Exclusively Evil: Difference between revisions
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[[File:gothmog and army.jpg|link=The Lord of the Rings (film)|frame|Yep, every last one of 'em.]]
{{quote|''Do not offer them riches, they care not for your coin. Do not offer them surrender, they care not for victory. Offer them nothing, for they come only to murder.''
|'''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
Be careful when writing these: may lead to [[Unfortunate Implications]].
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{{noreallife|no group of people can be accurately described with blanket statements.}}
{{examples|Add Examples, ya scum! Get crackin! If ''He'' catches you lollygagging, you knows what will happen!}}▼
▲{{examples|Add Examples, ya scum! Get crackin! If ''He'' catches you lollygagging, you knows what will happen!}}
== Anime
* Most of the Saiyans in ''[[Dragon Ball]]'' were said to generally be barbaric planet destroying bullies. Goku (being a unique exception in which he fell and hit his head as a baby) and a few other characters are the exception rather than the norm. This is often overlooked by fans, which Akira Toriyama parodied in Neko Majin Z with the character of [[Fat Bastard|Onio]].
* The Mazoku, from ''[[Slayers]]''. Given that they [[The Heartless|literally feed on negative emotions]], they have a lot more reason to be this way than most examples of this trope.
** Also, they are pretty much demons, whose stated goal is to [[Omnicidal Maniac|end existence]]. It's just how they were created. Oddly enough, the Dragons, servants of the gods, are oftentimes [[Black and Gray Morality|morally ambiguous]]. {{spoiler|This moral ambiguity is a major point of the entire 3rd season.}} Throw in that [[Lovable Traitor|Xellos]], a Mazoku, can sometimes be [[Affably Evil|friendly and helpful]] when not actively trying to end existence, you get a fair amount of moral ambiguity. At one point Xellos {{spoiler|helps save the world, because he [[The Only One Allowed to Defeat You|and the Mazoku of the ''Slayers'' dimension want to end it themselves]]}}.
*** Played utterly straight with trolls and other monsters (it is based on ''[[Dungeons
* It is [[Justified Trope|justified]] in ''[[Mazinger Z]]'': The [[Mook]]s are zombies revived thanks to cybernetic implants by the [[Big Bad]] Dr. Hell. Since he mechanized his brains, wiped his minds out to erase any memory of their former lives and any shred of independant thought and programmed them to be absolutely and unquestionably loyal and obedient, then you have they pretty much have no choice other than being Exclusively Evil.
** ''[[Great Mazinger]]:'' The Mykene play with this trope. The [[Robeast|Warrior Monsters]] are [[Humongous Mecha]] with the head of a Mykene soldier implanted in the giant mechanical body. Since the soldiers are indoctrinated to attack and wipe out anything non-related to the Mykene civilization, the trope is [[Justified Trope|justified]]. On the other hand, the commanders of the army display different personalities and even honorable qualities (specially Ankoku Daishogun), and even though they are not portrayed like ''good'', they are not portrayed like proud of being ''evil'', but like a proud race of warriors want to return to the surface world after being forced to [[Beneath the Earth|living underground for millennia]].
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'''Gwendal:''' Of course it's a demon sword! }}
* The youma from ''[[Claymore]]'', who live entirely to eat humans.And the awakened beings, whose nature is also to feed on humans, but are far more dangerous.
* The Diclonius from ''[[Elfen Lied]]'' are suggested to be hardwired to cause destruction among humans, though their behavior may also be influenced by the inhumane treatment they received [[Humans Are
** Though, by the end of the manga, {{spoiler|we find out that the Diclonus are descendants of the Oni from ancient times (with Lucy being the only true genetic descendant), and that their need to kill humans stems from their demonic ancestors genetically encoding them to want to seek revenge on their destroyers.}}
*** But, {{spoiler|the man who believed that turned out to not be a Diclonius at all, bringing that whole origin into question.}} It was {{spoiler|suggested that Lucy was just the result of a genetic mutation in her mother.}}
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== Fan
* In crossover [[Alternate Universe]] fics, usually with the ''[[Stargate Verse]]'', the Twelve Colonies from ''[[Battlestar Galactica
* The Muk and bug-type Pokémon in the ''[[
* In the ''[[Mass Effect]]'' fanfic
* The Uchiha are usually portrayed as this in ''[[Naruto]]'' fanfic, except for Mikoto, Itachi, Obito and, on '''rare''' occasions, Sasuke.
* From ''[[My Immortal]]'', the [[Designated Villain|Preps]] are always antagonistic and [[Informed Wrongness|evilly preppy]].
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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.
** Naturally, this is the case with Sith Lords. Seeing as their power is derived from the Dark Side of the Force, which is in turn, an embodiment of negative emotions like hate, fear, envy, and anger. While many might claim Darth Vader to be an exception, this is not true, as the moment he renounced the Dark Side by slaying Palpatine in an epic [[Heroic Sacrifice]], he ceased being a Sith Lord.
== 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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** The more recent books have subverted this with ShadowClan being nothing more than a rival Clan, and most opposition come from WindClan instead.
** Also subverted with ''Bluestar's Prophecy'', where ThunderClan faces the most opposition from RiverClan, and never had to deal with ShadowClan. It seems that different Clans end up being seen as "evil" depending on the political atmosphere (''ThunderClan'' was actually branded as evil for a while early in ''Bluestar's Prophecy'' after their {{spoiler|1=unprovoked raid on WindClan camp}}).
** The cats tend to [[Xenofiction|see]] [[Humans Are Cthulhu|humans]] (or twolegs, in the language of the clans) like this. After all, some people [[Humans Are
* Played straight in the ''[[Chronicles of Thomas Covenant]]'' with the Cavewights (though it is established that they weren't always evil), and subverted with the ur-viles. Despite their name, the latter are less evil than they are alien and inscrutable, and are allied with the [[Big Bad]] only to advance their own ends. {{spoiler|In the second and third series, they apparently decide that helping the heroes advances said ends better. Unfortunately, as they either can't or won't speak English, we're not entirely sure what those ends ''are''...}}
* There are probably more examples in ''[[Perry Rhodan]]'' than anyone would care to mention here, but just in the newest arc (which started only a few weeks ago) there is a race of Big Bads (who can't really die) who have genetically grown really bad mooks at their disposal, in almost unlimited quantities.
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** Further, in the fourth book, the Alliance finds some Grik who, {{spoiler|possibly as a result of being cut off from their army for several months, are willing to surrender and give peace a chance. Grik are berserkers, more or less; they '''don't''' surrender. But '''these''' do}}.
* Although they don't go 'round cackling about it (much), the Melnibonean culture in [[Michael Moorcock]]'s [[The Elric Saga|Elric]] series is pretty much evil by definition. Torture, slavery, betrayal, cruelty, sadism, and ruthlessness are prized traits in their "civilization." Essentially, the decaying race of Melnibone is a decadent form of [[Evil Is Cool|evil elves]]. Elric is by far the best of them, and even he is a Grade-A [[Anti-Hero]] who betrays his kingdom because even he feels that Melnibone as a whole [[Impaled with Extreme Prejudice|just needs killin']].
** Melniboneans are, in fact, the inspiration for [[Dungeons
*** And of Winnowill from ''[[Elf Quest]]''.
* The Others from ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'', from what little we've seen of them. Some fans find this disappointing, considering the otherwise heavily gray morality of the rest of the series's cast.
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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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*** This also leads to [[Fridge Brilliance]], as vampires and demons were presented as Exclusively Evil, but became more and more grey as the series went on. The clincher? They were presented to Buffy this way through the Watchers council, a conspiracy that was slowly revealed to be corrupt and full of [[Knight Templar]] tendencies at the same time that complexities began showing up in the initial "demons are Exclusively Evil" mantra.
