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Note sequel
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There's a sequel: ''VideoGame/OverlordII''
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* ButThouMust: You have to choose between saving the elves or taking the dwarf gold. However, at this point in the game you almost certainly have a high enough minion cap that there's no mechanical reason not to do both.
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->'''Gnarl:'''[[spoiler: "All hail the return of the Overlord. The one true Evil...Oh no, not you. The ''real'' Overlord."]]
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* GoodBadBugs: The best gear requires Minions to sacrifice themselves by jumping into the crucible while the item is being created. However, you could save and quit during the animation, and when you loaded the game back up, you'd have the item, and you would have only lost as many Minions as had already jumped before the game shut down. This was patched in an update, but you can always uninstall the update...
* LastLousyPoint: The (probable) last requirement for 100% corruption requires a genocide of 1000 generic human [=NPCs=] around the cities. This isn't necessarily hard, but it's very time consuming, requiring a constant back and forth between your tower and whatever place you decide is a good grinding spot.
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* SealedEvilInACan: could describe you, prior to your awakening at the start of the game. [[spoiler: Or so it would seem...]]
* SevenDeadlySins: each of the 7 Fallen Heroes represents corruption by one of the Seven Sins. Also the Overlord is given the option to succumb to all seven.
** In order, shall we?
* SevenDeadlySins: each of the 7 Fallen Heroes represents corruption by one of the Seven Sins. Also the Overlord is given the option to succumb to all seven.
** In order, shall we?
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* SealedEvilInACan: could Could describe you, prior to your awakening at the start of the game. [[spoiler: Or so it would seem...]]
* SevenDeadlySins: In addition to optionally succumbing to each yourself, each of the 7 Fallen Heroes represents corruption by one of the Seven Sins.Also the Overlord is given the option to succumb to all seven.
**In order, shall we?order:
* SevenDeadlySins: In addition to optionally succumbing to each yourself, each of the 7 Fallen Heroes represents corruption by one of the Seven Sins.
**
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* WelcomeToCorneria: If the player lets the battle drag on long enough, the FinalBoss of all people does this, [[spoiler: spending the entire fight incessantly saying the same exact story about how he corrupted the 7 heroes over and over again and nothing else.]]
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-> '''Gnarl:'''And so the Evil Overlord defeated [[spoiler: the other Evil Overlord.]] And the land rejoiced...
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* BlackAndGreyMorality: If you go down the AntiVillain path the game becomes this, as the Overlord is a villain in name only mainly fighting genuinly evil and psychotic [[FallenHero Fallen Heros]]. For reference the latter are so bad the peasants will initially ''cheer you on'' when you fight them [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter and consider you a hero]].
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* BlackAndGreyMorality: BlackAndGrayMorality: If you go down the AntiVillain path the game becomes this, as the Overlord is a villain in name only mainly fighting genuinly genuinely evil and psychotic [[FallenHero Fallen Heros]]. For reference the latter are so bad the peasants will initially ''cheer you on'' when you fight them [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter and consider you a hero]].
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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/third_overlord_minion_army.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The Overlord, with his minions]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The Overlord, with his minions]]
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* EvilVersusEvil: The ending epilogue lampshades this.
-> '''Gnarl:'''And so the Evil Overlord defeated [[spoiler: the other Evil Overlord.]] And the land rejoiced...
-> '''Gnarl:'''And so the Evil Overlord defeated [[spoiler: the other Evil Overlord.]] And the land rejoiced...
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* WhamLine: Somewhat spoiled by the subtitles, which are on by default.
->'''Gnarl:'''[[spoiler: "All hail the return of the Overlord. The one true Evil...Oh no, not you. The ''real'' Overlord."]]
->'''Gnarl:'''[[spoiler: "All hail the return of the Overlord. The one true Evil...Oh no, not you. The ''real'' Overlord."]]
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Deconstruction- Not sure if this is the best label for this let me know if you know a better one it\'s an irony of some sort
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* {{Deconstruction}}: Of the fantasy genre. The former heroes, having nothing left to fight for after defeating an Overlord, go back to their homes and become complicit in their fame and power as they have little else to live for, causing them to easily become corrupted. Meanwhile the generic EvilOverlord the player controls can manage to prove much more likable than them after their fall because of his PragmaticVillainy. [[InvertedTrope It's essentially the fantasy genre turned on its head]].
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* BlackAndGreyMorality: If you go down the AntiVillain path the game becomes this, as the Overlord is a villain in name only mainly fighting genuinly evil and psychotic [[FallenHero Fallen Heros]]. For reference the latter are so bad the peasants will initially ''cheer you on'' when you fight them [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter and consider you a hero]].
