Line #3 YMMV/TheCulture


1	%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
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3	* CompleteMonster:
4	** ''Literature/ThePlayerOfGames'': [[TheEmperor Emperor-Regent Nicosar]] of Azad is a master player of the [[AbsurdlyHighStakesGame ruthless game of Azad]] that determines everything in the empire's society. A [[AxCrazy sadistic psychopath]], Nicosar rules via torture, murder and brutality while broadcasting regular videos to the population with the "losers" facing mutilation, death or rape. Women are also seen as second-rate citizens, with abuse and violence towards them accepted, and any females who assault a male are summarily tortured to death. Despite his [[FauxAffablyEvil seemingly benevolent and passive façade]], Nicosar rules over the Empire with an iron fist, regularly executing any who would try to rebel against him, and [[BadBoss subjecting his own men to terrible torments]] should they cross him. When Nicosar plays the novel's hero Gurgeh, Nicosar is bested in Azad and orders his guards to massacre all the spectators, deciding if he has to go down, he'll [[TakingYouWithMe simply kill every single one of his own subjects in the process]].
5	** ''Literature/UseOfWeapons'': [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Ethnarch Kerian]], the decadent despot of Youricam who serves as the introductory AssholeVictim for mercenary protagonist [[ByronicHero Cheradenine Zakalwe]], has kept himself alive and youthful for decades through "retro-ageing" technology, [[OrganTheft harvesting the organs]] of dissidents for himself. Kerian obtained this technology by brokering a deal with Zakalwe, promising to stop his genocidal killings--which he promptly started up again as soon as Zakalwe was off-world, having his undesirables [[FinalSolution rounded up into "death trains" and gassed]], entire villages at a time.
6	** ''Literature/SurfaceDetail'': [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Joiler Veppers]] is a wealthy playboy who once ruined the life of a supposed friend of his to get rich and take the man's daughter Lededje as his own. Regularly raping Lededje, Veppers murders her when she tries to escape, unaware her mind survives thanks to a neural race. Veppers also [[{{Greed}} gets richer]] by selling and running artificial hells where the minds of countless victims on multiple worlds are [[AndIMustScream tortured in horrific simulations for eternity]]. Worried that the anti-hell factions will win, Veppers arranges for an alien race to raze his estates into ashes with most of the innocent staff still there, [[ItsAllAboutMe all to avoid a loss in profits]].
7	* FriendlyFandoms: There is a lot of friendly overlap with fans of the [[Literature/XeeleeSequence Xeelee Sequence]] series, despite both books being the complete tonal opposite of one another. The friendliness is due to the fact that they are both space operas that deal with ''immense scale and power capabilities'' with a heavy theme on transhumanism and far-future societal changes. Likewise, both the Xeelee and the Culture are often popular benchmarks in versus forums for 'top-tier' Sci-Fi factions, with the Culture being agreed as the most powerful Sci-Fi civilization short of time-travel whereas the Xeelee being the most powerful Sci-Fi civilization short of comic book level omnipotence.
8	* MagnificentBastard: Vateuil in ''Literature/SurfaceDetail'' is a ruthless soldier who starts out fighting for the Pro-Hell side in War on heaven, working to sabotage the Anti-Hell side. However, Vateuil opts to sabotage the Pro-Hell side, sabotaging them and helping the novel's heroes to ensure the death of the hell side. A genius strategist, Vatueil manipulates and uses everyone over the course of the novel with none the wiser, possibly even working for the mysterious culture. In the novel's final line, Vateuil's true identity is revealed to be a repentant [[spoiler: Elethiomel Zakalwe, the Chairmaker]], who has been seeking his redemption for centuries.
9	%%* SlidingScaleOfSocialSatisfaction: Categorized as "Heaven On Earth".
10	%%* TearJerker: Quite a few of these have taken place throughout the series. One of the most notable would be, for example, [[spoiler: the conjoined fate of the Masaq Hub and Quilan in ''Look to Windward'']] [[spoiler: Or the real Zakalwe's backstory in ]]''Use of Weapons''. In ''Matter'' there was also the [[spoiler: kicker of Oramen's sudden death, along with Ferbin's later self-sacrifice]].
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Context YMMV / TheCulture