Evil Is Cool: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

[[File:butt slappin awesome1.jpg|frame|link=http://www.commissionedcomic.com/|[[Star Wars|Darth Vader]] [[Dual-Wielding]] [[Chainsaw Good|chainsaw]] [[Laser Blade|lightsabers]]. [[Awesomeness Is Volatile|"If he got any more awesome he'd explode."]]]]

 

Plus, there are all those marvelous ''[[Running Gag|toys]]''! Wait. Already said that.

 

 

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* The Principality of Zeon in ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]''. They have the fancy uniforms and scary [[Cyber Cyclops]], and gained huge legions of fans in Japan and everywhere. [[Mobile Suit Gundam 00|Ali al-Saachez]] is ''incredibly'' popular with the fans, despite being a [[Complete Monster]]. Why? Well, for the girls, there's his [[Evil Is Sexy|rugged]] [[Fetish Fuel|good looks]], and for the guys? Put simply, Ali is horribly evil...and he's [[Badass|made]] [[Laughably Evil|of]] [[Badass Normal|awesome.]]

* Sir Crocodile of ''[[One Piece]]'' pulls this off almost too well. By all intents and purposes, he is the prime example of a [[Complete Monster]], with a list of atrocities that can fill a book. However, he commits his evil acts while dressed like a blinged-out mafia don, complete with a ring on almost every finger and a pimpin' green fur coat. Not only that, but he controls an organization made up of [[Crazy Awesome]] [[Badass]]es, owns a casino, trots around with a scantily-clad hot chick as his #2, keeps incredibly dangerous predators as pets, and is also made of and can control sand, and he has a hook for a hand. That's just darn cool. But he's such a ''bastard''...

** You can't one up a bastard-8 foot plus tall-knight-marine-Godfather-insanely choking-likely rapist-pirate who kills people by touching them named Crocodile...unless you are a silent-8 foot plus tall-gangster-pirate-superstrong-hetero-ninja who is also a sword named DAZ BONES. He's like Raven from Tekken, only bigger, stronger, a pirate, has no need for weapons, and has the greatest name ever hands down. His loss, or, actually, both of their losses, lost the strawhats fans.

{{quote|''[[That Guy With The Glasses|Y, Ruler of Time]]'': '''on One Piece's villains''' How is it possible that these guys are so awesome I want to root ''against'' the Straw Hats?!}}

* Negishi from ''[[Detroit Metal City]]'' is hated for his music, and generally considered to be a spineless douche by virtually anyone...until he becomes Krauser II in Detroit Metal City, a Death Metal band. And once there, he embodies this trope.

* Pretty much all of the major ''[[Dragon Ball]]'' villains fall into this with Freeza and Cell being the kings of it. In universe example: Vegeta {{spoiler|makes a [[Face Heel Turn]] to get his badassery back.}}

* Medusa from ''[[Soul Eater]]'', anyone?

* Cobra, Midnight, Jellal, and {{spoiler|Erza}} Knightwalker from ''[[Fairy Tail]]''

* ''[[Lyrical Nanoha]]'' both uses and averts this. Fate, the Wolkenritter, and most of the Numbers were cool, but Precia and Quattro were...bitches, and Jail is something of a [[Base Breaker]].

* Lordgenome from ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]''. On the one hand, he is a ruthless tyrant and [[Anti-Villain]] who doesn't care if his daughters live or die...on the other hand, he has rugged good looks and a cool-looking and powerful [[Humongous Mecha]], and he can fight [[Mini-Mecha]] with ''zero weaponry whatsoever'' and {{spoiler|almost tank a Big Bang-level attack with a scaled-up version of his mech}}.<ref>to be fair, {{spoiler|he made a [[Heel Face Turn]] beforehand}}</ref>

* The Laughing Man from ''[[Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex|Ghost in The Shell Stand Alone Complex]]''. He has tons of copycat supporters, and in one episode, Motoko visits a chat room devoted to discussing how cool and rebellious the participants think he is.

* [[The Joker]], in most incarnations. It doesn't matter whether he's a giggling, goofy clown prince of crime (e.g. the 60's ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'' television series), a mass-murdering sociopathic [[Monster Clown]] (e.g. ''[[The Dark Knight Saga]]''), or a seemingly impossible mixture of the two (e.g. ''[[Batman: The Animated Series|Batman the Animated Series]]''), he will inevitably overshadow every other character, have all the best lines, and, while Batman will always have the best toys (he's the goddamn Batman, after all), the Joker will find the most creative and spectacular ways to use the tools at his disposal. No matter what he does or who he does it to, he ''will'' make you laugh, because of the simple fact that he's just that good.

