History Characters / EvilGeniusEvilGeniuses

* TheNapoleon: According to his backstory, he has a complex regarding his height.

* {{Expy}}: His scar, his BaldOfEvil, and his outfit are all a very, very clear reference to [[Franchise/JamesBond Ernst Stavro Blofeld.]] He also invites some comparisons to Blofeld's most famous parody, [[Film/AustinPowers Dr. Evil]], mainly due to his baldness, over-the-top Evilness, and outfit. ''Evil Genius 2'' also has him draw elements of [[Film/{{Goldfinger}} Auric Goldfinger]], due to his overt MoneyFetish and being both literally and figuratively the man with the MidasTouch.

* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Though still insane and nightmarish in his commitment to Evil and conquering the world, Maximilian is probably the nicest and most reasonable of the four Evil Geniuses in the sequel. Compared to [[NukeEm Red]] [[BloodKnight Ivan]], [[KillAllHumans Emma]], and [[TheEvilsOfFreeWill Zalika]], he's probably the one who causes the least damage taking over the world.
** The other three Geniuses gleefully turn on their Doomsday Devices and damn the cost. He's just as enthusiastic about turning his on... and when the Worker tells him that the "worst thing it could do" is that it could painfully kill everyone in the base if the pre-checks aren't done, he ''backs down'' from his decision with horrified embarrassment, aware that he almost dooms everyone (including himself) due to his obsession. Maximilian is mostly ecstatic when the Device is proven to [[spoiler: turn anything into gold on demand]], but is appalled at the Device's backblast [[spoiler: killing random Minions by turning them into gold]], saying that the latter has ruined what is supposed to be the happiest day of his life.

* TheSmartGuy: Being an Industrialist, in the first game Max is ''intended'' to get advantages in the science department with lower research costs, compared to Alexis' VillainWithGoodPublicity or Shen Yu's clandestine operations... but he doesn't due to a lingering bug, so he doesn't get those discounts.
* WeHaveReserves: He loses the above trait in the second game in-exchange for this one. Maxmillian starts the game with extra minions and one of his abilities completes the training for every minion who's nearby when he uses it, allowing him to quickly replace those specialists that he loses.

* BadBoss: They can execute their own minions. It greatly boosts the loyalty of minions who witnessed it. In the second game, executions restore all the stats of witnesses, and the Geniuses can now execute Henchmen if the player so dictates. Mainly because now there's a limited number of slots on the team. However, maintaining your minions' morale and well-being is also an important part of the game since otherwise the quality of their work will decrease as well as them potentially quitting.

* BodyguardBabes: At higher Notoriety your Evil Genius gets one, then two of these in the first game. They're hardly effective though, and there's no way to replace them excepting mods. Alexis gets ChippendalesDancers that serve the same function instead. ''2'' exchanges this with giving the Genius the ability to attack enemies themselves.

* DecapitatedArmy: The player needs to keep their Evil Genius alive and safe at all times, due to them being the lynch pin of the whole world domination effort in both games. In the event of the Evil Genius getting their health reduced to zero, the game instantly ends. It's worth noting the second game makes it so they're not defenseless on their own anymore, though.
* DiabolicalMastermind: They are all variations of this trope. Max is a greedy industrialist, Alexis is a beloved heiress, Shan Yu's a shadowy mastermind, Red Ivan's a military dictator, Emma's a rogue spymaster with a desire to end the world, and Zalika's a hi-tech visionary scientist.
* DoomsdayDevice: Their primary goal is to create one of these to conquer the world. They are the ID Eliminator, Earthquake Beam, and Gravity Disruptor. In the second game, each of the Evil Geniuses have one unique to their personalities. Max's [[MidasTouch M.I.D.A.S.]], Red Ivan's [[NukeEm H.A.V.O.C.]], Emma's [[HatePlague V.E.N.O.M.]], Zalika's [[MindControlDevice V.O.I.D.]] and Polar's [[WeatherControlMachine Z.E.R.O.]]

* EvilGenius: It's literally in the name of the game. They're all incredibly intelligent, and using that to pursue world domination.
* EvilLaugh: Being supervillains, they all love cackling maniacally, as characterized by the huge, bold "HA HA!" lettering around them. If you let them do this to a captive Agent in the first game, you'll also net a small Notoriety gain.
* FighterMageThief: A variation; the new Evil Geniuses in the second game focus on Muscle (Red Ivan), Science (Zalika) and Deception (Emma) while Maximilian is a generalist who is better at making money and maintaining a horde of minions.

