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
Could I reserve the new Grisha trilogy netflix adaption. Ben Barnes will be playing Darkling. Awesome casting.
"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."Just got my hands on new books that are supposed to be Buffyverse novels. I can't find anything of them on this site, for grabs. So I'll keep you guys posted on any keepers (That is, if it's not already reserved).
"It's like...a cliff, and if I do it, I'm just gonna...fall." "I think we're already falling."Oh. I haven't read that one.
Same lady who gave us Victor Frankenstein
"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."So feel free to just PM me the link since this isn't relevant to anything currently going on in the thread (it's just on my mind since I'm considering getting the Definitive Edition), but does anyone know where the post was that led to Zanza from Xenoblade Chronicles being readded? I remember he was cut at one point because of, IIRC, a mistaken reading of the sequel, but despite searching for a while I can't find the post where he was readded and now it's nagging at me.
On reflection here...the series was done but not the movies:
What's the Work?
The Night Stalker was a 1972 film that kicked of the Kolchak series. Carl Kolchak is a journalist in Vegas, a charming and dapper fellow in a porkpie hat. A serial killer is on the loose in Vegas and Kolchak, investigating things, realizes this killer may be more than human. Let's talk Janos Skorzeny
Who is Skorzeny?
Skorzeny was born to wealthy aristocrats in Europe, living in a lavish castle. Sometime in his later life, Skorzeny was attacked by a vampire and became one himself. Using his wealth and connections, Skorzeny became a serial killer, traveling to different countries. As Kolchak uncovers, wherever Skorzeny goes, trails of death follow and bodies pile up. Early on in the film, a young woman is brutally attacked and killed by Skorzeny, her corpse found drained of blood like many others, which the authorities cover up.
Kolchak helps to track things, learning of a nasty history of bloodshed....Kolchak's girlfriend prompts him to study vampire lore, but he begins to believe due to the killings and the length of time this has been going on, that Skorzeny isn't just a madman who thinks he's a vampire, but a real Nosferatu. Skorzeny attempts to rob a hospital...and to Kolchak's shock, Skorzeny is shot but escapes without any issue.
Skorzeny proceeds to murder more women, piling up a surprisingly big bodycount. Kolchak, realizing the police can't do this themselves, after a particularly brutal showdown, begins to hunt Skorzeny himself after a confrontation with the vampire. Kolchak is able to evade Skorzeny's fangs and drives a stake into the vampire's heart.
All is not well, though. Skorzeny may be dead, but the local authorities threaten Kolchak for murder if he doesn't print their version of the story (can't have people knowing about vampires, it might hurt tourism). Kolchak is forced to leave town...all witnesses have left town or dead and Kolchak's girlfriend is separated from him, leaving him with an unknown future...though the bodies of Skorzeny and all his victims have been mysteriously cremated.
....except one.
Any mitigating issues?
Skorzeny's bodycount is huge, largerthan most villains of the series, with a string of vampire murders going all over Europe and America, for a long time. In the film, he piles up a number, and the series makes it clear there are others we didn't see when another victim rises as a new vampire. Heinousness no issue.
Now, Skorzeny is a silent antagonist but he has more than enough range. He's able to arrange transport, communicate with others and has plenty of character demonstrated. Originally, I worried about agency, but Skorzeny's turned victim is a rabid monster while Skorzeny is actually very clever. He's able to cover his tracks significantly, and he also shows a willingness to rob the hospital of spare blood when victims are too scared so he knows he has a better option.
Conclusion?
Would go with a good yea.
Yes to Skorzeny. This is a different beast than other silent antagonist issues we've had: he's got a human past, he engages in human-like planning activities and organizing his followers for his benefit. The possibility that vampires don't have agency doesn't seem implied by the film and it's a subjet we assume on unless there's reason not to.

As for Quest, we only have 6 so far. I don't know if Lighty has any more in the future or if Scraggle has any more.
Surd seems like a prime candidate, but apparently he cares about his associate.
Edited by ACW on Aug 24th 2020 at 2:17:19 PM