Eviler Than Thou: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"[[Bigger Stick|It's not just about power,]] it's also about how far you're willing to debase yourself before feeling bad. [[The Unfettered|I ripped off my own living flesh so that I wouldn't have to admit weakness.]] You're strictly little league compared to that. That right there? That's the difference between [[Card-Carrying Villain|bonafide true Evil with a capital "E"]] and your whiny [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|"evil, but for a good cause,"]] crap. [[There Are Two Kinds of People in
|'''Xykon''', ''[[The Order of the Stick]]: [[Start of Darkness]]''}}
In the [[Big Bad]] business, [[There Can Be Only One]], and it had better not be you when I'm '''Eviler than Thou'''.
Two [[Villains]] [[Evil Versus Evil|are rivals]], each wreaking havoc in their own special way. For instance, one is direct and violent, while the other is a cowardly but [[The Chessmaster|clever schemer]]. Or one is selfish and the other is a [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]. Each one has the potential to be the one and only [[Big Bad]]. The poor [[Heroes]] are caught in the middle between two completely different threats, and have to be flexible enough to stop both.
As the two villains plot, their [[Evil Plan
Whichever villain wins will rub it in with a cackling [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]] about how the other villain is deficient. "People think you're scary, but deep down you're just a dumb thug." Or, "All your plotting and scheming has come to nothing when facing a real man who just fights." This is usually the end of the less horrible one. If they survive, they will often be [[Even Evil Has Standards|so shocked at what the other one is planning]] that they team up with the heroes in an [[Enemy Mine]]. "I always thought I was doing right - this guy is just a selfish monster!" Or, "I only wanted to steal money, but his mad utopian schemes could doom the world!" This doesn't mean they reform, though.
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[[Anti-Hero|Anti Heroes]] (Type IV or V) and [[Anti-Villain|Anti Villains]] generally have [[Black and Grey Morality|another villain around who is eviler]]. Contrast [[Arson, Murder, and Admiration]], [[Holier Than Thou]], [[More Hero Than Thou]] and [[A Lighter Shade of Grey]]. The villain claiming to be Eviler than Thou is showing that sometimes it's not true that [[Even Evil Has Standards]], while the villain they're claiming to be worse than (if it's true and the other villain proudly agrees) may be a straight example of [[Even Evil Has Standards]].
{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* Mayuri Kurotsuchi VS Szayel-Aporro Granz in ''[[
▲* Mayuri Kurotsuchi VS Szayel-Aporro Granz in ''[[Bleach (Manga)|Bleach]]'', though it is less an "Eviler Than Thou" moment so much as "More [[Crazy Prepared]] Than Thou".
*** Though Mayuri's [[Hannibal Lecture]] is all about what he sees as the unscientific nature of Szayel's way of thinking. "More [[Mad Scientist|Mad Scientific]] Than Thou"?
* ''[[
* Done all the time in ''[[
** Furthermore the plot of the second movie, Naraku is killed during the opening credits, but it turns out it's a ploy to lure the film's main villain out of hiding so Naraku can kill her and steal her powers, and thus he returns at the climax alive and well.
* ''[[El-Hazard: The Magnificent World
* In ''[[
* The duel between Yami Bakura and Yami Marik in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh (
** For that season anyway. Turns out later on that Yami Bakura was Eviler than ''everyone'', it just took about "[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series
** A minor example in the first season would be Maximillion Pegasus and Bandit Keith Howard. Pegasus is the [[Big Bad]] of the season, a [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]], [[Gentleman Snarker]], and [[Squishy Wizard]] who desires to resurrect his wife via [[Black Magic]]. Keith's a [[The Brute|thug]] who infiltrated the tournament and beats people up to take their Star Chips and advance to the finals; his goal is to defeat Pegasus, who once beat him in an exhibition match. The two never directly clash, with Keith being beaten by [[The Lancer|Joey]] in the semi-finals, but he certainly makes for an excellent [[Foil]] to Pegasus, with his [[Smug Snake
** And then Pegasus ends up on the receiving end of this trope after he's defeated by Yugi, as Bakura tracks him down, defeats him in a quick mental duel, and takes his Millennium Eye.
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX (
* Goes along with the [[Sorting Algorithm of Evil]] in ''[[
* ''[[
* The current battle between the newly-reincarnated [[Dark Messiah|Griffith]] and [[Complete Monster|Emperor Ganishka]] in ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[Baccano
** In addition, in the DVD bonus episodes, Ladd and Claire both separately have Crazier-Than-Thou showdowns with [[Talkative Loon]] Graham Spector.
*** And ''then'' Claire gets into a Crazier-Than-Thou match with [[Psychopathic Manchild]] Christopher Shouldered in the [[Light Novels]]. (For those wondering, by the way: ''nobody'' is crazier than Claire.)
* The epic match between [[Sociopathic Hero|Ryo Mashiba]] vs. [[Chaotic Evil|Ryuuhei Sawamura]] in ''[[
* [[Diabolical Mastermind|Madara]] and [[Mad Scientist|Kabuto]] spent most of the Fourth Ninja War Arc competing for the [[Big Bad]] position of ''[[
* This isn't really touched by the actual villains in ''[[
* Many have tried to manipulate [[Monster (
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* The ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'' comic book and movies contrast William Stryker, a [[Sinister Minister|bigoted clergyman]] who thinks mutants are animals, with [[Magneto]], a mutant supremacist who thinks mutants should enslave humans (or separate themselves from humans, or just kill the humans; Magneto's opinions on what to do with normal humans vary from time to time and writer to writer, and that's not even getting into his periodic [[Heel Face Turn
** It's a textbook abused-becomes-the-abuser [[An Aesop|Aesop]] with Magneto, as he's a Holocaust survivor. The [[Red Skull]] once even said that they weren't that different.
** In [[The Movie]] Stryker is a [[General Ripper]], which temporarily leads to an [[Enemy Mine]] situation for the two mutant factions.
* In the ''[[Tintin
* In the recent ''[[
** The [[Blackest Night|Black Lantern Corps]] have forced all of the other seven corps to [[Enemy Mine|work together just to survive]].
* In the ''[[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]]'' story ''Goblins at the Gate'' the Hobgoblin (Roderick Kingsley) thinks he's manipulating the Green Goblin ([[Norman Osborn]]) to free him from prison and help him defeat Spider-Man, before he executes a takeover of Osborn's business empire. Turns out Osborn ''knew'' Kingsley was trying to use him and was just playing along to find out if Kingsley really had any blackmail material on him- and has managed to take over all of ''Kingsley's'' business empire instead. How was he able to carry it off so quickly? Easy:
{{quote|
** Fellow Spider-Man villain Mr. Negative feels no one can approach him when it comes to evil ''or'' good, because he is ''both'' in equally ridiculous proportion. He subscribes to a philosophy that because his alter ego Mr. Li is as kind as a saint, this makes his evil as Mr. Negative all the more despicable, and vice versa. In being both, he is greater than any who is but one.
* As proved by Alexander Luthor's fate at the end of ''[[Infinite Crisis]]'', no matter what cosmic scale genocide or Crisis a DCU villain has carried out, the most dangerous villain is still a [[The Joker|psychopath in a purple suit.]] Cross him at your peril.
* While responding to fan mail in his ''[[Dark Reign (
{{quote|
* Whole point of ''Resurrection'' from ''[[Star Wars]] Tales #9'' - Sith cultists clone Darth Maul to make him [[Let's You and Him Fight|fight Darth Vader]], because they believe Vader has too much good inside him to be Palpatine's apprentice. This could be a [[Secret Test of Character]], schemed by Palpatine to find out if Vader is evil enough as well.
* In the ''[[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]]'' storyline "The Judas Contract", Slade quickly realized that his own Dragon Terra was far more evil and dangerous than him. His plan to bring down the Titans from within went off without a hitch thanks to her prowess, but immediately fell apart the moment she got pissed off at him.
* Relatively early on in ''[[
Near the end of Grant Morrison's run on the pre-reboot Batman's books, Oberson Sexton {{spoiler|AKA: The [[The Joker|Joker]] [[Heel Face Turn|playing hero]]}} shows Doctor Hurt why he's pathetic {{spoiler|with a line of dominoes and an [[Ironic Echo]] of what hurt said to him.}}
== [[
* In ''[[
* At one point during ''[[
* In the ''[[
* In the ''[[
== Film ==
* In ''[[The Rocketeer (
** Another real life example, during WWII the US government asked the Mafia for help in order to uncover Nazi spies, or preventing them from sabotaging the production of ships which were necessary to keep up the support for Great Britain.
* A major plot element in ''[[The Ninth Gate]]'' is that two very rich and rather nasty people—a Satanist and a guy who [[Screw the Rules, I Have Money|just wants the power]]—are both after [[Tome of Eldritch Lore|a book believed capable of summoning the devil]]. Ultimately this leads to an epic scene in which the latter crashes the former's black mass, kills her in plain sight of the other cultists, and gives a rant basically saying "You Satanists are amateurs, only ''I'' understand the true power of this book" while they flee in terror.
{{quote|
* The "black" Predators in ''[[
* In ''[[The Dark Knight Saga]]'', [[The Joker]] constantly berates small-time crooks [[The Mafia|mobsters]] for being petty and shallow enough to care only about profit while ignoring [[For the Evulz|loftier ideals]] [[Complete Monster|of Evil]]:
{{quote|
== Literature ==
* In ''[[The Elric Saga]]'', Stormbringer compares himself to Elric {{spoiler|immediately after killing and devouring Elric's soul}}. "Farewell friend. I was a thousand times more evil than thou." Despite Elric being an anti-hero, having [[Where I Was Born and Razed|destroyed his homeland]] and most everyone in it, [[Deal
** Stormbringer '''is''' eviler than Elric though - Stormbringer is basically a demon forged into the shape of a sword, and has often been a [[Peer Pressure Makes You Evil|corrupting influence]] on Elric.
* [[Les Misérables (
** Of course, Javert isn't really a [[Card-Carrying Villain|bad guy]] at all, he's a [[Designated Villain]] with [[Anti-Villain]] traits, which makes it not very hard for Thenardier to be Eviler Than Him.
** In other words, Javert = [[Lawful Neutral]], Thenardier = [[Chaotic Evil]].
* The early ''[[Harry Potter (
* ''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (
** However, when the two meet, Grindelwald is an old, powerless man who has been in prison for almost sixty years, pondering whether he was doing the right thing. Grindelwald in his prime could conceivably have been a match for Voldemort in terms of power and wickedness.
*** And Grindelwald refuses to give Voldemort the information he wants, [[Defiant to
* In ''[[Tigana]]'', two wizards from different foreign lands have each conquered nearly half of the land where the story is set. One is simply a sadistic bully. The other has more redeeming qualities, but causes his subjects even more misery by crushing an entire province to avenge his son's death there. Not merely crushing; he seeks to obliterate all memory that it has ever existed, and renamed it after its most hated rival.
* ''[[
** And they were. In the arc leading up to Visser One's death and Visser Three's promotion, especially in ''Visser'', Esplin proves himself to be far and away eviler than Edriss. [[Villain Ball|Stupider]], but definitely eviler.
* In the [[Chaotic Evil]] versus [[Lawful Evil]] showdown, may we present [[Psycho for Hire]] John Dread and [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] Felix Jongleur from [[Tad Williams]]' ''[[Otherland]]''? Fight, boys!
* The sixth book of the ''[[
* Recurring theme in the ''[[
** In later books, we see contrast between [[Magnificent Bastard|High Lord Aquitainus]] and [[Complete Monster|High Lord Kalarus]], and ultimately between all of the human(oid) villains and [[Horde of Alien Locusts|the Vord]].
* [[He Who Fights Monsters|Mordeth]] in ''[[
* In Jim Butcher's ''[[
** Especially as it's been implied that there may be some Denarians in the Black Council.
* While William Walker and Doctor Alice Hong from [[S.M. Stirling]]'s ''[[Island in The Sea of Time]]'' trilogy are not exactly rivals they do have a conversation about this. Walker argues that while Hong tortures people in an extraordinarily sadistic fashion compared to the normal methods of killing he employs, he is far more evil than she is because of the sheer volume of people he kills. While Hong and her priestesses have tortured hundreds of people to death Walker's armies have slaughtered tens of thousands of people in his campaigns of conquest. Hong concedes that Walker is right.
** Whats most amusing is that this instance of "Eviler than Thou" is actually Walker giving Hong a peptalk. She is feeling a little down what with being a horrible monster who castrates people without anesthetics and gets off on it. He gives her a speech about how he is ten thousand times worse than her and feels nothing because he is an [[Ubermensch]], and that she should be too. She feels a little better after this hilariously twisted exchange.
