History Webcomic / DeathIsTheOnlyEndingForTheVillainess

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[[caption-width-right:350:Our Unlucky Lady Penelope]]

''Death Is the Only Ending for the Villainess'' is a popular Korean web novel covering action, adventure, and comedy. Written by the Author Gwongyeoeul. The webtoon comic adaptation is licensed in English by Website/TapasMedia under the name ''[[https://tapas.io/series/villains-are-destined-to-die/info Villains Are Destined to Die]].''

Our protagonist, Cha Siyeon, has successfully escaped her toxic home life and started to attend the prestigious university she killed herself studying to get in... only to end up reincarnating as Penelope Eckhart, the adopted daughter of Duke Eckhart, the villainess of a reverse harem dating sim she was playing just some hours before, "Daughter of the Duke - Love Project". The problem is, she entered the game at its hardest difficulty, and no matter what she does, death awaits her at every ending! Before the missing real daughter Ivonne, the protagonist of the game's Normal Mode, comes back to her family, Siyeon as Penelope must choose one of the male leads and reach a happy ending in order to survive...

But with two brothers that always pick a fight with her over every little thing, as well as a crazy crown prince, whose routes all lead to death. There's even a magician who's enamoured with the heroine, and a loyal slave knight! But somehow, the favourability meters of the male leads increase the more she crosses the line with them! This is Penelope’s survival story, as she has been dropped in an insane reverse harem dating sim!

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Majority of the tropes in this page contain spoilers from the completed Webnovel. '''You have been warned'''.
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!!Tropes in ''Death Is the Only Ending for the Villainess''


