Line #44 Main/ContractualGenreBlindness


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8	->''"You're a supervillain. Your efforts are ''supposed'' to be foiled by your ambition and hubris. Failure is the surest sign of success."''
9	-->-- '''The Green Grocer's''' henchman played by a black pawn, '''''Webcomic/TerrorIsland''''' [[http://www.terrorisland.net/strips/092.html theorem #092]]
10
11	For every complicated villain with [[FreudianExcuse abandonment issues]] that has a chance to redeem themselves, there are ten [[CardCarryingVillain Card-Carrying Villains]] out there who are just in it because they [[ForTheEvulz love being villains.]]
12
13	But what happens when you have a villain who understands that to be a good villain, you ''have'' to have GenreBlindness? You're left with a villain stricken with Contractual Genre Blindness. This is the baddy who captures the hero and uses overly complicated {{Death Trap}}s, not because it's the smart thing to do, but because it's what a villain is ''supposed'' to do.
14
15	While usually reserved for a CardCarryingVillain, this trope does reach out into the realms of the AffablyEvil, the PunchClockVillain, the smarter HarmlessVillain, [[SpysSuspiciousSpouse Spies trying to keep their job secret from their spouse]], CartoonishSupervillainy and the DeadpanSnarker who gives up and "plays along."
16
17	SlaveToPR to the extreme. If a villain, usually a MadScientist, has a mental handicap which ''forces'' them to act like this, even when they know better, that's ScienceRelatedMemeticDisorder.
18
19	----
20	!Examples:
21
22	[[foldercontrol]]
23
24	[[folder:Advertising]]
25	* In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwRA_8sDQfo this]] Advertising/{{Geico}} commercial, the [[OnlySaneMan Only Sane Woman]] asks why they don't just get in the running car and escape, only to be shouted down by her TooDumbToLive companions, who suggest they all hide behind a bunch of hanging chainsaws (where, of course, the killer is hiding).
26	-->'''Voiceover:''' If you're in a horror movie, you make poor decisions. It's what you do.
27	[[/folder]]
28
29	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
30	* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'': Jessie and James expressed this in the early seasons, alongside some LampshadeHanging:
31	-->'''James''': Why didn't we try this before?\
32	'''Jessie''': [[SpoiledByTheFormat We had to fill up the half-hour!]]
33	* ''Anime/PowerpuffGirlsZ'': Hyper Blossom and Mojo Jojo in the first episode start their fight because they realise that, randomly given super powers, [[BeautyEqualsGoodness she's obviously a superhero]] and [[ObviouslyEvil he's obviously a supervillain]], and they must fight because that's what heroes and villains do. Considering the original series was all about playing with Superhero tropes to begin with, and this anime-remake is all about doing the same while ''{{lampshad\|eHanging}}ing'' tropes from the original…
34	* ''Manga/SgtFrog'': Keroro gets it into his head in one chapter that if he plays to Earthlings' expectations of an alien invasion, he'll have more success. What follows is an [[{{Homage}} obvious parody]] of the ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'' movies that [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption goes about as well as expected]] thanks to Aki Hinata's [[GenreSavvy knowledge of the conventions of sci-fi]].
35	* Florsheim from ''Manga/TentaiSenshiSunred''. They call out the hero and try to fight him one-by-one and try to TakeOverTheWorld because they're an Evil Organization, and that's what Evil Organizations do. This despite the fact that they never have any success with either; not that they even try with the latter because everybody knows you have to defeat the hero ''before'' you can TakeOverTheWorld.
36	[[/folder]]
37
38	[[folder:Comic Books]]
39	* In ''Comicbook/{{Empowered}}'', the bad guys do this as a survival mechanism. Smack around the hero and leave him (her) tied up and escape with the diamonds? Good show, whatever. We'll get you next time! Shoot the hero? Every other hero will be after you. Unfortunately, there are villains who simply don't care and are powerful enough that the prospect of being hunted by every other hero doesn't worry them.
