So, incidentally, my experience with the movie Megamind is that I ended up watching it backwards in a hotel once when I was younger and nothing else was on. And byĀ ābackwardsā I mean, the first day I only caught the latter half of it and then it was on again the day after and I saw the first half.
That said, that one dang scene, is kind of an immortal one in my mind, because itās one that has a lot more depth than it seems to.
The part that people often miss is that right after that pithy one-liner of how the difference between a villain and a supervillain is presentationā¦ that whole conversation gets context.
Because Titan makes an immediate lunge for Megamind.
And immediately gets crunched by the giant head, and stuck in that situation because Megamind just drops out of the bottom, to a waiting vehicle, and maneuvers around him to focus on the actual issue: rescuing the hostage while Titanās occupied.
That whole setup isnāt just,Ā āwatch me out-drama youā, itās showing off an actual tactical asset.
Because Megamind as a character is someone who was always, alwaysĀ motivated by getting attention. The reason why Roxanne is never afraid of being his hostage isnāt because of her unshakable faith in a rescuing hero as much as it is that she knows, ultimately, what Megamind is doing is overwhelmingly a show. His atrocities are symbolic in nature. When he actually needs to take somebody out he dehydrates them into a cube for a while. And itās not just Roxanne that calls him on this, either- Metro Manās entire retirement scheme hinged on the idea that Megamind really didnāt need someone keeping him at bay from innocent civilians, because, as weāve seen, innocent civilians really donāt have much to fear from him. Ultimately he is still, actually, just a kind of needy person desperately looking for validation and approval, neither of which can be provided by dead people.
But thatās not to say he canāt actually fight. Like any actual proper magician, he knows how to hold attention and an element of danger is how that works. Heās actually brilliant, and plenty capable of raising genuine hell.
However- heās been doing this stageshow thing for ages. Heās mastered this. Titan may have him outgunned practically in every respect- but the guy has no conceivable head for subtlety.
So the real kicker to that whole setup, is this isnāt just Megamind being Megamind for the sake of drama- this is Megamind knowing exactly how easy Titan is to bait, dangling the largest trap he could possibly conceive in front of the guy, and doing it in an unapologetically glorious manner as any true performer would.
āPresentationā is not a superpower to be overlooked.
Realising Doofenshmirtz from Phineas and Ferb is like this really makes me wonder if thereās a name for these kinds of villains who arenāt really villains.
Yeah, I thought of Heinz too. How could I not?
I feel like theyāre both in the same boat. Raised to think they were ābadā and āwrongā and āevilā for things they had no control over (Megamind growing up in a prison and being treated like he belonged there, Heinzās parents being uniformly terrible all around), then once they were adults they decided you know what, Iām gonna be evil!!! Taking the label theyād been given and embracing it.
To quote another post, āPeople by and large live up to or down to the labels we are given.ā
Neither of them felt like they had any option but to become Evil, but hoo boy were they going to put their heart and their natural talent for showmanship into performing evil. Because itās all about the presentation.
And it worked. People saw them as evil, gave them the attention they so desperately craved, and even though it was all negative at least theyād earned the hatred this time.
Iām not sure thereās a name for this as a character archetype, alas, but itās something thatās pretty relatable to a lot of peeps (as seen in that first link), and the fact that both Megamind and Heinz were redeemed at the end is important, itās a sign that you are more than the labels people assign to you, that you can be better than that.
And hey, no reason you canāt put on a good show along the way~ ;)
Iām gonna call them āTheater Evilā
[Image description: a tag that says āthespiantagonists.ā End description.]
One thing that’s hilarious to me regarding DP fic crossovers with other superhero media is, while we joke that Danny is sorta OP in canon, he’s extremely OP in comparison to other heroes. His power set is just perfectly matched by his antagonists (ghosts) and thus is any situation outside of ghosts he’s ridiculously powerful.
Imagine a hero that can attack enemies and then phase through any return hits. Who has superhuman healing even when he’s hit. Who can be invisible and completely undetectable to people, technology etc for recon purposes. Who can overshadow anyone and make them do as he pleases. Ghost powers, especially stable and strong powers like Danny’s, would be an immense boon to whatever hero or villain got ahold of him. He could change the outcome of any battle.
And yet the fact that he’s a) 14 and stupid b) stuck for the most part in Amity and c) his rogues consists of other ghosts who can counter his insane power set means that Danny doesn’t really get how scary his powers would be to the outside hero community.
Danny really is a niche hero, for a niche environment. Like a highly specialized plant that only grows in one specific pond on some random mountain and has to compete with other highly specialized plants. Except unlike most specialized organisms that would perish when removed from their environment, Danny would FLOURISH and become the hero equivalent of an invasive species.
