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Subpages cleanup: Complete Monster

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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:

     Previous Post 
Complete Monster Cleanup Thread

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. "[tup] 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

Lightysnake Since: May, 2010
#202951: Feb 24th 2020 at 8:03:41 PM

Also, I might call Robert Eggers' next film, a Viking revenge story.

Draxterrus An Eldritch Troper Since: May, 2019 Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
An Eldritch Troper
#202952: Feb 24th 2020 at 8:06:05 PM

I am considering rearranging the Star Wars entries for Palpatine, Canon and Legends, so they are grouped together, as well as Canon Tarkin. In the same way that Lucia and Nyarlathotep are grouped at The Neverkind Saga.

That way it’ll be easier to read Palpatine and Canon Tarkin’s entries for different works.

Humanity is defined by its absurdity, and I am no exception.
Beast from Ontario, Canada Since: Aug, 2012 Relationship Status: Browsing the selection
#202953: Feb 24th 2020 at 8:56:26 PM

Here's someone else I've been meaning to get too.

SIMULACRA 2 is a found footage horror game where the player gets their hands on a phone belonging to a dead or missing victim. In this case, we are either a detective or investigative reporter, approached by one Detective Murilo to help investigate the death of a young woman named Maya, and look into her three friends. Maya and her friends are influencers on an Instagram knockoff called Kimera, and this game does not let up on influencer commentary. You thought Life Is Strange 2 was unsubtle with its commentary ? You ain't seen nothing!

Of course this wouldn't be a horror, murder mystery game without some kind of monster being behind the scenes. As the player learns all their dirty little secrets, we also learn of a monsterous entity called "The Ripple Man".

Who is the Ripple Man ? What does it do ?

The Ripple Man is described as a godlike or boogeyman like entity that exists through the Internet. He is a Simulacrum, which are pretty much just digital Eldritch Abominations that live within the Internet; it may or may not be the same entity from the first game, but they have the same goals and motives of spreading their power and influence by possessing and absorbing other people into its consciousness, keeping them trapped in an And I Must Scream fate. However the Ripple Man has a different MO and more actively malevolent personality. The Ripple Man's MO is to approach influencers go are going through severe controversy and if they make a deal with him, he will make alter reality, get rid of their haters to boost their popularity for the price of a life. The Ripple Man would then claim the deal maker and absorb their souls into its mind, after possessing them and ripping their faces apart from the inside.

It's earliest account was with Charlie Asther, who made a series on Kimera called "Ripple" that is based around social experiments and makes a commentary on online trends and behaviours; created fake news outlets, and a fake persona, before his experiments started getting darker and included instigating fights with homeless people, and he started attacking other influencers. When the controversy surrounded him, that is when the Ripple Man appeared to him and made him a deal. Aether realized what he was in for and gave up all digital technology and isolated himself in a cabin in the woods to cut the Ripple Man off.

When four Kimera influencers Maya, Mina, Arya, and Rex, form a friends group with massive followings between them. Someone in the group made a deal with the Ripple Man that got Maya killed. In the videos shown leading up to Maya's death, she has been haunted and tormented by the Ripple Man for some time, before it killed her in front of her friends. We later find out it was Maya herself trying to steer backlash away from her, but for most of the game, we suspect it's one of her friends. We spend most of the game digging into their histories, lives and secrets, while Detective Murilo has put a lot of stock in the story that one of Maya's friends sold her out.

The more you uncover, the more the friends will eventually turn on each-other. All the while the Ripple Man will call them in Maya's voice to screw with them further. In the "Standard" endings, you are given the choice to incorrectly accuse one of Maya's friends whether you accuse Rex, Arya, or Mina, the accused will have a breakdown and summon the Ripple Man as a last resort, resulting in the Ripple Man killing them and forcing the player into confronting them in its dimension, where we can hear the souls of its captives as ambient noise. After assimilating it's latest victim, the Ripple Man will offer you a deal saying that you have the power to influence, and with more influencers, the more people will convert to him. Regardless of whether you take the deal, the Ripple Man effectively won and after failing to stop it, it's now free to carry on.

