Basic Trope: A fearsome villain who is powerful enough to kill even the toughest heroes.
- Straight:
- General Drake defeats and kills Bob in battle without much difficulty.
- The Black Knight is feared throughout the land for his reputation as a traveling hero slayer, killing any knight, mage, dragon, or other creature that seeks to end his bloodshed. His introduction had him kill the Mentor Archetype.
- The Red Baron earned his reputation after winning a dogfight against The Ace.
- Exaggerated:
- Drake kills the entire Five-Man Band without breaking a sweat.
- Drake kills heroes on a regular basis, and the whole "fight" looks less like a fight and more like a Mook Horror Show.
- The entire story revolves around the only heroes the Black Knight HASN'T already axed off and their Cat & Mouse game of running away and fighting back in an attempt to keep the kingdom alive.
- The Red Baron singlehandedly took down the entire enemy army.
- Downplayed:
- Drake kills Bob, but only after ambushing him while he is vulnerable and exhausted, and even then, Bob puts up quite a fight.
- Drake curb stomps Bob, and leaves him for dead.
- Drake doesn't kill Bob, but he does depower him and/or seal him away.
- Justified:
- Bob may be strong, but he's still mortal. It's only a matter of time before someone stronger comes along and takes him down.
- Drake, unlike his fellow Mooks, is a Professional Killer, and he means business.
- Drake is a Laser-Guided Tyke-Bomb designed to kill Bob.
- Drake is an Eldritch Abomination, and unfortunately for Bob, he's inside a Cosmic Horror Story.
- Inverted: Bob is a One-Man Army who is infamous for killing numerous strong villains, including the feared General Drake, therefore dubbing him as a Villain Killer.
- Subverted:
- Bob survives his encounter with Drake.
- Drake revives Bob after being defeated by the other heroes.
- Double Subverted:
- Only to die by his second encounter with him.
- Alternately Drake turns around to finish the job.
- Only to reveal that Bob has become Drake's undead minion.
- Parodied: Drake's mansion is decorated with the heads of all the heroes he has slain, just as if they were hunting trophies. And he loves telling the stories of each one of them as if he was talking about fishing trips!
- Zig Zagged: Drake defeats and kills Charlie, but he is easily defeated and driven away by Bob. But Bob just got lucky and Drake stomps him in their next encounter... only for Drake to be killed off by Alice.
- Averted: General Drake isn't a Hero Killer.
- Enforced: The creators want to establish that Anyone Can Die.
- Lampshaded: "We shouldn't fight this guy. He can actually kill us."
- Invoked: Drake studies the fighting styles and tactics of Bob and his team so that he can find ways to counter and kill them.
- Exploited: The boss just decides to send Drake to take care of the heroes whenever they bother him.
- Defied:
- Bob and co. avoid Drake at all costs.
- Bob and his True Companions stand their ground and defeat Drake against all odds.
- Discussed: "General Drake is easily the most dangerous man alive. Anyone who dares to cross him is either insane or suicidal."
- Conversed: "See that scary-looking guy? By the end of the episode, he'll have killed off someone."
- Deconstructed:
- Drake's power draws the attention of other heroes who decide to team up and focus all their effort on killing him, as he is easily the biggest threat to them.
- Or, Bob's death so enrages his Five-Man Band that they go on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against Drake.
- Drake's boss becomes afraid of Drake's power and orders him executed out of paranoia that Drake may betray him.
- And in a meta sense, the "Shaggy Dog" Story trope.
- Drake's too powerful to kill in single combat...So the heroes murder him in his sleep instead.
- Bob died at the hands of Drake, sure, but it was the result of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and Drake is given a reputation as a result that he doesn't deserve, becomes increasingly overblown and he doesn't have the competence to maintain it. When the time comes for the truth to be exposed, heads will roll, starting with Drake's.
- Drake killed Bob but, because of plot reasons (nobody saw it, his boss is more concerned about how much he destroyed to get Bob in a fireball too big for him to dodge, he is more concerned about how Bob resurrected ten seconds later with stronger powers, the heroes seem to not care that Bob died or whatever) Drake never gets the reputation.
- Drake easily kills Bob without breaking a sweat, but his heart still feels empty. He is now left to wander the Earth looking for a new purpose in life.
- Drake's focus on killing heroes only serves to martyr them, while the mundane Red Shirt Army he ignores causes far more problems in the long run.
- Reconstructed:
- ...But Drake easily cuts down all of the heroes.
- Drake finds out about the boss's plot and assassinates him instead. Drake then becomes the new main villain.
- Even in his deep, dreamless sleep, killing Drake is easier said than done.
- When the inevitable madness comes gunning for Drake, he will be forced to fight back and kill more heroes to survive. Result: Rebuilt Pedestal... the villainous version, at least.
- Played For Laughs: Bob is killed by Drake in every episode in increasingly absurd and comical ways.
- Played For Drama: Drake manages to kill Bob, and the team's last hope of winning against the invasion.
- Played For Horror: Bob's death is the beginning of a bloody Mook Horror Show, with the hero team playing the part of the "mooks".
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