# The Pivotal Moment: Stupid Villain Mistakes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 7, 2010, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pivotal-moment-stupid-villain-mistakes/542271 "2010-06-07T14:11:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pivotal-moment-stupid-villain-mistakes/542271/21 "2010-06-09T04:26:34Z")
Don’t know if Hitler is really in the spirit of the OP, perhaps you’d like to take it elsewhere. Thread shitting and all. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pivotal-moment-stupid-villain-mistakes/542271/22 "2010-06-09T09:59:01Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Hitler invading the Soviet Union in September, without equipping his army with adequate winter gear or long range bombers? This is one of the Classic Blunders. The other is never getting involved with a Sicilian, when DEATH is on the line! AH HAHAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHa. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pivotal-moment-stupid-villain-mistakes/542271/23 "2010-06-09T10:41:39Z")
> [@Ozymandias](#): > > Do it? Dan, I’m not a Republic Serial villain. Do you seriously think I’d explain my master-stroke if there remained the slightest chance of you affecting its outcome? I did it thirty-five minutes ago. … ---
**Author:** ![Levolor\_the\_Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc8723/32.png) [@Levolor\_the\_Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Levolor_the_Blind)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pivotal-moment-stupid-villain-mistakes/542271/24 "2010-06-09T11:17:30Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > The detective is the villain? No, but The detective now knows Kayser Soze and Verbal Kint are the same person and the police, having held Kint, presumably have his mugshot and fingerprints. So Soze has been identified to them and all his machinations have come to nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Gustav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@Gustav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gustav)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pivotal-moment-stupid-villain-mistakes/542271/25 "2010-06-09T12:20:00Z")
I love the emperor in ROTJ. Having schemed and planned for decades, ridiculously contrived plans, machinations so complicated even the plot writers don’t seem to fully understand them and if even a signle thing went wrong the whole plan fails. Somehow, against impossible odds, every little detail manages to come together just right, delivering him Luke Skywalker fighting against Darth Vader, just about to turn to the dark side and become the most powerful sith of all time. And some 5 seconds before his ultimate victory he interrupts and starts gloating “yeeessss, do it, strike him down! PS: in case you were wondering, doing so will turn you evil and you’ll have to become my next apprentice, just as I was planning all along.” Sometimes I wonder if maybe he didn’t realize he was talking out loud. Obviously Luke’s stubbornness kicks in and he stops hacking away at Vader and the rest is history. Bonus points for immediately abandoning the whole plan once Luke says no, without even a half-assed attempt at recovery. “Ohh you don’t want to? Alright, fuck it” _ZAP_ Oops. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pivotal-moment-stupid-villain-mistakes/542271/26 "2010-06-09T12:27:05Z")
> [@Levolor\_the\_Blind](#): > > No, but > > The detective now knows Kayser Soze and Verbal Kint are the same person and the police, having held Kint, presumably have his mugshot and fingerprints. So Soze has been identified to them and all his machinations have come to nothing. No. They’ll never find Soze. “And like that . . . he’s gone.” ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pivotal-moment-stupid-villain-mistakes/542271/27 "2010-06-09T13:33:31Z")
> [@EvilTOJ](#): > > This is one of the Classic Blunders. The other is never getting involved with a Sicilian, when DEATH is on the line! AH HAHAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHa. I’ve been watching a miniseries of “War and Peace” lately; every time Napoleon starts talking about invading Russia, I remind him about land wars in Asia being a bad idea–but does he listen? No. ---
**Author:** ![Smitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Smitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smitty)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pivotal-moment-stupid-villain-mistakes/542271/28 "2010-06-09T14:14:20Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Perhaps most famously, when those two guys let C3PO and R2D2 go. Blowing up the escape pod would have been both easy and thorough. [FamilyGuyVoice] “What are we, paying by the laser now?” “Hey Ted, you don’t have do the budget. I DO!” [/FamilyGuyVoice] ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pivotal-moment-stupid-villain-mistakes/542271/29 "2010-06-09T15:59:59Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > The detective is the villain? Sure. He’s not the one we’re cheering for, after all. If we’re evil people who enjoy watching evil people do and get away with evil things, then the good person in the story is the villain. Since when I watched the movie, and I presume most others, I enjoyed watching the main characters doing and getting away with bad things. That puts me, so far as the storytelling conceit is concerned, in with evil people. If the detective had won, I’d have thought the movie was lame and that the wrong person had come out on top. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pivotal-moment-stupid-villain-mistakes/542271/30 "2010-06-09T16:20:56Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Sure. He’s not the one we’re cheering for, after all. If we’re evil people who enjoy watching evil people do and get away with evil things, then the good person in the story is the villain. Since when I watched the movie, and I presume most others, I enjoyed watching the main characters doing and getting away with bad things. That puts me, so far as the storytelling conceit is concerned, in with evil people. If the detective had won, I’d have thought the movie was lame and that the wrong person had come out on top. Eh, the detective isn’t really part of the story enough to be hero or villian though, he’s basically just the framing device. The gang of “Usual Suspects” are the protagonists (especially the reluctant one, whose name I can’t remember), Kaiser Soze is the villain. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pivotal-moment-stupid-villain-mistakes/542271/31 "2010-06-09T17:06:50Z")
I was rooting for Verbal Kint. I wasn’t rooting for Keyser Soze. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pivotal-moment-stupid-villain-mistakes/542271/32 "2010-06-09T17:21:56Z")
