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Welcome to the Complete Monster proposal thread! This is the thread where new Complete Monster examples are vetted, approved, and written up. If you're looking for the general cleanup thread (for cuts, rewrites, expansions, and the like), please go here

Important: Before suggesting any new examples, please read the Frequently Asked Questions and Common Requests List; if you have any questions, the odds are high they are answered there. Additionally, please check here for the earliest date a work can be discussed (usually two weeks from the U.S. release date) and whether the work has already been reserved by another user.

Here is how the process works:

    Process 

  1. If you have a candidate to propose, you can simply come right in and propose them! If the character's run is brief, such as a single issue of a comic book, then a simple summary of their actions and any potential redeeming qualities will be enough; for longer-running candidates, an effortpost (EP) might be helpful for organizing the proposal. An EP is not outright required, but please be mindful that if a post becomes too clunky and unorganized, it can be very hard for other people to follow.

  2. After the proposal, there will be a 72-hour discussion and voting period, where people may ask questions and vote on the candidate. The number of upvotes must outnumber the downvotes by at least five for the character to be considered "approved".

  3. Three days after the proposal has been made, if the character has been approved, you may post the writeup (the text to be posted on the trope page itself) on the thread and send it to the drafts page. Your candidate will soon be added to the CM subpage. If the work has a page, you should add your candidate to the relevant YMMV page. Voila! It's that simple!

Outside of this process, we do have a few ground rules:

    Ground Rules 

  1. To keep the thread moving at a reasonable pace, there are some restrictions on when a proposal can be made. There should only be a maximum of four EPs posted both per page and per hour to ensure that nothing gets lost in the shuffle; additionally, each individual troper should only be proposing or writing up characters from a maximum of three works at a time (from initial proposals to end of their voting period). If your proposal would fall outside of either of these guidelines, we'd like to ask you to please wait until they would fit within; feel free to type them up on an outside document, and then when the time comes, you can just copy, paste, and post!

  2. No plagiarism of any kind. This is a very serious matter site-wide, as the website could get in actual legal trouble over this; as a result, this can very quickly lead to mod intervention. This can take many different forms:
    1. Direct plagiarism, i.e. wholesale copying. This is not only the easiest to find, but is also the most likely to warrant quick moderator intervention. To be clear, quoting in some places is perfectly acceptable, but it has to be very clear you're quoting from something else and it cannot be anything longer than a sentence or two - if you're quoting an entire work summary from Wikipedia, no one is going to believe you've actually consumed the work, so even if you cite your source, your candidate will be downvoted anyway.
    2. Self-plagiarism. Even if you can prove that you wrote the same text in both places, the site itself can't contain any of the duplicated text. If you already wrote something once before, it's not too hard to write it a second time.
    3. Using another site's work as a template for a proposal. Just because you don't copy and paste something directly doesn't mean it's any harder to detect if you're basing parts or all of your proposal on text someone else wrote. To be clear, this doesn't violate site rules and won't lead to mod intervention, but just like if you directly plagiarize, no one will believe you've consumed the work if you're clearly basing your proposal on something else. This thread largely operates on the honor system, and tweaking someone else's work to pass it off as your own is one of the fastest ways to lose trust.

  3. Votes must be for specific candidates, meaning no blanket voting (i.e. "yes to everyone I missed").

  4. If you are the first person to downvote a candidate, please provide an explanation of why when you do so. We're here for discussions above all, and a hit-and-run downvote doesn't facilitate anything.

  5. If a work is already reserved by another user, please don't comment on the work or any potential characters worth discussion before the discussion date. We know how exciting it is when a work has a keeper that you're waiting to talk about, but it's not fair to the person who reserved the work who is just as excited to lead the discussion to see the discussion getting spoiled before they get to do it. On the other hand, if the reservation only has one name attached, shoot them a PM - they may be down for a collaboration, which will get you in on the fun as well!

  6. Please keep the thread on-topic. While discussing the trope is fun and we encourage people to enjoy it, questions like "who's your favorite CM" are off-topic and can lead to thumps. That's the kind of question to take to people's PMs if they're willing. Similarly, while we encourage friendliness and familiarity with other users, posts should always have some kind of thread-relevant purpose; for instance, if you want to wish someone a happy birthday, feel free to, but if it's the only thing in the post, it's off-topic and needs something else alongside it. Again, though, while we strive for a friendly atmosphere, this is not Facebook; life updates are fun, but unless they have some kind of impact on your thread participation, please do not bring it here - we have Yack Fest for that.