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'' has a few of these, although they usually have a [[Justified Trope|reason]]. For example:
** The Daleks: mutated aliens in travel machines who are only capable of hate and negative emotions due to being bred that way by [[Mad Scientist]] Davros. They simply are made to believe Daleks are a supreme race and, [[Doctor Who/Recap/S31/E12 The Pandorica Opens|unless events outside of their control are threatening reality with oblivion]], everyone else deserves to die. [[Scary Dogmatic Aliens|They're]] [[Recycled in Space|Space]] [[A Nazi by Any Other Name|Nazis]] (in the serial "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S12/E04 Genesis of the Daleks|Genesis of the Daleks]]", we learn that Davros "removed the brain cells of the conscience" from the proto-Daleks—a feat that would be, to put it mildly, challenging). In fact, the Daleks are so evil that [[Doctor Who/Recap/
*** In "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S4/E09 The Evil of the Daleks|The Evil of the Daleks]]", a sub-species of "Good Daleks" is created by the Doctor infecting them with the "Human Factor"; that is, human emotions and a sense of conscience. This results in a full-scale civil war between the two factions which allegedly destroyed the entire species. Terry Nation, the Daleks' creator, had planned to license them out to a US network for their own show, and expected that they would not be available for ''Doctor Who'' for the foreseeable future ([[wikipedia:The Evil of the Daleks|the idea went nowhere]]). When the Daleks eventually returned five years later, some dialogue was filmed explaining that the "Good Daleks" had been wiped out, but this was edited out, leaving their canon fate ambiguous.
*** A story in [[Doctor Who Magazine]]'s Eighth Doctor comics, "Children of the Revolution", was all about the Doctor and Izzy meeting the Human Factor Daleks, who survived and were hiding peacefully in the oceans of a planet about to be colonized by humans. {{spoiler|The story ends up with the entire Dalek colony sacrificing themselves to stop the Big Bad, though.}}
*** The Daleks' evil was hammered home '''really hard''' in "[[Doctor Who/Recap/
{{quote|'''Solomon:''' Daleks, ain't we the same? Underneath, ain't we all kin? See, I've just discovered, this past day, that God's universe is a thousand times the size I thought it was. And that scares me. Oh, yeah, terrifies me right down to the bone. [[Hope Spot|*Hopeful music starts playing*]] But surely it's got to give me hope, hope that maybe, together, we can make a better tomorrow. So, I beg you, now, if you have any compassion in your hearts, then you'll meet with us, and stop this fightin'. Well... what do you say?
'''Dalek:''' Exterminate! [[Black Dude Dies First|*Shoots him*]] }}
** The Cybermen: the originals had lost all their emotions due to replacing almost all their body parts with machinery, and couldn't see ''why'' someone wouldn't want to "Become like us". The new series' version is closer to the Daleks, but still have the desire to convert instead of just killing everyone.
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** In many ways, the Time Lords are also this, with the Doctor himself being the Drizz't of the bunch (and perhaps a few others like the Corsair, Romana, etc).
*** Or are they? While they've undoubtably done some evil things, they seem to be trying to prevent the end of the universe, {{spoiler|which will apparently happen if the Doctor lives long enough.}} They may possibly have some kind of good motivation, it's been kept too ambiguous so far.
* The Reavers in ''[[Firefly]]''. It's never quite explained why they don't kill/rape/eat each other, even though they travel in such massive groups.
** As revealed in the movie, ''[[Serenity]]'', {{spoiler|Reavers are infected with a chemical agent that, in .01% of the population, causes uncontrolled aggression.}} Given that Reavers mutilate themselves for no reason at all, the idea that they don't rape/kill/eat each other is probably due to the fact that other Reavers wouldn't care about having it done TO them. {{spoiler|On their home world, they didn't attack the 99.99% who simply became overly passive, most likely because the "passives" wouldn't have given a crap either way.}}
** And that woman was part of a team sent to investigate why all communication with the planet had stopped. When the crew of Serenity check out the place, they note that everyone just laid down and died, and there are no signs of violence whatsoever.
** One could use the facts of the movie to [[Retcon]] "Bushwhacked" as the lone survivor of the ship being the only one of the crew to react in the "Reaver" way to the Pax. The Reavers, who can sense this, left him alone and murdered the rest of the crew in front of him, then left him to change as a second booby-trap (the first one being the little thing that Kaylee had to disable to free Serenity).
* The Goa'uld in ''[[Stargate SG-1]]''. Thoroughly [[Justified Trope|justified]] in the RPG supplement on the System Lords, where it's described as a stacking effect of the circumstances of their evolution, their genetic memory, and their use of the sarcophagus. The Goa'uld queen Egeria, the progenitor of Tok'ra, spawned an entire subrace of [[My Species Doth Protest Too Much]].
