Evil Versus Evil: Difference between revisions

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The solution? Pit the [[Villain Protagonist]] against the [[Villain Antagonist]]. [[Complete Monster|Someone so rotten]] that no matter how low you go on the [[Karma Meter]], you'll ''still'' want to kick his ass. That way, the character(s) can ''be'' evil while ''doing'' good. It's the best of both worlds. You don't have to do really rotten things like [[Kick the Dog|kicking puppies]], you can kick [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|fire-breathing demon puppies]] instead. It's kind of hard to [[Take Over the World]] when another [[Evil Overlord]] is already ruling it; [[Evil Versus Oblivion|or]] wants [[Omnicidal Maniac|to destroy it]]. For a [[Gentleman Thief]] who wants the best loot, what better target than other thieves? [[The Starscream]] has to have ''someone'' to overthrow, right? And even the most vicious [[Knight Templar]] is right once in a while. And if both bad guys are [[Complete Monster|bad enough]], having them killing each other is a victory for everyone!

Note that if a work's ''primary conflict'' is about Evil Versus Evil, then there is a serious risk of [[Darkness Induced Audience Apathy]]. If the viewers/players/readers cannot support any faction, they may simply not care.

Note that if a work's ''primary conflict'' is about Evil Versus Evil, then there is a serious risk of [[Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy]]. If the viewers/players/readers cannot support any faction, they may simply not care.

See also [[Even Evil Has Standards]] and [[Black and Gray Morality]]. Contrast [[Enemy Civil War]], [[Eviler Than Thou]], and [[The Good ~~the~~ Bad And The Evil]], which are about antagonists battling other antagonists. This trope is the opposite of a [[Villain Team-Up]]. Has a [[Sub Trope]] in [[Evil Versus Oblivion]], where one side is world-destroying bad.

See also [[Even Evil Has Standards]] and [[Black and Gray Morality]]. Contrast [[Enemy Civil War]], [[Eviler Than Thou]], and [[The Good, The Bad, And The Evil]], which are about antagonists battling other antagonists. This trope is the opposite of a [[Villain Team-Up]]. Has a [[Sub-Trope]] in [[Evil Versus Oblivion]], where one side is world-destroying bad.

This is sometimes [[Truth in Television]], but '''[[No Real Life Examples Please]].'''

This is sometimes [[Truth in Television]], but '''[[No Real Life Examples, Please]].'''

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* ''Hunting Humans'' had one [[Serial Killer]] hunting another.

* In ''[[Red State (Film)|Red State]]'' the evil church is killing gays and promiscuous teens out of religious mania. Then the ATF shows up, decides they are ''all'' terrorists and decides to murder every single parishioner, including the children.

* The main plot point of ''[[Yojimbo]]'', and the works directly inspired by it, ''[[A ~~Fistfulof~~ Dollars]]'' and ''Last Man Standing''.

* The main plot point of ''[[Yojimbo]]'', and the works directly inspired by it, ''[[A Fistful of Dollars]]'' and ''Last Man Standing''.

* Augustus Gibbons discusses this in ''[[XXX (Film)|xXx]]'' by way of explanation of recruiting criminals.

{{quote| "Do we drop another mouse into the snake pit, or do we send our own snake and let him crawl in?"}}

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* In ''[[Animorphs (Literature)|Animorphs]]'', Visser One and Three are usually at each other's throats. Visser Three wants Visser One's spot, something Visser One is only too well aware of. In one book, the Animorphs, Visser One, and Visser Three all had their own plans to kill off the other two. Though of the two, Visser One is considerably more sympathetic than the [[Complete Monster]] that is Visser Three.

* ''[[Hells Children]]'' by Andrew Boland. Though most of the characters occasionally [[Pet the Dog]], it’s mostly Evil Versus Evil.

* [[SM Stirling]]'s ''Marching Through Georgia'' pitted [[Those Wacky Nazis]] against [[The Draka]]. Most readers end up rooting for the Nazis, because the Draka ''are even'' '''''worse.'''''

* [[S.M. Stirling]]'s ''Marching Through Georgia'' pitted [[Those Wacky Nazis]] against [[The Draka]]. Most readers end up rooting for the Nazis, because the Draka ''are even'' '''''worse.'''''

* [[Harry Turtledove]] has an interesting example in his ''[[Worldwar (Literature)]]'' series: we have a lot of scenes of powers often thought of as "evil" such as the Nazis, the Imperial Japanese, and the Soviets fighting the invading Race. The twist is that the Race are much more "civilised" even than the Western Allies (they're possibly an allegory for the Western world in the Nineties) yet they see us as inferior and want to conquer and <s>enslave</s> assimilate us and erase our culture. It can often be an uncomfortable crux for the reader to decide who is the more evil.

