Villianny's Greatest Cliches

[Pink Bat Maxine]

"And now for a small demonstration of my power...."
(Uses Doomsday weapon to destroy a well known landmark that is, somehow, devoid of actual people.)

"He's as good as dead."
(He's not. I promise.)

"Now to leave you all alone in this needlessly complicated, thematic deathtrap while I go do something else."
(What, you spend millions of dollars on a cookoo clock with a robot bird designed to peck a hole through the good guy's head, and you don't care to stick around and get your entertainment value? Seems a waste.)

I AM power!
(You ARE not. Not really.)

Add yours.

[Grazzt]

"Yes I was the one who did it, but you'll never be able to prove it to that incompetent old fool."
(Who will be listening in to this conversation.)

"Its power is now mine!!!"
(Never pick up any object of great power without gloves, or tongs)

"He must be taken alive!"
(Give your minions some wiggle room)

[Tetsuo_man]

"That's right I somehow figure into your life as a relative/killer of your parents/best friend/etc"

[FalconX2000]

The Top 100 Things I'd Do
If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord

My Legions of Terror will have helmets with clear plexiglass visors, not face-concealing ones.

My ventilation ducts will be too small to crawl through.

My noble half-brother whose throne I usurped will be killed, not kept anonymously imprisoned in a forgotten cell of my dungeon.

Shooting is not too good for my enemies.

The artifact which is the source of my power will not be kept on the Mountain of Despair beyond the River of Fire guarded by the Dragons of Eternity. It will be in my safe-deposit box. The same applies to the object which is my one weakness.

I will not gloat over my enemies' predicament before killing them.

When I've captured my adversary and he says, "Look, before you kill me, will you at least tell me what this is all about?" I'll say, "No." and shoot him. No, on second thought I'll shoot him then say "No."

After I kidnap the beautiful princess, we will be married immediately in a quiet civil ceremony, not a lavish spectacle in three weeks' time during which the final phase of my plan will be carried out.

I will not include a self-destruct mechanism unless absolutely necessary. If it is necessary, it will not be a large red button labelled "Danger: Do Not Push". The big red button marked "Do Not Push" will instead trigger a spray of bullets on anyone stupid enough to disregard it. Similarly, the ON/OFF switch will not clearly be labelled as such.

I will not interrogate my enemies in the inner sanctum -- a small hotel well outside my borders will work just as well.

I will be secure in my superiority. Therefore, I will feel no need to prove it by leaving clues in the form of riddles or leaving my weaker enemies alive to show they pose no threat.

One of my advisors will be an average five-year-old child. Any flaws in my plan that he is able to spot will be corrected before implementation.

All slain enemies will be cremated, or at least have several rounds of ammunition emptied into them, not left for dead at the bottom of the cliff. The announcement of their deaths, as well as any accompanying celebration, will be deferred until after the aforementioned disposal.

The hero is not entitled to a last kiss, a last cigarette, or any other form of last request.

I will never employ any device with a digital countdown. If I find that such a device is absolutely unavoidable, I will set it to activate when the counter reaches 117 and the hero is just putting his plan into operation.

I will never utter the sentence "But before I kill you, there's just one thing I want to know."

When I employ people as advisors, I will occasionally listen to their advice.

I will not have a son. Although his laughably under-planned attempt to usurp power would easily fail, it would provide a fatal distraction at a crucial point in time.

I will not have a daughter. She would be as beautiful as she was evil, but one look at the hero's rugged countenance and she'd betray her own father.

Despite its proven stress-relieving effect, I will not indulge in maniacal laughter. When so occupied, it's too easy to miss unexpected developments that a more attentive individual could adjust to accordingly.

I will hire a talented fashion designer to create original uniforms for my Legions of Terror, as opposed to some cheap knock-offs that make them look like Nazi stormtroopers, Roman footsoldiers, or savage Mongol hordes. All were eventually defeated and I want my troops to have a more positive mind-set.

No matter how tempted I am with the prospect of unlimited power, I will not consume any energy field bigger than my head.

I will keep a special cache of low-tech weapons and train my troops in their use. That way -- even if the heroes manage to neutralize my power generator and/or render the standard-issue energy weapons useless -- my troops will not be overrun by a handful of savages armed with spears and rocks.

I will maintain a realistic assessment of my strengths and weaknesses. Even though this takes some of the fun out of the job, at least I will never utter the line "No, this cannot be! I AM INVINCIBLE!!!" (After that, death is usually instantaneous.)

