Talk about Adaptational Villainy
A Total Drama Dark Fic series by Skillet Lord starting around the midway point of Total Drama World Tour, in which a serial killer who uses black magic named Cedric von Túfeice sneaks aboard the plane after six years in hiding and begins to hunt for fresh victims. However there proves to be much more to story as several contestants have met Cedric in the past. Now the race is on for the contestants to somehow get Cedric back into custody while dealing with the fact they've gone from contestants to hostages.
The first story in the series is called Voodoo's Disciple
, while the second is called Malevolence. A spinoff series, Voodoo's Disciple: Peanut Gallery depicts the Peanut Gallery dealing with the chaos on air. Some chapters are rather gory.
The whole series contains examples of:
- Alternate Universe Fic: This series is story branches off from both Total Drama World Tour and Total Drama All-Stars.
- In Total Drama World Tour in this story's universe, Duncan and Gwen kissing behind Courtney back has unexpected consequences when a supernatural serial killer, Cedric von Túfeice takes over Cody's body. Now the contestants are now in more danger than ever before, with a serial killer joining the game and threatening their lives.
- In Total Drama All-Stars in this story's universe, Total Drama All-Stars take place two years after Total Drama World Tour. 16 more contestants have been added and they are now competing for a prize of 1 billion dollars. Other changes from the events caused by the previous story are shown with Duncan and Gwen broken up, but deciding to remind friends, Cody and Duncan becoming friends, Lindsay not being in this season because of her having a baby with Tyler, and Mal being more dangerous because of his connection to Cedric von Túfeice
- Amusing Injuries: While many of the injuries sustained in the series aren't Played for Laughs, several hold humor like the canon series.
- Asshole Victim: Subverted. Cedric's cruel and horrifying actions towards Alejandro and Duncan are not shown to be deserving and in fact invoke some sympathy for them.
- Like in canon Alejandro is a lying, back-stabbing snake, who charms everyone he comes across to further his own placing in the game, and votes them out once they have been lulled into a false sense of security. However, his torture to near death and soul stealing by Cedric was horrifying and it is made clear that despite Alejandro's actions throughout the game, he does not deserve what happened to him.
- While at first it was amusing to see Cedric picking on Duncan and tormenting him much like the latter would do to Harold in canon, it stops being funny when Cedric's abuse of Duncan grow worse and you see how much danger his life really is in. This comes to a head when Duncan decides to rebel against Cedric, he beats Duncan within an inch of his life, and it's made clear than even if Duncan is at is worst, and if he never reforms he still does not deserve that beating.
- Big Bad Wannabe: A number of canon Total Drama antagonists have become minor threats in the face of the titular monster.
- Chris McLean, the despised host of Total Drama, who is hated by the contestants of the show for his torturous challenges, dredging up drama, and humiliating the contestants, was reduced to a prisoner of a supernatural serial killer. While he continues to be the host of the show, there are times when he's reminded that he's a prisoner of Cedric and how dangerous the situation is.
- Alejandro, The Arch Villain, was the main antagonist of the season before Cedric appeared but found himself outmatched against the powers of his new rival. Thinking that he was dealing with Cody, Alejandro underestimated Cedric, which resulted in him being framed, eliminated, tortured, and murdered.
- Content Warnings: All parts of the story have one to a certain extent, such as Voodoo's Disciple's second chapter opening up with a warning of the darker content compared to the original story. Malevolence's comes up in the form of a trigger warning, as it comes right before Sierra tries to rape Cody under Mal's mind control. Unlike other similar scenes in other media this is not Played For Laughs
- Corrupted Character Copy: Cedric von Túfeice is a dark and more dangerous version of Dr. Facilier from The Princess and the Frog Both of them made a deal with a loa for power, and both of them wore suits and hats. The difference is that Dr. Facilier is a Con Man looking to become rich, while he does Hates Rich People and is looking to take all the souls of New Orleans; it's implied that all he's looking for is to live comfortably as a rich man. Cedric, however, is a Serial Killer that loves to cause mass destruction; he is also a Misanthrope Supreme that is looking to end the world because of his hatred for humanity.
