Card-Carrying Villain: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

Appealing to my better nature? I'm a villain! Here is [[My Card]]! "[[Steven Ulysses Perhero|Eve L. Duehr]]: [[Academy of Evil]] graduate, [[Take Over the World|aspiring]] [[Evil Overlord|tyrant]], [[Kick the Dog|kicker of kittens]], and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|spontaneous singer of]] ''[[Barney and Friends|Barney songs]]''." I crossed the [[Moral Event Horizon]] while [[Enfant Terrible|still in grade school]] and [[Complete Monster|have never once looked back]]. And you think you can [[Kirk Summation|talk me out of my evil deeds]]? [[Evil Laugh|Ahahahahahahahahaa]]!

Villains like this may be greedy, violent, [[Badass]], etc. but most importantly, they are [[Obviously Evil|Evil]]. It's in the job description. They refer to ''themselves'' as Evil, with a capital "E". Stretch it out to "Eeeeeevil" for emphasis. (They may even pronounce the "I" with emphasized shortness. Ee-vill. Like the froo-it of the dev-ill.) Terminal cases even require their minions to call them "[[The Magnificent|Your Evilness]]". In fact, calling them evil, vile, ruthless, or any generally negative epithet will be an [[Insult Backfire]] and be [[Arson, Murder, and Admiration|taken as the kindest of compliments.]]

 

 

Thus, they are expected to [[Kick the Dog]] and never [[Pet the Dog]]. If they acted differently, [[Slave to PR|they'd lose their Evil ranking]]. Especially ironic if the reason they [[Face Heel Turn|fell]] was because they wanted freedom from constraints on their actions. Whatever action they as a good guy wanted to do is considered "bad", so they have to do other bad things as well now. After a while, they usually forget about [[Motive Decay|whatever goal it was that turned them Evil]] in the first place. So...in a very odd way, they're very much [[The Fettered]]; since their actions are bound by the expectation of Evil.

A [[Black Cloak]], a low-ranking [[Terrible Trio]], an [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain]], or someone who's succumbed to [[The Dark Side]] is usually most likely to identify themselves this way.

 

 

 

In the final stage, you have a villain who insists on justifying their actions because "it's what villains are ''supposed to do''"; see [[Contractual Genre Blindness]].

Expect them to have [[Dark Is Evil|relations with the dark]] and/or have [[Bad Powers, Bad People|evil powers.]]

 

 

Why "card-carrying"? See [[Card-Carrying Villain/Trivia|the Trivia page.]]

 

{{examples}}

 

* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' gives us [[Bigger Bad|Yami Marik]], the [[Super-Powered Evil Side]] of [[Big Bad|Marik Ishtar]] in the Battle City Arc. While Marik is primarily motivated by {{spoiler|wanting revenge on the Pharoh, the man he believed responsible for killing his father}}, Yami Marik is primarily motivated by [[Omnicidal Maniac|wanting to kill the universe]], kicking as many dogs as he can along the way.

** In the 4Kids dub, Marik Isthar also falls into this trope, going from a sympathetic motive to simply wanting to [[Take Over the World]].

* Happōsai from ''[[Ranma ½]]'' has no motivation for being an asshole and enjoys making peoples' lives miserable, even more so when his students take the fall for him. He, at one point, declares himself "evil 'till the day [he] die[s]".

* Pixy Misa in the ''[[Pretty Sammy]]'' series is the self-professed evil mistress of chaos and destruction

* Lelouch from ''[[Code Geass]]'' {{spoiler|''pretends'' to be a heartless supervillain in order to unite the world through common hatred of him, then allows himself to be killed so everyone can move on and work together towards peace.}} Yeah, Lulu [[Gambit Roulette|can be a little weird.]]

* Xellos from ''[[Slayers]]'' is this whenever he isn't siding with the protagonists. Being a powerful demon in the service of powers that want to destroy the world and feeding off from negative human emotions does that to a person. He makes an effort to avoid killing the good guys because they're such fun, though.

* Evangeline of ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' tries [[Noble Demon|and fails]] to be a type 2. She makes token attempts to turn Negi and Asuna to [[The Dark Side]] as her "sub-bosses", and occasionally tries to scare people, but other than that, [[Offstage Villainy|she doesn't do anything all that evil]] and, as a matter of fact, helps the heroes a ''lot''. Negi attempts to point this out to her, but she still claims to be evil.

* ''[[Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro]]'' has Neuro, an actual demon who enjoys eating mysteries; while he claims to be evil, he never kills humans and tends to be more an amoral ''[[Troll]]'' than a "monster". On the other hand, we have Sicks, who is a [[Complete Monster]] and doing it [[For the Evulz]].

* Most of the major villains in ''[[Fist of the North Star]]'', even the most cruel ones, tend to avert this, with the exception of Kaioh, who clearly brags about being strengthened by evilness.

* The Huckebein family in ''[[Magical Record Lyrical Nanoha Force]]'', as shown by the interrogation scene with the captured Tohma, where Fortis explains how the Huckebein performs one of their trademark massacres of innocent settlements.

'''Fortis''': ''(While smiling and doing an [[Smug Snake|"Oh, please" hand gesture)]]'' Didn't we introduce ourselves like that? }}

* Hagurou Dou is one of these in ''[[Wolf Guy Wolfen Crest]]'', as his goal in life is to be seen as a cold blooded monster. A rare example that is NOT [[Played for Laughs]], considering [[Complete Monster|what he is]].

* Several villains (and [[Protagonist-Centered Morality|heroes]]) in ''[[One Piece]]'' revel in their status as criminals and rejoice when their bounties increase. The Seven Warlords of the Sea are considered 'Government Dogs' for choosing to become privateers to the World Government. [[Only Sane Man|Nami]] doesn't see what all the fuss is about.

* Lust from ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' is very proud of being evil. She revels in causing humans pain and suffering, and compliments Mustang's determination while he's killing her, stating that one day soon, his eyes will widen with agony and despair.

