MickeyMad!! Mad I Tell You!!!
One of the enduring cliches of the movie and TV industry is the Criminal Mastermind. Often bald, often working in a laboratory... and if said lab is underneath a volcano, then yeah, definitely a Bad Guy Hideout. Fortunately they're more rare in real life than on TV (not too many accredited four-year universities still offer a degree program in Mad Science)... or maybe, just maybe, there are far more of them than we think, and the Acme Company finally came through on that invisibility belt...?
While bright enough, the Mastermind does tend to have his own peculiar blind spots. He'll spend months- or even years- perfecting his Master Plan to take over the world... but can't spare one lousy afternoon to make up a basic skills entrance exam for his henchmen. When he finally catches his arch-enemy, he'll be unable to resist blabbing out the details of his Evil Scheme to the hero. This is usually done on the pretext of satisfying the hero's curiosity just before he dies- except the Mastermind never thinks to actually kill the hero.
Cops, innocent spelunkers who blunder into the lab, extras by the gross- the Criminal Mastermind gleefully mows them down- usually with automatic weapons, but if he's in a playful mood he might decide to take the opportunity to test his Killer Doomsday Laser. His arch-nemesis, though, is always treated to some bizarro contraption that would leave Rube Goldberg scratching his head in wonderment. The device invariably fails to actually kill the hero- the more moving parts, the more chances for something to Go Wrong.
Why is the hero always the one person the Criminal Mastermind can't bring himself to kill? Some say it's the challenge, that the Mastermind has far more fun matching wits with the hero on a regular basis than he ever would ruling the world (you don't want to know how many tons of paperwork is required each day, just to rule Australia). Some may think the Mastermind has a subconscious fear of success- why else do they always employ henchmen who took the "short hovercraft" to the cave? The more cynical among us may even suggest that it's the contractual requirement to do the entire season (or the sequel for movies).
The real reason is far more prosaic: The beautiful, not-evil-but-merely-misguided lab assistant invariably falls inexplicably in love with the hero... and she's the only one who actually read the instructions for replacing the fuel rods in the neutron reactor.
While bright enough, the Mastermind does tend to have his own peculiar blind spots. He'll spend months- or even years- perfecting his Master Plan to take over the world... but can't spare one lousy afternoon to make up a basic skills entrance exam for his henchmen. When he finally catches his arch-enemy, he'll be unable to resist blabbing out the details of his Evil Scheme to the hero. This is usually done on the pretext of satisfying the hero's curiosity just before he dies- except the Mastermind never thinks to actually kill the hero.
Cops, innocent spelunkers who blunder into the lab, extras by the gross- the Criminal Mastermind gleefully mows them down- usually with automatic weapons, but if he's in a playful mood he might decide to take the opportunity to test his Killer Doomsday Laser. His arch-nemesis, though, is always treated to some bizarro contraption that would leave Rube Goldberg scratching his head in wonderment. The device invariably fails to actually kill the hero- the more moving parts, the more chances for something to Go Wrong.
Why is the hero always the one person the Criminal Mastermind can't bring himself to kill? Some say it's the challenge, that the Mastermind has far more fun matching wits with the hero on a regular basis than he ever would ruling the world (you don't want to know how many tons of paperwork is required each day, just to rule Australia). Some may think the Mastermind has a subconscious fear of success- why else do they always employ henchmen who took the "short hovercraft" to the cave? The more cynical among us may even suggest that it's the contractual requirement to do the entire season (or the sequel for movies).
The real reason is far more prosaic: The beautiful, not-evil-but-merely-misguided lab assistant invariably falls inexplicably in love with the hero... and she's the only one who actually read the instructions for replacing the fuel rods in the neutron reactor.
God's Stormtrooper
"Yes, Knuckles, I see your lead pipe experience listed right here. And at which school did you matriculate? Oh, Kill Splatter Death U? Excellent school, we've had several fine hires from there..."
Passionate Apathy
From the classic 60's true-crime documentary series Batman, I'm thinking most criminal masterminds feel they've pushed their luck far enough just to get their minions into theme costumes.