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* VideoGameCaringPotential: Amazingly this is very much an option. You can go through the game without killing any innocents and do all the good options when they come up, essentially making you at worst an AntiVillain and at best a dark AntiHero.
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* PragmaticVillainy: Gnarl justifies the good choices as such (feeding a village for regular sheep for more minions,staying faithful to Rose to exploit her planning abilities, etc.).
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* PragmaticVillainy: Gnarl justifies the good choices as such (feeding a village for regular sheep for more minions,staying faithful to Rose to exploit her planning abilities, etc.). This is also Rose's whole schtick, to the point that most of her relationship scenes (including the consumation scene) involve going over spreadsheets or otherwise discussing resource effeciency off-camera.
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* SpiritualSuccessor: To DungeonKeeper.
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* SpiritualSuccessor: To DungeonKeeper.''VideoGame/DungeonKeeper''.
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* ElvesVsDwarves: following your previous 'fall', and prior to your awakening, the Dwarves attacked the elven forest of Evernight out of sheer greed, nearly annihilating the entire elven race, and taking the last survivors as slaves.
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* ElvesVsDwarves: following Following your previous 'fall', and prior to your awakening, the Dwarves attacked the elven forest of Evernight out of sheer greed, nearly annihilating annihilated the entire elven race, and taking took the last survivors as slaves.
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* SevenDeadlySins: each of the 7 Fallen Heroes represents corruption by one of the Seven Sins.
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* SevenDeadlySins: each of the 7 Fallen Heroes represents corruption by one of the Seven Sins. Also the Overlord is given the option to succumb to all seven.
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*** You can return the stolen food supply to the villagers or keep it all for yourself.
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*** Defeat a group of bloody unicorns without harming the uncorrupted grove or take the lazy approach by just burning the whole place down with a single fireball.
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*** Stay loyal to your mistress Rose or dump her in favour of her far more {{stripperiffic}} and evil sister.
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*** Save the elven race or leave them to die while you grab the dwarven treasury.
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*** Return the Mother Goddess Statue to the elves or keep it for no other reason than to furnish your tower.
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*** Forgive the villagers for their betrayal or kill them in revenge.
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Hottip cleanup
; see thread for details
; see thread for detailsChanged line(s) 60 (click to see context) from:
* PeninsulaOfPowerLeveling: The Dungeon, which can create any enemy you've slain at least one of[[hottip:*:Except for Sandworms, Magma Giants and Beholders, since you can only beat those using GeoEffects.]]. You can't actually get experience there, since Overlord has no experience mechanic, but fighting beetle mobs there is an excellent way to grind for Lifeforce.
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* PeninsulaOfPowerLeveling: The Dungeon, which can create any enemy you've slain at least one of[[hottip:*:Except of[[note]]Except for Sandworms, Magma Giants and Beholders, since you can only beat those using GeoEffects.]].[[/note]]. You can't actually get experience there, since Overlord has no experience mechanic, but fighting beetle mobs there is an excellent way to grind for Lifeforce.
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* UnusableEnemyEquipment: Your minions can pick up the things of whatever they kill, but you can't. Justified in that you, as an Evil Overlord, deserve better than old steal-me-downs.
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* UnusableEnemyEquipment: Your minions can pick up the things of whatever they kill, but you can't. Justified in that you, as an Evil Overlord, deserve better than old steal-me-downs. Besides, you're an Extra Ominously Large and your foes range from Small to Medium (and then skip right to collosal).
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* PragmaticVillainy: Gnarl justifies the good choices as such (feeding a village for regular sheep for more minions,staying faithful to Rose to exploit her planning abilities, etc.).
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* {{Unicorn}}: you kill one that is eating a dwarf as you first see it.
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* {{Unicorn}}: The first unicorn you kill one that run into is eating a dwarf as you first see it.dwarf. They are vicious and will kill a great deal of minions without careful maneuvering. Oberon's forest has messed with the Unicorns quite a bit.
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* EvenEvilHasStandards: Paraphrased by Gnarl when describing the poor hygiene of green minions.
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* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Um, when you barge in on that succubus cult, [[ButYouScrewOneGoat why is there a sheep in there?]]
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* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Um, when you barge in on that succubus cult, [[ButYouScrewOneGoat [[BestialityIsDepraved why is there a sheep in there?]]
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* GoodBadBugs: The best gear requires Minions to sacrifice themselves by jumping into the crucible while the item is being created. However, you could save and quit during the animation, and when you loaded the game back up, you'd have the item, and you would have only lost as many Minions as had already jumped before the game shut down. This was patched in an update, but you can always uninstall the update...