  7. Please refrain from asking anything along the lines of "How Did We Miss This One?" In almost every case, the answer is simply "No one thought about it before". This Is a Wiki where everyone has different interests, and the fact that people missed a particular candidate, even one that seems like a textbook example of a trope or a character who is particularly iconic in pop culture, means absolutely nothing. The question is disruptive, has a simple and consistent answer, and provides nothing to any discussion.

  8. If you are suspended from parts of the website, it is still possible to participate!
    1. For users who are suspended from editing the wiki, you still have full access to this thread. You can propose candidates and write them up with no issues whatsoever; while you will have to ask someone else to post the entry to the relevant pages once it is done, all write-ups are considered thread-approved - as in, done by consensus - and thus doing so does not violate any rules regarding meatpuppeting.
    2. If you are suspended from the forums, your participation is limited but not impossible. It is still possible for a forum-suspended user to assist in creating the write-up for a character who has already been approved; as previously mentioned, write-ups are inherently considered a consensus-based edit and thus not tied to any one particular user. However, you can not assist in the proposal of a character; as a proposal is based around the forum rather than the wiki, doing so with a forum suspension qualifies as meatpuppeting.

  9. Please keep all discussions "in-house".
    1. What other wikis use for CM equivalents is irrelevant here.
    2. Please be wary of using other wikis, Fandom or otherwise, as sources of information. They are just as fallible as a site like Wikipedia in regards to accuracy because they can be edited by any user, just as this site can.
    3. Do not attempt to force a communication with an author in an attempt to gather evidence or settle a debate; besides the fact that this is a YMMV trope and thus author intent has variable weight depending on the circumstance, doing so may cross the line into drama exportation, which is prohibited site-wide.

If you would like to use an EP for your candidate, here's the general format. This format does not have to be followed exactly, but these are the main topics that need to be covered:

    Effortpost Template 

What is the work?

This is a brief summary of the work you're going to discuss. We don't need a full plot summary here, just however much we need to understand going into the discussion — it can even be as simple as quoting the summary on the work's page.

Who is the candidate and what have they done?

This is essentially the character's biography — who they are, their story, the crimes they commit, and, preferably (though not required), what happens to the candidate at the end. It does not have to include every single thing they ever do — for some villains, we'd be here all day if that was the case — but it should include the highlights of their journey.

Any redeeming qualities? Freudian Excuse?

This is where any potential redeeming characteristics or tragic backstory should be discussed. Do they have a tragic past? Do they show that Even Evil Has Standards or Even Evil Has Loved Ones? Maybe a Pet the Dog moment or two? This is where these should be discussed in full. Not every potential redeeming moment is a clear-cut disqualifier, but we should hear of any potential issues to ensure the character is discussed in full.

Are they bad enough?

A Complete Monster has to be particularly vile by the standard of the work they appear in. Therefore, you should look at what the character does compared to similar characters in the same work. This takes into account things like:

  • Their resource level (a human Serial Killer can't stand up to an alien Omnicidal Maniac, but they can be bad by the standard of other human serial killers)
  • The amount of time they have to work with (such as a one-shot character versus long-running antagonists)
  • The quantity vs. quality of their crimes compared to others (someone with a lower victim count but far more visceral and personal crimes could be considered as equally bad overall as someone with a higher body count but less horror involved)

Essentially, this section is an analysis of the kinds of villainy shown in the work and an explanation of why this particular character's villainy stands out within it.

Final verdict?

This is where you post your final conclusion on the character in question. You can continue elaborating on your reasons or even just say a simple "yes" or "no"; at this point, we've heard everything we need to hear.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This thread tackles very serious and dark matters on a daily basis. We will be discussing things like murder, rape, torture, human trafficking, crimes against children, and in particularly dark cases, several of these issues at the same time. We keep a lighthearted air, but all candidates carry the general assumption that these are awful individuals committing disgusting crimes. We ask that if you participate, you do so with the requisite seriousness such dark topics require; exclamations of how gross something is, whether serious or sarcastic, are disrespectful to the topics at hand, and if you cannot handle such topics, please do not participate.

