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Dumpshock Forums _ Shadowrun _ So who's your favorite Bad Guy corporation?
Posted by: Weaver95 Oct 25 2009, 08:07 PM
I was just wondering if anyone else out there has a list of 'bad guy' corporations they like to use for their games. My personal favorites are Zeta-Imp Chemical and Aztechnology. Zeta-Imp is the classic 'heartless corp' driven entirely by profit motive, while the Azzies have that weird cult vibe going for them.
Posted by: Paul Oct 25 2009, 08:19 PM
Mitsuhama.
Whenever I picture a game based on the Terminator, I always picture them somehow being involved. That said, I like the original 8 the best, but do like some additions to the big boys.
Posted by: FlakJacket Oct 25 2009, 08:37 PM
Yakashima Technologies.
Posted by: Tachi Oct 25 2009, 08:40 PM
Aztechnology... *looks over his shoulder to make sure his hispanic girlfriend isn't in the room* Because Mexicans are evil. 
But seriously, most, if not all, of their board of directors has to be Horror marked. And remember, they make most of the food. Plus, yeah, cult crazies, Darke, mass human sacrifice, originally a drug cartel, still a drug cartel, corrupted, toxics, blood magic...
Most of the Corps have thier own evil aspects, but I think Aztechnology is the only one that does it all.
Aztechnology, your one-stop evil shop.
Posted by: DWC Oct 25 2009, 08:42 PM
Transoceanic Mining is my favorite boogeyman. It's a nice little natural resource exploration and exploitation company, who just happens to discretely be owned by Saeder-Krupp.
Posted by: Weaver95 Oct 25 2009, 08:57 PM
heh. 'one stop evil shop'. I like it! they're the wal-mart of evil.
Posted by: Kagetenshi Oct 25 2009, 09:13 PM
Ares. They inherited that nice, evil "What's good for General Motors is good for the country" vibe (the version without the vice versa, natch), perform experiments with bug spirits, were formerly in tight with one of the most schemingly nefarious Great Dragons, astrally razed a semi-inhabited city, control the brutal thugs at Knight Errant, and generally perpetrate a host of other hideousnesses.
Yamatetsu with their board under the heavy influence of an alien intelligence also make a good bad guy.
~J
Posted by: Tachi Oct 25 2009, 11:01 PM
*Bows* Thank you, thank you, no applause, just throw money. I've got more of them folks, and I'll be here all week.
Posted by: Tymeaus Jalynsfein Oct 26 2009, 02:30 AM
Mitsuhama is our current Favorite Bad-Guy Corporation... they seem to be at the Core of every problem that we have been facing for the last year or so...
Keep the Faith
Posted by: Khyron Oct 26 2009, 07:48 AM
Horizon. Not for what they've done, but for what they're going to do.
Posted by: Blade Oct 26 2009, 11:47 AM
Evo because everyone see them as "good guys".
And in my Hamburg campaign, I'm trying to have SK as "The Corporation". The one that's everywhere and dominates everything. It doesn't mean it's a "bad guy" corporation, but it's the one the (neo)anarchists, (neo)neonazis, anti-corps, anti-NEEC and every other fringe cultures/movements are fighting against.
Posted by: Saint Sithney Oct 26 2009, 03:43 PM
I varies regionally, but I'm partial to Universal Omnitech.
[✓] Partnered with criminal enterprise, Aztechnology.
[✓] Genetic/bioweapons research could kill everyone.
[✓] Has a name that suggests Total World Domination.
[✓] Headquartered in sinister Vancouver, BC, birthplace of evil.
Posted by: ScandRun Oct 26 2009, 04:56 PM
This. I get a icky feeling when reading about Horizon in the rule/source books.
However for things already done and general image Aztechnology must be the most evil corp out there imo.
Posted by: Blade Oct 26 2009, 05:20 PM
And I think that's a big mistake.
First of all, as far as things done go, they've just done some blood magic which as far as we know isn't inherently "evil". It's just disliked by dragons. The Native Americans did use it to for their dance and people aren't saying that the NAO are pure evil.
Meanwhile, Ares sell weapons to Africa and raise Insect Spirits, Mitsuhama has ties with the Yakuza, and the list could go on. No megacorp is good and I'm not sure that what Aztechnology does is worse than what other do. Sure, the whole Oscuro thing might have been a bigger threat (and even then, how can we be so sure about it?), but I don't think it's fair to blame a whole corporation for the actions of one employee.
Secondly, as far as the image goes, before Horizon appeared from nearly nowhere, Aztechnology was supposed to be the corp with the best PR department. Even in the Shadows where some people know about the blood magic, I'm not sure that everyone would accept it.
