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The Patron of Villains cover
5.4OUR SCORE
ManhwaOngoing · 56+ chR15 · our rating

The Patron of Villains

악당들의 후원자가 되었다 · I Became the Patron of Villains · Became the Patron of Villains · Raising Villains the Right Way

by Bom Han Bang-ul (original); LICO (adaptation) · LICO / Naver Webtoon / WEBTOON · 2025

best for Readers who enjoy game-world foreknowledge, a reluctant father figure, dangerous protégés, and an ordinary man mistaken for a calculating mastermind.

Story8.0Art8.2
Read on WEBTOON

Also on: Naver Webtoon (Korean comic)

Heads-up: murder and child abuse. All content notes

Ch. 01 · The story

What it's about

Spoiler level: Minor — for the synopsis & review below

A man awakens as a noble in a game world headed toward an apocalypse. With a decade before disaster, he decides to intervene in the childhoods of the people destined to become its greatest villains. Providing support should help them avoid the suffering that once turned them destructive. Instead, his protégés grow into formidable people who read much more into his intentions than he expects. Their actions give him a sinister reputation across the kingdom, even as he believes he is simply protecting his comfortable future.

Ch. 02 · Our verdict

My take

The gap between the hero’s practical intentions and his protégés’ extravagant interpretations gives the series its strongest comic engine. Readers repeatedly praise the accidental-mastermind setup and the affection beneath his intimidating reputation. The drawback is structural: abrupt time jumps and repeated misunderstandings can weaken continuity, so the story works best when the pleasure of another wildly overread instruction matters more than tightly connected political plotting.

— coff33latt33

✓ Read it if…

His attempts to improve the future do not eliminate the children’s exceptional abilities or devotion. That makes the outcome more entertaining than a simple rehabilitation story: the people he wants to save become powerful enough to create consequences he never imagined, while sincerely believing they are helping him.

! Skip it if…

The comedy repeatedly depends on people failing to understand what the protagonist means. Time skips can also leave relationships and events feeling underexplained. Although the story includes caring bonds, it contains violence and killings; romance is not established strongly enough in the current comic to score separately.

Ch. 03 · The vibe

Story profile

Story profile
Serious Content Warnings
MurderChild Abuse
Content Notes
Violence
Ch. 04 · Next up

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