40	* When Doc Seismic from ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}'' captures many of the world's superheroes but doesn't attempt to kill any of them, Atom Eve wonders why not; Invincible suggests that he's "old school".
41	* Captain Cold alluded to this during "The Rogues' Revenge" storyline following ''Comicbook/FinalCrisis''. When your foe is ComicBook/TheFlash, a man capable of finishing any fight before you even think of defending yourself, you keep your crimes light and theatrical and hope he responds in turn.
42	* This is [[Characters/BatmanTheRiddler the Riddler's]] whole shtick. Of ''course'' he'd be a more successful criminal if he didn't leave puzzle clues behind. He ''knows'' that; he's crazy, not ''stupid''. But he's got [[{{Idiosyncrazy}} a psychological hang-up]] (sometimes identified as a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder) that just compels him to go about it this way.
43	[[/folder]]
44
45	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
46	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'': Megamind appears to accept that defeat is inevitable in his conflict with superhero Metro Man and operate accordingly. [[spoiler: To the extent that he begins winding up his latest plan under the assumption that it's failed without actually checking to see that it ''has'' failed; when it turns out it's ''succeeded'', he's as astonished as everyone else.]] Even after [[spoiler: Metro Man is defeated, this type of thinking persists. Megamind realises that to be evil, he ''needs'' to have a hero to fight. He needs to base his actions on what's the "most evil". And eventually, when he begins to fall in love, Minion points out that he's not allowed to get the girl]].
47	[[/folder]]
48
49	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
50	* Dr. Evil from ''Film/AustinPowers''. He criticizes his son for being [[NoNonsenseNemesis practical]], saying he's just not nearly as evil. Take, for example, Dr. Evil putting Austin and Vanessa into a DeathTrap:
51	-->'''Scott Evil:''' [[StatingTheSimpleSolution I have a gun. In my room. You give me five seconds, I'll get it, I'll come back down here. BOOM! I'll blow their brains out!]]\
52	'''Doctor Evil:''' Scott... you just don't get it, do ya?
53	* ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'': For toons, it's very hard if not outright impossible to jump away from the "role" they've been created for. (Roger tells Eddie that he wouldn't ever be capable to murder because "My whole purpose in life is to make people laugh!"). {{Double Subver\|sion}}ted with [[spoiler: Judge Doom,]] who is able to repress his basic toon urges to maintain his human disguise, but can't fight his villain "role" and places the heroes in an overly-dramatic and slow-moving DeathTrap which [[HoistByHisOwnPetard eventually causes his own demise.]]
54	** A good example of this is when Roger and Eddie are handcuffed together. Eddie finds himself trying all manners of ways to get him and Roger uncuffed and, after a tense moment with the Weasels, Eddie finds a way to get them uncuffed... [[spoiler:just as Roger reveals he could pull his hand out easily.]] When Eddie chews out Roger over this, Roger explains he can't do this any old time; it has to be for an ironic comedic value.
55	* The Devil in ''Film/TenaciousDInThePickOfDestiny'' is pissed when the main characters challenge him to a rock-off, since the "demon code" prevents him from declining. He has never lost before, but he is still reluctant to accept. In the end he exploits a loophole; they never said ''who gets to judge it''...
56	[[/folder]]
57
58	[[folder:Literature]]
59	* In ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', Contractual Genre Blindness is more akin to following UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar, because as long as ''you'' play by the rules and aren't too great of a threat, you can expect the other side to do so too. Being an effective and dangerous villain will just make sure that when your enemies defeat you, they'll go to great lengths to make sure you ''don't show up again''.
60	** In ''Literature/CarpeJugulum,'' the old Count de Magpyr explains that it's better for a vampire to display [[FairPlayVillain a sense of fairness]] (having big open windows with heavy drapes, items that can easily be turned into holy symbols. and easily breakable furniture in your castle) and get let yourself be killed every so often, than to become a hated tyrant and have people actually ''trying'' to get rid of you in a more long-lasting way. (This gets discussed near the end of the book; while the villagers are polling for suggestions on how to permanently remove the new Count, and family, from the Disc, they openly state that the old Count provided regular adventure and exercise, and aren't even bothered that he's just come back from the dead... again.)