** Discussed in an issue of ''Batman: Black and White'', a short-story anthology. In this story, Batman and the Joker are actors playing their comic book roles as if they were roles in a movie. The Joker brings up the fact that Batman always gets to make a big, dramatic, splash-panel entrances, complaining that he never gets to look that good. Batman then points out that the Joker always gets the best lines, while he just has generic crime-fighting hero lines.

** ''[[Batman]]'' in general is a magnet for this. When your main character is a traumatized billionaire dressed as a bat and you have villains drawing your attention far away from ''that'', it really says something.

{{quote|'''[[The Venture Brothers|Le Tueur]]''': I have a confession to make: I only like the Batman because he has the best villains!}}

* Played with in ''[[Sin City]]''. The pure evil characters are usually pretty ugly and often cowardly, or just plain creepy. Some of the good guys, however, are [[Anti-Hero|at the extreme end of anti-herodom]]. The most popular tend to be Marv, Dwight, and Miho, who would normally be considered bad guys in any other work. They are also damn cool.

 

* In ''[[The Official Fanfiction University of Middle-Earth]]'', this gets deconstructed with the subject "Evil Is as Evil Does 101", taught by Sauron himself, to teach that Evil is more than calling yourself evil because it's cool and dark and edgy. Like causing a river of blood, at least.

 

* [[The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari|Cesare]]. There's a reason that so many other characters - usually nicer ones - [[Looks Like Cesare|look like him]].

* Almost every Disney villain imaginable turns out to be cooler and much more lovable and funny than the protagonist. Having really awesome [[Villain Song]]s probably helps.

** Honest John and his sidekick, Gideon, from ''[[Pinocchio (Disney film)|Pinocchio]]'' have one of the coolest songs in Disney history: ''Hi Diddle Dee Dee''

** Jafar from ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'' and [[Non-Human Sidekick|Iago]] before his [[Heel Face Turn]], one of the funniest characters in both the films and the tv series.

** Yzma from ''[[The Emperor's New Groove|The Emperors New Groove]]'' is arguably the most entertaining character (with the possible exception of Kronk) in the movie in her own right, completely setting aside the issue of the protagonist being less than likable. And if her initial [[Villain Song]], ''"Snuff Out The Light"'' had ended up in the film, she would've been bumped up even further.

** Scar from ''[[The Lion King]]''. [[Complete Monster|He's a regicidal, fratricidal bastard,]] and yet none of us can shake off just how much we love Jeremy Irons. Aside from that, [[Magnificent Bastard|he has to be among the Disney villain whose plans reach fruition the fastest (halfway through).]] For most villains, even in general, they have to wait till the third act to get their dark rewards. He keeps them longest, too, leaving aside folks like Maleficent, who wasn't looking to ''gain'' anything as such. Plus, he has one of the best [[Villain Song]]s ever.

** Zira continues his legacy in ''[[The Lion King]] II'', with her [[Darker and Edgier|relatively more intense]] [[Villain Song]].

** Ursula from ''[[The Little Mermaid]]''.

** The villain of ''[[The Princess and the Frog]]'' ''breathes'' this trope. Dr. Facilier (voiced by [[Keith David]]) is a nasty piece of work: powerful, scheming, persuasive, stylish, charismatic, ''and'' he has an awesome [[Villain Song]]. Now ''this'' is following tradition!

** Judge Claude Frollo from ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'' fits, too, and he has not one, but TWO heroes to overshadow. It helps that he has probably the most audacious and amazing villain song ever, and that neither hero is really interesting enough to stand up to a character with as many layers as Frollo. And then there's Tony Jay's voice.

** Then, of course, we have the Balrog, who is probably the Boba Fett of the movies series: he's a [[One-Scene Wonder]] that takes out a major hero for the remainder of a movie and is one of the more memorable characters.

* Keyser Soze of ''[[The Usual Suspects]]'' is clearly a monstrously evil man if even half of the things said about him are true, but his coolness in doing them is indisputable, particularly given the {{spoiler|famous twist ending has made him a by-word for the [[Diabolical Mastermind]].}}

* Hans Landa from ''[[Inglourious Basterds]]''.

* For a very dark example, Col. Koobus from ''[[District 9]]''. He's undeniably a [[Colonel Badass]] in every respect (though also a mass-murdering [[Complete Monster]], which, of course, hasn't stopped a [[Misaimed Fandom]] bordering on [[Draco in Leather Pants|Draco In Leather Pantsing]]).

