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").
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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
The fic updates incredibly sporadically, but it seems to be winding down - as it is now, we get some more of his backstory than in canon and he may well subvert his agency issues. If that keeps to the end, he'll get an EP if only to be certain.
Edited by STARCRUSHER99 on Apr 24th 2021 at 12:01:00 PM
Adam
- THEM (2021): Satan is the source behind the Black Hat Man. A chaos-lover who despises black people, Satan poses as a small child in the 1800s to get the attention of the kindhearted Reverend Hiram Epps. Satan strands a black couple in the town of Eidolon, and proceeds to cause Epps’s eyesight to deteriorate until he can only see black people as monsters. Driving Epps into such paranoiac insanity that he subjects the black couple to torture, lynching, and burning, Satan forges a deal with the dying Epps to make black people suffer, or else his soul will be condemned to Hell. Now a ghoulish spirit under the service of Satan, Epps spends centuries driving black mothers into killing their families and sending them to insane asylums.
More Indian film madness this week, I guess! Anyway...
The film for Tonight
Puli (2015) is an Indian fantasy-action film which mishmashes a whole variety of different tropes from other fantasy-related stuff. There's a tribe of Liliputian folk sidekicks lifted from Willow, a wise giant turtle who can communicate with humans offering the heroes advice not unlike that turtle from The Neverending Story, a whole bunch of Wire Fu where the hero and villains constantly flies through the air by leaping, Wuxia-style, an evil queen much like the villain of Red Sonja... yeah, everything but the kitchen sink. Real original...
The kingdom of Vedhalapuram is ruled by a tyrannical queen, Yavanarani, whose skills in sorcery and dictatorship makes her feared by many. Every now and then, the Queen will send her commander, General Thalapathy Jalatharangan, to invade surrounding counties, with the general partaking in wiping out entire villages in order to crush any resistance to Queen Yavanarani's rule.
The warrior Marudheeran, who earns himself the title "Puli" - lit. "Tiger", due to his fighting prowess and his destiny being prophesized to save his kingdom from tyranny.
Marudheeran himself comes from a small village, raised by it's chief, Vembunathan. Years ago, Marudheeran, merely a baby, was found drifting in his cradle down a river, and picked up by Vembunathan's wife. When baby Marudheeran is brought to the village guru, the guru prophesizes that Marudheeran is The Chosen One who will be the future saviour of the land from Queen Yavanarani, as such Vembunathan decide to raise Marudheeran as his son.
Growing into adulthood, Marudheeran fell in love with Pavazhamalli, a village maiden. But one day General Thalapathy invades, having spies reporting an underground resistance; killing Vembunathan, Thalapathy and his mooks leaves with several women, including Pavazhamalli; learning of his Pavazhamalli's from his father's Last Words, Marudheeran and two friends, Kodangi and Sama sets off to the Vedhalapuram palace in order to save Pavazhamalli.
Infiltrating the palace under the pretense of being healers, demanding to meet the queen, Marudheeran, Kodangi, and Sama convinces Queen Yavanarani to let them stay, despite Thalapathy Jalatharangan advising her against it. While posing as a healer, Marudheeran quickly gains favor of Queen Yavanarani, despite her evil ways...
Well you've spoken a lot, Robert. Shouldn't you be getting to the Big Bad by now?
Yes, I probably should.
Spoiler: The film's Hidden Villain, revealed late in the third act, is Thalapathy Jalatharangan, commander of the royal guards, who spends most of the film acting as The Dragon, but it turns out Thalapathy have magical powers of his own, and is controlling Queen Yavanarani via a magic spider-shaped ring, making her a literal Puppet King (Queen?). Those massacres on neighboring tribes and ethnic cleansing? It's Thalapathy's doing, while making himself appear to be the lackey.
In his first scene, a band of a hundred ambassadors arrived at the palace's grounds, the leader Tharagamangalam who is a high-class Ksatriya
having noted the constant plight of villages being oppressed by Queen Yavanarani's army. Appearing In the Hood, the Queen suddenly reveals herself to be Thalapathy, who responds to Tharagamangalam's attempt at talks of peace by slashing the ambassador's throat, before having all of Tharagamangalam's aide slaughtered, demanding Queen Yavanarani doesn't find out about this.
Every year, Queen Yavanarani will perform a sacrificial ritual, called the Kanya Puja, in the pretense of enhancing her magical powers, involving a Human Sacrifice where a maiden is dropped into a pyre alive to "appease the gods"; but in actuality, the Kanya Puja sacrifice is another means for Thalapathy to ensure Queen Yavanarani remain in his control forever; after 18 years of bloodshed, ritual sacrifices, and Queen Yavanarani being branded by the entire kingdom as a ruthless tyrant, Thalapathy had plans to have the queen disposed and take over as ruler.
