Bald of Evil: Difference between revisions

[[File:baldofevil2.jpg|link=Shazam|frame| The chrome-dome of [[Doomy Dooms of Doom|DOOM!]]]]

 

 

 

Where the hero has his flowing golden locks or a boyish, tousled mop of [[Redheaded Hero]] or brown hair to indicate his youthful purity, something about the complete ''absence'' of hair makes a bald villain look particularly nefarious, especially while he's [[Slouch of Villainy|slouched on his throne]], steepling his fingers and delivering a [[Breaking Lecture]] while the ominous backlight shines off his gleaming chrome-dome.

This might be a throwback to ancient belief in hair as a symbol of health and virility, as exemplified by the Biblical story of Samson; it may also be more primal still, as a shaven head more closely resembles a skull and, combined with the natural tendency for us to lose our hair as we grow old, is therefore symbolic of aging and death. As a matter of fact, in ancient Rome, baldness was considered a [[Squick|gross deformity]]. Somehow, that didn't stop the very bald [[Patrick Stewart]] from being called "The Sexiest Man on TV" in 1992.

 

 

 

The tendency is, indeed, for the moral decay of a character to be inversely proportionate to the length of their hair, with innocent, virginal princesses practically drowning in their romantically flowing locks while the hard-bitten [[Badass]] sports a spiky military crewcut. The most frequent [[Averted Trope|aversion]] of this trope is the [[White-Haired Pretty Boy]], whose usually long and luscious tresses exist as a ''symbol'' of his evil, not in spite of it.

 

For aversions, see [[Bald of Awesome]].

{{examples}}

* Nearly all of the major villains in ''[[Dragon Ball]]'' have no hair: Pilaf, both Piccolos, Frieza, Cell, Majin Buu. They're not exactly bald, though, they just have no hair - with the possible exception of Pilaf, none of them are mammals.

** Plenty of bald heroes too: Tenshinhan, Krillin, and Master Roshi.

*** True, but Tenshinhan was originally a villain (albeit one who almost immediately performed a [[Heel Face Turn]] a few eps after his introduction), so the point stands.

*** Not to mention, Krillin originally convinced Master Roshi to train him by bribing him with pornography. And Krillin isn't naturally bald, as he grows his hair back (as a sign that he was no longer living as a monk who renounced all worldly pleasures) after marrying [[Ridiculously Human Robot|Number Eighteen]].

* Lordgenome from ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]''. Also has the [[Anti-Hero]] goatee.

** And epic chest hair.

* Ivan the Terrible (or Ivan of Russia, in the Japanese version) from ''Giant Robo: The Day The Earth Stood Still'' is bald, though he's not the most nefarious of the evil group he's a part of, even though he may be one of the biggest nutcases in the entire anime. Though, to be fair, one of the guys dead-set on doing good is bald as well.

* Gluttony of ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', although he's actually not nearly as evil as many of the other homunculi, but more of a [[Psychopathic Manchild]].

* Both played straight and inverted in ''[[Kinnikuman]]''. Buffaloman, originally introduced as the most powerful Devil Superman in the series, reveals himself to be bald in the following arc. However, the reveal only happens when he officially pulls a [[Heel Face Turn]].

* Vargus of ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'', who was initially introduced as a thuggish bully of a [[Giant Mook]] that attacked Negi in the Magic World for no reason, though it's later shown that he's actually a lot nicer than he first appeared.

* Kazundo Gouda, the [[Big Bad]] from ''[[Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex|Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: 2nd GIG]]'', combines this with [[Smug Snake]] and [[Magnificent Bastard]] for a formidable trifecta of nastiness.

* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh (anime)|Yu-Gi-Oh]]'''s [[The Dragon|Odion]]. As Mai put it on the dub, in his duel against Joey:

* Onimaru Takeshi, the [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Yaiba]]'', sports one. Also, the fallen monk [[The Brute|Seikai Miyoshi]].

* In many H-doujinshi featuring rape, the men are mostly featureless, which includes making them bald.