I think the devs did much better with Horizon, as I still see or hear some people saying that "they are good guys compared to the other corps" and I think that Aztechnology should have been handled the same way.
Posted by: Saint Sithney Oct 26 2009, 06:04 PM
But Aztechnology is blatantly expansionist in a war-like way. They straight up jack whole nations.
Also, the Aztecs, (and the mexican cartels whose resources Aztechnology is founded on,) are some blood-thirsty guys.
Have a gander at their founding chapter. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Zetas
Posted by: EKBT81 Oct 26 2009, 06:16 PM
I like your description. I'm sometimes quite amused when some players fall for their "Red, White and Blue, Inc." shtick.
Myself, I'd go with Mitsuhama as a "faceless evil" corporation. Ruthlessly efficient japanacorp with Yakuza connections, what's not to like? Of course, that might be influenced by my fondness of Rising Sun as inspiration for SR corporate intrigue.
Saeder-Krupp should be up there, too. At least, I'd qualify "bring Europe under the rule of a darwinist great dragon" as an evil objective. But I don't really like the concept of SK with Lofwyr as the omniscient, micromanaging dragon in charge. I prefer megacorps which have some internal conflict, too.
Posted by: DWC Oct 26 2009, 06:59 PM
Maybe it's not canon, but I've always seen Saeder-Krupp as being rife with infighting as employees stab each other in the back to keep Lofwyr's attention focused on something other than their own performance.
Posted by: Degausser Oct 26 2009, 07:51 PM
No big surprise, I say the Azzies. Mostly because they are the most open about their evilness. They hold the most gruesome to-the-death pit fighting rings (Sangre y Acero), the are the most open about their use of blood magic, and the only reason they are still a major corp is because, essentially, they have all of Mexico working for them (and if they don't, the Azzies kill them.) Pretty much the definition of "The corporation" running a dictatorship.
Other big bads from my list include Evo (anyone else worried about all that genetic experimentation they are doing?) and I'm also not a fan of MCT after the events of Emergence.
Posted by: Heath Robinson Oct 26 2009, 07:52 PM
I feel it's a coinflip between S-K and Shiawase. The reason for nominating S-K is that Lofwyr is a serious Magnificent Bastard.
Shiawase is in there because the higher levels are insane with massive family feuding and intriques, which all filters down to interdepartment conflict and oppurtunities for super happy funtimes when the unexpected cavalry for the OpFor turns out to be another Shiawase team.
A Shadowtalker said "if any Corp ever achieves the ability to control our minds - Shiawase will." Roll around Unwired, and we have a chapter on SIM Brainwashing. Shiawase has clearly had this for longer, and taken it to greater heights, than any other Corp. You don't know if you've been caught by the MIFD. You can't ever know.
Posted by: the_real_elwood Oct 26 2009, 08:04 PM
As far as evil goes, Aztechnology is by far the worst. The whole Horrors thing pretty much takes the cake, as they're actively involved in working to destroy everything that you hold dear. Saeder-Krupp is a good bad guy too, but they're more of an extension of Lofwyr. And Saeder Krupp (and by extension, Lofwyr) don't scare me as much as Aztechnology because although Lofwyr's best interests frequently don't coincide with ours, at least I know Lofwyr is acting in his best interests. And Lofwyr's best interests almost certainly don't include human sacrifice and opening gates for the Horrors to invade our world.
Posted by: LurkerOutThere Oct 26 2009, 10:11 PM
All the corporations offer fertile ground to tread upon but some of my favorites
Ares: I see Damien Knight and by extension Ares and especially Knight Errant as modern day crusaders. He believes whole heartedly he is going to save the world from the bugs, and if need be the horrors if they come knocking in his lifetime. Unfortunately the necessities of that mission means Ares look at the big picture allows them to internally justify many many things that are otherwise reprehensible.
Aztechnology - Even if the Azzies are no longer actively trying to bring back the world they are still hevily invested in blood magic and anything else that allows them to stay on top. This plus their reputation for absolutely ruthlessly persuing people that hurt them make them very dangerous opponents for shadowrunners. I make sure that my runners know, if they work against the Azzies and get sloppy the Azzies may very well track them down.
Posted by: Ayeohx Oct 26 2009, 11:38 PM
No love for Renraku?
Back in the days there were 3 corps I used: Renraku, Fuchi and Ares.
