EVIL EMPIRES - Terrible Writing Advice

[@SultanOfAwesomeness]

"The bar is set so low that we can't possibly fail!" *me tripping over the low bar*

[@TheoneandonlyDrops]

Heeeey, you're in his newest video!

[@BologneyT]

I THOUGHT your Comment would be on this video once I hear the beginning! Why? Because your Comment is in his new, serious video!

[@matthewmoran3851]

but this is a limbo contest

[@JacatackLP]

WHY ARE YOU IN EVERY VIDEO COMMENT SECTION

[@matthewmoran3851]

If you mean me, it is because I like this place Nice and Cozy

[@lemonzing234]

oh my god he's in a love triangle *_with the love triangle_*

[@comicscaremcdonald6462]

loveception BWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[@underrated1524]

how meta

[@irishspartanstudios]

*OH F U C K* meme

[@laurencedixon5307]

Who'll kill who?

[@Ze_eT]

How will he choose between an Evil Empire and the power of Love? Edit: Oh no, the power of love killed the Evil Empire!

[@MetallicBascinet]

I wouldn't mind an ending where the heroes just made everything worse. And all of the political structures, economy, and borders just fell apart, and then, ya know, they got conquered by some neighboring nation.

[@vorpalshade]

Try the Mistborn saga by Brandon Sanderson.

[@shadowspider9]

Inuyasha kind of does that when you really think about. All the bad stuff that happens is because the main character stupidly broke a jem of evil power and various people and demons use the pieces for evil and to slaughter people. By the end the shard pieces are all destroyed but no one is really better off because all that came out of the shards being broken is a whole lot of death.

[@אנונימיתאנונימי]

Metallic Bascinet Sounds like the French revolution...

[@CuboidCheese]

Sounds like iraq, libya, and countless others

[@shadowlord1418]

i can imagine the prologue being written in an ironic tone lol

[@teal_m_101]

And always remember, if any character is betraying the empire, they must show no foreshadowing sign which would make sense. And once they turn, they can kill their comrades with no moral quandary What did you expect, conflict?

[@Sebomai-b8i]

Oof, dont remind me of the force awakens, good god why did they have to instantly waste such a potentially interesting character as Finn

[@hughjazz350]

Hux

[@timoylumontad3920]

@@hughjazz350 That too as well. Hux was loyal to the First Order his whole life until that Rise of Skywalker Bullshit reveal he was a spy which does not make sense

[@KMExceeder]

@@timoylumontad3920 he was a spy? Wtf I'm so glad I didnt watch that movie.

[@timoylumontad3920]

@@KMExceeder Same here. It was the worst Star Wars movie ever.

[@dbsommers1]

I remember writing an evil over lord whose minion failed him for 'the last time'. He fired him with no severance package. When someone asked him why he hadn't killed him, his response was no one would work for him if he went about killing minions. Firing was more practical.

[@opticalyoutube5597]

Good idea!

[@conormccue2871]

Someone has read TV tropes.

[@l.pricetag.5207]

The thing is that an evil overlord would most likely just kill those who fail them. Think about it, by simply firing them they’re risking them joining their enemies (which would be really inconvenient if the minion knew too much) and it would also give the other minions more motivation to succeed, because failure is death. It’s not like they’d be a minion short or anything if they’re just going to fire them anyway.

[@Ole_Rasmussen]

@@conormccue2871 Implying that he didn't happen to get the idea on his own, but must have read it somewhere.

[@LaPollaAtomica]

@@l.pricetag.5207 Not if the minion signed an NDA! Bureaucracy and the judicial system are the true tools of villainy.

[@JoacinoDaGona]

"Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death." - Sun Tzu, The Art of War.

[@docrofreborn7497]

-Me, reading this out loud

[@generalsemyon2369]

Yep, Ive listened too much Sabaton during quarantine (this quote is in the beginning of union, one of their songs)

[@joshthehollow5254]

Sun Tzu said that, and he knows a little more about fighting than you do pal, because he invented it!

[@dydlus]

And then he perfected it, so that no living man could best him in the ring of honor!

[@nqrtzy8765]

“Watch me whip, watch me nae nae” -Sun Tzu, The Art of War

[@PrincessNinja007]

I'll give Hunger Games this one- it admits that the plucky teenager was a figurehead. The rebels did all the work, while her job was just to be like "look, you're siding with a named character! that's almost like being a pc!"

[@50Torlo]

I liked the novels, but to be honest, the last book was essentially a test of a new writing style, and felt like a slap in the face from the author. I enjoyed the personalized style of the first 2 books, but I think the last book just let itself be tore apart through attempting, and failing, to write a political scheme that the first book had never truly been about. The movies actually did better in starting political, seeing as they knew where it was all going anyways. Not to say I liked the movies all that much, but at least they had the story straight from the beginning. In the books, we go from reading the personal story of one individual, to suddenly having the main action of the story be off-screen. The books would have been better had district 12 on it's own risen up in rebellion, starting the spark, and not this mystical 13th that came out of no-where and blindsided the story. Maybe have 13 actually come to help the eventual counter-attack on 12, and go form there would have been a whole lot better, in my opinion.

[@charleslindeman2169]

@@50Torlo Reminds me of a novel series I read where the first book got allot of attention (and it was really bloody good), but the author didn't like the series and was upset that the series he loathed writing was what was getting attention, and not his other work. He ended up sabotaging the final book in the series out of spite, didn't end well for him from what I remember.

[@Someone-sq8im]

*Laughs in Gale-Whatever-His-Name-Is*

[@AxenfonKlatismrek]

Why is it that Teenagers in fiction have power to destroy countries? Listen, I am a teenager in Slovakia, I dont have right to vote yet, SO HOW AM I GOING TO DESTROY FOREIGN COUNTRY, IF I CANT INFLUENCE MY OWN!

[@nctpti2073]

@@AxenfonKlatismrek By being propped up as a symbol by the very government they end up bringing down. When the government starts marketing you as a hero, they are giving you power. RL governments are typically not so stupid.

[@polymphus]

To be fair, rebels with totally differing viewpoints working together is TOTALLY a thing. It tends to end horribly (see: the Iranian Revolution) but it totally does happen and could make a very interesting setting.

[@hughmiller6389]

Acturally they are common and many are successful. In fact your example is a case, the Iranian Revolution resulted in modern Iran which is still here and is a powerbroker in the middle east. In fact most revolution and rebians need many point of view. Not because more view point is good, but more individual you have result in more view point. US form from the 13 colonies and many different point views. Some being slave owner, other opposing. Some being federalist, other state center, even the idea of a new monarchy was pushed.

[@polymphus]

Uh, I mean "successful" sure, but between '82-'83, Khomenei led a series of violent purges to kill all the people whose viewpoints didn't align with his own. The communists, the secularists, the liberals, the merchants and the academics were all wiped out. The Iranian revolution was undertaken by huge swathes of society, but the hardline Shia faction rose to the top by murdering everybody they disagreed with. Read up on the NDF (جبهه دموکراتیک ملی‎) to see what happens in post to folks who won't toe the line.

[@a.morphous66]

And same with the Soviet Union. The second Stalin seized power, he began to purge Leninists and Trotskyites because they had slightly different views than he and his followers did.

[@gojiratheking1065]

Also the Spanish Independence War, with both liberals and absolutists fighting the French together. It led to two Civil Wars and all the 18th Century shit show but still

[@אנונימיתאנונימי]

polymphus French revolution too

[@Ignonym]

The point about Stormtroopers makes me realize--the troops of evil empires are always (at least in theory) highly trained professional infantrymen for some reason. You never see evil empires with a strong navy at the expense of the army, or a militia-based army, or what have you.

[@teal_m_101]

It's not like they're simple men trying to make a living in the universe

[@nulolove]

Well most long lasting empires can’t effectively maintain their territory with poorly trained trained levies. You’ll have slow responses to rebellions and incursions. Plus if a neighboring had great soldiers that empire would be destroyed!

[@revuconsfection5689]

It is because almost every writer's evil empire is most likely influenced by the Germany's Third Reich instead of other nations like the Soviet Union, the Japanese Empire or etc.

