Special:Badtitle/NS90:Talk:Pokémon Colosseum/YMMV/The Great Big Cipher Effort Post

Back in the old days of TV Tropes where the Complete Monster trope was abused in several different ways, Cipher as a whole was talked up as being an entire group of Complete Monsters who belonged to this trope for their heinous crimes and the depravity of their goals and actions. It was later pointed out that groups as a whole cannot be a CM nor can every single member qualify just because we see them commit Moral Event Horizon worthy actions yet we still know next to nothing about them personally, of what redeeming traits they may or may not have. The new entry here states that Cipher the group is "built around the Complete Monster trope" since the bigger a total dick you are to Pokemon and other trainers, the higher you advance - meaning that the Complete Monsters of the organizations are the ones at the top, because they've worked their way up to that status by embracing the absolute worst of themselves. All members below them do not qualify since, while they're still abusive dicks, they're not the most absolute heinous as they possibly can be, and might still possess humanizing qualities. Let's now examine the known chief members of Cipher to determine which of them do or do not qualify.

'''Who is Cipher? What have they done?' - Cipher is an evil crime syndicate that operates in the Orre region, with plans of world domination that are set in motion during the course of Colosseum and XD: Gale of Darkness.'' Their goals are to exploit the power of Pokemon in order to take control of society, and they plan to initiate this takeover from within by distributing hostile Shadow Pokemon to trainers or even out in the wild. Shadow Pokemon are created by repeated abuse of Pokemon and experiments done with a special dark aura that serves as both a power enhancement drug and a Mind Rape on the Pokemon, turning them into vicious fighting machines devoid of feelings and free thought. Unlike other villain groups, Cipher is strongly indicated to regularly use physical force on humans (during the kidnapping of Professor Krane and attack on the ONBS, Trainers are found injured on the ground mentioning they couldn't stop Cipher, and during the attack on Phenac City, Cipher forces Justy to surrender by threatening hostages.) And in Colosseum it is shown that Shadow Pokémon do not hesitate to attack humans, which is also one of the possible effects on Shadow Pokémon in Hyper Mode. Most frightening of all is that their actions are even implied to have gotten people and Pokemon killed, especially with Shadow Lugia's attack on the SS Libra in XD. More than a few lives were lost when he blasted the ship, and two crew members were thrown overboard, never to be found, making it unlikely that they survived the ordeal.

The organization first appears at the beginning of Colosseum, where Wes sees two thugs, later revealed to be Cipher members Trudly and Folly, carry off a sack after a supposed heist. The sack contains a girl, which Wes discovers on venturing to Phenac City, who has the ability to see the dark aura Cipher's Shadow Pokémon emit. After consulting briefly with the mayor of Phenac City, Es Cade, Wes and Rui venture off to defeat Cipher. Most cities in Orre are either overrun by the group or controlled entirely by them: three of Cipher's four administrators, Miror B., Dakim, and Venus, control Pyrite Town, Mt. Battle, and The Under, respectively, when Wes firsts arrives at each, having taken over the towns from their people through threats, covert means, and outright violence. Agate Village is also terrorized by the group, with the goal of destroying the Relic Stone. Cipher's fourth administrator, Dr. Ein, serves as their lead scientist, and is the chief developer of Shadow Pokémon in a secret laboratory in the desert. Nascour is chief executive of the operation, giving directives to the admins, only appearing in person twice. Team Snagem became partners to Cipher's plot: Team Snagem would steal Pokémon from Trainers, while Cipher would corrupt them and turn them into Shadow Pokémon. Cipher was the original developer of the Snag Machine stolen from Team Snagem by Wes. With their Shadow Pokémon scheme nearing completion, despite Wes' snagging of the Shadow Pokémon he had encountered, Cipher opens the newly-completed Realgam Tower in the middle of the Orre desert, hoping to use its Colosseum as a moneymaking venture where spectators could witness brutal battles between Pokémon who were fighting for their lives. With the intervention of Wes, this was prevented, and Nascour was defeated. However, at that moment, Es Cade arrives, revealing himself to be Evice, Cipher's true leader. He is defeated as well, and attempts to escape with a helicopter to avoid arrest; however, Ho-Oh destroys the helicopter with Sacred Fire, ending Cipher's scheme.

