Playing With / But for Me, It Was Tuesday

2 Following

Basic Trope: One character doesn't remember some act they committed because it didn't matter to them as much as it did another.

• Straight: Emperor Evulz has wiped out Mysterious Waif Mana's Doomed Hometown. When Hiro and his allies confront him, he doesn't remember the atrocity.
• Exaggerated:
  • Emperor Evulz forgets all the atrocities he commits, and doesn't understand why people hate him so much.
  • Emperor Evulz has killed so many people and razed so many towns that they all start to blur together. Wiping entire nations off the map is just another day at the office for him.
  • Evulz destroys Mana's hometown in the morning and forgets about it by lunch.
  • Evulz's A Day in the Limelight episode is essentially a Whole-Plot Reference of The Hangover, replacing "raised hell in Las Vegas" with "killed thousands of people and burnt down their town".
  • Evulz's various levels of Apocalypse How is just as natural as his breathing. He treats it as if it were another daily routine for him.
  • All the villains team up due to their common enemy Hiro and try to get vengeance on him for different reasons (he crushed their crime empires, finally caught them in the act, arrested them, defeated them, etc.), but when they finally confront him, he merely gives a confused stare and asks, "Who are all of you again?"
• Downplayed:
  • Emperor Evulz rarely forgets things, but whatever The Hero is after him for is one of them.
  • While Evulz doesn't remember or even care about whose lives he's ruined, he's still aware that he made countless enemies over the years.
  • Evulz does remember the incident, it just took a minute for him to recollect.
  • Evulz remembers wiping out Mana's hometown, but doesn't recall her father as standing out from the others who died trying to stop him.
  • Hiro knows that Evulz has a grudge against him, but he doesn't remember every detail of the criminal empire he oversaw.
• Justified:
  • Emperor Evulz commits horrible acts daily, often to hundreds or thousands of people at a time. How's he supposed to remember all of them?
  • Evulz doesn't remember Mana's hometown because he was in the grip of a massive psychotic break and there are many gaps in his memory regarding that day.
  • Evulz is a very mean drunk/drug addict. Mana can testify that it's way beyond Not Hyperbole.
  • Emperor Evulz has grown senile in his old age, and would be lucky if he remembered what he had for breakfast this morning.
  • Evulz (and Hiro in heroic examples) are complete freaking idiots with a brain capacity inversely proportionate to their power level (by which we mean very little). They can barely be trusted to remember why they are fighting (if it's for any reason more complicated than "because it's cool"), let alone something more laborious like where or when they fought.
  • Evulz's memory was altered or erased at some point.
  • Evulz wasn't even there himself; the whole thing was carried out by a subordinate on his orders as part of a set of generalized instructions.
  • Evulz's totally innocent, at least this time; someone else burned down the town and he was misblamed.
  • Evulz's 'cruel' act had dominoed out of an act of ignorance.
  • Drake is merely a Beleaguered Bureaucrat who unknowingly authorized the destruction of Mana's hometown, and didn't even get the opportunity to know exactly what he'd allowed to happen.
• Inverted:
  • Emperor Evulz remembers how he killed Mana's boyfriend. Mana doesn't.
  • Emperor Evulz only remembers killing Mana's boyfriend, and no one else.
  • Emperor Evulz pursues Mana to avenge the death of General Drake. When he finally catches up with her, she tells him, "I beat last-rate bad guys all the time, you can't expect me to remember all of them."
  • Mana runs into the heroes and thanks them for saving her life and her village the last time they met. The heroes are dumbfounded, as they forgot all about it.
  • Mana savvily waits until she's delivered the lethal blow to Evulz before informing the Almost Dead Guy that she killed him for wiping out her hometown, and quotes the trope, expecting him not to remember it. Turns out he was Necessarily Evil, and he remembers destroying her hometown vividly — doing it saved exponentially more lives for some reason. Perhaps it was even His Greatest Failure — if he'd been better at his job, he wouldn't have had to sacrifice those lives to save others.
  • When Mana tells Evulz her father's name, Hiro, Evulz suddenly starts a long rant. He keeps praising the man's bravery and affirms that he was a Worthy Opponent, how the victory over Hiro is Evulz's greatest achievement, and how he feels his life is so empty without his rival. Mana is dumbfounded, for she never knew he was that great.
  • Turns out he burned down her hometown because years ago she burnt down his hometown — which she doesn't remember.
  • Mana, a Damsel in Distress, has been kidnapped and almost killed so many times by so many different people, that she's forgotten who Emperor Evulz is and all the times he tried to kidnap her.
  • Emperor Evulz has a photographic memory and remembers every person he's ever killed perfectly.
  • Mana remembers when she killed Evulz's top henchman and best friend Deacon. Emperor Evulz doesn't.