[@fridaynuggies4191]

Maybe because The Empire were based on a vast continent, If the Empire were based on overseas colony. Im sure they'll spend more money towards the Navy or Marines

[@BlackCover95]

Finn from _Star Wars_ ?

[@Liamthegreat2008]

Is this implying that you're in a love triangle with love triangles?

[@unhackerthelaziestbastardo6083]

I'd read that book.

[@antitheist3206]

And it will span 4 books and 5 movies, because every Last Book movie has to be a 2-parter.

[@fffffffffffffffff831]

No, he's in love with two of them

[@briciolaa]

shh he's not aware that both the love triangle and the evil empire are infatuated with him

[@UserName-ii1ce]

Issa infatuation hexagon

[@itsashane1552]

Actual idea: make the "good general" she secretly helps the protagonist only doing it to destabilize the empire and bid for power

[@whitenoiseeffect]

This is actually the plot for Dishonored

[@ericthegreat7805]

Itsashane isn't that the plot of hunger games: mockingjay part 2

[@francisthompson3772]

@@ericthegreat7805 Well Coin was on the "good" side from the begining. So not the same.

[@vinetail5735]

@@ericthegreat7805 yeah it was mockingjay

[@steffen5121]

Even sw ros did it.

[@engleberteverything421]

"We must unite against the common enemy!" "The Judean People's Front?" "No, the Romans!"

[@EmberBright2077]

No, The People's Front of Judaea

[@catherinestickels2591]

@Amish brotherhood Apart from the roads, education, the aqueducts, and public sanitation, what have the Romans ever done for us?

[@harrison9108]

@@EmberBright2077 No we are the Peoples Front of Judea!

[@duckduckinator3185]

Harrison *processing...* “Oh”

[@Etzelsschizo]

I see you are men of culture as well.

[@Weirdeiolu]

I'd actually love to read a series where a futuristic empire has fallen into Syria-level chaos. Between there being no good guys and the rapidly-shifting web of alliances, it'd be like Game of Thrones but with less incest and more politicking

[@laurenforsyth8143]

Ryan Quinn Warhammer 40k is the closest you'll get to that my friend

[@TheoneandonlyDrops]

LESS incest? Well I WAS interested in Syria, but no more my friend.

[@miniaturejayhawk8702]

In real life there are no "good" or "bad" guys. There are only different ideologies ! History is written by ist survivors and mostly those "bad guys" didnt survive after the conflict to defend their standpoint, or survived in a minority which makes their standpoint either hated or minor or both !

[@kipter]

@@laurenforsyth8143 there is no moral ambiguity in Warhammer though the imperium is the good guys and everyone else is a filthy Zeno

[@jerinfons645]

@@miniaturejayhawk8702 I mean, stability and personal freedoms could be considered good, while death and destruction could be considered bad

[@DavidLee-vi8ds]

I imagine the meeting where they chose the name for the Death Star would have gone a bit differently if they hadn't killed the guy from the Imperial Public Relations Department. DEATH Star not Freedom Star or Peace Star but DEATH star. It's like naming your flagship the USS Genocide War Crimes Death Machine.

[@berdansargol1577]

Invading the opposing planet, then genociding and enslaving the sentient species is ok, but naming the planet-destroyer battle station as "Death Star"? That's too far.

[@DavidLee-vi8ds]

@@berdansargol1577 On behalf of the Imperial Public Relations Department I want to make the following points 1. The Death Star should be renamed the Peace Star. It's purpose is to bring Peace to the galaxy. The death is an unfortunate side effect of it's main purpose and we shouldn't dwell on it. 2. We do not invade opposing planets. Those planets are part of the Empire where the rebel scum have overthrown the rightful government. We need to liberate them and restore the rightful government. 3. We do not commit genocide. We pacify planets by eliminating the violent dissidents. Thus making the planet safe for our loyal citizens. 4. We do not enslave anyone. We provide meaningful labour and the opportunity for citizens to improve their lives whilst working for the Empire. It's a win-win situation. Remember we're the good guys and the rebels are the bad guys.

[@berdansargol1577]

@@DavidLee-vi8ds that's a fine example of Public Relations right there! Also, I think Mon Mothma should be arrested for treason.

[@CrowderHatingConservative]

@@berdansargol1577 I don't know why we have not already done that at this point...I'll get right on it!

[@supe4701]

What about that space wizard that force chocked my fellow officer cause he said it was a bit stupid to order the storm trooper to not shoot that farm boy, can you explain that?

[@calamusgladiofortior2814]

WANTED: Giant flaming eye seeks army of bloodthirsty, subhuman minions who have no apparent culture or redeeming qualities whatsoever.

[@Sebomai-b8i]

Its funny cuz Tolkein literally designed the Orcs to have no redeeming qualities or culture. Even their language, the black speech, is just an amalgamation of nonsense and bastardized elvish

[@blizzardgaming7070]

Who are also great farmers

[@KaiHung-wv3ul]

Sauron wasn't a giant flaming eye in the books.

[@Olivia-W]

"Let's combine the Romans and the Nazis, that _doubles_ the historical accuracy!" :D

[@AxenfonKlatismrek]

Hey, Remember the movie "King Arthur, Legend of sword?" The villains there i call "Medieval Roman Nazis", Why? living in Medieval times aesthetics are Roman behave like Nazis

[@polish2945]

That's the Combine. *Get it?*

[@mrnubnub4584]

@@polish2945 half life?

[@polish2945]

@@mrnubnub4584 Yes

[@damptruff8435]

Let’s combine the Romezi and the nazis with the romans, that TRIPLES the historical accuracy

[@cking4869]

Stormtrooper: Wait, I have an idea (Takes blaster, points it at his head and fires) (Luke Skywalker dies lightyears away)

[@CCLOSPINA]

Darth Vader kills stormtrooper.

[@hello-o3i]

Your “about page” though

[@timoylumontad3920]

@@CCLOSPINA "Worth it."

[@amiakeli2682]

bruh

[@Someone-sq8im]

Wait. That’s illegal.

[@supe4701]

Evil empire: Has highly trained soldiers and highly advanced weapons Also evil empire: *Cant kill a single 19 year old that has no combat experience at all*

[@davevd9944]

It's what always pisses me off in these movies. They command endless mighty legions that conquer entire systems everybody that resist them falls....Can't kill a freaking teen because he/she wears Phrik plot armor.

[@healyhurst7829]

If books didnt have plot armor, there would be no book, especially if it were "plucky teenagers" at the heart of the story!

[@davevd9944]

@@healyhurst7829 The book would end after the first chapter 😂

[@raw1175]

warhammer observer

[@BaconGamer-4123]

This is why when I make my story about a roblox Bacon Hair named Connor Baconson he is going too actually be challenged by the guests and robloxian union and actually show why he can take down grunts so easily.

[@EXRazeBurn]

2:24 "The Backstory Barbarians" That would be a great band name.

[@onyxrose4349]

Holy shit it would...

[@TheoneandonlyDrops]

how bout 'Backstage Barbarians'?

[@ordinarybro1241]

@bryan diaz varela You're really fun at parties, aren't you?

[@lucillefrancois150]

Another great thing about evil empires: Their weapons and armor is extremely.....marketable!

[@indumatipngtuber2790]

Gotta make dat $$$, I mean, make things look really cool!

[@murphyjack90]

What about a story about an Empire invading a kingdom? The empire is vast, land grabbing, has an authoritarian government and preforms several atrocities during its invasion. However, the Kingdom has a corrupt, bloated monarchy, out of control nobles, apathetic peasants, it's military are press ganged levies and a harsh feudal system is in place. Our hero is minor gentry sent to the imperial lands as a hostage after a great defeat his kingdom suffered at the hand of the imperial Legions. Having known nothing but the feudal system his whole life, he is awed by how efficient the imperial system is, how patriotic their citizens are and the effectiveness of their military juggernaut in contrast to the kingdoms levies. He learns all he can before being send home. The hero's end game is reform his kingdom and make it strong enough to stand against invaders. However, he leads a coup against the monarchy and installs himself as dictator. He is opposed by rebel armies made up of nobles, bandits, pirates, mercenaries, loyalist peasants as well as an imperial intervention force.

[@matthewsmith2979]

Sounds like you've got a winner here. Get writing, I look forward to reading it.

[@sapphirerose5139]

You need to make a story. I'd read it.

