Evil Costume Switch: Difference between revisions

 

 

* Perhaps the most memorable and well-known example is the Black Costume from ''[[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]]'', which was actually ''turning'' Peter Parker evil. Since then, when a normally colorfully adorned superhero goes bad, they typically favor lots of black or other dark colors. Note that this wasn't in the original comics. Originally, the suit was found by Peter during the ''[[Secret Wars]]'' series and solely gave him a power boost with no downside. Later, it was revealed that it was making him more tired as the alien fed off him. He actually wore the suit for several months before he saw Reed Richards about it, which was where he learned it was alive and trying to bond with him. Every retelling since the original has compressed the arc by making the suit amplify aggression, both to get Venom on the scene and to get Spidey back in the reds-and-blues as soon as possible.<ref>The evil side of the suit and everything that came with it was actually caused by [[Executive Meddling]]. Fans grew tired of the black suit and wanted Spider-man's iconic red and blue back, but since the black-suit made him stronger, the writers needed a justification for him to get rid of it.</ref>

* The Marvel comic ''[[New Mutants]]'' has a cover depicting the team as evil/good variations. In a time-slipped story, two NMs see the others as future villains possessed by Amahl Farouk or members of the Hellfire Club. Basically, 1980s colored punk hairstyles, leather and denim cut-offs, chains, tattoos, and smoking. However, when girl-werewolf Wolfsbane reverts to her human shape, she is wearing a rather nice green evening gown.

* The Plutonian from ''[[Irredeemable]]'' changes his costume after his [[Face Heel Turn]] from a white suit with a red cape to a red suit with no cape.

* When Daredevil finally snaps in Shadowland, he begins wearing an all-new black costume with longer horns, red lining, and wrist blades. When Spider-Man shows up to [[What the Hell, Hero?|call him out on the whole psychosis thing]], he [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] this whole trope.

* In ''[[All Fall Down]]'', {{spoiler|Pronto}} gets one of these in his new identity as the Modern Prometheus.

 

* Jafar from ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'', during his [[Villain Song]] near the end, when he's tossing Aladdin around and becoming an all-powerful sorcerer/genie. In that one song, he changes his costume style about three times in less than two minutes. In this case, his evil costume [[Up to Eleven|becomes even more evil]].

** Interestingly, his powerful wizard form is wearing his old outfit, so he switches outfits to power up (becomes sultan) and then switches outfits back to power up again. The only difference in the costumes is that the hat and shoulders are [[Spikes of Doom|more pointy]] and his snake-staff's mouth is open, representing that his magic is now aggressive like a snake's bite, as opposed to passive, like a snake's hypnotic eyes. Then, he becomes a genie and ''really'' changes clothes.

* While possessed by [[The Dark Side]] in ''[[Spider-Man (film)|Spider-Man]] 3'', Peter is actually seen going into a clothing store and buying more black.

* In ''[[Legend (film)|Legend]]'', Mia Sara's character, Princess Lily, does a [[Face Heel Turn]] and gets a whole new outfit plus Gothy makeup and, I think, a hair dye job. If the Lord Of Darkness ([[Tim Curry]]) could come up with all this while living in a cave complex, he's probably now in Japan selling to the [[Elegant Gothic Lolita|EGL]] crowd and rich-rich-rich.

 

 

* Hulk Hogan's [[Face Heel Turn]] to Hollywood Hogan in WCW involved a switch from his trademark red-and-yellow tights to black tights with lightning airbrushed on them. He also started wearing black and white feather boas, and white-rimmed sunglasses, and grew a 5-o'clock shadow and dyed it black (which looked rather odd and sinister next to his platinum-blond hair and mustache).

* Many WWE superstars who do a [[Face Heel Turn]] or a [[Heel Face Turn]] also get a change in intro music and outfit. I'll never forget Dark Angle (one of Kurt Angle's [[Face Heel Turn]]s).

** That actually was all part of the Undertaker's gimmick in the 1990s (when he was depicted as a [[Wrestling Doesn't Pay|Wrestling Zombie Gravedigger]]). They downplayed this as time went on. By 2003/4, they stopped pretending the Undertaker was undead, instead portraying him as a [[Badass Biker]]. Fans actually preferred Zombie Taker, so the Undertaker's "death" and return to his original gimmick was to address the complaints.

* In [[CHIKARA]], when Shane Storm went bad, he went [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Shane_Storm_Air_Raid_Crash.jpg from this] to the [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/STIGMA.JPG Rudo known as STIGMA].

 

== Tabletop Games ==

* In ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'', during the period in which Ellen was trying to be evil, she wore a suit to school.

* When Kendra chooses to become a villain in [http://worldpeace.emilymarthasorensen.com/worldpeace026.html To Prevent World Peace,] her halo grows spikes and her magical girl costume disappears completely. So, of course, she has to get a new outfit made by a villain fashion designer.

 

 

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Evil Is Sexy]]

[[Category:Evil Tropes]]

[[Category:Power Makeover]]

[[Category:Costume Tropes]]