Mine was both at the same time. I had a player in my D&D group that was authorized to be both evil and, eventually, the main villain and final boss of the campaign. He was charming enough and fun enough to play with that the usual dangers of OOC animosity weren't really there, so everyone was looking forward to the final confrontation between the evil character at the height of his power, with all of his armies and doomsday weapons at the ready, versus the party and all of their allies assembled.

Then that villain got high.

I mean it.

That's what happened.

He got so baked out of his mind at a hookah bar during the planned final episode of the campaign, to CELEBRATE it no less, that he was unable to perform his duties as the final boss.

We simply had to get the campaign done before one of our key players had real life reasons that they couldn't play after that, so I decided to play the villain's forces while the mastermind himself was predisposed. I put up a good fight on his behalf, there were plenty of losses, but I admit I was glad the heroes saved the world and so on and so on. I mean, the villain's plans wouldn't have left much of an opportunity for a campaign sequel in the same world, I'll say that.

Anyway, when my villain player was finally sober enough to make it to the table and realize he lost the campaign, he took it both badly and gracefully. There was a toy ambulance that I bought as a joke some time back, one with lights that flashed and siren sound effects, and because it was the style at the time to motion to the "waaambulance" if someone was having a particularly sore moment at the table as a long standing group culture joke, that villain player planted his knees on top of the toy ambulance, gave a hilariously somber salute, and rolled on top of it out of the room, siren blaring, like an oversized Mario Kart character on an undersized go-kart, to fanfare and applause for botching his own ultimate triumph by not showing up until it was over.

It fit his character, in a way. He played that villain like a pro wrestling heel combined with Mojo Jojo from the Powerpuff Girls. It somehow fit thematically for him to get baked on fantasy drugs while his player was away and his floating doom fortress came crashing down. :rat-salute: