Line #63 Main/BondVillainStupidity


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4	->'''Dr. Evil:''' Scott, I want you to meet daddy's nemesis, Austin Powers.\
5	'''Scott:''' What? Are you feeding him? Why don't you just kill him?\
6	'''Dr. Evil:''' No Scott, I have an even better idea: I'm going to place him in an easily escapable situation involving an overly elaborate and exotic death.
7	-->-- ''[[Film/AustinPowers Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery]]''
8
9	Bond Villain Stupidity is a form of ignorance commonly exhibited by villains. It occurs when a villain fails to kill the hero when he has him cornered, incapacitated, or otherwise defenseless, thus giving the hero a chance to escape and later come back to defeat the villain. This may occur as a result of WithinArmsReach -- where a character appears to be totally helpless in a fight but nevertheless manages to seize some advantage from something within arm's reach. Essentially, this is where having too much ambition backfires; they lose sight of the matter at hand [[SkewedPriorities and turn their attention on all the wrong things.]] It is so named because it occurs frequently in ''Film/JamesBond'' movies.
10
11	A common form of Bond Villain Stupidity is to place the hero in an elaborate DeathTrap from which he can escape (slow dipping mechanisms over [[SharkPool pits of sharks, alligators]], [[AcidPool acid]], [[LavaPit lava]] or [[DrowningPit simply water]] are perennial favorites). If you ever asked [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim why the villains don't just shoot him]], ''then'' use their pets/lava to dispose of the body, congratulations! You are smarter than the average megalomaniac. Also common is the inability to resist a JustBetweenYouAndMe [[NoMrBondIExpectYouToDine moment]] before putting the hero in said death trap. Several variants of this one made the EvilOverlordList.
12
13	Often includes EvilGloating, accompanied by stock quotes such as "YouHaveNoChanceToSurvive! I ''don't'' think we'll meet again... Goodbye!"
14
15	If they actually expect the hero to die before their eyes, it's PrepareToDie.
16
17	Objective logic and villain hang-ups aside, [[WatsonianVersusDoylist the Doylist reason for this trope]] is because [[DeathIsDramatic giving the hero an unceremonious, mundane death at the hands of the villain is very disappointing for the audience]]; see DroppedABridgeOnHim.
18
19	This is so common that the HypercompetentSidekick [[LampshadeHanging pointing out the inherent flaws]] in this trope and suggesting a more pragmatic solution has become a trope on its own: StatingTheSimpleSolution.
20
21	Note that there are several legitimate reasons why the villain may opt to let the hero walk away; if any of these are in play, this trope is not:
22	* The villain [[WeCanRuleTogether wants the hero to join his side]] and would prefer not to kill him.
23	* The villain may just be looking [[BloodKnight for a good fight]] and considers the hero a WorthyOpponent, opting to keep him around for [[INeedYouStronger future entertainment]]. In some cases, the [[AndThenWhat success of the scheme]] is actually a secondary goal to [[ItAmusedMe the fun of actually carrying it out]]. In others, the villain recognizes that with the hero dead, [[VictoryIsBoring life just won't be as enjoyable.]]
24	* The villain considers killing the hero secondary to breaking his spirit via a [[BreakThemByTalking Breaking Lecture]], ForcedToWatch, etc. Or perhaps the villain just can't bear the idea of killing the hero without [[EvilGloating flaunting his victory in the hero's face first]], especially when ItsPersonal, such as GreenEyedMonster or RivalTurnedEvil.
25	* The villain is [[NiceJobBreakingItHero secretly manipulating the heroes]] into [[UnwittingPawn doing his bidding for him]]; perhaps [[TrickedIntoEscaping he wants them to escape]] so that he can [[TrickAndFollowPloy track them to their secret hideout]], but it will only work if they think they've escaped on their own.
26	* The villain, who is evil according to his own stature, [[EvenEvilHasStandards doesn't quite feel up to engaging in cold-blooded murder]], or may even be an AntiVillain.
27	* The villain wants/needs the hero to go through a process that will benefit him and kill the hero. If the hero is killed some other way, then that benefit is lost. The villain may not even care at all about the hero, but about said benefit. For example, what a vampire really wants is the blood of his victims; he won't get anything if he vaporizes people with some futuristic giant laser gun.
28	* The villain wants to avoid being blamed for killing the hero, and thus sets up a situation where he can {{make it look like an accident}} or produce an alibi for the time when the hero is supposed to die.
29	* The villain has the hero trapped in an apparently hopeless situation, but can't stick around to be sure because he has other places to be and things to do to complete his [[EvilPlan current scheme]].
30	* The villain has the hero trapped in an apparently hopeless situation, but can't stick around to be sure because it's something that would also kill ''him'' if he doesn't get away in time.
31	* The villain is doing it on purpose as a smokescreen for a bigger BatmanGambit and/or XanatosGambit before closing the real trap.
32	* The villain will benefit even if the hero escapes. For example the hero is trapped in some underground tunnels with a monster, if the hero defeats the monster and escapes the villain can now use the tunnels without having to worry about the monster attacking them.
