History Sandbox / Mightymewtron

IN UNIVERSE

* ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' walnuts

[[folder:Paradox Baby (no spoilers)]]

''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/45310252/chapters/113997178 Love Can Surprise You at Any Time in Your Life]]'' is a ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' AlternateUniverseFic and KidFic co-written by spacehoney and essence_of_annoying. Following the events of ''Bender's Big Score'' and Lars' death, Fry and Leela find themselves tiptoeing around each other, trying to move on from grief. But when Leela learns she's pregnant with Lars' child, they're forced to confront their complicated feelings, and take the risk of whether the child of a doomed paradox duplicate can even survive in their universe.

!!Examples:
* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: Leela's feelings in ''Beast with a Billion Backs'' are given much more focus than in the source material, which mostly plays her implied jealousy of Colleen and hesitancy towards Yivo for laughs and makes no mention of the previous movie's emotional revelations. In the fic, Leela is explicitly still grieving Lars while grappling with his relationship to Fry, and of course, she goes through much more emotional turmoil upon learning she's pregnant with Lars' child.

* ButICantBePregnant: One of the reasons Leela initially doubts her pregnancy is because her reproductive system is complicated (she has a normal period ''and'' occasionally lays an egg) and isn't quite sure if a normal human could impregnate her.
* ButWeUsedACondom: Lars did have a condom on the night he and Leela had sex. The fact she still managed to get pregnant despite that, yet not from her previous boyfriends who were way less safe, makes her wonder if this was only meant to happen with Lars.

* {{Fainting}}: Leela ends up passing out during the Deathball game. Zoidberg's subsequent examination confirms her illness is due to pregnancy, though she still doesn't believe it.

* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: Concerned that Leela bearing the child of a doomed paradox duplicate would leave her and/or her baby doomed as well, Farnsworth strongly hints that she get an abortion. It's implied she considers it (looking up "planet parenthood new new york" online) so she doesn't have to be a single mother, but by the time she tells her parents, she's decided to keep it, likely due to the events of Kif's funeral changing her mind.
* InsaneTrollLogic: Zapp believes ''he'' is the father of Leela's baby, not Lars, despite not having had sex with Leela in eight years.

* MakingLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces: The only time Lars and Leela made love was in the alley on Xmas Eve after his proposal, next to a dumpster to boot. Justified, as they were homeless at the time and were implied to be OvercomeWithDesire.
* MistakenForCheating: Why Leela tries to explain why she doesn't want to scan her fetus for the father's DNA, the doctor assumes she's making excuses for infidelity.

* MorningSickness: Leela suffers from nausea early in her pregnancy, but misattributes it to grief and her nights in the sewer. Only when she vomits during Kif and Amy's fonfon rubok does Kif suggest she might be pregnant, mentioning that he apparently had similar symptoms during [[Recap/FuturamaS4E1KifGetsKnockedUpANotch his pregnancy]].
* MySecretPregnancy: Leela considers telling Fry about her pregnancy early on, but decides against it. Her plans to tell the rest of the crew (besides the three that already learned on accident) are interrupted when Kif dies and she doesn't want to pile more onto Amy. While Farnsworth is among the first to learn, he's dead set on Leela having an abortion, so she pretends to not be pregnant in front of him and Wernstrom in jail. Most of the cast learns on accident except Fry.

* ThePeepingTom: Bender claims to have seen Lars and Leela have sex in the alley, and taken pictures to boot.
-->“I took pictures to put in your wedding album,” Bender explained. “Big waste of time that turned out to be. Though I guess now I can put them in your baby book. So it all worked out in the end.”
* PregnancyScare: Pre-canon, Leela was worried she was pregnant while dating Sean. She wasn't, just stressed, and came away thinking she might not be able to get pregnant from a human (thinking she was an alien at the time). It's implied Sean's relief about this was a major red flag for their relationship, but also what made Leela realize she actually wants kids with the right person.
* ReplacementGoldfish: Discussed. After Lars is revealed as an alternate timeline version of Fry, Leela begins comparing the two favorably. However, this puts Fry off because he doesn't want Leela to just see him ''as'' Lars, driving a wedge between them that seemingly drives Fry to immediately get a new girlfriend.
* SelectiveObliviousness: When Zoidberg's portable ultrasound shows Leela's fetus, she doesn't believe it due to Zoidberg's history with cheap medical equipment and false diagnoses. She repeatedly insists that she's just sick from stress and her brief time staying in the sewers with her parents, but it's clear she just really doesn't want to believe she would be carrying her dead fiancé's child.
-->With a mutant body, nothing was ever straightforward. She was sure there was some bizarre abnormality inside her body that just happened to look like a developing embryo on Zoidberg’s crappy old portable ultrasound machine.
* ShotgunWedding: Discussed. Farnsworth initially thinks Fry is the father of Leela's child and plans to organize a wedding to avoid ire from the Better Business Bureau. Leela assures him that she and Fry -- the prime Fry at least -- hadn't had sex in a long time.
* SomeoneToRememberHimBy:
** Lars unknowingly got Leela pregnant a week before his death, mere days before he realized he was doomed at all. Given that he was doomed to die to prevent a paradoxical coexistence with Fry, this is a potential cause of concern, as there's no precedent for a time duplicate reproducing and there's a chance the baby would also be doomed.
** The fic addresses how Kif's offspring are left without a father after Kif (temporarily) dies. Amy is unsure whether she'd want to raise them without Kif's help, but remarks that she's glad "everyone who passes this pond can look down and see a bit of Kiffy." This situation is what convinces Leela to keep her baby, seeing it as a remnant of her love with Lars before he broke her heart.

* WhaleEgg: Played with. As a CallBack to "[[Recap/FuturamaS7E22LeelaAndTheGenestalk Leela and the Genestalk]]," it's mentioned that Leela sometimes lays a small egg in lieu of normal menstruation, but she sometimes has a normal period as well. According to her parents (who are more visibly mutated than Leela), Leela herself hatched from an egg. However, her baby on the ultrasound appears to be mammalian, as it has an umbilical cord.
* WhatIf: The fic explores what could have happened if Lars had gotten Leela pregnant in ''Bender's Big Score.''

[[folder:Paradox Baby]]

The ''Paradox Baby'' continuity is a ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' AlternateUniverseFic and KidFic. Following the events of ''Bender's Big Score'' and Lars' death, Fry and Leela find themselves tiptoeing around each other, trying to move on from grief. But when Leela learns she's pregnant with Lars' child, they're forced to confront their complicated feelings, and take the risk of whether the child of a doomed paradox duplicate can even survive in their universe.

The story takes place during several canon events, bridged by a few original scenes. The first section of the story, focused on Leela's pregnancy, takes place over the last three movies; the second section, about Leela and Fry raising the child, takes place during the Comedy Central run, with a few liberties taken with when these events all take place.

