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Villain Ball: Difference between revisions
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== Film -- Animation ==
* [[Disney]] examples:▼
** In ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'', everything would have worked out fine for Jafar if he'd simply tossed Aladdin a few coins and sent him on his way rather than double-crossing him after Aladdin retrieved the lamp.
*** In fairness to Jafar, given the sequence of events, he may've been unaware that Aladdin had found Carpet in the Cave of Wonders. Carpet was pinned under a rock before having a [[Big Damn Heroes]], so sending Aladdin falling to his death in a collapsing mystical cave isn't so crazy. (Plus, Jafar thought he had the lamp at the time.) Still, the Villain Ball is definitely in play when Jafar tries sending Aladdin "to the ends of the Earth." By that point, ''everyone'' had seen Carpet. Coupled with also knowing that Aladdin had escaped death ''twice'' already, Jafar really should've thought his actions out.
*** In the end Jafar was already the most powerful sorcerer on Earth, he was more than strong enough to defeat Aladdin. Instead he had to be the most powerful creature and wished to be a genie, [[Be Careful What You Wish For|with all that entails]].
** At the end of ''[[The Lion King]]'', when Simba, still blaming himself for his father's death, is dangling from the edge of a cliff, Scar can't resist doing some [[Evil Gloating]] and says "'''[[Just Between You and Me|I]]''' [[Just Between You and Me|killed Mufasa.]]" [[Unstoppable Rage|Big mistake.]]
*** [[Never My Fault|"It was all the hyenas' fault!"]] Of course, simply trusting the hyenas - whom he claimed more than once [[Surrounded by Idiots| were a bunch of idiots]] - shows poor judgment on Scarr's part.
* In most settings with superheroes, the cape is a common fashion accessory; however, in the setting of ''[[The Incredibles]]'', this accessory is often a lethal hazard for the occupation. Costume designer Edna Mode refuses to add this feature to any of her designs, sternly warning Mr. Incredible by describing the ugly deaths of supers who ignored this warning. Despite this, Syndrome - an [[Evil Genius]] who builds technology bordering on [[Applied Phlebotinum]] - puts one on his villain-costume, and in the climax of the movie, fares no better. ▼
** From ''[[The Emperor's New Groove]]''; when you're a master alchemist like Yzma is and have a large stash of deadly poisons, it ''might'' be a good idea to label them clearly. Even Kronk (who is something of a dimwitt) points this out the first time it causes a problem (where he accidentally taints Kuzco's drink with llama extract) and the same problem comes back later in the film when she knocks over a ''whole shelf'' of unlabeled potions. One can only hope being turned into a kitten causes her to learn her lesson.▼
* The Horned King from ''[[The Black Cauldron]]'' was one of the scariest villains in Disney history, but he sure wasn't one the smartest. If he had simply told a small fraction of the undead horde he had created to guard the eponymous cauldron, things might well have turned out differently. Instead, he leaves it completely unguarded, letting poor Gurgi get close enough to [[Heroic Sacrifice| throw himself into it]] and destroy its evil power.▼
** If you're a fan of Disney movies, you likely know that [[Disney Death| falling from great heights]] is the #1 cause of death among villains - one would think they'd avoid ledges, but Frollo's death at the end of ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'' was especially careless - that gargoyle wouldn't have been a safe place to stand (let alone fight) even if it ''hadn't'' been alive.▼
** Speaking of the [[Disney Death]] thing, in ''[[Beauty and the Beast (1991 film)|Beauty and the Beast]]'' Gaston gets two examples of this Trope in the span of about ten minutes. Firstly, he has a reputation of an expert marksman. In his [[Villain Song]], he demonstrates his skill by twirling his blunderbuss and shooting it three times in rapid succession, and in an earlier scene, proves he can use it with pinpoint accuracy while hunting birds. Oddly, for some reason he doesn't bring it for the [[Final Battle]], opting to use a bow and arrow while confronting Beast. Second, after Beast decides to show mercy, Gaston tries to stab him ''while dangling over the edge of the castle's roof and holding onto Beast's cloak with one hand''. How stupid can you get?
** Whether Clayton's death at the end of ''[[Tarzan (Disney film)|Tarzan]]'' qualifies as a Disney Death or not is debatable, given how brutal it is, but it is, again, his fault. At the climax of the story, he is tangled in a bunch of vines that are preventing him from plunging to his death, and in his rage, he whips out his machette and starts to hack at them, not even noticing that one of the vines is wrapped around his neck. Tarzan, on the other hand, notices this and screams at him to stop - sadly for Clayton, he doesn't listen.
** Sikes' death at the finale of ''[[Oliver & Company]]'' seriously Averts that old Trope. Sure, driving onto the subway tracks was a pretty dumb move on Fagin's part, but at least his motorcycle is more manuverable than Sikes' limosine; once he stupidly followed them onto the tracks, it was clear he wouldn't be able to get off them easily, and how far did he think he'd get before he ran into a train? The truly sad part is, he doomed himself (and his guard dogs, who he callously sacrificed) all over a small amount of ransom money.▼
** In ''[[Hercules (1997 film)|Hercules]]'', Hades' [[Evil Plan]] is to feed the hero a potion that will make him mortal, doing so while Hercules is still an infant, so he can be killed, and thus enabling him to conquer Olympus. But he makes an all-too common Villain Ball mistake, trusting this important task to his moronic henchmen Pain and Panic - who, it seems, are not ''completely'' moronic, as when they louse it up, they're smart enough not to tell him, resulting the villain not knowing of the danger to his plan until Hercules has grown up.