33	* The villain has a crippling ComplexityAddiction.
34	* The villain in question is actually a DoubleAgent or their morality is wavering toward their cause, compelling them to leave the heroes a way out.
35	* The hero may be withholding some very important information that the villain needs to extract before killing him.
36	* The villain is just a sadist, probably too much for his own good.
37	* The Villain wants to demonstrate that TheVillainKnowsMoment.
38	* Deep down, the Villain actually cares about the hero, and they subconsciouly want the hero to escape. They [[CainAndAbel may]] [[ArchNemesisDad be]] [[EvilMatriarch family]], [[DatingCatwoman in love with each other]], or maybe they [[WeUsedToBeFriends used to be friends]] in the past. Whatever the reason, they still care about each other in spite of everything that happened between them, so while the Villain doesn't want to aknowledge it to themselves or admit it out loud, they don't actually want to kill the hero. Thus, they subconsciously sabotage themselves by subconsciously giving a chance to the hero to escape.
39	* The villain secretly has a [[DeathSeeker death wish]], so they want the hero to escape so that the hero will come kill them. Maybe not necessarily because they're depressed or miserable, but maybe as a part of a ThanatosGambit?
40	Creator/RogerEbert called this the "Fallacy of the Talking Killer" in his ''Glossary of Movie Terms''.
41
42	A SubTrope of WhyDontYouJustShootHim and StupidEvil, and closely related to CaughtMonologuing. For more generalized villainous incompetence, see VillainBall.
43
44	----
45	!!Example subpages:
46	[[index]]
47	* BondVillainStupidity/AnimeAndManga
48	* [[BondVillainStupidity/{{Film}} Films]]
49	* BondVillainStupidity/{{Literature}}
50	* BondVillainStupidity/LiveActionTV
51	* BondVillainStupidity/VideoGames
52	* BondVillainStupidity/WesternAnimation
53
54	!!Works with their own example pages:
55	* BondVillainStupidity/JamesBond
56	[[/index]]
57
58	!!Other examples:
59	[[foldercontrol]]
60
61	[[folder:Comic Books]]
62	* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': Name any villain that the Caped Crusader has fought at least twice, and it's a sure bet that he or she has done something like this. The [[SanityHasAdvantages fact that his enemies tend to be insane]] is one of the biggest reasons he's survived so long. This gets deconstructed with [[Characters/BatmanTheRiddler The Riddler]], who knows full well that leaving clues at his crime scenes and leaving a difficult-but-possible escape method in his deathtraps is just going to land him back in Arkham Asylum. By his own admission, he quite literally cannot help himself.
63	* In the ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'' series, one villain, Hammerhead, tries to avoid this trope by pulling out a gun and shooting a troublemaker; unfortunately, said troublemaker manages to [[BulletCatch catch the bullet]] unharmed, much to Hammerhead's surprise.
64	* ''ComicBook/TheUmbrellaAcademy'' StoryArc ''The Apocalypse Suite'' [[spoiler:averts this, as the WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds White Violin gets shot by her brother before she causes TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt]]. Equally, it ''doesn't'' avert it earlier when [[spoiler:Kraken (one of the White Violin's other brothers) fails, for some reason, to destroy her violin or bow when he had the chance]].
65	* ''ComicBook/MickeyMouseComicUniverse'': Justified in ''Mickey Mouse Outwits the Phantom Blot''. In the story, the villainous Blot puts Mickey in death traps time and time again, but Mickey always escapes. It turns out that The Blot does this because, despite being evil, he can't stand to actually see anyone get hurt, let alone die. So he constructs elaborate traps to kill Mickey for him, then always leaves because he can't bear to watch.
66	* In ''ComicBook/TheOtherSideOfDoomsday'', ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica foe T.O. Morrow manages to knock Flash and Atom out, but despite his yearning for revenge, he merely throws them into a dungeon instead of killing them. It is possible he intended to use them as a bait to lure the remainder Leaguers into his dimensional death trap, but this is not stated in the story.
67	* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'':
68	** In the ''Knuckles Chaotix'' special, the original Robotnik manages to successfully trap Sonic and all of the Freedom Fighters inside glass mirrors. However, Knuckles, who also fell into said trap, doesn't get trapped in a mirror. Instead, Robotnik takes away his special abilities (like his gliding and his spiked knuckles) just so he can still have someone to gloat over. Naturally, since Knuckles is still free, this gives him a perfect opportunity to build together a resistance to take him down. A minion even lampshades the obvious stupidity of this moment.
69	** Taken to extremes in one issue. Dr. Eggman decides he's sick of fooling around with Sonic and launches an all-out attack on his hometown. His forces manage to blast nearly every single good guy (except three) with powerful lasers that seem to vaporize them on contact. He then beats the crap out of Sonic for good measure. Looks like Eggman has finally won... except that those lasers didn't kill Sonic's friends, they were just teleport beams, which sent them all to cells at Eggman's HQ. Eggman announces he'll kill them all ''there''… even though he could have killed them much more easily by simply making his lasers lethal in the first place. This is doubly stupid because Sonic believes everyone is dead... until Eggman ''tells'' Sonic that his friends are alive, and where to find them. Then he's actually surprised when Sonic mounts a rescue and frees them all. If he'd just kept his trap shut, Eggman would have had plenty of time to kill everybody.