* The Decepticons of the ''[[Transformers (film)|Transformers]]'', as they usually are in most ''Transformers'' series. Case in point: the Autobots are limited by their desire to make Earth their second home, and must take on friendly appearances and altmodes to blend in with civilians. The Decepticons, on the other hand, have no such limitation. Therefore, they take on the forms of tanks, F-22s, and satellites, or, in the case of Megatron and Shockwave, simply reject reformatting their original forms. Additionally, they have access to numerous weapons, ranging from Transformer-sized fighter jets to ''a giant mechanical worm that serves as a war beast.'' Even the humans are aware of this, as Epps, at one point, asks to no one in particular "''[[Lampshade Hanging|How come the Decepticons get all the good shit!?]]''"

** [[Big Bad|Megatron]] (as mentioned above) is possibly the best example of this among the 'Cons themselves, especially in the first movie where he's at his most [[Ax Crazy]] and [[Badass]], and is easily the most interesting and entertaining of the robots in the movie, despite getting less screen time than the humans or Autobots. Oh, and he's voiced by [[Hugo Weaving]] (see above).

 

== Literature ==

* This has notoriously been the biggest problem with [[John Milton]]'s ''[[Paradise Lost]].'' Satan is, in fact, so much more interesting to read about than God or Christ (except when the latter [[Kung Fu Jesus|gets into His chariot]]) that [[William Blake]] thought Milton was "of the Devil's party without knowing it." The immense [[Misaimed Fandom]] hasn't helped. Even though what looked like was going to be an awesome battle scene over Earth turned into Satan running away after realizing that ''he's not cool anymore'', which the sneering angels already knew, and the rest of the story after that shows him being humiliated worse until he wins with Eve and the narrative loses interest in him, for the most part. He's still falling the whole time. But who gets past the first couple of books, anyway?

* ''Claudius the God'' is the story of Emperor Claudius, portrayed as a basically decent and honorable man thrust unwillingly into a position of ultimate power. ''[[I, Claudius]]'' chronicles the reigns of Augustus (and his wife [[Magnificent Bastard|Livia]]), [[Dirty Old Man|Tiberius]], and [[The Caligula|Caligula]]. Guess which one is the most fun read? In case you need a hint: one chapter of ''Claudius the God'' is devoted to the protagonist's [[Seasonal Rot|visit to the doctor.]]

* Defied in the [[Tortall Universe]]. Kel is disappointed that [[Evil Genius|Blayce]] is ''not'' some grand wizard, and instead, just a short and ugly wimp. [[The Brute|His muscle]] isn't too impressive either.

* ''[[Haroun and the Sea of Stories]]'' averts and references this. The villains are the enemies of all stories - therefore, they despise anything that looks interesting or impressive. The [[Big Bad]], Katham-Shud, even turns into a dramatic [[Eldritch Abomination]] [[One-Winged Angel]] form for all of a second just to contrast this trope to his weaselly, unimpressive self.

* [[Stephen King]] reportedly hates this idea, and his later works try to send the message that "evil is pathetic". This is probably why the villains from his ''[[The Dark Tower]]'' series suffered ''severe'' [[Villain Decay]] in the last book.

* The (extremely fangirled) [[White-Haired Pretty Boy]] Pollution in [[Terry Pratchett]] and [[Neil Gaiman]]'s book ''[[Good Omens]]'' is VERY MUCH Evil Is Cool. And [[Evil Is Sexy|hot]].

** And Crowley

* Although you wouldn't know it from reading the actual book, where he is hideous, disgusting, and creepy, [[Dracula]] us essentially responsible for the entire western world's vampire obsession.

* [[Harry Potter (novel)|Lord Voldemort]] He's one of the most powerful and cunning characters in the series ''and'' has a kickass army of Dark wizards and various sinister creatures at his disposal.

* In the ''[[Inheritance Cycle]]'', Murtagh does a [[Face Heel Turn]] and get his strength boosted to many times his original level by being taught "secret magic" by Galbatorix. He is considered an [[Ensemble Darkhorse]] by many, especially in comparison to Eragon.

* Among the ''[[Redwall]]'' fandom, the [[Exclusively Evil]] vermin tend to be more well-liked than the [[Always Lawful Good]] woodlanders.

