History Fridge / EgoTrip

** Additionally, accidental or not, Mandark chooses to leave the protocore in reverse and have everyone else be stupid. Why? Because Dexter has now escaped and he now needs someone else to degrade. Fitting with most of Dexter's inventions being constructive if self-indulgent, Mandark's endeavours are largely revolved around the one-track goal of ruining Dexter or someone else [[WhosLaughingNow who slighted him]]. Both are egotists who want to be on top, but while Dexter will gladly help the world if it vindicates himself, Mandark is only happy if those under him suffer as he did.

** This ends up being both a combination of FridgeBrilliance and FridgeHorr since it really shows that despite the utopia/dystopia parallels between Dexter and Mandark's visions of their “perfect” future, [[FisherKingdom both of their empires will fall once they meet their eventual demises]]. Old Dexter's utopia ''is'' benevolent, but it's still a fragile one built on him being the keystone that keeps the whole system running, much like how Mandark’s dystopia came crashing down once Dee Dee removed his negative influence on the Protocore. And it makes sense why Old Dexter would never consider to have a proper backup plan- just like Mandark, his ego would never allow for the possibility of ''his'' ideal society to be built on anything but [[ItsAllAboutMe his own glory.]]

** This ends up being both a combination of FridgeBrilliance and FridgeHorr since it really shows that despite the utopia/dystopia parallels between Dexter and Mandark's visions of their “perfect” future, [[FisherKingdom both of their empires will fall once they mee their eventual demises]]. Old Dexter's utopia ''is'' benevolent, but it's still a fragile one built on him being the keystone that keeps the whole system running, much like how Mandark’s dystopia came crashing down once Dee Dee removed his negative influence on the Protocore. And it makes sense why Old Dexter would never consider to have a proper backup plan- just like Mandark, his ego would never allow for the possibility of ''his'' ideal society to be built on anything but [[ItsAllAboutMe his own glory.]]

** This ends up being both a combination of FridgeBrilliance and FridgeHorr since it really shows that despite the utopia/dystopia parallels between Dexter and Mandark's visions of their “perfect” future, [[FisherKingdom both of their empires will fall once they mee their eventual demises]]. Old Dexter's utopia ''is'' benevolent, but it's still a fragile one built on him being the keystone that keeps the whole system together, much like how things improved immediately once Mandark’s negative influence on the Protocore was removed. And it makes sense why Old Dexter would never consider to have a proper backup plan; because much like Mandark, his ego would never allow for the possibility of ''his'' ideal society to be built [[ItsAllAboutMe on anything but his own glory.]]

* Also, Executive Mandark brutally punishing Twelve for ''almost'' being late calls back to his motive for hating and wanting to ruin Dexter. Not because he outshone him, but because [[EvilIsPetty he laughed at him for his girly appearance and name during their first meeting.]] In the end, Mandark just wanted ''any'' reason to hurt Dexter, and in their present day, uses his stolen position of authority to take every opportunity to do it, even if it means he has to make up the flimsiest of excuses to justify his abuse of power.

** This ends up being both a combination of FridgeBrilliance and FridgeHorror, since it really shows that despite the utopia vs dystopia parallels between him and Mandark's vision of the future, both of their empires will fall as a result of their eventual demises. Old Dexter's utopia might be outwardly more benevolent, but it's still a fragile one built on him being the keystone that keeps the whole thing together, much like how things improve immediately when Mandark has no more influence on the Protocore. And it makes sense why Old Dexter would never consider to have a proper backup plan; because much like Mandark, his ego would never allow for the possibility of ''his'' ideal society to be built [[ItsAllAboutMe on anything except his own glory.]]

* Executive Mandark’s abuse of Twelve is ''calculated'' to ensure ''no one'' will dare try to help him - by televising his punishments to the employees every time he “slips up” (and outright saying he's deducting the time spent watching Twelve’s “discipline” from their salaries), it not only serves as a reminder of what he’ll do if ''they'' displease him, but also ensures they'll hate Twelve for ruining their paychecks.

* Executive Mandark’s abuse of Twelve is ''calculated'' to ensure ''no one'' dares try to help him - by televising his punishments to the employees every time he “slips up” (and outright saying he's deducting that “wasted” time spent watching it from their salaries), it not only shows them what he’ll do to ''them''if they step out of line, but also ensures they'll hate Twelve for ruining their paychecks.

* Also, Executive Mandark brutally punishing Twelve for ''almost'' being late calls back to his motive for hating and wanting to ruin Dexter. Not because he outshone him, but because [[EvilIsPetty he laughed at him for his girly appearance and name during their first meeting.]] In the end, Mandark just wanted ''any'' reason to hurt Dexter, and in their present day, uses his stolen position of authority to take every opportunity to do it, even if it means he has to make up the flimsiest of excuses to justify it.