 

== Comic Books ==

* [[Darkseid]] openly admits to being an evil god and that he desires to crush all happiness and free will in the Universe.

* [[Miracleman|Kid Miracleman]]/Marvelman displays this trope when he goes over the edge. Moments after starting his slaughter-spree, he spares the life of a nurse who had been kind to him. He returns a moment later, saying "They'd only say I was going soft...", and pulverises the top of her skull with a blast of his eye-beams.

** The film version of ''[[X-Men (film)|X-Men]]'' avoids this by having Magneto simply call his group "The Brotherhood of Mutants".

** Similarly, recent issues of [[Savage Dragon]] have subverted this a bit with the new [[Overlord]] referring to his team (the Vicious Circle) simply as The Circle. Since there are a number of similarities between Magneto's Brotherhood and [[Overlord]]'s Circle, it's arguable that one is in response to the other.

* Ava Lord from the ''[[Sin City]]'' story "A Dame to Kill For" identifies herself as evil in her [[Evil Gloating]] speech to Dwight McCarthy, who she has just manipulated into {{spoiler|murdering her husband Damien so that she can inherit his money}}:

* In Rick Veitch's early-2000s run on ''[[Aquaman]]'', the titular hero confronts his archnemesis (and murderer of his son), Black Manta, and, after defeating him, uses his new magic powers to re-wire his brain and cure him of his autism; the painful and incompetent treatment he received as a child was part of why he'd become such an insane monster. He appears to turn himself around, but the apparent [[Freudian Excuse]] and [[Heel Face Turn]] are subverted when, at a critical moment, Manta stabs Aquaman in the back and explains: "Y'see, deep down, in my most secret heart of hearts, I'm still a totally depraved sonuvabitch whose main goal in life is to watch you die. Slowly and painfully. Just like your kid."

* ''Queen of the Universe'': [http://www.eyebeam.com/Queen1991/index.php?num=278 Dober-Man].

* Herr Starr of ''[[Preacher (Comic Book)]]'' starts out as a [[Knight Templar]], but, in the end, admits, however unrepentantly, that he's become a "monster" obsessed with hatred and revenge.

* [[The Joker]] once identified himself to Black Canary as "genuine, card-carrying, lock-me-up-throw-away-the-key lunatic!" It sparked a letter column debate (remember those?) about whether or not insane people could recognize themselves as being, well, insane.

* Dirk Anger, Director of H.A.T.E in ''[[Nextwave]]''.

* During [[Dark Reign (comics)|Dark Reign]], [[Marvel Comics]] introduced Zodiac, a guy who killed every single member of an old supervillain team with the same name so he wouldn't be confused with them. Zodiac plots about the fall of Norman Osborn. Why? Because he finds [[Villain with Good Publicity|Osborn's new position]] an insult to all who just wants to commit evil for it's own sake, like himself.

* In ''[[Transformers Generation 2]]'', Starscream ends up begging Optimus Prime to take the Matrix back, as he ''doesn't want to be good!''.

* In ''[[Judge Dredd]]'', Pa Angel is openly trying to raise his sons to be the "meanest, orneriest, baddiest bunch a' men that ever lived." The boys are only too happy to learn from him.

* Contagion, the villain of the first arc of ''[[Wolverine]]: The Best There Is''.

* [[Bomb Queen]]

* In ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'', Sabretooth thinks himself a violent, animalistic savage who lives only to hunt and kill, and is ''very'' proud of this fact. [[Complete Monster|He does]] [[Ax Crazy|a very good]] [[Psycho for Hire|job at living]] [[I'm a Humanitarian|up to this]].

* In classic ''[[James Bond]]'' movies starring Sean Connery, the top villains are brought together by an organization named SPECTRE - that literally stands for "Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion".

* Parodied with Dr. Evil in ''[[Austin Powers]]'', who went to [[Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate|evil medical school]] and is disappointed that his son wants to be a non-evil veterinarian...or perhaps work in a petting zoo.

'''Scott:''' You always do that! (Storms off) }}

** Later in the movie:

'''Dr. Evil:''' DOCTOR Evil. I didn't spend six years in evil medical school to be called 'mister' thank you very much. }}

* The Chief Blue Meanie in the movie ''[[Yellow Submarine]]'' insists that his minion Max never say "yes". Because "we Meanies [[Won't Take Yes for An Answer|only take 'no' for an answer]]", and gets extremely angry at the sound of the word "yes", even when being answered in the affirmative. Sometimes, his own aggression gets the better of him and he needs to be revived with "nasty medicine", which makes him even more eccentric than he already is. He encourages his army of Meanies to be as unpleasant as possible, but [[Heel Face Turn|later]] admits that his cousin is "the bluebird of happiness".

** The Chief subverts his "No only" order moments later when he summons the Flying Glove:

'''Chief:''' Yes. But you'll soon put a stop to that, won't you Glovey? Go, Glove, point and having pointed...'''''pounce, go!''''' }}

* The villains in ''[[Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band]]'' are as card-carrying as it gets. "WE HATE JOY. WE HATE LOVE. WE LOVE MONEY." "[I am] such a dirty, dirty old man!", etc.

*** They love (in the sense of "really like a lot") money, and they hate love (in the sense of "experiencing literal love for a person or pet").

* The 'cult' (see [[The Other Wiki]]) film ''Evil Roy Slade'' features this in <s>Slade</s> spades. He even yells at one of his henchmen who stays loyally at his side when the law offers a reward for him. Before that operation, he goes over the basics for his gang: 'Sneaking, Lying, Arrogance, Dirtiness and Evil. Put them all together and they spell "Slade!" '

'''Aunt May:''' "From EEEVIL!" }}

* Ratigan of ''[[The Great Mouse Detective]]'' is no [[Harmless Villain]], but in the spirit of Shakespearean villains, he loves boasting about how good he is at being bad.

* El Nebuloso in ''Yellowbeard''.