- Darker and Edgier: This story much is darker then Total Drama canon with elements such as a supernatural serial killer sneaking aboard the plane and taking the contestants hostages. The stakes are higher with the contestants lives in more danger, and even the world at stake.
- Dark Fic: This story is predominantly a horror story, with a supernatural serial killer taking the contestants hostages. And there are darker elements at play, such the supernatural parts of the story and several characters having Dark and Troubled Pasts not found in canon.
- Expy: Cedric von Túfeice is based on Dr. Facilier from The Princess and the Frog. Both Cedric and Facilier made a deal with a loa for power, and both of them wore suits and hats. The difference is while Facilier is looking to take all the souls in New Orleans, he is a Con Man looking to get rich, while Cedric is a Serial Killer looking to end the world.
- Fix Fic: This story can be seen as this for both Total Drama World Tour and Total Drama All-Stars, judging by the author's clear distaste for both seasons.
- Reconstruction
- While heavily Deconstructed over the course of the first story, Duncan's character is also reconstructed in the second half of Voodoo's Disciple. After realizing how foolish he'd been acting, Duncan decides stopping Cedric is more important then his bad boy image, and he does everything in his power to stop him and ultimately decides to go straight. By embracing his good side and doing the right thing, he was able to stop Cedric and turn his life around. He broke up with Gwen shortly after World Tour but still maintains their friendship, unlike in canon where Gwen can't stand him. He got a new girlfriend outside of the game, and developed a more positive relationship with his family.
- Series Fic: The Monster Chronicles is a series of Dark Fic starting with Voodoo's Disciple and it on it second story Malevolence
- Took a Level in Kindness: Duncan begins Voodoo's Disciple as a jerkass bully who cheats on his girlfriend. Then, when a supernatural serial killer appears and forces Duncan to work for him, despite the danger he and the other contestants are in, Duncan is more concerned with maintaining his image as a bad boy than using his knowledge to expose Cedric to the others. In the third act, he realizes how dumb that is and decides that stopping Cedric is more important than being seen as a bad boy, even performing a Heel–Face Turn. In the sequel, Duncan has become nicer, become friends with Cody, broken up with Gwen but stayed friends with her, gotten a new girlfriend and generally turned his life around, unlike his canon counterpart.
The first story contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Cedric had an extremely abusive mother when he was alive, who forced him to wear dresses to entertain her friends and fed him the bare minimum she could. This backfires on her when Cedric snaps and gets ahold of a gun.
- Abhorrent Admirer: Sierra is this to Cody as in canon, but is also an unknowing one to Cedric who is disgusted with her and admits even if he was not asexual he would never go for someone like her and considers her psychotic. This is a large part of the reason she's the first Amazon Cedric gets voted off, along with the fact she pressed one of his Berserk Buttons.
- Adaptation Origin Connection: Cody, Duncan and Tyler's pasts are all connected through the blood spilled by Cedric. Cody was tricked into letting Cedric possess him as a child, Duncan went to juvie with him, and Tyler's mother and unborn sister were killed by Cedric.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Cody, Duncan, and Tyler all have dark backstory in this story.
- Cody was bullied heavily during middle school, but then he befriended Cedric and let him use his body, not knowing he was a Serial Killer and using his body to commit murders.
- Duncan went to juvie with Cedric and was nearly killed by him.
- Tyler's mother and unborn sister were murdered by Cedric when he was a child.
- An Arm and a Leg: Cody ends up losing his right hand to Cedric during the events of the final chapter, and replaces it with the talisman.
- Arch-Enemy: Cedric isn't particularly well liked by anyone in the cast, but there are two contestants he has a particularly bad relationship with:
- Duncan has every reason to both fear and hate Cedric for nearly having killed him in juvie, but their relationship only got worse once Cedric got involved in the game. After Duncan recognizes him, Cedric proceeds to blackmail Duncan into keeping his involvement a secret, before terrorizing him and constantly humiliating for shits and giggles. When Duncan finally stands up to him and presses his Berserk Button, Cedric tries to kill Duncan again, only being stopped by Courtney and Gwen spotting him. Afterward, he brutalizes his ex-girlfriend Courtney and tries to kill his current one Gwen out of spite, before getting the latter eliminated. This all culminates in Duncan providing the final blow towards Cedric in New Orleans.
