Basic Trope: An copy of a character who is Darker and Edgier, outright evil, or otherwise a twisted, dark reflection of the character they're based on.
- Straight:
- Troperman is obviously an Expy of Superman, but is a colossal jerk who doesn't care about anyone but himself, instead of being The Cape that Superman is.
- Veronica Porter is an Expy of Dib Membrane from Invader Zim, but she's an Ax-Crazy Sadist who chases down, torments, and tries to expose a well-meaning alien (who disguises as an Earthling to not cause chaos) that Veronica only THINKS is an alien invader, instead of chasing down and trying to expose an actual alien invader like Dib does.
- Exaggerated:
- Troperman is far more powerful than Superman has ever been, but just can't be bothered to do anything but indulge himself.
- Troperman is a sadistic Humanoid Abomination.
- Veronica is a villainous parody of Dib to the point of being an Ax-Crazy lunatic unhealthily obsessed with the paranormal who is adamant all aliens are Always Chaotic Evil invaders, and Veronica will attempt to destroy any aliens she sees or suspects, and she gives tons of horrible torture to a family of Innocent Aliens whom she is adamant are evil simply because they are aliens.
- Downplayed:
- Troperman is genuinely heroic, but is an example of Good Is Not Nice and Politically Incorrect Hero who is very unpleasant towards the people he saves.
- Veronica is genuinely nice, but is an Idiot Hero who doesn't realize that the aliens aren't actually invaders, and tends to flub up a lot.
- Justified:
- Tropeman is a fan of a Show Within a Show starring a Superman expy and bases his superhero image on that character, but, unlike his hero, he's an egotistical jerk.
- Veronica is a fan of a Show Within a Show that's a spoof of Invader Zim, so of course she's going to act like Dib and act like she's in Invader Zim, but she's Wrong Genre Savvy, as the alien she's hunting down is well-meaning, and Veronica's totally sadistic when chasing her.
- Inverted: Virtuous Character Copy
- Subverted:
- Troperman exists in a world filled with Corrupted Character Copies... but is himself actually an okay guy.
- Troperman starts off as an Expy of Superman who's a colossal jerk but goes through Character Development and gradually becomes a better person over time.
- Veronica starts off as an Expy of Dib Membrane who's a delusional Ax-Crazy Sadist who chases down, torments, and tries to expose a well-meaning alien (that Veronica only THINKS is an alien invader), but later Veronica sees how evil she truly is and sees that the alien means no harm, so she does a Heel–Face Turn and gets on good terms with the alien.
- Double Subverted:
- Except Troperman is good at hiding his wicked ways, and he's just as bad as all the other CCCs.
- Veronica sees another alien who is living the exact same life as the other alien and promptly blows its head off.
- Parodied:
- Troperman is a Heroic Comedic Sociopath, and people in his world just love watching him squish "bad" guys and make bad jokes.
- Veronica Porter is a Border Patrol Officer who takes gleeful pleasure in deporting "aliens" (actually illegal Hispanic immigrants).
- Zig Zagged: Troperman started as a Take That! riff on Superman, but the character was used cunningly and evolved into something completely different, to the point his origins as twisted Expy are largely of academic interest.
- Averted:
- The work features numerous other Corrupted Character Copies, but Troperman is just as much The Cape as Superman.
- Or Captain Trope is a completely original character with only superficial similarities to an existing character.
- Enforced:
- The writer originally wrote the story with Superman himself being a Jerkass, but was unable to convince DC Comics to approve the project. Instead, he wrote a Serial Numbers Filed Off version of the story with Captain Ersatz Troperman taking Superman's place.
- The show creators decide to show their disillusionment about the superhero genre by having an In-Universe character writing "Troperman" and having it be an exercise in Revenge via Storytelling by having Troperman being based on the laziest, stupidest member of the cast.
- The writer focused on what the absence of the Kents would do to Kal El's upbringing when he created his copy.
- Writer X thought Dib Membrane would be a good villain in a story about Innocent Aliens, so she made Veronica Porter, an Wrong Genre Savvy Ax-Crazy Sadist who chases down a well-meaning alien (that Veronica only THINKS is trying to invade Earth).
- Veronica Porter is a Deconstructive Parody by a writer who felt that Dib was a Designated Hero in the original cartoon.
- Lampshaded:
- "Great, we finally get our very own version of Superman, and he's a complete dillhole."
- "Veronica's like Dib Membrane if he were an evil crazy sadist chasing down a well-meaning alien. She's Dib Membrane gone wrong!"
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited:
- In a crossover between the two franchises, Lex Luthor tracks down Troperman through The Multiverse and hires him to take out Superman.
- Zim creates a Show Within a Show about a delusional and Ax-Crazy wannabe alien hunter named Veronica Porter as a Take That! against Dib.
- Defied:
- Troperman realizes his jerkish ways just make his job harder and changes his attitude.
- Troperman was a huge fan of Superman as a kid and resolved to become The Cape when he grew up, but he's constantly worried about becoming a Knight Templar and goes out of his way to avoid going too far in spite of pressure from others.
- Veronica Porter wants to be an alien hunter like Dib Membrane but feels he wasn't much better than Zim a lot of the time and resolves to look for non-violent, diplomatic ways to deal with potential alien threats, even wanting to find out about some Innocent Aliens and befriend them.
- Discussed:
- "It's like Troperman wants to be a classic cape wearer, but evil."
- "Look, I know that Dib in that little show might be a bit crazy, but he's not Veronica Porter levels of crazy."
- Conversed:
- "What's with writers making Expies of good characters Darker and Edgier?"
- "Didn't I just read about him while waiting for checkout? Different name though. And kind of a jerk."
- "It's hilarious how Veronica's just Dib Membrane gone wrong. But you know, what would you expect the villain of a story about Innocent Aliens to be like?
- Implied: Troperman only shows up after he's captured to be used as a power source but it's mentioned nobody cared who captured him just that they did before he used his super strength and flight to destroy more.
- Deconstructed: A character starts as a clear copy of another but with small differences but as they become more "corrupted" they lose any traits helping them resemble the original character with the people around them noticing the more generic villain that emerged.
- Reconstructed: The fall from a corrupt copy to a generic archetype helps to highlight what made the original worth talking about in the first place while highlighting how much the characters around the corrupt copy are just as notable.
- Played for Laughs: Corrupted Character Copies are a consumer good considered to be the offbrand version of their originators. Little Bob complains, "Moooom, Troperman isn't just like Superman, Troperman is a jerk!" while Little Alice whines, "Daaaad, Veronica isn't like Dib at all! She's a jerk!"
- Played for Drama: Serious ruminations about the nature of extremely powerful characters without an equally powerful morality keeping them in check.
- Played for Horror: Tropeman's character flaws (and the awful things that result because of them) go way past mere "Dumbass with Superman powers" and straight into Beware the Superman territory.
Back to Corrupted Character Copy.
