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| 3 | %% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks! |
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| 7 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1409604922036176000 |
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| 10 | [[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/evil_plan_665.png]]]] |
| 11 | |
| 12 | ->''"Gentlemen! Since you are about to die anyway, I may as well tell you the entire plot."'' |
| 13 | -->-- '''Benedict''', ''Film/LastActionHero'' |
| 14 | |
| 15 | Villains have an urge to [[EvilGloating gloat]]. There's something irresistible about twisting the knife that last little bit before finishing things. After all, what is even the point of a carefully laid scheme, if you haven't yet told anyone just how ingenious and intricate it actually is? Rather than activate the needlessly complicated DeathTrap right away, they will pause to outline their EvilPlan to the hero and often including information on how to stop it. [[BondVillainStupidity This can give the hero the time they need to escape]], but just as often the hero will simply sit there and wait. It's rude to [[TalkToTheFist interrupt someone when they chat before trying to kill you]]. Of course, on the other hand, trying to pull this kind of speech on a PragmaticHero or an AntiHero can quite easily and even literally [[ShutUpHannibal blow up in the villain's face]]. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | Even those who plan to [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim simply shoot their enemy]] may stop by to share details of their plans first. It seems that heroes get more information out of being interrogated than their interrogators do. Thanks to the UnspokenPlanGuarantee, this removes any chance the villain had at success... unless [[YouAreTooLate it already happened]]. Or if explaining the plan is a distraction; a hero who's stopping to listen to the villain gloat about his plan is a hero who's ''not'' stopping the villain's minions for carrying out the final step of said plan. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | Sometimes, it's all part of ThePlan. What good is {{revenge}} if they think it all was plain bad luck and don't know you're out to get them for killing your stepmother's brother's favourite cat? A character who thinks TheHero holds him in contempt may lay out the plan in hopes of getting his respect. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | Heroes are only slightly less prone to such fits of GenreBlindness. They are just as ready to explain the whole game plan to a partner when the opponent stands just out of arms reach and even more eager to "make a point" about the reasons exactly why the other side has to go down. It's like proclaiming the verdict of [[JudgeJuryAndExecutioner a makeshift jury]]. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | Many anime use this as a technique to drag out the fights. |
| 24 | |
| 25 | Dates at least as far back as the movie serials of the 1940s (especially those made by Republic). |
| 26 | This is, in general, an UndeadHorseTrope that's very often parodied or subverted, but just as often played straight. [[http://jabootu.net/p?=13 Jabootu]]'s glossary refers to this trope as the "James Bond Exposition Rule". |
| 27 | |
| 28 | When the villain falsely thinks it's Just Between You And Me, you have an EngineeredPublicConfession. |
| 29 | |
| 30 | Don't confuse with HaveYouToldAnyoneElse, which is when a protagonist unwittingly confides in a villain. |
| 31 | |
| 32 | When the villain takes advantage of their solitude to tempt TheHero, it's WhatYouAreInTheDark. Contrast NiceJobFixingItVillain. |
| 33 | |
| 34 | TruthInTelevision: As any prankster knows. Though not quite so much in the case of criminal or truly despicable behaviour, as guilt and/or fear of consequence usually overshadows the sadistic joy of mischief, and certainly any urge to reveal it. |
| 35 | |
| 36 | ---- |
| 37 | !!Examples: |
| 38 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 39 | |
| 40 | [[folder:Advertising]] |
| 41 | * A Advertising/{{GEICO}} [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85SvVn3cpl0 ad]] parodying ''Franchise/JamesBond'' has a villain preparing to kill a spy with a laser. However, he first decides to get into an entire presentation of his plan, complete with slides. The GEICO narrator then explains that, as long as evil villains reveal their plans, GEICO will offer affordable insurance. |
| 42 | [[/folder]] |
| 43 | |
| 44 | [[folder:Anime and Manga]] |
| 45 | * Parodied ''twice'' in ''Manga/BlackLagoon'', when two separate villains get the drop on our {{AntiHero}}es, only to spend so much time talking about how they've won that they don't get an actual shot off before Revy guns them down [[strike: wordlessly]] while saying "Shut the fuck up!" ''as'' she pulls the trigger. Of course, one of them had the foresight to wear a bulletproof vest... |
| 46 | * Done all of the time in ''Manga/{{Bleach}}''. |
| 47 | ** Among others, Barragan, Shinji, and Shunsui have all completely described their powers to their respective opponents. [[spoiler:Not quite "completely" in Shinji's case, it turns out. But Aizen's so broken it didn't matter.]] |
| 48 | ** Shunsui [[spoiler:doesn't suffer too badly from doing this.]] |
| 49 | ** [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Barragan is killed because of this]] |
| 50 | ** [[spoiler:Shinji is beaten by [[InvincibleVillain Aizen Sosuke]].]] |
| 51 | ** [[spoiler:Aizen]] ''loves'' this trope. He has routinely spent as many pages as he possibly could when given the opportunity to monologue about his plans, intentions, and knowledge. If you consider [[spoiler:Aizen is a Magnificent Bastard whose plans have been going on for, at least, a century, he must have been holding his gloating for one HECK of a long time. Since he has endured Gotei 13 for so much time]], it's only fair to assume he wants payback and talk their ears out on how weak, immature or otherwise flawed they are. Not to mention his gloatings are supposed to make people enraged and throw them out of focus so they can be defeated, cue to [[spoiler:Hiyori getting cut in half by Gin.]] Case in point: during the original [[TheReveal reveal]] at the end of the Soul Society arc, Aizen spends nearly two episodes explaining his plan, and even getting interrupted by a giant punch from Komamura can't stop him. |
| 52 | ** One should also keep in mind that Aizen might not be entirely honest the first time he gloats at you about something. Ichigo notices that one of his recent reveals and what he'd said in a previous arc didn't match up and accuses him of lying. Aizen admits to being a chronic liar, and points out that Ichigo really shouldn't assume he was telling the truth the first time around. In fact, the only folks he's generally honest with are those he considers close to equal; everything he told Kisuke Urahara, whom he admitted was actually smarter, has thus far turned out to be true. |
| 53 | * Similar to the above example with Cornello, the eunuchs from ''Anime/CodeGeass'' announced their plans to Zero when they have the Black Knights cornered. Zero meanwhile [[EngineeredPublicConfession has Diethard record, edit and broadcast the feed]] over to China, [[ZeroPercentApprovalRating where the people immediately riot]]. |
| 54 | * Used intelligently in ''Manga/DeathNote'': Light likes to gloat in front of his victims, but he does it discreetly and only when they are in their absolutely final moments. [[spoiler:Ray Penbar]] sees a train's sliding doors close on Light, who mouths him a farewell just before [[spoiler:Ray]]'s heart attack kills him, [[spoiler:Naomi Misora]] has Light's identity revealed to her one second before [[spoiler:the Death Note takes over her mind]], and the last thing [[spoiler:Ryuzaki]] sees in this world is Light, standing over him and wearing a SlasherSmile no-one else can see. [[spoiler:However, this pattern, though not the trope, is itself subverted when Light's final plan goes horribly wrong; the evidence against him may have been explainable if he hadn't shouted that this was his win.]] |
| 55 | * ''Anime/DragonBallZ'': |
| 56 | ** In the eighth movie, Paragus ends up exposing to the Z-fighters that he lured the heroes onto New Planet Vegeta for an elaborate trap that involved Comet Camorie [[ColonyDrop colliding with the planet]], so he could conquer Earth, as well as most of the universe, completely uncontested. However, this backfires when his son Broly ends up becoming enraged enough by Goku's presence to completely break free of Paragus' control and go berserk, and eventually taking revenge on Paragus for attempting to brainwash him. |
| 57 | ** During the series, Piccolo [[InvokedTrope invokes this trope]] after Cell drains his arm, asking to be told of his origin and goals before being fully absorbed. Cell obliges, and his narration lasts long enough for Piccolo to finish preparations to regenerate his arm, returning to full strength. |
| 58 | * ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'': Obviously, Jagi did not read the EvilOverlordList, otherwise he would not have told Kenshiro that he was responsible for turning his best friend evil and screwing up his life. |
| 59 | * In ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', Ed lures Cornello into his broadcast room and tricks him into gloating about manipulating the townspeople with the microphone on. |
| 60 | ** There's also an example where Ed shows some savvy. After Father reveals several of his plans, Ed comments something "since you've told us your plans, I assume you intended to kill us". |
| 61 | ** A similar incident, where Lust shows that her core is actually a Philosopher's Stone, and Mustang points out that the only reason she's telling them this is that she has no intention of letting them live. |
| 62 | * Happens so many times in ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'' until they get to one monologue in which Nakago actually reveals that he had anticipated every single thing the heroes did in response to his plan, and then thanks them for it. |
| 63 | * ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell'': |
| 64 | ** In ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'', an assassin just has to tell [[ActionGirl Motoko]] that she will now kill her, once she had shut down all the controls for her cybernetic body. Too bad someone sneaks in to reconnect the controls while the assassin is taking her time to {{make it look like an accident}}. |
| 65 | ** In ''Anime/GhostInTheShellArise'', Motoko gets a ready confession from a corrupt politician, but only because his cyborg {{mooks}} are waiting outside his vehicle. Unfortunately for him, Motoko is talking remotely via a fem-bomb under her optical camouflage, so he gets a nasty surprise. |
| 66 | * Invoked in ''[[Anime/MezzoForte Mezzo DSA]]'' Episode 3 by Mikura, who says to a client who betrayed the DSA, "Since you're a villain, act like one and give an explanation." |
| 67 | * In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWingEndlessWaltz'', Trowa recalls how just before he became a Gundam pilot, he was a nameless mechanic working on Heavyarms for the Barton Foundation, and the heir to the Barton Foundation approached him, and showed him a photo of a little girl and her mother, while explaining that the little girl was his niece and that she was going to become the new ruler of Earth after Operation Meteor. Doktor S and some other engineers are then seen trying to talk the heir out of doing Operation Meteor as originally planned [[note]] To put it simply, the stabilizing mechanisms on the space colony X18999 were going to be disrupted, causing a ColonyDrop, and the Gundams were to be used in a coup in the ensuing chaos. [[/note]], but he would have none of it. [[spoiler: One of the engineers then shoots him dead, because he doesn't want his family to be killed in Operation Meteor. The nameless mechanic witnesses this, and assumes the Barton heir's identity, Trowa Barton.]] |
| 68 | * Tobi from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' does this at least once: such as when he explains his plan to the Kage because he needs them to know it to be able to make his move. |
| 69 | ** Though it should be noted that he tends not to talk about some ''important'' details his plans or very vague therein. For example even though he told at Five Kage summit about what he needs Eight and Nine-Tails to complete his plan but he did not mention that he needed only a small part of the Tailed Beasts to finish his plan. Also though he mentioned that he was going to use MassHypnosis on the whole world with the help of the moon but he did not say ''how exactly'' he was going to do it. [[spoiler:So when he became Ten-Tails Jinchuuriki and releases WorldTree, he had a large number of shinobi who tried to stop him for feeding this tree to activate Infinite Tsukuyomi.]] |
| 70 | ** Also, in the current arc, the resurrected characters have the control of their mind and mouth but not their body (most of them anyway). This leads to weird situations where these characters try to kill their opponents while explaining them how they can be defeated and telling them to dodge their attacks. |
| 71 | ** In Chapter 578 of the manga, [[spoiler:Itachi]] explains his plan on how to beat [[spoiler:Kabuto]] right to his face. The latter is only amused. |
| 72 | * ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' screws around with this idea. [[spoiler:Chao]] was smart enough not to gloat about the completion of her plan until [[YouAreTooLate a week after she already did it]], sending the protagonists [[TimeTravel forward in time]] to when she already won. Unfortunately for her, Negi has his own TimeMachine, so he and his squad decide to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong... |
| 73 | * ''Manga/OnePiece'' often goes a bit crazy with this trope, considering the number of {{Card Carrying Villain}}s around. |
| 74 | ** Particularly notable is that nearly every villain helpfully explains their powers for the heroes' benefit -- this is eventually given a LampshadeHanging and DoubleSubversion when [[spoiler:Kalifa]] refuses to disclose her Devil Fruit's name and properties...and Nami guesses them perfectly. |
| 75 | ** Crocodile reveals the bomb that is set to go off in Alubarna when facing Vivi in the palace, as a way of mocking her desire to save everyone. While he does try to finish her off, Luffy and Pell manage to save her, and she uses the knowledge about the bomb to find the cannon, [[spoiler:but he left out a little detail about the bomb being on a timer though]]. |
| 76 | ** Strangely enough, it's {{subverted|Trope}} by chatty villain Blackbeard, who blows off [[spoiler:Crocodile]]'s question of why he's in [[spoiler:Impel Down after just becoming a [[{{privateer}} Warlord of the Sea]]. Maybe a factor on why it succeeds]]. Later on he explains his plan to the Marines...but only after [[YouAreTooLate it's]] ''[[YouAreTooLate already succeeded]]'' [[YouAreTooLate and it's too late for them to do anything.]] |
| 77 | ** {{Lampshade H|anging}}ung for laughs with broadaxe wielder Sentoumaru, who refuses to tell anything about himself saying he's the most tight-lipped person, then promptly revealing the exact information he just said he wouldn't reveal... And excusing himself that he wanted to reveal that when called out on his slip. |
| 78 | * In the most recent arc of ''Manga/Reborn2004'' [[spoiler: Daemon Spade invokes and promptly subverts this trope when confessing to his status as TheManBehindTheMan to a kidnapped and seriously freaked out Chrome Dokuro. The confession is coupled with several requests to pull a FaceHeelTurn, and when she refuses to switch allegiances he simply decides to [[HypnotizeTheCaptive hypnotize]] her and order that she not leave his side, pretty much guaranteeing that his plans won't be derailed by telling her.]] |
| 79 | * Done in the prelude of the Kyoto Arc in ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'', when Kenshin was fighting the assassin Akamatsu Arundo. Said assassin said that he would tell Kenshin who sent him -- if he died. The two proceed to fight, with Kenshin appearing to be defeated. Keeping his promise, Akamatsu tells Kenshin's corpse [[spoiler: that he and [[KnightOfCerebus Saito Hajime]] were sent by [[TheSociopath Udo Jin-e's]] superiors in order to clean up after Kenshin's previous run-in with Jin-e.]] Oh, Kenshin's not dead. |
| 80 | * In ''Anime/SamuraiSeven'', Ukyo tells Kanbei, right before his planned execution, that he's planning to destroy Kanna Village and take over the world. |
| 81 | * ''Anime/SCryed'': The big bad delivers a monologue to the heroes via a remote video feed that serves to keep them in place long enough for his KillSat to get in firing position. |
| 82 | * Befitting its [[MindScrew nature]], ''Anime/SerialExperimentsLain'' has a truly bizarre example when Lain meets [[BigBad The God of the Wired]]/[[spoiler:Masami Eiri]] face to face. What results is typical banter where the villain reveals his evil plan and the hero is horrified -- except that since the two are able to read each other's minds, they are each saying what they know the other will say next. Thus, Lain is talking about [[AssimilationPlot merging everyone's consciousness over the Wired]] and [[GodhoodSeeker becoming God]], while [[spoiler:Eiri]] is protesting. |
