Cleanup: Big Bad

Despite, or perhaps because, it is the most wicked trope, the Big Bad page has quite a bit of poorly written examples and Zero Context Examples. I often have to go into the work page, and sometimes even the character pages, just to see how the Big Bad is causing the conflict. Even then, I sometimes have to go look them up on a wiki (and unintentionally spoil myself) because the Big Bad entry on their character page simply says that they are “the main antagonist of the series”. Nearly the entire Webcomics subpage has had it’s examples commented out for being nothing but zero context examples. No one should have to go to another page, much less another wiki entirely, simply to understand how a character fits a trope.

Seeing as how no one seems to have proposed a repair shop thread for Big Bad yet, I myself would like to propose a series of guidelines on how to write a proper Big Bad entry, so no one will have to go to another page or an outside source to understand the example.

I feel that a proper Big Bad entry should answer these questions:

• 'Who are they?' The entry should explain who the Big Bad is- are they an evil emperor, or a local crime boss, or a school bully? Explain what power and/or position of authority they hold, as that is what they will use to cause the conflict, and what relationship they have to the hero, if they have a special one (ie, evil twin brother of the hero).

• 'What are they doing to cause the conflict?' The entry should explain what the Big Bad is doing to make the heroes oppose them. The evil emperor rules an oppressive empire and wants to conquer the world (including the hero’s hometown), the crime boss engages in illegal activities by that victimize innocent people (like kidnapping someone the hero loves), and the school bully picks on kids weaker than them (including the hero); their victims will include the heroes somehow.

• 'What is their goal?' Unless the villain is a Hidden Agenda Villain, the entry should explain what they hope to achieve through their deeds. The evil emperor wants world domination, the crime boss wants money, and the school bully wants to assert their dominance and break the will of the hero.

Of course, a balance must be achieved. The entry should include all these details, but not be so detailed as to include every single evil act they have committed, their full backstory, or other irrelevant details. You are not writing a Complete Monster entry. Your entry should answer the questions, briefly but satisfactorily.

Anyways, I thank you for your attention. I am only trying to make this wiki more accessible to everyone.

(And yes, I will also post this on the fixing ZC Es thread as well.)

Edited by MasterN on Jun 1st 2019 at 8:34:52 AM

Opening, but in another forum. What is presented here is not enough for TRS (trope repair usually applies to problems with a trope concept, not with its examples) but certainly for a cleanup.

Incidentally, I am not sure I'd consider the "goal" aspect important, notice how it says "or it could be an omnipresent situation, such as a comet heading towards the Earth" in the definition.

But Septimus, we already have a thread for this

Right here. C'mon over, everyone.