Being Evil Sucks: Difference between revisions

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** Severus Snape: All of his years devoted to the dark side eventually gained him nothing but destroying the one thing he'd ever loved, although {{spoiler|his Heel Face Turn}} didn't really seem to do anything to improve his happiness. But he did spend the rest of his life trying to atone for {{spoiler|Lily's death}}. In other words, being [[Jerkass Woobie|Snape]] sucks.

** Draco Malfoy learns this the hard way near the end of the series. There's a big difference between idolizing a "cool" [[Evil Overlord]] from a safe distance and being ordered by said overlord to commit murder with the threat of having your entire family killed. Draco also finds out that he really doesn't have it in him to directly kill a defenseless person right in front of him. In Book 7 he learns that he doesn't enjoy inflicting [[Cold-Blooded Torture]].

*** Also [[Big Bad|Voldemort]] himself who is completely uncapable of feeling love. he is driven solely on ambition and greed, and does everything he can to ensure that he'll live forever, {{spoiler|even going so far as to split his soul into horcruxes which take away more and more of his humanity and cause him to gradually develop a very pale, snake-like appearance, and he becomes very paranoid and frantic as Harry and his friends destroy more of them. By the end of the series he suffers [[A Fate Worse Than Death]].}} Its also shown that [[Being Evil Sucks]] for his followers as well who are under the constant threat of being murdered by him if they try his patience in any way. [[Resignations Not Accepted|And once they're in, they're in for life]].

*** Also [[Big Bad|Voldemort]] himself who is completely uncapable of feeling love. he is driven solely on ambition and greed, and does everything he can to ensure that he'll live forever, {{spoiler|even going so far as to split his soul into horcruxes which take away more and more of his humanity and cause him to gradually develop a very pale, snake-like appearance, and he becomes very paranoid and frantic as Harry and his friends destroy more of them. By the end of the series he suffers [[A Fate Worse Than Death]].}} Its also shown that Being Evil Sucks for his followers as well who are under the constant threat of being murdered by him if they try his patience in any way. [[Resignations Not Accepted|And once they're in, they're in for life]].

* In ''[[Death Star]]'', the gunner who fired the superlaser that destroyed Alderaan, who had always wanted to fire the biggest gun, finds that [[Punch Clock Villain|following orders]] and actually getting what he'd wished for led to misery beyond his wildest dreams, a personal [[Moral Event Horizon]]. He can't justify it, can't either make it less of a crime or blame someone else, and is unable to sleep for guilt and horrible dreams. When the Death Star is in range of Yavin he stalls desperately, hoping that something would happen and he wouldn't have to pull that trigger again. [[Foregone Conclusion|He got that wish]].

{{quote|He wouldn't be able to walk on a street on any civilized planet in the galaxy; people wouldn't be able to abide his presence.

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** Considering that the Light Ones aren't much better (Light One attempts at "social engineering" caused both Hitler ''and'' Stalin), and that the Light One commander-in-chief Gezar basically only hasn't given in to suicide because he is so used to scheming all the time that he doesn't know how to do anything else, you could also consider this a very Russian commentary on the evils of bureaucracy and the Cold War. No veteran member of either of the Watches is ever portrayed as genuinely happy with their life, while the one non-Watch dark magician we see is shown enjoying himself in a restaurant with his lovely wife and happy children.

* After [[The Chronicles of Narnia|Edmund Pevensie]] gets captured by the White Witch, he realizes that satisfying his greed wasn't worth the consequences it entailed for Narnia and his siblings.

* This is pretty much the whole thing about [[Blessed with Suck|vampires]]. Sure, you'll [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old|remain young for all eternity]], but in due time [[Who Wants to Live Forever?|life will lose its thrill]], and you've seen your last sunrise as well. Both [[The Undead|metaphorically]] AND literarily speaking. You'll have some really neat super powers, too, possibly including, but considering the fact that [[Our Vampires Are Different|all vampires are different]], most likely not limited to: [[Super Strength]], [[Super Speed]], [[Shapeshifting]], [[Nigh Invulnerability]] and [[Flight]]. But the primary thing that you will use these amazing abilities for is hunting down other humans in order to sustain your accursed life.<br /><br />Finally, the cruncher: while you may feel [[The Stoic|emotionally dead]], there is still a fairly good chance of you finding your one true love. But bear in mind that said person is also [[I'm a Humanitarian|your food.]] Thus, each time you see his/her exposed neck, you will feel the urge to bite him/her, an act that may curse him/her with the same disease that turned your life into a [[Fate Worse Than Death]] (well, unless you're a [[Succubus]] that is, in which case you have a rather different way of taking in nourishment. A process which will almost certainly outright kill your significant other. Consequently, you [[Can't Have Sex Ever]]). The alternative is either [[Love Hurts|leaving your beloved before anything bad can happen]], or, through [[The Power of Love]], resisting the urge... [[Mayfly-December Romance|Only to see your loved one grow old and wither away in front of your very eyes.]] Conclusion: [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Being a vampire sucks.]]<br /><br />It should be noted that in recent years vampires in literature have gone from 'cursed' to 'you, only [[What Measure Is a Non Super|better than you will ever be]]', with no real downsides that come close to outweighing the benefits. They've also by and large swapped being villains or antiheroes for being [[Boring Invincible Hero|Boring Invincible Heroes]]. ''[[Twilight (novel)|Twilight]]'' is, of course, the worst offender and most well known.

