Basic Trope: The villain falsely proclaims victory ahead of time.
- Straight: Emperor Evulz is at the height of his power. The Artifact of Power has been pacified and is firmly under his control, Bob is being lowered into a large tankard of boiling acid filled with monstrous sharks, while Alice and Charlie are in prison. He declares victory, and starts bellowing and gloating uncontrollably. But in this lapse of self-control, the artifact seizes control over his mind, forcing him to open every last electronically locked door in his Supervillain Lair so he could escape, allowing Bob's team escape, who then shut the trapdoor over the Shark Pool and free The Hero, and capture Evulz, who, of course, remarks that This Cannot Be!
- Exaggerated: The Empire has succeeded in conquering the world, and all the heroes are dead. Evulz so much as considers the possibility that victory may or may not be attainable at that very moment. He and his Empire are Retgoned in one second.
- Downplayed: Evulz seeks to boost the morale of his Mooks by reassuring them of their ultimate victory, but advises them to exercise caution.
- Justified:
- Evulz is a Smug Snake.
- The Empire sits comfortably on a sound foundation of countless consecutive victories. So why should a group of ragtag, upstart children shaken Evulz's faith in his success?
- Evulz has low self-esteem and requires any re-affirmation of his greatness, even at his own peril.
- Inverted:
- Bob, along with Alice and Charlie, are given a Hope Spot after being the local Butt Monkeys of the series; They've got the Artifact of Power to themselves, Evulz is getting his ass hauled to jail, while Lady Scarlett and General Drake are currently still stuck in the trap that Alice and Charlie rigged and are also to be sent to jail, and the trio cheer for victory. And then The Brutes Electro-Man and Hellraiser tear through the police and frees Evulz, and also come back to get Scarlett and Draco, while also managing to capture Bob, Alice, and Charlie. Bob laments that they were so close to victory.
- It cannot possibly get worse from here.
- Everything Can Stop Us Now
- Nothing Can Save Us Now
- Subverted: Evulz is tempted to commit the greatest sin an aspiring world conquerer or other Evil Overlord could possibly commit. But then he shuts his mouth and focuses on the task at hand.
- Double Subverted: And then he breaks out laughing against his better judgement anyways.
- Parodied: Evulz succeeds in seizing and devouring a candy from a baby. Nothing can stop his plans for world domination now.
- Zig-Zagged: Evulz assassinates his predecessor and supercedes and considers prematurely declaring invincibility, but then decides that he should wish to properly assess his resources and abilities. This is only the beginning, after all. But then he boasts when all of his political rivals were disposed of in a way such that their deaths were made to look like an accident. But then he shuts up and stays silent as the heroes are dealt with swiftly.
- Averted:
- Enforced:
- The show is a Sugar Bowl or other story where The Good Guys Always Win, so it follows that, even if Evulz gets close tp victory, he'll end up throwing it all away for a moment of self-satisfaction.
- The story is suppose to illustrate the pitfalls of Pride.
- Lampshaded: "As the villain of the story, I cannot win. Ergo, I must sabotage myself in the form of denial of vulnerability."
- Invoked: An arrogant enemy is a weak enemy, and Bob knows this. So he works towards pumping up Evulz's head until he can no longer understand why he isn't invincible.
- Exploited: General Drake seeks to exploit Emperor Evulz's Pride and belief that the heroes could not possibly defeat him; a sortie is not required to relieve the siege at Montfort in Überwald, and as such, the heroes sucessfully Storm the Castle. This Cannot Be! Emperor Evulz, being the absolute devil he is, is goaded forth by Drake to retake the fortress himself and demonstrate his Villainous Valour. There are exactly three possibilities, all leading to varying degrees of success for the general: Emperor Evulz reigns victorious, the heroes are all dead, and he, recognizing Drake's 'wisdom' nominates him as his advisor and Dragon-in-Chief while he untowardly becomes a mere puppet; Emperor Evulz is slain by the heroes, and Drake amplifies the magnitude of his failure and ignorance and seizes supreme power in his stead; or both Evulz and the heroes die in lockstep, which is even better.
- Defied: 24. I will maintain a realistic assessment of my strengths and weaknesses.
- Discussed: "So, then, I guess This Is the Part Where... Evulz raves on and on about his invincibility?"
- Conversed: "Evulz seems like a humble guy."
- Deconstruction: I cannot possibly fail! Devoting his faith in the infallibility of his empire and his grand design, it should come as no surprise that, when it all collapses around him, when all that he had built falls into ruin, when all of his soldiers perish around him fighting a hopeless war, so declared in his own name, Evulz finally breaks. And in his bunker, as he dives into the bottomless sinkhole of despair, the final thing he can speak out with clarity is but a string of words: All the death, the destruction, it was All for Nothing, all because of my damned ego.
Nothing Can Stop Us Now!, adversary!