| 83 | * Subverted in ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'', as [[spoiler:Albert Maverick]] has a rather good reason to go into detail about his schemes when confronted by Barnaby: [[spoiler:he's buying time for the drugs he slipped into Barnaby's drink to kick in so he can safely edit his memory. [[FakeMemories Again]]]]. |
| 84 | * Used in ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'' by [[TheDragon Legato Bluesummers]]. [[BreakThemByTalking Not only does he explain his plan]], he forces it to come to fruition as well. His plan? [[spoiler:Force Vash to kill him because it would drive him to a HeroicBSOD.]] |
| 85 | * Zigzagged in ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'' after Placido and the Diablo army are defeated during the Grand Prix Arc. When Jose and Lucciano finally confront the heroes and the latter group demands to know what the hell is going on, Lucciano's attitude is more-or-less "why should we tell ''you''?" However, Jose (who is usually recognized as the leader of the Three Nobles) shoots that down with one angry glare, and reacts to the question with a "no harm in letting you know" attitude and gives them a brief summary, mostly to intimidate them. (What makes this rather surreal is that [[spoiler: both, along with Placido, are all different aspects of the same being, which is not revealed until later; the disagreements they have are very much internal conflicts.]]) |
| 86 | [[/folder]] |
| 87 | |
| 88 | [[folder:Audio Plays]] |
| 89 | * Invoked in the ''AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho'' story "[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoSpecialsTheLightAtTheEnd The Light at the End]]", which sees the Master trying to remove all the incarnations of the Doctors from the timeline simultaneously. The Fourth and Eighth Doctors end up being captured by the Master, but because they both have extensive experience in dealing with him, they decide to massage his ego, asking if he cannot indulge them some of the details of his brilliant plan. The Master being, well, the Master, simply cannot help himself when hearing their praise of his intellect, and gleefully grabs on to the VillainBall with both hands as he gloats at great detail about his plan, forgetting that the Doctor is capable of contacting his other incarnations telepathically and therefore can share the information with them. |
| 90 | [[/folder]] |
| 91 | |
| 92 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 93 | * ''ComicBook/AllFallDown'': [[spoiler: AIQ Squared]] delivers this in the final chapter, explaining how and why Siphon was manipulated into a position where [[spoiler: she would be helpless to prevent her powers being stripped from her, killing her in the process.]] |
| 94 | * ''ComicBook/AtomicRobo'': Exploited in ''The Billion Dollar Plot''; having reached the limit of what they can deduce about the villains' plans, the heroes allow themselves to be captured on the accurate assumption that one of the villains will fail his roll against gloating and explain exactly what they're up to. |
| 95 | * ''Magog'': During his second meeting with [[PeoplePuppets Miasma]], Magog is captured and comments on how much he hates this trope. He tunes out the villain and the text is replaced with scribbles and gibberish until he starts listening again. |
| 96 | * ''ComicBook/MickeyMouseComicUniverse'': In ''The Mail Pilot'', Pete shows us how it's done: |
| 97 | -->'''Pete:''' Tell 'im de rest, Shyster! ''He'll'' never live t'tell nobody! Haw! Haw! Haw!" |
| 98 | * In ''ComicBook/MightyAvengers #11'', Doctor Doom monologues in thought bubbles while calmly insulting the heroes, and finishes the thought with "...but I'll be '''damned''' if I'm going to stand here and explain myself to '''you'''!!!" |
| 99 | * ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW'': Lampshaded. As Chrysalis begins to describe what will happen should the Mane 6 miss the deadline, a fillynapped Scootaloo blurts out that she's about to reveal her evil plan to the heroines. Annoyed at the interruption, Chrysalis cuts off communication. |
| 100 | * ''ComicBook/SinCity'': Senator Roark gives one to John Hartigan because he is getting away with it and they both know it. |
| 101 | * ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'': |
| 102 | ** In ''ComicBook/SupermanEarthOne'', Tyrell tells his origin and plan to Superman. Superman asks why he's telling him this, then Tyrell reveals he was distracting him until his {{Doomsday Device}}s could be set up and activated. |
| 103 | ** In ''ComicBook/ActionComics #319'', [[AlphaBitch Donna Storm]] frames Linda Danvers for stealing. When they are left alone, Linda prods Donna into confessing to framing her, which Donna does because she can't help to gloat over it. |
| 104 | ** ''ComicBook/WhateverHappenedToTheManOfTomorrow'': When Mr. Mxyzptlk finally appears, he reveals he manipulated Superman's entire RoguesGallery into attacking him at once because... he has gotten bored of being a prankster and now he wants to be evil for a while. And he wants to start his new career with Superman's death. |
| 105 | ** ''ComicBook/SupermanBrainiac'': After capturing Superman, ComicBook/{{Brainiac}} lays out his entire scheme: going to Earth, stealing one city and then blowing the planet up. |
| 106 | ** ''ComicBook/WhoIsSuperwoman'': After being unmasked by ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}, Superwoman starts monologuing about her plan to kill Kara and frame her for her crimes. |
| 107 | --->'''Superwoman:''' Now that you're here on Earth someone else can play the role of Agent Liberty's Kryptonian murderer.\ |
| 108 | '''Supergirl:''' But the hard drive image--\ |
| 109 | '''Superwoman:''' Was easily dealt with, along with records of its existence. And with the good Inspector counting feathers on his wings in Heaven no one will be able to point the finger at me. I'll make sure that you are the one who's blamed. Unfortunately for you, you won't be able to tell them otherwise as you'll have suffered a "mysterious disappearance". |
| 110 | ** ''ComicBook/TwoForTheDeathOfOne'': As soon as Lord Satanis gets Superman magically bound and brought to his presence, he divulges his plan to absorb the power of the Runestone of Merlin by using Superman's body as a superconductor. |
| 111 | ** ''ComicBook/ForTheManWhoHasEverything'': Batman, Robin and Wonder Woman walk into the Fortress of Solitude and run into a comatose Superman and Mongul. Immediately, Mongul goes on about his master plan to destroy Superman and conquering Earth after disposing of his friends. |
| 112 | ** ''ComicBook/{{Crucible}}'': [[BigBad Korstus]] gets Supergirl disabled and dragged into his lab so he can boast properly about his plan to take over the Academy and create a Kryptonian clone army. |
| 113 | ** ''ComicBook/KryptonNoMore'': After imprisoning Superman in an energy bubble, Radion starts monologuing about causing a worldwide nuclear disaster and lording over the mutated survivors of the fallout. |
| 114 | ** ''ComicBook/RedDaughterOfKrypton'': During his final battle with Supergirl, Worldkiller-1 delivers several speeches about his scheme to strengthen every alien species by culling their weakest, most unfit members, and how he plans to use Supergirl to achieve his goals. |
| 115 | ** ''ComicBook/DeathAndTheFamily'': After encasing Supergirl in a cocoon for the second time, Insect Queen tells Kara how she managed to take over Lana Lang, and reveals her master plan: harvesting Kara's Kryptonian to breed even more powerful insect mooks. |
| 116 | ** ''ComicBook/DayOfTheDollmaker'': After abducting Catherine Grant, the titular child-kidnapper reveals his grand plan is... to force her to be his new mother. |
| 117 | ** ''ComicBook/ThePlagueOfTheAntibioticMan'': When Amalak and Supergirl are left alone in the former's starship, the villain stars gloating about his real scheme to destroy Superman. |
| 118 | ** ''ComicBook/TheLifeStoryOfSuperman'': After capturing Superman, Luthor cannot stop himself from bragging about his brilliant plan to kill him and replace him with an obedient clone. |
| 119 | ** "ComicBook/SupergirlsBigBrother": When Supergirl confronts the man claiming to be her adoptive parents' son, after finding out that he is a fraud, the conman reveals his real name and tells her everything about who he is and how he pretended to be Jan Danvers to con her parents out of money. |
| 120 | * ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'': |
| 121 | ** ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMarvel'': During Megatron's return, Ratchet sarcastically asks if he's going to do this. Megatron chides him for being flippant, then says that's ''exactly'' what he's going to do. |
| 122 | --->'''Ratchet:''' Right, so it's the "My Insane Scheme" story first, huh. |
| 123 | ** In ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMaximumDinobots,'' Scorponok keeps Hot Rod alive for the sole purpose of giving one of these to stroke his ego. In fact, when Hot Rod tries to goad Scorponok into giving more information, Scorponok recognizes the attempt and then declares that ''[[GenreBlind he's going to tell Hot Rod his entire plan in great detail anyway]].'' |
| 124 | ** Double subverted in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'', again with Scorponok. He decides it would be smart to keep his evil plan to himself this time, only for the heroes to just consult the Magnificence, a mysterious relic with access to incredible knowledge, about what he was planning...at which point Scorpy decides there's no way he's going to be upstaged by a glorified Magic 8-Ball and blabs his plan ''anyway''. |
| 125 | * ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'': Subverted and {{Lampshaded}} in chapter 11. |
| 126 | -->[[spoiler:'''Ozymandias:''' "Do it"? Daniel, [[ThisIsReality I'm not a Republic serial villain]]. Do you seriously think I would explain my masterstroke if there remained the slightest chance of you affecting its outcome? I did it [[YouAreTooLate thirty-five minutes ago]].]] |
| 127 | ** [[spoiler:Also, the people he's talking to aren't really his enemies but former comrades, and he believes that he can convince them that he's right and UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans. He partially succeeds]]. |
| 128 | * ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': When Morgan La Fey captures [[ComicBook/WonderGirl Cassie]] and ComicBook/{{Artemis}} and thinks her plan is at a stage where she can't be thwarted she goes into great deal about her plan and how she achieved it, only for Cassie to reveal herself to be a PlayAlongPrisoner and snap the bonds holding her. |
| 129 | * ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan'': Lampshaded. Radical misandrist Victoria, leader of the Daughters of the Amazon, has tracked down Yorick, the last man alive, and is starting a speech about how he's going to pay for the crimes of all his gender when Yorick interrupts her with: "Geez, you Amazons don't know when to just shut up and kill a guy!" |
| 130 | [[/folder]] |
| 131 | |
| 132 | [[folder:Comic Strips]] |
| 133 | * ''ComicStrip/HsuAndChan'': Played with in ''Brand Loyalty'' where the Tanakas hide in a tent plotting how to escape an army of killer bears while two of said bears stand just outside listening in. After a minute, one of the brothers admits that the whole thing was a ruse to buy more time since they could see the bears' shadows through the tent. |
| 134 | [[/folder]] |
| 135 | |
| 136 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 137 | * In the ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' story ''Fanfic/AlongCameASpider'', [[SinisterMinister Myndo Waterly]] explains the FalseFlagOperation that she ordered on the Federated Commonwealth to [[TheMole Sharilar Mori]], shortly before she orders Mori's [[BoomHeadshot execution]]. |
| 138 | * ''Fanfic/BreakingTheDeal'': After kidnapping Mary Jane, Mephisto gleefully informs her that ''she's'' one of the reasons why he's become so powerful, thanks to the [[DealWithTheDevil deal Peter struck with him]]. |
| 139 | * ''Fanfic/{{Cain}}'': After revealing that he overheard All Might offering to train him, Katsuki makes a point of cornering Izuku every chance he gets and gloating about how ''he's'' going to become their idol's successor instead by forcing his way into their training sessions and impressing All Might. He also makes clear that he's going to ensure Izuku ''never'' achieves any of his dreams and spends the rest of his life as a "miserable, worthless deku". |
| 140 | * In the ''[[Literature/TheTwilightSaga Twilight]]'' fic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13765631/1/Divine-Comedy Divine Comedy]]'', Aro tells Jane that he had Didyme -- Marcus's mate and Aro's own sister -- killed because he wanted to ensure Marcus would remain in the Volturi, as he's certain Jane will be executed in the next couple of days. |
| 141 | * ''Fanfic/ForHisOwnSake'': Granny Hina repeatedly [[InvertedTrope inverts this]] -- she basically ''never'' tells anyone the full, unvarnished truth, preferring to twist the narrative to [[ManipulativeBitch suit her own ends]]. The closest she ever comes to being completely honest with someone is when she confides her FreudianExcuse to Marumi, telling the tale of how much she regrets [[MyGreatestFailure not helping her eldest daughter Yoko in her time in need]] because she was irritated over how Yoko resisted her efforts to [[ControlFreak dictate her life]]. But when Marumi points out that this [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse doesn't give her the right]] to manipulate others and that her efforts to [[MyGreatestSecondChance make amends]] by supporting the Hinata Girls has just wound up enabling their worst traits, she storms out in a huff. |
| 142 | * ''Fanfic/AForceOfFour'': When Wonder Woman and her daughter are captured and brought to the enemy's headquarters, Badra goes into their cell to brag about destroying Earth in revenge for being defeated and humiliated decades ago. |
| 143 | * ''Fanfic/HellsisterTrilogy'': After capturing his son Orion, Darkseid launches a tirade against the evils of Free Will, and then he brags about fixing the universe by enslaving everyone after torturing the Anti-Life Equation out of Orion. |
| 144 | * ''Fanfic/InvaderZimABadThingNeverEnds'': Dib notes that both Zim and Aldrich have a psychological habit of needing to explain their plans in detail to their enemies, to the point that in Chapter 18, his idea for figuring out Aldrich's master plan is to just ask him. Gaz and Fizzmitz are both dumbfounded that this actually ends up working. |
| 145 | * Subverted in ''Fanfic/KyonBigDamnHero'' when Haruhi got kidnapped. Even when she tried to get information from her captor, he answered he was only doing his job kidnapping her so he wasn't trusted with any important info. |
| 146 | * In the [[WhamEpisode 11th chapter]] of ''Fanfic/LovedAndLost'', [[TheUsurper King Jewelius]] brags to the [[HeroWithBadPublicity disgraced]] and imprisoned heroes -- whom he has denigrated by tricking everypony in Canterlot into blaming them for the Changeling invasion -- about his secret role in said invasion ([[spoiler:including being the ''cause'' of it by helping Chrysalis infiltrate Canterlot on Cadance and Shining Armor's wedding day, double-crossing the Changelings after deciding there was [[DarwinistDesire more to gain]] through Twilight, using the exiles' [[MadeOutToBeAJerkass earlier treatment]] of her to [[CorruptTheCutie manipulate her into losing all trust in her brother, mentor and friends]] as well as accept his marriage proposal, and sending false rumors into the exiles' ears about escaped Changelings who desire revenge on Twilight in order to lure them back to Canterlot and personally see to it that Celestia and Cadance will die -- all done out of his [[GreenEyedMonster petty jealousy]] and hatred of the beloved princesses]]). His [[SmugSnake confidence]] in doing this without repercussions is because [[ManipulativeBastard his grip over Twilight and Canterlot's citizens]] is firm enough that nopony will just drop their support of him and believe these revelations, and it also doesn't help that, as Twilight [[JerkassHasAPoint points out]] when they try to warn her and the rest of Canterlot about [[spoiler:his true nature]], [[NiceJobBreakingItHero the heroes' own prior failure to uphold their trustworthiness]] [[CassandraTruth leaves them unable to convince the citizens to believe them]]. |
| 147 | ** Another instance of this happens a few chapters later, when Twilight calls Jewelius out on his [[TyrantTakesTheHelm questionable methods of ruling]]. In the ensuing private argument, [[spoiler:Jewelius reveals that Twilight's friends were right about him being a sadistic tyrant, that he intends to [[DarwinistDesire father a line of powerful heirs through her]], and has also held Twilight's parents as a BetrayalInsurance. ''Unlike'' last time, [[NiceJobFixingItVillain this immediately backfires on him]] as Twilight has a ''massive'' JerkassRealization, cuts off all ties with him, and escapes to Ponyville to reconcile with the other heroes and help them set things right]]. |
| 148 | * ''Fanfic/TheOneToMakeItStay'': The prequel ''Thinking of Ways'' reveals that most of the members of Kitty Section [[ExactEavesdropping overheard]] Lila during one of these exchanges with Marinette. While they were already starting to figure out her true nature due to Rose asking Prince Ali about her, this firmly cemented their knowledge of what they were dealing with. |
