Subpages cleanup: Complete Monster

Alright, here's my definitively last post for the timeline Fear, Loathing and Gumbo on the Campaign Trail '72 (God damn that's a pain in the ass to type).

Context: Fear, Loathing, and Gumbo is an Alternate History story where the election of 1972 is thrown to the House of Representatives, no-one can decide who gets to be president, aloowing Nixon's VP choice of Spiro Agnew to become president. The ripple effects from this are massive, with the timeline by 1990 a Crapsack World where much of the globe is either run by a dictatorship or in violent chaos. So, without further ado, on to our candidate.

Who is he?

Our candidate is Douglas Coe, a Evangelical Christian fundamentalist with a rather warped view of his religion. At first, Coe is a small time preacher, but later gains a large following over the course of a decade, and begins working behind the scenes to ensure that his political party, the Christian Values Party, becomes the dominant force of American politics. As such, he's the group's de facto leader. Due to his political power, the tyrannical President Rumsfeld has him as an advisor.

What has he done?

At first, Coe works closely with President Rumsfeld, believing him to be a useful way to spread his brand of fundamentalist Christianity. To this end Coe instructs his followers to aid in Rumsfeld's dictatorial ambitions, and as a result has a major hand in institutionalizing political dissidents, suppressing voters, and turning the American economy into an oppressive kleptocracy. When Coe feels that Rumsfeld's political power is failing and is of no more use to the Christian Values party, he betrays him, having the president impeached and institutionalized. When Coe is unable to get Rumsfeld's VP to cooperate with his plans, Coe launches a coup, having all members of Congress murdered, and declares the creation of the "Christian States of America", an oppressive theocracy which strives for the death of all non-Evangelical Christians (atheists, Catholics, homosexuals, Muslims, anyone who disagrees with this policy, etc.), with himself as its leader. In pursuit of this goal, Coe pursues a bloody civil war with much of the country, and has at least a dozen American cities (including Philadelphia) destroyed using nuclear weapons, killing millions. Millions more are callously killed off in nuclear attacks designed to stop a Cuban invasion of Florida. States that have seceded from the nightmare that America has become (and have their own nuclear arsenals to back it up), such as California, are subject to terrorist attacks, particularly against their leadership. Finally, with nuclear weapon stockpiles running low, Coe authorizes the use of chemical and biological weapons against resisting communities, which is where the story ends.

Freudian Excuse or Mitigating circumstances?

None.

Heinous Standard?

Coe meets all the criteria for an absolutely vile FLG villain. Tyrannical overlord? Check. Uses nukes liberally and against his own people? Check. Responsible for tens of millions of deaths? Check.

Final Verdict?

And while I'm talking about this story again, I propose that we cut Donald Rumsfeld as a CM. I think it's clear that he fails to meet the heinous standard that the series has set (for starters, he never uses nukes against his own people, even when it would be perfectly logical for him to do so).

Okay, so I am going to express my opinions on the Arrowverse villains. First let's make it clear that Savage, Indigo, and Zoom are very obvious keeps and therefore, I will not even mention them. They stay, no question.

Count Vertigo - ACW just convinced me to keep him.

Dollmaker - tentative keep due to his limited resources but I am willing to hear arguments against him.

Khem-Adam - haven't read the comic but sounds like he qualifies.

Werner Zytle - to be honest, cut; he didn't strike me as some true monster.

Brickwell - the only one I am sure that I would cut.

Matthew Shrieve - definite keep. Of all the currently listed Arrow C Ms, he has the highest bodycount. (besides Zoom and Savage)

Anarky - the second definite keep; Arrowverse's Joker

Edit: Yes to Douglas Coe and could go either way on Rumsfield.

edited 6th Apr '17 2:35:22 PM by emperors

These FLG villains just keep getting worse and worse. Coe, I guess, but this story still sounds stupid to me.

Also, while they were total assholes, I'd never peg Spirow Agnew and Donald Rumsfeld as the armageddon-causing types...

Coe and I suppose Rumsfeld should be cut if he fails the heinous standard. Regarding the Arrowverse, I definitely have had some doubts regarding the heinous standard. I've never been terribly convinced that Brick and Zytle count but I'll need to think on it before casting a vote.

Now that I think about it, I am almost convinced Brick and Zytle don't count. And Dollmaker, I could see him leaving too, but what makes me reluctant is the suffering he inflicted on his victims. Vertigo, Shrieve, and Anarky are definite keeps.

edited 6th Apr '17 2:42:23 PM by emperors

The author hates conservatives. A lot.

Well, I don't know. The Count made his victims suffer too with his Vertigo. And he did so to much more victims than Dollmaker.

edited 6th Apr '17 2:47:06 PM by MiraiYuji

If that wasn't obvious before.

Okay, voting against the Dollmaker in that case.

edited 6th Apr '17 2:46:35 PM by emperors

Though I am curious - how does Spirow Agnew of all people becoming President turn everywhere into a dictatorship?

Let's take a look at Brickwell's write-up.

