MAGICAL SPACE PONY: THE WEBCOMIC

INTERNATIONAL STRIKEFORCE
A team of heroes from various allied nations, pooling resources and working together to combat global threats.
• Boy King
• Green Turtle
• Cowboy Sahib
• Jun-Gal
• Nelvana
• Marine Maureen
• Fantomah?

AMERICAN STRIKEFORCE
A team of heroes acting under the direction (or at least at the request) of the American government and/or the military/intelligence community to defend the country against threats outside the scope of military action: natural disasters, foreign spies, terrorists, rogue nations, mad scientists, and alien invaders. Can either be publicly acknowledged civilian contractors, or covert “dirty dozen” operatives.
• The Flag
• The Unknown Soldier
• The Super-American
• Miss America
• Madam Zero
• Miss Victory
• USA
• Starr Flagg: Undercover Girl
• Yankee Girl

CRIMEBUSTER STRIKEFORCE
A team of heroes banding together to fight organized crime entrenched within one localized area.
• Iron Lady
• Jill Trent, Science Sleuth
• Veiled Avenger

SECRET SOCIETY STRIKEFORCE
A team of heroes that keeps its existence a secret from the public, the authorities, and are just an urban legend to the criminal underworld they oppose. May also be formed in opposition to an equally secretive group of criminals or conspirators.
Secret Society of Superheroines
○ Amazona
○ Phantom Lady
○ Purple Tigress
○ Magician of Mars
○ Golden Girl?
○ Blue Lady
○ Lady Fairplay?
○ Wildfire

PARANORMAL STRIKEFORCE
A team of heroes brought together to fight paranormal menaces beyond the scope and outside the attention of the regular authorities, including mystic curses, monsters, aliens, and otherworldly forces.
• Vivian Lachan?
• The Purple Claw
• Margo the Magician
• Zira: Crusader from Mars

TIME TRAVELER TEAM:
Mysta of the Moon
Atoma
Super-American

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ENSEMBLE CASTS:

One of the first choices any writer has to make is how many protagonists will lead the narrative. Believe it or not, that number matters. Too many, and you can barely get attached to anyone, just one and you’ll never believe the author would kill them off.

So, which is the lucky number for Ensembles?

Let’s start at one and work our way up. Lone protagonists are not some embryonic proto-cast that contains the traits of all Ensembles past and present, but rather has complete freedom to be whoever is needed for the story. Let’s repeat that: lone. While a one man hero doesn’t have to be an antisocial loner, they are very independent no matter what kind of character they are. Even the wimpy Action Survivor is at least able to survive. Interestingly, the best lone heroes make up for a lack of permanent cast with a varied supporting (though temporary) cast and (hopefully) some internal struggles to add depth. The Man vs. Man type of dramatic struggle is common for the lone hero. Needless to say they are also invariably The Hero (well, let’s say protagonist to hedge our bets). Though it’s kind of a “Duh” statement, read on.
• Common genres or stories: These protagonist can be in any story and are unweighed by a large cast, and so they can be Walking The Earth as The Drifter. Even if sedentary, they’ll likely play the lone Action Hero against overwhelming opposition. What you won’t see is either the typical drama with lots of long term character interaction, or a “stable” environment, these heroes will live and work in flux.
○ Signature series: Kung Fu, The Incredible Hulk, Metroid (Prime)

From there the duos are an even split between two traits: Body and mind, and temperament. One will be The Big Guy to the other’s smarts. And then you have one emotional character versus a colder one. The duo implies a certain level of equality; it’s entirely possible for both to “share the billing” and be equal heroes. They’ll likely be Heterosexual Life Partners, but if they happen to be different genders, it’s practically a law there’ll eventually be UST. Or for the more traditional dynamic, you have The Hero and their Side Kick or Love Interest. These duos are different in that the hero often serves as a mentor to the sidekick and protector to the Love Interest, though it’s unlikely for the sidekick to graduate the role.
• Common genres or stories: Again, any; however, duos gain a certain level of stability as compared to lone heroes. The character interaction between them will often become deep and nuanced to a degree not often seen with other ensemble numbers. Duos are likely to be in Action Adventure shows, possibly playing Detective or fighting crime.
○ Signature series: The X-Files, Supernatural, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Doctor Who (2005+)