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** {{Gluttony}}: Melvin
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** {{Gluttony}}: [[VillainousGlutton Gluttony]]: Melvin
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* LetsPlay: The FreelanceAstronauts did a pretty good LP of this. They abused the soundbites a little too much...
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* LetsPlay: The FreelanceAstronauts LetsPlay/FreelanceAstronauts did a pretty good LP of this. They abused the soundbites a little too much...
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* SpannerInTheWorks: [[spoiler:Just when the Wizard/Second Overlord's victory seems assured, your Mistress and the Browns turn the tide.]]
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** And also (humorously enough) to {{StarTrek}}, what with the Wrath of Kahn...
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** And also (humorously enough) to {{StarTrek}}, ''Franchise/StarTrek'', what with the ''[[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan Wrath of Kahn...Khan]]''...
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Namespace fixing
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** There is quite a bit of references to JRRTolkien in the game. The developers didn't even try to hide the fact that the halflings' home village is based on [[LordOfTheRings the Shire]], and with the human town next door being called Spree, it gets even more obvious.
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** There is quite a bit of references to JRRTolkien Creator/JRRTolkien in the game. The developers didn't even try to hide the fact that the halflings' home village is based on [[LordOfTheRings the Shire]], and with the human town next door being called Spree, it gets even more obvious.
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* SpikesOfVillainy: you actually grow more and bigger spikes as you do evil things, as does your Dark Tower.
* SpiritualSuccessor: To DungeonKeeper.
* SpiritualSuccessor: To DungeonKeeper.
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* SpikesOfVillainy: you actually grow more and bigger spikes as you do evil things, as does your Dark Tower.
Tower.
* SpiritualSuccessor: To DungeonKeeper.
* SpiritualSuccessor: To DungeonKeeper.
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* TrainingDummy: The Jester.
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* TrainingDummy: The Jester.
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* {{Unicorn}}: you kill one that is eating a dwarf as you first see it.
* UnusableEnemyEquipment: Your minions can pick up the things of whatever they kill, but you can't. Justified in that you, as an Evil Overlord, deserve better than old steal-me-downs.
* UnusableEnemyEquipment: Your minions can pick up the things of whatever they kill, but you can't. Justified in that you, as an Evil Overlord, deserve better than old steal-me-downs.
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* {{Unicorn}}: you kill one that is eating a dwarf as you first see it.
it.
* UnusableEnemyEquipment: Your minions can pick up the things of whatever they kill, but you can't. Justified in that you, as an Evil Overlord, deserve better than old steal-me-downs.
* UnusableEnemyEquipment: Your minions can pick up the things of whatever they kill, but you can't. Justified in that you, as an Evil Overlord, deserve better than old steal-me-downs.
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* OurElvesAreBetter: No they're not. They return in the second game as a bunch of hippies trying to protect the magical beasts from the Empire.
* PaleSkinnedBrunette: pretty much describes Velvet, the eviler choice in Mistresses.
* PaleSkinnedBrunette: pretty much describes Velvet, the eviler choice in Mistresses.
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* OurElvesAreBetter: No they're not. They return in the second game as a bunch of hippies trying to protect the magical beasts from the Empire. \n* PaleSkinnedBrunette: pretty much describes Velvet, the eviler choice in Mistresses.
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generic use gets generic trope
* ThePlan: The Wizard and your predecessor, [[spoiler: who are one and the same have pulled off a truly impressive gambit.]]
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* XanatosGambit: The Wizard and your predecessor, [[spoiler: who are one and the same have pulled off a truly impressive gambit.]]
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A 2007 third-person ActionAdventure video game, ''Overlord'' is about, as it's name implies, an EvilOverlord.
You've just been awakened from your dark slumber by a handful of loyal minions, and find - to your chagrin - that when your predecessor fell to a group of do-gooder "heroes", they ransacked your Dark Tower, stole most of the magic objects, emptied the armoury AND treasury, and generally made a mess of things. Well, it's time to roll up your sleeves and get up to some serious evil! Rebuild your Dark Tower, recruit a fresh army of suicidally-loyal Minions, regain your magical powers, forge new equipment imbued with the lifeforce of mortals, terrorize the peasantry, slay the heroes that thus inconvenienced you, and [[TakeOverTheWorld CONQUER THE WORLD]]!
An expansion called ''VideoGame/OverlordRaisingHell'' was released on February 15, 2008. Portals open up around the Overlord's conquered lands which lead to the "Abyss", a hell version of the normal world.
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!!This game provides examples of:
* AdiposeRex: King Melvin has managed to become a spherical body.
* AmnesiacDissonance: [[spoiler: Your character is actually one of the heroes that slew the previous Overlord, but got left for dead by his comrades, and lost his memory.]]
* AnAxeToGrind: Your first weapon is a battleaxe, rather than a sword or mace.
