Basic Trope: An ominous organization established as a major threat (or asset) to the world has an unrealistically small staff.
- Straight: The Circle of Dark is a universally-feared world power purportedly composed of the most elite and power-hungry men and women. Its only members are Emperor Evulz, Mr. Deuce and the Furious Five.
- Exaggerated:
- The Circle of Dark has only Emperor Evulz and Mr. Deuce. The Line Segment of Dark just didn't sound as cool.
- The Circle of Dark exists despite having no members at all.
- Downplayed: The Circle of Dark has fifty members and focuses its efforts only on America, yet still manages to be both effective and dangerous.
- Justified:
- The Circle of Dark has many, many lesser-known operatives in place, some of whom occupy positions of power and some of whom just blend into the crowd. The Emperor Evulz, Lord Bad and the Furious Five simply get most of the focus.
- They are able to operate with only a small number of members due to technology and connections, and they all want to have the biggest cuts that they can have.
- The Circle of Dark is a Union of Evil Organizations, we only see the representatives for the constituent member organizations. note
- The Circle of Dark's membership has been dwindling, but they are still coasting on their reputation from their heyday.
- The Circle of Dark is indeed comprised of the most elite and power-hungry men and women. That's why there's so little of them; Their entrance exam is so goddamn tough, that it only managed to bring about a few recruits within the last few decades, or possibly within its entire history.
- Inverted: The Circle of Light (Headed by Postmaster Goodman) is an independent postal service with 50,000 members that services a town with only 500 residents.
- Subverted: After subduing the Furious Five and Mr. Deuce, The Hero confronts Emperor Evulz in his lair. He taunts Emperor Evulz that he's all alone now, but Evulz simply smirks... before summoning an army of followers; the Furious Five and Mr. Deuce were an easily-replaced strike team.
- Double Subverted: The Hero then defeats the army in five minutes of runtime despite each member being as strong as the villains whose fights had taken him five episodes apiece prior. There just wasn't enough Plot Armor to go around.
- Parodied: After concluding The Circle of Dark's weekly meeting to discuss The Plan, Emperor Evulz, Mr. Deuce and the Furious Five draw straws for their weekly chores around the Supervillain Lair.
- Zig Zagged: The Circle of Dark remains mysterious - just how large it is and how much influence it has in the world varies Depending on the Writer.
- Averted: The Circle of Dark has power directly proportionate to its size and the social clout of its members.
- Enforced: "In the original novel, the Circle Of Dark had thirty distinct generals and two Emperors, but we don't have the runtime or budget to portray them all in the movie. Hopefully the viewers won't ask how five men can be a genuine world power."
- Lampshaded: "The Circle of Dark? You guys are, like, a Triangle Of Shade, tops."
- Invoked: Emperor Evulz keeps only the best of the best at his side, and knowingly keeps a small cabinet to emphasize his elitist standards.
- Exploited: No one takes Emperor Evulz's comically small Ragtag Bunch of Misfits seriously, enabling him to keep his plans below the radar for years (or longer).
- Defied: "The Circle of Dark need as many able-bodied servants as possible. It doesn't matter if we're the strongest people in the world - without an organized militia, we're just a bunch of guys and gals in silly costumes."
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Deconstructed: Because the Circle of Dark has such a small number of members, the group finds itself being overworked and having to take on various jobs simultaneously in order to compensate for the lack of manpower. Additionally, the Circle of Dark gets taken down easily due to only consisting of 7 people.
- Reconstructed: Every member of the Circle of Dark is a super-strong, super-smart One-Man Army. They can handle all the tasks.
- Implied: The various henchmen the heroes face are implied to be part of the various criminal organizations and nations that the Circle of Dark does business with, as well as ordinary people seeking to cash in on the bounties the Circle of Dark places on their heads.
Please tip the doorman on your way back to Oddly Small Organization. He's also our head waiter. And our head chef. And our Supreme Leader.
