Cold, calculating, and full of moral dilemmas are the major elements we see in the Villain Retirement novel. More precisely, the novel’s story answers the question: “What if the number one superhero never exists?” and also, “What if the villain who murders the so-called number one superhero has been bored in living his life?”
Here in Villain Retirement, we follow the stories of Riley Ross a.k.a. the supervillain Darkday, who kills Mega-Woman, the number one superhero, when he was only 16. As a supervillain, Riley a.k.a. Darkday’s primary abilities are camouflaging and creating clones of himself. He can even use his superpowers to connect with his clones.
Most stories in Villain Retirement are focused around Riley, the anti-hero protagonist, particularly all about his thoughts on being a villain. Since Villain Retirement is a fantasy action novel with lots of villainous elements, we can expect to see lots of killing scenes when reading this novel.
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- Part 1: Meet The Characters Of Villain Retirement
- Part 2: Story Of Villain Retirement
- Part 3: Meet The Author Of Villain Retirement
Part 1: Meet The Characters Of Villain Retirement
Riley Ross (a.k.a. Darkday)
Riley Ross a.k.a. Darkday may be the supervillain in Villain Retirement, but, he is also the MC of this novel. His primary superpowers are creating clones of himself (that he usually refers to as Diley) and camouflaging, and, let’s not forget that he has immense strength and speed. After all, Riley a.k.a. Darkday killed Mega-Woman when he was only 16.
After reading some chapters in Villain Retirement, I would join other readers in saying that Riley is a heartless, cold, and calculating villain who doesn’t give second thoughts to killing superheroes and other human beings. Apart from psychopathic tendencies, Riley also has some bits of autism in him, which makes his characteristics unique.
The Supporting Characters
Mega-Woman and the Hope Guild are the first supporting characters to be introduced in Villain Retirement. Mega-Woman is the leader of Hope Guild with clich superhero powers, whom Riley killed in front of the public. Then, we know Hannah, Riley’s sister, and also their parents, as the humans in the background who idolize Mega-Woman.
We also encounter other characters with superpowers as we read more chapters of Villain Retirement. For instance, Mega-Woman’s super-family members (Silvie the Mega-Girl and Gary the Dragon Monarch), the Blindfolded Hero, Katherine Read a.k.a. the Scarlet Mage Silver Moon, and others.
Part 2: Story Of Villain Retirement
“The hope of the Earth is lost We have tragic news: Mega-Woman is dead,” is the first message we encounter in the first chapter of Villain Retirement.
Mega-Woman has been the Earth’s only hope, yet, she has suffered a painful death to a 16-year-old villain named Darkday. Darkday’s enormous powers drive the public to fear as they go inside the bunkers to save themselves.
Nonetheless, Riley Ross, a 16-year-old boy in Villain Retirement, doesn’t seem to be moved or feel panic at all. Hannah, Riley’s sister, and the rest of his family members have reminded him several times.
At first, Riley seems indifferent to their reactions, because he doesn’t want his family to know his true identity. As we read through each paragraph in Villain Retirement, we know that Riley and Darkday are the same individuals.
Riley is the son of Bernard the Whitening, one of the superheroes members in Mega-Woman’s Hope Guild. However, something happened throughout his childhood that awakens his villainous alter-ego the Darkday. We know this part when we read some more chapters after Chapter 1 in the Villain Retirement novel.
Riley is surprised to find out that Mega-Woman whom he had killed is still alive. So, in Villain Retirement, he continues to torture Mega-Woman and threatens the Hope Guild’s leader to not reveal his identity, particularly to his sister. As he does so, he announces to the public about his Villain’s Retirement Simply because he is bored to be the “weak” villain.
Overall, in Villain Retirement, Riley shows as a pure-evil being who enjoys killing. He also has some mental problems, such as being psychopathic and living in his inner world most of the time.
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Part 3: Meet The Author Of Villain Retirement
Romeru, the author of Villain Retirement, is as sarcastic and humorous as the MC in the novel. His unstoppable memes and comments in the comment sections picture his nature that, I believe, is similar to the nicer version of Riley Ross in this novel, with the writing skills as Romeru’s superpowers.
Speaking about superpowers, the Villain Retirement novel isn’t the only fantasy and action novel that Romeru has written. Romero himself specializes in these two genres, particularly when the MCs have devilish traits. When we look at Romeru’s bibliography, we will realize that Riley isn’t the only bad-boy character in Romeru’s universe.
Romeru is also an ambitious author. I am getting a positive-thinker vibe, not only in the ways he writes about the MC in Villain Retirement but also in the ways he publicizes his books and presence as an author. He doesn’t stop in only spending time reading novels, instead, he also has his name on several websites to help him advance through his fantasy and action novels.
As a result, he gets thousands of followers. Another interesting thing about this author of Villain Retirement and other fantasy novels is that he may not be as well-known as other fantasy and action writers, however, he makes sure he is well-known, at least in the Philippines, his current country of residence.