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: At Lars' funeral, Fry, insecure about being the same person as Lars, asks Leela, "If you love anything about me, can you just promise that it’s because of what I do, and not what Lars did?" Leela can't honestly answer this, instead leaving Fry behind to think things through.
* BabiesEverAfter: In place of the time-freezing arc in "Meanwhile," [[spoiler:Leela discovers she's pregnant again before getting engaged to Fry]].
* BabysFirstWords: During the 6b period, Leela worries about Flip not speaking despite being nearly two years old, which is the catalyst for her move in "Overclockwise." [[spoiler:While living in space, Flip finally says his first word, calling a photo of Fry "Dada," convincing Leela to move back home and commit to Fry as her partner. For a bit of MoodWhiplash, his second word is "ass."]]
* ButICantBePregnant: One of the reasons Leela initially doubts her pregnancy is because her reproductive system is complicated (she has a regular period ''and'' occasionally lays an egg) and isn't quite sure if a normal human could impregnate her.
* ButWeUsedACondom: Lars did use a condom on the night Flip was conceived. Problem is, it's heavily implied to be a spare one he had from ''the twenty-first century'', and had thus gone through ''two cryogenic freezings'' on top of being long expired.
* CallBack:
** After the first DreamSequence, the narration alludes to Leela's dream sequences in "[[Recap/FuturamaS4E12TheSting The Sting]]":
-->"Outside of pesky comatose venom-induced hallucinations, Leela was smart enough not to let her dreams affect her reality."
** The reason Kif is able to clock that Leela is pregnant is because [[Recap/FuturamaS4E1KifGetsKnockedUpANotch he was once pregnant himself]]. Seeing Kif's tadpoles also helps convince Leela to keep her baby.
** Cylon and Garfunkel from "[[Recap/FuturamaS3E13BendinInTheWind Bendin' in the Wind]]" make an appearance in Chapter 5, playing music on TV in one of Leela's fantasies.
* ChildNamingRequest: Downplayed. Leela deliriously agrees to let Bender choose her son's middle name if he helps the Feministas break out of prison. Thus, one of Flip's middle names is "Benderisgreat."
* DeadGuyJunior: Played with. During the events of "Rebirth," when Fry is thought to have died, Leela names her son "Philip" after Fry (making her the second person to do so), seeing him as a living memory of both Fry and Lars. Fry does survive, but the name sticks, especially since Leela doesn't usually call Fry by his first name. However, Fry feels awkward about the baby having his name and takes to nicknaming him, with the nickname "Flip" [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname eventually sticking more than his real name]].
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Farnsworth's theory about Lars' offspring being doomed, and the clash he has with Leela over testing for signs of "doom" in the fetus, is analogous to prenatal testing for a genetic disorder and the controversies that follow it.
* EntertaininglyWrong: Leela, Amy, and Zapp overhear Bender talking about Leela's pregnancy to the League of Robots without using her name. Knowing the woman in Bender's story is a widow working at a delivery company, Zapp initially assumes that ''Amy'' is pregnant by the recently-dead Kif.
* EroticDream: In Chapter 5, Leela's second dream about Lars involves a MassageOfLove that [[HappyEndingMassage transitions into implied sex]]. Evidently, both Zapp and Amy could hear her moaning in her sleep, and it's implied [[TheGruntingOrgasm Zapp's voice]] while he was having sex with Amy worked its way into Leela's dream, much to her revulsion.
* FanCreatedOffspring: The central premise of the fic is that Leela gets pregnant and gives birth to Lars' child, who is named Flip (short for Philip). The sequel fic centers around Fry and Leela raising Flip during his infancy and toddler years. The third fic [[spoiler:also introduces Luna, Fry and Leela's newborn daughter and Flip's younger sister.]]
* FantasySequence: Leela copes with the distress surrounding her pregnancy by crafting a fantasy world in which Lars is alive and she lives a nuclear family life with him and their perfect daughter. It begins as a DreamSequence, but become more lucid down the line as she fleshes out the fantasies. These sequences are interspersed throughout the movie arc, but begin to fall apart as Leela reconciles with Fry and accepts the complicated reality of her family.
* GenreSavvy: Bender deduces Leela is pregnant because he learned about MorningSickness from a storyline on ''All My Circuits.''
* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: Professor Farnsworth believes Leela carrying Lars' baby is too risky and implores her to get an abortion. She does consider it once she finally accepts that she's pregnant, but turns down the offer because she believes her pregnancy has to mean something.
* GratuitousPrincess: In the fic's version of ''Bender's Game'', Leela's fantasy daughter Lulu is the princess of Cornwood, a byproduct of Lars playing the role of king. Leegola feels slighted that her hypothetical daughter is reduced to such a [[spoiler:seemingly]] passive role in Bender's world.
* HonoraryUncle: During Leela's pregnancy, Fry refers to himself as her baby's uncle, albeit with a sense of discomfort since the baby is technically his biological child. He does eventually become Flip's dad instead.
* ImperiledInPregnancy: Leela is pregnant during the second through fourth movies, navigating the same level of danger. The fourth movie still has her as a fugitive anarchist while being heavily pregnant (with part of her motivation being to [[PregnantBadass prove that she's not helpless]]), leading to her being arrested at gunpoint and going into labor in prison.
* InfantSiblingJealousy: In the third series, [[spoiler:Flip is very upset to learn his parents are having another baby, having spent five years as an overprotected MommasBoy. Bender, who held similar resentment towards Flip himself, trains Flip in the art of jealousy, encouraging him to act out and regress for attention. Once Flip's sister is actually born, though, he quickly develops a BigBrotherInstinct.]]
* InsaneTrollLogic: Zapp believes ''he'' is the father of Leela's baby, not Lars, despite not having had sex with Leela in eight years. He claims his sperm must have waited until the end of humanity to impregnate Leela. Even after Flip is born and very clearly resembles Fry, Zapp still believes it's his son.
* InSpiteOfANail: Despite Fry and Leela becoming parents, most basic episode plots don't change. However, the context of some episodes/movies change to revolve around this element (i.e. Bender's ''Dungeon's & Dragons'' obsession in ''Bender's Game'' starts because he's feeling left out and needs a distraction), and subplots are occasionally added that involve their baby. In any case, most episodes that don't change just get skipped over to avoid redundancy.
* LastMinuteBabyNaming: Leela doesn't name her son until shortly after he's born. By that point, she believes Fry has died, hence why [[DeadGuyJunior she names him after Fry]].
* LateArrivalSpoiler: TheReveal of ''Bender's Big Score'' -- Lars being a time paradox duplicate of Fry and sacrificing himself at the end of the movie -- is a major plot point in this fic, and frequently referenced.
* LittleBitBeastly: Flip initially shows few to no mutant traits, but eventually grows a donkey tail similar to his maternal grandmother's.
* LivingAphrodisiac: It's clarified that Yivo's genticles increase the production of oxytocin and endorphins, which is why everybody is so enamored with shklim while impaled. Fry got the most of this, so once he and Yivo "break up," he suffers severe depression due to hormonal withdrawal (as well as learning, quite harshly, that Leela is pregnant).
* TheLostLenore: Lars' death is given a greater significance in this story than in the canon, not only to the widowed Leela (who's also carrying his child), but to Fry, from whom Lars was duplicated. Fry has an identity crisis that causes him to distance himself from Leela lest she see him as Lars, while Leela idealizes Lars and fantasizes about the two of them being parents together to cope with her impending single motherhood. After Fry learns about Leela's baby, he tries to embrace his similarities to Lars. Eventually, Leela accepts Lars being physically out of her life and focuses on loving Fry without needing to compare the two.
* MakingLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces:
** Lars and Leela made love in the alley on Xmas Eve after his proposal, next to a dumpster to boot.
** By the time they're steadily dating, Fry and Leela have apparently had sex in several odd places, including the ship, a meteor, and a giant cardboard box. It's justified in that they have a young son (''and'' they share the place with Bender) and don't get much privacy in their own apartment.
** During the equivalent of "Meanwhile," Leela and Fry have GladToBeAliveSex on the ''Whalers on the Moon'' ride in Luna Park. [[spoiler:They conceive their daughter this way, naming her Luna partially as an allusion to this.]]
* MakingRoomForBaby: Leela ends up moving in with Fry during her pregnancy because his apartment is bigger than hers. However, she does briefly move into a bigger suburban house in deep space, but eventually decides to move back in with Fry and Bender full-time because of how important he is to Flip. [[spoiler:When she's pregnant again, she, Fry, and Flip move out of Bender's apartment, sending him into a tizzy.]]
* MassageOfLove: In Chapter 5, after an exhausting day of running from Yivo, Leela fantasizes about Lars giving her a romantic massage. It's implied to go into HappyEndingMassage territory before she's interrupted.
* MaternityCrisis: Leela goes into labor two weeks early while trying to break out of prison, eventually giving birth in a jail cell. On top of that, she's severely anemic from the leech draining her blood, passing out shortly after holding her son.
* MeaningfulName:
