And That's Terrible: Difference between revisions

When the bad guy's acts are unquestionably evil, but the show's writers [[Viewers Are Morons|feel the need]] to have characters say this out loud. Frequently a sign of a [[Designated Villain]].

If they're established as bad by an actual ''action'', see [[Kick the Dog]] and [[Moral Event Horizon]]. If this is used as ''most'' of what is supposed to make the villain bad, it's [[Offstage Villainy]]. [[You're Insane]] can often be used as an alternative.

A [[Sub Trope]] of [[Show Don't Tell]]. Might be justified if the villain in question is edging toward [[Draco in Leather Pants]] territory.

{{examples|Examples:}}

* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series (Web Video)|Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series]]'' has Yami Marik saying that he got [[Dragon Ball Abridged|Team Four Star]]'s account on [[YouTube]] suspended, and everyone is shocked at such a horrible act. [[Cloudcuckoolander|Except for Tristan]].

** Pegasus may have kidnapped Yugi's grandfather, but Kaiba [[Screw the Rules I Have Money|cheated in a card game]] and [[This Is Unforgivable|that's unforgivable]].

* In ''[[Superman II]]'', Perry White informs Clark Kent that terrorists are threatening to destroy the Eiffel Tower (and [[Nuke Em|much, much more]]).

* The writers of the ''[[The Glove of Darth Vader|Glove Of Darth Vader]]'' series apparently felt [[The Empire]] was not [[Obviously Evil]] enough. Yes, the Empire from ''[[Star Wars]]''. The books dealt with this by taking the bad guys to sublime levels of [[Card Carrying Villain|Card Carrying Villainy]]. ("I bid you Dark Greetings!") And not even that stopped the narration from constantly referring to them as evil.

* ''[[Law and Order (TV)|Law and Order]]'' itself tends to be just as bad when their cases have sex crimes connection (with a side of [[What Do You Mean Its Not Heinous]] when dealing with escort services).

** You'd think {{spoiler|The Master turning everyone on Earth into a copy of himself}} in "The End of Time" was evil enough without {{spoiler|referring to them as [[Godwins Law|"The Master Race."]]}}

* ''[[The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword]]'', when you pick up a Rupoor: "You picked up a Rupoor! That means you've lost 10 Rupees. And that's a little bit sad."

* [[Red vs. Blue (Machinima)|Red vs. Blue]] combines this with a form of [[Arson Murder and Jaywalking]] when Sarge finds O'Mally's first victim.

* Both justified and not in "Who Shot Mr. Burns, Part I", a summer cliffhanger on ''[[The Simpsons]]'' (the second part not being aired until a few months later) that gave [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|Charles Montgomery Burns]] as many [[Kick the Dog]] moments as possible (in one case quite literally) to create a situation in which [[Asshole Victim|practically everyone in Springfield would have a motive for shooting him]]. Burns has become obsessed with forcing the people of Springfield to rely only on nuclear power from his power plant, and when oil is discovered in the town, Burns buys up all the oil fields to preempt their exploitation by the townspeople. Then, to prevent everyone from using solar power - the one energy source that Burns cannot monopolize - Burns deploys an invention of his that effectively blocks out the sun, plunging Springfield into eternal night. Waylon Smithers, Burns's assistant, has reluctantly gone along until now, primarily out of respect and genuine admiration for Burns, but now tells his boss that his plan is "unconscionably fiendish." Burns promptly fires Smithers for insubordination, reducing the servant to a drunken wreck. He then goes to City Hall just to taunt the townspeople, many of whom are wielding guns at the meeting and some of whom have already threatened to kill him. As Burns [[Tempting Fate|crows that no one in Springfield has the courage to shoot him in the open]], the citizens stand up one by one and together deliver a drawn-out [[The Reason You Suck Speech]], saying that Burns deserves to die and should go to Hell and so forth. (Ironically, after all this, the one who eventually shoots Burns in a darkened alley does so by accident: it's {{spoiler|Maggie Simpson}}.)

* ''[[Static Shock]]'' plays this trope so straight it crosses over into [[So Bad Its Good]] territory on an episode dealing with the horrors of racism. No, really. ''Verbatim.''

{{quote| "Well, what you did was bad! And wrong! [[Arson Murder and Jaywalking|And a lot of feelings got hurt.]]"}}

** The visit to the Museum of Tolerance in "Death Camp of Tolerance," for one. The tour guide speaks to the group of adults and children [[Viewers Are Morons|as if they're all five years old]].