| 149 | * ''Fanfic/Plan7Of9FromOuterSpace''. [[MadScientist Dr Zarkendorf]] insists on rescuing our heroes from the zeppelin crash his HypercompetentSidekick Annika-709 has arranged for them, just so he can fulfill this trope. As Zarkendorf is monologuing away, Annika quickly loses patience and gives everyone the condensed version of his EvilPlan. |
| 150 | * ''Fanfic/PlasmasFolly'': When Ben begins to suspect that Kelvin is being dishonest, Kelvin decides to give away the full details of his plan. Though it would normally be decidedly foolish to reveal this to someone who can turn into a Legendary Pokémon (as lampshaded by Ben), he easily proceeds to convince him not to do anything. |
| 151 | * Harry deliberately encourages this in ''Fanfic/TheRigelBlackChronicles'', to stall when she's been [[spoiler:kidnapped into the Chamber of Secrets]]. Possibly justified by the fact that [[spoiler:the Diary preserved a snapshot of Riddle's ''teenage'' mind]], and moreover they were in quite a secure location. |
| 152 | * In ''Fanfic/SuzumiyaHaruhiNoIndex'', when Terra of the Left kidnaps Kyon, Kyon asks him to explain how his powers work and his goals while they wait for his plan to go into motion. Terra egotistically agrees, saying that since Kyon doesn't have any powers nor fighting skills, there is no way he can possibly use this information to his advantage. He's right, but Kyon was counting on Kaori Kanzaki coming to rescue him. She eavesdropped on his exposition and used that knowledge to defeat him. Plus, Acqua of the Back was also eavesdropping and heard about how Terra was planning to betray God's Right Seat, so he punishes him after the battle. |
| 153 | * Tobi in ''Fanfic/WindMonkBanishment'' explains to Sasuke how he was going to frame Hinata for the death of Naruto, faking his death so he could get the tailed beast secretly, and make things worse between the Hyuga clan and Konoha by arranging a murder-suicide. He makes it pretty clear he's going to kill Sasuke, who is low on chakra and wounded from defending Naruto while he was comatose, thus unable to fight back properly. [[BigDamnHeroes Then Itachi shows up.]] |
| 154 | * Subverted in ''Fanfic/WithStringsAttached''. After capturing and/or disabling the four, [[spoiler:Brox]] responds to some anguished "Why?"s with "The joke is funnier if you don't know why now." |
| 155 | * ''Fanfic/WithThisRing'': On several occasions Paul's success is highly dependant on his enemies' penchant for monologuing. He eventually can't resist doing the same himself when [[spoiler: he's captured Klarion the Witch Boy]], but he has encountered so much of it by then that he's learned the essential lesson of ''making sure no-one can interfere and the target cannot possibly escape''. |
| 156 | [[/folder]] |
| 157 | |
| 158 | [[folder:Film -- Animated]] |
| 159 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheBossBaby'', after capturing Tim and the Boss Baby, Francis E. Francis asks them if they know what he does to little kids who ask lots of questions about him. He then tells them that reads them his story and proceeds to pull out a giant pop-up book called ''My Story'' and details both his past and his plot to monopolize people's love with his "Forever Puppy" and thus take away all the love from babies. |
| 160 | * In ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'', [[spoiler:Hans tells Anna of his plan to leave her to freeze to death and accuse Elsa of treason so she can be executed, so he can rule Arendelle with both sisters out of commission]]. What makes this even more dastardly is the fact that [[spoiler:he did this to ''speed up the curse and kill Anna faster'' by psychologically breaking her]]. |
| 161 | * In ''WesternAnimation/{{Hoodwinked}}'', Boingo does this to Red Puckett by having her BoundAndGagged and then StoryboardingTheApocalypse for her with a slideshow of his criminal scheme. |
| 162 | * ''Franchise/TheIncredibles'': |
| 163 | ** {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1'', where villains' penchant to elaborately explain their nefarious plans is dubbed "[[CaughtMonologuing monologuing]]" by the heroes. Syndrome falls for it anyway -- which is entirely plausible; he wants Mr. Incredible to ''know'' how great he is -- but he quickly catches himself. |
| 164 | -->'''Syndrome:''' You sly dog, you got me monologuing! I can't believe it! |
| 165 | ** In ''WesternAnimation/Incredibles2'', the BigBad temporarily releases a captive Elastigirl from MindControl (while taking other precautions against an escape) in order to gloat. |
| 166 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'': When the movie's villain, Scar, has the protagonist Simba trapped on the ledge of a gorge... instead of simply throwing him to his death, he gloats at the moment and, thinking he's finished him off and about to celebrate victory, whispers to him that he really masterminded his (Simba's) father's death. [[VillainBall Huge mistake]] and huge aversion, as Simba gains a huge HeroicSecondWind and eventually defeats Scar in a fight. |
| 167 | * Happens between Lewis and the Bowler Hat Guy in ''WesternAnimation/MeetTheRobinsons'' in [[spoiler:the orphanage]]: Lewis demands "What did I ever do to you?", at which point BHG tells him the story of his long and ridiculously pathetic life, and also that [[spoiler:Lewis is Cornelius Robinson and Bowler Hat Guy is Lewis' old roommate, Mike Yagoobian]]. |
| 168 | * Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/MonstersVsAliens''. The main villain Gallaxhar does decide to exposit to Susan why he [[WhereIWasBornAndRazed essentially committed genocide against his own people]] and at the same time wanted to repopulate the Earth with clones of him. However, he was telling her while he was hooked up to a cloning machine, which had Gallaxhar [[JackhammeredConversation sporadically muted when the machine lowers down]], constantly interrupting his monologue and [[TheUnreveal leaving his full story unknown]]. When the machine stops and he says that he'll kill Susan since he's already said too much, she gives a confused stare. |
| 169 | [[/folder]] |
| 170 | |
| 171 | [[folder:Film -- Live-Action]] |
| 172 | * ''Film/AlitaBattleAngel'': Grewishka takes time to gloat about having Nova's backing during his second fight with Alita. However, this does serve a purpose since he's able to pinpoint her exact location when she responds. |
| 173 | * In ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII'', the "rich version" of Biff tells Marty the details of how he acquired [[TimelineAlteringMacGuffin Gray's Sports Almanac]] -- a surprising piece of candor until he pulls out his gun. |
| 174 | * In ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' Robin arrives at Poison Ivy's lair, and after flirting, Ivy agrees to tell him what she and Mr. Freeze are planning in exchange for [[KissOfDeath a kiss]] for (bad) luck. [[spoiler:Subverted because Robin wore a rubber lip and managed to survive Ivy's signature kiss and escaped with the information, albeit after also surviving Ivy trying to drown him.]] |
| 175 | * {{Lampshaded}} in ''Film/CatsAndDogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore''. The eponymous cat outlines her evil plan to the captive heroes, pointing out that she needs to do something to kill the time until her satellite moves into position. |
| 176 | * At the end of ''Film/TheCrow'', crime lord Top Dollar gives the avenging Eric Draven the speech after he [[InTheBack impales him through the back]]. He admits that he's ultimately responsible for the death of Eric and his girlfriend Shelley, and expresses admiration for what he considered a WorthyOpponent. As he gets ready to slit Eric's throat, Eric gives back what Top Dollar's owed -- the combined memories of 30 hours of pain as Shelley lay dying from the wounds inflicted by Top Dollar's gang. |
| 177 | * ''Film/{{Damnatus}}'': G'guor [[spoiler:''does'' kill Nira half way through his EvilGloating. Not to be put off, he continues monologuing to the spirit stone she was carrying.]] |
| 178 | * Spoofed in ''Film/DeadMenDontWearPlaid'', where the PrivateDetective argues over his right to give TheSummation versus the BigBad's right to his Just Between You And Me speech. They start alternating their speech, eventually revealing the whole scheme in unison. |
| 179 | * In ''Film/{{Dogma}}'', the villain taunts the heroes in this way, but then [[DefiedTrope defies it]]. |
| 180 | -->"I've seen enough Bond movies to know that you never give away '''all''' your secret plans, no matter how close you are to success." |
| 181 | * In ''Film/FiveGravesToCairo'', the captive British officers egg Rommel into explaining his Cunning Plan as involuntary double agent Bramble eavesdrops. He finally catches on and snaps "I offered you twenty questions, that was twenty-one!" |
| 182 | * Possible first subversion was in the film ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly'': Tuco is surprised while in the tub by an old rival, who starts talking about how his revenge is at hand. Tuco, unimpressed, shoots the rival, then notes "When you have to shoot: ''shoot'', don't talk," before finishing him off GangstaStyle. |
| 183 | * {{Lampshaded}} and partially subverted in ''Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra''. While Duke is being taken in for Viper conversion, he tries to grill [=McCullen=] on his master plan. [=McCullen=] sees through the attempt and indulges him anyway, but leaves the critical detail out to avoid spoiling the surprise. Though Duke does indeed foil the part of the plan [=McCullen=] told him about, [[spoiler:Zartan disguised as the President would go on to kill off most of the Joes in ''Film/GIJoeRetaliation'', including Duke]]. |
| 184 | * ''Film/HoratioHornblower'': In ''Loyalty'', Hornblower and his men taken prisoner after a [[TheMole traitor]] on their ship hands them over to the French. Hornblower is invited to [[NoMrBondIExpectYouToDine dinner]], where the traitor reveals that he is neither the only traitor nor even the biggest traitor in Admiral Pellew's squadron. Hornblower notes that it would be cruel to send him to his death without even telling him who the traitor is. Of course, [[spoiler: TheMole simply agrees that it would be cruel, before [[SubvertedTrope sending Hornblower back to his cell.]]]] |
| 185 | * Clove is about to kill Katniss in ''{{Film/The Hunger Games}}'' but gloats about how [[spoiler: her pack killed Rue]] for too long. [[spoiler: She gets killed by Thresh.]] |
| 186 | * Occasionally used in the ''Film/JamesBond'' franchise, though Bond often has the gist of the plan figured out already. |
| 187 | ** Subverted in the very first Bond film, ''Film/DrNo'', though not with the BigBad or even TheDragon, but a mere EvilMinion, Dr. Dent. He says, "You might as well know, as you won't live to use the information. I'm working for--" and in a swift motion, Dent grabs his gun and aims it at Bond, who replies with one of his most famous [[PreMortemOneLiner Pre-Mortem One-Liners]]: "That's a Smith and Wesson, and you've had your six." |
| 188 | ** {{Justified|Trope}} in ''Film/OnHerMajestysSecretService'', where just for once Blofeld actually has a sensible reason for keeping the captured Bond alive and explaining the plot to him: Bond's credibility will lend weight to Blofeld's threat to the United Nations. Blofeld is also careful to withhold how he intends to deliver the Omega virus, and Bond only discovers this part when he overhears it after his escape. |
| 189 | ** Subversion in ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'': Auric blabs about his master plan to a bunch of goons, not Bond. Bond just so happens to be peeking in. Then Goldfinger kills the goons; however, he made sure they told their people to cooperate before he eliminated them. Then inverted, when Bond himself explains the plan to Goldfinger, and why it is doomed to fail. Initially Bond thought the plan was a heist, but when Goldfinger says it isn't, Bond realises what the true plan is, and tells Goldfinger that it's actually quite brilliant. |
| 190 | ** Both {{Subverted}} and played straight in ''Film/DiamondsAreForever''. |
| 191 | *** You think Blofeld is going to explain his plan, but... |
| 192 | ---->'''Film/JamesBond:''' What do you intend to do with those diamonds?\ |
| 193 | '''Blofeld:''' An excellent question. And one which will be hanging on the lips of the world quite soon. If I were to break the news to anyone, [[GenreSavvy it would be to you first]]. You know that. But it's late, I'm tired, and there's so much left to do. Good night, Mr. Bond. |
| 194 | *** Later on, when Bond arrives at the oil rig base, Blofeld gives him the grand tour and explains his plans fully. Justified since the plan is to hold the world hostage with a KillSat for money--and he's already made his demands and threat known, so is only telling Bond what targets he might choose. Bond has already figured out how to stop it as well. |
| 195 | ** Mild inversion in ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies'' -- the EvilPlan turns out to be ''less'' heinous (though still heinous) than what the heroes thought it was. They thought Carver was trying to start WorldWarIII ForTheEvulz and for ratings; he's ''actually'' in a BigBadDuumvirate ([[OffstageVillainy of sorts]]) aimed at installing a new Chinese government via nuking the old one and blaming it on the British, with his ally emerging as a VillainWithGoodPublicity when he takes over the country and negotiates a truce (Carver is still after ratings). Also a perfect example of how Bond movies subvert this trope -- they were ''already'' trying to foil his plan before he even explained it. |
| 196 | ** Inverted towards the end of ''Film/LicenceToKill'', with Bond revealing his reasons to the villain, Sanchez, [[spoiler:before killing him]]. |
| 197 | ** The trope is {{Lampshaded}} in ''Film/{{Moonraker}}'' when Hugo Drax says he's not going to follow it before putting Bond and the BondGirl in the usual DeathTrap. But when our heroes follow Drax up to his space station and see [[StoryboardingTheApocalypse most of what's happening anyway]], Drax helpfully provides the remaining details before ordering them ThrownOutTheAirlock. Unfortunately for him, he explains his plan right in front of Jaws, who [[HeelFaceTurn turns on him]] when he realizes that he and his girlfriend would have no place in Drax's world of physically perfect specimens. |
| 198 | ** ''Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun''. After Bond and Scaramanga finally meet, Scarmanaga shows him around his island and explains his operation, concentrating on the solar energy collection setup. This is not because he thinks Bond won't be alive to tell anyone, but because he regards Bond as a WorthyOpponent and is therefore treating him as an equal. |
| 199 | * In ''Film/JupiterAscending'', Titus tells Caine his plan [[spoiler:before throwing him out the airlock. Like most EvilGloating, it backfires]]. |
| 200 | * ''Film/KimPossible'': Just like in [[WesternAnimation/KimPossible the original cartoons]], Drakken is unable to resist gloating when he springs his trap. He explains that the array of energy beams surrounding Team Possible is inescapable because the off switch is mounted high up on the wall. Shego chides him for telling them where the switch is, but the cat (or naked mole rat in this case) is already out of the bag.... |
| 201 | * Subverted in ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService''. Valentine realizes the danger of the trope, and decides to just execute [[spoiler:Harry]] instead. However, since their conversation was recorded, Arthur notes to Eggsy that there was enough to help the authorities deal with Valentine properly. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, Arthur has been turned, too]]. |
| 202 | * ''Film/LastActionHero'': "Gentlemen! Since you are about to die anyway, I may as well tell you the entire plot.". It's a nod to the trope, which has been {{Lampshaded}} in the film twice by then as a 'Classic Movie Mistake'; the second in an IronicEcho. |
| 203 | * ''Film/LastNightInSoho'': Once Ellie has sipped from the sedated CalmingTea, [[spoiler:Ms. Collins]] opens up about her identity and the murders, believing that Ellie will take that knowledge to her grave. |
| 204 | * ''Film/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'': the heroes find a phonograph that the villain had planted on the Nautilus revealing all of his plan up to that point, but as a twist, there is a high-pitched noise also on the record that only Mr. Hyde can hear, which is the trigger mechanism for several bombs that were also planted aboard the Nautilus by TheMole ([[spoiler:Dorian Gray]]). He reveals this at the end of the recording right before they start going off. [[PlotArmor Of course they still live]]. |
| 205 | * Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse: |
| 206 | ** In ''Film/IronMan1'', [[spoiler:Obadiah Stane gets to do this with Tony Stark. He paralyzes Tony with a sonic device which has effects lasting 15 minutes, and proceeds to remove the arc generator from his chest, gloating all the way. The flaw in this plan is that Stane doesn't know there is an old generator Tony can use, but due to the temporary paralysis, it comes much closer to working than similar gloating plans.]] This is also an interesting variation in that the gloating didn't actually harm the villain's plans... He had to tip his hand [[spoiler:to get the generator, which was after all ''attached'' to our hero]], anyway. |