** ''Marching Through Georgia'', the first installment of [[S.M. Stirling|Stirling's]] [[The Draka|Drakaverse]] series, has the sadistic, slaveholding Draka face off against Nazi Germany, whom the Draka see both as a strategic threat and as barbarians for murdering people in concentration camps rather than [[Human Resources|putting them to good use]]. The book gives many readers the uneasy feeling of ''[[Rooting for
* ''[[Friday the 13th (
* In ''[[The Prefect]]'' by [[Alastair Reynolds]], Panoply's only hope is to defeat an [[
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* ''[[Degrassi]]'', in its third and fourth seasons, contrasted Jay (a sociopathic criminal mastermind) with Rick (an unstable maniac who beat his girlfriend). When their schemes collided, Jay turned out to be Eviler than
* Bennet and Sylar were villains in the first season of ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'', Sylar being a sociopathic [[Powers
** Linderman and Sylar could be considered the two driving villains of the show's first season. Linderman being [[The Faceless]] [[Anti-Villain]], wanting to do "good"; and Sylar the ever present [[Implacable Man]]. They never meet or intersect, but Linderman's plot for world renewal hinged on {{spoiler|Sylar (or two other people) exploding in New York.}} His reasons for being so sure this would happen were [[Don't Explain the Joke|sketchy]].
** On the other hand, Sylar was given a sympathetic [[Start of Darkness]] episode, too, in which we got to meet him as the gentle and nerdy Gabriel Gray before Chandra Suresh put all that talk about an Evolutionary Imperative into his head. In another episode, we got to meet Gabriel's neurotic mother. And even Sylar was horrified at the idea of becoming an Exploding Man and wiping out millions of lives. As evil villains go, he's not completely without redeeming qualities. The third season of ''Heroes'' will show if he comes out Eviler than Thou when pitted against other homicidal superpowered villains, or if he effects a [[Heel Face Turn]].
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* Has happened more than once in ''[[Power Rangers]]''.
** Lord Zedd versus Count Dregon in ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]'' season 3.
** The rivalry between Lord Zedd and the Machine Empire in ''[[Power Rangers
** The ''[[Power Rangers Dino Thunder|Dino Thunder]]'' / ''[[Power Rangers Ninja Storm|Ninja Storm]]'' [[Reunion Show]] ends with the [[Villain Team-Up]] breaking down and the two main villains fighting. Mesogog wins by hitting Lothor with his psychic [[Agony Beam]] and...turning him into an action figure. "Very collectible."
** ''[[Power Rangers Operation Overdrive]]'' has no less than four villain factions fighting each other as well as the Rangers: Flurious, Moltor, Kandor and the Fear Cats.
* The vampires Angelus and Spike during the second season of ''[[
* ''[[
** It was implied for a while that Yu might not be as bad as the others, but that never seemed to go anywhere.
*** It wasn't that Yu was less bad, he was just getting old and senile, and was easier to manipulate, so the Tok'ra used it to their advantage. That, and Yu actually had the most to gain by helping Earth. Notably he was the only System Lord remaining from the time of Anubis's banishment for instance, and the only current one to refuse his assent to readmit him - even for the price of removing the Tau'ri and potentially angering the others. Plus he was much less megalomaniacal, not desiring galactic conquest and not particularly interested in events outside his area of the galaxy, which included Earth.
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** And then there's Anubis. The guy who was supposedly way too evil ''even for the Goa'uld''. The Goa'uld System Lords enslaved the galaxy and were extreme egomaniacs. Anubis was [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]] and his ultimate goal was to ''erase all life in the entire galaxy''. And he was smart enough to trick Oma into letting him ascend. Furthermore, he made a lot of Goa'uld (including System Lords) work for him. And crushed the rest of them, including most of Yu's fleet.
** Before Anubis, we had Sokar, who was really into that Satan thing.
* The ''[[
* An episode of ''[[Masters of Horror]]'' had two serial killers (one who picked up and murdered hitchhikers, and another who posed as a hitchhiker and killed anyone who picked him up) in competition with each other.