Cipher returns in XD, having refined their Shadow Pokémon creation and distribution techniques. Only Miror B. is present from the first plot, but he no longer works for Cipher. Instead, he and his minions, Folly and Trudly, seek to create Team Miror B. and own all the Pokémon in the world. All other members of the previous Cipher administration are presumed to be either still be at large or in prison, and new administrators have been appointed. Lovrina serves as chief supervisor of Cipher's research and development team, who are overhauling Ein's techniques to create a Shadow Pokémon that is impossible to purify. Snattle serves as Cipher's political pawn who intends to be inserted as Orre's new Governor, while Gorigan is in charge of the Cipher Key Lair, where the newest breed of Shadow Pokémon are made in groups. Eldes and Ardos serve as bodyguards for Cipher's Grand Master, Greevil, accompanying him throughout the region as he tours it in disguise as Mr. Verich. These two are also Greevil's sons, but while Ardos remains unquestioningly loyal to his father's plans, Eldes shows discontent and fear that Greevil is going too far in his bid for power. A possibility is hinted at by an NPC, and confirmed by Sherles in Pokémon XD, that Evice may not have been the true leader of Cipher, and that Greevil was always the Grand Master. In the end, Shadow Lugia is able to be purified after all and Eldes convinces his father to abandon his plans, showing him the error of his ways. But Ardos is unrepentant and does not want their plans to stop, to the point of being willing to blow up an entire island while their own troops were still on it just to destroy Michael and end his interference. In the end, Greevil agrees to go to prison for his crimes and Cipher is disbanded. Ardos escapes, vowing to re-organize Cipher someday and take revenge on Michael. However, a third game set in Orre and featuring Cipher and their Shadow Pokemon schemes was never made, so whether or not Ardos made good on his threats will be forever unknown.

Are their actions heinous by the standards of the story? - Oh definitely. These are definitely the most heinous crimes committed by a singular group, with only the actions and plans of Team Galactic and Team Flare rivaling them. Cipher's way of operating is one that takes violence and cruelty towards Pokemon to the highest level, but also includes violence and cruelty towards human beings as well! The goal that motivates these actions is also as petty as it gets: it's just lust for wealth, power, and status. While we've seen this with Giovanni and Team Rocket, Charon of Team Galactic, Ghetsis and his associates in his Team Plasma, and even a few Team Flare members, Cipher puts a special heinous touch on the whole business. That said, we don't know what motivates every single member of the group. Given what kind of a place Orre is, there could be a lot of poor people in there who just want a better living. There could be bad people who are just selfish but still have humanity. And there could be total psychopaths and sociopaths who just want an excuse to be bad, but might not necessarily be the worst of the worst when it comes to being bad. As for the admins and grand masters, they all have their own set of deplorable crimes:

Evice - Being a politician and mayor of a city, he feigned not knowing too much about Cipher's work and ultimate plans and could only ask for Wes and Rui to stop them, when in truth he was leading Cipher in their operation and deliberately withdrew from doing anything to stop them, thus putting the people of his own city at risk on a daily basis - people who look to their leader for guidance and protection! As the head of Cipher, Nascour reports to him and serves his cause. All of Cipher's crimes can be traced to him, though he's not alone in setting up this particular Shadow Pokemon based conspiracy. Evice provided Team Snagem with powerful technology so that in return, Team Snagem would snag Pokémon from innocent trainers, after which they'd get transformed into Shadow Pokémon at the Shadow Lab, and then shipped via The Under Subway and dispensed to the general public in Pyrite Town and The Under. Evice was also the one who had the Realgam Tower Colosseum built, as he'd wanted to attract wealthy Pokémon fans and charge them money to see fierce tournaments between Shadow Pokémon.