No matter how well it would perform, I will never construct any sort of machinery which is completely indestructible except for one small and virtually inaccessible vulnerable spot.

No matter how attractive certain members of the rebellion are, there is probably someone just as attractive who is not desperate to kill me. Therefore, I will think twice before ordering a prisoner sent to my bedchamber.

I will never build only one of anything important. All important systems will have redundant control panels and power supplies. For the same reason I will always carry at least two fully loaded weapons at all times.

My pet monster will be kept in a secure cage from which it cannot escape and into which I could not accidentally stumble.

I will dress in bright and cheery colors, and so throw my enemies into confusion.

All bumbling conjurers, clumsy squires, no-talent bards, and cowardly thieves in the land will be preemptively put to death. My foes will surely give up and abandon their quest if they have no source of comic relief.

All naive, busty tavern wenches in my realm will be replaced with surly, world-weary waitresses who will provide no unexpected reinforcement and/or romantic subplot for the hero or his sidekick.

I will not fly into a rage and kill a messenger who brings me bad news just to illustrate how evil I really am. Good messengers are hard to come by.

I won't require high-ranking female members of my organization to wear a stainless-steel bustier. Morale is better with a more casual dress-code. Similarly, outfits made entirely from black leather will be reserved for formal occasions.

I will not turn into a snake. It never helps.

I will not grow a goatee. In the old days they made you look diabolic. Now they just make you look like a disaffected member of Generation X.

I will not imprison members of the same party in the same cell block, let alone the same cell. If they are important prisoners, I will keep the only key to the cell door on my person instead of handing out copies to every bottom-rung guard in the prison.

If my trusted lieutenant tells me my Legions of Terror are losing a battle, I will believe him. After all, he's my trusted lieutenant.

If an enemy I have just killed has a younger sibling or offspring anywhere, I will find them and have them killed immediately, instead of waiting for them to grow up harboring feelings of vengeance towards me in my old age.

If I absolutely must ride into battle, I will certainly not ride at the forefront of my Legions of Terror, nor will I seek out my opposite number among his army.

I will be neither chivalrous nor sporting. If I have an unstoppable superweapon, I will use it as early and as often as possible instead of keeping it in reserve.

Once my power is secure, I will destroy all those pesky time-travel devices.

When I capture the hero, I will make sure I also get his dog, monkey, ferret, or whatever sickeningly cute little animal capable of untying ropes and filching keys happens to follow him around.

I will maintain a healthy amount of skepticism when I capture the beautiful rebel and she claims she is attracted to my power and good looks and will gladly betray her companions if I just let her in on my plans.

I will only employ bounty hunters who work for money. Those who work for the pleasure of the hunt tend to do dumb things like even the odds to give the other guy a sporting chance.

I will make sure I have a clear understanding of who is responsible for what in my organization. For example, if my general screws up I will not draw my weapon, point it at him, say "And here is the price for failure," then suddenly turn and kill some random underling.

If an advisor says to me "My liege, he is but one man. What can one man possibly do?", I will reply "This." and kill the advisor.

If I learn that a callow youth has begun a quest to destroy me, I will slay him while he is still a callow youth instead of waiting for him to mature.

I will treat any beast which I control through magic or technology with respect and kindness. Thus if the control is ever broken, it will not immediately come after me for revenge.

[FalconX2000]

If I learn the whereabouts of the one artifact which can destroy me, I will not send all my troops out to seize it. Instead I will send them out to seize something else and quietly put a Want-Ad in the local paper.

My main computers will have their own special operating system that will be completely incompatible with standard IBM and Macintosh powerbooks.

If one of my dungeon guards begins expressing concern over the conditions in the beautiful princess' cell, I will immediately transfer him to a less people-oriented position.

I will hire a team of board-certified architects and surveyors to examine my castle and inform me of any secret passages and abandoned tunnels that I might not know about.

If the beautiful princess that I capture says "I'll never marry you! Never, do you hear me, NEVER!!!", I will say "Oh well" and kill her.

I will not strike a bargain with a demonic being then attempt to double-cross it simply because I feel like being contrary.

The deformed mutants and odd-ball psychotics will have their place in my Legions of Terror. However before I send them out on important covert missions that require tact and subtlety, I will first see if there is anyone else equally qualified who would attract less attention.

My Legions of Terror will be trained in basic marksmanship. Any who cannot learn to hit a man-sized target at 10 meters will be used for target practice.

Before employing any captured artifacts or machinery, I will carefully read the owner's manual.