* In ''[[Kamen Rider OOO]]'', Kazari ultimately ends up being this to the other four Greeed, being the most ruthless and evil of them all. Ironically, {{spoiler|Dr. Maki, a mere human, ultimately performs a [[One-Winged Angel]] transformation into a Greeed and proves himself to be eviler than Kazari by ripping out all his intact Cores and leaving him to die. In the backstory, the Original OOO turned out to be this to the Greeed.}}
* Scorpius to Crais in [[
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* An [[Black and Gray Morality|ongoing contest]] between all the factions in ''[[Warhammer
** And the Tau, who are trying to be better than everyone else and failing with depressing regularity.
*** The Tau being good guys is pretty much [[Common Knowledge]] at this point. At best, they aren't always genocidal, but the re-education, mass sterilization, and mind control aspects of their culture tend to get overlooked by people that aren't familiar with their lore. They just don't seem to work as well as antagonists, so the [[Expanded Universe]] tends to overlook them.
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*** Well duh, how else do you explain all the failures?
** Tyranids and Orks, two of the greatest threats to the galaxy, are currently duking it out as one of the hive fleets got diverted by an Inquisitor... straight into one of the largest and fightiest Ork empires in the galaxy. Unfortunately for the rest of the known universe, when the conflict is finally over, the surviving force will be insanely powerful - the Tyranids will have absorbed the Orks' DNA and so will make new and more powerful creatures, and any surviving Orks will have been so strengthened by the fight that they will probably go on an unstoppable rampage through the galaxy. [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]].
* There's also the epic, eternal Blood War between baatezu ([[Lawful Evil]]) and tanar'ri ([[Chaotic Evil]]) in ''[[Dungeons
** Of course, some supplements imply that without the Blood War, the devils and demons would be able to present a unified front against the forces of good, which would be a Very Bad Thing.
** The 4th edition of ''[[Dungeons
*** The Blood War is referenced in ''Manual of the Planes'': it's been put on hold, not stopped. The devils want to make sure that it's at a time of their choosing. On the other side of the Material Plane, each demon lord would gleefully shred devils by the score, but the first one to make a move will return (if he returns) to find his layer has been divided among his rivals, who took advantage of his back being turned. Of course, an attack on certain Abyssal sites, such as Twelvetrees, by devils (or PCs pretending to be devils) could light the tinder before you can say "Fireball".
** Another 4e example would be the battle between the God of War, Bane, and the God of Savagery, Gruumsh. Bane is a strict, disciplined soldier who believes in [[The Spartan Way]], while Gruumsh is the living embodiment of unbridled [[Unstoppable Rage]]. Gruumsh want's Bane's title. The kicker is that the other gods, even the good ones, recognize that Bane is truly the more evil(he plans on getting rid of that nasty little [[The Evils of Free Will|free will problem]], and sponsor Gruumsh against him, figuring that if nothing else, they'd keep each other occupied.
* In ''[[
** Well...''almost'' inevitable, considering that the non-evil (well, not-really-all-that-evil) Solars are likely to cause some hiccups.
== Theatre ==
* [[Older Than Steam]]: This goes at least as far back as ''[[King Lear]]'' by [[William Shakespeare]], which contrasts Lear's two spoiled daughters with Gloucester's embittered bastard son Edmund. They eventually team up, all planning to double-cross each
* In [[Akira Kurosawa]]'s ''Ran'', the [[Setting Update]] of ''[[King Lear]]'', {{spoiler|Lady Kaeda}} plays the same role, but is even ''more'' evil than Edmund, as it turns out that {{spoiler|the daimyo in the role of Lear destroyed her entire family when she was little, and she's been in it for revenge for decades.}}
* A [[Black Comedy|humorous example]] of this trope occurs in the play and film ''[[Arsenic and Old Lace]]'', where the "good" murderers, the Brewster sisters, are contrasted with the bad murderer, their [[Ax Crazy]] nephew Jonathan. After losing an argument with his lackey about which has the highest body count, Jonathan replies with, "Well, that can easily be taken care of," and prepares to kill again immediately.