Nascour - Nascour is Evice's front man, acting as the head of Cipher and being in charge of the operations. For most of the game, he doesn't do much other than give orders to the Cipher admins - first speaking to Miror B., Ferma and Reath via video conference at Miror B.'s Hideout, and later in a similar discussion with Venus and Ein at Venus's studio in The Under. At Realgam Tower, Nascour forces Wes to battle against four Trainers in a row, without a rest for him and his Pokemon. He then battled Wes himself, in front of a packed stadium of witnesses. However, he gets defeated.

Miror B. - Miror B. first appears in Phenac City, where Wes and Rui find him "terrorizing" the mayor, Es Cade. He pauses to drop some vague hints regarding Cipher's involvement, then leaves Phenac City to return to Pyrite Town while his personal Peons attack Wes and lose badly. Since Es Cade is truly Evice, this whole affair was staged. It's later discovered that Miror B. is controlling Pyrite Town with an iron fist due to having kidnapped Duking's precious Plusle and held it hostage, effectively blackmailing the town's reigning hero into uselessness, allowing the dancing deviant to run the Pyrite Colosseum and hand out Shadow Pokémon with no resistance to his reign. Once Miror B. is defeated and Plusle returned, the town is free from Miror B.'s grasp. Miror B. shows up again at Realgam Tower, where he is guarding one of the keys needed to unlock the path to the main tower. He is later found as an opponent in the Deep Colosseum, as the last opponent of the first round. In XD, Miror B. is no longer an admin of Cipher, but is instead attempting to set up his own group, Team Miror, which consists of himself, Trudly and Folly, and is seeking to own all the Pokémon in the world. In this game, when a Shadow Pokémon is defeated before it is snagged and its Trainer can't be rebattled, Miror B. will obtain the Pokémon.

Dakim - Dakim is dispatched by Ein to Mt. Battle to steal the Time Flute so that Celebi could not be summoned and used against them. Dakim and nine of his underlings took over the first area of Mt. Battle, and Dakim tried to intimidate the Area Leader, Vander, into surrendering the mystical instrument. Dakim actually strikes Vander after he fails to convince him to just surrender the flute from his hands. Wes and Rui showed up and managed to defeat Dakim and his minions. Dakim later appeared at Realgam Tower, guarding one of the four keys that would allow Wes and Rui access to the tower's main floors. Dakim was defeated there, as well, and remarks that throughout his entire life he has only lost to two people - Wes and his master Nascour.

Lady Venus - Venus ruled over the Under in Orre after soaring to the heights of fame via a television show called "Under Time". She used the Under Subway to transport Shadow Pokémon from the Shadow Lab via train to the Under, and distributed some of the Shadow Pokémon in the Under Colosseum while passing the rest on to Miror B. and his associates. Hearing about the defeat of her colleagues, Venus used her TV program to control the citizens with propaganda. She informed the people of the Under that a spy had invaded, and to capture him on sight. But the inhabitants of the Under failed to recognize Wes and Rui as spies - thinking that they were members of the Under themselves. However when Silva arrives in the Under, following the trail left by Cipher. he's immediately captured and locked up for being labeled a spy. Wes stormed the Under's TV Studio and confronted Venus on live television. Venus was defeated and she fled into the Under Subway, where she lured Wes and Rui into Cipher's train, the Shadow Liner, and made an escape while the two young heroes were distracted. Venus didn't reappear until Realgam Tower was completed. The pink diva had one of the keys needed to unlock the path to the tower itself, and guarded it in the maze that surrounded the tower. She once again was defeated by Wes, and surrendered the Blue ID Card to him, whining about her loss and exclaiming that she doesn't want to do Cipher's work anymore.

