Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Difference between revisions
Content deleted Content added
m remove image pickin/quotes page inline comments |
m Mass update links |
||
Line 3:
{{quote|"[[Shoulder
A potential villain who is consistently a failure or never gets the respect that he thinks he deserves, and may even be angry that the heroes don't take him seriously.
Line 59:
== Eastern Animation ==
* The [[Those Two Bad Guys|South Korean mice]] in the propaganda-tastic North Korean series ''A Squirrel and a Hedgehog.'' The pair, consisting of domineering [[Jerkass]] [[Four Eyes, Zero Soul|Mulmangcho]] and his meeker, one-eared companion Yelipalip, migrate from faction to faction amongst the villains, and are consistently mistreated and abused. All of their efforts to prove their worth, do something evil, and make it higher up in the ranks of whichever group they're currently attached to inevitably fail, miserably and pitifully, usually thanks to the heroes. More than once, the two are actually arrested and imprisoned by their own bosses and almost executed because they got the blame for what the [[Dressing As the Enemy|undercover good guys]], Geumsagi and Juldarami, did. So far, they have always managed to somehow get out of such situations alive. Although they ''clearly'' want to be evil and respected (Mulmangcho more so than Yelipalip), they fail so often and so pitifully it's difficult not to feel bad for them.
** It should also be noted that this was originally an evil ''trio'' of Ineffectual Sympathetic Villains, but the third guy, Mulsajo, whose distinguishing characteristic was that he wore a pink shirt, was even more ineffectual than his comrades and was blown up with a grenade midway through one of the earlier story arcs, leaving just his two buddies to carry the mantle of constantly failing.
Line 73:
** Condiment King, an absurd parody of gimmick villains, is this trope [[Lampshade Hanging|with a lampshade]]. Just dangerous enough to be worthy of Batman and Robin's attention, he has at least the ''potential'' to be a real threat (think "mustard gas", for just one example). However, in practice, he repeatedly gets defeated in a single page. Because he's an Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain, he keeps getting parole.
** Jenna Duffy, aka The Carpenter (see trope image), was a member of Tweedledee and Tweedledum's "Wonderland Gang", [[Cut Lex Luthor a Check|but had the sense to get out of supervillainy and to work exclusively as...an actual carpenter.]] Her specialty (who do you think ''builds'' all those [[Death Trap|deathtraps]] in Gotham?) can still get her into trouble, however.
* The [[Marvel Universe]]'s Toad is a classic example of this. He has [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?|second-rate powers]], a stupid nickname, and an even stupider real name (Mortimer Toynbee). Understandably, he hated himself. However, the first ''[[X-Men (Film)|X-Men]]'' live action film, with the character played by Ray Park, changed him into a wry villain with more self-respect and redefined powers that are actually scary in their deadliness -- managing to become his ''own'' [[Canon Immigrant]] (in particular, his [[Ultimate Marvel]] incarnation is much more badass than his first one).
* The Shocker from ''[[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]]'':
** He almost revels in his second-rate status, remarking on one occasion that at least it keeps him off the radar of guys like [[The Punisher]].
Line 83:
'''The Shocker, arms crossed petulantly''': "Shut up!" }}
** He's fallen to the point that he no longer appears on the local news' supervillain alerts even though ''Stilt-Man'' did. Desperate, he teams up with a similarly washed-up Hydro-Man to [[One Last Job|knock over ONE bank and retire]]. You feel pretty bad for him when Spider-Man not only stops them, but the Shocker accidentally ''evaporates'' Hydro-Man and injures himself to the point that his ''ribs are sticking out of his chest''. "You always said I looked like a pincushion..."
** But contrary to his reputation, the Shocker actually has a fairly high success rate against Spidey. He once proved himself to be [[Not So Harmless]] when he captured Spidey and, in a fit of rage, delivered a [[No
*** Another time he teamed up with fellow loser the Trapster (see below), had Spidey at their mercy and only didn't kill him due to suddenly getting a call from their boss informing them that their pay would be doubled if Spidey lived. Ever the pragmatist, Shocker accepted though he remarked that if he killed him, he would "save a fortune on therapy bills".
** While the "regular" Shocker has his moments of competence and [[Not So Harmless]], his [[Ultimate Marvel]] counterpart consistently fits this trope.
Line 143:
* Some of the more incompetent [[Mooks]] in the ''[[Redwall]]'' series fall into this category.
* 'Evil Harry Dread' from ''[[Discworld (Literature)/The Last Hero|The Last Hero]]''.
