History Literature / SpiderManSinisterSixTrilogy

** Franchise/CarmenSandiego is part of the Machiavelli Club, along with [[ComicBook/TheJoker Jack Napier]], Hannibal Lecter and [[Film/{{Unbreakable}} Mr. Glass]]. Among others. Moriarty was a founding member, and [[Franchise/DieHard the Gruber Brothers]] and a villain from an Ellery Queen novel have been members. The Gentleman briefly converses with two brothers, [[Film/TradingPlaces Randolph and Mortimer]], who made their money on the futures exchange, and wonders how they earned a place at the club as they are no more 'evil' than standard stockbrokers.

* FakingTheDead:
** Spider-Man pulls off a truly epic version of this when Electro blasts him into a buffet. [[NoodleImplements It involves lasagna.]]

* MoralMyopia:
** When the Gentleman strikes Pity, the Six - particularly Vulture and Electro - come to her rescue. The Gentleman points out the hypocrisy of this, as both Vulture and Electro killed women her age only the day before.

** Several sections are also from the POV of civilian characters, such as Arnold Siebert, the film critic at the Daily Bugle.

* VillainsOutShopping: At one point Electro heads out from the hideout to take a break from the plotting and preparation to buy Pity a bouquet of flowers.
** When Chameleon shows up to recruit the Vulture he had just returned from buying groceries.

** Discussed during Spider-Man's fight with Doc Ock. After fighting him in an abandoned apartment building, he acknowledges that their fights are 90% just dodging and moves the fight to outside where he has more room.

* KansasCityShuffle: It's revealed that the entire Day of Terror was one of these, designed to draw people and authorities' attention while [[spoiler: Electro and Pity stole the Catalyst from lockup.]]

** Discussed during Spider-Man's fight with Doc Ock. After getting hit bad by him in an abandoned apartment building, he acknowledges that their fights are 90% just dodging and moves the fight to outside where he has more room.

** Spider-Man starts reaching this as the climax nears. He gets slammed against half the buildings in Midtown, gets a concussion and "one of the worst beatings he'd had in months" from Doc Ock, gets his leg cut open, his side burned, and is nearing the edge of total exhaustion by story's end. [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg And he gets a cramp.]]

** The Gentleman's plan turns out to be a Class 1. [[spoiler: By detonating a memory-wiping EMP and an ink-destroying airborne Catalyst over New York, all paper and electronic records (including money marking) will be destroyed. Since New York is a world financial capital, this will have devastating effects on the American and world economy, in addition to turning New York into hell on earth.]]

** As the Gentleman [[spoiler: lays dying, all he can think about is that he's going to die penniless, having converted all his wealth to the hoard of treasures Octavius just stole, and having been relieved of his ring, wallet, and

* KarmicDeath: The Gentleman, who always put wealth above anything else, [[spoiler: is killed by the Chameleon and has all of his fortune stolen from him. To rub salt in the wound, a detective whose life the Gentleman ruined confronts him as he lays dying. He thinks he has the final laugh until the detective points out he'll die a pauper, having expended most of his wealth by paying the Six and buying the treasures that have just been stolen by Octavius. The detective then lays a penny on the opposite end of the room and leaves knowing the Gentleman will try to crawl for it. With no friends or family to claim his body, Fiers is dumped in an unmarked grave in Pauper's Field, alone and forgotten, while Williams lives another six months and has a funeral attended by thousands]].

** [[spoiler: As the Gentleman lays dying, his old rival George Williams appears to watch him, and makes him realize that he's going to die penniless; his hoard of treasures having been stolen by Octavius, his wallet, ring and means stolen by Chameleon, and he spent everything else he had paying the Six. The Gentleman despairs at this, so George Williams

* OhCrap: The Chameleon, after [[spoiler:betraying the Gentleman and taking his fortune]], when Doc Ock comes on board his escape plane.