And that's everything you need to know. Welcome to the thread!


Edited by Twiddler on Jan 17th 2024 at 5:42:49 AM

TBmacho22 Since: Jul, 2021 Relationship Status: Holding out for a hero
#42851: Apr 27th 2024 at 8:01:04 PM

Can't Complete Monsters be sociopaths?

AustinDR Lizzid people! (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Lizzid people!
#42852: Apr 27th 2024 at 8:03:54 PM

It's more that she doesn't stand out if all the other demons engage in mass murder and other actions. Like demons appear to be physically incapable of not acting on their evil nature.

Edited by AustinDR on Apr 27th 2024 at 8:04:29 AM

MasterWaldon Since: Apr, 2024
#42853: Apr 27th 2024 at 8:11:14 PM

"Can't Complete Monsters be sociopaths?"

Yes, but the difference there is that a sociopath doesn't have to be evil and won't have issues counting because of that unless they are effectively a complete shell of a person.

I am not familiar with this show, but it seems like one of the few works where demons in it explicitly have agency issues since they all seem evil by default.

For example, Max Zorin was conditioned from birth to be a sociopath, he's still gleefully sadistic and a backstabber and not totally devoid of emotion however, so he still counts.

No to Aura.

Edited by MasterWaldon on Apr 27th 2024 at 8:16:32 AM

TurlesTheVegan from The Darkest Pit of the Underworld Since: Dec, 2023 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#42854: Apr 27th 2024 at 8:11:38 PM

Yeah, those're my problems with her qualifying. [tdown] for Aura.

TheGrayFox ....Phenomenal from A Lovecraftian fishing village Since: Sep, 2011
....Phenomenal
#42855: Apr 27th 2024 at 8:28:05 PM

[tup] for Diego, the American Mary duo, Jonah, A'gaeris, and tentatively for Norman.

[tdown] for Aura.

There remains a foothold out of this mire — now climb.
SarenApologist Since: Jun, 2023
#42856: Apr 27th 2024 at 9:43:49 PM

Hi all, I'm new here. I've been looking forward to making some contributions here, and have a few already planned out. Here's my first effortpost! Hope you guys like it! I'm looking forward to this!

What's the Work? The Batman (2022) is yet another cinematic depiction of our Dear Dark Knight taking on the scum and villainy of Gotham as he tries to solve a mysterious set of murders targeting Gotham's leadership, finding a sinister criminal conspiracy at the center of it. Also uses some material from Riddler: Year One.

Who's The Candidate? Carmine Falcone, the mobster who practically rules the city.

What Has He Done? Falcone is a truly ruthless tyrant who treats the city as his own kingdom. Controlling the city through his puppets, his looting of the city has helped turn it into the crime and drug-ridden hellhole we all know and love. Introduced at the city mayor's funeral, Falcone appears to be grateful to Bruce's father Thomas for saving his life years ago. However, this is but a facade.

Over the course of the film, it's revealed that Riddler's murder spree is targeting Falcone's puppets, the mayor, police commissioner, and district attorney he murders all being in Falcone's pocket. Gotham's leadership for decades has been bleeding the city dry. After the murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne, Falcone got his hands on Wayne's Renewal Fund, which aimed to help address the poverty and inequality faced by so many Gothamites, particularly in areas such as orphanages. Falcone used his control over city to turn the fund into his own personal piggy bank. While the money hoarding is in itself bad, it's the fact that Falcone's use of it starved countless areas of funds that could save lives and improve livelihoods that makes it so heinous, the orphanage Riddler lived in being a prime example. Infants would die, children would live in frigid cold, starve, and were tormented by rats, all of which happened due to Falcone's greed denying them the resources that could help them.

Falcone also doesn't take kindly to sharing his loot, as exemplified with Sal Maroni. Deciding to take over Maroni's drug operation, Carmine sicced his cronies onto him. Now in control of Maroni's drops operation, Falcone would peddle them across Gotham, turning many into addicts, including some of the residents at the orphanage.

