Basic Trope: The one causing the conflict.
- Straight: Emperor Evulz, who rules the Land of Shadows with an Iron Fist, causes chaos and misery for all when he decides to expand his territory. This forces the Five-Man Band to rise up and defeat him.
- Exaggerated: Emperor Evulz is so powerful that there is no conceivable way he can be defeated.
- Justified: Evulz is dangerously savvy in politics, and combined with his dark sorcery, he's able to get himself into a leadership position with ease.
- Inverted:
- Subverted:
- Emperor Evulz's actually a figurehead for the real big bad, King Bubba the First.
- Evulz is really a Well-Intentioned Extremist and is using his status to prepare the heroes for some great challenge in the future.
- Double Subverted: In reality, King Bubba the First is just an alias of the Emperor.
- Parodied: Emperor Evulz is a total dunce who whines like a little baby when a gambit or two of his goes south.
- Deconstructed:
- Reconstructed:
- Zig Zagged: Emperor Evulz turns out to be a lesser threat than some of the others around him. He gets into frequent Enemy Mine situations with the Five-Man Band, but by the end of the episode, it's back to business as usual.
- Averted:
- Emperor Evulz doesn't even last half the season.
- Or the show relies entirely on the Monster of the Week format.
- Enforced: "We need a source of conflict, and nothing says conflict like an evil overlord."
- Lampshaded: "Why can't the guys with armies, big fortresses, and infinite resources ever be on our side?
- Invoked: "I'll get those five warriors, or my name isn't Emperor Evulz! And I know just how to do it: raise an evil army, and use my massive funds to rise through the political ranks as well!"
- Defied: Emperor Evulz is actually one of several Big Bads in the series, none of whom have much influence over the Myth Arc.
- Discussed: "I just know there's someone behind all this."
- Conversed: "There's always some evil boss guy controlling all the littler evil guys."
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