* KarmicDeath: The Gentleman, [[spoiler:who always put wealth above anything else, is killed by the Chameleon and has all of his fortune stolen from him. To rub salt in the wound, a detective whose life the Gentleman ruined confronts him as he lays dying. He thinks he has the final laugh until the detective points out he'll die a pauper, having expended most of his wealth by paying the Six and buying the treasures that have just been stolen by Octavius. The detective then lays a penny on the opposite end of the room and leaves knowing the Gentleman will try to crawl for it. The icing on the cake comes after the Gentleman's death; with no friends or family to claim his body, Fiers is dumped in an unmarked grave in Pauper's Field, alone and forgotten, while Williams lives another six months and has a funeral attended by thousands]].

* NoSell: One of the ways Spider-Man gets through to Pity is by refusing to heed her poor-little-me aura.

** Every other villain resorts to spectacular displays of power for their Day of Terror appearance. Chameleon in contrast, plants bombs in a college stadium, leads a bunch of students into it, then uses an AK-47 to menace them.

[[folder: The series as a whole]]* AmbiguouslyGay: Mysterio gets lines like "I'm not, by life preference, as conscientiously solicitous towards the ladies as Adrian", and describes the gay 1930s film director Creator/JamesWhale as an inspiration "both personally and professionally".

* BadassBystander: Mary Jane cultivates this reputation at the start of ''Gathering'' when she takes charge at Brick Johnson's funeral. This gets her an upgraded role in her next film role. Over the course of ''Gathering'' and ''Secret'', she gets further opportunities to showcase this.

* DisproportionateRetribution: [[spoiler: When Quentin Beck and Brick Johnson were both young in Hollywood trying to make names for themselves, Brick refused to help Quentin get a job. Later after becoming Mysterio, he spends a year driving Brick insane with hallucinations, ruining his career and sending him into a state of suicidal depression and seeming insanity. Then he crashes the funeral and tries to kill everyone present.]]
** This is also the Gentleman's stock in trade.

* RunningTheGauntlet: The Day of Terror creates this effect, with Spider-Man facing off against most of his enemies.

!!The series shows examples of:
* AmbiguouslyGay: Mysterio gets lines like "I'm not, by life preference, as conscientiously solicitous towards the ladies as Adrian", and describes the gay 1930s film director Creator/JamesWhale as an inspiration "both personally and professionally".

* BecomingTheMask: Mary Jane tells Peter that he's spending so much time as Spider-Man that he's treating it as his main life and Peter Parker as his alter ego after a series of failed attempts to get the intelligence profiles of his parents. Mary Jane points out that while it would risk the secret identity of Spider-Man to ask about the Parkers, Peter has a better chance of getting the files and it doesn't risk him being exposed.
* BeenThereShapedHistory: The Gentleman caused the Hindenburg disaster to evade capture and had a hand in causing the Tet Offensive.

* BigDamnHeroes: SAFE arrives just in time to [[spoiler:rescue Spider-Man and Pity from frigid North Atlantic waters after their plane crashes.]]

* CallToAdventure: Spider-Man initially doesn't want to get involved with the suicide of Brick Johnson. [[spoiler: Until Mysterio crashes the funeral, endangers everyone present and announces that he will be going after the film industry.]]

* CutLexLuthorACheck: The first novel in particular discusses the irony of Mysterio's situation. The main thing that pushed him over the edge and caused him to become a supervillain was that he was an underpaid B-movie makeup and effects artist who felt nobody appreciated him or took his work seriously. Now, in the age of modern sci-fi and superhero blockbusters, someone with Mysterio's skills could make ''millions'' by working on major Hollywood productions, but his criminal actions have damaged his reputation to such a degree that he has zero chance of landing a legitimate job ever again.

* FaceDeathWithDignity: How Mary Jane handles The Chameleon when he traps her and a group she's with during the Day Of Terror. Instead of having everyone ZergRush the villain from across a football field where he'll have plenty of time to gun everyone down, she calmly walks down the field to force him to confront the reality of what he's doing. It makes him hesitate long enough so when he gets distracted when others make a run for it, she's close enough to take him down, saving everyone.

* GambitPileup: The second half of book three has [[spoiler: the Gentleman escaping aboard his plane ready to betray everyone, except Doc Ock already worked everything out and is going to steal his plane and go ahead with his plan. Except it's not the Gentleman, it's the Chameleon who already betrayed the Gentleman and is going to do the exact same thing. Then Spidey and Pity show up because Spider-Man turned her to his side so he could catch the Gentleman]].

