Basic Trope: The villain saves the heroes, without committing villainous action.
- Straight: Bob and co have defeated Mortix the Necromancer in his Gloom Citadel, which is collapsing without its master's magic power. Emperor Evulz and his flight of evil dragons appears to catch Bob and friends just as they started going freefall.
- Exaggerated: Bob and co have defeated Progenitor of Dark Ages in his extra-dimensional den, which is going to collapse into nothingness without its dweller. Anti-Villain Emperor Evulz and his flight of evil dragons appears to bail Bob and friends out of the maw of the void.
- Downplayed: The one who saved Bob was his arch nemesis, Clay.
- Justified:
- Evulz believes that he's the only one allowed to defeat Bob.
- Evulz thinks that Bob and co. will be useful to fight other villains in the future.
- There's something Bob innately possess in his person, and Evulz can't let it be buried under the collapsing tower.
- Evulz wants to gain Bob's goodwill in order to betray him later.
- Evulz hates Mortix more than Bob and co.
- Mortix was going to do something even Evulz thinks is too evil/immoral.
- Evulz likes Bob and/or co. more than he's willing to admit.
- Evulz is a Punch-Clock Villain who respects Bob and co.
- Evulz' and Bob's raids on Gloom Citadel just so happened to coincide with each other. Since Bob beat him to the Plot Coupon, Evulz has to save him to get it from him. It's easier (and more fun) than sifting through the castle's rubble at least.
- Evulz is in the middle of a Heel–Face Turn, and his rescue of Bob and company helps facilitate it.
- Evulz is repaying Bob for his Save the Villain moment earlier in the story.
- Evulz considers it better to deal with Bob, the angel he knows, as a Friendly Enemy, more than the Anti-Hero Substitute that would replace Bob if the latter died.
- Evulz knows that Mortix will destroy the planet, which will interrupt Evulz plans. Evulz fights Mortix (even if it's to buy the heroes time to charge their macguffin and kill Mortix).
- Inverted:
- Subverted: Emperor Evulz and his flight of evil dragons appear in the collapsing tower, and they immediately gang up on Bob and co.
- Double Subverted: And then another villain, Queen Frederica, appears with her Global Airship to drag Bob and co out of the whole mess. Sure is a busy day here in Gloom Citadel.
- Parodied: Emperor Evulz ALWAYS ends up saving Bob... While acting like an over-the-top Tsundere during the whole ordeal!Emperor Evulz: Stupid Bob... Why do I have to save him everytime? It's not like I like him or anything... *cue the luminescent blush*
- Zig Zagged: Sometimes the villains save Bob, sometimes it's Bob's allies. Sometimes the villains save him in a honorable way, the other day, not so much.
- Averted: Bob never needed saving.
- Enforced: "No allies of Bob can make it through Mortix' Mordor to save Bob in time, let's just make it Evulz this time."
- Lampshaded: "You're the last face I expect to show up here." "Hey, that's no way of speaking to your saviour!"
- Invoked: Bob knows that Evulz wants something innate to him, and has faith in the Evil Overlord coming to save him.
- Exploited: Bob detonates the necromantic energy of the crumbling tower, taking down himself, Evulz, and what remained of Mortix. The world is saved from all threats.
- Defied: Evulz simply stands there, watching and laughing as the crumbling tower buries Bob and co as well as Mortix. Two less threats for him in the world.
- Discussed: "Looks like this is it, guys...*chuckle* y'know, this is the one time Emperor Evulz and his dragons would've really come in han-...well, Speak of the Devil!"
- Conversed: ???
- Implied: In the fight against Evulz, Bob asks him why he saved him from a hitman.
- Played For Laughs:Bob: Why are you saving us?
Emperor Evulz: Because I've fallen in love with you, darling! Our previous meeting was sooooo exciting!
Bob: Nooooooooooooo---!!! *jumps off the dragon to his death* - Played For Drama: So, now that Bob and company's safety is dependent on the bad guy, there are no shortage of ways this could go south for them... for example, Evulz capturing them in turn.
- Deconstructed:
- Bob doesn't trust Evulz enough to allow for this rescue, and ends up dying in the castle as a result.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain
- Reconstructed: Evulz doesn't care that Bob doesn't trust him... he rescues Bob anyway, the primary difference being that Bob is riding in his dragon's claws instead of on its back.
Back to Villainous Rescue, do-gooder. I will show these fools *true* evil...
