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Create Your Own Villain: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{quote|'''[[Batman]]:''' [[I'll Kill You!|I'm going to kill you]].<br />
'''[[The Joker]]:''' You [[Big Word Shout|IDIOT]]! You ''made'' me. Remember? You dropped me into that vat of chemicals. That wasn't easy to get over, and don't think that I didn't try.<br />
'''[[Batman]]:''' {{spoiler|[[Subverted Trope|I know you didn't.]]}}|''[[Batman (Film)|Batman]]''}}
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[[Superhero|Superheroes]] try to rid the world of villains. Unfortunately, sometimes they have the opposite effect.
Maybe [[The Hero]] accidentally wronged some [[Innocent Bystander]] -- say, they or their loved ones were casualties in the [[Hero Insurance|collateral damage from a super-battle]] -- and said bystander decides to turn evil to settle the grudge. Alternatively, the character may already be evil, but the Hero's intervention results in the villain gaining superpowers, and [[
In a parody or deconstruction of this trope, it might go on to reveal that the actions of the hero were actually irrelevant in terms of the individual's true nature. They were ultimately a disturbed individual who was looking for the first excuse they could find to justify their evil behavior.
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Naturally, this is common in comic books. In many cases, however, the villain's [[Start of Darkness|origin story]] isn't even hinted at in their first appearance--it's only after the villain becomes popular that they're given a personal tie to the Hero via [[Retroactive Continuity]].
One of the causes of the [[Superhero Paradox]]. See also [[Disproportionate Retribution]], [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]]. Contrast with [[Weirdness Magnet]], where the Hero doesn't ''create'' the villains, but seems to ''attract'' them all the same.
{{examples
== Anime and Manga ==
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* {{spoiler|Inverted}} in ''[[Full Metal Panic]]''. {{spoiler|The last original founder of Amalgam, Mr. Mercury, was so disgusted with what his organization had become that he ''created'' Mithril to oppose them.}}
* ''[[Gundam Seed Destiny]]'s'' [[Hero Antagonist]] {{spoiler|Shinn Asuka}} was molded to the man he is when his family was killed by a stray shot in the [[Gundam Seed|previous series]] {{spoiler|during the fight between Kira Yamato and Orga of the Druggie Trio.}}
* [[Super
* In [[Macross Frontier]], [[Word of God]] states that at least in one continuity ([[Alternate Continuity|there are several]]) Ranka {{spoiler|lured the Vajra to 117th Fleet just as Grace was getting married, which resulted in Grace's bridegroom being killed, and Grace being mutilated, which turned her into a cyborg, triggering her downward spiral to becomming the [[Big Bad]]}}
* [[Anti
** First he helped Hanzou capture Konan, which resulted in the death of Yahiko, and [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds|Nagato's]] mental break down.
** Then he had Itachi murder the entire Uchiha clan, who however left his brother, Sasuke alive. Guess who had killed Danzo, after the [[Big Bad]] revealed this bit of information to him?
** Apparently Yakushi Kabuto joined Orochimaru {{spoiler|because Danzo had set up him and his adoptive mother -both faithful and competent spies working for him- to murder eachother, but Kabuto survived.}}
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** The villain Gog gets his start when Superman shatters his illusions about Superman being some messiah, thus causing Gog to see him as the Antichrist.
** Bizarro, naturally, since he's an imperfect copy of Superman. Parasite would arguably be less dangerous without Superman to drain for power, and Metallo would at least be much more limited in his activities since Kryptonite is by far the best power source for his robot body.
*** [[Post
{{quote| '''Vale''': Are you sure you want to go through with this, John?<br />
'''John Corben''': You saw what happened earlier. We need Steel Solider more than ever, Professor Vale. [[Beware the Superman|Someone has to stop Superman]]... We're going to do what we have to. }}
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* In the United Kingdom's ''[[Sonic the Comic]]'', (which was based on the old Mobius/Kintobor backstory that's since been brushed away to line up with the Japanese plot), the story arc loosely based on ''Sonic CD'' had Sonic going back in time and deliberately causing the accident that turned kindly Dr. Kintobor into Dr. Robotnik. In the altered timeline where the accident never occurred, the Brotherhood of Metallix conquered Mobius and couldn't be stopped- in the 'real' timeline, Robotnik worked on the Metallixes, too, and thought to give them a mass-self-destruct function.