70	* Discussed in ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW'', after Dr. Starline seemingly kills Sonic by luring him into a building and blowing it up. Far from being impressed as Starline expected, [[Characters/SonicTheHedgehogDrIvoEggmanRobotnik Doctor Eggman]] is ''furious'' at Starline for using such a BoringButPractical method and proceeds to explain [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim why you don't do that]]:
71	-->"I could carpet-bomb him any day! That's not enough--that's '''''not the point!''''' I have to '''''beat him!''''' I have to prove I'm ''''superior!''''' There's a right and a wrong way to vanquish your life-long nemesis and you did it very, '''''very wrong!'''''
72	* In ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' story ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfLuthor'', after having one of his minions to toss one piece of Kryptonite at Supergirl, Luthor and his gang leave instead of staying around to make sure that she dies instead of crawling away or throwing the rock far away from her...which is exactly what Kara does.
73	* ''ComicBook/BlackOrchid'': Averted in the first issue of the 1988 miniseries. [[spoiler:The villain has the heroine at his mercy, and instead of sticking her in a deathtrap, he just shoots her. And then, having established that she's immune to bullets, he kills her with fire, and makes sure she's dead. The miniseries turns out to be about the heroine's sister dealing with the consequences of her death.]]
74	* ''ComicBook/SinCity'': The Yellow Bastard was fine leaving Hartigan hanging by his neck and didn't stick around long to make sure he couldn't escape, which he did. To his credit, people typically die when they are hanged.
75	* ''ComicBook/TheExtremistVector'': The Extremists have a pretty bad case. First, they did not kill the Silver Sorcerer after getting the spell from her, and sent her to Carny giving her a chance to escape. They defeated the Justice League, and let them be. They defeated them a second time, and sent them to Carny as well. In this case it's possible they were trying to avoid their earlier mistake which lead to them wiping out all life on a planet they'd intended to rule over.
76	* ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'':
77	** Despite being a supergenius, [[Characters/MarvelComicsDoctorDoom Doctor Doom]] falls prey to this a lot whenever he's trying to kill his hated ArchEnemy [[Characters/FantasticFourTheFantasticFour Reed Richards]]. This is sort of justified though, because Doom's end goal isn't killing Reed — it's proving to Reed that Doom is smarter than him, and ''then'' killing him. Therefore, killing Reed without gloating about how he has been outsmarted and making him watch Doom TakeOverTheWorld and kill everyone Reed loves isn't just a tad disappointing to Doom — it would be completely antithetical to Doom's entire purpose in being evil.
78	** In ''Fantastic Four'' #177, the Frightful Four -the Wizard, Trapster, and Sandman- were, as usual, in need of a fourth member, something they never seemed able to hang onto. They managed to invade the Baxter Building, ambush the team and take the heroes hostage. So what do they do now that they have their foes at their mercy? Dispose of them? Engage in sadistic torture? Maybe hack into Reed's files? Nope. They use the Baxter Building to hold auditions for a fourth member, and force the heroes to watch. Unfortunately for them, most of the folks who showed up were {{Harmless Villain}}s and a few folks who were trying to decide between this and something more legit including Texas Twister (who rejected their offer because ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} had offered better), and [[FunPersonified Captain Ultra]] (making his first appearance here, likely what made the issue stand out most) but it ''really'' turned bad for the villains when Tigra - who was friends with the FF - showed up and saw the situation. She got them out, and when the Wizard announced over the intercom to everyone waiting that whoever helped them fight the heroes could join them, they proved smarter than he was - [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere they ran for the exit.]] (One villain, the Brute remained, and he ended up the fourth member, but like all other fourth members of the Frightful Four, he didn't last long.)
79	* In ''ComicBook/DraculaVsKingArthur'', Dracula has Arthur captured and brought to Dracula where he could've easily killed him and took over the kingdom. But rather then doing the sensible thing to clinch victory, he instead decides to "break his will" and just have Arthur thrown into the ocean after his subjects and feed on him. As you can imagine not only does this not happen, but Arthur recovers, gains some new weapons from the Lady of the Lake and regroups his remaining forces for a final battle which ended in Dracula's defeat. Yeah, [[SarcasmMode nice one, lord of the darkness.]]
80	* Near the end of ''ComicBook/{{Revival}}'' our heroes are surrounded at gunpoint by US military. The commanding officer clarifies to ''his own troops'' that they have orders to kill, listens to and rebuts protests by the heroes, and counts down to coordinate the execution. The heroes' backup has plenty of time to show up and save the day.
81	* During the early days of the ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' comic books the villains had this trope BAD. Nearly every story involved the villains knocking out Captain America, Bucky, or both, then locking them in a cell or something before declaring that they're going to kill them now, only for Cap and Bucky to have escaped in the meantime. Naturally this results in the villains subsequently being beaten.
