Complete Monster Cleanup

I'd say both Raven Keeper and Ares can be kept, as I think Odin and all of his various crimes were taken into consideration as part of the heinous standard during their proposals.

Also cut the Maw.

Edited by jlvs200s on Apr 21st 2024 at 9:08:33 PM

• New Tricks
• Video Games Fan Works
• Outlaw Star (1998 anime):
  • Lord Hazanko is the backstabbing, power-hungry leader of the Kei Pirates Guild's 108 Stars. A crime lord and master sorcerer who tortures to death any who cross him, Hazanko callously sends dozens of his men to their deaths to recover the stolen Outlaw Star. Scoffing at the insignificance of his loyal followers before trying to claim the coveted Galactic Leyline, Hazanko also horribly murders an interfering man. Plotting a war against his superiors that will threaten the whole universe, Hazanko uses the Leyline to empower himself, fusing his own screaming soldiers and ship to his body and prepares for his grand conquest.
  • "Gravity Jailbreak": The warden of Gehenna prison delights in confining countless inmates in his jail where planet Hecatoncheires's crushing gravity slowly kills them. Punishing any who defy him by locking them in an even higher gravity section for torture, the warden also brutally beats any who try to escape to death with his guard robots.
• The Road to El Dorado: Tzekel-Kan is the power-hungry and sadistic High Priest of Eldorado, who fanatically practices human sacrifice despite the protests of his people. Mistaking Miguel and Tulio, who arrived in the city, for gods, Tzekel-Kan tries to sacrifice citizens for their favor, like a random innocent citizen or a sports team after a loss. When his plan to "cleanse" the city of non-believers fails and he learns that Miguel and Tulio are not gods, Kahn brings the Jaguar statue to life, sacrificing his most loyal servant before setting him on Tulio and Miguel, not caring that all the city and its inhabitants are in mortal danger. Defeated and miraculously surviving, Tzekel-Kan decides to lead Hernán Cortés and his army to his city, willing to allow him to massacre his entire people and destroy El Dorado, as evil revenge for his defeat.
• Issue #25's "The Dead Remember!": Hans Krause is a sadistic former Wachtmeister who was in charge of a concentration camp where he tortured and killed prisoners, even burying some of them alive. After the end of World War II, Hans and his former subordinates dream and conspire to resurrect the Nazis. When the ghosts of their victims attack them, Hans tries to trade the lives of others, including his girlfriend, to save himself.
• Issue #142's "The Warlock's Tree!": General Trapfelhagen is a Nazi who, after Russia successfully fends off their attack, leads his army to take out their anger by massacring and terrorising the people of the Polish state of Randerio. When some of Randerio's people fight back against his army, Trapfelhagen orders a thousand of Randerio's people gathered in its capital city's main square and executed.
• Downward to Darkness, by Brian McNaughton: Mordred Glendower was an Evil Sorcerer who discovered the wretched secret of immortality. In a horrific ritual that entails the cannibalisation of infants, Mordred learned how to pass his soul onto his male descendants by way of possession and incestuous rape, using his male descendants to impregnate his female ones, and then body-jacking the resultant baby to eventually repeat the process on the next generation. Mordred influenced his entire bloodline into incest for the next four centuries to keep himself alive; upon taking form in his current host, fifteen-year-old Patrick Laughlin, Mordred uses his body to torture, rape, and murder innocent people with cruel satisfaction, keeping Patrick's mind helpless to resist in his own body.
• Dark Knights of Steel:
  • Protex is the genocidal leader of the White Martians, whose supremacist rhetoric and aspirations of enslaving their Green brethren resulted in a Civil War that reduced Mars to a barren wasteland. Unsatisfied with this outcome, Protex led his few surviving followers in butchering the remaining pockets of Greens in the guises of their lost loved ones, before moving on to Earth to continue the work of conquest. The White Martians use their shapeshifting abilities to kill royal figures and frame their enemies, attempting to provoke an all-out, three-way war between the grieving heirs of their victims so they can take over in the aftermath. As part of their plans, Protex directs the villainous actions of the sadistic Green Man, only to kill him off when their deception is revealed, then move on to personally attempt the slaughter of their enemies.
