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Chaser1992 β€” Invincible Villain

Published: 2013-03-21 15:20:03 +0000 UTC; Views: 6085; Favourites: 33; Downloads: 4
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Description Good guys always win not in this caes. Invincible Villain is a Villain thats is borderlineing and Villain Sue. He's smart, strong and unstoppable, and almost always wins, and is often a karma houdini. The Invincible Villain is basically a walking personification of Victory Is Boring, for the audience. The audience will often find a Invincible Villain Boring and unrealistic.

The Invincible Villain is the guy who makes the audience react in one of two ways.

"Oh my GOD, would somebody beat this guy already?"
They want to see the villain get beaten, but not for a "good" reason. Ideally, what a writer wants is for his villain to be a threat and make the audience wonder and anticipate how he's going to be beaten. In this case, the audience are simply bored to see the villains winning without effort.


"Only The Author Can Save Them Now"
This is a problem for all of the reason it says on that trope page. You've made your villain such a credible threat that now, there doesn't seem to be any plausible way to beat him. Anything that wins against him now will be accused of being all part of the plan, or people will question why did THIS attack work when all the other ones didn't? All of his limits and weaknesses have been so thoroughly discredited that the only discernible reason why he'd lose is because the author wants him to right now.



If taken to extremes, when a villain can't do anything other than win by some contrived reason, this trope turns into Villain Sue. The Villain Protagonist is especially at risk to this.

Examples

Darkseid (The caracter above) who is almost never truly defeated by anyone. He's Dangerously Genre Savvy, Nigh Invulnerable, his Omega Beams can disintegrate anyone he targets, as well as bringing them back to life, and he is basically a Alien God of Evil. Though Tropes Are Not Bad in this case, as Darkseid is widely regarded as one the pinnacles of Evil Is Cool and is like for the threat he can pose. And he was beaten by Doomsday.

Doomsday himself also counts.



Doctor Doom however many readers find though traits endearing rather then annoying. And in some cases are actually rooting for him.


Carnage when he was first interposed. He's been nerfed since then still dangerous, but he's no longer the unstoppable powerhouse he was before.



Red Hulk was considered this on his first run. this as long since been fixed.

Β 


Deathstroke some times Under a bad writer, the Teen Titans' archnemesis can be this. His most infamous showing was in Identity Crisis, in which he demonstrated faster reflexes than Wally West and enough willpower to convince a Green Lantern ring to not attack him. The encounter ends with the entire Justice League on the floor spitting up blood, and Slade quipping that this League, made up mostly of new faces (in Comic Book Time terms, anyway) to superheroing, is so much weaker than the old one... despite the fact that many of them (Wally in particular) are far more powerful than their predecessors. You'd think that an arrow to the eye would have done something more than force him to retreat, but he just fine afterwards

Superboy prime the Face Heel Turn to end all Face Heel Turns, who not only went from good to bad, but also from a sympathetic hero who lost his universe to a whiny Villain Sue who had all of the Silver Age Supermans power level, with none of his weaknesses, as his universes Krypton had been swallowed by its Sun, and thus there was no Kryptonite that could harm him, and magic seemed to have little effect either. The result was a superpowered, adolescent jerk on a cosmic tantrum who could effortlessly destroy entire universes and tear through countless heroes without getting a scratch, and any setback was at most temporary.

Thanos can be this, especially when he has the Infinity Gauntlet: when he had it, he easily took down and killed practically every hero that oppose him, plus Doctor Doom, Galactus, Mephisto and several cosmic beings, either killing or defeating them and taking everything they threw at him. He even went as far as defeating the incarnation of the universe. The only way he was defeated was because of his own error, and it's implied he partially did it on purpose.

King Bradley from Fullmetal Alchemist.


Ainz Ooal Gown from Overlord is an Invincible Villain Protagonist. (It should be noted that his Invincibility comes from him being a big fish in a small pond. He still wins the one fight he as against someone on his level but he wins by being smart then his opponent not by simply overpowering them this how he does with everyone else.)

Aizen from Bleach. While he was initially intended to be and appeared as a Magnificent Bastard, subsequent appearances played up his power, smugness, Gambit Roulette planning skills, and NUKE the dog tendencies to such laughable levels that after a wile you began to find him ridiculous. He declared the entirety of the army he assembled to beat the good guys to be below his power, and beat almost all of the remaining good guys alone. Unfortunately, he never got to fight any of the characters capable of killing him until he has already gone through several Shonen Upgrade via an equally mysterious MacGuffin that made him effectively immune to everything thrown at him. He was eventually defeated by Ichigo but was by then immune to death so could only be imprisoned.