* TheAce: Crown Prince Callisto. He is gorgeous, highly intelligent and the best warrior of the empire.
* ActuallyPrettyFunny: When rumours start that Crown Prince Callisto is stalking Penelope after being dumped by her, all he does is laugh.
* ActionSurvivor: After the assassination attempt during the Hunt Penelope qualifies, even if Callisto did the most work.
* AdultFear: Watching a loved one do something that they well know would be deathly harmful to themselves, and later realizing that you or maybe the people surrounding them were the cause of their actions. [[spoiler: Which happens to the Eckhart family, Winter and Callisto, as they watch as their daughter/sister/love interest/"semi-official girlfriend" knowingly drinks poison at her own birthday party. The Duke and his two sons are acutely aware that they were the ones that drove Penelope to that point, Winter has a two fold horror since he was the one Penelope commissioned poison from, meanwhile Callisto is nearly driven to a breakdown and becomes desperate to get Penelope out of the Eckhart's control.]]
* AdventurerArchaeologist: Siyeon/Penelope's dream. Which she somehow later achieves.
* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: What the Duke fears is happening with Penelope and Callisto.
* AlphaBitch: Lady Kellin provoked the original Penelope into violence to play a WoundedGazelleGambit that saw her crowned as the Queen of the Annual Hunt. Is very satisfying when version two Penelope gets the award fair and square and rubs it in her face.
* AmbiguousDisorder: Callisto is far too quick to resort to violence and at times the only thing that prevents him from torturing or murdering people is the reminder that Penelope will not like it.
* AmnesiacHero: After getting lost as a young child Ivonne lost practically all of her memories and grew up as a commoner, it's only after meeting Winter by chance that he figures out her real identity and brings her back to her family and so begins the Normal Mode storyline. [[spoiler: But in reality the real young Ivonne died as her body was taken in by the Layla.]]
* AncientConspiracy: [[spoiler: The Layla have been attempting to return to power since the ancient wizards sealed them away. The ancient wizards also set up a lot of safeguards to prevent the Layla from returning]].
* AssassinOutclassin: Callisto in his first appearance brings an assassin that he has already beaten into a bloody pulp to his brother's banquet so he can decapitate said assassin in front of his brother and the ambitious nobles.
** Callisto and Penelope are ambushed by assassins in the forest during the Annual Hunt. Callisto deals with them with ease only getting injured when he has to protect Penelope.
* TheAtoner:
** The abusive maid Emily really comes to regret everything she did to Penelope and after having her JerkassRealization she does her best to help Penelope and does not expect any reward or even forgiveness. She even risks her life to help Penelope. It is the reason that out of everyone in the Duke's estate she is the only one Penelope actually can bring herself to forgive.
** The [[spoiler:original timeline Winter]]. He brought Ivonne back to the Eckharts on Penelope's coming-of-age on purpose, only to later realize [[spoiler:he allowed Layla-Ivonne to both dispose of Penelope, the only person able to stop her, and gain access to the Imperial Palace and the Golden Dragon's fang within, [[TheBadGuyWins allowing her to bring the end of the world]]. To atone for his horrendous mistake, he used the most forbidden of magic to turn back time, for which he was condemned to burn eternally. When the new timeline version merges with the original one, he is ready to do anything for Penelope's sake because she was the one that suffered the most due to Layla-Ivonne.]]
* AwfulTruth: Later in the story we find out an important plot twist of the original game from the hidden ending: [[spoiler:Ivonne got possessed by an ancient evil entity called the Layla capable of brainwashing people shortly after disappearing, and her ultimate goal is to destroy the world. And Penelope, the supposed villainess, was actually trying to stop Ivonne.]]
* BabiesEverAfter: Judith, who is the daughter of [[spoiler:Penelope and Callisto.]]
* BadassAbnormal: While not having magical powers of his own, Callisto is the direct descendant of a demigod and thus stronger, faster and more resilient than normal men.
* BeleagueredAssistant: Poor Cedric, who is Callisto's. Not only he has to smooth things over when Callisto's temper gets the better of him but he also has to deal with all the palace intrigue.
* BigBrotherBully: Both Eckart brothers towards Penelope, which mimics how her real world half-brothers treated her.
* BigBrotherInstinct: In contrast with how abrasive and mean they are towards Penelope, they loved and cared greatly for Ivonne. In the game once she comes back they soon reconnect with each other and both Derrick and Reynold spare no time in being protective of her, as their routes in the game in Normal Mode are obviously not romantic but familial. [[spoiler:Although the fact the real Ivonne is dead and the current Ivonne is actually the Layla possessing her body puts to question how much of this was genuine or brainwashing]].
* BigDamnHeroes: Callisto has a habit of showing up right on time to save Penelope's life. The first time, with the bear monster during the hunt was more or less a coincidence (he was looking around the forest for her). The second time at Soleia Island and later at Arkaina island he showed up right on time due to keeping track of her via magical GPS. [[LampshadeHanging Which his aide Cedric points out is not exactly legal]].
* BitchInSheepsClothing:
** Lady Kellin and [[spoiler: Ivonne-Layla]] are very good at making Penelope look bad and themselves good.
** When Penelope meets with Winter in Hard Mode, she realizes that the one in Normal Mode purposely brought back Ivonne to the Eckharts during Penelope's coming-of-age ceremony. As Penelope herself points out the only reason he did that would be to ruin Penelope's one single day that would be only about her.
* BlueBlood: Most of the cast is either high nobility or royalty, even Eckles who is now a slave is actually a former noble, the only exception being Penelope who was adopted into nobility.
* BrokenAce: Callisto is the most competent and worthy male lead but he is borderline insane from losing his mother, likely to assassination, his father's neglect of him and preference to his younger half-brother. Said half-brother and the second Queen constantly try to assassinate him.
* ButterflyEffect: As Siyeon reincarnated as Penelope, she starts to change almost the whole narrative, [[spoiler:much to the Layla's disdain, who struggles to adapt to the new circumstances]].
* ByronicHero: Penelope and Siyeon, especially the former, are caustic and aggressive individuals that really just want people to care about them. Many of her poor relationships are at least partially her fault as she grew more bitter with age. Her understandably bad attitude at how she was treated completely undermined her attempts to gain the simple happiness of a real family and in the present she typically cannot even recognize that people ''do'' care about her.
* CainAndAbel: Callisto and his younger brother, the second prince. While both despise each other and want to be emperor, the younger brother is the one that actually tries to off the opposition.
* CassandraTruth: [[spoiler:The original Penelope's actions in the normal route were done because she instinctively realized something was horribly wrong with Ivonne, who was possessed by a being that wanted to destroy the world. Unfortunately, because of a curse on her bloodline, no one would ever believe her, resulting in her taking extreme measures to stop Ivonne, leading to her own death.]]
* ChekhovsGun: The magical amulets that Penelope gives to the Duke and Callisto during the hunt save their lives later on. Same thing goes for the cufflink that Penelope gives Callisto on his birthday.
* TheChosenOne: As it turns out Penelope [[spoiler:is the only Ancient Wizard left in the world and thus the only one capable of stopping the Layla. But unfortunately due to a heredity curse and Ivonne-Layla's influence in the original timeline, she ends up dead without anyone knowing this until it's too late.]]
* ComicallySmallDemand: When Callisto offers Penelope anything she could possibly desire as a reward for helping him thwart an assassination attempt she only requests that he never kill her for any reason. He sees it as this and laments that he made such a terrible first impression on her. Penelope on the other hand is extremely relieved since in the OtomeGame Hard Mode Callisto was the one that killed her character the most.
