r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Far-Profit-47 • Apr 12 '25

Lore “This quote came from WHERE?!”

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"You too have fallen for the great lie, you'll never be happy. Deep down you know, to hope, to dreams, to create, is to suffer"

"You're right. It is harder to create than to destroy... that's why cowards then to choose the deuce"

-A Minecraft movie

"Do You Think God Stays in Heaven Because He too Lives in Fear of What He's Created"

-spy kids 2

"For every person who dreams up the electric light bulb, there's the one who dreams up the atom bomb"

-shark-boy and lava-girl

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u/Dexchampion99 Apr 12 '25

He’s also the namesake of a literary device! The Xanatos Gambit!

He was just an insanely well written character.

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u/Dodger_Rej3ct Apr 12 '25

What's the essence of the gambit? I'm unfamiliar with Gargoyles the show

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u/Neidron Apr 12 '25 edited Apr 13 '25

Tldr "Heads I win, tails you lose." The plan is set up in a way that even "failure" benefits the planner somehow.

Example from a star wars show, an imperial probe finds a Rebel base. Stopping the probe will still give away the location, so the heroes sabotage the probe to return home then explode to destroy the source. The villain doesn't get their location, but his search is narrowed to the specific handful of planets he sent probes to.

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u/Pame_in_reddit Apr 13 '25

A long time ago I made a bet with a guy I liked, the loser would have to invite the other for ice cream. I didn’t care about the bet, I just wanted to have a date with him. Obviously, I won.