* Although determining who is "evil" in [[A Song of Ice and Fire]] can get quite difficult, there are some characters who simply exude cool. Tywin Lannister, especially when he puts on his [[Bling of War|golden lion battle armour]], his [[Anti-Hero|son Jaime]], the [[Weird Trade Union|Faceless Men]], the [[Always Chaotically Evil|White Walkers]], [[Cain and Abel|both Cleganes]], [[Magnificent Bastard|Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish]], [[The Chessmaster|Varys "the Spider"]], [[Badass Bookworm|Prince Rhaegar Targaryen]], and [[Noble Top Enforcer|Kevan Lannister]]

 

== Live Action TV ==

** Also [[Omnicidal Maniac|Davros]].

** Brother Lassar. He's played by Anthony Head. Nothing more needs to be said.

* Captain John Hart of ''[[Torchwood]]''. Kills someone and then says, totally bored, "Thirsty now". Casually admits he killed someone, apologises for the mess, clears a bar of all he considers ugly, and orders one shot of every drink in the bar. Then drinks what appears to be an entire bottle of Vodka. In one go. With no noticeable side effects. Comes out with regular quips. The only person who really gets the better of him is Gwen Cooper. It helps the same actor played Spike in Buffy, and there is a definite similarity between the two.

* Malcolm Tucker from ''[[The Thick of It]]'', possibly the only political satire character ever to have been likened to [[Star Wars|Darth Vader]].

* Ba'al from ''[[Stargate SG-1]]''. He's the one System Lord who wasn't handed an [[Idiot Ball]], and, as a result, causes all sorts of unexpected trouble for SG-1. True, he also usually wears some [[Badass Longcoat|really]] [[Badass in a Nice Suit|nice]] [[Impossibly Cool Clothes|clothes]] that seem to be specially tailored. He's also one of the more fun, [[Large Ham|hammy]] Goa'uld, partly due to his pride and being a bit of a [[Deadpan Snarker]] with a [[Magnificent Bastard|really good plan]].

* The villains in ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'' were always more colorful than Batman and Robin. No wonder so many established actors were willing to play them!

* Mark Shepherd plays delightfully evil characters in ''[[Firefly]]'', ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'', and ''[[Leverage]]'' that seem to come out on top and have lots of fun while doing so. From his shiny shoes to his amazingly charismatic voice, he effortlessly manages to outshine and out-cool the regulars on the show.

* ''Scorpius'' from ''[[Farscape]]'' is this, right down to the leather clothes.

* This is why [[Corrupt Hick|Tubbs and Edward]] and [[Monster Clown|Papa Lazarou]] from ''[[The League of Gentlemen]]'' are the most remembered characters: they're easily the most fucked up.

* ''[[Smallville]]'':

** A major reason for Lionel Luthor's popularity and [[Ensemble Darkhorse]] status is how utterly cool [[John Glover]] is with a [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] and [[Archnemesis Dad]] look. Being [[The Chessmaster]] in a show full of [[Idiot Ball|morons]] didn't hurt either.

** [[Robotic Psychopath|Brainiac]] was also very popular, and, unlike [[Even Evil Has Standards|Lionel]], had absolutely no redeeming qualities. Being played by [[James Marsters]] explains a part of his appeal, but a lot of it seems to be rooted in the fact that, well, he had [[Complete Monster|no redeeming qualities]]. When a show is as full of [[Designated Villain]]s, [[Idiot Ball|imbeciles]], and [[Wangst]] as ''Smallville'', it was rather nice to have a [[The Chessmaster|smart]] [[Pure Evil]] villain who we could [[Love to Hate]]. Being a [[Shape Shifter|shapeshifting]] [[Badass Bookworm]] and [[Evil Teacher]] also added to his cool factor.

* Just in general, on many reality TV shows, the villains are much more memorable and recognizable than the heroes are.

 

== Music ==

** Pretty much ''all'' the bad guys in ''Dissidia'', including the three above. There's [[Final Fantasy X|Jecht]], who's a [[Memetic Sex God]], [[Final Fantasy I|Garland]], who is an [[Adaptational Badass]], [[Final Fantasy II|The Emperor]], who proves [[Authority Equals Asskicking]], and [[Final Fantasy V|Exdeath]], [[Large Ham|who is]] [[Fountain of Memes|just]] [[Mondegreen|Exdeath]].

* Do you see the cool, black, [[Spikes of Villainy|spiky]] barrier jacket of ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'''s Chrono? That's [[The Artifact|an artifact]] from his days as a villain in the [[What Could Have Been|original]] ''Nanoha'' [[The Anime of the Game|mini-scenario]] included in the ''[[Triangle Heart 3 ～sweet songs forever～|Triangle Heart 3 Sweet Songs Forever]]'' [[Omake|fanbox]].

