WordGirl villain OC: The Man
She (yes, she) is a seemingly grounded and serious crime lord who covertly controls Fair City’s underworld through her organisation, a parody of Mafia-esque supervillains like Batman's the Penguin and Spider-Man's the Kingpin. Her real name belongs to a very trustworthy and legitimate businesswoman. After WordGirl exposes her alter ego the first time, she typically goes by the Man because of the fear and respect it inspires and the villainous contacts it allows her to keep, but sometimes pretends to go straight or at least be seen as a minor villain anyway.
Her linguistic gimmick is that she frequently uses idioms and figurative speech, like “taking care” of her enemies. Or “the Man” being an idiom for any and all powerful people who oppress you with their unjust authority keep you down and must be resisted by righteous youths, hence her vague, ominous title. While she does use figurative language deliberately to be dishonest, manipulative or ambiguous, it also manifests as an instinctive, involuntary habit. She’ll do it even when being clear would be easier and more effective, and sometimes struggles to speak literally at all. Like, she’ll sincerely try to explain herself to a confused WordGirl, but just keep rattling off synonymous expressions because she can’t find any other words. It’s the only deviation from her sensible and efficient behaviour. Even her henchmen can get confused, limiting her competence. She could lampshade or defend her euphemisms or by noting that there are things you can't say plainly on a PBS Kids show.
This is so profound that if she wants to say the words of a common expression in a literal sense, she might accidentally say the meaning of the expression instead. E.g. you let her beloved pet cat out of a bag and she gleefully exclaims, “You revealed my big secret!” Cue a joke where she wants to say something like "whack" (as in 'hit with a stick') and realises that she can't say "kill" on a PBS Kids show.
Her other quirk is that she takes having an honour code and wanting to uphold a good reputation to the extreme, to the point of compromising her own criminal activity. Despite her ruthlessness and cunning, selfish schemes, she’s genuinely polite to people as a rule. It really is nothing personal. If she believes, or you can convince her, that taking a certain evil action is too cruel and unfair for such a civilised criminal, she’ll refrain no matter how much she wants the rewards. By appealing to her public image, you can convince her to do quite a lot of straightforward good before she catches herself. She insists that she doesn’t enjoy being nice or helping people. She just has standards. It’s a matter of principle. It’s pragmatism, that’s what it is! The notion that she’s anything less than a stone-cold kingpin of crime will either offend her or make her proud that you've fallen for her facade.
Above all her redeeming qualities, she’s caring, respectful and protective toward her employees, just as loyal to them as they are to her. “Of course I am! We’re a family. Ya didn’t think I was pulling your leg about that, did ya?” The same applies to her cat, and a few cute cat motifs could offset her suave, sophisticated aesthetic. No, this doesn't undercut her villainy.
Her relationships with other villains range from functional to amicable, the latter especially regarding the most intelligent ones like Dr Two-Brains and Tobey. Although she looks down on all of their zany, impractical antics and obsessions. That foolishness is beneath her. How is she the only villain in town who just wants money and power? And doesn’t waste funds on crazy contraptions that will inevitably be smashed? But hey, if a lack of common sense means they aren’t competition, good for them. And they’re so flashy, loud and obvious that they distract people from her quietly, patiently pulling the strings. (Don’t check her ‘Henchmen Birthdays’ budget. That’s private. Her spending is entirely reasonable!) She sometimes hires her fellow villains to do her dirty work for her and will use blackmail or leverage over them to keep them in line, aware of how unreliable they are. It tends to backfire nonetheless. This doesn't affect her friendships with them, the same way they can rob her totally legimate stores or fire their silly ray guns at her every now and then and she doesn't take it personally. Important lesson here, folks. You can do evil in wildly different ways and still be friends.
The one person she truly hates and might bend her own rules to take revenge on is District Attorney Sally Botsford. WordGirl might be a nuisance, but she’s also a naive child with no legal jurisdiction. If she can’t back up her suspicions with evidence, that’s that. And half the time, the Man is too subtle and sneaky for superhero dramatics… but with or without them, the DA somehow puts her behind bars again and again! She's that good! And she can't be bought or scared away, certainly not with WordGirl protecting her. A do-gooder like that needs to be dealt with, if you know what I mean.
There’s an episode where she and/or her loved ones are in trouble and WordGirl saves them. From that day on, WordGirl is family. The oppositional hero-villain dynamic doesn't change since neither budges on morality, but now the Man is a much more affectionate, sentimental enemy who keeps trying to give WordGirl motherly advice and gestures (like a packed lunch) between or even during interrogations, death traps and battles.
