Adaptational Villainy: Difference between revisions
→Anime and Manga: consolidated the redundant entries for Sabrina and miscellaneous Gym Leaders from Pokemon into a single entry, added a few examples
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(→Anime and Manga: consolidated the redundant entries for Sabrina and miscellaneous Gym Leaders from Pokemon into a single entry, added a few examples) |
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[[File:Kaa Book vs movie 6454.jpg|frame| Kaa in Disney's [[The Jungle Book (Disney film)|Jungle Book]]: a man-eating [[Smug Snake]]. Kaa in the [[The Jungle Book (novel)|original]]: a wise [[Mentor]].]]
{{quote|''"As many people have noted throughout the years though, [[Disney Animated Canon|Disney]] has been rather...[[Disneyfication|lax]] when it comes to adapting books and fairy tales into movies. [[Pragmatic Adaptation|This is understandable in some cases]]. Still, it can be a bit galling when one knows that the fire-breathing, demonic witch on the screen was a kindly old lady in the source material."''
|''[http://zelda-queen.livejournal.com/46445.html Top Five Miscast Disney Villains]''}}
The villain of an adaptation or retelling of a story is a familiar character who wasn't as bad in the source material. Sure, they may have been [[Jerkass|annoying at times]], or [[True Neutral|couldn't care less about the good guys]], but they weren't ''evil''. Maybe they were even an ally of the main characters who leaned a little too far on the [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes]], or a villain [[Even Evil Has Standards|with standards]] or who was [[Pet the Dog|known to show a softer side]]. Maybe the character rubbed the heroes the wrong way, but never caused any real harm and was otherwise a decent person.
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* To a lesser extent, King Dedede of ''[[Kirby: Right Back at Ya!]]''. While still rarely exceeding a petty comedic [[Jerkass]], his anime counterpart has far fewer [[Pet the Dog|benevolent moments]] than that of the [[Kirby|original games]] (where he serve as more of an [[Anti-Villain]] - he was known to [[Enemy Mine|occasionally team up with Kirby against a more serious threat, such as Zero or Nightmare]]) and usually plays the main antagonist of each episode.
* Some of the Gym Leaders and Elite Four members in ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]''. While most of them (with the exception of Giovanni) are basically good guys in the games - Lance and Lorelei even helping out the player character at key points - Lt. Surge, Koga, Sabrina, Agatha, Lorelei, Lance, Karen, Will and {{spoiler|Pryce}} became villains in the manga adaptation ''[[Pokémon Special]]''. {{spoiler|To be fair, though, Pryce is a more sympathetic [[Anti-Villain]], Lance is a [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]], and most of the other characters listed [[Heel Face Turn|reform]] later on, with the exception of Agatha.}}
** This is utilized to a lesser extent with their anime counterparts. Sabrina is
**
*** What makes this more unusual is that the games, and to a lesser extent, the anime itself, emphasize that Pokémon aren't truly evil (worrying dex entries aside), with the latter showing that Team Rocket's Pokémon in particular are friendly [[Punch Clock Villain|Punch Clock Villains]] when they aren't actively hunting down Ash and Pikachu.
* Gendo Ikari from ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]''. In the anime, he is [[Ambiguously Evil]] and before his death he regrets having been a bad father to Shinji. In the manga adaptation, he is unquestionably evil and hates Shinji.
** To a smaller extent, Kaworu. In the original anime, he was pretty nice (outside of, you know, {{spoiler|being the seventeenth Angel}}). In the manga, he [[Kick the Dog|kick's a cat]]. This has been done to the point where fans have nicknamed him [[Fan Nickname|Evil Manga Kaworu]].
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** Particularly justified in the case of Basque Grand, since Hohenheim and Kimblee had the advantage of at least having brief appearances on screen in the manga before their introduction to the anime. Basque Grand was mentioned has having been killed off screen in the manga and nothing else, so the writers of the anime had ''literally'' nothing to go on with him besides his name, appearance, and occupation.
* In the [[Howl's Moving Castle (anime)|movie adaptation]] of ''[[Howl's Moving Castle (novel)|Howl's Moving Castle]]'', the main villain of the book, the Witch of the Waste, is downgraded and drained of power. Meanwhile, two of the book's nice characters, the kindly, motherly Mrs. Pentstemmon (who in the book is murdered by the Witch) and the absent and also kindly Wizard Suliman (who in the book is captured and cursed by the Witch) are combined into one character and made evil, the real villain of the movie.
* [[Little Red Riding Hood]] is a criminal in ''[[Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt]]'', and an accomplice of the [[The Big Bad Wolf]].