  • The Green Man was once Alexander Luthor, the arrogant advisor to the Wayne royal family whose pride nearly destroyed their entire kingdom when he refused to believe a warning from the House of El about a volcano eruption. Upon being exiled for his incompetence, Luthor comes across a Green Lantern Ring and uses its power to attempt an assassination of the Els, responding with demented amusement when he accidentally kills the Waynes instead. The "cruel joker" continues his revenge by aiding the Kingdom of Storms in killing Jor-El, fraying international tensions to kick off a bloody war. The Green Man personally escorts the Kingdom of Storms to the Kingdom of the Els, before betraying everyone and carrying out an indiscriminate slaughter of soldiers on all sides with naught but gleeful malice in his heart.
  • Tales from the Three Kingdoms' first story: Elizabeth Arkham is the wicked head of the Arkham Orphanage, whose young wards are used as test subjects for twisted experiments. Under her purview, Arkham's abused charges are left in dread of even the memory of the orphanage; the likes of Harvey Dent receive horrible disfigurements and mental instability, while another child is permanently mutated into the monstrous Man-Bat. After getting caught in the act of performing more experiments, Arkham is brought into General Amanda Waller's service to continue her wretched work.
• Renegade Nell: Robert Hennessey, the Earl of Poynton, is a Jacobite warlock aiming to gain power by seating James Francis Edward Stuart on the British throne. Disdainful toward the prospect of granting "ordinary" people power in government, Poynton schemes to bring about a war so as to take over and rule through his Puppet King. As part of his machinations, Poynton manipulates the spoiled Thomas Blancheford into becoming a murderer who first kills Nell Jackson's father and then his own—an act that corrupts his very soul, all for the purpose of providing an ingredient for Poynton's dark magics. Poynton, despite his friendly guise, is ultimately nothing more than an elitist, power-hungry snake who would betray everyone—whether it involves framing a fellow earl or attacking his apprentice Sofia when she refuses to endanger her brother—if it means his victory atop a mountain of corpses.
• Hearts of Steel Fan Film Crimson Skies (link): Scourge is a sadistic Decepticon hunter whose modus operandi is taking the heads of his victims. When the Autobot Cliffjumper found his hideout decorated with the decapitated heads mounted on pikes, Scourge only let him live so he could spread the message of his collection. When hired to find important cargo that the Decepticons are after from the Autobots, Scourge tortures and kills the Autobot Ratchet when he refuses to reveal the location. His cruelty even extends to his fellow Decepticons, as he kills the seeker Acid Storm when he ridicules him for his disobedience.
• The Last of Us (AU) (The Last of Us setting using Once Upon a Time characters): Robin Locksley, due to being combined with David, lacks his canon counterpart's redeeming qualities. Despite at first presenting himself to Regina as a kind survivor, Robin is the sadistic leader of a group of cannibals who regularly has his men go out to collect any survivors so as to eat them. Robin has also made several women his personal "pets" before ultimately killing them, with him becoming obsessed with Regina and making her his latest pet. Robin also cares nothing for his men, with their deaths only evoking either mild annoyance or indifference from him, and he nearly strangles his own right-hand man for questioning him. Upon learning that Emma is on her way, Robin attempts to butcher Regina before chasing her around his settlement and attempting to rape and kill her. Even in a world full of smugglers, bandits, and zombies, Robin stands out as the worst humanity has to offer.