** Flip's name alludes to his dolphin AnimalMotif and the fact he's indirectly the product of a flipped timeline.
** Lars' Cornwood equivalent, King Larzarus, is a play on Lazarus of Bethany, most well-known for being resurrected after death. Larzarus exists in Bender's fantasy because Leela fantasizes so much about Lars still being alive.
** [[spoiler:Luna]] is named such because she was conceived on the moon. Her name is also [[spoiler:similar to Lulu, the daughter Leela had in her fantasy life with Lars]].
* MistakenForCheating: Why Leela tries to explain why she doesn't want to scan her fetus for the father's DNA, the doctor assumes she's making excuses for infidelity.
-->“My late fiancé was a time travel duplicate of my co-worker,” Leela explained. “If you search for his DNA, my co-worker would come up instead.”\\
“A time travel duplicate of your coworker, huh?” Dr. Evans raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, that’s what my wife said.”
* MorningSickness: Leela suffers from nausea early in her pregnancy, but attributes it to grief and her nights in the sewer. Only when she vomits during Kif and Amy's fonfon rubok does Kif suggest she might be pregnant, mentioning that he apparently had similar symptoms during [[Recap/FuturamaS4E1KifGetsKnockedUpANotch his pregnancy]]. She gets sick a few other times after that, including once on Zapp. Yivo tsemporarily cures her nausea when she moves in with shklim, which initially misleads Leela into thinking shkli affected her pregnancy.
* MovingBeyondBereavement: Even before Leela learns he got her pregnant, losing Lars takes a significant toll on Leela's mental health and her friendship with Fry, particularly because Lars is a duplicate of the still-alive Fry. Initially, she alienates Fry by projecting Lars onto him, but after learning about her pregnancy, she becomes so determined to separate the two that she crafts a full fantasy world in which Lars is alive and they have a child together. The ''Bender's Game'' equivalent has her literally come face-to-face with this fantasy in Cornwood and accept that Lars is gone.
* MySecretPregnancy: Leela considers telling Fry about her pregnancy early on, but decides against it. Her plans to tell the rest of the crew are interrupted when Kif dies and she doesn't want to pile more onto Amy, and then gets caught up trying to protect herself and everybody else from Yivo. Most of the cast learns on accident except Fry, who misses the signs and doesn't learn until Leela tells him a few weeks down the line.
* NoPreggerSex: Zig-zagged. Leela has no problem fantasizing about having sex with Lars during her first trimester (with her dream version of Lars joking about not having protection). However, when she starts actually dating Fry around the top of her third trimester, she insists on not having sex, partly due to both of their physical discomfort and partly because she doesn't want to get too attached to Fry.
* OneDrinkWillKillTheBaby: Implied in the third chapter. Leela grabs a beer for Bender on a mission and considers getting one for herself, but decides against it. Her reasoning is that it'd be irresponsible to drink while she's flying the ship, but she's also just learned she's pregnant, albeit still in denial about it. Given that she'd easily put the ship in cruise control, it's implied the latter reason is why she's not drinking.
* OneSteveLimit: Played with. Leela names her son "Philip" after Fry, but she never calls Fry by his first name and they both eventually start calling their son by a nickname instead, rendering the shared name a moot point.
* ParodySue: The fic's version of ''Bender's Game'' has Bender's D&D character serve as a combination of himself and Leela (and her ideal fantasy world) due to the impact of the empathy chip. Bender distorts this character into a gorgeous, perfect hero that Leela herself envies (being that her Cornwood equivalent is a centaur and she's still pregnant).
* PersonalityChip: The empathy chip from "[[Recap/FuturamaS2E1ISecondThatEmotion I Second That Emotion]]" returns, as Leela forces it back onto Bender to understand how crappy she feels during her pregnancy. This even influences his attempt to get into D&D, as he channels Leela's feelings into his character. However, because robots were never meant to handle the sort of mood swings that stem from pregnancy and grief, Bender becomes LostInCharacter as a fantasy version of Leela.
* PosthumousCharacter: The story begins shortly after Lars' death in ''Bender's Big Score'', and he exclusively appears as a character in one flashback and several {{Fantasy Sequence}}s. The only time a version of him appears in the flesh is when his fantasy equivalent appears in Cornwood, which is one of his last major appearances.
* PregnancyMakesYouCrazy: Leela's rage issues are only amplified during her pregnancy, though this is further complicated by grief, her relationship issues with Fry, and Farnsworth's skepticism of her carrying to term. This provides a different explanation for Bender's SanitySlippage in ''Bender's Game'': Leela outfits him with the empathy chip to force him to understand her plight, but her hormone-enhanced emotions overpower Bender so strongly that he bases his D&D character on Leela ''and'' starts believing he's living her (fantasy) life.
* PregnancyScare:
** Pre-canon, Leela was worried she was pregnant while dating Sean. She wasn't, and came away thinking she might not be able to get pregnant from a human (thinking she was an alien at the time). It's implied Sean's relief about this was a major red flag for their relationship.
** Late in the fic's run, Leela believes she may be pregnant again, but it turns out to be a hormonal issue with her desquidification. To her surprise, she and Fry are both a little disappointed. [[spoiler:It's not long after this they conceive a baby for real.]]
* PregnancyTestPlot: A variant. During the 7b arc, Leela has a PregnancyScare and invites Fry to wait with her while she tests. Fry initially thinks she's going to use a traditional pregnancy test ("that thing you pee on to tell you if... you're baby or not") but she just uses her wrist device to check her blood for hormones. [[spoiler:The test comes up negative, but in the time they spend waiting, they realize they really do want a second child.]]
* ReplacementGoldfish: Discussed. After Lars is revealed as an alternate timeline version of Fry, Leela begins comparing the two favorably. However, this puts Fry off because he doesn't want Leela to just see him ''as'' Lars, driving a wedge between them that drives Fry to immediately get a new girlfriend. After learning Leela is pregnant from Lars, Fry tries to invoke this by following Lars' example so Leela will trust him again. Eventually, they accept that Lars and Fry share many memories by design and both love Leela but are ultimately different people.
* ShotgunWedding: Discussed. Farnsworth initially thinks Fry is the father of Leela's child and plans to organize a wedding to avoid ire from the Better Business Bureau. Leela assures him that she and Fry -- the prime Fry at least -- hadn't had sex in a long time.
* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: Lars unknowingly got Leela pregnant a week before his death, mere days before he realized he was doomed at all. Given that he was doomed to die to prevent a paradoxical coexistence with Fry, this is a potential cause of concern, as there's no precedent for a time duplicate reproducing and there's a chance the baby would also be doomed. Despite this, Leela goes ahead with keeping her baby after seeing Kif's tadpoles at Kif's funeral; she sees the baby as a way for her and Lars' love to persist even after his death.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: Flip bears a strong resemblance to Fry, with the key differences being his nose and hairstyle (as well as [[LittleBitBeastly his tail]]).
* StrugglingSingleMother: During the 6a arc, Leela raises her newborn son primarily on her own, despite living with Fry and Bender. She's not only exhausted from Flip's constant fussing, but always ends up virtually helping Fry and Bender with work during her maternity leave. While Fry does offer her extra support, allowing her more freedom, she still refers to herself as a single mother for some time in an attempt to play the GlamorousSingleMother card.
* SurvivorGuilt: Since Lars was doomed to die as a time duplicate of Fry, the latter develops guilt for surviving, as well as being the reason for Lars' existence in the first place and thus the reason for Leela's trauma. He even wonders, in light of Leela's pregnancy, if ''he'' should have died instead, though Leela misinterprets this as him being jealous.
* WallBangHer: The one time Lars and Leela had sex (and conceived their baby) was against the wall of an alley, or as Bender puts it, "they mashed against a wall for a minute [and] got a bit of squirt on each other."
* WantedASonInstead: Downplayed. Leela gets so attached to having a daughter (mostly due to having a daughter in her fantasy family) that she's surprised and a bit unnerved to learn she's having a son. However, she soon accepts this and steps out of her fantasy life, even when [[StrawFeminist Freeda Waterfall]] keeps denying this as the case.
* WeNamedTheMonkeyJack: A variant. The name Lars would have given to his daughter, "Lulu," is an allusion to Leelu, the narwhal he raised in the twenty-first century. This is the name Leela uses for her fantasy daughter.
* WhaleEgg: Played with. As a CallBack to "[[Recap/FuturamaS7E22LeelaAndTheGenestalk Leela and the Genestalk]]," it's mentioned that Leela sometimes lays a small egg in lieu of normal menstruation, but she sometimes has a normal period as well. However, it's also revealed that Leela hatched from an egg, and her parents are under the impression that Leela will lay an egg to have her baby as well. This turns out not to be the case.
* WhatIf: The main point of divergence is that Leela gets pregnant during ''Bender's Big Score'' and subsequently becomes a mother. Most of the story unrelated to the Fry and Leela arc doesn't change.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: CM writeup]]