* Most [[Disney Animated Canon|Disney villains]] are far too self-deluded to even ''think'' of labeling themselves as villains or just flat-out don't care. Then there's Maleficent, who, [[Evil Is Cool|magnificently]] and [[Chewing the Scenery|scenery-chompingly]] enough, proclaims herself "mistress of all evil."

** ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'''s Jafar doesn't carry quite as big a card as Maleficent, mainly because [[The Grand Vizier]] can't actually ''say'' he's evil (though he ALWAYS is), but he doesn't seem to take offense when called "Your Rottenness" or "Oh Mighty Evil One" by [[Polly Wants a Microphone|his parrot]] and...calling him a snake leads to an ''epic'' [[Insult Backfire]].

*** "That's ''Sultan'' Vile Betrayal to you!!"

* ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'';

'''Jack Sparrow''': Pirate. }}

** In that case, it was more because Jack was being pragmatic than evil. As he points out later, the only things that matter in the world "are what a man can do and what a man ''can't'' do", and points out that if he'll die in fair combat, "well then, that's not much incentive for me to fight fair, now is it?"

'''Blackbeard''': I'm a bad man. }}

* Bluto in the ''[[Popeye]]'' film, who has an entire song number boasting of his being mean.

* Wilson Croft from ''[[Flubber]]''. "I'm petty and corrupt...I have profited from your ideas. To be honest, I'm here this weekend to steal your fiancee and make her my wife."

* Lampshaded and then fully embraced by Tony Montana in ''[[Scarface]]'' in the restaurant scene.

* Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg from ''[[The Fifth Element]]'' is a great example, though he tries to justify this behavior by claiming that life comes from chaos and, therefore, destruction actually creates and improves life.

'''Zorg:''' *Smirking* I know. }}

* Bowler Hat Guy from ''[[Meet the Robinsons]]'' aspires to be one of these. He's [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain|not very good]] [[Hilarity Ensues|at it]].

'''Betty''': [[Department of Redundancy Department|It is evil. It is so evil. It is a bad, bad plan that will hurt...many people...who are good. I think is great, because it is so bad.]] }}

* Gnorga, the Queen of Trolls in [[A Troll in Central Park]], even goes so far as to sing a [[Villain Song]] about what a nasty person she is and how much she enjoys it ("It feels delicious, to be so vicious, I'm Gnorga, the queen of mean!"). When she explains why she hates Stanley so much, she angrily ''complains'' "he is good, he is kind, he is GENTLLLLEEEEE!"

* ''[[Megamind]]'' lived and breathed this trope.

* Benedict in ''[[Last Action Hero]]'' knows he's a villain and has no problem showing it. Of course, he's an actual villain in the [[Show Within a Show]] ''Jack Slater IV''. Once he gets out into the "real world", he realizes it works by different rules (such as the cops ''not'' showing up immediately after he shoots a random guy on the street, and the neighbors not caring) and tries to subvert many villain tropes, except, of course, for the [[Evil Brit]], the [[Evil Is Hammy]], and the [[Evil Gloating]] ones (he can't exactly help the former, and the other two are too ingrained into him). He's played by [[Charles Dance]], who also played the card-carrying [[Big Bad]] in ''[[The Golden Child]]''.

* 1979's ''The Villain,'' a western comedy with Kirk Douglas as the hapless, [[Looney Tunes|Wile E. Coyote-esque]] titular character.

* Oba from the second [[Joshuu Sasori|''Female Prisoner Scorpion'']] film, ''Jailhouse 41''. She's very quick to exaggerate her own badness compared to the legendary Sasori (the titular character), but her crowning moment of evilness is the point at which she outdoes all the other women present in describing the crime for which she was imprisoned: {{spoiler|she drowned her two-year-old son and then stabbed her unborn baby to death, because her husband had an affair. She hikes up her dress to show off the scars...and keeps it up and in everyone's face for what seems like an eternity.}} She absolutely embraces this persona and the fear it engenders in almost everyone, and ultimately {{spoiler|dies still muttering about going back to her home island, burning down everyone's house, and stabbing them all.}}

 

== Literature ==

'''Vetinari''': ''Can I not? I'm a tyrant. It's what we do.'' }}

* Acheron Hades of the ''[[Thursday Next]]'' series ''literally'' wrote the book (''Degeneracy for pleasure and profit'') and extols the wonder of doing evil for its own sake. He also complains that profit "dilutes the taste of wickedness".

* Some of ''[[Redwall]]'''s villains clearly revel in this trope. Vilu Daskar, upon being praised by his crew for inventive sadism, modestly says "Oh, I do my best to be the worst." The trope gets even more obvious in ''Triss'', when the villainous pirate crew does ''three [[Villain Song|song and dance numbers]]'' dedicated to their own gruesome behaviour. The irony here being that Grubbage, one of the singers of the second song (''"'Tis nice to be a villain/wot all honest creatures fears/and terrorise the beasts for miles around"''), does a [[Heel Face Turn]] in a sadly ''very'' brief skimmed-over epilogue.

* The Nome King from [[L. Frank Baum]]'s ''[[Land of Oz]]'' stories is a sadistic old bastich who enjoys being angry because it makes everyone around him miserable.

** Fenrir Greyback could also count. There's his memorable line towards the end of ''Half-Blood Prince'', in which he openly admits to coming to the castle without being invited, just because he wants to kill and eat children. While still in human form.

* The poster-boy for [[Yellow Peril]], [[Fu Manchu]], started out as one of these ("They die like flies! And I am the God of Destruction!"), before turning into something closer to a [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]].

* The wicked duke in [[James Thurber]]'s ''[[The 13 Clocks]]''

* When you're almost literally [[God|the Creator's]] [[Evil Twin]] and your most common name is [[Chronicles of Thomas Covenant|Lord Foul the Despiser]], it's pretty safe to assume that you aren't an [[Anti-Villain]].

* ''[[Emberverse|Dies the Fire]]'' by [[S.M. Stirling]]. The [[Big Bad]] who's turned Portland into a feudal dictatorship uses the [[The Lord of the Rings|Eye of Sauron]] on his flag. One of the protagonists comments how stupid this is, as it would make more sense to use the Stars & Stripes to give himself legitimacy. When his colleague points out that "[[Evil Is Sexy|Hey, it's cool to be bad!]]", he responds "What's the point of letting people know you're evil enough to backstab them at the first suitable opportunity?"

