Villainous Breakdown/Live-Action TV: Difference between revisions

no edit summary
No edit summary
No edit summary
Line 2:
Examples of [[{{TOPLEVELPAGE}}]]s in [[{{SUBPAGENAME}}]] include:
 
== ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' ==
* Season 3 of ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'': [[Family Values Villain|The Mayor]], upon seeing Faith in a coma, shows rage [[Affably Evil|for the first time]] and tries to smother Buffy in her sleep and attacks Angel in front of civilians, going so far as to break his foul language etiquette. He regains his composure for the final showdown though, his last words being [[Gosh Dang It to Heck|"Well, gosh!"]]
{{quote|'''Mayor:''' Murderous little fiend! [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic|Did you see what she did to my Faith?]]<br />
'''Angel:''' Hadn't any plans to weep over that one.<br />
'''Mayor:''' Well, I'd get set for some ''weeping'' if I were you. I'd get set for a ''world'' of pain! Misery loves company, young man, and I'm looking to share that with ''you and your whore!'' }}
** A minor example can also be found in the first episode of season 3. "Humans don't fight back! ''Humans don't fight back! '''That's not how this works!'''''"
** The Master has one in the pilot after he senses that Luke - the key to his plan to free himself - has been killed.
** Faith has one herself in the spinoff show, ''[[Angel]]'', where she {{spoiler|carries out an elaborate charade to [[Suicide by Cop|get Angel to kill her]]}}.
{{quote|'''Faith:''' [[Punctuated Pounding|I'm evil! I'm bad! I'm evil! Do you hear me? I'm bad! Angel, I'm bad!]] [[Berserker Tears|I'm bad! Do you hear me? I'm bad! I'm bad! I'm bad.]] [[Tears of Remorse|Please. Angel, please, just do it. Angel please, just do it. Just do it.]] [[Tear Jerker|Just kill me. Just kill me.]] }}
*** Just to up the angst factor, the above scene takes place amidst a [[Grey Rain of Depression|torrential downpour.]]
 
*== ''[[Doctor Who]]'': ==
** In the season 18 story "Warriors' Gate", the slaver leader Rorvik finds his spaceship trapped in a place between universes. Although Rorvik at first tries to deal with his situation in a rational and methodical manner, over the course of the story he gradually breaks down under stress. By the end of the story, Rorvik is ranting and raving, and he finally kills himself and his crew in a failed attempt to escape by creating a backblast with his ship's engines.
*** ''"I'm finally getting something done!"''
** At the end of "The Last of the Time Lords", a combination of seeing his previously unstoppable universal domination plans crumble into nothing within the space of a few minutes and seeing his old enemy restored to full health (and turned into a glowing omnipotent being at that) is enough to reduce the Master, previously a [[Magnificent Bastard]] to rival any, into a hysterical wreck:
{{quote|'''The Master''': You can't do this. You can't do this! '''IT'S NOT FAIR'''!}}
** The ending of "The Sun Makers" has the Collector, upon realizing the revolution has finally caught up with him, reduced to a babbling wreck as he slowly (and literally) goes down the drain.
** The Dalek Emperor has one at the end of "The Parting Of The Ways" just before he is destroyed by Rose Tyler.
 
== ''[[Farscape]]'' ==
* In ''[[Farscape]]'', theThe [[Big Bad]] of a particular season or plot arc will always suffer one of these at some point; Captain Bialar Crais of the first season began cracking up almost immediately after we met him, and went on a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] for the accidental death of his brother, which wasn't to end until Peacekeeper High Command removed him and he was [[Heel Face Turn|forced to become a hero]].
** Scorpius suffered his own at the end of Season Three, when [[Heroic Sacrifice|Crais sacrificed himself to destroy Scorpius' commmand carrier]]. It involved a stunned and somewhat [[Pirates of the Caribbean|Cutler Beckett-esque]] stroll through his exploding ship, wandering through hordes of evacuating Peacekeepers until he encountered John Crichton, wearily explained he had no plans for revenge, and vanished- until the next season.
** Commandant Grayza's was quite severe, given that unlike the other two villains, she had very little to make her likeable or sympathetic (the date-rape had plenty to do with it). After being captured by the Scarrans and seeing all her negotiations for her vaunted alliance fail, she attempted a suicidal charge on the Scarran base that would have resulted in the death of all who were still loyal to her. However, [[Mauve Shirt]] Captain Braca decided she'd gone too far, and arrested her, allowing Scorpius to retake the ship.
