Basic Trope: A villainous presence that is more cosmically significant than the Big Bad (or simply higher up in the grander scheme of things), but cannot truly be said to be the one causing the conflict (and may have little to do with it at all).
- Straight: In Tales of Troperia DLC The Dark Ages of Troperia, Emperor Evulz and his evil empire are making things miserable for everyone and is the obvious enemy for Ace Braveheart to fight. However, the Progenitor of Dark Ages is the God of Evil he worships and the one who gives Evulz the power to rule, but has no direct influence on the empire.
- Exaggerated: The Progenitor of Dark Ages is an incomprehensible, immortal and nigh-omnipotent primordial entity lurking in the void between galaxies, who's theorized to be the origin of all the evil in the entire multiverse. Very little is known of the Progenitor, but we eventually find out that Evulz' Start of Darkness was triggered after he found out about the existence of this thing, something that shattered his very mind and turned him into the heartless monster that he is today, despite not having established any direct contact with it at any point of his life. In other words, the simple knowledge that the creature existed was enough to corrupt him.
- Downplayed:
- The Progenitor of Dark Ages is a Non-Action Big Bad with Emperor Evulz as its Dragon-in-Chief.
- The Progenitor of Dark Ages never caused Emperor Evulz or any other villain to cause their actions... but when they do, he hides close by, taking notes of their actions, abilities, motives, and success rates. Like he wants to recruit them for something... or someone.
- (In terms of mere rivalries and not actual villainy) Claidheamh from the main Tales of Troperia series is a Greater Scope Rival to Ace's current Rival, Joker Pellesotile.
- Justified:
- If the Progenitor of Dark Ages shows its face, humanity will unite against it. If it remains hidden, it can continue making humans fight each other.
- The Progenitor has been dead for years; Evulz is simply continuing its work.
- The Progenitor is a Sealed Evil in a Can; Evulz's goal is to release it and use its power to conquer the rest of the world. Or it's dead and Evulz plots to resurrect it for the same purpose. Either way, this will likely backfire (or not).
- Even evil intentions can have a few unplanned side effects. The Progenitor of Dark Ages had no way of knowing that its actions would indirectly influence those of Evulz.
- Inverted:
- Goddess Sophia the Liberator is a Greater-Scope Paragon.
- The Progenitor of Dark Ages is The Heavy to Emperor Evulz.
- Plot-Irrelevant Villain
- Starter Villain
- Subverted:
- It seems that Progenitor of Dark Ages is the subtle source of power of Emperor Evulz, but then it starts playing an active role in the conflict, so Ace and his friends are forced to combat and defeat it (which is no small feat at all), turning the situation into a standard Sorting Algorithm of Evil.
- The Progenitor was actually there all along — as the Emperor's Evil Chancellor, manipulating him into restoring its power so that it could then dump him.
- Emperor Evulz himself turns out to be a human avatar of the Progenitor.
- As it turns out, the Progenitor IS responsible for Emperor Evulz being what he is... but it was an accident. The Progenitor accidentally turned Evulz evil, yes, but it was never evil to begin with. The Progenitor did something horrific that accidentally turned Evulz evil (like accidentally giving Evulz a potion that turns people evil, for example), so while it IS responsible for making Evulz what he is today, it’s more of an Unwitting Instigator of Doom than an actual greater scope villain.
- As it turns out, the Progenitor was never evil to begin with... people just mistook it for a villain. In fact, it was actually trying to help the world, not destroy it, but Emperor Evulz tricked the Progenitor into giving him immense power. The Progenitor is actually The Atoner and wants to help the heroes stop Evulz, thus becoming a Big Good or even a Greater-Scope Paragon.
- Double Subverted: ...However, once the dust has settled, we discover that the Progenitor was a mere spawn of the Thousand-World Obliterator, a powerful extra-dimensional being who, despite its power and inherent malevolence, has no interest in destroying Troperia nor the universe where it resides.
- Parodied: Bob's on a quest to get his lunch money back from the school bully. That bully did this to impress (or to be like) the Progenitor of Dark Ages.
- Zig Zagged: Sometimes hints point to a malevolent cosmic presence, but other times it's made clear that Emperor Evulz is the single person to blame, and all his evils are human evils. It's really a Mind Screw for Bob (and the audience).
- Averted:
- The more cosmically significant villain has something to do with the conflict.
- There is no more cosmically significant villain than the story's main antagonist.
- Enforced: The Progenitor of Dark Ages is the Big Bad of a series that Dark Ages of Troperia is part of a Shared Universe with. The writers of Dark Ages of Troperia are not allowed to involve it directly in their stories, but still want to make its presence felt.
- Lampshaded: "That kind of evil... can't be human evil. I Sense a Disturbance in the Force."
- Invoked: The Progenitor wants to commit evil without setting the heroes on it’s tail, so it indirectly influences other villains to protect itself.
- Exploited: "That sort of cosmic indifference can be useful for all parties involved. We'll see who gets it first!"
- Defied: Evulz kills or enslaves the Progenitor to ensure that he is the greatest power in the setting.
- Discussed: "So even though Evulz is the primary threat, there's an even bigger monster that can destroy us with the blink of an eye? That's a scary thought."
- Conversed: "I get the feeling there's something even bigger and badder than Evulz, although not directly involved in the plot."
- Implied: Although Evulz is the Big Bad, there are hints towards something like the Progenitor lurking in some corner of the universe.
- Deconstructed: Such pervasive presence of cosmic evil makes Troperia truly the crapsackiest Crapsack World.
- Reconstructed: There are also good higher powers to oppose the evil ones and keep things from getting too crapsack.
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