61	** Evil Harry Dread in ''Literature/TheLastHero'' is constrained by the Dark Lord Code of Honour, later defined in [[http://www.sjgames.com/pyramid/sample.html?id=2919 this Pyramid article]].
62	** One last note: in much the same way that Cohen and the Horde are the "Last Heroes", Harry is the Last Dread Lord - he always stuck to his end of the code, but ''the other side didn't''. "The first thing they do these days, they block up your secret escape tunnels."
63	** Also, the dragon who became the King of Ankh-Morpork killed, burned, and demanded a virgin to devour, simply because that's what dragons are expected to do. [[ApeShallNeverKillApe The fact that humans do it to each other]] [[WhatIsEvil and call it 'morality']] was apparently [[EvenEvilHasStandards beyond even its standards]].
64	* The main cast in ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'', sans the titular character, are forced to constantly jump between this trope and GenreSavvy, since it's required to maintain the {{Masquerade}}. [[{{Jerkass}} Haruhi]] is a RealityWarper, and if she expects a trope, that trope will manifest; however, if she ever becomes aware of this, there's a very real risk of... ''[[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt consequences]]'', so her friends have to juggle playing dumb with using their own knowledge of tropes to fix whatever damage Haruhi has caused.
65	* ''Literature/SoonIWillBeInvincible'' by Austin Grossman:
66	** Villain Dr. Impossible does many things because that's what villains are supposed to do, but with a lot of [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome realistic consequences.]] [[spoiler: Dr. Impossible dons his [=supervillain=] costume to impress the C-list villains at a local hangout, gets beat up and thrown out, and has to change out of his costume in nearby bushes before getting on the local Greyhound bus to go home.]]
67	** In other instances, he manages to stop himself just before pulling a classic [=supervillain=] move. In one scene, he's being laughed at by some prison guards, which gets him so annoyed he begins to retort by saying "You won't be laughing when I..." Then he stops, and chides himself for always giving away his master plan.
68	** This is all because he suffers from [[ScienceRelatedMemeticDisorder Malign Hypercognition Disorder]]. He ''knows'' his actions are irrational, and most of his struggle in the books are with himself, alternately denying his problem and pitying/hating himself for it.
69	* ''Literature/AdventuresOfHuckleberryFinn'': A rare heroic example; Literature/TomSawyer insists on breaking Jim out in the most elaborate, difficult way possible because "that's how it's supposed to be done." Given all the trouble this causes, you can tell Creator/MarkTwain [[CreatorBacklash had gotten sick of Tom Sawyer]] by the time he wrote ''Huckleberry Finn''. One step of it involved moving a boulder into Jim's cell (don't ask). The two boys aren't strong enough to move it in themselves, so Jim helps them. That's right, Jim ''walks out of the cell and goes back in voluntarily''. And then lets himself be locked back in again. Poor Jim. Jim is legally already free; Tom Sawyer just refused to tell him until he had 'broken him out' first. Additionally, only after this stupid escape attempt does Tom reveal that Jim is a free man, since his owner has willed it after her death. So the whole thing wasn't even necessary.
70	* In Barry Hughart's ''Literature/BridgeOfBirds'' the Duke of Ch'in does this out of fear: tough as he acts, he's still [[TheManBehindTheCurtain confused and frightened]], so he mimics the villains in fairy tales rather than think on his own.
71	* In Creator/JohnMoore's ''Literature/HeroicsForBeginners'', the evil overlord mentions trying to foreclose the mortgage on an orphanage and chase down puppies to kick because that's how one becomes an evil overlord. This is an interesting case, as the overlord manages to be a stereotypical villain while still being smart. The only reason he's ultimately defeated is because the hero doesn't use conventional "heroic" methods.