* The insane [[Captain America]] from the 1950s started out as a fanatical admirer of then-missing Steve Rogers, driven insane by [[Psycho Serum|a faulty attempt]] to replicate Steve's [[Super Serum]].
* The ''[[Transmetropolitan]]'' arc "Freeze Me with Your Kiss" features a revenge scheme involving several people wronged in the past by [[Anti
* ''[[Iron Man]]'' villains the Crimson Dynamo, Titanium Man, and Firepower all got their start because the [[Dirty Commies]] and, later, a [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] decided they needed their own counterparts to Tony Stark's "bodyguard."
* [[The Ultimates]] in the ''[[Ultimate Marvel]]'' universe were at least partly to blame for the creation of the supervillain group the Liberators, and definitely to blame for the first Hulk rampage through New York.
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* ''[[Invincible (Comic Book)|Invincible]]'' accidentally caused genius multiverse-walker Angstrom Levy's attempt to fuse with all of his alternate selves to backfire, and Levy has become one of Invincible's most determined foes as a result.
** Likewise, Powerplex only became a supervillain to avenge himself on Invincible for the death of his sister during one of Invincible's brawls (specifically, Invincible was punched through a building she was inside of, causing it to collapse). Powerplex then killed his wife and infant son by accident while fighting the [[Nigh Invulnerable]] hero, fueling further revenge.
* Billy Butcher from ''[[The Boys]]'' became a [[Cape Busters|cape buster]] because a superhero raped his wife, and the resulting infant tore its way out of her body. From our point of view he's an [[Anti
** Wee Hughie was a regular socially awkward everyman until his first love interest was smashed into a red paste by a superhero.
* ''[[Sin City]]'': While The Yellow Bastard was already a bad guy, John Hartigan's attacks led to the Yellow Bastard turning into a disfigured freak, became just a little more unhinged, and it made him take revenge later in life.
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** At the battle of Ruusan, the Jedi were literally [[Child Soldiers|shoving lightsabers into the hands of small children]] and sending them to slaughter. They also deemed the native "Bouncers" as too dangerous to keep alive because of the thought bomb. Well, one of those Force Sentitive kids sees her Bouncer friend killed by Jedi right before her horrified eyes. Congratulations! They just created Darth Zannah!
** And finally, with Luke Skywalker having destroyed both master and apprentice of the Sith, you'd think it's over no? Well... No. We have a Jedi Purge Survivor that starts a Sith order that would rise to power 100 years later. And Jedi from Skywalker's new Jedi Order jumping ship (one in particular who is even related to him!)
* And then there's this little stroke of brilliance from ''[[Jedi Apprentice]]'', Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon's backstory series. So, the Jedi council has this problem kid, Xanatos. Too much anger and whatnot. And they decide that hey, we're not sure we can trust him, we need to put him to the test. So they send him and his master to intervene in a conflict where his ''dad'' is the [[Man Behind the Man]], and everyone knows it, in the hopes that he'll screw up and they can boot him out. Well as it turns out, the plan works a little too well. Xanatos [[Face Heel Turn|Face Heel Turns]], his Master is forced to kill his father, and he swears bloody revenge on the Temple, going on to become a [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] and [[Manipulative Bastard]] out for Jedi blood, who spreads slavery and death wherever he goes, and targets Qui-Gon (his ex-master) and Obi-Wan at every turn. [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|Nice Job Breaking It Heroes]].
** Now there's a [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Failed Gambit]]
* In ''[[Wuthering Heights (Literature)|Wuthering Heights]]'' the other characters, especially Hindley Earnshaw, insult and abuse the young Heathcliff. It's no surprise when [[Byronic Hero|an embittered Heathcliff]] returns seeking revenge.
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** Warren is both on the creating and created side, really. He attempts to murder Buffy, accidently killing Tara, sending Willow, one of the most powerful witches in exsistance, into a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] that including Warren being skinned alive. However, Warren survived the skinning due to another witch, Amy, who had turned evil out of jealousy for Willow having so much power without having to work at it (so Amy's another example). Warren then changed his hatred for Buffy into hatred from Willow.
** In ''[[Angel (TV)|Angel]]'', we have Holtz, who wants Angel dead for what he did as Angelus, killing the man's family and forcing him to dust his own daughter.
