Fashion Victim Villain: Difference between revisions

[[File:mrfreeze.png|link=Batman and Robin (film)|frame|Tremble before my bathrobe [[Doomy Dooms of Doom|of DOOM!]] Or else I'll [[Pungeon Master|kick some ice]]! ]]

 

 

The heroes have had it. They've been captured and tied up, and can only watch mutely and impotently as the [[Evil Overlord]]'s final plans unfold. The large, oversized doors at the far end of his cavernous control room swing open, and in walks the [[Big Bad]] himself in an ominous swirl of purple fog...

Uh-oh. It seems we have a '''Fashion Victim Villain''' on our hands.

 

 

It's not hard to see why this should happen. Villainy, as a profession, tends to attract [[Large Ham|flamboyant personality types]]. Still, this is no excuse for dressing up as a [[Depraved Homosexual|gothic drag queen]] during the least appropriate times, and no amount of [[Super Strength|inhuman strength]], [[Kick the Dog|dog-kicking]], or [[Magnificent Bastard]]-ness can restore a villain's menace once it's been undercut by a move like this, at least most of the time. (Unless the villain happens to be a [[Monster Clown]], and the over-the-top costume and makeup is part of his/her schtick.)

Of course, it was also stated in the Evil Overlord List #29, which stated "I will dress in bright and cheery colors, and so throw my enemies into confusion." Still, that's no excuse for not doing it ''well''.

 

 

A subset of [[Narm]]. Compare [[WTH Costuming Department]].

 

== Anime and Manga ==

* If you're a female villain or [[Monster of the Week]] in ''[[Sailor Moon]]'', you will have a bad outfit. The rare exceptions are good guys turned into bad guys (Black Lady, Mistress 9) or the [[Big Bad]] (Galaxia, Nehellenia, Beryl), and even some of them have questionable tastes.

* In the first ''[[Appleseed]]'' movie the officers of the Olympos Regular Army wear completely ridiculous teal uniforms.

* While not a ''[[Anti-Villain|villain]] per se'', at least not an outright one, Mello's outfits in ''[[Death Note]]'' are often bizarre, to say the least.

 

 

* [http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/273218 This flash animation] gives us [[Marvel]]'s less than stellar choices in villainous fashions. At least Galactus has an excuse.

{{quote|'''Galactus:''' I CARE NOT FOR THE OPINIONS OF LESSER MORTALS REGARDING MY HAT.}}

*** They fixed that in ''[[Ultimate Spider-Man]]'' where he loses the fishbowl and instead just has a vaguely head-shaped cloud of fog drifting above the metal device he wears around his shoulders. It's actually rather creepy but still, the beads he wears around his left hand look kind of silly.

*** He's [[Zero Punctuation|been described]] as having been dressed by the [[Camp Gay|Liberace]] [[Space Clothes|Space Program]].

* ''[[The Flash]]'' villain The Rainbow Raider: Admittedly, he is colorblind, so it's not really his fault, but still.

* [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f9/Deimosdcu.png Deimos] from ''[[The Warlord]]''. Between the pixie boots, the bare midriff, the long, dangling loincloth, the random high collar and the huge sleeves, there's something here for everybody to laugh at.

* Sometime during the '90s, Dc introduced [[Batman|Nightwing]]'s future self from an alternate reality. He started a out as a good guy before being turned to the dark side rather quickly. He wasn't the first Bat-family member to do so, or the last, but certainly [http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/4231/teamtitans8.jpg the worst dressed.] [[Spikes of Villainy]]. Mullet. ''Nipple piercing.'' Only half a shirt, but an enormous 1970's collar to compensate. Surely it all made sense in the mind of a madman.Of course, then it in a shocking twist, it he was actually just some guy who had no relation to Nightwing whatsoever and wasn't really from the future. It was the 90s.

 

 

* This trope is spoofed in ''[[The Return (fanfic)|The Return]]'', where [[Big Bad]] Alexia and her [[The Dragon|Dragon]] Aurora continually dress like catwalk models with OTT fake tans and makeup and are mercilessly mocked by the heroes. Thanks to an [[Evil Makeover]] {{spoiler|Dark Mercury}} also comes in for ribbing, but she is acting more as a [[Card-Carrying Villain]] on purpose so probably feels she needs the rather hideous and impractical get up.