72	* In ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', this is known as the Unwritten Rules. Both heroes and villains have reasons for not wanting to fight full force (heroes are more organized, villains are more numerous, and both sides have to work together against Endbringers), so they generally don't try to kill or unmask each other, or to take the fight to a Cape's civilian family. Failing to abide by this will make you ''everyone''s target. The only Capes who don't bother with the rules are villains powerful enough to fight off most attackers and evil enough to genuinely not care about the Endbringers.
73	[[/folder]]
74
75	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
76	* Classic ''Series/DoctorWho'''s the Master fell into this a lot. New Who manages to make him Contractually Genre Blind and GenreSavvy ''at the same time''.
77	* Pearl in ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' attempts at first to get accredited by, and then follow the rules of, the Board of Mad Scientists. She is perpetually annoyed at following the mad scientist rules when she knows there are easier ways to do things, but it's "illegal to rule the world if you're not board certified" so she just goes with it.
78	* In early series of ''Series/{{QI}}'', Alan Davies gave the forfeit answers because he was genuinely trying to get them right (and fell into the traps as a result). Starting around series D, Alan had wised up to the format, but was still obligated by the producers to give the "wrong" answers often, even when he knew they were wrong. Sometimes, other panelists will do this, either because they've already racked up a low score (as Jo Brand did a couple of times), or just for the heck of it (as Robert Webb did in his appearance on the show).
79	* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': In "Real Me," when Harmony and her minions kidnap Dawn as bait to lure Buffy into a trap, and she repeatedly orders them to simply leave Dawn be until Buffy showed up. Eventually, her own minions get sick of it, turn on her, and decide to simply eat Dawn and kill Harmony, but Buffy shows up at that moment, and mass vampire death ensues, with Harmony fleeing in shame.
80	* A nearly literal example occurs in the ''Series/{{Community}}'' episode "[[Recap/CommunityS5E04CooperativePolygraphy Cooperative Polygraphy]]". [[spoiler: When Pierce dies]] and subjects the study group to a polygraph, Jeff points out that he is using this as an opportunity to mess with them again, but as Pierce left [[spoiler: his inheritance to whoever has done the least evil things]] they keep playing anyway.
81	[[/folder]]
82
83	[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
84	* Blackjack from ''ComicStrip/DickTracy'' is like this because he's basically playing at being a "Dick Tracy villain." He's Dick Tracy's biggest fan, and so decided it would be the coolest thing in the world to join Tracy's RoguesGallery. He feels honored when he gets arrested, and then breaks out of prison to do the same thing again. He's happily insane.
85	[[/folder]]
86
87	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
88	* In ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'', arguably most raksha would fit into this, although it would be quite possible for them to be wrong about what genre they're in. Also, the Infernal Exalted have Acts of Villainy that they can use to lose limit. These include telling their opponents their evil plan, leaving them in a deathtrap, and [[ScarpiaUltimatum forcing people into marriage]].
89	* Most of the point of ''TabletopGame/BetterAngels'', in which the [[PlayerCharacter player characters]] are ''supervillains'' forced to hatch evil plans for their demonic masters. (They also play the demons controlling other PC's) Fortunately, demonic masters don't understand this trope, leaving the characters free to deliberately build weaknesses and vulnerabilities into their plans in order to exploit them. Rebellion, after all, carries with it worse punishment than failure.
90	* ''TabletopGame/DiscworldRoleplayingGame'': A core stock feature of ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' stories (see Liteerature above), but formalised here in game mechanics; an optional rules allows dark lords (and barbarian heroes) to get a few points off the cost of some of their character advantages if they take appropriate character disadvantages -- but if they fail to play to the disadvantages, they lose the advantages.