| 207 | ** Exploited with Black Widow's interrogation style in ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}''. She fakes being a [[DamselInDistress helpless]] and/or emotional [[TheHeart damsel]] until the villain lets his guard down and spills the beans. Then [[GlacierWaif she shows him his error]]. |
| 208 | ** Played with in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier''. The villain uses this to distract Cap and Black Widow from [[spoiler:the bunker-busting missile heading straight for their heads.]] |
| 209 | ** Subverted in ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' in the shipyard scene. |
| 210 | --->'''Tony Stark:''' What's the vibranium for?\ |
| 211 | '''Ultron:''' I'm glad you asked that, because I wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan.\ |
| 212 | ''[blasts Stark]'' |
| 213 | *** Although Ultron's not above [[spoiler:capturing Black Widow]] and keeping her alive for a spot of EvilGloating, alluding to his plan to [[spoiler:rip Sokovia out of the ground and use it for a ColonyDrop.]] Justified -- he wants someone to know how brilliant he's being, since his AI's at least partially based on [[Film/IronMan an infamous narcissist.]] |
| 214 | * ''Film/{{Memento}}'': People are quite fond of telling Lenny exactly what they're going to do, and exactly how they've manipulated him -- but since Lenny has anterograde-amnesia, [[JustifiedTrope they're secure in the knowledge that he invariably forgets everything five minutes later]]. If the film were put in chronological order, what we'd see is a guy getting repeatedly and blatantly screwed over by ''everyone'' he meets, [[spoiler: including himself]]. It does backfire rather spectacularly on one person, though, when [[spoiler: Teddy pisses Lenny off so badly that he steers himself and his murderous vengeance right towards Teddy.]] |
| 215 | * Inverted in ''Film/MinorityReport'' when [[spoiler:Anderton explains Burgess' plot to him (and the audience) at the end of the film after Burgess has fully enacted his plot. Anderton's actions cause Burgess to commit suicide]]. |
| 216 | * ''Film/RoboCop1987'': OCP executive [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Dick Jones]] tells [=RoboCop=], "I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake. Now, it's time to erase that mistake.", before summoning the ED-209 and a SWAT team to destroy him. What makes this particularly stupid on his part is he knows that [=RoboCop=] is capable of recording everything he says (he even bitches out Boddicker for telling [=RoboCop=] about his involvement in the first place). This bites him back hard in the end, when [=Robocop=] reports to the OCP board of executives [[EngineeredPublicConfession to replay the statement]]. |
| 217 | * ''Film/ScreamAndScreamAgain'': When Dr. Browning catches Dr. Sorel snooping around the facility, he immediately offers to explain everything to him, admitting that he cannot resist the opportunity to explain his scheme to someone who will actually understand. He then adds that afterwards that Dr. Sorel's life will have to take a very different turn. |
| 218 | * The Operative does this in ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', but he makes sure to paralyse his victims first so that he can kill them immediately after his speech. |
| 219 | * Played with in ''Film/{{Shooter}}''. When Swagger confronts Sandor, the villain's plan ''has already'' happened. Instead, Sandor explains what they did, why they did it, and the role Swagger played in it. Also justified, in that a heavily armed kill team was coming and Sandor had to delay him until they got there. Swagger would've known if he was lying, so he had to tell the truth. |
| 220 | * {{Parodied|Trope}} in ''Film/SkyHigh2005''. [[spoiler:Gwen, after outlining her EvilPlan to turn all of the superheroes into infants and then raise them again as villains, then tells the Commander (who has been turned into an infant, and who she is cradling in her arms) that this is the best villainous speech she's ever given, and it's too bad that he can't understand a word she's saying]]. |
| 221 | * ''Franchise/StarTrek'': |
| 222 | ** In ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'', Khan has badly damaged the ''Enterprise'' using the commandeered USS ''Reliant'', but rather than finish off the ''Enterprise'', he hails them to tell Kirk and company that he was the attacker. However, he tries to make Kirk surrender information about Project Genesis, which gives Kirk the opportunity [[AppliedPhlebotinum to lower Reliant's shields]] and strike back. |
| 223 | ** ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'': One of the villains' allies has cornered Kirk and [=McCoy=] and is about to kill them. Kirk tries asking him who the mastermind behind TheConspiracy actually is. The conspirator simply cannot help himself and starts to reveal it, but Kirk and [=McCoy=] are beamed to safety by Spock before they get to hear a word of it. |
| 224 | --->'''Jailer:''' Since you're all going to die anyway, why not tell you? {{His name is}}--\ |
| 225 | ''(Kirk and [=McCoy=] beam away)''\ |
| 226 | '''Kirk:''' No! No! Of all the-- son of a-- Couldn't you have waited two seconds?\ |
| 227 | '''Spock:''' Captain?\ |
| 228 | '''Kirk:''' He was just about to explain the whole thing!\ |
| 229 | '''Chekov:''' You want to go back?\ |
| 230 | '''[=McCoy=]:''' Absolutely not! |
| 231 | ** Played with in ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness''. [[spoiler: Khan waits until Kirk has been all but fully beamed off the ''Vengeance'' before revealing he is going to destroy the ''Enterprise'']]. |
| 232 | * ''Franchise/StarWars'': |
| 233 | ** In ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', Palpatine gleefully explains his trap to Luke... But there ''isn't'' anything Luke can do and the Rebels fall into it. And not only that, Palpatine's gloating is not just for fun, he needs to get Luke angry, upset, and hating him to drag him to the Dark Side. |
| 234 | ** In ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'', Dooku has Obi-Wan imprisoned and tells him the truth: Darth Sidious is in control of the Republic. Not only does this ''not'' backfire, it actually ''helps'' the Sith. By telling the Jedi this, they start investigating Republic senators and Sidious latches on to this to create tension between the Jedi and Republic, ultimately allowing him to declare them traitors. [[XanatosGambit If they did nothing, Sidious continues his plan unbothered so he wins either way.]] |
| 235 | * Inverted in the 1994 ''Film/StreetFighter'' film where it's the heroes who scupper their plans by revealing it to the villains. Chun Li, Honda and Balrog have M Bison and Sagat in a tent together which they plan to blow up with a lorry loaded with dynamite. However, they leave a video behind to gloat to the villains which of course gives Bison and Sagat time to escape. |
| 236 | * In ''Film/TrueLies'' Harry does this while bound to a chair, and under the effect of truth serum, just as Samir prepares to inject him with him poison. So they don't take him seriously until he demonstrates his ability to do what he promised. |
| 237 | * A slightly over-wordy homage to this moment appears in ''Film/VanHelsing'': |
| 238 | -->'''Aleera:''' Anna, my love. It is your blood that shall keep me beautiful. What do you think of that?\ |
| 239 | '''Anna Valerious:''' ''[drives a stake through her chest]'' I think if you're going to kill somebody, kill them! Don't stand around talking about it! |
| 240 | * Subverted and {{lampshaded}} near the end of ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'', just like in the [[ComicBook/{{Watchmen}} original comic]]. |
| 241 | -->[[spoiler:'''Ozymandias:''' "Do it"? Daniel, [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall I'm not a comic book villain]]. Do you seriously think I would explain my masterstroke if there remained the slightest chance of you affecting its outcome? I did it [[YouAreTooLate thirty-five minutes ago]].]] |
| 242 | [[/folder]] |
| 243 | |
| 244 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 245 | * ''Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'': Subverted because Nemo never shares the evil part of his EvilPlan with Aronnax, [[AntiVillain just because he is ashamed of it]]. However, Nemo is constantly sharing all the information about the Nautilus and his scientific investigations about the Sea with TheProfessor Aronnax, not because he will kill him, but because Nemo pretends that [[GildedCage Aronnax will never abandon the Nautilus]]. |
| 246 | -->''Is it indiscreet to ask how you discovered this tunnel?"''\ |
| 247 | ''"Sir," the captain answered me, "there can be no secrets between men who will never leave each other."''\ |
| 248 | ''I ignored this innuendo and waited for Captain Nemo's explanation.'' |
| 249 | * ''Literature/AfterTheGoldenAge'', the supervillain Destructor would always do this to his captives. The main villain of the story says he's not going to make the same mistake... and then goes and does it anyway. |
| 250 | * The villains in the ''Literature/AlexRider'' series have a habit of doing this, although the story does usually try to find some kind of justification. (Alex notes that one of the downsides of being a criminal is that you can't tell people about your crimes, which becomes the series' go-to excuse in later books.) |
| 251 | * A multi-layered one in ''[[Literature/ArtemisFowl Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident]]''. During the DarkestHour, with Foaly trapped in his inoperable command center, [[TheDragon Briar Cudgeon]] video-calls him to gloat and reveal the whole plan. He streams the whole thing to Opal Koboi for her amusement, but at one point he pauses the stream to confide that [[TheStarscream he intends to betray Opal as soon as their plan is complete]]. Foaly manages to record the whole thing on [[ChekhovsGun Artemis's laptop]], saving the day. |
| 252 | * Subverted in Creator/JamesPHogan's story ''The Assassin''. The title character is sent to liquidate a scientist who had defected from his side, succeeds, but is then captured. [[spoiler:His interrogators then introduce him to his "deceased" target, who has developed technology to duplicate people. Since they can duplicate the prisoner as many times as necessary from their original scan, thereby [[ResetButton starting over from square one]], they can simply try ''every'' interrogation strategy... including honest explanation and persuasion.]] |
| 253 | * ''Literature/TheBerlinMemorandum'' by [[Creator/EllestonTrevor Adam Hall]]. The neo-Nazi BigBad not only explains his master plan to British spy Literature/{{Quiller}}, he is so confident in its success that he ''lets Quiller go''. Subverted however in that a) the master plan is bogus anyway, and b) it's actually a NiceJobGuidingUsHero gambit -- the Nazis hope Quiller will contact his base in an attempt to avert the plan, thereby exposing its location to them. |
| 254 | * {{Lampshaded}} in ''[[Literature/TheFirstLaw Best Served Cold]]'' where Cosca asks Victus why men with a crossbow tend to gloat instead of simply firing. |
| 255 | * ''Literature/BlackIris:'' The climax. Laney keeps her victim at gunpoint to explain her evil plan, so he'll know who destroyed him, and why. A rare case that doesn't suffer from BondVillainStupidity, as she's already completed the scheme. All she has to do is stand back and watch him fall apart. |
| 256 | * {{Lampshaded}} near the end of Creator/EmmaBull's ''[[Literature/{{Bordertown}} Finder]]'': |
| 257 | -->'''Orient:''' This is-this is the part of the movie where the villain tells the hero everything, because he's going to kill him anyway. Except that I can't think of any more questions. |
| 258 | * ''Literature/ChallengersOfTheUnknown'': Downplayed. The villain tells the captive Challengers about his origins and immortality serum, but cannily refuses to tell them about his endgame, even if he does plan to kill his prisoners soon anyway. [[spoiler:It makes no difference, as he dies of the side effects of the serum just a page later.]] |
| 259 | * ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfDorsa'': Joslyn is aware that arrogant men can rarely resist expounding on their villainy, and so gets [[spoiler:Brother Rennus]] talking when he's got Tasia hostage, distracting him so she can then save her. |
| 260 | * Played straight and {{Lampshaded}} in the ''Literature/CiaphasCain'' '''HERO OF THE IMPERIUM''' novel ''Duty Calls'', where Cain meets with the Inquistor that's been trying to kill him through the whole book. The Inquisitor waits until he thinks Cain is on his side before revealing the whole plan. The LampshadeHanging comes from the villain's name, Ernst Savros Killian, which bears a striking resemblance to a certain ''Film/JamesBond'' villain. |
| 261 | * Used slightly oddly in the novel ''Literature/TheCityOfDreamingBooks''. The villain just seems to enjoy giving this speech, even when it's completely unwarranted. In fact, many of his victims point out that they never would have known he even ''had'' an EvilPlan, had he not told them about it in great detail before disposing of them. |
| 262 | * Subverted in R. A.'s ''Literature/TheDarkElfTrilogy'' novel ''Homeland''. Alton [=DeVir=] asks the Faceless Master why he is about to kill him. The Faceless Master refuses, because "You broke my mirror!"...even though Alton only broke it while running from the Faceless Master after the Faceless Master first attempts the assassination. Alton reflects that that doesn't make any sense before [[spoiler:the Faceless Master's apprentice shoots him from behind.]] |
| 263 | * ''Literature/DarkLordTheRiseOfDarthVader'': Vader is agreeable to answering his WorthyOpponent's questions, but at least waits until Shryne is [[spoiler:already dying]] before he reveals his and Sidious's true identities, as well as the truth of the war and Order 66. |
| 264 | * In Creator/JulietMarillier's ''Literature/DaughterOfTheForest'', the villain has the heroine in his power and planning to burn her as a witch. He takes to visiting her in her cell to gloat. As he is convinced she really cannot talk, he lets slip some things he might otherwise not have divulged. Of course, when she does regain her voice, she tells his nephew (and his enemy) all about it. |
| 265 | * ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': |
| 266 | ** In ''Literature/MenAtArms'', Commander Vimes muses about how it's better to be at the mercy of an evil man: "The evil like power, power over people, and they want to see you in fear. They want you to ''know'' you're going to die. So they'll talk. [[EvilGloating They'll gloat.]] ... A good man will kill you with hardly a word." |
| 267 | ** First {{Lampshaded}}, then {{inverted|Trope}} in ''Literature/TheFifthElephant'': |
| 268 | --->'''Wolfgang:''' What ''is'' it you want me to say, Your Grace? Something like "you are going to die anyway so I might as well tell you", perhaps?\ |
| 269 | '''Vimes:''' Well, it'd be a help.\ |
| 270 | '''Wolfgang:''' You ''are'' going to die anyway. Why don't ''you'' tell ''me''? |
| 271 | ** In the ''[[UniverseCompendium Discworld Companion]]'' it explains that Evil Harry Dread, a old-school Dark Lord does this, often to the point of including slides and maps. He laments to Cohen The Barbarian that "heroes" these days just take advantage of the moment, and Cohen agrees that no-one does heroics or villainy with style and decency any more. |
| 272 | * Subverted in ''Literature/DragonBones'': Ward reveals that once, on a hunting trip where he was alone with his father, his father got drunk and bragged about having killed Ward's grandfather (his father) with an arrow to the back, which was disguised as a hunting accident. Ward was savvy enough to pretend to not have understood it, but still suspects that this incident might have something to do with his father's excessive physical violence towards him. |
| 273 | * During the [[Literature/DeathMasks fifth]] ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' book, Harry tries to bait Nicodemus into doing this, to no avail. Later, he remarks to Susan that he must've read the EvilOverlordList. |
| 274 | ** Subverted in [[Literature/GravePeril the third book]], when the BigBad [[spoiler:Bianca]] only says, "Is that what you think happened? Oh, my, Mr. Dresden, do you have a surprise waiting for you." |
| 275 | * [[spoiler: The Sphinx]] does this in the final book in ''Literature/{{Fablehaven}},'' after having Seth in his clutches, he actually tells him that his victory is so assured, he'd like to have one honest conversation with one of his respected nemeses. He then goes on to explain in detail his origins, his source of power (and weaknesses thereof) and all the other things that usually pertain to this trope. He then has Seth sent to his dungeon, and, for the most part, doesn't really suffer any consequences from this particular discussion. |
| 276 | * Completely inverted in ''Literature/ForgottenRealms'' novel ''Silverfall'', when one AffablyEvil foe inadvertently convinced [[LadyOfWar Storm Silverhand]] to spare his life ''after'' his [[GracefulLoser surrender]] was answered [[TheSlowWalk only by one raised eyebrow]]. By asking one right question. Well, by asking and then clarifying it: |