* HeroicBSOD: Spider-Man undergoes one when he [[spoiler: gets up to the news room in the Daily Bugle and finds the butchered remains of all his friends]]. [[spoiler:Luckily it was just one of Mysterio's tricks]].
* HistoryRepeats: During the Sinister Six's Day of Terror, Doc Ock returns to the site where he killed Captain George Stacy and during the ensuing fight with Spider-Man, a piece of concrete once again dislodges and falls from the rooftop towards a small child as the officer in charge of the scene once again [[HeroicSacrifice pushes the child out of harm's way.]] [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope This time, however the officer manages to survive as well.]]]]

* KarmicDeath: The Gentleman, [[spoiler:who always put wealth above anything else, is killed by the Chameleon and has all of his fortune stolen from him. To rub salt in the wound, a detective whose life the Gentleman ruined confronts him as he lays dying. He thinks he has the final laugh until the detective points out he'll die a pauper, having expended most of his wealth by paying the Six and buying the treasures that have just been stolen by Octavius. The detective then lays a penny on the opposite end of the room and leaves knowing the Gentleman will try to crawl for it. The icing on the cake comes after the Gentleman's death; with no friends or family to claim his body, Fiers is dumped in an unmarked grave in Pauper's Field, alone and forgotten, while Williams lives another six months and has a funeral attended by thousands]].

* LovingAShadow: Facing a holographic recreation of Gwen Stacy's death, Spider-Man muses that things with Gwen wouldn't have worked out even if she had survived, as Gwen wanted peace where Peter can now admit at least to himself that he seeks crusades, even if he still cares for her.

* OhCrap: The Chameleon, after [[spoiler:betraying the Gentleman and taking his fortune]], when Doc Ock comes on board his escape plane.

** Mary Jane calls the Chameleon out on his choice of location for the Day of Terror, claiming that he picked a relatively obscure example of Spider-Man's failures and only acted when Spider-Man was publicly occupied elsewhere because he knows he'd never stand a chance if he was forced to face the wall-crawler directly.

* UnderestimatingBadassery: The Gentleman is finally defeated because [[spoiler:he underestimates the Chameleon and Doctor Octopus, believing that he could always see through the Chameleon's disguises and that he had the perfect means to control Octavius, only to be shot by the Chameleon just before Doc Ock reveals that he had already deduced how the Gentleman intended to betray them]].

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Mary Jane calls the Chameleon out on his choice of location for the Day of Terror, claiming that he picked a relatively obscure example of Spider-Man's failures and only acted when Spider-Man was publicly occupied elsewhere because he knows he'd never stand a chance if he was forced to face the wall-crawler directly.

* SiblingsInCrime: Gustav Fiers, aka The Gentleman, and his anarchist ProfessionalKiller brother, Karl Fiers, aka The Finisher. For those unaware, Karl Fiers was the man who ''killed'' Richard and Mary parker.

The short-lived ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderManSeries'' appeared to draw inspiration from the book series as it's first MythArc, with the inclusion of the Gentleman (played by Creator/MichaelMassee) as a mysterious shadowy figure who meets with both Dr. Curt Connors and Harry Osborn at the end of both movies, revealing a connection to both Norman Osborn and Richard Parker, Peter's father. ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2'''s epilogue teased the Gentleman and Harry conspiring to form the Sinister Six against Spider-Man, which would likely have been featured in both ''Script/SinisterSix'' and ''The Amazing Spider-Man 3'', before both were CutShort.

The short-lived ''Franchise/AmazingSpiderManDuology'' appeared to draw inspiration from the book series as it's first MythArc, with the inclusion of the Gentleman (played by Creator/MichaelMassee) as a mysterious shadowy figure who meets with both Dr. Curt Connors and Harry Osborn at the end of both movies, revealing a connection to both Norman Osborn and Richard Parker, Peter's father. ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2'''s epilogue teased the Gentleman and Harry conspiring to form the Sinister Six against Spider-Man, which would likely have been featured in both ''Script/SinisterSix'' and ''The Amazing Spider-Man 3'', before both were CutShort.

