Adaptational Villainy: Difference between revisions

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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 converteda intogood somethingexample: ofwhile she is a demonic[[Strange witchGirl]] whoin antagonizes''[[Pokémon AshRed Blue and coYellow]]'', she isn't malevolent or dangerous. The anime turns her malevolent, punishing those who challenge her by turning them into dolls. Other Gym Leaders, while manynot othersvillains, are egotisticalcast [[Jerkass]]esas thategotistical havejerks ain bigotedthe oranime, bullyingLt. demeanorSurge, regardingErika, howand theySkyla handlebeing Pokémongood examples. JustStill, just about all of them [[Defeat Equals Friendship|make friends with the heroes]] in the end, however, similar to their manga counterparts (this is something of an important plot point early on, since more often Ash earns his first gym badges out of reformed kindness from the leaders rather than actually winning against them).
** SomeAnd Pokemonoccasionally some Pokémon themselves (particularly either Poison- or Dark- types) show unusually violent tendencies as well. Neither Ash notnor Team Rocket ever seemsseem 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.
** And occasionally some Pokémon themselves (particularly either Poison- or Dark- types), such as in the ''[[Pokémon Mystery Dungeon]]'' games. In the games and anime, even Pokémon seen working for the antagonists aren't really evil, [[Punch Clock Villain|just doing their jobs]].
*** 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.
* ''[[Pokémon]]'':
** Sabrina is a good example. While she is a [[Strange Girl]] in ''[[Pokémon Red Blue and Yellow]]'', she isn't malevolent or dangerous. The anime turns her malevolent, punishing those who challenge her by turning them into dolls. Other Gym Leaders, while not villains, are cast as egotistical jerks in the anime, Lt. Surge, Erika, and Skyla being good examples. Still, all of them (Sabrina included) made up with Ash in the end.
** 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.
* [[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.
* 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 ==
* Generally speaking, this trope is usually in effect for characters subjected to the "[[Ron the Death Eater]]" treatment (when they aren't "merely" twisted into obnoxious jerks). In fact, it's all there in the trope name: there are an ''astounding'' amount of ''[[Harry Potter]]'' fanfics where Ron Weasley, a good-hearted, loyal, steadfast friend, ends up becoming a [[A Nazi by Any Other Name|Death Eater]] out of jealousy and spite towards his friends.
* In ''[https://forumarchiveofourown.questionablequesting.comorg/threadsworks/troop-of-beasts-dragon-ball.667513655556/chapters/31364238 Troop of Beasts]{{Dead link}}'', since Kakarot never hits his head, he never becomes the kind, happy Goku. After successfully killing Gohan (which he does while in full possession of his faculties, rather than after turning into an Oozaru), he slaughters everybody he comes across. Oh, and after forcing Colonel Violet to show how children are made, he starts violating huge numbers of women. Then, after the Red Ribbon Army is defeated, he becomes a warlord who subjugates many communities through brutal conquest. While he [[Even Evil Has Loved Ones|comes to deeply care for his family and those he calls friends]] and [[Took a Level In Kindness|becomes more pleasant overall]], he's still not a good guy by any stretch of the imagination.
** And ''Troop of Beasts'' is far from the only fic of its kind. Goku never hitting his head and growing up evil (or at least, far rowdier and with looser morals) is a ''very'' popular [[Fandom-Specific Plot]].
* While already an example of this trope in the ''[[Pokémon]]'' anime, Sabrina manages to be even worse in ''[[Pokémon Reset Bloodlines]]''. Much to Ash's horror, the Sabrina of the timeline he's stranded in isn't ''just'' a psycho who turns people into dolls that she can torment forever, but a murderous, sociopathic [[Social Darwinist]] who wants to cleanse the world of people she deems "weak" and "useless". Tellingly, Ash doesn't defeat her by having his clown of a Haunter make her laugh and trigger a [[Heel Face Turn]]. Instead, he swipes her badge and runs the hell away while she comes after him with an army of Psychic Pokémon.
* While Count Varley never appears in ''[[Fire Emblem: Three Houses]]'', Bernadetta and Yuri both paint a very vivid picture of him being an abusive father and terrible person in general, while ''Three Hopes'' would reveal that he's also one hell of a [[Dirty Coward]] when he finally appears in the flesh. Even then, he's far from the bloodthirsty war criminal that he is in ''[[The Savior King, the Master Tactician and the Queen of Liberation]]'', and never gets up to anything nearly as bad as butchering entire civilian populations.