When you get to Power Trios the different splits get more interesting. The personalities divide into The Kirk, The Spock and The McCoy, not so much dividing the Red and Blue oni as creating a “balance” personality wholecloth. Note that any of them can be the lead hero. The division between physical and mental doesn’t get graded, but augmented with “social”, a character who much like the Kirk acts as a personable “face” for the group to balance the previous pair. If combat is involved, you get the Mighty Glacier, The Mario, and Fragile Speedster. Interestingly, from Trio on down you start seeing above archetypes merge into things like Genius Bruiser. It’s worth noting that from here on out a girl being in the group gets logistically easier and much more common.
• Common genres or stories: A trio is downright homey, and not in the sedentary sense. Three is the number where a family is born, even if the characters are unrelated and don’t see each other as a family, the dynamics between them will give viewers a sort of “safety net”. Past this size, even when the group’s adventures lead to them traveling the world (or galaxy), they will tend to work out of a base (or Cool Ship) which often becomes something of a character in its own right. Trios work best in genres where there’s room to interact both between each other and the environment, from here on down an ensemble can hypothetically devote an entire episode or chapter just to the cast interacting. These guys are likely to be in an Action Adventure or Drama. Or both!
○ Signature series: Star Trek The Original Series, Harry Potter, A Series Of Unfortunate Events

The quartet is a challenge: just enough people for things to get convoluted, but not enough to lose track of anyone. The Four Temperament Ensemble divides the Power Trio’s ego-id-superego with a small but significant division. The Kirk is choleric, McCoy is sanguine, and the Spock splits into both phlegmatic and melancholic. Or viewed another way, the detached nature of the Spock and the raw emotion of the McCoy split and combine into an introspective and spiritual temperament. Physically, the big-medium-fast division actually becomes big-medium-fast-frail. Frail characters are actually hearkening way back to the Duo’s The Smart Guy, adding a character who sacrifices muscle for mind.
• Common genres or stories: Drama is the order of the day for the quartet, though not always among itself. A quartet is likely to ‘split up’ in a given episode, giving each a chance to play off not just each other but dealing with the various aspects of the plot and the week’s guest characters.
○ Signature series: Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Fantastic Four, Stargate SG 1, Sliders

The Five Man Band, Six Student Clique and The Magnificent Seven Samurai all vary some in their makeup, with each being “upgradeable” with Sixth Ranger. However; they all have the base Five Man Band structure with one or more additions from the “auxiliary” list, like Comic Relief or Tagalong Kid, much like a core Three Plus Two cast of characters results in a Five Man Band. Another one is that The Hero stops being a label and becomes a physically distinct character type that leads the ensemble’s members. The personality and physical traits by this point can be pretty much mix and matched without worrying about maintaining a “balance” in the cast.
• Common genres or stories: Though roving bands of extended casts are no unheard of, they will take home with them, be it a space ship, a Mystery Machine, or merely the clothes on their back. These enormous ensembles practically write a Drama themselves, never mind having Hilarity Ensue due to outside events.
○ Signature series: Power Rangers (5), Saved By The Bell (6), Seven Samurai & The Magnificent Seven (7), and Firefly (9)

Pasted from <http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CastCalculus>

FIVE MAN BAND:
The Five Man Band is a group of characters whose members fall into archetypes which all complement one another. They are a very specific team with skills that contribute to the group in a unique way.
The group traditionally includes:
• The Hero — (lead singer) The leader of the group. Can be clean-cut and upstanding, bold and charismatic, serious and driven, or some combination of the three.
• The Lancer — (lead guitar) The second-in-command, usually a contrast to The Hero. If the Hero is clean-cut and/or uptight, the Lancer is a grizzled Anti Hero or Deadpan Snarker; if the Hero is driven and somewhat amoral, the Lancer is more relaxed and level-headed.
• The Smart Guy — (keyboardist, bass guitar) The physically weak, but intelligent or clever member. Often nerdy and awkward played for comic relief. Sometimes unconventionally young (early- to mid-teens). Sometimes a trickster and a buddy of the Big Guy. May be the one with all the “street” connections.
• The Big Guy — (drummer) The strongman of the team. May be dumb. Or mute.
• The Chick — (vocal effects, tambourine) A peacekeeping role to balance out the other members aggression, bringing them to a nice or at least manageable medium. The Chick is often considered the heart of the group. Not always female, but the role is usually taken by the Token Girl (hence the name). Sometimes referred to as “the useless girl”.

