History PlayingWith / MachiavelliWasWrong

** Bob has a new superweapon which blows the enemies to pieces.

** Evulz is actually the better ruler and his people are happier.

** Evulz is [[TheDreaded too good at spreading fear]] for defiance to grow amongst his subjects. If Bob is not afraid, it's because he's literally an OutsideContextProblem.

'''Basic Trope''': Ruling by fear doesn't work as well as ruling with love.

** Emperor Evulz rules through fear. His minions are reluctant to fight for him, but they don't heel face turn.

* '''Inverted''': Evulz is actually the better ruler and his people are happier.

** Bob's forces look like they'll win the war when they're overwhelmed at the last moment by Evulz's reinforcements.
** It seems Charlie will heel face turn to Bob's side, but he is too afraid of Evulz.

* '''Zig Zagged''': At first, Evulz appears to be a loving ruler, but it soon turns out that he actually rules through fear. It's then revealed that [[WellIntentionedExtremist he's doing this for the good of the people]]. It's later found out that many people have figured it out and love him anyway.

** It's unknown as to what kind of leaders Evulz and Bob are, as neither one of them is shown actually leading.

** Both Evulz and Bob are tyrants or well-loved, and neither is better or worse in terms of fairness.

* '''Invoked''': ???

* '''Conversed''': "Well, Evulz might have the upper hand now, but did you see what he did to poor Charlie? He'll lose in the end".
* '''Played For Laughs''': Evulz gives out {{Cool And Unusual Punishment}}s to his people and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard one of them leads to his downfall]].
* '''Played For Drama''': Evulz loses the war and [[HeelRealization realizes]] [[HeWhoFightsMonsters how far he fell due to his ruthlessness]].

%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:
%%

%%* '''Plotted A Good Waste''': ???

* '''Exaggerated''': Evulz throws Charlie in jail for leaving a speck of dirt on his weapons; Charlie escapes and joins Bob, who was waiting outside.

* '''Downplayed''': Emperor Evulz is slightly surprised when Charlie defects, but not very.

* '''Subverted''': Bob's forces look like they'll win the war when they're overwhelmed at the last moment by Evulz's reinforcements.

* '''Played For Laughs''': Evulz gives out {{Cool And Unusual Punishment}}s to her people and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard one of them leads to his downfall]].

* '''Enforced''': ???

* '''Straight''': [[BigBad Emperor Evulz]] rules with an iron fist. He's surprised when Charlie {{Heel Face Turn}}s to Bob's side.

* '''Downplayed''': Emperor Evulz sometimes yells at his subjects. However, he has stopped doing this because he realized that his subjects don't obey him when he's mean to them.

* '''Exploited''': ???

* '''Downplayed''': [[BigBad Emperor Evulz]] sometimes yells at his subjects. However, he has stopped doing this because he realized that his subjects don't obey him when he's mean to them.

* '''Downplayed''': ???

* '''Zig Zagged''': At first, Evulz appears to be a loving ruler, but it soon turns out that he actually rules through fear. It's then revealed that [[WellIntentionedExtremist he's doing this for the good of the people]. It's later found out that many people have figured it out and love him anyway.

* '''Subverted''': Bobs' forces look like they'll win the war when they're overwhelmed at the last moment by Evulz's reinforcements.

* '''Zig Zagged''': At first Evulz appears to be a loving ruler, but it soon turns out that he actually rules through fear. It's then revealed that [[WellIntentionedExtremist he's doing this for the good of the people]. It' later found out that many people have figured it out and love him anyway.

* '''Lampshaded''': "Don't you know you can't rule through fear?"
* '''Invoked''': Evulz says, "It comes with the job, sorry. You have to fear ''someone'' up here".

* '''Discussed''': >??

* '''Straight''': Alice rules with an iron fist. She is surprised when Charlie Heel Face Turns to Bobs' side.
* '''Exaggerated''':
** Alice throws Charlie in jail for leaving a speck of dirt on his weapon, he escapes and joins Bob, who was waiting outside.
** Alice takes away Charlie's video games for not cleaning the stables. [[DisproportionateRetribution He topples her regime]].

** Charlie realizes that even if he manages to survive in Alice's care, he'd still rather be happy with Bob.
** Charlie dislikes or even hates being controlled this way.
* '''Inverted''': Alice is actually the better ruler, and her people are happier.
* '''Subverted''': Bobs' forces look like they'll win the war, when they are overwhelmed at the last moment by Alice's reinforcements.

** Bob has a new weapon, which blows the enemies to pieces. (Particularly valid if the weapon runs on ThePowerOfLove.)
** Fearing Alice's reputation and not wishing to be captured, Bob's forces fight even harder at the sight of Alice's reinforcements and manage to win the day.

** Alice yells at Charlie. As he leaves the throne room he is stopped by a Bob recruiter, who promises they won't threaten his friends and family like Alice. And they'll give him cookies.
** Alice's method of instilling terror into her underlings' hearts consist on [[PokeThePoodle wearing a spooky mask and jumping out behind them]]. Most of them don't last a week under command, and she always wonders why they leave so soon.
* '''Zig Zagged''': At first Alice appears to be a loving ruler, but it soon turns out that she actually rules through fear. It is then found out she is doing this for the good of the people. It is later found out that many people have figured it out, and love her anyway.