- Cody is the only contestant that Cedric legitimately hates and considers more than a plaything, and the feeling is very mutual on Cody's part. Finding Cedric in his attic when he was twelve, Cody was tricked into letting Cedric possess him without knowing he was a demon. Upon learning that Cedric had been committing murder with his body, Cody turned against him and sealed him away in his mind by accident. Once Cedric awakened six years later, he was furious that Cody had interfered with his plans and responded by sealing Cody's soul into a potato battery before manipulating his friend Tyler to help him in his plans using Cody's appearance. However, Cody still managed to manipulate the events of the game against Cedric by leaving a hidden message for the other contestants which Duncan would later find and use to help Cody get his body back. This all culminates in the final challenge where Cody leads Cedric into a trap with the help of Tyler and Duncan which ends in Cedric's defeat.
- Ambiguously Bi: Discussed when Cedric questions Courtney's sexuality.
- Berserk Button: Cedric hates when he's mistaken for his Cockney accent his mistaken for an Australian one. But that's nothing compared to what he'll do if you knock off his top hat.
- Big Bad: Cedric usurps this position from Alejandro, becoming the main antagonist of the second half of Total Drama World Tour and of the story as a whole.
- Bully and Wimp Pairing: Duncan finds himself on the wimp end of the spectrum here, spending most of the story under the heel of Cedric
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Cedric commonly tortures his victims to death, such as Alejandro
- Dark Horse Victory: In spite of his Butt-Monkey status and frequently being placed to the side in canon, Tyler ends up winning Total Drama World Tour and the prize money that came with it due to a last second loophole.
- Deconstruction:
- The story's plot can be seen as a deconstruction of Total Drama All-Stars. Like All Stars, a Knight of Cerebus possesses one of the contestants, and Duncan is the only one to know what danger they are in. However unlike All Stars, this story shows how horrifying this situation can be, as Cedric is a realistic example of a sociopathic criminal; he has no problem killing or mutilating the contestants or even people unrelated to the game simply for fun. And unlike Mal, Cedric does not care for the contest or its prize, and is only in it for his own amusement.
- Duncan's character is also deconstructed over the course of the story. Like in All-Stars Duncan knew there was someone in the game who was a danger to the other contestants, and although he knew the danger they were all in, Duncan is more concerned with his bad boy rep. However, in this story Duncan's actions are portrayed as dumb and cowardly, and numerous characters call him out on it. Also, Duncan being a Jerk with a Heart of Gold is deconstructed, as in canon he is shown to have a good side and care about his friends, despite being a bully and a thug. Like in All-Stars, he tries rejecting his good side to prove he is still a bad boy. However, he ends up proving himself wrong by showing that despite appearing to be a tough guy, he is really a coward who would rather protect his reputation then do the right thing, and having a good side doesn't matter since he rejected it by choosing to be a bad person.
- Demonic Possession: Cody is a victim of this for most of the story, along with Ezekiel later on.
- Dirty Coward: Duncan before Character Development sets in.
- Disc-One Final Boss: Alejandro retains his hold on the game he had in canon for the first few chapters, but is no match for Cedric's supernatural powers.
- Doorstopper: Voodoo's Disciple is over 120,000 words long.
- Evil Brit: Cedric has a cockney accent and is evil to the bone.
- Eviler than Thou: Cedric is this to every other villain in the series, most notably Chris and Alejandro.
- Fatal Flaw: Cedric's Hair-Trigger Temper does him more harm than good in the end as Cody manages to weaponize by triggering one of his rampages while luring him into a trap.
- Faux Affably Evil: Cedric can put on a very cheerful and eccentric front, but he's also a total sadist who's ready to kill at the drop of a hat.
- Flat Character: Preston is basically just a generic bully meant to torment Cody in the flashback sequences.