* CovertPervert: After an assassination attempt that ended up with Callisto and Penelope falling in a lake he did undress her while she was unconscious to avoid a cold. He reassured Penelope that it was too dark to see anything but his affection for her increased by 5%.
* CrazyJealousGuy: Both Callisto and Eckles are this but in very different ways.
** Callisto can't abide the idea of losing Penelope either to death or to another man, to where he used a magical map to track her location, but he does respect her wishes, helps her fulfill her goals and does not monopolize her attention.
** During the Hunt Callisto was ready to kill any supposed rival for Penelope's affection.
** And later in the story when [[spoiler:Winter is freed from the Mirror of Truth, meaning he remembers everything that happened in the original timeline, Callisto has him arrested and ensures that the wizard will never get anywhere near Penelope. As he fears the possibility of Penelope choosing Winter over him, which to him is far scarier than the Layla returning.]]
** Eckles, on the other hand, is obsessed with her and wants her to be completely dependent on him. Which is why he is the one who ends up [[spoiler: bringing Ivonne back to the Eckhart family, thinking that this would surely made them throw Penelope out and she would end up with no else to rely to survive but him.]]
* DatingWhatDaddyHates: The Duke intensely dislikes Crown Prince Callisto, particularly as he had harmed Penelope before, so he doesn't approve of the idea of them being together and absolutely dislikes the rumours that they are/were in a relationship.
* DeadpanSnarker: Callisto, mostly to Penelope in a teasing manner and to the Duke and his sons in a harsh manner.
* DebtDetester: Winter is very careful not to owe anything to anyone. Penelope takes advantage of this trait to ensure that he will help her when needed and also to keep him firmly at a distance since she does not trust him.
* DesperatelyCravesAffection: The original Penelope only wanted to be loved by her adoptive family, and most of her actions were born of her desire to be noticed and given attention by them. Also the reason as to why Callisto latches very strongly to our Penelope, as he has no one else to love and trust.
* {{Determinator}}: Callisto is described as someone that can survive anything that the world throws at him. In fact, without him Penelope would have failed to defeat the Layla and the world would have been destroyed. Dude manages to kill a night unstoppable undead dragon.
* DotingParent: The moment Penelope reaches out to the duke again for the first time in years, he quickly starts bragging about her and how much she clearly cares about her dad. It wasn't that he truly hated her, he just didn't know what to do with her.
* DoYouThinkICantFeel: Penelope was treated as if she was a doll or a pet and not a human being with her own desires and opinions. It's not until when Siyeon reincarnates as her and starts showing her own ego that the people around Penelope start to realize that she is also a person and they need to treat her as such.
* DrivenToSuicide: At the beginning of the story our Penelope thinks that if she dies as the character she may be able to go back to the real world, so she plans to get herself killed by Callisto... Which she would later end up regretting.
** Much later in the story [[spoiler: at the time of her coming-of-age ceremony Penelope believes that she has already lost, since she didn't manage to raise the love score of any of the love interests to the full percent, that the man who proclaims to love her, Callisto, will inevitably fall for the newly returned Ivonne, and when Derrick ends up bringing Ivonne uninvited to the party, feeling that it's the last straw and that she will die soon anyway, she knowingly drinks the poisoned wine.]]
* DoNotCallMePaul: Derrick abhors when Penelope calls him "older brother", something she noticed back when she began playing the game in Hard Mode, it made her feel as if he didn't consider her worthy of being his younger sister and compared her to Ivonne... [[spoiler: But this is in fact a huge hint that his feelings towards her are anything but brotherly.]]
* DrowningMySorrows: After Penelope runs away with Reynold's assistance, the latter starts to spend his days drunk out of guilt that in part his actions and inactions have driven his adopted sister to despair. However the servants speculate that he had his heart broken... Which he did, but platonically rather than romantically.
* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Callisto's servants and allies do not take long to start addressing Penelope as ''crown princess'', as they notice his interest in her.
* EveryoneLovesBlondes: When Penelope first played the game in Korea, Callisto was the route she went for the most.
* TheEvilPrince: Callisto's brother "invited" him to his birthday banquet... by sending an assassin. The first impression we get from Callisto is not much better either, as he ends up killing Penelope the most.
* FailedASpotCheck: Penelope's father is genuinely oblivious to how poorly the servants treat her until she just stands up and leaves in the middle of a meal. When he asks why, she merely points to her completely untouched meal and the ridiculously tiny utensils she was given. The fact that he didn't even know she was being abused and wouldn't have allowed it does nothing to make her feel better, however, as all he actually had to do was look at her even once during dinner to see she was unable to actually eat the prepared food.
* FriendToAllChildren: Winter takes care of orphans that come from wizard lineage, he teaches them and protects their identity, as their kind is being unjustly persecuted. He also seems to help normal orphans in the slums, and that's how he meets Ivonne in the Normal Mode storyline, being charmed by her kindness and sweetness towards the children.
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** Penelope was called the 'fake' heroine by players of the game. [[spoiler:It turns out she's less fake and rather the ''real'' heroine while Ivonne is the fake.]]
** When Siyeon plays the hard mode, she remarks Penelope didn't do that much wrong considering the position she was in and wonders why people were making her out to be so evil in the normal mode. Likewise, she also notes how easy it is to complete normal mode. [[spoiler:This is the earliest hint about the Layla's ability to brainwash and the curse on Penelope's true bloodline]].
** Layla cultists try to cause chaos during the Annual Hunt. One of them even alludes to the Layla ''goddess'' [[spoiler: aka Ivonne, who is also spotted by Penelope during the adventure on Soleia island.]]
* GenderBlenderName: Callisto is typically a female name meaning the "most beautiful".
* GentlemanWizard: Winter Verdandi, a courteous marquis who is also a sorcerer.
* GreenEyedMonster: Derrick really does not like it when Penelope pays attention to Callisto or Winter... [[spoiler: Which actually hints that his feelings are not fraternal but rather of romantic nature.]]
* GossipEvolution: By the time the Annual Hunt and Penelope's trial on trumped up charges is over the Court and the Nobles are under the impression that Callisto and Penelope had a love affair which Penelope decided to end due to the difference in status, but Callisto decided not to accept it and kept stalking her... The truth is nowhere close to what actually happened.
* HadToBeSharp: Callisto lost his mother at an early age and his WickedStepmother started plans to get him out of her own son's way.
* HeirClubForMen: The norm in the empire. [[spoiler: But Callisto plans to change it because he wants his daughter Judith to succeed him.]]
* HereditaryCurse: [[spoiler:The bloodline of the Ancient Wizards were cursed to be negatively perceived by the Layla, resulting in them being [[HeroWithBadPublicity Heroes with Bad Publicity]]. Penelope was no exception, which unfortunately made it easier for Ivonne-Layla to manipulate things to dispose of her in the original timeline.]]
* HeroicLineage:
** Callisto and the rest of the royal family are direct descendants of a demigod.
** [[spoiler:Penelope is actually descended from the Ancient Wizards that sealed the Layla away in the first place.]]
* HeroWithBadPublicity: The Ancient Wizards are remembered as vicious and power hungry due to a curse that the Layla put on them to ensure that they were negatively perceived when in reality they were the ones that saved their world from the Layla. It persists three thousand years later in their descendants,[[spoiler: like our poor Penelope]].