 
== Films -- AnimatedFilm ==
* One of the most famous examples is Kaa from ''[[The Jungle Book (novel)|The Jungle Book]]'' by [[Rudyard Kipling]]. In the book, he is a mentor and friend of Mowgli, helping to save him when he is kidnapped by monkeys and offering him advice for battle, indeed never harming or threatening him in any way. The other animals in the jungle respect and fear him for his [[Old Master|wisdom]] and powers of hypnosis. In the [[The Jungle Book (Disney film)|Disney movie]] and its sequel, he is a [[Smug Snake|cowardly, greedy villain]] who only sees Mowgli as potential food. Apparently [[Executive Meddling|it was thought by Disney]] that audiences [[Reptiles Are Abhorrent|wouldn't accept a snake as a heroic character.]] And in the sequel [[Villain Decay|Kaa loses any menace he once had]]. The live-action remake of the movie portrayed him as a mindless monster who is used as a [[Shark Pool]] by King Louie against thieves (in the novel, incidentally, Kaa was the only animal that the monkeys were afraid of); this depiction draws on a ''different'' snake who appeared in ''The Second Jungle Book''.
** Speaking of ''[[The Jungle Book (novel)|The Jungle Book]]'', [[Big Bad|Shere Khan]] himself is upgraded slightly with each Disney adaptation. In the books he was an antagonist, but represented as somewhat pitiful, is something of an arrogant fool, and is taken half-heartedly by a lot of residents of the jungle, including Bagheera. In the original Disney film, he is somewhat [[Laughably Evil|comedic]] and playful, but is genuinely feared and implied to be stronger than many animals put together. In ''[[Tale Spin]]'', he is given a much more deathly serious and calculating demeanor, but also is rather [[Affably Evil|affable]] and more of an [[Anti-Villain]] in many of his appearances, with [[Even Evil Has Standards|a moral code]] that restrains his villainy. In the sequel to Disney's ''Jungle Book'' he is an [[Knight of Cerebus|out and out dark presence whose only goal is to rip Mowgli to shreds]].
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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 ==
* In the original ''[[Land of the Lost (TV series)|Land of the Lost]]'' TV show, Enik the Altrusian was [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold|gruff and somewhat self-centered]], but was otherwise a good guy and helped the main characters when they needed it, in contrast to his more vicious Sleestak relatives. In the [[Land of the Lost (film)|2009 live-action]] [[The Film of the Series|movie]], he is a [[Manipulative Bastard]] who wiped out his own people, tries to [[Take Over the World]] with an army of mind-controlled Sleestaks, and briefly tricks the main characters into helping him do so.
* In the book ''[[The Space Odyssey Series|2001: A Space Odyssey]]'' by [[Arthur C. Clarke]], HAL-9000 is a beautifully-defined and deeply sympathetic character who is so human that he develops a psychosis. [[2001: A Space Odyssey|The movie]], deprived of the ability to use an [[Author Tract]] to make this clear, makes HAL seem far more monstrous than the original intent, and sadly the film is often cited as an example of [[A.I. Is a Crapshoot]].
** 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.]]
* InvertedDee-Jay and Zangief in ''[[Street Fighter (film)|Street Fighter]]'', where Balrog is a hero and a friend of Chun Li and E. Honda. Played straight with Dee-Jay and Zangief, who were portrayed as lackeys of M. Bison (although the latter does a [[Heel Face Turn]] at the end).
* 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.
* Inverted in ''[[Resident Evil: Apocalypse|Resident Evil Apocalypse]]'', where Nicholai Ginovaef, the human antagonist in ''[[Resident Evil 3: Nemesis]]'', became a good guy.
* 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 “compulsive"compulsive confessor”confessor", which was proven when Spider-Man apprehended the true Sin Eater. The unintentionally-fraudulent story caused Brock to lose his job, his wife to divorce him, his father to disown him, and ruins his career, plunging him into madness. However, in ''[[Spider-Man 3]]'', the plot does away with all of his sympathetic qualities - the event that ruins Brock’s career is when he ''purposely'' photoshops Spider-Man into a story to depict Spidey as a criminal, simply to get on J. Jonah Jameson’s good side. When Peter exposes the ruse, Jonah isn’t amused and fires Brock. Making it worse, Brock becomes Venom not when praying for forgiveness for contemplating suicide (as he does in the comic), but praying for God to smite Peter.