*** And just to illustrate how badly she was doing, we had this exchange:
{{quote|'''Grayza:''' All that astonishing wormhole knowledge and still you will not share it with us. You came in here big and bold, dancing on tabletops. And look at you now; begging for scraps.
'''Crichton:''' I may be jammed, possibly dead. But I am not begging- you can get that fantasy out of your head.
'''Grayza:''' (Forcefully) In my hands, you can have peace! ''I can have peace!''
'''Crichton:''' I have ''been'' in your hands. There's no peace there... just power.
'''Grayza:''' ''You are so self-righteous! I have used all my skills, my resources for one perfect chance at peace! AND BECAUSE OF YOU, IT IS GONE AND '''I''' AM--''
(She stops, almost in tears, trying to steady herself.)
'''Crichton:''' (Coldly) Frelled? Screwed? ''Raped?'' Welcome to the universe, Commandant. }}
** Later in the same episode Scorpius has a brief one when realizing that he is one tiny step away from crippling the Scarrans; a simple forcefield that given time they could easily get past, but there is no time to do anything other but uselessly shoot at it. He even points a gun at the rest of the group for pointing out that they have to leave.
{{quote|'''Scorpius:''' I. DO NOT LOSE!}}
 
== Other series ==
* ''[[White Collar]]'' has the controlled, smug [[The Chessmaster|Chessmaster]] Vincent Adler being crushed to the brink of tears when {{spoiler|all the treasure he spent his life searching for blew up in front of him.}}
* In ''[[Cold Case]]'', George Marks, the [[Smug Snake]] and [[Complete Monster]] serial killer undergoes this in the season 2 finale. Lilly refuses to let George get to him, and after confronting him with his mother's crime she rips apart his god complex saying that all George is is a scared little boy who's mommy never loved him. George proceeds to loose his cool and screams at Lilly to shut up repeatedly. After watching him walk away in a previous episode, witnessing him loose his cool was kind of satisfying. In the season 1 finale, the villian Jim Larkin (another [[Complete Monster]]) keeps his cool until they reveal that they have dna evidence linking him to the crime, at which point he completely drops the facade and screams about how both of his targets were supposed to have died that night. John Smith also experiences this twice; first when his target avoids being broken, and the second when the detectives figure out where his victim is being held in time to save her.
Line 9 ⟶ 44:
** The Man in Black tends to be pretty calm and smug, but he goes a little crazy when he sees Jacob's ghost in the jungle. He chases him frantically, and the ancient invincable entity of destruction trips on a branch. He has a brief one when {{spoiler|he realizes he's become mortal in the series finale.}}
* [[Dexter]] has a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQzg53mDl9E&NR=1 pretty good one] in Episode 9 of Season Three, when he learns that he's been {{spoiler|manipulated by Miguel Prado after believing the man to be his friend}}. It's [[Daydream Surprise|internal]], but still. Another in season 2: "It is OVER WHEN I SAY IT IS!"
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'':
** In the season 18 story "Warriors' Gate", the slaver leader Rorvik finds his spaceship trapped in a place between universes. Although Rorvik at first tries to deal with his situation in a rational and methodical manner, over the course of the story he gradually breaks down under stress. By the end of the story, Rorvik is ranting and raving, and he finally kills himself and his crew in a failed attempt to escape by creating a backblast with his ship's engines.
*** ''"I'm finally getting something done!"''
** At the end of "The Last of the Time Lords", a combination of seeing his previously unstoppable universal domination plans crumble into nothing within the space of a few minutes and seeing his old enemy restored to full health (and turned into a glowing omnipotent being at that) is enough to reduce the Master, previously a [[Magnificent Bastard]] to rival any, into a hysterical wreck:
{{quote|'''The Master''': You can't do this. You can't do this! '''IT'S NOT FAIR'''!}}
** The ending of "The Sun Makers" has the Collector, upon realizing the revolution has finally caught up with him, reduced to a babbling wreck as he slowly (and literally) goes down the drain.
** The Dalek Emperor has one at the end of "The Parting Of The Ways" just before he is destroyed by Rose Tyler.
* Season 3 of ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'': [[Family Values Villain|The Mayor]], upon seeing Faith in a coma, shows rage [[Affably Evil|for the first time]] and tries to smother Buffy in her sleep and attacks Angel in front of civilians, going so far as to break his foul language etiquette. He regains his composure for the final showdown though, his last words being [[Gosh Dang It to Heck|"Well, gosh!"]]