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* In the [[Metal Gear]] universe, there's a conflict between the so-called "terrorists" with literally ''noble'' intentions, and the politicians with treacherous, manipulative intentions. Villains such as Big Boss, Liquid Snake/Ocelot, and Solidus Snake formed their own terrorist organizations to free the world's soldiers from the ''real'' villains, the manipulative politicians, particularly The Patriots (aka, the La-Li-Lu-Le-Lo). This forces Solid Snake and his friends to form a third side to combat the threat of both sets of villains, so that they could save the world from the war of two ideologies.
** For an extra layer, the Patriots themselves were originally created to combat an even older group of world controlling politicians.
* ''[[
** The sequel also shows that Ryan also faced opposition from collectivist cult leader and enemy of free will Sofia Lamb.
* The villains of the ''[[Star Control]]'' series are the two races of Ur-Quan: The green Kzer-Za, who swept around one half of the galaxy ''enslaving every living thing''. (with the ultimate intention of sealing them on their respective homeworlds in impenetrable bubbles. They would also allow relative freedom if your race agreed to serve them as battle thralls.) And the black Kohr-Ah, who swept around the galaxy ''killing every living thing''. Once both met at the opposite end of the galaxy, they were both going to fight it out to decide whose approach is "better".
** Even better yet, both approaches are supposed to be '''for your own good'''! The Ur-Quan were originally part of [[The Federation|The Sentient Milieu]], which accidentally stumbled upon the most evil species ever, the Dnyarri, telepaths so powerful that a single individual could utterly dominate the minds of an entire solar system. The Ur-Quan barely managed to free themselves from the Dnyarri's control by a fluke and destroy them after millennia of the most horrible abuse imaginable.
*** To clarify the "for your own good" statement: While both Ur-Quan are ''extremely'' paranoid after said horrible abuse, the Kzer-Za don't want to kill everything, deciding that universal enslavement was enough to ensure that nobody could ever enslave the Ur-Quan, or anyone else, again. (That sounds strange, but the Kzer-Za see themselves as fair masters and usually do not permit their subjects to harm each other. Compared to every other "bad guy" race in the game, and even some of your allies, they seemed downright beneficent. They remind me of my mother more than anything else.) The Kohr-Ah just have a few screws loose, and outright state that, since they believe in reincarnation, by killing every non-Ur-Quan race in the galaxy, they are '''doing them a favor''' by giving them a chance to be reborn as Ur-Quan.
**** A rare example when a mediocre villain invoked much more disgust and ire than the major one. I'm referring, of course, to the Druuge. Unlike the Ur-Quan who, despite their omnicidal/totalitarian tendencies, retained a strict code of honour and had thorough and near-commiserable motivation, the Druuge were nothing but greedy heartless dregs.
* Not strictly evil, but in ''[[
{{quote|
* Kuja, Garland and Queen Brahne in ''[[
* In ''[[
** The [[Barbarian Tribe|Drakkari trolls]] are being invaded by [[The Undead|Scourge forces]] in ''Wrath of the Lich King''. This is especially notable in Drak'Tharon Keep, where players directly get in the middle of battle between the two factions.
** [[Eldritch Abomination|Yogg-Saron]] and [[Fallen Hero|Arthas]] are theoretically in conflict, though it's not very clearly represented in game.
** The [[Giant Spider|Nerubians]] were driven from their homes by both the Scourge and Yogg-Saron's servants, and according to the guide are evil, cruel, and xenophobic. However, in their current state they aren't interesting in picking fights with anyone else and are perfectly willing to work with players.
* ''[[
* Team Aqua and Team Magma in ''[[Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire
* ''[[Castlevania: Chronicles of Sorrow
* ''[[Halo (
{{quote|
'''Gravemind:''' You will be food. }}
* Most games with a [[Karma Meter]] will end up with something like this if the player chooses the Evil end of the spectrum - for example, ''[[Knights of the Old Republic (
** Strangely, while it does have Dark and Light endings, ''[[The Force Unleashed]]'' plays this straight ''both ways''. {{spoiler|The Dark Side Starkiller ultimately proves eviler than Darth Vader, but then the Emperor ends up being eviler than them. Though ultimately, as the expanded [[What If]] Dark Side storyline is to be believed, Starkiller manages to one up the Emperor and Vader by corrupting Luke Skywalker, something that the other two never managed in the real timeline.}}
* ''[[Fate/stay
** No matter what, however, [[Jerkass|Shinji]] is ''always'' on the losing side of villain showdowns. ''Always''.
* In ''[[Okage]]: Shadow King'', a good deal of the game is spent helping [[Living Shadow|Evil King Stan]] beat up the Fake Evil Kings to reclaim his title.