* This is pretty much the whole thing about [[Blessed with Suck|vampires]]. Sure, you'll [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old|remain young for all eternity]], but in due time [[Who Wants to Live Forever?|life will lose its thrill]], and you've seen your last sunrise as well. Both [[The Undead|metaphorically]] AND literarily speaking. You'll have some really neat super powers, too, possibly including, but considering the fact that [[Our Vampires Are Different|all vampires are different]], most likely not limited to: [[Super Strength]], [[Super Speed]], [[Shapeshifting]], [[Nigh Invulnerability]] and [[Flight]]. But the primary thing that you will use these amazing abilities for is hunting down other humans in order to sustain your accursed life.

⚫

** More recently, in other genres, vampires are often portrayed as [[Black Mage~~|Black Mages~~]].

Finally, the cruncher: while you may feel [[The Stoic|emotionally dead]], there is still a fairly good chance of you finding your one true love. But bear in mind that said person is also [[I'm a Humanitarian|your food.]] Thus, each time you see his/her exposed neck, you will feel the urge to bite him/her, an act that may curse him/her with the same disease that turned your life into a [[Fate Worse Than Death]] (well, unless you're a [[Succubus]] that is, in which case you have a rather different way of taking in nourishment. A process which will almost certainly outright kill your significant other. Consequently, you [[Can't Have Sex Ever]]). The alternative is either [[Love Hurts|leaving your beloved before anything bad can happen]], or, through [[The Power of Love]], resisting the urge... [[Mayfly-December Romance|Only to see your loved one grow old and wither away in front of your very eyes.]] Conclusion: [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Being a vampire sucks.]]

It should be noted that in recent years vampires in literature have gone from 'cursed' to 'you, only [[What Measure Is a Non Super|better than you will ever be]]', with no real downsides that come close to outweighing the benefits. They've also by and large swapped being villains or antiheroes for being [[Boring Invincible Hero]]es. ''[[Twilight (novel)|Twilight]]'' is, of course, the worst offender and most well known.

⚫

** More recently, in other genres, vampires are often portrayed as [[Black Mage]]s.

* Raistlin Majere at the end of the ''[[Dragonlance]] Legends'' trilogy. {{spoiler|He gained so much power and was on the verge of becoming a God only to discover that continuing with his plan would result in the extinction of all life on the planet leaving him only God on a barren world. The alternative was only marginally better.}}

* This is the overarching meta-theme in [[The Lord of the Rings|Middle-Earth]]. Evil consumes all it touches, leading them to waste their lives before their miserable deaths. This is true from the first [[Dark Lord]] [[Satan|Morgoth]] to mortals to [[Big Bad|Sauron]] to [[Fallen Hero|Saruman]]. Everyone who gives in to darkness ends up bitterly regretting it, and that's if they're lucky. If they're not, it's [[And I Must Scream]] time.

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== Live Action TV ==

* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' - "Selfless". The whole point of that episode was to show how damaged Anya was following her return to vengeance.

** Even soulless vampires are sometimes subject to ~~this--if~~, like Harmony or [[Badass Decay|chipped Spike]], they're [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain|Ineffectual]] enough to be aware that they're Ineffectual. Harmony flat out says it in season four:

** Even soulless vampires are sometimes subject to this—if, like Harmony or [[Badass Decay|chipped Spike]], they're [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain|Ineffectual]] enough to be aware that they're Ineffectual. Harmony flat out says it in season four:

** When Faith returns in Season Four it's clear that her hostility is accompanied by deep self-loathing of what she's become. She seemed to be happier with it prior to her awakening, but this is likely because her slide into darkness went in hand with her relationship with her [[Affably Evil|father figure]]. With him dead all she had left was the knowledge of how badly she'd fallen. Immediately after she leaves the season, she shows up in the first season of ''Angel'' attempting [[Suicide by Cop]], but thankfully ends up with a [[Heel Face Turn]] instead.

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*** ...Unless you happen to be a member of [[Card-Carrying Villain|Belial's Brood]]. Their sacred rites literally make it impossible for them to betray each other, and they just don't care about being human, so that's also a non-issue. Also, if you're subtle enough with your Vice, there's a chance that the transformation into a dragur will not take your mind with it, [[The Sociopath|although you're still a massive dick]].

** [[Werewolf: The Forsaken|Werewolves]]: The spirits you're trying to police can tell you're out of balance, and they hate you that much more. You have a harder time performing rituals, and it's that much harder to keep from kill-everything-around-you berserker rage. On top of all that, you tend to develop disturbing obsessions - from breaking every third window you pass to taking a bite out of anyone who looks you in the eye. [[Werewolf: The Apocalypse|In the original Werewolf]] you suffer nothing of the sort and can techically do anything you please. There is just that little problem with the Universe-devouring [[Big Bad]] who has a [[Fate Worse Than Death]] in store for your entire race and you personally, and whose local representatives are generally empowered by evil acts.