'''What is the work?'''

''WesternAnimation/HumanResources2022'' is an adult animated WorkCom spinoff of ''WesternAnimation/BigMouth''. It focuses on the creatures working at the titular Department of Human Resources, who are responsible for encouraging humans to have various feelings -- love, hate, lust, shame, anxiety, depression, etc. While it engages in as much graphic comedy as its parent series, it also has some character arcs that are treated seriously, and explores the light and dark sides of these various humans feelings and what happens when they go too far.

The most important species to focus on for this proposal is the Lovebug / Hate Worm. A Lovebug is a creature who encourages love in humans, but when overcome with hateful emotions, they can transform into a Hate Worm, giving themselves entirely into hateful impulses and sowing negativity everywhere they go. This happens to the Lovebug Rochelle in Season 2 following a cruel breakup. However, they can transform back via ThePowerOfLove.

'''Who is the candidate? What have they done?'''

General Malice is a lizard-like creature and the head of the Hate Division, the department at HR that [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin sows hate in humans]]. Allegedly a former Lovebug, Malice mutated into a hateful creature after suffering a vague heartbreak. In her first appearance, she buddies up to Rochelle and sways her into joining the Hate Division full-time. However, it's in the season 2 finale (and series finale) where Malice solidifes herself as truly evil.

In the Season 2 finale, Rochelle makes an offhand remark to her Hate Division coworkers that ''they'' should be running the show. However, unbeknownst to Rochelle, Malice takes this seriously and concocts a plan to take over Human Resources during their [[YouMeanXmas "Anal Day"]] party. She brings her goon Anthony Piñata to gruesomely [[YourHeadAsplode squeeze the receptionist to death]], then her team storms the HR offices to attack and tie up all the members there, [[DieHardOnAnX Die Hard style]], so they can go down on earth to spread pure hate without any love, logic, etc, all while threatening to kill dissenters. Malice shows Rochelle the HatePlague they've caused while delighting over how humans fight and knife each other over the dumbest shit, expressing a desire to spread hate to the entire world. Malice's goons then bring in Hope (the sole HopeBringer on Earth) as a captive and Malice implores Rochelle to shoot her. However, Rochelle turns the gun on Malice and runs off with Hope, so Malice plans to have them both killed.