## Dee Dee appears at the ''perfect'' moment in the final confrontation between the assembled Dexters and Mandarks- a point where they're stuck in place due to their grappling for the Core's controls. The Dexters are simply too confused by her sudden presence to act, but the Mandarks- too [[DistractedByTheSexy stupefied]] by the sight of their VillainousCrush to realize that she’ll ruin ''everything'' they've worked to achieve if they let her touch the Core- let her walk ''right past them'' with absolutely ''no'' resistance.

* Christine Cavanaugh voices Dexter through every stage of his life ''except'' at around the same age Dexter's father, at which point he's voiced by Jeff Bennett, ''the same actor'' as Dexter's father.

* Also, Executive Mandark punishing Twelve for any flimsy excuse like ''almost'' being late calls back to his earliest engraved motive for hating and wanting to ruin Dexter. ''Not'' that he outshone him, but that [[EvilIsPetty he laughed at him during their first meeting.]] In the end, Mandark just wants ''any'' reason to hurt Dexter, and in their present day, he took every opportunity to gloat that he now could at whim.

** Dee Dee doesn't appear because she is traveling through time in the time machine. We probably don't see her in the distant future because Dexter wouldn't want her anywhere near his tower.

* While smugly lording his superiority over Twelve during the final battle, Executive Mandark steps on Twelve’s glasses, inadvertently pressing his BerserkButton. As mentioned under CallBack, this recalls a scene from "Dodgeball Dexter", when Dexter’s glasses were stepped on by some schoolyard bullies- which means that Executive Mandark ''unwittingly replicated their actions, causing Twelve to relive this childhood trauma.'' No ''wonder'' he snapped- Executive Mandark ''touched a nerve!''

* The whole climax involves Dexter and his three future incarnations trying to defeat Mandark and "save the future", failing, and forced to helplessly watch Dee Dee do it instead. They then build the above-mentioned robots that the past Dexter will just destroy anyway. How can none of the future Dexters ''not'' remember what's going to happen and point out "This isn't going to work!" Old Man Dexter had his senility as an excuse, true, but what about the others, who don't? The reason: Dexter's ego is so massive that his desire to be the hero makes him forget about it even as he re-lives it over and over again! The movie took the concept of "those who don't remember history are doomed to repeat it" and takes it to a ludicrous yet ''brilliant'' level. Not only that, but it makes the movie's title- ''Ego Trip''- a ''perfect choice!!!!!!''

!!FridgeBrilliance

* Also Executive Mandark punishing Twelve for any flimsy excuse like ''almost'' being late calls back to his earliest engraved motive for hating and wanting to ruin Dexter. ''Not'' that he outshone him, but that [[EvilIsPetty he laughed at him during their first meeting.]] In the end, Mandark just wants ''any'' reason to hurt Dexter, and in their present day, he took every opportunity to gloat that he now could at whim.

!!FridgeHorror

* Near the end of the movie, Mandark and his future selves are distracted by Dee Dee, all of them sighing in affection at the sight of her...but Mandark's future selves, just like Dexter's, are all adults, so they're lusting over ''an underage girl.''
** While this ''is'' just as creepy as it sounds, it's very obvious that none of the Mandarks ever matured beyond childhood, no matter how old and powerful they got. Their shared attraction to Deedee is a remnant of their childhood self.

** This ends up being both a combination of FridgeBrilliance and FridgeHorror, since it really shows that despite the utopia vs dystopia parallels between him and Mandark's vision of the future, both of their empires will fall as a result of their egos. Old Dexter's utopia might be outwardly more benevolent, but it's still a fragile one built on him being the keystone that keeps the whole thing together, much like how things improve immediately when Mandark has no more influence on the Protocore. And it makes sense why Old Dexter would never consider to have a proper backup plan; because much like Mandark, his ego would never allow for the possibility of ''his'' ideal society to be built [[ItsAllAboutMe on anything except his own glory.]]

[[AC:FridgeBrilliance]]

[[AC:FridgeHorror]]

* Better hope Old Dexter has a backup plan in case he croaks, otherwise all that utopian peace and knowledge will be lost.

* Also Executive Mandark punishing Twelve for any flimsy excuse like ''almost'' being late calls back to his original engraved motive for hating and wanting to ruin Dexter. ''Not'' that he outshone him, but that [[EvilIsPetty he laughed at him during their first meeting.]] In the end, Mandark just wants ''any'' reason to hurt Dexter, and in their present day, he took every opportunity to gloat that he now could at whim.

