Every online discussion board sooner or later acquires, or develops, its Evil Dwarf. An Evil Dwarf is someone who becomes very heavily into it; who sits in it all the time – practically – comments all the time, takes on the duties of the host, welcoming people, being the first to answer any questions, etc. Gradually, as the Evil Dwarf begins to identify himself with the list, his relationship to it develops into a form of domination: he begins to dictate topics to be discussed, chide those who do not follow his guidelines, and resorts to all sorts of underhand practices to acquire and support his domination, from jeering to abuse to deception to fabrication. As time goes on, the Evil Dwarf becomes convinced that the list is him and that he is omniscient, error-free, and omnipotent and all the list members are there by his sufferance to be instructed and guided by him. (For which they should of course be eternally grateful).
In one thing the Evil Dwarf is usually right: the list sooner or later does become him as those unwilling to play by his rules simply leave. And thus the Evil Dwarf, who always wins, wins a pyrrhic victory. He is now King Ubu: a King of a Kingdom with just one subject in it, himself. Having waged a war of scorched earth, he inherits the earth he has scorched and now he has to live in it – alone. I have seen several lists killed that way by Evil Dwarves, most famously perhaps the aesthetics list which was killed by Derek Allen.
Why do Evil Dwarves do it? Probably because in their real life they are miserable failures; to be somebody on a discussion board offers them a chance to be somebody for once. (How else would they have all that time to put into their presence on the list).
Which is also why others let them win: most people do have lives which matter to them more; for them the list is just a small part of their interests. So when faced by an Evil Dwarf, they either give in, or walk away. Usually walk away.
Long live King Ubu.
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