| 1 | ->''"Hear me, hero. Endure. Survive. Live. For the rush of blood, for the time between the seconds--live. For the sole pleasure left to me in this, empty, ephemeral world--live!"'' |
| 2 | -->-- '''Zenos yae Galvus''', ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' |
| 3 | |
| 4 | The BigBad is sending our hero (and his RagtagBunchOfMisfits companions) through the wringer. He clearly has the power to wipe them out any time he feels like it. But he's content (for now) with sending out wave after wave of [[SortingAlgorithmOfEvil progressively stronger]] {{mooks}}, {{Elite Mook}}s, and the occasional QuirkyMinibossSquad to test our hero. Maybe he's even fought them personally, but let them live, maybe even [[ILetYouWin let them think they beat him.]] Maybe he even leaves them alone to train for their inevitable confrontation. So why don't they [[WhyDontYaJustShootHim finish the hero off and be done with it]]? |
| 5 | |
| 6 | Because it's [[ThePlan Part of The Plan]]. Maybe he needs the heroes strong enough to get to the top of Mount Tropey and [[MacGuffinDeliveryService retrieve the Crown of Trope-Tan]]. Maybe he needs TheChosenOne as strong as possible before he [[GrandTheftMe takes his power or body]] as his own. So he keeps sending out one stronger opponent after another to test Our Hero (or lets him seek them out on his own). After all, if he can't handle that, he's no good for the Master Plan. It's also possible that the BigBad just may be a BloodKnight who wants to beat him at his strongest, or its no fun. |
| 7 | |
| 8 | The pitfalls of such a plan, however, are painfully obvious. If the schemer needs his pawn to secure the Crown of Trope-Tan due to restrictions on his own presence, he needs to make certain the pawn will deliver it to him straight away, lest the pawn put it in safekeeping, [[NoManShouldHaveThisPower destroy it]] or, worse, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard use it against him]]. There are many ways to go about ensuring it, however - a [[HostageForMacGuffin hostage exchange]] is one such way. |
| 9 | |
| 10 | If the schemer is seeking the hero's body or power, there is a fine threshold between "strong enough to work" and "too strong to handle" that the schemer needs to keep in mind at all times - the instant the threshold is crossed, things [[DidntSeeThatComing get complicated]]. A BloodKnight is less inclined to care, especially if [[DeathSeeker defeat is the desired result]]. They may also [[VillainForgotToLevelGrind forget to keep up with the heroes]], themselves. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | Both of these also share the same pitfall as all {{Evil Plan}}s--the plan is only good as long as the pawns never figure it out. The instant they do, they may [[OffTheRails try to incorporate a power incompatible with the schemer]] or [[HoistByTheirOwnPetard seek to invoke a backfire]]. Long story short, if they catch on, it's only a matter of time [[OutGambitted before the schemer and his plan go to hell]]. |
| 13 | |
| 14 | This is a subtrope of EvilPlan and JustToyingWithThem. See also: ILetYouWin, NotWorthKilling, BringHimToMe. Often a part of a MacGuffinDeliveryService if the hero is an UnwittingPawn. Compare StealthMentor. Contrast YouWillBeSpared. |
| 15 | |
| 16 | ---- |
| 17 | !!Examples: |
| 18 | |
| 19 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 20 | |
| 21 | [[folder:Anime and Manga]] |
| 22 | * Cell and Vegeta on ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' took turns with the BloodKnight variant of this trope. Vegeta could've easily destroyed Imperfect Cell (or let [[KidFromTheFuture Future Trunks]] do it). But Cell appealed to his Saiyan blood, allowing him the opportunity to absorb Android 18 and achieve full power. Likewise, Perfect Cell could've wiped the Z-Warriors out after this. But ''his'' Saiyan blood (since he was created using the DNA of the most powerful warriors, including Goku and Vegeta) caused him to give Goku and company time to train and get stronger, so he could crush them at their best, with the whole world watching. Cell then falls into this trap again by intentionally provoking Gohan into Super Saiyan 2 during the Cell Games, who proves to be his downfall. |
| 23 | ** Goku is an unusual example of a hero who tends to do this, as he has offered to spare his defeated enemies many times, not out of any kind of mercy, but in the hopes that they would train and come back stronger, and give him a better fight next time. Those who actually accept this offer, such as Vegeta, have a tendency to later become his allies. |
| 24 | * In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', Itachi decides not to kill Sasuke along with the rest of the Uchiha clan. The reason why he does this changes several times, always somehow related to this. [[spoiler:Then it's revealed that he was GoodAllAlong and wanted Sasuke to kill him for his actions.]] |
| 25 | * ''[[Manga/{{Saiyuki}} Saiyuki: Journey to West]]'': The Sanzo party travels over land at the request of the Merciful Goddess, in order to be more of a team. |
| 26 | * ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': |
| 27 | ** Aizen allows Ichigo to go through one last bout of TrainingFromHell because he wants him to be stronger when Aizen finally "eats" him. Given how DrunkWithPower Aizen is during their later fight, it becomes clear that Aizen just wanted a WorthyOpponent to crush with his new powers. It backfires on him because Ichigo took too many levels of Badass and was actually ''much'' stronger than Aizen anticipated. |
