The Battle Royale
"They say love is a battlefield..."
"This is an actual battlefield!"
"This is an actual battlefield!"
Shortly after Wander discovered Lord Dominator is actually a girl, he plans to get her and Lord Hater to fall in love with each other by planting a "Ring of Invincibility" on top of an asteroid to lead them both there for a Meet Cute. This however leads to an ultimate battle for power amongst a wide array of villains, and Wander must help Hater reach the ring first before Dominator arrives.
Tropes appearing in The Battle Royale
- Added Alliterative Appeal: When trying to wake up an unconscious Hater, Wander says he's "too wounded to woo, too harmed to charm, too pooped to propose".
- Anticlimax:
- Something the So-and-So is the first to get to the ring... and is so insecure, he's at a complete loss as to what to do with it.
- Later, THE BLACK CUBE OF DARKNESS gets to the ring... and realizes it can't wear the ring, or even pick it up, without fingers.
- An Aesop: Romance doesn’t always go the way you plan it, especially when you’re a Shipper on Deck. Kind of on a grim note when The Bad Guy Wins.Sylvia: Love is a battlefield. And sometimes, you lose.
- Apologetic Attacker: Parodied while trying to make sure Hater is the one who gets the ring, Wander provokes Hater into chasing him and stands in front of the other villains so Hater can attack them, apologizing before he does so. This is played straight in some instances where Wander has to dispose of the villains himself.
- Babies Ever After: Hater’s Imagine Spot with Dominator.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Dominator comes out on top after the battle, which she participated in for the mayhem and glory, not the prize (she knew it was candy).
- "Bang!" Flag Gun: Wander manages to defeat Screwball Jones with one of these. Screwball acts like he's been shot for real, complete with melodramatic death scene.
- Batman Gambit: Wander’s way of getting Lord Hater to follow him.Wander: Hey Hatey, I’m gonna go get that Ring of Invincibility and use it to make everybody in the galaxy bwest fwiennnds! BETCHA CAN’T CATCH ME!
- Batman Grabs a Gun: Fittingly, Wander's Hero!Wander alter-ego does this when Dr. Screwball appears, though with reluctance. He grabs a "Bang!" Flag Gun and uses it to initiate a Curb-Stomp Battle.
- Beam-O-War: Green and orange for Hater and Dominator respectively, complete with Battle Auras.
- Black Comedy Burst: In Hater's Imagine Spot of him and Dominator having kids, there's a Freeze-Frame Bonus of Wander's head mounted on the wall and Sylvia's pelt serving as a rug.
- Blast Out: Pretty much every villain that appeared in the show so far and fits into the Galactic Conqueror trope fights each other in this episode.
- Call-Back: Wander adopts his super-hero persona from "The Boy Wander" when Dr. Screwball Jones shows up.
- Cassandra Truth: Sylvia tries to tell Peepers that the ring is a fake. Peepers doesn't believe her.
- Continuity Cavalcade: Tons of villains come back in this episode, including Little Bits, General Macguffin, Kragthar, THE BLACK CUBE OF DARKNESS, and Something the So-and-So.
- Continuity Nod: Wander spread the initial rumor on the planet from "The Fugitives" and got the ring pip from the convenience store from "The Nice Guy".
- Conservation of Ninjutsu: Sadly, there are no ninjas actually shown in this episode, but the formula still works. Several villains came along with literal armies at their backs, but only those who fought alone (Lord Dominator, THE BLACK CUBE OF DARKNESS, and even Something the So-And-So) make it to the literal top of the fight.
- Contractual Genre Blindness: Dr. Screwball seems obligated to enact a death scene when Wander "shoots" him.
- Cringe Comedy: Something the So-And-So’s schtick. How he came to conquer a single planet is a mystery.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Wander vs. Dr. Screwball Jones. Wander trounces him with a gag gun.
- Didn't Think This Through: Wander's plan to pair up Hater and Dominator. Sylvia lampshades this and chides Wander for not telling her about his plans.