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Callisto is a lot taller than Penelope and he can easily carry her and run off.
* JerkassRealization: Some characters end up realizing that the way they treated Penelope was nothing short of awful. Emily comes to deeply regret how she treated Penelope, even the butler sees how his indifference towards Penelope has hurt her as well, since it enabled the mistreatment by the rest of the servitude under him and made her more prone to lashing out. Callisto is very well aware that holding a defenseless and frail woman at swordpoint and cutting her in the neck was a dick move. [[spoiler:Siyeon's real-life family has this as well, although far too late to make amends with Siyeon, who decides to live on as Penelope and cuts the life support of her original body.]]
* LargeAndInCharge: Callisto. He is the tallest of the cast at six feet one and is basically in charge of the empire since his father is quite useless.
* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Penelope to Callisto to the point that he would commit suicide if she were to die.
* LivingMacGuffin: Penelope, when her soul vanished after dying constantly, shattering the time loop and the world stopped.
* LoveHurts: Poor, poor Callisto.
* LovingBully: As it turns out the verbal and emotional abuse Penelope receives from[[spoiler: Derrick is partly a mask to hide that he also has romantic feelings for her. As it's not possible for him to act on those feelings but he can't resist the attraction he feels towards her he channels it into insults and criticisms of herself and her behavior.]]
* MacGuffin: The Shards of the Mirror of Truth and Penelope's mirror wand.
** Most importantly the Golden Dragon's fang, an artifact powerful enough to destroy the world. [[spoiler:Ivonne-Layla's goal is to retrieve it from the palace]].
* MadeASlave: Eckles is a fallen noble whose kingdom was defeated and was made a slave.
* MaliciousSlander: There is a lot about Penelope, mainly spread by Lady Kellin, who is jealous of Penelope's natural beauty and higher status as a duke's daughter.
* MasterSwordsman: Callisto and Eckles.
* MeaningfulName: Callisto means "most beautiful" and he is indeed quite handsome. Penelope appreciates his looks the most from the capture targets.
* MediaTransmigration: Cha Siyeon was an illegitimate child who escaped her abusive family by going to university. Through her classmates she heard of the viral OtomeGame "Daughter of the Duke - Love Project" and got hooked. After beating all the routes in normal mode, she had the option to buy the very expensive true ending or to earn it through playing hard mode. A thrifty young woman, she decides to play hard mode where instead of playing as the protagonist Ivonne, she has to play as the villainess Penelope Eckhart. Whom she wakes up as she is being belittled and mocked by ''her'' abusive family. [[spoiler:The epilogue reveals Cha Siyeon is still barely alive in a comatose state in the real world, and she chooses to live on as Penelope by cutting the life support from her body.]]
* MindControl: The Layla are able to play with the minds of humans,[[spoiler: and that's the reason Ivonne-Layla was able to enact her plans so flawlessly in the previous timelines until Siyeon takes over Penelope's body.]]
** MoreThanMindControl: [[spoiler: Ivonne manipulates Eckles's and Derrick's feelings towards Penelope in the changed timeline.]]
* MissingMom: Several mothers of the cast are deceased. It's Siyeon's mother early death what caused her to be taken in by her biological father, meanwhile the original Penelope also lived in poverty alongside her mother, whose passing away is what allowed Penelope to be adopted by Duke Eckhart, whose own wife had died some years before, leaving his biological children motherless too. Callisto also lost his mother at a young age, which is one of the things that make him and our Penelope relate to each other and grow closer.
* MoralityChain: Callisto is several times stopped from murder just by thinking of Penelope's appalled reaction.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: After Penelope blows up at Reynold and tells him what her pre adoption childhood was like (she assumes, since she didn't live it herself) she admits that she might well have hoped that Ivonne would never come back. If she did, Penelope might get thrown right back out onto the street again where she could easily die at any time for any reason. And then her new family framed her for a nonsensical crime and abused her for years.
* NoSocialSkills: Penelope is rather caustic and not above resorting to violence, harsh language or threats when necessary, when in a bad mood or Just Because. She's also almost completely unable to tell when people she speaks to are actually concerned for her or care about her because she just assumes everyone hates her due to her abusive upbringing.
* NotBloodSiblings: As Penelope is adopted and not related to Derrick nor Reynold by blood, in the Hard Mode they are presented as possible romantic interests. Though our Penelope quickly discards them as options, as they remind her too much of her biological half brothers.[[spoiler:Later in the story it's shown that Derrick has always had romantic and possibly sexual feelings for Penelope, which is why he always hates when she calls him "brother". On one hand he is disgusted with himself for feeling that way toward his adopted sister, but the way he deals with those feelings is by being harsh and abusive towards her.]]
* ObliviouslyEvil: Callisto knows he has a bit of a bad personality, but seems to be genuinely baffled by Penelope's fear that he might kill her at any second or that he might have really killed her during their first meeting. Thing is, as she already knows, he's responsible for a staggering number of bad ends.
* ObliviousToLove: Penelope, ''Penelope'' and Penelope. As she has tunnel vision with making sure to survive and escape her predetermined death, she seems refuse to notice or can't truly believe in the affection that the love interests show her, always second guessing and comparing their behaviors with their Normal Mode Game counterparts...
** She fails to understand the significance of Callisto constantly trying to meet her, him wanting to kill any rival for her affections and giving her extremely expensive gifts.
* ObnoxiousInLaws: The Duke and his sons loathe Callisto and really do not want Penelope to have anything to do with him, much less marry him. Callisto loathes them even more due to the way they have always treated Penelope and for interfering with his courting.
* OnlyOneName: Commoners do not have a last name, only nobility.
* OverprotectiveDad: The Duke is not happy that Callisto is courting Penelope. His main gripe with the Crown Prince is that he threatened her at swordpoint during their first meeting and after that he would not stop needling the Duke. He was also worried that Eckles, being young and handsome, could try to seduce his daughter, which is why he wasn't keen on the idea of allowing him to be her personal knight.
** The Duke is ready to rebel when he finds out that [[spoiler: Callisto impregnated Penelope prior to their marriage.]]
* ParentsAsPeople: The Duke does care for Penelope but he has no idea how to relate to her or his sons leading to him burying himself in his work and allowing the abuse she endures daily at to continue and get worse. [[spoiler:It also applies to her real-life father.]]
* ParentalNeglect: Due to the Duke's neglect and lack of interaction with the original Penelope, she is utterly love-starved and abused by her step-brothers... Our Penelope can't help to think how much it mirrors her relationship with her real family in Korea.
* PleaseDontLeaveMe: Penelope[[spoiler:'s suicide attempt]] nearly causes Callisto to emotionally splinter.
* ThePowerOfLove: Love, in all of its forms, be it familial, romantic or platonic, helps the people in the story to counter the Layla's mental machinations. Though only people that have less tainted affections towards Penelope are highly resistant if not outright immune to the Layla's brainwashing.