| 28 | ** Captain [[EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette Unohana]] [[spoiler: was a ruthless BloodKnight in the past to the point of becoming TheDreaded to the rest of Soul Society. She developed a rivalry with fellow BloodKnight Zaraki at a time they both desperately wanted a WorthyOpponent. Zaraki was the stronger, but was so afraid of losing his first enjoyable opponent that he unconsciously shackled his power. Unohana was deeply ashamed she handicapped him so badly and became a DeadlyDoctor [[MyGreatestFailure dedicating the remainder of her life to fixing the damage she caused]]. When she finally does get Zaraki to kill her, [[DyingDeclarationOfLove she confesses her love for him]] [[PlatonicDeclarationOfLove in a twisted mother-son way]].]] |
| 29 | * In ''Manga/ChainsawMan'', [[spoiler:the [[HorsemenOfTheApocalypse Horseman of Famine]]]]'s EvilPlan is to make [[spoiler:the Horseman of War and Chainsaw Man]] strong enough to defeat [[spoiler:[[EnemiesWithDeath Death]]]] by taking advantage of the setting's ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve rules. As Devils gain power through humans fearing them or [[OddJobGods the concepts they embody]], she created a [[spoiler:CultOfPersonality surrounding Chainsaw Man and used it to wreak havoc across Japan as an elaborate GenghisGambit to make him (and War, who she tricked into joining) feared and HatedByAll]]. |
| 30 | * In ''Literature/LostUniverse'', the main villain Yami doesn't kill Kain Blueriver when they first meet, wanting him to be stronger before corrupting him. [[spoiler:Making him stronger worked ''too'' well.]] |
| 31 | * In ''Manga/FullMetalAlchemist'', this is why the villain allows Edward Elric and Roy Mustang to survive long enough to win, in the original manga, and ''Brotherhood''. Well, Roy at least; Ed is already 'strong enough;' it's just that it's not yet time for the sacrifice. |
| 32 | * In ''Manga/HunterXHunter'', [[MonsterClown Hisoka]] is the BloodKnight variant. He just wants to have fun and fight strong opponents, and Gon and Killua look like they could grow up ''really'' fun to fight, so he lets them live and encourages their development. If they don't have potential, he just straight up kills them. |
| 33 | ** This is the guy who cut off his own arm to make a casual fight more interesting. He had ThePlan, years-long, that involved betraying some of the most dangerous people on earth just to fight their leader. You should have ''seen'' his face when a side-effect of relying on Kurapika's vendetta turned out to be that Chrollo Lucifer would die if he used his powers again. Chrollo thought it was pretty funny, himself. |
| 34 | * In ''Manga/OnePiece'', Mihawk spares Zoro's life in their first encounter even though he's a massively inferior fighter. This is because he sees Zoro as having the potential to give him a truly challenging fight once he's traveled the Grand Line. He even goes so far as to [[spoiler:''personally train Zoro'' during the timeskip]]. |
| 35 | * In ''Manga/ShamanKing'', Yoh tells Hao that he's not afraid of him, because Hao will only kill him once he's reached his full potential. |
| 36 | * In ''Manga/{{MAR}}'', Phantom sees the potential in Ginta and actively encourages him to get stronger. Even preventing his army from killing him during their invasion of Dorothy's hometown. Of course this came to bite him in the ass during the final round of the War Game between Ginta and him as Ginta begins overwhelming him, to which he even lampshades before pulling out his trump card [[spoiler:which likewise fails]]. |
| 37 | * In ''Anime/{{Revolutionary Girl Utena}}'' the dueling game is designed with the purpose of strengthening the champion's Soul Sword to be stronger and to encourage them to exhibit princely virtues. [[spoiler:It is strongly implied that Utena's many miraculous wins were actually due to Anthy and Akio's intervention as they planned for Utena to reach the final duel, at which point Akio could take her sword from her and use it to try to regain Dios's power, as he has done multiple times before with previous champions.]] |
| 38 | * In ''Anime/KillLaKill'', Satsuki makes Ryuko duel the club leaders, the Elite Four, and Satsuki herself to strengthen Ryuko so that [[spoiler:she can help fight Satsuki's mother, Kiryuin Ragyou, when Satsuki makes her planned HeelFaceTurn.]] |
| 39 | * In ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'', Creator/AleisterCrowley manipulates things behind the scenes so that Touma Kamijou constantly runs into bad guys and problems to fight and solve, wanting him to gain experience and get stronger for some [[HiddenAgendaVillain undisclosed goal]]. Later, [[spoiler:the True GREMLIN organization reveals that Touma's entire adventure with Othinus was an "experiment" of their design to manipulate Touma's growth.]] |
| 40 | * In ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'', the Yliaster trio sends trials and opponents the heroes' way like the Ghost Robots and the Fake Jack Atlas. This is to force them to improve and grow stronger, so that they release more energy when they duel, which helps their plans. |
| 41 | * Freya from ''Literature/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon'' is a weird case in that making Bell stronger ''is'' the endgame. She [[InLoveWithYourCarnage really]] [[TheImmodestOrgasm enjoys]] watching him fight. |
| 42 | * In ''Literature/{{Campione}}'', Athena wants Godou Kusanagi to master his powers and become stronger, so that it will be more epic and satisfying when they finally have a rematch. |
| 43 | * In "The Lord of Calamity" from ''VideoGame/TalesOfZestiria The X'', the Lord of Calamity, Heidalf, states that he shall let Sorey grow in his powers as a Shepherd until he becomes a shining light to the people of the world, only to then rip it from them. |
