Basic Trope: A villain who isn't "active" any longer, but hasn't made a Heel–Face Turn.
- Straight: Darkdoom has killed people for hire and tortured people and quit crime because he has earned enough money to quit.
- Exaggerated: Darkdoom was a child molester, genocidal maniac and an Evil Overlord but is a family man, who still remembers these days with glee.
- Downplayed:
- Darkdoom, a petty thief and an unrepentant jerk, decides simply to take it easy for a while.
- Buy Them Off
- Darkdoom isn't entirely retired, he might give a word of advice for an up a coming villain, maybe show them some connections.
- Retired Outlaw
- Justified:
- He was forced to quit, but he knows too much to be punished.
- He just got too old for the job and decided to quit, but was never caught.
- Inverted:
- Lighthope, a Retired Badass of Tropetown, decides to return to his duties.
- The Atoner
- Evil Old Folks
- Subverted:
- Darkdoom only pretended to retire... he plans to stage a power grab of this country.
- Alternately, Darkdoom claims to regret nothing, but is actually wracked with guilt and only needs a good push to become The Atoner.
- Reformed, but Not Tamed
- Double Subverted:
- ... but he finds it eventually uninteresting and pathetic, and returns to his private life.
- Darkdoom regrets nothing, but finds it useful to "admit" to some fake regrets when pushed so those annoying hero types leave him alone.
- Parodied: Darkdoom retires, and constantly tell tales of his villainy, proudly boasting of him Poking The Poodle at every step.
- Zig Zagged: Darkdoom retires and feels some guilt for his actions, but then returns to become a Noble Demon crime lord.
- Averted:
- Darkdoom has made a Heel–Face Turn and stops being a villain without retiring.
- Darkdoom doesn't retire at all, or is killed/imprisoned before doing so.
- Enforced: Darkdoom doesn't have a logical reason to appear in the sequel, but having him arrested or killed offscreen would be unsatisfying.
- Lampshaded: ???
- Invoked: The protagonist offers Darkdoom amnesty if he retires, knowing this will keep him out of trouble.
- Exploited: Darkdoom's schemes involve cozying up to people who can help him disappear into obscurity once he completes his evil objectives.
- Defied:
- Darkdoom decides that he'd rather be a villain for all his life.
- Darkdoom realizes the heroes will never leave him be until he repents, and makes a Heel–Face Turn.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Implied: It is never revealed what Darkdoom actually did in his youth, but it is suggested he may have been evil.
- Deconstructed:
- Darkdoom is a an unrepentant career criminal who manages to quit... but his crimes aren't quickly forgotten and he's hunted across the world for daring to retire, being forced to live in hiding from his enemies and constantly changes his IDs.
- Darkdoom quits his villainy after receiving more than enough money to live a wealthy life, but he suddenly feels remorse for all of the crimes he's committed to achieve it, but he can't take them back and has to live in misery.
- Reconstructed: Darkdoom does it because of his age, changes his identity, having earned enough money to live rich. He is proud of his crimes and regrets only being old.
- Played For Laughs: There is an entire retirement home populated by ex-villains who have grown old and tired of a life of crime.
Back to Retired Monster