Maroni isn't the only reason why Falcone's a bad ally. His own subordinates live in fear of him, with DA Colson and one of Riddler's bosses choosing to die or commit suicide than reveal anything about Falcone, fearing the inevitable retaliation against their families. His "allies" are nothing more than pawns for him to blackmail, as shown with Thomas Wayne. When Wayne went to Falcone to address a reporter going public with Martha's mental illness, Falcone had the journalist killed. Wayne, horrified, would try to inform on Falcone to the police, only to end up dead. While Falcone never takes credit, blaming Maroni for the hit, he is never ruled out, with Alfred even suggesting that Falcone was responsible, seeing Wayne as an asset to blackmail and nothing more.

It's not just allies Falcone treats like expendable trash, but loved ones, too, murdering his mistress Maria Kyle. When their daughter, Selina, tries to avenge her, he strangles her, saying how "you made me do this, you and your mother", and is shown to have done the same to Selina's roommate (and possible lover) Annika when he saw her as a loose end. Falcone cares absolutely nothing about family or friends, seeing those around him as pawns he can bend to his will.

Heinousness It's pretty tough to rival Riddler, who outright tries to flood the city and organizes a mass shooting to kill the mayor and survivors, but Falcone's the reason Gotham is in such bad shape. Even if some of the issues were already existing beforehand, Falcone made absolutely sure to keep the city in this shape. Riddler also details some of the horrifying things that happened at the orphanage, which are further explored in the Year One prequel comic. Overall, the movie makes it clear that the decay and rot within the city can be blamed-at least in part-on him.

Mitigating Issues As mentioned earlier, even if he didn't outright murder the Waynes like Alfred accused him of doing, it's clear that the gratitude only goes so far, being pretty cool with blackmailing the guy who, y'know, saved his life. Some of it is Alfred's word vs Falcone's but Falcone even says that any knowledge is going with him to the grave. Plus, given his history with family and allies, it's pretty hard to see him as suddenly caring about Wayne. So this is only a mitigating issue if you really choose to believe Falcone didn't do it or wouldn't have done it.

Conclusion The guy's more like Dimitri Rascalov than the Carmine we all know and love from the comics. No loyalty, no standards, just corruption at its worst. I vote yes.

Agentofchaos A God Am I from Somewhere in the Universe Since: Dec, 2021
#42857: Apr 27th 2024 at 9:47:13 PM

No to Falcone, we've been over him plenty of times, for a powerful mob boss who basically runs the city he's outdone by the Riddler, a random nobody who threatens so many more people

REALITY IS AN ILLUSION, THE UNIVERSE IS A HOLOGRAM, BUY GOLD BYEEEE! | She/Her
Ravok Caesar Since: Jun, 2015 Relationship Status: Complex: I'm real, they are imaginary
Caesar
#42858: Apr 27th 2024 at 9:51:00 PM

Hey there, welcome to the thread! Good first effortpost! Regrettably, as Agent said, we've had Falcone come through several times, and have always decided against him because of a simple factor: Riddler is just a dude with the barebones of resources, nowhere near a mob boss, yet floods the city and orchestrates a mass shooting. Nothing Falcone does ultimately stacks up to that, even being a driving force in the city's corruption ultimately is lacking in comparison and the orphanage falling apart was a completely indirect result of Falcone and multiple others stealing from Renewal.

Again, solid proposal, but Falcone has definitely been discussed thoroughly with the material we have at this juncture and we've decided every time that he falls short. Maybe later sequels/shows will push him over through over factors, but as of now, it's generally agreed upon that he's lacking.

WHAT A WONDERFUL DAY!
SarenApologist Since: Jun, 2023
#42859: Apr 27th 2024 at 10:03:16 PM

Fair enough. Personally I was banking on Falcone being in his own category of heinousness as opposed to Riddler, but given the resources factor, I can't think of a good counterargument. Thanks for the input!

TurlesTheVegan from The Darkest Pit of the Underworld Since: Dec, 2023 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#42860: Apr 27th 2024 at 10:04:11 PM

[tdown] for Falcone, welcome to the thread regardless!

therealjackieboy Ultimate Moral Compass from Austin, TX Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
Ultimate Moral Compass
#42861: Apr 27th 2024 at 10:04:24 PM

[tdown] Falcone

"No running in the halls!"
moctezuma2000 Since: Sep, 2018
#42862: Apr 27th 2024 at 10:13:10 PM

What's the work?