| 277 | -->There's just one thing I'd like to know before I die. How did you know?\ |
| 278 | Know about ''what''?\ |
| 279 | [[spoiler:That I write the [[RomanceNovel Heartsteel books]]]]. |
| 280 | * In Creator/AaronAllston's ''Literature/GalateaIn2D'', Kevin -- after numerous attempts to kill Roger and his friends -- demands that Roger explain something he did in his counterattack, becase [[ItsAllAboutMe Roger owes him after all the damage he did to him]]. |
| 281 | * Subverted in ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear: Planet of the Dead''. The villain boasts that he's found a way to [[ArtificialZombie bring the dead back to life]], arranged for one way to be used on himself [[BackFromTheDead after he got killed]], and can use the other ways to make [[NightOfTheLivingMooks tireless undead minions]]. He plans to kill and reanimate the heroes, who will [[AndIMustScream retain some vestige of their minds]]. But he refuses to tell them how the zombies would be defeated, or to name the one who commissioned his efforts in the first place. |
| 282 | -->''"Don't insult my intelligence, Doctor Hoole! I may like to gloat over my victims, but do you think I would reveal a secret that important, even to the doomed? My employer wouldn't look kindly on that. And I don't intend to be killed a second time."'' |
| 283 | * During the climaxes to the first 6 books, ''Literature/HarryPotter''[==]'s main strategy was to make the villains talk, as a way to buy some time and think of a way to get the hell out. In the final book, his plan is to keep talking himself, to both try and get the big bad to step down after realising he is well and truly screwed either way, and to tell everyone why the big bad is screwed, and if he is killed they can just mass kill him. |
| 284 | ** Dumbledore gets [[spoiler: Malfoy]] to explain how he [[spoiler: got Death Eaters into the school]] at the end of book six. He then points out how this just proves [[spoiler: Malfoy]] isn't actually going to go through with it -- if he wanted Dumbledore dead, he wouldn't stop to chat. |
| 285 | * ''Literature/JudgeDee'': In ''The Haunted Monastery'', the killer has no trouble bragging of his crimes to Dee because his connections in the imperial court make him untouchable. Unfortunately for him Dee has no trouble inflicting some karmic justice of a different kind. |
| 286 | * Hadanelith in ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' novel ''The White Gryphon'' does this after having Amberdrake and Skandranon captive. Skan {{Lampshades}} this in the beginning by asking, "Good gods, does every half-baked villain have to boast about what he’s going to do before he does it? Can’t you just kill us so we don’t have to endure your boring speech?” Hadanelith retorts that he wants them to know everything so that they can suffer in not being able to thwart his plan. Skan and Amberdrake then proceed to feign boredom instead of interest to keep Hadanelith talking. |
| 287 | * ''Literature/HereticalEdge'': Charmeine has the brilliant idea to stop and tell Flick her entire plan after capturing her, and then make Flick watch her carry out the rest on a magical TV equivalent, despite knowing full well that some unknown force or actor has been thwarting everything else she's tried to do to Flick. [[spoiler: As might be expected, Flick breaks free right after Charmeine heads off to carry out the rest of the plot.]] |
| 288 | * Deliberately {{Lampshaded}} (along with much else) in Creator/JohnMFord's ''Literature/HowMuchForJustThePlanet''. The (phony) villain's {{Card Carrying Villain}}y prompts a running commentary from Aperokei ("A man of your taste would never kill anyone before the last reel"), receiving the pleased response "There's the fellow! I knew a man of your experience had to have seen a few Republic serials." |
| 289 | * ''Literature/JamesBond'' |
| 290 | ** Averted in ''Literature/DeathIsForever''. The BigBad feels obliged to "fill in the blanks" of the events prior to their meeting for Bond before moving out and leaving him to be killed, but refuses to reveal the machinations of his main operation when questioned about it. Luckily, an offhand comment that Bond remembers hearing from a henchman sets him on the trail of the grand EvilPlan. |
| 291 | ** Also averted in ''Literature/ZeroMinusTen''. Much like in the previous example, the BigBad is willing to explain the details behind [[spoiler:him faking his death and motivation to destroy Hong Kong]], but refuses to tell where he is going to [[spoiler:detonate the nuclear bomb]] for that purpose. |
| 292 | * Spoofed in ''Literature/TheJenniferMorgue'' by Creator/CharlesStross, in which the BigBad (who's deliberately following supervillain tropes) explains his evil plan to the hero via [=PowerPoint=]! The Horror! |
| 293 | * Explored in ''Literature/KushielsLegacy'', with regard to Melisande Shahrizai. For her, it's really all about the scheming, manipulation, and {{Magnificent Bastard}}ry -- and she is '''very''' good at it. Delaunay is a similarly-skilled schemer, though significantly more heroic, and Phèdre -- the heroine of the series -- is his protégée. The two of them are the only people Melisande believes might fully appreciate the cleverness of her plots. To her, the game is more important than the outcome, and playing well is more important than winning. She wants someone to admire her skill. And so for this reason, she sometimes divulges small portions of information regarding to her schemes to Delaunay, and later, to Phèdre. |
| 294 | -->'''Phèdre''': ''[to Delaunay about her recent encounter with Melisande]'' Every artist craves an audience, my lord, and she has chosen you. Whatever is to occur, it is her desire that you know she is its architect. |
| 295 | * ''[[Literature/TheHouseWithAClockInItsWalls The Letter, the Witch and the Ring]]'': Gert Bigger goes on an extended rant to Rose Rita, who she has locked in a paralysis/death spell. Rose Rita is freed from the spell by the unexpected side-effects of a SummoningRitual which Gert then performs. By the time Rose Rita recovers, Gert is gone, having (probably) fallen victim to the Ritual's LiteralGenie target. |
| 296 | * Subverted in ''Literature/{{Lolita}}''. Humbert tries to get Quilty to sit down and listen to why he's being "executed", but Quilty is too high on drugs to really comprehend what's happening. He ends up staggering about the house complaining mildly each time Humbert shoots him. |
| 297 | * Becomes a plot point in the third book of ''Literature/{{Mistborn}}'', when the BigBad, a certified EldritchAbomination, manifests to the heroine for no other reason than to gloat, but she can't figure out what he's getting out of it. [[spoiler: She then realizes that it's just to satisfy his ego -- leading her to the correct conclusion that he's on some level human and fallible]]. |
| 298 | * In the ''Literature/ModestyBlaise'' novel ''The Night of Morningstar'', when the Big Bad has Modesty and Willie captured and apparently helpless, he comes for a little chat, intending to find out what they know, but instead they goad him into telling them his whole plot, after which they escape. |
| 299 | * ''Literature/MrStandfast'': When the evil mastermind captures Hannay, he can't resist an extended gloat about how he's outmaneuvered British Intelligence and been one step ahead of them the whole way. [[spoiler:He does it again when he thinks he has the spymaster Blenkiron in his clutches, only for Blenkiron to calmly cut him off and explain how thoroughly he's been beaten at his own game.]] |
| 300 | * An interesting variant happens in ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}''. The Marquis de Carabas knows Croup and Vandemar will never spill any information on their employer or plans unless they know he's about to die, or is already dead. So he lets them kill him. Knowing that he secretly put [[SoulJar a piece of his life]] in safe hands, just in case. |
| 301 | * In ''Literature/{{Pact}}'', this is endemic amongst mystic practitioners, who, in addition to all being afflicted with CannotTellALie, gain power by making and fulfilling promises. A good villainous monologue is essentially just a promise to the audience that something is going to happen, which means that many practitioners will take the time to inform an opponent that, by the way, they're going to attack them soon, and then go ahead with the attack and gain power when they succeed. Generally speaking, these sorts of opponents, who often have large reservoirs of power thanks to these tactics, are at least as dangerous as the ones that decide to go with WhyDontYouJustShootHim. |
| 302 | * In the ''Literature/PaladinOfShadows'' book ''Choosers of the Slain'' a rapist and murderer does this to a would-be victim, not knowing that she's wired. |
| 303 | * This doesn't happen to Literature/PhilipMarlowe very often, if at all, but he's familiar with the trope and lampshades it in ''Literature/TheLadyInTheLake'' when the murderer gets the drop on him: |
| 304 | -->'''Marlowe:''' I've never liked this scene. Detective confronts murderer. Murderer produces gun, points same at detective. Murderer tells detective the whole sad story, with the idea of shooting him at the end of it. Thus wasting a lot of valuable time, even if in the end murderer did shoot detective. Only murderer never does. Something always happens to prevent it. The gods don't like this scene either. They always manage to spoil it. |
| 305 | ::The murderer then decides to just shoot him without bothering to tell him anything first -- but sure enough, there's an interruption that saves Marlowe's life. |
| 306 | * Most of the villains in ''Literature/{{Relativity}}'' avoid this, but one villain, Rasmas, plays it straight and to the hilt. When he captures the heroes, they try to keep him talking to buy themselves time to escape, but ''they don't need to'' because he's so desperate to brag about how brilliant his plan is. |
| 307 | * Lampshaded in the 1903 book ''Literature/RiddleOfTheSands'' when the hero eavesdrops on the villains, only to discover that as it's a plot with which they are all familiar, they talk in low voices and use clipped cryptic references. He complains that in stories the villains always openly declaim their evil plans. |
| 308 | * In ''Literature/SoonIWillBeInvincible'', Doctor Impossible repeatedly struggles against this urge, remembering his last defeat: |
| 309 | -->Last time I told them everything, giving it away like a fool, how I was going to do it, how escape was impossible. And they just listened, smirking. |
| 310 | * Played with in the ''Literature/ThousandSons'' novel ''Ahriman: Unchanged''. Ahriman telepathically contacts the chief sensor operator of a soon-to-be-destroyed Imperial warship to gloat that the sons of Prospero are coming home. Later, agents of the Inquisition discover and revive the operator’s corpse, learn what Ahriman told him, and head to Prospero to try and stop whatever Ahriman is doing… which is [[BatmanGambit exactly what Ahriman wants them to do]]. |
| 311 | * Partially subverted in L. Neil Smith's ''Literature/TheVenusBelt''. "I'd already had the cliche' interview with the head villain, and I still didn't know what the hell was going on." |
| 312 | * DoubleSubverted in Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/TheVorGame''. The BigBad decides to reveal her plan to Miles before sending him away to attend to some business for her. Some time later, Miles decides that she couldn't possibly have told him her actual plan for the moment and uses this (and the [[XanatosSpeedChess two]] other plans she's thought of, told to people, and discarded) to deduce her current plan. Then he decided that plan is too obvious and goes with the second option. Yes, it dissolves in a GambitPileup. How did you guess? |
| 313 | * ''Literature/WarriorCats'': [[spoiler:Hawkfrost]] does this at the end of ''Sunset''. His plan wasn't particularly complicated, but before trying the strike the killing blow, he felt the need to tell Brambleclaw that he was just testing him. And of course, after [[spoiler:Brambleclaw impales him]], he remembers something else important and says a little extra as he bleeds to death. |
| 314 | [[/folder]] |
| 315 | |
| 316 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 317 | * ''Series/TheAvengers1960s''. In "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Station" the villain handcuffs Steed to a pipe so he can explain his EvilPlan with the help of a model train set. |
| 318 | -->'''Villain:''' I have you brought here to witness the final phase.\ |
| 319 | '''[[QuintessentialBritishGentleman Steed]]:''' That's very decent of you.\ |
| 320 | '''Villain:''' It's for me really, verging on megalomania you might say. But a coup is not a coup without someone to see.\ |
| 321 | '''Steed:''' ''(indicating cuffs)'' Excuse me if I don't applaud. |
| 322 | * Averted in the final episode of ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'' ("Daybreak"): |
| 323 | -->'''Cylon:''' You should know... your ship's been destroyed. You can't go back that way.\ |
| 324 | '''Athena:''' Yeah, well, that's not the plan.\ |
| 325 | '''Starbuck:''' Could we ''please'' not tell [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor her]] the plan? |
| 326 | * ''Series/{{Chuck}}'': In "Chuck Versus the Ring Part II": |
| 327 | -->'''Chuck:''' (the '''good guy''' to the main villain) I'm sorry, are you asking me to make the classic villain mistake of explaining my dastardly plot to you? You know what, I'd love to. |
| 328 | * ''Series/DirkGentlysHolisticDetectiveAgency'' subverts this. Captured by the villains, Dirk and Todd try to piece together what the hell is going on. When the BigBad arrives, Dirk predicts that at least ''now'' they'll finally get some answers. Instead, the baffled BigBad fires a barrage of frantic questions at the pair, having no better idea of what's going on then they do. |
| 329 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': This happens in a great deal of stories, classic and new series alike. |
| 330 | ** This gets brought up in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E5TheRobotsOfDeath "The Robots of Death"]]: |
| 331 | --->'''The Doctor:''' I see. You're one of those boring maniacs who's going to gloat. Are you going to tell me your plan for running the universe?\ |
| 332 | '''Taren Capel:''' Oh, no, Doctor. I'm going to burn out your brain. Very very slowly. |
| 333 | *** Of course he spills the beans about his plan a few minutes later, but it's still a good line. |
| 334 | ** A notable subversion in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E2CityOfDeath "City of Death"]]: |
| 335 | --->''[upon finding six ''Mona Lisa''s hidden behind a wall]''\ |
| 336 | '''The Doctor:''' May I ask where you got these?\ |
| 337 | '''Count Scarlioni:''' No.\ |
| 338 | '''The Doctor:''' Or how you knew they were here?\ |
| 339 | '''Count Scarlioni:''' No.\ |
| 340 | '''The Doctor:''' They've been walled up a long time?\ |
| 341 | '''Count Scarlioni:''' Yes.\ |
| 342 | '''The Doctor:''' I like concise answers!\ |
| 343 | '''Count Scarlioni:''' Good. |
| 344 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWho2006CSTheRunawayBride "The Runaway Bride"]]: This is the one stereotypical villainy trope the Racnoss Empress ''doesn't'' fall prey to. The Doctor tries to mask his attempts to deduce her plan as simple curiosity, but the Empress' human accomplice alerts her to what he's doing, prompting her to order him killed. |
| 345 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E1SmithAndJones "Smith and Jones"]]: The plasmavore spills her plan to the Doctor because she thinks he's just a hapless, [[ObfuscatingStupidity stupid]] human who can't do anything about it. |
| 346 | ** Nicely {{Lampshaded}} in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E11Utopia "Utopia"]], where [[spoiler:the newly regenerated Master]] says to the Doctor: "Why don't we stop and have a nice little chat while I tell you all my plans and you can work out a way to stop me, [[{{NOT}} I]] ''[[{{NOT}} don't]]'' [[{{NOT}} think!]]" |
| 347 | *** He goes and does exactly that with [[spoiler: the Time Lords]] in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]]. He definitely knew by that point that it's a bad idea to tell your [[spoiler:nemesis]] your plan, and yet he tells it to [[spoiler:the Lord President of the Time Lords]], a man with near godlike technology at his disposal. |
| 348 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E5ThePoisonSky "The Poison Sky"]]: Sontaran General Staal averts this, noting that it's unwise to reveal strategy to the opposing party. |
| 349 | ** The Doctor tries to deliberately -- not to mention directly -- invoke this in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E6TheVampiresOfVenice "The Vampires of Venice"]] when surrounded by said vampires: |
| 350 | --->'''The Doctor:''' Tell me the whole plan!\ |
| 351 | ''[the vampires simply hiss at him]''\ |
| 352 | '''The Doctor:''' ''One'' day that'll work... |
| 353 | ** Parodied in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E11TheLodger "The Lodger"]] when Craig, the ordinary guy the Doctor is lodging with, begins to tell the Doctor all his fairly modest ideas for how the call centre he works at can streamline effectively and what he wants to do with his life out of the blue, before realizing out loud that he's telling all of this to a complete stranger. Obviously referring to the countless maniacs who like to monologue at him, the Doctor assures him that he's not the first. |
