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Basic Trope: Evil brings the best out of the heroes.

  • Straight: Emperor Evulz gloats to Captain Justice that he brings the best out of him.
  • Exaggerated: Emperor Evulz declares that everyone is complete because of all of the evils that he and the other villains have caused.
  • Downplayed: Evulz admits that Captain Justice has always been impressive,but still maintains that fighting him as benefited the hero.
  • Justified: Evulz feels that his heinous actions are a necessity, and, unfortunately, he does have a point.
  • Inverted:
    • Captain Justice tells Emperor Evulz that heroes bring the best out of the villains.
    • Emperor Evulz brags to Captain Justice that he has compromised on all of his moral principles to defeat Evulz, revealing his true colours.
  • Subverted: Evulz acknowledges that Captain Justice has done great works of good by helping other good people.
  • Double Subverted: He raises this point to follow it up by saying that Captain Justice would be a bit player rather than a renowned hero without some grand evil to put things into perspective.
  • Parodied: "You don't understand, Captain Justice! How will people ever know not to hog all the cookies in the cookie jar if nobody's around to rip their confectionery dreams away?"
  • Zig Zagged: Evulz actually goes into a lengthy internal debate about whether or not he's benefitted Captain Justice.
  • Averted:
    • Evil doesn't bring the best out of the heroes.
    • The setting has no characters that can definitively be classified as evil.
  • Enforced: It has become a meme in the fanbase that Captain Justice has only achieved anything because of his nemesis, and the producers decide it's time for the meme to ascend.
  • Lampshaded: "Is that why people are running amok? Because of necessity?"
  • Invoked: Evulz witnesses the complacency of the ordinary folk around his empire and decides to antagonise them to see what heroes crawl out of the woodwork to defeat him.
  • Exploited: A more corporate-minded superhero system allows evil to run around because a safe and satisfied city means less revenue from the ensuing battles. Likewise, monetizing the conflict means that whether evil or good triumphs, the investors still win overall.
  • Defied: "Enough of your pitiful excuses! Goodness does NOT need evil! Evil needs to be eliminated!"
  • Discussed: ???
  • Conversed: ???
  • Deconstructed: This ends up being a preamble for a We Can Rule Together speech, pointing out that Captain Justice will lose his prestige if he defeats Evulz for good. Captain Justice's confidence has been so fully broken by this revelation that he accepts.
  • Reconstructed: Captain Justice decides that his personal glory is not as important as defeating Evulz, and he decides to keep fighting even though victory may not be the best outcome for him personally.
  • Played For Laughs: As Evulz continues his speech, he proceeds to suggest that Captain Justice romantically "needs" Evulz, much to the hero's horror.

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