** [[It Got Worse]] in the sequels (''Colonization''). When the Colonization fleet arrives and starts unloading civilians, someone uses a nuke against them, killing millions. {{spoiler|It was the United States that did it, and to prevent another war from breaking out the President allows the Race to nuke Indianapolis.}}

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== Live-Action TV ==

* ''[[~~Twenty Four~~ (TV)|Twenty Four]]'' does this A LOT; probably because most evil plots involve groups of bad guys working together (a bit of [[Truth in Television]]). But of course, since they're bad guys, they'll turn on each other in a heartbeat.

* ''[[24 (TV)|Twenty Four]]'' does this A LOT; probably because most evil plots involve groups of bad guys working together (a bit of [[Truth in Television]]). But of course, since they're bad guys, they'll turn on each other in a heartbeat.

* ''[[Stargate SG-1 (TV)|Stargate SG-1]]'' and ''[[Stargate Atlantis (TV)|Stargate Atlantis]]'' has this thing going on. We have the Goa'uld fighting each other over territory and other things, we have the Replicators (not evil per se, but a threat to all life) fighting everyone, including the Goa'uld. In Atlantis we have the Asurans, who battled the Wraith, erasing human life to deplete the Wraith's "food sources". {{spoiler|In the end the Asurans proved to by far the greater threat, leading to an [[Enemy Mine|alliance]] between the humans and a Wraith faction to eliminate them.}}

** The Wraith are no more friendly amongst themselves than the Goa'uld, that alliance contains ''nine'' factions, not the three you'd assume at first glance.

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** Playing the trope more straight, Species 8472 versus the Borg in ''[[Star Trek Voyager (TV)|Star Trek Voyager]]''.

*** A later episode [[Retcon|Ret Conned]] their [[Omnicidal Maniac]] tendencies (they had no qualms about [[Earthshattering Kaboom|blowing up planets]], and Kes clearly [[Psychic Powers|read]] murder in their minds) into a simple misunderstanding. The game ''[[Star Trek Armada]] II'' retcons them ''back''.

* Season 8 of ''[[~~Doctor Who (TV)|~~Doctor Who]]'' had this [[Once Per Episode]] with [[The Master]] and whatever monster he had [[The Starscream|allied]] himself with. Some larger-scale examples include: the Sontaran-Rutan war, the Dalek-Movellan war, the Dalek civil war, and the Dalek-Cyberman battle ([[Curb Stomp Battle|such as it was]]).

* Season 8 of ''[[Doctor Who]]'' had this [[Once Per Episode]] with [[The Master]] and whatever monster he had [[The Starscream|allied]] himself with. Some larger-scale examples include: the Sontaran-Rutan war, the Dalek-Movellan war, the Dalek civil war, and the Dalek-Cyberman battle ([[Curb Stomp Battle|such as it was]]).

** And now, it appears {{spoiler|that the war between the Time-Lords and Daleks became this.}}

* ''[[Lost (TV)|Lost]]'' has the conflict between {{spoiler|Ben Linus and Charles Widmore}} in seasons 4 and 5, as they vie for control of the island. In season 6, it seems to be setting the stage for another one in addition: {{spoiler|Charles Widmore versus the show's real [[Big Bad]], The Man In Black.}}

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* ''[[Dexter]]'' is made of this, what with the title character being a serial killer that targets criminals, mostly other serial killers.

* The demon Crowley in ''[[Supernatural (TV)|Supernatural]]'' is an amusing example of this. He manipulates and double-crosses just about everybody in sight, from the protagonists to his own demonic peers, in order to save his own neck, his comfortable job as a soul merchant and (incidental to those goals) the world. Though a useful ally and unusually honest for a demon, he never makes any attempt to pretend he isn't evil. This makes it all the more impressive that he convinces the good guys to keep working with him even after they've been tricked, thrown under the bus, beaten half-senseless and otherwise abused as a result of listening to him.

