Bad Guy Bar: Difference between revisions
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'''Tough Guy:''' ''How tough am I? How tough am ''I''? I had a bowl of nails for breakfast this mornin'!''
'''Reg:''' ''Yea-hah, so?''
'''Tough Guy''': [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|Without any milk.]]
|''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]''}}
This is the place where bad guys hang out to plot their nefarious deeds. It is a bar. If it's not dingy and/or a [[Bikini Bar]], it is whatever the latest incarnation of "nightclub" looks like - a throng of people dancing in ways that resemble an orgy - the [[Coolest Club Ever]], because as we all know, [[Evil Is Cool]]. The principal bar in any self-respecting [[Wretched Hive]] will naturally be of this kind. [[Bad Guys Play Pool|There is usually a pool table.]]
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In modern times, this is where you will find [[Orcus on His Throne]] — a modern-day royal court, complete with bodyguards and a crowd of lessers cheapening themselves for their master's amusement.
If for some reason more than half the show's action takes place here, that makes it a [[Tropacabana]].
Contrast of course [[Good Guy Bar]], where heroes (or sometimes heroes ''and'' villains) hang out. A [[Den of Iniquity]] is a comparable setting that's hidden from the public.
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== Anime
* The Devil's Nest Bar in ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]''.
* Natsuki from ''[[My-HiME]]'' frequents such a bar to gather information on shady dealings.
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* Zigzagged with Bootleg, a seedy bar in Domino City in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's]]''. While it clearly caters to criminals, Yusei goes there to find [[Information Broker|Saiga]] after being released from jail.
* The BAR-ian, in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal]]''; it's unclear exactly where it is, but this poorly lit bar seems to be a popular place for the Barians, the villains in season two. (Although, the only customers who have been seen there are two of them, Alito and Girag.)
== Comic Books ==
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* ''[[Kingdom Come]]'', where heroes and villains tend to switch sides just for the hell of it, has an underground bar where many hang out.
** Rorschach of ''[[Watchmen (comics)|Watchmen]]'' fame makes a cameo in a couple of panels. In one panel he's breaking Brother Power's fingers.
* Every Bar in Gotham City.
** The Iceberg Lounge, owned by the Penguin, is one of the most popular and classiest.
** One story even said that [[Batman]] pays to keep several of them open (including the Iceberg Lounge) just so he can have places to overhear information.
* There is one located in the ''[[Savage Dragon]]'' version of Chicago. It's name is never given but it is a popular hangout for supervillains.
▲== Films ==
* Papa Midnite's bar in ''[[Hellblazer|Constantine]]''. According to Chaz Kramer it's a "haven for those who rise and fall" - i.e. half-breed demons and angels.
* The Oro Verde and Tarasco Bars from ''[[Desperado]]'', both of which were hangouts for members of Bucho's gang, and both of which were cleaned out in bloody fashion by the Mariachi.
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* The Mexican bar in ''[[¡Three Amigos!|Three Amigos]]'', filled with heavily armed [[bandito]]s who like to pick fights with newcomers.
* The Korova Milk Bar in ''[[A Clockwork Orange (film)|A Clockwork Orange]]''. Alex and his droogs always assemble at the bar to "sharpen themselves up" for a night of ultraviolence by sipping milk laced with narcotics. The decor of the bar is stark black and white, with all furniture composed of white statues of contorted, naked women, some of which dispense the spiked milk. It's never firmly established whether the other patrons of the bar are as violent as Alex's gang, though it seems unlikely: the woman singing ''Ode to Joy'' and her companions appear shocked when Alex strikes Dim for mocking her, and a bit flustered when he nods to them. All in all, it seems more of a trendy (or what would have been called "mod" at the time the movie was released) scene bar where (some) bad guys happen to hang out.
* In ''[[Scooby-Doo (film)
* The biker gang "Satan's Helpers" has taken up residence in the bar in ''[[Pee-wee's Big Adventure]]''. Subverted when Pee Wee {{spoiler|dances to the song "Tequila" and wins their hearts}}.
* In ''[[A Bronx Tale]]'', a biker gang tries to break up a bar belonging to the neighborhood mob boss and are given a [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown]] in a scene that makes a significant impression on the teenage main character.
