The Usual Adversaries: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

{{quote|'''Sulu:''' Captain, Klingons off the starboard bow.

 

'''The Usual Adversaries''' are similar to [[Goddamned Bats]], but while [[Goddamned Bats]] is a gameplay trope, '''The Usual Adversaries''' is a narrative one. [[Goddamned Bats]] may annoy the hell out of you when you play a game, but '''The Usual Adversaries''' are what annoy the hell out of your characters in [[The Verse|the universe]].

Related to [[Exclusively Evil]], [[Scary Dogmatic Aliens]], [[Villain by Default]], [[Aliens and Monsters]], and [[The Heartless]]. May even be the [[Super-Trope|over-trope]] into which they all fit.

 

 

{{examples}}

* In practically ''every [[Story Arc]]'' in ''[[Bleach]]'', Hollows are involved in some way, shape or form. In the very first one, they're worked in a [[Monster of the Week]] format. In the second arc, they appeared as [[Elite Mooks]] in flashbacks, and in the very last act, a group of [[Giant Mook]]s showed up to transport the [[Big Bad]] to their dimension, Hueco Mundo. Following that, we're introduced to Hollow-Shinigami hybrids called Arrancars, who take over the scene as a [[War Arc]] erupts between them and the Soul Society. Hell, in the Deicide mini-arc, said [[Big Bad]] used the Hogyoku, the same device that created the Arrancars, on himself, but it gradually turned him more Hollow-esque with each transformation. Even in the latest arc, where the antagonists are essentially superhumans, said superhumans only gained their abilities because Hollows attacked their pregnant mothers in the first place.

* The Beastmen are this for the first half of [[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]. After suppressing the humans underground for who knows how long they had it a long time coming too.

 

* Nazis in [[Hellboy]]. Of both the [[Stupid Jetpack Hitler|Steampunk]] and [[Ghostapo|magical]] varieties. While the larger threat is always from [[Eldritch Abominations]], the various Nazi factions have a bizarre habit of being involved with almost every story arc in one way or another, even if the arc had nothing to do with them. One chapter hung a lampshade on it when Roger and Abe find (an utterly inexplicable and with no plausible or possible reason for even being there) a Nazi submarine in the ancient tunnels of a lost civilization beneath the Himalayas. They aren't remotely surprised; the damn Nazis have shown up everywhere else.

* The "stupid stupid rat creatures" from Jeff Smith's ''[[Bone]]''.

* Averted with Marv of ''[[Sin City]]'' fame who enjoys fighting hitmen. When he goes up against hitmen, he becomes positively giddy since "no matter what you do to them, you don't feel bad."

 

* [[Indiana Jones]] makes his thoughts on this trope clear:

{{quote|'''Indy:''' Nazis. I ''hate'' these guys.}}

 

* In ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'', Arthur and Ford haven't seen the last of the bloody Vogons after getting thrown out of an airlock by them. Vogons don't like leaving jobs unfinished.

* [[The Renegades (novel)|The Renegades]]' goddamn [[Cloning Blues|clones]] and [[Artificial Human|Synths...]]

* Green Martians in general in ''[[John Carter of Mars]]'' (with the exception of the Thark horde, who are allies of the heroes from the end of the first book on). Not really [[Exclusively Evil]] (they're [[Proud Warrior Race|a brutal but honorable bunch]]), but with a culture where you win honor through successful raiding they'll jump at the chance to attack anyone passing through or near their territory, making them a perennial headache for any Barsoomian hero.

 

* The Peacekeepers from ''[[Farscape]]'' fulfill this rather nicely. They hunt down the main protagonist for two seasons under one crazy commander after another for what amounts to being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And then things get worse.

* There's hardly a person in ''[[Andromeda]]'' who doesn't hate and fear the Magog. {{spoiler|Being the followers of the living embodiment of a dead galaxy, those reactions are well earned.}}

*** On the other hand, as the show went on every third episode [[Recycled Script]], so while the bad guys in a given story were technically different, they tended to be extremely similar to villains from before and had almost identical schemes; the usual ''type'' of advesaries were ''very'' common.

 

** Orks, specifically because they reproduce by dying, and are the most numerous species in the galaxy.

** Chaos Cultists, because they're the most numerous faction of the biggest evil in the galaxy.

** Tyranids, because of [[Zerg Rush|sheer overwhelming numbers]]...

* The Coalition from ''[[Rifts]]''.

** Tolkeen was a peaceful, accepting, integrated kingdom in a mainly magic-based society. The Coalition States went to war with them, forcing them to leap off the [[Moral Event Horizon]] in an effort to survive. It ultimately failed. This is not the first time the Coalition has done this. Similarly, Free Quebec was actually a member of the Coalition, but felt they were getting sidelined, and quite possibly lied to, by the Coalition's leaders. All their suspicious were absolutely true, resulting in a costly war between what should have been natural allies. Even for those who think the Coalition might be right, they're hard to love.

* In [[Exalted]], some player character splats can be each others' Usual Adversaries. Notable are the Dragon-Blooded Dynasts and their Wyld Hunt, constantly trying to kill the Solar Exalted and their reincarnations over and over.

 

* Packs of Mandalorian raiders often show up in the first [[Knights of the Old Republic]].

** Its sequel has [[Bounty Hunter]]s antagonizing you at practically every location, largely due to the bounty on your head.

* A specific individual is [[Bonus Boss|The Reaper]], who appears as a [[Recurring Boss]] throughout [[Persona 3]] and [[Persona 4]], including [[Updated Rerelease|FES]], P3P and [[Persona 4: The Animation]].

* Strega of ''[[Persona 3]]'', a [[Terrible Trio]] of Persona users who antagonizes the heroes throughout the game. However, aside from {{spoiler|killing Shinjiro}}, they are more a nuisance than anything and usually [[Anticlimax Boss|don't put up much of a fight]], though in their defense you'll always outnumber them and you never fight them altogether.

 

* Ian from ''[[The Descendants]]'' absolutely hates anything that comes from Faerie.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Characters As Device]]

[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]

[[Category:Villains]]