** The Duke: Paternal affection.
** Reynold: Brotherly affection.
** Winter: Genuine admiration and romantic love.
** Callisto: Romantic love and deep trust.
** Eckles: Romantic love... [[spoiler:but as what he felt evolved into an obsessive love-hate towards Penelope, that made him putty in Ivonne's hands.]]
** Derrick: Brotherly affection...[[spoiler:or so he wished his real feelings actually were. In reality he was ashamed of his romantic feelings towards his adopted sister and that plus the jealousy he felt towards the men close to her, made him an extremely easy target for the Layla.]]
* ProperlyParanoid: [[spoiler:The Mirror of Truth reveals the real reason Penelope tried to kill Ivonne was because she instinctively had a bad feeling about her. That reason being Ivonne was actually the Layla plotting to end the world. Unfortunately, the curse on Penelope's bloodline made it impossible for anyone to believe her and Yvonne-Layla took advantage of this to dispose of her.]]
* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Discussed. Siyeon notes Penelope's portrayal in hard mode is far different from how she's viewed in normal mode, which implies some of this trope is in effect. [[spoiler:Which acts as foreshadowing that something isn't quite right with Ivonne.]]
* RagsToRoyalty: Our protagonist Siyeon is a ''Cinderella Style'', in both of her lives. As Siyeon she was a poor illegitimate child raised by her single mother and her rich father only brought her into his family after her mother's death, as Penelope she was an orphaned beggar who was later adopted by Duke Eckhart.
* RefugeInAudacity: Penelope has to resort to this twice:
** After the Second Prince's banquet she followed Callisto to the rose garden because she wanted to test the reset button of the game. Unfortunately for her there is no reset button and Callisto is holding her at sword point demanding to know why she followed him. Terrified for her life she gives him the most ridiculous reason for it. That she has fallen in love with him. Callisto struggles not to burst laughing.
** During her trial for supposedly trying to assassinate Callisto, with Callisto was unable to testify due to a poison coma, she is asked why was in the presence of the Crown Prince. She tells the judge and everyone around that she and Callisto have been having a love affair and she was going to ask him to break up. People believe her since no one would dare lie about being in a relationship with Callisto or to wanting to dump him. Thankfully for her he finds in amusing and likes to rub the supposed love affair in the face of the Duke and the Eckart brothers.
* ReplacementGoldfish: Penelope was supposed to fill in the gap that Ivonne left, but not everyone was on board with it and she was too different from the original Ivonne.
* RoseHairedSweetie: Young Ivonne is remembered by her family as a sweet and kind young girl... And even after losing her memories, she grew up to be a charming and nice young woman, who worries about orphans and people in worse situation than herself... [[spoiler:Or at least the possessed by Layla version of Ivonne pretends to be, and she ends up being quite successful at it]].
* RoyaltySuperpower: Judith appears to have inherited the Ancient Magic power [[spoiler:that her mother Penelope lost.]]
* SecretIdentity: Since wizards face prejudice Winter hides that he is one and practices the craft in a rabbit masked merchant persona.
* SeriousBusiness: For Penelope, establishing a romantic relationship with one of the RomanceGame male leads is literally a matter of life and death.
* SignificantGreenEyedRedhead: Penelope has magenta hair and aquagreen eyes. [[spoiler: She also happens to be a direct descendant of the Ancient Mages, the only one that can wield Ancient Magic and is absolutely necessary to defeat the Layla.]]
* SlaveToPR: Derrick is obsessed with upholding the good reputation of the Eckhart family name.
* SpannerInTheWorks: Penelope ends up being this [[spoiler:for the Layla]] because of changing the timeline so much [[spoiler:it becomes harder for Ivonne-Layla to dispose of her]].
* SquishyWizard: [[spoiler: As it turns out Penelope might be the only Ancient Mage left in the world... but she is also a young, untrained girl with a delicate body.]]
* StalkerWithACrush: Callisto makes a magical map that shows him where Penelope is at all times. It enables him to rescue her from danger several times.
* SurpriseCreepy: Imagine playing the easy mode game as sweet, lovely Ivonne and then paying to see the hidden route and finding out that [[spoiler: "Ivonne" was the true villain who succeeded in killing the true protagonist and destroyed the world.]]
* TakeThat: After being crowned Queen of the Annual Hunt (similar to Queen of Love and Beauty in ASOIAF) Penelope has to give a speech. She says that winning it was absolutely no big deal much to the ire and humiliation of Lady Kellin who became Queen of the Hunt by playing a series of BatmanGambit and WoundedGazelleGambit.
* TomatoSurprise: [[spoiler:The Mirror of Truth reveals this about Ivonne and Penelope; it turns out Penelope, a descendant of the Ancient Wizards, was trying to stop Ivonne, who was actually possessed by the Layla, from freeing her brethren and destroying the world, but was unable to do so due to her brainwashing and the curse on Penelope's bloodline.]]
* {{Troll}}: Callisto really enjoys riling up people, be it his s was ambitious half brother, his aide, love interest and especially his future in laws.
** Penelope is one too, though to a smaller degree... [[spoiler: She kisses Callisto in front of Reynold just to piss off the later.]]
* {{Tsundere}}: Reynold doesn't dislike Penelope nearly as much as you would think based on his behavior. His feelings are actually quite conflicted, but even when he realizes "Oh, I'm the asshole" he still carries a strong tsuntsun edge.
* UndyingLoyalty: After her JerkassRealization Emily becomes truly devoted to Penelope.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: [[spoiler:The original timeline Winter caused the end of the world by bringing Ivonne-Layla back to her Eckhart family during Penelope's coming of age, putting her in the perfect position to both dispose of the only person able to stop her and acquire the fang needed to accomplish her goal. [[TheAtoner He is well aware of this]].]]
* UselessBystanderParent: Penelope really has it the worst, as she has this type of parent twice. The biological father of her original body and the adoptive father of her second body are of the neglecting variety. While they are not actually involved in her brothers' abuse of her, they do not stop their sons from making their daughter's life a living hell. If they had showed even the slightest interest in their daughter's well being she would have not been mistreated and belittled by everyone. Though resentful toward him throughout the story for this, [[spoiler:she does seem to eventually accept him enough to let him interact with her daughter with Callisto and have tea with him by the epilogue.]]
* WarriorPrince: Callisto is the empire's best warrior.
* WhatTheHellHero: After Reynold gets particularly hostile towards Penelope in an argument, he accuses her of hoping Ivonne was dead and makes it clear he's not going to let her avoid the fight he's trying to pick. She eventually blows up at him and says of ''course'' she would be happy Ivonne is gone because it meant she would no longer have to eat rotting garbage or deal with being unable to even dispose of her mother's corpse. And then when she thinks things are looking up, her new brother frames her for stealing something she wouldn't even have known was valuable and treats her like shit for a decade? The point lands: Reynold clearly never thought about things from her position and feels pretty terrible. And thankfully, this blowup Penelope had at him sticks in his head and kick starts his character development where he grows genuine brotherly affection toward her.
* WickedStepmother: The Second Queen wants Callisto dead so her own son can inherit.
* WorldsStrongestMan: Callisto, he took out an undead dragon on his own, without magic.
* WoundedGazelleGambit: [[spoiler:Ivonne-Layla has pulled it off quite well in the past thanks to her brainwashing powers.]]
* WrongGenreSavvy: Penny, Penny you are not in a romance story but in an apocalyptic epic. Also the romantic aspect is not wholesome because the capture targets are in shades of {{Yandere}}. In all fairness, Siyeon has never experienced love and [[spoiler:she wasn't in any position to suspect Ivonne is possessed by a being able to brainwash people and wants to destroy the world from playing the normal route alone.]]
* {{Yandere}}: ALL the male leads have shades of this but Eckles ends up taking the cake.