| 44 | * ''Anime/SailorMoon'': In the "Sailor Stars" season, Galaxia frees Queen Nehellenia from her imprisonment and has her attack Earth. Later, Galaxia reveals that she did that so the Sailor Senshi would become stronger (and forced to give Sailor Saturn back her powers so she could help fight Nehellenia) and she would have a richer harvest when she takes their Star Seeds. |
| 45 | * Vanica from ''Manga/BlackClover'' really enjoys fighting strong opponents. So much so that she [[spoiler:takes Lololpechka to the Spade Kingdom]] instead of killing her in hopes that Noelle will get stronger, remembering that [[spoiler:Noelle's mother Acier became much stronger when they fought after she had kidnapped a child.]] |
| 46 | * ''Manga/FairyTail100YearsQuest'': [[DragonsAreDivine Flame Dragon God]] Ignia has this towards [[TheHero Natsu]], to the point he intervenes when the [[BrainwashedAndCrazy berserk]] Water Dragon God Mercphobia is about to kill Natsu to both save his life and lend him some of his fire for a temporary PowerUp to beat Mercphobia. None of it is out of sentimentality [[spoiler:for his adopted brother]], given he "lends" that fire by unleashing it as a firestorm on the very town Natsu and company are trying to save without care for the inhabitants, but rather the chance of a true WorthyOpponent since Natsu [[DefeatingTheUndefeatable dealt the final blow to Acnologia]] at the end of the original series and Ignia wants the satisfaction of a substitute proper death match that was [[BloodKnight denied him]]. He tells Natsu in no uncertain terms that he wants him to defeat the other Dragon Gods so Ignia himself can be the FinalBoss of the titular quest, and that he wants it this way rather than fighting him now because [[HelpingWouldBeKillStealing he's not impressed by how Natsu needed other Dragon Slayers' help to beat Acnologia]] (and indeed by how Natsu is struggling against Mercphobia now) and thus sees the quest as the perfect chance to toughen him up for that climatic battle. |
| 47 | [[/folder]] |
| 48 | |
| 49 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 50 | * ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW'': [[spoiler:The trials Chrysalis puts the Mane Six through are meant to strengthen their friendship so their emotions will ''peak'' and Twilight will be at her strongest when she [[ManaDrain drains her magic]].]] |
| 51 | ** [[spoiler:[[HoistByHisOwnPetard This winds up backfiring]] as Twilight's magic turns out to be much stronger then she realizes. Added with the magic comet amplifying her power and Twilight manages to defeat Chrysalis in a one on one duel.]] |
| 52 | * This is pretty much Phobos' plan in the first story arc of ''ComicBook/{{WITCH}}'', as he wants Elyon's power to peak before draining it. Being an EvilGenius, he takes a novel approach and has Cedric, [[ConsummateLiar who got the nickname of "Prince of Lies" for a reason]], trick her into [[FaceHeelTurn joining his side]] so Cedric can teach her and make her strong enough to handle wearing the Crown of Light, that ''will'' make her power peak... And, [[GenreSavvy thanks to Phobos' enchantment]], instantly drain it and leave her on the verge of death. |
| 53 | [[/folder]] |
| 54 | |
| 55 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 56 | * ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has Voldemort doing this in the sequel for no clear reason beyond a desire to work out how Harry's [[spoiler: Phoenix]] derived protection from his mother works - though it's repeatedly hinted that he's got a plan for once he actually figures it out. |
| 57 | * In ''Fanfic/HarryPotterAndTheNatural20'', Voldemort continuously sends minions and dangers Milo's way. Milo levels up with each fight and adventure and will eventually gain the power to revive the dead, a skill of course useful to the Dark Lord's plans. |
| 58 | * ''Fanfic/TheMountainAndTheWolf'': Many of the Wolf's nonsensical actions (to the Westeros characters) are actually for this reason, or rather so they'll put up a better fight (having been severely disappointed in just about every battle he's faced them in). |
| 59 | ** It culminates in his making threats and demands for them to send more men against him [[spoiler:at Harrenhal]]. |
| 60 | ** A string of disappearing villages ends with the discovery that a Khornate cultist has been converting them, in the hopes that continuously fighting against Chaos-tainted madmen will give the Westeros troops more experience and so give the Wolf a better fight. |
| 61 | * In ''Fanfic/SeaOfSouls'', after having suffered a slight to his ego, for things not going exactly how he planned in his escape from Soul Society, Aizen comes to the surprising realization that while being annoyed he's also delighted that this is the case, as if he's actually looking forward to being challenged and this move by the Straw Hats make him hopeful to have an equal in Luffy. |
| 62 | * In ''Fanfic/ThisBites'', Crocodile comes to recognize the opportunities created whenever the Straw Hat Pirates cause chaos for the World Government. To shake up the world enough for Crocodile to build a new powerbase, [[spoiler:he offers to [[EvilMentor train Nefertari Vivi to master her new Logia Devil Fruit powers]] during the two years of training she has before returning to the Straw Hats. Vivi hates Crocodile with a passion, but accepts his offer because she needs to be as strong as possible to survive the New World, but she promises in no uncertain terms [[IllKillYou to kill Crocodile one day]] for everything he has done to her and her people]]. |
| 63 | [[/folder]] |
| 64 | |
| 65 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 66 | * In Franchise/StarWars, the Emperor wanted to make Luke Skywalker stronger, eventually [[WeCanRuleTogether making him his]] right-hand man. |