[@artofthepossible7329]

I vote aye for that one.

[@azekia]

Msg me when you are done writing, i would buy that book even if it was 500$

[@thexalon]

So, basically the Arminius of the Germanic Cherusci Tribe versus the Romans?

[@Aurichalcam]

I love how the sarcasm of this channel highlights common pitfalls of stories. The sarcasm being preceded by valid points building up to a good scenario being tossed into a bin. Entertains and enlightens me. Good job, keep it up

[@pixaphy]

And I love your icon. What?

[@vetlekarlsen8382]

You say that like you are proud of figuring it out. You do know thats a quite obvius point, and its meant for everyone to get right away?

[@Aurichalcam]

Segro Nlave I know that it's obvious. You'd have to have several blood clots in your brain not to understand the purpose of this channel. I was merely praising and congratulating him.

[@vetlekarlsen8382]

Suuuure

[@SturmgeschuetzIV]

I want to "Thumb Up" you but you have 666 right now and i dont want to break that :D

[@warlordera5409]

Kinda tired of seeing people who thinks avoiding cliches automatically makes a good story, I think that in itself makes it a cliche. Good ideas are easy, good execution is hard.

[@vampirecount3880]

indeed. "Evil empire" is pretty much half of every civilization that existed...

[@ryanchungus8972]

@@vampirecount3880 but ultimately, they have well organized structures, and reason to exist

[@coolboysupermega7455]

@@vampirecount3880 like ryan said, yes, they have actually well thought out structures and still operate under at least a leader that knows how to lead a country. By the way, no, half the civilizations in history were not an "Evil Empire", half the civilizations in history (actually all of them) operated under different moral beliefs and justifications than others, and really, unless we're talking about morally bad countries like Nazi germany, Fascist italy and the Empire of Japan, they're all good depending on the way you see them.

[@vampirecount3880]

@@coolboysupermega7455 oh so nazi germany, facist italy and the empire of japan are morally bad countries? Its funny how every country oparated under different moral beliefs, but not the axis powers... the axis powers were evil... thats a nice cliche right there.

[@ArghastOfTheAlliance]

@Madam Meouff Jews will say that the Nazis were evil. I guess the people of Philippines would say that it's the Americans who were evil. Or the Chinese that it's the British, French, Japanese and Russians who were evil. Nations and civilizations throughout history were not simply good or bad, all were good and bad in different aspects and to different extents.

[@josteinhenrique2779]

Some people may question: "Should I try to make my Evil Empire to get the sympathy and loyalty of certain social groups, in order to exploit them to become stronger?" On real life, doctors, professors and engineers could not only make great things for my empire, but also be great propagandists. Lower classes like building workers, truck drivers and even discriminated groups could be among the most blindful supporters and even police collaborators. But this would be unnecessarily complex. The only supporters my Evil Empire needs are the military and the filthy rich tycoons, and the filthy rich tycoons ALWAYS should be futile people who spend all their money on the most hedonistic way. It's not like actual tycoons would care about investing their money on things like profitable businesses or basic industries.

[@OuroborosChoked]

Not gonna lie... Roman Nazis sound like awesome villains. ...they should also be pirates.

[@teddyzorro]

And ninjas!

[@teddyzorro]

IN SPACE!

[@youngsterj4y]

Teddy Zorro WITH PET SHARKS!

[@teddyzorro]

WITH PET LASER SHARKS!

[@teddyzorro]

THAT IS, THE SHARKS HAVE SHARKS!

[@GeorgeCowsert]

Here's a twist on the typical empire story. Make it so that the Emperor is actually the protagonist.

[@BlackCover95]

“Why don’t you put the whole *world* in a bottle, Superman?”

[@tldoesntlikebread]

Like Overlord?

[@reeetkid4197]

I want to write something like that

[@carlosdgutierrez6570]

@Jimmie Toyne well… that is just the description of every single modern democracy. Presidents and prime ministers come and go but the bureaucrats are they same in every government and the actual force making the countries tick.

[@calvinc728]

Warhammer 40k.

[@figrindantatooine]

This video totally explains The 1st Order of the new Star Wars movies. Not ever telling viewers how it came to be so powerful and who the leader is and why.

[@fire-nrg7962]

As a fan of new stuff, I kinda wish they provided some context on what the galaxy's political situations are. Though, I know what they're trying to go for. They seem to focus more on having what made the OT so great.

[@ianhines2302]

ThatoneguywhoonlylistenstoEurobeat The new films suck cock

[@Sebomai-b8i]

@@fire-nrg7962 yeah its called focusing on fanservice and pandering instead of creative and detailed writing

[@Hafer_]

@@fire-nrg7962 I don't recall the OT being a repackaging of an older groundbreaking movie for easy money and nostalgia

[@fire-nrg7962]

@@Sebomai-b8i Actually, it's called focusing more on the story than the universe.

[@vladimiravich7260]

In my humble opinion. The Advent Coalition from XCOM 2 is a good example of a fairly well made evil empire. Legions of competent alien and human/alien hybrid troops that kill heroes with relative ease. Well oiled propaganda machine and cover ups to hide their atrocities. Provides it citizens a pretty cushy life and legit reasons to not hate the alien overlords. But suffers from missing details and poor decisions.

[@HighKnight]

Mikhail Pashin Where the heroes only win because everyone misses.

[@a-drewg1716]

@@HighKnight but then the hero miss a 100% chance to hit with a shot gun after basically shoving the thing down the aliens throat.

[@EnrocaLaRoca]

@@a-drewg1716 And then he receives a critical shot that leaves him with 1 HP and makes him panic, so he retires and shoots a car that's being used by your captain, which kills him.

[@superbattledroidposting]

@@EnrocaLaRoca and then because you have the war of the chosen dlc the chosen assassin appears and kills of the remainings of your team

[@EnrocaLaRoca]

@@gemtownMANCHURIA I mean, if you don't liked the result of a turn, you can load the previous save file and try another thing (not the same thing since the game remembers if you missed or not a shot on a turn you already played).

[@Extys]

This channel is going places.

[@adamjustus3766]

Extys totally subbing now xD

[@jasper2621]

Me too

[@TalesStahl]

ist the choosen channel ...

[@BologneyT]

It has gone places, so you're right!

[@IronWarhorsesFun]

aka whats really wrong with TLJ.

[@baharrothbluu]

I'd like to see a story from the perspective of a low-level grunt, seeing the empire begin to crumble.

[@Powerslave18]

Black Company Chronicles

[@silverletter4551]

In my novel, there's a soldier who is depicted as having lived through the end of the British Empire as Britain is conquered by outsiders.

[@noahthompson2912]

We saw some of that from star wars battlefield or something

[@lizzyred3677]

@@noahthompson2912 battlefront 2?

[@aoli8142]

"Everything changed when the fire nation attacked" XD

[@pastelnuclear7356]

The ancient kung fu fighting Han dynasty armor wearing chinese, with stereotypes extended to cold war era Maoist cult of personality. best cartoon btw.

[@EvanHBogle]

@@pastelnuclear7356 I always kind of saw the Fire nation as Imperial Japan. I mean there country kinda looks like an inverse Japan and they're the most inudstialized nation in that world just like Japan was and still is the most inudztrialized nation in Asia

[@neonavarro918]

@@EvanHBogle I'm pretty sure they do reflect japan. Almost everything in ATLA reflects something in the real world, including race and nationality.

[@williamkrause5831]

Evan H. Bogle no the culture of the fire nation is based on china, with mid 20th century japanese foreign policy.

[@justanamateur6129]

That was not bad cartoon

[@n.m.dimmick194]

"Only Imperial stormtroopers are so precise." The most ironic line in all of Star Wars.

[@pytko3]

Not in Rogue One it isn't.

[@Rpground]

Rogue, it's fucking ROGUE!

[@kimarous]

It's even funnier with the preceding line of "And these blast points, too accurate for Sand People." Yes, too accurate for the indigenous raiders who snipe speeding podracers.

[@nicholsjoshua15]

You realize that the Stormtroopers were missing on purpose right?