• "Hollow": Hank Fuller was simply a creepy, misogynistic local fisherman at the Akwesana Reservation, until he was diagnosed with cancer. Inspired by the works of Paracelsus, Fuller became the "Hollow Man", a cannibalistic serial killer, convinced he could cure himself by devouring the healthy organs of others and enjoying holding absolute power over them. Preying upon young, petite Mohawk women no one would immediately notice were missing, Fuller used the local Rural Medical Service to find victims, then sabotaged their cars so he could play good Samaritan to abduct them. Imprisoning his victims, Fuller would force-feed them laxatives and water for two days to clean out their insides, before slitting their throats, draining their blood and finally removing the organs, murdering at least five poor women in this manner, and potentially as many as fourteen. His condition deteriorating, Fuller kidnapped the pregnant Maya Holt, intending to make her his next victim in the belief he could cure himself by devouring her placenta.
• The Butler: Thomas Westfall is an ill-tempered young cotton plantation owner who uses his workers like slaves. Deciding to rape the mother of Cecil Gaines—implied to do so regularly with attractive female workers—Thomas then shoots Cecil's father dead for protesting, demanding his other farmhands carry on lest he kill them as well.
• Poor Things: General Alfie Blessington was the husband of Bella Baxter's previous life as Victoria Blessington. A Sociopathic Soldier with an inclination to inflicting pain for pain's sake, Alfie regularly torments and maims his own servants, breaking their arms and in one case threatening to shoot a manservant in the face for improperly preparing a meal. When Alfie gets his hands on Bella, he decides to keep her prisoner, cut out her clitoris to kill her libido, then rape her until she fathers him an heir, all under pain of Bella's death should she attempt to escape. Bella concludes that Alfie's cruelty was such that Victoria decided to kill herself with her unborn child rather than continue living with him.
• The VVitch: The manipulative Devil takes the form of an aggressive, mischievous goat called "Black Phillip" in order to turn Thomasin into a witch. The progenitor of all witches, Black Phillip is indicated to take advantage of women at their lowest points so they will make a deal with him for power as witches, in exchange for their servitude to his evil. Under Black Phillip's purview, the witches disembowel and grind up babies; sexually violate children; and drive Thomasin's entire family into madness that culminates in all of their deaths. Black Phillip personally gores Thomasin's father and leaps with triumph at his demise, before convincing a tearful Thomasin to undress and sign her soul to him while he lecherously caresses her body. A seductive but ruthless corrupter, Black Phillip ends the story presiding over his coven of evil witches, now joined by a broken Thomasin.
• Ivo Shandor is the founder and architect of the modern Cult of Gozer, dedicated to summoning Gozer to Earth so as to wipe out humanity. Building the materials and temples that would be used to perform ritualistic murders in Gozer's name, Shandor's "curse" led to dozens of miners flinging themselves into a "death pit" built in Gozer's honor, where hundreds of spirits slain by Shandor's cult reside. Shandor's plots result in the unleashing of various evil spirits onto unsuspecting cities to pave the way for Gozer's arrival. Shandor set up multiple backup plans to initiate should his initial summoning of Gozer fail, and in 2021, he rises from the grave in an attempt to work with Gozer in wiping out humanity and ruling over what is left of the Earth.
• Frozen Empire: Garraka is an ancient ghost who once helped a king conquer other kingdoms before his actions scared the king so much that he was betrayed and stripped of his horns. Swearing vengeance on all of humanity, Garraka came up with a way to freeze all of humanity using fear before being imprisoned by the Firemasters in an orb. Trying to escape in the present day, Garraka releases the Possessor to cause havoc all over New York. Caring nothing for his fellow ghosts, Garraka has no problem using his power to force them to do what he wants, and lies to Melody so that she will trick Phoebe into temporally becoming a ghost so that Garraka can use her body to finish the chant needed to free him. Planning on releasing all of the ghosts that the Ghostbusters have captured, Garraka tries to freeze the whole of New York and brutally murders a random man due to mistaking him for the last Firemaster. Completely freezing all of the comedy whenever he shows up, Garraka is one of the worst enemies that the Ghostbusters have ever faced.

