Take Over the World: Difference between revisions

What's the goal most every villain has in mind? Why of course, it's World Domination[[Tradesnark™|®]]! [[Ambition Is Evil|Ambitious]], [[Pragmatic Villainy|more logical]] and sometimes [[Easily-Conquered World|easier]] than [[The End of the World as We Know It|destroying the world]], as [[Evil Plan|Evil Plans]] go. They want to be in charge of everything and everyone. This could be just to [[Pride|feed their massive egos,]] or else they've got somewhat [[Dark Messiah|twisted ideals]] that they want everyone else to adhere to. Either way, it puts them in direct conflict with the heroes, whether professional or "[[Heroic Neutral|I just want everything to go back to normal]]" types. Usually said villain [[And Your Little Dog, Too|fixates on the hero or someone/thing close to them]] as being part of their master plan. See [[Evil Plan]]. For a villain who has finally acquired [[A God Am I|godlike power]], and did not [[Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence]], then this is the next logical goal and use for said power. If it involves destroying the world to rule it, it's because [[Utopia Justifies the Means]]. Or [[Despotism Justifies the Means|they are just dicks]].

This trope is sometimes subverted when the villain [[The Bad Guy Wins|actually succeeds]], and it turns out that ruling the world [[Wanting Is Better Than Having|isn't nearly as gratifying as they thought it would be]] -- exactly [[And Then What?|what does one do]] with the world once one has it, after all? Plus, once you're ruling the world, you literally have to be in charge of '''''everyone''''', and [[Bizarre and Improbable Giraffe Herding Techniques|that's like herding giraffes]]. Seven ''billion'' giraffes, as a matter of fact. You actually have to run things, and make sure it works, and dang, [[Dystopia Is Hard]].

* ''[[Princess Tutu]]'s'' [[All There in the Manual|Japanese official website]] listed profiles for most of the major characters--pretty standard stuff, including height, weight, and each character's "likes" and "dislikes". Most of it isn't too much of a surprise, like Ahiru's love for ballet and dislike of food with chicken in it... but then you get to [[Scary Shiny Glasses|Autor]]'s profile. What he likes? "World Domination". Apparently ''that's'' the reason he's so obsessed with {{spoiler|Drosselmeyer's [[Reality Warper|story-spinning]] powers}}!

* ''[[The Blood Waters of Dr. Z]]'': Dr Z wants to take over the world. Dr Z wants to take over the universe -- by turning himself into a humanoid catfish and mutating all sea life.

* ''[[G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra]]'': the goal of Cobra is to -- you guessed it!

* ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'': Sauron already controlled the greater part of the world by the main story opens. Two ages before that, his boss -- a [[Satan|fallen angel type]], name of [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Morgoth]] -- had similar ambitions before the gods dethroned him. The key difference is that for Morgoth, world domination was merely one step in his ultimate plan to [[Omnicidal Maniac|corrupt and destroy all reality]], whereas for Sauron it was an end in and of itself.

* ''[[Ender's Game]]'': Peter Wiggin, the brother of Ender begins putting his [[Take Over the World]] plan in motion at the age of, like, fourteen? {{spoiler|He succeeds several books later. And in an interesting turn, is a very effective and respected leader.}}

* In [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]]'s ''[[John Carter of Mars|A Fighting Man of Mars]]'', this is the jeddak of Jalar's intention -- though being a [[Dirty Coward]], he insists on marvelous [[Mad Scientist]] inventions in sufficient quantities first. Also Phor Tak, who had made him those inventions and been exiled by him; desire for [[Revenge]] drives him insane.

** It's probably worth noting that in the new series, at least, when an episode takes place on Earth, chances are good the [[Monster of the Week|Alien of the Week]] is trying to take over the world or some variant on that theme. Recurring villains the Cybermen are also proponents of [[Take Over the World|Taking Over The World]]. Notable exceptions to this rule, however, are the [[Omnicidal Maniac|Daleks]] and the {{spoiler|Time Lords}}.

* ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]'' makes Rita's motivations clear the moment her <s>can</s> [[Sealed Evil in a Can|space dumpster is unsealed.]] ''"After 10,000 years I'm free! '''It's time to conquer Earth!'''"'' Same goes for the motivation of every other [[Power Rangers]] villain ''ever''.<ref> Its even the goal of villains that already rule entire galaxies, sometimes ''several galaxies''. Earth is just that special, possibly because nobody has taken it over yet.</ref>

** In the german version, it has been ''[[Bowdlerise|bowdlerised]]'' to a "Game of World ''Liberation''".

* ''[[Cartoon Action Hour]]'': All three sample series' [[Big Bad]] (Nekkrottus, General Archnid, and Maxilliam Mercy) have this trope at their goal--but this is justifed as it's a 1980s [[Shout-Out]] to goals of most 1980s cartoon villains.

* [[MAG-ISA]] -- The main antagonists in this comic are demons. [http://mag-isa.thecomicseries.com/comics/pl/119592 Their agenda is to bring hell on earth and turn planet earth into a giant prison]... all for the lulz.

* Subverted in ''[[Girl Genius]]'', where by the start of the story, the [[Mad Scientist|evil mad genius]] Baron Wulfenbach has ''already'' taken over the world with his [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040806 no-nonsense straightforward plan]. It is then doubly subverted by the Baron hating being the ruler of Europe, but doing it anyways because he believes [[Vetinari Job Security|the world needs him]] (and it probably ''does''). Indeed, the Baron took over the world largely to stop everyone else from trying to do so and wrecking everything in the process. Because the comic takes place in a world full of [[Mad Scientist|Mad Scientists]], there's ''always'' at least a dozen factions trying to rule the world. Without the Baron stamping them down, the entire continent would probably be aflame with the burnt wreckage of a million war clanks. England still has a queen, and it's implied that France (or at least Paris) is under the control of a powerful spark of its own.

* ''Evil, INC'' is also an example -- When Evil Atom gives some perspective interns to Evil, INC his personal tryout, a lady proclaims "One day I will rule the world!" to which Evil Atom gives the "Whoa, think about that! You'll be responsible for ''everything''. Try again." The young lass replies "One day I will rent the world!"

* [[Alexander the Great]] conquered what was the known world of ancient times, all before he was 33. In fact, he took massive slabs of territory that [[Ancient Greece|the Greeks]] ''hadn't even heard of'' before he started conquering the places in between. Unfortunately, he didn't live long enough to cement his control over most of it, or raise a good heir -- important in a culture where men traditionally killed one another to get the throne. [[Succession Crisis|The empire didn't last.]]

* [[Napoleon Bonaparte]], maybe. What is certain in sure terms is that he wanted to make France the principal state in Europe, a large and prosperous military power full of national pride that would dominate the continent and lord over a vast colonial empire; essentially a new Roman Empire with Paris as its capital instead of Rome. He changed his tactics to accomplish this goal several times, but it was always a constant of Britain (which traditionally tried to undermine any continental power that it perceived as growing too powerful) and a shifting coalition of European allies opposing France to break the new empire. He did manage to take over all of continental Western and Central Europe, but was eventually outdone after the disastrous venture in Russia and the War of the Sixth Coalition. He escaped his exile on Elba to try again, but Waterloo proved to be the hypothetical nail in Napoleon's coffin, not the turning point of the wars<ref>Even if Napoleon's forces had managed to beat Britain and Prussia there and then and managed to occupy the Low Countries there would be still more Russians, Austrians, ''more'' British and Prussians, and others ready to oppose him, all now using the same once-revolutionary tactics of Napoleon.</ref>.