If it becomes necessary to escape, I will never stop to pose dramatically and toss off a one-liner.

I will never build a sentient computer smarter than I am.

My five-year-old child advisor will also be asked to decipher any code I am thinking of using. If he breaks the code in under 30 seconds, it will not be used. Note: this also applies to passwords.

If my advisors ask "Why are you risking everything on such a mad scheme?", I will not proceed until I have a response that satisfies them.

I will design fortress hallways with no alcoves or protruding structural supports which intruders could use for cover in a firefight.

Bulk trash will be disposed of in incinerators, not compactors. And they will be kept hot, with none of that nonsense about flames going through accessible tunnels at predictable intervals.

I will see a competent psychiatrist and get cured of all extremely unusual phobias and bizarre compulsive habits which could prove to be a disadvantage.

If I must have computer systems with publically available terminals, the maps they display of my complex will have a room clearly marked as the Main Control Room. That room will be the Execution Chamber. The actual main control room will be marked as Sewage Overflow Containment.

My security keypad will actually be a fingerprint scanner. Anyone who watches someone press a sequence of buttons or dusts the pad for fingerprints then subsequently tries to enter by repeating that sequence will trigger the alarm system.

No matter how many shorts we have in the system, my guards will be instructed to treat every surveillance camera malfunction as a full-scale emergency.

I will spare someone who saved my life sometime in the past. This is only reasonable as it encourages others to do so. However, the offer is good one time only. If they want me to spare them again, they'd better save my life again.

All midwives will be banned from the realm. All babies will be delivered at state-approved hospitals. Orphans will be placed in foster-homes, not abandoned in the woods to be raised by creatures of the wild.

When my guards split up to search for intruders, they will always travel in groups of at least two. They will be trained so that if one of them disappears mysteriously while on patrol, the other will immediately initiate an alert and call for backup, instead of quizzically peering around a corner.

If I decide to test a lieutenant's loyalty and see if he/she should be made a trusted lieutenant, I will have a crack squad of marksmen standing by in case the answer is no.

If all the heroes are standing together around a strange device and begin to taunt me, I will pull out a conventional weapon instead of using my unstoppable superweapon on them.

I will not agree to let the heroes go free if they win a rigged contest, even though my advisors assure me it is impossible for them to win.

When I create a multimedia presentation of my plan designed so that my five-year-old advisor can easily understand the details, I will not label the disk "Project Overlord" and leave it lying on top of my desk.

I will instruct my Legions of Terror to attack the hero en masse, instead of standing around waiting while members break off and attack one or two at a time.

If the hero runs up to my roof, I will not run up after him and struggle with him in an attempt to push him over the edge. I will also not engage him at the edge of a cliff. (In the middle of a rope-bridge over a river of molten lava is not even worth considering.)

If I have a fit of temporary insanity and decide to give the hero the chance to reject a job as my trusted lieutentant, I will retain enough sanity to wait until my current trusted lieutenant is out of earshot before making the offer.

I will not tell my Legions of Terror "And he must be taken alive!" The command will be "And try to take him alive if it is reasonably practical."

If my doomsday device happens to come with a reverse switch, as soon as it has been employed it will be melted down and made into limited-edition commemorative coins.

If my weakest troops fail to eliminate a hero, I will send out my best troops instead of wasting time with progressively stronger ones as he gets closer and closer to my fortress.

If I am fighting with the hero atop a moving platform, have disarmed him, and am about to finish him off and he glances behind me and drops flat, I too will drop flat instead of quizzically turning around to find out what he saw.

I will not shoot at any of my enemies if they are standing in front of the crucial support beam to a heavy, dangerous, unbalanced structure.

If I'm eating dinner with the hero, put poison in his goblet, then have to leave the table for any reason, I will order new drinks for both of us instead of trying to decide whether or not to switch with him.

I will not have captives of one sex guarded by members of the opposite sex.

I will not use any plan in which the final step is horribly complicated, e.g. "Align the 12 Stones of Power on the sacred altar then activate the medallion at the moment of total eclipse." Instead it will be more along the lines of "Push the button."

I will make sure that my doomsday device is up to code and properly grounded.

My vats of hazardous chemicals will be covered when not in use. Also, I will not construct walkways above them.

If a group of henchmen fail miserably at a task, I will not berate them for incompetence then send the same group out to try the task again.

After I captures the hero's superweapon, I will not immediately disband my legions and relax my guard because I believe whoever holds the weapon is unstoppable. After all, the hero held the weapon and I took it from him.

