Evil Evolves: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

{{quote|''"The Dark Arts are many, varied, ever-changing and eternal. Fighting them is like fighting a many-headed monster, which, each time a neck is severed, sprouts a head even fiercer and cleverer than before. You are fighting that which is unfixed, mutating, indestructible."''|'''Professor Severus Snape''', '''''[[Harry Potter]]'''''}}

Compare [[Adaptive Ability]], see also [[As Long as There Is Evil]].

== Anime and Manga ==

* Naraku, the main villain of ''[[Inuyasha]]'', is constantly adding new demons to his body, which is the bodies of hundreds of demons thrown together in a blender and solidified.

* The Akuma of ''[[D.Gray-man|D Gray Man]]'' have multiple evolutionary levels. The main character kills a level 1 Akuma in the first chapter. In an early arc two exorcists have trouble facing one level 2 Akuma. The heroes are now facing level 4 Akuma (albeit with difficulty)

** In the Manga this is the explanation for the demons- that were creatures who absorbed other creatures gaining more and more abilities while becoming more and more monstrous.

== Comic Books ==

* The Brood from the [[Marvel Universe]] are giant wasp-like aliens. Their Queen lays eggs inside their victims, which keep their hosts alive until they hatch. When this happens, the host and the symbiote merge into a fully grown Brood with the host's special genetic abilities. The process is almost flawless, as the Queen was very surprised when Wolverine's [[Healing Factor]] kills the symbiote she implanted in him.

* As a meta-example, many villains evolve throughout the decades to better reflect their adversaries and the time. Lex Luthor has gone from insane scientist to politician to business man to reflect the changing views of society and many of Batman's villains have ceased to be gimmicky tricksters and evolved into dark and insane psychopaths. In the Dark Knight the Joker himself is described as a terrorist, playing on the recent fear of terrorism striking the west over the the last decade.

== Literature ==

* The quote from ''[[Harry Potter]]'' refers to the Dark Arts in general terms. Before Voldemort came along, Grindelwald was considered the most dangerous wizard in existence (being that he had the Elder Wand). In a way, the Dark Arts are like an [[Evil Power Vacuum]], with a greater dark force replacing the one that fell. Of course, [[Fridge Horror|based on that logic, there's a chance a more terrible wizard than Voldemort will rise.]]

* Sylar from ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]''.

* The Borg from ''[[Star Trek]]''.

* The Krillatane from ''[[Doctor Who]]'' absorb traits from species they conquer via DNA absorption.

* According to the EU, the Shadows from ''[[Babylon 5]]'' have shades of this.

== Tabletop Games ==

* The Phyrexians of ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' are constantly improving upon their [[Cannon Fodder|mechanical fighters]], and they [[Horde of Alien Locusts|recycle the flesh of fallen enemies to create new soldiers]] (called ''newts'').

** You wouldn't even know that the first Phyrexian was a vanilla 0/3.

== Video Games ==

* Fittingly for a race inspired by the Tyranids, the Zerg in ''[[StarCraft]]'' are constantly enhancing their abilities and expanding their ranks via the DNA of other races.

* ''[[Warning Forever]]'' has enemy ship that constantly grows according to how you destroyed it last time. Attacked from behind? It grows more armor on back. Attacked from side? Same thing. Hit it from the blind spot? It grows missile launcher. And it never ends.

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* This principle is stated at the end of the first season of ''[[Jackie Chan Adventures]]'', when Uncle explains that destroying one evil will allow a stronger one to come into the world. This may be why [[Sealed Evil in a Can|most evil beings are sealed away]] instead of simply being killed off.

** In addition, nearly every [[MacGuffin]] collected by the good guys is lost to the forces of evil, once they are sealed off for good.

== Real Life ==

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[[Category:Evil Tropes]]