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Duplicate Trope: Dark Chick

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    Original post 
Note: This thread was proposed by Nine Tailed Cat.

Dark Chick is defined as an evil version of The Chick, which is no longer an actual trope but rather a disambiguation page between several other tropes. As such, it makes sense to break up Dark Chick the same way. A wick check of 50 wicks yielded the following results:

  • 2% for an evil Girly Girl.
  • 12% for an evil Heart or similar emotional centre.
  • 2% for an evil Load.
  • 10% for a token female bad guy (evil version of The Smurfette Principle).
  • 8% misuse.
  • 28% ZCE.
  • 38% unclassifiable (mostly potholes and links in other examples).

I propose turning Dark Chick into a disambiguation page like The Chick, though with a slightly different set of tropes. For actual tropeworthy uses, most seem to fall under Femme Fatale (villainess that plays on good guys' emotions), Perky Female Minion (lighthearted female baddie) Token Good Teammate (nicest member of a bad guy team), or The Smurfette Principle (only female member of an evil group); evil Girly Girls and Loads seem uncommon, but could also be listed for completeness's sake. All wicks that fit one of these definitions should be moved to those pages, while the rest get the axe.

Wick check:

With the removal of The Chick as a trope, Dark Chick, which is defined as an evil counterpart to it, has no meaning. This wick check is to analyse current use of Dark Chick to help with its own clean-up methods, using the new The Chick subdivisions of Girly Girl, The Heart, The Load, and The Smurfette Principle as guidelines.

50 out of 1743 wicks (counting redirects The Dark Chick and Hench Wench) will be checked.

Wicks checked: 50/50

    open/close all folders 

    Evil Girly Girl (1/50, 2%) 
  1. Characters.Nerf Now: ** The Dark Chick: Anne-Marie, whose main gimmick is being the shameless camwhore. Sub-bullet of Five-Man Band; seems to fit the "feminine villainess" subset best.

    Evil emotional centre/Heart (6/50, 12%) 
  1. Characters.Code Geass Britannian Imperial Family: Carine is certainly one, enjoying the warfare and suffering of Elevens, while she openly expresses disdain for Nunnally's plans for peace. Evil Heart/Token Good Teammate.
  2. Characters.Grandia II: * Dark Chick: Just as Elena represents the good of the church, Selene is an embodiment of the bad. Religious/spiritual villain, which I guess is closest to "evil emotional centre".
  3. Characters.Kikaider: Her purpose while in SHADOW was to befriend Ichiro and get him to lower his guard down, all so he could be lured into a trap. Closest to evil Heart, though example description fits Honey Trap better.
  4. Characters.Mobile Suit Gundam: A male variant. He's charismatic and pretty-faced, and seen as something akin to an idol by the people of Zeon. Evil Heart.
  5. Characters.The Classroom: She still looks out for the group, but is notably more cynical and guarded. Evil emotional centre.
  6. Characters.You Only Live Twice: She manages to convince Bond that she switched to his side, and it seems that Bond didn't realize the deception until she tried to kill him. '''Seems to be "emotionally manipulative evil lady", with a side of Honey Trap.

    Useless member of an evil group (1/50, 2%) 
  1. Characters.Wolverine And The X Men 2009 Marauders: Her powers are more of a supportive nature than anything else. Also, she's a very weak hand-to-hand combatant. Physically-weak villain; seems to fit "evil Load" category best.

    Token female bad guy (5/50, 10%) 
  1. Characters.Eternal Sonata: She performs many services for Waltz such as exexcution and spying. Token female bad guy, though the example itself doesn't mention that.
  2. Characters.Shining Force: The sole female of the villains. Token female villain.
  3. Characters.Sonic The Hedgehog Modern Era Antagonists 2: The sole female member of the Deadly Six. Token female baddie.
  4. Characters.Squid Game Players: ** The Dark Chick: Han Mi-nyeo, The Smurfette Principle of the group who is very outspoken, actually comes up with clever ideas to Deok-su's advantage (i.e. giving Deok-su the lighter, cutting in line for seconds), and briefly enters a relationship with Deok-su. She ends up kicked off the gang during the game of Tug-of-War and joins Gi-hun's team as The Sixth Ranger. Sub-bullet of The Psycho Rangers. Fits "token female villain", even if improperly listed.
  5. Wrestling.Right To Censor: Ivory. She was the lone female of the group and held championship gold for the longest period. Token female in a heel group.