| 67 | * Pai Mei invokes this trope in ''Film/KillBill Vol. 2'' while training The Bride; "Since your arm now belongs to me, I want it strong." |
| 68 | [[/folder]] |
| 69 | |
| 70 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 71 | * We see a form of this in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'' where "Mad-Eye Moody" nudges and helps Harry along in his Tri-Wizard Tournament challenges, for the sole purpose of [[spoiler:[[BatmanGambit luring him into a death trap]] If he isn't good enough to reach the Triwizard Cup, then he won't reach the cup.]] |
| 72 | * In ''Literature/ThePendragonAdventure'', [[spoiler:this trope is the reason Saint Dane doesn't simply kill all the Travelers. In fact, it's also the reason he even lets Bobby find him in any territory at all. When Saint Dane says he's done with his work in a territory, he means it.]] |
| 73 | * In ''Literature/ArtemisFowl: The Opal Deception'', Opal waits a year before having herself revived from her self-induced coma. This is partly because she wanted to throw off suspicion. It's also, though, because she wanted to wait until Artemis, Butler, Holly, Commander Root and Foaly were all back at the top of their game before unleashing her new plan so that victory would be that much sweeter. |
| 74 | * In ''[[Literature/KnightLifeSeries Knight Life]]'', after Morgan Le Fey's (Morgana's) latest plan to destroy the mayoral ambitions of Arthur Penn (Pendragon) fails, she decides that if he thinks things are going great now, then it couldn't help to build up his hopes even further. She'll make it seem like things are going well with the election, only to crush his dreams at the last minute. |
| 75 | -->'''Morgan''': All right, fine. You want to build up your hopes, Arthur? Fine. I'll build them up even higher, then, and that way they'll make an even louder crash when they fall! And nothing will distract me from my purpose! Nothing! |
| 76 | -->'''Lance''': Morgan? Will you spank me? |
| 77 | -->'''Morgan''': [[HypocriticalHumor Well, five minutes of fun wouldn't hurt...]] |
| 78 | [[/folder]] |
| 79 | |
| 80 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 81 | * In the updated ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'', it's never exactly clear why the Cylons didn't simply ZergRush the fleet, destroying Galactica and picking off the rest of the fleet at leisure. After all, they'd wiped out 99% of humanity already. Why tiptoe around killing the rest? The show never says outright, but heavily implies, that this was Cavil/One's doing: He wanted to prove to the Final Five that HumansAreBastards and not worth saving ([[spoiler:[[HiddenAgendaVillain thus justifying his own hatred of the Five and humans]]]]) by hounding what was left of the Colonies until they turned on each other (which sort of was the case). [[ShutUpHannibal The hypocrisy of this did not go unremarked upon.]] |
| 82 | * In ''Series/MahouSentaiMagiranger''/''Series/PowerRangersMysticForce'', Wolzard/Koragg wants the heroes (mostly the red ranger) to be as strong as possible so they'd be {{Worthy Opponent}}s. There's more to this than just him being an honorable BloodKnight though. [[spoiler:He's actually the red ranger's father (the whole team's father in the Sentai version) who has been brainwashed by the BigBad, but still maintains some of his old self]]. |
| 83 | * In ''Series/KaizokuSentaiGokaiger'' episode 28, the MonsterOfTheWeek is an alien bounty hunter and thrill-seeker who does it twice. In the past, he nearly killed Captain Marvelous but stopped short and even ''injured himself'' to create a weak point and taunted Marvelous to come back strong enough to challenge him. Then in the present, he handily defeats Marvelous a second time (mostly due to his being paralyzed by fear) and leaves mid-fight despite being paid to kill the Gokaigers. |
| 84 | * In ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'', Blood Stalk for reasons known only to him likes to encourage Sento and Ryuga to raise their Hazard Levels even when they're fighting him, as well as giving Sento clues to create better Drivers and gadgets. [[spoiler:It's then revealed that Blood Stalk is Evolto, and he wants Sento to be able to repair the Evol Driver and Ryuga (who turns out to has Evolto's DNA) to be strong enough to use the Evol Driver when his body is under Evolto's control.]] |
| 85 | * In the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode [[Recap/SupernaturalS02E21AllHellBreaksLoosePartOne "All Hell Breaks Loose, Part One" (S02, Ep21)]], the Yellow-Eyed Demon reveals that he has been working to make Sam stronger as part of his EvilPlan. |
| 86 | * ''Series/TheFlash2014'': |
| 87 | ** Reverse-Flash wants Flash to master his speed powers, [[spoiler:so that he can force Flash to travel through time and return him to his home in the future.]] |
| 88 | ** Likewise with Zoom, who spends the first part of the second season sending out supervillains for the Flash to practice on, though in his case he wants to kill Barry and ''take'' his speed. |
| 89 | [[/folder]] |
| 90 | |
| 91 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 92 | * The reason [[Music/JohnnyCash a father would name his boy Sue]]. |
| 93 | [[/folder]] |
| 94 | |
| 95 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 96 | * ''VideoGame/DemonHunterTheReturnOfTheWings'': Greed sets up a "hide and seek" game for Gun and waits until he goes through the story missions. Greed even shows up a few times to give Gun hints on how to progress. The reason for this is that [[spoiler:as the wielder of God's Wing, Gun is the only one who can take the key to the Tower of Sin from Bormenta, [[MacGuffinDeliveryService which gets promptly stolen by Kira and Kiba]], and said Tower also can't activate without him]]. |