** [[Mage: The Awakening|Mages]]: You know that Abyss that hates your magic? The more evil you become, the harder it can smack you around and the harder it is for you to resist it. [[Mage: The Ascension|In the original]], you're pretty much free to do as you wish; thing is, there's a horde of [[Eldritch Abomination~~|Eldritch Abominations~~]] seeking to drag reality down into oblivion with them, and their goals are furthered by the spread of evil.

** [[Mage: The Awakening|Mages]]: You know that Abyss that hates your magic? The more evil you become, the harder it can smack you around and the harder it is for you to resist it. [[Mage: The Ascension|In the original]], you're pretty much free to do as you wish; thing is, there's a horde of [[Eldritch Abomination]]s seeking to drag reality down into oblivion with them, and their goals are furthered by the spread of evil.

** [[Promethean: The Created|Prometheans]]: You know that whole "[[Pinocchio Syndrome|I wanna be a real boy]]" thing you've got going on? Yeah, well, your ability to comprehend humanity is judged in part by how much you understand human morals. You can be a mad murdering monster, but good luck ever earning a soul that way. Oh, and if you want to create a kid/companion like you who'll help you deal with the loneliness, there's a much better chance the process will [[Gone Horribly Wrong|go horribly wrong]] and result in the creation of a bunch of cannibalistic aberrations that wish to devour your essence.

** [[Changeling: The Lost|Changelings]]: A double-dose of insanity; not only do you suffer specific derangements, but your perceptions are more and more skewed by your Fae experiences. Plus, you become more and more like one of the Fae overlords who kidnapped you. {{spoiler|Because you'll probably become one if you grow powerful enough.}}

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== Visual Novels ==

* Kotomine in ''[[Fate/stay night]]'' discovered a long time ago that [[Being Good Sucks]] but kept trying anyway. After all, even if it brought him no satisfaction he ''did'' have a moral compass. And then his [[Ill Girl]] of a wife died and he had a chat with Gilgamesh and decided to be evil instead. By the time the story starts, [[Being Good Sucks]] ''and'' [[Being Evil Sucks]] and it pisses him off so much {{spoiler|that he attempts to bring a pseudo-[[Cosmic Horror]] into the world to get some answers.}} Basically: If being good is supposed to be a good thing, why doesn't he like it? If he should just be evil, [[Failure Is the Only Option|why does that feel wrong to him]]?

* Kotomine in ''[[Fate/stay night]]'' discovered a long time ago that [[Being Good Sucks]] but kept trying anyway. After all, even if it brought him no satisfaction he ''did'' have a moral compass. And then his [[Ill Girl]] of a wife died and he had a chat with Gilgamesh and decided to be evil instead. By the time the story starts, [[Being Good Sucks]] ''and'' Being Evil Sucks and it pisses him off so much {{spoiler|that he attempts to bring a pseudo-[[Cosmic Horror]] into the world to get some answers.}} Basically: If being good is supposed to be a good thing, why doesn't he like it? If he should just be evil, [[Failure Is the Only Option|why does that feel wrong to him]]?

== Web Comics ==

* Trudy of ''[[General Protection Fault]]'' loves Nick, but her scheming to take over the world and using him in those schemes ultimately drives him to reject her. In the [[Bad Future]], this leads to her killing him, [[Villainous BSOD|losing her sanity in the process]] and hunting down the rebels to "avenge" his death. In what actually happens, she tries to kill him, but is unable to go through with it, and ends up on the run, tormented by dreams of guilt about her actions and by Nick's last disappointed look toward her. After Nick and Ki get engaged, she slips past the [[Despair Event Horizon]] and once [[Driven to Suicide|attempts suicide]], but meeting Akhilesh enables her to come to terms with herself and work more toward atoning for what she has done.

* [[Sinfest|As the Fuchsia]] [[Love Redeems|Succubus begins]] [http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=3337 to see].

* During the "Court of Karnak" arc in ''[[Dominic Deegan]]'', Karnak and Bulgak both realize that reigning in Hell is utterly ~~meaningless -- no~~ one truly rules Hell. They are all prisoners.

* During the "Court of Karnak" arc in ''[[Dominic Deegan]]'', Karnak and Bulgak both realize that reigning in Hell is utterly meaningless—no one truly rules Hell. They are all prisoners.

** Bulgak responds by [[Heel Face Turn|renouncing his old, selfish, egotistical self]], which [[Fantastic Nuke|releases his essence back into the world]]. Karnak simply appoints himself warden.

* Alt-Schlock in ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' learned this far far too late after he'd [[The End of the World as We Know It|eliminated nearly all of humanity]] and created a [[Crapsack World]] of only one city who's few remaining citizens are living drug addled lives with no memories and that the only way to maintain it will slowly destroy what's left. He finally shuts off the nano machines keeping himself alive because he's lost everything and doesn't even want to live anymore. Schlock prime is heading in the same direction.