Broly from the 8th Dragon Ball Z movie doesn't have much going for him as a villain, with little in the way of characterization and a flimsy motivation. He's basically what Goku would be without a sense of morals... and if Goku was raving insane. What he does have is a level of power higher than the setting normally allows to which he uses to negate any attempts of the heroes and give them a thorough No-Holds-Barred Beatdown until an Ass Pull is needed to defeat him twice; the second time killing him by vaporizing him into the sun. And even that doesn't stop him as a clone of his, albeit much weaker causes a lot of trouble for Goten and Trunks.

And Majin Buu can regenerate From a Single Cell, and whenever the heroes seem to be getting an upper hand on him, he simply absorbs them, becoming even more powerful. The one person who has a chance against him gets exhausted from fighting him non-stop, and when the Finishing Move comes, Buu simply pushes it back, causing all the powers of the human race to power it up enough to finally kill him.
It got so bad that The Hero and The Rival had to fuse into the most powerful character in the series, in order to remove those absorbed in order to weaken him. This is subverted as this form had more than enough power to kill him anytime he wished


Asura from Soul Eater(before his Villain Decay)

Sephiroth. "You good but only Cloud can defeat me....You know It's pointless to defeat me your darckness ceap calling me back." And that only his appearance in kingdom hearts 2 he's even more unstoppable In all Hi's other appearance


The Sith Emperor Vitiate from The Old Republic is often criticizes for being this.

Amon fromThe Legend of Korra seriously, the guy goes as far as preventing a Big Bad Ensemble by defeating his rival in one fight after displaying immunity to said Rival's powers. And he did nothing but win until the finale, even succeeding in de-powering two major characters (though temporary). Fortunately, this was balanced by a good Character Development in the finale and a notable charisma. It also helps that they explain why he was so invincible. Although exactly how bloodbending can take away a person's bending isn't clearly explained.

David Xanatos of Gargoyles lets you know it's all in The Plan - his plan. Though he's far from boring.


The Light in Young Justice takes this trope Up to Eleven; the group consist in a group of various villains from the DCU working together to oppose the Justice League. Though they hardly get any development themselves, they constantly pull out a combination of Xanatos Gambit and The Man Behind the Man that would put the Trope Namer to shame. The previous examples listed at least didn't last more than one season before being defeated or having a Heel Face Turn; The Light, on the other hand, end a whole season with Karma Houdini, and their Evil Plan is still going on. The heroes' "victories" to date have tended to be little more than minor inconveniences for The Light (and often not even that). No matter how successful the team seems to have been, the episode will usually end with The Light revealing that either the heroes played into their hands, or that they have a backup plan that makes the heroes' victory irrelevant.

Finally Subverted in the second-to-last episode of season 2, where the team out wits the Light, derailing their plans and capturing two of them while the others flee. Vandal Savage even states that no one else has ever managed to disrupt his plans so much before. But both Lex Luthor and Vandal Savage get a Karma Houdini when they both escape justice and hinted at there plans had not being completed. Vandal Savage gets a hug death star knock-off to Command and allies himself with Darkside. And Lex Luthor get promoted to a government position. But hey, the producers set that up so it could all be resolved for season 3. I mean, there's no way the show will be cancelled on a cliffhanger this enormous.

Related content
Comments: 45

Shockwave199 [2020-10-02 19:15:07 +0000 UTC]

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JOAOBATMAN22 [2020-04-22 05:45:41 +0000 UTC]

Morgoth From Tolkien Silmarillion

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Kermitthefrog223456 [2019-02-05 21:14:28 +0000 UTC]

Again, I knew a fanfic villain team that were like that.

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Anon200 [2017-12-12 05:19:34 +0000 UTC]

I'd say Starlight Glimmer's brief stint as one of these in "The Cutie Re-Mark" left such a negative impression that to this day people have a hard time accepting her as a protagonist. Especially since, like you said, they pretty much had to resort to a Only the Author Can Save Them Now. She never even "lost"...just decided to quit more or less because the plot fairy said it was time for her to do a Heel Turn Face.

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Maxellion [2016-09-03 02:55:33 +0000 UTC]

What happens when an invincible hero meets an invincible villain?

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Rike971 In reply to Maxellion [2019-08-09 03:47:06 +0000 UTC]

Infinity War I guess...

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Anon200 In reply to Maxellion [2017-12-12 05:13:58 +0000 UTC]

In my experience, the Invincible Villain usually wins...not so much outright as even if the Invincible Hero wins, it always ends up benefiting the Invincible Villain or ends up being a pseudo-victory. Superman and Darkseid are the classic example. Even Superman can never make him suffer a real loss.