• 'Spider-Man Chronicles'' trilogy's "World On Edge" (link): Red Skull, as always, is Captain America's Arch-Enemy. A Nazi leader who masterminded the slaughter of countless lives in World War II, including Peter Parker's parents, Red Skull kept a record of every life he took. Having survived into present day, Skull continues to work on his Doomsday Device, with the intent of using the machine to create black holes that destroy every city in the world, unless the nations' leaders turn control over to him. Red Skull is also shown to have kidnapped several scientists to complete his plan. When he is about to be defeated, Red Skull orders one of the scientists to activate the machine, uncaring of the lives he's taken.
• Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire has the Skar King:
  • Film: The Skar King is an ancient Great Ape Titan warlord who, untold millennia ago, led his tribe in an attempt to conquer the Surface World, but was imprisoned in a lower layer of the Hollow Earth by Godzilla. Confining his tribe to a volcanic wasteland and ruling through pain and suffering for generations, the Skar King killed those who dared to defy him; gathered a harem of terrorized females to father his children; and enslaved the cryogenic reptilian Titan Shimo through torture with the intent of using her to cause another Ice Age. When he discovered humans from the surface had entered the Hollow Earth, the Skar King slaughtered Monarch's Outpost and led his army in an attempted conquest. Upon reaching the surface with Shimo, he nearly succeeded in accomplishing his goals but was killed by the combined efforts of Kong, Godzilla, the young ape Suko—implied to be the Skar King's own son—and a liberated Shimo.
  • Greg Keyes's novelization: The Skar King is an ancient Great Ape warlord who corrupted his once-peaceful tribe and waged war against Godzilla and his allies in an attempt to conquer the Surface World. Defeated and imprisoned in a lower layer of the Hollow Earth—inspiring various myths of evil gods being imprisoned—the Skar King confined his tribe to a volcanic wasteland; ruled for generations through suffering and fear; took the tribe's females as his personal harem; imposed a mentality on his tribe where only the most cruel and vicious Great Apes were deemed fit for survival; and brutally killed any who dared to defy or fail him. Enslaving and torturing the prehistoric cryogenic Titan called Shimo, the Skar King plotted to use her to wipe out all life on the surface by causing a new Ice Age, while lying to his followers that they would rule together once his conquest was complete. When Suko—one of his sons—betrayed him to rescue Kong, the Skar King ordered his Red-Stripe enforcers to capture them to be executed; even attempting to kill Suko himself before being defeated by the combined efforts of Kong and Godzilla, frozen solid by a liberated Shimo, and smashed to pieces.
• "Enter the Fanatic, Stage Center", by Harlan Ellison: The bearded man who comes to Prince using the name "Gunther Duvoe" is a demonic being who goes from town to town painting people's darkest secrets to tear them apart. Culminating in his depiction of a vigilante murder committed in Prince, Duvoe delights in the ensuing riots killing many, revealing his nature to the horrified Reverend before shooting the man dead and leaving to continue his work.
• Primal Warrior Draco Azul: Full Metal Chronicles:
  • "A Friend from Afar": Varukan is a notorious extraterrestrial Serial Killer who terrorized the galaxy while preying on sapient life. Arriving on Earth, Varukan claims Guanajuato City in Mexico as his hunting grounds to exploit police corruption and the Diablo crisis. Taming the Rozacdyl—a life-draining plant-like Diablo—with his telepathy, Varukan takes on human form and seduces several partygoers, slaughtering them while revelling in their fear and pain. Hunted down by the alien Bounty Hunter José the Star Slinger and Eric Martinez—pilot of the giant robot Draco Azul—Varukan mocks their dedication to justice and scornfully dismisses the Rozacdyl as a mere tool after it's killed. A hedonistic sadist, Varukan cares for no one other than himself, revels in his victims' suffering, and sneers that emotions like love and compassion are for the weak.
  • "Reminiscence":
    • Cizin is a malicious shapeshifting extraterrestrial with godlike supernatural powers. Upon arriving on Earth, Cizin split into the death-gods Hunhau and Uacmitun Ahau, the former devouring the life-force of countless victims to fuel his dark flames. Attempting to usurp control of the Mesoamerican pantheon, Hunhau and Uacmitun Ahau were cast down to the human world and claimed it as their domain, terrorizing the Maya people by preying on travelling merchants and clashing with the alien mech Ya'axkan/Draco Azul. Centuries later, the AI Ekchuah pitted Draco Azul's new pilot Eric Martinez against a virtual recreation of Hunhau, Uacmitun Ahau, and Cizin based on his memories of them—highlighting the dark god's nature as an arrogant and bloodthirsty would-be tyrant who revels in his status as a destroyer and gleefully plays mind-games with his enemies in order to undermine them.
    • The Feathered Serpent—known to the Aztecs as Quetzalcoatl—was a member of a species of shapeshifting extraterrestrial entities with godlike supernatural powers fuelled by absorbing the lifeforce of their worshipers. Arriving on Earth and becoming the Top God of the Mesoamerican pantheon, the Feathered Serpent cast the death-gods Hunhau and Uacmitun Ahau down to the mortal realm for daring to challenge its authority. Arrogant and cruel, when the alien mecha Ya'axkan and its human pilots began defending humanity from the tyranny of the gods, the Feathered Serpent—enraged—challenged Ya'axkan to a duel and summoned a hurricane that laid waste to the city of Teotihuacan—its own seat of worship. Mercilessly killing countless innocent men, women, children, and elders out of spite, contempt, and to drive home how powerless mortals were against the gods, the Feathered Serpent was defeated at great cost to Ya'axkan—leading to the mecha going dormant for 800 years.