* While definitely a [[Jerkass Gods|Jerkass God]], Beerus was still very much an [[Affably Evil]] sort of antagonist in ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods]]'' who only turned hostile once Majin Buu ran afoul of his [[Hair-Trigger Temper]] and pressed several [[Berserk Button|Berserk Buttons]] in rapid succession. But in ''[[Dragon Ball Super]]'', which adapted the movie as its first story arc, Beerus is a plain-and-simple [[Jerkass]] who seems to get a sick sense of joy out of tormenting Vegeta during the party right off the bat, and ''grins'' when he slaps Bulma for standing up to him (compared to the movie, which he does out of grim, silent anger). He's also a lot more proactive when it comes to destroying planets (his duty as God of Destruction) and enjoys that as well. Thankfully, [[Character Development|he gets better.]]
** Tagoma, a minor villain from ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F']]'' (the following movie), also got hit with this trope when his film was adapted as ''Super'''s second story arc. Originally, he was [[Noble Demon|surprisingly noble]] for one of Frieza's top enforcers to the point that he was willing to spare the lives of people who interfered with Frieza's resurrection [[Even Evil Has Standards|and was wary of resurrecting that madman to begin with.]] But in ''Super'', he's a violent psychopath on par with Frieza himself, and a cackling lunatic who will gladly tear through his own subordinates to kill the heroes, unlike his film counterpart who, judging by his relationship with Sorbet, valued their lives. Though in this case, he has the excuse of being tortured into violent insanity by Frieza, instead of ''merely'' being killed after accidentally pissing him off.
▲** Some Pokemon show unusually violent tendencies as well. Neither Ash not Team Rocket ever seems to come upon a swarm of Beedrill that isn't hostile. Spearow and Fearow get this bad too. In the games, they are usually depicted as pragmatic Pokemon who flee from danger if they sense any, but in the anime, they seem malicious, prone to attack humans, and capable of holding long-standing grudges, most famously against Ash in the first episode and the incident which led to Pidgeotto's evolution into Pidgeot. There was one episode of Sun/Moon where a flock of them even attacked poor Nebby for no reason.
* Since they have a chance to be properly fleshed out as characters thanks to having ample pagetime to explore their personalities and motivations, a few of the Maverick bosses from the ''[[Mega Man X]]'' series are a ''lot'' worse in the manga adaptations than they were as one-off bosses in the games. Boomer Kuwanger and Flame Stag, fairly standard villains in ''X1'' and ''X2'' respectively, are murderous maniacs willing to kill millions of innocent people purely because the former was bored, and the latter wanted to stick it to X for ''daring'' to discipline him during his Maverick Hunter days. Then there's Frost Walrus, already noted to have been labeled a Maverick in need of scrapping due to his obstinate, violent attitude in ''X4''. The manga adaptation, of course, takes this to its logical conclusion by making him a sick, twisted butcher of a robot with a love of torture, mutilation, and [[Hunting the Most Dangerous Game]].
== Comic Books ==
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== Fan Works ==
* In ''[https://forum.questionablequesting.com/threads/troop-of-beasts-dragon-ball.6675/ Troop of Beasts]'',{{Dead link}}
== Films -- Animated ==
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* Inverted in ''[[Rock-a-Doodle]]'' with Snipes the magpie. In ''Chantecler'', the play which the movie is loosely based on, the Blackbird is a villainous character who plots to kill Chantecler. In the movie, his counterpart Snipes is a [[Jerkass]], but is also one of Chaunticleer's allies and nowhere near as bad as the Blackbird in the play.
* Both played straight and inverted in ''[[Shrek]]'' - Prince Charming, [[Little Red Riding Hood]], and the [[Fairy Godmother]] are villains while [[The Big Bad Wolf]] is one of the heroes, along with traditionally villainous creatures like ogres and dragons.
* Bowser from ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' is a much more malevolent character in ''[[The Super Mario Bros. Movie]]'' than he is in the games he hails from. Instead of a [[Jerk With a Heart of Gold]] who treats his minions well and doesn't get up to much worse than trying to take over the world, he's a [[Jerkass]] [[Bad Boss]] willing to hurt minions who annoy him, and a sadistic [[The Sociopath|sociopath]] who will gladly murder and torture people to get what he wants, as well as destroy the Mushroom Kingdom entirely. Even his obsessive crush on Peach is subject to this, with him trying to murder her when she rejects him during their forced wedding. Compare that to the games, where he's merely a pushy, immature jerk who genuinely loves her (even if he isn't considerate of her feelings).