Malice has Dante crushed to death just because she doesn't like him. When Connie, Maury, Montel, and Lionel try to escape, Malice gleefully forces Montel to shoot one of their parents or their mentor, or else everyone else will be killed. She then plays radio footage of Anthony Piñata about to kill Rochelle and mocks Rochelle's friends for wanting to save her because they "love" her. When Malice learns Rochelle slept with Pete, she kidnaps Pete and threatens Rochelle and Hope to turn themselves in or she'll kill him. However, Hope blows up the roof, leaving Malice dangling from Pete's legs off the side of a building. She then falls, presumably to her death, and HR regains their offices.

'''Any redeeming qualities?'''

In her debut episode, it is stated that Malice experienced some sort of heartbreak that pushed her into a FaceHeelTurn. However, she does not speak of this time with any sort of longing or regret, and there's not enough detail to make her truly sympathetic. Here is how she describes it:

-->'''Malice''': You remind me of myself. Really? Yes. I used to be one of these cockroaches of love.\\
'''Rochelle''': You were a Lovebug?\\
'''Malice''': Ugh, yes. I was at the mercy of "feelings" and "kissing." Love almost broke me. I was crying in the daytime, saying, "Oh, poor me, bo-bo-bo." And then I said, "No! I will never be heartbroken again." And now I do the heartbreaking.\\
'''Rochelle''': I like the sound of that.\\
'''Malice''': Hate is simple. Hate is power. Hate... Come si dice? Gets the shit done.

In subsequent appearances, this detail never comes up and nobody ever shows sympathy for her. It's never debunked either, but it's clear she ''chooses'' to stay hateful because it's easier and gives her power, unlike Rochelle who overcomes her Hate Worm self through ThePowerOfLove for her friends.

While she does seem to have some camaraderie with Rochelle when she's a Hate Worm, it's unclear if she cares truly for Rochelle or if she just wants Rochelle on her team for her unbridled sense of hate. She tells Rochelle to work for her so "[she] will never be hurt again" and her EstablishingCharacterMoment is insisting she not let a man (Rochelle's LoveInterest Pete) tell her what to do -- but it's clear she's just trying to keep the two separate and fuel animosity and doesn't care about actual feminism. It's ambiguous if her NotSoDifferentRemark is genuinely relating to Rochelle or just a manipulation tactic. She does laugh along with Rochelle whenever she makes cruel remarks, so the fact they get along may be a mitigating factor, but she also threatens Rochelle later in the episode:

-->'''Rochelle''': Well, this has been great. I promise I will give you an answer very soon.\\
'''Malice''': Just don't take too long. ''[evil glare]'' You don't want me as an enemy. ''[laughs]'' I'm just kidding. I'm not though. I'm a legit psychopath.

Then later when Rochelle accepts the offer:

-->'''Malice''': You and I, we'll do terrible things together. (laughs) And probably to each other. I'm a fucking nightmare.

Her jokey tone and CardCarryingVillain status may be a mitigating factor in her threatening nature (note this is ''before'' she clearly crosses the MoralEventHorizon in the series finale), but it's clear she never truly cared about Rochelle beyond indulging in hate with her. She does give Rochelle the gun to kill Hope out of what seems like a genuine show of support (since Rochelle has spoken about how much she hates Hope), but she turns on Rochelle at the drop of a hat and wants her killed as soon as Rochelle turns on her.

There's also a FreezeFrameBonus or two in Malice's office that shows photographs of her posing with some infamous dictators, which may indicate she cares for those people, but as they're likely her work clients and she has a dim view of humanity, she probably doesn't care much for them.


'''Are they bad enough?'''

Malice is the only antagonist in the franchise so far whose plan has world-altering consequences. Most other antagonists in this show and ''Big Mouth'' only cause down-to-earth, local conflicts, especially as most are {{Punch Clock Villain}}s who only behave in accordance with their job -- they believe they ''have'' to cause anxiety, shame, depression, etc. for the better of humanity. While some of them try to demote each other and take control over their clients, they still respect the systems that are in place. Malice is the ''only'' one to actually try and overtake the rest of the department. Because of this, she definitely stands out as uniquely evil in the work, especially since she only has a couple episodes onscreen.

It is admittedly a mitigating factor that Malice seems to genuinely believe [[EvilCannotComprehendGood the world is inherently unkind and love isn't beneficial for anybody]], so it could be argued she thinks she's doing right by the humans. However, her behavior towards every other creature is cruel for the sake of cruel, such as how she is thrilled and [[PassThePopcorn grabs popcorn when forcing Montel to shoot one of their loved ones]] and makes jokes after killing an innocent security guard. When showing Rochelle the HatePlague, she says, "Humans are finally getting the hate they deserve," implying she isn't doing this for the greater good, but out of, well, malice. It is implied she doesn't like Dante (who dumped Rochelle and started her descent into hate) because he's a smug asshole ("You ''are'' a hateful piece of shit. Just not the kind I like."), which could imply actual standards, but she also wants him killed just because she "doesn't like him," even though he offered to deflect to her side (albeit seemingly as an escape attempt). Not a single character who acts friendly with her (Peg, Dante, Rochelle) gets spared from her murder attempts.

Another issue is that most others in the Hate Department are also cruel for the sake of cruelty, and Malice's screentime is pretty split with her henchmen, even if she's the one giving specific orders. However, none of the side characters get enough development or singular crimes to compete with Malice. While Malice does get the initial idea of taking over the department from a Hitler character wanting to "wipe [Hope] off the face of the planet" and Rochelle's off-comment, "We should be running this place," she's the one who comes up with an actual plan to do so, whereas Rochelle [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone regrets siding with Malice when she sees what Malice has put together]]. Malice's desire to spread hate also seems to primarily be a power trip, whereas we at least see Rochelle (and other Love Bugs, such as Walter) encourage her clients to stick up for themselves when she's a Hate Worm, even if her isolationist tactics prove to be hurtful.

She also does not care for her own employees, as the Hate Division has employees graphically killed when they're sick with a mild cold as a means of "stopping the spread." Malice is also the only one in the Hate Division who carries out individual ruthless plans beyond EvilIsPetty behavior or [[ThoseWackyNazis being part of a goofy Hitler caricature species]].

Finally, some of Malice's behavior is played for BlackComedy, such as a one-off line where someone says she's the reason monkeys throw shit at each other or the fact her HatePlague causes people to stab each other over cantalopes in the grocery store. However, the bulk of her screentime is played [[KnightOfCerebus more seriously than any other antagonist]] due to the scope of her actions.

'''Final verdict?'''
I could go either way. She's definitely the most evil character in the work, but I've laid out reasons she may not go far enough.

[[/folder]]

(Rewatch this episode for accuracy) Rochelle makes an offhand remark to her Hate Division coworkers that ''they'' should be running the show. However, unbeknownst to Rochelle, Malice takes this seriously and concocts a plan to take over Human Resources during their [[YouMeanXmas "Anal Day"]] party. [...]