• The Round House, by Louise Erdrich: Linden Lark is a violently misogynistic racist emblematic of the people the US government fails to prosecute due to its negligence of Native Americans. Spurned by the affection of Native American woman Mayla Wolfskin, Linden kidnapped her and her infant child before raping and kidnapping the social worker Geraldine Coutts after Mayla briefly escaped to report him, planning to kill her and Mayla while using her infant child as a prop to collect child support and threatening to kill Mayla's infant if she misbehaved. After Geraldine narrowly escaped, Linden burnt Mayla to death and buried her, smug in the knowledge that Geraldine and her family, including her 13-year old son Joe, would be easy pickings for him in the future after he was let off with a slap on the wrist.
• Season 3: Julia Rothman presents herself as a polite, wealthy art patron, when in truth she's the effective leader of Scorpia. After having Scorpia back the dangerous plots of Dr. Greif and Damian Cray, Julia decides that Scorpia should carry out its own plan to assert their dominance. To this end, Julia devises Operation Invisible Sword, a way of covertly killing anyone in the world they desire. She then gives the UK deliberately unreasonable demands while threatening to kill hundreds of thousands of people if they aren't met, killing a football team as a demonstration. After this, Julia tries to kill everyone in the city of Bath to plunge Britain into chaos as an example to the world so she can threaten other countries with the same fate. Julia also takes an interest in Alex Rider, convincing him to join Scorpia like his father and that the Department had murdered him, when in truth Julia had him killed herself for being a mole from the Department, and she only wants to bring Alex in as revenge against his father and see the look on his when she kills him.
• HalaCG's "Genocide": Frisk and Chara undergo significant Adaptational Villainy from the game. Frisk was once a pacifistic individual who chose to throw away their morals in exchange for relentless bloodshed, while Chara is a bloodthirsty sadist looking to make the world burn. Resetting the world after accomplishing the best ending possible, Frisk goes on a rampage, slaughtering every monster in sight and not letting a single one go unnoticed. Having been awakened through Frisk's thirst for power, Chara gleefully assists them in wiping out the Underground, killing every monster they come across all the while coercing Frisk into forgetting their past so that they can "make them all bleed". Both motivated by sadistic thrills, Chara kills Frisk for disobeying them in the end, and goes on to destroy the world.
• Follow Your Instinct (Mindflow ARG): J.A.C.K. is a prolific Serial Killer with dozens of brutal murders to his name. A self-described "natural predator" who found joy in murder after having killed his own mentor, J.A.C.K. tortures people—primarily young women—to death in the worst ways possible to satisfy his depraved desires, from slowly dismembering a man with a chainsaw to spending an entire week mutilating a girl's face and using what he calls "The Screwdriver Effect" on some of his victims. When detectives of the Intelligence and Surveillance Agency begin getting too close, J.A.C.K. slaughters several of them out of sheer spite, having accepted that he doesn't want to be cured of his own addiction to murder.
• What If the Younglings Saved Anakin Skywalker During Order 66 (link): Palpatine, aka (Darth) Sidious, launches Order 66. When Anakin finds himself unable to kill the younglings at the Jedi Temple—and realizes Palpatine tried several times to have Padmé killed, he confronts Palpatine and faces him in a lightsaber duel. However, Palpatine is much stronger, and easily overcomes Anakin, wounding the latter. Palpatine eventually will kill Anakin, but not before conquering the galaxy, killing Padmé, and raising their son to be Sidious's servant. In addition, Palpatine plans to give the Jedi Temple survivors hope—having them become Sith—before killing them.
• What If Sidious Captured Ahsoka & Ezra in the World Between Worlds (link): Darth Sidious, also known as Emperor Palpatine, uses Ahsoka Tano and Ezra Bridger to enter the World Between Worlds and see the future. Letting Ezra go to test the predictions of the World Between Worlds, Sidious keeps Ahsoka prisoner and uses her to access it while keeping her in constant agony. Sidious manipulates the situation so that the Rebel Alliance would fail to destroy the Death Star and Princess Leia would be killed by Darth Vader, before sending him to destroy the remaining rebels and kill Luke and Ob-Wan in the process. As the Force creates multiple new Chosen Ones to fight against him, Sidious has them all either killed, at one point killing every first-born child in a city to get to his target, or using enslaved to serve him. Sidious has his granddaughter Rey captured and raised to be his new body after killing her parents, creating more clone children so he could eventually possess their offspring. Sidious faces Vader and reveals to him that he is responsible for the death of his children after defeating him, before killing both him and Ahsoka. Sidious uses Ray to access the World Between Worlds and uses it to rule the galaxy forever.