• Daniel "Brick" Brickwell from season 3 is a ruthless gang leader, notorious for his unnatural strength and shrugging off getting shot. His preferred method of murder is allowing his victim to shoot him, then beating them to death after he survives; he is not afraid to inflict this on his henchmen. In Oliver Queen's absence in "Left Behind," Brickwell holds the evidence against other criminals to get them to work for him. In "Midnight City," he abducts the city council, killing one of them when Team Arrow attempts to rescue them. He bargains with the mayor to remove the police presence from the Glades, and uses his gang to constantly terrorize its residents. When Team Arrow gets the residents to fight back, he simply sics his gang on them, taking part in the fighting himself. It's revealed in "Uprising" that he killed the wife of Malcolm Merlyn; when confronted, he states he's been killing for years, and when he finally remembers, he taunts Merlyn about it, spitefully accusing Rebecca of being weak.

Indeed, he doesn't sound that terrible, despite having more ressources than, say, Vertigo or Anarky. I'm unsure about Zytle, though.

edited 6th Apr '17 2:51:57 PM by MiraiYuji

Any opinions on Zack White?

A great deal of stupid decisions on Agnew's part followed up by a series of unlikely events happening at roughly the same time across the globe.

edited 6th Apr '17 2:56:24 PM by ThePest179

to Zack White.

Zack, Coe, Son of Hell and Rido

Zack White from Non Stop, assuming his desire to escape with his accomplice is just pragmatism. He shares in the crimes of his partner and lacks his WIE motives. If neither of them were sympathetic I'd vote in favour of both of them, so that's my logic there.

The Heinous standard for the Arrowverse is pretty nuts.

Zack and Coe. Any way to expand Magnus Malan's writeup?

As for Shrieve, I'm not sure his entry makes it clear just how bad he apparently is.

I think Zack and Coe are a yes. For Rumsfeld? Cut.

For Coe, God's most beautiful child.

I'll see what I can do.

EDIT:

• General Magnus Malan of South Africa is a violently racist individual who believes Afrikaners are the Master Race. Malan launches a military coup to get himself into power, turning South Africa into a fascist police state where dissent is outlawed. Under his rule, the Apartheid system is expanded, with the black population slowly being killed off and enslaved in a systemic genocide, and non-Afrikaner whites (such as refugees from Rhodesia) being put into labor camps or used as Cannon Fodder. Malan involves South Africa into a war in Rhodesia, expanding it to encompass many of its neighboring countries, with massacres of the native populations and extensive use of chemical weapons and dirty bombs becoming routine. When Malan's regime is about to collapse, he arranges to wipe out most of the continent with South Africa's nuclear arsenal, killing tens of millions out of sheer spite. A brutal and genocidal ruler, Magnus Malan destroys both his own nation and several others in his hatred and contempt for those he views as subhuman.

How's that?

edited 6th Apr '17 4:25:33 PM by ThePest179

Cool. No rush.

to the Son of Hell and Coe.

@ ACW

He probably is in need of the rewrite but he has the highest bodycount in Arrow.

Oh, I've got no worries about keeping him, but a rewrite would help.

Alright with 12 and 0 I have more than enough to write up Morgan Lansdale. I'll do a write of Rido Kuran later but for now does any one else want to vote?

Ok here is Lansdale's

Resident Evil: Revelations: Morgan Lansdale is the head of the Federal Bioterrorism Commission and eventually revealed to be the main architect behind the destruction of Terragrisia responsible for deaths in hundreds if not thousands, all to obtain good publicity. He supplied the terrorist organization, Il Vetro, with B.O.Ws and the T-Abyss Virus to unleash onto Terragrisia while giving them the ship Queen Dido as their base. The chaos consuming Terragrisia allowed him to obtain clearance to use Regia SOLIS to obliterate the manmade island with all survivors still onboard it. With no further use of Il Vetro he detonates the ship they are still on along with the Virus, causing all the members to turn into blob monsters. He also sends researchers onto the other ships, Queen Zenobia and Queen Semiramis, to work on a sellable vaccine for the virus, only to unleash B.O.Ws and the virus onto ship to dispose of them once he had what he needed. Upon finding out BSAA agents Jill Valentine, Parker Luciani, and later Chris Redfield are aboard the Queen Zenobia he tries various methods to kill them by blowing up the ship ranging from using Regia SOLIS to having his mole Jessica Stewart to detonate the ship despite knowing that will cause the virus to spread and infect 1/5th of the world's oceans. When finally exposed, Morgan Lansdale tries to justify his actions only for BSAA director Clive R. O'Brian to retort on his attempts, showing that Lansdale is nothing more than a Backstabbing Hypocrite willing to destroy everything and everyone in his path to keep his self-image.

Well all thats left is Osmond Saddler. We'll be waiting for for Light

edited 6th Apr '17 6:08:47 PM by G-Editor

So I am know I am a bit rushing, but do we agree that Dollmaker (this one makes me sad honeslty), Zytle, and especially Brickwell, are a cut?