As Marudheeran managed to convince the queen to release prisoners from the dungeon - hoping he can locate and free Pavazhamalli, Thalapathy instead creates an excuse, controlling Queen Yavanarani into forcing Marudheeran to duel a Giant Mook in order to prove his "allegiance". Marudheeran had no choice but to accept; but after winning, Marudheeran chose to spare his opponent's life. Thalapathy however went on with Moving the Goalposts, by having Marudheeran's friend Kodangi executed in a furnace and making Marudheeran enter the furnace as well to prove his innocence. Marudheeran however turns out to be immune to the flames due to Divine Intervention of... well, The Chosen One, Queen Yavanarani had to declare Marudheeran a free man, much to Thalapathy's chagrin.
Marudheeran eventually befriend the palace's shaman by saving him from Thalapathy's guards. Inadvertently, Marudheeran reveals his backstory about being on an undercover mission to depose Queen Yavanarani. The shaman instead declares he knew who Marudheeran really is...
In a flashback detailing the day Marudheeran's family died, revealed by the shaman; Marudheeran is the son of Prince Pulivendhan, brother of Queen Yavanarani, who knew about Thalapathy's intentions of a hostile takeover. Prince Pulivendhan and his wife fled to a nearby village, carrying Marudheeran — then a baby — as the Prince rallies a resistance to fight back, but Thalapathy catches up. Holding the entire village hostage, Thalapathy offers Pulivendhan a chance to save the village by drinking a goblet of poisoned wine. Pulivendhan accepts the offer, cue Blood from the Mouth, he dies, but Thalapathy swallows his words ordering baby Marudheeran to be smashed to death. Marudheeran's mother tried to save him, and is killed, and in the confusion baby Marudheeran in his wooden cradle ends up in a river (although unseen, it's implied Thalapathy then had the villagers massacred).
The 18th Kanya Puja is about to begin, and Thalapathy had chosen Pavazhamalli as subject of sacrifice. Marudheeran interrupts the ritual and duels Thalapathy and several Praetorian Guards; Thalapathy battles Marudheeran mano-on-mano after Marudheeran defeats his men. Marudheeran emerged victorious, but Thalapathy, in his dying breath, transfers his will into Queen Yavanarani, gloating she will continue his tyranny after his death, even worse than before.
Ultimately, Marudheeran discovers Thalapathy's powers is in the queen's scepter; breaking it, Marudheeran freed the queen, moments before Pavazhamalli can be sacrificed. Cue happy ending.
Any Mitigating Factors? Freudian Excuses?
Nope, none at all... Thalapathy's motivation is desire for power, to rule as a dictator while pretending he's a queen's lackey. Already having a comfortable position as a commander, he wants more, more, more... his loyalty to the queen is also bull, he have every intent to eventually kill Queen Yavanarani and take over himself.
What About the Heinousness Standard?
Compared to the rest of the cast... Thalapathy's Giant Mook henchman carries out killings on his orders, but he's pretty much just a mook.
Queen Yavanarani... initially appearing as the villainess, turns out she's Thalapathy's literal puppet. The moment Thalapathy's control on her is broken via the scepter snapping, she immediately suffers a My God, What Have I Done?
Thalapathy Jalatharangan (man, that name is a bitch to spell)? He's pulling the strings behind the tyranny, and gleefully enjoys the massacres, sacrifices, whatever atrocities in his 18-year-reign of terror.
Should we count General Thalapathy Jalatharangan then?
Well, Haan means "yes" in Hindi...
Edited by RobertTYL on Apr 25th 2021 at 1:36:07 AM
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Well, not quite. Besides ![]()
, there's the Herc-Xena stuff (plus eventually the rest of the Charmed stuff and Barago's expansion).
Yes to The Man in Front of the Man.
Edited by ACW on Apr 24th 2021 at 1:51:03 PM
Okay, just asking because it lacks an image AND description. Any good ideas?
Edited by Siegfried1337 on Apr 24th 2021 at 11:37:12 AM
Eh, good enough.For Herc-Xena I kind of want to do a description that plays on one of the shows openings. The problem is I can't remember either of them well enough to do so.
Yes to Talapathy.
Edited by Bullman on Apr 24th 2021 at 1:42:15 PM
Fan-Preferred Couple cleanup thread

Edited by G-Editor on Apr 24th 2021 at 11:52:07 AM
My sandbox of EPs and other stuff