* Gig from ''[[Soul Nomad and The World Eaters]]''.

* Kotomine in ''[[Fate/stay night|Fate Stay Night]]''...well, he's cool enough that the fact he has a mullet ceases to matter. Possibly helped along by every scene contrasting him to Shirou. The other [[Big Bad]], Zouken, is not cool. Or likable. Or, well, tolerable. [[Complete Monster|You just kind of want him to hurry up and die already.]] Helped by the fact that Kotomine really knows how to talk; it's hard to be bored of his often long speeches. Note, though, that most of his speeches have very little to do with him being evil or evil in general.

* Admit it: even after you find out that his {{spoiler|cluelessness and uselessness}} was a disguise, you can't help but love {{spoiler|Adachi Tohru}} from ''[[Persona 4]]''.

* If [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go2SMXxE-8Q#t=2m29s this] video is of any guideline, Baal from ''[[Diablo]] 2'' counts.

* And then there's [[Resident Evil|Albert Wesker]]. He just became cooler and crueler throughout the series.

* Name one original ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' villain that isn't ''awesome''. Especially the various incarnations of [[Big Bad|Xehanort]]. ''Especially'' Xemnas. It helps when you're [[Norio Wakamoto]] dual-wielding red <s>lightsabers</s> [[Laser Blade|ethereal blades]].

** The {{spoiler|heretic}} geth.

** No mention of the [[The Chessmaster|Shadow Broker]]? He can kick some serious ass, and he has a [[BFG]] and a ''shield''.

* The homely Sligs from [[Oddworld]]. Perhaps it’s the combination of [[Artificial Limbs|slick cybernetics]], glowing [[Electronic Eyes|red visors]] and [[Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better|standard issue rifles]]. If [[Evil Is Sexy|Evil Makes Them Sexy]] (and each to their own), the fact that they shoot at you on sight is [[The Masochism Tango|just gravy]].

* Through not exactly a villain at the moment(but perhaps will be a antagonist an X-Pack), the [[Knight Templar]] Angel Imperius from [[Diablo III]] seems to be heading in this direction given his badass armor design and {{spoiler|the short but badass fight between him and Diablo at the beginning of Act IV}}.

 

* Richard from ''[[Looking for Group]]'' is an over-the-top chaotic evil necromancer working with an ostensibly good group, and he's easily the most interesting and coolest character in the series.

* Black Mage from ''[[8-Bit Theater|Eight Bit Theater]]'' viciously subverts this trope. Just about every single other character in the series utterly confirms it.

* ''[[Casey and Andy]]'' has Satan, as shown in the example image. Yes, ''[[Rule 63|that]]'' Satan.

* Oasis from ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]''. It helps that she's also hot, and in her first appearance, she was naked.

* [[Card-Carrying Villain|Rhea]] in [http://worldpeace.emilymarthasorensen.com To Prevent World Peace] is a [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]] fashion designer who specializes in corrupting magical girls through "villain fashions" (which, of course, are designed to look cooler).

 

* Mecha Sonic from ''[[Super Mario Bros Z]]'' is [[Complete Monster|incredibly evil]], yet incredibly [[Badass]]. Every time he appears in the story, he hands someone's ass over to them (Yoshi's [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown|brutal defeat in episode 3]] and [[Mook Horror Show|the utter massacre]] [[Earthshattering Kaboom|that was episode 6 come to mind]]). The series is already 8 episodes long and the most heroes managed to do was temporarily inconvenience him.

* While calling him evil is a bit of a stretch, Strong Bad of ''[[Homestar Runner]]'' was originally intended to be a bumbling bad guy who always lost. He quickly became the most popular character on the website. His old introduction video actually said "you don't know it yet, but ''I'm'' the ''real'' reason you're here." From the first Strong Bad Email: "Do you use [your powers] for good, or for awesome?"

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* ''[[Mighty Max]]'': the archvillain Skullmaster was voiced by [[Tim Curry]]. Luckily, for the rest of the cast, he only showed up in about 5 episodes. But in those episodes, well, he pretty much rules hell, and has demon and zombie armies at his command. Oh, and he can outsmart the [[Smart Guy]] and beat the [[Big Guy]] in a straight fight. Oh, and [[Evil Plan|all of his convoluted plans succeed]]...except for the last one. [[Timey-Wimey Ball|Maybe.]]

* The [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'', Slade, is the most utterly [[Badass]] character in the show.

* You're watching ''[[Futurama]]'', the show that does ''not'' advocate the cool crime of robbery!

