When a character reveals himself as secretly the villain the whole time, but is killed by his creations/underlings/tools. Then the heroes are left to escape.
I saw this in a Rick & Morty episode that just aired, and it reminded me of (spoiler) Resident Evil.
> bad guys uncover / activate gate to summon extremely powerful creature(s) of evil
This is my GMing crutch but I never get bored of it. Provides a nice easy climax, and I throw in stuff like a plague in my latest campaign to dress it up a bit.
>rick and morty episode that just aired
enjoy your (((You))) and go, you devil
Got me cunt
Me too
>watching jurassic world
>pratt's old army buddy reveals his the bad guy
>starts talking how he plans to weaponise the new super Dinio for the army
>heroes tell him he can't control 'Em
>starts lecture on how progress needs sacrifice..
>a raptor eats him in mid sentences
It's great because you can tell the exact moment the writers realised no one cared about military conspiracy subplot support and they should just go back to random dino killings,
The worst villain is a corrupted hero.
The best hero is a redeemed villain.
that scene should have ended with the army guy shouting for Chris Pratt to control the animals as he's being eaten, and Chris replying I don't control the raptors, it's a relationship
>Cliches you love
The main antagonist is LE leader of men seeking greater, if not absolute power.
They honestly believe the world they would forge would be a better one, after all the necessary killing is over.
They might even be right.
Then, as the PC are about to triumph over them and are about to save the day, the CE Lieutenant returns to killsteal, take all the power, and become the true BBEG.
>I don't control the raptors, it's a relationship
Reminds me of Shadowrun:Hong Kong's Racter. He doesn't control his custom drone. He merely loosens the leash and allows it to go on a murder spree. Being an extension of his psychopathic id does help though.
>reddit and memey
The hero saves a hot maiden in distress from a dragon/lich/Barney the Dinosaur/whatever and they live happily ever after. This one is actually pretty rare nowadays because everyone and their mom thinks it's SO CLEVER XD to use twisted versions of this so nobody plays it straight.
When will Veeky Forums put the memes aside and learn to enjoy stuff because it's good and not because the creators use the 'right' memes and avoid the 'wrong' ones?
>Villain A has an arc
>Villain B has an arc
>"no, FUCK you this is MY gig"
>Villain A vs Villain B
Especially when it's a "nobody kills you bastards but me" thing
>"nobody kills you bastards but me"
I fucking love that shit. Especially when they team up to take down the interloping big bad.
>villain is pure evil
>you are the only ones who can stop him
>get to the final fight
>defeat boss
>realise he wasn't evil, it was all just propaganda
Anything that takes the usual good vs bad and makes it more realistic is comfy for me.
> Villain is not misunderstood
> Villain does not have a tragic backstory that justifies him
> Villain does not pretend to be a better man than the hero.
I love it.
I feel like that can take a turn for the worse if there was no indication or clues of the villain's true nature beforehand. Like when the heroes realistically had every reason to believe what they were told up until the villain's defeat when the rug is pulled out from under them and suddenly they're the bad guys.
I love it when there are multiple generations of heroes with established parallels between them. Like when the heroes run into old guys like parents, mentors, etc. And they hint to having gone on a very similar adventure back in their day. Bonus points if they had the same number of people in their party that filled the same roles.
That's exactly it. It leads to a series of reactions that just put them further in the position of villain, until they're actually in the same place as the villain they've killed.
>kill villain
>villain was being misrepresented
>oppose those who led you to him
>they label you as dangerous and wish to apprehend you
>fight back and kill those at the top to try to end their regime
>now the whole world thinks you're a villain
>heroes are sent after you
>try to explain but they don't believe it
>you kill the heroes, further cementing your status
...
Nah, you're just a faggot with a fetish for TWEEST endings.
What's up, little buddy? You want to talk about it?
Pulling a
>HURR THE VILLAIN WAS ACTUALLY THE GOOD GUY ALL ALONG
with no subtle hints of whats actually going on or chance for the party to piece together and realize the plot is poor GMing.
It also hints at a heavy degree of railroading involved just so you can masturbate over the shocking swerve.
The hints are implicit in the trope.
user, I don't think. Nobody care about your "trope", we're talking about things that shit GMs do.
Really? Re-read the OP and tell me where that's mentioned.
I'm still upset they killed the best character
>Story of a heroes slow descent into villainy, eroding his moral code bit by bit with every new transgression, still believing the whole time that he is the good guy.
>"I am your father."
Especially if it makes perfect sense to anyone who had been paying attention.
It's the oldest trick in the book, but fuck you, I love it.
I know right? I was pretty surprised by that.
>the BBEG realises mid-realization of his evil plan that it's going to fuck up everyone and starts working with the party to stop it
what about a vengeful motherfucker who became best friends with a great hero, all the while using their resources plotting the demise of the current nation, making deals with otherworldy abominations behind his friend's back, and going out of the way to make sure his friend isn't around when he springs his plan into action to spare him, but then one of the abominations he dealt with poisons the best friend's wife in the final moments, and the main villain realizes it wasn't worth it and gives up his ultimate trump card that would allow him to win, in order to spare her life?
>When will Veeky Forums put the memes aside and learn to enjoy stuff because it's good and not because the creators use the 'right' memes and avoid the 'wrong' ones?
In the old days before reddit even existed, channers would throw a fit if something originated on a different board than the one they were currently posting on.
People are tribal by nature.
>entire subplot of find the macguffin before BBEG summons the evil thing
>all that time was wasted because the BBEG summons it anyway but the team gets there just in time to kill it
...
"Former villain teams up with heroes to stop a greater foe" is probably my favorite cliché. Particularly when it reveals that the villain is, in fact, skilled and smart, prior losses to the heroes notwithstanding.
It's not necessarily a bad play. If hinted at, and done realistically (I.e., absolutely not "HE WAS THE GOOD GUY YOU GUYS ARE VILLAINS HA HA") and learn after that fact that much of it was propaganda, but he was still an enemy. Shades of grey are common, and exist on both sides.
Part of me doesn't want us to bring dinosaurs back.
Because i know people are going to end up having sex with them.
The BBEG was finally defeated but nothing changes much. A new BBEG rises in rank and we're off to a new campaign.
Source plz
I enjoy this with the caveat of the DISTINCT differences from the first party making the mentor/retired types tilt their and go "huh" and what might have been missing in their failed/not-strong-enough attempt.
Or the other way around when they realize the new group has some inherent flaws and they all be like "They'll get it eventually", if "it" be a stereotypical teamwork thing or a more concrete "lack of knowledge in magic/magic user"
Came back to add an addendum.
The best possible use of this cliche is when something happens that causes the old heroes to get the band back together for the first time in years, possibly for one last fight.