* In the ''[[Ace Attorney]]'' manga, Robin Wolfe has a bald head that is quite shiny and catches Maya's attention as soon as they meet. The "evil" part comes when it turns out he called an arachnophobic employee to his home, restrained him in a chair in a guest house full of spiders, and left him there for hours, leading him to be [[Driven to Suicide]].

 

* [[Lex Luthor]] is a classic example, particularly considering his [[Silver Age]] motive for villainy was ''[[Disproportionate Retribution|revenge against Superman for making him bald]]''. And it wasn't really Supes' fault, but Lex blamed him after one of his experiments went wrong.

* ''[[Shazam]]'' villain Dr. Sivana (who predates Luthor by a couple of months) is another bald mad scientist, who is also diminutive, gangly, ugly, and wears coke-bottle glasses. He has a thing for talking worms.

* Professor Xavier of ''[[X-Men]]'' is ''almost'' a textbook example of the 'kindly eggheaded [[The Professor|Professor]]' aversion, as he's sometimes portrayed as being morally ambiguous and slightly sinister, and let's not go near his various [[Super-Powered Evil Side|Super Powered Evil Sides]]. It's worth noting that [[Patrick Stewart]] is a classic example of [[Bald of Awesome]].

** In ''[[X-Men: Evolution|X-Men Evolution]],'' Mesmero is bald, with arcane markings on his face and head. Much creepier than the original.

* [[Marvel Universe]] semi-aversion: Moondragon, even when she was not being actively influenced by the malevolent [[Cosmic Horror]] she named herself after, fit [[The Gift]] trope to a tee. Her girlfriend Phyla mellowed her out, some.

* In the ''[[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]]'' comic series, Superboy shaved his head bald before going on an insane killer rampage and beating up the entire rest of the team. [[Brainwashed and Crazy|This was due to a mental command which was placed in Superboy's brain from after he was cloned in Cadmus.]]

* The righteous Christian in any [[Chick Tracts]] will have a full head of hair (except the Bull, who started out evil). Villains, atheists, and [[Strawman Political|goddamn liberals]] will be balding, usually with embarrassing combovers or comb-back-overs.

* Henry Bendix, the Weatherman from ''[[The Authority]]'' and ''Stormwatch''.

* In ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen|League of Extraordinary Gentleman Vol. 1]]'', [[Big Bad]] Professor James Moriarty is bald (in keeping with his character in the original [[Sherlock Holmes]] stories).

* Nobeard, one of the Subway Pirates in ''[[Seven Soldiers]]'' and rival of the thick [[Beard of Evil]]-sporting Allbeard. It's commonly believed that the two represent series writer [[Grant Morrison]] and [[Alan Moore]].

* ''[[Tintin]]'' encounters badguy Rastapopoulos on several occasions. (Also, recurrent conspirator Jurgen is short on hair, though he has some on the top of his head.)

* The Duke of Lorraine in ''Rex Mundi''.

* [[Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate|Dr.]] Hugo Strange, the first recurring ''[[Batman]]'' villain.

** The Penguin is often shown to be bald when his top hat is off.

* The Absorbing Man from [[The Mighty Thor]].

* In the Phantom, many baddies sport bald pates. In General Tara's case, it is possible that the baldness is a choice to indicate virility, since he augments his intimidating dome with a large bushy handlebar moustache (gleamingly waxed, of course) and matching goatee. To indicate his self-indulgent lifestyle, the fat buffoons in the Phantom strips (Tara included) always carry an extra bulge of flab at the base of their shiny skulls.

 

* [[James Bond (film)|Ernst Stavro Blofeld]] and, by natural extension, his parody incarnation, [[Austin Powers|Doctor Evil]].

** And, naturally, when Scott Evil goes Eeeevil, he gradually loses his hair.

** Oddly, Blofeld was portrayed with hair in ''[[Diamonds Are Forever]]'', though he wasn't any less evil for it. By the time of ''[[For Your Eyes Only (film)|For Your Eyes Only]]'', he was bald again.

* Galbatorix in [[The Movie]] version of the ''[[Inheritance Trilogy]]''. With a [[Beard of Evil|goatee]]!