    Misuse (4/50, 8%) 
  1. Characters.Choudenshi Bioman: Farrah's personal spy and assassin. Evil lieutenant that doesn't fit any sub-definition, seemingly shoehorned in just for being female.
  2. Characters.Gen Sei Shin Justiriser: A male equivalent. He's extremely vain and manipulative, and quite a few of his plans involve him trying to drive a wedge between the Justirisers and their allies. Doesn't quite fit any of the categories, since he's male, it's a stretch to call him an "emotional centre", and he's not described as an impediment or anything.
  3. Characters.Legend Of The Five Rings: Most women who succumb to the Shadowlands Taint usually end up as this. Doji Nashiko, from the First Edition splatbook "Bearers of Jade" and the "Mirror, Mirror" adventure that managed to squick out the system authors, is probably the best example. Eating people's faces with a nice cup of sake. Literally. Shoehorned-in general evil women, not meaningfully fitting any subcategories.
  4. Characters.Powerpuff Girls Z: ** The Dragon/Evil Genius/Dark Chick: Snake/Ivy. Subbullet of The Team, slash-separated from other tropes, without any context given. Seems shoehorned in, in addition to the example itself breaking several guidelines.

    ZCE (14/50, 28%) 
  1. Characters.Blaz Blue Litchi Faye Ling: Her position as of the NOL's Five-Man Band after CS until the end of CP. Spoilered-out example that doesn't actually explain how it applies.
  2. Characters.Engine Sentai Go Onger: Of the three Pollution Ministers. ZCE.
  3. Characters.Journey Through The Multiverse: Two separate wicks, both ZCEs:
  4. Characters.Legion Of Super Heroes 2006: %%* DarkChick: Mano Commented-out ZCE.
  5. Characters.Pokemon Diamond And Pearl Adventure: %%* DarkChick Commented-out ZCE.
  6. Characters.Reclaiming The Throne: She is one to Nanba. ZCE.
  7. Characters.Salamanders: * Dark Chick ZCE.
  8. Characters.The Epic Of Zektbach: ** Dark Chick: Carla. ZCE sub-bullet of Five-Man Band.
  9. Characters.The Vampire Diaries Universe Petrova Family: %% * TheDarkChick Commented-out ZCE.
  10. Characters.The War Hawks: As a heel. ZCE.
  11. Film.Heat: ** Dark Chick: Trejo, the getaway driver. Replaced by Donald Breedan for the bank heist. ZCE sub-bullet of Five-Man Band.
  12. Manga.Medaka Box: Two separate wicks, both improper sub-bullets of Five-Man Band and both ZCEs:
    • ** The Dark Chick: Koga. Subverted in that she's really peppy and nice. Doesn't give context on what it's subverting; just that she's nice.
    • ** The Dark Chick: Mukae. Straight-up ZCE.
  13. WMG.Danganronpa V 3 Killing Harmony: Monophanie. Do I really need to elaborate on this? WMG about applicable tropes. Yes, you do need to elaborate.
  14. Wrestling.Nikki Cross: %%* TheDarkChick Commented-out ZCE.