91	[[/folder]]
92
93	[[folder:Video Games]]
94	* The entire gameplay of ''VideoGame/EvilGenius'' is designed around this trope. Your ElaborateUndergroundBase has an easily-visible entrance with doors that can be accessed by any agent smart enough to quickly slip past it when your minions use them. Additionally, your minions will ''never'' attack them unless each enemy is tagged. While WhyDontYouJustShootHim is averted for regular enemy agents, super agents cannot be killed by normal means. Attempting to execute them while they're in your cage results in their escape. EvilGloating has the same result. Additionally, all doors are unguarded. The only way to have your minions guard a door is to set it to security level 4, but that also restricts its use to your evil self, meaning it's useless unless it's a location that your minions don't need to visit (and most locations need to be visited by them). Of course, some GenreSavvy players have learned to exploit this behavior by creating a dummy entrance on the other side of the mountain that leads to either nowhere (running out the clock on the agent) or into a series of traps.
95	[[/folder]]
96
97	[[folder:Webcomics]]
98	* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'':
99	** Xykon, though he's actually [[ObfuscatingStupidity not so stupid]]. He is, however, very lazy. It's justified since as a sorcerer (dependent on charisma) and a egotist, Xykon is as invested in the performance as the result. That playing to the rules makes it a little more challenging to win only makes it more fun. Therefore Xykon goes far out of his way to make sure he does villainy "the right way", such as keeping the Monster in the Darkness out of the action (and literally in darkness) until he can "properly" reveal him, even doing a rehearsal to get it right.
100	--->'''[=MitD=]''': Can I at least get out of these dark concealing shadows?\
101	'''Xykon''': Didn't I just say I wasn't going to reveal you?\
102	'''[=MitD=]''': But... there's no one here but us!\
103	'''Xykon''': HEY!! Who's the arch-villain here? I know the drill, the bad guy always keeps his secret weapon cloaked in the shadows until the climax! They can do a cutaway to us at any moment....
104	** Nale is Elan's [[EvilTwin equal and opposite]]. However he gets bit in the rear by the fact that he thinks he's MagnificentBastard material, which [[SmugSnake just isn't the case]].
105	** Nale and Elan's father Tarquin takes this so far he loops back into GenreSavvy. He's running an evil empire fully aware that many stories have such empires toppled and their leaders slain. He doesn't mind the possibility that such will be his fate if it means he gets to run an evil empire for a few decades. He's even happier to go along with genre conventions after finding out his son Elan has become an adventuring hero; rather than dying at the hands of some random schmuck, he will be defeated in an epic duel with his own son. He seems more excited at the prospect of ''losing'' than winning -- winning just means he'll get to rule a bit longer, while losing will make him a '''legend''' since the villain is always more memorable in such tales. He sums it up quite nicely to Elan: "Here's to us Elan. We're going to tell the best story ''ever''."
106	** Elan [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0793.html uses this trope]] by displaying surprise at the revelation that [[NeverFoundTheBody Nale was alive when he never actually SAW him die]]. Naturally, Elan knew that Nale was probably still alive, but knows that [[NoOneCouldSurviveThat the hero never expects the villain to return.]] Nale gets a headache trying to parse [[LogicBomb how Elan could be surprised by what he expected to happen.]]
107	---> '''Nale:''' I think I'm giving myself a migraine trying to understand the level of willful ignorance that requires!\
108	'''Elan:''' First blood: ELAN!
109	* ''Webcomic/CaseyAndAndy'': Lord Milligan is textbook evil, with many jokes and {{lampshade hanging}}s on it. When asked about the benefits, he points out the ability to use the StandardFemaleGrabArea.
110	* ''Webcomic/CucumberQuest'': A rare heroic example: even before the initial BigBad collects all 8 [[PlotCoupon Disaster Stones]] to awaken the [[SealedEvilInACan Nightmare Knight]], even when they get a legitimate chance to prevent said awakening, everyone except [[OnlySaneMan Cucumber]] takes YouCantThwartStageOne for granted as unavoidable. His [[BloodKnight sister]] actually drives the point home by freely GIVING the last Disaster Stone over to the enemy because she thinks that preventing the crisis anticlimactically, rather than having a long and epic quest culminating in the defeat of the Nightmare Knight in an epic battle, is just a terrible idea and totally boring.