* In [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7295884/1/Mao_Grou this] [[Kung Fu Panda]] fanfic, ''everyone'' (yes, even the [[Villain Protagonist|protagonists]]) is a Fashion Victim Villain. The biggest offender is, probably fittingly enough, {{spoiler|Josef Stalin}}.

* ''[[Queen of All Oni]]'': Minor villain [[Smug Snake|Lung]], at least in the opinion of Tarakudo. And since the former's described as looking like "[[Flash Gordon (comic strip)|Ming The Merciless']] Goth cousin", the latter may have a point. And in addition to clothes, Tarakudo also derides Lung's choice of lair, viewing his abandoned, ancient, cliffside fortress as an unoriginal cliche.

 

* The ''[[Masters of the Universe (film)|Masters of the Universe]]'' movie. Frank Langella's golden Skeletor costume, acquired after he achieves ultimate power, plows a line right through Narm and crosses back over to [[So Bad It's Good|Totally Awesome]] again. It's like a gay metallic Chiquita-Banana-ator.

* An example occurs in the live action [[Dr. Seuss]] movie ''[[The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T]]''. The costume the titular mad conductor wears at the end is probably the most flamboyant example of this trope ever made. The villain's dress-up routine even [[Villain Song|gets its own song]] written about it.

{{quote|'''Riddler:''' Like the jacket? It keeps me safe when I'm jogging at night.}}

** Really, Riddler spent the entire movie getting steadily more ridiculous, culminating in a costume containing five thousand pounds of glitter.

** Mr. Freeze from ''[[Batman and Robin (film)|Batman and Robin]]'' wears a bathrobe. With polar bear slippers. [[Franchise Killer|Just another nail in the series coffin.]]

* Xerxes in ''[[300]]'' wears a gold cape and speedo and is covered in gold chains and facial piercings. The facial piercings are a shared trait among the Persians, while the speedo seems to be a universal trait in the film's warped version of reality.

* Averted in ''[[Labyrinth]]'': clothes that would look ridiculous on a lesser man actually look pretty spectacular on [[David Bowie]].

* In its deconstruction of superheros, ''[[Watchmen (film)|Watchmen]]'' features a lot of snide comments about the intentionally silly costumes that heroes and villains wear. Veidt's bright purple-and-gold suit and mask are overtly compared to Studio 54 excess.

* The [[Big Bad]] from ''[[Warriors of Virtue]]'' definitely qualifies as this. And in a movie about ninja kangaroos no less.

* Darius Sayle in ''[[Alex Rider|Stormbreaker]]''. Because nothing says "scary villain" like Mickey Rourke in a white pimp coat and Jack Sparrow makeup.

* Matthew Patel in ''[[Scott Pilgrim vs. the World]]'' is dressed pretty ridiculously, to the point where someone actually thinks he's dressed like a pirate. Patel responds defensively:

{{quote|'''Matthew Patel:''' Pirates are in this year!}}

** Patel is deliberately portrayed as a typical over-the-top Bollywood villain.

** Damodar becomes the [[Big Bad]] in the sequel, somehow losing his badassery.

* In ''[[Zoolander]]'', Mugatu looks like an unholy mixture of Satan, Cruella DeVille, and a poodle. He also inexplicably dresses up as a young German boy during the brainwashing scene.

== Literature ==

* Esmé Squalor in ''[[A Series of Unfortunate Events]]'' is an extreme example.

* One goblin villain in the Drizzt Do'Urden series combined this with [[Rummage Sale Reject]]—all his clothing was scavenged at random off slain humans, and he had no idea what went with what. For that matter, he had no idea that bras are female-only.

* [[War of the Dreaming|Azrael de Gray]], [[Evil Sorcerer]] and [[Fish Out of Temporal Water]]. Also known as "That guy in the pimp jewelry."

* As noted, ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' has had plenty of movies that feature this trope. The top page quote comes from the movie ''[[Operation Double 007]]'', which had the main, middle-aged male villain dressing in a flowy silver caftan and (at the end) a skintight red pleather suit.