** This is repeatedly emphasized in episodes of the show like "Crossroads" and "Absolute Power". As Daniel notes, being a Goa'uld is like being "born with the memories of a thousand Hitlers." After researching the device more thoroughly, Daniel eventually revised that as simply causing madness and addiction—a bit less colorful than stealing the soul, but same net result.
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** Except for individuals like Hugh, and some kind of subconscious [[The Resistance|resistance]] on Voyager.
** The [[Star Trek: The Original Series|original series]] played with this trope in regards to Klingons. Most Klingon captains tend to fall into this, but some episodes (notably "The Day of the Dove") make a point to show that this is more a perception/stereotype our heroes have of them than an actual truth. Klingons are "the enemy", but not necessarily Exclusively Evil.
*** Though episodes like "Day of the Dove" were the exception rather than the rule. [[Star Trek V: The Final Frontier|The fifth movie based on the series]] was another exception. With [[Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country|the sixth original series film]] and ''[[Star Trek: The
** Initially played straight with the Jem'Hadar, with an infant Jem'Hadar who quickly turns out exactly how everyone warned Odo he would. But eventually averted with a few individuals later, who show some traits of [[Proud Warrior Race]] (mostly these are [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness|immediately killed]]).
*** The Jem'Hadar and Vorta were both justified as species genetically manipulated by [[Voluntary Shapeshifting|The Founders]] to fight their wars for them. Both were addicted to a substance only the Founders could provide, and were indoctrinated in the idea that [[God Guise|the Founders were gods]]. Generally, they were [[Expendable Clone]]s, although [[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"|the Female Changeling]] did seem to [[Pet the Dog|mourn]] Weyoun #8's death.
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== Tabletop Games ==
* The trope name comes from ''[[
** Originally, every type of monster or creature would simply have an entry for "Alignment" stating one [[Character Alignment]] or another, without any modifiers; not only did it imply that pratically all creatures of that type had the alignment, but it wasn't even brought up that there could be any other way.
** In 3.0+ this was relaxed, by inserting "often", "usually" or "always" in front of the alignment descriptor, to indicate how strong a tendency, cultural or otherwise, the race in question had to be of the alignment. This also created the phrase "Always [[Chaotic Evil]]". Later the only races who are always one alignment or another are those who are somehow "tied" to good or evil (or law or chaos), such as demons, angels, and other spiritual creatures; or those without sufficient Intelligence to recognize alignment, which are always [[True Neutral|neutral]] unless the previous rule overrides it. (Lemures, lowest of the devils, don't have an Intelligence score but are still Always Lawful Evil.) Of course, mortal "bad guy" races are still marked as "usually evil", which is probably close enough to this trope as to make no difference.
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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
** Ogres are on this list for a somewhat different reason than other races. They live in a society that is based only on one rule. Might makes right. Their god could easily be a weird mix of Slaanesh and Nurgle, with gluttony and avarice being main virtues ogres value. Despite the fact that ogres seemingly follow many rules, one of their special characters had his hands chopped off for the crime of eating his leaders gnoblars, despite him being shaman for their god. What makes Warhammer ogres chaotic is the fact that while ogres can be negotiated with succesfully, unlike orcs and forces of chaos, ogres don't feel bad for eating you a second after the contract is done. One of their tribes actually value iron more than gold for the simple reason that with gold they can buy a weapon of iron, but with a weapon of iron they can have all of your gold.
* For reasons beyond, everyone in ''[[Warhammer
** The Dark Eldar ultimately subvert the trope. They can only stay alive and young by murdering and torturing as many people as possible, so their entire culture is based around killing and butchering people. And if they can't find people of other races to do it to, [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder|well...]] However, they are still considered part of the larger race of Eldar by their kin, who vary wildly in [[Character Alignment]]. It is possible for Dark Eldar to get sick of being [[Chaotic Evil]] and join some other Eldar faction, ultimately blending in entirely with their new comrades. With that said, any Eldar living in [[Wretched Hive|Commorragh]] is going to be evil... or prey.
** Then there are the Orks, who just have no fear of death, think killing is loads of fun, and aren't smart enough to realize that the other species disagree (though the [[Blood Knight|other]] [[Omnicidal Maniac|species]] themselves [[Manipulative Bastard|don't]] [[Complete Monster|help]]). In fact, in any ''non''-[[Crapsack World]], they'd probably be a pretty big subversion of this trope.