Imagine John Constantine overhearing the Justice League talking about this mysterious new hero called “Phantom” and if they should reach out to such a young hero, maybe even recruit him to join the apprentice program. Their plans are abruptly kyboshed by Constantine, nearly tripping over himself as to why they should NOT, under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, remove the Phantom from his town. Because this is not normal hero business like they’re making it out to be, this is a supernatural occult situation. These normal heroes are WOEFULLY unprepared for the sheer chaos they could bring upon themselves (and possibly the WORLD) by upsetting a very delicately balanced, very VOLATILE ecto-ecosystem, if they were to remove its top predator.
“The child with the power of an Eldritch God STAYS in his little town and we ignore it, okay? Okay. Trust me on this one, NONE of you are prepared for this particular brand of paranormal activity.”
“But-”
“WE DO NOT BOTHER THE GHOST CHILD. No recruiting, to tampering, no spying, no ‘helping’, no advising, no gossiping, no showing up mysteriously on a dark rooftop, no NOTHING.”
“Isn’t that a bit harsh? The kid’s only 14.”
“Surely giving advice to the child hero could not be so dangerous as you make it seem.”
“Agreed, young warriors need training if they wish to survive into adulthood.”
“Funny you should say that. Do you have any IDEA what he is? What he fights? Ghosts. Spirits. Demons.Monster.Hell, even minor gods. You want a rogues gallery like THAT gallivanting across the country? Following him into YOUR cities? You want to deal with numerous and ferocious vengeful spirits with world-ending powers? You want to go toe to toe with enemies you can’t even TOUCH? Because this is the type of crazy that follows crazy and sticks around like a bad smell. This is the type of shit you can’t scrape off with a stick once it gets on you.”
“…”
“YEAH. DIDN’T THINK SO. This is what we call ‘keeping the threat contained’. The ghost kid stays in his freaky little bubble of reality, his enemies remain localized, and NO ONE BOTHERS HIM.”
This is why we never see or hear of any other superheroes. Nobody fucks with Amity Park because that is Phantom’s territory and no one wants to be on Phantom’s radar. God help you if a ghost pops up in your city because the ghost boy won’t be far behind.
Constantine has a heart attack when he walks into the Watchtower’s main meeting hall. He immediately turns on his heel and starts to leave because he is not dealing with this shit, but his self preservation is halted by an incredibly tight grip on the shoulder from the Bat.
His glare is nothing to the bat but he tries to convey how little he is willing to deal with right now anyway.
“Constantine!!” Phantom sounds happy to see him and he’s smiling, big grin stretched across his face and toxic eyes glowing in happiness when he turns to see the ghost boy, “I didn’t know you worked with the Justice League!”
Phantom isn’t supposed to leave Amity Park, the two of them had agreed to that. He’d heard of the ghost boy when he’d just started out and kept contact with him when he realised the last line of defence against a ghostly invasion had to deal with resident ghost hunters trying to play God and not realising it.
The agreement not to leave Amity Park had come after the kid had faced off against what Constantine is fairly sure was the alternate reality version of God’s prissy murder addicted older brother, Priarh Dark. But he was some kind of unofficial successor to the ghostly throne and so Amity became even more of a front line.
So why is the kid here??
“Not all the time kid, what are you doing here though? In space of all places?”
Constantine swears his pupils dialate into stars and that is not what happens, please he can’t handle this eldritch abomination in the form of a teenage ghost having space powers as well-
“Well, Sam and Tucker,” the humans who were totally not related to the ghost boy who were totally related to the ghost boy. He remembers them trying to cover for Phantom and inadvertently dropping themselves in the shit, “are holding down the fort and I really needed to find a way to not have Superman flying overhead at least twice a month because Box Ghost has nearly possessed him twice and I thought how do I contact the league-”
The kid carries on, not stopping to breath which is still as freaky to watch as the first couple of times it’s happened but he listens.
And really, Constantine warned the league. He told them ‘Do not interact with the funky ghost child who could snap the world in half if he sneezed too hard. Do not do it.’ And what do they do? The send FUCKING SUPERMAN to do a flyby and nearly get possessed by the Box Ghost of all people!?
“Phantom, gonna have to stop you for a sec,” the boy nods, trailing off with a worried look. He wonders what expression he’s wearing, “it’s not your fault don’t worry.”
Once he knows the kid isn’t going to feel bad for himself he turns to where the rest if the league had been watching in morbid attention.
It made sense that he knew Phantom though, he was the head of the Dark Justice League for goodness sake.
“Okay Light Leaguers who the fuck thought it was a good idea to let the boy scout go bear the eldritch town!?”
Phantom let’s out a weak, “It’s not eldritch…” but he’s ignored.