* Alex DeLarge of ''[[A Clockwork Orange (novel)|A Clockwork Orange]]'' happily rapes, murders, and beats as he pleases. Why? Because, as he freely admits, he just prefers to be evil.

* Every villain of a Wilbur Smith novel basically lives and breathes this trope. They're so ''obviously'' evil that it's as if they all came from the same [[Kick the Dog|dog-kicking]] [[Incredibly Lame Pun|litter]].

** Beyond that, he's getting his immortality through a [[Deal with the Devil|pact]] with an entity that's basically the unholy lovechild of [[Satan]] and [[Eldritch Abomination|Cthulhu]] - if he ever ''stopped'' being knowingly and extremely evil, it would withdraw its end of the bargain, killing him.

* Don John in [[Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Much Ado About Nothing]]'' comes right out and says it. He's pissed that he can't rule because he's a bastard son, and will therefore do anything so long as it causes his brother grief: "I had rather be a canker in a hedge than a rose in / his grace, and it better fits my blood to be / disdained of all than to fashion a carriage to rob / love from any: in this, though I cannot be said to / be a flattering honest man, it must not be denied / but '''I am a plain-dealing villain'''." Played quite straight by Keanu Reeves in the 1993 film, the character has no purpose but to foil the good guys.

** On the other hand, several other Technomages definitely fit the trope. {{spoiler|Razeel}} willingly chooses to serve the Shadows for an unknown reason. {{spoiler|Circe}}'s motivation for betrayal is pure desire for power.

* Various characters in [[Andrew Vachss]]' Burke books, including the [[Anti-Villain]] [[Villain Protagonist]] himself, identify themselves as "thieves". How evil these characters are actually varies from person to person.

* ''[[In Death]]'': some of the bad guys reach this level in the series. Casto from ''Immortal In Death'' admits that he is a selfish man. Reanna Otts in ''Rapture In Death'' cheerfully describes herself as [[The Sociopath]] and completely agrees with that diagnosis!

* Lieutenant Colonel Korn from ''[[Catch-22]]'' takes positive delight in describing how odious and reprehensible his plans are.

* Set in ''[[The Kane Chronicles]]''.

* [[Complete Monster|Conrad Bland]] in Mike Resnick's ''Walpurgis III''. He's quoted as saying "Evil is its own justification," declares that a decent and honorable man is "the Enemy" he must destroy ... and he'd never make a pact with Satan, because [[Eviler Than Thou|he doesn't feel any need to own Satan's soul]].

 

* Taken literally in [[Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger]] where all the villains carry business cards that they toss to The Akibarangers

* The Janitor from ''[[Scrubs]]'' identifies himself as evil and takes great dislike in anyone who doesn't fear him, coining the phrase "Fearitude" for his presence.

** [[Not-So-Harmless Villain|At first]].

** Spike, on multiple occasions, proudly reminds the Scoobies that, although defanged, he is still a demon and therefore evil. Harmony (in ''[[Angel]]'') is more ambivalent; apparently, she doesn't mind being good but, ultimately, cannot help doing evil.

** See also Faith in season 3.

** And the First Evil does what she does because she is, well, evil.

*** Even more so, surely, Sutekh! "Your evil is my good. I am the Sutekh the Destroyer. Where I tread I leave nothing but dust and darkness. I find that good."

* ''[[Oz]]''. [[Complete Monster]] Simon Adebisi acknowledges this to Muslim inmate Kareem Said, the night before their final fatal confrontation.

'''Adebisi''': That ''is'' what will destroy me. You see I am who I am, just as you are. And I do what I do, just as you must. }}

* ''[[The Mighty Boosh]]'': The Hitcher loves to tell the audience he's pure evil and even raps about it in his theme tune. In ''The Mighty Boosh Live'', he spent a few minutes extolling his evil to the audience and didn't stop when he ran out of examples: "I'm -- I'm a ''knob''!"

** The radio version has Vince and Howard thrown in prison and in the cell next to them is a man who simply mutters threats to them for hours on end ("I'm gonna snap your nose off and toss it at a vicar", for example). Howard eventually plucks up the courage to talk to him and asks him why he's doing that, and he replies that "all I'm interested in is evil".

* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Prince of Fire]] from ''[[Lexx]]'' gleefully described himself as "evil" and made a point to create as much pain and misery as possible [[For the Evulz]].

'''Prince''': Because it is full of good, and I am full of bad. I think that's all there is to it. I'm not very complicated really. }}

** While he's this trope, he chucks it off to being ''born'' a [[Sealed Evil in a Can]] (in this case, a planet), with the intended purpose of keeping balance, and blames his existence on [[Neglectful Precursors]] of some sort. He likes the being evil part, but he doesn't like the being sealed or keeping balance parts. {{spoiler|[[Karma Houdini|He gets his wish]]...sort of.}}

* Alex Russo in ''[[Wizards of Waverly Place]]''. Whenever someone refers to her as evil, dark, or scary, she just grins and/or giggles, she actively encourages her [[Cool Loser]] status at school and deliberately provokes fights with her brother, Justin, because "that's how things are supposed to be".

* The Big Cheese from the ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'' "Secret Service Dentists" sketch, who not only shoots his own [[Right-Hand-Cat|Right Hand]] <s>Cat</s>[[Right-Hand-Cat|Rabbit]] but also makes death threats including phrases like "...and because I'm so evil..."

* Pretty much all the villains in most ''[[Super Sentai]]'' or ''[[Kamen Rider]]'' series.

* John Bly, the [[Big Bad]] of ''[[The Adventures of Brisco County Jr]]'', actually cites uses this trope as the reason he refuses to free his now-useless hostage in the episode "Fountain of Youth". "Why don't you let me go? I'm no use to you anymore." "Because I'm evil, Professor."

