You know what trope I would love to see in a story sometime?
The villain being so strong that they LITERALLY create their own competition. Their rival. The destined one to defeat him. Because no one else in that story is actually able to come even close.
It would be fitting in a story that is mostly just the run-of-the-mill zero to hero story. With silly moments, like a story that doesn’t take itself too seriously. But then the final battle between the antagonist and the protagonist finally occurs, the protagonist has the realisation. Through context clues or something, hinted at earlier in the story, it all comes together in that exact moment. It’s never explicitly stated, but the dawning horror on the protagonists face as they finally realise the truth is enough. The villain only smiles in return as they notice protagonists realisation flash in their eyes. Doing nothing to deny it and watching them with something almost like glee in their face.
I don’t know. The sudden loss of footing that makes you question everything is so cool. The protagonist ready to give everything and the villain just does it for the love of the game. Almost like an eldritch-horror, that you are a much smaller player in a much more manipulated field than you originally thought and just begin to question everything.