I will not design my Main Control Room so that every workstation is facing away from the door.

I will not ignore the messenger that stumbles in exhausted and obviously agitated until my personal grooming or current entertainment is finished. It might actually be important.

If I ever talk to the hero on the phone, I will not taunt him. Instead I will say this his dogged perseverance has given me new insight on the futility of my evil ways and that if he leaves me alone for a few months of quiet contemplation I will likely return to the path of righteousness. (Heroes are incredibly gullible in this regard.)

If I decide to hold a double execution of the hero and an underling who failed or betrayed me, I will see to it that the hero is scheduled to go first.

When arresting prisoners, my guards will not allow them to stop and grab a useless trinket of purely sentimental value.

My dungeon will have its own qualified medical staff complete with bodyguards. That way if a prisoner becomes sick and his cellmate tells the guard it's an emergency, the guard will fetch a trauma team instead of opening up the cell for a look.

My door mechanisms will be designed so that blasting the control panel on the outside seals the door and blasting the control panel on the inside opens the door, not vice versa.

My dungeon cells will not be furnished with objects that contain reflective surfaces or anything that can be unravelled.

If an attractive young couple enters my realm, I will carefully monitor their activities. If I find they are happy and affectionate, I will ignore them. However if circumstance have forced them together against their will and they spend all their time bickering and criticizing each other except during the intermittent occasions when they are saving each others' lives at which point there are hints of sexual tension, I will immediately order their execution.

Any data file of crucial importance will be padded to 1.45Mb in size.

Finally, to keep my subjects permanently locked in a mindless trance, I will provide each of them with free unlimited Internet access.

[FeminineMystique]

Nothing can stop me now! Nothing! And NO ONE! (Something CAN stop you now. Something and someone)

I might as well tell you, since you'll be dead soon anyway! (They won't. You're screwed)

The final stage of my plan will soon be complete (NO. It won't)

[Ian Boothby]

What I don't get is why the superpowered bad guys are always robbing banks. If you can tear the door off a vault then just take the stuff you want, you no longer have to purchase items.

[Tetsuo_man]

What I don't get is why the superpowered bad guys are always robbing banks. If you can tear the door off a vault then just take the stuff you want, you no longer have to purchase items.

Basically it's all an ego trip for some villains.

[Thadeus Thunderwinkle]

"Curses! Foiled again!"

[Tetsuo_man]

"And I would have gotten away with it too if it weren't for (insert name here)."

Sorry if already mentioned and I missed it.

[Pink Bat Maxine]

Now I am a GOD!
(Unless you're Darkseid or Loki, No. You're not. And the hero is now going to dispatch of you in the most humiliating way possible.)

[FalconX2000]

I might as well tell you, since you'll be dead soon anyway! (They won't. You're screwed)

I liked how Star Trek made fun of that in Undiscovered Country.

[suedenim]

One of my favorites: "Stop him, you idiots! He's only one man!"
http://www.pop-comics.com/images/reviews/22105618_24207_ful.jpg

Variant: "She's just a girl!"
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3106/3283274375_5f07b2fb9d.jpg

[Charles RB]

"You tried to betray me, Vizier type! Now I'm going to let you have the same job and take no action, but don't do it again, okay?"

"You're JUST like me, hero!"

"I am a female villain, therefore I must wear fetish wear and be sexy. Only evil women do that!"

And henchmen with themed uniforms. It's a cliche, and it's GREAT. :biggrin:

-

That said, some villains are total cliches and pull it off. See Megabyte from ReBoot:

"As you are no doubt aware, the Principal Office is now under my complete control. You're probably waiting for one of my erudite speeches about me, Megaframe, the New Viral Dawn, etcetera etcetera. But I'm afraid I'm going to have to disappoint you. There is no grand scheme here. This is about revenge."

[Ghost]

Reminds me of one of my all time favourite villain quotes, from RPGWorld's Galgerion: (http://www.rpgworldcomic.com/d/20040426.html)

"A real villain kills with style. You don't have to be headstrong. You don't have to rush into things. You hold the heroes over a vat of acid. You gain alliances just to doublecross them. It's not about the end, it's about the means. What's the use of being evil if you're not going to be badass about it?"

[Michael P]

"I... AM... INVINCIBLE!"

And then he dies. Always.

[SimplySalty]

Biggest villain cliche...

Purple.

[Beacon]

I love overly elaborate deathtraps. Rube Goldberg must have REALLY wanted the Adam West Batman dead (though I have a friend in high school that was convinced that the opposite was true).