''Death Is the Only Ending for the Villainess'' is a popular light novel covering action, adventure, and comedy. Written by the Author Gwongyeoeul. The webtoon comic adaptation is licensed in English by Website/TapasMedia under the name ''[[https://tapas.io/series/villains-are-destined-to-die/info Villains Are Destined to Die]].''

* AlphaBitch: Lady Kellin provoked the original Penelope into violence to play a WoundedGazelleGambit that saw her crowned as the Queen of the Annual Hunt. Is very satisfying when version two Penelope gets the award fair and square and rubs it in her face.
* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: What the Duke fears is happening with Penelope and Callisto.

* WhatTheHellHero: After Reynold gets particularly hostile towards Penelope in an argument, he accuses her of hoping Ivonne was dead and makes it clear he's not going to let her avoid the fight he's trying to pick. She eventually blows up at him and says of ''course'' she would be happy Ivonne is gone because it meant she would no longer have to eat rotting garbage or deal with being unable to even dispose of her mother's corpse. And then when she thinks things are looking up, her new brother frames her for stealing something she wouldn't even have known was valuable and treats her like shit for a decade? The point lands: Reynold clearly never thought about things from her position and feels pretty terrible.

* DrowningMySorrows: After Penelope runs away with Reynold's assistance, the latter starts to spend his days drunk out of guild that in part his actions and inactions have driven his adopted sister to despair. However the servants speculate that he had his heart broken... Which he did, but platonically rather than romantically.

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: When rumours start that Crown Prince Callisto is stalking Penelope after being dumped by her all he does is laugh.

** Callisto can't abide the idea of losing Penelope either to death or to another man, but he does respect her wishes, helps her fulfill her goals and does not monopolize her attention.

** When Siyeon plays the hard mode, she remarks Penelope didn't do that much wrong considering the position she was in and wonders why people were making her out to be so evil in the normal mode. [[spoiler:This is the earliest hint about the Layla's ability to brainwash and the curse on Penelope's true bloodline]].

* MaliciousSlander: There is a lot about Penelope, mainly spread by Lady Kellin, who is jealous of Penelope's beauty and higher status as a duke's daughter.

* WrongGenreSavvy: Penny, Penny you are not in a romance story but in an apocalyptic epic. Also the romantic aspect is not wholesome because the capture targets are in shades of {{Yandere}}. In all fairness, Siyeon has never experienced love and [[spoiler:she wasn't in any position to suspect Ivonne is actually being possessed by a being able to brainwash people and wants to destroy the world from playing the normal route.]]

* AwfulTruth: Later in the story we find out an important plot twist of the original game from the hidden ending: [[spoiler:Ivonne got possessed by an ancient evil entity called the Layla capable of brainwashing people shortly after disappearing, and her ultimate goal is to destroy the world.]]

** And later in the story when [[spoiler:Winter is freed from the Mirror of Truth, Callisto has him arrested and ensures that the wizard will never get anywhere near Penelope. As he fears the possibility of Penelope choosing Winter over him, which to him is far scarier than the Layla returning.]]

* LivingMacGuffin: Penelope, when her soul shattered the time loop and the world stopped.