5 MAN BAND ASSOCIATED CHARACTERS:
• Big Brother Mentor / Team Mom / Team Dad / Cool Big Sis
• The Bumblebee is the kid-appeal character. May overlap with the Tagalong Kid, Team Pet, or even take the place of a team member, likely The Chick.
• The Heart is the band’s moral center. Similar to The Messiah, they remind the team that there are other people to worry about besides themselves. Usually an aspect of The Chick.
• The Medic — Generally either The Chick or The Smart Guy, or a combination of the two; more likely to be The Smart Guy the further up the Mohs Scale Of Sci Fi Hardness you go.
• Mentors — The wise advisory type who comes and goes. Potentially organizes the team, trains them to be an effective group, and/or has a personal connection with the Big Bad. They might be killed to give the group someone to rally around.
• Sixth Ranger — A johnny-come-lately addition to the team, often an outrider type who has been lurking on the edges of the action from the beginning. Their addition to the Five Man Band usually shakes up the status quo. Has a tendency to be a defector from the bad guys. Sometimes the Ensemble Darkhorse.
• Tagalong Kid — Usually the Hero’s or the Chick’s younger sibling. Gets to save the day about once per season, thus generating about a 1:63 ratio of “being useful” to “getting kidnapped.”
• The Team Pet — The dog, cute alien, or Robot Buddy. Might occasionally enable plots, but not really a character in the conventional sense.

Pasted from <http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FiveManBand>

SIX STUDENT CLIQUE

A standard of teen Sit Coms and dramas, the Six Student Clique is an ensemble that has members fall into standard teen archetypes. This was particularly common in The Nineties, so it sometimes overlaps with Five Token Band.

Guys:
• The Head — Usually but not always the main character, if there is one. Clever but Book Dumb, he uses his brain to get what he wants. He can go from being a Standardized Leader to being similar to The Muscle to having a bit of The Ace or Schemer in him. Often the Deadpan Snarker, or another similar role that lets him use his mouth to get out of trouble.
• The Muscle — He has a bod, and he’s not afraid to flaunt it. Girls swoon at his passing. And yet, he still hangs out with the others. May or may not be Book Dumb.
• The Quirk — He’s usually depicted as a nerd, though there are some exceptions. Very smart, but not very world-savvy. Usually talks in a high squeaky voice. Sometimes has aspects of the Wacky Guy. Most likely to be the Cloud Cuckoo Lander. In rare cases, trades off roles with the Head to avoid the latter becoming The Generic Guy.

Girls:
• The Pretty one — She is the beauty of the group. She’s the one the Head and the Muscle usually fight over. Sometimes surprises people by having a lot of brains. Sometimes, she’s a ditzy chick. The key is that she’s considered attractive by the rest of the cast. Using hair color metaphors, she’s most likely to be the Dumb Blonde, though actual blonde hair is not a requirement, and neither is stupidity.
• The Smart one — As smart as the nerd, but without the quirks. Most likely to freak out at the prospect of getting The B Grade. Often a Soap Box Sadie and/or a Straw Feminist. If the school has a student council, she’s the Class Representative or the Student Council President. In hair color metaphors, she’s most likely to be the Brainy Brunette.
• The Wild one — Impulsive, tends to obsess… And she always got the best one-liners. Usually, this slot will be reserved for a girl who is either as quirky as the Quirky One (comedies) or a truly wild child (dramas). The key is that she’s independent and makes her own rules, whether that be as The Ladette, the Granola Girl, The Fashionista, or the Biker Babe. In hair color metaphors, she’s most likely to be the Fiery Redhead. In the musical chair world of cast pairings, she usually lines up with the nerd, but rarely dates him. Or even likes him.

This is the standard version, although variations do occur. The main thing is to fill all six roles:
• Gender variation: At least one of the students is a Gender Flip of their role.
• Adult version: Six adult friends who are not in school have the same gender-matched roles.
(Note: A group of non-students with any Gender Flips would be too big a stretch to qualify for this trope).

Sometimes a seventh character can be added — usually an upperclassman — to bring either a foil to the main clique (comedy) or a teenaged Obi Wan (drama).

Stories attempting realism may avoid exaggerating these personality traits too much, under the assumption that kids that different generally don’t hang around each other in real life.