[@harithwijesinha6747]

Joshua rogue one

[@chrisheckel3887]

Well when Lucas explained the power structures of how the Empire came to be in Star Wars, fans hated it, screamed "ew boring politics!!11!!1!!". So we only have ourselves to blame

[@gryfalis4932]

Also, originally Lucas wanted another trilogy focused on the rebuilding of the republic after the detsruction of the empire lol

[@OurBrainHurtsALot]

"Fictional empires have only one weakness: Clunky teenagers!"

[@bobskywalker2707]

Plucky

[@JAM_564]

clunky

[@bapldap3324]

plucky

[@evanennis196]

clunky

[@caseyb1346]

Teenage Cluckers

[@Stardweller1]

Having an Empire as the antagonist is actually a pretty cool idea, but part of what would make it work is don't have it be so cliched. Try and make it look more realistic to real world empires. Show the internal power structure. Who's the leader? Is it an Emperor or a Monarch? Does he/she rule alone, or is there some kind of Senate or Parliament or Council that also make administrative decisions? How is the leadership chosen? Is it birthright, election, or merit? Also, say a thing or two about the Empire's history. What made them start expanding, thus turning them into an Empire? Did they start expanding to create a buffer zone against potential invaders? Was it a desire for resources? Did they do it simply to increase their power and influence? Was xenophobia a motivation? Was it a combination of things? Perhaps they were provoked into war by another nation, then won and in the process gained the other nation's territory and then it went from there? Furthermore, give us the Empire's current state. Is this the height of its power, or is it in decline? If the latter, then is the cause of the decline social, economic, political, or military? How do they maintain control over the conquered territories? Are there powerful figures in the Empire who might not be on board with the Emperor's plans? If so, could that be the start of change? In short, flesh the Empire out, and use real-world Empire's as a guide for what happens when a political, military, and/or economic entity exercises power and control beyond the borders of its homeland.

[@virusoflife5989]

That's right, i should also add that the same should be done for the resistance. Don't just make them to be rebels give them a philosophy and a purpose, not just make them to destroy the empire but to build something better after it. Also i like when they turn some of the rebels to evil in order to show that neither side is perfect it becomes more realistic.

[@Stardweller1]

@@virusoflife5989 Another idea is to have more than one resistance movement. Sometimes empires have more than one rebellion at a time, and the different rebel factions may even be as hostile towards each other as they are towards the empire.

[@virusoflife5989]

@@Stardweller1 yeah, that's right especially if the one fraction are rebels fighting fir change and others terrorists who just want to destroy and killing even innocent people.

[@joeysopinion4463]

I shall

[@dad5088]

so Practical guide to evil ?

[@mrscoldarrow]

If the elder scrolls has taught me anything, it’s to make the Empire the good guys and then make some other race have an equally strong force not because they can summon it out of nowhere but because they actually use trickery and deceit to win

[@YataTheFifteenth]

"Dagoth Ur did nothing wrong!"

[@freewyvern707]

i like Elderscrolls because the Empire was somewhat realistic. Yes there were genocides and dxecution, and yes they wanted power, but they felt like they were a real governing body that would last

[@roiroije6326]

The Tamriel Empire is the only Empire, fictional and non-fictional, that I would actually be proud to say "Long Live the Emperor!" for.

[@morganyoung3557]

You know what would interesting a story that goes against the trope and has the rebellion be the villains and actually have the Empire be the heroes. I always see a story where the rebellious heroes go against the evil empire, so it would interesting to see a story turn that sort story on its head.

[@matt0044]

What about a story where both sides are truly shown thinking themselves to be the heroes despite the questionable decisions each side makes? I've always wanted that rather than one sides is more righteous than the other.

[@nerdherd1819]

matt0044, that is a good point

[@morganyoung3557]

matt0044 I would say that I think that the Hunger Games actually did a pretty good job with that, in spite of enforcing the Hunger Games President Snow felt like he was staving off something a lot worse by doing this. Also when Katniss meets the rebel leaders of District 13 she finds out that they are just as bad as the people running the Capitol especially when it came to sacrificing children for what they thought was the greater good. Her own best friend created a weapon that caused the death of her own sister and seemed to feel no remorse over that.

[@Straga_Severa]

> You know what would interesting a story that goes against the trope and has the rebellion be the villains and actually have the Empire be the heroes. They will not be called rebels, but terrorists.

[@neighslayer768]

The original Gundam anime did this. The good guy Earth Federation battling the Principality of Zeon, who committed mass murder in the name of space colony freedom. Using giant robots.

[@alexernst9448]

One thing I always loved about the Star Wars Expanded Universe was how well it handled that last part. "The Emperor's dead! Peace now?" "Nope, six more years of brutal civil war where the rival Imperials will actually do most of the work of destroying the Empire for us!"

[@KaiHung-wv3ul]

15 actually.

[@leifthesilly]

You forgot one thing there needs to be a buff morally ambiguous elite soldier that believes he's doing the right thing even though he's working for the empire things are round black and then include them in the most important part of the story The Love Triangle ignoring of course that he's going to need to portray the society that he has worked for for his entire life and that he has done horrible atrocities in the past that he is never seem to care about before

[@oskartheguy2105]

Who wants a story where the "evil empire" is actual good but the hero is just ignorant to all of the horrible things that he does and at the end the ruler speaks to the hero and then let's the hero kill him.

[@Tonatiub]

Bioshock Infinite?

[@shinwook5145]

That's so horribly complex! You'll make people sleep! Just do the cliche! (?)

[@nicholsjoshua15]

FarCry 4?

[@scribejungal3125]

Oskar The guy i'll get on that m8

[@ПавелПовх-з3у]

Hunger games? Matrix?

[@FloppyRodrigo]

3:34 Monty Python's Life of Brian. People's Front of Judea and the Judean People's Front.

[@halocrafter300]

Floppy Rodrigo Yay!

[@godoalfredomj]

SPLITTER!

[@Joshuadrache]

German quality.

[@teal_m_101]

I hate them! I'm part of the Front of the Judean People!

[@miamiwendigo]

I remeber an isp video were it was a civil war between the central african repblic and the african central republic

[@josephjoestar600]

‘Roman nazis’ *Caesars legion intensifies*

[@Sebomai-b8i]

But they aren't nazis sooo.... ? *AVE TRUE TO CAESAR*

[@AxenfonKlatismrek]

Hey Joseph, Hows your Caesar?

[@AxenfonKlatismrek]

@Stardust crusader. shiiiiiiiiiiiizzaaaaaaaaaaaa

[@YataTheFifteenth]

What legion? You mean that rock?

[@aaronlandry3934]

Did Von Strohiem become an Italian citizen before Stalingrad?

[@ripmadhatter4948]

I wonder if somebody else already had the idea to write an original fiction by following these advices in order to see how the audience would react?

[@ZKP314]

If that's true, then that person would be a hell of a troll

[@Mathignihilcehk]

This is actually a good genre. See "Springtime for Hitler", more info here: tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpringtimeForHitler Of course, I'm not going to link the IMDB article on the Producers or the wikipedia article, because either of which might inform the viewer of what they want to know. Instead, take this TV Tropes article, which is almost entirely unrelated to my point.

[@AkwardPotato4Ever]

Rip MadHatter I'm on it

[@TheFiresloth]

Someone already did it. It's called Eragon.

[@apples6684]

does it have love dodecahedron?

[@lucianamansolelli1121]

My story is actually about the last remnants of a previously evil empire trying to redeem themselves and avoid destruction by the nations that took them down

[@hung-yenhoang1462]

Ever finished?

[@janusceasar7851]

@IAN HEINE Or the Skeleton Empire after Behemoth War

[@vanadis2420]

So it's France after Waterloo? Bruh

[@steffen5121]

UK lol

[@artofthepossible7329]

Eastern Roman Empire I would say is a good real life equivalent.

[@Obsidianen]

"Easily conquered elves" had to laugh a bit there xD

[@timoylumontad3920]

Dwarfs snicker

[@jerankorak7997]

I honestly can't tell if you're ripping into Star Wars or the Inheritance Cycle here.

[@ravenstrategist1325]

both

[@gino14]

Considering they have fundamentally the same story structure...