-->'''Malice''': You and I, we'll do terrible things together. ( laughs ) And probably to each other. I'm a fucking nightmare.

Her jokey tone and CardCarryingVillain status may be a mitigating factor in her threatening nature (note this is ''before'' she clearly crosses the MoralEventHorizon in the series finale), but it's clear she never truly cared about Rochelle beyond indulging in hate with her. Indeed, she turns on Rochelle at the drop of a hat and wants her killed when Rochelle protects her friends.

There's also a FreezeFrameBonus or two in Malice's office that shows photographs of her posing with some infamous dictators, which may indicate she cares for those people, but as they're likely her work clients, it's unclear how much genuine care she'd have for them.

It is admittedly a mitigating factor that Malice seems to genuinely believe [[EvilCannotComprehendGood love isn't beneficial for anybody]], so it could be argued she thinks she's doing right by the humans. However, her behavior towards every other creature is cruel for the sake of cruel, particularly how she [[PassThePopcorn grabs popcorn when forcing Montel to shoot one of their loved ones]].

Another issue is that others in the Hate Department are also cruel for the sake of cruelty. However, none of the side characters get enough development or singular crimes to compete with Malice. While Malice does get the initial idea of taking over the department from Rochelle's off-comment, "We should be running this place," she's the one who comes up with an actual plan to do so, whereas Rochelle [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone regrets siding with Malice when she sees what Malice has put together]]. Malice's desire to spread hate also seems to primarily be a power trip, whereas we at least see Rochelle (and other Love Bugs, such as Walter) encourage her clients to stick up for themselves when she's a Hate Worm, even if her isolationist tactics prove to be hurtful. We don't see how Malice feels about any particular human and she shows no sense of compassion for their suffering beyond thinking hate is better than love.

* MySecretPregnancy: Leela considers telling Fry about her pregnancy early on, but decides against it. Her plans to tell the rest of the crew (besides the three that already learned on accident) are interrupted when Kif dies and she doesn't want to pile more onto Amy. While Farnsworth is among the first to learn, he's dead set on Leela having an abortion, so she pretends to not be pregnant in front of him and Wernstrom in jail.

General Malice is a lizard-like creature and the head of the Hate Division, the department at HR that [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin sows hate in humans]]. Allegedly a former Lovebug, Malice mutated into a hateful creature after suffering a vague heartbreak. In her first appearance, she sways Rochelle

In subsequent appearances, this detail never comes up and nobody ever shows sympathy for her.

While she does seem to have some camaraderie with Rochelle when she's a Hate Worm, it's unclear if she cares truly for Rochelle or if she just wants Rochelle on her team for her unbridled sense of hate. She tells Rochelle to work for her so "[she] will never be hurt again" and her EstablishingCharacterMoment is insisting she not let a man (Rochelle's LoveInterest Pete) tell her what to do -- but it's clear she's just trying to keep the two separate and fuel animosity and doesn't care about actual feminism. It's ambiguous if her NotSoDifferentRemark is genuinely relating to Rochelle or just a manipulation tactic. She turns on Rochelle at the drop of a hat when Rochelle protects her friends.

Another issue is that others in the Hate Department are also cruel for the sake of cruelty. However, none of the side characters get enough development or singular crimes to compete with Malice. While Malice does get the initial idea of taking over the department from Rochelle's off-comment, "We should be running this place," she's the one who comes up with an actual plan to do so, whereas Rochelle [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone regrets siding with Malice when she sees what Malice has put together]]. She also does not care for her own employees, as the Hate Division has employees graphically killed when they're sick with a mild cold as a means of "stopping the spread." Malice is also the only one in the Hate Division who carries out individual ruthless plans beyond EvilIsPetty behavior or [[ThoseWackyNazis being part of a goofy Hitler caricature species]].

[[folder: TD 2023 MB proposal]]


!!What is the work?

''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaIsland'' is an elimination game based on ''Series/{{Survivor}}'', which began in 2007 and recently received a revival this year. It pits sixteen contestants against each other at a summer camp on a dangerous island. The losers are sent to an elimination ceremony to vote one fellow contestant out, and the last remaining camper receives a million dollars. While the series is pretty comedic, the contestants are encouraged to play dirty during challenges and backstab one another to ensure their own victory.

'''This proposal will contain major spoilers for the entire season, as well as some grossout humor in the season context.'''

!!Who is the candidate and what have they done?

Bowie is a new competitor to the 2023 season. He is a highly competitive CampGay teenager with a penchant for sarcasm and strategy. Throughout the season, Bowie gets invested in the personal drama of his fellow contestants and exploits it to further himself in the game. In the very first episode, he orchestrates the elimination of the strong, sweet Caleb by convincing his teammates that he would be a long-term threat. He quickly befriends and allies with Emma, giving advice on her relationship drama with her HateSink of an ex-boyfriend, Chase, so he can have a steady alliance early in the game. This persists until he eliminates Chase after he and Emma got together, as Bowie doesn't think Emma should have taken Chase back.

Bowie also has a romance arc with Raj, functioning as the latter's ClosetKey. However, he tells Raj he only wants to start dating ''after'' the game, further emphasizing his focus on strategy, especially compared to past contestants.

Bowie develops a rivalry post-merge with another antagonist, Julia. In the final four, when Priya and Millie form an alliance, Bowie decides to ally with Julia. However, he spends most of the challenge sabotaging her, secretly allying with Priya and Millie. While he doesn't win immunity, he does successfully backstab and eliminate Julia as she hadn't realized he was faking their alliance all along. He then turns on Priya and Millie as detailed below.

Bowie's most memorable impact on the narrative is during the final three, when he secretly throws a challenge to retrieve a discarded phone that contains downloaded contestant confessionals. He discovers that Millie has been psychoanalyzing the other contestants for a research paper, writing some particularly rude things about her best friend and ally Priya and her intense family. Bowie steals Millie's book and leaves it as an anonymous wrapped present for Priya to find, then slyly listens in when Priya lashes out at Millie. He even makes sure to rip out the final page, which had Millie write that [[CharacterDevelopment she regrets her study and actually respected Priya as a friend instead of just a research subject]]. This leaves both of the girls at an emotional disadvantage during the final three.


!!How are they Magnificent?

''Total Drama'' characters usually don't qualify for MB due to contestants either crossing a line or, more commonly, being too much of a KarmicButtMonkey. What makes Bowie stand out is that he is particularly good at acting charismatic to win over allies while finding creative ways to sabotage them. He quickly establishes himself as athletic and charismatic in his introduction, bragging that he won both Prom King ''and'' Queen. His behavior in the first episode establishes that Bowie is willing to turn on even those he finds likable and attractive, and has the charisma to sway his entire team. However, this is mostly OffscreenVillainy, so it's only relevant in establishing the greater context of his character.