* Appears within the ''[[
* In ''[[
* In ''Mario Super Sluggers'', [[Super Mario Bros.|Bowser]] and [[Donkey Kong Country (
* In [[God of War (
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* ''[[
* In ''[[Adventurers
* During the "Love Potion PART 2" arc of ''[[
** When Riff first meets [[Evil Mastermind]] Minion Master, they face off in a 'Madder Scientist Than Thou', until he bribes Bun-bun to show he's Eviler.
{{quote|
* The quote at the top of the page pretty much sums up the Xykon/Redcloak relationship from ''[[
** More recently, in the main comic, {{spoiler|[[Co-Dragons]] Redcloak and Tsukiko -- who already had a strong rivalry -- finally went head to head and... well, suffice to say, Redcloak's the only Dragon again.}}
* In ''[[Nodwick]]'' ([https://web.archive.org/web/20100819104752/http://nodwick.humor.gamespy.com/gamespyarchive/index.php?date=2003-01-22 Yeagar's pupils arc]) Count Repugsive was kicked out of his own castle by "someone more evil".
* In ''[[Sinfest]]'', [
== [[Web Original]] ==
* Michelle Clore and Terrence in ''[[Kate Modern]]''. One is a high-ranking member of an evil secret society, the other a psychopathic [[All Devouring Black Hole Loan Sharks|loan shark]].
* LifesBlood Labs, the evil corporation from ''[[
{{quote|
* Garrelf and Beardbeard of ''[[Dorf Quest]]'' both get declared the ultimate villains of the plot when things hit the fan and they end up on opposite sides.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[
** Although this is arguably a subversion, in that we've known who the [[Evil Overlord|string-puller]] has been the entire show, but he didn't get active until season 3, in which he tops them all by {{spoiler|giving his daughter his old position. Not that he needs it anymore, as he's just declared himself ''absolute ruler of the world''.}}
*** Well, it's not just that he has bigger motivations, it is that his plan is more grandiose: {{spoiler|Ozai is going to be the absolute ruler of the world by burning all of the Earth Kingdom to the ground with a giant wave of fire}}. Next to that, capturing the Avatar or taking over the capitol looks like nothing.
*** Who's more evil between the father and his daughter is still up in the air, since Ozai's [[Moral Event Horizon]] act mentioned above was ''first suggested by Azula.''
*** Well considering Ozai ''raised'' her that way, it really isn't all that surprising.
* In ''[[Yin Yang Yo
** Played with with Carl and [[Big Bad|the Night Master]] - Carl helped the heroes defeat the Night Master, because he stole Carl's ideas.
* This is done with a rare subtlety in ''[[Transformers]]: [[
** Just in ''Beast Wars''? [[The Starscream|Starscream]] and [[Big Bad|Megatron]] acted like this ''all the time'' in G1 (and any number of alternate continuities). In general, the Autobots always teamed up with Megatron after he'd inevitably been betrayed by Starscream, because Starscream's ambition was pretty much ''limitless''.
* In ''[[Dungeons and Dragons (
* Speaking of ''[[Dungeons
** Of course, that result depends on whether or not you consider the ending of 'My
** The original-flavored one's the fake; he's Megabyte in disguise. Season 4 does end on a desperate cliffhanger, but "My Two Bobs" ain't it
*** ''My Two Bobs'' was [[Edited for Syndication|split into four episodes for broadcast]]. You're thinking of ''[[Shout-Out|Crouching Bi-Nome, Hidden Virus]]'' which is the final part of ''My Two Bobs''.