| 354 | --->'''The Doctor:''' I've got one of those faces. People never stop blurting out their plans when I'm around. |
| 355 | * {{Lampshaded}} in a ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'' episode. |
| 356 | -->'''Daniel:''' Why are you telling me this?\ |
| 357 | '''Cindy:''' Because it's funny. And because you won't remember it. |
| 358 | * The murderer in the fourth episode of ''Series/{{Elementary}}'' wasn't ''planning'' on doing this to Sherlock after he gloated to her that he'd caught her out -- she was ''going'' to [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim just shoot him]] -- but Sherlock goaded her into it, to give himself time to pick his handcuffs. "I'm about to die, so, now's your chance to share! It's good to share!" |
| 359 | * ''Series/Frontier2016'': After spending several days torturing Declan Harp to death for his rebellion, Lord Benton decides to gloat about having his wife and son murdered to "teach him a lesson", including a salient detail that Harp didn't know yet: his wife was pregnant. |
| 360 | * In ''Series/{{Heroes}}'', Sylar tells Alejandro that he plans on using Maya as a toy after he gets her to harness her plague power. It's justified in this case, as he is perfectly aware that Alejandro won't understand a thing he says anyways, as Alejandro does not speak nor understand English. |
| 361 | * Like everything that ''Series/HikoninSentaiAkibaranger'' makes fun of, this trope is one of the "flags of defeat", i.e. a sign the MonsterOfTheWeek gives when he's ready to be destroyed. Nobuo and Hiroyo are the only ones who can recognize them, so when he has a HeroicBSOD in Episode 2 and Mizuki and Yumeria have to fight alone, they are nearly "killed" due to their inability to recognize this particular flag. |
| 362 | * ''Series/LukeCage2016'': Diamondback and his thugs take Councilman Damon Boone and a couple of innocents hostage inside a club. When Diamondback relates to Boone his entire backstory and his true past regarding Luke Cage, Boone asks why he is telling him all of this. [[spoiler:Diamondback proceeds to immediately kill Boone with his powered glove because he told him just about enough to not let him live beyond that point, and to use his death to incriminate Luke]]. |
| 363 | * ''Series/{{MASH}}'': "Quo Vadis, Captain Chandler" had Col. Flagg trying to get Dr. Freedman to go with his side on the case of the pilot who claims he's Christ. Else, Flagg will have Freedman turned in for not signing his loyalty oath. |
| 364 | -->'''Freedman:''' Well, just between the two of us '''''and any microphone I might be talking into''''', do you really think that if I were a communist I'd hesitate for a second to sign a loyalty oath? |
| 365 | * ''Series/TheMiddleman'': |
| 366 | ** Weaponised by the heroes. |
| 367 | --->'''The Middleman:''' I confront him, get him off on the monologue, you go around...\ |
| 368 | '''Wendy Watson:''' ...switch off the machine while he's distracted?\ |
| 369 | '''The Middleman:''' Dang skippy. |
| 370 | ** Subverted when the villain doesn't monologue. He's not intentionally defying the trope, he just doesn't do it. The heroes are completely flummoxed by this revelation, and Wendy accidentally gets thrown into an alternate dimension because they had no backup plan. |
| 371 | * A regular occurrence on ''Series/MurderSheWrote'' with Jessica seemingly alone with the killer who brags about how he did it and that Jessica is next...at which point, Jessica will call out "[[EngineeredPublicConfession did you get all that, Detective?]]" |
| 372 | * In both the [[Series/{{Neverwhere}} miniseries]] and novel ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}'' the villain [[spoiler:Islington]] explains his plan to the heroes. This partly justified, as he believes his plan cannot be stopped, and he genuinely wants to convince the heroes to join him. The page quote is from the DVD commentary. |
| 373 | * ''Series/OurMissBrooks'': |
| 374 | ** In "Two-way Stretch Snodgrass", Mr. Conklin explains to Miss Brooks his plan to get All-American football player and high school coach Biff Mooney to work for Madison High School. Rather than first going about his plan and bragging later. |
| 375 | ** In the [[TheMovie theatrical]] [[GrandFinale series finale]], Mr. Stone threatens to fire Mr. Conklin once Stone's elected to the new post of "Coordinator of Education". This sets up the subplot where Mr. Conklin runs against Mr. Stone to head the school board. |
| 376 | * Subverted in the ''Series/PushingDaisies'' episode "Dummy". The murderer makes a full confession while the heroes are wrapped in body bags and locked inside a car, so they can't actually hear a word of what he's saying. |
| 377 | * In the ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVIIStokeMeAClipper Stoke Me a Clipper]]", some random Nazi villains try to do this to Ace Rimmer[[note]]([[PhraseCatcher what a guy!]])[[/note]]; one orders the other one to "Take him into the hold, take ten minutes to explain all our plans to him, and then throw him out of the plane." |
| 378 | * LampshadeHanging in ''Series/SledgeHammer'': when an assassin has Sledge tied to a DeathTrap, he tells him how he intends to kill the captain. Sledge responds by saying, "I'll never understand why you guys explain your whole plan before you kill somebody." |
| 379 | * In the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E8IMudd I Mudd]]", Spock notes that the androids that have taken over the ship are almost ready to leave and strand them on the planet. When [=McCoy=] asks how he knows, he replies, "I asked them." Kirk ruefully remarks that the androids are [[NothingCanStopUsNow so confident that the crew can't do anything to stop them]] that they see no need to keep secrets. |
| 380 | * In the ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS04E08LittleGreenMen Little Green Men]]", ''[[PluckyMiddie Nog]]'' of all people unleashes a classic -- albeit [[BlatantLies entirely invented]] -- rant of this form in order to distract his [[RoswellThatEndsWell Korean War-era military interrogators]], complete with several instances of "I might as well tell you this because it won't matter anyway." |
| 381 | ** In the Season 7 opener "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS07E01ImageInTheSand Image in the Sand]]", Sisko is attacked by a Bajoran religious fanatic, who says "You will never find the Orb of the Emissary!" Immediately after, Jake knocks the assassin out and calls for medical attention. |
| 382 | * ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': |
| 383 | ** Demons have a bad habit of doing this. Meg, Tammi, even [[ArcVillain Azazel]] have given up easy victories this way. Other monsters' modus operandi tend to be exposited in other ways, from arcane research. {{Lampshaded}} by Dean in "Devil's Trap" with, "Listen, you mind just getting this over with, huh? Cause I really can't stand the monologuing." This turns out to be a slight mistake [[spoiler: when his organs start to, y'know, liquefy]]. |
| 384 | ** Surprisingly averted when ArcVillain Lilith has both heroes helpless. Sam tries to bargain with her; she points out he has nothing she wants, and Dean tries to prompt a bit of monologuing. "So, is this your big plan, huh? Drag me to hell. Kill Sam. And then what? Become queen bitch?" Lilith simply replies "I don't have to answer to puppy chow," and [[spoiler:sets the hellhounds on him, killing him]] before immediately [[spoiler: attempting to kill Sam. It didn't work, but not for want of trying at least, and it wasn't until the next season we actually found out what her plan is]] |
| 385 | ** [[spoiler:The angels, especially Zachariah,]] enjoy monologuing as well, which is how Dean discovers what the final seal is before [[spoiler:[[NiceJobBreakingItHero Sam is tricked into breaking it.]]]] |
| 386 | [[/folder]] |
| 387 | |
| 388 | [[folder:Radio]] |
| 389 | * And in ''Radio/BleakExpectations'' |
| 390 | -->'''Mr Gently Benevolent''': I'm not falling for that old "You ask me, I tell you, you foil my plan" trick again.\ |
| 391 | '''Pip Bin''': Just give me a hint?\ |
| 392 | '''Mr Gently Benevolent''': Oh, all right. |
| 393 | * Parodied in ''Radio/{{Nebulous}}'', when the eponymous professor is captured by the evil Klench. |
| 394 | -->'''Nebulous:''' Surely you're going to outline your brilliant plan?\ |
| 395 | '''Dr. Klench:''' Why should I? The information's no use to you.\ |
| 396 | '''Nebulous:''' To... satisfy my curiosity?\ |
| 397 | '''Dr. Klench:''' It's irrelevant. Any minute now you're going to be a dead body. |
| 398 | [[/folder]] |
| 399 | |
| 400 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 401 | * ''TabletopGame/CardsAgainstHumanity'' has the black card "But before I kill you, Mr. Bond, I must show you _____.", invoking this trope. |
| 402 | * ''TabletopGame/CarWars''. ''Autoduel Quarterly'' magazine Volume 7 #2, adventure "Mutant Zone". If the {{PC}}s are captured they're taken to Blob, the mutants' leader, who explains his plans to use braintape technology to put the mutants' minds into the brains of human beings. |
| 403 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}'' adventure ''The Coriolis Effect''. After the Black Enchantress captures the heroes and takes away their powers, she explains her plans to them. |
| 404 | * ''Danger International''. The Investigation Script has "Enemy Tells You His Plan" as a standard practice for the scenario's villain if the {{PC}}s are captured. |
| 405 | * In ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'', an [[DarkMessiah Infernal Exalt]] who has offended his or her demonic masters can atone by behaving like a CardCarryingVillain. One method is called "Infernal Genius Declaration," and involves showing off to a captured and helpless enemy by delivering a monologue describing his or her evil plan in great detail. The Infernal will receive this atonement, incidentally, whether this monologue leads to their plans being thwarted or not. |
| 406 | * ''TabletopGame/FengShui'''s Spy archetype has the unique schtick of spending a Fortune point to get a reluctant or hostile {{NPC}} to tell them something they shouldn't, and it's best used when captured to get a villain to engage in a Just Between You And Me speech. Also, ''Seed of the New Flesh'', the Architects sourcebook, has a Criminal Mastermind archetype that has "Slave to the Cheese" as their unique weakness -- which not only requires you to make this kind of speech to enemies you capture or nonlethally defeat, but also precludes [[WhyDontYaJustShootHim just shooting your foes]] (as well as forcing you to prevent others from doing the same) in favor of elaborate deathtraps and other Bond villain-style ways of toying with your prey. |
| 407 | * ''TabletopGame/GeniusTheTransgression'': Of course a game about mad scientists was going to have plenty of these (called Diatribes in-game). This time, however, it's justified: When your inventions run on madness, indulging a little gives you a bit more to work with. |
| 408 | * In ''TabletopGame/BeforeIKillYouMisterSpy'' (previously renamed ''James Ernest's Totally Renamed Spy Game'' after [[ScrewedByTheLawyers MGM's lawyers objected]] to the original name ''Before I Kill You, Mister Bond...''), players get points for capturing and eliminating enemy agents -- each round of taunting before the kill doubles the point value, but also increases the risk that the agent will escape and destroy your [[SupervillainLair lair]]. |
| 409 | * In the ''TabletopGame/MarvelSuperHeroes'' RPG, the section on villains actually outlines this in game terms: villains get a Karma bonus for telling the heroes their plans. |
| 410 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Space 1889}}'' the adventure [[spoiler: Ausonian Stalker]]: in Tales of the Ether has the player characters captured by the sadistic German doctor who then proceeds to explain his plans ending, predictably, with an Evil Laugh. |
| 411 | * ''TabletopGame/TimeLord'', the 1990s ''Series/DoctorWho'' role-playing game, gave villains a negative skill called "Gloating", which would compel them to waste time monologuing if they had captured the Doctor and/or a companion. |
| 412 | [[/folder]] |
| 413 | |
| 414 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 415 | * ''Theatre/PokemonLive'' defies this. Delia wants to avoid this trope, so she tells Ash about her past before Giovanni can. |
| 416 | [[/folder]] |
| 417 | |
| 418 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 419 | * A very similar moment occurs in ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars: Dual Strike'' (which was made by Intelligent Systems, the same people who made ''Thousand Year Door''). When questioned about Black Hole's recovery, TeenGenius Lash responds: "Duh! Like I'd tell you that!" |
| 420 | * ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'': Defied by Jon Irenicus. The only answer an inquisitive player gets is "No. You warrant no villain's exposition from me." The only way to figure out his plans and methods are to puzzle together scraps of notes and journals, and even ''then'' there are significant pieces missing. |
| 421 | * Parodied in one of the bonus scenes from ''VideoGame/{{Bomberman}} 64'': The Second Attack, where the BigBad, after reviewing his plans aloud with no one else in the room, comments "It's not much fun making speeches about my plans without an audience..." After a pause he followed this up with maniacal laughter (which he happens to [[VerbalTic end almost every sentence with]]). |
| 422 | * ''Videogame/DarkestDungeon'': Your ancestor actually weaponizes this one against the Gibbering Prophet (back when he wasn't gibbering). Since every assassination attempt had failed, and he ''still'' kept rousing the townsfolk against him for reasons even he didn't fully understand (all the Prophet knew was there was something horrible under the Manor), he decided he might as well show him ''exactly'' what horrible things he had in store, and let him have a direct look at the dug-up portal. [[GoMadFromTheRevelation It got him dealt with, alright]]. |
| 423 | * ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'': |
| 424 | ** [[BigBad Dagoth Ur]], at the end of the main quest, gives you an opportunity to question his plans and motives before the final one-on-one duel. He'll even ask you questions about your motives, and one option is to tell him that you don't think you're TheChosenOne, but you plan to defeat him anyway because it's the right thing to do. [[WorthyOpponent This is the only response which he'll actually praise with no qualifications]]. |
| 425 | ** At the end of the ''Tribunal'' expansion, [[spoiler:the PhysicalGod Almalexia explains to the PlayerCharacter how she convinced him/her that another god, Sotha Sil had gone insane and tried to attack the capital city of Mournhold, while it was all in fact orchestrated by her so that she could kill the other two gods of the Tribunal, turn the player into an unwilling martyr, and rule as the sole remaining god herself.]] [[spoiler: Her]] reasons for doing so seems to be twofold: one, [[spoiler: she used to be the possibly loyal, possibly not wife of Nerevar, and is convinced you are his reincarnation]], and two, [[spoiler: her grip on reality is not the best anymore]]. [[spoiler: her]] defence, there's really no damage done by it -- [[spoiler: Almalexia]] had to tip [[spoiler: her]] hand ''anyway'', since the next step of the plan is killing you. Since you'd presumably defend yourself either way, the monologuing doesn't give you any hint about how to stop the evil plan that self-preservation wouldn't already point to. |
| 426 | * Can happen in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' near the end of the Omerta quest line, with one of the mob bosses. On the other hand, it takes a pretty high Speech skill to get him to talk, so it might be a subversion. |
| 427 | * The ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series |
| 428 | ** Subverted in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', where the heroes, while sneaking through the Magitek Factory, overhear Kefka rambling about his desire to awaken the Warring Triad statues, but Kefka still seems to succeed in that plan, even though the heroes overheard him. |
| 429 | *** The fact that the heroes, at the time, had no idea what he was talking about may be a factor in that. They don't learn what the Warring Triad is until it's already too late. |
| 430 | ** Don Corneo from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' comes to mind. Is it because he's ready to die? Sure of victory? Or just clueless? Guess. |
| 431 | *** [[spoiler:However short-lived it was, Corneo's "victory" was that he got [[IdiotHero Cloud]] to stop walking away to answer the stupid question. Had he (Cloud, that is) just kept on walking, he could have gotten to Sector 7 in much better shape than he did, not to mention much sooner.]] |
| 432 | ** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'', after being rescued from Kuja by the player's party, Cid's wife Hilda reveals that Kuja told her his entire master plan, that she didn't even have to ask. |
| 433 | -->'''Hilda''': It was tiresome. |
| 434 | ** Barthandelus in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' does this just before sending you to a training ground. |