** Crowley becomes the instigator of this again in Season 6; it's eventually revealed that [[Eldritch Abomination|The Mother of All]] came to Earth and started building armies of monsters in response to Crowley's plans to steal all the souls from Purgatory - the Mother's domain. And when the Mother's killed, the last few episodes of the season are still spent dealing with this trope, as the Winchesters find themselves stuck in the middle of the power struggle between the remaining [[Big Bad Ensemble|contenders for the position of]] [[Big Bad]]: Crowley, Raphael, and Castiel, who has [[Jumped Off the Slippery Slope]] to prevent Raphael from turning the planet into a graveyard by restarting the Apocalypse. In the end Castiel decides to cut Crowley out of the deal, in response to which Crowley teams up with Raphael, but Castiel [[Out Gambitted|Out Gambits]] them both. He kills Raphael, ascents to [[A God Am I|godhood]], and makes Crowley his servant not much later. In season 7 he's killed due to the strain of containing inside himself, in addition to millions of souls, the Leviathans - absolutely ancient creatures from Purgatory who wish only to consume. Which leads to...

** Crowley becomes the instigator of this again in Season 6; it's eventually revealed that [[Eldritch Abomination|The Mother of All]] came to Earth and started building armies of monsters in response to Crowley's plans to steal all the souls from Purgatory - the Mother's domain. And when the Mother's killed, the last few episodes of the season are still spent dealing with this trope, as the Winchesters find themselves stuck in the middle of the power struggle between the remaining [[Big Bad Ensemble|contenders for the position of]] [[Big Bad]]: Crowley, Raphael, and Castiel, who has [[Jumped Off the Slippery Slope]] to prevent Raphael from turning the planet into a graveyard by restarting the Apocalypse. In the end Castiel decides to cut Crowley out of the deal, in response to which Crowley teams up with Raphael, but Castiel [[Out-Gambitted|Out Gambits]] them both. He kills Raphael, ascents to [[A God Am I|godhood]], and makes Crowley his servant not much later. In season 7 he's killed due to the strain of containing inside himself, in addition to millions of souls, the Leviathans - absolutely ancient creatures from Purgatory who wish only to consume. Which leads to...

** Crowley instigating this ''again'' in season 7. He attempts a [[Villain Team-Up]] with the Leviathan's nominal leader, but is brusquely rejected. Then he orders his demonic forces to ignore the Winchesters so they can hunt Leviathans around the clock.

* The ''[[Masters of Horror]]'' episode "Pick Me Up" has Wheeler, a serial killer truck driver, V.S. Walker, a serial killer hitchhiker. The eventual winner? {{spoiler|The serial killing ambulance driver duo who pick them up at episode end.}}

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* In the third ''[[Rampage (Video Game)|Rampage]]'' the only reason you don't destroy humanity is that aliens trying to take over the world provide a distraction.

* ''[[Hexen]] II'''s sparse story becomes this if you play as the assassin or necromancer. The assassin wants to kill [[Big Bad|Eidolon]] to prove she's the best assassin of all time, and the necromancer wants to kill Eidolon so people fear him again.

* ''[[~~Traffic Department 2192|~~Traffic Department 2192]]'' has [[Villain Protagonist|evil]] versus [[Galactic Conqueror|evil]] versus [[Enemy Civil War|evil]], with [[White Gang Bangers|evil and evil]] thrown in for laughs. {{spoiler|The final faction initially looks benevolent, since it's composed of [[Actual Pacifist|Actual Pacifists]]--nope, they're all [[Manipulative Bastard|Manipulative Bastards]], and they're evil too! The protagonist, arguably the most evil of the lot, is also the most beneficial, wiping everyone else out so the few decent people can take charge.}}

* ''[[Traffic Department 2192]]'' has [[Villain Protagonist|evil]] versus [[Galactic Conqueror|evil]] versus [[Enemy Civil War|evil]], with [[White Gang-Bangers|evil and evil]] thrown in for laughs. {{spoiler|The final faction initially looks benevolent, since it's composed of [[Actual Pacifist|Actual Pacifists]]--nope, they're all [[Manipulative Bastard|Manipulative Bastards]], and they're evil too! The protagonist, arguably the most evil of the lot, is also the most beneficial, wiping everyone else out so the few decent people can take charge.}}

* ''[[Street Fighter IV (Video Game)|Street Fighter IV]]'' has Vega/M. Bison pitted against Seth, both of whom are power-hungry [[Complete Monster|complete monsters]] who want to [[Take Over the World]] for themselves.

* The war between Mishima Zaibatsu and G Corporation in ''[[Tekken (Video Game)|Tekken]]''.

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* In ''[[Baldurs Gate]] II'': Throne of Bhaal, one part of the Watcher's Keep involves a maze with three stones needed to escape, and two factions of warring demons, on opposite sides of the Blood War, hold one stone each. You can kill one of the factions and claim one stone off them while taking the other as a reward, or you can [[Take a Third Option|kill both of them]]. If you are a good-aligned character, you will have no choice but to kill them all -- the leaders of both sides will sense your innate goodness and try to kill you.