** It is unknown what kind of leaders Alice and Bob are, as neither one of them is shown actually leading.
** Alice and Bob are leaders of groups where the people have no choice but to follow them.
** Both Alice and Bob are tyrants or well-loved, and neither is better or worse in terms of kindness.
* '''Enforced''': "If we have Alice be nice no one will want to see her lose, as we have to make her more evil".
* '''Lampshaded''': "Don't you know you can't win? We have the power of friendship on our side!"
* '''Invoked''': Alice says, "It comes with the job, sorry. You have to fear ''someone'' up here".

* '''Defied''': Alice knows what would happen if she causes her people to fear her, so she makes sure to treat them kindly.
* '''Discussed''': "If this was a novel Alice would lose just because she's cruel. But we're going to have to fight hard to defeat her".
* '''Conversed''': "Well, Alice might have the upper hand now, but did you see what she did to poor Charlie? She'll lose in the end".
* '''Deconstructed''': Rule by fear doesn't work because people are too afraid to do ''anything'' - including their jobs. Everything that needs to be done [[FascistButInefficient ends up done half-assedly or not at all]], technological progress stagnates, and art... [[PropagandaMachine let's not even]] [[DarthWiki/SoBadItsHorrible mention that]].
* '''Reconstructed''': But then Alice breaks them, saying that SomeAnvilsNeedtoBeDropped.
* '''Played For Laughs''': Alice gives out cool and unusual punishments to her people, and is defeated by one of those punishments.
* '''Played For Drama''': Alice loses the war, and realizes she had become evil along the way.

%%* '''Deconstructed''': ???
%%* '''Reconstructed''': ???
%%* '''Plotted A Good Waste''': ???
%%* '''Played For Laughs''': ???
%%* '''Played For Drama''': ???

* '''Exaggerated''': Alice throws Charlie in jail for leaving a speck of dirt on his weapon, he escapes and joins Bob, who was waiting outside.

* '''Deconstructed''': Rule by fear dosen't work because people are too afraid to do ''anything'' - including their jobs. Everything that needs to be done [[FascistButInefficient ends up done half-assedly or not at all]], technological progress stagnates, and art... [[PropagandaMachine let's not even]] [[DarthWiki/SoBadItsHorrible mention that]].
* '''Reconstructed''': But then Alice breaks them, saying that SomeAnvilsNeedtoBeDropped.

* '''Enforced''': "If we have Alice be nice no one will want to see her lose, as we have to make her more evil."

* '''Invoked''': Alice says, "It comes with the job, sorry. You have to fear ''someone'' up here."

* '''Discussed''': "If this was a novel Alice would lose just because she's cruel. But we're going to have to fight hard to defeat her."
* '''Conversed''': "Well, Alice might have the upper hand now, but did you see what she did to poor Charlie? She'll lose in the end."

* '''Played For Drama''': Alice loses the war, and realises she had become evil along the way.

----

* '''Deconstructed''': Rule by fear dosen't work because people are too afraid to do ''anything'' - including their jobs. Everything that needs to be done [[FascistButInefficient ends up done half-assedly or not at all]], technological progress stagnates, and art... [[PropagandaMachine let's not even]] [[SoBadItsHorrible mention that]].

* '''Justified''': Charlie realizes that even if he manages to survive in Alice's care, he'd still rather be happy with Bob.

* '''Double Subverted''': Bob has a new weapon, which blows the enemies to pieces. (Particularly valid if the weapon runs on ThePowerOfLove.)

* '''Parodied''': Alice yells at Charlie. As he leaves the throne room he is stopped by a Bob recruiter, who promises they won't threaten his friends and family like Alice. And they'll give him cookies.

* '''Averted''': It is unknown what kind of leaders Alice and Bob are, as neither one of them is shown actually leading.

** Charlie has a phobia of being controlled this way.

* '''Double Subverted''': Bob has a new weapon, which blows the enemies to pieces.

** Alice's method of instilling terror into her underlings' hearts consist on [[PokeThePoodle wearing a spooky mask and jumping from behind of them]]. Most of them don't last a week under command, and she always wonder why they leave so soon.
* '''Deconstructed''': Rule by fear dosen't work because people are too afraid to do ''anything'' - including their jobs. Everything that needs to be done [[FascistButInefficient ends up done half-assedly or not done at all]], technological progress stagnates, and art... [[PropagandaMachine let's not even]] [[SoBadItsHorrible mention that]].
* '''Reconstructed''': But then Alice breaks them says that SomeAnvilsNeedtoBeDropped.
* '''Zig Zagged''': At first Alice appears to be a loving ruler, but it soon turns out that she actually rules through fear. It is then found out she is doing this for the good of the people. It is later found out that many people have figured it out, and love her anyways.

* '''Conversed''': "Well, Alice has the upper hand now, but did you see what she did to poor Charlie? She'll lose in the end."

* '''Invoked''': ???

* '''Reconstructed''': ???

* '''Deconstructed''': ???

* Alice and Bob are leaders of groups where the people have no choice but to follow them.
* Both Alice and Bob are tyrants or well loved, and neither is better in terms of kindness.