  • Mana remembers how Jeffrey saved her life from an onslaught of hungry monsters. Jeffrey barely remembers the event and treats life saving as a morale-boosting activity.
  • Former Emperor Evulz comes to Hiro's doorstep and speaks a vengeance-based Motive Rant on how the guy effectively ruined his life, his image, and his empire by thwarting his plans and comes to kill him as revenge for what the hero did to him, Hiro, on the other hand, barely remembers who the guy even is due to thwarting many other villains' schemes.
  • Both Hiro and Evulz can barely remember what they ate for breakfast, but they can remember very well when they fought each other on September 13, 2025 on a hill 25 miles northeast of the town of Al Majaz (measured from the intersection of Al Mumil and La Tahtama Streets) in Midwestern Wikistan (including specific coordinates and landmarks that make it increasingly clear to anybody who is listening to them that this is a town you would not be caught dead remembering, let alone visiting), at dusk (which was at 7:35:25 P.M. and was unusually slow), in the rain, and many other similar tiny details… and that is because that is the day that they had their most brutal fight, their girlfriends and families were killed as collateral damage, they got scars from the blows that nearly killed each other, and they swore that they would not rest until they placed the other man in a grave.
  • When Mana confronts Evulz, he assumes she must want revenge on him for burning down her hometown, but she tells him that he didn't.
  • Evulz remembers burning down Mana's hometown, but Mana is unaware that he was the one responsible (and may not even know that it was destroyed) until he tells her.
• Subverted:
  • When confronted, Evulz doesn't remember wiping out Mana's hometown until he recognizes the scar he put on her left cheek.
  • It's later revealed that Evulz does remember — he was just messing with her.
  • "I never said it happened on a Tuesday..."
  • Evulz doesn't remember most of the places he razes, but Mana's hometown was special. After all, he grew up there too.
  • Mana realizes that Evulz doesn't remember the incident because it really wasn't his doing; Mana was thinking of someone else all along.
  • Mana doesn't even care if Evulz doesn't remember or know what he's talking about. She just wants him to know about it and that she is gonna make him pay the dearest price for it so he doesn't do something like that ever again.
  • Evulz only expresses confusion because Mana's appearance has changed enough in the intervening time for him to not recognize her at first; once he realizes who she is, he immediately understands what she's talking about.
• Double Subverted:
  • Turns out he was remembering scarring someone else's left cheek while burning down their hometown.
  • He remembers, but only vaguely, and still doesn't give a damn. He forgets about it later.
  • "Well, it sounds like something I'd normally do on one..."
  • Emperor Evulz actually destroyed his and Mana's hometown more than once.
  • Mana only thought it was Evulz because he was there, but now she knows he was just doing the bidding of someone else.
  • Evulz is so confident in his prowess he doubts he'll remember defeating The Hero either.
  • It's not so much where or when that Evulz has trouble remembering as it is how he destroyed that hometown.
• Parodied:
  • Upon learning that Emperor Evulz doesn't remember the wrong he committed against Mana, Mana begins to explain in detail what the wrong was in an attempt to jog Evulz's memory. Evulz still doesn't remember.
  • Evulz doesn't remember wiping out Mana's hometown, but he does remember something trivial that is vaguely connected to wiping out Mana's hometown, like he got a lot of blood on his shirt that day and wanted to wash it off, but his washing machine at home was busted, so he had to go to a drycleaner, but he left his credit card at home so he had to pay with cash and was five dollars short... Mana also recalls seeing and hearing him complain how his shirt was a mess.
  • Mana takes Evulz back to her hometown, which after years of rebuilding has finally got back on its feet, and encourages him to raze it again in an attempt to jog his memory.
  • Emperor Evulz doesn't know why Mana showed up on his doorstep to kill him. Mana doesn't either, leaving each other confused why they're confronting each other like this.
  • When Emperor Evulz says he doesn't remember destroying Mana's hometown, Hiro suggests that Evulz should go look up a wiki article about himself. Evulz does exactly that on his phone mid-conversation and goes, "Huh... I still don't remember doing that. Must be the work of a Wiki Vandal!"
  • Hiro doesn't understand why Evulz is so broken up over the loss of his candy business thanks to Hiro's Inspector Javert act.
• Zig-Zagged:
  • Emperor Evulz wiped out Mana's homeland. When the heroes confront him, he recognizes them and starts bragging about how he destroyed it ... but then they realize he's not talking about Mana. Turns out he destroyed Alice and Bob's hometown, too — which they hadn't known about yet.
  • Emperor Evulz comments that how he's wiped out many homelands, so Mana will have to be more specific, during the battle, he notices her weapon that she says belonged to her father, who was killed the day Evulz attacked. Things start to add up, and Evulz realizes she must be from the same homeland as him. There's just one problem about the weapon she says was her father's, because Evulz remembers building and using it himself up until that day. Come to think of it, Mana also resembles a woman he was romantically involved with, and knows she never married... You can see where this is going.