* {{spoiler|Jim}} Moriarty from ''[[Sherlock]]''.

''' {{spoiler|Jim}} Moriarty:''' [[Insult Backfire|You're just getting that now?]] }}

 

== Music ==

* The narrators of [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1kbH1QEmkU "Mr. Bad Example"] by [[Warren Zevon]] and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fELrliuqZvM "The Future"] by [[Leonard Cohen]].

* [[Blue Öyster Cult|"I'm makin' a career of evil..."]]

* Many songs from the point of view of a serial killer. For example, "The Ripper" by [[Judas Priest]].

 

== Newspaper Comics ==

* In ''[[Dilbert]]'', Catbert is the "Evil Director of Human Resources". That's right, he's got the word "evil" in his job title. And he lives up to it with glee:

'''Catbert''': That's outrageous! There shouldn't be any great jobs in this company. }}

** Equally <s>good</s> evil example:

'''Catbert''': All of them. Some are just more noticeable. }}

** Don't forget Phil The Prince of Insufficient Light.

 

== Professional Wrestling ==

** And before Eddie, there was [[Ric Flair|Ric "The Dirtiest Player in The Game" Flair]]. There was really no difference between [[Face Heel Revolving Door|his heel and face personas]]: he'd low-blow and cheap shot heel and face alike and tell you beforehand he would.

* [[Kane (wrestling)|Kane]] makes no effort to hide the fact that he's evil. It's in his intro video.

* [[The Undertaker]], when giving his [[Motive Rant]] upon one of his heel turns, said, "And I know that some of you are wondering how it is that I can join forces with such an evil, despicable, maniacal individual [as [[Paul Bearer]]]...well, if that isn't reason enough all by itself then I don't guess I can explain it to you folks any better!" He would go around calling himself The Lord of Darkness and saying things like, "Embrace the purity of evil."

* William Regal actually has the word "Villain" written on his tights.

 

 

== Theatre ==

* Many [[Shakespeare]] villains were motivated simply by wanting to be a villain:

** Most famously, ''[[Richard III]]''.

*** And, of course, in case you have any doubts about that true nature, he's also a [[Values Dissonance|bastard]]. Being born out of wedlock makes you inherently a jerk.

** Iago continually changes his reasoning for his actions in ''[[Othello]]''. Originally, it was out of jealousy because he was passed over for promotion; however, he eventually abandons not only this justification, but ''all'' possible rationalizations. He is identified simply as a "Villaine" in the list of characters in the first folio, and [[Samuel Taylor Coleridge]] famously noted his "motiveless malignity". Iago himself, when questioned on his motivation, simply refuses to explain anything...though there are those who [[Epileptic Trees|attribute his actions]] to [[Ho Yay|less incomprehensible motives]].

*** Or there's the possibility that he's simply jealous of ''anyone'' who has anything good that he doesn't and fucks with Cassio, Desdemona, and Othello accordingly.

** Aaron in ''Titus Andronicus'' states outright that all he wants to do with his life is be evil; the only reason he aids the play's antagonist instead of working against her is because it gives him a chance to do very evil, uncouth things. It's because [[Values Dissonance|he's black, and black people are evil.]] His last line in the play is:

I do repent it from my very soul. }}

*** [[Alternate Character Interpretation|Modern interpretations]], including Julie Taymor's [[This Is Your Premise on Drugs|memorable version]], sometimes have his actions as [[Freudian Excuse|payback for the way he is treated]], and add a [[Pet the Dog]] moment or two.

* Captain Hook in [[Peter Pan]]. In pretty much any version (novel, play, or movie adaptation).

 

== Video Games ==

* Joey Rottenwood, the [[Big Bad]] of ''[[The Spellcasting Series]]''. He [[Genre Savvy|firmly believes in all time-honored villain traditions]], including [[Bond Villain Stupidity|telling Ernie his plot while he has him captured]], and he has a knack for making [[Villain Exit Stage Left|absurdly easy escapes]] when his plans are foiled. He even reads a villain's manual to ensure he's doing everything correctly.

* Charnel of ''[[Sacrifice]]'', occasionally taken to rather humorous levels given he's an evil god of slaughter.

'''Charnel''': Don't believe anything ''else'' he has to say! }}

** Another bit with him:

'''Charnel''': Yes, [[Cold-Blooded Torture|torture]] also has its merits. }}

* In ''[[Super Mario Bros.|Super Mario Bros]]'', Bowser actively pursues a life of evil debauchery, seeks evil locales for his castles, and enjoys being called "your vileness". However, in the spinoffs and ''[[Super Mario Sunshine]]'', his evilness began to decline with being a "[[Noble Demon]]" too much, especially as in the Mario RPG's. Despite helping his enemies to his status as a Card-Carrying Villain, they only show that Bowser has become capable of goodness, at least to some degree. Still, his attempts to be a Card-Carrying Villain in the main platformers are still effective, whether Mario defeats him or not. His attempts in the Super Mario Galaxy games take him up a level, since he planned to take over his galaxy and, later, the entire universe, which would still end in disaster {{spoiler|and kill him with the entire universe}}.

** The Smithy Gang from ''[[Super Mario RPG]]'' seem to enjoy causing widespread chaos. Smithy even says he'd like to "Get rid of all wishes and create a world filled with...WEAPONS!!

'''All:''' [[Power Rangers|...the AXEM RANGERS!!]] }}

* In ''[[The Legend of Zelda (video game)|The Legend of Zelda]]'', Ganondorf has referred to himself as the Great King of Evil.

* Every single evil-affilated racer in the ''[[F-Zero]]'' series. '''''EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.''''' Special mention goes to [[Evil Is Hammy|Black Shadow]].

* Luca Blight from ''[[Suikoden II]]'', even after [[Annoying Arrows|being showered with arrows]], [[Climax Boss|battling three squads of the opposing army's most powerful soldiers simultaneously]], being showered with ''[[No One Could Survive That|even more]]'' arrows, and [[Duel Boss|losing a duel to the death with the main character]], still has the strength to roar triumphantly in his [[Final Speech]] that even though it took hundreds to kill him, he [[Omnicidal Maniac|slaughtered humans by the thousands]], and that he is probably [[Complete Monster|the single most evil man who has ever lived]] (which is probably true), before finally dying.