Pasted from <http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SixStudentClique>

THE SIXTH RANGER:

Some series start out with a particular type of ensemble, with a certain number of characters and a defined role for each: a Power Trio, for example, or a Five Man Band. Then, mid-season, a mysterious new character appears, fighting the protagonists and antagonists alike! After many misunderstandings, the new character is revealed to be a good guy, and joins the team.
Any new character that joins an established ensemble and knocks it out of one of the traditional categories (and possibly into another) is a Sixth Ranger. There may be more than one per team, with either several joining in succession, or pre-established pairs coming in at once. In a Magical Girl show, it is not uncommon for the Sixth Ranger to be the lead character’s boyfriend.
Their power and coolness is inversely proportional to the number of episodes since their début, since Good Is Dumb. Expect them to be single-handedly defeating enemies that the main team struggled against during their first appearance, falling in line as they become integrated into the group, then finally getting overtaken by the original heroes. In fact, they almost invariably tend to become a magnet for the Worf Effect as soon as the latest new Big Bad shows up.
In some of the more extreme cases, a former Big Bad, Dragon, or Wild Card villain can take on this role after they have been defeated or performed an independant Heel Face Turn.
If the show doesn’t look like it’s going to change its status quo, expect the Sixth Ranger to actually be the Sixth Column. Since most Sixth Rangers used to be loners, they may serve as the Token Evil Teammate. If a Sixth Ranger candidate does join the Ensemble, but the series is nearly over, the candidate is an Eleventh Hour Ranger.
Compare Hitchhiker Heroes and Magnetic Hero, where adding characters is the team’s normal state.
A common method for Merchandise Driven works to add new characters to the cast.

Pasted from <http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SixthRanger>

MAGNIFICENT SEVEN SAMURAI
So you’re a group of farmers whose village is under attack by a gang of remorseless bandits. None of you know how to fight, so you leave to hire a group of warriors who are willing to defend you for the pittance you can pay, plus meals. So you come back with seven guys and… hey, Wait A Minute, haven’t we seen this somewhere before?
No, you haven’t been reading TV Tropes for so long that everything is blending in. This is actually a relatively common plot device. Take the basic plot of a bunch of cool guys + awesome goal + clearly defined personality types + any other overtones of The Seven Samurai you can think of and bam! Instant plot!
Because The Seven Samurai contains many plot elements which are not exclusive to Japanese culture, it’s easy to shift the basic narrative around and still get a workable movie angle. In fact, it’s such a classically popular example of a narrative that many filmmakers don’t even bother being subtle in the process of Homage- there’s a lot more movies out there with exactly seven heroes doing this kind of plot than you’d expect.
The trope title and namers are Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven, the latter of which is famous for both transferring the Kurosawa classic to the Old West (with Kurosawa’s permission and blessing, it should be noted) and being a classic in its own right. (A trivial note: Seven Samurai was originally released in America as The Magnificent Seven; the English title was changed later to avoid confusion with the remake. The title Seven Samurai is actually an exact translation of the original Japanese title Shichinin no samurai)
The plot is pretty predictable, but always fun.
• The Hero will receive the Call To Adventure. He will then assemble a Ragtag Bunch Of Misfits.
• The Lancer (if not immediately present, The Hero always knows exactly where to find one)
• The Big Guy
• The Smart Guy
• The Old Guy (sometimes a Shell Shocked Senior)
• The Young Guy
• The Funny Guy
○ Someone will be Loud
○ Someone will be Quiet
○ Someone will be Reluctant
○ Someone will be a Jerk
○ Someone will be a Jerk With A Heart Of Gold
○ Someone will Pet The Dog
○ Someone will Die Heroically

Pasted from <http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheMagnificentSevenSamurai>

THE X-MEN:
In the X-Men universe, it has become formulaic for every team to have a telepath, powerhouse, energy blaster, and/or one member who won the Superpower Lottery.
• …And one who lost the lottery, either via Blessed With Suck or What Kind Of Lame Power Is Heart Anyway.
○ …And Wolverine.

