Villains' Code · #1
Forging Hephaestus
Gifted with metahuman powers in a world full of capes and villains, Tori Rivas kept away from the limelight, preferring to work as a thief in the shadows. But when she’s captured trying to rob a vault that belongs to a secret guild of villains, she’s offered a hard choice: prove she has what it takes to join them or be eliminated.
Apprenticed to one of the world’s most powerful (and supposedly dead) villains, she is thrust into a strange world where the lines that divide superheroes and criminals are more complex than they seem. The education of a villain is not an easy one, and Tori will have to learn quickly if she wants to survive. On top of the peril she faces from her own teacher, there are also the capes and fellow apprentices to worry about, to say nothing of having to keep up a civilian cover.
Most dangerous of all, though, are those who loathe the guild’s very existence. Old grudges mean some are willing to go to any length to see the guild turned to ash, along with each one of its members. Even the lowly apprentices.
The series
In most superhero stories, the rules are simple, heroes save the day and villains exist to be stopped. Villains' Code takes that familiar structure and quietly rewrites it, shifting the focus to the systems behind the spectacle and the people who learn to survive within them. Through the lens of Drew Hayes, the genre becomes less about flashy battles and more about power, reputation, and the uneasy balance that keeps the world from tipping too far in either direction.
Read full series description
At the center is a reluctant entrant into the world of organized villainy, where chaos isn’t encouraged, it’s regulated. There are rules, expectations, and consequences, and understanding them matters more than raw strength. What unfolds is part coming-of-age story, part slow-burn character study, as ambition, loyalty, and identity begin to blur in a world where labels like “hero” and “villain” feel increasingly transactional.
The setting expands gradually, revealing a layered superhuman society built on alliances, rivalries, and quiet agreements that rarely make it into the headlines. It’s a place where strategy often outweighs brute force, where mentorship can come from unexpected places, and where every action feeds into a larger, carefully maintained equilibrium. The world-building leans into structured power systems and progression, making it especially appealing for readers drawn to character-driven superhero fiction and long-form narrative growth.
There’s a distinct tone running through the series, dry humor threaded through tension, sharp dialogue breaking up moments of introspection, and a steady awareness that even the most powerful individuals are still navigating systems bigger than themselves. As the story unfolds, the scale widens, but it never loses sight of the personal stakes, the quiet decisions that shape who someone becomes when they stop pretending the world is simple.
Over time, it has built a strong following among readers looking for something a little different from traditional caped narratives, blending superhero fiction with moral ambiguity, found-family dynamics, and a focus on how power is managed rather than merely used. It doesn’t discard the genre’s appeal, it reframes it, inviting readers to look past the surface and consider who really benefits from the rules, and who learns to bend them.
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