* AntiVillain: The player villain, especially if you follow the "Less Evil" path. Given that he turns out [[spoiler: to have been the Eighth Hero and the one who destroyed the previous Overlord by a HeroicSacrifice]], his actions in the game could be seen as a willingness to use evil to fight evil, turning the resources of the Dark Tower against the Fallen Heroes, which would technically make him an AntiHero. It's mainly the fact that he doesn't give up his position and control over the Minion Horde after he defeats all of the Seven that slots him into AntiVillain.
* BarBrawl: You can earn corruption points for starting one in Heaven's Peak in the first game.
* TheBerserker: Khan, the Fallen Hero of Wrath.
* BigBad: The Wizard, [[spoiler: who is possessed by the previous Overlord]].
* BlackKnight: Your armor starts out metal-colored, but as your Corruption-level rises, it gradually darkens. With maxed-out corruption, you ARE a BlackKnight. And yes, the armor and helmet are permanent fixtures.
* BloodlessCarnage: Every death is clean and EverythingFades. In cutscenes centered on a death, the vanquished simply glow with red light.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: [[spoiler: The Jester is a textbook case. In the main game he starts worshipping the Wizard within seconds of his arrival, then he conspires to free the Forgotten God in the [[VideoGame/OverlordRaisingHell expansion]].]]
* TheDragon: In the first game, [[spoiler: the playable Overlord serves as the unwitting Dragon to the Old Overlord.]]
* DoomyDoomsOfDoom: in the Evernight Abyss, you can find a mold for the 'Mace Of Doom'. Your adviser cheerfully comments that he hasn't seen an 'Of Doom' weapon in years, before explaining its powers.
* ElvesVsDwarves: following your previous 'fall', and prior to your awakening, the Dwarves attacked the elven forest of Evernight out of sheer greed, nearly annihilating the entire elven race, and taking the last survivors as slaves.
* EnemyWithin: [[spoiler: The Wizard was possessed by the evil spirit of your predecessor, and was slowly taken over by him. By the time you face him, The Wizard is long gone, and the True Overlord basically just wears his body 'till he can find something better.]]
* EnslavedElves: The homeland of the elves is a haunted forest littered with ruins, and the elven populace has been dragged off to slave for the dwarves. It's possible to free the elves, or ensure their extinction.
* [[EvilCounterpart (Even More) Evil Counterpart]]: [[spoiler:The Wizard, the Overlord you're technically usurping]] gets his own brand of Minions, darker and meaner than your own. Being attacked by hostile Blues is kinda sad, though.
* EvilerThanThou: The Wizard tries to pull this at the end, but of course, since YOU'RE the player character, you win anyway.
* ExcessiveEvilEyeshadow: One of the consorts.
* ExtremeOmnivore: Melvin in the first game, who is even implied to [[ImAHumanitarian have a taste for humans]]
** Note that in his particular case this isn't actually cannibalism, since he is a halfling.
* FaceHeelTurn: All of the heroes who defeated the original Evil Overlord. Including [[spoiler: yourself]].
* FallenHero: Worth special note, as an very unusual example of [[spoiler:an TomatoSurprise, with you being one of the original heroes who lost his memory. Also see AmnesiacDissonance.]]
* FatBastard: "Melvin ain't so small now! Squish food! Eat food!"
* FearMySquad: In the beginning at least, a full Minion squad is ''much'' more deadly than the Overlord himself.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Um, when you barge in on that succubus cult, [[ButYouScrewOneGoat why is there a sheep in there?]]
* GrandTheftMe: [[spoiler:The Wizard got GTM'd by the previous overlord.]]
* GreenEyedMonster: Jewel doesn't actually ''need'' to steal things; she just can't stand other people having them.
* HeavySleeper: Oberon, the Hero of Sloth.
* HostileShowTakeover: [[spoiler:The climax has the Wizard steal the Overlord's title, tower, spells, Minions, Gnarl, and finally the ''main theme music''. Granted, they all technically belonged to him from the beginning, but finder's keepers.]]
* HulkSpeak: Kahn the Warrior drops into this whenever he gets angry. Which is most of the time, since he's an embodiment of the Sin of Wrath. His accent makes it sound absolutely ridiculous, but given the tone of the rest of this game, that's probably intentional.
* IKEAErotica: of the visual kind, up to the point where the scene with Rose suggests your tower is merely shaking from a headache or something. The implications were there, but the visuals didn't carry it - and the orgasmic 'pincer maneuver' was unadulterated {{Narm}}.
** Then again, with Rose being the stuck-up, stiff as a board mistress that she was, that was probably the joke.
*** Compare her sister, who just says it's time to get you out of your armor. Rose spends the whole time ''going over spreadsheets''.
