 180 Character Points, no matter how many Character Points they'd previously earned in their villainous career. The slate has been wiped clean, and their power has been reborn completely. (For more information, please see: Paths to Power)

Temporary Antagonists

Temporary antagonists are exactly that; temporary. They are on the trajectory of, to use wrestling or tropes vocabulary, a Heel-Face Turn: dramatic redemption, and then a career fighting with the heroes for love and justice (or whatever other ideals they choose). Temporary antagonists are made in chargen, and advance, just like regular characters, albeit with more willingness to start them at Rank B. Rank C+ temporary antagonists are generally expected to flip sides within a year or so of play (or just aren't that powerful -- sorry, Saionji).

In the event that a temporary antagonist's cast has caught up to them in power, but they are still far from changing sides (and are, canonically, still significantly more powerful than the rest of their cast), if the character in question has satisfied all requirements for a Master Rank increase except for the time limit (please see: +help advancement), the possibility of that limit being waived may be reviewed by the staff on a case-by-case basis.

In this setting, many -- most -- antagonists are temporary, and a temporary antagonist application, rather than a permanent one, is strongly advised. Antagonists will often be using the +heal/boss commands to fight more than one person at once, so don't be afraid that a lower Master Rank will destroy one's ability to be powerful in combat.

Examples of FC Temporary Antagonist starting ranks:

C+: Saionji Kyouichi, Fate Testarossa, Nao Yuuki

B: Touga Kiryuu, Utau Hoshina, Eas, the Wolkenritter, Rue, Endymion's Four Generals, Miyu Greer

For more information, please see: Ranks, Starting Ranks, Chargen, Powers of Darkness