    Other (19/50, 38%) 
  1. Affirmative Action Girl: Two separate wicks:
    • ** Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix adds Tonks to the team of good badass adults we're used to as well as Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood to the main group. Although Ginny was in the story before this book, she had only been either a background character or a Damsel in Distress (in the second one). Here she becomes a proper Action Girl and joins Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville in the fight at the Ministry. Luna as well then makes the main group have three girls and three boys. On the evil side, we originally had Bellatrix as the Dark Chick. Alecto Carrow then appears as another female Death Eater, but this trope fits Bellatrix's sister Narcissa better; she technically appeared earlier and she's only the wife of a villain, but her role gets greatly expanded in the final two books, culminating in a Heel–Face Turn that allows Harry to kill Voldemort. '''Linked in another example; seems to be just "token female villain".
    • *** Kamen Rider Revice: Ikki and Daiji's little sister Sakura is a karate student that can hold her own against Mooks and human criminals, and that's before she gets her own Transformation Trinket and becomes Kamen Rider Jeanne. It's considered the first time that a female Rider was a main character, as she and Daiji are both series Deuteragonists. She's also the first one to get a Super Mode.note  Sakura's Friendly Enemy relationship with the Dark Chick Aguilera also leads to Aguilera making a Heel–Face Turn and becoming a Rider herself, so the series gets two regular female Riders. Linked in another example; seems to fall under evil Heart who makes a High-Heel–Face Turn.
  2. BreakoutVillain.The DCU * Harley Quinn, everyone's favorite Hench Wench from Batman: The Animated Series. She was originally invented as a one-shot female henchmen to leap out of Commissioner Gordon's cake (the censors allowed The Joker to do it instead), and an overwhelming fan response turned her into a recurring villain and a Canon Immigrant into the comics. She even went on to be one of the few villains to Out-Batman Gambit Batman himself and come this close to actually killing him. In 2016, she became the breakout star of Suicide SquadMargot Robbie's performance as her was one of the few things universally praised about the otherwise divisive film, even managing to steal the show from the long-awaited cinematic return of The Joker himself. Potholed in another example under "Hench Wench"; unclear what variation it's meant to be.
  3. Characters.Jojos Bizarre Adventure Egypt Nine Glory Gods: Two separate wicks:
  4. Characters.Sumomo Mo Momo Mo: * Dragon Their Feet: Subversion. Tenten is the one who attempts to attack the heroes after the Final Battle is all but won, but she's more the Evil Genius / Dark Chick of her group. Potholed in another example. Unclear how it's meant to apply.
  5. Characters.The Walking Dead Video Game Season One Characters: In looks and personality, she's almost a contrasting version of Katjaa, who's also the chick of Lee's group. Brenda also holds a gun to Katjaa's head as well. Evil counterpart of character listed as "The Chick", but unclear which subcategory of it she fits.
  6. Characters.X Blaze Code Embryo: * Co-Dragons: The Dragon (with elements of The Dark Chick) to Sechs alongside Drei. She briefly becomes the sole Dragon after Drei’s death. Linked in another example; unclear which subcategory is intended.
  7. DrivenToSuicide.Literature: ** In The Warlord of Mars, Phaidor throws herself overboard to repent for her attempt on Dejah Thoris' life. Potholed in another example; unclear which subcategory it's meant to fit.
  8. EvenEvilHasLovedOnes.Anime And Manga: ** Mobile Suit Gundam: With the exception of eldest son Gihren, who is incapable of caring about anyone, the fascist Zabi siblings all love and respect their father Degwin, one another, and in the case of Dozle and Garma, their significant others (wife Zena and girlfriend Iselina, respectively). It's particularly notable in the case of Kycilia, as without that humanising aspect, she'd come off as badly as her oldest brother. Potholed in another example; unclear which category it falls into.
  9. InsistentTerminology.Video Games: * Resident Black Magician Girl Dark Chick Chloe from the second Mana Khemia game insists that her curses and black magic that regularly summons demons in combat be referred to as "incantations". Linked in another example. Unclear how it applies.
  10. Makeup Is Evil: ** Alicia is always in glamorous makeup, while Vicki Vale is (usually) barefaced, or at least looks natural by comparison. This is then exaggerated in the museum scene; Vicki is wearing hardly any makeup at all, while Alicia has painted her face white to disguise the fact that the Joker has burned off half of it. Potholed in another example. Seems to be "girly-girl villain", but not certain.
  11. MaleGaze.Live Action Films: * At one point in Spawn during the ball sequence, the camera deicides to investigate Dark Chick Jessica Priest's ass for no reason, hell even her introduction had the camera zoom in on her stockings and gun holster. Linked in another example. Unclear how it's meant to apply.
  12. Noble Demon: ** Grey from Choujin Sentai Jetman. As opposed to Radiguet, he believes in fair play and strangely has an extra devotion to Maria, because he likes her. He even gets pissed at Radiguet's plan to turn Maria into a vampire to become his queen, and pleads with the Jetmen to restore her humanity so she can die human, not as a monster. While he does fight Gai in his end, his reasoning for that boils down to just "I'm a warrior, this is all I can do". He died commending Gai for his victory and muttering Maria's name. Potholed in another example. Seems to be "evil emotional centre", but doesn't have enough elaboration to be certain.
  13. PlayingWith.Bank Robbery: ** Evil Elliott is proposing to Lilith Badgirl with a diamond ring he hid in one of the vaults. '''Potholed in a Playing With example; unclear what it's meant to be other than just "female baddie".
  14. PlayingWith.Hopeless Boss Fight: * Reconstructed: Hiro points out that while they might not have won, they can't just let evil have its way without at least opposing it. Beyond Honour Before Reason, Hiro also notes that their sacrifice may have weakened Lady Rubliss or slowed her down at a crucial point, preventing more deaths. Hiro also notes that the team now knows what to expect from the enemy; if The Dark Chick was like that, what will the Big Bad be like? And Hiro directs the teams training and recruitment towards the new threat using this intelligence, proving that sometimes being completely thrashed can be the best thing to happen to an arrogant group of heroes. Potholed in a Playing With example. Doesn't explain how it applies aside from "female baddie".
  15. Sex–Face Turn: It's hard to tell what does it exactly. Maybe it's the tendency of good guys to have larger Johnsons than their evil counterparts. Perhaps it's the realization that heroes tend to be Sex Gods while villains are the opposite. But for some reason or other, sending an evil woman, especially a Dark Chick, to seduce a hero has a surprisingly high turnover rate. There's a very good chance that's she'll just decide to bat for the other team (moral team, that is) rather than stick to the original plan. The sexier the hero, the more likely this will work. Potholed in trope description; unclear which subcategory is most appropriate.
  16. Trivia.France Five: ** Because of the stretch of time between episodes, there have been a few other minor cast change-ups. Most notably, Margarine, the team's Robot Girl, and Dark Chick Extasy. Linked in another example. Unclear what category it qualifies as.
  17. WMG.Inspector Gadget: * Dr. Claw will get a Dark Chick Dragon. Potholed in WMG; unclear which category it fits into.
  18. YMMV.The Foxbusters: * Ensemble Dark Horse: Todd, for being a walking, Adorkable funny moment, and Evita, for being a formidable Dark Chick. Potholed in another example; unclear which subcategory is intended.
  19. YMMV.The Longingverse: ** Yellow crossed it when she tried to kill Spike. Potholed in another example without making clear which subcategory fits.

