Evil Is Not Well Lit: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''Men have preferred [[Dark Is Evil|darkness]] to [[Light Is Good|light]] because their deeds were evil.''|'''[[The Bible|John 3:19]]'''}}

Any scene location where the villains do their plotting is invariably dark. This includes, but is not limited to, starship command centers, unethical laboratories and throne rooms. A more personal effect is when the villain seems to absorb the light around him, presenting dramatic shadows that you could have sworn weren't there moments before the heroes arrived.

In some circumstances, it's obvious. The villains don't want to meet on the street, either to conspire or with a victim of [[Blackmail]], or travel with their ill-gotten and conspiciousconspicuous goods, or go into their stronghold, when it's broad daylight; people will ''see'' them. Night is necessary to hide. Also, they may not want the characters they are talking to to be able to recognize them, and gloom helps there.

== Anime &and Manga ==

* Akatsuki in ''[[Naruto]]'' were initially shown to meet in a really dark cave with only their outlines being (barely) visible.

* ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'' has Precia and most of the areas in her [[Ominous Floating Castle|Garden of Time]].

== FanfictionFan Works ==

* In ''[[Tiberium Wars (Fanfic)|Tiberium Wars]]'', this is [[Invoked Trope|invoked]] by Kane, because making his minions stumble around in the dark [[It Amused Me|is funny]].

* [[Lampshaded]] in ''[[A Cure for Love]]'': after [[Death Note|L and Light have a fight]] (and L reflects that [[Bullying a Dragon|perhaps upsetting Kira like that was a bad idea]]) L returns to HQ to find Light sitting alone in the dark:

{{quote| '''L''' (to Light): Did you forget where the light switch was or are you endeavouring to save on our carbon footprint?}}

* Common in the [[Disney Animated Canon]]; villains almost always get a scene or two with low lighting.

* In ''[[Discworld/The Truth|The Truth]]'', the evil conspiracy has their dimly lit room described so that it matches the trope well and points out a potential advantage of using it: If the room is badly lit but for one bright light, it's hard to make out anyone's face and learn his identity.

* Specifically averted in the third Honorverse book, The Short Victorious War, in which the future Committee of Public Safety, who have not yet carried out their coup, [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|meet in a tennis court]] in an abandoned high-rise--butrise—but, while the windows are thoroughly blacked out, the inside is well lit. (Debatably Evil, at least at that point, but the same people become undebatably Evil later on.)

{{quote| ''Whether it was day or night the king could not tell. The palace of King Tarascus seemed a shadowy, nighted place, that shunned natural illumination. The spirit of darkness and shadow hovered over it, and that spirit, Conan felt, was embodied in the stranger Xaltotun.''}}

{{quote| ''The Druids of his own isle of Erin had strange dark rites of worship, but nothing like this. Dark trees shut in this grim scene, lit by a single torch. Through the branches moaned an eerie night-wind. Cormac was alone among men of a strange race and he had just seen the heart of a man ripped from his still pulsing body''}}

* This happens in ''[[Asfour]]'', when Itzik is taken to meet Saragousti. Justified, as {{spoiler|Saragousti has suffered very severe brain damage several years prior, barely moves if at all, and does not speak. Kobi uses him as a dummy boss [[Worldwide Punomenon|quite literally]]; in that scene, he keeps Saragousti seated on a revolving chair with his back to the unwitting Itzik, who is very nervous about the scene.}}

** In the original ''[[Paper Mario (franchise)|Paper Mario]]'', the two main rooms of Peach's Castle are a lot darker when under Bowser's control; this [[Stealth -Based Mission|works out to Peach's benefit]]. Most of the side rooms are still well-lit, though.

{{quote| '''Duke:''' Jeez, you'd think Morphix could afford a few light bulbs.}}

* In ''[[The Sims|theThe Sims 3]]'' sims will get a negative moodlet without proper lighting. Sims with the [[Card-Carrying Villain|evil trait won't.]]

* In the ''[[Command and& Conquer]]'' Tiberian series, [[Religion of Evil|Brotherhood of Nod]] bases tend to have very minimal, very stark [[Good Colors, Evil Colors|red lighting]], such that 80% of any given shot is black and the rest red (see the page pic for [[Dark Messiah]] for a typical example). The fanfic ''[[Tiberium Wars (Fanfic)|Tiberium Wars]]'' suggests this is ''entirely'' because [[Big Bad|Kane]] loves hearing his subordinates bang their shins on consoles.

* In ''[[The Dark Meadow]]'', monsters won't attack you in any room that has light coming in. (Although a little bit getting in through a crack is OK for them, apparently.)

* In ''[[Wario Land]] Shake It'', the throne room the Shake King stays in through about 90% of the game is literally completely dark. As in, the bit Wario enters from is pretty much just a black screen and the rest of it seems like only half the lights are on, to the point you can see the villain's eyes glowing in the dark.

* Kyran from [[Emergency Exit]] [http://eecomics.net/?strip_id=104 likes] [http://eecomics.net/?strip_id=1117 this,] despite complaints about its impracticality.

* ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' both plays straight and lampshades this one with sinister corporation Hereti-Corp, whose "Evil Room" is kept dark. Lampshaded [http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20011111 in its initial appearance] and again when the company is dismantled and [http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20020824 its leaders take over a fast-food franchise from the bottom up]. The rebuilt corporation of later years plays it straight.

* In ''[[Far From Home]]'', [http://mightymartianstudios.com/2012/04/06/ffh-sci-fi-webcomic-the-captain/ lampshaded when the prisoners ask why and the captain answers it's for effect.]{{Dead link}}

[[Category:EvilLighting Is Not Well LitTropes]]