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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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** Also played straight with the Dnyarri, the former psychic slave-masters of the Ur-Quan and the Sentient Milieu, who are confirmed by anyone who knew of them to have been an entire race of [[Complete Monster]]s. They turned the entire Milieu into an enormous Gulag and casually exterminated those races that didn't perform up to their standards. They were so horrible that, even tens of thousands of years later, both Ur-Quan societies are still centered entirely and insanely around preventing ever being enslaved again. At one point, the Ur-Quan Kzer-Zah can tell you that dying a thousand times would be far preferable [[Fate Worse Than Death|to living under Dnyarri control.]]
** The Umgah, while not as aggressively malevolent as the Ilwrath, are a race of rather cruel [[The Trickster|tricksters]]. Some of their "practical jokes" include tricking the cowardly Spathi into fighting for the Ur-Quan instead of being placed under a protective shield, tricking the Ilwrath into committing genocide on the Pkunk, and inadvertently reviving one of the aforementioned Dnyarri in an effort to start a war within the Hierarchy (this one [[Hoist by His Own Petard|backfires big time]]). They consider all the death and suffering they cause to be [[For the Evulz|hilarious]].
* Originally, the monsters that the title brothers of ''[[Super Mario Bros.]].'' fought were just generically evil. (Indeed, Bowser's original title was Daimaou, or "Great Demon King".) However, later games with [[Role
* In general, in most old action video games (''[[Metroid]]'', ''[[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]]'', ''[[The Legend of Zelda (video game)|The Legend of Zelda]]''...), the enemy races rarely ever have any good counterparts, at least none that you ever see. In fact, for many of these old games anyone (and [[Everything Trying to Kill You|anything]]) visible aside from the player is evil.
** Even in those games, there are subversions: ''[[Metroid]]'' featured the baby Metroid of the second and third games, ''[[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]]'' eventually had Proto Man, {{spoiler|and even the very first game in ''[[The Legend of Zelda (video game)|The Legend of Zelda]]'' series had a few Moblins go AWOL and ask Link to leave them alone in exchange for a few Rupees. IT'S A SECRET TO EVERYBODY}}.
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** In another example, the Eredar were originally represented as an irredeemably evil race of demons who corrupted the mightiest warrior among the [[Precursors|Titans]] into the [[Big Bad]] and enslaved the Orcs. Inexplicably, they became a race of honorable beings who were corrupted ''by'' the [[Big Bad]]'s own festering corruption. This happened through a [[Retcon]] in the ''World of Warcraft'' [[Expansion Pack]] ''Burning Crusade'', after the third game and its expansion as well as four books and a trilogy presented them as ''completely'' evil. The creator of ''Warcraft'', Chris Metzen, has admitted this was something of a train wreck, but sticks by his decision.
** However, many enemy races, particularly the Gnolls, the Harpies, the Troggs, nearly all demons, the Naga, and the Murlocs ''are'' (almost) Exclusively Evil. Most of them have individual exceptions or motivations, though.
** The Vrykul are not the nicest folk, and are usually presented as enemies of the Alliance and Horde, but some are approachable and reasonable. Their darker counterparts the Kvaldir, however, are a different story. Corrupted by Helya, this degenerate offshoot of the race are beyond redemption.
** The Black Dragonflight is this after Neltharion became corrupted and his name was changed to Deathwing, as they enjoy killing and only follow orders from dragons strong enough to kill them. The other dragonflights consider them beyond redemption. {{spoiler|The one possible exception being an uncorrupted black dragon egg.}}
** Some demons like the Nathrezim (aka. the [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Dread Lords]]), Ered'ruin (Doomguards), Sayaad (Incubi), and Mo'arg(felguards seem to have always been evil. The entire race is so evil that their ''mere existence'' convinced [[Big Bad|Sargeras]] that the Titans' mission to bring order to creation was futile.
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* [[The Heartless]] in ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' are a sort of "souless evil" who seem to attack everyone on sight and have no personality.
