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The [[Archetypal Character|archetypal]] [[High Fantasy]] (and sometimes [[Heroic Fantasy]]) [[Villains|villain]].
 
[[Orcus On His Throne|Usually lurks in an]] [[Supervillain Lair|intimidating fortress]] in a [[Mordor|near-uninhabitable landscape]], plotting to [[Take Over the World]] (if he [[President Evil|doesn't already rule it]]), with [[We Have Reserves|hordes of]] [[Faceless Goons]] (who are usually [[The Guards Must Be Crazy|none too bright]]) and a [[Fear My Squad|fearful]] [[The Dragon|sinister second-in-command]] at his beck and call. Additional options include a [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]], [[Black Cloak|a black wardrobe]] with [[Hell -Bent for Leather|lots of leather]], and command over [[Black Magic|dark magic]] or some powerful but vulnerable [[MacGuffin]]. He probably has a [[Zero Percent Approval Rating]]. Will be a dangerous opponent, even in a straight fight, since [[Authority Equals Asskicking]].
 
Prone to [[Good Colors, Evil Colors|black]], and [[Always Male|generally male]]: hence, Dark Lord. Even more prone to being symbolically associated with [[Evil Is Deathly Cold|death, cold]], destruction, pain, and other bad things: [[CS Lewis (Creator)|CS Lewis]]' White Witch was associated with white, symbolic of snow, cold, ice, and endless winter, and his Lady of the Green Kirtle with green, symbolic of snakes and poison. When the [[Fisher King]] trope is in play, he is bound to live in a [[Mordor]]. And it usually is, because the [[Evil Overlord]] is often not even human, or no longer human, but a force of evil.
 
Seldom enjoys [[Royal Blood]], just to make taking him down proper. Nebulous lords of evil tend to work best as a [[Sorcerous Overlord]] which often makes a righteous physical butt kicking all the more satisfying. May have [[Mad ScientistsScientist's Beautiful Daughter|a]] [[Overlord, Jr.|kid]].
 
Often wears [[Tin Tyrant|plate armor]] or an [[Ominous Opera Cape]]. Bonus points if his offical character name is "Lord X".
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** Bagramon tops this for conquering all of the digital world, as well as nearly conquering Earth as well.
* Emperor Beld and Wagnard from ''[[Record of Lodoss War]]''.
* Gakuto/Gackto/Gaito ([[Spell My Name With an "S"|and those are just the official spellings]]) from ''[[Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch]]''.
* {{spoiler|Sosuke Aizen}} from ''[[Bleach]]'' is a sociopath manipulator who betrays everyone who trusts him and doesn't hesitate to leave even his closest associates [[Not Quite Dead]] on the floor.
* ''[[Inuyasha]]'' subverts the trope. Naraku does take over a castle but that's because he wants control over the people who serve the young lord whose body he's possessed. He kills everyone in the castle soon enough and focuses on building up enemies and destroying the bonds between people at every opportunity. He has absolutely no interest in taking over the world, however. He simply wants to [[The Corrupter|twist all bonds]].
* Talpa from ''[[Ronin Warriors]]''.
* Lelouch and Schneizel from ''[[Code Geass|Code Geass R2]]'' are fighting for this position. Slightly subverted in that {{spoiler|Lelouch appears to be one but pulls a Milliardo Peacecraft maneuver like in ''[[Gundam Wing]]'' by dying a villain but uniting the world}}, while Schneizel acts all nice when it's been indicated he's the real deal. Having a father who promoted Social Darwinism means they may need something more to overshoot him...or not.
* Judai Yuki of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh GX]]'' fits almost all of this trope's requirements (up to and including [[Spikes of Villainy]]) during his time as [[Super -Powered Evil Side|Haou]], a merciless tyrant obsessed with the completion of a powerful card and with the elimination of all evil in the world -- even if he must use heinous methods in order to do so. Brron, Mad King of Dark World, whom Judai displaced, counts as well.
* Kira or Light Yagami from ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]''.
* Queen Esmerelda of ''[[Dai Mahou Touge]]'' is the queen of the supposed [[Mary Suetopia]] Magical Land. She's also an massively evil being who issues slave labor for public transportation, ruthlessly dispatches with protesters and gained her position via slander and mudslinging against the previous rulers. The main character Punie is a [[Magical Girl]] [[Evil Overlord]] in training.