| 97 | * In ''VideoGame/DragonBallFighterZ'', BigBad Android 21 [[ImAHumanitarian has the power to turn people in sweets]], but she wants the fighters she faces to be as strong as possible, since stronger fighters taste better to her. Too bad for 21 that Goku and company get stronger than she can handle, and she's wiped out in all three story arcs by her own gluttony getting the better of her. |
| 98 | * In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', Golbez can't get into the Sealed Cave himself. Cecil can, but isn't strong enough to get through the deathtraps on his own. Cue the SortingAlgorithmOfEvil. |
| 99 | * And in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'', this is indicated to have been in effect for the first portion of the game. Someone rather high up wants the Pulse l'Cie to get stronger. [[spoiler:Turns out it's Primarch Dysley, a.k.a. the fal'Cie Barthandelus, as part of his ThanatosGambit. [[ICannotSelfTerminate He can't kill himself]] or even go easy on the Pulse I'Cie so they have to be strong enough to sincerely kill him.]] |
| 100 | * in the ''Stormblood'' expansion of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', [[ArcVillain Zenos yae Galvus]] only feels joy and pleasure in true life-or-death battles against a WorthyOpponent. But he's never ''found'' anyone worthy, effortlessly crushing any opposition against him. After giving a CurbStompBattle to [[PlayerCharacter the Warrior of Light]], he lets them live on a whim that they might grow stronger and provide a challenge. After a second battle Zenos handily wins again, he sees the marked improvement in the Warrior and eagerly goads them on to grow even stronger still to give him that true joy of combat at last. |
| 101 | * Happens again in ''Videogame/FinalFantasyXV''. The main villain [[spoiler:Chancellor Ardyn Izunia]] arranges the supposed political marriage between Noctis and Lunafreya which conveniently sends him on a roadtrip away from the false peace treaty (which the villain ''also'' arranged) between Niflheim and Lucis. So while Lucis falls, Noctis is safe. The villain later briefly joins the heroes on their trip without revealing himself to help get them started on the quest to unlock Noctis' full power. In the end, [[spoiler:as Noctis is absorbed by the Crystal, Ardyn reveals his motives. Turns out he's an immortal member of Noctis' bloodline who wants revenge on the Astrals and their "chosen" for being rejected after he had tainted himself absorbing countless daemons in his quest to heal people of the Starscourge. While he could have killed Noctis at any time, doing so would have brought him no satisfaction. Ardyn wants Noctis to become the "King of Light" because that will make killing him even sweeter.]] |
| 102 | ** DLC reveals that [[spoiler:Bahamut intentionally ruined Ardyn's life so he'd become a vector for a cure to the Starscourge. Ardyn is allowed to consume the minds of humans to become the lynchpin of demonkind, while Somnus' dynasty is strengthened over time so they can defeat Ardyn and activate the cure. When Ardyn attempted to kill Regis, Noctis' father, before he was born, Bahamut stopped Ardyn under this reason; the Caelum dynasty has almost completed its evolution and and Ardyn must spare the bloodline for one more generation to finally be destroyed. Ardyn, [[YouCantFightFate one way or another]], agreed to this because [[WhoWantsToLiveForever he really wants to die]]]]. |
| 103 | * ''VideoGame/StrangerOfParadiseFinalFantasyOrigin'': In the end, Jack becomes Chaos, and his companions become the four fiends (the bosses of the first game) so they can train the Warriors of Light to become strong enough to defend the world. The final segment has him repeatedly defeating the Warriors in a TimeLoop, and urging them to become stronger for a rematch. |
| 104 | * In ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' (both games), Alex does jack squat to help his allies defeat you, as part of a plan to unleash Alchemy on the world. [[spoiler:30 years later, he's STILL at it.]] |
| 105 | * This is the [[BigBad Lich King]]'s plan for the ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' expansion that bears his name. Allow the player characters to grow stronger and better geared, lure them into [[EvilTowerOfOminousness Icecrown Citadel]], then slaughter them all and turn them into the elite vanguard of his undead armies. [[spoiler:It almost worked, except for the fact that after the slaughter part he took a little too long to gloat...]] |
| 106 | * Also sometimes presented as the justification for opening the Dark Portal and allowing the Horde to invade, beginning the events of the original ''Warcraft'': [[spoiler:Without years of battle-hardening every race on Azeroth, they never would have been prepared to resist the Burning Legion.]] |
| 107 | * In ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' [[spoiler:Dimentio]] interferes with the protagonists for this purpose, allowing them to [[spoiler:defeat Count Bleck, thus freeing the Chaos Heart for him to use.]] |
| 108 | * In the first ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'', ''every'' villainous organization is like this. In the cases of both the Divine Crusaders and [[spoiler:Ingram Prisken]], it's obvious that they're [[StealthMentor Stealth Mentors]]. The Aerogaters, on the other hand, want the heroes to be as strong as possible for when they're BrainwashedAndCrazy. |
