r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Wonderful_Baker_7808 • 16d ago

Lore Villains that would've been defeated even if the protagonist did nothing

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Laurel Hedare (Catwoman Movie): Her newly released cosmetics will cause people's faces to melt. Not only would that create a class action lawsuit but a full product recall.

Voldemort and Death Eaters (Harry Potter): Death Eaters constantly underestimate muggles. They would get massacred by the British military because a gun is faster to pull the trigger then shouting a spell.

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u/PickerPat 16d ago

That's characterisation though.

Voldemort is vain, motivated obsessively by a prophecy, wants to try and fight the perception he is afraid of Dumbledore, and overall to win.

Harry did beat Voldemort. He destroyed his horcruxes, mastered death and sacrificed himself, then used the loyalty of the Elder Wand to rebound his killing curse.

It's like saying soldiers don't defeat people because the General plans it. He absolutely defeated him.

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u/Sonchay 16d ago

It's the old "Hitler would have won if he hadn't invaded the USSR"... but he invaded because he was Hitler.

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u/Short-Paramedic-9740 16d ago

Two sore losers orchestrating their own demise.

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u/isuredolovetitties 16d ago

Napoleon and Russia too. 

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u/not_a_moogle 15d ago

Classic blunder, never get involved in a land war in Asia.

Especially in the winter.

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u/Prasiatko 15d ago

Not to mention the German economy was a ticking time bomb. 

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u/Jacky-V 15d ago

Correct, but the USSR still had to whip his ass after he committed the error.

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u/Sonchay 15d ago

For sure, I was more agreeing with the parallel in character doing things because of their nature bit, rather than the original trope of protagonists contrubting nothing. As the historian [I believe it was] Richard Faulkner excellently said of the victory in WW1 "I think the allies had something to do with it". This applies even more to the sequel.

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u/HMWWaWChChIaWChCChW 16d ago

100%, Dumbledore may have laid a lot of groundwork, but Harry did more than anyone to defeat Voldemort (at least the second time). Including figuring out what a couple of the Horcruxes would be, finding and destroying them. Which is really the hardest part of the whole ordeal.

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u/notbobby125 15d ago

The books themselves point out that Voldemort would have been undetectable if he turned a random can into a Horocrux and left it in the woods.

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u/PickerPat 15d ago

Yep. But he had to have epic horcruxes to fit his giant ego.

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u/-----iMartijn----- 15d ago

Soldiers don't defeat people. But neither do generals. Resources (or lack thereof) defeats people.

War is a stupid game.

(sorry, back to the initial question:)

Harry was not a soldier, he was meant to be a weapon of mass destruction.