Exclusively Evil: Difference between revisions
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|'''On the [[The Fair Folk|Dark]] [[Our Elves Are Better|Eldar]]''', ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]''}}
A common conceit of the sci-fi and fantasy genres (and especially games of those genres) is the notion of not an organization, not a clan, not a city, but an entire ''race'' of bad guys who [[Card-Carrying Villain|brag about how '''''Evil''''' they are]]. All of the racial members behave evilly, because - let's face it - ''[[
This trope is actually [[Older Than Dirt]]—are there any myths and folk tales that ''don't'' have some creatures that are portrayed as always evil? Naturally, its subversions have also existed for quite a long time.
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The [[Defector From Decadence]] typically comes from this stock, usually with [[Good Witch Versus Bad Witch|some qualifier]] or after having become an [[Ascended Demon]]. Having an ancestor from such a race usually qualifies a character's evil (or potential for it) as being "[[In the Blood]]".
It's quite common for a fantasy [[Big Bad]] to have an
May be the subject of a [[Genocide Dilemma]]. This is [[Planet of Hats]] when evil is the hat. For evil professions like pirates and hitmen, see [[Villain by Default]]. When a fictional character (whether human or a member of another fictional race) ''wrongly and unreasonably'' believes that a fictional race in his/her world is this trope, it's a case of [[Fantastic Racism]].
A member of a fictional race holding the same unjustified and false belief about humans would likewise be Fantastic Racism. For cases where humanity, aliens, or predators really are this trope, see [[Humans Are the Real Monsters]], [[Aliens Are Bastards]] and [[Predators Are Mean]]. For a trope that includes cases where animals are
Be careful when writing these: may lead to [[Unfortunate Implications]].
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* The Deadites in all three ''[[Evil Dead]]'' films, as well as the Army of the Dead in the third ''Army of Darkness.''
** [[Justified Trope|They're posessed by demons and/or evil spirits]]. Demons are angels that follow Satan, and thus, are also evil.
* ''[[Star Wars]]''
** A very literal example of this in the form of the Tusken Raiders, who, as far as the movies go, never seemed to be portrayed as anything other than [[Chaotic Evil]]. In ''[[The Phantom Menace]]'', they show up very briefly, and even then, it's just to randomly shoot at podracers. In ''[[Attack of the Clones]]'', they kidnapped and tortured Anakin's mother, killing her when Anakin finally shows up, though Anakin's massacre of them is treated as [[Kick the Dog]] moment [[If You Kill Him You Will Be Just Like Him|nonetheless]] And in ''[[A New Hope]]'', they are shown to be [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown|savagely attacking]] random human beings into unconsciousness and [[Kick the Dog|stealing the vehicles of said unconscious human beings]].
*** In the Expanded Universe there is one Tusken Jedi who initially seems to be an exception. Then, after surviving Order 66, he becomes evil anyway when he embraces the Tuskens' ruthless culture. [[Star Wars Legacy|Fast forward a few centuries]], and he's a [[Big Bad]] in his own right. The Tuskens' way of life is [[Rape, Pillage and Burn]] incarnate, so it's understandable that good people don't appear among them.▼
** Jawas are really no better. While far more subtle than the Tusken Raiders, Jawas are the [[Snake Oil Salesman|Snake Oil Salesmen]] of Tattoine, often selling defective technology to gullible moisture farmers. Watto - the greedy junk dealer from ''[[The Phantom Menace]]'' - learned such tricks from Jawas, but despises them, and just ''knows'' they're always sneaking into his lot to steal his best merchandise.
** Hutts. With egos larger than they are, they believe themselves superior to all other creatures and are notorious gangsters. The [[Expanded Universe]] book ''The Planet of Twilight'' feature Beldorion, a Hutt Jedi who was once an exception, but just like the aforementioned Tusken Jedi, he went insane after surviving Order 66, becoming no better than other Hutts, and ''deadlier'' than most, [[Acrofatic| able to fight with a lightsaber and move with uncanny speed for a creature his size.]]
▲** In the Expanded Universe there is one Tusken Jedi who initially seems to be an exception. Then, after surviving Order 66, he becomes evil anyway when he embraces the Tuskens' ruthless culture. [[Star Wars Legacy|Fast forward a few centuries]], and he's a [[Big Bad]] in his own right. The Tuskens' way of life is [[Rape, Pillage and Burn]] incarnate, so it's understandable that good people don't appear among them.