82	* ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'': Defied by the BigBad, who avoids giving the details of his EvilPlan until it is too late to prevent it.
83	-->'''[[spoiler:Ozymandias]]:''' Dan, I'm not a Republic Serial villain. Do you seriously think I'd explain my master-stroke if there remained the slightest chance of you affecting its outcome? [[spoiler:I did it [[YouAreTooLate thirty-five minutes ago]].]]
84	* ''ComicBook/SuicideSquad'': The first issue of the 2001 series sees the team encounter a monstrous artificial metahuman called Eve. The scientist behind her creation informs the Squad that Eve has unfortunately never seen a James Bond movie, and when Major Disaster asks what that's supposed to mean, Cluemaster says it means she's not going to waste time talking. The next thing anyone knows, Clock King is gunned down by Eve's guards, and the rest of the team is forced to flee.
85	* The first issue of ''Bloodstrike'' features the team infiltrating a scientific facility, under orders of a mysterious government agent - they find their target, Corben, and shoot, but he laughs, revealing he's only a hologram. Later, once they've killed everyone, Corben shows up again, and, instead of shooting them from above (he had a jetpack) he explains his entire plan (a case of EngineeredHeroics to get himself a raise) - something he could have safely done when they saw him as a hologram. His first line makes it all the more JustForFun/{{egregious}}:
86	--> '''Corben:''' Now, I must destroy you immediately, as soon as I explain the truth about your mission in Jericho.
87	* Marvel villain Arcade is practically defined by this trope. Allegedly a top-notch assassin, his MO is to capture people alive and stuff them into elaborate mazes full of death traps and killer robots. His on-screen success rate is... basically nil, as every hero he captures inevitably breaks free and kicks his ass (since he's just a normal human who has no special combat ability). This led to ''ComicBook/AvengersArena'', where in a desperate attempt gain some VillainCred he kidnaps a bunch of CListFodder (a bunch of teenage heroes plus Darkhawk) and does a surprisingly good job of killing some of them.
88	[[/folder]]
89
90	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
91	* ''ComicStrip/ThePhantom'': The Phantom wouldn't have lasted for one generation, let alone [[LegacyImmortality the twenty-one he's currently at]], without practically ''every'' enemy he's ever met falling for this trope. All Phantoms eventually get killed in the line of duty, but so far it's never been due to a villain having the foresight to [[NoNonsenseNemesis Just Shoot Him]] when they have him captured. To put it in perspective, more Phantoms have died from fighting {{mooks}} than from being captured by the BigBad.
92	* ''ComicStrip/HsuAndChan'' lampshades this in an issue dedicated to parodying most James Bond movies. After the character in the James Bond role is captured easily due to reality kicking in after a night of heavy drinking, the character in the Dr. No role tries to prod the severely hung over hero into giving him a chance to brag about his plan.
93	-->'''Chan Tanaka (as a Dr. No expy):''' Um... you sure you don't have any questions? About my nefarious plan maybe? Some people like to ask, for the sake of stalling their execution... You know, we're at the mercy of tradition.
94	[[/folder]]
95
96	[[folder:Fan Works]]
97	* ''Fanfic/AbsoluteTrust'': With an almost verbatim reference to the trope, when [[FantasticRacism Jet]] goes after Alec. Tying him up and beating him up after dosing him with a [[PowerNullifier bending-suppressing drug]]? Fine. But informing him that the drug only lasted a few hours and leaving him alone and unguarded after torturing him? Alec burns through his bonds and easily turns not only the Gaang but the other Freedom Fighters against Jet.
98	* ''Fanfic/AllAssortedAnimorphsAUs'': In "What if Tom's yeerk got the morphing cube from David first?", [[spoiler:Jake blows his cover when he accidentally gives Tom the morphing power. Instead of exposing the Animorphs then and there, the Yeerk tells his posse to take the morphing cube to Visser Three while he deals with Jake. This the real Tom a chance to save Jake, and the other Animorphs enough time to get the cube back]].
99	* ''Fanfic/AWEArcadiaBayRogueDemon'': After Orzai manages to mind-control Jesse -- who he learns has overcome paranatural brainwashing before via mind-reading -- before gloating to her how he plans on doing them same to Emily. This leads to her [[HeroicWillpower snapping out of his control]] and using Polaris to purge The Monolith through him, destroying him and The Monolith.
100	* In the ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' fic ''Fanfic/QueenOfAllOni'', Jade decides to break Jackie's limbs after she becomes evil once more, knowing that he'll be trouble later, but is forced to answer Daolon Wong's summoning before she can. She doesn't do anything like that later because while in her case, EvilIsPetty (that is, she wants to prove her superiority to them), and [[AffablyEvil she]] [[EvenEvilHasStandards wants to prove herself better than the other Chan foes, not more underhanded]]. Played straight later with [[spoiler: Lung, Jade's bodyguard kills him for torturing her]].
101	* Keter, form ''Fanfic/RubyAndNora'', is made of this trope. It gets to the point that he pretty much [[spoiler: [[TooDumbToLive causes his own death]]]].
