During the investigation of recent hollers in the Complete Monster thread, it's become apparent to the staff that an insular, unfriendly culture has evolved in the Complete Monster and Magnificent Bastard threads that is causing problems.
Specific issues include:
- Overzealous hollers on tropers who come into the threads without being familiar with all the rules and traditions of the tropes. And when they are familiar with said rules and traditions, they get accused (with little evidence) of being ban evaders.
- A few tropers in the thread habitually engage in snotty, impolite mini-modding. There are also regular complaints about excessive, offtopic "socializing" posts.
- Many many thread regulars barely post/edit anywhere else, making the threads look like they are divorced from the rest of TV Tropes.
- Following that, there are often complaints about the threads and their regulars violating wiki rules, such as on indexing, crosswicking, example context and example categorization. Some folks are working on resolving the issues, but...
- Often moderator action against thread regulars leads to a lot of participants suddenly showing up in the moderation threads to protest and speak on their behalf, like a clique.
It is not a super high level problem, but it has been going on for years and we cannot ignore it any longer. There will be a thread in Wiki Talk
to discuss the problem; in the meantime there is a moratorium on further Complete Monster and Magnificent Bastard example discussion until we have gotten this sorted out.
Update: The new threads have been made and can be found here:
Please see the Frequently Asked Questions and Common Requests List before suggesting any new entries for this trope.
IMPORTANT: To avoid a holler to the mods, please see here for the earliest date a work can be discussed, (usually two weeks from the US release), as well as who's reserved discussion.
When voting, you must specify the candidate(s). No blanket votes (i.e. "
to everyone I missed").
No plagiarism: It's fair to source things, but an effortpost must be your own work and not lifted wholesale from another source.
We don't care what other sites think about a character being a Complete Monster. We judge this trope by our own criteria. Repeatedly attempting to bring up other sites will earn a suspension.
What is the Work
Here you briefly describe the work in question and explain any important setting details. Don't assume that everyone is familiar with the work in question.
Who is the Candidate and What have they Done?
This will be the main portion of the Effort Post. Here you list all of the crimes committed by the candidate. For candidates with longer rap sheets, keep the list to their most important and heinous crimes, we don't need to hear about every time they decide to do something minor or petty.
Do they have any Mitigating Factors or Freudian Excuse?
Here you discuss any potential redeeming or sympathetic features the character has, the character's Freudian Excuse if they have one, as well as any other potential mitigating factors like Offscreen Villainy or questions of moral agency. Try to present these as objectively as possible by presenting any evidence that may support or refute the mitigating factors.
Do they meet the Heinousness Standard?
Here you compare the actions of the Candidate to other character actions in the story in order to determine if they stand out or not. Remember that all characters, not just other villains, contribute to the Heinousness Standard
Final Verdict?
Simply state whether or not you think the character counts or not.
Edited by GastonRabbit on Aug 31st 2023 at 4:14:10 AM
I'm all good with the writeups, the one pothole issue aside.
For Watts, I'm wondering if his inflicting collateral damage (traffic collisions) in Atlas for shits and giggles is worth mentioning in his entry, as that's what persuaded a few of us to go
. He's also a doctor so counts as Morally Ambiguous Doctorate for trope links; Otherwise all good, and what I flagged up is hardly "I'll lose sleep" worthy
The rewrites look good to me.
Edited by Bullman on Feb 18th 2020 at 6:32:51 AM
Fan-Preferred Couple cleanup threadWhat's the work?
Venom's Black Metal is the Trope Namer (and depending on who you ask, possibly the Trope Maker) for ... well ... Black Metal. This song in particular, "Countess Bathory", is about — surprise surprise ...
Who is Countess Bathory? What has she done?
Does it even really NEED to be said who she is at this point? Pretty sure almost everyone here knows. But I'll cut to the chase, as described in the song, she lures young virgin girls in to "live a noble life", and acts the part of a hospitable host. When night comes, though, she "rapes them of their blood" (yes, those are the actual lyrics), bathing in it to slow down her aging. Eventually, she gets her comeuppance, imprisoned in her own castle and dying.
Heinous standard?
Main antagonist of the song; sets it.
Mitigating factors?
Really? REALLY? Obviously, a lot of rumors and lies have been spread about her over the centuries (the Blood Bath, for instance, ironically her claim to fame), and as discussed not long ago in this thread, it's possible she was framed, but in the context of the song ... nah.
Verdict?
The Blood Countess is a keeper ... again.
Edited by Stellarvore on Feb 18th 2020 at 6:36:34 AM
Yes to Bathory.
You know, it's been a pretty slow day (and a long one at that on my end). And it's midnight somewhere. And I'm about to go to a movie. While it's been thirteen days since the story was posted, I don't think we'd be loosing sleep from a creepypasta villain getting posted a night early.
I Was Claimed By A Skinwalker
is a two part creepypasta originating from Reddit, written by bloodhunter62. The guy doesn't have that much stories to his name, but he has a thing for Skinwalkers and Wendigos.