For an extra kick in the teeth, taking the deal could effect Murilo and his team. Murilo is running a discreet team in the police force to investigate supernatural occurances; Department Of Obscure Phenomena. After Maya's death, the Higher Ups declared the case open and shut, but Murilo has broken numerous rules and protocols to reopen the investigation and get you involved; the Higher Ups found out about this and are threatening to dissolve DOOP unless Murilo can prove his case, and bring in one of his suspects. Why is this important ? Well, if you find out it was Maya who took the deal early on, and you reveal this truth to Murilo early on, you risk Murilo turning against you for going against the investigation; of you don't reveal the truth to him at all, you risk throwing a technically innocent person under the bus; and if you reveal the truth too late, this will lead to Murilo being fired, arrested and DOOP dissolved, with the Ripple Man gloating that seemingly the organization that can oppose it has been crippled.

There is a Golden Ending where you can beat it; by uncovering the truth, and getting her friends to work together and work through their issues and help summon the Ripple Man into being jammed. By shutting down their Kimera accounts, they can cut off their ties with the Ripple Man and its biggest supply, much to its chagrin. The Ripple Man will angrily state that it can and will just seek more people elsewhere before he is banished. So while everyone is saved, the Ripple Man is still out there and will one day strike again. Of course, there is the Sudden Downer Ending, where if you fail the final sequence of the game, the Ripple Man will claim the lives and souls of all of Maya's friends.

Redeeming Qualities or Freudian Excuse ?

There is an Ambiguous Situation as to whether or not the Ripple Man is the same entity as the Simulacra of the first game, but the game treats them as different enough in terms of personality and methods to see them as separate entities. The Ambiguous Situation is speculation at best. For those wondering why the original Simulacra entity doesn't count ? It's because in the first game it has a Noble Demon moment in one ending, releasing two captives with no strings attached if you outsmart jd prove to be a Worthy Opponent. It's still an arrogant, greedy and all consuming enity, but it at least has that quality; instead undergoing a typical Villainous Breakdown when it's outsmarted.

The Ripple Man, on the other hand has a more overtly malevolent personality, talking down and belittling its victims, being more of a bully than its predecessor. I thought at first there may be agency issues, because there's bit of a Hive Mind thing happening with the souls it takes, but it's dialogue and our interaction with its dimension makes it pretty clear the souls are still separate beings from the entity itself, they're just sort of...trapped within it, so Hive Mind is a none issue, considering the minds still have independence after assimilation. Other than that, the Ripple Man is pretty open and shut, considering it's only in less than twenty precent of the game.

The rest of the time we are digging through characters on and off-line history.

Heinous Standard

So the main characters ? None of them are the most likable cast I have had the pleasure of knowing. If there was one thing this game rants about, it's the dark side of being an influencer. Most of them are pretty harmless (save for a couple of Incel esque rants you can find threatening Maya in her voice mail) but even Maya's friends are scumbags; her friend Rex is a scam artist who got one of his critics doxed; her other friend Mina used a prior death she witnessed as sympathy bait for songs she writes...by claiming to be the victims best friend for clout, and in reality never knew the victim.

Nothing that really crosses the moral baseline from the other characters. So it should go without saying that they pale in comparison to an entity that kills and absorbs multiple people's souls and keeps them in a hellish state within its dimension, and plans to do this to countless followers of these influencers, spreading its own influence through social media and trends.

Edited by Beast on Feb 24th 2020 at 11:11:11 AM

"It's like...a cliff, and if I do it, I'm just gonna...fall." "I think we're already falling."
WaryHoglet Since: Feb, 2016
#202954: Feb 24th 2020 at 9:16:55 PM

Very late but the Joker from the original Adam West Batman show isn't a CM either.

WaryHoglet Since: Feb, 2016
#202955: Feb 24th 2020 at 9:20:06 PM

As for the Ripple Man...is there an actual reason given to why he's absorbing these kids souls? Because to me he kind of sounds like a Generic Doomsday Villain/"physical embodiment of evil" character that usually can't qualify for this trope. Abstain until more info is posted for me

Edited by WaryHoglet on Feb 24th 2020 at 9:20:27 AM

papyru30 from Colorado for summer break Since: Aug, 2016 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
#202956: Feb 24th 2020 at 9:35:22 PM

[tup] Ripple Man

[up] That's not a GDV, at least not one for the purposes of this thread. For us to consider a villain a GDV they need to have little to no personality which the Ripple man seems to have based on the EP, we don't really care if their motivations aren't explained very well so long as they have a clear personality.