*** Angel, having spent 200 years as a psychopathic murderer, has a few of these, usually vampires he sired, who either want revenge, or Angelus back killing. For example, Drusilla, Spike (sired by Drusilla, but Angelus taught him how to be evil), Penn (from ''Somnambulist'') and Sam Lawson (from ''Why We Fight''). James from ''Heartthrob'' is a special case - while Angel didn't sire him (at least, it's never said), he tries to kill Angel and Cordelia because Angel stakes his [[One True Love]]. There's also Lindsey McDonald, who was introduced as a [[Amoral Attorney]], but for whom Angel makes their battles [[
*** Spike has at least two villains he's created. The first is Robin Wood, a vampire [[The Hunter|hunter]] who mother was one of the two Slayers murdered by Spike when he was evil. The second is Dana, from the ''[[Angel (TV)|Angel]]'' episode "Damage". This one is albeit only indirectly Spike's fault. Dana was kidnapped as a little girl by a human pychopath, implying sexual assault. Later in life, Dana's Slayer visions (allowing her to have psychic dreams and access to the memories of former Slayers) activate. Since Spike has chased around and even killed two Slayers he's in a lot of the Slayer memories, leading Dana's damaged mind to substitute him for her actual childhood abuser. When it was all done he even mused in the hypocrisy of trying to tell her "I've done a lot of horrible things, just not to you."
*** Then there was Giles in "The Dark Age", who had to face the demon he summoned as a teenager that was now killing her former friends. Since a lot of characters of [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]] and [[Angel (TV)|Angel]] were [[The Atoner]], or at least had a [[Dark and Troubled Past]], this trope turned up a ''lot''.
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* ''[[Dollhouse]]'' has {{spoiler|Echo, the main character}} being an Create Your Own Hero who takes down the people who forced her into becoming a doll. Echo has [[Summer Glau|Bennett]], who she accidentally created as Caroline, making a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] [[Les Yay|for her]] (the aforementioned being made a doll) which was sadly seen as abandonment, causing Bennett to hate Caroline/Echo for abandoning her and making her lose her arm.]]
* In a bit of Role Reversal, [[The Empire|The Alliance]] does this in [[Firefly]], cutting up River Tam's brain, turning her into the insane, psychic, badass 16 year old [[Phlebotinum Rebel]] that she became. In other news, [[Joss Whedon]] REALLY loves this trope. It's in all of his works.
* In Season 3 of ''[[Heroes (TV)|Heroes]]'', it's revealed that Batman-like [[Anti
** Also, in Season 2, Hiro's attempts to turn Adam Monroe/Takezo Kensei into a legendary hero (and get busy with Kensei's girlfriend) ends up pushing him from a goofy, drunken mercenary into the season's immortal, [[Misanthrope Supreme]] [[Big Bad]].
** Not only was Sylar manipulated, he was actually about to hang himself, unable to cope with killing another person for his power.
* In ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'', half-human / half-wraith hybrid Michael, the series' most frequently recurring villain, was originally created by the Atlantis Expedition in their attempts to create a virus to turn Wraiths into harmless, amnesiac Humans. Michael was quite pissed upon learning he had been manipulated by the team, and ''very'' pissed when the team's response to learning that their pet Human-Wraiths were turning back into full-blown Wraiths was to nuke em' all.
** And though they didn't ''create'' the Wraith and the Replicators, they ''woke up'' the Wraith, who'd been dormant, and turned the Replicators into a scourge against humanity (Our heroes programmed them to take out the Wraith; they decided the best way was to eliminate their ''food source, us.'' [[Brainwashing for The Greater Good]] ''never'' works in SGA.) The Atlantis crew has a ''very'' bad habit of both [[Moral Dissonance]] and [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]].
* [[Xena: Warrior Princess|Xena]] obliviously did this to [[Axe Crazy|Callisto]], though this is before Xena's [[Heel Face Turn]].
** Of course, Callisto believes that until she becomes a goddess and goes back in time to the day her parents were killed. It turns out that the future Callisto was the one who murdered her own parents, but her dazed past self assumed Xena was to blame.
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* In ''[[Neverwinter Nights]]'', the rulers of Neverwinter technically created [[The Dragon]] of [[The Dragon]] of the [[Big Bad]] by obeying the wishes of the mob over whatever sense of morality they possessed.