102	* In ''Fanfic/WithStringsAttached'', the BigBad [[spoiler: (Brox)]] asks TheDragon [[spoiler: (Grunnel)]] why he wouldn't let [[spoiler: her]] kill George and Ringo, who were both useless to them. [[spoiler: Grunnel]] responds with a number of reasons, including that it's funnier to have them powerless and unable to stop the proceedings. (Also, he does genuinely like them.) Later, after it becomes clear that the two have managed to get useful stuff done despite having their magic neutralized, [[spoiler: Grunnel]] apologizes to [[spoiler: Brox]] for being wrong. The latter isn't terribly upset, though, as [[spoiler: she]] believes that they still can't bull their way through dozens of wizards to get into the warehouse.
103	* In the ''FanFic/FacingTheFutureSeries'', Technus managed to keep Danny, Sam, and Tucker busy while [[spoiler:he downloaded himself into the cybertron satellite again]], however, he failed to focus on Valerie [[spoiler:and Skulker]] who rerouted his link to Tucker's PDA.
104	* In the ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' fanfiction ''Fanfic/EzraLost'', [[spoiler: the Inquisitor]] decides to go ahead and leave instead of making sure that [[spoiler: Kanan fell through the ice]]. While it's possible he may have known TheCavalry was coming, he still probably should have stayed for a while longer; then he could have kept [[spoiler: Kanan]] from surviving and [[spoiler: Evil!Ezra]] from having a [[spoiler:HeelFaceTurn]]. He even abandons his preciously cultivated [[spoiler: apprentice]] during his sudden escape, though this could be revealed to be intentional for some villainous reason. This whole occurrence is ironic and may even be considered as ''funny'' if you remember what [[spoiler:the Inquisitor]] said to mock [[spoiler: Kanan]] about the fact that he had [[spoiler: not actually died in the Season 1 finale after all]] -- that [[spoiler:Kanan]] should have stuck around to make sure he actually died.
105	* In ''Fanfic/TheVow'', Lord Shen has the perfect chance to kill Po and the Furious Five -- who are all placed in cells and restrained by acupuncture restraints -- by just throwing his knives. However, he instead excuses himself to spring the trap set for the invited nobility and leaves two wolves to kill the heroes. They're promptly rescued by [[NinjaMaid Jade]].
106	* In ''[[ComicBook/TintinAndAlphArtYvesRodier Tintin and Alph-Art]]'' by Yves Rodier, returning BigBad Rastapopoulos has several ways in which he could easily dispose of Tintin and Captain Haddock, before escaping. However, his sadistic need to give Tintin a slow, painful death for all the times his plans have been foiled ends up instead resulting in his ''own'' death, as he tries to hang them both, but the attempt goes horribly wrong and leads to him being thrown off a cliff.
107	* ''Fanfic/YoungJusticeDarknessFalls'': For all their straightforward thinking, Darkseid uses this by having Superman and Superboy fight Doomsday rather than killing them right away. Then again, he wasn't planning on killing them in the first place, merely breaking their wills in order to have them more for their soldiers and not to kill them off.
108	* In ''Fanfic/LXG2AboveAndBeyond'', Thomas Marvel stole Griffin’s formula and became another invisible man, and has gone so far as to ally with the Martians and frame Skinner for his crimes so that he can be the “true” invisible man. However, when [[spoiler:he sees Hyde attack Skinner, Marvel tries to attack Hyde rather than wait for Hyde to kill his “rival”, while results in Hyde learning that there is a second invisible man before he can do more than break Skinner’s arm, driving Jekyll to retake control and treat Skinner’s injury after Marvel escapes]].
109	* In ''Fanfic/TheChaoticThree'', for all of his evil, Darth Janus basically falls victim to this, ranting to his enemies and explaining his plans, thus giving them time to oppose his efforts.
110	* ''Fanfic/InfinityCrisis'': Incredibly, in ''Powers and Marvels'', Rita Repulsa subverts this. After stealing the Rangers' coins, Zedd is about to leave only for Rita to point out "how many times have we done this?" She knows full well that if they leave the Rangers alive, "they go on some quest, find new powers, come back stronger than ever and kick our rear ends!" Zedd agrees and is about to kill the Rangers when Doctor Strange teleports them away.
111	* ''Fanfic/UniverseFalls'': "Split Up" features a VillainTeamUp between Peridot and Gideon Gleeful. However, when the two have captured Dipper, Mabel, Ruby, and Sapphire, Gideon wants to wait until the rest of the Crystal Gems are in his clutches before getting revenge, while Peridot thinks they should [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim kill their immediate captives]]. While they're distracted by their argument, Ruby manages to escape and free the others.
112	* ''Fanfic/NeitherABirdNorAPlaneItsDeku'': During the Hero vs. Villain exercise, Tenya decides to channel Eobard Thawne to get in-character in his role as the villain. Unfortunately, he gets a bit ''too'' caught in [[EvilIsHammy hamming up his speeches]], [[EvilGloating gloating]] [[EvilLaugh and laughing]], it leads him to get distracted an costs him and Mineta the victory. All Might later calls him out on this.
