Line #14 Literature/VillainDotNet


1	[[quoteright:258:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/villain_net.jpg]]
2
3	School bully Jake Hunter receives a mysterious email inviting him to join a scheme for world domination. With unlimited power and wealth at his fingertips, how can he resist? But to get it he has to become an arch-criminal, entangled in a plan that threatens the planet. And that could just be a step too far...
4
5	Books:
6	* Council Of Evil
7	* Dark Hunter
8	* Power Surge
9	* Collision Course
10
11	Sister series to ''Literature/HeroDotCom''
12	----
13	!!Tropes
14	* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: It's noted in the first book that Jake is quite popular with the girls at his school, including Lorna, one of the protagonists of ''Hero.com'', whose feelings he reciprocates.
15	* AntiVillain: Jake, which makes sense as a kids' book can't have a bad guy protagonist be ''really'' bad.
16	* BlessedWithSuck: The feedback loop problem gives Jake the ability to combine powers in new ways (even teleporting most of Air Force One, which most who knew about powers thought impossible) and effectively raises the upper limit on the max powers he can have at a time, but the Hero Foundation wants to experiment on him, and he's actually ''addicted'' to the powers from the site.
17	* CloningGambit: [[spoiler: Basilisk's regeneration ability not only allows him to live much longer, but it changes his DNA to match whoever he took it from. He decides to cover some of his crimes by molding Jake into a scapegoat, but then he discovers that Jake's got plenty of potential, and decides to keep him around. Jake has other plans.]]
18	* DatingCatwoman: Jake is the metaphorical "Catwoman" in this case.
19	* TheDreaded: Necros. To put it plainly, the Council of Evil has no official leader. The role is meant to cycle periodically through its 8 members. Necros though, is so terrifying that he has held the position over the allotted time and looks set to continue doing so, and the other 6 seats on the Council (as in, several of the most powerful villains on the planet), are unwilling to oppose him and wary of him to varying extents.
20	* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[spoiler:Losing his family via mind-wiping on the part of the good guys is a large part of what spurs Jake on to become a full-fledged villain]].
21	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Jake may be a bully, but he tries not to involve innocents in his plans.
22	* EvilKnockoff: The titular website itself, which was pirated off Hero.com by the Council of Evil, so not even the Council is 100% sure how it all works. Heck, a lot of Council tech is either outright stolen from the Hero Foundation or a knockoff of some kind.
23	* EvilMentor: Basilisk.
24	* TheFaceless: Basilisk, courtesy of a sufficiently scary hood. [[spoiler: Turns out, he looks just like Jake, as he used an infant Jake's DNA to regenerate his body.]]
25	* FlyingCar: The aptly named [[XtremeKoolLetterz SkyKar]].
26	* HoldingBackThePhlebotinum: Jake can only download four powers at the time, and they have an unspecified time limit (but less than Hero.com's powers, as this version trades off some of the time for extra intensity).
27	* ICantBelieveItsNotHeroin: [[spoiler: Jake becomes physically addicted to whatever energy Villain.net gives off, to the point that if he goes too long without it, he'll die. This is explained by the fact that Basilisk's powers are in the site, and since Basilisk used Jake's DNA to regenerate himself, when Jake downloaded from the site, his DNA already being in the system created a sort of "feedback loop".]]
28	* {{Irony}}: It is lampshaded a few times the the ''Council of Evil'' does more to restrict villainy than the Hero Foundation, due to their PragmaticVillainy mindset: the council approves and shoots down villain schemes, the idea being that the plans don't screw each other up, but since the council gets a cut of the profits from the plot if it succeeds, they promote more bank robberies than doomsday devices. In fact, Jake comments at one point that it would be total chaos without the Council keeping things in check.
29	* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: Chameleon in the later books. His hatred and obsession with Jake cause him to leave the Foundation and start downloading powers from the sites, causing him to become increasingly insane and obsessed.
30	* MetaOrigin: The Core Powers. These 6 powers are the ''original'' abilities from which ''all'' other powers in existence are just a weakened, mutated blend of, and although second 2 introduced have been divided, only one person can wield the full amount at once. One is a TimeMaster ability, another is a GravityMaster power, and the other grants power over life and death.
31	* NiceToTheWaiter: At one point in the first book, Jake gives up his chair for an older henchman of Basilisk's.
32	* OhCrap: Jake after he realizes what could happen with an incomplete GravityMaster Core Power.
33	* OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness: The Council of Evil, though we know its purpose is to make sure supervillains' plots don't overlap or anything.
34	* PetTheDog: Jake rescues his teacher after he accidentally sets fire to the classroom, and spares the scientists at the Indian Institute of Advanced Technology when Basilisk asks him to take care of the situation (as in, leave no witnesses). He also saved the crew of the ISS.
35	* PowersAsPrograms: The basis of the plot, as the powers are actually ''downloadable''!
36	* RageAgainstTheMentor: [[spoiler: Jake finally decides he's had enough of Basilisk's bullshit near the end of the first book and not only calls him out on it, but thwarts his evil plan.]]
37	* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld - Basilisk has a regenerating ability that allows him to get an extra few years by borrowing other people's DNA. [[spoiler: This leads to Jake's DNA being all over Basilisk's crime scenes, or at least his most recent ones.]] Necros, Kirby and Kirby's brother Leech all possess a portion of a Core Power that allows them to [[FountainOfYouth become younger]].
38	* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Upon meeting The Chameleon, Jake assumes he's also a villain. He's wrong, though Chameleon seems to come off as [[WellIntentionedExtremist a bit ruthless]]. Of course, considering the point of view we're seeing him from...
39	* ASimplePlan: As Jake observes in the third book, something always goes wrong.
40	* SinkOrSwimMentor: Basilisk decides that shoving Jake out of the [[FlyingCar SkyKar]] is the best way to teach him how to use his downloaded flying abilities.
41	* TakeAThirdOption: if you have superpowers, you have to choose between the Council of Evil and the Hero Foundation. [[spoiler: Jake]] and [[spoiler: Forge]] disapprove.
42	* TeachHimAnger: As Jake's villainous mentor Basilisk tells him, "Controlled anger is the mightiest weapon."
43	* TwoLinesNoWaiting: This and ''Hero.com'' are mostly separate stories, but make occasional references to each other.
44	* UnmasquedWorld: Jake concludes at the end of the last book that the public must know about superheroes and villains after everything that happened.
45	* VillainousLineage: Basilisk tells Jake that villainy is in his blood so often that it's practically the ArcWords of the first book, and seems to be pretty obvious {{Foreshadowing}} of LukeIAmYourFather or something similar. [[spoiler: Turns out, Jake's blood runs through Basilisk, rather than the other way around, because Basilisk came across him as an infant and used his DNA to regenerate. He then decided to manipulate Jake from the shadows, turning him into a callous thug.]]
46	* VillainProtagonist: Well, duh.
47	* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: What happens if a Prime downloads from one of the sites, if they don't die outright. Also, the Core Powers tend to have this effect, with only those of strong will, like Jake, Kirby, and Necros able to resist their lure.
48	* WhatTheHellHero: Jake's not happy when he learns that [[spoiler: the Hero Foundation has brainwashed his family, especially when Chameleon tries to justify it as "saving them from the heartache you would have caused."]]

Context Literature / VillainDotNet