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Card-Carrying Villain (view source)

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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.
 
A subversion is for these folks to ''not'' actually be cruel, greedy, or unnecessarily violent, but [[Punch Clock Villain|just doing their jobs]]. A [[Noble Demon]] is a [['''Card-Carrying Villain]]''' who talks the talk, but has a tendency to hold back or even help from time to time.
 
[[Tropes Are Not Good|If not done right (and it is very, very easily done wrong)]], that is to say, if the card is [[Narm|too serious or obvious]], the result can be cheesy, annoying, and [[Anvilicious]]. (Of all the evil people in [[Real Life]], how many have ever ''self-identified'' as evil? [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]], [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]], and [[Mao Zedong|Mao]]--all—all of them believed with messianic zeal that they were doing good.) Though, in comedy situations/shows, this fate is usually averted, as it's a humorous thing (and thus right in place). It can also be used with a darker twist - showing a person so beyond redemption, so beyond what we call usual morality, that he is literally impossible to argue and reason with.
 
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]].
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* 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
* Ladd Russo from ''[[Baccano!]]!'' is a [[Large Ham|hammy ]][[Psycho for Hire]] who freely admits that all he loves is killing, killing, and more killing. When his uncle tells him "Homicidal lunatics think you're a nutcase!" He informs him that his "[[Insult Backfire|attempts at flattery are so ham handed]]."
* 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.]]
* ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]'' has the freaking incarnation of the third sphere, Ali Al-Saachez. Gundam series generally (pretend to) have multidimensional villains with some understandable motivations. Or, at least, villains that are good at self-justification and excuses. Ali is probably the only villain in the entire franchise to readily admit that he loves war for war's sake, that he commits his (numerous) crimes [[For the Evulz]], and that this makes him the worst sort of person in the world. He has absolutely no problem with it.
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* 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.
* Team Rocket (the whole organisation, not the [[Terrible Trio]]) in ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]''. According to Cassidy and [[My Name Is Not Durwood|Billy]], rivals to the trio, the motto they use is the real Team Rocket motto (where there are phrases like "To infect the world with devastation!" and "To blight all people in every nation!") and the motto Jessie and James use is, instead, a corrupted version (this version has phrases that imply that they see themselves as [[Knight Templar|Knight Templars]]s). Ironically, when Jessie and James updated their motto to become [[Card-Carrying Villain|Card Carrying Villains]] (from Battle Frontier up to the end of Sinnoh), the motto Cassidy and Paunch use was also updated, and the phrases were [[Knight Templar]]-ish themselves.
{{quote|{{smallcaps| [[Running Gag|IT'S BUTCH!!!]]}}}}
 
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* 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."
** Mad Madam Mim in ''[[The Sword in the Stone]]''. She sings a whole song about how wonderful it is that she's proud to be mad and evil, and she takes "terrible" as a compliment (and finds it lovely when someone's sick--thoughsick—though she doesn't find it so lovely when ''she'' gets sick later...).
** ''[[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!!"
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** 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 villain of ''[[Harry Potter/Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire|Goblet of Fire]]'' might count: "Decent people are so easy to manipulate, Potter..."
** If ''The Methods of Rationality'' is right, anyone creating a horcrux would pretty much have to be a completely unironic [[Card-Carrying Villain]]. The theory is, you need to do something so depraved and inhumane that you literally cannot live with yourself and break your own soul to get a piece to put in the horcrux. ([[Nightmare Fuel|Yikes]].)
* 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]]''
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* 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]].
* [[The Chessmaster|O'Brien]], the villain (of [[Crapsack World|many]]) of ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four|1984]]'', gives a [[Hannibal Lecture]] to Winston, where he extols the virtues of a world of fear, torment, and treachery. One of the more well-executed [[Complete Monster|Complete Monsters]]s in fiction.
* A rare case of this trope being played both seriously and non-[[Narm|Narmfully]]fully is the Hunter of C.S. Friedman's ''[[Coldfire Trilogy]]''. Living in a world where the human mind can unconsciously shape reality, he has made an absolute monster of himself in a bid to deliberately invoke the trope of the invulnerable evil overlord.
** 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.
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* 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..."]]
* Danish metal band Evil only released one EP, but half the tracks on there fit this trope perfectly: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fOy3n-MHAI their namesake track] and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNtQ4k96Vjc "Son of the Bitch."]
* Many songs from the point of view of a serial killer. For example, "The Ripper" by [[Judas Priest]].
 
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* Many [[Shakespeare]] villains were motivated simply by wanting to be a villain:
** Most famously, ''[[Richard III]]''.
** Don John in ''[[Much Ado About Nothing]]'', counseled to act nice to remain in the Prince's good books, retorts that he's always believed in being true to your nature. Since his nature is that of a villain, he's going to go ahead and ''be'' one, rather than pretend not to be -- evenbe—even if it's counter to his best interests.
*** 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]].
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{{quote|''I'd call that a successful first test. Golem! Rearm the [[Doomy Dooms of Doom|Doom Citadel]]!''}}
* Chaos and the Dark Eldar in ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'' take delight in being on the extreme wrong side of the [[Moral Event Horizon]]. Considering the latter group literally ''lives'' off of [[Squick]] taken to the point of nightmarish, this is perhaps understandable. A quote from the nearest thing they have to a leader: "Death is my meat, terror my wine."
* ''[[Exalted]]'' gives us the Infernal Exalted; while they aren't [[Exclusively Evil]], the cards are stacked against them. For one thing, if they go against the will of their [[The Legions of Hell|Yozi]] masters, they accrue Torment, which can backlash and affect mortals in nasty ways. The only way to bleed off torment is to engage in Acts of Villainy -- stickVillainy—stick your foes in death traps, force an innocent into an arranged marriage, monologue at your archnemesis, etc. This is what happens when the guy behind the plan is ''the cosmic embodiment of douchebaggery''. Mind you, it's doesn't say ''who'' you have to perform some of those Acts of Villainy on...
** Also a subversion in that any given Infernal's [[Evil Plan|dastardly evil scheme]] could be [[Completely Missing the Point|"make creation into a utopia"]] and their [[Poke the Poodle|Acts of Villainy]] [[Good Feels Good|don't even have to be evil]]. All that matters is that they ''[[Dangerously Genre Savvy|act]]'' like a [[Card-Carrying Villain]].
**** Mind you, an Infernal could make such a deal solely [[Rule of Cool|for the sake of getting all the nifty powers]], with no intent to serve the Reclamation (and, in fact, with [[Faustian Rebellion|potential plans for a double-cross]]). Nothing forces the Infernals to truly be evil. The cards are ''supposed'' to be stacked against them, but the Ebon Dragon's [[Idiot Plot|so awful at planning]] that it backfires on every level...
** And then there's the whole reason they're like that -- thethat—the Ebon Dragon had an active hand in their creation. Each of the Primordials represents a principle of Creation, and the Ebon Dragon once represented betrayal. Every thing he does is based around screwing someone over, even if it screws him as well.
 