113	* In ''Fanfic/{{Juxtapose}}'', Shigaraki has Izuku at his mercy. All he'd need to do to kill an unconscious and defenseless Izuku is to lower one finger. Yet, Shigaraki decides he wants to savor the terror, despair, and agony on Izuku's face when he kills him, so he wakes Izuku up. [[spoiler:It ends up costing Shigaraki his hands.]]
114	* In ''Fanfic/AmazingFantasy,'' Izuku and Jirou have Bakugou tied up and at their mercy after a successful ambush. But Izuku decides to talk about how he isn't going to shirk under him anymore, using up time that gets the hero team to rush out instead of tying the catching tape around him. This pisses Bakugou off so much that he ends up breaking free after discovering that intense heat melts Izuku's webbing.
115	* ''Fanfic/JWITCHSeries'': When Cornelia and Jade are captured in "Gladatorial Clash", they're left trapped in a magic sphere when the villains go to spring their trap for the other heroes. No-one stays to guard them, and they're not searched for any weapons or tools, with Phobos assuming there's nothing they can do. By the time Tarakudo and the Dark Chi Enforcers realize that they're possessing the Heart of Kandrakar and come to take it them, the two girls have just used it to free themselves and thwart the bad guys with an [[WeaksauceWeakness onion]] and the [[{{Invisibility}} Snake Talisman]].
116	* ''Fanfic/AGrowingFireInMyHeart'': A classic DeathTrap example is done. When Ember, Twilight, and their rescue team sneaks into Redskull's dungeon to rescue Spike, they fall into a trap set by Lord Redskull and his [[VillainTeamup new accomplice]] [[spoiler:Chrysalis]]. The two of them [[JustBetweenYouAndMe tell their captives]] their plan to ruin relations between dragons and ponies by [[spoiler:unleashing Spike on Equestria after forcing a potion of madness and greed on him, turning him into a mindless beast that will destroy everything in his path]]. Instead of killing their captives themselves, they leave them to die, slowly drained of life from a special crystal that was [[spoiler:made from the remains of Chrysalis' throne and modified herself]]. This allows [[spoiler:Grable to pull a HeroicSacrifice to destroy the crystal and free everyone]].
117	[[/folder]]
118
119	[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
120	* [[Wrestling/KevinNash Diesel]] vs. Wrestling/TheUndertaker at ''Wrestling/WrestleMania XII''. Near the end -- Diesel chose not to quickly pin 'Taker post-[[FinishingMove Jackknife]], but instead do some long and shit-eating EvilGloating... at the guy known for [[PivotalWakeup Pivotal Wake-ups]]. Worse? When 'Taker did just that, and Diesel managed to Jackknife him again -- Diesel '''''repeated''''' said Gloating. Unsurprisingly, 'Taker recovered again -- wasting no time to make Diesel pay.
121	* This is essentially how Wrestling/RomanReigns lost his WWE Championship to Wrestling/CodyRhodes at ''Wrestling/WrestleMania XL''. After all their respective allies had been taken out, Roman has Cody where he wants him and could easily finish him off. Instead, he sees his former Shield-mate Wrestling/SethRollins (who was still battered after his match with Wrestling/DrewMcIntyre earlier in the night and from running in to help Cody out) on the ropes, and decides to pay him back for his betrayal a decade earlier with a chairshot to the back. This distraction gives Cody enough time to recover and counter Roman's Superman Punch into a triple [[FinishingMove Cross Rhodes]], allowing him to win the match and end Roman's historic title reign.
122	[[/folder]]
123
124	[[folder:Radio]]
125	* Justified in ''AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho'' with the Dalek Time Controller. It can't kill the Doctor as doing so would disrupt the [[BecauseDestinySaysSo Web of Time]].
126	[[/folder]]
127
128	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
129	* ''TabletopGame/BeforeIKillYouMisterSpy'' ([[TheTropeFormerlyKnownAsX formerly known as]] ''James Earnest's [[WritingAroundTrademarks Totally Renamed]] Spy Game'', [[TheTropeFormerlyKnownAsX formerly known as]] ''Before I Kill You [[Franchise/JamesBond Mister Bond]]'') is based entirely around tormenting captured spies before you kill them. Each consecutive time you [[IShallTauntYou Taunt]] a particular spy doubles your score when you finally do kill him, but if another player has and uses a Taunt card of the same type, the spy escapes and blows up your [[SupervillainLair Lair]]. Taunts include {{Death Trap}}s; NoMrBondIExpectYouToDine; and JustBetweenYouAndMe.
130	* The ''TabletopGame/DiscworldRolePlayingGame'' enforces this trope by offering dark lord characters their own Code of Honour disadvantage -- which includes the rule "if your enemies are defeated and helpless, engage in some token gloating and then ignore them while you get on with important matters". Note that, on the Discworld, NarrativeCausality ensures that villains who act this way are generally guaranteed to survive their many defeats, in an equally stereotyped way -- and the game supports this too.
