By all means, take the long way round.Said over a shoulder, with one hand already on the short-cut's door.
Check the date on that letter again.Put the balloon over the hero's shoulder so both read the letter at once.
Every door you chose, I built.Let the tail point back down a corridor of identical doors.
Everything you just did was on my list.Small neat letters in a wide balloon. The calm does the work.
Go on, explain it back to me.Leave the rest of the panel empty. The hero's silence is the punchline.
I do not chase. I wait at the end.Place the speaker in the last panel of the tier, already seated.
I keep a spare of everything, including you.Reveal the second figure in the next panel. The line finishes in the first.
I never gamble. I only collect.Letter it level and even. A schemer's words never wobble.
I planned for your plan.Five words alone in the panel. Give the balloon a short straight tail.
I prefer my chaos alphabetical.Shelves of labelled boxes behind the speaker carry the joke.
Show all 150 catchphrases (140 more)
Schemers and masterminds, continued
I sent the invitation you think you forged.Show the invitation in close-up and run the tail in from off-panel.
I wrote the rules you are so proudly breaking.Bold only the word wrote. One heavy word is enough in a balloon.
It only looks like luck from where you stand.Draw the speaker above the hero. The tail drops straight down.
The map was accurate. I checked it myself.The balloon overlaps the map's edge, as if the words were pinned to it.
Move seven. You are still on move two.Two balloons stacked, read top down, with a chess piece set down between them.
My mistakes are scheduled.A caption box would be too grand. Use a plain balloon and a small smile.
Note the time. You will want it later.Two short balloons joined by a thin neck: one speaker, one breath between.
Nothing personal. It is all in the ledger.Letter it in the same hand as the ledger page on the desk.
Patience is just winning slowly.Said to nobody. Try a balloon with its tail pointing at a teacup.
The surprise party was for me all along.Bunting in the panel, one balloon, and nobody else smiling.
Thank you for doing the difficult part.Say it while taking the prize from the hero's hands. Polite lower case.
Third drawer down. I left you the answer.The tail crosses the gutter into the panel that shows the desk.
You found the clue I am proudest of.A warm line. Round the balloon's corners and keep the letters upright.
You were early, which was also arranged.Draw a clock in the background already showing the time they hoped to beat.
Your backup plan works for me too.Break it over two lines after plan, so the reader pauses where the hero does.
Rulers and tyrants 25
Applause may begin.Two words would do, three are grander. Centre them under a raised hand.
Bow lower. The ceiling is expensive.A low balloon pressed against the top border makes the room feel short.
Bring me the horizon. Leave the receipt.Put a full stop's pause in the artwork: a servant frozen mid-bow.
The crown fits. I had the kingdom resized.Draw the crown too large and everyone pretending not to notice.
Every road here ends at my gate.A long panel across the whole tier, roads running in from both edges.
History is whatever I sign.Show the quill still wet. The tail starts at the pen, not the mouth.
I do not make requests. I make weather.A spiked balloon would be too loud. Use a heavy outline on a calm one.
I do not raise my voice. I raise the bridge.Keep the letters small. The drawbridge going up behind does the shouting.
I granted you an audience. Be one.The second sentence in lower case, quieter and worse.
I have decreed it a lovely day.Rain in every panel. The balloon stays perfectly dry and round.
I have outlawed Tuesdays. Adjust.Give Adjust its own small balloon, stacked underneath the first.
Kneeling is optional. Standing is taxed.Big upright capitals and a wide balloon that fills the top of the panel.
The law is short. It is my name.Letter the last two words larger, like a signature across the balloon.
The moat was a gift to myself.Said from the far bank, so the tail has to cross the water.
My portrait is watching the east wing.The tail comes from the painting, not the ruler. Readers will check twice.
My statue has finished waiting.The statue's shadow reaches the speaker's feet across the whole panel.
Ring the bells until I am pleased.Fill the background with bell sound effects, hand lettered and overlapping.
Second place is across the border.A signpost in the panel points off the page's edge.
Stand where the carpet tells you.Draw the pattern as arrows. The ruler does not bother to look up.