** [[Justified Trope|He does explain later on that people's hatred of him is what keeps him from]] [[Ret-Gone|disappearing]]. [[Double Subverted|Still, when he enjoys everything else he mentioned and specifically does it as his only source of entertainment with no regrets or]] [[I Did What I Had to Do]]...[[Complete Monster|There's just no excuse]].

** However, if it suits his plan, he would still present himself as a 'mild mannered' officer of NOL, as shown with anyone else not Hakumen, Ragna, Kokonoe or Rachel. He still gave off the vibes of 'suspicious and is dangerous to trust' regardless.

* Most demons from the ''[[Disgaea]]'' series actively try to cultivate an evil and [[Badass]] image for themselves through means that vary from [[Kick the Dog|wanton acts of violence and depravity]] to [[Poke the Poodle|not recycling and playing Ding Dong Ditch.]] Most of them [[Noble Demon|fall into the latter category]] - place them next to the former, and they will [[Even Evil Has Standards|recoil in disgust.]]

* Murray The Demonic Skull from ''[[Monkey Island]]''.

** [[Big Bad|LeChuck]] from the same series.

** Their counterpart in the sequels, Team Skull (Team Poison Rose in the Japanese versions), are the same. Their only motivation is greed and harassing the players' team to make them look bad. Compared to the real [[Big Bad]] of the game and his Dragon, they're almost literally the Team Rocket trio in Pokémon form.

* The Genma of the ''[[Onimusha]]'' series revel in being referred to as "evil", most notably in the second game (evident by the final boss being the Golden Evil Statue, and also by the content of some in-game documents).

* Gnarl of ''[[Overlord]]'', in a [[Large Ham|most over-the-top manner]]. He takes such great delight in evil for the sake of evil.

* Bio-Haz, in the obscure Game Boy RPG ''Great Greed'', is a textbook [[Evil Overlord]] trying to conquer Greene Kingdom, and he's generating as much pollution as possible because it makes him and his army stronger. {{spoiler|It's not until the end of the game that you learn he has another motive besides his [[Title Drop|great greed]]; he wants to save the ''human'' world from pollution by using Greene Kingdom as its garbage dump.}}

* Ridley, and most of the Space Pirates for that matter, in ''[[Metroid]]'' seems to have no other motivation for trying to (ostensibly) take over the galaxy, other than that it's an evil thing to do. They commit horrors and atrocities just for the pure fun of it (although some games suggest most of the Pirates are just a mindless drone race following the orders of dominant intelligent figures like Ridley). Sometimes, a motivation will be supplied from the villain of the week, but usually, they're there, they're bad, kill'em all and reap your rewards.

* The Ilwrath of [[Star Control]] II go on at length about how evil they are, as a matter of [[Religion of Evil|religion]]. They certainly do enjoy torture, genocide, murder, etc. However, you can induce a [[Logic Bomb]] by pointing out that, although they are certainly evil by external measures, by following the tenents and customs of their society, they are, in fact, good.

* The super-villain Rictus in ''[[Anachronox]]'':

* Irenicus from ''[[Baldur's Gate|Baldurs Gate]] 2'' may count. It isn't that he revels in being a villain, he simply does not care enough to bother denying the charge.

** "No, you merit no villain's exposition."

* E-123 Omega from ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'', despite being a friend of [[Anti-Hero|Anti Heroes]] Shadow and Rouge.

* House Steiner in the ''[[Mechwarrior]]'' game franchise: on the couple of occasions you aren't fighting them, they're setting you up for a murderous betrayal. The original ''[[BattleTech]]'' universe portrays them as more morally ambiguous.

* Your character in ''[[Dungeons]]'', along with everyone else, except the heroes.

* Most of the Path of Dark class promotions in ''[[Might and Magic]] VII'' have a name that is either more associated with not-quite-a-good-guy than their Light counterpart (Warlock vs Arch Druid, Bounty Hunter vs Ranger Lord, etc) or invoke darkness (Priest of Dark, Black Knight). The Paladin promotion is called ''Villain'', and yes, the guy that promotes you to it uses it himself.

 

== Web Comics ==

* Xykon from ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'' prides himself on his evilness.

** The Linear Guild literally carries (business) cards.

** As do {{spoiler|their masters}}, the Inter-Fiend Cooperation Commission, though, considering they're fiends (and therefore literal incarnations of evil), this trope rather goes with the territory.

** Redcloak is an interesting example: he admits he and his god are evil by Dungeons and Dragons alignments, but he still [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|thinks his actions are justified]]. He seems to think of alignments as being more like team names than actual moral judgments.

** Elan's long-lost father turned up and explained why he chose to become an evil tyrant: every story calls for one, so he will be the villain and "live like a god for three decades" until some heroes come along to vanquish him. He'll still be immortalized in bardic lore ''and'' he'll get to be emperor for a while, so, in his opinion, eventual [[Karmic Death]] is worth the payoff.

* ''[[Bob and George]]'' actually has this [[Catch Phrase]]: "What? I'm evil. [[I Lied]]."

* In ''[[Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic]]'', all of the monsters of the mountain identify themselves as evil, though only the Drow (and King Louie the Liche) act like it. The only real difference between the rest of the monsters and the "good" humans and elves are a tendency to eat other sentient beings and a casual approach to mortal violence.

* ''[[Concerned]]'' has Wallace Breen of ''[[Half-Life]]'' become something like this.

* ''GU Comics'' [http://www.gucomics.com/comic/?cdate=20050524 demonstrates.]