Pasted from <http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CastSpeciation>

CAST HERDING:
”RPG World”

Can’t be bothered to remember everyone in a show with Loads And Loads Of Characters? Neither can some writers. The best solution is to split the cast into distinct groups.
This allows for enough characterization, because we always see them together and that’s enough net personality for characters whose physical descriptions are probably longer than those of their personalities.
This can be really obvious when you notice that with the exception of perhaps the main Cast Herd, all the others Herd Leaders only talk to their own herd, or other Herd Leaders; A huge amount of the people are never given casual conversation. If you can’t quite tell who the spokesman of a Cast Herd is, imagine it in terms of screentime value. Only a Cast Herd’s spokesman would probably appear in the Non Serial Movie or OAV.
Shows which allow for the format of a literal team will always use this trope. See also Geodesic Cast which repeats the structure of the main character’s group and Planet Of Hats when this is done with entire worlds/species.

Pasted from <http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CastHerd>

THE CHOSEN MANY:
Basically, being The Chosen One doesn’t mean being The Only One.
A hero may find they’ve stumbled on a powerful artifact, or awaken Magic And Powers that set them apart from everyone else they know. Only they aren’t. Not only is there another, but a whole bunch of them. While similar to Send In The Clones, these fellow heroes have been organized and operating long before the hero ever came on the scene, and all have the same power set and usually quite a bit more experience using them under their belt. Bonus points if it turn out the hero’s stylistic, “unique” costume that might’ve come with the powers turns out to be nothing more than a standard uniform.
In narrative terms, this discovery can go down in various ways:
• Often the hero’s peers are condescending towards the hero due to his inexperience and lack of “proper” training, leading to an episode where their base gets attacked by the corporation’s arch nemesis and our hero has to save all of them. At that, those peers slowly realize that this rookie will become the greatest of them all.
• The less extreme version of the above is that the newbie hero will enter some sort of training period and then have to pass a test in order to become a full-fledged member of the society, probably one that involves Die Or Fly or a staged Training Accident (or the test goes bad for real…)
• Other times, the hero will be underwhelmed when their peers prove to be less than morally upright, either taking advantage of their powers for personal gain, or being Lawful Stupid in general. In these cases, they’ll have to make an effort to give their group a Conspiracy Redemption “light”.
• The world is thrown into peril by a powerful force that can only be stopped by the combined abilities of each and every last member, main character of the story included of course. If the characters come from diverse backgrounds, the special is invariably used to promote teamwork and world unity and good stuff like that.
• A lighter method is for the organization to simply be holding an annual tournament/picnic that all members are invited to attend, allowing them all to come together, rub shoulders, and basically just enjoy a nice day to themselves. Inevitably, it’s disrupted by one of the previous examples about halfway in.
• Another positive way this trope can be used is in the Super Hero Origin story where the hero is recruited in haste and he finds himself over his head, struggling to control his weapon/powers, feeling like a total incompetent and having no one to turn to in this strange situation. Finally, he meets a comrade of The Chosen Many who leads him to the headquarters where he learns he is not alone, but actually part of a larger world with new friends and mentors ready to help him.
• An additional way to utilize this is to have the protagonist find an Amulet Of Concentrated Awesome only to find out, he’s not the only one to have one.
A lesser-used variant is to for the protagonist to be either partially or fully aware that he’s part of some large organization or race right from the get-go, but the story is intentionally written in such a way that the hero or those around him never have to bring this up and the audience is led to believe otherwise for a period of time. When its finally revealed, it’s usually treated as You Never Asked on the viewers’ part.
If a character is in a place where he always knew that getting superpowers was common and expected of everyone, however, then it may be Everyone Is A Super.
Compare There Is Another, Send In The Clones, Legacy Character, and Heroes Unlimited. Contrast Last Of His Kind.

Pasted from <http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheChosenMany>