131	* The Infernal TabletopGame/{{Exalted}} have Acts of Villainy which they commit in order to please their Yozi masters if they've managed to offend them somehow. Most of them have them act in line with this trope - picking a favoured arch-enemy as per Best Enemy Recognition, leaving the enemy to slow death instead of killing them quickly (Fiendish Deathtrap Compulsion), lecturing them about your plans (Infernal Genius Declaration), leaving clues or sending them straight to your enemy (Insane Death-Dealing Provocation) or just driving people insane for giggles (Kindly Lunatic's Blessing). And it's best to perform as much of them at once as possible.
132	* This is the Unique Limitation of the Criminal Mastermind archetype from the ''TabletopGame/FengShui'' supplement ''Seed of the New Flesh'', appropriately titled "Slave to the Cheese." Not only are you 100% unable to [[MundaneSolution just shoot]] any named cop or Buro characters you capture or non-lethally defeat, but [[ComplexityAddiction you must do everything in your power to prevent anyone else from doing so]], preferring to toy with your prey by putting them in elaborate death-traps or offering them some desperate ([[LetsFightLikeGentlemen but psychotically "fair"]]) gamble with which to win their lives and freedom. Not only that, but you absolutely cannot resist the urge to engage in a JustBetweenYouAndMe speech, telling them your plans in order to rub it in.
133	* The ''[[TabletopGame/{{Champions}} Hero System]]'' features the Psychological Limitation "Over-The-Top Villainy". Villains with this Psych Limit must follow this trope (in addition to several of the other "Overblown Villain" Tropes.
134	* The explanation for the frequency of this happening in Victory Games's ''James Bond 007'' RPG is as a result of being SurroundedByIdiots. The villains have huge egos and want to sate them by discussing their ideas with someone who's proven themselves intelligent enough to appreciate them.
135	* TSR's 80s ''TabletopGame/MarvelSuperHeroes'' game, at least in its advanced version, rewarded villains who indulged in this with Karma -- the game's mix of LuckManipulationMechanic and ExperiencePoints. Putting heroes into deathtraps? Same reward as defeating them, even if they escape or get rescued later. Bragging about one's brilliance and letting valuable clues slip? 20-point reward flat. (Conversely, even villains still ''lose'' Karma for killing, mechanically disincentivizing the Just Shoot Him approach by just that bit.)
136	* Many a ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'' villain will happily allow heroes to escape unharmed, only for it to come back and bite them later in the adventure. However, this is nearly always [[JustifiedTrope justified]], as the villain may be playing some elaborate game with both the heroes and their own lives or using the heroes as a distraction to cover up their own escape.
137	* ''StraightToVHS'' being a glorious loveletter to 80's cheesy movies encourages the director to do this with villains.
138	* The trapmaster in ''Super TabletopGame/{{Munchkin}}''. He plays a trap card at you when you start fighting him. If he defeats you, however, his Bad Stuff is that "he leaves you in one of his traps and strolls off laughing. [[LampshadeHanging The idiot. No effect]]."
139	* ''TabletopGame/TimeLord'', a 1990s licensed ''Series/DoctorWho'' RPG, gave villains a negative "Gloating" skill. If they captured a player character, they would be forced to roll against it, and if they "succeeded" they would waste time monologuing.
140	[[/folder]]
141
142	[[folder:Theatre]]
143	* ''Theatre/ComingOutOfTheirShells'': When the Turtles retreat when the De-Harmonic Convergence Converter hurts them... somehow, Shredder captures April and ties her up right next to the De-Harmonic Convergence Converter's control panel.
144	* DoubleSubversion in the William Gillette play ''Theatre/SherlockHolmes'', where Moriarty's first plan is in fact to just shoot Holmes. He doesn't try it again, though; his next plan involves preparing a [[TheCon con]] as bait to lead Holmes into a DeathTrap (which he escapes in dramatic fashion). Justified, since Moriarty doesn't want a gunshot to be heard outside.
145	[[/folder]]
146
147	[[folder:Web Animation]]
148	* In ''WebAnimation/ClearSkies 3'', [[spoiler:Ghost wastes time monologuing, which gives Charlie and Sol time to salvage a shell and use it to kill him]].
149	* Felix of ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'' is exceptionally prone to this. A born sadist, if there's a way to twist the knife a little further, he'll do it. Naturally, this backfires on him several times; When he brags to the Reds and Blues on how he and Locus are manipulating the civil war on Chorus, this gives Agent Carolina time to come to the rescue. When he does it again to Tucker, he ends up falling into an EngineeredPublicConfession.
150	* ''WebAnimation/TheMostEpicStoryEverToldInAllOfHumanHistory'': [[BigBad Ridiculously Epic]] [[TheBadGuyWins takes over the world by the second episode.]] Effective villain, right? Well get ready to hear his half hour EvilGloating spiel that includes [[EpicFail exact details about how to reclaim the world from his grasp]].