Now reading the first story, the Skinwalker isn't anything special really, being a typical "camping trip gone wrong" story. But in its sequel it gets a little personal when it comes to cruelty, that I think it could have a shot.
Who is the Skinwalker ? What does it do ?
For those who don't know, Skinwalkers are Navajo witches who have the ability to shift into any animal or disguise themselves as people whose skin they take. According to legend and popular belief, they have a tendency to stalk people, especially by mimic the loved ones of potential victims to torment them. And according to some beliefs, know when they are being talked or thought about.
One such Skinwalker is the focus of these two stories, having a fixation on the protagonist Jake Payne.
Jake is a college student on his last year, and decides to go on a camping trip with his friends Chase, Aljo, Cori, and Jake's adorable girlfriend Blair. The Skinwalker itself doesn't make its presence known until the midway point of the story after the story is done Developing Doomed Characters. First appearing as a growling deer Jake and Aljo spot on a hunting trip. Later on, Jake's stoner friend Chase disappears from the camp, and Aljo elects to go look for him. Chase returns to the camp, and it's become pretty clear that the Skinwalker has either possessed him or taken his skin. With Aljo unaccounted for, eventually Chase and Cori disappear in the middle of the night, prompting Jake and Blair to go looking for them.
Eventually Jake finds Chase and Aljo's bodies in severe stages of mutilation. He also refused to describe Cori's body when he finds it. It's at this point the Skinwalker reveals its possessing or wearing the skin of Blair. "She" proceeds to stab Jake through the face with an arrow and disfigure his face as "she" rips it out. She begins to mutilate and torture Jake, before using the arrow to care "Naalyéhé", the Navajo word for "property" into his chest. Jake manages to stab it in the eye with a stonehead, driving it off before the collapses into unconsciousness.
Jake later explains that he was found by another group of campers and airlifted to a hospital and ends the first story by lamenting how he is now the Skinwalker's property.
The sequel
picks up a year later and quite frankly, Jake's life sucks. He's been disfigured by the experience, has become a shut in from society and the only reason he doesn't kill himself is because he doesn't have it in him. On top of that, the Skinwalker constantly torments him in his dreams constantly appearing as Blair's mutilated form, mockingly mimicking her affectionate personality. These dreams consist of him watching his friends being murdered and kept in torment, as well as being Jake himself being tortured. At one point the Skinwalker breaks Jake's arm, which carries over when he awakes.
Eventually Jake starts working for a suicide hotline, where he meets his charming co-worker Lana. They quickly bond, and soon start dating. The Skinwalker appears to Jake, once again mimicking Blair, telling him it'll leave him and Lana alone from now on before it seemingly disappears for good. Over time Jake begins putting his life back together, having not seen or sensed the Skinwalker for weeks.
...until the Skinwalker appears to him one last time, when he has Lana over. Jake seemingly strangles it to death...only to wake up and realizing he strangled Lana to death. The story ends with Jake giving into despair and preparing a noose to hang himself.
Mitigating Qualities ?
Only villain in these stories; the first story depicts the Skinwalker as more of a rampaging monster that brutally slaughters Jake's friends and girlfriend, and sadistically tortures and disfigures Jake himself. The second story plays more with the Skinwalker being a psychological tormenter who gets more personal with Jake. It should be noted the personality it adopts being a cruel mimic of Blair, and that's really the only personality it displays.
Other than that no mitigating qualities are shown in either story.
While this doesn't come up either, I did have concerns over agency issues as the Skinwalkers of popular legends and depiction are inherently evil; at the same time they are said to be witches who become what they do out of their own volition by black magic and the ritualistic murder of a family member of loved one. This is usually that is used to compare and contrast them with the Wendigo which are usually depicted as more of creatures of instinct and usually victims of a curse or demonic possession. Again, this never comes up in the story, just a staple of the myth. Point is, human morality and agency should be applicable here.
Edited by Beast on Feb 18th 2020 at 10:12:16 AM
"It's like...a cliff, and if I do it, I'm just gonna...fall." "I think we're already falling."
Berserk Button: misusing Berserk Button
Well, I know that whenever a creepypasta or nosleep candidate comes up, there is almost always someone asking if the story has a substantial plot.
Oh, and
to another Bathory. Personally, while I have no problem believing they may have been exaggerated, I am willing to believe she did do at least some of the crimes she was accused of- because, as we all know, Aristocrats Are Evil, power corrupts, and all that.
Edited by MasterN on Feb 18th 2020 at 5:13:11 AM
One of these days, all of you will accept me as your supreme overlord.@MasterN: Not reading it this time. Been busy; don't have time. You or someone else can do it.
I write stories and shiz. You can read them here.

I'll throw up my Dr. Venom write-up soon, but first? I have a few rewrites of some of my own entries that I think could do with condensing, given they were written back in my more-verbose days. Feedback is greatly appreciated for any of these:
Original:
Rewrite:
Original:
Rewrite:
Original:
Rewrite:
Original:
Rewrite:
Edited by Ravok on Feb 18th 2020 at 2:03:03 AM
No! That is NOT Solid Snake! Stop impersonating him!