Edited by papyru30 on Feb 24th 2020 at 10:36:09 AM

Kylotrope Barb(Its a thread joke you wouldn't get it) from Honolulu Hawaii Since: Apr, 2018
Barb(Its a thread joke you wouldn't get it)
#202957: Feb 24th 2020 at 9:37:54 PM

[tup] to Ripple man

Things are really about to get Fun around here
TheMadCr0w (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Get out of here, STALKER
#202959: Feb 24th 2020 at 9:51:59 PM

[up][up][up] Exactly.

[tup] Ripple Man, nice work!

G-Editor The 47th President Since: Mar, 2015 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
miraculous Goku Black (Apprentice)
Goku Black
#202961: Feb 24th 2020 at 9:53:59 PM

[tup]ripple

"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
DemonDuckofDoom from Some Pond in Hell Since: Sep, 2015 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
Tyk5919 Your friendly neighborhood stank goblin Since: Mar, 2011 Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
Your friendly neighborhood stank goblin
#202963: Feb 24th 2020 at 10:02:13 PM

If there's no indication it's Made of Evil, then sure, [tup] the Ripple Man.

I write stories and shiz. You can read them here.
Bullman Enid Sinclair Since: Jun, 2018 Relationship Status: Longing for my OTP
Enid Sinclair
#202964: Feb 24th 2020 at 10:15:33 PM

Yes to Ripple Man. I remember watching Jacksepticeye play the game recently.

Fan-Preferred Couple cleanup thread
WaryHoglet Since: Feb, 2016
#202965: Feb 24th 2020 at 10:59:51 PM

Fair enough if I missed what GDV's relevance was to this trope, I'll go with a [tup] then

captainmarkle Limited Patients from Behind you Since: Feb, 2011 Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
#202966: Feb 24th 2020 at 11:19:25 PM

[tup] Ripple Man and Jonathan

Reluctant [tdown] to Phiro

Trans rights are human rights. If you don't think that, please leave.
CloisterTheStupid from Oop North Since: Jan, 2019 Relationship Status: Complex: I'm real, they are imaginary
UltimateDemonBeast65 Since: Feb, 2018
#202968: Feb 25th 2020 at 12:51:37 AM

[tup] to Ripple Man who sounds like a Jo Jo Villain.

TheImmortalAngelNewton The MILF Virus Since: Aug, 2015 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
The MILF Virus
#202969: Feb 25th 2020 at 5:08:16 AM

[tup] Ripple Man

Man, I was debating back and forth about this candidate, but after taking a look at the scene that made me consider her... Yeah, she has get up. Probably going to be our first Idol Singer candidate, but hey there's always a first. Meet Haruka Enokida from Shining Song Starnova.

Who is Haruka Enokida and what does she do?

Oh boy, this woman is probably the best representation of how deprave a celebrity can be in their quest for fame and fortune. A dark, yet somewhat realistic take of the Idol Industry, Haruka is a ruthless girl. Wearing a guise of a friendly, yet a little sorority like girl, Haruka, one of the idols of Quesar, is someone who doesn't care what she has to do. Befriending everyone into her side, Haruka likes to try getting people into her posse for her to use. Whenever someone is at the verge of being kicked out, Haruka will humiliate them to try permanently removing them from the industry, to lower competition. The main sample we got was with Mariya, where in her route revealed she and her gang stripped her with scissors before dumping his face into a bag of human feces to suffocate her. It's confirmed she does this with a number of other idol trainees throughout the years.

But when we get her actions in Aki's and Sasami's route she went from a horrible hazing sorority queen with group, into full blown psychopath. In Aki's route, after her sex scandal is caught by the media and expose to the public, Haruka is fired and in her rage tried to kill Kamijou with a hit-and-run, and when she failed and gets detained, she reveals a fake scandal to the surrounding media to destroy his and his idol group career. Pretty awful especially when already CM Oda didn't even try attempted murder.

But then there's her action with Sasami's route, the scene that got me to put her up. Here, she essentially serves Oda's The Dragon by assisting his hostile takeover of the company, knowing he's a sexual predator that wants to become the new head to force the women under him to sex. Setting up Kamijou to lose his position, when Oda is taking charge, Haruka has two of idol mates, Stella and Kaori, sexually assaulted and it is horrible! She has her group cut their clothes of as she sexually harass them, and then take pictures of them while they were crying. Threatening to leak these photos to the internet, she force them to comply to what she wants, which is to leave the group. Even when they agreed, Haruka continued assaulting them, using a dildo to rape them, while allowing Oda to try raping Sasami in the same room. She made it clear in this scene she intends to do the same thing with other idols who get in her way.