How To Gather Characters

Okay, you know how many characters you want in your cast, what roles they’ll play, and even picked out a color scheme for each! But how do you gather them into a cast? Here’s a few ways writers use to bring together their diverse cast:
• Avengers Assemble: The lead has a mission, and purposely goes about assembling a team to get it done.
○ Seen in: Oceans Eleven and Mass Effect 2.
• Daring Rescue: The hero gets The Call when a Pursued Protagonist and/or Distressed Damsel crashes into their life and asks for help. This method tends to combine well with the others listed here, with the Pursued Protagonist crashing into a classroom, or The Hero using Avengers Assemble to gather a rescue party.
○ Seen in: Star Wars: A New Hope and Sorcerer’s Kingdom.
• Debut Queue: Each character is met and run into separately and consecutively in the Magnetic Hero’s Journey. Sometimes each new character brings more into the fray because it’s a Character Magnetic Team, leading to a Cast Of Snowflakes.
○ Seen in: Krull, Seven Samurai.
• Everyone Went To School Together: The characters are all classmates, part of the same military unit, or are a family and knew each other well before the events of the story. So when one of them gets The Call, they all choose to make it a conference call. However, it’s not uncommon for them all to share the same fate/destiny and get the call simultaneously, something an older character may have wanted to ensure by putting the future protagonists together for this purpose… when it isn’t some vague force of fate doing it, that is.
○ Seen in: Harry Potter.
• Geographical Convenience: All the cast meets in a single location, be it an inn, prison cell or a deserted island, having never seen or met each other before. Normally, they may never have chosen or considered working together, but are forced to by circumstance.
○ Seen in: Cube, The Usual Suspects. The Role Playing Game trope You All Meet In An Inn is a version of this.
• Welcome Episode: Sometimes the team has already been assembled by one or more of the above factors apart from one or more characters who are taken under their wing and who will probably play a crucial role in the story.
○ Seen in: Firefly, ER, Hellboy.

Pasted from <http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HowToGatherCharacters>

VILLAINS:
Heroes aren’t the only ones who enjoy bonding in groups of five. Villains do it, too, and this trope is the Evil Counterpart of the Five Man Band. This isn’t necessarily done to mirror the heroes or provide any sort of advantage; in fact, many Five Bad Bands are in place even before the Five Man Band is. Note also that Five Bad Bands are more fluid than Five Person Bands, open to more roster changes, and there may not even be five of them, though there are never fewer than four.

The roles in a Five Bad Band are:
• The Big Bad – Counterpart to The Hero. Large And In Charge, with an inner circle of mooks to do their bidding and often also an Evil Army as well. Often will be more difficult to identify early on because of the very nature of a Big Bad. Occasionally pulls double duty as the Evil Genius.
• The Dragon – Counterpart to The Lancer. Usually more physical than their boss, and commonly the most trusted member of the bunch. Good for leading Mooks, and sometimes the most ‘classy’ looking. Much like The Lancer, in the absence of a Sixth Column, The Dragon is the most likely to betray the team (especially if they’re The Starscream), and may bear their share of resentment towards the Big Bad. More likely to be The Hero’s Evil Counterpart or Worthy Opponent within the context of the story than the Big Bad is.
• The Evil Genius – Counterpart to The Smart Guy. Operates the weapons or acts as Mission Control for the others. Often essential to the evil scheme; their screwing up could mean the entire thing falls apart. Most likely of this group to be Bad Boss’d for this very reason. Ironically, being less manically evil doesn’t make them a better candidate for a Heel Face Turn, as they are often just completely amoral. More prone to insanity or other quirks than others. Very likely to be a Mad Scientist (or an Evil Sorcerer in fantasy-oriented works). Also the band role most likely not to be included, as many bands simply opt for two Brutes.
• The Brute – Counterpart to The Big Guy. If the Dragon doesn’t lead the Mooks, they will. While likely not better in a fight than The Dragon, is often the most physically powerful and often the most sadistic. Likes to fight and get his hands dirty, and is usually second best to the Dragon at doing so. Oh, and they are big, and sometimes (but not always) pretty dim.
• The Dark Chick – The counterpart to The Chick, they can vary quite significantly, and is chiefly defined by looking or acting wildly different from the other members, adding color to the group. It’s this member that stands out for one reason or another, and may be considered the “freak” or loose cannon of the group, particularly by her own members. If in an optimistic setting, she will be the one most likely to be redeemed and not die horrifically. If not, then she becomes a one part Dominatrix and one part Yandere for The Hero (if male, with exceptions) if she holds any type of romantic interest towards him at all. Or just one or the latter.
Also frequent is for the group to get a Sixth Ranger or Sixth Column of its own. Sometimes there’ll even be a more classical Lancer. Just like with the Five Man Band, the former can either be a Face Heel Turn or just simply a third entity that eventually joins them and the latter is a member that undergoes a Heel Face Turn (although the member doesn’t necessarily have to join the heroes opposing the organization). It’s extraordinarily rare for a Five Bad Band to get a Team Pet, though. However, when they do, it will be out on the field of battle trying to ream redshirts of the team to death or is seen consuming mooks like treats.

Pasted from <http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FiveBadBand>