111	* ''Webcomic/{{Narbonic}}'': Every MadScientist acts in a given manner, even though they know it's going to bite them in the tush, precisely because of the insanity. Played with a bit, as it's not entirely clear how much of it is forced on them by the resident ScienceRelatedMemeticDisorder, and how much of it is a coping mechanism against the insanity. There's evidence for both.
112	* ''Webcomic/TerrorIsland'': The Green Grocers henchmen give said CardCarryingVillain advice in how to be a villain.
113	-->'''Henchmen:''' You're a [=supervillain=]. Your efforts are supposed to be foiled by your ambition and hubris. Failure is the surest sign of success.
114	* ''Webcomic/JumpLeads'': General Gray, the villain of [[https://web.archive.org/web/20090626013906/http://www.jump-leads.com:80/comic/129 Issue 5]]. He already ''has'' taken over the world once, but found actually running the world pretty boring, so he abdicated. But he still loves ''trying'' to take over the world. So for the past thirty years he's been coming up with outlandish, easily thwartable (and increasing ill-defined) world domination plans.
115	* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'': [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/19991001 Dr. Steve]], though some of that may just be him being completely, batshit insane.
116	* ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'':
117	** [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/000910 "I'll tell you, but only because it's in the evil scientist ethics code."]]
118	** [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/011016c Proto Man knows you're not supposed to know who the villain is.]]
119	* ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}'' : The Goblin clan have strict traditions on keeping all magical weapons in a poorly locked chest in the middle of their war camp, rather than using them in battle. Later subverted; Complains steals the gear from the chest so he can do battle with Minmax (and gets banished from the clan as a result), and the goblins start training as adventurers when they realise they're tired of being fodder for low level adventurers.
120	* [[http://basicinstructions.net/basic-instructions/2006/7/27/how-to-negotiate-with-the-un.html This]] ''Webcomic/BasicInstructions'' comic advises {{supervillain}}s to explain their plan to assassins sent to kill them.
121	* In ''Webcomic/LeftoverSoup'', during a roleplaying session, Max has the party [[LetsSplitUpGang split up voluntarily]] despite common wisdom, because they're roleplaying ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo''.
122	* ''Webcomic/PetFoolery'': One strip (about a ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' expy) has one dinosaur coaching another how to act when one is around the hero of the story, such as going for the JumpScare rather than the killing move and tripping over every obstacle in the way rather than running him down.
123	[[/folder]]
124
125	[[folder:Web Original]]
126	* The reviewers of Website/ChannelAwesome are well aware of this trope.
127	** In [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Spoony]]'s review of the ''Dragonstrike'' video board game he pointed out how painfully obvious it is that the king's jester is the BigBad and suggests just stabbing him then and there. Of course, the characters in the video miss this and just go off on the adventure anyway.
128	** In the Three Year Special ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights'', all the characters have to get dressed up into fantasy costumes and start BecomingTheMask. [[Creator/AllisonPregler Lupa]] is Snow White, so she knows that she's contractually obligated to be horrible in battle.
129	* In ''WebAnimation/MeleesEnd'', Zelda gets kidnapped. She then simply waits to be rescued, even though she's a perfectly competent fighter, and the dungeon she's in has no doors or guards. When Mewtwo wonders why she hasn't tried to escape, she says that that's not how [[DamselInDistress getting kidnapped]] works.
130	* Lindsay and Jenny in ''WebVideo/HumanCentipedeTheMusical'' tend to dismiss any suspicions that would hinder the plot.
131	* It basically comes with the job of being a Let's Play creator, but even though {{LetsPlay/Helloween4545}} frequently calls out games for using cheap tricks of foreshadowing and jump scares, he eventually complies with what the games demand. But not without making fun of it. Pretty much his most used catchphrase is ''"Well, this seems legit."''
132	* Justified in ''Series/FlandersCompany''; the idea behind the setting is that villains and heroes alike ended up realizing fighting each others without rules would only result in high mortality rates on both sides, so villains agreed to work according to this trope in exchange of being paid for it.