- Forced into Evil: While he wasn't the nicest guy to begin with, Duncan is clearly unhappy with being blackmailed into working for Cedric.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Baron Samedi and Mal
- Heel–Face Turn: Duncan goes through one in the final third of the story, after having finally stood up to Cedric in Chapter 12.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Duncan and Alejandro spend most of chapters 4 and 5 scheming against Cody for his role in winning the Area 51. The plan then gets turned around on them, resulting in Alejandro getting framed, eliminated, and murdered within 20 minutes. Duncan is forced into being one of Cedric's minions for most of the story.
- Mama Bear: The only time we see Gwen absolutely furious during the story is when Cedric issues a thinly veiled threat toward her family.
- Misanthrope Supreme: Cedric sees humans as weak pathetic creatures, comparing them to livestock at one point.
- Out of Focus: Characters like Heather, Alejandro, and Sierra get significantly less focus than they did in the canon World Tour.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Cedric gives out several of the course of the story, his most brutal being the one he gives to Duncan in Chapter 11 for his cowardice.Cedric:You got that right Pride. You're no hero, if you were you would have stopped me ages ago. But the thing is, you're just afraid!Duncan: I'm not afraid of you!Cedric: Lies! I can tell when people lie to me you know Pride. But that's not the only thing you're afraid of. You're scared of losing your cool boy image, and will do anything to keep it. But if you stand up to me, you'll be a hero, which is the opposite of what you want isn't it? I was wrong about you Pride, you're not a psychopath or a goodie goodie. You're just a pathetic little coward.
- Rewrite: The author made a rewrite of the the original version of Voodoo's Disciple because he considered the first one poorly written.
- Sacrificial Lion: Alejandro may be one of the game's most devious players in canon, but he's very outclassed by Cedric, who makes this clear by turning all of his manipulations against him, voting him off, and killing him within two episodes.
- Serial Killer: Cedric is the Hedonistic type, who get sadistic pleasure in killing and mutilating his victims while operating under the moniker of the Mad Hatter Killer and the Zodiac Killer.
- Seven Deadly Sins: Cedric nicknames every contestant still in the game by the point of his arrival with the exceptions of Tyler and Cody with one of the sins due to the spell he accidentally sealed himself away with in Cody's mind with weakening with each of the sins committed within range of Cody. A major weakness of the seal is that it has to be constantly reset, but the resealing cannot be done properly within a 5 foot radius of another soul, leading to the events of the story.
- Skewed Priorities: Deconstructed. Despite the fact that a supernatural serial killer has forced Duncan to work for him and the danger he and the other contestants are in, Duncan is more concerned with his bad boy rep and avoiding being seen as good than using his knowledge to expose Cedric to the others. Even Cedric mocked Duncan for how foolish his behavior, and called him a coward for it. Duncan eventually realized he was right and decided stopping Cedric was more important then being seen as a bad boy, even performing a Heel–Face Turn.
- The Sociopath: Cedric has been diagnosed as one, despite thinking that psychopathy fits him better.
- Stepford Smiler: Cody and Tyler, for very different reasons.
- A Taste of Their Own Medicine: While he's blackmailing him Cedric takes great pleasure in picking on Duncan and tormenting him much like the latter would do to Harold in canon. Chris even lampshades this at one point.Chris:I thought I hit a gold mine with that kiss back in London! With the hate Duncan's been getting lately with 75% of the fan base, seeing him on the other side of the punch will totally be ratings central! I just wish wasn't a wanted criminal holding us all hostage.
- Take That!: This story takes several shots at Duncan and Gwen's relationship arc, as both characters receive heavy criticism for their actions along with the fact that they inadvertently caused Cedric to be released.
- This story can be also as this for Duncan's story arc in All-Stars. Like in All-Stars a dangerous person is in the game, yet Duncan is more focused on still being seen as bad boy rather then stoping them. This was seen as very cowardly and dumb in the story, with even Cedric calling him out on his actions. Duncan realizes this and decides to give up his reputation in favor of stopping Cedric, even performing a Heel–Face Turn.
- Villainous Breakdown: The final chapter is essentially one colossal one for Cedric, first losing his smug and cheerful facade after Cody plays to his hatred of being outwitted and Fantastic Racism of humanity to send him on a psychotic rampage that distracts him from his goals in favor of hunting Cody down. After the final three have him in checkmate and Baron Samedi takes him back to Hell with intent to punish him for his failure, he goes through another breakdown where he his dragged screaming in terror for what the loa has in store.
