Penumbra's a bit long and clunky. And I think steer away from darkness as such - maybe the colour Black as a whole could be his area of influence (and therefore darkness by extension). I like Blot because it's simple, like his normal form, which is just plain black.

I haven't got any pics yet, but here's a brief summary I did a few minutes ago. For the purposes of this post, his name's Blot. We can decide whether that's his name or not later.

Blot
A minifigure of unknown origin, thought it is believed that he was a failed artist. At some point, he was touched the Maelstrom, but rather than being taken over by it, he was transformed in a different way; he became a new being, completely separate from the Maelstrom, called Blot.

His main form is black, but as a shapeshifter he can become anything black (within reason - he normally stays close to minifigure size). He can also assume colour for limited periods of time, meaning that he can shapeshift into any minifigure. However, he cannot copy another fig's powers; if he wishes to use an ability outside his own power set, he must resort to technology or magical artifacts (he himself cannot use magic directly). That said, he can increase his strength and speed and other basic physical aspects if he wishes.

Blot is erratic and changeable; he can form hugely complex master-plans, and they're normally very good when he does, but he often changes to a new project halfway through out of boredom or impatience. He's also extremely creative, crafty and quick-witted, and knows how to use his powers to greatest effect.

His powers are:

• Shapeshifting (explained above)

• Infection: he can temporarily infect bricks with his power, so that he can control them completely. This also applies to minifigs. However, the effect is not permanent (maybe 24 to 96 hours, depending on the size/strength of will?).

• Black Manipulation: He can manipulate anything that is black, though the bigger the object, the greater the focus required. Heroes fighting him may eventually learn to wear non-black clothing. By extension, he can also control darkness and shadow.

• He can teleport by entering something that is black. There must be something black at the other end for him to materialise out of.

Thoughts, people? Obviously, we can change lots. Not gonna' lie, I like the name Blot. It's plosive, and sounds somewhat evil, whilst it's also simple but memorable. Plus, there'll be some great puns we can make based on it in future scripts. But I'm willing to let up if something better comes along.

And Max, insane is good. It means your brain's been cranked up to 11.

"Nothing goes down 'less I'm involved. No nuggets. No onion rings. No nothin'. A cheeseburger gets sold in the park, I want in! You got fat while we starved on the streets...now it's my turn!" -Harley Morenstein

I think Stain as a separate character. Like you say, maybe a minion. The name Stain suggests something unwanted. Or perhaps if a lonely figure, Stain could be an opposing force to Blot.

And I did already think of Blot as an ink blot, which is why I like it. It links back to using the imagery of black in general, rather than just darkness, and the way of drop of ink spreads on paper or even in water looks kind of like a slow infection, taking over a small part of whatever it touches. And also, ink is part of writing, which is a creative art.

"Nothing goes down 'less I'm involved. No nuggets. No onion rings. No nothin'. A cheeseburger gets sold in the park, I want in! You got fat while we starved on the streets...now it's my turn!" -Harley Morenstein

What if Blot is his central name, but he has other aliases that he goes by depending on where he is? So even his identity, not just his physical form, shifts to an extent (obviously, his personality stays roughly the same).

"Nothing goes down 'less I'm involved. No nuggets. No onion rings. No nothin'. A cheeseburger gets sold in the park, I want in! You got fat while we starved on the streets...now it's my turn!" -Harley Morenstein

Wow, this is really picking up speed! 
I really like the character of Blot, and I think the name would work fine. 

So I really love how this is coming along and I wish I could make something for it when there's more of a basis of the world but I doubt I'll have the time, what with school and swimming. 

In any case, I don't really have any characters that could fit in anywhere at the moment. 
I suppose the characters from Perpetual Twilight (Elves, Vampires, and a Werewolf) are really my only characters that I actually have a sort of back history on, if anyone is interested in those characters and a (very) basic fantasy land that I started work on, I could write more in the Character Collection thread. 

I already have someone I stick in the background of my videos, it's basically Slenderman (a plain white head with Lex Luthor's suit).  I wish I had designed my own character for that...dang it.  Also, I made a four-part Johnny Thunder series when I was much younger but I never finished the sound on the last two episodes.  One thing I did in that was a running joke (no one ever saw the films so only I knew about it...) where every episode a scorpion would be smooshed or shot or run over and it would end up as a pile of green goo. 
So if anyone makes a Johnny Thunder film you should totally have a scorpion get smashed into trans-green 1x1 round plates.

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I'm not sure about blot.  Having a black magical villain who's just really evil is a tad on the cliche side.  But I don't actually have a better alternative, and he sounds like a delight to animate.

Anyway, I've been thinking out a film idea, and maybe it could start with Sir Squid fighting a monster to introduce him, then once he's done, Vertigo pops up and gets him to take up some sort of quest that Vertigo can't do himself because he has some other business in the multiverse.

I'm thinking maybe he gives him some object for safekeeping, but doesn't have time to explain why, then lots of stuff starts coming to try to jack the object from Squid, but he really doesn't know why it's so special.
Or maybe he has to deliver a letter.

Maybe Vertigo doesn't just pop up and give the object to Squid. Maybe he's just had a big fight and barely escaped, and is completely exhausted. He lands somewhere near Squid by random happenstance. His quest has a time limit on it, and it needs to get done, but he's in no shape to do it so he asks Squid to do it while he recharges.

As for the black, I totally get it. It is overused. But I think save bright colours for other villains - my Caden Hawke villain, BOX, is mostly yellow and lime green (or at least, the last version was), but I think the concept of Blot fits best with black. It's like when he isn't copying someone else's appearance, he doesn't have any form of his own - after all, black's a kind on non-colour, which is why it's so perfect for evil people. And like FM said, different animators can bring all kinds of different things to the character.

BTW I refer to Blot as a 'he' for the sake of ease. We can decide on gender/genderlessness later.

"Nothing goes down 'less I'm involved. No nuggets. No onion rings. No nothin'. A cheeseburger gets sold in the park, I want in! You got fat while we starved on the streets...now it's my turn!" -Harley Morenstein

That's sounds legen-

Wait for it!

"Nothing goes down 'less I'm involved. No nuggets. No onion rings. No nothin'. A cheeseburger gets sold in the park, I want in! You got fat while we starved on the streets...now it's my turn!" -Harley Morenstein

Hehe, sure, no problem. 

Well, I guess since it's Squid's idea, he'd be the one who would animate the film and probably script it.  I'd most likely give input on how to write/animate Mr. Vertigo, and perhaps co-script, if Squid's OK with that.  I'm not entirely sure what you'd do, though you could give input as well and organize anything relating to the BFCU itself.   We'll have to see what Squid thinks, and then sort out the details between ourselves.

Wow, this is really coming along! Last night when I was almost asleep I thought of an idea for a villain, but I'm not sure 1) if it's really any good, and 2) if we really need any more villains. Should I go ahead and post my idea?