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
Have a couple for today...the first? From the pen of Stephen King and from his story collection Four Past Midnight...the story "The Library Policeman" The plot is simple, from the trope page: "A man who is struggling to write a speech checks out two books on the subject, and becomes stalked by a strange man, and an equally strange librarian."
Let's talk librarian...Ardelia Lortz
Who is Ardelia Lortz?
Ardelia Lortz is a strange, elderly librarian who delivers an ominous warning that if our hero, Sam Peebles, defies her and keeps a book out too long? "I'll have to send the Library Policeman after you!" triggering...age old fears in poor Sam. Sam delivers his speech, but with the help of administrative assistant Naomi, he learnss that "Ardelia Lortz" murdered tow children and committed suicide decades ago.
Turns out Ardelia isn't human. She's a horrific monster who feeds on the fear of children, tormenting and murdering them while attaching herself to a host. Ardelia was the latest in a long line. Sam begins finding himself threatened by a "Library Policeman" through it all...those around her can be mentally dominated into assisting, a process that leaves them drained and traumatized. Ardelia's old lover, a painter named Dave, is broken by it
It turns out Ardelia is seeking Sam as a host, which is always aware until it's used up, and even worse...the Library Policeman she's drawing on? Is a man who raped Sam as a child, a repressed memory he hides away, in sheer torment, which she brings back up to break him down.
Ardelia comes for them, killing Dave when he breaks her influence to defend the heroes. Dying free even so, Dave buys time and Ardelis is held back...Ardelia is stopped, but attaches herself to Naomi in her true form,a fleshy growth that Sam removes and hurls under the wheels of a train, crushing and finishing off the creature known as Ardelia Lortz for good.
Mitigating issues?
For one story? No, Ardelia is a vampiric monster that feasts on fear and delights in the agony of children. She's vicious, sadistic and has no compunction targeting Sam with memories of his rape as a child. It's...about as nasty as you can possibly get through that. Even Pennywise never pulled that card.
Conclusion?
A yes.
Isn't their also the Outsider.
Fun fact the show had him played by....Jason Bateman of all people. (Odd choice).
Edited by miraculous on Sep 16th 2021 at 2:05:00 AM
"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."I feel kinda like a jerk for only suggesting it now after this entry's Monster page categorization has been sorted, but I'd like to suggest a mild rewrite of Walter Simmons' recent entry, because I think the current version is discarding relevant, even key details of what makes Simmons qualify as a CM (particularly his relationship with Maia) for some relatively trope-irrelevant encyclopediac details that simply makes the CM entry look more like a biographical summary of the novelization's Adaptation Expansion.
Here's the original version:
And here's a revision I propose (plus some slight reformatting in places where the language is awkward, and removal of some speculation):
What do others on here think?
Edited by Derv0sB2 on Sep 16th 2021 at 2:43:00 AM

The discussion dates page says RK93 has it.