Basic Trope: The villain tries to convince the hero to join them.
- Straight: Emperor Evulz tries to convince Albert in joining him to rule the world.
- Exaggerated:
- Emperor Evulz does this to every good guy who comes his way.
- Even after his evil plans have been foiled millions of times, he's been killed and brought back twice, and Albert has sworn multiple oaths to stop him once and forever and/or kill him, Emperor Evulz drones on about how Albert should join him, sometimes going so far as to state what color he thought the mansion would be.
- Emperor Evulz offers to abdicate his throne, with Albert as his successor.
- In a video game with Faction-Specific Endings, pretty much every faction offers this or, if their alignment tends more towards good, a Last-Second Chance. There's a special achievement for impulsively taking every one offered.
- Downplayed: Emperor Evulz tries to convince Albert to become one of his minions.
- Justified:
- Emperor Evulz believes that the city needs a firm hand to rule it, and that Albert is just the kind of person he's looking for.
- Evulz is Albert's father and still loves him.
- Evulz knows that Albert is the only one who can defeat him, so he wants to keep him under his control.
- Emperor Evulz considers Albert a Worthy Opponent.
- Emperor Evulz is a Well-Intentioned Extremist, and would honestly like to have Albert on his side instead of against him.
- Emperor Evulz is a pragmatist who recognizes the tactical advantage of winning over his enemy without a fight. Or at least pretending to do so.
- General Drago wants to overthrow Emperor Evulz, and he’s going to need Albert’s help to take over and then re-establish order.
- Evulz is Albert's Shadow Archetype, and understands their goals have more in common than Albert is willing to admit.
- Evulz is aging and needs a successor.
- Inverted:
- Albert takes the initiative and asks Emperor Evulz if he can be co-Emperor, because Evil Is Cool.
- Albert offers Emperor Evulz a position within the heroes to do good.
- "General Albert Drago, you're fired!"
- Albert is so incompetent that Emperor Evulz specifically asks him not to join him.
- Albert offers Evulz a Last-Second Chance.
- Alice offers to marry Emperor Evulz provided she can rule beside him, not be a mere consort.
- Subverted:
- I Can Rule Alone
- Emperor Evulz uses mind control on Albert rather than ask him.
- Emperor Evulz tells someone else that he's going to try and recruit Albert, but then decides not to because Albert isn't competent enough.
- "Yes."
- Double-Subverted:
- But then gives the offer after the mind control breaks.
- After sharing the cookies to make himself look nice, he tries to convert Albert.
- "Haha, just kidding. Now prepare to get your ass kicked."
- Parodied:Evulz: "Join me."
Albert: "Never!"
Evulz: *Holds up cookies* "But I worked hard on these!"- Alternately:
- Zig Zagged: Albert initially accepts the offer, but changed his mind when Emperor Evulvz reveals another, worse part in his Evil Plan.
- Averted: Emperor Evulz never gives the offer.
- Enforced: The author practically fell in love with the scene where the Trope Namer ensued, and got a lot of inspiration from there.
- Lampshaded: "Why does everyone ask me to join them?"
- Invoked: Evulz knows that Albert doubts his true alliances,
- Exploited: Albert knew Evulz would make this offer when cornered, and is pleased to take it. For now.
- Defied:
- Emperor Evulz is too selfish and stubborn to share power with anyone.
- Evulz is too scared that Albert will betray him to offer him to join him.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Deconstructed:
- Evulz decides to manipulate Albert's civilian life in order to convince him to join the bad guys. He gets his friends to hate him, he tricks his girlfriend into thinking that Albert was cheating on her, and he eventually manages to turn Albert into a bitter person.
- Albert plays along with Evulz's ambitions... until the exact moment he can throttle him and burn everything Evulz made.
- Reconstructed:
- But as Albert is going to Evulz, his friends learn the truth. Right as Evulz is about to take Albert away, they show up in Big Damn Heroes fashion and apologize for falling for Evulz's tricks and convincing Albert that evil isn't the way to go.
- However, Evulz knows that Albert may try that, and had planned accordingly. In addition, Albert is starting to enjoy all the perks of his position, and it slowly becomes clear that if left unchecked, Albert may become twice the villain Evulz ever was.
- Played For Drama: Evuls had Albert kidnapped and puts him through horrible torture sessions in order to forcefully convince Albert that he must join Evulz.
Join me, troper! We can rule the unabridged version together!
