Accidental World Domination: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Death Ray

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Alex Adams is the Iron Menace, a less than notable supervillain amongst countless others in Victory City, who has for the most part failed to make a mark on the super community. Until a power he'd mostly written off suffers a slight misfire that ends with him accidentally killing a member of the League of Domination, THE villain organization of the world and one that doesn't take kindly to some nobody offing one of their members. Meanwhile his actions have attracted a lot of attention from the superheroes as well, and not all of them are pleased. So Alex must quickly figure out how to become important enough to survive quickly being thrust into the very center of the superhero world. With his past misdeeds catching up to him, no desire to swap over to the other side of the caped world for a cushy "redemption story", and unwilling to lower himself to serve as a flunky for another villain, that leaves only one option: World Domination. Join the Iron Menace, Terrorantula, ArachNed, and more in this somewhat humorous but loving take on superhero (villain) fantasy in a world with some secrets of its own. What to Expect: Chapter Length of about 4k-6k words with updates at least once a week (Usually Mondays). Chapters almost always have breaks in them, often for POV swaps. A "cape world" inspired by the silver and bronze age of comics with a focus on world building and elements of alternative history. Countries aren't just renamed but their history will be impacted by the strange events that let superpowers flourish over human history. A lower power protagonist who doesn't solve his problems by getting a surprise new power up or gaining levels, in completely over his head and forced into goals loftier than he ever dreamed. Light progression elements as the cast must adapt (You can't conquer the world in just spandex and repurposed microwaves on your hands after all) with a cast that will experience setbacks and wins. Best laid plans and all of that. Multiple perspectives from various heroes and villains of different skill sets and threat levels and questionable reliability of their narration Villains who enjoy the "Saturday morning" spotlight and cringe at the idea of being seen as "nice". They won't be out for blood and slaughter but aren't too worried about a what happens in the crossfire unless it affects their "brand". The complicated relationships within the lives of heroes and villains as they try to date, maintain friendships, and sort through family drama all while saving/conquering the world (or at least an appropriately sized civil population). LGBT friendly themes. A sincere love of the campy genre staples and tropes without becoming bogged down by parody or irony Conspiracies and secrets layered underneath that threaten to pull our cast into bigger trouble than they're ready for Questionable radiation, magic gemstones, aliens abandoning their children to Earth based foster care, abusing magical loopholes like you've got a crippling addiction to tax fraud, and good old museum heists for whatever the paper says they've got on display this week. A man that can turn into any dinosaur (probably other things but he loves dinosaurs) And of course, figuring out just what is the difference between a Death Ray and a big Laser Cannon

Information

Status
Ongoing
Year
2025
Author
TheAceOfSkulls

Tags

ACTIONFANTASYMAGICANTI-HERO LEADDRAMASCI-FIROMANCE SUBPLOTSECRET IDENTITYMULTIPLE LEAD CHARACTERSVILLAINOUS LEADSOFT SCI-FIPROGRESSIONSUPER HEROESANTI-VILLAIN LEAD

Royal Road Stats

Rating
4.8/ 5.0
Followers
1,172
Views
183,945

Chapters(53 total)

What readers say about Accidental World Domination: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Death Ray

  • “Very enjoyable so far. The characters are fun, their interactions are very entertaining and the lore surrounding the world is terrific. Some of the sentences are a little clunky / don't flow well, but I've noticed improvement chapter to chapter. I'm looking…”
    TwigTechRoyal Road5.0 / 5
  • “A great story with an engaging world, storyline and main cast of characters that you are (and feel happy to be) invested in. More than a pulp like super powered story, but keeping a lot of the fun of the genre. There are still lots of shades of grey for our…”
    DisapointedVoidRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!

