History VisualNovel / HenchmanStory

* CardCarryingVillain: Lord Bedlam's an unabashed, if ineffectual example, as he openly tries to project a grandiose and intimidating persona, complete with bombastic (and incoherent) speeches and a villainous fashion sense. Madame Scorpion, while sharing many of the trappings of a CardCarryingVillain such as her flair for the dramatic, sadism, and a similar fondness for theatrics, is actually an aversion as she never claims to be evil for evil's sake, [[TheSocialDarwinist and genuinely believes that her ruthless methods are the only real way to succeed in this world]]. This is driven home by her WeCanRuleTogether speech to Stan, where she explicitly dismisses the notion of genuine superheroes, claiming that they merely use the lie of righteousness to impose their will on others, and the ''honest'' way to live is to reject such false idols and ruthlessly pursue your ambitions no matter what. [[spoiler:This is further deconstructed in the villain routes. Bedlam, who only embraced the villainous aesthetic to stroke his ego, is quick to form an EnemyMine with Shining Nova when he realizes that Scorpion's about to take over his entire organization, and earns Stan's wrath and contempt as a result. While Scorpion, [[EvilVirtues by virtue of having an actual philosophy and code guiding her actions]], can become a supervillain Stan legitimately respects.]]

* CardCarryingVillain: Lord Bedlam's an unabashed, if ineffectual example, as he openly tries to project a grandiose and intimidating persona, complete with bombastic (and incoherent) speeches and a villainous fashion sense. Madame Scorpion, while sharing many of the trappings of a CardCarryingVillain such as her flair for the dramatic, sadism, and a similar fondness for theatrics, is actually an aversion as she never claims to be evil for evil's sake, [[TheSocialDarwinist and genuinely believes that her ruthless methods are the only real way to succeed in this world]]. This is driven home by her WeCanRuleTogether speech to Stan, where she explicitly dismisses the notion of genuine superheroes, claiming that they merely use the lie of righteousness to impose their will on others, and the ''honest'' way to live is to reject such false idols and ruthlessly pursue your ambitions no matter what. [[spoiler:This is further deconstructed in the villain routes. Bedlam, who only embraced the villainous aesthetic to stroke his ego, is quick to form an EnemyMine with Shining Nova when he realizes that Scorpion's about to take over his entire organization, and earns Stan's wrath and contempt as a result. While Scorpion, [[EvilVirtues by virtue of having an actual philosophy and code guiding her actions]], can become a supervillain Stan legitimately wants to work with.]]

* CardCarryingVillain: Lord Bedlam's an unabashed, if ineffectual example, as he openly tries to project a grandiose and intimidating persona, complete with bombastic (and incoherent) speeches and a villainous fashion sense. Madame Scorpion, while sharing many of the trappings of a CardCarryingVillain such as her flair for the dramatic, sadism, and a similar fondness for theatrics, is actually an aversion as she never claims to be evil for evil's sake, [[TheSocialDarwinist and genuinely believes that her ruthless methods are the only real way to succeed in this world]]. This is driven home by her WeCanRuleTogether speech to Stan, where she explicitly dismisses the notion of genuine superheroes, claiming that they merely use the lie of righteousness to impose their will on others, and the ''honest'' way to live is to reject such false idols and ruthlessly pursue your ambitions no matter what.

** [[spoiler:Should Stan genuinely turn against Scorpion at the last minute, he'll partner with Crimson Dynamo. He then has to decide whether to stick to Nova's original plan of destroying Scorpion's supercomputer, or simply prioritizing Nova's rescue. If he destroys the supercomputer, Scorpion is permanently stopped, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero but at a heavy price, as Nova loses Stan who gets captured brainwashed into becoming an assassin.]] If Stan decides to go straight for rescuing Nova, the operation goes off with far fewer hitches and no lasting damage, but at the cost of leaving Scorpion to fight another day.]]

** [[spoiler:This is PlayedWith should you choose the [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere Road Untaken]] endings. In the villain routes, Scorpion will succeed in her ambitions regardless of Stan's involvement, though Stan has now become a loose end for her to hunt down. In the hero routes, however, Stan's involvement is critical, as without him Nova and Dynamo's mission fails and their partnership dissolves.]]