** Hell, he even tried joining the bad guys after gleefully wasting all his fire spells on [[Goddamned Bats|BATS]] and leaving the Light Warriors to die inside a block of solid ice:

'''Black Mage:''' I'd say I was joining the winning side, but that would imply that there was some point where I wasn't part of team evil. }}

* ''[[Bob the Angry Flower]]'' once had a violent confrontation with a man who only gave his name as the Evil Business Guy Made of Butter. Well, allegedly had a violent confrontation with an alleged Evil Business Guy made of pure creamy butter.

* ''[[Precocious (Webcomic)|Precocious]]''? Well, the main kids [http://www.precociouscomic.com/archive/comic/2009/06/30 play as the Super Villain Union]. And when it's time to pick the Class President? Dionne quickly turns the campaign negative [http://www.precociouscomic.com/archive/comic/2010/03/12 as her selling point.]

* In ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'', Ellen was this initially in an effort to give herself some sense of identity.

 

== Web Original ==

* [[Doctor Steel]] is apparently a member of the [[Weird Trade Union|Mad Scientists Union (Local 42)]] and also seems to be on an Evil Genius Committee.

* The Villain Evil from the Flash cartoon "[[Bonus Stage (web animation)|Bonus Stage]]" is also ''named'' "Evil".

* Ganondorf, from the Machinima series ''[[Melee's End]]'', seems to only act as an antagonist because he was designed as a bad guy.

* [[The Spoony Experiment|Dr. Insano]] and [[Ask That Guy With The Glasses|Ask That Guy]].

* Evil Blah in ''[[The Demented Cartoon Movie]]''.

* Marik in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series|Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series]]'' has this tendency. Ironically, he is one of the ''least'' evil characters.

'''Marik''': No! The card game is essential to the plot! [[Evil Is Hammy|The EVIL plot!]] }}

* Vegeta in season 1 of [[Dragonball Z Abridged]]:

'''Vegeta:''' OF COURSE NOT, I'M [[Precision F-Strike|F**KING]] EVIL! }}

** Also Freiza, he even demands God to strike him down [[Did You Just Flip Off Cthulu|and laughs when he survives unscathed]]

 

== Western Animation ==

*** It even has an own TV show: Evil Eye for the Bad Guy.

** The villain culture has a whole set of traditions, to which the bad guys generally adhere, even when they clearly give the heroes a chance to [[Bond Villain Stupidity|escape]] or [[Just Between You and Me|turn the tables]].

* Let us not forget ''[[Captain Planet]]''. While, contrary to popular belief, the show's villains generally ''did'' have some kind of discernible motive (usually raw profit at the cost of the environment), causing damage to the planet for its own sake sometimes seemed to [[Flanderization|take a life of its own and supersede anything else]]. In particular, villains such as Verminous Skumm, Dr. Blight on a bad day, and the evil spirit Zarm tended toward the "Corruption/Destruction for its own sake" end of the scale.

* Azula from [[Avatar: The Last Airbender]] embraces the rest of the world's view that she's evil. She even calls herself a monster in the later episodes, but that's actually her way of coping with the self-loathing brought on by those beliefs.

* Megatron in most of the earlier ''[[Transformers]]'' incarnations had a rather grating tendency to laugh and say how evil he was, or how evil his plan was, just so that the kids knew who to root for.

** [[Expository Theme Song|"Autobots wage their battle to destroy the evil forces of the Decepticons"]]

** In Dreamwave's comic book series, Starscream responds to a question as to their appointed task with "Who cares? With Megatron, you know it's going to be evil...and evil is always fun!"

* ''[[Beast Wars]]''' Blackarachnia spends a lot of her first season or so repeatedly telling the heroes that she's evil, bad, evil, not to be trusted, and evil, occasionally even resorting to actual action to get her point across to particularly irritating non-believers.

'''Blackarachnia:''' SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UUUUUUUUPPP!!! }}

** You can't say evil in that show without mentioning Tarantulas, whose outright villainy and treacherous attitude was something Megatron considered to be a ''viable asset''.

** In ''[[Beast Machines]]'', Thrust and Jetstorm take on this role, while Megatron ironically believes he is doing good:

'''Thrust:''' But savage? That we can do! }}

* Aku, the [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Samurai Jack]]'', identifies himself as "Master of Masters, The Deliverer of Darkness, and the Shogun of Sorrow." His ''name'' even means evil in Japanese.

* ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'': Every SINGLE villain in the entire series is LITERALLY a card-carrying villain belonging to the aptly-named Guild of Calamitous Intent.

** Which, ironically, is depicted as having an important [[Even Evil Has Standards|honor code]] and being an accepted facet of society.

*** The protagonist, however, is a [[Heroic Sociopath|complete and total asshole.]]

** Jack refers to himself several times as an "Evil Boy Genius". He also has club jackets with his face and "evil" on it and, of course, he has an [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZF8ucW90MI evil trademark laugh].

*** He didn't just trademark his laugh, he stated he was adding evil and other such words to his devices to "create a brand".

* Doctor Ivo Robotnik in ''[[Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog]]''.

** The ''[[Sonic Sat AM|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' version of him as well, though to a lesser extent...his "pretend to be good when it's practical" moments are a bit longer and more pronounced. However, he's inclined to boast about his evilness as though it was something to be proud of, especially when in the company of those he believes are evil.

'''Lazar's guardian''': ...yes. I can see that. }}

* King Koopa, Bowser's animated counterpart in all three of the animated ''[[Super Mario Brothers Super Show]]'' series, plus his seven Koopalings in the latter two series.

** Krang also has been known to say this more than once and being even more evil or cruel than Shredder, OR towards Shredder when Shredder's plans sometimes backfire on him big time.

* Negaduck's goal on ''[[Darkwing Duck]]'' is to be Public Enemy #1. He was already the [[Evil Overlord]] dictator of the [[Mirror Universe]], but [[Pride|"like death is never satisfied."]]

** Jade also references this trope when referring to the Dark Hand as "Card Carrying Members of the Forces of Darkness."

* You can tell that [[The Spectacular Spider-Man|Doc Ock]] has fully become one by the mug he drinks out of that has "Evil Genius" written on it.

