There is a dedicated thread for page quote: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1327331003042025100&page=1
If there is a wider problem of misuse, it may need TRS, though you could discuss it in Trope Talk.
Stories don't tell us monsters exist; we knew that already. They show us that monsters can be trademarked and milked for years.
Darth Vader had ample reason to keep Fett happy. Namely, he might need his services again in the future. The fact that the galaxy is full of bounty hunters is immaterial. You don't off the guy who is best at his job simply because other people are in that line of work. Nor does it make sense to off the guy who actually came through for you, when the 'galaxy full of bounty hunters' failed.
This is to say nothing of the fact that if Vader had screwed Fett over, and word got out hiring other Bounty Hunters would suddenly become a lot more difficult. People tend not to work for employers they think might screw them over.
Screwing Lando over was not a smart thing to do, but screwing Fett over would have been even dumber, and it wouldn't have gained him anything that he actually cared about. The only thing Vader cared about was coming face to face with Luke, which happened despite Lando's actions.
It is never made completely clear if Han was supposed to remain with Leia and Chewie as part of the original deal. But if anything Lando deserves an idiot ball for ever believing that the top enforcer for the Emperor would allow him to keep known terrorists in his custody.
In fact, Lando's actions can be seen as a net gain for Vader. Had it not been for Lando freeing Leia and Chewie (two people very low on Vader's 'Give a Damn' meter) they wouldn't have rescued Luke from the comms tower, and he would have died when his already wounded and exhausted body gave out, leaving him to plummet to his death in the gas of Bespin. Luke certainly wouldn't have been rescued by Vader, as the latter went straight back to his ship rather than taking a shuttle to look for Luke. (Likely assuming him dead until he sensed him later.)
In the end, Lando's rebellion did nothing to stop Vader from achieving his objectives. If Vader is going to be accused of holding the Villain Ball it should be for setting the entire scheme up to begin with. He had far better options and the resources to explore them.
Edited by Whistler
Handsome Jack from Borderlands inadvertidedly grabbed it when intsead of sending his whole army to destroy a perfectly tangible town (Sanctuary) he intsead bombarded it with mortars, EVERY DAY, and he didnt realize he had a chance and grabbed it, again, in fact, the whole story is about "I want to kill you myself" and it ends up being a huge villain ball.
I cut this example because it didn't seem to me to fit the trope. If it does, could someone please rewrite it to be a clearer match?
- In an episode of Sabrina The Teenage Witch, Sabrina manages to expose a woman's fraudulent injury claim by tricking her into weight lifting infront of several witnesses.
I dunno if anyone is watching this page, but the current quote isn't great. "Villain ball" is a play on "Idiot ball" and is where the villain does something stupid and self-defeating. The villain's mistake probably backfires or allows the hero to win. It's not intended for situations where the writer thinks they're being clever, and furthermore, the villain succeeds which shows that they were clever in-setting (even if, out-of-context, the idea was completely dumb and only worked because the scriptwriter made it work). Anyway, the current quote references the movie Superman, and the problem is that the weird kryptonite-in-a-chest thing works fine there. I guess the argument might be that in the alternate universe of "How it should have ended", it didn't work, but that seems kinda weak. Any ideas for a replacement quote? I considered reverting to the old one, but it appears made-up.
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