The short-lived ''Franchise/TheAmazingSpiderManFilmSeries'' appeared to draw inspiration from the book series as it's first MythArc, with the inclusion of the Gentleman (played by Creator/MichaelMassee) as a mysterious shadowy figure who meets with both Dr. Curt Connors and Harry Osborn at the end of both movies, revealing a connection to both Norman Osborn and Richard Parker, Peter's father. ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2'''s epilogue teased the Gentleman and Harry conspiring to form the Sinister Six against Spider-Man, which would likely have been featured in both ''Script/TheSinisterSix'' and ''The Amazing Spider-Man 3'', before both were CutShort.

The short-lived ''Franchise/TheAmazingSpiderManSeries'' appeared to draw inspiration from the book series as it's first MythArc, with the inclusion of the Gentleman (played by Creator/MichaelMassee) as a mysterious shadowy figure who meets with both Dr. Curt Connors and Harry Osborn at the end of both movies, revealing a connection to both Norman Osborn and Richard Parker, Peter's father. ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2'''s epilogue teased the Gentleman and Harry conspiring to form the Sinister Six against Spider-Man, which would likely have been featured in both ''Script/TheSinisterSix'' and ''The Amazing Spider-Man 3'', before both were CutShort.

The short-lived ''Franchise/TheAmazingSpiderManDuology'' appeared to draw inspiration from the book series as it's first MythArc, with the inclusion of the Gentleman (played by Creator/MichaelMassee) as a mysterious shadowy figure who meets with both Dr. Curt Connors and Harry Osborn at the end of both movies, revealing a connection to both Norman Osborn and Richard Parker, Peter's father. ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2'''s epilogue teased the Gentleman and Harry conspiring to form the Sinister Six against Spider-Man, which would likely have been featured in both ''Script/TheSinisterSix'' and ''The Amazing Spider-Man 3'', before both were CutShort.

* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: This is about the only reason the Gentleman is a real threat.

* TwoPartTrilogy: Despite the fact that it's made clear from the beginning that the novels are a trilogy, ''Gathering'' is largely standalone compared to the following two books. The Sinister Six is merely a subplot with Mysterious being the main antagonist of the book, while the two sequels are more directly related as the Six come together and the Gentleman explains his plans.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: The Six with the exception of Octavius are disgusted and horrified by the Gentleman's treatment of Pity, particularly the Vulture and Electro. The Gentleman actually calls them out on this, claiming the Six have little right to complain considering some of the things they have done. This was also referenced to a lesser degree earlier on when the Gentleman brought up the fact that the Chameleon was defeated by a civilian (specifically, Mary Jane) during the Day of Terror a week ago just to rile the Six up, when the rest of the team (even Octavius) had been avoiding that same topic out of respect for their colleague's feelings.

* EvilOldFolks: The Gentleman, who is orchestrating the whole evil plan, is said to be at least well into his 80s (the Vulture, who is of a similar generation, muses that this is basically the only thing he likes about the Gentleman).

* GambitPileup: The second half of book three has [[spoiler: the Gentleman escaping aboard his plane ready to betray everyone, except Doc Ock already worked everything out and is going to steal his plane and go ahead with his plan. Except it's not the Gentleman, it's the Chameleon who already betrayed the Gentleman and is going to do the exact same thing. Then Spidey and Pity show up because Spider-Man turned her to his side so he could catch the Gentleman.]]

* HeroicBSOD: Spider-Man undergoes one when he [[spoiler: gets up to the news room in the Daily Bugle and finds the butchered remains of all his friends.]] [[spoiler:Luckily it was just one of Mysterio's tricks.]]

* IncurableCoughOfDeath: Mysterio has one of these, since it's set just before "Guardian Devil" in ''Comicbook/{{Daredevil}}''.
* KarmicDeath: The Gentleman [[spoiler: who always put wealth above anything else, is killed by the Chameleon and has all of his fortune stolen from him. To rub salt in the wound, a detective whose life the Gentleman ruined confronts him as he lays dying. He thinks he has the final laugh until the detective points out he'll die a pauper, having expended most of his wealth by paying the Six and buying the treasures that have just been stolen by Octavius. The detective then lays a penny on the opposite end of the room and leaves knowing the Gentleman will try to crawl for it. The icing on the cake comes after the Gentleman's death; with no friends or family to claim his body, Fiers is dumped in an unmarked grave in Pauper's Field, alone and forgotten, while Williams lives another six months and has a funeral attended by thousands.]]

