Basic Trope: Someone performs villainous acts only because something/someone is forcing them to..
- Straight: Pvt. Alice is a minion under Evil Overlord Bob who forces her to fight Champion Charlie.
- Exaggerated: Pvt. Alice is a minion under Evil Overlord Bob who forces her to rape Champion Charlie.
- Downplayed: Pvt. Alice is a minion under Evil Overlord Bob who forces her to be a nuisance to Champion Charlie's life.
- Justified:
- Pvt. Alice is under ransom or Evil Overlord Bob has a hostage.
- Pvt. Alice is under Mind Control by Evil Overlord Bob or is an entity created by Bob’s magic who will die without him.
- Inverted:
- Overlord Bob is blackmailed by Champion Charlie into being a hero when he wants to do evil.
- Alice is a villainous character who has no choice but to stay loyal to the heroes because the rest of the Dark Side wants her dead and will never take her back.
- Subverted: Alice is a minion under Evil Overlord Bob who forces her to fight Champion Charlie... and she likes it.
- Double Subverted: ...Except that's all a facade.
- Zig-Zagged: Pvt. Alice serves Bob out of fear but her comrades do so willingly… until it turns out that Bob implanted explosive chips into them so they can be remotely killed if they disobey. It then turns out this is only used on some of them… but many of them are still scared witless of Bob for unexplained reasons.
- Parodied: ???
- Averted: Pvt. Alice is working for Overlord Bob under her own free will.
- Enforced: ???
- Lampshaded:Alice: Sorry, Charlie. Overlord Bob pays my bills. Also, he'll kill my mother if I don't obey.
- Invoked: Overlord Bob deliberately puts people into miserable situations where they have no choice but to serve him because he likes tormenting people For the Evulz.
- Exploited: Champion Charlie befriends Alice and uses her connections with Overlord Bob to learn about his evil plans.
- Defied: Alice makes it clear that she would rather be killed by Charlie.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Deconstructed: ???
Return to Trapped in Villainy here.