The sun rises when I have finished breakfast.Draw the window dark and one egg left on the plate.
There is one opinion in this hall, and I am wearing it.Twelve words is a mouthful. Break it over four even lines.
This is not a throne. It is a reminder.One balloon each side of the chair, read left to right.
The treasury thanks you for your cooperation.Formal letters inside a square balloon, like a stamped notice.
You may speak when the bell agrees.A small bell in the corner, and a sound effect that never arrives.
Your village is now a footnote.A caption box at the panel's foot repeats the village's name, very small.
Rivals and fallen heroes 25
Ask them who held the line first.The tail points at the speaker, but the eyes go to the crowd.
Call it a rematch. I call it a correction.Bold the word correction and nothing else.
The cape looked better on me.Hang the old cape in a glass case between the two speakers.
I am not jealous. I am counting.Tally marks on the wall behind the speaker finish the thought.
I am what you look like when you stop pretending.Mirror the hero's pose exactly, down to the hands.
I did not fall. I stepped down on purpose.Draw the speaker on the lower stair, looking perfectly comfortable.
I know every rule. That is why I stopped.A rule book on the table, closed, with a ribbon in it.
I remember when you needed a map.A warm voice makes this colder. Keep the balloon soft and round.
I saved this town before it learned your name.Wide panel, the town small behind, the speaker's back to it.
I taught you that move. I kept the better one.Draw both figures in the same stance, one a half step ahead.
I was the good example. Look how that went.Let the second sentence trail under the first in smaller letters.
Keep the medal. I kept the grudge.Hand the medal back in the same panel the line is spoken.
One of us had to learn to lose. I declined.Two words for the last balloon, set apart with room round them.
Same training. Different conclusion.Split the panel with a diagonal line and give each half one sentence.
Say my old name. I dare the echo.Letter a faint second balloon behind the first, with no tail at all.
Second best is a long time to practise.A training yard in the background, worn down to bare earth.
They cheered for me too, once.A faded poster on the wall behind carries the speaker's old face.
We both made a promise. I kept the other half.Show two halves of one token, one in each fist.
We wore the same badge once.A quiet line. Lower-case letters and an old badge held in the open hand.
Winner keeps the nickname.Short enough to shout. Try a spiked balloon and thick capitals.
You got the parade. I got the plan.Two balloons: the first near old confetti, the second near a rolled map.
You never asked why I left.Leave the balloon's lower half empty. The space is the unasked question.
You still drop your left shoulder.Said mid-duel. Tuck the balloon into the gap between the two figures.
Your best day was my warm-up.Said while stretching. The lazier the pose, the sharper the line.
Your hero speech was mine first.Put quotation marks round a scrap of the speech pinned to the wall.
Tricksters and thieves 25
A good trick is a door you did not see.Draw the hidden door's edge as one thin line the reader can find.
Applause first. Then count the silver.Said from a stage with a low bow. The tail curls like a ribbon.
Blink twice and I am a rumour.Fade the speaker's outline to dots at the feet.
Check your pockets, then check your friends.Draw every hand in the panel patting a coat at once.
The coin lands the way I like it.Show both faces of the coin in an inset panel. They match.
Count your spoons after I wave.The wave fills the panel. The spoons are already up a sleeve.
The crown is in the last place you smiled.A riddle wants a neat balloon. Let the crowd's heads all turn at once.
The exit was the trick.The speaker is already outside. The tail reaches back in through the door.
Finders keepers. I find very well.Sing-song delivery. Draw one small musical note inside the balloon.
Honest work is how I rest.Feet up on a desk that is plainly not the speaker's.
I left you a card. It is also yours.Close-up on the card. The balloon has no tail, the speaker long gone.
I never run. I stroll out with the crowd.A busy street panel. The balloon rises from somewhere in the middle of it.
I only borrow things for ever.A wink and a balloon tilted a few degrees off level.
I signed the guest book in your handwriting.Letter the line in a looping script that matches the open book.
I was never here, and I enjoyed it.A balloon above an empty chair that is still rocking.
