"Tae Kwon Do from Korea!" the big guy interrupts. So unless you have a very good reason-" The big guy goes into a martial arts stance. He walks up to the little guy, and says, "Hey! You're in my seat!" "Sorry, sir," says the little guy, "but I was here first. Enter this big, body-building guy who looks like he could bench-press a truck.
There's one seat left at the end, and he takes it.
The hero may have tipped the balance, but ultimately the villain was brought down by the toxic work environment that he himself created. One use of this trope is to spare the hero from the burden of personally dispatching the villain, similar to a Disney Villain Death or Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work. Can result from a backfired attempt at Being Tortured Makes You Evil. Losing control of a Tyke-Bomb or a Psycho for Hire may result in this as well. The Mole and/or Fake Defector may launch similar attacks, for similar motives, but in their case, the attack was planned, or else the plan was to look for such openings. This can sometimes feature an Ironic Echo if Bob uses the Big Bad's own Villainous Demotivator lines as the reason he can't step in.Įspecially likely for the villain who doesn't give a damn about anyone but themselves. In short, when a villain has underlings who aren't willing or loyal, there's no reason for them not to pile on when his doom is certain.īob can also betray the Big Bad passively by deliberately NOT helping when his wounded and powerless master calls for aid. If Bob were an innocent victim, he's only out for revenge if Bob were evil, it proves that he was fine with all of the Big Bad's crimes except the one committed against him. Bob almost never comes over to the side of good, even if he dies in the process of killing the villain, because his motive is not noble. There is no danger that he will take over the villain's place in the grand scheme of things, though he might give the heroes one last fight. Unlike the Bastard Understudy and The Starscream, Bob attacks as a crime of opportunity. Maybe you can't even remember just what you did to Bob, but he does, and he's been waiting for a moment just like this one. He's the mook you humiliated in front of his friends, or the hostage you kept chained in the basement, or the subordinate whose invention made you rich but not him. The base is collapsing about your ears, your Evil Plan is unraveling, the heroes are lining up for the Humiliation Conga - what more could go wrong?Įnter Bob.