* LovingAShadow: Facing a holographic recreation of Gwen Stacy's death, Spider-Man muses that things with Gwen wouldn't have worked out as Gwen wanted peace where Peter admits that he seeks crusades, even if he still cares for her.

* OhCrap: The Chameleon, after [[spoiler:betraying the Gentleman and taking his fortune]] when Doc Ock comes on board his escape plane.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Mary Jane calls the Chameleon out on his choice of location for the Day of Terror, claiming that he picked a relatively obscure example of Spider-Man's failures and only acted when Spider-Man was publically occupied elsewhere because he knows he'd never stand a chance if he was forced to face the wall-crawler directly.
* RememberWhenYouBlewUpASun: Early in book 3, a minor villain named the Disk Jockey gets into a fight with Spider-man. He takes a hostage and Spider-man tells him about the six people trying to kill him, some of the most deadly people alive. He mentions that he's fought all of them and in their most recent BossRush against him, he sent them all running by mid-afternoon to get the guy to back down. Doubles as [[AsYouKnow a recap]]. This example is PlayedForLaughs, as the Disk Jockey is portrayed as a singularly uninformed man (not unintelligent, but very much in a bubble) who has missed the many terrorist attacks, supervillain invasions, alien incursions, and other calamities that have hit New York in the past several years. Working in an appliance repair shop, he decides to use his gadgeteering knowhow to build a suit full of gimmicked gadgets, establish a villainous identity, and then use them to steal and commit crimes, all the while honestly thinking he is the very first person to ever try this. He doesn't know or recognize Spider-Man when he sees him, and has no concept of what a costumed hero even is. He is so ludicrously unaware that Spider-Man takes pity on him and gives him the aforementioned review of recent events, and after this quick dose of perspective, he surrenders quietly.

* TwoPartTrilogy: Despite the fact that it's made clear from the beginning that the novels are a trilogy, ''Gathering'' is largely standalone compared to the following two books. The Sinister Six is merely a subplot while the main antagonist of the book is Mysterio, while the two sequels are more directly related

-->'''Spider-man:''' You're insane!

* SiblingsInCrime: Gustav Fiers, aka The Gentleman, and his anarchist ProfessionalKiller brother, Karl, aka The Finisher.

* RememberWhenYouBlewUpASun: Early in book 3, a minor villain named the Disk Jockey gets into a fight with Spider-man. He takes a hostage and Spider-man tells him about the six people trying to kill him, some of the most deadly people alive. He mentions that he's fought all of them and in their most recent BossRush against him, he sent them all running by mid-afternoon to get the guy to back down. Doubles as [[AsYouKnow a recap]].

'''The [[Franchise/SpiderMan Sinister Six]] Trilogy''' is a series of books written by Adam Troy Castro about Franchise/SpiderMan facing off against a new Sinister Six, consisting of ComicBook/DoctorOctopus, [[ShapeShifter The Chameleon]], [[EvilOldFolks The Vulture]], [[MasterOfIllusion Mysterio]], [[PsychoElectro Electro]] and Pity, and behind them a mysterious benefactor known as The Gentleman.

** Franchise/CarmenSandiego is part of the Machiavelli Club, along with [[SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker Jack Napier]], Hannibal Lecter and [[Film/{{Unbreakable}} Mr. Glass]]. Among others. Moriarty was a founding member, and [[Franchise/DieHard the Gruber Brothers]] and a villain from an Ellery Queen novel have been members. The Gentleman briefly converses with two brothers, [[Film/TradingPlaces Randolph and Mortimer]], who made their money on the futures exchange, and wonders how they earned a place at the club as they are no more 'evil' than standard stockbrokers.

* SuddenlySexuality: Mysterio gets lines like "I'm not, by life preference, as concientiously solicitous towards the ladies as Adrian", and describes the gay 1930s film director Creator/JamesWhale as an inspiration "both personally and professionally".