[[VideoGame/MegaManV Tango]]
I disagree with the Spider-Man example. Osborn was trying to use his inventions for the intended purpose. The board acted first when they shut him down, rejecting Osborn's inventions because merging with a rival company would be more profitable, and that's what made Osborn turn evil and use his inventions to kill them.
I haven't played the particular game that Tango is from, but still... robo kitty. :D
Re soft split: Decided here
Could this be better described in the headers for these sections?
I've read through all the examples, and I still can't tell how any of the examples in the top half are different from those in the bottom half. Based on the thread, it seems like there was supposed to be a split between currently making money using their super science legitimately and currently not making money doing so, but the examples don't make that really clear at all, with almost all of them talking about possibilities of doing so.
Agree, it seems like examples were arbitrary, almost randomly scattered between the two. One seems like it shoud be "evil is doing legit biz for more profit," and the other should be "evil is doing illegitimate things for less profit." But the examples are all over both sides of that spectrum.
Edited by 70.209.20.49
In retrospect, this split has made the problem much worse, mainly because it's not at all obvious what the difference between "possibility of gaining more money legitimately" and "gaining more money legitimately" is supposed to be, so people have just been adding examples wherever. Either the split needs to be undone, or someone needs to painstakingly organize everything and rename the headers to something like "Already getting rich legitimately" and "Could hypothetically get rich if they stopped being evil."
I really don't get the title. Who is cutting Luthor a check? And why? Is it what people would say if he was using his powers for good? Or are we cutting him a check in the hopes he'll stop being evil? Is it a quote from somewhere? I don't think it makes much sense, personally.
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"Cutting a check" refers to the idea that the villains would make much more money just legally marketing their technology rather than using it to rob banks.
Though come to think of it, given that Luthor's modern interpretation is "richest dude in Metropolis" rather than "mad scientist," he might not be the best choice for a trope name.
I agree, the title doesn't make much sense. It sounds like it's a quote frome somewhere but isn't. Does anybody have any better ideas for a title?
The current incarnation of Lex Luthor could be even richer if he marketed more of his technology that he devotes to trying to kill Superman.
There's an irony to calling this trope "Cut Lex Luthor A Check" as according to my research before the Corrupt Corporate Executive identity, he did patent many inventions under assumed names in order to fiance his revenge on Superman.
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Time Master
Krakow? like the former capital of Poland? (I learned this from Calvin and Hobbes! No, really!)
I'm not so sure about the Sky High example. I don't think it was ever implied the Pacifier had age settings, more to the opposite when you consider Royal Pain's aggravation with having to relive puberty.
Scalon D. Dragon
"Fantastic Four Giant-Size Adventures" had this happen as a side- concern: A new Masters of Evil led by Egghead had wanted all the intel he could get on the Fantastic Four to plan an attack. So the Mo E stole the Four's uniforms, disguised as laundry pick-up men. Once Egghead analyzed the outfits, he put in microscopic cameras. Soon they got major amounts of intel, but the costs racked up. Needing money quick, Invincible Man suggested that pictures of the Fantastic Four were worth a nice piece of cash.
The "Super Hero Trumpet" was just a paper that snapped up the pictures. Then they bought and published pictures of the Baxter Building. This put more scrutiny on the Trumpet—and led to Johnny Storm getting the story from Gargantua.
Thing was, with mostly legitimate money coming from the photos, there was talk of expanding this to include covering the Avengers and the X-Men (hints were that Spidey, Wolverine and Hulk were in the imagine/explanation panels). Which led to several concerns that a fight with the Four while something was good might end it.
Indeed, Gargantua and Xeron the Starslayer saw the funds that came from this weren't worth losing, and the only ones who didn't get hurt when the others fought—and Egghead found the other surprise in his cameras had been long nullfied by Reed. (As long as the cameras worked, Egghead wasn't hip to that they'd been dealt with earlier.)
And Ben also got some goods on Johnny (to counter what Johnny had on Ben).
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In doing so becomes something of a Fake Real Turn as Xeron and Gargantua had patented the plans and thought that cash was just too good to throw away on a fight that could go very badly, very quickly.
In Lord of War, he tries to make money legitimately, but he makes more money illegally. So that's more of an aversion, right?
Does anybody else think this trope is somewhat spurious in that it automatically assumes that the villain will actually succeed at making money off his inventions, whatever they are? Keep in mind that in Real Life many businesses tend to fail within their first year of operation, and that just because the villain has the scientific smarts to build some fancy machine doesn't necessarily mean he'll have the business sense to market it correctly. Not to mention that it can be a pain in the neck lining up potential investors for your invention, especially if it does something people would think is impossible.
It seems like the critics who complain about this trope are themselves assuming Step Three: Profit by having the villain market his tech or skills legally, without considering all the hoops a villain would have to jump through to bring a product to market, much less make money off it.
Thoughts?
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You have a good point.
Consider the Mr. Freeze from Batman The Animated Series. To my knowledge, he had already invented or laid the technical groundwork for all his villain gadgets before he got fired. Apparently, villainy really is his best shot at making money.
Technically, he only got fired because his Corrupt Corporate Executive boss considered his desperate bid to save his terminally-sickly wife via experimental cryogenic tech "a waste of company resources", and ordered his men to pull the plug on the whole operation in spite of that being practically guaranteed to doom the cryogenized woman to (possibly slow and painful) death. If he had been working for Bruce Wayne's company, however....
Oh, and IIRC he only invented the cryogenic preservation technology at the time he had his Freak Lab "Accident"; the cryo-weaponry and cryo-suit came later.
Edited by MarqFJA Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
The Yahtzee quote is a very good short summary of the trope; it's almost a better introduction to it than our description. The Agony Booth quote is a bit more concise, but it'd be a better target for quote removal, as it relies too much on Sarcasm Mode, and is thus harder for the first time reader to understand.
I feel like this trope is used rather arbitrarily. Many of the examples operate on the idea that a villain who makes life-changing inventions or powers would automatically be only interested in monetary gain or just a hypothetical that fits more with You Could Have Used Your Powers for Good!.
At least how the trope is described, it sounds like examples should only be villains whose primary motive is monetary gain, yet has examples from villains who want to Take Over the World, have no interest in money, or other irrational or higher minded ideals.