Ethan Rayne, who was a bad guy on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, had the classic line about the problems of being a villain, “I’ve really got to learn to just do the damage and get out of town. It’s the stay and gloat — gets me every time.” [Cite](http://www.buffyguide.com/episodes/newman/newmanquotes.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pivotal-moment-stupid-villain-mistakes/542271/33 "2010-06-09T23:36:33Z")
“Sir, we’ve reached Yavin. The Rebel Base is on a moon on the far side of the planet. We’ll be in firing range in 30 minutes.” “Excellent. Say, tell me something. Are we in firing range of Yavin?” ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pivotal-moment-stupid-villain-mistakes/542271/34 "2010-06-09T23:42:36Z")
> [@Gustav](#): > > I love the emperor in ROTJ. Having schemed and planned for decades, ridiculously contrived plans, machinations so complicated even the plot writers don’t seem to fully understand them and if even a signle thing went wrong the whole plan fails. Somehow, against impossible odds, every little detail manages to come together just right, delivering him Luke Skywalker fighting against Darth Vader, just about to turn to the dark side and become the most powerful sith of all time. And some 5 seconds before his ultimate victory he interrupts and starts gloating “yeeessss, do it, strike him down! PS: in case you were wondering, doing so will turn you evil and you’ll have to become my next apprentice, just as I was planning all along.” Sometimes I wonder if maybe he didn’t realize he was talking out loud. > > Obviously Luke’s stubbornness kicks in and he stops hacking away at Vader and the rest is history. Bonus points for immediately abandoning the whole plan once Luke says no, without even a half-assed attempt at recovery. “Ohh you don’t want to? Alright, fuck it” _ZAP_ > > Oops. Yeah, If he’d just shut up for a second and let Luke kill Vader, then his plans would be complete. But he has to gloat, and then Luke is all, “Oh yeah, I forgot, I’m not supposed to turn evil.” And he does this three or four times, and then has the nerve to act suprised when Luke doesn’t turn evil. ---
**Author:** ![ryobserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@ryobserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryobserver)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pivotal-moment-stupid-villain-mistakes/542271/35 "2010-06-09T23:53:26Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > In the movie “Compulsion”, based on the real life Leopold and Loeb murder, they key piece of evidence is a pair of eyeglasses with a unique hinge, left on the scene of what was supposed to be a perfect crime. Not the movie’s fault, for what it’s worth; it’s historical fact that a lost pair of glasses nailed Leopold & Loeb. Only 3 pairs with that particular frame had been sold in Chicago, and the others belonged to a lawyer who was in Europe, and a woman who was wearing hers when police came to interview her. Of course, if we’re going to get into real criminals’ stupid mistakes, you can literally fill books, not to mention TV shows (The Smoking Gun Presents: World’s Dumbest Criminals is up to what, episode 20?). Undoubtedly the most common for all crimes is Not Keeping Your Mouth Shut. (This is also a common fictional villain’s mistake, except in fiction the mistake is gloating or telling your plans to the hero, and in real life it’s bragging to your buddies OR “getting it off your chest” to anyone.) Common robbers’ mistakes include forgetting a disguise, forgetting a _good_ disguise, robbing a place that already knows you (like the KFC you just got fired from the day before–true story), and smashing the security camera while forgetting the actual tape is almost never IN the camera and still has your dumb face on it. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pivotal-moment-stupid-villain-mistakes/542271/36 "2010-06-10T01:06:43Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > “Sir, we’ve reached Yavin. The Rebel Base is on a moon on the far side of the planet. We’ll be in firing range in 30 minutes.” > > “Excellent. Say, tell me something. Are we in firing range of Yavin?” Ouch! I’m glad YOU weren’t in charge of the Death Star that day. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pivotal-moment-stupid-villain-mistakes/542271/37 "2010-06-12T01:36:23Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Ouch! I’m glad YOU weren’t in charge of the Death Star that day. Especially if you were a soldier guarding the shield base. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pivotal-moment-stupid-villain-mistakes/542271/38 "2010-06-12T01:49:28Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > “Sir, we’ve reached Yavin. The Rebel Base is on a moon on the far side of the planet. We’ll be in firing range in 30 minutes.” > > “Excellent. Say, tell me something. Are we in firing range of Yavin?” There’s a problem with that: the first Death Star’s Superlaser had a 24 hour recharge time. So, you blow up Yavin and the Rebels escape. Not forgetting the gimmicky Death Star and building a Death Star-mass of Star Destroyers instead - now that was a mistake. If a few thousand Star Destroyers had arrived in Yavin instead of one explodable Death Star… ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pivotal-moment-stupid-villain-mistakes/542271/39 "2010-06-12T01:58:47Z")
Okay, this is only going to matter to total shoujo otaku, but what the fuck is up with _Fushigi Yugi?_ The whole point is that you have to gather all your dudes before you can summon your beast god and have dirty sex with it, right? Well, the Seiyuu people have their shit together before the show even starts! Why didn’t they summon their beast god the second they could instead of waiting for Miyaka to get her shit together? If there were any justice in the world, Yuki and Nakago would be running things. Alls I’m sayin’. Also, Nakago is a bishonen god. I may have to watch that show again. It’s been a few years. ETA - judge me kindly. It’s Friday night and it’s been a long week. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pivotal-moment-stupid-villain-mistakes/542271/40 "2010-06-12T02:09:16Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > There’s a problem with that: the first Death Star’s Superlaser had a 24 hour recharge time. So, you blow up Yavin and the Rebels escape. What happens to a moon when you blow up the planet it orbits? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pivotal-moment-stupid-villain-mistakes/542271.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pivotal-moment-stupid-villain-mistakes/542271.md?page=3)