{{quote|'''Mayor:''' Murderous little fiend! [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic|Did you see what she did to my Faith?]]<br />
'''Angel:''' Hadn't any plans to weep over that one.<br />
'''Mayor:''' Well, I'd get set for some ''weeping'' if I were you. I'd get set for a ''world'' of pain! Misery loves company, young man, and I'm looking to share that with ''you and your whore!'' }}
** A minor example can also be found in the first episode of season 3. "Humans don't fight back! ''Humans don't fight back! '''That's not how this works!'''''"
** The Master has one in the pilot after he senses that Luke - the key to his plan to free himself - has been killed.
** Faith has one herself in the spinoff show, ''[[Angel]]'', where she {{spoiler|carries out an elaborate charade to [[Suicide by Cop|get Angel to kill her]]}}.
{{quote|'''Faith:''' [[Punctuated Pounding|I'm evil! I'm bad! I'm evil! Do you hear me? I'm bad! Angel, I'm bad!]] [[Berserker Tears|I'm bad! Do you hear me? I'm bad! I'm bad! I'm bad.]] [[Tears of Remorse|Please. Angel, please, just do it. Angel please, just do it. Just do it.]] [[Tear Jerker|Just kill me. Just kill me.]] }}
*** Just to up the angst factor, the above scene takes place amidst a [[Grey Rain of Depression|torrential downpour.]]
* In ''[[The Prisoner]]'' episode "Hammer into Anvil", No. 6 makes the new No. 2 have one of these, [[Paranoia Gambit|convincing him there is a plot against him]] with some irregular acts and fake messages, ultimately ending with No. 2 getting rid of everyone, accusing them of being traitors, before collapsing into tears; No. 6 convinces him to resign.
* Adriana [[God Ã]]¡n in the Chilean telenovela ''Los titeres'' has a particularly memorable one: her plans wrecked, she regresses to childhood, revealing that [[Freudian Excuse|she tried and failed to get her father's love, but he wanted a boy]], jumps into a pool and starts playing with her old dolls. Apparently, "to comb the doll" is now slang for a breakdown in Chile.
Line 31 ⟶ 50:
'''Marlo:''' What the FUCK you know about what I need on my mind, motherfucker?!! My name was on the street! When we bounce from this shit here, y'all go down on them corners and let them people know, word did not get back to me! Tell em' Marlo step to any motherfucker, Omar, Barksdale, whoever. MY NAME IS MY NAME!! }}
** In the final episode, {{spoiler|Marlo seems to have won, taking a plea bargain and earning his freedom with all the money he's accumulated, on the condition that he leaves the game. Almost immediately he realizes that he can't live as a civilian, picking a pointless fight with some gangsters and screaming to an empty street corner that he's still a force to be reckoned with.}}
* In ''[[Farscape]]'', the [[Big Bad]] of a particular season or plot arc will always suffer one of these at some point; Captain Bialar Crais of the first season began cracking up almost immediately after we met him, and went on a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] for the accidental death of his brother, which wasn't to end until Peacekeeper High Command removed him and he was [[Heel Face Turn|forced to become a hero]].
** Scorpius suffered his own at the end of Season Three, when [[Heroic Sacrifice|Crais sacrificed himself to destroy Scorpius' commmand carrier]]. It involved a stunned and somewhat [[Pirates of the Caribbean|Cutler Beckett-esque]] stroll through his exploding ship, wandering through hordes of evacuating Peacekeepers until he encountered John Crichton, wearily explained he had no plans for revenge, and vanished- until the next season.
** Commandant Grayza's was quite severe, given that unlike the other two villains, she had very little to make her likeable or sympathetic (the date-rape had plenty to do with it). After being captured by the Scarrans and seeing all her negotiations for her vaunted alliance fail, she attempted a suicidal charge on the Scarran base that would have resulted in the death of all who were still loyal to her. However, [[Mauve Shirt]] Captain Braca decided she'd gone too far, and arrested her, allowing Scorpius to retake the ship.
*** And just to illustrate how badly she was doing, we had this exchange:
{{quote|'''Grayza:''' All that astonishing wormhole knowledge and still you will not share it with us. You came in here big and bold, dancing on tabletops. And look at you now; begging for scraps.
'''Crichton:''' I may be jammed, possibly dead. But I am not begging- you can get that fantasy out of your head.
'''Grayza:''' (Forcefully) In my hands, you can have peace! ''I can have peace!''
'''Crichton:''' I have ''been'' in your hands. There's no peace there... just power.
'''Grayza:''' ''You are so self-righteous! I have used all my skills, my resources for one perfect chance at peace! AND BECAUSE OF YOU, IT IS GONE AND '''I''' AM--''
(She stops, almost in tears, trying to steady herself.)