* Imhotep in ''[[The Mummy Trilogy]]''; [[Justified Trope]] as it was pretty much the standard hairdo for Egyptian priests. Also, many, many Egyptian villains.

** Also, the [[Those Wacky Nazis|Nazi mechanic]] [[Giant Mook]] in ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]],'' whom Indy fought in a [[Punch-Punch-Punch Uh-Oh]] scenario.

* Nero in [[Star Trek (film)|the new Trek movie]] pulls this off superbly, combining it with a variant of [[Tattooed Crook]].

* The two main antagonists in ''[[Iron Man (film)|Iron Man]]'', as fate would have it, are both bald. Reportedly, Jeff Bridges leaped at the opportunity to shave his head.

** As if to make up for this, it has two ''good'' bald characters.

* [[Apocalypse Now|Col. Walter Edmund Kurtz]].

* Kobras of ''[[Puma Man]]''. The guys on ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000|MST3K]]'' never let him forget it either. Played by [[Donald Pleasence]] who was also [[You Only Live Twice|Blofeld]].

** Pleasance has been a villain many times, and ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000|MST3K]]'' has also dealt with him in ''[[Warrior of the Lost World]]''.

* ''[[Beowulf (film)|Beowulf]]'' makes Grendel completely hairless. Also, [[Body Horror|none of his tendons are the right length]]. What's more, the Dragon in his human form is also bald.

* The Strangers in ''[[Dark City]]''.

* The Cenobites in the ''[[Hellraiser]]'' movies.

* After the events in ''[[Star Wars]]: [[Revenge of the Sith]]'', both Vader and Sidious are bald. As was Maul. Conversely, most of the Jedi have long hair.

* The main character Pink in ''[[The Wall]]'' is on a downward spiral of insanity from the beginning of the film, but when he really loses it and envisions himself as a Nazi-like tyrant, he shaves everything: face, head hair, body hair, eyebrows, nipples...''everything!''

* The Zodiac in ''[[Curse of the Zodiac]]''.

* Surprisingly, Rapunzel from ''[[Shrek]] the Third'' was revealed to actually be this. Going by her reaction when it was exposed, apparently, this was not something she was proud of, to say the very least.

* Several villains played by [[Mark Strong]]: [[Revolver|Sorter]], [[Kick-Ass (film)|Frank D'Amico]], [[Robin Hood (2010 film)|Godfrey]], [[The Guard|Clive Cornell]]...

* Cirus the Virus, from [[Con Air]]. Also possibly Diamond Dog, though he's not quite as evil.

 

* Voldemort in ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'', to play up the whole [[Reptiles Are Abhorrent|reptile angle]].

* Lord Tywin Lannister and Varys the Spider are this in [[A Song of Ice and Fire]]. Tywin combines his with enormous mutton chops to make a [[Bald of Awesome|bald of extremely awesome.]]

* Something of a subversion: [[Matilda (novel)|Matilda]]'s father (who has plenty of hair and happens to be unscrupulous) believes that smart people have good, strong hair and that, therefore, bald people are dumb. (Matilda points out that [[William Shakespeare]] was bald.)

* {{spoiler|Bayaz}} of ''[[The First Law]]'' combines this with [[Bald of Awesome]], though the "evil" part is less evident until later in the series.

* Darth Bane in the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]] has this all the way down.

* Pavel Kazakov, [[Big Bad]] of the [[Dale Brown]] novel ''Warrior Class''.

* ''[[A Series of Unfortunate Events]]'' has [[No Name Given|the man with a beard but no hair]], who's apparently so evil that Lemony Snicket won't even tell us his name, and the bald man with a long nose, one of Count Olaf's henchmen.

* The title character in the ''[[A to Z Mysteries]]'' book ''The Bald Bandit'', who steals from a bank.

 

* The Sontarans from ''[[Doctor Who]]'', partly because of the [[People in Rubber Suits]] effect.

** Davros, the creator of the Daleks.

* Colin Mochrie in ''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway?|Whose Line Is It Anyway]]'' is a borderline case; while he's not evil per se (at least, we can hope not), he is balding with a very, ''very'' dark sense of humor.