Ares was the one that everyone wanted to work for since they are a UCAS company and easier to relate to (white guys working for a white company) & Renraku was always had that strict japanese control going with a very corrupt feel. No one wanted to work for Renraku because they expected a doublecross since Renraku loved tying up any lose ends to a job, in other words, killing the PCs who did the job. Not only was Ares more likely to keep you around for future work if you were good but they had some of the best weapons that you could negotiate into your contracts.
Now days?
I'm not using corporations much. Sticking to small time work. Now that I'm older I realize that these corporations are so large that they probably all work the same at the shadowrunners level. Being how compartmentalized corporations are and such.
Posted by: Orcus Blackweather Oct 27 2009, 01:19 AM
I am currently playing a Chinese Orc Technomancer (is that 3 strikes?). We are doing the emergence storyline. Mitsuhama is the ultimate bogeyman. They are known to oppress metahumans, known to discriminate against non-Japanese, and they are actively hunting technomancers for weird experiments. No need to look any farther for an enemy. Besides everyone knows that all of those blood magic stories are just hate mongering by Aztechnology's enemies.
Posted by: Tymeaus Jalynsfein Oct 27 2009, 01:55 AM
There you go again Orcus, Spouting that Ork Hype...
Keep the Faith
Posted by: Ravor Oct 28 2009, 03:50 PM
Short answer, all of them equally, I like to spread the hate around. 
I mean, Big A is perhaps the most vindiction of the corps.
Ares has the entire working with the Bugs thing going for them.
Horizon well let's just say that if they aren't run by some hidden uber AI running on the disembodied brains of technomancers I'm going to be very disappointed.
ect... ect... ect...
Posted by: darthmord Oct 28 2009, 07:16 PM
Ares: I see Damien Knight and by extension Ares and especially Knight Errant as modern day crusaders. He believes whole heartedly he is going to save the world from the bugs, and if need be the horrors if they come knocking in his lifetime. Unfortunately the necessities of that mission means Ares look at the big picture allows them to internally justify many many things that are otherwise reprehensible.
Aztechnology - Even if the Azzies are no longer actively trying to bring back the world they are still hevily invested in blood magic and anything else that allows them to stay on top. This plus their reputation for absolutely ruthlessly persuing people that hurt them make them very dangerous opponents for shadowrunners. I make sure that my runners know, if they work against the Azzies and get sloppy the Azzies may very well track them down.
I'm with you here. I see Ares as being Stark Enterprises without a Tony Stark that had a change of heart. The resemblances otherwise are simply too striking to be a coincidence IMO.
Aztechnology... they are some supremely evil bastards bent on total annihilation and destruction. Any game I've run where they were involved, I always gave them an extra push in the retribution & retaliation department. They didn't take lip from anyone and were always willing to push the envelope on evil and payback.
Posted by: Orcus Blackweather Oct 28 2009, 07:33 PM
Keep the Faith
So how is that orbital manufacture going? Read any good corporate indoctrination manuals lately?
Posted by: Screaming Eagle Oct 28 2009, 08:41 PM
I will tweek it it the group really... I've seen group where the Dunk institute or similar "nearly painted white" corps would be the big aversary... not the bad guys, that was the PC's, they were BAD people.
The Azzies are my personal favorite bogie man, but thats mostly because I like the magic system and they are the magic version of "The Man". I can drop any kind magic at the drop of a hat, have the mage wearing vaugly Aztec marking and now the PC's have desided it was a blood mage with Aztecnology. It is such fun to watch the panic.
For overall "Plot Villan" though I stick with Ares. Why? Cause I run my games in Seattle mostly, in the UCAS generally and in the UCAS Ares is THE corp, not the only one for sure, but it's their home turf. This is cyberpunk.. ok so I run a cyberpunk game... and the big bad man over you is, in the long term, the real villian. No matter how much he hires you he is there to off you because you are the liability once all the dice have been tossed and all the heads counted.
Beware the hand that feeds. And remember to dam* the man.
Posted by: Tymeaus Jalynsfein Oct 29 2009, 12:40 AM
Not too bad, and not lately... Still working on breaking out and returning to earth... gotta hate those Mitsuhama orbital prison facilities...
Hey Orcus, Break many Mirrors with that face of yours?
Keep the Faith
Posted by: Wolfshade Oct 29 2009, 01:36 AM
The Azzies ( for all the priorly mentioned reasons) Wuxing... what can I say , to me its a new toy. Yametesu......oh sorry, Evo for so many reasons. Also, strangely, Boeing. Used to work for 'em, maybey I'm just petty 
Posted by: The Jake Oct 29 2009, 01:52 AM
Aztechnology is too easy to use. Honestly. Like fish in a barrel.