* On the [[Halloween Episode]] of ''[[The Fairly OddParents]]'', every kid wanted to dress as the Jack O' Bots, four villains from [[Show Within a Show|Crash Nebula]], since the bad guys' costumes were the coolest.

** Blackarachnia is very popular amongst the fanbase—like she says, she's hot, poisonous, and deadly. (Also, a [[Femme Fatale]] with the sort of body most fanboys only get to look at, that might also have something to do with it.)

** Other popular Predacons include [[Magnificent Bastard|Megatron]], [[The Dragon|Inferno]], [[Mad Scientist|Tarantulas]], [[Mix-and-Match Critters|Quickstrike]], [[Ax Crazy|Rampage]], and [[The Chew Toy|Waspinator]].

** [[Big Bad|Megatron]]. In any incarnation. Also, [[Transformers Generation 1|G1]] Megatron's [[Leonard Nimoy]]-voiced alter ego [[Purple Is Powerful|Galvatron]] and, as mentioned above, his [[Tyrannosaurus Rex]] (later [[Our Dragons Are Different|dragon]]) [[Magnificent Bastard]] successor from ''[[Beast Wars]]'', also called Megatron.

* ''[[Care Bears]]'': for some older fans, the main villains of the Nelvana series and movies are more entertaining than the Care Bears and Cousins.

* ''[[The Dreamstone]]'' falls under similar territory. The fanbase largely favors Zordrak and the Urpneys over the cutesy residents of the Land Of The Dreams. Granted, for the Urpneys, it may be more a case of "[[Laughably Evil|Evil Is Funny]]".

* Similar to Xanatos and Slade above, Tombstone and Green Goblin, the two main [[Big Bad]]s of ''[[The Spectacular Spider-Man]]'', are perhaps two of the most awesome characters in a series full of them.

* Victor Veloci, the villain of the horrifically [[Anvilicious]] and [[Did Not Do the Research|poorly researched]] ''[[Dino Squad]]'', is seen by many of the show's few viewers as the only interesting character.

* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'';

* [[Big Bad|Amon]] from ''[[The Legend of Korra]]'' is already getting this rep. He's voiced by [[Steve Blum]] and therefore has a [[Evil Sounds Deep|deep voice]] that he uses in frightening threats, a cool and scary mask, and doesn't even flinch when fire blasts into the room he and his mooks are in, incapacitating said mooks. Finally, he absolutely terrifies Korra. A completely [[Badass Normal|normal non-bender]] [[Nightmare Fuel|manages to terrify the most powerful bender in the world.]] And just as she's starting to get her confidence back, he ambushes her and delivers a [[Hannibal Lecture]] so effective that [[Heroic BSOD|she breaks down into tears afterwards.]]

** Amon has achieved true [[Magnificent Bastard]] status in record time. It took only six episodes to achieve it and he's only had a major part in THREE!

* An in-universe example: in one episode of ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'', Bart dismisses the entire genre of Christian rock because "everyone knows the best rock groups are affiliated with Satan."

 

* As mentioned above, [[Mean Character, Nice Actor|actors frequently mention that playing the villain is just more fun]], not just for the cooler clothes and such, but from an acting standpoint in general. Heroes can be rather [[Boring Invincible Hero|dull,]] simply doing the right thing because it's the right thing. That can be boring for an actor, but a villain usually has more layers. Is he [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|mad with power]]? Does he have a [[Freudian Excuse]]? How did they get to where they are? There's usually more in a villainous character for an actor to sink his teeth into.

* Many actors will tell you that playing the villain is a ''lot'' of fun. See [[The Villain Makes the Plot]] for the reasoning.

* The Roman Catholic baptismal vows include one about rejecting the "glamour of evil". They recognized it.

* Charles Manson is probably the most well-known of many, many killers and worse that have legions of adoring fans. He didn't even have to kill anyone himself, he was cool enough to have people do it for him.

* Many in the West are fanboys of [[Glorious Mother Russia]]'s military equipment. Such as a [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/22/caspian_sea_monster/ 500 ton flying machine] designed to operate at 20' altitude and 250&nbsp;mph.

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5mK7dzyUkM&feature=player_embedded A little girl joins the Dark Side].

** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xByYLtYAm5s&feature=related It gets better]. Turns out she then ''[[The Starscream|wanted to kill Darth Vader and take his place]]''.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Rule of Cool]]

[[Category:Evil Tropes]]

[[Category:YMMV Trope]]

[[Category:Villains]]