Bowie has great social game. His alliance with Emma protects him for most of the game, and he manages to sway even those who dislike him on his side (i.e. Julia) by turning them against other competitors, then turning against them at the last minute. He is openly snarky, but refocuses attention onto the faults of other competitors (i.e. covertly revealing the dirt on Millie to Priya without directly delivering the book to her, thus keeping the focus between them) to keep eyes off him.

Contrast with the other antagonist, Julia, who leans into CardCarryingVillain status very quickly and only survives because she wins immunity by powering through challenges. When Bowie outsmarts her and gets her eliminated, she is quite frantically cancelling her many expensive orders. Despite Julia's own strategy keeping her safe a few times, she would definitely not qualify as MB as she lacks Bowie's stealth.

Additionally, Bowie does not face any severe humiliation or harsh karma like past antagonists, which is why a previous MB, Alejandro, was cut. While he struggles in some challenges, particularly during the last few episodes, this is often due to his rivalry with other competitors and he doesn't often end up in serious distress. He's never really outsmarted, but his rivals can beat him to the punch sometimes when it comes to challenges. He is the victim of some slapstick, such as Julia slapping him with a burrito or him getting beaten by animals, but not any more than most other contestants, and he can rebound fairly well. It's mentioned he's really afraid of spiders during a cave challenge, but this doesn't hinder his ultimate strategy. In the finale, the worst he gets is having to work with Julia right after eliminating her, and even then, he still manages to beat out Millie and make it to the final two. He and Priya end up neck-and-neck, though their final challenge is pretty gross as they both end up throwing up inside giant orbs and rolling down a hill in their own vomit. However, I don't think this pushes Bowie to the level of ButtMonkey because this is very standard for ''Total Drama''. Compared to most other contestants, he gets off pretty easily.

While the audience is meant to be surprised at how Bowie backstabs his allies, Bowie is quite charismatic due to his expressive, flamboyant personality and the way he snarks about his wackier colleagues in the confessional.

!!How are they a Bastard? How are they not too bad?

Bowie is probably not as "evil" as some past antagonists, but he is incredibly shady, very egotistical, and has no regards for friendship when trying to get ahead in the game. He and Julia are both excited about Priya and Millie possibly getting crushed in a cave as it would leave them as the final two, though unlike Julia who celebrates out loud, he only admits this in a confessional. He sees how close Priya and Millie are, but sabotages them anyway. Some key examples where he's depicted as more likable are during the romance plot with Raj (as he even saves Raj in a challenge or two) and when he eliminates Chase for being such a douche. However, neither of these scenarios detract from his strategy.

!!Final verdict?

I lean towards a yes for Bowie but am open to more discussion. Admittedly, I can see the slapsticky tone of ''TD'' being a mitigating factor, as all contestants do suffer some humiliation that takes away from the magnificence. Also, there will be a season two, and it's possible Bowie may be disqualified by then if they make him more of a ButtMonkey. However, by the standards of the show, Bowie is one of the most effective antagonists they've ever had, playing a genuinely impressive social game all the way to the finale while still being a charismatic, likable, but nevertheless super shady character.

* EroticDream: In Chapter 5, Leela's second dream about Lars involves a romantic massage that transitions into implied sex. Evidently, both Zapp and Amy could hear her moaning in her sleep, and it's implied [[TheGruntingOrgasm Zapp's voice]] while he was having sex with Amy worked its way into Leela's dream, much to her revulsion.

* MorningSickness: Leela suffers from nausea early in her pregnancy, but attributes it to grief and her nights in the sewer. Only when she vomits during Kif and Amy's fonfon rubok does Kif suggest she might be pregnant, mentioning that he apparently had similar symptoms during [[Recap/FuturamaS4E1KifGetsKnockedUpANotch his pregnancy]]. She gets sick a few other times after that, including while the rest of the universe is on the Yivo date, but Yivo does temporarily cure her nausea when she moves in with shklim.

** After the first dream sequence, the narration alludes to Leela's dream sequences in "[[Recap/FuturamaS4E12TheSting The Sting]]":

* EroticDream: In Chapter 5, Leela's second dream about Lars ends with them making love in their bedroom after deciding to move somewhere else. Evidently, both Zapp and Amy could hear her moaning in her sleep.

* TitledAfterTheSong: The title comes from the first lyric of the ''Total Drama'' theme song.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Farnsworth's theory about Lars' offspring being doomed, and the clash he has with Leela over testing for signs of "doom" in the fetus, is analogous to prenatal testing for a genetic disorder and the controversies that follow suit.

* WeddingEnhancedFertility:
** Lars and Leela conceived their son the night that Lars proposed to Leela. They already begin talking about having kids the next day, but their wedding never went through and Lars never lived to see his son.
** [[spoiler:Leela tells Fry she's pregnant again the same day he proposes to her. The same instance that caused Fry to realize he wanted to marry her in canon (her nearly dying at Luna Park) also drove them to impulsive GladToBeAliveSex, which is apparently when they conceived. This comes after a PregnancyScare a couple of months earlier, in which they decide that they're okay with having a second child if it happens again.]]

* FantasySequence: Leela copes with the distress surrounding her pregnancy by crafting a fantasy world in which Lars is alive and she lives a nuclear family life with him and their perfect daughter. These sequences are interspersed throughout the movie arc, but begin to fall apart as Leela reconciles with Fry and accepts the complicated reality of her family.

* HasTwoDaddies: Following her parents' divorce, Zoey has been raised by her birth father and his boyfriend for several years. As the only openly gay people in their small town, they faced discrimination, contributing to Zoey's FriendlessBackground.

However, in fiction, team names are often chosen to give a quick, on-the-nose impression of what the team is really like, even off the field. The Anaheim Angels are just named for their original home of Los Angeles, but if a team is called "the Angels" in fiction, it's likely because they're all exceptionally good people, or at least very religious. Additionally, while most team names go for an imposing mascot, fictional team names may be more... honest about their players' abilities. You wouldn't expect the Troperville Hamsters to be much of a threat on the football field.

[...]

Subtrope of MeaningfulAlias. Contrast TheWildcats, a stock team name that usually doesn't signify much about the players' personalities.

* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'': A variant in the ''All-Stars'' season, which is "heroes versus villains" themed. The most wicked players in ''Total Drama'' history are placed on the [[VileVulture Villainous Vultures]], while the good-natured players form the less-threatening Heroic Hamsters. (Chris also considered the [[HappyHappyHippos Heroic Hippos]].)

However, in fiction, team names are often chosen to give a quick, on-the-nose impression of what the team is really like, even off the field. The Anaheim Angels are just named for their original home of Los Angeles, but if a team is called "the Angels" in fiction, it's likely because they're all exceptionally good people, or at least very religious. Additionally, while most team names go for an imposing mascot, fictional team names may be more... honest about their players' abilities. You wouldn't expect the Troperville Hamsters to be much of a threat on the field.