* The ''[[League of Super Evil]]'' is based around a group of Card Carrying Villains. If they didn't tell you so themselves, [[Poke the Poodle|you'd find it hard to believe]] [[Harmless Villain|they're really villains]].

** Other villains in the series tend to also be quite open with the fact that they're evil, there's even a company making devices just for super villains and a special driving test for them. Heck, they even have their own evil version of [[Bad Santa|Santa Claus]] who rewards them for being evil!

'''General:''' Thank you Sergeant, you've been quite a help. }}

** Lampshaded yet again in Unlimited by Flash, during his [[Freaky Friday]] switch with Lex Luthor:

'''"Luthor":''' No...[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v{{=}}KyYOuuRmQp0 cause I'm EVIL]. }}

* A bit of a ''plot point'' in the ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes (TV series)|Legion of Super Heroes]]'' episode "Phantoms". Phantom Zone escapee Drax hears the voices of his still-imprisoned parents in his head, constantly reminding him that he's ''evil'' and always will be. Supervillains really do make [[Abusive Parents]].

** In the series finale, despite never having self-identified as evil before (quite the opposite, in fact), the still-alive villain says to...no one in particular, "Evil does not die. It evolves," in an ill-fated [[Sequel Hook]].

* After [[He-Man and the Masters of the Universe]] explains that [[Christmas Episode]] makes people "feel good," Skeletor responds, "I don't want to feel good! I want to feel evil!"

* Lucius on ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]''

* In ''[[Rocky and Bullwinkle]]'', Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale ''are'' this trope, as is their nation of Pottsylvania. When Boris swears, he uses words like 'decency', 'honor', and 'joy'. He is occasionally awarded the "Order of the Double-Cross" by Fearless Leader, and when Natasha calls him a "sneaky, fiendish, rotten, no-good snake in the grass", she means it as a compliment. For a taste of Pottsylvanian culture, listen to their National Anthem;

Hail Pottsylvania, Hail, Hail, Hail!" }}

** In the movie, when Natasha starts musing about what a wonderful life they could have together if they could only stop moose and squirrel, she mentions about how they could have children that they raise to be "little monsters". This is mentioned in the same breath as them living a peaceful life in a house by the sea.

** You doubt he wanted to be evil at first? When he was turned into a baby for one episode (don't ask), he spent his entire time breaking things to the (adorably) malevolent chant of "Evil! Evil!"

* In ''[[Angry Beavers]]'', Norbert's costume [[Super Villain]] persona: Baron Von Bad Beaver, {{spoiler|later extended to Baron Von Once Bad Then Good Then Bad Again Beaver}}.

* [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|Mr. Burns]] from ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' sometimes introduces himself with the Imperial March music from [[Star Wars]].

** On a character basis, Father calls himself the second most evil adult, then refering to his father as the 'World's Most [[Ultimate Evil]]' before reawakening him. Grandfather goes on to refer to himself as pure evil.

* ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' has [[Harmless Villain]] Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz. He calls himself evil and has a company called 'Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated', complete with [[Jingle]]. In several episodes, he has a [[Villain Song]] where he declares how evil he is. It comes to the point he'd erase the media just to prevent his fellow villains from finding out he (accidentally) saved a kitty. In the [[Christmas Special]], he feared he'd be expelled from his evil scientist association for not hating Christmas.

* Dick Dastardly is a true, if ineffective, card-carrying villain, and probably the most popular bad guy in the Hanna-Barbera stable. The narrator of ''[[Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines]]'' calls him "the deadly, diabolical, despicable demon of the skyways."

* [[The Rival|Captain Zero]] from ''[[TUGS]]'' - he's not so much outright evil as sort of [[Honest John's Dealership|a shyster]], but it's touched on in the first episode.

'''Zip:''' ...Oh. }}

* In ''[[Thundercats 2011|ThunderCats (2011)]]'' This is [[Invoked]] in a very literal sense, as [[Big Bad]] [[Sorcerous Overlord]] Mumm-Ra must [[By the Power of Grayskull|call upon]] "Ancient Spirits of Evil" to grant him access to his [[One-Winged Angel]] Form.

* A number of ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' villains refer to themselves as such (most notably [[Large Ham|Technus]]). [[Big Bad]] Vlad Plasmius initially averted this - for the first two seasons, being called a villain was almost a [[Berserk Button]] for him - but after [[Villain Decay]] began to set in he started acting more like a conventional card-carrying baddie.

 

== Real Life ==

* Some of the criminals [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah51vPzcVEM#t=2m46s interrogator Jim Smyth] has confronted arguably qualify.

** ''Aileen Wuornos:'' To me, this world is nothing but evil, and my own evil just happened to come out cause of the circumstances of what I was doing.

** ''Carl Panzram:'' In my lifetime I have broken every law that was ever made by both man and God. If either had made any more, I should very cheerfully have broken them also.

** ''David Berkowitz (Son of Sam):'' I am a monster. I am the Son of Sam. I love to hunt.

** ''Ted Bundy:'' I'm the most cold-blooded sonofabitch you'll ever meet. Sometimes I feel like a vampire.

** ''Richard Kuklinski:'' (Smiles) Assassin....Sounds so exotic....(Sneers) I'm just a murderer.

* Stalin ''did'' play this trope at least once, though sarcastically:

* Adolf Eichmann went back and forth on this; sometimes he would claim that he was [[Just Following Orders]], and that he was unnerved at what he did because "My sensitive nature revolted at the sight of corpses and blood.". On the ''other'' hand, he ''also'' gave us these lines:

* The corporation-targeting criminal organization known as The Monster with 21 Faces left this note when a police investigator committed suicide by setting himself on fire after failing to catch them: "We are bad guys. That means we've got more to do other than bullying companies. [[Evil Feels Good|It's fun to lead a bad man's life.]]"

* Anton Lavey, founder of the Church of Satan. [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e5/Anton_LaVey_photo.jpg Just look at him, for bad's sake.]

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Villain Ball]]

[[Category:Evil Tropes]]

[[Category:Characterization Tropes]]

[[Category:Villains]]