Being Evil Sucks: Difference between revisions

Compare [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain]] and [[This Is Your Brain On Evil]]. Being evil can be even worse when you're ''bad'' at it.

* Light Yagami of [[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]], who starts out as a normal yet highly intelligent high schooler who could truly make a difference in the world in a positive way, but also has too much free time on his hands. That is until he finds the Death Note, which at first he claims to use only on irredeemable criminals under the alias "Kira". He quickly comes to use it to kill off anyone who gets to close to uncovering the truth or questions his motivations. He grows progressively more paranoid and unhinged, jumping of the moral slippery slope as he tries to ensure Ryuk doesn't grow too bored (who will kill him otherwise) and [[Manipulative Bastard|manipulates just about everyone he knows including his own family]] to serve his ends. It all comes to a head at the end of the series, {{spoiler|where Light is finally outed as Kira and [[Laughing Mad|snaps]]. He dies humiliated and terrified in the knowledge that there is no afterlife for him, and this is the end. It's later shown in the manga's epilogue that things quickly went back to normal afterwards, making his actions seem rather pointless.}}

* {{spoiler|Ozymandias}} in ''[[Watchmen (Comic Book)|Watchmen]]''. His intentions, of course, were never entirely evil; he wanted to stop World War III before it started, and {{spoiler|killing several million people was the only solution. Regardless of the fact that he sacrificed comparatively few to save pretty much everyone (sans Dr. Manhattan) it's obvious that he does feel remorse and wishes that there had been another way.}}

* [[Spider Man]]'s enemy the Sandman eventually got sick of all the grief that came of being a criminal, and tried to go straight. He stayed a good guy for twenty years, real world time (just a couple of years, comic book time). Then his old evil teammate the Wizard stuck him in a brainwashing machine to make him evil again, causing him ''more'' grief. Poor dude.

* In the [[Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (Animation)|BLoSC]] [[Fan Verse]] of ''[[For Good (Fanfic)|For Good]]'', [[The Dragon|Warp Darkmatter]] holds this opinion [[Hidden Depths|beneath his front]] of [[Evil Pays Better]]. It's a crucial factor in his eventual [[Heel Face Turn]].

* Michael Corleone in ''[[The Godfather (Film)|The Godfather]]'' is one of the best examples. He was a likable young man who could have done a lot of good in the world. But somehow he made the wrong choice, partly through [[In the Blood|upbringing]]. And partly through focusing [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|too much]] on [[Thicker Than Water|loyalty]]. And partly because while he always wants to do a [[Heel Face Turn]] and comes close on a couple of occasions (as with his talk with the future Pope), he can't bring himself to give up wealth and power. He was very good at being evil but something inside him always seemed to consider that the worst fate of all.

* Lord Shen in ''[[Kung Fu Panda 2 (Animation)|Kung Fu Panda 2]]'' is haunted by the perception that his parents hated him, and now is out to conquer Gongman City and then China to have something worthwhile in his life. However when pressed, even he can't say whether his dream is worth anything other than an excuse to kill anyone in his path.

* ''[[Harry Potter (Literature)|Harry Potter]]'':

* While the Dark Ones in ''[[Night Watch (Literature)|Night Watch]]'' use every opportunity to brag about all that freedom, independence and strength The Darkness had given them and to make some lenient remarks on the poor deluded Light Ones who are so very constricted by their rules and who fuss over humans so much... It turns out that vampires are haunted by persistent insatiable [[Horror Hunger]], werewolves have to deal with feats of feral uncontrollable rage once in a while and all the Dark Ones in general live in a world of constant paranoia and distrust towards their own brethren and superiors. ''Especially'' superiors who wouldn't even bother notifying that [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness]] before they set up and sacrifice you as a part of their [[Evil Plan]].

* 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 (Literature)|Twilight]]'' is, of course, the worst offender and most well known.

** 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.

* The fact that ex-demon Cole in ''[[Charmed (TV)|Charmed]]'' managed to [[Power Copying|amass enough demonic power]] to become [[Nigh Invulnerable]] is the main reason that Phoebe divorced him (as he had become a threat to her and her sisters); particularly tragic as he'd only done all of that so he could [[Like a Badass Out of Hell|escape hell]] to return to her. [[I Cannot Self-Terminate|He couldn't even kill himself]] from the resulting grief.

* An interesting version occurs in ''[[Supernatural (TV)|Supernatural]]'': apparently Hell sucks even for demons.

* ''[[Heroes (TV)|Heroes]]'': {{spoiler|Towards the end of Volume 5. Sylar realizes his evil life will leave him alone and unloved. [[Captain Obvious|Which sucks.]] So he went forth to do good and hoped to be forgiven. The judicious application of a [[Mind Rape]] taking the form of a [[Fate Worse Than Death]] by Matt Parkman helped, as well.}}

* In ''[[Power Rangers Samurai]],'' Dayu made a [[Deal With the Devil]] but didn't get what she asked for in the way she wanted ([[Jerkass Genie|devils are like that]].) By this point, she's sick of being [[The Dragon]] to Master Xandred but there's no way out. However, she's no friendlier to the Rangers, at least not yet.

* Subverted in [[Voltaire (Music)|Voltaire]]'s song "When You're Evil". The last verse sounds almost like the singer is bothered by his villainous ways and longs for some human happiness... 'Almost' being the key word here:

* In the ''[[New World of Darkness (Tabletop Game)|World of Darkness]]'', [[Failure Is the Only Option|you just can't win]]. Not only does [[Being Good Sucks|being good suck]], but if you decide to go the other way and embrace the dark side, you can look forward to a number of side effects - starting with batshit insanity. Each of the game lines comes with its own drawbacks, lovingly crafted to screw with that particular type of critter.