** Ditto the Nobodies, though this is disputed out-of- and in-universe.
* In the ''[[4X]]'' game, ''[[Galactic Civilizations]]'', roughly half the playable civilizations are always evil. Humans are portrayed as always good, a [[Humans Are
** Interestingly, status as "good" or "evil" is based only on choices made during random events; your civilization can embark on massive campaigns of galactic genocide and still be considered "good".
* The Grox race from ''[[Spore]]'' are a race of cyborgs and almost always conduct raids on random races, making them being viewed as the galaxy's ultimate evil. {{spoiler|This is actually a subversion, as the Grox are only reacting to the threat posed by oxygen-breathing life forms that gain the power of space flight, and inevitably use terraforming to spread their deadly (to Grox) oxygenated atmospheres to other planets. You can even ally with them, if you both prove yourself willing to spare Grox-inhabited worlds your terraforming AND prove your own race to be a powerful ally against other oxygen-breathing races, mostly by making a complete mockery of intergalactic law, blowing up their planets with wild abandon, and exhibiting the ability to survive in spite of the entire rest of the galaxy declaring war on you.}}
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* [[Discussed Trope|Discussed]] in ''[[The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim]]'' with Paarthunax, a dragon who chose to rebel against [[Big Bad|Alduin]] and aid the humans fighting his rule. He explains that dragons have an innate nature to dominate and destroy, and that he has overcome his own nature through thousands of years of constant meditation, and every day he has to struggle with his own inner nature which is driving him to hop off his mountain, fly down among the humans, and start eating and ruling over them. When confronted for his [[Retired Monster|past crimes]], he replies thusly:
{{quote|''What is better? To be born good, or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?''}}
* The ''[[X Universe]]'' has [[Space Pirates]], Yaki ([[Yakuza]] <small>[[Recycled in Space|IN SPACE!]]</small>), [[
== Webcomics ==
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* Elves in ''[[8-Bit Theater|Eight Bit Theater]]'' are all racist, genocidal narcissists whose history has been described as a lovesong to bloodshed and themselves. Their arrogance is also unjustified, as they prove to be no better than other races (for example, having technology on par with other races despite a 9,000 year head start), something that Black Mage and Red Mage tell Thief, the Elven Prince. Their national anthem begins "We're a race of total bastards." An anthem they ''stole''.
** The other races aren't much better. ''8-Bit Theater'' is a [[Crapsack World]], after all.
* Parodied by way of [[Not So Different]] in [https://web.archive.org/web/20120720140607/http://badgods.com/orc.html this] ''Bad Gods'' comic by Lore Sjöberg.
* In ''[http://www.harkovast.com/?id=17 Harkovast]'', the Nameless Race cannot speak or think but are described as constantly marching to war. They have yet to do anything other than attack people, and are generally killed without mercy by the story's heroes.
* Due to misconception and propaganda, everyone in ''[[Twokinds]]'' thinks everyone else is Chaotic Evil. The [[Petting Zoo People]] only deal with Human slavers and death-squads, human propaganda says the beastmen want to commit genocide (and therefore, the two speces generally treat the other as Orcs), and the other guys - a group of [[Overlord|Brown Minion]] expies - think that everyone else is this.
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* In ''[[The Gamers Alliance]]'', demons are initially shown as intelligent beings who cause suffering because they enjoy it. They used to be a noble race until their god Mardük went mad, which transformed them into their grotesque forms and twisted their minds into serving the destructive aspect of Chaos. However, eventually the heroes meet a few friendly demons and realize that despite their bloodthirsty nature not all demons are irredeemable monsters.
* The Cthonians from the ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]''. But then, they are based on Lovecraft's Deep Ones.
* Averted for many traditional "monster races" in ''[[Tales of MU]]'', especially the subterranean elves (don't call them "Dark Elves", and "Drow" is a serious racial slur up, there with "spider jockey" and "cowl head") who simply have [https://web.archive.org/web/20110810230624/http://talesofmu.nfshost.com/story/bonus-stories/bonus-story-meditations a bad reputation due to cultural misunderstandings]. Played more straight with Demons and Ogres, as well as {{spoiler|[[Our Mermaids Are Different|mermaids]]}}.