- Disney Death: Hater suffers one, but he recovers when Dominator is called the "Greatest in the Galaxy."
- Distracted by the Sexy: The moment Hater realises Dominator is a woman, he stops his attack in shock. She is clearly fully aware of this and takes advantage of it as she smirks, powers down her armour and poses seductively, right before hitting him while he is gawking at her.
- Dramatic Drop: Wander drops his groceries when he sees that Lord Dominator is a woman.
- Enemy Mine: Sylvia and Peepers briefly team up to save Wander and Hater respectively.Backup Singers: COMMANDER PEE-PERS AND SYLVIAAAAA~
- Evil Versus Evil: The basics of the trope are here, there's just more than two teams fighting.
- Eye Scream: Wander accidentally gets cinnamon in Hater's eye while fixing him and Dominator coffee.
- Flaw Exploitation:
- Peepers encourages Hater to chase Wander when he realizes that Hater engages in one Curb-Stomp Battle after another to get the ring.
- Dominator immediately notices Hater is infatuated with her and uses it to easily defeat him.
- Fourth-Date Marriage: Wander’s expectations of Hater’s and Dominator’s chemistry. To illustrate, the Ring of Invincibility was supposed to be the wedding ring.
- Gatling Good: Little Bits wields a laser-blasting version during the titular battle.
- Gibberish of Love: After seeing Dominator's true form, Lord Hater spends the rest of the episode babbling to himself about Dominator, even extending into the credits.Peepers: Sir... (sighs) this is gonna be a whole thing, isn't it?
- Gone Horribly Right: Wander's plan succeeds halfway, in that Hater falls for Dominator when he sees her true form. Dominator doesn't seem to return the infatuation, meaning that Wander made sure the only one who could stand up to her doesn't want to.
- Gossip Evolution: Wander tells a passerby about his plan to get Hater and Dominator together, and tells him to pass it on. By the time it gets to Hater's ear, it has become a Ring of Invincibility.
- Head-Turning Beauty: Hater has this reaction on seeing Dominator's true form.
- Heroic RRoD: Hater collapses at one point while chasing Wander, and the latter barely manages to get him up.
- How We Got Here: The episode starts out in the middle of the titular battle, and Wander says out loud that this was not according to his plan. Sylvia proceeds to play The Watson.
- Hurricane of Puns: Screwball Jones makes a long string of Gallows Humor-related puns after Wander defeats him.
- I Let You Win: Hater claims to have been holding back last time he fought Dominator. This was probably a lie, but his performance against Dominator is a lot better this time.
- Instant Roast: General Macguffin gets turned into a bucket of fried chicken after getting zapped by Lord Hater.
- Insulted Awake: Just when it looks like Lord Hater is out of the fight, he's snapped out of it by someone declaring that Lord Dominator is now truly the greatest in the galaxy. This happens twice.
- Internal Reveal: Wander finds out Dominator's gender. By the end of the episode, all the other villains learn it as well.
- Kneel Before Zod: Once Dominator wears the Ring, she demands this and gets it with full aplomb.All the villains, save for the unconscious Lord Hater: Dominator’s greater; best villain! Dominator’s greater; best villain!
- Knew It All Along: At the end, Dominator licks the ring and isn't surprised that it's candy, indicating that she knew the entire time.
- Let's You and Him Fight:
- Peepers attacks Sylvia when it seems Wander is going after the ring, and after failing to convince him the ring is a fake, she returns his blows.
- Dominator waits for most of the villains to wear themselves out fighting, only to swipe in and take out the ones closest to the ring.
- Love at First Sight: Hater suffers this on seeing Dominator's face and figure. She uses it to win the ring.
- Love Redeems: Wander's obvious goal, as stated when he explains his plan to Sylvia. It only works for Hater. Sylvia disapproves of this, believing pairing two villains in a romantic relationship could lead to even bigger destruction for all.
- MacGuffin: Quite a few subtropes appear:
- MacGuffin Melee: The premise.
