Mayor Pain



"Oh, I'm quite tired of this lunatic

Why must we suffer 'cuz the mayor's sick?"

- Rasputina, "The Mayor"

Mayor Pain usually comes in two different flavors, depending on two factors: wickedness vs. incompetence.


 * The Evil Mayor Pain (The Wilkins): Wickedness over incompetence. The mayor does a relatively good work with the town and can even be a pleasant person, yet he or she has a secret Evil Plan to carry out, or more easily is A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing. This is the kind of mayor that puts the "sin" in "sindaco".
 * The Incompetent Mayor Pain (The Quimby): Incompetence over wickedness. The mayor is openly incompetent and his/her actions are clearly dangerous for the town. On a darker note, he/she also has many skeletons in its drawer and some of them may have already fallen out.

Related to President Evil (which applies on a way larger scale). Expect some Permanent Elected Officials to fulfill this trope. No wonder if he (or she) gets elected in a Town With a Dark Secret, especially if ridden by Sunnydale Syndrome. The typical character, especially if Type A, who belongs to the Lawful Evil alignment.

Not to be confused with the movie Major Payne.

No Real Life Examples, Please. We've got enough on our hands with every political ad painting the opponent as either flavor.

Comics

 * Hamilton Hill from the Batman comics was an Evil Mayor Pain; a competant politician, but completely in the pocket of crime boss Rupert Thorne.
 * He was succeeded in office by Armand Krol, who was an Incompetent Mayor Pain.

Film

 * The Mayor in Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs starts off as just a jerk, but once the food starts falling, he will do anything to keep it coming, since his town is now getting notoriety and he is quite a glutton. He ends up pushing Flint to keep making the food, even when told it's not safe. And when the inevitable happens, he quickly shifts the blame to Flint.
 * Mayor Phlegmming in Osmosis Jones, is as incompetent as they come. Its his idiotic decisions that are the reason why Frank is such a slob and he only cares about his re-election rather then the lethal threat that will  kill Frank.

Literature

 * Big Jim Rennie from Under the Dome definitely qualifies as the evil variant.
 * Governor Grice from the Ciaphas Cain novel For The Emperor is incompetent,
 * As there's no evidence he has any personal planning or administrative skills, and Grice's personal and family histories must be consistent, he probably really is an incompetent governor. They show up a lot in the setting, and tend to stay in place until they impede somebody important who can have them killed.

Live Action TV

 * Buffy the Vampire Slayer has Mayor Richard Wilkins III, who provides the name for the Evil Mayor Pain. On the outside, he's a polite, organized and rather efficient politican. The truth, however, is that he plans to undergo the Ascension to become a demonic snake. He also planned to use this new condition to bring order to the town.
 * Desperate Housewives: Victor Lang, Gabrielle's husband for the first half of season 4.
 * Action League Now has "his dishonor, The Mayor" as the series's Big Bad.
 * Once Upon a Time: Regina Mills, aka The Evil Queen, is definitely the evil version.
 * Criminal Minds: Clark Preston from "A Thin Line" was going to become one,

Music

 * "The Mayor" by Rasputina revolves around a mayor described as a lunatic paranoid.

Web Original

 * In the Crinoverse King Bradley is the mayor of Emerald City, and corrupt and evil as all get-out.
 * Decembersville has Chimabell, who is most definitely the evil variant.

Western Animation

 * Mayor Joe Quimby from The Simpsons provides the name for the Incompetent Mayor Pain. An outright corrupt, opportunistic, embarrassing, sleazy politician who couldn't care less for Springfield.
 * Sideshow Bob may count as the evil variant during his brief time as mayor.
 * Adam West would be the Incompetent Mayor Pain in Family Guy.
 * Vlad Masters/Vlad Plasmius eventually becomes this in Danny Phantom, abusing his authority to antagonize Danny.
 * Mayor from Powerpuff Girls is so incompetent, he somehow managed to kill the exposition fairy when playing Zelda.
 * After the events of the first season finale of Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated, Mayor Jones is a definite Evil Mayor Pain. In that one episode we learn that
 * From The Oblongs, the town of Hill Valley is governed by Mayor Johnny "The Mayor" Bledsoe, a masked wrestler (talks like an American pro wrestler, wears a luchador mask with a nice suit). He's a good balance of evil and incompetence, like all authority figures on the series.