** Traxartus, the villain of the movie ''Deathstalker'', frequently wore short tunics with boatneck collars, pink fur, and satin turbans.

'''Crow:''' Wait -- something of ''mine''... }}

** ''[[Puma Man]]'' had [[Big Bad]] Donald Pleasance wearing a girly black and silver tunic.

** The cone-headed invaders from ''[[Invasion of the Neptune Men]]''.

** Xenos, the evil priest king from ''[[Gor|Outlaw of Gor]]''. Even the fact that he was played by the incredibly [[Badass]] Jack Palance couldn't make up for the fact that he was wearing a long dress and a hat that looked like an opening seed pod.

{{quote|'''Joel:''' You can bet that anybody seriously interested in world domination is gonna end up looking like a real snickerdoodle.

'''Dr. Forrester''' ''(in a ridiculous outfit)'': What is that supposed to mean?! I’ll deal with you later! Back to the drill, Frank. ''You will [[Superman (film)|bow down before me, Son of Jor-El!]]'' '''''[[Large Ham|Bow down!]]''''' }}

 

== Pro Wrestling ==

* Damien Demento, especially his hairy Venus flytrap shoulder pads.

* When [[Goldust]] [[Face Heel Turn|turned back to heel at one point]], he became [[The Trope Formerly Known as X|The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust]], who wore [http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/1346/goldust3vt2.jpg garish, disturbing outfits].

** Team Rocket grunts in ''[[Pokémon Gold and Silver|Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver]]'' have pink hair. All of them.

** [[Pokémon Black and White|Team Plasma]] has their agents dressed like Crusade-era knights, complete with Chi Rho on their chest cloth. A few folks on the internet think of them as Renaissance Faire rejects.

* Almost everyone from ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'', but special care must be taken to name Shinnok, Quan-Chi, Sindel, Shang Tsung in MK3, Kano in MK3, and many others. For some reason they don't seem so goofy in the game (except Shang Tsung and his dorky fighting stance), but if you've ever seen pictures of the actors wearing their actual costumes, it is very hard not to laugh. Most of the Earth Realm warrior look rather normal, particularly dressed down characters like Lu Kang and Johnny Cage. Unless doing everything shirtless counts. Sonya, and the ninjas (well, male ninjas anyway) also look rather normal.

* Jeanne from ''[[Bayonetta]]'' wears a red jumpsuit with a huge poofy collar and a bow just above her ass, open-toed, high-heeled sandals, and fluffy tassels on her guns. However, she has nothing on Balder, who wears a ''dead white peacock stole'', a golden quarter mask, and an earring-attached monocle over said mask. [[Fashionable Asymmetry|And a single glove]].

* One of [[Big Bad]] Sadler's [[Dragon]]'s Ramon Salazar from [[Resident Evil 4]]. Not only does he look like a wrinkly literal [[Man Child]], his outfit makes him look like a mini-Napoleon wanna-be that makes it practically impossible to take seriously (if not for his better dressed towering mutant [[Mooks]])

* In ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]'', [[Big Bad Wannabe]] Benny wears a checkered suit that makes him look like a [[Honest John's Dealership|used car]] [[Smug Snake|salesman]]. NPCs and companions will even remark about how ugly the suit is after he's dead.

* Shen Yu (a [[Fu Manchu]] [[Expy]]) in ''[[Evil Genius (video game)|Evil Genius]]'' wears a long, ornate robe of yellow, black, red, and white, complete with a dragon medallion the size of his head and a jade jewel ''in his forehead''. He's almost completely bald, save for a single ponytail. He appears to be wearing blue eye shadow and has perfectly-groomed eyebrows, a ridiculous mustache, and painted fingernails.

** Some of the henchmen aren't much better, such as Jubei (an [[Anime]]-inspired samurai) and Moko (a tribal protector).

** Among the tons of examples of actual characters, The Monarch stands out quite nicely in black and orange spandex with armored bits and huge butterfly wings.

* ''[[Kim Possible]]''

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Costume Tropes]]

[[Category:Villains]]