* Deconstructed in ''[[The Salvation War]]''. The society in hell actively encouraged [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder]], [[You Have Failed Me...]], [[We Have Reserves]], and [[Shoot the Messenger]]. The result was an inefficient and unstable society that collapsed once it came under external pressure. Lampshaded on several occasions by baldrick defectors.
* ''Heavily'' subverted in [http://bogleech.com/mortasheen.htm Mortasheen], where no creatures are inherently evil (well, except for the Dolfury), and they're all as loyal to their trainers as any Pokemon would be. Yes, that includes the [[Our Demons Are Different|scary mind-raping Devilbirds]] and the [[Eldritch Abomination|horrible, maddening Unknowns]].
* This trope is comprehensively picked to pieces in ''[[The Return (fanfic)|The Return]]'' where it's revealed that Succubus (Succubi? Succubae? Help me out here people) culture is possibly more complex and multidimensional than human culture, and, from their point of view, it is humanity that borders on Exclusively Evil.
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* There's also Sara Waite from the [[Whateley Universe]].
* The ktuvoks in [http://www.zompist.com/virtuver.htm the world of Verduria]. Their entire society is based on [[Brainwashed|Brainwashing]] humans who are less advanced than they into obedient slaves, and they are so good at it that if humans are freed from their control, [[Stockholm Syndrome|the humans will ally themselves with the ktuvoks willingly]]. In addition, they attack all free human civilizations, using their slaves as [[Mooks|Cannon Fodder]], laying everything to waste and commiting every war crime in the book. They have no culture or learning to speak of, and merely steal the innovations of other races. And the worst part? The ktuvoks are severly restricted to where on the planet they can live; they cannot survive away from swamps. The only reason they take over much of the continent and turn humans into loyal [[Complete Monster]] slaves is [[For the Evulz]].
== Western Animation ==
* Supposedly, the Rhubarbarians from "Duke and the Great Pie War', a ''[[Veggie Tales]]'' episode.
* On ''[[The Fairly
* The Decepticons in most versions of the ''[[Transformers]]''. (Though the Decepticon Octane {{spoiler|defected to neutral after he got in hot water with [[Ax Crazy|Galvatron]]}}.
** There are also the [[Transformers Generation 1|various]] [[Transformers Film Series|incarnations]] of Jetfire.
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** The Quintessons are almost always this.
** The spawn of [[Omnicidal Maniac|Unicron]] are almost always every bit as evil as their master. {{spoiler|The Minicons from ''Armada'' were an exception, though they were created for the sole purpose of giving the Autobots and Decepticons something to fight over.}}
* Both invoked and averted on ''[[Gargoyles]]''. All races portrayed onscreen (humans, gargoyles, fae, and New Olympians) are shown to have both good and evil members, but [[Big Bad|Demona]] [[Humans Are
** Demona herself is one of very few evil gargoyles, the race as a whole is supposedly [[Always Lawful Good]], having a near biological drive to protect and safeguard the places that they live and those places' inhabitants. It is, however, up to the individual gargoyle clans how they choose to interpret these drives, ranging anywhere from "Stay the hell away from my caves, filthy human scum" to "Here I come to save the daaaaay!"
* The above fable of the Frog and the Scorpion is parodied in ''[[Robot Chicken]]'', [http://robotchicken.wikia.com/wiki/In_My_Nature here.]
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* ''[[Futurama]]'' has a species of evil leeches, the "Dark Ones". All of the species lived at a single puddle, and yet all their evil was useless against a bag of cement, used to prepare the ground to be turned into a parking lot.
* The Changelings from ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]].'' {{spoiler|Their queen}} even gloats that ever since she was little, she dreamed of razing Equestria and [[Emotion Eater|essentially]] using ponies as food.
* The Wart Mongers from ''[[The Smurfs]]'' are at first believed to be a race with no redeeming values at all, being brutish, greedy, boorish bullies who [[Bad Is Good and Good Is Bad| enjoy being ugly and disgusting]] while hating everyone. The Smurfs have a very hard time trusting [[Zorro| the heroic]][[Shout Out| Masked Croaker]] when he shows up, but it quickly becomes clear he is, indeed, the [[White Sheep]] among them.
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Exclusively Evil]]
[[Category:Fictional Culture and Nation Tropes]]
[[Category:Tropes of Hats]]
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