* MediaTransmigration: Cha Siyeon was an illegitimate child who escaped her abusive family by going to university. Through her classmates she heard of the viral OtomeGame "Daughter of the Duke - Love Project" and got hooked. After beating all the routes in normal mode, she had the option to buy the very expensive true ending or to earn it through playing hard mode. A thifty young woman, she decides to play hard mode where instead of playing as the protagonist Ivonne, she has to play as the villainess Penelope Eckhart. Whom she wakes up as she is being belittled and mocked by ''her'' abusive family. [[spoiler:The epilogue reveals Cha Siyeon is still barely alive in a comatose state in the real world, and she chooses to live on as Penelope by cutting the life support from her body.]]

* TomatoSurprise: [[spoiler:The Mirror of Truth reveals this about Ivonne and Penelope. It turns out Penelope, a descendant of the Ancient Wizards, was trying to stop Ivonne, who was actually possessed by the Layla, from freeing her brethren and destroying the world, but was unable to do so due to her brainwashing and the curse on Penelope's bloodline.]]

** When Siyeon plays the hard mode, she remarks Penelope didn't do that much wrong considering the position she was in and wonders why people were making her out to be so evil in the normal mode. [[spoiler:This is the earliest hint about both the Layla's ability to brainwash and the curse on Penelope's true bloodline]].

* HeredityCurse: [[spoiler:The bloodline of the Ancient Wizards were cursed to be negatively perceived by the Layla, resulting in them being [[HeroWithBadPublicity Heroes with Bad Publicity]]. Penelope was no exception, which unfortunately made it easier for Ivonne-Layla to manipulate things to dispose of her in the original timeline.]]

* JerkassRealization: Some characters end up realizing that the way they treated Penelope was nothing short of awful. Emily comes to deeply regret how she treated Penelope, even the butler sees how his indifference towards Penelope has hurt her as well, since it enabled the mistreatment by the rest of the servitude under him and made her more prone to lashing out. Callisto is very well aware that holding a defenseless and frail woman at swordpoint and cutting her in the neck was a dick move.

* MediaTransmigration: Cha Siyeon was an illegitimate child who escaped her abusive family by going to university. Through her classmates she heard of the viral OtomeGame "Daughter of the Duke - Love Project" and got hooked. After beating all the routes in normal mode, she had the option to buy the very expensive true ending or to earn it through playing hard mode. A thifty young woman, she decides to play hard mode where instead of playing as the protagonist Ivonne, she has to play as the villainess Penelope Eckhart. Whom she wakes up as she is being belittled and mocked by ''her'' abusive family.

* ParentsAsPeople: The Duke does care for Penelope but he has no idea how to relate to her or his sons leading to him burying himself in his work and allowing the abuse she endures daily at to continue and get worse.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: [[spoiler:The original timeline Winter caused the end of the world by bringing Ivonne-Layla back to her Eckhart family during Penelope's coming of age, putting her in the perfect position to both dispose of the only person able to stop her and the fang needed to accomplish her goal. [[TheAtoner He is well aware of this]].]]
* UselessBystanderParent: Penelope really has it the worst, as she has this type of parent twice. The biological father of her original body and the adoptive father of her second body are of the neglecting variety. While they are not actually involved in her brothers' abuse of her, they do not stop their sons from making their daughter's life a living hell. If they had showed even the slightest interest in their daughter's well being she would have not been mistreated and belittled by everyone.

** The [[spoiler:original timeline Winter]]. He brought Ivonne back to the Eckharts on Penelope's coming-of-age on purpose, only to discover too late [[spoiler:he enabled Layla-Ivonne to dispose off TheChosenOne able to stop her, who was Penelope, and gain access to the Imperial Palace and the Golden Dragon's fang within, [[TheBadGuyWins allowing her to bring the end of the world]]. To atone for his horrendous mistake, he used the most forbidden of magic to turn back time, for which he was condemned to burn eternally. When the new timeline version merges with the original one, he is ready to do anything for Penelope's sake because she was the one that suffered the most due to Layla-Ivonne.]]

* BadAssAbnormal: While not having magical powers of his own, Callisto is the direct descendant of a demigod and thus stronger, faster and more resilient than normal men.

* BigDamnHeroes: Callisto has a habit of showing up right on time to save Penelope's life. The first time, with the bear monster during the hunt was more or less a coincidence (he was looking around the forest for her). The second time at Soleia Island and later at Arkaina island he showed up right on time due to keeping track of her via magical GPS. Which his aide Cedric points out is not exactly legal.

** Penelope in the real world was called the 'fake heroine'.

** Most importantly the Golden Dragon's fang, an artifact powerful enough to destroy the world.

* SeriousBusiness: For Penelope, establishing a romantic relationship with one of the RomanceGame male leads is literally a matter of life and death. [[spoiler:A

* SpannerInTheWorks: Penelope ends up being this [[spoiler:for the Layla]].

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: [[spoiler:The original timeline Winter caused the end of the world by bringing Ivonne-Layla back to her Eckhart family, putting her in the perfect position to both dispose of the only person able to stop her and the fang needed to accomplish her. [[TheAtoner He is well aware of this]].]]

* WoundedGazelleGambit: Layla has pulled it off quite well in the past thanks to her brainwashing powers.
* WrongGenreSavvy: Penny, Penny you are not in a romance story but in an apocalyptic epic. Also the romantic aspect is not wholesome because the capture targets are in shades of {{Yandere}}. In all fairness, part of this is because [[spoiler:she wasn't in any position to suspect Ivonne is actually being possessed by an being able to brainwash people wanting to destroy the world from only playing the normal mode of the game.]]

* JerkassRealization: Some characters end up realizing that the way they treated Penelope was nothing short of awful. Emily comes to deeply regret how she treated Penelope, even the butler sees how his indifference towards Penelope has hurt her as well, since it enabled the mistreatment by the rest of the servitude under him and made her more prone to lashing out. Callisto is very well aware that holding a defenseless and frail woman at swordpoint and cutting her in the neck was a dick move.