== Films -- Live-Action ==
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** The movie of ''[[2010: The Year We Make Contact]]'' sticks more closely to the book and redeems HAL, but of course it's often regarded as a very poor relation to the original movie.
* Pius Thicknesse of the ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' books is weak-willed and not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but isn't a villain until he is [[Brainwashed]] into becoming one by Voldemort through the Imperius Curse. He's presumably returned to normal after the war, although this isn't shown. In the [[Harry Potter (film)|film series]], he is implied to [[The Quisling|have joined the Death Eaters of his own free will]], as he doesn't display traits of characters under the Imperius Curse in the films and is more self-aware.
** Barty Crouch Jr. is also subjected to this. While he and his book-self share many of the same crimes (restoring Voldemort to his former glory, {{spoiler|murdering his father}}, torturing Frank and Alice Longbottom into insanity, and {{spoiler|kidnapping and impersonating Mad-Eye Moody before locking him away in a trunk for nearly a year}}), he also lacks the sympathetic qualities of his book-self. Instead of being a troubled young man-turned fanatically loyal Death Eater due to a need for a father figure and a pitiable figure in the end, he's a one-dimensional lunatic who ''hisses like a snake'' and joined Voldemort purely [[For the Evulz]].
* Hades in the ''[[Percy Jackson & the Olympians|Percy Jackson and The Olympians]]'' series is imposing and menacing, described as resembling every dictator in human history, but it turns out that he [[Dark Is Not Evil|isn't one of the bad guys]], and he eventually helps fight against the Titans while his son Nico becomes an important ally of the protagonists. [[Everybody Hates Hades|Not so much in the movie.]]
*
* In the short story that ''[[It's a Wonderful Life]]'' is based on, "The Greatest Gift", Mr. Potter is only the owner of a photography studio and doesn't meet, much less cause problems for, George Bailey. In the movie, he is a corrupt slumlord, [[Jerkass]], and all-around nasty piece of work who goes out of his way to make George's life a living hell ([[Moral Event Horizon|and almost drives him to suicide]]).
* The movie version of ''[[The Dukes of Hazzard]]'' has Roscoe and Boss Hogg portrayed as traditional, ''competent'' evil guys instead of the [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain|goofball minor incompetents]] they usually were in the TV show. While they were corrupt, greedy jerks in the show, too, they were known to [[Pet the Dog]] on occasion, were relatively [[Harmless Villain|harmless villains]], and [[Even Evil Has Standards|had lines that they wouldn't cross]] - for example, Hogg hated violence and avoided physically harming people as part of his schemes.
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* In the film adaptation of ''[[How the Grinch Stole Christmas (film)|How the Grinch Stole Christmas]]'', the Whos are for the most part more materialistic and unsympathetic than they were in the book, in part to make the Grinch more sympathetic.
* ''[[October Sky]]'' turns Homer's father into a [[Jerkass]], presumably because there wouldn't really be a villain otherwise. In the book it was based on, his father is much nicer and more supportive of his rocketry work.
* In ''[[Iron Man 3]]'', the main villain is {{spoiler|Aldrich Killian, a minor comics character who sold Extremis to criminals, felt bad about it, and shot himself in the head. [[He's Dead, Jim|The end]]. In this film, he's the founder of A.I.M. and infects himself with the virus in order to kill Tony. The official tie-in video game takes it a step further and turns him into that universe's M.O.D.O.K.}}
* In ''[[Marvel]]'' comics, Psylocke, Spike, Multiple Man, and Quill are all allies of the [[X-Men]]. In ''[[X-Men: The Last Stand]]'', all of them are members of Magneto's Brotherhood.
* In Peter Jackson's ''[[The Hobbit (film)|The Hobbit]]'' the Master of Lake-town has been changed from a greedy, self-centered politician who does not figure much in the plot into an oppressive tyrant who would have already been deposed if not for the ordinary people not being allowed to bear arms.