| 435 | *** However, Barthandelus is a [[ConsummateLiar pathological liar]], and thus it's debatable just how much of what he says is just a way of manipulating the party and how much of what he says concerns his ''actual'' plans. |
| 436 | * ''VideoGame/GrimFandango'' {{Lampshades}} this trope near the end, when Manny finally confronts the BigBad Hector... only to subvert it in a rather horrifying way. |
| 437 | -->'''Manny:''' Is [[ThisIsThePartWhere this where you tell me all about your secret plan]], Hector? How you stole Double N tickets from innocent souls, pretended to sell them but secretly hoarded them all to yourself in a desperate attempt to get out of the Land of the Dead?\ |
| 438 | '''Hector:''' No. (''turns around and shoots Manny with a sproutella dart'') This is where you writhe around in excruciating pain for about an hour because that idiot Bowlsley ran off with all the fast-acting Sproutella! |
| 439 | * In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'', new villain Ghirahim is very chatty every time you meet him. He [[LampshadeHanging hangs a Lampshade on it]] by saying he has an urge to vent, and even goes as far as [[HeKnowsAboutTimedHits giving you pointers on sword fighting]] in your first battle with him. |
| 440 | * ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'': Done by Liquid Ocelot to Old Snake before their final duel, though one could say that it's perfectly legitimate for him to do so because (1) [[MindScrew he's Ocelot]] and (2) his [[spoiler:true]] plan had already succeeded. |
| 441 | ** Done all the time in the ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' series. Liquid and Solidus in particular seem to love doing this. It was toned down a few notches in part 3 and most of part 4, but it still takes up lots of time, especially considering [[ParrotExposition Snake's tendency to ask for clarification]]. |
| 442 | *** The book In the Darkness of Shadow Moses implies that the above part about Liquid was actually a subversion, as they were actually fully aware that they were being listened in on, but deliberately continued talking about their "plans" in order to keep the mission control fooled. |
| 443 | ** In Portable Ops, Lt. Cunningham, after Snake boarded the elevator, explained that he was actually working for the Department of Defense and not for either Gene or for the CIA, and explained that the DOD planned on having Gene launch a nuke at the Soviet Union in order to tarnish the CIA's reputation as an efficient intelligence group, and later nuke the San Hieronymo Peninsula to eliminate any involvement from America, even using a Soviet-made Davy Crockett just for good measure, and exposits the fact that Snake was also being used by the DOD. Justified in that he did actually think Snake would side with Cunningham (hence why he told him), which Snake proved him wrong by attacking him. |
| 444 | ** Double subverted in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' with Ocelot (albeit retroactively): After the second torture session with Snake, he exposits that his "true" plan was to restore Mother Russia to former glory. However, in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'', he makes it clear that he actually has no interest in resurrecting Russia to its former glory, and in fact, for all he cares, it could rot, even demonstrating it by betraying and gunning down Gurlukovich. However, the third torture session has him admitting that he actually plans on reigniting conflict, feeling that the lack of it is causing people's true feelings to be surpressed, was played completely straight, especially when you take into account his actions as Liquid Ocelot in ''Guns of the Patriots''. |
| 445 | *** Ocelot's loyalty was actually subverted in the first game's [[TheStinger post-credits dialogue]], when it's revealed he was reporting to [[spoiler: the President of the United States]]. |
| 446 | * Parodied several times in the ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland'' series. In ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland2LeChucksRevenge'', the titular villain explains his RubeGoldbergDevice {{Deathtrap}} in minute detail, and then takes some time to allow Guybrush to ask questions in case he needs clarifications. In ''VideoGame/TheCurseOfMonkeyIsland'', after capturing the hero, [=LeChuck=] ''insists'' on explaining the plot. Eventually Guybrush has to hold his hands to his ears and tell [=LeChuck=] he's deliberately ignoring him in order to get him to stop. |
| 447 | * Defied in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' when you confront Lord Crump. Instead of telling you his plans, he replies "Oh no, that's a novice villain mistake!" |
| 448 | * ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' had a particularly bad example. Saddler's plan revolves around kidnapping ThePresidentsDaughter, infecting her with the Virus, having her rescued, and then have her take control of the United States from within. And he goes and tells her rescuer the entire plan as she's being rescued. Smart move, villain. |
| 449 | * Subverted in ''VideoGame/ShadowrunReturns: Dragonfall''. As [[spoiler:Amsel is about to be gunned down by Audran he starts a recording and tries to get an explanation out of him, only to be shot dead by Audran mid sentence.]] |
| 450 | * Taken to its natural conclusion in ''VideoGame/SpyFox 2: Some Assembly Required'', in which the BigBad is so confident in his plan and so eager to share it with someone who will understand his genius that he explains every detail of it--including exactly how to stop it--to Spy Fox the moment they meet. |
| 451 | * An interesting one in ''VideoGame/StarcraftII'': The Dark Voice will eventually conquer the Universe and destroy the Zerg, Protoss and Terrans. Only when the LastStand of the Protoss has played its last trump card (Artanis) will the Dark Voice reveal that the only one that could have stopped it was [[spoiler: Kerrigan]], who was long dead by that point. The twist? [[spoiler: The Overmind saw all this in a vision, and shared it with Tassadar, who passed it to Zeratul, who showed it to James Raynor, allowing a different future to occur and possibly foiling the Dark Voice]]. While the Dark Voice did wait until he was utterly sure of victory to reveal his one weakness, even that isn't enough in a Universe with creatures that can see the future. |
| 452 | * Used in several games of the ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'', though often it's because the villains tend to be {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s or KnightTemplar who feel the need to claim the moral high ground; some even hope to [[WeCanRuleTogether to recruit the heroes]] using such a speech. Ironically enough, it's averted in [[spoiler:''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'']] where the villain never reveals his plan until he's dying -- and if he'd taken five minutes to explain his motivation it probably ''would'' have helped convince the party that the villain isn't the monster he was made out to be. |
| 453 | * This happens in ''[[Website/GaiaOnline zOMG]]'' twice, although both times it was just a distraction while the villain in question was preparing his method of attack. During the BigBad's monologue, one of your crew members will hang a {{Lampshade}}. |
| 454 | [[/folder]] |
| 455 | |
| 456 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 457 | * At the end of ''WebAnimation/BrokenSaints'', BigBad [[spoiler:Lear Dunham]] spells out, in detail, his motives and the origins of his big plan to the heroes. [[spoiler:The whole point of him telling them (and of their involvement in the plot at all) was so they would be inspired by his vision and join him as his chief apostles.]] |
| 458 | * ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}'': In the flashback in "Over and Under", the Overlord of Evil explains his EvilPlan in clear earshot of all the heroes. Dylan even notes this. |
| 459 | --> '''Dylan''': This guy is planning to warp ALL OF EXISTINCE?! And why the hell is he boasting about all of this right in front of us?! |
| 460 | --> '''Kai''': Because he knows there isn't a damn thing we can do to stop him. |
| 461 | * Averted in ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'', with [[TookALevelInBadass Tucker]] backed up on the edge of a temple with nowhere to go and [[BigBad C.T.]] pointing a gun at him. Tucker asks who sent him here. C.T. says he'll never know. |
| 462 | ** [[spoiler: Felix]] of the Chorus Trilogy, on the other hand, isn't so smart. A total dick, he loves to indulge in EvilGloating if he thinks he can get away with it. The first time, when he's captured the Reds and Blues and feels the need to express his true plans for Chorus and feelings for the Reds and Blues as a form of therapy after having been [[SurroundedByIdiots stuck with them]] for a while, although his partner [[spoiler: Locus]] thinks he should just get on with it and shoot them. Not only does this confirm to the Reds and Blues something they'd previously only suspected, it gives Carolina time to move into position to save them all. The Blood Gulchers later [[BatmanGambit take advantage of it]] to pull an EngineeredPublicConfession, counting on [[spoiler: Felix]] not being able to resist gloating when he had Tucker on the ropes. Tucker's helmet cam was recording the whole time, and caught the entire monologue. The shock gives [[spoiler: Felix]] his first case of SarcasmFailure. |
| 463 | * Almost a description of the trope itself in the ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' {{machinima}} movie ''WebAnimation/TalesOfThePast 3'', when [[spoiler: Arthas]] and [[spoiler: Blazer]] speak on top of dragon sculptures : |
| 464 | -->[[spoiler:'''Arthas:''' ''Let me tell you a little secret, Blazer. The sword you're wielding is a key -- using it, you would be able to not only undo the summoning but you might also be able to release the soul of your dear friend, Yimo.'']]\ |
| 465 | [[spoiler:'''Blazer]]:''' ''(pauses)'' Why should I believe you?\ |
| 466 | [[spoiler:'''Arthas]]:''' ''I [[VillainsNeverLie never lie]]. I'm simply telling you because there is no way you can defeat me... And I would love watching you die in agony, realizing that you failed them all... again.'' |
| 467 | [[/folder]] |
| 468 | |
| 469 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 470 | * [[http://www.adventurers-comic.com/d/0205.html In this strip]] of ''Webcomic/{{Adventurers}}'' Khrima's GenreBlind stumbling right into this trope is {{Lampshaded}} by Karn. |
| 471 | * ''Webcomic/{{Archipelago}}'': |
| 472 | ** [[spoiler: Han, after shedding his disguise]] gloats a bit, but this turns out to be a mistake. Not because of who he's gloating to, but because of their friend who hears the entire thing and enters to give him his just desserts. |
| 473 | ** Averted, however, by TheHeavy. [[spoiler: He crushes her AmplifierArtifact and drops her (seemingly) to her death as her friends watch.]]: |
| 474 | -->'''Snow''': Now, Credenza, I'll explain how this is going to work. I'm going to let you live, bound of course, as I discuss my plan in glorious detail, then I'll set up some kind of hilarious DeathTrap, while dangling your all powerful magical weapon nearby, with plenty of chances for you to escape... Oh, wait! Ha! Sorry, my mistake. That's exactly what we're not going to do. |
| 475 | * Once more, ''Webcomic/BasicInstructions'' gives us simple step by step guidelines to this practice, including how to deal with the rude assassin when he's already escaped your trap and has a gun pointed at Kitty. |
| 476 | * Used and {{Lampshaded}} in [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0329.html this]] ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids'' strip. |
| 477 | * In ''Webcomic/DangerouslyChloe'' when Teddy is confronting the currently antagonistic Sgt. Slash-Stab on [[spoiler:Chloe's whereabouts in the school]] Teddy plays up his failure and asks how far he was from victory. Slash-Stab tells Teddy gleefully the person is one corridor over, unaware [[spoiler:due to circumstances, Teddy has a second body and is mentally linked to the one talking to Slash-stab. What one knows the other knows]]. |
| 478 | --> '''Teddy:''' Oh ... Oh darn ... You sure did out fox me! And what's worse is knowing how close I came on [[spoiler:finding Chloe]]... Which was ... how far, exactly?\ |
| 479 | '''Sgt. Slash-Stab:''' The next corridor over. Knowing that ''is'' torture, isn't it? |
| 480 | * In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', during the climax of Abraham's arc, he [[http://egscomics.com/comic/2009-08-26 gives]] a long winded remorseful speech to Ellen once he believes he is alone with her about [[MotiveRant why he has to kill her]]. |
| 481 | * General Gray in the ''Webcomic/JumpLeads'' issue ''Who Wants to Rule the World?'' averts this, despite being an otherwise textbook case of ContractualGenreBlindness. After all, "before I kill you, let me tell you my plan" only works if you have any actual intention of killing the person you're talking to. |
| 482 | * Parodied in ''Webcomic/{{Narbonic}}'', when MadScientist Helen gets another scientist's henchman to explain ''her own plan'' to her as a stalling tactic. |
| 483 | -->'''Helen:''' There is no one on the side of Evil this tactic doesn't work on. |
| 484 | * In ''WebComic/TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella'' Daisy Couture is surprised that Wonderella expects her to just tell her her plans for the death ray. She asks if Wonderella's other villains just tell her their plans, to which Wonderella replies that they don't ''shut up'' about those plans. |
| 485 | * ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': |
| 486 | ** Nale parodies this trope by [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0383.html explaining his Evil Plan to himself]]. |
| 487 | --->'''Nale:''' Whew, OK. Hopefully that got my natural urge to digress into a complete explanation of my evil plan out of my system. I don't want to go all "Bond villain" and forget to finish the job. |
| 488 | ** [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0420.html Roy tells Belkar]] how they plan to cheat the system by negotiating the latter's crime down from murder to manslaughter, then accepting a deal which would knock 5 years off the four year minimum sentence... right next to Hinjo (who's a nice guy, but also LawfulGood) who promptly hands down a stiffer sentence so Belkar can't weasel out of his punishment. |
| 489 | --->'''Hinjo:''' Belkar Bitterleaf, for the crime of voluntary manslaughter , I sentence you to to spend a term in prison equal to... 6 years.\ |
| 490 | '''Belkar:''' What!?\ |
| 491 | '''Hinjo:''' Yeah, well you probably shouldn't have discussed how you plan to beat the system in front of the guy charged with upholding the system. |
| 492 | ** The black dragon mother [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0628.html explains her plan for revenge upon Vaarsuvius]]. Explaining the plan is, in fact, part of the plan. |
| 493 | ** [[BigBad Xykon]] gives Vaarsuvius a [[BreakThemByTalking Breaking Speech]] by [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0657.html outlining the wizard's core mistake]] in how [[AmbiguousGender s/he]] approached their earlier battle. Naturally, Vaarsuvius ''learns'' from what Xykon has to say and takes corrective action. |
| 494 | ** Elan's father later gives one to Elan. He explains every detail of how his plan is going to go, including his own death (that is, the father's death, not Elan's). Explaining ThePlan gives him the better result because of a GoMadFromTheRevelation effect. |
| 495 | ** Redcloak gives it a shot [[spoiler:when Tsukiko figures out part of his plan. Then he takes control of her undead servants and has them kill and eat her, then each other. And that's why you don't mess with Redcloak]]. |
| 496 | --->[[spoiler:'''Tsuriko]]:''' That... that doesn't help Xykon at all.\ |
| 497 | '''Redcloak:''' [[ILied Yes, I know. That's why I've kept it from him for more than 30 years.]] |
| 498 | ** [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0875.html Malack explains his plan to Durkon out of respect.]] Too bad TalkingIsAFreeAction was ''not'' in play. |
| 499 | ** Due to mortal Belief defining him as untrustworthy and incapable of honesty, Loki [[https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1177.html literally cannot explain to his daughter why he is working against her]]. But he ''can'' be honest with Thor, because that technically counts as EvilGloating. |
| 500 | * Hilariously subverted in ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'', where [[spoiler:gate-cloned]] captain Tagon and Brad are captured by the Gatekeepers, interrogated, and are about to be executed. Tagon tries to stall the Gatekeeper by asking him if he's going to reveal his nefarious plans, but the Gatekeeper points out how silly a mistake that would be, and then [[spoiler:kills both of them]]. He even refuses to tell the ''narrator'' any details, saying he's under [[NoFourthWall standing orders not to reveal any secrets to the narrator]]. |
| 501 | * ''Webcomic/SkinHorse'': Tip activates this reflex by [[http://skin-horse.com/2012/with-the/ deliberately not asking what the plan is]]. |
| 502 | * In ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' Torg [[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=991001 plays on Dr. Steve's]] ContractualGenreBlindness to invoke this trope. |
