The Brute/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: The bad guys' hired muscle.

  • Straight: Tiberius the Golem's job description is to smash enemies, intimidate the weak and follow the will of the army of Darkness the King of Dark. He can't think for himself, and is thus the least respected member of the Army.
  • Exaggerated: Tiberius is 15ft tall with superhuman strength, the intelligence of a gorilla and the savegry of one too.
  • Justified: He is a literal Golem; destruction is his reason of living.
  • Inverted:: The Big Guy
  • Subverted: Tiberius the Golem turns out to have the mind of a college graduate.
  • Double Subverted: His intelligence regresses, and he's back to being the Dumb Muscle.
  • Parodied:Tiberius is so mindless that he has to be supervised 24 hours a day by the Chew Toys!
    • He's so dumb that he causes far too much collateral damage on Darkness's side.
  • Deconstructed: Tiberius is actually aware that others think of him as an idiot. This insults him greatly, and leads him to quit the army.
    • Alternatively: Tiberious isn't paticularly bright, and requires constant supervision... which is easier said than done, as most of his superiors are too frightened of him to be in the same room, much less reprimand him for his mistakes. As a result, he becomes more and more of a loose cannon, engaging in wild sprees of destruction for the sheer glee of it at the worst possible moment. Darkness considers him a liability, but even he doesn't dare say that to Tiberius's face.
  • Reconstructed: Tiberius defects to the heroes' side, and Darkness the King of Dark obtains the services of something even stronger - and this one is mindless, and won't object to however the forces of darkness treat it.
    • Tiberious is not that smart, but he is smart enough to fight well, and so he is very dangerous.
  • Zig Zagged: Tiberius seems to be a not so bright enforcer, but then we see him trying to study a difficult subject to seem smarter. He then gives it up - only to try some other way to exercise his brain, give that up, and repeat over and over.
  • Averted: The Big Bad selects his minions for brains, stealth, and street smarts instead of brawn, as he doesn't like to risk them actually fighting the good guys.
  • Enforced: An acting troupe has one guy whose muscles, size, and good looks make him worth including, but his acting skills leave a lot to be desired. So they always try to write a part for him that doesn't tax his acting skills too much.
  • Lampshaded: "Let me guess. That guy built like a glacier is your hired thug, right?"
  • Invoked: Darkness, the King of Dark creates Tiberius because he wants a walking Weapon of Mass Destruction.
  • Defied: Tiberius constantly studies so that he can be admired for his brains and not for his strength.
  • Discussed: A criminal profiler talks about how people who happen to have a lot of brawn, not much brains, and not much morals often tend to wind up in certain career choices.
  • Conversed: "Well, I can tell that guy isn't being kept around for his brains..."
  • Played For Laughs: Tiberius is huge, and maybe he follows orders well, but he turns out to be a Minion with an F In Evil and his non-directed attempts to menace people are decidedly non-menacing.

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