* In ''[[Spider-Man]]'' comics, [[Venom (Comic Book)|Venom]] is often a villain, and sometimes a [[Nominal Hero]], but he’s usually considered [[Tragic Monster|a tragic one]] in either instance - formerly a journalist, the biggest story of his career was a series of interviews with a man claiming to be the murderous [[Knight Templar]] serial killer, the Sin Eater, cumulating in Brock revealing the killer’s identity. As it turned out, the man was not the Sin Eater at all, just a
* The Banana Split Gang became this in the horror/comedy, ''[[The Banana Splits Movie]]''. Folks who grew up between 1968 and 1984 might remember ''[[The Banana Split Show]]'', a variety show produced by [[Hanna-Barbera]] that ran for two years and was then shown on syndication for 12 more years. The show featured cartoon shorts and live action scenes with a [[New Age]] band made up of four nutty [[Funny Animal]] characters, Fleegle (dog), Bingo (monkey), Drooper (lion), and Snorky (elephant). The 2019 movie, however (possibly inspired by [[Five Nights at Freddy's (franchise)|a certain successful video game]]), cast the foursome as homicidal monsters, seeking revenge against the studio for canceling their show. {{spoiler| Except Snorky - he becomes the hero.}}
* ''[[Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey]]'' was similar, it features an evil [[Winnie the Pooh|Winnie and Piglet]] seeking bloody revenge against the now adult Christopher Robin for leaving them when he grew older. Unfortunately, the film is, even by slasher standards, pretty bad.
*
* The entire plot of ''[[Brightburn]]''. The movie is pretty much the origin of [[Superman]] - had he been evil.
* [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] Slugworth is this in ''[[Wonka]]'', plus an [[Ascended Extra]]. In the [[Charlie and the Chocolate Factory|original novel]], [[Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory|1971 film]]<ref>He seemed pretty sinister in that movie, but as revealed at the end, it wasn't really him.</ref>, and [[Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (film)|2005 film]], he is one of the legendary candymaker’s competitors, and in all these versions "only" engaged in corporate espionage. In this prequel, however, {{spoiler|Slugworth is far more evil. A mobster in all but name, he is willing to have Wonka and his allies arrested on frivolous debt claims in order to “discourage” him from opposing the Chocolate Cartel and indenture them to a laundry, resorts to sabotage and arson, and then "offers" to pay off the debts Wonka and his friends owe, so long as he leaves town and never makes chocolate again. While Wonka agrees at first, Slugworth bribes the laundry owner to keep Noodle there anyway, and then tries to kill Wonka by planting a bomb on the boat Wonka leaves on. As Wonka later uncovers, Noodle is the daughter of Slugworth’s deceased brother, Slugworth having told her mother she was dead and then sold her to Scrubitt (the [[Big Bad]] of the movie) in order to eliminate her and gain the family inheritance.}}
* While initially seeming like a straight-up case of [[Adaptational Heroism]], it becomes clear around halfway into ''[[Spider-Man: Far From Home]]'' that Mysterio is every bit the villain that he is in the comics, and so much worse than that. While he can be nasty and genuinely dangerous at times, comics!Mysterio, for the most part, skews closer to the "Affable" side of [[Affably Evil]] and is often portrayed as [[A Lighter Shade of Black]] among Spidey's rogues' gallery. Here, Mysterio is a sadistic, sociopathic [[Attention Whore]] who orchestrates disasters with massive casualties around the world so he can stop them and be hailed as a hero for it, and is perfectly willing to murder a bunch of teenagers in order to cover up his crimes.
== Literature ==
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* In the ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' games, and most cartoon adaptations, Dr. "Eggman" Robotnik is villainous, but with a highly [[Affably Evil|affable]] and clownish demeanor, and in some cases leans into [[Anti-Villain]] territory. The Robotnik of ''[[Sonic Sat AM]]'' and [[Sonic Underground]], however, is a monstrous (and far less humorous) dictator that not only has taken over most of the planet, but thrives almost lustfully on having any remaining civilians [[Transformation Trauma|painfully]] [[Unwilling Roboticisation|robotocized]]. This depiction is drifted in and out for both comic adaptations (although they refer to his more petty, comical personality a lot more).
** Inverted in ''[[Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog]]'', where Robotnik is instead portrayed as an oafish, cowardly buffoon who does nothing but get kicked around by not only Sonic and Tails, but also his own cronies Scratch and Grounder as well.
*** The same applies for his outing in ''[[Sonic Boom]]''. Not only are his [[Affably Evil]] [[Manchild]] tendencies ramped [[Up to Eleven]], but he has his fair share of nice and genuinely ''heroic'' moments. He wants his prison cells for his enemies to be ''comfy'', for crying out loud!
* In the song ''[[Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer]]'', Cousin Mel is mentioned a grand total of once, playing cards with Grandpa after Grandma's death. In the [[Christmas Special]] based on the song, she is a [[The Grinch|Christmas-hating]] [[Gold Digger]] and wannabe [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] who [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|sings one of the]] [[Disney Acid Sequence|oddest]] [[Villain Song]]s [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|ever written]].