* 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.
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* 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 ''[[Double Dragon]]'', Jimmy Lee went from being the Player 2 character in the arcade version, helping his brother Billy defeat the Black Warriors, to being the [[The Man Behind the Man|true leader]] of the gang in the NES version due to the removal of the co-op mode. Whereas the arcade version only has the battle between the Lee brothers occur if both players completed the game together, the NES version simply has Jimmy show up to fight his brother after Machine Gun Willy (the arcade version's final boss) is defeated. Strangely, the NES versions of both sequels feature Jimmy as Player 2 once again and don't even acknowledge his role as a bad guy in the first NES game.
* Smithers robs a jewelry store in ''[[The Simpsons (video game)|The Simpsons]]'' arcade game, a far contrast to his soft-spoken character on the show.
* [[Dumbo|The Ringmaster]] in Disney's ''[[Disney's Villains' Revenge]]''. While he was a clueless windbag and a bit of a [[Jerkass]] in the film, he was far from evil and certainly didn't go out of his way to hurt and antagonize Dumbo.
* [[Casting a Shadow|Darkrai]] is portrayed as a [[Dark Is Not Evil]] Pokemon in the [[Pokémon]] games, hiding itself away voluntarily to try and prevent its power to trap other creatures in nightmares from afflicting others. In the [[Pokémon Mystery Dungeon|Mystery Dungeon]] series, it is a much more malicious character who plots to plunge the world into eternal darkness [[For the Evulz]]. However, this Darkrai eventually loses its memory and can be recruited postgame.
* ''[[The Simpsons Arcade|The Simpsons Mobile Arcade Game]]''; Many characters who [[Jerkass| are simply jerks]] in the cartoon are bosses trying to impede Homer, such as Chief Wiggum, Mayor Quimby, Jimmy Freedman (aka The Pimple Faced Kid), Kent Brockman, Krusty, and more.
* Unlike his comic book counterpart who would rather control New York than destroy it, Kingpin in ''Spider-Man vs. the Kingpin'' is cut from an entirely different cloth. Instead of the de-facto top dog of NYC's criminal underground, he's practically a Bond villain who seeks to nuke the city as part of his greater plan to take over the world, and will happily force Spider-Man to watch as he dunks Mary Jane in a vat of acid in one of the game's bad endings.
* Mysterio tends to bounce between being an ineffective goofball and a genuinely terrifying lunatic depending on who's writing him in the comics, but he's a full-on [[Omnicidal Maniac]] in ''[[Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions]]'' who's willing to destroy the multiverse itself so he can reshape it into something that's more to his liking.
* Hammerhead was always a bad guy in the original ''[[Spider-Man]]'' comics, but he was no worse than your average mobster and had his fair share of redeeming qualities, such as being against hurting women and children. His incarnation in [[Spider-Man (2018 video game)|the PS4 ''Spider-Man'' game]], however, is a nasty piece of work. Not only does he ''happily'' [[Would Hit a Girl|subject Yuri Watanabe to emotional torture and have Silver Sable physically tortured by his men]], but he's a prolific cop killer, tries to execute his rival Maggia dons by drowning them in cement, and couldn't care less that arming his men with Sable International's dangerous tech will kill plenty of innocent civilians caught in the crossfire of his brutal turf wars.
* Aran Ryan is this in the Wii version of ''[[Punch Out]]''. When he appears in ''[[Super Punch Out]]'', he fights perfectly clean; even when the game is analyzed using the rules of the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combat Sports, he doesn't cheat at all. In the Wii game, however, he is a ''blatant'' cheater, and worse than any other opponent, going so far as to put horseshoes in his gloves and using one of them like a flail.
* Wario being among the villains in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl|The Subspace Emissary]]'' isn't too weird in an of itself: he was the [[Big Bad]] of [[Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins|his debut game]], after all! However, the worst thing he did was take over Mario's castle and turn the friendly inhabitants of his island against him. Here, he's perfectly willing to [[Would Hurt a Child|hurt children]] and laugh about it, as well as assist the [[Big Bad|Ancient Minister]] with destroying entire worlds.
 
== Web Originals ==
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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.