**** Yes, but what kind of ''spreadsheets''.
*** On the other hand she ends up pregnant in the expansion pack...
* JabbaTableManners: Melvin's eating habits [[EvenEvilHasStandards disgust even ]]''[[EvenEvilHasStandards your minions]]'', who are pretty crude themselves.
* KarmaMeter: depending on your choices, your Overlord can range from [[AntiVillain Benevolent Tyrant]] to Incarnation Of Pure Hatred. Overlord II ranges from Domination to [[OmnicidalManiac Destruction]].
* KarmaHoudini: The Jester gets away scot-free for betraying the Overlord twice. Although considering that he's replaced in the sequel, he may have gotten his comeuppance offscreen.
* KickTheDog: if you want to achieve 100% Corruption, you'll have to kick a LOT of dogs.
** Committing an entire race to extinction for a bag of gold? Done. Wrecking every house in the peaceful farming village? Check. Killing hundreds and hundreds of innocent civilians? On it. Stealing the uber-holy Statue of the Mother-Goddess from the Tombs of the Elvish Warriors just 'cuz it'd look good in your foyer? Been there, done that.
* LadyMacbeth: both of the possible Mistresses fit the trope, each in their own way.
* LesCollaborateurs: when Kahn takes over the first village you conquered, most of the peasants switch sides in a hurry. Mostly because the dude is twice your size, and you're big to begin with. Once you've beaten back the invading forces, it's up to you what to do with them...
* LetsPlay: The FreelanceAstronauts did a pretty good LP of this. They abused the soundbites a little too much...
* [[NoCanonForTheWicked No Canon For The Really Wicked]]: The Overlord canonically chooses Rose and spares the lives of the Elven Race. It seems you did not take the corrupt route.
** Or at least not 100% corruption. You can get up to 80% without contradicting the sequel.
* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: [[spoiler: used verbatim by your former 'comrades' during a flashback, after you fell off a cliff.]]
* NobleDemon: An uncorrupted Overlord might actually qualify in the first game, with all the former heroes corrupted by one of the SevenDeadlySins.
* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Dwarves are basically angry beards on legs. Angry, ''beer-soaked'' beards on legs.
* OurElvesAreBetter: No they're not. They return in the second game as a bunch of hippies trying to protect the magical beasts from the Empire.
* PaleSkinnedBrunette: pretty much describes Velvet, the eviler choice in Mistresses.
* PeninsulaOfPowerLeveling: The Dungeon, which can create any enemy you've slain at least one of[[hottip:*:Except for Sandworms, Magma Giants and Beholders, since you can only beat those using GeoEffects.]]. You can't actually get experience there, since Overlord has no experience mechanic, but fighting beetle mobs there is an excellent way to grind for Lifeforce.
** Also, a series of places, including Understreets 2, The Brewery and Ruborian Desert that become great sources of Minion Equipment when cleared.
* SealedEvilInACan: could describe you, prior to your awakening at the start of the game. [[spoiler: Or so it would seem...]]
* SevenDeadlySins: each of the 7 Fallen Heroes represents corruption by one of the Seven Sins.
** In order, shall we?
** {{Gluttony}}: Melvin
** {{Sloth}}: Oberon
** {{Lust}}: William
** {{Greed}}: Goldo
** {{Envy}}: Jewel
** {{Wrath}}: Kahn
** {{Pride}}: [[spoiler: The wizard/old overlord, and the player character with 100% corruption]].
* ShoutOut: To Diablo, possibly. The plot is extremely similar to that of Diablo II, only with a different protagonist. The weapon and armor names are also reminiscent of the series.
** There is quite a bit of references to JRRTolkien in the game. The developers didn't even try to hide the fact that the halflings' home village is based on [[LordOfTheRings the Shire]], and with the human town next door being called Spree, it gets even more obvious.
** The Dark Tower bears more than a passing resemblance to Orthanc.
** And also (humorously enough) to {{StarTrek}}, what with the Wrath of Kahn...
* SlaveToPR: If you choose to go down the 0% corruption route. Inverted with 100% corruption, in that all your choices have to be evil ones to get there (slave to Evil PR?). Ironically, it's a lot easier to redeem prior evil choices with good ones than it is the other way around.
* SpeakingSimlish: The halflings and dwarves (although that might actually be {{Angrish}}).
* SpikesOfVillainy: you actually grow more and bigger spikes as you do evil things, as does your Dark Tower.
* SpiritualSuccessor: To DungeonKeeper.