| 109 | * Played twice in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep''. Master Xehanort encourages Terra to train and strengthen his powers in preparation for [[spoiler:[[GrandTheftMe stealing his body to cheat death]]]], while Vanitas encourages Ven to become stronger because [[spoiler:their powers need to be equal to complete the χ-blade]]. |
| 110 | * ''VideoGame/Diablo1997''. Whether it was Diablo's plan or not, ''it works''. FailureIsTheOnlyOption, and that's why he's 10 times stronger in ''VideoGame/DiabloII''. |
| 111 | * ''VideoGame/BlueDragon''. Those {{Living Shadow}}s you use to fight? [[spoiler:They're fragments of [[BigBad Nene]]'s one. He didn't feel like doing his own LevelGrinding, so he let you do it for him. He promptly takes the Shadows back when you confront him at the end of Disc 2, revitalising himself and leaving you powerless.]] |
| 112 | * Akuma from ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' seems to imply that he views Ryu in this light. He could easily destroy Ryu but instead lets him live and train, believing that with proper nudging, he will develop the same dark fighting spirit that Akuma embraces. In the UDON Comics series of ''Street Fighter'' comics, this is outright stated after Akuma [[CurbstompBattle wipes the floor]] with Ryu and lets him live, leaving him with the trope as his parting words. In the end, this is subverted as Ryu chooses to reject the Dark Hadou and walk a more pure path as a warrior. |
| 113 | ** Akuma is fond of this in general, as he [[BloodKnight lives for fighting.]] If he wins a fight but thinks the opponent was holding back or wasn't at their full potential, he decides they're NotWorthKilling and tells them to become stronger. |
| 114 | * ''VideoGame/{{inFAMOUS}}''. Kessler could easily have killed Cole any time he liked, if he wanted Cole dead. He doesn't do this, however [[spoiler:because he's actually a much older version of Cole from a BadFuture, who's traveled back in time to ensure that Cole gets strong and ruthless enough to beat the opponent Kessler couldn't, and so prevent it from becoming a BadFuture.]] Kessler shows no such qualms about killing Cole's loved ones, however. |
| 115 | * The God King from ''VideoGame/InfinityBlade'' subverts this. He never hesitates to impale defeated warriors and absorb their strength with the Infinity Blade. However, he never tries to nip things in the bud by hunting down the warrior's son when he's still a child [[spoiler:because he wants a worthy champion to help him fight the other Deathless.]] |
| 116 | * ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' |
| 117 | ** ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaCurseOfDarkness'' starts out with Isaac luring Hector to his castle, enticing him to gain back his lost powers by getting his lover Rosaly killed and waiting for revenge. Isaac could easily wipe the floor with Hector right there in front of the castle, but he would rather see Hector corrupt himself again with devil powers and become a WorthyOpponent so that killing him in the end will be more delightful. |
| 118 | *** Somewhat zigzagged in the end, as the final battle with Isaac concludes with showing that in reality, [[spoiler: Death, having masquerading as the priest, Zead]] reveals this was actually his own plan all along as he intended on using Hector as a vessel for reviving Dracula, yet is forced to use the slightly weaker Isaac instead when Hector fails to give in to the curse. Isaac was the obvious representation of this trope, but [[spoiler: Death as Zead]] was pulling a subtler example of it by nudging Hector into chasing after Isaac. |
| 119 | ** ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow'' has the main BigBad bide his time and watch Gabriel slaughter his brother and sister, because he has one hell of a plan: [[spoiler:Zobek needed Gabriel to become strong enough to kill two Lords of Shadow and survive until reaching the heart of his realm, but the initial problem was that Gabriel might have kicked his ass afterward. After mind-controling Gabriel (again) into killing his friends and taking an Artifact of Doom with a self-destruct mechanism that only Zobek could activate, he let Gabriel reach his full potential and just activated the artifact to off him]]. And then he got upstaged when it turned out that neither one was strong enough to overcome [[spoiler:Satan]]. |
| 120 | * If one looks at the plot fragments of ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'' in detail, it becomes clear that [[spoiler:Relius' plans for Makoto]] essentially boil down to this trope. [[spoiler:The Nox Nyctores Houyoku: Rettenjou incorporates the anti-seithr module known as Kushinada's Device to [[AntiMagic interfere with the operation of ars magus]] - that includes not only armagus weapons and other Nox Nyctores, but also the ars magus technology on which the world now runs on. While Rettenjou was left fully powered after the Dark War due to Nine not getting around to sealing it (blame Terumi), Relius finds its current soul to be inadequate, and rather than smelt an entire NOL branch like Terumi did to temper Noel into [[PersonOfMassDestruction Mu-12]], he would rather fortify a soul to its breaking point before throwing it into Rettenjou and [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt invoking the Day of Destruction]]. Given how hardy and powerful it is, the soul of Makoto Nanaya is his chosen warhead.]] The risk and reward are equally immense here - [[spoiler:even if she can't become powerful enough to topple Relius, a quote by Terumi about Relius' interest in Makoto ''to Makoto herself'' is a good place to start investigating this plan, and if she pieces it all together, Terumi won't be the only one whose schemes she sends belly-up.]] |