- Villain Has a Point: Cedric may be the villain of the story, but he's right in that Duncan was being a selfish coward by not revealing him at the first chance he get at the risk of losing his bad boy image.
The 30 competitors for All Stars in Malevolence
- Heroic Hawks: Bridgette, Brick, Harold, Mike, Dawn, Cameron, DJ, Sam, Leshawna, Trent, Owen, Noah, Zoey, Cody and Sierra.
- Villainous Vultures: Ezekiel, Anne Maria, Eva, Dakota, Izzy, Justin, Duncan, Gwen, Courtney, Alejandro, Heather, Geoff, Scott, Jo, and Lightning.
The second story contains examples of: SPOILERS FOR FIRST STORY UNMARKED
- Abhorrent Admirer: Sierra to Cody in Malevolence who keep jumping and sexual harassing him what every chance she gets.
- Ambiguously Human: Mal seems to have a lot of experience with occult for a split personality, and has an alliance with Cedric, who is a demon.
- And I Must Scream: The fate of any one of the Axis who breaks Cedric's rules; being forced to relive they're worst nightmare over and over while their soul is trapped in limbo. Lightning almost revealing Cedric's resurrection to Cody and pressing his Berserk Button gets him this fate.
- Attempted Rape: Sierra does this to Cody while under Mal's control
- The Atoner: Duncan has gone straight between stories, and is now close friends with Cody.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted with Alejandro. His experience with Cedric has left a prominent scar on his face.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: It was implied Courtney was having this with Gwen during the argument that lead Courtney to kiss Gwen.
- Better as Friends: Duncan and Gwen seemed to have decided this over the timeskip.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: Cedric and Mal have joined forces in this story, leading their own alliance.
- Big Damn Heroes: Duncan arrives just in time to save Cody from being raped by Sierra.
- Big Damn Kiss: During an argument between Courtney and Gwen after Duncan threw a challenge in the second chapter Courtney kissed Gwen in the heat of the moment. This shocked everyone, including Courtney and Gwen. Gwen passed out while Courtney ran away in shock, wondering why she kissed her.
- Big "WHAT?!": The contestants have this reaction with Chris revealed the prize money for this season is 1 billion dollars.
- Black Dude Dies First: Lightning is the second person eliminated in this story, but Cedric and Mal's first victim this time around.
- Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: Averted. Sierra's stalking was already portrayed as wrong and called out numerous times as sexual harassment. So it's no surprise that when Sierra attacked Cody with scissors in an attempt to cut off his clothes and rape him, it was Played for Horror. While Duncan intervened and saved Cody, the other Heroic Hawks were horrified and disgusted by what happened and voted Sierra off.
- Heroic BSoD: Cody goes into one after Sierra nearly rapes him in Chapter 4.
- No Sympathy: Chris couldn't care less about the trauma suffered by those around for Cedric's first rampage. Examples include repeatedly mocking Alejandro's failed attempts to get out of the game, referring to Duncan, Gwen and Courtney as Pride, Lust and Wrath(Cedric's nicknames for them), repeatedly bringing up Cody's mistake in letting Cedric take control of him, and mocking Duncan when he can't touch a series of cigarettes burns spelling out Pride that Cedric gave him during the Truth or Scare challenge. Note that the last one drove Courtney to tears for forcing him into it.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
- Alejandro attempts this repeatedly when he finds out that Cody is also in the game, including self-voting and attempting to get mauled by a bear.
- The contestants at large attempt to do this, even deciding to swim back to shore if they have to. Chris only changes their minds(minus the above mentioned Alejandro) by revealing the prize is for one billion dollars.
- Sheathe Your Sword: Duncan does this when he decides not to fight Harold to prove he really has changed.
- Ship Tease: Between Cody and Dawn, who is one of the only second generation contestants to not be afraid of Cody.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Duncan has become noticeably kinder since the first story.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Alejandro is deathly afraid of Cedric, and by association, Cody, to the point where he's willing to forfeit a chance at one billion dollars just to get away from him.
