Captain Hook

> "*Double the powder and shorten the fuse!*"
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**Captain Hook** is one of six playable Villains in the Villainous base game, *The Worst Takes It All*. He is from the movie *Peter Pan*, released in 1953, in which he is voiced by Hans Conried and animated by Frank Thomas. He is illustrated in the game by Lucas Torquato.

## Objective

Captain Hook must defeat Peter Pan at the Jolly Roger.

In order to achieve his objective, you must unlock Hangman's Tree location by playing the Never Land Map. Peter Pan must be played, either by you or an opponent, to Hangman's Tree. You will then need to move him to Mermaid Lagoon, then to Skull Rock, and finally to the Jolly Roger, where you must defeat him to win the game.

The order of playing the Never Land Map and playing Peter Pan doesn't matter, either of them can be played first.

## Realm

Captain Hook's Realm contains the following locations, from left to right:

* Jolly Roger
	+ Gain 1 Power | Discard Cards
	+ Vanquish | Play a Card
* Skull Rock
	+ Gain 1 Power | Play a Card
	+ Fate | Discard Cards
* Mermaid Lagoon
	+ Play a Card | Move an Item or Ally
	+ Gain 3 Power | Play a Card
* Hangman's Tree (*locked until Never Land Map is played*)
	+ Fate | Gain 2 Power
	+ Move a Hero | Play a Card

## Villain deck

The following cards are in Captain Hook's Villain deck:

* Boarding Party (×3)
* Give Them a Scare (×3)
* Swashbuckler (×3)
* Worthy Opponent (×3)
* Aye, Aye, Sir! (×2)
* Cannon (×2)
* Cunning (×2)
* Cutlass (×2)
* Hook's Case (×2)
* Obsession (×2)
* Pirate Brute (×2)
* Ingenious Device
* Mr. Starkey
* Never Land Map
* Smee

These include 10 total Allies (Boarding Party; Swashbuckler; Pirate Brute; Mr. Starkey; Smee), 4 total Conditions (Cunning; Obsession), 8 total Effects (Give Them a Scare; Worthy Opponent; Aye, Aye, Sir!), and 8 total Items (Cannon; Cutlass; Hook's Case; Ingenious Device; Never Land Map).

## Fate deck

The following cards are in Captain Hook's Fate deck:

* Pixie Dust (×3)
* Lost Boys (×2)
* Splitting Headache (×2)
* Taunt (×2)
* John
* Michael
* Peter Pan
* Tick Tock
* Tinker Bell
* Wendy

These include 2 total Effects (Splitting Headache), 8 total Heroes (Lost Boys; John; Michael; Peter Pan; Tick Tock; Tinker Bell; Wendy), and 5 total Items (Pixie Dust; Taunt).

## Strategy

Captain Hook has a few moving parts, but is nonetheless fairly straightforward. He has four goals he needs to accomplish:

1. Pull Peter Pan out of his Fate deck.
2. Find the Never Land Map and play it.
3. Play as many Allies as possible to the Jolly Roger.
4. Once Peter Pan is at an unlocked Hangman's Tree, he needs to be moved to the Jolly Roger and defeated.

1., 2., and 3. can be done in any order, preferably simultaneously, with 4. happening last.

For 1., Hook could get lucky and have Peter Pan be played by an opponent. Failing that, he needs to use Give Them a Scare, Obsession, and Worthy Opponent to find the snarky young lad so play them whenever you draw them until Peter appears (Obsession can be a bit tricky to activate, so feel free to discard it if other players don't have Heroes to defeat). Once he's out, there's no reason to hang on to Obsession or Worthy Opponent, and these can be discarded, but Give Them a Scare can still come in useful.