* In ''[[The Matrix
* The El Sleazo Cafe from ''[[The Muppet Movie]]'' has some elements of this. It's full of ill-tempered and unsavory-looking characters, and Kermit's arrival coincides with [[Getting the Boot|a man getting thrown out through the front door.]]
{{quote|'''Kermit:''' Rough place, huh?
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* Eddie Izzard's Death Star Canteen joke revolves around this trope.
* Subverted in ''[[Wild Hogs]]'' where the bar is actually owned by the Fuegos biker gang, and is rebuilt by a makeover show during the final credits
* In
* "Sister Margaret's Home for Wayward Girls" in ''[[Deadpool (film)|Deadpool]]''. Sort of. It's a merc hangout, and its denizens aren't ''quite'' criminals, but they're all very dangerous.
* The Club Ritz in ''[[Dick Tracy]]'', used by Big Boy Caprice as his base of operations, after forcing Lips Manlis to sign the deed over to him (right before killing him). The place offered illegal gambling to patrons, but Caprice mostly used it as a front for his gang's other crimes.
* The Tittie Twister Bar from ''[[From Dusk till Dawn]]'', sort of. While it is likely a lot of the clientele of this strip club are criminals, the performers are the Bad Guys, [[Vampires Are Sex Gods|being vampires]] who use the establishment to attract prey.
* Weasel's bar, called "Sister Margaret's Home for Wayward Girls", in ''[[Deadpool (film)|Deadpool]]''. Sort of. It's a mercenaries' hangout, and its denizens aren't ''quite'' criminals, but they're all very dangerous.
* The Poison Apple tavern in the second and third ''[[Shrek]]'' movies. Owned by Snow White's stepmother (naturally), its employees include Captain Hook and Cinderella's stepsisters; patrons include the Headless Horseman, Rumplestiltskin, Little Red Riding Hood<ref>She is a villain in this franchise</ref>, and formerly Puss in Boots. After the villains reform following the events of the third film, the place is renovated and renamed [[Good Guy Bar|the Candy Apple]].
== Literature ==
* The bar where Jim Taggart, Balph Eubank, Wesley Mouch and the other [[Dirty Communists|villains]] hang out in ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]''. It's designed to look like it's underground but is actually on top of a skyscraper. The basement design is symbolic of the fact that despite their wealth and power, they cannot aspire to greatness, they have to drag it down to their pathetic level. It's established that the drinks are rubbish so they only drink there because it's a fashionable place, which shows that they are comformists. Still, were it not for the bad drinks and the even worse company, you have to admit, it would be a pretty cool place to be. [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|It looks underground, but it's not!]]
* [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld]]'':
** Biers
** Then there's Troll's Head, which is something like a more [[Darker and Edgier|serious and gritty]] version of the Drum. To give some idea of what kind of place it is: the thing outside it that shows the bar's name is Troll's Head is not a sign, but an actual severed head of a troll. This is a reference to English pubs with names like the Turk's Head and the Saracen's Head, which acquired those names during the Crusades for similar reasons; many pubs with such names still exist, but with rather less grisly signage.
*** Pratchett references this more directly in ''[[
* The Old Pink Dog Bar of [[Wretched Hive|Han Dold City]] in ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy/So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish|So Long And Thanks For All The Fish]]'', where customers are periodically murdered by a large bird and disembodied arm which live behind the bar.
* The Korova Milk Bar in ''[[A Clockwork Orange (novel)|A Clockwork Orange]]''. It's more firmly suggested in the book than the film that the bar is a popular spot for gang-bangers like Alex and his droogs. Amusingly, compared to the film it's a much more sedate-looking place, with murals of cows on the walls, no statues, and a few private curtained cubicles for people working through a really major synthemesc trip.
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== Music ==
* ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB2BKdgSW4U Club Villain]'' is a song about such a place.
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_D3VFfhvs4 The video] for "Smooth Criminal" has [[Michael Jackson|Michael]] crashing the bad guys' party in a place like this.
== New Media ==
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== Tabletop Games ==
* The Cape 'n Cowl in the ''Freedom City'' [[Sourcebook]] for ''[[Mutants and Masterminds]]''.
* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]''
** In the ''[[Planescape]]'' setting, Sigil has ''lots'' of bars that cater almost exclusively to fiends, most of them are in the Lower Ward.) Of course, ''this'' city has a bar for almost ''every'' type of creature.
** Some sources mention bars and coffee shops in the Lower Planes themselves. How the staff of these places react to mortals varies. (Some you shouldn't enter at all, others seem to be safe, but have bartenders who might try to offer [[Deal with the Devil| a diabolic pact to such customers]], and a few are relatively safe so long as you don't start trouble.)
** The Worm's Guts is a restaurant mentioned in "Umbra", a module from ''[[Dungeon (magazine)| Dungeon #50]]''. Catering to Lower Planar customers, they have a unique service for such creatures, hunting down ''specific'' individuals the [[To Serve Man| customers want to dine on.]] In the plot of the story, a yagnoloth purposely requests the [[Player Characters]] so he can give them [[An Offer You Can't Refuse]] .
== Videogames ==
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** They were upgraded to level 77. Their main threat comes not from their damage, but from their muskets that can knock you halfway across the city in one shot. And they just love juggling you in midair.
** There's also the Grim Guzzler, the bar of choice for Dark Iron Dwarves, which funnily enough is the only place in Blackrock Depths where they ''don't'' attack you on sight; it takes a golem starting a [[Bar Brawl]] to turn it into a battlefield.
** In "The MOTHERLOAD!" dungeon, there's the Downdraft Bar, Grill, and Minefield. Yes, seriously, the Venture Co goblins have a bar and grill in a minefield. Fortunately, you can avoid the place completely using the provided mine carts.
* In ''[[The Punisher (2005 video game)|The Punisher]]'' for the PS2, Frank non-chalantly walks into a bar full of mob thugs, none of whom recognize him until he pulls his guns and kills them all. In a bizarre coincidence, a cop was hanging out at the bar but not killed because he was in the bathroom.
** {{spoiler|The cop was Frank's contact, and knew what was coming}}
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* In the ''[[Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army|Raidou]] [[Raidou Kuzunoha VS King Abaddon|Kuzunoha]]'' duology, the local bathhouse fills this role for the local Yakuza [[Expy|expies]].
* In ''[[Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned]]'', the Lost's clubhouse is a Bad Guy Bar and your primary save point.
* The Gates of Hell from the ''[[Bayonetta]]'' games. Located in northeastern United States (or at least via a portal located there) the place is frequented by demonic criminals, and the [[Anti-Hero]] protagonist, who goes there to buy weapons and fighting techniques from [[Information Broker| Rodin]], who is also the bartender.
* The Mangled Mermaid in ''[[Alice: Madness Returns]]'', both a seedy bar and a brothel on the bad side of London. Don't expect any drinks better than stale beer or rot-gut gin, as Alice herself states.
== Webcomics ==
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** A subversion, in that the thugs in the bar all turn out to be somewhat nice guys with dreams of doing something with their lives besides being thugs.
* ''[[The Spectacular Spider-Man]]'' had one owned by the Shocker, though he left the running of the place to Blackie Drago. It gets burned down in a fight between Spidey and the Molten Man.
*
** One episode had one of these named "The Secret Hideout"... [[Rule of Funny|advertised by huge illuminated signs and neons]].
** Also, the Meat Locker, a club owned by mobster [[The Don|Tony "The Butcher" Vivaldi.]] It's actually a lot nicer than it sounds.
* Subverted in [[Olive the Other Reindeer]]. The bar near the North Pole Olive stops in looking for a ride seems to be populated by criminals, but it turns out they aren't that bad. Well, except for that bunny. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XNjDKdO3zk They even have a song about it.]
* There was a coffee shop in the ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]'' episode "Operation: FLUSH", which looked like a typical Starbucks, except all the customers were villains from the show. The barista even wears a super-villain style mask.
▲== Real life ==
* There were bars at concentration camps where Nazis could drink and be merry after a hard day of torturing and killing people.
* Every neighbourhood has a really rough pub where no-one who values their life ever goes!
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:This Index Means Trouble]]
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[[Category:Action Adventure Tropes]]
[[Category:Villains]]
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