* Although ''[[Star Trek]]'' is usually [[Bald of Awesome|an aversion]], given [[Patrick Stewart]]'s impressive skull, the Borg were more often than not depicted as bald, especially when fully assimilated.

* Speaking of Patrick Stewart, he's the [[Big Bad]] in [[The BBC]] [[John Le Carre]] serials ''Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'' and ''Smiley's People''.

* ''[[Black Hole High]]'': Victor Pearson, the series' antagonist, is bald in the present day, but in the 1987 time zone, he has a full head of hair. Almost everything we see of him in this period is sympathetic. He also manages to keep his hair in an alternate timeline where he's a slightly dotty science teacher. The final kicker: in the series finale, which reveals Pearson's ultimately noble motives, Victor is starting to grow his hair back.

* The Technomages of ''[[Babylon 5]]'' all shave their heads, for easier access to the brain and spinal column. Their evilness varies from person to person.

* Billy Zane in ''[[Tales from the Crypt]]: Demon Knight''.

* Subverted with John Locke in ''[[Lost]]'', {{spoiler|but played straight in the season 5 finale, when it is revealed that Locke had been dead since several episodes and that [[Not Himself|the one who had taken his shape]] was the [[Big Bad]]}}

* General Lonot from ''[[Tin Man (TV series)|Tin Man]]''.

* The Goa'uld System Lords Heru'ur and [[Satan|Sokar]] from ''[[Stargate SG-1]]''.

* In an episode of ''[[The Walking Dead (TV series)|The Walking Dead]],'' {{spoiler|Shane}} is shown shaving his head soon after he shot someone in the leg as a diversion to escape some zombies.

* G.B. Vonturgo from ''[[Bring Em Back Alive]]''.

 

* In [[My Chemical Romance]]'s concept record ''[[Danger Days: The True Lives of The Fabulous Killjoys|Danger Days the True Lives of The Fabulous Killjoys]]'', the prominent antagonist, Korse, is obvious bald in both music videos and promotional posters. His character is generally portrayed as an apathetic villain to the story's heroes, who are played by the band.

* [[Limp Bizkit|Fred Durst]].

* [[Doctor Steel]] is bald, and wants to take over the world. (On the other hand he just wants to promote fun, and loves children.)

 

* King Kong Bundy was the greatest example. Apart from his eyelashes, he was completely hairless.

* Genki Horiguchi of ''[[Dragon Gate]]'' literally calls himself H.A.G.E of Evil (hage is Japanese for bald).

** Punk lost to [[Rey Mysterio, Jr.]] at Over the Limit 2010 and got shaved bald, but it's averted(?) in that he covered it up with a black mask.

 

* This even shows up in ''[[Adventures in Odyssey]]'', a radio show. For a long while during the Novacom saga, Mr. Charles was informally known as "the bald guy."

* [[Mark Kermode]] and Simon Mayo even made up a rule about it (when reviewing ''Prince of Persia'').

 

* ''[[Paranoia (game)|Paranoia]]'' plays to this in its 2nd Edition art; the "Ultraviolet-Clearance" section contains pictures of a "typical GM", an evil-looking robed fellow who is usually seen cutting up the rules or cracking a whip and is, of course, completely bald.

 

** Yuri from Red Alert 2 also counts and, like Kane, has an evil beard.

* ''[[Knights of the Old Republic (video game)|Knights of the Old Republic]]'' has several examples, including the [[Big Bad]] Darth Malak, his apprentice Darth Bandon, and Sith Academy headmaster Uthar Wynn.

** And let's not forget about [[Star Wars|Darth Vader]] himself. And Jabba, I guess...

** And Darth Maul, bald with horns.

* Kratos in ''[[God of War (series)|God of War]]'' is bald with an ''[[Anti-Hero|antiheroic]] [[Beard of Evil|goatee]]'', which should [[Villain Protagonist|tell you everything you need to know about him]] at a glance.