** [[Vampire: The Requiem (Tabletop Game)|Vampires]]: Stronger predatory instincts and a thinner veneer of humanity, meaning the human prey can sense you want to eat them. This tends to make them want to stay away. But wait, that's not all. You're literally going to devolve into a mindless animal if you do enough evil. And moreover your new society consists of assholes and psychopaths, most of whom are way older and more powerful than you and there is that mutual risk of flipping out and killing each other whenever you first meet another vampire. [[Vampire: The Masquerade (Tabletop Game)|The original Vampire]] doesn't let you off the hook lightly either. While meetings between two groups of vampires do not devolve into brawls every time, you're still stuck in the society of manipulative monsters, and the power difference between you and the [[Powers That Be]] is much greater.

** [[Werewolf: The Forsaken (Tabletop Game)|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 (Tabletop Game)|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 (Tabletop Game)|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 (Tabletop Game)|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.

** [[Promethean: The Created (Tabletop Game)|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 (Tabletop Game)|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.}}

** [[Hunter: The Vigil (Tabletop Game)|Hunters]]: One trope: [[He Who Fights Monsters]]. [[Hunter: The Reckoning|And that goes for the previous game, too.]]

** [[Demon: The Fallen (Tabletop Game)|Demons]]: To start, you just spent human history in a Hell far worse than humans comprehend. you get out, but the more evil you grow, the more Torment you accumulate, until eventually you become an Earthbound, an [[Eldritch Abomination]] without anything resembling sanity. And God will never forgive you in any event.

** [[Geist: The Sin Eaters (Tabletop Game)|Sin-Eaters]]: You find it harder and harder to enter and navigate the Underworld. Kerberoi and geists can tell you're out of sync with your geist, and become more reluctant to deal with you. You also find it more difficult to perform ceremonies. Hit absolute bottom, and you end up as a [[Meat Puppet]] for your geist to drag around.

** [[Wraith: The Oblivion (Tabletop Game)|Wraiths]]: Your Shadow, your resident [[Enemy Within]], grows more and more powerful, working against everything you care about. When it's [[Split Personality Takeover|finally able to take over]], you become one of the local servants of Oblivion, and now work to the destruction of everything.

** [[Genius: The Transgression (Tabletop Game)|Geniuses]]: (yes, it's fanmade, but shut up): the you that's actually, well, ''you'' slowly dissipates and your personality is overtaken by some strange, [[Eldritch Abomination|unknown and terrifying will]] that leads you to [[Ax Crazy|horrible acts]]. Also, the Geniuses who ''haven't'' given in to Illumination (likely including your friends and [[Mentor]]) will hunt you down and kill you. Granted, at that point it could be considered a [[Mercy Kill|mercy]] to ''you''.

* Do enough truly evil stuff in [[Ravenloft (Tabletop Game)|Ravenloft]] and you'll end up becoming a darklord, along with the requisite powers and your own domain. Sounds fun, right? Except that you're confined to to your realm, you're forever being tormented by the objects of your desire, and the only way to escape is through a [[Heel Realization]]. Of course, as the sourcebook states, if you were the kind of person to ever ''have'' a [[Heel Realization]], you probably wouldn't have become a darklord in the first place.

* [[Bio Ware]] used to run with this in general. In both [[Jade Empire]] and [[Knights of the Old Republic]], taking the dark path means you'll end up having to slaughter most of your party, delivering a [[Player Punch]] and making the endgame more difficult.

* {{spoiler|Beat}} in ''[[The World Ends With You (Video Game)|The World Ends With You]]''. As a result of {{spoiler|his subsequent side-switching, Konishi gives him a few days to live, before he'll [[Everything Fades|fade away]]}}.

* 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]]?

* 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.

* The ''[[Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|Order of the Stick]]'' prequel book ''Start of Darkness'' details the origins of Xykon and Redcloak. Redcloak eventually learns how much being evil sucks after Xykon makes him {{spoiler|kill his brother (who had already tried to run away from Xykon's evil scheme twice)}}.

* ''[[Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (Web Video)|Doctor Horribles Sing Along Blog]]''.

* ''[[The Batman (Animation)|The Batman]]'': In the episode "The Apprentice", a kid in Barbara Gordon's class falls in with the Joker. Both have a weird sense of humor, and Joker makes him his sidekick as a mock to Batman and Batgirl. However, when they succeed against the caped duo and the Joker tells him to kill Batgirl, the kid is horrified. [[Not What I Signed On For|He just wanted to make a statement and defy convention, not kill.]] He wisely bails and the now favorable odds let the heroes beat the Joker.

* This is essentially the reason for Dinobot [[Heel Face Turn|switching sides]] during the first story of ''[[Beast Wars (Animation)|Beast Wars]]''.

* In ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', Zuko realizes, {{spoiler|after he ''averted'' a [[Heel Face Turn]]}}, that despite having everything he ever wanted, he is dissatisfied with the methods he used to get there.

* In the ''[[Bravestarr (Animation)|Bravestarr]]'' episode "Brother's Keeper," Bravestarr captures one of a pair of bandits who are brothers. The bandit admits the life of crime sucked and he's glad it's over, and the only reason he'd kept on with it was to look out for his brother, who is a much more unrepentant low-life.

* In the ''[[Batman Beyond (Animation)|Batman Beyond]]'' episode "Joyride", one Jokerz initiate tags along as another member of the gang hijacks an experimental advanced fighter craft. He becomes increasingly horrified as the hijacker goes mad with power and does things like attacking a rival gang armed with nothing but chains and tasers. When he overhears the guy denouncing the Jokerz as a crutch and ignoring Terry's warnings {{spoiler|that the craft's illegal nuclear reactor is going critical}} that's the last straw. He knocks down the lunatic with a folding chair and leaves the Jokerz forever.