XD
Danny would be considered an invasive species in other cities and towns - an invasive super, because he is really op compared to other supers, but his rogue gallery matches his powers so well because he is a niche super that he doesn’t realize how op he is
so, while Danny would flourish in other cities fighting other rogues and villains … Amity would suffer.
like, you can’t take the apex predator out of an ecosystem and not see the food chain topple and chaos start. you take a wolf out of a food chain, the deer and rabbit overpopulate. overpopulation of deer and rabbit means that the natural fauna start to decline and there is now a lack of food source for herbivores in the area, despite the new demand
and if Amity starts to experience chaos and is in danger of toppling, then the rest of the world is in danger of an apocalypse
so, like, the Justice League ignore Constantine and recruits Danny, and promises Danny that his town will be taken care of while he is away … only for Danny’s villains to leave Amity and wreak havoc elsewhere, and the other supers basically run themselves ragged trying to stop them, without letting Danny know what an absolute mess things have become.
lmao and then just imagine Danny realizing what happened, so he sighs in disappointment and is just like “alright. let’s pack up boys, you know you don’t leave Amity”
Danny snaps his fingers and makes shooing motions. Skulker and Ember and Technus and all the ghosts look sad and pout and are like “but we were having so much fun!”
“now. or i swear to god, you’ll be in soup time”
and amazingly, all the ghosts get up and leave without another word.
I’ve got to add my two cents into this, I just got to!
Just imagining Clockwork coming in to help Constantine with his telling the Justice League why it’s a bad idea to have the next king of the Ghost Zone leave Amity Park. An actual ghost time keeper that can manipulate time with ease and kill without the victim ever even knowing what happened. On board the Watchtower. Telling the Justice League why it’s a bad idea to recruit Danny. And then add in Pandora - Wonder Woman would have some serious complicated feelings on that one, let’s be honest, especially when finding out Pandora’s box actually got opened in Amity Park and that it got sealed away again by Danny and his friends - and Frostbite. And Princess Dorathea, a reformed villain that can turn into a ghost dragon of all creatures, with a flourishing medieval ghost community. All powerful allies of Danny all stating why the Justice League needs to leave him alone.
not only is Danny OP but he has a total OP squad behind him, god damn
this whole purity culture juice leaking from anti posts makes me so sad?
(aside from also being super wild to me as someone who didn’t grow up in an environment where religious shaming over thinking the wrong thoughts is a thing)
like, as a kid of 8 or 9 I used to sneak to my mom’s bookshelf and secretly read excerpts from whatever I found there, thrillers, drama, you name it. If I found something I didn’t like or was squicked by, I pulled a face and but the book back and moved on with my life. If I found something I did like I came back and reread the pages in question.
When I was 9 or so and had to stay home bc I was sick, my mom put Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo (Zoo Station: The Story of Christiane F.) on my bedside table bc she knew I’ve been coming back to that one a lot despite my attempts at stealth, and she was like, “I know you want to read this, so you might as well just do. We can talk about it afterwards.”
And I read it.
There were drugs and not everything about them was always 100% bad and an obvious cautionary tale bc it’s a biography and Real Life isn’t black-and-white at all times. There was also sex work because that’s how the protagonist had to finance her addiction at some point. It’s a heavy book, it doesn’t sugarcoat things, but the aesthetics of some things intrigued me nonetheless, from the safe distance of almost two decades and a couple hundred kilometers away.
And when I was done reading, my mom and I talked about it.
Like we chatted about Der Vorleser (The Reader) and Das Parfum (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer) when I had to read those in school years later.
And about Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles when both of us got into those and the thrillers I got her for Christmas but usually read before she did as well as Goethe’s Faust when that became a topic at school.
And yet I never aspired to groom an actual teenage boy to be my lover when I’m older, never considered killing an actual human being, never felt like it was okay to rape someone IRL as long as you’re “whoops, sry” about it afterwards, just because I read about it - more than once even from the murderer’s/rapist’s p.o.v.
What I’m trying to say is, the understanding that consuming (and creating) fiction in which Bad Things happen (or are even done by the characters you’re supposed to care about) has NEITHER impact NOR makes a statement about your morals or actions IRL, was such a BASIC part of my growing up that I’m literally unable to wrap my head around purity culture/anti thinking.
And while I’m appalled and angry at the harassment stemming from it and annoyed at it poisoning previously enjoyable fandom spaces,
most of all I’m just so terribly terribly sorry for these young people.
I can’t imagine what it must be growing up being afraid of your own thoughts, of fictional kinks, of not experiencing the Proper Amount Of Disgust in the face of problematic fictional content. And how it must feel to be so obsessed with niché fiction that hurts you when you read it, that you can’t stop seeking it out anyway, despite it being easier than ever nowadays to avoid.
I hope you all grow (or work yourself) out of this vicious cycle at some point.
āThe āBest Related Workā award recognizes works in the fields of science fiction, fantasy, or fandom that do not fit into the other Hugo categories. AO3ās continual evolution makes it eligible for this annual award. ā
Like on one hand I totally get it, but on the other hand I think of some of the fics Iāve read (and posted) being āHugo nomineesā and I laugh so hard my spirit leaves my body.
