Basic Trope: A circus ringmaster portrayed as evil.
- Straight: Ringmaster Dante is a wicked man who runs a Circus of Fear, and is always looking to "recruit" new performers.
- Exaggerated:
- Ringmaster Dante is an Eldritch Abomination.
- Ringmaster Dante is Satan himself.
- Ringmaster Dante is a wicked man who abuses his strongman physically, his bearded lady emotionally, his star acrobat sexually, and his pet lion by neglectfulness, while trying to charm a new recruit to join the troupe so he can have his way with them as well.
- Downplayed:
- Ringmaster Dante is a grumpy Jerkass who Hates the Job, Loves the Limelight.
- Ringmaster Dante isn't necessarily evil by any means, but is rather scary and ominous.
- Justified:
- Ringmaster Dante is a member of an Always Chaotic Evil species.
- Ringmaster Dante just happens to have sadistic tendencies.
- Inverted:
- Ringmaster Dante is a friendly, fun-loving man who is very nice to his performers and animals.
- Ringmaster Dante only commits evil acts when not on the job.
- Ringmaster is the Only Sane Man among a circus full of madmen.
- Subverted: Ringmaster Dante acts scary and dramatic for the show, but is friendly and mild-mannered off-stage.
- Double Subverted: ...But that's just a front for his dark side.
- Parodied:
- Ringmaster Dante advertises the fact that he's evil on his circus posters.
- Ringmaster Dante gets sadistic glee out of raising the prices at his circus.
- Bob insists that Ringmaster Dante is evil solely because Dante has a curly mustache and a top hat.
- The whole circus is evil, but Bob has an Absurd Phobia of ringmasters, so literally nothing else in the circus, not even the clowns, can scare him.
- Zig-Zagged: Ringmaster Dante is caught in a Heel–Face Revolving Door, as his troupe fluctuates between Circus of Fear to a troupe of Non Ironic Clowns, and back again.
- Averted: The Circus has no ringmaster, with the de facto leader instead taking a more behind-the-scenes approach.
- Enforced: Ringmaster Dante is the villain of a story written by someone with a massive hatred of the circus.
- Lampshaded: Dante gets a line where he all but admits he is this in his troupe's Villain Song.And, of course, who could forget the very pleasant face
Who does his damnedest to keep some order in this place?
Now watch here kid, as we send this clown for a wild ride!
'Course, you won't think twice until you know that he's just died! - Invoked: Dante gets a job as a ringmaster because doing so is necessary for his Evil Plan, he's always loved the circus, and has always been a bit of a ham. Kind of obvious, really.
- Exploited: Dante takes advantage of his image as one to claim one of his performers, not wanting to deal with his villainy anymore, tried to kill him.
- Defied: Ringmaster Dante takes various steps to portray himself as a charming individual who treats his performers well.
- Discussed:Alice: So, who's this "Dante" person?
Bob: Going by the name, I'm not certain I want to find out. - Conversed:Alice: You know, Dante wouldn't be out of place in a vaudeville-themed horror movie.
Bob: Hmm. He kinda reminds me of this one song from the 70s my grandpa used to listen to. - Implied: The circus performers are all terrified of Ringmaster Dante, but the protagonists never meet him, and the performers are too scared to explain their fear.
- Deconstructed:
- Nobody ever goes to Ringmaster Dante's circus because they know he's evil, which eventually leads to the darned thing being closed.
- Alternatively, the circus goes out of business because Dante prioritizes his own evil plans over everything else, making him a horribly incompetent businessman.
- The circus performers realize how cruel Dante is and perform a mutiny, ganging up on him to kick him out of the circus and replace him with a more respected performer.
- Reconstructed: Dante's failure in any of the above scenarios only leads to him becoming an even worse person, plotting revenge on the people who ruined his life.
- Played For Laughs: Dante, being Laughably Evil, simultaneously jokes about his evil deeds, and goes so over the top with the ones we do see that they both scare the audience and causes them to laugh so hard their sides split
- Played For Drama: Ringmaster Dante is fairly beloved on the stage, but offstage, he's an egotistical, abusive jerk. Dante refuses to change his ways because he believes everyone else is just like him, a selfish prick who puts on a front of being a good person, the way a circus performer wears a costume and plays a character.
- Played For Horror: Ringmaster Dante runs Cirque de la Mort, a supernatural Circus of Fear that abducts children so that Dante can force them to watch his horrific show before turning them into new members of the circus.
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