** [[spoiler:When Madame Scorpion asks Stan to manipulate Nova into sharing her backup plan, no matter what Stan does, Nova will ''always'' find a way to outwit her, either by seeing through his lies, or successfully convincing him to [[HeelFaceTurn actually change sides]]. The difference is that with Stan as her partner, Nova has an actual shot at turning the tables on Scorpion because Stan is good at what he does. If Stan is not on her side, however, Nova resorts to [[EnemyMine teaming up with]] ''Lord Bedlam'' instead, which thoroughly dooms her prospects from the outset. Indeed, the second Madame Scorpion finds out that Bedlam is acting suspiciously, she makes no move to stop him, correctly predicting that anything he tries to attempt is bound to blow up in his face sooner or later.]]

* ThouShaltNotKill: At the start of the story this is one of the few clear moral lines Stan has when working for Lord Bedlam, as his schemes never involve killing people. Superheroes also adhere to this rule. Madame Scorpion is a brazen aversion however, being a former assassin who openly gloats about killing her enemies. [[spoiler:In the villain route, her influence can cause Stan to get over his reservations about killing, and eventually even Shining Nova attempts to kill her in a last-ditch attempt at TakingYouWithMe.]]

* UnscrupulousHero: [[spoiler:Shining Nova becomes this in the routes where she gets captured. In the villain routes, she outright attempts to blow up the room Stan and Madame Scorpion are in as part of a last-ditch attempt to take them down. And in the Agent Stan route, where Stan has a last-minute HeelFaceTurn and executes Nova's backup plan, it's revealed that said backup plan ''also'' involves the destructive process of overloading the cooling tanks of Scorpion's supercomputer and blowing it up. This actually has pretty serious consequences, as Scorpion and Dynamo both get caught in the explosion, with only Dyanamo surviving, and it triggers the full-blown collapse of the base which causes Stan to get injured during his escape. As a result, he's captured and brainwashed into becoming an assassin, and Nova clearly blames herself for it when she finds out.]]

* UnscrupulousHero: [[spoiler:Shining Nova becomes this in the routes where she gets captured. In the villain routes, she outright attempts to blow up the room Stan and Madame Scorpion are in as part of a last-ditch attempt to take them down. And in the Agent Stan route, where Stan has a last-minute HeelFaceTurn and executes Nova's backup plan, it's revealed that said backup plan ''also'' involves the destructive process of overloading the cooling tanks of Scorpion's supercomputer and blowing it up. This actually has pretty serious consequences, as Scorpion and Dynamo both get caught in the explosion, with only Dyanamo surviving, and it triggers a full-blown collapse of the base which causes Stan to get injured during his escape. As a result, he's captured and brainwashed into becoming an assassin, and Nova clearly blames herself for this.]]

* PetTheDog: Most of Scorpion's [[EvilVirtues virtuous qualities]] end up serving her villainous ambitions one way or another, [[spoiler:but in the "Henchman of the Year" ending, she agrees with Stan's request to award Dave with the "Assistant Henchman of the Year" title even though he was clearly struggling in his career. This doesn't serve her ambitions in any way, and she does it solely out of her goodwill with Stan. While she ''does'' almost lost her patience and draw her sword when Dave starts hogging the limelight, she backs down when Stan makes it clear that he's cool with it, even though she lightly remarks that he's being too merciful.]]

* EasilyForgiven: [[spoiler:As vicious as Crimson Dynamo is to Stan during his henchman career, in the "A Real Dynamo" and "Agent Stan" routes, she's quick to forgive him once she realizes he's genuinely on Nova's side, even when Stan points out his role in getting her arrested. As it turns out, she genuinely does believe that Stan was just making the best decisions he could at the time, and if he's willing to help Nova now, that's all that matters. This is in contrast to her demeanor if Stan just escapes with Nova from the outset, with her briefly wondering if his HeelFaceTurn is [[FakeDefector some sort of elaborate trap]].]]

* StealthBasedMission: [[spoiler:What the "A Real Dynamo" route amounts to, as Stan, after allowing Nova to get captured, has a last-minute change of heart and agrees with Crimson Dynamo to prioritize her rescue. Stan convinces Dynamo to sneak into the base via a hidden entrance, and they make it a point to avoid confrontation as much as possible. The fight scenes in this route are noticeably shorter, with Dynamo frequently blowing past or [[OneHitKO one-shotting]] her enemies in short order, and even though Stan does get caught by Madame Scorpion (who makes her displeasure, very, ''very'' clear) Dynamo is quick to bail him out and hightail it out of there despite Scorpion's attempts to goad her into a fight.]]