[[folder:Great Naming Debate]]
LACONIC:Characters argue over what to name someone.

Congratulations, you just got a new baby! Or maybe it's a new pet, or a new toy, or a recently-discovered fossil. Whatever it is, everybody can agree it's exciting news. What they ''can't'' agree on is what to call this new arrival.

When given the chance to name something, everybody in a group will jump in with their own ideas, eager to contribute to this new being's legacy. It's a great way to quickly establish the different tastes among a group. For a few common examples, the TeamMom will suggest a very rational name, a {{narcissist}} will probably try to name the kid after himself, and the {{Cloudcuckoolander}} will offer an incredibly bizarre name that nobody in their right mind would ever pick. Expect the more snarky members to [[WhoNamesTheirKidDude weigh in on these name ideas]].

Sometimes this will turn out to be AllForNothing if the being names themself or already had a name in the first place.

----

!!Examples:

* ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'': In ''Dog Days,'' Frank adopts a dog for the Heffleys, who then decide what to name it. Greg wants to name him something edgy like Shredder or Ripjaw, but Susan won't let him. Manny suggests "Elephant," and Rodrick suggests "Turtle" (just so he can call the dog [[ToiletHumour "Turd"]]). Susan goes with her idea, "Sweetie," despite Greg finding it too girly.

[[AC:Live Action TV]]
* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'': In "Baby Talk," Marshall and Lily have started trying for a baby, but clash over baby name ideas. Lily turns down most of Marshall's names as the worst kids in her class have those names. Marshall also only considers boy names while Lily only considers girl names, causing them to also clash over what gender they want the baby to be.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': In "Fairly Odd Baby", everybody keeps giving different names to Cosmo and Wanda's new baby. Wanda calls him "Talulah," Timmy calls him "Li'l T" (short for "Li'l Timmy"), and Cosmo calls him "Barfolomew" (due to the intense MorningSickness he had during [[MisterSeahorse pregnancy]]) and "Keanu," and Jorgen calls him "Kajagoogoo" and then quickly changes to "Elvis." Even Anti-Cosmo and the Head Pixie argue over what to name the baby when they kidnap him. Eventually, they go with "Poof" because [[PokemonSpeak it's the one thing he can say]].
-->'''Anti-Cosmo''': Now if you'll excuse us, we must go and harness Fauntleroy's magic here and commence our evil plot of doom.
-->'''Head Pixie''': Fauntleroy? We are not calling the baby Fauntleroy. I was thinking Bill. Bill's a guy you trust with your business portfolio.
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': In "Prehistoric Ice Man," Stan and Kyle find a man frozen in ice. Kyle names him "Steve," but Stan wants to name him "Gorak," causing them to [[FeudEpisode stop being friends for some time]]. The man only froze for a little over two years and already has a name, Larry, but nobody seems to notice.

* ReplacementGoldfish: Discussed. After Lars is revealed as an alternate timeline version of Fry, Leela begins comparing the two favorably. However, this puts Fry off because he doesn't want Leela to just see him ''as'' Lars, driving a wedge between them that drives Fry to immediately get a new girlfriend.

* MySecretPregnancy: Leela considers telling Fry about her pregnancy early on, but decides against it. Her plans to tell the rest of the crew (besides the three that already learned on accident) are interrupted when Kif dies and she doesn't want to pile more onto Amy.

* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: Lars unknowingly got Leela pregnant a week before his death, mere days before he realized he was doomed at all. Given that he was doomed to die to prevent a paradoxical coexistence with Fry, this is a potential cause of concern, as there's no precedent for a time duplicate reproducing and there's a chance the baby would also be doomed.
* WhaleEgg: Played with. As a CallBack to "[[Recap/FuturamaS7E22LeelaAndTheGenestalk Leela and the Genestalk]]," it's mentioned that Leela sometimes lays a small egg in lieu of normal menstruation, but she sometimes has a normal period as well. However, her baby on the ultrasound appears to be mammalian, as it has an umbilical cord.

[...]

[...]

Bowie develops a rivalry post-merge with another antagonist, Julia. In the final four, when Priya and Millie merge, Bowie decides to ally with Julia. However, he spends most of the challenge sabotaging her. While he doesn't win immunity, he does successfully backstab and eliminate Julia as she hadn't realized he was faking their alliance all along.

[...]

Contrast with the other antagonist, Julia, who leans into CardCarryingVillain status very quickly and only survives because she keeps winning immunity. When Bowie outsmarts her and gets her eliminated, she is quite frantically cancelling her many expensive orders. Despite Julia's own strategy keeping her safe a few times, she would definitely not qualify as MB as she lacks Bowie's stealth.

Additionally, Bowie does not face any severe humiliation or harsh karma like past antagonists, which is why a previous MB, Alejandro, was cut. While he struggles in some challenges, particularly during the last few episodes, this is often due to sabotage and he doesn't often end up in serious distress. He is the victim of some slapstick, such as Julia slapping him with a burrito, but not any more than other contestants, as he can rebound fairly well. It's mentioned he's really afraid of spiders during a cave challenge, but this doesn't hinder his ultimate strategy. In the finale, the worst he gets is having to work with Julia right after eliminating her, and even then, he still manages to beat out Millie and make it to the final two. He and Priya end up neck-and-neck, though their final challenge is pretty gross as they both end up throwing up inside giant orbs and rolling down a hill in their own vomit. However, I don't think this pushes Bowie to the level of ButtMonkey because this is very standard for ''Total Drama''. Compared to most other contestants, he gets off pretty easily.

[...]

While the audience is meant to be surprised at how Bowie backstabs his allies, Bowie is quite charismatic due to his expressive, flamboyant personality and the way he snarks about his colleagues in the confessional.

Bowie is probably not as "evil" as some past antagonists, but he is incredibly shady, very egotistical, and has no regards for friendship when trying to get ahead in the game. He and Julia are both excited about Priya and Millie possibly getting crushed in a cave as it would leave them as the final two, though unlike Julia who celebrates out loud, he only admits this in a confessional. He sees how close Priya and Millie are, but sabotages them anyway. Some key examples where he's depicted as more likable are during the romance plot with Raj and when he eliminates Chase for being such a douche. However, neither of these scenarios detract from his strategy.

I lean towards a yes for Bowie but am open to more discussion. Admittedly, I can see the slapsticky tone of ''TD'' being a mitigating factor, as all contestants do suffer some humiliation that takes away from the magnificience. However, by the standards of the show, Bowie is one of the most effective antagonists they've ever had, playing a genuinely impressive social game all the way to the finale while still being a charismatic, likable, but nevertheless super shady character.