* In the book ''[[Cranberry Christmas]]'', Cyrus Grape is a [[Grumpy Old Man|curmudgeonly old man]] who refuses to let anyone skate on his pond, but gets his comeuppance when Mr. Whiskers finds a deed that proves the lake is actually on his property. In the animated special, Cyrus is a much more active antagonist, sneaking around and messing up Mr. Whiskers's house in order to keep Mr. Whiskers from finding that deed (whereas in the book he had no idea it existed).
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* Tublat the gorilla from ''[[Tarzan]]'' by [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]]. In Disney's ''[[The Legend of Tarzan]]'', his character is [[Composite Character|merged rather confusingly]] with another, Kerchak. Since Disney decided to make their version of Kerchak (who is ironically more similar to Burroughs's Tublat in personality) more sympathetic, as a consequence they ended up making their version of Tublat more sinister, like the novel's Kerchak.
* In the TV show ''[[Mega Man (animation)|Mega Man]]'', Proto Man is one of the major villains. In the games, while he did work for [[Big Bad|Dr. Wily]] [[Mega Man 3|at first]], he had a [[Heel Face Turn]] and became an ally to Mega Man, if a [[Aloof Ally|distant one]].
** The same also goes for Dr. Wily himself. While a dangerous and manipulative man in the games, his villainy amounts to little more than trying to take over the world and kidnapping the occasional innocent person (at least, before the ''[[Mega Man X]]'' series, where he's taken the plunge into [[Omnicidal Maniac]] territory). Here, he's an unhinged lunatic willing to kill countless innocent people, level entire cities, and even destroy most of the world and rule over the remains all out of petty spite towards Dr. Light. While not ''quite'' as dark, he's basically the show's equivalent to [[Sonic Sat AM|Sat AM Robotnik.]]
* In the ''[[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]]'' comics [[Silver Sable]] is an [[Anti-Hero|anti-heroic]] mercenary. While she sometimes fights [[Spider-Man]], they usually team up to fight the real villain. In ''[[The Spectacular Spider-Man]]'', Silver Sable is a [[Mafia Princess]] and a straight up villain, since she's the [[Daddy's Little Villain|daughter]] of the mob boss Silvermane in the show.
** [[Word of God]] says that had the show continued, she would have [[Heel Face Turn|evolved]] into her usual anti-heroic persona.
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** Dear lord, '''Harley Quinn'''. Clearly the most evil version of Harley to date, she's a chainsaw wielding [[Serial Killer]] who keeps the rotting corpses of her family like trophies. Even worse, the Joker is nowhere to be seen, implying she wound up like this on her own.
* Many non-evil characters who were originally introduced in the ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures]]'' comic got this Trope applied in the animated series - Leatherhead, Wingnut & Screwloose, and Mondo Gecko. In fact, the writers had planned to have Ray Fillet be the antagonist in “Rebel Without a Fin”; he was changed to an unrelated [[Fish Person]] simply called Ray because writer Stephen Murphy objected to the character being used as a villain. Didn’t stop a lot of fans from referring to him as “Ray Fillet”, though.
* ''[[Velma]]'' does this to the title character, Velma Dinkley; while not nearly as evil as the true antagonist, this version of Velma is far removed from the lovable nerd most fans of ''[[Scooby-Doo]]'' are familiar with, the show making her an arrogant, narcissistic, selfish bigot, with no genuine concern for anyone but herself. Possibly her defining moment comes after Daphne gets into a fight with a student named Krista over sex and nudity on television (she opposes it and Krista is in favor of it), Velma assaults Daphne with a hockey stick, before asking her opinion of race-blind casting. When Daphne yells at Velma that she could have killed her, Velma replies “guess I didn’t try hard enough”. While pivotal parts of the story involves Velma clearing Fred and Daphne of murder, she only does so to help her father, who is their lawyer, and for the record, not a very good one.
** Daphne is little better than Velma, being both an [[Alpha Bitch]] and a true [[Bully]]. The aforementioned fight with Krista (which starts with choking her and ends with slamming her head to the floor) isn’t the only time she shows a violent streak; in fact, while she isn’t guilty of murder, she comes very close to being so more than once. Naturally, she and Velma are hated rivals during the series, Daphne going so far as to blackmail Velma into dealing narcotics for her in exchange for convincing her own parents (both of whom are police officers) into letting Velma see police records.
** The adaptation doesn’t truly make Fred a villain, though it does make him a complete jerk, and as for Shaggy, he has the opposite problem, being a [[Dogged Nice Guy]] who is far too trusting and forgiving, causing the other protagonists to take advantage of him at every opportunity.
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