* Also Executive Mandark punishing Twelve for any flimsy excuse like ''almost being late calls back to his original engraved motive for hating and wanting to ruin Dexter. ''Not'' that he outshone him, but that [[EvilIsPetty he laughed at him during their first meeting.]] In the end, Mandark just wants ''any'' reason to hurt Dexter, and in their present day, he took every opportunity to gloat that he now could at whim.

* While they never appear in the movie, it's well established that the heroes from ''Justice Friends'' and ''Dial M For Monkey'' are part of the same setting as ''Dexters Laboratory'', yet none of them were able to stop Mandarks conquest of the world. What if, rather than risking any pesky superheroes ruining his plans, Mandark made sure to wipe them all out in their weakened state once the Protocore activated? Major Glory, Val Hallen, Krunk, Monkey, Agent Honeydew, all gone...

** Not only that, Kid Mandark should've remembered his defeat after being returned to the present day-so ''why didn’t he have the time machine destroyed the second he gained control of Dexter’s lab?'' It'd prevent Dexter from traveling to the future in the first place, considering the time machine still needs to exist (and be in working condition) in the time period you're going to. Better yet, since he's such a copycat, why didn't he make his ''own"" machine to prevent the loop from starting in the first place? Easy: He probably thinks he'll make better decisions than his future selves did, and this blind arrogance leads him to repeat their actions.

* During Dexter's [[CurbStompBattle "fight"]] against them, the robots from the future merely stand there and do nothing, making it seem like the animators were very lazy. But after it's revealed that Dexter ''created'' the robots in the future and sent them back to the past to kill Dee Dee, it makes perfect sense why they just stood there and did nothing- ''he's the one who gave them their orders in the first place!''

*** Not only that, Kid Mandark should've remembered his defeat after being returned to the present day-so ''why didn’t he have the time machine destroyed the second he gained control of Dexter’s lab?'' It'd prevent Dexter from traveling to the future in the first place, considering the time machine still needs to exist (and be in working condition) in the time period you're going to. Better yet, since he's such a copycat, why didn't he make his ''own"" machine to prevent the loop from starting in the first place? Easy: He probably thinks he'll make better decisions than his future selves did, and this blind arrogance leads him to repeat their actions.

* Better hope Old Dexter has a backup plan in case he croaks, otherwise all that utopian peace and knowledge will be lost.

* Near the end of the movie, Mandark and his future selves are distracted by Dee Dee, all of them sighing in affection at the sight of her. The thing is that Mandark's future selves, just like Dexter's future selves, are all adults, so they're lusting over an underage girl.
** While this IS just as creepy as it sounds, it's very obvious that none of the Mandarks ever matured beyond childhood, no matter how old and powerful they got. Their attraction to Deedee is a remnant of their childhood self.

* Mandark's ego doomed him to repeat his mistakes too- you see, it’s implied that Overlord Mandark got into contact with his other selves before the final battle (they clearly seem ready for a fight when they make their appearance). This means he would’ve met [[BrainInAJar Braindark]], a future self who (unlike Old Man Dexter) ''remembers exactly what happened in that fight.'' So here’s the big question- once Overlord ''did'' contact him about his plan, ''why didn't he take the opportunity to warn Overlord that he's doomed to fail once Dee Dee appears?" There's no reason for Overlord not to listen to him (they''are'' the same person), and if he had, he could've taken precautions to insure she couldn't interfere!

* Mandark's ego doomed him to repeat his mistakes too- you see, it’s implied that Overlord Mandark got into contact with his other selves before the final battle (they clearly seem ready for a fight when they make their appearance). This means he would’ve had to get in touch with [[BrainInAJar Braindark]], who-unlike Old Man Dexter- ''remembers exactly what happened.'' So here’s the big question- once Overlord ''did'' contact him about his plan, ''why didn't he take the opportunity to warn Overlord that they’ll lose the fight once Dee Dee shows up and distracts them?'' If he had, Overlord could've taken precautions to keep her from reaching the Core and undoing his work!
*** Not only that, Kid Mandark, should've remembered his defeat after being returned to the present day-so ''why didn’t he have the time machine destroyed the second he gained control of Dexter’s lab?'' It'd prevent Dexter from traveling to the future in the first place, considering the time machine still needs to exist (and be in working condition) in the time period you're going to. Better yet, why didn't he try to go back and prevent the loop from starting in the first place? Easy: He probably thinks he'll make better decisions than his future selves did, and this blind arrogance leads him to repeat their actions.