**
== Gamebooks ==
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** Also, anyone described as "swarthy" is ''not to be trusted''.
* Orcs and goblins in the ''[[Fighting Fantasy]]'' books are always evil. Dark elves are an interesting case - in most books, they are portrayed as powerful and very, very evil, but in ''Night Dragon'', they become allies against the [[Eviler Than Thou|eviler]] [[Big Bad|Night Dragon]]. The first one the player meets explains that he doesn't want to see his entire race destroyed, just as the PC, a human, would not want to see all human wiped out.
** The book ''Titan'', which serves as [[All There in the Manual|the backgrounder]] for the world that most Fighting Fantasy books are set in, subverts this trope with the Halfhand brothers. The humans Rerek and Myzar Halfhand, and their human followers, invaded and slaughtered a nation of orcs that were living in a fertile territory that the humans wanted. The book [[
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== Live-Action TV ==
* The orgs of [[Power Rangers Wild Force]]
* Cylons in
** Indeed, the logical impossibility of an Exclusively Evil race is Helo's argument against {{spoiler|the proposed genocide of the Cylons}} in the episode "A Measure of Salvation". He really hammers home the point when talking to his Cylon wife, after she says she "chose to be a person."
{{quote|"You were a person before you put on that uniform, okay? You were a person before I fell in love with you."}}
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** Players themselves seem to [[Special Snowflake Syndrome|like subverting]] Exclusively Evil tropes (or embracing them) simply because the "evil" races and cultures are [[Evil Is Cool|much more interesting]] than the generic "protagonist" races. As GM and ''Dungeons & Dragons'' translator Andrey Lensky wrote long ago:
{{quote|... my experience suggests: write in Monster Manual that among 100 cambions one is Good, and this one will get into adventure.}}
{{quote|'''[[The Spoony Experiment|Noah "The Spoony One" Antwiller:]]''' ''"If there's a way of being a non-evil lich, I'm calling bullshit."''}}
:* ''Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse'' seems to have done away with such classifications, and applied a [[Rousseau Was Right]] policy for sapient beings, at least for now. The only monsters in the book presented as definitely Evil are unique beings like Yeenoghu and Geryon, who are intended to be [[Big Bad]]s of a campaign. All other monsters who usually fit this Trope (even devils, demons, and undead beings) are labeled "Typically Evil", with Lawful or Chaotic added after "Typically". The book also has information on humanoids traditionally portrayed as Evil (like orcs, goblins, bugbears, and kobolds) used as playable PCs. This is even addressed in the entry for yuan-ti, where it says, "However a yuan-ti looks, they have the power to pursue great good or evil in the multiverse."
* As of the most recent edition, ''[[Gamma World]]'' has actually turned several monster species that used to be relatively peaceful in earlier editions (like the Menarls, Grens, Sleeths, and Orlens) into this.
* ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]] Fantasy'' is rather dark for a fantasy setting, though not quite to the extent of ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]''. There are actually a few good guys. Evil races include Demons, Beastmen, Orcs, Goblins, Undead, Skaven, Dark Elves, and Ogres. Also, one of the few times in which the "chaotic" part of Exclusively Evil plays a part, as pretty much every evil race can be traced back to mutations caused by Chaos, which is a powerful force in the Warhammer world.
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* ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' has a few of such races, given [[Long Runner|how long the story has gone on and how many planes have been detailed]], but the most prominant would be the Phyrexians, who served as the villains of the plot for ''years'' in real-time. With a few exceptions, every last one of them is a [[Complete Monster]].
** Even still, Phyrexians in their newest form seem to move away from this trope. Ever since the Phyrexians took over Mirrodin, turning it into New Phyrexia, there have been five different factions corresponding to each of the five colors, and each being lead by a praetor, each with their own brand of pitch-black evil...Except the red praetor, Urabrask the Hidden, who, true to his red mana alignment, is a lot more individualistic and merciful than the other praetors, and therefore leads the only Phyrexian faction capable of free will and compassion. Probably due to this, he is the only Phyrexian leader who plots against the other praetors not simply to gain power but to actually work against Phyrexia as a whole. This is mainly due to the fact that Phyrexia's primary goals strongly go against two of red's strongest points: freedom and emotion.
== Video Games ==
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