* SchrodingersPlayerCharacter: All of the Geniuses are all but confirmed to be active at around the same time frame in both games, or at least the original trio were, as indicated by Max's provided bio in ''2''. However, only the one that you chose to play at will actually get anywhere in the world, with Max being explicitly established as the not being the chosen Genius of the first game, leaving the status of the other ones ambiguous, especially considering the win condition of ''2'', [[spoiler:where the majority of the globe and much of their holdings can be potentially destroyed by the victor.]]
* SpeakingSimlish: Most of the Genius voice lines are them mumbling incoherently to themselves. Slightly zig-zagged in ''2'', where they do have proper dialogue in conversations, but are still mumbling in the intro and outro cutscenes.

* VillainProtagonist: Obviously. The game has you playing a supervillain trying to conquer the world.
* WeCanRuleTogether: During their first encounter in ''Evil Genius 2'', the evil genius will offer Crime Lords and Super Agents an opportunity to switch sides and join them as a Henchman. The Super Agents won't even consider it, unfortunately, if unsurprisingly, though a series of Community challenges introduced in Spring 2022 implemented the ability to potentially sway some of them[[note]]Wrecking Bola, Atomic Olga, Symmetry, and Agent X[[/note]] over to your side after defeating them, just as one would a Crime Lord.

* NoodleIncident: Averted. While the game states the the Forces of Justice managed to out Ivan from his country, and never states how, Red Ivan himself reveals that he was somehow voted out while complaining to a minion.

* RedIsViolent: Red Ivan wears a red military uniform, is associated with the color red, and his EvilPlan is to start WorldWarIII and [[spoiler:nuke every country on Earth]].
* RenegadeRussian: As in the original game; however, in the sequel Ivan made a step up from being a mere Henchman and is now looking to TakeOverTheWorld himself. In fact, he's first shown mourning the loss of his Ivania.

* DragonAscendant: Once a Henchman in the first game, now a full-fledged Evil Genius in the sequel.

* HiddenDepths: Though Ivan comes across as a boisterous bruiser and blood knight, the self portrait decoration for his inner sanctum indicates he's an expert painter. He's also familiar with the works of [[Creator/MarkTwain Mark Twain]], and has a collection of [[Music/QuincyJones Quincy Jones]] music (in vinyl, no less).

* PuttingTheBandBackTogether: There's an achievement for recruiting Jubei and Eli Barracuda Jr. as Henchmen, reuniting cohorts who served under the previous Evil Genius who took over the world (or the successor of one in Eli Jr.'s case).

She created the first Artificial Inteligence -- the Integrated Robotic Intelligent System -- at the age of six, and beat it at chess a year later.

->''[[WrongInsultOffence I am not "bossy"]] . I am '''the boss'''.''

* CoolGuns: Red Ivan still has access to his bazooka as a special ability to be used against enemy agents. In the second game it's been upgraded and takes the form of an M202 Flash, allowing him to target several enemy agents at once; the old one can be mounted on a plaque in the Inner Sanctum.

* LegitimateBusinessmensSocialClub: The villains operate a Casino in their villain base both as a front as well as a way to generate income for their schemes. Inevitably however, the Forces of Justice will come snooping and they'll have to either keep them distracted or fight them off.

* {{BFG}}: The good news is, Ivan still has a bazooka like he did in the first game. The bad news is, not only does it cause less damage than it did while he was a henchmen, now you have to manually have him launch it rather than it being his go to way of dealing with people. At least it cuts down on FriendlyFire and collateral damage that he was known for.

* NeckLift: His basic execution method (or animation for killing an enemy in melee) is to bodily lift the victim by their neck, then throw them at the ground hard enough to instantly kill them.

* {{BFG}}: The good news is, Ivan still has his bazooka. The bad news is, not only does it cause less damage than it did while he was a henchmen, now you have to manually have him launch it rather than it being his go to way of dealing with people. At least it cuts down on FriendlyFire and collateral damage.

* PuttingTheBandBackTogether: There's an achievement for recruiting Jubei and Eli Barracuda Jr. as Henchmen, reuniting cohorots who served under the previous Evil Genius who took over the world (or the successor of one in Eli Jr.'s case).

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Averted in the first game. Your avatar can't attack enemy characters, instead leaving the dirty work to your minions. This is pretty true to the source material for what it's worth, though: a lot of Franchise/JamesBond's opponents, for instance, tended to be executive-types who had colorful henchmen and bodyguards to do that sort of thing for them. Downplayed in the second game, where while they can now defend themselves, aside from Red Ivan it's not necessarily their forte.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: While all the Geniuses in 2 can fight, Ivan is the most combat-capable and can reliably fight on the front lines.