Introducing a very nice, very evil, wizard
How a wrestling superstar inspired my new favourite NPC.
I’m obsessed with Danhausen.
If you’re a casual wrestling fan like me, you might not have heard of WWE’s latest superstar. But after joining the company just a few weeks ago, he’s already selling more t-shirts than anyone else on the roster.
That’s all before he’s even thrown a punch.
So when I needed a new NPC wizard to catch my players’ hearts, there was only one choice.
First, a quick explanation of the very nice, very evil wrestler.
Danhausen came up through the indy wrestling scene, quickly becoming popular thanks to his comedy gimmick described as “Conan O’Brien possessed by a demon.”
With facepaint inspired by “The Crow” and taking heavy inspiration from B-movie horror, Danhausen is known for creating unflattering nicknames (Rock “The Dwayne” Johnson), collection of teeth and his various catch phrases:
What’s more fascinating is that Danhausen has remained popular despite two significant injuries and long periods away from telly during his tenure at AEW.
Clearly wrestling is a very different world from TTRPGs, so a full analysis of that success is unlikely to be helpful, but I do want to focus on one part of Danhausen which might translate to your table.
Very nice. Very evil.
“If you’re too nice, people don’t like you - you’re annoying.
“If you’re too evil, people don’t like you - you’re evil.
“So I combined the two - very nice, very evil. Then you can trick people into giving you their money.”
There is something refreshing about being openly evil - honestly saying: “I’m only in this for myself.”
Danhausen is quite clear about the fact that he wants to get rich and famous.
He will tell other wrestlers he only wants to work with them to boost his own profile, he’ll tell fans he wants them to give him money.
It’s funny to hear someone speak that directly, but it’s also useful to know for a fact that you can’t trust them.
Zephyraxis the Wizard
In my campaign, I needed a wizard who could cast a 9th level spell to help the party get home.
Which opens the Gandalf conundrum: once a party meets a spellcaster that powerful, why can’t he simply fix all their problems?
A very nice, very evil wizard doesn’t have that problem - they will help the party for money, or because they want something. They won’t put themselves at risk and they certainly won’t risk their lives.
I called my wizard Zephyraxis, but he was essentially Danhausen without the make up.
He openly despised the party, told them he only wanted their money and didn’t care if they lived or died.
Of course my players loved him.
So next time you need a helpful wizard to fix your problems, watch some clips of Danhausen and consider making the NPC very nice and very evil.
I created a funny trickster Telepath named Trixy. She’s a villain (causes or exploits chaos), but she’s super nice about. She may even give a character a kiss on the cheek if they figure out what she’s doing. She’s such a fun character.
Just, don’t trust her for a moment. And don’t trust your eyes either!