Dr. Ein - Ein is the brains behind the process that creates Shadow Pokémon. His research, the "Ein Files", are littered across Orre wherever members of Team Snagem or Cipher trekked. He created Shadow Pokémon in a secluded lab in the middle of a desert and shipped the Pokémon to Venus and Miror B. via the Under Subway. He'd also done everything in his power to keep the Shadow Pokémon he created from being purified, always looking to perfect his process. He seems to be as influential as Nascour within the group. He tried to have Rui kidnapped, the Relic Stone destroyed, and the Time Flute stolen. When Wes and Rui broke into the Shadow Lab and confronted Ein, he battled them with Shadow Raikou but lost. However Ein took solace in that he had already created the ultimate Shadow Pokémon, and had it transported to Nascour and Evice. He then made his escape in an elevator. Ein made his reappearance at Realgam Tower. The Mad Scientist had one of the keys to the tower's main entrance. Wes prevailed over this madman once again, and Ein was forced to hand over the Yellow ID Card and leave the tower.

Lovrina - Lovrina runs Cipher's Research and Development team in XD. Since she's continuing Ein's research of perfecting Shadow Pokemon, there's an indication that she's Ein's pupil. She can be hyperactive and narcissistic, generally acting like a stereotypical teenage girl, but she can also be quite nasty when pushed. One of Cipher's researchers calls Lovrina "nothing short of terrifying". After her main Peon, Naps, kidnaps Prof. Krane, Michael goes to Ein's old Lab to rescue him. While there, he learns of Lovrina and Cipher R&D's research to refine the Shadow Pokémon creation procedure and make them completely resistant to purification, starting with XD001. As he tries to escape from the facility with Krane, Michael is cut off by Lovrina, who orders that he give the professor back. After refusing, Michael fights Lovrina and defeats her in battle. Lovrina reappears on Citadark Isle, boasting that XD001 has been perfected and is now impossible to purify, then attacks Michael as payback for her prior loss. After losing, Lovrina flees the island. She is the final opponent of the first round in Orre Colosseum, where her strategy is to inflict status conditions on her opponent's Pokémon. Upon defeating her, Michael wins her respect, and the title of "Lovrina Fan Club Member No. 1".

Snattle - Snattle is a politician who works as a Cipher Admin. His ultimate goal is to be inserted as the Governor of Orre, presumably to grant Cipher political control over the region through him. He appears to be a very self-absorbed and egotistical man who doesn't take challengers to his authority lightly and is quick to resort to unethical methods. When XD001 dropped the S.S. Libra in the desert north of Phenac City, Snattle and a team of Cipher Peons entered the city and locked all the citizens in the basement of the Gym. The Peons then dressed up as the citizens to maintain appearances and deter outside visitors while they went to the S.S. Libra to retrieve the Pokémon from the shipwreck for Shadow Pokémon transformation. Michael exposed the fake townsfolk and forced them to leave, then found Snattle holed up in the now-abandoned Phenac Stadium, where he held the reporter Marcia held hostage and tried to force her into giving him the videotapes she made on Cipher's activities. After being defeated, Snattle fled town. Michael and Snattle later had a rematch on Citadark Isle, but Snattle lost again. He continues to appear in Orre Colosseum as the final opponent of the second round. After being defeated, Snattle grows to respect Michael and grants him the title Orre's Governor Secretary Candidate, stating he will appoint him as his secretary when he becomes governor of Orre.

Gorigan - Gorigan's role in Cipher is to run the Cipher Key Lair, which is now Cipher's chief Shadow Pokémon manufacturing facility. Though his strange, ape-like appearance and mannerisms make him seem dull, he is actually quite smart and commands a lot of respect and fear among the Cipher Peons. However, he also has a very short temper. He first meets Michael outside the wreck of the S.S. Libra, but leaves Cipher Peons to fight in his stead. Gorigan later meets Michael on the top floor of the Key Lair and attacks him for shutting down the facility, but Michael defeats him. He is fought again on Citadark Isle and is the final opponent of Orre Colosseum's third round. After being defeated, Gorigan grows to respect Michael, and grants him the title Hexagonal Bolt of Friendship Holder.