| 121 | * ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'': [[spoiler:The alien invasion is essentially a TrainingFromHell, intended to develop humans into a force strong enough to fight some [[GreaterScopeVillain unspecified foe]] on behalf of the Ethereals.]] |
| 122 | ** In ''VideoGame/XCOM2'', [[spoiler:after humanity's defeat, the Ethereals seemingly gave up on their original plan to uplift humanity and instead planned to [[HumansAreSpecial augment themselves with human DNA]] in order to be strong enough to face the unknown enemy, which would kill billions of humans in the process. In the ending cinematic, when fighting the Commander's Avatar they desperately claim that [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist stopping them would be the end of everybody]], and that "it" would follow us as it followed them which we aren't ready for.]] |
| 123 | * ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'': |
| 124 | ** In ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'', it's revealed that this was [[WellIntentionedExtremist Darth Revan's plan]][[note]]prior to retcons by ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic''[[/note]]. During the Jedi CivilWar he was [[TheCorrupter much more interested in turning Jedi]] to the DarkSide rather than killing them outright and left key infrastructure of TheRepublic intact, because he wanted to conquer it and develop them into a state powerful enough to rival the [[GreaterScopeVillain True Sith Empire]]. [[spoiler: After his plan failed because his BloodKnight apprentice Malak left the Republic on the verge of collapse, Revan left known space to figure out a new plan to defeat the True Sith.]] |
| 125 | ** ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'': The PlayerCharacter spends the bulk of the two ''Knights of...'' expansions with the Sith Emperor, a {{body surf}}ing dark side entity, riding around in their head and offering advice and unsolicited opinions on how to further develop their abilities as both a fighter and leader. [[spoiler:His goal is to groom the PC to become a suitable new host body after they killed his last one, Emperor Valkorion of Zakuul, in Chapter 2 of ''Fallen Empire''. He attempts to seize control by consuming the PC's mind and soul in the final chapter of ''Eternal Throne''.]] |
| 126 | * ''VideoGame/DotHackGU'': It comes to light in the second volume that [[spoiler:Ovan]] is in control of AIDA, and has been sending trials at Haseo all this time to make him stronger. [[spoiler:The reason? He is host to the murderous AIDA known as Tri-Edge. His powers as Corbenik the Rebirth would allow him to "reset" everything and wipe out AIDA if he dies, but [[ICannotSelfTerminate He Cannot Self Terminate]]. Thus, he acts the part of the villain so that Haseo will kill him.]] |
| 127 | -->''Become stronger, Haseo. Strong enough to kill me.'' |
| 128 | * This is [[spoiler:Erim's]] plan in ''VideoGame/LufiaTheLegendReturns'': train a group of heroes strong enough to defeat the Sinistrals, [[spoiler:including herself, in order to end the cycle of their resurrection]]. |
| 129 | * In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'', The {{Black Knight}} [[spoiler:Zelgius]] wishes to surpass his master, the legendary swordsman Gawain. The only problem with this is that "Gawain" is now Greil, who crippled his own sword hand after being consumed by a powerful chaotic magic in order to protect everyone from what had happened, The Black Knight killed his mentor, but felt empty doing so against such a husk of a man and spends the next two games preparing for a big fight with Ike, Greil's successor. |
| 130 | * ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': |
| 131 | ** In ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'', the TopGod Arceus summons the player [[TrappedInAnotherWorld from another world]] into the UsefulNotes/MeijiRestoration and tasks them with [[GottaCatchThemAll catching 'em all]] in order to foster positive relations between humans and Pokémon [[spoiler:and raise up a Trainer strong enough to protect it from [[TheDogWasTheMastermind Pokémon Wielder Volo]] & [[SatanicArchetype Giratina]]]]. |
| 132 | ** In ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'', TheRival [[GenkiGirl Nemona]] is one of the regional Champions but [[NoChallengeEqualsNoSatisfaction has nobody else able to match her]] and after deciding the PlayerCharacter has potential spends the entirety of their adventure trying to mold them into the next Champion. She would use low-level {{mons}} when fighting the player and even picked the starter weak to theirs to give herself a handicap, and follows them into ''[[StalkerWithoutACrush every single gym]]'' to encourage them to keep going. |
| 133 | * ''VideoGame/AzurLane'': Cutscenes from the Siren perspective imply there is some foe out there even they can't beat with all their power, which is why they deliberately leaked Wisdom Cube technology to mankind, allowing for the KANSEN to be invented, so as to force humanity to uptech and have something to test and improve themselves against. |
| 134 | * ''VideoGame/RuinaFairyTaleOfTheForgottenRuins'': [[spoiler:In order for Titus I to take over the protagonist's body, the latter needs to prove themselves equal to the former by performing the same feats. This requires the protagonist to go through the ruins and subjugate the bosses of Dragon, Fairy, Dwarf, and Giant Towers. As a result, Titus I [[OrcusOnHisThrone doesn't take direct action against the protagonist]] until the latter resists his control in the Cemetery dungeon.]] |
| 135 | * ''VideoGame/TowerOfTheSorcerer'': When the hero reaches the final floor of the tower, [[spoiler:he encounters Magic Sergeant Zeno again, and learns that the whole reason for planting a fake princess in the tower was to force the hero to become strong enough to properly wield the Sacred Sword, and Zeno isn't actually hostile.]] |