* ''[[Champions Online (Video Game)|Champions Online]]'' takes this trope literally: At level 25 you make your character's arch-nemesis.
* ''[[Dragon Fable (Video Game)|Dragon Fable]]'' combines this trope with [["Failure to Save" Murder]] with the story of Drakonnan.
* Some endings of ''[[Star Fox (Video Game)|Star Fox]] Command'' lead to Dash Bowman, initially hoping to join Star Fox, becoming evil in response to choices made by other characters.
* This is how Sukhov became [[Dirty Communists|Nuclear Winter]] in ''[[Freedom Force]]''. Minuteman was trying to hit him with one of his Minute Missiles, but hit a bunch of liquid nitrogen canisters beside him, covering him with the stuff. This, combined with the latent Energy X in his body, turned him into a [[An Ice Person]] with a penchant for stealing atomic bombs.
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* A darkly hilarious example of this occurs in a ''[[Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal]]'s'' strip. However, on this case, the villain's creation's was NOT an accident.
{{quote| ''[http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2244 That's why we created Skull-King. The robotic scourge of mankind].''}}
* In ''[[
* The LOL Bat from ''[[Pv P (Webcomic)|Pv P]]'' [http://www.pvponline.com/2011/08/10/anger-management-part-three/ beats up a guy when he accidentally commits theft.] The courts mistake him for a budding supervillain due to his friends calling him the "Mad Hater" as a joke and place him in an insane asylum. [http://www.pvponline.com/2011/08/11/anger-management-part-four/ The guy goes mad for real and takes his pre-existing grudge with LOL Bat to murderous levels.]
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== Web Original ==
* ''[[The Onion]]'': [http://www.theonion.com/content/node/34500 New Bomb Capable of Creating 1,500 terrorists in a single blast].
* [[Doctor
** It is heavily implied (and outright stated in the prequel comics) that Captain Hammer's belief that anyone who is nerdy or uncool is a potential supervillain is why Dr. Horrible got to be the way he is. And because you read the above, you know what happens next. And then our hero (Not Captain Hammer, who would barely register as a Type V on the [[Sliding Scale of Anti
* The villainous speedster Slipstream blames the [[Global Guardians PBEM Universe|Global Guardians]] for the death of his father, the superhero Dogfight (a former member of the Guardians himself) in the 9/11 attacks. Slipstream has sworn vengeance.
* In ''[[Starcraft]]'' Mengsk was responsible for making Kerrigan the Queen of Blades by leaving her to the Zerg.
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*** Sentinel also came to hate Optimus after the ''very same incident'', sparking an intensely antagonistic relationship between the two.
** Wasp was falsely implicated as being a Decepticon spy and during his time in the stockade went nuts and wants a lot of revenge on Bumblebee.
* In ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' (probably as a parody to the ''[[Fantastic Four]]'' example above), Vlad, Maddie and Jack are working on their first Ghost Portal. Jack pours diet soda into a crucial part, and it blows up in Vlad's face, giving him Ecto-Acne, and with it, his ghost powers. Then he goes all evil and [[Buffy
** Technus, though in a more [[Lampshading]] and humorous way. Danny unintentionally frees him from the Ghost Portal (or something) when he first meets him. Assuming him to be a villain, Danny tells him he will not take over the world. Technus, confused, then enlightened actually takes his advice, thus setting his path of villainy.
* Señor Senior Senior from ''[[Kim Possible]]''. Not a particularly serious example, inasmuch as he becomes a villain when it's observed how much he seems like one already.
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** But David Xanatos did create Thalog, a clone of Golath educated with Xanatos' own worldview. Naturally, Thalog turned on ''everybody''.
** No mention of the Hunters? They were created when {{spoiler|Demona}} slash the face of a farm boy. Said farm boy then dedicated his life to hunt down every last gargoyles in existent. {{spoiler|And when he dies, his moniker is adopted by another and created a generations of families whose whole life is kill Demona and gargoyles}}.
* ''[[Darkwing Duck]]'' accidently causes [[Honest
** It [[Batman|sounds]] [[The Joker|awfully]] [[Shout Out|familiar]]...
*** Of course, Flood contaminated the water himself, and Darkwing was in fact there to stop him from doing exactly that; so, really, The Liquidator created himself, Darkwing just helped.
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