Edited by GastonRabbit on Jun 11th 2023 at 3:05:39 AM

GastonRabbit Sounds good on paper (he/him) from Robinson, Illinois, USA (General of TV Troops) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
#26: Jun 9th 2023 at 8:24:35 AM

If Dark Action Girl has problems, it would need its own thread because it's outside this thread's scope.

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
Synchronicity (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#27: Jun 9th 2023 at 8:27:08 AM

It's just a question of "should we tell tropers to move examples to it now which might cause problems down the line if it is brought to TRS" or nah.

Edit because I realized I never commented: disambig away

Edited by Synchronicity on Jun 9th 2023 at 10:27:34 AM

Amonimus the Retromancer from <<|Wiki Talk|>> (Sergeant) Relationship Status: In another castle
the Retromancer
#28: Jun 9th 2023 at 8:28:02 AM

Just add Dark Action Girl to the disambig and it'd answer that.

TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup
GastonRabbit Sounds good on paper (he/him) from Robinson, Illinois, USA (General of TV Troops) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
#29: Jun 9th 2023 at 9:17:53 AM

I suppose we could do that.

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
GastonRabbit MOD Sounds good on paper (he/him) from Robinson, Illinois, USA (General of TV Troops) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
#30: Jun 11th 2023 at 12:48:05 AM

Calling in favor of disambiguating Dark Chick.

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
GastonRabbit Sounds good on paper (he/him) from Robinson, Illinois, USA (General of TV Troops) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
#31: Jun 11th 2023 at 2:30:34 AM

The page is disambiguated, so time to clean up the wicks.

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
wootzits Since: Apr, 2010
#32: Jun 23rd 2023 at 12:31:09 PM

Less than 1000 wicks, redirect has 126 left.

Yindee Just stoic wisdom. from New England Since: Jul, 2016
Just stoic wisdom.
Berrenta How sweet it is from Texas Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
How sweet it is
#34: Jun 29th 2023 at 8:18:48 PM

Took out a few more that were part of glaringly shoehorned 5MB entries. One of these cases had level 3 subbulleted tropes and that's really hard on the eyes.

she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report
Yindee Just stoic wisdom. from New England Since: Jul, 2016
GastonRabbit Sounds good on paper (he/him) from Robinson, Illinois, USA (General of TV Troops) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
#36: Jul 2nd 2023 at 3:43:35 PM

I took care of some and torched some Five-Man Band shoehorns/ZCEs in the process.

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
Berrenta How sweet it is from Texas Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
How sweet it is
#37: Jul 2nd 2023 at 4:05:49 PM

Redirect's done.

she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report
GastonRabbit Sounds good on paper (he/him) from Robinson, Illinois, USA (General of TV Troops) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
#38: Jul 2nd 2023 at 4:31:52 PM

Everything's done, so locking up.

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
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