Fortunately in this route she's stop and kicked out of Quaser for assisting Oda, and in the other routes her career doesn't go well.

Heinousness:

A ruthless idol who will haze, humiliate, and rape her competition to be in top and she doesn't stop even when they do what she wants. She continues for shits and giggles, with her two big ones being suffocating someone with a bag of human feces and even raping two girls with a dildo and taking snuff photos.

Mitigating Factor:

Now we have Oda here who is a sexual predator, but I think Haruka manage to still stand on her own. First, unlike Oda who is an executive, Haruka herself doesn't actually have much resources except for her posse but she still does the best she can in her crimes. Then we got her numerous hazing, which goes a level beyong Oda does, he does assault and grope his victims, but Haruka goes a step further and actually tortures them like taking snuff photos. Another thing to note is she fully allowed Oda to take over the company knowing his intent for the sake of becoming number 1. Lastly, she did actually try to kill someone, something even Oda never tried. Of course I don't think Oda should be remove either since I think he stands on his own with his crimes.

Final Verdict:

If you want to see the assault and see first hand how horrible her action really was, I can give you. But believe me when I say it is super creepy and just disgusiting, heck I wonder if I could use it for an image, though I wonder if NSWF is allowed? We probably got our first Idol Singer CM.

Allow me, take my hand and never let go, promise? - Giselle
ACW from Arlington, VA (near Washington, D.C.) Since: Jul, 2009
#202970: Feb 25th 2020 at 5:25:13 AM

A possible caption for the William Lewis image: "Are you feeling sad? Thinking about someone you're never gonna see again? Mom, Dad, boyfriend? No, huh? Someone else, someone who you would give anything to see just one more time. You're gonna cry his name out at some point. They always do."

SkyCat32 (Five Year Plan) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
#202971: Feb 25th 2020 at 5:29:51 AM

[tup] Haruka.

[up]Take it to the caption repair thread if the image is approved.

VeryVileVillian Since: Dec, 2017
#202972: Feb 25th 2020 at 5:56:05 AM

I see [The Image] thing was removed from Devilman page in drafts, does this mean that image pick thread have been started?

ACW from Arlington, VA (near Washington, D.C.) Since: Jul, 2009
#202973: Feb 25th 2020 at 6:03:20 AM

[up] Once the page gets swapped (I've been busy; hopefully this weekend) I'll start the image pickin' thread.

Beast from Ontario, Canada Since: Aug, 2012 Relationship Status: Browsing the selection
#202974: Feb 25th 2020 at 6:42:20 AM

[tup] Haruka.

