History PlayingWith / TheGuardsMustBeCrazy

** The guards are of very mixed quality. They follow procedures flawlessly, cannot be bribed, and are good fighters but as aliens [[DittoAliens find human features indistinguishable]] such that a woman could wear Emperor Evulz's [[WalkingShirtlessScene costume(which lacks a top)]] and present his ID and they would accept her as him. They can see into infrared but are completely deaf to frequencies within human hearing range making some methods impossible but others trivial to do a prison break.

** Guard #24, who patrolled the area where bob entered, was [[TheMole his inside man]] [[ObfuscatingStupidity pretending to have failed to notice him]].

** …but only to ask him to stop making so much noise.

** …or so Evulz thinks.

* '''Downplayed''': They fire when the heroes arrive but ignored the mysterious camera flashes that allow the heroes to arrive in the first place.

** Alternatively the guards are {{Paper Tiger}}s such that Bob despite lacking any prior fighting experience is able to effortlessly beat up all thirty guards in the prison.

* '''Subverted''': Bob tries to sneak around the Emperor's lair. His guards round him up immediately.
* '''Double Subverted''': …but only to ask him to stop making so much noise.

** The guards in question are normal security guards who are [TruthInTelevision underpaid and have almost no training on how to deal with serious emergencies,] such as the heroes breaking into the facility.

** The guards are underpaid and undertrained (like many Security Guards in RealLife.)

** Alternatively the guards are PaperTigers such that Bob despite lacking any prior fighting experience is able to effortlessly beat up all thirty guards in the prison.

** QuantityVersusQuality: Evils wants a large fighting force for cheap. He got what he paid for.

* '''Lampshaded''': "Why did I use that bargain guard hiring service?"\\
"This is what I get for hiring locals."

* '''Exaggerated''': The heroes practically walk into the Emperor's front door unaccosted by guards - they only get suspicious after the heroes ''kill'' several of their coworkers ''in front of them''. And even then, it's only to ask, "hey, what's the big deal?"

* '''Inverted''': The guards are hyper-competent - every noise out of place is checked immediately, all guards remove their masks every few minutes to ensure that no one's an impostor, and if anything isn't up to snuff, they all shoot at it.

* '''Double Subverted''': ...But only to ask him to stop making so much noise.

* '''Zig Zagged''': Bob tries sneaking around the lair, but the guards accost him immediately...to ask him to stop making so much noise. [[PreMortemOneLiner Then they kill him]].

* '''Lampshaded''': "Why did I use that bargain guard hiring service?" "This is what I get for hiring locals."

* '''Discussed''': "[[InnerMonologue They don't look very competent...escape should be easier than I thought]]."

* '''Reconstructed''': But that was a momentary lapse of judgment - once they're at the base, they forget what to do.

What was that noise? I need to go back to TheGuardsMustBeCrazy to investigate. You intruders just stay put...remember, you're on the honor system.

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

* '''Inverted''': The guards are hypercompetent - every noise out of place is checked immediately, all guards remove their masks every few minutes to ensure that no one's an impostor, and if anything isn't up to snuff, they all shoot at it.

* '''Justified''': [[BadBoss The guards don't actually care about their employer]]. Or they actually ''are'' crazy.

* '''Deconstructed''': It turns out the guards allowed the heroes to escape so they could be tracked back to their secret base, or they allowed the heroes to sneak into a trap.
* '''Reconstructed''': But that was a momentary lapse of judgment - once they're at the base, they forget what to do.

<<|PlayingWith|>>

* '''Discussed''': ???
* '''Conversed''': ???

* '''Justified''': [[BadBoss The guards don't actually care about their employer]].

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

* '''Lampshaded''': "Why did I use that bargain guard hiring service?"

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

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

* '''Invoked''': ???
* '''Exploited''': The Emperor's MagnificentBastard cousin, Emperor Wykkid, suggests that Evulz use a cheap guard service so his own EvilEmpire has one less competitor.
* '''Defied''': ???

* '''Justified''': [[BadBoss They guards don't actually care about their employer]].

* '''Justified''': When hiring his guards, Emperor Evulz had to follow Troperia-mandated laws about ensuring employment for the mentally deficient.
** Alternatively: [[BadBoss They don't actually care about their employer]].

* '''Parodied''': ???