SCP Foundation is a website about a secret organization that hides supernatural happenings from the world. This one is from the tale "Bloodlines".

Who are they? What have they done?

"The Dragon's Son", though not called by proper name, is none other than Vlad Țepeș of historical infamy. Having led 50 troops to massacre a Romani village when the story opens, Vlad is introduced slashing a young girl's throat before confronting the sole survivor, an elderly woman, in a courtyard. He offers to let her live only if she spreads word of his plan to make Wallachia serve him as prince, or bleed if they resist. The woman stands defiant, Vlad boasting that he has "broken warriors and enslaved cities", declaring his intent to "carve up Moldavia and Transylvania like roasting lambs", then finally make the Ottoman Empire crumble.

When she still refuses, Vlad moves to mentally break her with a greatest hits compilation of his conquest so far, inducing a vision of an Ottoman army camp being slaughtered by Vlad's troops in the black of night. This scene changes into a forest filled with hundreds to thousands of men, women and children brutally impaled to death on sharpened stakes, for which he became known as "the impaler". It then brings her to the wicked man surrounded with a pool of blood, sacrificing a girl tied to a stone slab by biting into her neck.

Snapping back to reality, the horrified old lady deduces Vlad's inhuman cruelty can only be the work of a Dhampyr, and pulls an Improvised Cross on Dracula, who quickly breaks it in half, only for her to unleash a mystical whirlwind on the "blood demon". Unfortunately, she is little match for the impaler's blood magic, as Dracula reveals himself a host-lord of the Daeva, planning to conquer "West and East, onwards without limit" in the name of the Daevites' vicious hegemony. Paralyzing the elder, Vlad draws his knife to painfully prick her eye, while casually revealing the girl he killed at the beginning was her granddaughter. Given one last chance to submit, she denies Țepeș once again, for which the dhampir promises a slow demise by tearing her wrists open and draining the blood from her veins.

With her last breath, the elder Roma desperately sings a song taught by her grandmother, a Brown Note that would one day be known as SCP-012. The cursed melody compelled Vlad to finish the composition with the blood of his soldiers, and when that failed, his own, causing the dragon's son to scratch himself until he perished from hemorrhaging. About a month later, an Ottoman Janissary happens upon the scene, tallying "close to a hundred bodies" in total left heavily mutilated by Vlad's final rampage.

Heinous standards

While SCP heinousness is a tall order, Vlad has amassed thousands of barbaric kills, including kids, on his bloody path to enthrall all of Europe (at least) for the Daevites. At his standing I think that's bad enough, he is not a cosmic reality warper or anything.

Mitigating factors

Nope, he fanatically serves the Daevites only to quench his figurative and literal thirst for blood.

Final Verdict

This is uncharted territory for me, but it's worth a shot I guess

AmateurStorytime Just a starting content creator from Home Since: Mar, 2024
Revenant30 Since: Sep, 2023
#42865: Apr 28th 2024 at 12:23:05 AM

[tup] Vlad.

BTW, what do you think about this video from Vikingdom ?

jlvs200s Jogo from The Netherlands (Troper in training) Relationship Status: At the center of everything that happens to me
EmperorGeode Not the Eye from A Galaxy far, far away Since: Oct, 2022 Relationship Status: On the prowl
Not the Eye
#42867: Apr 28th 2024 at 1:05:18 AM

[tup] Vlad

[tdown] Aura and Falcone (welcome to thread either way!)

miraculous Goku Black (Apprentice)
Goku Black
#42868: Apr 28th 2024 at 2:00:23 AM

Tbf to Aura. Her fellow demon Macht really tried to co exist with humans and understand emotions (he did it through mass murder but hey). And even his death is treated sympathetically with him having a smoke with his old human friend.

So this isn't really a goblin slayer scenario.

Mind you I don't think she's like any worse than a demon on that show.