* TragicHero: All of the villains to some extent [[spoiler: except the Wizard]], but [[spoiler: Oberon]] really fits this trope. Unlike the rest, he still tries to act for a good cause, but commits evil because he's not entirely in control of himself. He is also the only one to realize how his selfishness has destroyed him, while the others revel in their fatal flaws. This makes him the only antagonist that is [[SympatheticPOV portrayed sympathetically]].
* TrainingDummy: The Jester.
* UnholyMatrimony: [[spoiler: Having a Mistress doesn't just help you decorate your Dark Tower in various stylish ways... she'll also help you by upgrading your Minions, thus making you stronger, and towards the end whichever Mistress you chose will save your life when the one you scorned helps The Wizard ambush you and drain all your powers.]]
* {{Unicorn}}: you kill one that is eating a dwarf as you first see it.
* UnusableEnemyEquipment: Your minions can pick up the things of whatever they kill, but you can't. Justified in that you, as an Evil Overlord, deserve better than old steal-me-downs.
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: You can kick your court jester in the face. Repeatedly. Oh so therapeutic.
** VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: Try this on any of the tower females, mistresses or servants [[{{ArmorPiercingSlap}} though...]]
* VillainProtagonist: That would be YOU. Maybe not so much of the former, but still...
* WelcomeBackTraitor: Humorously inverted by Gnarl who, [[spoiler: in the act of betraying you, calmly states that he'll gladly take you back if you beat the old Overlord]].
* WholeCostumeReference: Guess what the Overlords' armor is based on. But [[OurLawyersAdvisedThisTrope for legal reasons]], you can't say it out loud.
* XanatosGambit: The Wizard and your predecessor, [[spoiler: who are one and the same have pulled off a truly impressive gambit.]]
* YouKillItYouBoughtIt: The Overlords preferred method of expanding his Dark Realm is to roll in, find whoever is in charge, and kill them stone dead. [[spoiler: This is also how he became the Overlord in the first place.]]
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You've just been awakened from your dark slumber by a handful of loyal minions, and find - to your chagrin - that when your predecessor fell to a group of do-gooder "heroes", they ransacked your Dark Tower, stole most of the magic objects, emptied the armoury AND treasury, and generally made a mess of things. Well, it's time to roll up your sleeves and get up to some serious evil! Rebuild your Dark Tower, recruit a fresh army of suicidally-loyal Minions, regain your magical powers, forge new equipment imbued with the lifeforce of mortals, terrorize the peasantry, slay the heroes that thus inconvenienced you, and [[TakeOverTheWorld CONQUER THE WORLD]]!
An expansion called ''VideoGame/OverlordRaisingHell'' was released on February 15, 2008. Portals open up around the Overlord's conquered lands which lead to the "Abyss", a hell version of the normal world.
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!!This game provides examples of:
* AdiposeRex: King Melvin has managed to become a spherical body.
* AmnesiacDissonance: [[spoiler: Your character is actually one of the heroes that slew the previous Overlord, but got left for dead by his comrades, and lost his memory.]]
* AnAxeToGrind: Your first weapon is a battleaxe, rather than a sword or mace.
* AntiVillain: The player villain, especially if you follow the "Less Evil" path. Given that he turns out [[spoiler: to have been the Eighth Hero and the one who destroyed the previous Overlord by a HeroicSacrifice]], his actions in the game could be seen as a willingness to use evil to fight evil, turning the resources of the Dark Tower against the Fallen Heroes, which would technically make him an AntiHero. It's mainly the fact that he doesn't give up his position and control over the Minion Horde after he defeats all of the Seven that slots him into AntiVillain.
* BarBrawl: You can earn corruption points for starting one in Heaven's Peak in the first game.
* TheBerserker: Khan, the Fallen Hero of Wrath.
* BigBad: The Wizard, [[spoiler: who is possessed by the previous Overlord]].
* BlackKnight: Your armor starts out metal-colored, but as your Corruption-level rises, it gradually darkens. With maxed-out corruption, you ARE a BlackKnight. And yes, the armor and helmet are permanent fixtures.
* BloodlessCarnage: Every death is clean and EverythingFades. In cutscenes centered on a death, the vanquished simply glow with red light.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: [[spoiler: The Jester is a textbook case. In the main game he starts worshipping the Wizard within seconds of his arrival, then he conspires to free the Forgotten God in the [[VideoGame/OverlordRaisingHell expansion]].]]
* TheDragon: In the first game, [[spoiler: the playable Overlord serves as the unwitting Dragon to the Old Overlord.]]
* DoomyDoomsOfDoom: in the Evernight Abyss, you can find a mold for the 'Mace Of Doom'. Your adviser cheerfully comments that he hasn't seen an 'Of Doom' weapon in years, before explaining its powers.
