About: Historical Villain Upgrade   Sponge Permalink

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OK, let's say you're still writing that movie, which is Very Loosely Based on a True Story. You've chosen a period of history that involves a lot of exciting fight scenes and explosions so your audience won't fall asleep and now you need some main characters. But there's a problem: most of the Real Life figures were morally grey and complex people. How are you going to make sure that your audience knows who the bad guy is? Examples of Historical Villain Upgrade include:

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  • Historical Villain Upgrade
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  • OK, let's say you're still writing that movie, which is Very Loosely Based on a True Story. You've chosen a period of history that involves a lot of exciting fight scenes and explosions so your audience won't fall asleep and now you need some main characters. But there's a problem: most of the Real Life figures were morally grey and complex people. How are you going to make sure that your audience knows who the bad guy is? Examples of Historical Villain Upgrade include:
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  • OK, let's say you're still writing that movie, which is Very Loosely Based on a True Story. You've chosen a period of history that involves a lot of exciting fight scenes and explosions so your audience won't fall asleep and now you need some main characters. But there's a problem: most of the Real Life figures were morally grey and complex people. How are you going to make sure that your audience knows who the bad guy is? Well, all you have to do is to pick someone who wasn't on your side. If you're American all you have to do is choose an evil Briton or German or Russian or Arab. Or failing that, an Italian or a Scotsman (just as long as they fought alongside those dastardly Anglo-commie-terror-nazis.) And if you're English you'll want to use one of the Anglo-Saxon bastards against the brave and heroic King Arthur. Or those treacherous English bastards against that brave and heroic King William the Con... Hey--wait a second... But hang on. There's another problem. Your new villain wasn't actually "evil" per se. Well, all you have to do is give your newfound villain a few Kick the Dog moments, adjust his appearance to something more recognizably evil and ignore anything of his life that doesn't fit your artistic vision. A lot of sports movies do this to the coach of the Opposing Sports Team; turning him or her from a paid professional whose job is to ensure that his team wins to a callous bastard whose philosophy is "win at any cost". Note that just because this happens to someone does NOT mean that he or she was a good person in Real Life; it is perfectly possible to make absolutely anyone seem even more evil than in reality (yes, even Hitler, as an example on this very page demonstrates). This trope is the opposite of a Historical Hero Upgrade (though many figures often get one of those as well in works with a different viewpoint). May overlap with Beethoven Was an Alien Spy, Ancient Conspiracy and Flanderization. Contrast Historical Villain Downgrade. Compare Hijacked by Jesus and Everybody Hates Hades, which do this to a member of a polytheistic pantheon. When Fanfic writers do this to a canon character, it's Ron the Death Eater. When an adaptation does it to a character from a previous story, it's Adaptational Villainy. Subtropes include Stupid Jetpack Hitler, which is when the Nazis are technologically upgraded, Ghostapo, where they are given supernatural powers instead, and Soviet Superscience, where it's the Soviets who end up with the superscientific weapons. Examples of Historical Villain Upgrade include:
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