"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
ACW Unofficial Wiki Curator for Complete Monster from Arlington, VA (near Washington, D.C.) Since: Jul, 2009
miraculous Goku Black (Apprentice)
Goku Black
#42870: Apr 28th 2024 at 2:07:04 AM

Oh right[tup]vlad

"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
TheGrayFox ....Phenomenal from A Lovecraftian fishing village Since: Sep, 2011
....Phenomenal
#42871: Apr 28th 2024 at 2:26:41 AM

[up][up][up] See, I'd actually argue that Macht is another point against having full agency. Because, as you said, his idea of "understanding humans" involved mass murder. It's stated that the former Demon King wanted the same thing, and also could only think to do so via mass murder. In other words, the demons are so inherently predisposed to being murderous that even the few who actively want to coexist struggle to grasp the idea of non-murderous methods.

There remains a foothold out of this mire — now climb.
jlvs200s Jogo from The Netherlands (Troper in training) Relationship Status: At the center of everything that happens to me
Jogo
#42872: Apr 28th 2024 at 3:21:14 AM

[tdown] Aura

Soooo, remember when the Avocado Animations version of Willy Wonka was proposed and it led to an extremely divisive debate? Well, after seeing a comment mentioning this series and, more importantly, remembering the things that (generally) were determined to not be an issue for that version of Wonka, I think this character might have a shot and is at the very least worth the discussion even if he's rejected.

For those of you who are skeptical about this candidate's seriousness or other migating qualities, I've included a link so that you can make your own judgement. Also the series isn't over yet, but it's been around 1 year and 8 months since the last episode released and it'll likely be a long time before the series is finished, so I think it's fine to discuss him now.

What is the work?

A Villager's Night is a series of Minecraft animations made by Avocado Animations, a YouTube Channel most known for making Velma Meets the Original Velma and videos that parody other YouTubers like Mr. Beast and SSSniperwolf.

The series centers around Herh, a Villager who wakes up one night to find his village being attacked by the evil Steve, who slaughtered several of the villagers and enslaved some of the others. In the period after the attack, Herh decides to set out into the wild in his quest to avenge his fellow villagers and the Iron Golem, who served as the village's defender and Herh's best friend.

Who is Steve and what has he done?

Steve is the person behind the attack on Herh's village, a nasty owner of Villager slaves and a far cry from the blank slate Player Character that is his original counterpart.
  • Steve first appears launching an attack on Herh's village. During his attack, Steve kills and maims the villagers by shooting them with arrows and slicing them with his sword. As a result of said attack, some of the villagers start fleeing, with a baby villager crying while there's fire all around the village. The Iron Golem that serves as the village's defender tries to stop Steve, but he is defeated by the menace and ultimately killed. It is noted within Part 2 that, during this attack, a dozen villagers were maimed by Steve, with several other villagers being killed (as shown by the cremated bodies at the start of part 3).
  • Beyond the Villagers who died or were maimed during Steve's attack, there were also a few Villagers missing. As it turns out, these missing villagers were kidnapped and enslaved by Steve. Steve locked them into cells and forced them to make items for him. If the Villagers make the items for him and deliver them on time, then Steve grants them an Emerald. The Villagers that don't have an item for Steve, well.... they undergo a different fate, a worse one.
  • When Steve comes to collect his items from the villagers within his dungeon, Steve passes by a Villager who couldn't make any items for him due to her hand being injured, but she pleads to him to give her 2 more days to make the items for him. Steve decides to respond to the Villager's pleading.... by dumping lava on her, causing the Villager to burn to death.
  • After coldly murdering the female Villager with lava, Steve passes by Larr's cell. Larr, in rebellion to Steve's slavery and desiring death, crushes the lantern he was forced to make for Steve and accepts his molten fate. Steve is not pleased by Larr's resilience and frowns towards him, but he doesn't kill him by dumping lava on him. Unfortunately for Larr, Steve instead decides to press the button above his brother Beehr's cell out of spite, dumping lava on him, leading to Beehr's death. Larr is horrifed at his brother's murder as Steve drops his Stoic expression as Steve starts smiling towards the horrifed Larr. After this Steve leaves his dungeon to seemingly grab a sharp weapon with blood on it and returns to Larr's cell, possibly intent on harming or killing Larr.
  • And that's all of Steve's actions within the series up until now, as the series isn't over yet and it's been around 1 year and 8 months since the last part released with no indication that the next part of the series will come out soon.

Any redeeming qualities? Freudian Excuse?