** The same could be said for Agent 47 from the ''[[Hitman]]'' series, only replace [[Anti-Hero|antiheroic goatee]] with [[Anti-Hero|antiheroic barcode on the back of his head]].

* Dr. Robotnik/''Egg''man from ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]''. I Am The Eggman, that's what I am...

** And his nephew, Snivelly, in the [[Sonic the Hedgehog (comics)|comics]] and [[Sonic Sat AM|cartoon]], who only has five hairs.

* Zakhaev from ''[[Call of Duty 4]]''. Not to mention, he has a [[Beard of Evil|goatee]]

* The ''[[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]]'' series gave us Dr. Wily (who, admittedly, had [[Einstein Hair|rather wild hair]] on the side of his head) and ''[[Mega Man X]]'s'' Sigma.

** ''[[Bob and George]]'' added Mynd (a purple palette-swap of Sigma) and Captain Kinesis to the mix.

* ''[[Devil May Cry]] 3'' has Arkham. Complete with [[Good Scars, Evil Scars|giant freaking scar]] over half his face.

* Moebius, [[Man Behind the Man|servant]] of the [[Eldritch Abomination|Elder God]] from the ''[[Legacy of Kain]]'' series, is a conniving manipulator who eschews hair of any sort and is notably bald even in thousand year old murals depicting his younger days when he led the rebellion against the vampires who ruled over humanity in the past.

** Minor characters Azimuth and Marcus, both antagonists, are also bald.

* Both Sarevok of ''[[Baldur's Gate]]'' and Jon Irenicus of ''Baldur's Gate 2'' had shaven heads.

* Bitores Mendez, one of the villains of ''[[Resident Evil 4]]'', was both [[Beard of Evil|bearded]] and bald. In fact, he looked a lot like Rasputin.

* Both [[Gonk|Earthquake and Gen-An Shiranui]] in ''[[Samurai Shodown]]''. Granted, Gen-An has two or three hairs, but he's still an overall baldie. (See also: [[The Simpsons (animation)|Simpson, Homer]].)

* ''Portrait of Ruin'' has Brauner, who seems to be an Orlok double. Still second fiddle to Dracula, though.

* Neff, the main bad guy from ''[[Altered Beast]]''.

* Dr. Elvin Atombender, the [[Mad Scientist]] from ''[[Impossible Mission (video game)|Impossible Mission]]'', making this [[Older Than the NES]].

* Vigagi and Sikalog, both of the Inspectors from ''[[Super Robot Wars]]''. The first shaves his head bald (or so he says, and doubles as a [[Berserk Button]]), and the second was apparently born that way.

* {{spoiler|Mr. Blank}} from ''[[Space Channel 5]]''.

* Default Male Shepard of ''[[Mass Effect]]'' if you go Renegade (Paragon Shepard gets [[Bald of Awesome|the other kind]]). {{spoiler|Seriously, genocide of an entire race AND several helpings of good old fashioned murder.}} And this guy's the hero. Also, the sequel has [[Dark Action Girl]] Jack, who comes along with [[Tattooed Crook|massive helpings of bod tattoos.]]

** This, in turn, makes the Dark Templar a straight example of [[Important Haircut]], but not [[Bald of Awesome]].

* The Priest from ''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]'' is a bald Templar.

** Robert de Sable is the bald [[Big Bad]] ([[Bigger Bad|mostly]]) of the first game.

* Hot Coldman from ''[[Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker]]'', and [[Complete Monster|he's quite evil, all right]]. Coincidentally, he is also voiced by [[Mugihito]], who voiced Sigma.

* In ''[[Jade Empire]]'', all of the [[Secret Police|Lotus Assassins]] shave their heads.

* {{spoiler|Andre Oliveri}} from ''[[Ace Combat Joint Assault]]''.

* The Chaos Cultists and [[Big Bad|Lord Zymran]] from ''[[Warhammer 40000 Chaos Gate]]''.

 

== [[Web Animation]] ==

* [[Mastermind (web animation)|The Mastermind's]] bald head is just one of the many contributing factors to his evil appearance.

 

* Dr. Steve from ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' fits this trope so closely he may or may not be a Lex Luthor parody.