• What If The Clone Troopers RESISTED AGAINST Order 66 (link): Palpatine, upon realizing that Order 66 is a failure due to the bonds the clone troopers made with the Jedi, initiates his escape plan. Faced with a legion of clone troopers and five Jedi on the way out, Palpatine uses the unnatural powers of the Dark Side to mercilessly wipe them out. Escaping to his Star Destroyer, Palpatine is then killed when Republic ships, tipped off by a remorseful Anakin, rain fire on him.
• What if Mace Windu Arrested Palpatine with Anakin in Revenge of the Sith? (link): The Sith Lord Palpatine brutally murders three Jedi masters and sways the Council against the Jedi, managing to ruin the reputation of the Jedi. In one ending, he initiates [[FinalSolution Order 66, eradicating every Jedi despite them no longer posing a threat to him. In another, Palpatine electrocutes Padme, killing her and her unborn children just because Anakin doesn't want to be his pawn anymore. This leads to Anakin becoming the very thing Palpatine wants him to be: A mercilessly cruel tyrant wreaking havoc across the galaxy.
• Lasting Marks (link): Keeper Agruss is just as sadistic as in the series. Agruss has the Torguta colonists of Kiros enslaved in his slave processing facility, having Torgutas of all ages subjected to horrible work conditions while being monitored by his sadistic guards, killing all who are unable to work. When Obi-Wan Kenobi and Captain Rex are sent to his facility, Agruss orders his guards to punish Torgutas any time they show resistance in order to break Kenobi's spirit, at one point killing a Torguta teenager in front of him. When Jedi and the Republic attack the facility to free the slaves, Agruss threatens the lives of the imprisoned Torgutas, destroying a control panel which could save them when Obi-Wan and Rex rebel after weeks of torment and mocking a traumatised Kenobi that Jedi can't harm an unarmed man.
• "Scars of the Syndicate": The Doctor is the main figure of The Syndicate, a group involved in shadowy fusion experiments. Raiding numerous villages to collect test subjects, the Doctor conducts disgusting experiments, merging people with real monsters. While attempting to merge Aldred with the dragon Barbatos, the Doctor calls him trash and brushes him off after failing. When Prince Euden refuses his offer of fusion and attempts to destroy it, the Doctor throws one of his manticores to slaughter, fully aware that the manticore in question is Alfred's sister. Having lured Euden and his group into a trap in a nearby village and fused with the demon, the Doctor attempts to viciously kill them all, and even when defeated, the Doctor gloats that his death will only further the Syndicate's goals.
• Remy Duvall is a Blue Blood of New Bordeaux and the seemingly friendly and simple-minded host of the widely popular radio show "Native Son", promoting White values. In truth, Duvall is the ferocious leader of the Southern Union and an ardent White supremacist, allied with the Marcano crime family. Duvall orders Blacks beaten and killed and assists the Marcanos in their PCP operation. Duvall secretly sells Blacks into slavery to rich Whites, a crime that disgusts and horrifies even other bandits. After Lincoln Clay destroys his operations, Duvall rallies his followers with the intention of sending Lincoln and his allies to Delray Hollow, intending to then burn it down completely, not caring about the countless deaths among innocent "White" citizens. Claiming to love and protect his city, but willing to harm and even kill White Christians if it benefits him, Duvall takes racism to horrific levels.
• Major General Johnathan Beale, the head of The Civic Republic Military, appears as a benevolent leader, but is revealed to be the most dangerous villain ever faced. Beale became disillusioned over the state of the world and, believing that only the CRMs superiority can save it, thus schemed to completely Take Over the World under his rule. Having operated things in the background for years, Beale had ordered the massacre of the Campus Colony and Omaha Community using chlorine gas, murdering thousands without remorse. People inside the Philadelphia community are never allowed to leave, with it being clear that any place they go to will be massacred to protect the CRM's secrets. Giving Rick Grimes the Echelon Briefing, Beale reveals his plans of world domination, having Portland massacred completely to find an excuse to release Martial Law and throw out the Civic Republic Council, ruling everything with an iron fist as he strips the rights of everybody else. After establishing his position, he'd go on to massacre every remaining community in the country and then the world, and attempts to entice Rick on his side with a promise of sparing his loved ones, despite them being enslaved as well, and is left as a sociopathic madman who believes his own strength and superiority above all.
• "The Power of Kroll": Thawn, the greedy head of a methane refinery on a satellite to which the native population have already been relocated by human settlers, treats the native Swampy population as though they're mere animals. Thawn's desire to see the operation expand results in him planning genocide against the Swampies so he can expand onto their settlement. To this end, Thawn pays a gunrunner to supply them with faulty weapons, so they're not actually a threat but he can use the weapons as an excuse to slaughter them and then claim self-defense. When his plans get disrupted by the arrival of swamp monster Kroll, Thawn then decides to take advantage of the situation by launching a bombardment against Kroll, while also wiping out the Swampies as "collateral damage". When one of his crew objects and tries to stop the bombardment, Thawn, without a moment's hesitation, shoots him In the Back.