Is this your watch? It was.Hold the watch up in panel one. Deliver the last two words in panel two.
Keep the change. It was yours anyway.One coin spinning in the air between the two figures.
Locks are just long greetings.Said to the lock itself, with the pick still turning.
Lovely painting. Lovely frame, still on the wall.Show the empty frame and a rolled canvas under one arm.
Take a bow. You were my distraction.Said to the hero from the wings of a stage, half behind a curtain.
That was the decoy. So was that.Two balloons, two tails, pointing at two identical bags.
Three of these cups are empty. So is your vault.Three cups in a row on the tier's first panel, the vault in its last.
Wrong hat, wrong name, right safe.Three beats, three short lines, with a hat tipped on the last.
You guard the front. I adore that.Put the speaker at the back window, waving at the reader.
Your alarm sang beautifully. I hummed along.Hand letter the alarm's sound effect across the background, then cross it out.
Small-time and comic 25
Behold my slightly evil plan.Letter slightly much smaller than the rest. That one word is the joke.
The biscuit tin is mine. All of it.Crumbs on the cape do the acting. Keep the balloon round and smug.
Curse this perfectly reasonable parking sign.A raised fist and a spiked balloon aimed at a very polite sign.
Fear me, after four o'clock.Draw a wall clock at ten to four and a villain checking it.
How dare you be so punctual.The trap is half built. Draw the tools still in the speaker's hands.
I am villain of the month, technically.A framed certificate on the wall, slightly crooked.
I have a henchman. He is on his lunch.Empty space beside the speaker, with a dotted outline where he should stand.
I rehearsed that entrance. Go back out.Dust already settling, one arm still up, and the hero looking the wrong way.
I will have my revenge and a small refund.Said across a shop counter, receipt in hand.
I will rule this queue.Third from the front, crown on, holding a number like everyone else.
I would gloat, but I have a bus to catch.A timetable folded in one fist and a cape caught in the bus door.
Mark my words. I wrote them on my hand.Close-up on a palm covered in smudged ink.
Minions, assemble, both of you.Two small figures, one of them waving at the reader.
My cape is at the cleaners. Imagine it.A sweeping arm gesture over nothing at all.
My doom machine needs two more batteries.A huge machine with a tiny open hatch at knee height.
My evil laugh is being repaired.A weak sound effect, hand lettered small: heh.
My lair has a doorbell. Use it.The hero has come through the wall. The bell is untouched beside the door.
Nobody leaves until I find my other glove.One gloved hand raised. The other glove is on the speaker's own head.
Seize them, when you have a minute.Start in thick capitals and let the letters shrink towards the end.
Soon the whole cul-de-sac will be mine.A grand pose in front of six tidy houses and a recycling bin.
This is my angry voice. It is new.The first balloon spiked, the second round and a little unsure.
This trap worked in rehearsal.A net lying flat on the floor and a rope that goes nowhere.
Tremble, or at least look up from your sandwich.The crowd in the panel keeps eating. Nobody's balloon answers.
The world is too big. I will take the car park.A map of the world rolled up under one arm, a parking ticket in the other.
You have not seen the last of my newsletter.Shouted while leaving. The balloon squeezes through a closing door.
Uncanny and otherworldly 25
Count the stars again. I borrowed one.Leave one neat gap in a drawn constellation.
Do not look for my footprints. I walk on yours.A single trail in snow that should be two.
Even the moon checks behind it.A wide night panel, the moon with a nervous sliver of shadow.
Every clock in town owes me an hour.Clock faces in the background all one hour wrong.
The fog is my handwriting.Let the letters go soft and grey at the edges of the balloon.
The forest moved closer to hear me.Tree trunks crowd the panel border, some in front of it.
I am older than the word for me.A wavy-edged balloon and letters that lean a different way on each line.
I am the page that was torn out.A book lies open in the panel with one ragged stub at the spine.
I arrived before the door did.Draw the speaker inside and the door frame only half sketched in.
I do not knock. The house remembers me.Every door in the panel is a little open.