* UnscrupulousHero: [[spoiler:Shining Nova becomes this in the routes where she gets captured. In the villain routes, she outright attempts to blow up the room Stan and Madame Scorpion are in as part of a last-ditch attempt to take them down. And in the "Agent Stan" route, where Stan has a last-minute HeelFaceTurn and executes Nova's backup plan, it's revealed that said backup plan ''also'' involves the destructive process of overloading the cooling tanks of Scorpion's supercomputer and blowing it up. This actually has pretty serious consequences, as Scorpion and Dynamo both get caught in the explosion, with only Dyanamo surviving, and it triggers a full-blown collapse of the base which causes Stan to get injured during his escape. As a result, he's captured and brainwashed into becoming an assassin, and Nova clearly blames herself for this.]]

* ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption: [[spoiler:There is no route other than the [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere Road Untaken endings]] where it's possible for Stan to avoid antagonizing Lord Bedlam and Chef Antonio. In the HeelFaceTurn routes, they're obviously trying to make Stan pay for turning against them, but even in the villain path, Shining Nova will form an EnemyMine with Lord Bedlam and Chef Antonio will try to sabotage Stan and Madame Scorpion's efforts solely to act out [[SitcomArchNemesis his petty grudge against Stan]]. The shortest possible confrontation Stan can have with these two is in the "A Real Dynamo" route, as there Stan is focused on stealthily rescuing Nova from capture, and simply has Dynamo [[OneHitKO one-shot]] Antonio and toss Bedlam in his own jail cell when he encounters them.]]

* DestructoNookie: [[spoiler:Should Stan romance Madame Scorpion in the villain routes, their trysts are shown to be rather...messy. During TheirFirstTime, Scorpion tears Stan's uniform to shreds, rendering it unusable, which is convenient since she was going to offer him an upgrade anyway. It gets even worse in the Twisted ending, where Scorpion freely admits to intentionally trashing the valuables in the room when they make love to each other.]]

* UnscrupulousHero: [[spoiler:Shining Nova becomes this in the routes where she gets captured. In the villain routes, she outright attempts to blow up the room Stan and Madame Scorpion are in as part of a last-ditch attempt to take them down. And in the "Agent Stan" route, where Stan has a last-minute HeelFaceTurn and executes Nova's backup plan, it's revealed that said backup plan ''also'' involves overloading the cooling tanks of Scorpion's supercomputer and blowing it up. This actually has pretty serious consequences, as Scorpion and Dynamo both get caught in the explosion, with only Dyanamo surviving, and it triggers a full-blown collapse of the base which causes Stan to get injured during his escape. As a result, he's captured and brainwashed into becoming an assassin, and Nova clearly blames herself for this.]]

* WilfullyWeak: [[spoiler:In contrast to the UnscrupulousHero tendencies she develops should she get captured, Nova shows considerable restraint in the primary hero routes. When the time comes to hack into Scorpion's supercomputer, Nova has prepared programs for both shutting down her network, and triggering a feedback loop to cripple her combat capabilities. However, the feedback loop is specifically calibrated to prevent any permanent damage from occurring to Scorpion, which briefly works against Nova as Scorpion's able to withstand the onslaught and very nearly kills Stanley as a result, only being subdued thanks to one final NoHoldsBarredBeatdown. This is in contrast to the [[ICanRuleAlone Lord Stanley]] ending in the villain routes, where Stan also figures out how to trigger a feedback loop, but since he lacks the moral restraint of his more heroic counterpart, he subjects Scorpion to a full-blown MindRape and she collapses despite her best efforts to push through it.]]

* WilfullyWeak: [[spoiler:In contrast to the UnscrupulousHero tendencies she develops should she get captured, Nova shows some considerable restraint in the primary hero routes. When the time comes to hack into Scorpion's supercomputer, Nova has prepared programs for both shutting down her network, and triggering a feedback loop to cripple her combat capabilities. However, the feedback loop is specifically calibrated to prevent any permanent damage from occurring to Scorpion, which briefly works against Nova as Scorpion's able to withstand the onslaught and very nearly kills Stanley as a result, only being subdued thanks to one final NoHoldsBarredBeatdown. This is in contrast to the [[ICanRuleAlone Lord Stanley]] ending in the villain routes, where Stan also figures out how to trigger a feedback loop, but since he lacks the moral restraint of his more heroic counterpart, he subjects Scorpion to a full-blown MindRape and she collapses despite her best efforts to push through it.]]