133	* In the ''WebVideo/ScottTheWoz'' episode "It's Awesome Baby!", The Supreme Leader falls for Jeb's LookBehindYou trick, even though he knows that he's lying, because he doesn't want to take any chances.
134	[[/folder]]
135
136	[[folder:Western Animation]]
137	* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'': Señor Senior Sr. took up supervillainy as a hobby and has since adhered to Contractual Genre Blindness. He considers it to be good form; so much so, that whenever his son, Señor Senior Jr., asks "WhyDontYouJustShootHim", he always loudly wonders if he has maybe failed as a father. In fact, it's a tradition followed both by the villains and the heroes. So much so that when one villain refuses to follow the rules, the title character remarks that he's breaking some serious traditions.
138	* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'':
139	** Most [=supervillains=] are members of the Guild of Calamitous Intent -- a WeirdTradeUnion whose bylaws obligate them to behave in this manner. It's suggested that the Guild enforces this as a protection measure for both their members and for society at large. An episode where JJ does not play along has Brock Samson warning him that a psycho with a private army, flying machines and so forth needs to be indulged if only to keep him away from committing real crimes.
140	** Baron Undherbeit and The Monarch are both try to kill Dr. Venture at the same time. After coming to an agreement to combine their forces, Undherbeit asks if they should run the decision by the Guild first. After a brief pause, they both laugh at the suggestion and decide to 'screw protocol'. However, by the time they have finally decided upon this, all of their henchmen have been massacred by one of Venture's specially built robots.
141	** The Monarch himself is something of an exploration and purposeful use of this trope. Against his archenemies Dr. Venture and family, he's a total clown and HarmlessVillain who never does anything right and seems to have no real drive beyond [[PokeThePoodle annoying the Venture in petty ways]]. When up against ''literally anybody else'', he suddenly turns into a deadly and terrifying supervillain who effortlessly kills, tortures, or intimidates anybody who dares get in his way. At one point in the series, he's forbidden from arching Venture by the Guild, and proceeds to shock and anger them by brutally murdering every superhero they send him after in vicious and hyper-competent manners, despite having spent his decades-long villain career failing to so much as mildly injure Venture himself.
142	* Jack Spicer of ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'' runs on this. He once goes so far as to stop one of his allies from killing the protagonists right away because he insists they need to do a villainous monologue first.
143	* Dr. Doofenshmirtz of ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb''. In "No More Bunny Business" we see that he actually writes a script for his latest encounter with Perry the Platypus (presumably Perry goes OffTheRails, though.) When Perry is reassigned to other villains, he finds the new villain and helpfully tells him where he's doing it wrong and commends Perry for his methods. He also regularly resorts to {{Missing Steps Plan}}s even though he is aware of their obvious flaws.
144	* Xanatos from ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' always wanted to try his hand at cliche villainy. Played with, as his inevitable defeat was [[ThePlan all part of the plan]].
145	* In his second appearance, the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' version of Gorilla Grodd brings up the concept of propaganda. According to him, just killing Earth's greatest heroes won't make humanity bow down to him--he needs to kill them publicly in an utterly humiliating fashion to prevent further resistance. This means that [[BondVillainStupidity he gives up two opportunities]] to [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim kill some or most of them easily]] in favor of a traditionally villainous scheme, and while he plans for ''most'' of the potential pitfalls, the premise of the show necessitates that he accidentally miss one.
146	* The reason DickDastardlyStopsToCheat in ''WesternAnimation/WackyRaces''. He admits to Muttley in the unsold pilot for ''Wacky Races Forever'' that he's a CardCarryingVillain who can't just win fair and square. No, he ''has'' to go out of his way to screw over the other racers.
147	* WesternAnimation/{{Bravestarr}} was once forced into a deal with his enemy Tex Hex. Bravestarr went along with it because he knew Tex was such a compulsive backstabber that there was virtually no chance he'd keep his end of the deal, which would free Bravestarr from having to stand by it, either. Sure enough, Tex broke his word.
148	[[/folder]]
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Context Main / ContractualGenreBlindness