[@ThatDragonGuy]

And Warhammer 40k

[@moriskurth628]

TreekothRebel Actually, the Imperium fof Man from 40K is pretty realistic considering its size and internal and external threats. It is a Galactic-Level national entity, and needs to balance a hands-off approach (Completely centralized authority is impossible due to size and distance) and authoritarian powers (Seceding planets present a weakness and drain resources/take resources away that would normally come). I mean the Administratum (Imperium's ruling body) can lose entire star systems due to a *rounding error*, and the bureaucracy is so bloated that requests can take years or even decades to go through. So, it isn't the worst written Evil Empire out there by far, especially when you consider the only other options Humanity has in that Universe are worshipping daemonic entities that eat souls, or to get enslaved by aliens.

[@dragonnova2163]

um... starwars clearly. imperial troops manage to or almost manage to kill main characters in inheritance several times AND the post inheritance power structure is very clear

[@t3chkn1ght]

Pro Tip For Any Empire, Evil or Otherwise DON'T MURDER YOUR TAXPAYERS!!!

[@Space_Viking]

0:35 So........was that a love triangle between a writer, an evil empire and a love triangle itself? XD

[@Sebascadpi]

An example of well made empire is Nilfgaard at the Geralt of Rivia saga

[@Sebascadpi]

Joseph Sosa That's why I said "empire" instead of "evil empire". In that world you can't really tell wich side is the good and wich the bad talking about the northern kingdoms and Nilfgaard

[@kwazooplayingguardsman5615]

Joseph Sosa umm? in nilfgaard, slavery exists, mages are executed if they refuse state service, and non-human pogroms happen consistently too. you do know that radovid gave mages two chances for a rite of trial in a court of law for the regicide of four northern kings until philippa sent her dragon to kill everyone in loc muine.

[@kekero540]

Sebastián Cadavid Piñero that's because it's based on a real not so empire the Holy Roman Empire

[@brian0057]

You spelled Elric of Melnibone wrong.

[@Xfire209]

Well from what I quickly read on the Internet it sounds like a rather poor copy of the Holy Roman Empire. What does it supposedly have with it in common?

[@sirilluminarthevaliant2895]

In my little sci-fi I wrote it’s eventually revealed one of the two protagonists is actualy evil and the red star empire is right to come after him. The empire itself just being a regular power in the region with some rough tendencies the officer who is the protagonists brother joined off their during planet because it really did save them from their own culture on mandel And that’s why he was so obsessed with capturing his brother

[@Isvoor]

Hey! I'm from the Noble Kingdom of Map Filleria!

[@Isvoor]

I'm from the prestigious Chosen One Street, but my dead parents used to work at Love Triangle District for Mary Sue.

[@PENTAGRAMMAINCOMM]

I'm from Evil Place. I'm a recruit for the Evil Army of.... *B A D G U Y N A M E...*

[@dalek--ck9oy]

Isvoor im that poor village elder who lives next to them Darn elves

[@lentoturmahub8214]

I am from the Evil Empire of Overpowerdness, and we hate all Map Fillerians! Our guest is to kill all Map Fillerians, but somehow we can't hit you two.

[@IronWarhorsesFun]

and i'm from the middle empire of nowherera!

[@flibbernodgets7018]

I'm very happy that in the Pathfinder campaign I ran for my buddies, I inadvertently avoided most of these tropes. My evil empire was based on Spain's colonial government of the Philippines in the 1600's. We never finished the campaign, but I'm sure it was going to be very open ended. The player characters' motivations were pretty personal, not so much "because opposing oppression is the right thing to do", and it's likely that once they threw off the corrupt Spanish stand-ins, many of the original problems that allowed the colonization to happen in the first place would probably re-occur. A sort of "We would rather face hard decisions on our own than have everything decided for us" ending.

[@conradojavier]

The Spanish Armada is like the closes we got for a Real Life Deathstar.

[@theswissmiss69]

In „A New Hope“ the stormtroopers are actually really competent! The took over the whole Tantive IV!

[@minervablake7573]

I'm thinking about writing a story that's about an evil empire, but from the point of view of the empire, a premise that I haven't really seen done too often. I've pictured the empire as seeing themselves as the good guys, similar to how most countries have citizens growing up believing that their country was good and whatever country they were at war with was evil (a mindset pretty common in my home country of America), not realize that in reality, things can rarely be looked at objectively in terms of black and white morality.

[@fatcat5544]

Sure. Iraq, Afghanistan, and whatever other middle eastern shit hole is evil. Yup.

[@TheMegalusDoomslayer]

Minerva Blake We are the United States of America. Get it right.

[@balintkristof8442]

Like in Starship Troopers or Warhammer 40k?

[@fatcat5544]

Starship Troopers didn't have an evil empire tho.............

[@vernolee6062]

The Federation (at least in the movie)

[@Xeno426]

Now I want a trilogy where the evil empire is defeated in the first book, then the other two are focused on the conflict of the winners between themselves and trying to rebuild the nation while nearby empires/nations/kingdoms try to take territory for themselves in the disorder.

[@cwilliams523]

Read the Mistborn series. That's what it's about, and the evil empire is later discovered to have been evil because the Ruler constantly had to deal with environmental disaster and a spiritual destructive god.

[@Ethan5I5]

That would be really cool!

[@shinhook2k280]

You could also do a Papers please and make the empire toppled by a equally worse tyrrany that promised the protagonist a better life and got his trust via bribes ect, and in return got him to help with their plans

[@grammar_antifa]

I recommend people check out Practical Guide to Evil, a web serial that subverts this and other fantasy tropes.

[@burningmagyk4986]

Thank you my friend

[@Elbrasch]

Damn you, there goes the rest of my free time this week.

[@ADADEL1]

I personally suggest the Evil Overlord's List. www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html It's just a faster read.

[@sirevilmustache9567]

Why read a dry list if you could read a well written story? Sure it's faster, but by that logic you might as well eat noodles uncooked cause "it's faster".

[@Krygex]

But if I follow all of the advice on the Evil Overlord list, then I'll just the head of a ruthless yet still fair and sober autocratic regime. I can't be truly maniacal while being sane and reasonable!

[@Ulakiest]

Meanwhile I have an idea for an "evil" empire that is fully supported by its people, and simply wants to look out for its people and ensure their survival. Man is that lame or what

[@nottherealpaulsmith]

that's lame as fuck make the empire do something evil like post shitty minion memes

[@50Torlo]

Have you read the Honor Harrington novels? First book in the series is currently free. There is a Monarchy based empire in space, that is the "good" guys. They fight against a few different neighboring people, and have to deal with extreme politics from a lot of different areas. (Including the fact that most of human controlled space is still controlled by a "Security" based in Sol, on Earth. Fun times that.) Might give you some ideas. David Weber is a good author. He has written quite a few stories about governments that can be seen as "evil" that, when written from their point of view, aren't all that bad. Or at least, they aren't all that bad to themselves, outsiders tend to get screwed overt, but hey, that is what governments are all about.

[@milicadiy]

That's a great idea.

[@redseagaming7832]

If I ever wrote a story about an Empire I'd actually betray it as a good Empire when it comes to its citizens not to its enemies

[@Leiliel1]

Serious question: Beaubien offhandedly mentioned a PR department for the Evil Empire. Would such a character be more effective as a true believer or a cynical woo-meister who just doesn't care who pays him to spin various war crimes?

[@gonzalo5162]

I just translated the subtitles to Spanish, i'll try to make it with the other ones someday. I love your job dude, keep it up.

[@TerribleWritingAdvice]

Thank you! I really appreciate you taking your time to translate.

[@raptorrise8537]

Damn that is a really accurate reprentation of the First Order from the new Star Wars movies ^^

[@sewhelancunningham2201]

Yeah

[@sprodersprack4257]

Also the empire from the OT, in fact, it's a representation of all the bad guy factions in Star Wars

[@adweebwithapetcat7590]

Sprodersprack actually if you read the Star Wars material after the emperor was killed there was still conflicts and a reconstruction area. Imperial officers were killed or put in prison for there crimes. There was also imperial war lords fighting for control. On the Death Star the stormtroopers missed so they could find the rebel base. In the other battles they were accurate and destroyed the rebels. There was also extremist that the rebellion didn’t want to have ties to.

[@sprodersprack4257]

@@adweebwithapetcat7590 So?

[@powerist209]

@@adweebwithapetcat7590 I think the last one is covered in Rogue One and Star Wars Rebels.