I just picked up the Black Glove hardcover from my local library and I discovered that Morrison introduced the idea of a villain named “El Sombrero” that designs death traps for other, less imaginative, villains. Best new villain concept in YEARS.



I also like “we’re really not that different, you and I” because the two parties almost never have anything in common beyond the superficial stuff.

[jamesfreeman]

(Insert name of girlfriend, best friend, family member) can't come to the phone right now. (He/She)'s all tied up at the moment!
*Camera pans to bound and gagged hostage in background*

[PatrickG]

This is a really fascinating thread. Lots of brain fodder here.

I do have to say, I am a bit old fashioned. It isn't about WINNING. It's about the thrill of the game and that game has rules, rules that -- among other things -- will keep you alive, that will make adversaries who not only would never kill you but who would even risk their life to save yours or even bring you back from the dead if that unfortunate event does happen.

Break the code and you become a thug.

And thugs die.

True villains are immortal.

[Pink Bat Maxine]

This is a really fascinating thread. Lots of brain fodder here.

I do have to say, I am a bit old fashioned. It isn't about WINNING. It's about the thrill of the game and that game has rules, rules that -- among other things -- will keep you alive, that will make adversaries who not only would never kill you but who would even risk their life to save yours or even bring you back from the dead if that unfortunate event does happen.

Break the code and you become a thug.

And thugs die.

True villains are immortal.

Literally!

When the hero says a smug "I have a feeling we've seen the last of...." to his sidekick, you've already escaped the explosion, swum to shore, put in a phone call to your henchmen, and are an your way back to your lair via thematic funny car, helicopter, or secret underground monorail to put into effect the even BIGGER plan you just came up with inspired by all that pretty fire and debris.

[scout1279]

Villainesses going straight because the hero is just that dreamy.

[Charles RB]

Why do the heroes never turn evil because the villain's dreamy?

[Sean Walsh]

Now I am a GOD!
(Unless you're Darkseid or Loki, No. You're not. And the hero is now going to dispatch of you in the most humiliating way possible.)

Furthermore, if "I am God" then one would think the first thing done would be "evaporate my enemies, most especially the ones within earshot of me saying this."

[Sean Walsh]

....and wait a minute, have I not seen this one mentioned yet??

"And now, allow me to explain my incredibly elaborate plan!"
(Meanwhile, the hero(es) figure out a way to escape captivity so that when the diatribe is done, they are free and defeat the villain)

[FeminineMystique]

"As you are no doubt aware, the Principal Office is now under my complete control. You're probably waiting for one of my erudite speeches about me, Megaframe, the New Viral Dawn, etcetera etcetera. But I'm afraid I'm going to have to disappoint you. There is no grand scheme here. This is about revenge."

Oh my god, I remember that show! Megabyte was fantastic in it. And the guy who did his voice also voiced Magneto in the first X Men Legends game

I do have to say, I am a bit old fashioned. It isn't about WINNING. It's about the thrill of the game and that game has rules, rules that -- among other things -- will keep you alive, that will make adversaries who not only would never kill you but who would even risk their life to save yours or even bring you back from the dead if that unfortunate event does happen.

You're secretly a member of the Guild of Calamitous Intent aren't you?

[Beacon]

Why do the heroes never turn evil because the villain's dreamy?

That's ... that's a REALLY good question. The closest thing I can think of is the (then evil) Black Widow seducing Hawkeye but Clint was more misguided than evil (and he really hadn’t had a chance to be a “proper” hero before that anyway).

[Melbourne Mew Mew]

"i Shall Return!"

[wolvie616]

you all forget the MOST important one of all

I did it 35 minutes ago

[Michael P]

you all forget the MOST important one of all

I did it 35 minutes ago

That's not a cliche. It's a subversion of one.

[Corrina]

I always loved the Evil Overlord list, Falcon. Thanks for that.

My favorite was always "do not turn into a giant snake. It never helps."

[Charles RB]

Oh my god, I remember that show! Megabyte was fantastic in it. And the guy who did his voice also voiced Magneto in the first X Men Legends game

Tony Jay also voiced Galactus, Baron Mordo, the Elder Things in Soul Reaver, Minister Frollo for Disney and did his own singing...

...and Virgil from Mighty Max, which is disorienting because it's his voice and yet the character's a goodie!

Megabyte's the only one to threaten a small boy with death, just after showing he's turned his own sister into a weapon.

"You did THAT to your own sister?!"
"Yes, yes, yes... rather good, isn't it?"