151	* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'': When he and Blitzo realise that WeNeedADistraction, Fizzarolli provides one by performing an elaborate musical number actually entitled "Look At This!" and none of the assembled villains try to just shoot him during the performance. Possibly justified in that they're in Hell and he might have some supernatural aspect to his performing.
152	[[/folder]]
153
154	[[folder:Webcomics]]
155	* {{Lampshade\|Hanging}}d and {{inverted\|Trope}} in [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/index.php?date=040217 this]] ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'' strip. [[spoiler:Don't worry, he got better.]]
156	* Averted in the vampire vs. zombie webcomic ''Last Blood'', during the final battle, the vampires are captured by zombies who chain them up with the intent to torture them. However, for the past 20 pages, there have been allusions to the idea that the leader of the vampires, Addison Payne, has a brilliant scheme to defeat the zombies at some point, even once captured. So instead of letting him live and risking utter victory just for the sake of torture, the lead zombie simply stakes him through the heart, no suggestion necessary. Despite this stroke of brilliance, he still winds up losing it all when he decides to keep one of the human women as his presumed concubine, and goes to embrace her, at which point she promptly stakes him in the heart, killing him and turning his zombies loose.
157	* In ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' Dr. Steve originally ''was'' just going to shoot Torg, but [[http://sluggy.com/daily.php?date=991001 got talked out of it]].
158	-->'''Dr. Steve:''' I've decided to just shoot you and get this over with.\
159	'''Torg:''' But wait, don't you want to reveal your master plan to me?\
160	'''Dr. Steve:''' No.\
161	'''Torg:''' If you were a ''real'' villain, [[JustBetweenYouAndMe you'd tell me your master plan before killing me]].
162	* ''WebComic/LeagueOfSuperRedundantHeroes'': Subverted in [[http://superredundant.com/?comic=634-captured this strip]], despite the expectations of the villain's goon.
163	* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', during the climax of his arc, Abraham gives a long winded speech to Ellen about why he has to kill her instead of simply doing it, giving Nanase the time she needed to catch up to and stop him. {{Justified\|Trope}}, in that he really doesn't want to go through with it.
164	* ''Webcomic/StarHammer'': [[ArcVillain Orson Lindsay]] loves his monologues; he even built in some safeguards to protect him from heroes that would attack him when he's mid-speech. However, when monologuing at Evey, they attack Orson's psychic partner in crime, Davis, neutralizing him while Orson's too busy showing off. Danae even comments on it, noting that he's still easily distracted.
165	[[/folder]]
166
167	[[folder:Web Original]]
168	* [[DefiedTrope Refusing to fall into this trope]] is a non-insignificant focus of the EvilOverlordList.
169	-->''4. [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim Shooting is]] ''[[WhyDontYouJustShootHim not]]'' [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim too good for my enemies]].''\
170	''6. I will not [[EvilGloating gloat my enemies' predicament]] before killing them.''\
171	''7. When I've captured my adversary and he says, "Look, before you kill me, will you [[JustBetweenYouAndMe at least tell me what this is all about]]?" [[PreMortemOneLiner I'll say, "No." and shoot him]]. No, on second thought [[BondOneLiner I'll shoot him then say "No."]]''\
172	''125. Should I actually decide to kill the hero in an elaborate escape-proof [[DeathTrap deathtrap]] room ([[DrowningPit water filling up]], [[BuriedAlive sand pouring down]], [[DescendingCeiling walls converging]], etc.) I will not leave him alone five to ten minutes prior to "imminent" death, but will instead (finding a vantage point or monitoring camera) stick around and enjoy watching my adversary's demise.''\
173	''168. I will plan in advance what to do with each of my enemies if they are captured. That way, I will never have to order someone to be tied up while I decide his fate.''
174	[[/folder]]
175
176	[[folder:Web Videos]]
177	* ''WebVideo/UltraFastPony'' lampshades the utter absurdity. Unlike in [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic the source material]], Night Moon Mare doesn't want to gain anyone's respect or to plunge the world into eternal night. She just wants to kill everyone, yet she doesn't do it when she has the chance.
178	-->'''Night Moon Mare:''' I could kill you all now, but I'll run away!
179	%%* ''WebVideo/DiamondsCut'' is a Bond fan film, so its presence is guaranteed.
180	[[/folder]]
181
182	[[folder:Real Life]]
183	* Allegedly, Emperor Nero tried to kill his own mother firstly by rigging the ceiling above her bed to collapse on her as she slept (the idea never got past the planning stages), then settling on rigging her boat so that it would sink with her on it -- this worked, but Nero didn't count on his mother being able to swim. When he heard that she had survived, with two elaborate death traps having failed him, he decided to have the messenger arrested and framed as an assassin, then just sent his guards to stab her to death.
184	* One British woman was repeatedly tazered then bound and BuriedAlive by her sadistic fiance. Thankfully he was dumb enough to neglect to tie her hands, and she managed to escape and testify against him. [[https://web.archive.org/web/20190906064854/https://abcnews.go.com/International/diamond-ring-save-woman-buried-alive/story?id=15112540 Read the full story here.]]
185	[[/folder]]

Context Main / BondVillainStupidity