The character of John Leslie Stevenson from Time After Time is considered a CM and with good reason given that he's Jack the Ripper. But there are a couple of moments towards the end that give me pause. When HG Wells gets down on his knees and pleads for John to spare the life of his girlfriend Amy, John briefly lowers the knife he'd been holding at Amy's throat. He then brings it back up and says "I'm sorry" with a pained expression on his face, almost as if he is aware that he cannot help himself from indulging his sadistic impulses. Moments later, Amy manages to break free from his grasp. John shrugs this off and does not go after her. Instead, he climbs into HG's time machine and is about to activate it when HG grabs hold of a device that John knows will destroy him. He gives a curt nod to HG who then uses the device. At least one other troper has interpreted this nod as John knowing that he's a monster who deserves to be destroyed. The page for the film suggests that he's essentially saying "Get on with it" so I guess there are multiple ways to interpret it. These moments are probably not enough for a cut but I do think they are worth mentioning.

Abstain on the above until a second opinion is given.

I'd say the Raven keeper and Ares are both good to keep from what I'm hearing. We already knew Odin was a monster who was easily heinous enough back when they went up, it was just believed he had some minor redeeming features, so it doesn't sound like him being a CM should affect them.

Ares I’m fine with and tbh I don’t think I paid as much heed as I ought to have prior to Odin’s inclusion but I still take issue with keeping the Raven Keeper when her claim to fame is suggesting taking the children’s souls to make ravens when Odin immediately takes her up on the offer and the whole thing is just a fraction of his own villainy. It’s not a matter of resources to me so much as uniqueness… she tacks on a single crime for her boss and to me just lacks the punch to stay given the setting.

Honestly cool with cutting the Raven Keeper, was thinking about it throughout my day and yeah i don't think a single suggestion that never happens crosses the line when the HS is as high as it is.

I'd argue it's more than a simple suggestion personally since the Raven Keeper goes on a tirade about how much effort she had to put into twisting the children's souls when she confronts Kratos and co.

Honestly fine with the Raven Keeper.

I think The Keeper’s a Keeper

Tbh even beyond heinousness was it...ever discussed that the Raven Keeper seems genuinely loyal to Odin and Asgard? Like, Heimdall seems loyal but has mockery behind Odin's back...the Raven Keeper's (limited) dialogue includes referring to Odin as his title of "All-Father", calling Thor "noble", and remarking that the children under her sway "became something greater. Something magnificent. They MATTERED to the All-Father!"

I'm kinda being swayed to believe she's not standing out enough on her own for such a minor character like PassingThrough is arguing, but even beyond that, I don't think her apparent loyalty to Odin was ever really addressed.

Edited by Ravok on Apr 21st 2024 at 6:18:12 AM

Hmm loyalty to Odin? That's something idk about because those are her only lines I believe, apart from standard Revenant battle sounds.

There's scrolls of hers in the 2018 game that the player can find but I don't remember what they spoke of.

There's an argument for either the loyalty for be genuine or just the standard fanatical psycho loyalty to be had IMO.

Edited by WetFlannels on Apr 21st 2024 at 2:20:17 PM

Looking back it seems she went up as a Flat Character compared to the more nuanced Odin being read as having his redeeming quality you thoroughly disproved. Tbh I hadn't even considered the loyalty.

Also an image suggestion... from Disturbing Behavior:

Cut Raven Keeper

I like the image!

