Ming the Benevolent Father, archvillian of the new Flash Gordon TV series, seems more practical than previous incarnations of Ming the Merciless – he hasn’t clearly broken any Evil Overlord Rules that I can think of – yet his enemies keep getting captured by him and getting away! What’s he doing wrong?! Maybe we should have some new rules just for him.
Voyager
February 24, 2008, 10:59pm
2
BrainGlutton:
Ming the Benevolent Father, archvillian of the new Flash Gordon TV series, seems more practical than previous incarnations of Ming the Merciless – he hasn’t clearly broken any Evil Overlord Rules that I can think of – yet his enemies keep getting captured by him and getting away! What’s he doing wrong?! Maybe we should have some new rules just for him.
Check out #19 , about not having a daughter. #69 also.
Not on the list, but a good idea, would be to have 2 guards in front of the cells of important prisoners, and guards from different races/nations/etc. Helps to prevent one of the guards being a secret supporter of the hero.
Well, of course, even revised-and-updated he’s still Ming of Mongo, so he has to have a daughter, it’s not negotiable.
BrainGlutton:
Ming the Benevolent Father, archvillian of the new Flash Gordon TV series, seems more practical than previous incarnations of Ming the Merciless – he hasn’t clearly broken any Evil Overlord Rules that I can think of – yet his enemies keep getting captured by him and getting away! What’s he doing wrong?! Maybe we should have some new rules just for him.
“Don’t take prisoners.” ? Or to quote the semi-relevant rules from the List :
3 : My noble half-brother whose throne I usurped will be killed, not kept anonymously imprisoned in a forgotten cell of my dungeon.
4 : Shooting is not too good for my enemies.
6 : I will not gloat over my enemies’ predicament before killing them.
7 : When I’ve captured my adversary and he says, “Look, before you kill me, will you at least tell me what this is all about?” I’ll say, “No.” and shoot him. No, on second thought I’ll shoot him then say “No.”
11 : I will be secure in my superiority. Therefore, I will feel no need to prove it by leaving clues in the form of riddles or leaving my weaker enemies alive to show they pose no threat.
38 : If an enemy I have just killed has a younger sibling or offspring anywhere, I will find them and have them killed immediately, instead of waiting for them to grow up harboring feelings of vengeance towards me in my old age.
47 : If I learn that a callow youth has begun a quest to destroy me, I will slay him while he is still a callow youth instead of waiting for him to mature.
53 : If the beautiful princess that I capture says “I’ll never marry you! Never, do you hear me, NEVER!!!”, I will say “Oh well” and kill her.
You will note a certain theme . . .