Line #9 PlayingWith/BigBadWannabe


1	'''Basic Trope''': A dangerous character tries to be the BigBad, but they lack in too many necessary characteristics to properly fulfill the role.
2	* '''Straight''': Alex is a mobster who wants to rule Las Vegas. But because he's ultimately a small-time crook whose biggest and only asset is his gun, he's swept aside by General Evil, a legitimate supervillain who cements himself as the larger threat.
3	* '''Exaggerated''':
4	** Alex desperately wants to be a DimensionLord, but cannot as he easily gets knocked out by a sneeze.
5	** HarmlessVillain.
6	* '''Downplayed''':
7	** Alex wants to rule the playground, but Francis can always out-bully him.
8	** General Evil defeats Alex, but [[DefeatMeansFriendship takes him on]] as his [[TheDragon second-in-command]].
9	** Alex was the legit BigBad in the first season. He just CantCatchUp as the stakes rise.
10	** Alex is the legitimate main antagonist of the story, but is either incompetent or a small fry compared to the [[VillainOfAnotherStory distant and uninvolved General Evil]].
11	** Alex is a mobster who is pushed into irrelevance by General Evil, but General Evil is TooPowerfulToLive while Alex ends the story as he began it, a small-time but successful criminal.
12	* '''Justified''':
13	** Alex believes he's the only person bad enough to rule Las Vegas but lacks the skills.
14	** Alternately, Alex has the skills, but someone else is an even better candidate.
15	** General Evil is Alex's DragonInChief.
16	** Alex is indeed very powerful and threatening on his own and would have been the BigBad if it wasn't for General Evil who has supernatural powers.
17	* '''Inverted''':
18	** Alex wants to help Las Vegas as the BigGood, but he is second-best to a philanthropist.
19	** Alex truly is the biggest bad there is, but fears there's AlwaysSomeoneBetter.
20	** Despite his competence, Alex doesn't want to be the BigBad; he's [[TheCreon happier]] as General Evil's HypercompetentSidekick.
21	* '''Subverted''': General Evil initially seems to be a far more serious and credible threat than Alex and gives Alex a beating to prove it. Ultimately, however, Alex gets his revenge and [[HijackedByGanon returns to the spotlight]].
22	* '''Double Subverted''': After his first defeat, Alex makes a credible attempt to return to BigBad status. He fails, and General Evil ensures he won't be able to try again.
23	* '''Parodied''': Alex wants to rule Las Vegas, and he tries everything he can to do so. He often ends up helping Betty get into a position of power each time he tries
24	* '''Zig Zagged''': Alex desperately wants to rule Las Vegas. But wait, the current leader of Las Vegas is actually a projection of his mind, technically meaning that he's actually already ruling the city. He doesn't know this, and inadvertently destroys the projection. With anarchy ruling the streets, it's easy for Alex to take control. Later, Alex himself gets killed in an accident.
25	* '''Averted''': Alex has a realistic assumption of his abilities and doesn't even try to take centre stage.
26	* '''Enforced''':
27	** The writer wanted to show Alex as a failure in every respect: Evil, useless, misguided. They decided to use this way to show what a loser he was.
28	** Alex is meant to be a red herring.
29	* '''Lampshaded''': "Alex really seems to be overshooting his abilities, doesn't he? Doesn't seem like he would ever be capable of ruling a lot less than Vegas".
30	* '''Invoked''': Betty wants there to be a distraction while she works on something behind the scenes, so she gives "inspirational" speeches to Alex to egg him into becoming a distraction by giving him ambitions that don't match his skill.
31	* '''Exploited''': Other villains regularly trick Alex into doing things that he thinks will make him more powerful, but that really only helps the other villains' goals.
32	* '''Defied''': Alex takes a few moments to think about what he's done in his goal to rule, and stops once he realizes how poor a job he's doing.
33	* '''Discussed''': ???
34	* '''Conversed''': ???
35	* '''Deconstructed''': Alex aspires to be the greatest villain of all time, but only because it is what society expects of him rather than what he wants to do with his life. He only pulls a gradual Heel-Face Turn in response to someone finally showing moral support.
36	* '''Played For Laughs''': Alex is a NoRespectGuy to everyone in-universe, and his [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption inevitable hilarious failure]] is a OnceAnEpisode [[RunningGag gag]].
37	* '''Played For Drama''':
38	** While Alex will never be able to get a position of power, his recklessness makes him an even more dangerous foe than the BigBad.
39	** Alex is the VillainProtagonist and the series [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain focuses on his constant failure]] [[TheStarscream to usurp the role of lead villain]].
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41	Back to BigBadWannabe
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43	%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:
44	%%
45	%%* '''Implied''': ???

Context PlayingWith / BigBadWannabe