For 2., like all Villains, Hook should be using the Discard Cards action to cycle through his deck until he draws the Never Land Map. The only cards he should never discard are Give Them a Scare and Worthy Opponent (at least, until Peter Pan arrives). If he has the opportunity, he should also be playing Allies to the Jolly Roger - Smee, Pirate Brute, Boarding Party (which should be played to Skull Rock instead for greater flexibility), and Swashbuckler, in order of priority - but those Allies should be discarded if they can't be played and you haven't drawn the Map yet. Everything else should also be discarded, except Mr. Starkey and Ingenious Device, which will be explained later. Play the Never Land Map as soon as you draw it, there's no reason to hold on to it.

Once the Hangman's Tree is unlocked, your priority is to build up your Strength at the Jolly Roger. Stop discarding Allies and hoard them until you can play them. Use Cunning where you can to save Power, but don't hold on to it if your opponents don't have a strong enough Ally.

While all this is happening, make use of Hook's Items. Hook's Case can net you a lot of power over the course of the game, and can also be moved around using the Move an Item or Ally action. Cutlass can be played to an Ally in play if you have nothing better to do with a turn, but should be discarded if you have something more useful to play. Cannon is very nice, and should be played if possible, preferably to Hangman's Tree, or wherever you play Ingenious Device.

Once Peter Pan is at an unlocked Hangman's Tree, you want to move him to the Jolly Roger as quickly as possible. Visit Hangman's Tree as often to do this (no Fate card moves any Hero away from the Jolly Roger). If you managed to find and hold on to Mr. Starkey and Ingenious Device, you can win in two turns. Go to Hangman's Tree, use the Move a Hero action, then play Mr. Starkey to Mermaid Lagoon to move Peter Pan again. On your next turn, move to the Jolly Roger (or a location you've previously played a Cannon), then play Ingenious Device, use it to move Peter Pan, and Vanquish him for the win. If you're feeling extra bold, play both Cannon and Ingenious Device to the Hangman's Tree beforehand (this works best if you find Never Land Map before Peter Pan), and do all of this in a single turn. However, this strategy is vulnerable to Splitting Headache.

By the time Peter Pan is brought to the Jolly Roger, a competent Hook player should have more than enough Strength there to defeat him, so there should be Allies to spare to take care of the rest.

## Strategy: How To Counter

Captain Hook is a strong Villain who seems hard to stop as Players are often reticent to Fate him (helping him find Peter Pan). However, once Peter is in play, many of Hook's 'hero hunting cards' become worthless to him, clogging up his hand and reducing his redrawing effectiveness. Thus players should Fate Hook like any other villain as he actually suffers if Peter Pan is drawn too early.

Taunt should always be played if able since it forces Hook to waste resources he'd want to use on Peter, though avoid giving it to Wendy as she empowers all other Heroes while she remains in play (including the Taunting one/s).

When playing Hook's Heroes, prioritize Hangman's Tree (once unlocked) or Mermaid Lagoon as far from Jolly Roger as a Taunting Hero there can be expensive for Hook to remove. Tik Tok is the one exception to this as he hurts more if placed at the Jolly Roger or Mermaid Lagoon where either would normally let Hook play a card from hand... if the crocodile hadn't eaten his entire hand (thematic!)

Don't give Pixie Dust to Lost Boys or Tinker bell, as neither gain significant protection from it. However every other Hero benefits from it greatly; including Peter and especially John (up from Strength 2 to Strength 5; a growing boy!).

Finally, Headache should prioritize Ingenious Device as it prevents Hook repositioning Heroes to where he needs to Defeat them. However, if its not in play, any Item can set him back (including Never Land Map as, once its unlocked Hangman's Tree, its an expensive dead draw once back in Hook's deck).

 **Villain deck**
*3 Copies:* Boarding Party • Give Them a Scare • Swashbuckler • Worthy Opponent
*2 Copies:* Aye, Aye, Sir! • Cannon • Cunning • Cutlass • Hook's Case • Obsession • Pirate Brute
 **Fate deck**
*3 Copies:* Pixie Dust
*2 Copies:* Lost Boys • Splitting Headache • Taunt
*1 Copy:* John • Michael • Peter Pan • Tick Tock • Tinker Bell • Wendy

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