His showdown with Matrix gets really nasty, when he utterly refuses to take this older Enzo seriously even when a gun is drawn on him. ("And such toys! Does your sister know you're playing with them?")

[Pink Bat Maxine]

I'll show those ignorant fools.... I'll show them all!

[Santanico]

And a variant of the above:

"They all called me mad! Well, I'll show them! I'm going to create an army of radioactive cyborg hamsters and loose them upon the population of New York - that'll prove I'm not insane!"

[Pink Bat Maxine]

And a variant of the above:

"They all called me mad! Well, I'll show them! I'm going to create an army of radioactive cyborg hamsters and loose them upon the population of New York - that'll prove I'm not insane!"

....said by someone who's about to be hamster food.

[Michael P]

I always liked: "They called me mad -- and they were RIGHT!"

[Shades0077]

Mustache twirling.

[Cam63]

" Waterboarding is NOT torture. "

[Charles RB]

Leaving the hero or potential hero alive because you like the challenge.

Worse, leaving them alive because they're not worth killing YES THEY ARE!!!

(Megabyte, bless his absent soul, slightly subverted that by doing this to Enzo with the intention of demoralising the enemy - which worked.)

[FeminineMystique]

("And such toys! Does your sister know you're playing with them?")

"Well, let's hear it. Megabreath this and Megabarf that". You've gotta love how totally unconcerned Megabyte was by the heroes. He treated them as little more than an annoyance because he was so totally convinced that he was superior to them.

Actually that should probably be on the list of cliches too. Disregarding the threat posed by your enemies even if they've beaten you time and time again.

And a few more cliches...

So good of you to drop in (Said immediately before sending the hero plummeting down a near bottomless pit)

And in Timesplitter: Future Perfect Khallos delivers a double whammy of villainous cliches "You must mean your darling Kitten Celeste. I'm afraid she's a little tied up right now (She's tied to railroad tracks) but we'll be running into her shortly (Their about to run over her in a train)". Even the hero, whose normally clueless winces at this

[LewisH]

you don't ever want to be the first woman to have sex with James Bond in one of his movies. She always ends up dead.

[Santanico]

Leaving the hero or potential hero alive because you like the challenge.

Worse, leaving them alive because they're not worth killing YES THEY ARE!!!

Also, leaving them alive so they can watch as you destroy their family/home/planet/local pub. They will figure out a way to stop you, and even on the very, very tiny off-chance that they won't, you know what? I'll bet that seeing the look on your hated enemy's face as they watch their loved ones/home world/booze outlet go up in smoke won't be nearly as satisfying as KILLING THEM DEAD.

[Hybrid2]

Also, leaving them alive so they can watch as you destroy their family/home/planet/local pub. They will figure out a way to stop you, and even on the very, very tiny off-chance that they won't, you know what? I'll bet that seeing the look on your hated enemy's face as they watch their loved ones/home world/booze outlet go up in smoke won't be nearly as satisfying as KILLING THEM DEAD.

Vader should have done this to Leia,after making her watch her planet blow up.

[Flying Saucers Over Oz]

What I miss is the roccoco style of old-time villainy. I mean, who mails their arch-nemesis a parcel post package containing a dwarf with a poison dart gun nowadays?

It's occurred to me one way to play this kind of nonsense is to have characters who stage elaborate, theme-crimes as a kind of performance art. "And now, I shall steal everything beginning with the letter 'Y' from the Gotham City Museum!"

[Santanico]

It's occurred to me one way to play this kind of nonsense is to have characters who stage elaborate, theme-crimes as a kind of performance art.

Did you know that this is exactly what the classic French pulp villain, Fantomas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fant%C3%B4mas), actually did? He was a favorite of the Surrealists for just that reason.

[Rev. Calibos]

After capturing the hero the villain wanders around and chats him up while his evil plan comes to fruition:

'You know, we are much alike you and I......'

To which the hero always responds with something like:

'I'm NOTHING like you!!!'

[Pink Bat Maxine]

After capturing the hero the villain wanders around and chats him up while his evil plan comes to fruition:

'You know, we are much alike you and I......'

To which the hero always responds with something like:

'I'm NOTHING like you!!!'

Yeah, but that ALWAYS gets under the hero's skin. Always.

[Flying Saucers Over Oz]

Did you know that this is exactly what the classic French pulp villain, Fantomas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fant%C3%B4mas), actually did? He was a favorite of the Surrealists for just that reason.

Actually, I didn't, though I'd heard of the character. Thanks for the info.