Ardos & Eldes - Grand Master Greevil's two bodyguards, revealed at the end of the game to also be his sons. Ardos saves the main character's sister from Zook at the beginning of the game in Gateon Port, when he, Mr. Verich, and Eldes pass by to see him attacking the main character. In Citadark Isle, he reveals that he only saved the player so that the Shadow Pokémon plan wouldn't be exposed to the world. He battled Michael on the Isle, but lost. After Greevil's defeat, he tries to convince his father to blow up the island and flee; however, Eldes, to Ardos's dismay, convinces his father to simply turn themselves in. Ardos remains extremely loyal to Cipher's cause, even telling Eldes that their father shall be referred to as the "Grand Master". He also shows far less in terms of morals than any other member of Cipher in the game, even Greevil, as he tries to force his father to destroy Citadark Isle to save Cipher despite the countless deaths that would result instead of accepting defeat. Ardos somehow ends up avoiding arrest following his father's defeat, and can battled in the sixth round of the Orre Colosseum. He explains to Michael that he fully intends to revive Cipher, and after that, he will declare Michael as Cipher's biggest enemy and have Cipher constantly hounding him. Eldes, by contrast, has the most conscience out of any Cipher member, as he realizes that countless people and Pokémon are suffering from their actions and would be killed in the process of blowing up the isle. After Greevil has been defeated, Michael can challenge Eldes on the last round of the Orre Colosseum. He also shows regret that when he first battles Michael, he is battling him as an enemy and not in the traditional way, to decide who the better Trainer is.

Greevil - Under the guise of a man named Mr. Verich, Greevil won the favor of the Sailors of Gateon Port by providing free food and drink every time he visited the Krabby Club. On one of his visits, he came across a Thug by the name of Zook who was pushing around a Trainer named Michael and his sister Jovi. After having one of his bodyguards, Ardos, defeat him in battle, Verich chastised Zook for his actions and left. After Michael shut down the Cipher Key Lair and defeated Gorigan, Greevil appeared on a TV monitor and revealed himself as the leader of Cipher. He then taunted Michael by claiming that he would never reach his HQ on Citadark Isle. At the very end of the game, Michael infiltrates Citadark Island and defeats all the Cipher members inside, including Greevil's bodyguards Ardos and Eldes, then challenges Greevil himself. Greevil begins by summoning XD001, the Shadow Lugia created by Cipher to be the ultimate Shadow Pokémon, to destroy Michael, but he snags it. Greevil then fights Michael himself with a complete team of six Shadow Pokémon. After Michael defeats/snags all his Pokémon, Greevil, in a fit of rage, declares that he'll destroy Citadark Island and everything in it. Though Ardos fully encourages his actions, Eldes protests and claims that Greevil is going too far. Eventually, Greevil listens to Eldes's reasoning and agrees to accept defeat graciously, much to Ardos's anger. It is unknown what becomes of Greevil afterwards.

Do they have any redeeming qualities? - Again, we'd have to look at the individual members here:

Evice - His demeanor as a kindly, generous old mayor turns out to be a total facade. In truth, he's a demonic looking man with pointed hair, a pointed mustache, evil eyes, a Slasher Smile, and even the ability to levitate for some reason, and HE TALKS IN ALL CAPS as if he's roaring all his lines like a literal monster. In his limited screen time, he displays zero redeeming features. He's simply pure, unadulterated evil who's enabling horrible things, with no regard for the well being of any person or Pokemon.

Nascour - He also looks completely demonic and he doesn't even bother trying to hide how malicious he is. As the acting head of Cipher, he's directly in charge of Cipher's most deplorable crimes, something he never shows a shred of remorse for. He is also sadistic, forcing Wes into a continuous battle match that gives no time for him and his poor, beaten down Pokemon to rest and heal up. And he has this happening in front of crowds full of people just so Wes can suffer ultimate humiliation and spirit-breaking loss, which would be payback for his meddling in Cipher's affairs. Being completely cold and unfeeling towards others and even his own Pokemon, Nascour is also devoid of any redeeming qualities.

