History Literature / HowToSucceedInEvil

-->'''Edwin''': So Doctor Loeb, tell me a little bit about your business plan.\\

* MoralityPet: Agnes and Topper are this to Edwin.

* HeroWithBadPublicity: Heroes aren't likable people, especially if you're asking the local police who have to clean up their messes.

* DiabolicalMastermind: Edwin strangely sits somewhere between this and CorruptCorporateExecutive, being a master planner with plentiful resources and a man running a legitimate business, and actualy committing only a few crimes. When he hits his RageBreakingPoint, he leaves consulting and embraces this trope fully.

* DumbMuscle: Barry is really dumb, and has a lot of muscle.

* InvisibleToNormals: Averted. Not only do people notice the super people around them, the majority dislike them because of all the damage they cause.

* MobBossSuitFitting: (the novel for sure, probably the podcast too) features, actually, ''many'' of these. Edwin Windsor's tailor is not just such a consummate discrete professional that a consulting supervillain can talk freely in front of him, he's actually one of his closest and most dependable cronies. Edwin's favored mode of re-centering himself and rebuilding his morale after any big setback is by having a new suit fitted.

* NotEnoughToBury: Excelsior, in his attempts to stop the crash of Flight 206, [[spoiler: discovers to his horror that while he is [[NighInvulnerability a man of steel]], neither the plane he is saving nor the people on it are. The most he ends up managing to save is the Captain's arm]].
* OddFriendship: Topper and Edwin. [[BigGuyLittleGuy Their difference in height]] nothwithstanding, Edwin is cold hearted, impersonal, [[ConsummateProfessional holds him self professionally]] at all times, and seeks his way through challenges with skill, diplomacy, and planning. Topper is a man defined by his passions, he's loud, larger than life, hedonistic, not afraid to pick a fight, puts himself fully into everything he does, and loves winning to the point that [[BunnyEarsLawyer he actually became quite an excellent attorney]] as well as thinks that if your aren't willing to cheat to win then you're just being lazy. Both are drawn together by mutual respect for their drives and skill, and a love of money and golf.
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: During his career as a consultant, Edwin is motivated largely by the pursuit of wealth. He hates destruction, since it means the erasure of assets that can be used and the wiping away the capital that was used to create them. He thinks using supervillainy for power is pointless, since heroes always step in and it's easier to gain and maintain control of something [[MundaneSolution if you simply buy it out]]. He often advises villains to go legit and use their powers in business pursuits, since it's [[BoringButPractical a lot more practical]] than villainy.
* PersonOfMassDestruction

* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: It's hard to tell whether Excelsior has this naturally or it was brainwashed into him by Gus ([[spoiler:The third book reveals that it's guilt from accidentally causing the death of his parents]]), but it plays a very important role throughout the book
* PunchClockHero: Excelsior, in a variation, takes all his work from by a body of the US government dedicated to keeping him on a tight leash, lest a loose PersonOfMassDestruction he do something counterproductive.
* {{Retcon}}: In "How To Succeed in Evil" Brainitar's downfall is described as being the result of a phantom itch, and Edwin regards it as MyGreatestFailure, because he invested heavily in Brainitar's technology and lost untold amounts of money when he went off the deep-end. Come "Brainitar" and it's clear that the title character already off his rocker and Edwin never entertains the possibility that Brainitar might be otherwise. Edwin invests no money in Brainitar's technology and in fact ends the book richer than ever.

* ShooOutTheNewGuy: Edwin 2.0 qualifies. Mr. [=McLean=] decided to re-write his main character by turning him into a AffablyEvil, Lex Luthor-esque, EvilBrit complete with a [[StealthClothes suit that turns him invisible]]. Almost immediately afterward, Mr. [=McLean=] realized that his Reboot was a horrible idea and dedicated an entire episode to deconstructing him.

* SuperheroesWearTights: though some of them really shouldn't and those who can pull it off annoy the sensible characters.

* VisionaryVillain: His clients averting this is why Edwin became a villain; if evil is to be done it should be done ''efficiently''.
* VitriolicBestBuds: Agnes and Topper despise eachother and never waste an opportunity to trade barbs, but they have a grudging respect for eachother and Agnes gets upset if Topper's insults aren't up to par.

* RealityEnsues: [[ZigZaggingTrope Played with.]] Excelsior, in his attempts to stop the crash of Flight 206, [[spoiler: discovers to his horror that while he is [[NighInvulnerability a man of steel]], neither the plane he is saving nor the people on it are. The most he ends up managing to save is the [[NotEnoughToBury Captain's arm]]]].

* VillainSue: Apart from his ego indirectly causing [[spoiler:Agnes']] death, Windsor is otherwise completely unstoppable, with even the arc of [[spoiler:Topper's coup]] in the original podcast being rewritten as being part of his plans when it's expanded in the ''Hostile Takeover'' book.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes:

* BadassGrandpa: Gus is very old, having fought in the Korean war, but he refuses to let anything stop himm, even impending cancer and his death from poison.