  • Darlin': The unnamed Bishop is the head of St. Philomena's, a boarding school and reform home for delinquent girls, which is under threat of being shut down; the Bishop seeks to civilize and exploit the feral Darlin for his own fortune. It turns out the Bishop is a serial pedophile and ephenophile who continuously preys upon the girls taken there; the reason Philomena's is about to be shut down is due to investigations by the church. It implied he uses rape as a form of punishment, as a terrified Billy is taken to his office for disrupting class. He later attempts to do the same to Darlin herself when he seems to reach out to her. The Bishop also previously raped his assistant nun, Sister Jenny when she was a student of his; when confronted over it, he alternates between threatening Jenny, bringing up delinquent past, to saying she's at fault for not forgiving him. The Bishop ultimately claims that he is doing his victims a favour, by having a man of God take their virginities.
  • The Thirst 2006: Darius is the leader of "The Family", a clan of violent and sex crazed vampires, who habitually go on rape and murder sprees wherever they travel. They initially set an operation in the form of a rave and sex club, where they eventually slaughter all the attendants; during which, Darius reprimands the newly turned Lisa for not killing her boyfriend Maxx. When Maxx tracks down their hideout, it's discovered the Family has taken an elderly couple hostage, whom they constantly torture and molest. Taking Maxx under his wing, Darius has him turned as well, swaying him into a violent vampire who murders his friends under the influence of "The Thirst" drug. Darius and the Family plan on setting up a camp to lure children in to be fed upon, and they try to track Maxx and Lisa down to kill them when they escape. With Darius and the other clan members at eachothers throats, when Maxx and Lisa kill them in the ensuing fight, Darius brags about how he'll have the children for himself.
  • Revival: Nyarlathotep is the most active and personable of the Outer Gods, having grown bored with his usual games he plays on mankind, he decides to bring an end to existence to give the world a final curtain call. Previously driving an entire town to madness and death, Nyaralthotep devours the family of Patrick Stark, taking the form and alias of his daughter Maya to spite and enslave him. He starts by killing the Loud family dog, gives Lana the Necromonicon to resurrect him, having her invoke the Old Ones. Attacking the Loud family, Nyarlathotep sets his army onto Royal Woods, killing hundreds alone; drives both Loud parents out of their minds; forcibly takes Leni and Lola's souls to bargain with the Loud's, flinging them into space time; he then summons the pantheon onto the world, slaughtering thousands of people. Nyarlathotep makes a deal with Lincoln to call things off if the latter could save his sisters souls, not intending to hold his end of the deal if Lincoln wins; he tries to cheat when Lincoln starts to win, summoning Cthulhu to kill the Loud sisters, and forced the Loud's into a final confrontation. As he dies, Nyarlathotep's life flashes before their eyes, revealing the great atrocities he was involved in throughout history.
  • I Was Claimed By a Skinwalker: The titular Skinwalker develops a fixation on the protagonist Jake, stalking him and his friends on a camping trip. After picking off two of his friends, the Skinwalker possesses, or takes the skin, of Jake's beloved girlfriend Blair, before presenting the mutilated bodies of his friends. The Skinwalker did something to his friend Cori that Jake refuses to describe. Still wearing Blair's face, the Skinwalker proceeds to savagely torture and disfigure Jake, declaring him it's property, before being driven off. In the sequel, the Skinwalker has been tormenting Jake for a year after he returns home, making him wish for death as he becomes a recluse, frequently appearing to him as Blair and mockingly mimicking her affectionate personality. As Jake gradually rebuilds his life and befriends a hotline worker named Lana, the Skinwalker tells Jake it will leave him alone from now on. As Jake gets his life back on track, the Skinwalker appears one more time to trick Jake into strangling Lana in his sleep before disappearing for good. This leaves Jake utterly broken, causing him to finally commit suicide.
  • The Division: Larae Barrett is the psychotic and despotic leader of the Rikers, the most vicious faction to have taken over New York. Previously imprisoned for the murder of two cops, Barrett became the leader of the prisoners after seducing an administrator into getting her a barge, after which she murders him when the time comes to escape. Barrett has the Rikers go on a rampage across New York, slaughtering any and all law enforcement they can find, with Barrett declaring they will rule New York as anarchistic kings, at one point converting a jail into their own personal torture dungeon. Barrett has one of her lackies carved to death during a rally because he made too many complaints, and sets a rival gang leader on fire. When confronted, Barrett and the Rikers are hosting a "party" where captive officers are being tortured and murdered.
  • SIMULACRA 2: The Simulacrum, or "The Ripple Man" is an entity that haunts the cyber world that seeks to spread its power and influence, and absorbs the souls of its victims into its consciousness. The Ripple Man would make a deal with someone to protect them from critics and boost their popularity, before he rips their faces apart and takes their souls, leaving them tormented in its consciousness and dimension. The Ripple Man seeks influencers on Kimera to draw more people in, and kills one such influencer Maya after she took its deal and tormented her for some time before claiming her. Haunting Maya's friends, the Ripple Man tries to drive them against eachother so that another will take its deal after being blamed for Maya's death, at which point it will claim them. It will try to make a deal with the Player Character that can end with Detective Murilo's department being shut down, leaving it unopposed. If the player gets Maya's friend to work together against it, and successfully banish it, the Ripple Man states it can continue hunting people elsewhere; if unsuccessful, the Ripple Man will claim all of Maya's friends at once.

Edited by Beast on Feb 25th 2020 at 9:00:49 AM

"It's like...a cliff, and if I do it, I'm just gonna...fall." "I think we're already falling."
Bullman Enid Sinclair Since: Jun, 2018 Relationship Status: Longing for my OTP

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