Help with writing a convicing evil binder

[darkslayer]

I'm working on a character for a campaign but for the life of me I cannot nail her down. I want her to be a dark magical chick if that makes sense, but I don't know how she turns evil (Either Lawful Evil or Neutral Evil) and I don't know how to introduce her to pact magic.

For the first part of the conundrum I don't want to use spoiled brat or bad childhood. For Spoiled Brat I have one of those in the works already. For Bad Childhood I feel like that trope is a bit overused in the Dark Magical Girl trope. On top of that I want the PCs to hate her rather than pity her. Nor do I want her to turn good and her evil to be just swept under the rug.

I'm not opposed to outside influences coming into make her evil. That being said I don't want her to be directly influenced or possessed by a devil. I want her damnation to be her own if that makes sense. I'm not opposed to the idea of an evil doll manipulating her as a child into becoming an evil adult. That being said I feel like that sort of manipulation is too easy. As would just labeling her evil.

The second part of my conundrum is how she finds pact magic in the first place. I'm not opposed to having her attracted to dark or forbidden lore. (Despite the fact that in my game pact magic will probably be neutral at worst (If I use Tome of Magic) to running the gamut of alignments at best. (If I use Secrets of Pact Magic and Villains of Pact magic)) I'm half tempted to say she was born with the power to contact spirits but I don't know how well that would work as well as how well that would affect her alignment.

[The Glyphstone]

She had a twin sister. Her parents seemed to favor the 'older' twin, leaving her feel neglected and jealous. She grew up bitter and resentful, willing to do anything to get the respect and power she felt cheated out of despite all of it being entirely in her head; her parents loved them both and her twin never had any ill will towards her. She eventually joined a cult promising power, kidnapping her twin and sacrificing them to Marchosias. It's not exactly a Bad Childhood, since all the slights and mistreatment were her blowing stuff out of proportion from envy, but it is a damnation driven by her own desires rather than some outside influence.

[mabriss lethe]

It could be as simple as "she likes power and is ruthless in both it's acquisition and it's application."

Maybe she feels slighted because she didn't have the right skill set or social standing to recieve formal training as a wizard. Or maybe a mentor got a good look at just how rotten she was as an apprentice. Some people are malignant messes from day 1 without any need for a tragic backstory. In any case, a sociopathic opportunist can usually find someone to prey on, or in turn be cultivated by a group that thinks she'll be useful. She may not even realize she's being groomed for some other work. Things have "just happened" to put the knowledge of past magic in her hands.

[zlefin]

I'm working on a character for a campaign but for the life of me I cannot nail her down. I want her to be a dark magical chick if that makes sense, but I don't know how she turns evil (Either Lawful Evil or Neutral Evil) and I don't know how to introduce her to pact magic.

For the first part of the conundrum I don't want to use spoiled brat or bad childhood. For Spoiled Brat I have one of those in the works already. For Bad Childhood I feel like that trope is a bit overused in the Dark Magical Girl trope. On top of that I want the PCs to hate her rather than pity her. Nor do I want her to turn good and her evil to be just swept under the rug.

I'm not opposed to outside influences coming into make her evil. That being said I don't want her to be directly influenced or possessed by a devil. I want her damnation to be her own if that makes sense. I'm not opposed to the idea of an evil doll manipulating her as a child into becoming an evil adult. That being said I feel like that sort of manipulation is too easy. As would just labeling her evil.

The second part of my conundrum is how she finds pact magic in the first place. I'm not opposed to having her attracted to dark or forbidden lore. (Despite the fact that in my game pact magic will probably be neutral at worst (If I use Tome of Magic) to running the gamut of alignments at best. (If I use Secrets of Pact Magic and Villains of Pact magic)) I'm half tempted to say she was born with the power to contact spirits but I don't know how well that would work as well as how well that would affect her alignment.
why does she have to "turn" evil? maybe she was just always evil, and it was never correctable.

[daremetoidareyo]

Binding is an act of achieving power without a long drawn out process. Why does she want access to this power?

I feel like a noble intent might be the way to go here. Coming from a place that is occupied by another Nation or tribe or race would quickly push someone towards binding in order to even the score.

Throw in some zealotry against these oppressive forces and a penchant for taking it way too far and you got yourself evil.

[darkslayer]

The Glyphstone: That's an interesting idea. I'd need to take some time to expand on it though. Like how pact magic is introduced to her. I'm not ruling it out it just needs fleshed out a bit more through discussion. I like the jealousy idea especially combined with mabriss lethe's idea of her being less skilled or less suited for magic. Perhaps even being impatient when it comes to learning magic.

mabriss lethe: The idea about her loving power and being ruthless in its acquisition meshes well with all three ideas I'm thinking of to be honest which I will detail at the end of the post. I like the idea of her feeling slighted especially by a twin sister or brother whom excels more than she does thus causing her to do what she can to outperform him through the use of pact magic versus regular magic.

daremetoidareyo: The idea of a noble cause corrupted really reminds me of my second idea. I could see her being manipulated by the spirits of devils or the whispers of those aligned with devils or lawful evil forces to twist her pure motivations into something darker.

Idea one: Knowledge and power at any cost

Alignment: Neutral Evil

A wizard who craves more power and knowledge than arcane magic can provide, cannot harness magic as effectively as other casters, or is too lazy to really put in the work arcane magic takes ends up discovering pact magic. She discovers that by blending the two disciplines she can get much more power than she could by arcane magic alone. She seeks the power to bind more powerful spirits as well as more powerful arcane spells in order to achieve glory and recognition for herself among other things. This would be a binder/wizard going anima mage

Idea two: Unintended consequences

Alignment: Neutral or Lawful Evil

Pact magic is misunderstood at best by the general public and at worst hunted as heretics by the church for summoning spirits which are beyond mortal reach or understanding. She is is the student of a binder. For the most part harmless though misunderstood. They keep to themselves as they practice their craft until they're rooted out by the church (Be they witch hunters or maybe more appropriately a shadowbane inquisitor) end up finding the pair and killing her master while leaving her for dead after the attack. After the attack she turns bitter and vengeful towards those who attacked her and divine agents in general. Thus she starts a campaign of vengeance against those who wronged her.

Third idea: Sibling Rivalry

Alignment: Neutral Evil

In keeping with Marblis's idea she is a twin who is taught magic or some other class which requires special training. She cannot live up to her twin who receives all the praise and accolades. Jealousy sets in to the point where she'll do anything to overcome her twin. In comes pact magic which gives her the boost she needs to overcome her twin. This rivalry may even end up with the death of her twin either in combat or sacrifice to gain more power. In this scenario she might even have a disability that she has to overcome her twin does not thus making the inferiority complex much worse.