* OddFreindship: Topper and Edwin. [[BigGuyLittleGuy Their difference in height]] nothwithstanding, Edwin is cold hearted, impersonal, [[ConsummateProfessional holds him self professionally]] at all times, and seeks his way through challenges with skill, diplomacy, and planning. Topper is a man defined by his passions, he's loud, larger than life, hedonistic, not afraid to pick a fight, puts himself fully into everything he does, and loves winning to the point that [[BunnyEarsLawyer he actually became quite an excellent attorney]] as well as thinks that if your aren't willing to cheat to win then you're just being lazy. Both are drawn together by mutual respect for their drives and skill, and a love of money and golf.

* TheBrute: Barry's purpose is to break things because he's not qualified for anything else.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Topper, and Edwin to a lesser degree.
* CutLexLuthorACheck: Applies to almost all of Edwin's clients; they make a lot of money if they weren't so focused on being evil.

* DudeWheresMyRespect: Played with for Excelsior. On one hand, he enjoys the adulation of the masses. On the other hand, he wishes people accepted him for who he is, not his powers.

* RealityEnsues: [[ZigZaggingTrope Played with.]] Excelsior, in his attempts to stop the crash of Flight 206, [[spoiler: discovers to his horror that while he is [[NighInvulnerability a man of steel]], neither the plane he is saving nor the people on it are. He ends up managing to save the [[NotEnoughToBury Captain's arm]]]].

* FakeNationality: {{Invoked}}. "Dr Loeb" is from Mississippi and his German accent is transparently fake.

* DudeWheresMyRespect: Played with for Excelsior. On one hand, he enjoys the adulation of the masses. On the other hand, he wishes people accepted him for he he is, not his powers.

** Barry Banister: Bruce Banner without the genius

* MadScientist: It is the itch that drove him mad, the phantom itch.

%%* MyGreatestFailure: Brainitar.
* TheNapoleon: Topper is a dwarf, and ahs constantly struggled for respect despite his stature. As a result, he lives a larger-than-life lifestyle and keeps a chip on his shoulder twice the size that he is.

** Topper, while an unpowered dwarf, sometimes creates more devestation than the super-powered individuals. After all, he's rich, he's got a severe case of short-man's syndrome, and he's got a knack for getting everyone else on board with his insanity.

* {{Superhero}} and {{Supervillain}}: Edwin toes the line between the two, as noted in the description.

** Superlative Man!

%%%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

%%* BadassGrandpa: Gus.

* DudeWheresMyRespect

* EvilVersusEvil:Edwin is evil but he's fighting evil-er people.

** Excelsior: Superman (powers, Midwestern origin) and Captain America (red, white and blue costume, patriotic symbol) without the ability to think independently

* HeroInsurance

%%* TheNapoleon: Topper.
%%* PersonOfMassDestruction
* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: It's hard to tell whether Excelsior has this naturally or it was brainwashed into him by Gus, but it plays a very important role throughout the book

* SomethingPerson: Names like 'Amazingman', 'Powerboy', and 'The Jusitnator'. Done on purpose.

* BreakThemByTalking: At the end of the series reboot when Edwin manages to get Excelisor to consent to [[spoiler:being BuriedAlive in concrete]] by appealing to his guilt and his desire to be a hero.

** Exelsior was dissuaded from using the three story window while going ''in''. Going ''out'', on the other hand...

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<<|WebOriginal|>>

This show provides examples of:

* SurroundedByIdiots: {{Inverted|Trope}}. Edwin's company and henchman are all very competent; he doesn't hire idiots. Double subverted when you consider the world he lives in. In that case he ''is'' surrounded by idiots.

[[http://www.succeedinevil.com How to Succeed in Evil]] is a PodCast and a series of novels. Both incarnations are [[TheParody parodies]] of the {{superhero}} genre. In the story, {{supervillain}}s are a dime a dozen and constantly rob banks, cause destruction, and all the other cliché things that villains do. Meanwhile, superheroes are anything but heroic; and frequently do much more harm in trying to subdue villains than good.

* BreakingSpeech: At the end of the series reboot when Edwin manages to get Excelisor to consent to [[spoiler:being BuriedAlive in concrete]] by appealing to his guilt and his desire to be a hero.

** Excelsior: Superman (powers, Midwestern origin) and Captain America (red, white and blue costume, patriotic symbol)without the ability to think independently

* RealityEnsues: [[ZigZaggingTrope Played with]]. Excelsior, in his attempts to stop the crash of Flight 206, [[spoiler: discovers to his horror that while he is [[NighInvulnerability a man of steel]], neither the plane he is saving nor the people on it are. He ends up managing to save the [[NotEnoughToBury Captain's arm]]]].

* SurroundedByIdiots: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]]. Edwin's company and henchman are all very competent; he doesn't hire idiots. Double subverted when you consider the world he lives in. In that case he ''is'' surrounded by idiots.

* DepravedDwarf: Topper