[@ElGringoCastellano]

I want to see more Evil Republics and more Good Empires and Morally Grey/Complex/Nuanced Empires

[@caav56]

Well, in story I'm trying to write, there's a Generally Nice, But Space-Crazy Empire and Corrupt, But Not Really Evil UN. Yes, the Empire will happily launch space battleships and deploy satellite weapons, but it's because conquering space is their general line and, besides, for each military asset, there's at least three industrial assets deployed in space and used for the good of people (there are even satellite hospitals, where some normally uncurable diseases are treated and cured - praise the microgravity! And yes, as the time goes, the access to those hospitals becomes cheaper and cheaper). Yes, the UN is corrupt, but it was like this for a long time (before the Empire has suddenly appeared in the world via time-shift) and it's mostly because of the lack of real competition with anyone, making them lax and allowing crime syndicates to prosper. Besides, the appearance of the Empire and following Space Fever has allowed them to finally get their shit together and at least try to participate in it.

[@nine300]

Isn't the whole idea of imperialism kinda… evil, though? I mean, not 100% evil, but conquering and subjugating foreign peoples to gain power and resources is just a rather villainous thing to do.

[@vitormaodevaca8469]

@@nine300 you saying that almost makes it looks like humans care about this kind of thing but pffff,who needs to preserve foreign cultures when you have power?

[@alexanderchristopher6237]

@@vitormaodevaca8469 except they do care when it matters for them. Even the empires of our pasts decided that there are some lines concerning culture and ethnicity that they shouldn't cross. The British, for example, preserved the rajahs of India and allowed them to practice their own culture and religion (save for the more barbaric practices such as human sacrifice), even though the British themselves have all the power. This made sure that their rule would be relatively peaceful.

[@themaplesamurai]

Damn it, you just *had* to upload right when I was about to go to bed! XD

[@bobskywalker2707]

Dude the video is 6 minutes long how badly do you need sleep that 6 minutes longer is that big of a deal?

[@shinwook5145]

It's a plan of the evil empire to kill you from insomnia!!!! BEWARE!!!

[@patliao556]

I'm late to the party, but I'd just like to point out that most Empires ought to be actually both more multi-cultural-- a consequence of their size-- and more cosmopolitan-- a consequence of intra-Empire trade-- than the supposed 'Kingdoms' that the good guys usually rep for. But I guess reckoning with the uncomfortably provincial implications of rooting for a monocultural state over an egalitarian multicultural one that has to function by a rule of law due to its disparate interest groups would be *too* *much* *MANNNNNN*....

[@thexalon]

That factor is pretty much the definition of an "empire" versus a "nation" or "kingdom": Empires are multicultural territories. e.g. the Romans had Gaelic territories in their northwest, Greek territories in their northeast, Jewish territory in their far east, Carthaginian territories in their southwest, Egyptian territories in their southeast, and all those areas retained their cultures even under Roman Empire rule.

[@kacperszafranski2983]

The empire is more multicultural, but usually one culture dominates. Romans had dozens of cultures in their empire, but for most of its history only Romans were citizens (or people that incorporated themselves into empire via military service). So no, empires weren't multiculti in a way you think about them.

[@Warsie]

@@kacperszafranski2983 It was pretty easy to become a Roman citizen as the Roman state expanded, you could be a barbarian who kept your German name and become a Senator later on,

[@kacperszafranski2983]

@@Warsie I wouldn't say spending several years in roman legion was that easy.

[@MrQuickshot117]

This has to be my favourite Cliche because even if done wrong it could still be entertaining however if done right they could be menacing and yet seem defeatable like the Holy Britannian Empire from Code Geass they were undefeated before the main character arrived but even with him they still had won a bunch of times they were to feared.

[@vampirecount3880]

Great empire, great characters, a shame the main protagonist was OP as fuck and ruined the good setting IMO.

[@lu-em6wr]

I was looking for a code geass comment, love that show

[@paulsmart4672]

In Mistborn they spent some time on the question of how to not descend into bloody chaos once the evil empire is defeated. And by "some time" I mean "probably longer than they spent actually defeating the evil empire" I can't think of another evil empire story where that happens, though.

[@Warsie]

Star Wars "legends"

[@jaegertwo-one9867]

Just gonna put this here. The stormtroopers were ordered to miss.

[@pauljames1807]

I heard that before and if its cannon, thats the dumbest retcon I've ever heard. It removes all stakes in any conflict with the empire. I'd rather the stormtroopers just be incompetent.

[@Geschichti]

@@pauljames1807 dont know if the "they were ordered to miss" is canon but what i know is that they couldnt aim with those shit helmets they barley see anything and they even complained about the helmets

[@leiferikson850]

@@pauljames1807 it doens't apply to all stormtroopers only the ones trying to stop Leias rescue from the 1st. DS. They tortured her and blew up her home and still only got the fake location from her. When the escape happend Tarkin saw an opportunity so he let them escape by the order to miss in hopes the imperial beacon placed on the Falcon would track the escaping ship to the real base - and it did. Makes sense to me. In other instances Stormtroopers are more precise (Battle of Hoth) - doesn't mean they are good at aiming in general, just not as bad as we saw in EPIV.

[@draketurcotte4760]

Paul James it’s not a retcon. It’s literally in one of the first scenes of A New Hope. Did you even WATCH it? Aboard the Tantive IV, Vader says, “Set your blasters to stun, I want those rebels alive!”

[@draketurcotte4760]

Tagebuch it absolutely is canon. Vader orders the troopers to keep the rebels alive in one of the first scenes of A New Hope.

[@Salnax]

Evil Empires should be like Cthulhu. Possible for even the underdog heroes to defeat, but impossible to actual destroy. Otherwise, you might as well have an Evil Collection Of Independent Nation States.

[@slubbergully9231]

+Salnax Cthulhu isn't evil. His cult teaches that Humanity's glorification of abstract moral values is the real evil; and, that the only way for Humanity to be happy is to renounce it and chase self-fulfillment. It's essentially Nietchze plus Octopi. On top of that, it's implied his visions are actually him screaming for help - which is why he constantly shows where he's imprisoned, rather than, say, the world being destroyed.

[@КириллДектярев]

Slubbergully Where was that said? I am talking about Cthulhu? Some sort of fanfic?

[@dangerjoe8911]

Кирилл Дектярев He's probably talking about the works of H.P. Lovecraft and the works a group of "pen pals" of H.P. Lovecraft, who have created that lore in the first place. Due to this, the intentions of beings in this lore ranges from "ultimate-evil" to "nietzsche with octopi".

[@slubbergully9231]

It's all inferred from the "Call of Cthulhu," written by the man himself. That and Nyarlathotep's dialogue in "The Fungi from Yuggoth." ". . . the Great Old Ones . . . who came to the world out of the sky . . . gone now . . ; but had told their secrets to the first men, who formed a cult that would never die. . . someday he would call, and the cult would *liberate* him." This passage implies deliberate communication. It's important to remember Lovecraft wrote in the first person. Not all information is viable, unlike a third person story. ". . . in Their great city of R’lyeh, preserved by . . . Cthulhu for a glorious resurrection . . ." It seems strange an Ultimate Evil would act in unison with his cohorts and save their (Their?) lives. The choice of words in reference to Cthulhu are such-like: great, dead, dreaming, glorious, resurrection, liberate. We must also keep in mind that: A. At no point does Cthulhu resort to violence. B. His cult does only when confronted by outsiders. He is sealed away in the "Call of Cthulhu" -- which leads me to ask: has he been before? In the final passage, it is written, ". . .in that chasm of stone which has shielded him since the sun was young. . .He must have been trapped." Only Nyarlathotep walks the Earth, and speaks English, he says in reference to an Abyss: "Here was your [Species'] home, when you had sight!" Which is contradictory to what Cthulhu's Cult says -- that the Old Ones came and spoke to Man -- which forces alternate two conclusions: that the Old Ones delivered Humanity from a darkness of ignorance. Or that they rendered Humanity in the first place. (I treat Nyarlathotep's dialogue as either absolute truth or a half-truth & half-deception, as he is an Old One.) ". . .The birds fly out over an ocean waste, Calling and chattering in a joyous haste To reach some land their inner memories know. . . . . .They search the sea for marks of their old shore- For the tall city, white and turreted- But only empty waters stretch ahead, . . .Yet sunken deep where alien polyps throng, The old towers miss their lost, remembered song." All in all, the information regarding Cthulhu and his city seem more nuanced than "*warbelgarble I'ma destroy all life.*" And at times it almost comes off as benevolent.