** Not so ineffectual, actually. Even with horrible help (which he intentionally looks for, too), he still manages to be a somewhat legitimate threat...Or he would, except the [[Villain Ball|Code]] keeps him from being more then a [[Card-Carrying Villain]]. Remember though, like the Barbarian heroes he travels with for much of the story, he's lived to be very, very old in a profession that regularly has him facing some of the most dangerous individuals in the world (I.E. [[Go
* [[Butt Monkey|Vaurien Scapegrace]] from ''[[Skulduggery Pleasant (Literature)|Skulduggery Pleasant]]''. His major goal in life is to be "Killer Supreme". Not only does he ''not'' manage to kill ''any''one until two whole books '''after''' his initial appearance, but he ends up being killed himself and turned into a zombie before even that.
* Chichikov in ''[[Dead Souls]]'' becomes this effectively.
Line 195:
** Do know, though, that the final time you face them, they are properly tough bosses and will probably kick your ass by spamming Earthquake.
* Rose, from ''[[Zack and Wiki]]'', gets this in her second appearance. She gets frozen in ice and used as a statue!
* Winston Payne from the ''[[Ace Attorney]]'' series, while not a villain, is a prosecutor, and therefore an antagonist. He was once the famous "Rookie Killer" who claims to have never lost a case in his first seven years as a lawyer, but lost one case along [[Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow|with his hair]] and, from then on, basically became a joke.
* Dist from ''[[Tales of the Abyss]]'' certainly comes off as one, introducing himself as 'Dist the Rose' but ending up being called 'Dist the Runny'. In every fight, he sweeps in with an over-dramatic entrance and then gets made fun of immediately, usually by Jade, before his humiliating and undignified loss.
* Pete from ''[[Kingdom Hearts II (Video Game)|Kingdom Hearts II]]'', and loads of it. Seems more like he just picked the wrong side.
Line 317:
* Voltar and the ''[[League of Super Evil]]''. Guy is just so very motivated and happy about every plan or scheme he thinks up, no matter how trivial, that you just have to root for him. I mean, how many villains are ecstatic about throwing an 'EVIL' barbeque and not inviting their uncaring neighbors?
** One of the episodes involves a highly convoluted plot by the League...to make the pizza delivery boy late so that their food will be free!
* Snively from ''[[Sonic Sat AM (Animation)|Sonic Sat AM]]''. He is a reedy and sneering little man who is always consumed by his Uncle Robotnik's quite massive shadow. [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|Also, he's a baldy.]] {{spoiler|However, he turns out to be [[Not So Harmless]] when he manages to slip out before his uncle is killed, and return as a [[The End
** {{spoiler|Nope, he was still going to retain this role. [[Word of God|In one interview with screen-writer Ben Hurst]] regarding the third season that never arrived, it was revealed that Snively was going to take a shot at becoming the new [[Big Bad]], only to be shortly upstaged by Ixis Naugus, and would later make a [[Heel Face Turn]] and join the Freedom Fighters.}}
* Dr. Ivo Robotnik and his henchmen from ''[[Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (Animation)|Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog]]''. While Robotnik often tries to do something rrrroten, he ALWAYS fails horribly, and Sonic torments the doctor so sadistically, that it becomes hard to sympathize with the heroes.
Line 351:
* The bank robber who was caught when he got "trapped in" the bank he was robbing...when he didn't try to pull the door open, and only pushed it. He was in there for about five minutes before the cops showed up.
* [http://www.statesman.com/news/nation/hostage-post-office-gunman-was-angry-at-government-146816.html Warren Taylor] seems to have found a way to combine this trope with [[Terrorists Without a Cause]]. He stormed into a small-town post office, placed what appeared to be a bomb on the counter, and took three people hostage. At that point, he didn't seem to know quite what to do. Over the following eight hours, he issued two demands: a pizza to share with his hostages, and a pack of cigarettes for a hostage who smoked. In the end, he made his way outside and surrendered peacefully, eventually apologizing during his arraignment for getting everybody out on Christmas.
* [
** So notorious was he that when [http://www.holtorf.com/ray/iraqi_information_minister.htm a comic] showed an American soldier walking into the frame behind him and making bunny ears, this troper's entire US Navy shop had to see if he'd actually been taken off the air by the same soldiers that he claimed were not in the city.
* Kim Jong Il in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdug6yHJB40 this video].
Line 362:
[[Category:Villains]]
[[Category:Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain]]
[[Category:
|