Community Reviews(10)

  • TwigTechRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    Very enjoyable so far. The characters are fun, their interactions are very entertaining and the lore surrounding the world is terrific. Some of the sentences are a little clunky / don't flow well, but I've noticed improvement chapter to chapter. I'm looking forward to seeing where the story goes, it looks like it has a finish line in mind.
    Edit: Fully caught up, and the writing quality has noticeably improved! Very happy with how this story is unfolding
  • DisapointedVoidRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    A great story with an engaging world, storyline and main cast of characters that you are (and feel happy to be) invested in.
    More than a pulp like super powered story, but keeping a lot of the fun of the genre. There are still lots of shades of grey for our cast to lurk in.
    Can't wait to see the world dominated!
  • 1jammyRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    I’m not one for superpower stories. Or rather I don’t really care for them all that much. In fact I only started this story off of a whim based on the funny name. Then I got obsessed and finished the currently published chapters in like a week, this story has a great plot line I love, with good stakes and drama, and characters who i really like, like ned who can’t keep his backstory straight, and menace/riftmaker/whatever the next name is who will say he has miniaturized gravitor gauntlets till the end of time. The world building is so in depth! In short, I love this story.
  • IHasNotTheBigGayRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    Just binged through it all yesterday, and I must say it is one of hell of a good story. This story is a fantastic take on cape stories, with very very large and well done worldbuilding that makes the world feel expansive and deep. The characters are numerous and witty, and interact in very fun ways and constellations. Well worth a read!
  • JackCrackle.JackleRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    This is just a blast. The writing has so much character right from the start and I’m instantly engaged in Alex’s voice. It’s funny and the MC is great. I like the world building that is setup. My only complaint is the double spaced formatting but it’s a 5/5 regardless.
  • JujuShRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    This is a great story so far. This really reminds me of watching superhero shows as a kid, but it's a villain we're technically following! But the cast really brings me back to those days. The world lore reminds me of traditional superhero universes. Alex is a great MC to follow as his inner thoughts are believable and relatable despite his position.
  • Lux1890Royal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    Just binged the whole thing over a day, signed in just to leave a review since this one doesn't seem to be attracting as much attention. Me like.
    Good characters, neat world, plot with just enough depth to it, satisfying combat, enjoyable relationships. I don't usually read superhero fiction, but this one is triggering barely-existant nostalgia. Biggest downfalls thus far are not enough explosions, -inators, and chapters.
  • MaliciousChaosRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    I binged every chapter currently available, and honestly, this story is just fantastic—clever, entertaining, and way more thought-out than I expected! I’m usually too lazy to write reviews and just slap on a rating, but seeing how few reviews there are right now made me feel obligated to speak up.
    The characters are an absolute delight, and the humor really reminds me of The Perfect Run with how lively and fun everyone is. The plot isn’t overly complex yet, but there are some intriguing threads that have been introduced and only lightly explored so far—plenty of potential for things to ramp up. And from what I’ve read, this story definitely has what it takes to hit the front page of Best Ongoing, not just Rising Stars.
    I didn’t notice any real grammar issues, and the prose flows well. Overall, this is a genuinely enjoyable read, and I’m excited to see where it goes next!
  • Animate CarrionRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    This is a hilarious story with undercurrents of tragedy behind it.  I love Laser Badger and all the Industrial Strength Magic vibes I'm getting from it as I read.  If you like Marvel's Shocker as a character then you'll love the Iron Menace.
    Spoiler for word count.
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  • Readn1Royal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    Not through all the chapters posted but I felt like reviewing now.
    I'm the first to pick up a superhero story and drop it if it turns out to be a millionth cape-punk grounded mass powering event story where everyone has to make their own costumes. I know those stories have their audiences but it isn't me. I'm always glad to find superhero stories that aren't embarrassed to cling to their roots. In just the first chapters the author presents a city bursting with characters of different looks, powers, purposes, skills, and dispositions. Mages weaving plots, quippy heroes, and jobber villains just trying to get paid all with their own relationships and moods to each other make the setting feel alive. My favorite so far is Lyn. I like monstrous-looking women just trying to find love and normalcy. The ongoing plot of a small-time villain secretly offing a big-timer he wasn't supposed to and everyone getting in his business scratches a very specific itch for procedural investigations happening in superhero worlds.
    Grammar and flow could use some touching up in places but who among us couldn't use a bit of editing?
    The one thing I don't really connect with as a reader is the footnotes. I personally dislike them because I either have to break my reading flow to check them or read them all at the end and try to remember where they were at. I also don't just like being dumped a compendium of information and would rather just wonder or speculate on things until they come up again later if they're truly important to know about. I know this is a me problem so no points off for that. At least here they seem to be optional things you can peruse if you're curious for more world details. I'm skimming them at the end at this point. I can't fault the author for thinking about their world too much. And by god this is a setting that clearly fully exists outside of this story. I wish I had my own work's worlds fleshed out even a quarter as much as this.

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