* [[The Emperor|Emperor Ganishka]] of Kushan in ''[[Berserk]]''. He [[I Have You Now, My Pretty|kidnaps]] Queen Charlotte and creates a demonic army by dropping pregnant women into an [[Eldritch Abomination]], after which their corrupted children rip themselves out of their mothers' wombs and devour them. Playing this trope straight is probably the only reason that ''[[Berserk]]'' isn't a complete [[Deconstructor Fleet|deconstruction]] of [[Heroic Fantasy]].
* [[Big Bad|Great Demon King Chestra]] from ''[[Violinist of Hameln]]''. You can guess this from his title, really. Though ''[[Violinist of Hameln]]'' is an action/comedy series that parodies a lot of shonen and fantasy tropes, this particular trope is played [[Complete Monster|horrifyingly straight]].
* Claw from ''[[Kimba the White Lion]]''.
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* ''[[Superman (Comic Book)|Superman]]'''s [[Lex Luthor]], in some incarnations, resembles a modern Evil Overlord. However, he keeps up his [[Villain With Good Publicity]] status meticulously.
* [[The DCU]] villain [[Darkseid]] embodies<ref> and we ''do'' mean "embodies"; he's the [[Anthropomorphic Personification]] of Tyranny</ref> virtually every aspect of this trope, on a cosmic scale. There's a reason he's the one quoted at the top of the page.
* The [[Marvel Universe]] has the interdimensional entity [[Dimension Lord|Dormammu]], who has less of a street cred than Darkseid, but is so ridiculously more powerful that he [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|routinely beats up various cosmic entities through his own power]], by far outranks all Marvel's known rulers of hell, and is worshipped as god in thousands of magical universes. His pleasant ambition is to slaughter and usurp all higher entities, conquer all life and afterlife, and turn all of existence into an eternal torture camp dedicated to his personal glory... He's essentially Marvel's most terrifying villain when you think about it, more akin to an [[Eldritch Abomination]] really, except being even more powerful... But then you remember that his head is on fire, and that he's usually severely downscaled to let anyone even have a shot at surviving.
** Several Marvel villains fit this trope. Shuma-Gorath is an even more powerful demon than Dormammu, and all the Hel Lords those two are above are still this in their home turf, as is virtually any demon or evil Death God with their own realm. [[Doctor Doom]] qualifies for this trope, as does Loki and other arch-villains whenever they gain territory, or world domination as they often do for a time.
* A standard type of of foe for [[Conan the Barbarian]] and [[Red Sonja]]. Major evil overlords included Thulsa Doom and Kulan Gath.
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* ''[[Animorphs (Literature)|Animorphs]]''. Two words: Visser Three.
* As always, ''[[Discworld]]'' provides examples.
** The Evil Lord Harry Dread from ''[[Discworld (Literature)/The Last Hero|The Last Hero]]'' parodies many tropes of the [[Evil Overlord]]: He got started with a Shed of Evil, hires [[The Guards Must Be Crazy|guards so stupid]] they have trouble remembering their names, and ends up briefly allying with the Silver Horde, but then betrays them because, hey, Harry's the ''bad guy'', [[ItsIt's What I Do|it's what he does]]. Also, he hires his guards to be stupid so that the heroes can escape from his dungeons, and leaves chests full of armour and weapons about his Lairs because ''that's how the game is played.'' The heroes, in return, refrain from killing Harry out of hand and don't look too hard for the inevitable secret escape routes. Both he and the Silver Horde are rather unhappy about this new generation of heroes and villains who make an effort to be competent and thorough at their respective alignments. Heroes who actually capture and kill villains, villains who actually rule with an iron fist, etc.
** Lord Vetinari from the same series has all the trappings of an [[Evil Overlord]], except that he happens to be a [[Reasonable Authority Figure]] who is [[Genre Savvy]] enough to know that evil doesn't pay. His only act of public villainy was having all mime artists tortured to death via scorpion pit. That only made him more popular.
* Lord Voldemort from the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' series. Even though he only really becomes any sort of Overlord in book seven, people treat him as one from the start, including his followers using the term Dark Lord. But up until he actually takes over, he's more of a terrorist/cult leader.
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* Rugaard from E. E. Knight's ''Age of Fire'' series is a partial subversion of this trope. While he's an Evil Overlord, he's a dragon, carries a good approval rating from most of his underlings, even his personal slaves Rayg, Rhea and Fourfang with him intervening to save them more than once, practices Equal Opportunity Evil, shows most of the traits we'd expect of a fantasy hero, and oh, plans to subjugate all the hominids in the world. But it's all justified, you see, because not a single free homonid he's encountered has ever been vaguely nice to him.