 
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** 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.
* Helen, Mell, and, later, Dave in ''[[Narbonic]]''. Helen is, in fact, a Shirt Wearing Villain -- herVillain—her habitual outfit includes an old T-shirt which reads ''"evil"'', with a heart dotting the ''i''.
* ''[[Bob and George]]'' actually has this [[Catch Phrase]]: "What? I'm evil. [[I Lied]]."
* Khrima from ''[[Adventurers!]]!'' is an archetypal example of this. Much like Dr. Evil, he got his degree from [http://www.adventurers-comic.com/d/0208.html Evil University]. He goes to great lengths to get people to believe he's extremely evil and cruel, and [[Contractual Genre Blindness|adheres religiously to the clichés]] of Evil in [[RPG|RPGs]]s, with instances ranging from his exact following of the [[Sorting Algorithm of Evil]] to his personally preparing an [[Amazing Technicolor Battlefield]] for the final fight.
* 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.
* Richard of ''[[Looking for Group]]'' would be a [[Card-Carrying Villain]] if he was not a [[Heroic Sociopath|protagonist.]]
* ''GU Comics'' [http://www.gucomics.com/comic/?cdate=20050524 demonstrates.]
* Black Mage Evilwizardington in ''[[8-Bit Theater|Eight Bit Theater]]'', if his last name didn't give it away already.
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== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Kim Possible]]'''s [[Rogues Gallery]] not only self-identify as evil without exception (there are no [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|Well Intentioned Extremists]] in this world), but most try very hard to prove it. Shego, in particular, is a good example. She's clearly in it as Drakken's [[The Dragon|Dragon]] for the money, but also tries to beef up her evil credibility on her own time; maybe because she [[Face Heel Turn|used to be]] a [[Superhero]]. One time, she was even manipulated into helping Kim Possible herself, when the heroine threatened to tell the world that Shego [[Old Shame|used to be a good guy]].
** Evil is a whole lifestyle in ''[[Kim Possible]]'', with its own magazines (Shego reads ''Villainess'' while not listening to Drakken's [[Evil Plan|Evil Plans]]s), supervillain conventions and trade shows, and a corporation that supplies equipment and henchmen ("[[Trope Co|HenchCo]]"). Though a [[Disney]]-produced show, they aren't above take potshots at the corporate lifestyle and how nicely it dovetails with being a villain.
*** 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]].
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** 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.]]
* ''[[Xiaolin Showdown]]'' has both examples of this: most of the [[Big Bad]] are [[Black Cloak|Black Cloaks]]s and Jack Spicer desperately wants to join their club and get respect. One [[Big Bad]] comments that Jack tries so hard to be Evil because of his insecurities.
** 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".
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** 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."]]
* ''[[Jackie Chan Adventures]]'' had one episode with a ''literal'' [[Card-Carrying Villain]]. Complete with [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Incredibly Lame Puns]]s ("We have the upper hand," etc., etc.).
** 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.
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* 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]].
* In ''[[Yin Yang Yo!|Yin Yang Yo]]'', every single villain is a [[Card-Carrying Villain]] and [[Large Ham]], like [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain|Carl the EVIL Cockrotch Wizard]] or his tyrant brother, Herman. They're the biggest suspects, but there are a lot of runners up. These include everyone who's evil, basically. [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|The]] [[Ultimate Evil|Night Master]] is the worst, as he's the embodiment of EVIL until [[Villain Decay|his defeat]]. There's evil restaurants and everything.
* Most, if not all the villains on ''[[The Fairly Odd Parents]]''. This includes [[Sadist Teacher]] Crocker, malicious babysitter Vicky (who wants to someday "share her hate with everyone"), [[Galactic Conqueror]] Dark Laser, the [[Exclusively Evil]] anit-fairies, and the always [[Lawful Evil]] pixies. Special mention goes to [[Enfante Terrible|Foop]], who was born with a single goal in mind: to be hated and feared.
* 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!"
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* Some of the criminals [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah51vPzcVEM#t=2m46s interrogator Jim Smyth] has confronted arguably qualify.
{{quote|I take it you don't want the "cold-blooded psychopath" option. Don't get me wrong, though. I've met guys who actually kind of enjoy the notoriety; got off on it; got off on having that label.}}
* Several [[Serial Killer|Serial Killers]]s have seriously, honest to God played this trope straight:
** ''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.
** ''Alberto De Salvo:'' It wasn't as dark and scary as it sounds. I had a lot of fun...killing somebody's a funny experience.
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