- Mineral MacGuffin: The Ring of Invincibility which the villains are fighting over.
- MockGuffin: The Ring of Invincibility is really just a blorpberry-flavored ring pop.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": All of the villains have this when Dominator's true identity is revealed.
- Meet Cute: What Wander's plan was supposed to be. He even mentions the trope by name. He explains how Meet Cute has become "Meet rraagh rragh!"
- Mirror Character: Sylvia and Peepers during their fight realize they both have "idiot friends" who don't make back-up plans. Then they go right back to pummeling each other.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Wander's reaction when Hater suffers a Heroic RRoD and can't get up.
- Needle in a Stack of Needles: Wander defeats Sourdough by dumping a pile of sandwiches on him, forcing his servants to search in vain for their master.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Wander's actions bring about a huge battle among the villains, and allow Hater and Dominator to claim the top two villain spots.
- Overly Long Gag:
- Something the So-And-So hemming and hawing over what to do with the Ring of Invincibility.
- Mandrake the Malfeasant walking away from the conflict very slowly.
- The Reveal: Wander is revealed to be a vegetarian, as mentioned by Sourdough when he fakes eating him.
- Samus Is a Girl: While it's known to the audience, Wander and Sylvia to start with, it becomes known to Hater and every other villain when he knocks her helmet off.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After Wander distracts his Mecha-Mooks, Mandrake the Malfeasant is about to blast him when he decides "I'm too old for this nonsense!" and staggers away to take a nap.
- Shipper on Deck: Wander for Dominator and Hater.
- Shirtless Scene: Apparently, Commander Peepers has been working out.
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: Wander eventually gets tired of Dr. Screwball Jones' storm of puns as he dies and tells him that is enough.
- Staring Contest: Between Little Bits and the Dark Cube. Whoever loses will get their soul sucked (em, one in a less literal way than the other).
- Strange Minds Think Alike:
- Peepers and Sylvia both say Wait, What? on hearing Wander's plan to make sure Dominator and Hater get married.
- Both Hater and Wander have the same fantasy of Hater getting married to Dominator. Even to the point of having Sylvia as the bridesmaid in both fantasies.
- They even reacted with the same quote when they first see her face.
"Laaaaady?!" - Took a Level in Badass:
- Peepers. He manages to fight Sylvia to a standstill, where before she would pummel him.
- Hater puts up a much better fight against Dominator, landing more blows and weaponizing his ship against her. He manages to knock off her helmet, something even Wander couldn't do.
- Tranquil Fury: When Wander tries to pull off Dominator's helmet, she grabs him in a chokehold and tosses him off the mountain without saying a word.
- Unholy Matrimony: Wander tries to invoke this trope for Dominator and Hater, in the hopes that Love Redeems.
- The Voiceless: Although Little Bits reappears, she doesn't speak.
- Wait, What?: Sylvia's response to Wander explaining that not only did he tell everyone that there was a "ring of power" at the asteroid, but he also planted it there in the hopes of getting Hater to propose to Dominator. Peepers has the exact same reaction on hearing Wander ramble about Hater and Dominator purchasing a time share.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Wander is trying to convince himself that helping Hater beat the other villains is for the greater good, in that pairing up Hater and Dominator will lead to true love.
- Wham Episode: Not only has Lord Dominator's identity been revealed to the rest of the villains, but now Hater has another thing to distract himself from villainy other than Wander as he has complete eyes on her with love much to Peepers's dismay.
- Wingding Eyes: Hater gets hearts in his eyes upon fawning over Dominator after seeing her in her true form.
- The Worf Effect:
- Half the conflict is Wander getting Lord Hater all the way up to the Ring of Invincibility. To do this, they both have to Curb-Stomp Battle each villain they come across, no matter how much of a threat the villain posed previously.
- Inverted with Commander Peepers. Although Sylvia has fought him before and won easily (i.e. “The Day”), Peepers fights her this episode and proves an equal match.