Yeah Raven Keeper's notes in the first game are comprised of literally nothing but her just bragging about Odin and how his plans are working out while recording his enemies' movements. She further refers to "noble Thor", praises Odin's foresight and power in his schemes, and how she needs to contact Thor to "play his part in the All-Father's plan!"

She's a Flat Character but something the games establish is that Odin's followers are pretty fanatically loyal to him overall, and the Raven Keeper is even called one of his top acolytes. Even when the ravens are freed her primary focus is shrieking about the work and effort she did to make them "matter to the All-Father", only afterwards remarking "and they mattered to me!"

It's also worth noting that the Raven Keeper is a Revenant, a type of witch who explicitly lose their humanity through usage of magic. To quote the games:

"As with many of the dastardly creatures we encounter, Revenants weren't always so monstrous. They were run-out-of-the-mill witches until they traded parts of their soul for more power. In time, their humanity all but disappear, leaving behind cackling monstrosities with penchant of poison, and a lesson for all those who seek power...A witch who's traded away damn near every last piece of her soulto practise Seiðr magic, with the added bonus of being able to summon allies to her aid in an instant. One day I'd like to have a sit down and ask if they felt the price of their humanity was ultimately worth it. There's nothing worse than a trade you can't take back after seeing less-than-satisfactory results."

While we don't get that kind of detail with the Raven Keeper, she ultimately does fall under the banner of being a Revenant, so...

Edited by Ravok on Apr 21st 2024 at 6:42:12 AM

Cut the Raven Keeper.

Cut her then

In light of 43 and Ravok’s points cut the Raven Keeper

Yeah although her Codex entry confirms her heavy involvement in the child soul scheme.

Her being a revenant when they seem to suffer from agency issues (the only other prominent revenant is some side quest in the 2018 game in which her lover has the player find her bones to revive her with the reward being death).

If you're concerned about the lover being proof of a revenant being capable of kindness, the lover is delusional and the revenant never mentions him when she rises.

Based on agency concerns imma have to say an unfortunate cut to the Raven Keeper.

If that's the case, will have to say cut then.

• Primal Warrior Draco Azul
  • "A Friend from Afar": Varukan is a notorious extraterrestrial Serial Killer who terrorized the galaxy while preying on sapient life. Arriving on Earth, Varukan claims Guanajuato City in Mexico as his hunting grounds to exploit police corruption and the Diablo crisis. Taming the Rozacdyl—a life-draining plant-like Diablo—with his telepathy, Varukan takes on human form and seduces several partygoers, slaughtering them while revelling in their fear and pain. Hunted down by an alien Bounty Hunter called the Star Slinger and Eric Martinez—pilot of the giant robot Draco Azul—Varukan mocks their dedication to justice and scornfully dismisses the Rozacdyl as a mere tool after it's killed. A hedonistic sadist, Varukan cares for no one other than himself, revels in his victims' suffering, and sneers that emotions like love and compassion are for the weak.

José isn't the Star Slinger's name, it's just an alias he picked after arriving on Earth and disguising himself as a human.

Another unfortunate cut to suggest: Acgnologia from Fairy Tail. I've defended the villain before and I do concur his Freudian Excuse comes out to be a contradictory mess but what I don't think I can justify anymore is his final scene (which I'll link a video of here).

Specifically—and the manga plays out the same way—I think this goes beyond just Villain Respect for Natsu. When he's beaten and dying he laments he won't be able to kill and destroy anymore, saying he must have "Everything". Natsu responds he can't, that he should cherish what he does have and adds that personally, Natsu is happy just having his friends around. With complete grace and no hint of rage, Acnologia smiles serenely while dying and tells the hero he is indeed worthy of being (the dragon) king.

FWIW it's worth I find his rant about wanting to kill and destroy more sounds like he's saying it with a hollow tone, almost like he's using killing to forget a pain inside of himself, which does line up with his FE. While that can be debated, I don't think I can truly call him irredeemable when his response to hearing friends are enough for the man who managed to slay him is worthy of being the dragon king in his eyes is meant to be read as a Complete Monster and annoyed as we can get with the writing I do think it bleeds into the character too much to ignore.

Snip the Raven Keeper and Acnologia.

Cut him too then, weird writing aside

Yeah while I do still think Raven Keeper sounds bad enough, the loyalty thing seems enough to cut her. Snipe the fairy tail guy too.

Cut RK and Acnologia