'''Crichton:''' (Coldly) Frelled? Screwed? ''Raped?'' Welcome to the universe, Commandant. }}
** Later in the same episode Scorpius has a brief one when realizing that he is one tiny step away from crippling the Scarrans; a simple forcefield that given time they could easily get past, but there is no time to do anything other but uselessly shoot at it. He even points a gun at the rest of the group for pointing out that they have to leave.
{{quote|'''Scorpius:''' I. DO NOT LOSE!}}
* Simon Elder on ''[[Dirty Sexy Money]]'' finally gets control of his rival Trip Darling's business, only for all the major stockholders to refuse to work with him and abandon the company. When one of his employees has trouble turning off the television, playing news of the company's catastrophic stock drop, Simon throws a champagne bottle into the TV. In the middle of a board meeting. Ironically it turns out this wasn't a [[Batman Gambit]] on Trip's part as Simon assumed at the time; he had genuinely given up and was just as surprised at the stockholders' actions.
* The usually cool, calm, and collected [[Manipulative Bastard|Manipulative Bitch]] [[I Have Many Names|Saffron/Bridget/Yolanda]] from ''[[Firefly]]'' suffers this in the episode Trash during a confrontation with her ex-husband when she and Mal are caught in the act of stealing from him.
Line 54 ⟶ 60:
'''Humphrey''': Yes, BUT THAT'S '''ALL!''' }}
* Every ''[[Law and Order: Criminal Intent]]'' culprit goes through one in their episode's [[Denouement]]. This applies to most of the culprits in the ''[[Law and Order]]'' franchise in general, but the Criminal Intent culprits' breakdowns really stand out.
* Tom Zarek of ''[[Battlestar Galactica]] (2004 TV series)|the 2000s ''Battlestar Galactica'' reboot]] has one of these during the back end of {{spoiler|Gaeta's mutiny}}, losing his cool completely as things fell apart. {{spoiler|Gaeta}} had a [[Villainous BSOD]] instead.
* The day started so well for Gul Dukat in the episode "Sacrifice of Angels" of ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'': After months of work he finally destroyed the minefield in front of the wormhole, which allows him to recieve massive reinforcements that will turn the slow going war against the Federation and the Klingons into a very one-sided [[Curb Stomp Battle]]. {{spoiler|But then the wormhole opens and not a single of his ships comes out, the entire fleet apparently vanished from existence}} and his expression rightfully turns into a full blown BSOD. Then {{spoiler|his highly beloved daughter tells him she won't come with him when his remaining troops have to retreat and that she helped the saboteurs to stop his plans}}. Then {{spoiler|his second in command Damar shots her in the heart because she's a traitor}} and Dukat slips completely into insanity, oblivious of whats going on around him.
** To say nothing of when he freaks out and decides to destroy Bajor: "I'm so glad we had this time together, Benjamin. Because we won't be seeing each other for a while. I have unfinished business on Bajor! They thought I was their enemy! They don't know what it is to be my enemy, but they will! From this day forward, Bajor is dead. All of Bajor! And this time, even their Emissary won't be able to save them!"
Line 60 ⟶ 66:
* Khan Noonien Singh in the ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' episode, when the crew refuses to bow down to him even as he's slowly killing Captain Kirk in the decompression chamber, even prompting him to yell: ''"It's so USELESS!"'' to nobody in particular.
** Doctor Janice Lester grows increasingly unhinged and insane while in Kirk's body, her irrational behaviour causing the rest of the crew to be suspicious. By the time she returned back to her own body, she was sobbing hysterically and screaming about how she wanted Kirk dead.
** In "The Conscience of the King", actor Karidian's daughter Lenore {{spoiler|after revealing she had killed seven of the nine witnesses who knew her father aswas Kodos the Executioner}} ran out to the stage with a phraserphaser, trying to kill Kirk, one of the witnesses. The mad glint in her eyes told us that she lost her mind. And when {{spoiler|she accidentally killed her father}}, she broke down into tears and later on, she insistently believed that {{spoiler|her father was still alive and still performing}}.
** General Trelane at first tries to pass himself off as a [[Man of Wealth and Taste]]; his true [[Psychopathic Manchild]] colours to bleed through around the time that he starts [[Hunting the Most Dangerous Game|hunting Captain Kirk for sport]], but when he posied, ready for the kill, and ''parents'' show-up to give him a stern lecture about interfering with primitive species (and presumably, take him to his room), he starts whining like a particularly pathetic five year old.