I'm using Ares a lot more these days. Their bug experiments are too reminiscent of Weyland-Yutani (the original COMPANY) not to abuse them.
Re: Horizon. Maybe I'm not reading as much into canon as I used to. But why is everyone so dark on Horizon?! I don't get it. I've heard rumors of AIs to Bugs. Do people truly believe that Horizon is a large public front for the bugs?
- J.
Posted by: Tachi Oct 29 2009, 02:11 AM
- J.
Not really, or, at least I don't believe they're bugs. However, this being Shadowrun, there's no way in hell that any corporation could really be that 'good'. They've got to be up to something. And, conspiracy theory logic being what it is, people think that the harder Horizon's 'something' is to find, the worse it must be.
I don't know about anyone else, but, I just feel there is something seriously WrongTM with Horizon. Maybe it's just the "We're your friends and we're here to help you"/"Look, we're not like the others" attitude they project, but I don't think so. I can't put my finger on what it is, but they're up to something. The fact that everyone outside the shadows, and many in the shadows, buys their bullshit just makes it more insidious.
Dear lord, I'm starting to sound like one of those conspiracy theory nutjobs myself... Damn you Adam Jury, you did this to me, it's all your fault, introducing a 'nice' corporation, shame on you keeping me in the dark this way, you had to know this would happen, my paranoia level is going through the roof...
Warning: Emoticon overload eminent.
Posted by: Blackb1rd Oct 29 2009, 02:48 AM
Ares. Today, tomorrow and forever.
I play a character who is, secretly, deeply involved with Ares Corporation. As i result i did ALOT of digging to find out what Ares was all about when writing my character's bio and i am certain Ares is a pretty "bad guy."
I mean there are the companies out there that are just pure evil or you can trace their roots back to evil. For example Mitsuhama Computer Technologies started out as a laundering business for the Yakuza and Aztechnology is real into recreating the Aztec culture all the way down to Blood Magic and human sacrifice.
But Ares is different. It claims to exemplify the "mom's baked apple pie" view of America by propagandizing that it is wholly and undeniably an American company. True it caters to the American public but it has its hands in too many things for us not to be worried, how about the deadly combination of Ares Arms, Ares Space, and Knight Errant? I mean, come on, they are seriously military oriented and have quite possibly the largest and most well equipped loyal corporate security force on the planet. It would take little effort for ares to start a Global war, one that is gretly in their favor too. One cannot afford to ignore them and not keep a close watch on them.
Posted by: Wolfshade Oct 31 2009, 03:40 AM
Heh-heh, Maybe they are secretly the real MIB in Shadowrun
Posted by: Marwynn Oct 31 2009, 04:42 AM
I play a character who is, secretly, deeply involved with Ares Corporation. As i result i did ALOT of digging to find out what Ares was all about when writing my character's bio and i am certain Ares is a pretty "bad guy."
I mean there are the companies out there that are just pure evil or you can trace their roots back to evil. For example Mitsuhama Computer Technologies started out as a laundering business for the Yakuza and Aztechnology is real into recreating the Aztec culture all the way down to Blood Magic and human sacrifice.
But Ares is different. It claims to exemplify the "mom's baked apple pie" view of America by propagandizing that it is wholly and undeniably an American company. True it caters to the American public but it has its hands in too many things for us not to be worried, how about the deadly combination of Ares Arms, Ares Space, and Knight Errant? I mean, come on, they are seriously military oriented and have quite possibly the largest and most well equipped loyal corporate security force on the planet. It would take little effort for ares to start a Global war, one that is gretly in their favor too. One cannot afford to ignore them and not keep a close watch on them.
Also since they are the premiere military supplier odds are the products they sell have some sort of backdoor they can exploit for their benefit. It may seem unlikely, but they can wrap it in copyright laws and 'your warranty will be void if this seal is broken' stuff all over their gear. The military drones you think are under your command may suddenly turn around and start shooting you.
Further conspiracy mode: the reason they haven't done so is that it's their giant ace in the sleeve. Why reveal that against 'runners and the like when world domination is a far better goal.
Just in a conspiratorial mood is all.
Posted by: Tachi Oct 31 2009, 04:52 AM
Further conspiracy mode: the reason they haven't done so is that it's their giant ace in the sleeve. Why reveal that against 'runners and the like when world domination is a far better goal.
Just in a conspiratorial mood is all.
Always check the programming yourself...
Posted by: Tymeaus Jalynsfein Oct 31 2009, 03:41 PM
Exactly...
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