The Villain Makes the Plot: Difference between revisions

** Not an aversion per se; you don't watch ''Fargo'' because it's a smart [[The Caper|caper]] film, you watch it to be amused by ordinary people bumbling along.

* Why do think [[James Bond (film)|James Bond]] has been chugging along for 40-plus years? He is ''constantly'' pitted against [[Diabolical Mastermind|Diabolical Masterminds]] of the highest caliber (even if they have [[Bond Villain Stupidity|a few nasty habits]]). This trope is highlighted in ''[[Dr. No]]'', the very first movie, with this little exchange:

'''Bond''': "Correction- criminal brains."<br />

'''No''': "The successful criminal brain is always superior. It has to be!" }}

* On ''[[Lost]]'', Ben Linus was originally supposed to be a temporary character, but he was written so smart that he elevated the conflict with the Others to such a degree that he became the primary antagonist for a while.

* ''[[Doctor Who]]'': Because if we didn't have bad guys for the Doctor to constantly evade/kill/over-throw, its doubtful the show could have lasted fifty years.

* Inverted in the original ''[[Mission Impossible]]'' series. The villains are usually passive known qualities; it's the ingenious plans of the ''heroes'' that make the show interesting.

** [[Leverage]] is generally similar in this regard. Though, the heroes [[Villain Protagonist|are arguably not]].

* ''[[The Dreamstone]]'' often falls into this, as the residents of [[Sugar Bowl|The Land Of Dreams]] were usually docile and innocent beings that rarely caused their own personal conflicts or problems, thus events were usually extremely laid back until the Urpneys caused problems by trying to steal the titular stone.

* ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' give us this example.

** Perry and Doof's B-plot is almost always "Agent P, Doofensmirtz is up to something. Go and stop him."

* ''[[Animaniacs]]'': [[Alliterative Name|Slappy]] [[Species Surname|Squirrell]] was about to receive an award and some of her enemies planted a bomb at the podium. She invoked the trope to say the villains deserved the award more than her so they'd be lured into their own trap.