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alexwarlorn [2015-03-26 05:50:20 +0000 UTC]

Except being told if he takes another step, he'll have an HOT WAR with New Genesis instead of a cold war.

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Red-Jirachi-2 [2014-09-25 04:48:01 +0000 UTC]

One way to make this work: have the villain dominate and rule, being pretty much unstoppable...but the point of the story is trying to find a way of stopping this powerful overlord, decreasing his invincibility over time

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LordoftheVillains [2014-09-14 02:05:08 +0000 UTC]

I see your point, which actually worries me.

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demonking30 [2014-05-16 02:44:15 +0000 UTC]

oh really? nothing. hey maka you ready for the falcon punch?

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Xenomaster [2014-02-17 22:19:12 +0000 UTC]

Doomsday managed to beat him

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Chaser1992 In reply to Xenomaster [2014-02-18 17:48:38 +0000 UTC]

Yes I mentioned that. Also Doomsday himself falls under this category.

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MagicalKeyPizzaDan [2013-11-09 19:27:43 +0000 UTC]

i am very pissed off like how i cant beatenΒ Sephiroth by sora only i was like come on lets Sora defeatedΒ Sephiroth without emo blonde idiot

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mdizzle999872 [2013-10-01 00:43:58 +0000 UTC]

Doomsday beat him

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MarkWilder In reply to mdizzle999872 [2013-10-22 20:28:37 +0000 UTC]

Doomsday also falls under that trope. Doomsday beat Superman.

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Sparkshot11 In reply to MarkWilder [2013-11-09 20:48:23 +0000 UTC]

Well Superman beat him too, thrice actually.

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MarkWilder In reply to Sparkshot11 [2013-11-10 20:30:30 +0000 UTC]

Afterwards.

Β 

Superman was holding back in the hopes that he wouldn't kill Doomsday the first time, however, Doomsday cannot "die". Once Superman figured that out, all bets were off.

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mdizzle999872 In reply to MarkWilder [2013-10-22 21:37:41 +0000 UTC]

Did I imply in someway he didn't?

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MarkWilder In reply to mdizzle999872 [2013-10-22 22:04:29 +0000 UTC]

No, but that in itself makes a point.

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Chaser1992 In reply to mdizzle999872 [2013-10-01 06:16:34 +0000 UTC]

True.

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JohnDoe10001 [2013-03-30 04:58:42 +0000 UTC]

Yeah...I think both Marvel and DC indulge in this far too much. The Beyonder is another classic one...so invincible that the only way he can conceivably be beaten is if he uses his own power to make someone strong enough to beat him (Which he did...but it was a trick, of course. When you're as overpowered as him, the only attack that would destroy him would be one that consequentially destroyed all creation in the process.).

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Nazaru [2013-03-27 19:48:56 +0000 UTC]

Actually Majin Buu regenration was so great he could come back from smoke. He wasn't just some alien or biological weapon, he was a demon. Also you might want to add Bills from DBZ Battle of the Gods.

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Chaser1992 In reply to Nazaru [2013-03-27 20:11:04 +0000 UTC]

I don't see your point.

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Nazaru In reply to Chaser1992 [2013-03-27 20:14:58 +0000 UTC]

Watch the movie DBZ Battle of the Gods.

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Chaser1992 In reply to Nazaru [2013-03-27 20:32:57 +0000 UTC]

Ok.

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joshuarmour15 [2013-03-27 00:55:45 +0000 UTC]

Slayer from Wheel of Time until the last book is a good example.

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Chaser1992 In reply to joshuarmour15 [2013-03-27 01:40:57 +0000 UTC]

I'll have to that a look.

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masonicon [2013-03-23 05:50:05 +0000 UTC]

Spoiler Warning: in the end of my project, Plankton will ends up into this(to the point he isn't called Villain Sue on Steroids for nothing)

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Chaser1992 In reply to masonicon [2013-03-24 00:43:26 +0000 UTC]

interesting. Funny Plankton is most often a Harmless Villain or Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain basically a joke Villain mostly played for laughs and is hardly a Treat. Btw In the book series I'm try to write I worried that the Main Villain will become a Invincible Villain towards the end of the story. But Tropes Are Not Bad in some cases.

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masonicon In reply to Chaser1992 [2013-03-24 00:49:17 +0000 UTC]

and in Mega Crossover series that I make: [link] he'll become Invincible Villain Sue at extreme so the only way to even temporarily defeating him is turning Spongebob into Messiah(oh yeah, "Spongebob becomes Messiah" thing in my project is the good example of Only the Author can save them now)

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Chaser1992 In reply to masonicon [2013-03-24 21:58:17 +0000 UTC]

the awkward moment when the Idiot Houdini become's the Messiah.