| 503 | -->'''Dr. Steve:''' I've decided to just shoot you and get this over with.\ |
| 504 | '''Torg:''' But wait, don't you want to reveal your master plan to me?\ |
| 505 | '''Dr. Steve:''' No.\ |
| 506 | '''Torg:''' If you were a ''real'' villain, you'd tell me your master plan before killing me.\ |
| 507 | '''Dr. Steve:''' Hmmmm...\ |
| 508 | '''Torg:''' After you tell me your master plan, you can strap me to a table and cut me in half with a laser.\ |
| 509 | '''Dr. Steve:''' How about I tie you to a chair and blind you with a pen light?\ |
| 510 | '''Torg:''' Deal!\ |
| 511 | '''Dr. Steve:''' Let's do it! |
| 512 | [[/folder]] |
| 513 | |
| 514 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 515 | * [[WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog Doctor Horrible]] taunts a frozen Captain Hammer, as well as his captive audience... [[TheMusical in song]]! |
| 516 | ** Not to mention that Captain Hammer gloated to Horrible an act earlier that he was going to sleep with Penny just to piss Horrible off. |
| 517 | * Item #7 on the EvilOverlordList advises to act as a NoNonsenseNemesis and [[WhyDontYaJustShootHim simply shoot]] one's adversary when in position to do so, rather than take unnecessary risks. |
| 518 | * In ''Roleplay/TheGamersAlliance'', Nergal the God of War confronts the heroes in the Ruined Kingdom and reveals how he was responsible for [[EveryoneMeetsEveryone bringing them together]] by guiding the events along and explains how he'll be using their actions to spark a conflict which will lead to an all-out war. That too is all part of the plan to make the heroes so angry at the revelation that they'll go on to oppose him and thus help fuel the war. |
| 519 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jao77MSC1ck This]] review of ''VideoGame/{{Genetos}}'' ends with a subversion, or rather, [[TheReveal reveals]] that the entire review was a subversion. One review actually reviews the game while the other [[CloudCuckooLander spouts nonsense]] the entire time, at the end it's discovered that his nonsense dialogue was being scrambled, and that actually he was revealing a master plan. |
| 520 | ** And no, he won't be repeating it now that the scrambler's off. |
| 521 | * The villain in ''Literature/GreekNinja'' does this with Sasha (he also hits on her, but that's unrelated). |
| 522 | * In WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic's review of ''Devil'', Shya-Amon has Critic helpless on the floor, but decides to talk at him instead of doing his usual talent-bending MindRape. |
| 523 | * Averted in the Australian FanFilm ''WebVideo/StarWarsDownunder''. The evil Darth Drongo has stolen all the beer on the planet Oradongia and is hoarding it in his fortified brewery. As beer drinking is SeriousBusiness on Oradongia, Jedi Knight Merve Bushwacker is [[INeedAFreakingDrink well and truly pissed at his inability to get pissed]]. |
| 524 | -->'''Drongo:''' I suppose you wonder why I went and pawned all this amber fluid, eh?\ |
| 525 | '''Merve:''' Nope! I don't give a stuff, mate!\ |
| 526 | '''Drongo:''' Oh well! Then in that case, mate... ''(pulls out twin lightsabers)'' it's time for you to go to buggery! |
| 527 | * ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse''. In "Razzle Dazzle", someone asks the [[Series/TheAvengers1960s Emma Peel]]-expy why the MadScientist revealed everything to her, and she points out that he's a lonely middle-aged man who's been stuck on an IslandBase for ages--of course he's going to talk to a pretty girl who [[GeekyTurnOn shows an interest in his work!]] Mostly though it's because Mephisto the Mystic needs to spin things out until TheCavalry arrives, because his scams work best if the hero thinks he's won (usually this supervillain stuff is just a distraction while a more mundane and profitable crime happens elsewhere). |
| 528 | * In ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', having outmaneuvered [[spoiler:[[DiabolicalMastermind Coil]]]], Tattletale is more than willing to explain to him precisely how she had outmaneuvered him before [[spoiler:Skitter shoots him in the head.]] Amusingly, she only got the opportunity to do this because [[VillainProtagonist Skitter]] got him to monologue about his own plans and how ''he'' had outmaneuvered ''them.'' |
| 529 | [[/folder]] |
| 530 | |
| 531 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 532 | * ''WesternAnimation/AllHailKingJulien'' has Julien's self-proclaimed arch nemesis Karl, who wants to defeat Julien to show to the world how brilliant he is, and thus has an addiction to complicated plans that he needs to go over in great detail to make sure everyone understands how smart he is. |
| 533 | -->'''Karl:''' I bet you're wondering how I came up with such an ingenious, uber-complicated plan such as this.\ |
| 534 | '''Julien:''' No, not really.\ |
| 535 | '''Karl:''' Good, because I'm going to tell you. |
| 536 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' featured a villain in one episode who was ''contractually obligated'' to do this sort of thing. |
| 537 | * ''WesternAnimation/BarbieAndTheDiamondCastle'': [[VainSorceress Lydia]], after capturing Liana, takes the time to explain exactly how she tricked her because she knows that Liana took off the necklace that [[DeflectorShields warded off]] her [[{{Brainwashed}} mind-control spell]]. |
| 538 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode [[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE25TheClockKing "The Clock King"]], Fugate left a TheTapeKnewYouWouldSayThat speech where he outlines his Evil Plan (the DeathTrap) to Batman ''including information on how to stop it exactly when Batman needs to hear it''. |
| 539 | ** In her debut episode [[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE5PrettyPoison "Pretty Poison"]] Poison Ivy feels comfortable divulging why she targeted Harvey Dent for assassination to a [[VineTentacles flytrap entangled]] Batman, savoring the audience he provides for her [[MotiveRant unhinged speech]], aware that what they're moments from [[KissOfDeath sharing]] will ensure her secret dies with him. |
| 540 | * ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' also played with this in the episode "Dark Designs", where an attempt to brainwash GentleGiant Rhinox into a Predacon goes off without a hitch... then [[FromBadToWorse goes straight to the Pit]]. When the evil Rhinox has Megatron backed into a corner, he starts up with this, to which Megatron responds: "Sometimes Predacons '''gloat''' too much!" |
| 541 | * ''WesternAnimation/Birdman1967'' episode "The Wild Weird West". After Birdman is captured by Dr. Kordo and Jesse Johns (a descendant of Jesse James), Johns tells Birdman that their next job will be kidnapping the state governor and holding him as a hostage. Dr. Kordo {{Lampshades}} it by telling Jesse that he talks too much. |
| 542 | * Played with in ''WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand'': Zurg tries [[EvilGloating gloating]] without giving Buzz any specific information he could use to foil his EvilPlan. |
| 543 | -->'''Zurg:''' There's this place, and I'm going to destroy it, in a way they would never expect.\ |
| 544 | '''Buzz:''' Sweet mother of Venus! [[BatDeduction You're going to destroy Capital Planet with a secret attack fleet launched through a trans-spacial warp!]]\ |
| 545 | '''Zurg:''' [[OhCrap No! How did you do that?]] |
| 546 | * In ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck,'' Negaduck explains in minute detail just how each DeathTrap will kill its Justice Duck victim when he throws... the ''Switch''!. |
| 547 | ** {{Lampshaded}} and subverted in another episode, where DW tries to goad Icy Vanderchill into telling him her scheme, to which she responds, "What? ''Reveal my plan?'' [[WhoWouldWantToWatchUs What do you think this is, a cheap cartoon?]]" |
| 548 | * Subverted in the ''WesternAnimation/DogCity'' episode "Disobedience School", when Bugsy Vile has Ace Hart captured, and Ace demands to know what Bugsy's scheme is. Bugsy responds, "Traditionally, this is when the bad guy reveals his master plan to the doomed hero...''but not this time!''" However, later in the episode, when he has Ace ChainedToARailway, he reveals what place he's going to rob. |
| 549 | * From an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Duckman}}'': "They never just kill ya. There's always a lecture." |
| 550 | * ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' had one of these in the episode And Then There Were Fewer, where [[spoiler:Lois discovers that Diane Simmons was the killer of [[NotQuiteDead James Woods]], Stephanie, [[KilledOffForReal Muriel Goldman]], Derek Wilcox, and Priscilla while blaming Tom Tucker for the crimes. Diane decides to explain to her that it was all part of her plan to take revenge on James and Tom for breaking up with her and costing her her job respectively.]] |
| 551 | * Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' episode "Tak: The Hideous New Girl," where Tak explains part one of her plan to cause TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt to Zim and then ''immediately'' enacts it. When she tries to explain the rest of the plan however, Zim, [[WontTakeYesForAnAnswer being Zim]], [[OverlyLongGag repeatedly]] interrupts her with screaming until a frustrated Tak simply leaves. |
| 552 | ** And in a later episode: |
| 553 | --->'''Zim:''' I'm infecting this city with genetically enhanced vermin. But you'll never know!\ |
| 554 | '''Dib:''' But... you just told me.\ |
| 555 | '''Zim:''' YOU'RE LYING! |
| 556 | ** In "Room With a Moose" Zim admits that he's telling Dib his evil plan because he's the [[WorthyOpponent only human smart enough to appreciate it]]. Plus it involved a flight through space, so they had time to kill anyway. It was still enough for Dib to thwart it, though. |
| 557 | * Dr. Zin to Dr. Quest in ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'' TOS episodes "The Robot Spy" and "The Fraudulent Volcano". Justified in the former when Dr. Zin notes that he thinks showing off his robot does no harm considering that his enemies will not be able to stop it leaving. When the Robot makes a break for it, Quest, Race Bannon and staff of the military base learn that their enemy wasn't bluffing as they are stymied for a way to bring the machine down. |
| 558 | * Exploited in the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' crossover episode of ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'', where Brainiac explains his plans to Static and Gear to distract them until his robot can attack them from behind. |
| 559 | * ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'': In the movie ''A Sitch In Time,'' Future Shego has victory in the palm of her hand... until Dr. Drakken ([[DemotedToDragon now her sidekick]]) talks her into gloating. Listing all the times Drakken himself has lost because of his own monologuing would cause this page to collapse under its own weight. |
| 560 | ** In one particular episode, this happened to Drakken ''three times'' in [[FailureMontage a montage sequence]] that lasted maybe a minute, tops. The last time, Kim and Ron manage to escape before Drakken could get as far as "And so, Kim Possible, you must watch as I-- GAH!!!" |
| 561 | ** In the first episode, Shego had convinced Drakken not to gloat while carrying out the mission. Good girl. |
| 562 | ** At one point, Drakken even delivers a visual presentation to Kim on how he intends to [[DeathTrap dispose of her]]. |
| 563 | ** Senor Senior, Sr., having taken up supervillainy as a hobby fit for an EccentricMillionaire, adheres to ContractualGenreBlindness and considers this to be good form. |
| 564 | ** Kim's high school rival Bonnie is [[ChainedHeat attached to her]] in "Bonding" and interrupts Professor Dementor's ranting to ask why he doesn't just get on with his plan. Annoyed, both Dementor and Kim tell her that that's the way these things are done. |
| 565 | * In [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes "A Wild Hare"]], Elmer Fudd comes to realize the figure he's chatting with is the rabbit he's after (Bugs Bunny, who was unnamed here): |
| 566 | -->'''Elmer:''' Pardon me, but you know, you wook just wike a wabbit.\ |
| 567 | '''Rabbit:''' Eh, c'mere. (''softly'') Now don't go spreadin' this around, but, uh, confidentially...(''full volume'') '''I ''AM'' A WABBIT!!!''' |
| 568 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfSuperman'' episode "The Saboteurs". The villain "The Chief" tells Comicbook/LoisLane and Clark Kent his plan after he captures them. |
| 569 | * This is likely Sneekly's greatest flaw in ''WesternAnimation/ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop''. It seems he has an ''obsession'' with explaining every little detail of every DeathTrap to her, which either gives her information she needs to escape from it or gives her -- or the Ant Hill Mob -- time to do so. (And he never learned.) |
| 570 | * Constantly parodied {{Subverted|Trope}}, {{Inverted|Trope}} and {{Lampshaded}} OnceAnEpisode in ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' when Perry the Platypus is captured by Dr. Doofenshmirtz in his lair. Sometimes Perry and Dr. Doofenshmirtz act as good friends, though Perry never fails to thwart the villain anyway. The EvilGloating thing seems to be part of the Secret Agent[=/=]Evil Scientist contract. Doofensmirtz even says that since Perry's his nemesis, he has to tell him everything. Sometimes with visual presentations, pop-up books or musical numbers [[SummonBackupDancers complete with backing dancers]]. |
| 571 | * Spoofed in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', where thanks to Homer, Bond loses his card game bet against Ernst Stavro Blofeld. As he's being carried off by the henchmen Bond exclaims, "That's impossible. I don't lose. I never lose! Well, at least tell me the details of your plot for world domination!" Blofeld replies, "Oh-ho-ho, I'm not going to fall for that one again." |
| 572 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "La Petite Tourette", Cartman explains his master plan to Kyle while dressed in a purple bathrobe and serving him Scotch...well, actually apple juice. Basically, he behaves like a Bond villain. |
| 573 | * ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "The Jihad". After Charr is revealed as TheMole, he reveals his plan to start a holy war between his people, the Skorr, and the rest of the galaxy. |
| 574 | * Subverted in the first episode of ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'' when Ludo and his minions surround Star and Marco. |
| 575 | -->'''Star:''' Ludo! How did you know I was here?\ |
| 576 | '''Ludo:''' ''[chuckling]'' Wouldn't you like to know?\ |
| 577 | '''Star:''' [[RhetoricalQuestionBlunder Yes. That's why I asked]].\ |
| 578 | '''Ludo:''' Well, Buff Frog-- Hey! I don't have to tell you anything! Get her! |
| 579 | * Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious does this in ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' when [[spoiler:he goads Fives into attacking him by telling him about Order 66 offscreen, then brands him as a traitorous lunatic which leads to his death.]] |
| 580 | * Inverted in ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' when [[spoiler:Obi-Wan Kenobi finally kills Darth Maul. Obi-Wan informs Maul that he is guarding TheChosenOne on Tatooine, and Maul dies content with the knowledge that Luke will eventually avenge them both.]] |
| 581 | * In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/StormHawks'', a {{mook}} comes up with a plan to become an AscendedExtra. When he captures the heroes by sheer luck, he decides to get back to his master plan. Upon seeing the Storm Hawks' eager faces, he adds, "Which I ''won't'' discuss in front of ''you''!" |
| 582 | * Used repeatedly -- and {{Lampshaded}} at least once -- in ''WesternAnimation/TheTick'': |
| 583 | -->'''Chairface Chippendale:''' ''(with the Tick, Arthur and American Maid at his mercy)'' Ah, [[ThisIsThePartWhere this must be the part where]] I reveal my sinister plot! |
| 584 | * Expositional villains are part of the ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'' routine. Once having made their full appearance in an episode, they explain their motives and their, typically revenge-driven, plans, then put the Spies into convoluted Bond villain's traps to give them time to escape and kick their asses for the last time. In episode 8 of Season 3, titled "Morphing Is Sooo 1987", however, Tim Scam, a recurring villain just subverts the genre out of the blue by saying, "Save your breath, I'm ''not'' going to explain it." |
| 585 | * ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' has this happening between ''two villains''. Starscream has Megatron cornered and helpless, but being something of a LargeHam, he of course takes time to gloat. Bumblebee then bursts in, scoring a direct hit on Starscream with his stingers... which does nothing. He then goes berserk, mostly concerned that, as he put it: |
| 586 | -->'''Starscream:''' ''You interrupted my '''SPEECH'''!'' |
| 587 | * ''WesternAnimation/YoungSamsonAndGoliath'' episode "The Terrible Doctor Desto". After the title villain captures Samson he gives him a demonstration of his Time Shield in action. |
| 588 | [[/folder]] |
| 589 |
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