[@satqur]

_At no point does Cthulhu resort to violence._ But... that's not true? Unless I'm misremembering Cthulhu literally eats people in The Call of Cthulhu, and the narrative straight up says he's looking to eat lots more people. Like did we read the same story?

[@HQ_Default]

You know, it's funny, I actually wouldn't mind the concept of most ground troops in an evil empire not being able to aim for shit. After all, if there's so many of them, it only makes sense that a vast majority of them just got tossed a weapon and were stationed at the nearest corner. What bothers me is when they try to deny that this is what happened.

[@marza339]

Loved the Life of Brian reference with the Judean People's Front and the People's Front of Judea

[@Dovoline3]

See, that last bit is part of why I like the original Mirror's Edge so much. After going through all that effort, you get your mentor and father figure killed, you lose your best friend, your sister's boss is probably dead... after all that, the only thing you've accomplished is successfully ensuring your sister will continue to remain a fugitive to a crime she didn't commit. All that shit you did to fuck with the dystopian government in power did literally nothing, and the next fucking day everything is back to normal again.

[@cursed_ascension]

My favourite fantasy empire is the Malazan Empire. They're not even evil. But they are badass as fuck.

[@AntrozLPs]

Can I ask from what book they this empire is from?

[@MrChickennugget360]

Ghengis Khan where his armies butchered millions of people?

[@MrChickennugget360]

Ghengis Khan you mean the guy whos Army butchered millions of people?

[@Rapture-Asuka]

chicken, and other empires didn't slaughter people? don't believe everything you read in your american history book. there was a lot of good that came from the Mongolian empire as well as some bad but that comes with the territory, we would not have trade to the point that is without them and the silk road, which was controlled by them for a great period of time. but people with less then stellar education usually parrot misinformation loudly.

[@MrChickennugget360]

i find it cute all the mentally deficient "historians" who like to say good things about the Mongol Empire and then shit in how evil the British Empire was. lets see- Mongol Empire helped stimulate trade on the Silk Road ... British Empire- led the Industrial and scientific revolution and abolished slavery. British Empire helped create the modern world that has scene more technological growth in the last 200 years than in all human history combined.

[@NickCorvello]

Great video! You forgot to mention, though, the trope that most evil empires need to have their leaders and possibly troops speak in an English/Australian accent because those sound the most intimidating for the evil empires and most of the actors capable of pulling off those roles, especially in a fantasy setting, are from those regions

[@raspberrymilkshake5782]

Oh my god I'm writing a book where the world is in chaos because the evil empire fell.

[@prestonjones1653]

Raspberry Milkshake I'd love to read that!

[@raspberrymilkshake5782]

Why thank you.

[@thegamer-jz5du]

Raspberry Milkshake Any update on it?

[@TehKola2]

So foundation?

[@iminsecurebut1215]

@@raspberrymilkshake5782 heyyyyyyy, we need it.

[@paradoxzee6834]

This 100% describes Star Wars

[@paradoxzee6834]

Kelek72 What does the year have to do with anything? It is a problem in storytelling not in special effects. The age defense does not hold here at all considering the writers had tons of examples how to write a great evil force

[@greengoodguy5501]

Some of the best stories come from back in the day. An example being many of shakesheres plays

[@walleras]

No it doesn't, the Empire has PR, the rebels have infighting, the rebels had to still fight the empire after it was destroyed, you are just an idiot.

[@unlimited-edge]

CodeNameZ Funnily enough, Star Wars was supposed to be a B movie that just happened to become famous

[@nutcrackit7396]

1 and 3 are correct. 2 is incorrect if we go with the current canon. as for legends i have no idea.

[@ironwill2]

The only impressive thing about the evil empires troopers is the fact that they are extremely good at missing a single target when 20 of them are firing upon them at once.

[@guyperson754]

I now feel the need to write a story involving an "evil" empire that is actually completely justified in doing the crap it does. Such as, but not limited to, a town/village forced to give a percentage of resources to the government due to them not paying legitimate taxes, a near constant war going on on the borders because of overpopulation in the Empire as well as creating jobs in the military to alleviate some poverty, and an in depth system of bureaucracy and law as well as a functioning Imperial hierarchy. So, when the plucky teenagers with the magical mcguffin thing come and kill the Emperor, the next in line takes his place, the teenagers are executed as war criminals, and part of the military comes back to the capital city that was just attacked as a humanitarian force.

[@fatcat5544]

Wow... I would actually read that. That sounds amazing actually! I'M GOING TO STEAL YOUR IDEA AND USE IT AS MY OWN BUT EXPLOIT IT TO TEH LETTER! AND NOOOOOOOO ONE IS GOING TO STOP ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111!!!

[@prestonjones1653]

Whichever one finishes first, you've got one reader right here.

[@skyemorningstar166]

Two readers! 😀

[@BlackCover95]

Bonus points if all of that is shown as the careful decision making of the Evil Emperor, himself a former Plucky Teenager just trying to improve the system.

[@cassarreno3622]

well the best reccomendation i could give would be the shadows of the apt series

[@testsubject747]

4:30 And then the Japanese Warring States Period happens

[@jorgesagredo224]

Aslo is end of the WW I in a nutsell (the era of silence ,barbarish and ignorance is WW II) atte. a spanish

[@awesomechrisdude123]

"We're going to make a cool new story with interesting characters and antagonistic forces-" "no just copy star wars instead" "Okay!"

[@OttoVonGarfield]

Another thing I find about good evil empires: They tend to be not very evil, at least to the majority of people. Take star wars for example, the vast majority of the time, the Galactic Empire was kicking the asses of slavers, bandits, and other criminals alike, they were, for a lot of people, the good guys.

[@Boss_Isaac]

+max larsen While that's true, the Galactic Empire certainly has its disturbing and just plain fucked up moments. Palpatine's rise to power as Emperor was concurrent with the active extermination of an entire group of people and their culture, and then there's Grand Moff Tarkin ordering the Death Star to fire on Alderaan with little to no hesitation, committing mass murder on a global scale.

[@caav56]

There was a nice Empire in the old Star Wars EU - the Fel Empire during the Fel's dynasty rule (since there was a period of Darth Krayt's overtake). It was less speciesist (there was at least one non-human admiral, and no, it wasn't not a human-descended Chiss), lacked Palpatin's sith-y shenanigans, was more united and like this. It even had its own order of light-sided Force users, the Imperial Knights!

[@miniaturejayhawk8702]

Thats because there is no "good" and "bad", jist different opinions and ideologies !

[@FREEK777ful]

Are you referring to Legends or Canon Empire?

[@SantanicoDiabolical]

They also promoted a racist ideology against their nonhuman citizens.

[@Tyburn109]

Aren't you just describing the plot of Akame Ga Kill?

[@reddeimon475]

Tyburn109 more like 90% of anime, "teenagers are everything"

[@shadowspider9]

This stuff exists in A LOT of anime, cartoon, and movies. Akame Ga Kill just kind of takes them all to their logical conclusion.

[@nottherealpaulsmith]

figures that anime get to it first

[@neurofiedyamato8763]

All shonen anime do this because shonen anime is targeted at early teens. Read/watch seinen for actual good shit.

[@thecamelchannel1467]

And Star Wars, and the Inheritance Cycle, this is a really cliché plot he's discussing, which is kind of the point

[@ratpakflintigon9648]

Fun fact: the average empire troop hits a target once every 13 shots on average, the average troop today hits a target every 1000-2000 shots fired

[@Sebomai-b8i]

That stat is very skewed because it doesn't account for suppressive fire

[@ratpakflintigon9648]

@@Sebomai-b8i i will turn you into poopies

[@Sebomai-b8i]

@@ratpakflintigon9648 no u

[@roberthebert2826]

This is why I love the Mistborn series. The first book is all about the rebels overthrowing the empire (and very well written at that) and the second book is all about, "Hey maybe overthrowing the Empire that has controlled the entire world for the past 1,000 years in a single night wouldn't make the world immediately a better place

[@scottski02]

Was wondering if anybody else would mention Mistborn. Such a great series.