* EnemyMine: [[spoiler:The villain route has Nova teaming up with ''Lord Bedlam'' of all people, as he realized that Madame Scorpion was in the process of edging him out of his own organization, and Nova knew Stan was lying to her all along. The partnership goes...poorly.]]

* BadLiar: [[spoiler:None of Stan's lies are ever particularly effective, and he often gets exposed pretty quickly. A more subtle example can be found in the villain route, where Madame Scorpion tasks Stan with lying to Shining Nova during her interrogation to get her to reveal her backup plan. Even though Stan basically says the same thing regardless of whether or not he's lying to her, Nova will see right through his lie and only reveal her true plan if he genuinely turns against Scorpion. However, given that Nova still gets OutGambitted if Stan commits to being a villain, it's implied that the true purpose of Scorpion's test was less about Stan's effectiveness as a liar, and more about his willingness to lie.]]

** Agent Stan also offers another rather somber one; [[spoiler: it comes about if Stan originally sides with Madame Scorpion but then opts to switch sides to help Shining Nova during the interrogation. After recruiting Dynamo to complete the mission, if Stan opts to stick to the original plan, he gets injured during the final escape. His body gets recovered by an organization, implied to be the surviving Scorpion Group, who experiment on him to turn him into a Super Soldier, an amnesiac special agent who carries out assassinations for them. He gets found by Nova and Dynamo but he has no memories of either.]]

* StealthBasedMission: [[spoiler:What the "A Real Dynamo" route amounts to, as Stan, after allowing Nova to get captured, has a last-minute change of heart and agrees with Crimson Dynamo to prioritize her rescue. Stan convinces Dynamo to sneak into the base via a hidden entrance, and they make it a point to avoid confrontation as much as possible. The fight scenes in this route are noticeably shorter, with Dynamo frequently blowing past or [[OneHitKO one-shotting]] her enemies in short order, and even though Stan does get caught by Madame Scorpion (who makes her displeasure, very, ''very'' clear) Dynamo is quick to bail him out and hightail it out of there despite Scorpion's attempt to goad her into a fight.]]

* StealthBasedMission: [[spoiler:What the "A Real Dynamo" route amounts to, as Stan, after allowing Nova to get captured, has a last-minute change of heart and agrees with Crimson Dynamo to prioritize her rescue. Stan convinced Dynamo to sneak into the base via a hidden entrance, and they make it a point to avoid confrontation as much as possible. The fight scenes in this route are noticeably shorter, with Dynamo frequently blowing past or [[OneHitKO one-shotting]] her enemies in short order, and even though Stan does get caught by Madame Scorpion (who makes her displeasure, very, ''very'' clear) Dynamo is quick to bail him out and hightail it out of there despite Scorpion's attempt to goad her into a fight.]]

* ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption: [[spoiler:There is no route other than the [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere Road Untaken endings]] where it's possible for Stan to avoid antagonizing Lord Bedlam and Chef Antonio. In the HeelFaceTurn routes, they're obviously trying to make Stan pay for turning against them, but even in the villain path, Shining Nova will form an EnemyMine with Lord Bedlam and Chef Antonio will try to sabotage Stan and Madame Scorpion's efforts solely to act out [[SitcomArchNemesis his petty grudge against Stan]]. The shortest possible confrontation Stan can have with these two is in the "A Real Dynamo" route, as there Stan is focused on stealthily rescuing Nova from capture, and simply has Dynamo [[OneHitKO one-shot]] them both when he encounters them.]]

* ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption: [[spoiler:There is no route where it's possible for Stan to avoid antagonizing Lord Bedlam and Chef Antonio. In the HeelFaceTurn routes, they're obviously trying to make Stan pay for turning against them, but even in the villain path, Shining Nova will form an EnemyMine with Lord Bedlam and Chef Antonio will try to sabotage Stan and Madame Scorpion's efforts solely to act out [[SitcomArchNemesis his petty grudge against Stan]]. The shortest possible confrontation Stan can have with these two is in the "A Real Dynamo" route, as there Stan is focused on stealthily rescuing Nova from capture, and simply has Dynamo [[OneHitKO one-shot]] them both when he encounters them.]]