* The usurper Waldo in ''[[One for The Morning Glory]]'': he conquered the kingdom of Overhill and personally murdered two infant members of the royal family when it was massacred; [[Fisher King|turned Overhill]] into a [[Mordor|wasteland]]; and set out to conquer the next kingdom with evil magic, undead, and goblin allies.
* Brandon Sanderson's ''[[Mistborn]]'' trilogy deconstructs the idea of the [[Evil Overlord]] pretty nicely; the Dark Lord in the first novel really [[Well -Intentioned Extremist|wasn't that bad of a guy]]. Sanderson plays with this one in all his works. Wyrn in [[Elantris]] is a straight example (so far as the audience can tell- his only onscreen appearance is a cameo). Susebron the God-King in [[Warbreaker]] is built up as a terrible, possibly insane [[Evil Overlord]] {{spoiler|but is actually a very nice (and very naive) guy who is controlled by his [[Well -Intentioned Extremist]] priests and his [[Not So Harmless]] secretary.}}
* Belial from ''[[The Salvation War]]'': [http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtopic.php?t=118769&highlight= Armageddon]. Interesting subversion: He's not the guy in charge, in fact he's a nobody in Old Nick's court. So much so that the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah were considered highly amusing party tricks - and he's just there as the ''court jester''. Turns out, however, that they're not quite [[Superweapon Surprise|"party tricks" after all]]...
* Darken Rahl and Emperor Jagang in ''[[The Sword of Truth]]'' series by Terry Goodkind. Rahl is more archetypal since his minions ''know'' he's evil but still follow him out of loyalty, while Jagang and his empire think they're right.
* Lord Foul in ''The [[Chronicles of Thomas Covenant]].'' He wears black, has [[Red Eyes Take Warning|glowing red eyes]], lives in [[Mordor]], wants to [[Endofthe World As We Know It|destroy the world]], is a master of [[The Plan]] and commands several [[Legion of Doom|armies of evil mutants.]] The Gadhi from the same series, however, is a [[Deconstruction]] of the trope.
* Paul Atreides of ''[[Dune]] Messiah'' is somewhat of a deconstruction/subversion of the trope. He is worshiped as a god by his Fremen legions whose jihad has spread their religion across the universe at the expense of billions of people, the once [[Proud Warrior Race]] is now rich and corrupt, and in comparison the Shaddam IV who he overthrew seems like a saint. However, none of this was Paul's intention. A group of overzealous Fremen started the religion and jihad and after 12 years it escalated to the point of Paul being a figurehead without any power to stop it, leading to the irony of being a powerful emperor who commands his subjects yet a powerless god who can't stop his worshipers. He also still manages to be the hero of the story because almost all of his enemies want to overthrow him for their own selfish purposes rather than stop the jihad. Paul was on top of this to begin with mostly because as enough of a prophet to see the big war is coming (back in the first book), he tried to somewhat limit the inevitable destruction by taking control.
** His son, Leto II, the [[God -Emperor]], is another deconstructive example. He rules over [[The Empire|territories from several galaxies with an iron fist]], [[A God Am I|demands that his subjects worship him]], [[Amazon Brigade|commands an army of savage female fanatics]], and [[Unobtanium|uses his monopoly over the spice]] to prevent any challenge to his authority. What only he knows, however, is that he is using his reign as a means to free humanity from prescient rulers like himself and to ensure that humanity follows his "Golden Path" - the path away from extinction. His contemporaries think he is simply a power hungry despot.
* In the ''[[New Jedi Order]]'', the absolute ruler of the [[Scary Dogmatic Aliens|Yuuzhan Vong]] actually has "Supreme Overlord" as his main title. {{spoiler|It turns out he's just a mindless shell [[The Man Behind the Man|Onimi]] uses to act as his public face}}.
* Lord Sparr in ''[[The Secrets of Droon]]''. {{spoiler|At least until he pulls a [[Heel Face Turn]].}}
* Big Brother from ''[[Nineteen Eighty -Four]]'' is very much the ''idea'' of the [[Evil Overlord]] regardless of whether there's an actual human being behind it or not, or whether or not that person is the "original" if they ''do'' exist.
* Parodied in ''[[Myth Adventures|Something M.Y.T.H. Inc.]]'', in which the common people of Possiltom ''think'' Skeeve is an example of this trope because he consorts with (friendly and likeable) demons, keeps a (goofy pet) dragon, and has (out of dire necessity) raised their taxes.