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masonicon In reply to Chaser1992 [2013-03-25 01:04:38 +0000 UTC]

but we uses this version of Spongebob characters: Old Spongebob in my project

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GlimmeringAngel26 [2013-03-22 06:31:01 +0000 UTC]

i would like to see him and galactus fight and yes i know its in marvel comics but still

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Chaser1992 In reply to GlimmeringAngel26 [2013-03-22 15:16:49 +0000 UTC]

yeah the would be very cool

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enterprisedavid [2013-03-21 21:47:13 +0000 UTC]

and The Tall Man!

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Chaser1992 In reply to enterprisedavid [2013-03-22 15:16:58 +0000 UTC]

????

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enterprisedavid In reply to Chaser1992 [2013-03-22 15:39:02 +0000 UTC]

[link] he's a invincible villain

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Chaser1992 In reply to enterprisedavid [2013-03-22 15:54:45 +0000 UTC]

I never seen him so I don't know is he's a Invincible Villain or not The Invincible Villain is the guy who makes the audience react in one of two ways.

"Oh my GOD, would somebody beat this guy already?"
They want to see the villain get beaten, but not for a "good" reason. Ideally, what a writer wants is for his villain to be a threat and make the audience wonder and anticipate how he's going to be beaten. In this case, the audience are simply bored to see the villains winning without effort.
"Only The Author Can Save Them Now"
This is a problem for all of the reason it says on that trope page. You've made your villain such a credible threat that now, there doesn't seem to be any plausible way to beat him. Anything that wins against him now will be accused of being all part of the plan, or people will question why did THIS attack work when all the other ones didn't? All of his limits and weaknesses have been so thoroughly discredited that the only discernible reason why he'd lose is because the author wants him to right now.

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criticU [2013-03-21 20:03:50 +0000 UTC]

Darkseid- Superman/ Orion/ Doomsday/ Atom and Green Arrow/ Flash
Deathstroke- Bat family/ Green Arrow/ Jericho/ Flash/ so on.
Superboy Prime- Flash fam/ Superman/
Thanos-

You know what I'm really lazy, so let me just say everyone here can be defeated okay.

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Chaser1992 In reply to criticU [2013-03-22 15:20:04 +0000 UTC]

The term means that the fans see I'm has Invincible and unrealistic.

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criticU In reply to Chaser1992 [2013-03-22 22:09:38 +0000 UTC]

What? "The term means that the fans see I'm has Invincible and unrealistic." <- What?

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Chaser1992 In reply to criticU [2013-03-22 22:45:31 +0000 UTC]

spelling error. Let me try again. A Invincible villain is a villain that is so strong and/or smart and/or just so unstoppable that they force one of two react from the audience

"OMG, would somebody beat this guy already?"
They want to see the villain get beaten, but not for a "good" reason. Ideally, what a writer wants is for his villain to be a threat and make the audience wonder and anticipate how he's going to be beaten. In this case, the audience are simply bored to see the villains winning without effort.
"Only The Author Can Save Them Now"
This is a problem for all of the reason it says on that trope page. You've made your villain such a credible threat that now, there doesn't seem to be any plausible way to beat him. Anything that wins against him now will be accused of being all part of the plan, or people will question why did THIS attack work when all the other ones didn't? All of his limits and weaknesses have been so thoroughly discredited that the only discernible reason why he'd lose is because the author wants him to right now.

Then character is is borderlineing and Villain Sue and a God Mode Sue and the audience will so times find the character
boring, unbelievable, unrealistic, or just plain ridiculous

They very often win (often to much) and are almost never truly defeated. But Tropes Are Not Bad in some cases. And it some time works if it is not take to far. If taken to extremes, when a villain can't do anything other than win by some contrived reason, this trope turns into Villain Sue/God mode Sue.

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criticU In reply to Chaser1992 [2013-03-23 02:32:03 +0000 UTC]

in your point, Zoom/ Joker/ Ra Al Gul/ Talia al Gul/ Bane/Norman Osborn/ Venom/ Doc Oct/ and so on. would be on the list as well wouldnt' they?

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Chaser1992 In reply to criticU [2013-03-24 00:49:14 +0000 UTC]

maybe. I have to look in to that. look at why there on this list. A Invincible Villain is basically a Villain with a ridiculous power level(some time laughably so) and is borderlineing a Villain Sue/God Mode Sue.

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