* Belkar from ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'' is bald. And evil. And [[Badass Boast|a sexy, shoeless god of war]].

* Dr. Unpleasant from ''[[Everyday Heroes]]'': "Hey mister, your head looks like a [http://www.webcomicsnation.com/eddurd/everydayheroes/series.php?view=archive&chapter=29688#strip2 light bulb]."

** Subverted [http://www.webcomicsnation.com/eddurd/everydayheroes/series.php?view=single&ID=118629 here] by Professor Odious, who is actually a [[Tropaholics Anonymous|reformed villain.]]

* Richard from ''[[Looking for Group]]'' is most likely bald, since one statue depicting a hoodless near-lookalike of him was bald, a glimpse of him having his head healed didn't show any indication of hair, and an early page where we see an x-ray version of Richard didn't show any hair outlines. Also, we get a few "up-hood" shots, and the fact that the scarily-similar Sisters have little-to-no-hair themselves does not help matters.

* ''[[Dr. Nonami]]'': aside from his [[Badass Mustache]], Mechano is totally bald.

 

* In ''[[The Gamers Alliance]]'', Lucky the elven mercenary is bald and very much evil.

* The Watcher in ''[[Kate Modern]]'' is an obvious example, although the show also features Tariq Bhartti, who has a shaven head and is a likable enough individual.

* [[The League of STEAM]] apparently have an enemy, a league of bald-headed villains.

 

* Mr. Burns on ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]''.

* Professor Farnsworth in ''[[Futurama]]'', although he's too much of a crazy ineffective old doofus to be truly evil. Plus, he's technically a good guy, as far as taking sides is concerned.

* ''[[Jonny Quest]]'''s greatest adversary has always been Dr. Zin, who has always been distinctly bald.

* Asajj Ventress from ''[[Star Wars: The Clone Wars|Star Wars the Clone Wars]]'', one of the few female Balds of Evil and surprisingly good looking.

* In the ''[[Superman: The Animated Series|Superman the Animated Series]]'' episode "Prototype", a cop who's [[Drunk on the Dark Side]] as the result of using a thought-<s>controlling</s> controlled [[Powered Armor]] shaves his head to "ensure conductive contact".

* Mr. Rancid, a [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] from ''[[Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers]]''.

* In ''[[Iron Man: Armored Adventures]]'', Obadaiah Stane's baldness carries over from the comics, down to being conspicuously clean-shaven when compared to Jeff Bridge's recognizable beard from the film. His head of security, O'Brien, is also bald. He carries it well.

* The Hood, from ''Thunderbirds''.

* Dr. Scientist on ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]''.

* [[Big Bad|Bowser]] in ''[[Super Mario Bros. (animation)|Super Mario Bros]]'', unlike in the video games.

* Hacker and Claw from ''[[Centurions]]''.

 

** The irony is that the Aryans now commonly known as skinheads weren't the original skinheads, but copied their image from a counter-culture movement made up of immigrants mostly from India and Asia. The original movement still lives on in Ska, which is a racially heterogeneous international scene.

** [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Deviled ham]], surely?

** Anton was a carnie and a showman first, and his books on Satanism gave detailed instructions on invoking tropes of evil for fun and profit.

* [[Benito Mussolini]].

* Hideki Tojo.

* Lavrentiy Beria, [[Josef Stalin]]'s [[The Dragon|Dragon]].

* I got to this page because someone potholed this page in Howie Mandel's name in the ''[[Deal or No Deal]]'' page.

* Steve Ballmer, though he's more of a [[Designated Villain]].

* [[wikipedia:File:Jared Loughner USMS.jpg|Jared Loughner]].

* Norwegian [[Right-Wing Militia Fanatic|right-wing terrorist]] [http://petchary.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/pg-8-breivik-rex_628594s.jpg Anders Behring Breivik], who is also a [[Blond Guys Are Evil|blond]].

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Expository Hairstyles]]

[[Category:Evil Tropes]]

[[Category:Hair Colors]]

[[Category:Personal Appearance Tropes]]