I have been tomorrow. It was mine.Put the line in a caption box, as if the narrator were the villain.
I keep the names that people forget.Tiny lower-case letters. The reader should lean in.
I never left. I just went quiet.An empty room. The balloon has no tail and sits in the corner.
I was the cold spot on the stairs.A staircase panel with one step drawn in a lighter line than the rest.
The lanterns dim because they are polite.Shade the panel darker towards the speaker and leave the balloon white.
Listen. That is the tide saying my name.Letter the name as a sound effect in the waves, not in the balloon.
Midnight is my front step.A balloon with no tail floats over an empty threshold.
The mirror is on my side tonight.The reflection speaks. The tail starts on the glass.
The well is not empty. It is listening.The balloon rises from the well's mouth. No speaker is shown.
The wind is only me breathing out.Bend every tree and the balloon's tail in one direction.
The window kept your face after you left.Close-up on dark glass. A faint face looks out and nobody stands in the room.
Winter asked me for directions.Frost on the balloon's outline, drawn as small cracks.
You dreamed this. I kept the dream.A thought balloon, cloud shaped, drifting out of the speaker's hand.
Your echo came home with me.Two balloons with the same words, the second smaller and tail-less.
Your shadow already agreed.The hero's shadow nods on the wall. Give it no balloon of its own.
How this list was compiled: Original list written for Draw This Next on 2026-09-30: catchphrases for an invented villain, each twelve words or fewer, sorted by the six kinds of villain the villain generator deals, each with our own hint on lettering or delivering the line in a comic panel. No line quotes or closely echoes the catchphrase of a villain from a film, comic, cartoon, game or wrestling promotion, no line names a real person, people, faith or nation, and no title repeats one in any other list on the site. The lettering terms in the hints were checked on 2026-09-30 against Wikipedia: Speech balloon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_balloon: captions for narration, a balloon without a tail for a distant or unseen speaker, wavy-edged balloons, musical notes for a sing-song voice, upper case as the traditional lettering and lower case for a quiet manner of speech, stacked balloons read from the top down) and Glossary of comics terminology (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_comics_terminology: panel, gutter, tier, caption, the tail of a word balloon, the cloud-shaped thought balloon, spiked balloons for shouting, sound effects as words without balloons). Licence: own work
How it works
This villain catchphrases generator deals one original line at a time, with a hint on lettering it in a comic panel. Press Pick another catchphrase, then use the menu under the button to keep to one kind of villain.
Read the full guide
One line for one villain
Every catchphrase is twelve words or fewer, short enough to come back in a second scene: a boast, a rule, a warning or a sign-off. The menu sorts the lines by the six kinds of villain that the villain generator deals, from schemers to the uncanny. It works as a villain slogan generator too, since a line that fits a balloon fits a banner.
Letter it, then draw the face
The hint under each line is about the balloon. A spiked outline shows a shout. Lower-case letters read as a quiet voice. A balloon with no tail belongs to a speaker the panel does not show. The whole list is printed below the tool.
Say the line aloud twice. A catchphrase that sounds awkward the second time will not last a whole story.
Give the villain one line and keep it. The third time the reader meets it, change a single word.
Letter the balloon before you draw the face. Its shape tells you which expression the face needs.
Questions and answers
What makes a good villain catchphrase?
It is short, it sounds like one person, and it still works in a second scene. A boast, a rule, a warning or a sign-off can all do the job. The lines here stay at twelve words or fewer for that reason.
Are these lines taken from films or comics?
No. Every line was written for this page. None quotes or closely copies the catchphrase of a villain from a film, comic, cartoon or game, and well-worn stock lines are left out.
Can I use a line in my own comic or story?
Yes. The lines are starting points to use, bend or rewrite. Swap in your villain's name, lair or grudge and the line will sound less like a list and more like a person.
How do I letter a villain's line in a comic?
Decide how it is said first. Comics are traditionally lettered in upper case, with lower case for a quiet or frightened voice. A spiked balloon can show shouting. The tail points at the speaker, so its length and direction are part of the acting.