A villain getting less threatening over time is a valid, objective, tool of story telling. You wouldn't call the Sorting Algorithm of Evil a subjective trope, or Shonen Upgrade a subjective trope and this shouldn't be either.

Tropes Are Not Bad, people need to get over that their favorite villain has dropped his threat level.

The problem is people seem to think that the word "decay" means it's Bad Writing. So people use it to bash.

Then perhaps it should be renamed to Villain Becomes Weaker or something?

Edit:

Or not. Still, this does look like another excuse where the name makes the trope sound more like a subjective License To Whine then it should be.

I agree that it should be objective - I'm just not sure that it won't be misused for subjective whining, especially with that "Decay" in the name.

edited 31st May '11 11:00:02 PM by nrjxll

Here is how the trope can be objective.

Paper Mario, Bowser is the main antagonist, the Big Bad, the driver of the plot, the Final Boss.

Paper Mario Thousand Year Door Bowser is a joke, a shadow of his former self, his bumbling just makes the new villain look better.

Super Paper Mario, Bowser joins the heroes. Decay complete. No longer a threat, not even a villain anymore, he even has a More Hero than Thou scene.

Move it out of the subjective bin and just limit it to objective examples.

Bumping Because Its True.

I agree. This shouldn't be subjective, and the title might make some people think this is "villain + Bad Writing + time".

It's one of those tropes that though it can be objective, still causes natter.

For the Mario example above, what about Super Mario Galaxy, where he plots to destroy the universe and remake it in his own image? That seems to be a serious reversal of Villain Decay, wouldn't it?

Well no one said it had to be a linear progression of decay.

edited 11th Aug '11 8:23:17 PM by MousaThe14

Yes, and it is also objective reversal of decay. He's a villain again, and he's a threatening villain again. Took a Level in Badass isn't subjective is it?(much as I hate the name)

There is no reason this needs to be subjective other then the unnecessarily negative name. All in favor of renaming all tropes with "Decay" in their name, say "aye".

Aye.

Aye, mon.

Perhaps Villain Drift or Villain Demotion would be better names for this trope.

I think this is one of the few that can work with the "decay" name. Drift implies morality is changing, or who the villain is is changing, or something else other than this trope. And Villain Demotion sounds like one villain gets replaced by another—which, to be fair, is related, but not this trope.

Aye. Drift is better in some circumstances, not this one.

Villain Mellowing? As in the villain sort of mellows out from being a horrible monster to just being a douchebag?

Aye.

Dunno where I stand, But...Lowered Villain Difficulty seems less charged.

edited 6th Sep '11 1:50:38 PM by Aiguille

So we have to rename it to remove it from the subjective bin? Whatever, I like Villain Drops In Threat Level, or Lowered Villain Threat

BAM!

edited 12th Sep '11 4:47:55 PM by Cider

It needs a purge and maybe a warning in the main article but i agree. Not subjective.

edited 22nd Oct '11 7:43:22 PM by JusticeMan

So, looks like we have consensus to remove the subjective banner. Next order of business: do we need to rename to make the subjectiveness doesn't creep back in, or can the current name work?

Isn't it subjective as what one believes is decay can just as easily not be the case for the next person? Same as the whole Mary Sue thing.

No, the definition is completely objective.

Yeah, a Villain being made a relatively lowerscale threat is objective, but idiots keep using it as a license to whine about They Changed it now it sucks.

I think we can call this.

I agree, there's an overwhelming consensus.