▲** The Horned King from ''[[The Black Cauldron]]'' was one of the scariest villains in Disney history, but he sure wasn't one the smartest. If he had simply told a small fraction of the undead horde he had created to guard the eponymous cauldron, things might well have turned out differently. Instead, he leaves it completely unguarded, letting poor Gurgi get close enough to [[Heroic Sacrifice| throw himself into it]] and destroy its evil power.
** In ''[[Frozen (Disney film)|Frozen]]'', Hans is delighted when Anna shows up at the castle, having nearly frozen to death, blaming her condition on Elsa - once Anna perishes, he can (legitimately) blame Anna's death on Elsa, dispose of her, and becoming King with ease. But [[Bond Villain Stupidity| he makes a rookie mistake]] - not making sure Anna dies before leaving to tell everyone she is dead. He doesn't even post a guard at the door, and Olaf of all people is able to break in and free her.
** In ''[[Pocahontas]]'', gold obsessed Governor Ratcliffe thinks the natives are hiding some giant horde. While most of his troops aren't too keen on the whole “wealth is worth genocide” idea, Ratcliffe does convince them to attack the tribe after the chief sentences John Smith to die. However, when the attack is halted after the heroine persuades her father not to kill Smith, Ratcliffe decides to... shoot Smith. He probably wasn't ''aiming'' at Smith (more likely, he was aiming at the chief, only for Smith to dive in front and [[Taking the Bullet|take the bullet]]) but shooting the man you had claimed you were intending to save, in front of his fellow soldiers... suffice to say he may as well have shot himself in the foot.
▲* In most settings with superheroes, the cape is a common fashion accessory; however, in the setting of ''[[The Incredibles]]'', this accessory is often a lethal hazard for the occupation. Costume designer Edna Mode refuses to add this feature to any of her designs, sternly warning Mr. Incredible by describing the ugly deaths of supers who ignored this warning. Despite this, Syndrome - an [[Evil Genius]] who builds technology bordering on [[Applied Phlebotinum]] - puts one on his villain-costume, and in the climax of the movie, fares no better.
== Film -- Live Action ==
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** Larry however seemed to have learned from this, even lampshading in the new episode that he wasn't letting Michael out of his sight because he knew he would do something to sabotage his plan.
* In ''[[Beverly Hills, 90210]]'' Jeremy catches Annie breaking into his house to steal a necklace he bought after she had had to pawn it (the necklace is a key part of the contested inheritance Jeremy's grandmother left to Annie in her will and she needs it to prove she deserves the money). Rather than simply call the cops and have Annie arrested there and then (he hadn't broken any laws while she definitely had) Jeremy locks her in his bedroom and indulges in [[Evil Gloating]] about how he hated his grandmother allowing Annie to [[Engineered Public Confession|record him on her Blackberry and send the message to her lawyers.]]
* Kim Jang-hyun from the Korean TV series ''[[Strong Girl Bong-soon]]'' not only carries the villain ball everywhere he goes, he's got it mounted on a stick and is waving it about so everyone can see. He's addicted to [[Bond Villain Stupidity]], is so convinced he's smarter than the cops (and anyone else) that he actively taunts them ''in person'', and when he engineers a situation that causes Bong-soon to lose her divinely-granted [[Super Strength]], he can't be satisfied with just [[De-Power]]ing her -- he has to kidnap her and put her in a [[Death Trap]] to rub his victory in that much more, ''while on the run from a nationwide dragnet searching for him''. [[Nice Job Fixing It, Villain|And all that accomplishes is restoring her strength and making her ''that'' much more determined to bring him down]].
== [[Newspaper Comics]] ==
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** If the [[True Colors]] of Smile Away are a secret from parents, why would you show the victimized kids getting tortured beyond compare on a daytime TV show?
* In ''[[The Owl House]]'', Emperor Belos led Lilith to believe that if she got Eda to join the Emperor's Coven, that he would free Eda from her curse. Even after they eventually captured Eda, she continued to refuse to join the coven. Emperor Belos then told Lilith he never intended to do either and called Lilith stupid for believing him, which ensured Lilith's subsequent betrayal. He might have retained Lilith's loyalty had he played upon Eda's refusal instead of basically gloating.
▲* [[Disney]] examples:
▲** From ''[[The Emperor's New Groove]]''; when you're a master alchemist like Yzma is and have a large stash of deadly poisons, it ''might'' be a good idea to label them clearly. Even Kronk (who is something of a dimwitt) points this out the first time it causes a problem (where he accidentally taints Kuzco's drink with llama extract) and the same problem comes back later in the film when she knocks over a ''whole shelf'' of unlabeled potions. One can only hope being turned into a kitten causes her to learn her lesson.
▲** If you're a fan of Disney movies, you likely know that [[Disney Death| falling from great heights]] is the #1 cause of death among villains - one would think they'd avoid ledges, but Frollo's death at the end of ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'' was especially careless - that gargoyle wouldn't have been a safe place to stand (let alone fight) even if it ''hadn't'' been alive.
▲** Sikes' death at the finale of ''[[Oliver & Company]]'' seriously Averts that old Trope. Sure, driving onto the subway tracks was a pretty dumb move on Fagin's part, but at least his motorcycle is more manuverable than Sikes' limosine; once he stupidly followed them onto the tracks, it was clear he wouldn't be able to get off them easily, and how far did he think he'd get before he ran into a train? The truly sad part is, he doomed himself (and his guard dogs, who he callously sacrificed) all over a small amount of ransom money.
== [[Real Life]] ==
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