  • Which enemies Hiro remembers and forgets seems to be based on whim more than more sensible stuff. He remembers Annihilus because he killed his mom but does not remembers Bison who killed his father, and he remembers Bob, because he stole his wallet, and Fitz, who raped his girlfriend, but not Willoughby, who torched his house, and Daugherty who got him kicked out of college, and remembers Lieutenant Malicious for not showing fear during that Mook Horror Show, but not Deacon, who have him a fight that most people would compare to the most epic madness ever written for anime and made Hiro actually work for it and bleed and spend a month in a very expensive hospital so it cannot be a "lots of dudes want to kick my ass" thing.
• Averted:
  • Emperor Evulz knows exactly who Mana is and why she has a grudge against him.
  • Emperor Evulz doesn't know who Mana is, but the instant she mentions the town, he puts two and two together.
  • "Oh, I remember. I just don't care."
  • Mana doesn't care if Evulz remembers her, and never mentions her hometown to him.
  • Evulz has not yet had the chance to harm Mana or her loved ones. She's only there because someone else came to her for help.
• Lampshaded:
  • "My dear, you can't expect me to remember every pathetic little village I've wiped out in my time."
  • "Yeah, I didn't think you would remember that in particular."
  • "It was Thursday, you sick son of a bitch!" "Was it, now? Well, I'm sure you remember it better than I do."
  • "Oh please, I made so many enemies, ruined so many lives, and killed countless loved ones. What makes you so special from the rest of them?"
  • "You probably don't remember killing my father and burning my village. It's a funny thing, because I'm gonna drive this sword through your chest, walk away triumphant, and I'll soon hear a report about your death. Then, I'm gonna chuckle, shake my head..... and never think of you again."
  • "You can't seriously piss off many people capable of doing what I just did on a constant basis."
  • "Look, I know how I am going to sound, dear lady, but I really need you to supply more information to me. I am only human and I cannot recall what should I apologize for that I did twenty years ago if all you give me to work with is 'You Know What You Did'."
• Invoked:
  • Emperor Evulz pretends not to remember just to enrage the heroes, expecting their anger to blind them and lead to them making critical mistakes in the following fight.
  • Mana beats Evulz to the punchline with, "I know that you probably don't remember killing my father. But you'll remember this."
  • Mana beats Evulz to the punchline with, "I know that you probably don't remember killing my father. But I'll remember killing you."
  • Mana kills Evulz before beating him to the punchline with, "I know that you probably don't remember killing my father. But I'll remember having killed you."
• Exploited:
  • The heroes take advantage of Evulz's terrible memory for atrocities so they can pose as a different victim of his, evading notice.
  • Knowing that Evulz doesn't bother remembering to the atrocities he's committed, the heroes gathered allies to anyone whose lives were ruined by him into an army. It's only when the army grew big enough to be a threat to Evulz, that he realizes that he made many enemies, and they're out to get him.
  • While by her own admission it is not a reliable method of procuring information, Mana is able to obtain data on Evulz's activities by walking up to him, attacking him and roaring out "You Know What You Did" while listening to whatever Evulz blurts out as he tries to put together what that specific "what" is.
  • Because Evulz has no idea of what the heck did he do to Mana that made her decide to get him, she is able to effectively strong-arm him into making up for everything he has ever done as he tries to find this specific misdeed.
• Defied:
  • Before he escaped, Mana managed to gave Emperor Evulz a distinctive scar on his face precisely so that he wouldn't forget her or what he did to her.
  • Fearing that someone will rise up and wanting revenge against him. Evulz keeps a running journal of his misdeeds.
  • Evulz has a cell built, with the name of each town he razed carved into the walls. Once a week, he visits that cell, and has himself whipped while he chants their names.
  • "Well, you never bothered to remember or even care what you have done and how many lives you have ruined, so I won't bother telling you what you have done to me personally either. Now, EN GARDE, SON OF A BITCH!"
• Discussed: "Mana, this psycho commits at least two world-shattering atrocities every day before lunch. You really think that killing your father is going to stand out in his mind?" "It will once I beat him senseless." "Well, at least save some of him for the rest of us."
• Conversed: "I'm waiting for a scene where somebody calls Evulz on the phone and gets the message: 'Please leave your name, number, and relation to people I've killed, and I'll get back to you shortly.'"
• Implied: Mana doesn't say much, but he obviously holds a grudge against Evulz, one which Evulz is honestly surprised to learn of.
• Deconstructed:
  • Evulz doesn't remember who Mana is until she reminds him in specific detail. Then, he asks her the names of all the members of his Legion of Doom that she's killed, and where they live, and if they have families. He then shows her a memorial he's built for the dead soldiers, the hundreds of letters he was writing to their families, and a platoon of the friends and surviving colleagues of the deceased, all of whom are eager to get their own revenge on Mana.