* ElvesVsDwarves: following your previous 'fall', and prior to your awakening, the Dwarves attacked the elven forest of Evernight out of sheer greed, nearly annihilating the entire elven race, and taking the last survivors as slaves.
* EnemyWithin: [[spoiler: The Wizard was possessed by the evil spirit of your predecessor, and was slowly taken over by him. By the time you face him, The Wizard is long gone, and the True Overlord basically just wears his body 'till he can find something better.]]
* EnslavedElves: The homeland of the elves is a haunted forest littered with ruins, and the elven populace has been dragged off to slave for the dwarves. It's possible to free the elves, or ensure their extinction.
* [[EvilCounterpart (Even More) Evil Counterpart]]: [[spoiler:The Wizard, the Overlord you're technically usurping]] gets his own brand of Minions, darker and meaner than your own. Being attacked by hostile Blues is kinda sad, though.
* EvilerThanThou: The Wizard tries to pull this at the end, but of course, since YOU'RE the player character, you win anyway.
* ExcessiveEvilEyeshadow: One of the consorts.
* ExtremeOmnivore: Melvin in the first game, who is even implied to [[ImAHumanitarian have a taste for humans]]
** Note that in his particular case this isn't actually cannibalism, since he is a halfling.
* FaceHeelTurn: All of the heroes who defeated the original Evil Overlord. Including [[spoiler: yourself]].
* FallenHero: Worth special note, as an very unusual example of [[spoiler:an TomatoSurprise, with you being one of the original heroes who lost his memory. Also see AmnesiacDissonance.]]
* FatBastard: "Melvin ain't so small now! Squish food! Eat food!"
* FearMySquad: In the beginning at least, a full Minion squad is ''much'' more deadly than the Overlord himself.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Um, when you barge in on that succubus cult, [[ButYouScrewOneGoat why is there a sheep in there?]]
* GrandTheftMe: [[spoiler:The Wizard got GTM'd by the previous overlord.]]
* GreenEyedMonster: Jewel doesn't actually ''need'' to steal things; she just can't stand other people having them.
* HeavySleeper: Oberon, the Hero of Sloth.
* HostileShowTakeover: [[spoiler:The climax has the Wizard steal the Overlord's title, tower, spells, Minions, Gnarl, and finally the ''main theme music''. Granted, they all technically belonged to him from the beginning, but finder's keepers.]]
* HulkSpeak: Kahn the Warrior drops into this whenever he gets angry. Which is most of the time, since he's an embodiment of the Sin of Wrath. His accent makes it sound absolutely ridiculous, but given the tone of the rest of this game, that's probably intentional.
* IKEAErotica: of the visual kind, up to the point where the scene with Rose suggests your tower is merely shaking from a headache or something. The implications were there, but the visuals didn't carry it - and the orgasmic 'pincer maneuver' was unadulterated {{Narm}}.
** Then again, with Rose being the stuck-up, stiff as a board mistress that she was, that was probably the joke.
*** Compare her sister, who just says it's time to get you out of your armor. Rose spends the whole time ''going over spreadsheets''.
**** Yes, but what kind of ''spreadsheets''.
*** On the other hand she ends up pregnant in the expansion pack...
* JabbaTableManners: Melvin's eating habits [[EvenEvilHasStandards disgust even ]]''[[EvenEvilHasStandards your minions]]'', who are pretty crude themselves.
* KarmaMeter: depending on your choices, your Overlord can range from [[AntiVillain Benevolent Tyrant]] to Incarnation Of Pure Hatred. Overlord II ranges from Domination to [[OmnicidalManiac Destruction]].
* KarmaHoudini: The Jester gets away scot-free for betraying the Overlord twice. Although considering that he's replaced in the sequel, he may have gotten his comeuppance offscreen.
* KickTheDog: if you want to achieve 100% Corruption, you'll have to kick a LOT of dogs.
** Committing an entire race to extinction for a bag of gold? Done. Wrecking every house in the peaceful farming village? Check. Killing hundreds and hundreds of innocent civilians? On it. Stealing the uber-holy Statue of the Mother-Goddess from the Tombs of the Elvish Warriors just 'cuz it'd look good in your foyer? Been there, done that.
* LadyMacbeth: both of the possible Mistresses fit the trope, each in their own way.
* LesCollaborateurs: when Kahn takes over the first village you conquered, most of the peasants switch sides in a hurry. Mostly because the dude is twice your size, and you're big to begin with. Once you've beaten back the invading forces, it's up to you what to do with them...
* LetsPlay: The FreelanceAstronauts did a pretty good LP of this. They abused the soundbites a little too much...
* [[NoCanonForTheWicked No Canon For The Really Wicked]]: The Overlord canonically chooses Rose and spares the lives of the Elven Race. It seems you did not take the corrupt route.