| 136 | * Boomerang from ''VideoGame/WildArms1'' does this every time you fight him because he wants the heroes to be strong enough to defeat him at full strength. [[spoiler: Therefore, at the end of each battle he will either give them the {{MacGuffin}} they want, hint at where they should go next, or simply allow them passage to defeat the other villains so they can become stronger.]] |
| 137 | [[/folder]] |
| 138 | |
| 139 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 140 | * In ''VisualNovel/DiesIrae'', a big reason to why [[BigBad Reinhard]] constantly leaves the main hero Ren alone is cause he wants him to reach the absolute height of his power. Main reason for this is that Reinhard have always been so unreasonably powerful that [[NoChallengeEqualsNoSatisfaction nothing in the world has ever given him a challenge or allowed him to experience defeat]]. Win or Lose, at the end of the day, he just wants to feel fulfilled. |
| 141 | [[/folder]] |
| 142 | |
| 143 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 144 | * In ''Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures'', this is apparently part of Demon culture. [[http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_2103.php As Dark Pegasus explains]] to Regina, as he's about to let his would-be assassin go free: |
| 145 | --> "It would be weak of me to end a foe whose failure came from inexperience. Especially since their motives are of my own design. I ''HAVE'' destroyed countrysides, ended numerous lives and laid waste to villages. By the standards of beings I am a monster that must be stopped. And thus by the standards of demons that makes me powerful. A powerful demon has powerful enemies. Where as[sic] a more powerful demon lives well despite the enemies they possess. Such is the way of our world." |
| 146 | * ''Webcomic/DICETheCubeThatChangesEverything'': X isn't bothered by Dongtae antagonizing him, in fact he finds it fun and sometimes provides hints on how to get to him, while X isn't above sending other people to their deaths if they annoy him. Subverted as X eventually changes his mind when Dongtae starts becoming a problem to his games. |
| 147 | * ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': |
| 148 | ** Xykon invokes this trope to Roy, offering to let him go so he could gain a few levels because "good heroes make good villains." Roy decides to fight him anyway. [[spoiler:(Xykon then subverts the trope by going ahead and killing Roy. Don't worry: He gets brought back.)]] |
| 149 | ** Later, General Tarquin does it too, letting Elan go even after he's tried to kill him. so he can gain some more levels, finish the current questline, and THEN come back to try again. His reasons are cleverer than most, however - he basically says that, should he lose in a climactic duel against a powerful hero, he'll go down in history as a legendary villain. And if he wins? Then he wins. [[spoiler:Of course, the fact that [[LukeIAmYourFather he's Elan's father]] may also play a role in his decision because father-son feuds will make his legend even better!]] |
| 150 | * In ''Webcomic/OurLittleAdventure'', [[ItMakesSenseInContext the Palm Tree Ghost]] tells Julie that the city of Everwood should be her next destination, but she'd probably want to spend some time gaming a level or three before proceeding there. Made explicit later, when they discover that the second [[MacGuffin Magicant piece]] was far closer to their original starting point than the first They're told that although that piece was closer, the monsters in that area were far stronger, and they would have been slaughtered had they tried for the closer one first. |
| 151 | * A variant on this shows up in ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'', when [[spoiler:Sarda]] reveals that the true purpose of the Light Warriors' questing was [[spoiler:to make them as strong as possible, just so they would know that [[BestServedCold not even that much strength could stop him from killing them.]]]] |
| 152 | * ''WebComic/SluggyFreelance'': When Bun-bun and Basphomy meet again in "The Immortal King", Basphomy makes him a WeCanRuleTogether offer about defeating the Pumpkin-Headed King, the AnthropomorphicPersonification of Halloween. Bun-bun infers she's planning to come after him for revenge once she gains the power of Halloween... and tells her to go ahead, because that will make a less boring fight than if he {{Curb Stomp}}ed her now. |
| 153 | * In ''Webcomic/TheWotch'', it's clear that Xaos has enough power to take out Anne or Miranda (possibly both of them at once), as does [[TheDragon Kohaine]]. He's explicitly testing Anne, wanting her to grow as strong as possible before stepping in and stealing her powers. Why he can't just take them now and be done with it...? It's revealed during the HuntingTheMostDangerousGame arc: Anne has RealityWarper powers [[spoiler:capable of ripping apart dimensional boarders. However, it's incomplete.]] |
| 154 | [[/folder]] |
| 155 | |
| 156 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 157 | * In the first season of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', Slade's goal was to recruit Robin as an apprentice, so there will be someone to carry on in their villainous footsteps. All Slade's attempts to destroy the city were never meant to succeed, but only to test Robin's skills. When the two face off in the season finale, Slade is delighted that Robin is posing more of a threat than the last time they fought, because it means their training is paying off. |
| 158 | [[/folder]] |
| 159 |
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