  • All Evulz's acts of reckless Kick the Dog moments pile up throughout his career, causing the rise of one revenge-seeking hero after another. They team up to hunt down Evulz en masse and defeat him. Evulz doesn't know how to deal with this; he doesn't remember any of them.
  • Emperor Evulz and Mana's allies call her out for focusing on a single event rather than the sum total of his travesties.
• Reconstructed:
  • Okay, so the heroes may have killed their fair share of Evulz's allies themselves just to get to him, but there's still a few problems with the survivors wanting their own revenge. For starters, Evulz's atrocities were what caused many of the heroes to take up arms in the first place, and they were only Killing in Self-Defense, so if anything, the deceased tried to kill them first. The survivors can't actually be good people themselves if they're willing to work for an Evil Overlord, and go as far to commit much worse things than them. They're also attempting to fight and/or kill people who are probably much stronger than them if they managed to make it this far. So if they and Evulz really want to go through with all of this, then now might as well be their chance.
  • Evulz doesn't recognize the name of the town, but finds out where it is and unapologetically explains that it was part of a scorched-earth campaign to keep his enemies from sheltering there. Of course, a man seeking to Take Over the World on his to-do list can't fight a personal duel with every kid whose father he may have killed, but have you met The Dragon? You kids play nicely now.
  • Evulz is the evil-overlord equivalent of Dumb Muscle: he doesn't need to remember atrocities because he's powerful enough to execute the army of traumatised survivors baying for his blood.
  • Mana points out that the single event is connected to the rest of Evulz's actions. Hiro's whole adventure? That was caused by Evulz burning Mana's hometown down, which enraged Hiro's queen, who then sent him out to teach a lesson to Evulz. Diane being sent on this holy quest? Coincidentally, her monastery (which had been wrecked too, unbeknownst to Diane) was right next to Mana's hometown. Lance's plot to do the greatest heist? It was because Lance's boss was trying to make him rob Evulz out of revenge for what he did to Mana's hometown (which is actually pillaging one of the most priceless gems known to man). Except Charlie. Charlie, who is The Rival and The Brute, is only joining them because they beat him in a fight and are practically holding him captive. It's part of her motivation to help those who could end up like her, or anyone else that's suffered from him. That's why she has her allies, so they can defeat him together instead of losing to him separately.
• Played for Laughs:
  • "Oh yeah! It bothered me that the body count was one short. Well, time to fix that mistake."
  • "Oh, it's all coming back to me, I went to Subway before that."
  • "Still not ringing any bells ... Maybe you should talk to my secretary? She usually knows when I schedule my massacres."
  • Evulz pulls out his diary. "Let's see ... March 4, March 4 ... ah, here it is! Now I remember! 'The smoke rising from the burning buildings looked particularly striking against the cloudless blue sky. As I rode into the sunset I spotted a solitary child glaring balefully from the rubble, doubtless plotting her eventual revenge.' Ah... Good times, good times."
  • "Seriously? You don't remember?! [Holds up an issue of TIME Magazine showing Evulz attacking the village.] Not even one of these framed up on a wall somewhere?!! Everyone across the land thought that must've been a very big day for you and your men!!!"
  • "...it was the one where we raised those cute monkeys and penguins." "Oh yeah! I meant to let them live."
  • "Lemme guess; 'do you remember how much bread you have eaten in your life', right?" "90,645 slices of plain bread, 150,345 slices of toasted bread, 745 cakes, 15,000 muffins, 350,000 loaves, one-point-five million pancakes. I can give you the more exact breakdown of what went in them and how they were baked, if you want. [Evulz notices Mana's befuddled look] …what? I like to keep track of my calorie intake." "So did everyone I knew and loved die so you could make an example of them, or did you just wipe my hometown out to burn off the carbs from all that bread, fatass?"
• Played for Drama:
  • Mana takes her revenge on Evulz, but her victory feels hollow to her, since Evulz didn't completely understand what he had done to deserve it.
  • Mana finally meets Evulz long after a Heel Realization, where he's a broken mess of a man barely clinging to reality. His inability to remember one specific crime is played more as a sign of his massive guilt and mental degradation, not indifference or cruelty. For further drama, Mana refusing to let go of her hate when she sees how broken Evulz is and how hollow her vengeance would be because killing him now would be like putting an old horse out of its misery (or worse yet, beating a dead horse) only makes her look like a monster to everybody else.
• Played for Horror: Evulz wiped out Mana's village in the third Evulz Strikes! film. Mana gets her Roaring Rampage of Revenge in the tenth film. Not only Evulz but the audience forgets about the thousands of corpses that piled up in the meantime.