** Actually, it's having any member of your party be [[Lawful Good]] that causes both of them to attack you. Any other good-aligned character can still interact with them. If you don't team up with one or the other of the fiends, you'll miss out on a powerful magical item that they'll reward you with, but having a Lawful Good party member is required in order to get a different powerful magical item found in the same level of the dungeon. You can get both if you do not have any Lawful Good characters when you run into one or the other of the fiends and choose to assist them and get rewarded with the Rogue's Hood (a helmet that buffs thieves), then come back into the maze after that with a Lawful Good character to get the enchanted Paladin-only Bastard Sword.

* ''[[Shogo Mobile Armor Division (Video Game)|Shogo Mobile Armor Division]]'' features conflict between the CMC, [[~~Gaias~~ Vengeance|the Fallen]], and [[Mega Corp|Shogo Industries]] over control of Cronus. The UCA is mostly good, but has the potential to become an antagonist in one path of the game when Admiral Akkaraju plans on using the Kato Cannon to destroy Avernus to eliminate the Fallen, [[Unwitting Pawn|playing into Ryo's plans]].

* ''[[Shogo Mobile Armor Division (Video Game)|Shogo Mobile Armor Division]]'' features conflict between the CMC, [[Gaia's Vengeance|the Fallen]], and [[Mega Corp|Shogo Industries]] over control of Cronus. The UCA is mostly good, but has the potential to become an antagonist in one path of the game when Admiral Akkaraju plans on using the Kato Cannon to destroy Avernus to eliminate the Fallen, [[Unwitting Pawn|playing into Ryo's plans]].

* ''[[Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire (Video Game)|Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire]]'' has a borderline case, with the two terrorist teams, Team Aqua and Team Magma. It's borderline because the teams are something of [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|well-intentioned extremists]], wanting to expand the sea and land for the sake of Pokémon (or so they say), respectively, and are in direct opposition to each other. However, in ''Ruby'', Team Aqua are actually allies (and vice-versa regarding Magma and ''Sapphire''), but it's played straight in the third game, ''Emerald'', where both teams were portrayed as antagonists to the player while still warring against each other.

* While ''[[Dragon Age II (Video Game)|Dragon Age II]]'' is mostly [[Grey and Grey Morality]], the final conflict between the Templars and the Circle of Magi in Kirkwall devolves into Evil Versus Evil. The leaders of ''both'' factions give into their (figurative) inner demons and nearly drag the rest of their members down with them. No matter which side you initially pick, you end up killing both of the leaders to achieve a cease-fire.

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** Of course, Oceans Unmoving plays it even straighter with Bun-Bun against his treacherous former first mate Blacksoul, {{spoiler|aka the Bun-Bun we'd been following throughout the comic as it turns out that Captain Bun-Bun was from before the comic started.}}

* The "Midnight Crew" Intermission in ''[[Homestuck (Webcomic)|Homestuck]]'' pits the eponymous Midnight Crew against The Felt. The Midnight Crew is a small yet dangerous gang that effectively rules their city {{spoiler|and turn out to be Alternia's versions of the [[Big Bad]] and his cohorts though they aren't ''nearly'' as evil}}. The Felt is a rival gang whose members possess time related powers {{spoiler|and take orders from an [[Eldritch Abomination]] called "Lord English"}}.

** And much later, averted when {{spoiler|[[Killer Game Master|Vriska]], [[Four Eyes Zero Soul|Eridan]], and [[Monster Clown|Gamzee]] almost have a three-way showdown... Only for [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|all three]] to be taken by surprise by [[Cute Monster Girl|Kanaya.]]}}

** And much later, averted when {{spoiler|[[Killer Game Master|Vriska]], [[Four Eyes, Zero Soul|Eridan]], and [[Monster Clown|Gamzee]] almost have a three-way showdown... Only for [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|all three]] to be taken by surprise by [[Cute Monster Girl|Kanaya.]]}}

* ''[[Ansem Retort]]''. Hell, there's only a couple people that are actually ''good'': everyone else is a murderer, psychopath, [[Jerkass]] or all of the above, no matter which side you look at.

* [[Vexxarr]] instigates a war which is essentially this.

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[[No Real Life Examples Please]] means [[No Real Life Examples Please]] Funny that.

[[No Real Life Examples, Please]] means [[No Real Life Examples, Please]] Funny that.

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[[Category:Villains]]

[[Category:Evil Versus Evil]]

[[Category:Trope]]