There are a few things that need to be discussed regarding redeeming traits.
  • While Steve does not kill his slaves and gives them emeralds when they make him items, I doubt that this is meant to be redeeming as the only alternative for the Villager slaves is to suffer A Molten Date with Death and he never shows any signs of kindness towards the slaves that make his items. I'd personally say that Steve only gave his slaves emeralds to prevent them from rebelling.
  • While Steve doesn't kill Hehr when passing by him during his attack on the village and only stares at him, there isn't any indication that this moment is meant to be redeeming, as Steve retains the same Stoic facial expression he wears most of the time and doesn't say a single word towards Hehr that would imply he's sparing Hehr as a Pet the Dog moment.
Unlike Wonka, canon redeeming qualities aren't an issue as Steve is a blank slate Player Character within the original game and Minecraft doesn't have a proper plot anyway.

On another note, Steve doesn't have a lot of characterization, given that he has no dialogue and retains the same facial expression for most of the series, but I think there's enough here to evade prevent him being a Generic Doomsday Villain. Steve frowns towards Larr for destroying his lantern, spitefully murders Beehr as retribution for his defiance, and subsequently smiles towards the shocked and horrified Larr, giving the indication that Steve is a sadist who takes pleasure in Larr's shock and grief and that he's also a spiteful individual whose willing to harm others just to make the slaves that rebel against him suffer.

Now that we've looked at all the other stuff, let's talk about the Elephant in the Room: comedy. I can understand why some would be concerned about this, as the concept of Minecraft Steve being a psychopath who slaughters and enslaves Villagers is a little silly and the series is made by a channel that produces a lot of Black Comedy videos. However, I personally believe that comedy isn't an issue for Steve, as the concept is played entirely seriously without there being any proper comedic moments in the series outside the sponsorship segments, which are not canon to the main series anyway.

Furthermore, there's a lot of effort put in the series with it featuring actually dramatic moments and engaging character interactions, so the work isn't shock value and has a substantial enough plot in my eyes. With all that in mind, I'd say the series is closer to something like The Bikini Bottom Horror (which was originated in a Subreddit for horror-themed Garfield art and has a premise that is a little silly, but taken entirely seriously) than a Dorkly video (which are entirely Played for Laughs with rarely any attempt to tell a serious story).

Is he bad enough?

Steve's the only actively villainous character, so he sets the heinous standard. The baseline isn't an issue either, as Steve slaughters at least 3 villagers and the village's Iron Golem onscreen during his attack. Dialogue also states that Steve maimed dozens during his attack, with some of the surviving villagers being shown to be injured and several bodies are seen cremated at the beginning of Part 3.

Furthermore, Steve has also enslaved some of the villagers and is shown killing a female Villager who fails to give him an item by bathing her in lava and spitefully murders Beehr in the same way, just because Larr destroyed his lantern in his rebellion against Steve.

Final verdict?

I'm a weak "yes to Steve", but I'm still not entirely sure on him as a candidate. Please keep the discussion civil.

Edited by jlvs200s on Apr 28th 2024 at 12:24:27 PM

"Stand proud, Sukuna, you are strong." | He/Him
LarryT I’ll take a potato chip… and EAT IT! from the Eldritch Ocean Abyss Since: Aug, 2023
I’ll take a potato chip… and EAT IT!
#42873: Apr 28th 2024 at 4:42:32 AM

[tup] Vlad and Steve, at least unlike Wonka there have been cases of canon Steve actually doing stuff like that.

Edited by LarryT on Apr 28th 2024 at 4:46:50 AM

In honor of Akira Toriyama
PolarPhantom Since: Jun, 2012
#42874: Apr 28th 2024 at 5:19:05 AM

OK. OK. I actually did watch the videos myself, and thought to myself: "Yeah I think he's a CM." So I'll say yes. The comedy is mostly in the concept but it's like There Will Be Brawl and Breakfast of the Gods in addition to The Bikini Bottom Horror. I also agree that Steve giving Emeralds to villagers that are trapped in his hall isn't mitigating. The implication is that it's just his way of saying he won't kill them. Yet.

ACW Unofficial Wiki Curator for Complete Monster from Arlington, VA (near Washington, D.C.) Since: Jul, 2009

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