[@andrew2353]

We need more morally grey/nuanced Empires in fiction, like an Empire that practices expansionism and colonialism while also being the global centre for science and learning and abhorring and outlawing barbaric practices like slavery, cannibalism and human sacrifice in conquered territories.

[@ashyroy9454]

Sounds like Russian Empire. Building schools, hospitals and forbidding trading women for horses and other horrible stuff. Of course there was other side like empress Kathrine the Great giving nobels so much power after her takeover that peasants literally became slaves. That's kinda the weirdest thing about that period of time when newly conquered lands got better treatment then mainland.

[@Tsotha]

@@ashyroy9454 or the Roman and British and Ottoman empires for that matter

[@Etzelsschizo]

Like the Helghast?

[@higrunt9844]

I feel like the empire in Tes does it okay

[@AxenfonKlatismrek]

​@@ashyroy9454 it's at least more civil than making every person a slave on your mines, starting tribal wars that will backfire in long-term. And also chopping hands off for not delivering enough wealth. At least in Russia they just gave you a hard job under the guy, who had to take care of their subjects

[@doger944]

Fun fact: Lucas's original plan for star wars involved Luke killing Vader in RotJ and a fourth film about Han and Leia bringing him back from the dark side, which also addressed the power struggle created by the near destruction of the Empire.

[@jamestown8398]

"If we are pressed for time, we could just have all of The Empire's war crimes be committed off-screen. Or not at all!" Don't worry about actually ever explaining WHY The Evil Empire is Evil or why the audience should root for the rebels. Empires are evil by default and it's not like real plucky rebellions are ever evil! I'm sure your audience will root for the hero and his rebel friends instead of a government that provides a good quality of life for its citizens.

[@adamlavoie709]

This channel just took a massive shit on Star Wars and made sense in the process

[@jacktheflash8478]

Not really but ok

[@wonderfulwaldo4451]

Jack Theflash nice argument

[@jacktheflash8478]

WonderfulWaldo what?

[@facundogonza5740]

The fun part? Star Wars did take its time to adress all the "post Empire" problems int he expanded universe.

[@CompletelyNewguy]

Y'know I would love to see the fall of an evil empire because the "hero" chose to instead become a citizen of the evil empire and work his way up to becoming the leader of the evil empire and takes it down by slowly changing it's behavior and turns it into an empire that prospers and more people want to join because it turned into a good place to live in.

[@oneofmanyparadoxfans5447]

Boo! Too political! Not enough explosions! Actually, that sounds like the beginnings of a pretty good plot.

[@nottherealpaulsmith]

NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERD

[@vampirecount3880]

Pretty much the character Suzaku from the anime Lelouch of the rebellion...

[@sirius6738]

Basically Jojo part 5 with the empire instead of the mafia

[@chaddelong998]

Gladiator comes to mind.

[@leftfootfirstpolitics]

0:34 Yo dawg, I heard you like love triangles, so I put a love triangle in your love triangle.

[@amirysyafy4801]

This comment is soooo underrated.

[@dukeofmania6504]

At least in Star Wars. (in legends) After the emperor dies the Galaxy for a time goes into Warlord rule fought between the political and military leaders of the Empire and the Rebellion.

[@berdansargol1577]

Actually, the same stuff goes in the New Canon as well. After the Battle of Endor, the New Galactic Republic repedetaly fights with the Imperial Generals which wants to be new Emperor. It goes for a decade until these generals' defeat in the Battle of Jakku. Then the last Imperial Generals goes into the unknown regions and founds the First Order.

[@berdansargol1577]

I wish they told THAT story instead of these "Rey Skywalker triology"

[@CAP198462]

4:18, quick, get the emperor into the golden throne!

[@SlendHQ]

God dang it Horus.

[@yesyesyesyes1600]

The emperor didn't age well on his throne ... :D

[@kaiosamatlj4031]

And then give him a text-to-speech device 40.000 years later. "ABOUT FUCKING TIME"

[@VariksTheLast]

FUCKING Horus...

[@gubbikiller]

was searching for a while to find kindred spirits in the comments, now i am home Praise the Emperor of Mankind

[@jordanferrazza8700]

1:20 "Show a complete inability to actually hit the main characters with their weapons." *Lazer does a Tom and Jerry-style bell-shaped curve around the main character.*

[@sam_likes_airplanes]

that good old *plot armour*

[@robertlehnert4148]

This series is amazingly spot on. Reminds me of PJ O'Rourke in one of his articles saying if he was doomed to end his career in a no name college teaching creative writing, he would teach them PARODY because the fastest way to learn any genre is too learn all the cliches and stereotypes first.

[@rainmanslim4611]

Even better idea. Book 1: the heroes join the rebellion to defeat the evil empire. Book 2: the empire falls, the empire is defeated, the rebel factions splinter and descend into civil war. Book 3: the Imperial Remnant invade the broken empire with an army of a neighbouring nation who seek to install them as puppet rulers, other empires invade to carve up the fallen empire's territory. In the end they swallow up the lands of th ef fallen empire and th ed heroes scatter or are put to death for their actions in book 1 and 2.

[@lego007guym8]

After having watched the Orignial Trilogy in Star Wars again, I realized that during the first two movies, the rebels barely ever win. Yeah, they blow up the Death Star and escape Hoth, but both have insanely high loses for the rebels and ultimately end with the rebels running for their life's. Only the Battle of Endor is where the rebels have a major victory where they're not the ones running.

[@agentchicken3577]

Thats why I love the show Andor, it seems to do a better job at showing what an actual evil empire would do rather than just aesthetics

[@MrCompassionate01]

It's amazing how defensive some people get about the new Star Wars when the plot is basically 'Remember the obvious Nazis from the original? Now they're Double Nazis with even less motivation! Their plan is to unprofitably devastate planets owned by their enemies so that they can assert their views on everybody somehow' 'Okay what are their views?' 'They uhh, don't like the good guys and they... are evil. Truly movies have evolved since A New Hope' 'Are they bigoted or oppressive?' 'No they employ an ethnically diverse array of men and women' 'So what's the Nazi aesthetic about?' 'Trust us they're unspecifically bad'

[@yarpen26]

In all honesty, xenophobia is probably the easiest trick to try and make your villain look even more despicable. The fact that it wasn't at all apparent in the OT (but was blown out of proportion in the associated books) was what made the Empire so appealing to many viewers.

[@MrCompassionate01]

yarpen26 Agreed I always liked that too. Also in the original trilogy I'd argue that the Nazi iconography extended mostly to just the name "Stormtroopers" and the obvious Dam Busters finale. The Empire is mostly a unique sci-fi construct. I don't get why in TFA the New Order looks waaay more Nazi-ish than before but they still don't have a core belief system. The visual change in aesthetic would imply a subtext that doesn't exist. You could make the argument that TNO is xenophobic to aliens as evidenced by the lack of aliens amongst their ranks but that's unconfirmed.

[@yarpen26]

Actually, you don't need to be a xenophobe to be wearing a cool, ladies-fall-for-like uniform. In fact, at its very nascent Italian fascism was very inclusive. When Mussolinni started to becoming more and more overpowered by Hitler, he actually had to purge his own party just to get rid of the numerous Jews it had accepted, all of whom considered themselves both Jews and unconditional Italian patriots. In Brazil, they had this movement called the integralists which was essentially fascist, nacionalist, militaristic and Catholic... while at the same time it was a shining rainbow of diversity in terms of racial composition.

[@patriot9487]

The Nazi's had the most diverse army in the world during WW2. They had 150,000 Jews in their Army.

[@mannbar124]

I agree with you if you only watch the movies, and I do not know much about the new film but if you add Star Wars lore from the other books things become way more complicated. And I think it is even mentioned it The Force awakens the the planets which got destroyed had the capital of the new republic. What I do not understand is why the new order had to be bigger Nazis than the empire and why it is such a menance when it is only what is left from the Empire.

[@storymaker299]

I wonder if an interesting twist on this trope would be a story about a rag tag group trying to keep an empire from collapsing by fighting internal extremeists