* Sylar in ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' Volume 4. {{spoiler|After stealing a shape shifting power Sylar begins to suffer a severe case of MPD as his body begins shifting and changing against his will, altering his DNA to new and unfamiliar patterns. It's not long before he's imagining that he's talking to his dead mother, shape shifting into her to talk to her and breaking down sobbing about how no one loves him and how alone he is. This only gets worse as he then tries to seduce Claire, believeing her to be "Destined" to be his because the two are immortal, while plotting to be president just so he can feel special and loved for a little while}}.
Line 84 ⟶ 90:
* Shun Sugata's performance as ''[[Tokusou Robo Janperson]]'''s Ryuzaburou Tatewaki demonstrates how to [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-uAMIlXZu4 destroy your office while screaming the name of your archenemy over and over and then burn his picture in the paper while cackling like a madman and sticking out your tongue].
* Dr. Moyer in the ''[[Scrubs]]'' episode "My Own American Girl", who's refusal to let the main characters perform an urgent CAT scan at an ungodly hour in the morning turns into a temper tantrum that would make a three-year-old embarrassed.
{{quote|'''Dr. Moyer''': You called me in from home to do an abdominal CAT scan that could wait until Monday morning? Well guess what? [[Obstructive Bureaucrat|It's not happening]]. <br />
'''J.D.''': Look, Dr. Moyer...<br />
'''Dr. Moyer''': ''[Exploding]'' These are ''my'' machines!<br />
'''Carla''': Sir...<br />
'''Dr. Moyer''': '''''My''' machines''!<br />
'''Chris Turk''': [[Deadpan Snarker|Who'sWhose machines]]?<br />
'''Dr. Moyer''': '''''My''''' ''machines''!<br />
'''J.D.''': ''[to Turk]'' How is that helpful? <br />
'''Dr. Moyer''': ''[Jumping up and down, throwing his arms up & down and screeching:]'' They're '''''mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! My machine! My machine!''''' }}
** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6N6EJ3IQuI This goes on for some time.]
** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6N6EJ3IQuI Link.]
* Kai from ''[[Kamen Rider Den-O]]'' has a slow, series wide one. He gradually goes more and more insane as the series progresses as a result of sending Imagin into the past through himself, destroying his past selves. Being a Singularity Point like Ryotaro, this doesn't kill him, but it gradually tears away his mental state. Even his [[The Dragon|Dragon]] points out he's getting worse. {{spoiler|Finally, he discovers that Sakari isn't the Junction Point as he believed, he completely loses it. He uses all his remaining memories to grant all his Imagin physical form and create the superpowerful Death Imagin, sending them on an all-out attack on Tokyo. He then proceeds to try and let loose a blast of temporal energy to erase the entire city from time, ''along with his army!''}}
* Though it's arguable [[Black and Grey Morality|who's the good guy in the series]], ''[[Breaking Bad]]'' gives Hank Schrader one of these. After he discovers that news of his wife being in a car crash was faked (to allow Walt and Jesse to escape an RV they were hiding in), he tracks down Jesse at his house and assaults him, outraged that they knew some of his important personal details. He ends up being thrown out of the DEA as a result.
Line 100 ⟶ 105:
* In [[Malcolm in the Middle]], Lois' horrible mother Ida tries to con a rich man into marrying her by keeping him drugged while they were dating. However, during the wedding ceremony, he starts to come to and, since Ida doesn't have any pills left, she's reduced to clinging to his leg begging him not to go. The scene ends with her sobbing on the floor like a child throwing a tantrum, screaming about how unfair it is.
* In ''[[Tales from the Crypt]]'' "The Man Who Was Death", the [[Vigilante Man]] executioner protagonist is reduced to a cowardly wreck begging for his life when he is finally caught and gets the electric chair. This just after he spent the entire episode extolling the virtues of capital punishment.
* ''[[Smallville]]''{{'}}s [[Majorly Awesome|Major]] [[Big Bad|Zod]] was never exactly stable, what with being an [[Axe Crazy]] [[Large Ham]] with a [[Hair-Trigger Temper]]. He spent most of the season slowly deconstructing, as stress and his inability to cope with his failures enroachedencroached on his sanity. He was able to keep in under control for most of Season 9 however, recovering whenever he slipped up. In the season finale, "Savior", however, he lost it, following his army's defection. He pulls Blue K knife out from under his coat, jumps on Clark and engages him in a [[Knife Fight]], ranting at the top of his lungs the entire time.
* In ''[[Oz]]'' this happens often. Like when Keller {{spoiler|goes nuts and commits suicide after Beecher rejects him for the final time}}. This is an interesting case, as it also crosses over into {{spoiler|[[Thanatos Gambit]]}}.
 
{{tropesubpagefooter}}