* AncientConspiracy: The Layla have been attempting to return to power since the ancient wizards sealed them away. The ancient wizards also set up a lot of safeguards to prevent the Layla from returning.

* TheAtoner: The abusive maid Emily really comes to regret everything she did to Penelope and after having her JerkassRealization she does her best to help Penelope and does not expect any reward or even forgiveness. She even risks her life to help Penelope. It is the reason that out of everyone in the Duke's estate she is the only one Penelope actually can bring herself to forgive.
** Original timeline Winter. He brought Ivonne back to the Eckharts on Penelope's coming-of-age on purpose, and would end up much later realizing that [[spoiler: he enabled her to dispose off TheChosenOne, who was Penelope, and gain access to the Imperial Palace and the Golden Dragon's fang within. Layla-Ivonne achieved a TheBadGuyWins which caused the end of the world. To atone for his horrendous mistake he used the most forbidden of magics, he turned time itself back for which he was condemned to burn eternally. When the new timeline version merges with the original one he is ready to do anything for Penelope's sake... Since she was the one that suffered the most due to Layla-Ivonne.]]
* AwfulTruth: Later in the story we find out an important plot twist of the original game, [[spoiler:that Ivonne got possessed by an ancient evil entity called a Layla shortly after disappearing, and her ultimate goal is to destroy the world.]]

* BigBrotherInstinct: In contrast with how abrasive and mean they are towards Penelope, they loved and cared greatly for Ivonne. In the game once she comes back they soon reconnect with each other and both Derrick and Reynold spare no time in being protective of her, as their routes in the game in Normal Mode are obviously not romantic but familial.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Lady Kellin and [[spoiler: Ivonne-Layla]] are very good at making Penelope look bad and themselves good.

* ButterflyEffect: As Siyeon reincarnated as Penelope, she starts to change almost the whole narrative, much to the Layla's disdain, who struggles to adapt to the new circumstances.

* TheChosenOne: As it turns out Penelope [[spoiler:is the only Ancient Mage left in the world.]]

* CovertPervert: After an assassination attempt that ended up with Callisto and Penelope falling in a lake he did undress her while she was unconcious to avoid a cold. He reassured Penelope that it was too dark to see anything but his affection for her increased by 5%.

* EarlyBirdCameo: Layla cultists try to cause chaos during the Annual Hunt. One of them even alludes to the Layla ''goddess'' [[spoiler: aka Ivonne, who is also spotted by Penelope during the adventure on Soleia island.]]

* TheEvilPrince: Callisto's brother "invited" him to his birthday banquet... by sending an assassin. The first impression we get from Callisto is not much better either, as he ends up

* GossipEvolution: By the time the Annual Hunt and Penelope's trial on trumped up charges is over the Court and the Nobles are under the impression that Callisto and Penelope had a love affair which Penelope decided to end due to the difference in status, but Callisto decided not to accept it and kept stalking her... The truth is nowhere close.
* JerkassRealization: Some characters end up realizing that the way they treated Penelope was nothing short of awful. Emily comes to deeply regret how she treated Penelope, even the butler sees how his indifference towards Penelope has hurt her as well, since it enabled the mistreatment by the rest of the servitude under him. Callisto is very well aware that holding a defenseless and frail woman at swordpoint and cutting her in the neck was a dick move.

* HeroicLineage: Callisto, and the rest of the royal family, is a direct descendant of a demigod. [[spoiler: Penelope is actually descended from the Ancient Wizards that sealed the Layla away in the first place.]]
* HeroWithBadPublicity: The Ancient Wizards are remembered as vicious and power hungry due to a curse that the Layla put on them to ensure that they were negatively percieved. It persists three thousand years later in their descendants, [[spoiler: like our poor Penelope]].

* MindControl: The Layla are able to play with the minds of humans,[[spoiler: and that's the reason Ivonne-Layla was able to enact her plans so flawlessly in the previous timelines.]]
** MoreThanMindControl: [[spoiler: Ivonne manipulates Eckles's and Derrick's feelings towards Penelope.]]

* SeriousBusiness: For Penelope, establishing a romantic relationship with one of the RomanceGame male leads is literally a matter of life and death.

* SpannerInTheWorks: Penelope ends up being this for the Layla.

* WrongGenreSavvy: Penny, Penny you are not in a romance story but in an apocalyptic epic. Also the romantic aspect is not wholesome because the capture targets are in shades of {{Yandere}}.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler: Ivonne-Layla]] is very good at making Penelope look bad and herself good.

* ButterflyEffect: As Siyeon reincarnated Penelope, she starts to change almost the whole narrative, much to the Layla's disdain, who struggles to adapt to the new circumstances.

* CrazyJealousGuy: Both Callisto and Eckles are this but in very different ways. Callisto can't abide the idea of losing Penelope either to death or to another man, but he does respect her wishes, helps her fulfill her goals and does not monopolize her attention.

* DesperatelyCravesAffection: The original Penelope only wanted to be loved by her adoptive family, and most of her actions were born of her desire to be noticed and given attention by them. Also the reason was to why Callisto latches very strongly to our Penelope, as he has no one else to love and trust.

* LovingBully: As it turns out the verbally and emotionally abuse Penelope receives from[[spoiler: Derrick is partly a mask to hide that he also has romantic feelings for her. As it's not possible for him to act on those feelings but he can't resist the attraction he feels towards her he channels it into insults and criticisms of herself and her behavior.]]

* UselessBystanderParent: Penelope really has it the worst, as she has this type of parent twice. The biological father of her original body and the adoptive father of her second body are of the neglecting variety. While they are not actually involve in her half brothers' abuse of her they do not stop their sons from making Penelope's life a living hell. If they had showing even the slightest interest in their daughter's well being she would have not been mistreated and belittled by everyone.

* {{Yandere}}: ALL the male leads have shades of this but Eckles takes the cake.