* In ''[[Shadow Raiders]]'', Blokk and Lamprey were constantly vying for power as the Beast Planet's sole [[The Dragon|Dragon]], even though they served the same master both functioned as [[Big Bad
** Of course being just parts of The Beast, they can just be replace.
* ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]:
** In
* Doubly subverted (but not a [[Double Subversion]]) in ''[[Invader Zim (Animation)|Invader Zim]]''. Tak isn't Eviler than Zim, she's merely more ''competent'' (Tak at least ''tries'' to [[Hannibal Lecture]] him, but Zim [[Overly Long Gag|just continues screaming]]), and Zim doesn't form an [[Enemy Mine]] with Dib because he's disgusted by her methods, but because she's ''stealing his job''.▼
** A lighthearted and ''hilarious'' example occurs in "Operation: A.W.A.R.D.S." The nominees for Best Villain of the Year are Father (who is favored to win), Mr. Boss, Grandma Stuffum, and Stickybeard. Unfortunately, after Numbuh One (who they intended to use as the trophy) is rescued by the rest of Sector V, the four villains get into a fight over who should win, and when Knightbrace actually opens the envelope to announce the winner, a bomb set by the heroes goes off, preventing anyone from knowing who the winner is. The fight between the four continues [[Credits Gag| into the end credits]].
* ''[[Kim Possible (Animation)|Kim Possible]]'', "[[The Movie|A Sitch in Time]]" had [[Harmless Villain|Dr. Drakken]], [[Violent Glaswegian|Duff Killigan]], and [[McNinja|Monkey Fist]] team up with [[Hypercompetent Sidekick|Shego]] against Team Possible. During the course of the movie, Shego betrayed the other villains by stealing the [[MacGuffin|Time Monkey Idol]] for herself, [[Take Over the World|took over the world]], and made herself [[Evil Overlord|the supreme one]]. Bad girl.▼
▲* Doubly subverted (but not a [[Double Subversion]]) in ''[[
* In ''[[The Powerpuff Girls (Animation)|The Powerpuff Girls]]'', Mojo Jojo and Him end up in this kind of contest, attempting to show the [[The Psycho Rangers|Rowdyruff Boys]] who's the [[Has Two Mommies|better father]]. In the end, the Boys decide they're both pathetic and go out to fight the Powerpuff Girls on their own.▼
▲* ''[[
** Warmonga seems less evil than Shego at first, as her loyalty seemingly never wavers to Dr. Drakken. Admittedly, it was possible that Dr. Drakken might indeed be the Great Blue that she had been looking for, though he himself only accepts Warmonga’s offer when he realizes how much she wishes to help him. But it eventually turns out that Warmonga is in fact worse than Shego. She’s conquered entire planets, and she plans on doing the same to Earth.
▲* In ''[[
** Also, the girls were once defeated by an alien, who was using some of Mojo's ideas. When Mojo realized the alien was actually achieving everything he always wanted to, [[Berserk Button|he went berserk]], beat the tar out of him, and forced him to admit that he's more evil.
* ''[[Total Drama Island
{{quote|
** And Alejandro himself compared to [[Depraved Kids' Show Host|Chris]].
* On ''[[Jimmy Two
* In the [[DCAU]] crossover episode between ''[[Superman: The Animated Series
** Also in the [[DCAU]], while [[Darkseid]] doesn't show up anywhere near as much as most other villains like [[Lex Luthor]] or Gorilla Grodd, when he does show up, there is no question as to the [[Big Bad]] is.
* ''[[Turtles Forever]]''. The [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003
* ''[[
* An episode of ''[[
{{quote|
* Doofenshmirtz goes through this twice in ''[[
** Later said word for word by Doofenshmirtz to his more evil counterpart in ''[[Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across
* In ''[[Potsworth and Company]]'', one knows the villain who replaced the [[Big Bad]] is the eviler one when the heroes resort into tricking the [[Bigger Bad]] into firing him and rehiring the original [[Big Bad]].
* In the conclusion of the storyline of the fourth season of ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'', Robin forms an uneasy alliance with Slade, after Slade convinces him that Trigon was a far greater evil (which Robin really couldn't deny). Later, however, Slade proves that he was still a contender when he faces Trigon's demonic guardian:
{{quote|'''Demon:''' Fool. You cannot defeat pure evil!
'''Slade:''' Yeah? Well... I'm not such a nice guy myself.}}
== [[Real Life]] ==
* In prison, serial killer Joel Rifkin once got into a fight with mass murderer Colin Ferguson. The brawl was apparently set off by this exchange:
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'''Rifkin:''' "Yeah, but I had more victims." }}
* When they shared adjoining cells, serial killers Edmund Kemper and Herbert Mullin (who were active in the same area, at around the same time) constantly bickered, argued, and belittled each other. As an article on Mullin put it:
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