Miror B. - Miror B. is a complete and utter Cloudcuckoolander, seemingly existing in his own little world where he loves to dance, party, and do whatever the heck he wants. He's a hedonist and semi narcissistic, but definitely Played For Laughs and not taken very seriously by others. He has no ill will towards his enemies and is pretty friendly with his colleagues too. Not only that, but he flat out spoils his Pokemon, showing that he does love them. In fact his Poke' Ball afro and desire to own all Pokemon hints at an obsessive love for Pokemon in general. The implication is that he quit Cipher because he finally saw how harmful towards Pokemon their actions truly were and he didn't want any more part in that shit.

Dakim - Dakim is basically a big bully who's particularly violent and abusive towards others. However, he seems to have a buried respect towards Wes after all the times he's beaten him, but he refuses to let that show, continuing to hurl taunts and insults instead.

Lady Venus - Venus is primarily concerned with being in the limelight and the influence she can have on the hearts of others. If she can have that, any other terrible stuff on the side doesn't matter to her. So she's not so much evil and cruel as she is shallow and apathetic. She has lots of charisma and like Miror. B seems to spoil her own Pokemon rotten. When beaten by Wes for a second time, she showcases a weak will and the ability to easily give up her work in Cipher when it becomes too much for her to handle.

Dr. Ein - That he's pragmatic and reasonably well mannered are the only slightly decent things that can be said of this guy. Otherwise Ein is portrayed as a total sociopath. He's cold, callous, and unempathetic towards the Pokemon he runs horrific experimentation on, and of the lives he'll inconvenience through the conspiracy that his knowledge and scientific work has made possible. He has a fixation on creating Shadow Pokemon through his process that hinges on Pokemon being stripped of their conscience, senses, and very souls. His desire to perfect this process so that the Pokemon cannot be purified is not out of any belief that it will be beneficial to humans, Pokemon, or even science - he just wants to show the world that he can do it. So yeah, no redeeming features here!

Lovrina - She's casual at most, friendly at best with others if they stay on her good side, though this could be a matter of her having some sociopath characteristics mixed with genuine signs of Hypomania. She has an affection for cute Pokemon, and since many of her own Pokemon fit that bill, it seems she pampers them too. After being defeated at the Colosseum, she comes to respect and even sort of like Michael, initiating him into her fan club. And her main Peon, Naps, is also her brother, which raises questions about how the two of them ended up in Cipher together and why they stick together. Lovrina is too Laughably Evil and taken too lightly - one can imagine her becoming a decent member of society if given a nondestructive job that suits her interests and ego.

Snattle - Snattle is a very deplorable man who has an overly high opinion of himself, a crude disregard for others, and a Never My Fault attitude towards his own setbacks and failures. Similar to Lovrina, his actions are suitably heinous and he displays no remorse for them, but he's also taken rather lightly in the game due to his bufoonish nature. He also grows to respect Michael after defeat, promising to get him a good status and job with him once he's governor of Orre. His redeeming traits, while slim, are there.

Gorrigan - Is almost a Punch Clock Villain a lot of the time we see him, seeming high in mechanical know how but low on imagination and consideration for certain details, with his worst quality being his short temper. He's also played lightly due to his stupid behavior, and not only does he come to respect Michael after defeat, but he now wants to be his friend. So clearly, he's redeemable as well.