* The ''[[Shannara]]'' series is littered with them:
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* Dr. Robotnik of ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' in some incarnations.
* [[Big Bad|Ganondorf/Ganon]] from ''[[The Legend of Zelda (Franchise)|The Legend of Zelda]].''
** [[The Legend of Zelda Four Swords Adventures (Video Game)|Vaati the]] [[The Legend of Zelda the Minish Cap (Video Game)|Wind Mage]] and {{spoiler|[[Hijacked By Ganon|initially]]}} [[The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess (Video Game)|Zant]] as well. Now, [[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Video Game)|Ghirahim]] {{spoiler|and Demise.}}
* The main characters in the ''[[Overlord]]'' series are archetypical Evil Overlords who wields hordes of gremlin-like creatures known as Minions, have mistress(es) and generally look like [[Tin Tyrant|Tin Tyrants]] with [[Glowing Eyes of Doom]] being the only visible part of the character. The first game lets you decide just how evil the Overlord can be, either a destructive tyrant to a [[Anti -Villain|leader]] [[Villain With Good Publicity|beloved by the peasants]]. Although at the end it turns out that {{spoiler|you're just [[The Dragon|a patsy]] for the real one}}.
** While canonically the Overlord of the first game was apparently a [[Noble Demon]] who saved the Elves from extinction and kept Rose as his Mistress, his son in the sequel is much more evil, being either an [[Ax Crazy]] butcher or a Dominator who enslaved entire populaces to his whim. Lord Gromgard of Overlord: Dark Legend is portrayed as more an [[Anti -Villain]] who while still an Evil Overlord is a benevolent tyrant [[Villain With Good Publicity|better-liked by his subjects]] more than his [[Jerkass]] siblings.
* Bowser from the ''[[Super Mario Bros]]'' series fits this to a T in almost every game (sometimes even ones where you're just [[Go Karting With Bowser]]), from ominous castles/lairs, plans for world/universe domination, and infinite hordes of largely incompetent goons.
** Sir Grodus from ''[[Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door (Video Game)|Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door]]'' also fits. He's essentialy what Bowser would be if he weren't [[Played for Laughs]], weren't a moron, and actually [[Kick the Dog|Kicked The Dog]] as opposed to [[Poke the Poodle|Poking The Poodle]].
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* The titular character from the ''[[Legacy of Kain]]'' series spends a lot of time as this. He does take breaks to save the world, but he actually just wants to keep it alive so he can keep lording over it.
** Ultimately averted though, Kain wants to purify the corruption of the world and make it a vampire utopia because vampires came first and the world rightfully belongs to them. {{spoiler|(He succeeds in getting it on the right track, but judging by blood omen 2, which results from the paradox he makes, there's a long way to go).}}
* In the ''[[City of Villains]]'', Lord Recluse is king. Well more like [[President Evil|dictator]], but he has all the features- [[Five -Bad Band]], [[Redshirt Army]], island domains that vary between [[Vice City]] and urbanised [[Mordor]].
* Shao Kahn in ''[[Mortal Kombat]]''. And before him, {{spoiler|Onaga.}}
* In the ''[[War Craft]]'' series all the demon lords of [[Legions of Hell|The Burning Legion]] ([[Omnicidal Maniac|Sargeras]], [[Pride|Archimonde]] and [[The Chessmaster|Kil'jaeden]]) count, as well as the Lich King in ''[[World of Warcraft]]''.
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* ''[[Shin Megami Tensei II]]'' portrays the Source of all Gods (named YVWH) as an [[Evil Overlord]].
* Grigori Rasputin attempts to become this in ''[[Shadow Hearts]]: Covenant''.
* Magus the Fiendlord from ''[[Chrono Trigger (Video Game)|Chrono Trigger]]'' fits this trope rather well: he has an ominous castle, leads an army of fiends and wages war on humanity. {{spoiler|However, his motives make him more of an [[Anti -Hero]], who [[I Did What I Had to Do|does what he has to do]] in order to destroy [[Eldritch Abomination|Lavos]] and find his sister. He can even join the player's party later in the game.}}
* [[Oda Nobunaga]] in any Capcom game, including the ''[[Onimusha]]'' and ''[[Sengoku Basara]]'' series (and the latter's [[Anime]] adaptation).
* In ''[[Imperium Nova]]'', [[The Emperor]] of each galaxy is inevetibally labeled an evil overlord by his or her opponents. Whether or not the labeling is true is a matter of discussion.