** Or at least not 100% corruption. You can get up to 80% without contradicting the sequel.
* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: [[spoiler: used verbatim by your former 'comrades' during a flashback, after you fell off a cliff.]]
* NobleDemon: An uncorrupted Overlord might actually qualify in the first game, with all the former heroes corrupted by one of the SevenDeadlySins.
* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Dwarves are basically angry beards on legs. Angry, ''beer-soaked'' beards on legs.
* OurElvesAreBetter: No they're not. They return in the second game as a bunch of hippies trying to protect the magical beasts from the Empire.
* PaleSkinnedBrunette: pretty much describes Velvet, the eviler choice in Mistresses.
* PeninsulaOfPowerLeveling: The Dungeon, which can create any enemy you've slain at least one of[[hottip:*:Except for Sandworms, Magma Giants and Beholders, since you can only beat those using GeoEffects.]]. You can't actually get experience there, since Overlord has no experience mechanic, but fighting beetle mobs there is an excellent way to grind for Lifeforce.
** Also, a series of places, including Understreets 2, The Brewery and Ruborian Desert that become great sources of Minion Equipment when cleared.
* SealedEvilInACan: could describe you, prior to your awakening at the start of the game. [[spoiler: Or so it would seem...]]
* SevenDeadlySins: each of the 7 Fallen Heroes represents corruption by one of the Seven Sins.
** In order, shall we?
** {{Gluttony}}: Melvin
** {{Sloth}}: Oberon
** {{Lust}}: William
** {{Greed}}: Goldo
** {{Envy}}: Jewel
** {{Wrath}}: Kahn
** {{Pride}}: [[spoiler: The wizard/old overlord, and the player character with 100% corruption]].
* ShoutOut: To Diablo, possibly. The plot is extremely similar to that of Diablo II, only with a different protagonist. The weapon and armor names are also reminiscent of the series.
** There is quite a bit of references to JRRTolkien in the game. The developers didn't even try to hide the fact that the halflings' home village is based on [[LordOfTheRings the Shire]], and with the human town next door being called Spree, it gets even more obvious.
** The Dark Tower bears more than a passing resemblance to Orthanc.
** And also (humorously enough) to {{StarTrek}}, what with the Wrath of Kahn...
* SlaveToPR: If you choose to go down the 0% corruption route. Inverted with 100% corruption, in that all your choices have to be evil ones to get there (slave to Evil PR?). Ironically, it's a lot easier to redeem prior evil choices with good ones than it is the other way around.
* SpeakingSimlish: The halflings and dwarves (although that might actually be {{Angrish}}).
* SpikesOfVillainy: you actually grow more and bigger spikes as you do evil things, as does your Dark Tower.
* SpiritualSuccessor: To DungeonKeeper.
* TragicHero: All of the villains to some extent [[spoiler: except the Wizard]], but [[spoiler: Oberon]] really fits this trope. Unlike the rest, he still tries to act for a good cause, but commits evil because he's not entirely in control of himself. He is also the only one to realize how his selfishness has destroyed him, while the others revel in their fatal flaws. This makes him the only antagonist that is [[SympatheticPOV portrayed sympathetically]].
* TrainingDummy: The Jester.
* UnholyMatrimony: [[spoiler: Having a Mistress doesn't just help you decorate your Dark Tower in various stylish ways... she'll also help you by upgrading your Minions, thus making you stronger, and towards the end whichever Mistress you chose will save your life when the one you scorned helps The Wizard ambush you and drain all your powers.]]
* {{Unicorn}}: you kill one that is eating a dwarf as you first see it.
* UnusableEnemyEquipment: Your minions can pick up the things of whatever they kill, but you can't. Justified in that you, as an Evil Overlord, deserve better than old steal-me-downs.
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: You can kick your court jester in the face. Repeatedly. Oh so therapeutic.
** VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: Try this on any of the tower females, mistresses or servants [[{{ArmorPiercingSlap}} though...]]
* VillainProtagonist: That would be YOU. Maybe not so much of the former, but still...
* WelcomeBackTraitor: Humorously inverted by Gnarl who, [[spoiler: in the act of betraying you, calmly states that he'll gladly take you back if you beat the old Overlord]].
* WholeCostumeReference: Guess what the Overlords' armor is based on. But [[OurLawyersAdvisedThisTrope for legal reasons]], you can't say it out loud.
* XanatosGambit: The Wizard and your predecessor, [[spoiler: who are one and the same have pulled off a truly impressive gambit.]]
* YouKillItYouBoughtIt: The Overlords preferred method of expanding his Dark Realm is to roll in, find whoever is in charge, and kill them stone dead. [[spoiler: This is also how he became the Overlord in the first place.]]
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