Ardos - Of all the Cipher members in XD, Ardos has the most potential for Complete Monster-dom, being an immoral psychopath who would resort to deadly means of achieving Cipher's objectives. However, there are three things worth noting. One is how he rescues Michael and his little sister Jovi from Zook at the start of the game when Zook was threatening them with a Shadow Zangoose. Ardos later states he only did it to keep anyone from noticing the results of his father's plans, but whatever his motives were, he still found it in him to rescue children from harm. Two is how supportive of his father he is and how he seems to be on decent terms with his brother, showing that he possibly does value family. Of course he hates to see Greevil abandon his evil ways and turn to good (insert Austin Powers reference here) but whether or not this is a result of his own nature or how Greevil himself raised him to behave and think is left unclear. And three is how the heinous standard of the work isn't stacked in favor of him being irrdeemable seeing as not only is his brother redeemed, but so is Greevil, the man who supposedly founded Cipher, set up operations for Evice and co. in Orre, had just a bit earlier threatened to destroy everything and everyone on the island out of rage, and in general was just horrid up until his good son was able to get through to him. If someone on his level of evil can turn himself around, Ardos being unable to do the same seems less likely, and since no third game was made, we're given nothing that really sets Ardos apart from being worse than his old man, and if Eldes can make Greevil see the light, perhaps it's not impossible for him to do the same for his own brother.

Eldes - If you've read anything I've said about him, this one should be painfully obvious.

Greevil - As the Grand Master of Cipher, he sets the heinous standard for the second game, and as repugnant and amoral as he is, he does care about his sons and is close enough to Eldes to not only listen to reasoning from him, but to actually take his perspective into account and realize how wrong he and his family had been this whole time. He's probably still going to have to face a life sentence, but he surrenders himself willingly due to his regrets. A good family relationship and a Heel Face Turn = redeeming qualities.

Freudian Excuse or other mitigating factors? - None of them are given any backstories or deep justifications for their actions - it's all left to speculation. As for any mitigating factors, see above.

Other considerations? - While it's clear that Miror B., Dakim, Lady Venus, Lovrina, Snattle, Gorrigan, Ardos, Eldes, and the many other members of Cipher we meet (Folly and Trudley, Reath and Ferma, Fein, Mirakle B., Naps, the Hexagon Brothers, etc.) are no saints, it's also clear that they're not bad enough to belong in a trope dedicated to villains who embody absolute, uncompromising, horrific pure evil. Which leaves us with Greevil, Evice, Nascour, and Ein. As I said, Greevil tops the heinous standard of the game he appears in, but since he ends up being redeemable, no one qualifies as a CM there. And as the man behind all of Cipher, he arguably sets the heinous standard for both games. The three lead members from Colosseum would have to outright surpass Greevil in heinousness in order to qualify for this trope. And indeed, Ein alone seems to, since he's as horrible as he can manage within the scale he's operating in, is devoid of redeeming humane qualities, and is literally at the center of the horrific creation of Shadow Pokemon and the equally horrific things that arise from that afterwards. He is the brains behind Cipher's entire conspiracy - one might even assume that Greevil initially formed his group not intending to go that angle until Ein presented his research. But even more damning is how heinous Ein, Nascour, and Evice are when put together as the Shadow Pokemon making Orre faction of Cipher's leadership. They are all separately yet equally at fault for all that goes down in the first game, with Greevil as the Bigger Bad being elsewhere and thus very hands off about the whole thing. Evice represents the heart of Cipher's schemes, since he is at it's very center, puppeteering everything that Cipher has their hands in. Nascour represents the muscle of Cipher's operation, being the one to actively enforce his boss' orders and oversee his subordinates' progress in their terrible deeds. And Ein represents the brains behind Cipher's workings, bestowing upon the group all knowledge and technology that are needed to carry out their plans. Each of these three are standing at the center of Cipher's madness, contributing something to a larger scheme designed to put Cipher on top at the cost of the suffering of millions of Pokemon and humans alike. And unlike Greevil, they display no decent qualities and are never redeemed.

Final Verdict - As stated before, the Cipher syndicate is built on the premise of a sort of "evilness latter." And aside from Greevil, who while incredibly heinous was often hands-off in his approach and could ultimately see reason and regret his actions, Evice, Nascour, and Ein are at the top of the latter in terms of both individual evil and heinousness through their unification. That's why out of the entire group, they and they alone qualify as Complete Monsters and have a secured place on the trope.