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* Dark Warlord Zanshin from ''[[Throne of Darkness]]''. {{spoiler|The player's lord becomes one after taking his place.}}
* The Devourlord from {{spoiler|the Demon Path of}} ''[[Soul Nomad and The World Eaters]]'' {{spoiler|aka [[Villain Protagonist|you.]]}} Combines this with [[Omnicidal Maniac]] for a terrifying result.
* Caesar of of Caesar's Legion in ''[[Fallout New Vegas]]'' rules an empire of slavers based upon [[The Roman Empire]] dedicated to restoring order to the wastelands through [[Rape, Pillage and Burn]] and enslavement. However, he's actually [[Affably Evil|suprisingly intelligent and polite with a sense of humor]], as well as possessing [[Wicked Cultured|a love of political/philosophical debates]] when the Courier chats with him.
* Draygon in [[Crystalis (Video Game)|Crystalis]].
 
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* ''[[Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|Order of the Stick]]'' has fun with this.
** Xykon from ''[[Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|Order of the Stick]]'' is in many ways a parody of the Evil Overlord stereotype, though he's as genuinely evil as any other.
** [[Magnificent Bastard|General Tarquin]] is one of the [[The Man Behind the Man|Men behind the Dragon]] to the Empress of Blood. He's found his chances of survival are improved by acting as a mercenary commander for other [[Evil Overlord]] wannabes rather than sitting on the throne himself, but he still runs the show along with his [[Non -Human Sidekick]]. He's also so [[Affably Evil]] that it is approaching [[Draco in Leather Pants]] levels of sympathy among a portion of the fandom. Others, it seems, like him less with every strip.
* [http://www.thebeastlegion.com/issue-01-page-21-enter-dragos/ Lord Dragos] from ''[[The Beast Legion]]'' is the perfect example of tyrannical Evil despot who rules the land with an iron fist.
* Stanley the Plaid/Stanley the Tool of ''[[Erfworld]]'' is described as an Evil Overlord by [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0031.html Parson] because of his use of [[Always Chaotic Evil|generic evil creatures]] and because he has united everybody else into an alliance against him. Stanley is [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0032.html highly offended] by this, believing himself to be [[Mission From God|divinely favored]]. A divine artifact backs him up on this point. Or not, since croakamancer Wanda Firebaugh has one too, and apparently so does Charlie of Charlescomm.
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* Lord Doom and The Emperor hold this position in the ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]''.
* Baron O'Brien is set up to look like one in ''[[Wormtooth Nation (Web Video)|Wormtooth Nation]]'', but it's later subverted: he's just trying to hold the dying city together. Not that he's a nice guy, but he's far from evil. This makes since, since he was based on the character of Oberon from ''[[A Midsummer Nights Dream]].''
* Discord from the ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' parody ''[[Pony Dot Mov (Web Animation)|Pony Dot Mov]]'' destroys Ponyville and proclaims himself their god.
* [[The Nostalgia Chick (Web Video)|The Nostalgia Chick]] gets called a dictator by her [[Sex Bot]], gives Disney villains helpful advice and enjoys playing in God's domain just a bit too much.
* [[Diamanda Hagan]] actually ''admits'' to being this, having minions [[Bad Boss|who she regularly orders to execute themselves]].
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* Maximus of ''[[Atomic Betty]]'' actually calls himself "Supreme Evil Overlord Maximus I.Q.
* ''[[The Fairly Odd Parents]]'': Both [[Evil Teacher|Crocker]] and [[Ax Crazy|Vicky]] have become evil overlords thanks to magic.
* Emperor Zurg, from the first two ''[[Toy Story]]'' movies and the [[Spin -Off]] series ''[[Buzz Lightyear of Star Command]]'', is a [[Parody]] of this trope.
* Trigon the Terrible from ''[[Teen Titans (Animation)|Teen Titans]]''.
* The [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Blackstar]]'' is called the Overlord.
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* Queen Dark took over the world in ''[[Argai the Prophecy]]''.
* Megabyte of ''[[Re Boot]]''.
* [[Vile Villain Saccharine Show|Discord]] from ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]''. Over 1000 years ago, he ruled Equestria in a state of eternal chaos and suffering, with everypony reduced to being his personal playthings. Eventually, the Princesses discovered the Elements Of Harmony and rose up against him, [[Taken for Granite|turning him to stone]] and [[Sealed Evil in A Can|sealing him away]]. When he eventually escaped his prison, he took over Equestria and went right back to being this trope.
 
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