Card-Carrying Villain: Difference between revisions

[[File:cardcarrying.png|link=Checkerboard Nightmare|frame|A scene from Checkerboard Nightmare's [http://www.checkerboardnightmare.com/retro/20060401.shtml concept] for a new comicbook.]]

 

'''Burns''': What do I have to do, grow a [[Beard of Evil|devil beard]]?|''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]''}}

 

* 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]].

* 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]]). 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.

 

== Comic Books ==

** In the comics, one version of the Brotherhood working for the US Government and led by Mystique takes a smart idea and calls itself by the innocuous moniker "Freedom Force".

* 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].

* [[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''.

* Set, apparent leader of [[The Syndicate|The Order]] in ''[[Invincible]]'' spinoff ''Guarding The Globe''. In an issue released the same week as the issue in which Contagion makes the speech above, Set begins a meeting of The Order with this:

* [[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 main villain of ''[[Time Bandits]]'' is the embodiment of evil and referred to simply as "Evil". It's interesting to note what the screenwriters consider evil. He's obsessed with efficiency, technology, and work. At one point, he [[Bad Is Good and Good Is Bad|laments feeling "good",]] and his minions sympathize.

* 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.

* 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!" '

* A somewhat...[[Narm|jarring]] variant in the first [[Spider-Man]] film where the Green Goblin makes Aunt May finish the Lord's Prayer.

'''Green Goblin:''' *Dramatic entrance* [[Evil Is Hammy|"FINISH IT!!"]] <br />

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

*** "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]].

* In [[Kung Pow]], [[Fluffy the Terrible|Betty]] is the loyal enforcer of the [[Omniscient Council of Vagueness|Evil Council]]. And there's also the fact that he is formally known as Master Pain.

'''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 ==

* Subverted in the ''[[Discworld]]'' novels with Lord Vetinari, who cheerfully classifies himself as one of "the bad people", but is actually a force for good, or at least stability. A sort of Card Carrying [[Anti-Villain]].

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

** Greenyham has been calling Vetinari a tyrant through most of the book, on the grounds that Vetinari runs the government. (Vetinari probably ''is'' a tyrant in the original Greek sense of the word: a guy who bosses the polis.) It's a [[Take That]] to libertarian propaganda.

* 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?"

* ''[[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.

* House Bolton in ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]''. Their house arms features a flayed man due to their history of flaying their prisoners alive. They wear pink and red capes because ages ago they used to ''wear the skins'' before submitting to House Stark. Their castle is called the Dreadfort. Lord Roose Bolton and his heir Ramsay commit numerous atrocities and eventually {{spoiler|betray their liege lords in a massacre that shocks the continent}}.

* 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]].

 

** [[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.}}

* Doctor Chaotica from the ''Captain Proton'' [[Show Within a Show]] on ''[[Star Trek: Voyager|Star Trek Voyager]]'' is your typical retro sci-fi villain.

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

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

 

== 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.

*** 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.

* Volrath from ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' was just absurdly over-the-top in how eeeeeevil he was. ''"I once had an entire race killed just to listen to the rattling of their dried bones as I waded through them."'' To be fair, he was R&D's first real attempt at creating a [[Big Bad]], and, as it turned out, he was [[The Dragon]] to someone just as evil but with no bloody time or inclination for theatrics.

** They recently created a new variant for casual play called Archenemy, a one-vs.-many game where, by dint of being the [[Big Bad]] of the game, the outnumbered player gets a number of benefits, including use of a "scheme" deck, a set of cards (that actually have the type Scheme) maintained separately from the library that give special benefits (usually for free) once per turn. (The idea is that the Archenemy is such a threat that other Planeswalkers have put aside differences and banded together to stop him.) The kicker is that each Scheme has a grandiose title (usually accompanying an equally devastating effect), often degenerating into card-carrying villainy, and some darkly appropriate flavor text. For example, Behold The Power Of Destruction destroys all nonland permanents target player controls. The flavor text?

* 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 [[Always Chaotic 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 -- 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...

* 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.

* 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.

* [[Complete Monster|Yuuki Terumi]] of ''[[Blaz Blue]]'' [[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing|pretended to be good]] at the beginning of ''Calamity Trigger'', but by ''Continuum Shift'', abandons the facade entirely, nicely encapsulated by this little speech he gives to Hakumen:

** [[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.

* Black Mage Evilwizardington in ''[[8-Bit Theater (Webcomic)|Eight Bit Theater]]'', if his last name didn't give it away already.

** 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.

* 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]]

** 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.

* 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.

** 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!

* ''[[Justice League]]'' [[Lampshades]] it when an evil race of snake spirits want to possess the League.

'''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]. }}

* Emperor Zurg in ''[[Toy Story]]'' and ''[[Buzz Lightyear of Star Command]]'' is a true [[Large Ham]] of a Disney villain and proud of it.

* 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.

* 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.

'''[[Minion with an F In Evil|Zip]]:''' What is devious?<br />

'''Captain Zero:''' What's devious is what's necessary to make an honest living in these days of corruption and bad business ethics!<br />

== Real Life ==

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

* Several [[Serial Killer|Serial Killers]] 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.

** ''Richard Ramirez (The Night Stalker):'' [[Humans Are Bastards|We are all evil, in some form or another, are we not?]]....Yes, I am evil. Not a hundred percent, but I am evil....The great epochs of our lives is when we gain the courage to rebaptise our evil qualities as being our best qualities.

* 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:

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* Any human who believes [[Humans Are Bastards]]. (Unless they [[Holier Than Thou|carve out exceptions for themselves]], or [[My Species Doth Protest Too Much|regard the bastardliness as something to be fought and not embraced]].)

* 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.]]"