What is Scorpion King Syndrome?
1.
Scorpion King Syndrome: A storytelling tool used in many big-budget motion pictures.
SKS (pronounced 'sucks') is when an action movie's premise supposedly revolves around a major antagonist, where in fact the villain is actually only mentioned for less than five minutes at the start of the movie, altogether forgotten, and then appears at the very end of the movie.
The villain in question typically has no identity of his/her own, only that of a 'force' to be dealt with by the hero of the movie. Typically this villain is quickly killed to great fanfare, yet little emotional context to the viewer.
"Did you see Transformers? I wish Megatron had been in it and had a real character more than he was. I think he was suffering from Scorpion King Syndrome."
See: The Mummy Returns
See
