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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"[[The Joker|Some]] [[Complete Monster|men]] aren't looking for anything logical [[Greed|like money]]. They can't be [[Cut Lex Luthor a Check|bought]], [[Shut UP, Hannibal|bullied]], [[Kirk Summation|reasoned]] or [[Deal
|'''Alfred''', ''[[The Dark Knight]]''}}
Most villains have logical motivations for (morally) reprehensible actions and intentions. [[Ambition Is Evil|Ambition]], [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|greed]], [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|zeal]], [[Dirty Coward|fear]], [[Love Makes You Evil|love]], [[Politically-Incorrect Villain|hatred]], [[Best Served Cold|revenge]], [[Dark and Troubled Past|a troubled]] [[Freudian Excuse|childhood]], [[Utopia Justifies the Means|the desire for utopia]] [[Visionary Villain|and other warped "ideals"]] can all drive people to evil in ways that you and I understand and may be personally familiar with. If a villain's motivations can just be understood, they can [[Kirk Summation|be reasoned with]] - sometimes.
Some villains, on the other hand, cannot be reasoned with because there is ''nothing'' reasonable about their reasons for acting... well, evil. Unlike the ''amoral'' motivation we call [[It Amused Me]], which may lead to evil in the pursuit of attachment-free amusement, someone whose motivation is
A villain whose defining characteristic is this motiveless malignity is almost without fail a [[Complete Monster]], with the Complete Monster being defined by, well, being [[Exactly What It Says
Of course, [[Tropes Are Not Good]] without fail. Poor writing of this trope can lead to [[Stupid Evil]] territory from villains do [[Evil Is Petty|petty]] things to [[Too Dumb to Live|doing things that'll kill them.]]
[[Video Game Cruelty Potential]] is when the player of a game is allowed or even encouraged to do things
[[Sister Trope]] to [[Threw My Bike
The [[Evil Counterpart|Good Counterpart]] is [[For Great Justice]].
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
==
* Ladd Russo for ''[[Baccano
* (Dis)Honorable mention goes to Eliza Reagan from ''[[
* The motivation, understanding and epitome of ''[[
** Broly does unspeakable acts of destruction and slaughter just because he thinks it's hilarious.
* ''[[
* Lust in the manga of ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' is like this, carrying out Father's orders just because she gets to cause pain and suffering towards humans. Though she isn't as bad as...
** Envy, who also displays this trait way too much for his own good, as his sadistic tendencies introduce him to a world of hurt when he's up against smarter opponents.
** Barry the Chopper, though he occasionally does good things.
** In the first anime, Zolf J. Kimbley plays this completely straight, as he loves to cause explosions and makes people living bombs, because it amuses him. He confirms this during his showdown with Scar.
{{quote|
'''Kimbley:''' Nothing.
'''Scar:''' 'Nothing'?! You mean to tell me you sacrificed all these people, for NOTHING?!? }}
* Ali al-Saachez from ''[[
** {{spoiler|Nena Trinity}} in season 1, who {{spoiler|blows up a wedding (which Louise just happens to be attending)}} because she's bored.
* Millennium from ''[[
** [[Death Seeker|Or, at least, that's what he wants you to think...]]
* In ''[[
* A strange deconstruction of this is one of the reasons why [[Complete Monster|Johan Liebert]], the titular ''[[Monster (
* Gauron, the character Ali is an [[Expy]] of, from ''[[Full Metal Panic
* Kuroudo Akabane, the transporter from ''[[
* There are two quotes from ''[[
* Wiseman/Death Phantom from ''[[
* Although Drosselmeyer in ''[[
* Contrary to expectations, Ryuk from ''[[
** [[Serial Killer|Beyond]] [[Red Eyes, Take Warning|Birthday]], on the other hand, totally did it
* Mon and Toshi of ''[[The World Is Mine]]'' are [[Mad Bomber]] [[Serial Killer
** Additionally, at least a few hundred Japanese people who [[Misaimed Fandom|admire]] [[Fan Nickname|Toshimon]] and [[Viewers are Morons|misinterpreted]] the Prime Minister's words to "kill the idiots!" (give Toshimon the death penalty) and attacked [[Fight Club|random people]], [[Murder the Hypotenuse|troublesome spouses and lovers]], and [[Dead Baby Comedy|annoying infants]].
* This was a common theme in [[Osamu Tezuka]]'s later manga, such as in ''Alabaster'' and ''[[
* ''[[
* Jail Scaglietti from ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
** [[Smug Snake]] Quattro, on the other hand, is a sadistic little bitch simply because she likes seeing people she perceives as lower than her squirm.
* Sakyou, from ''[[
* Yokoya from ''[[
* [[Eyes Always Shut|Gin]] [[Enigmatic Minion|Ichimaru]] from ''[[
** [[Big Bad|Aizen]] has shades of this. He comes up with long, complicated plans that he could solve with simple solutions. It does definitely appear that some things he does are just because [[The Fighting Narcissist|hurting and crushing others feeds his sense of superiority]].
** Yoshi in the Bount filler arc. She admits during her fight with Ishida that she's only going along with Kariya's plan for the fun of it.
* Not that she's a bad person or anything but, this is pretty much the ''only'' reason why ''[[
* Orochimaru, former [[Big Bad]] of ''[[
** After a couple of chapters, it becomes implicit that [[Invoked Trope|those reasons for joining Akatsuki ("because I wanted to")]] [[Subverted Trope|were just their ways to say "Not your f*ing business" to whoever asked]]. {{spoiler|Deidara was forced to join because he lost to Itachi. [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|Pain]] wanted global peace, his motivations for ''joining'' Akatsuki being to [[Used to Be
* [[Psycho for Hire|Luciano Bradley]] from ''[[
* In the very first chapter of the ''[[
{{quote|
** Of course, this could also be interpreted as wanting to show Guts that resistance against the Apostles is, in his own words, pure folly.
** Later in the manga (but earlier story wise), we meet Wyald, another apostle, who considers this his personal philosophy. Even the brutish, bloodthirsty thugs from the military unit he leads are ''terrified'' of the guy.
** Let's not forget the big one of the entire series : {{spoiler|Femto's rape of Casca. The action - which was the very '''first''' action he did upon obtaining [[Reality Warper|the incredible powers]] [[Demon Lords and Archdevils|of a demon lord]] - played no role in the sacrifice during the Eclipse because both Guts and Casca were expected to die at the end of it all anyway. The only motive whatsoever that Griffith/Femto could have possibly had to doing this [[Forced to Watch|right in front of Guts]] was to spite him and (probably) punish Casca [[Don't You Dare Pity Me!|for pitying him and leaving him behind]]. Even if you are one to believe that he did it [[WMG|to achieve a particular purpose later on,]] you can't say that Griffith didn't thoroughly enjoy making these two suffer in [[Cold-Blooded Torture|an excruciatingly painful way]] just for the hell of it.}}
* You'd think [[Ax Crazy|Munekata]] from ''[[
{{quote|
** {{spoiler|--except he's [[Axe Crazy]], not ''[[Chaotic Stupid]]'': he knows killing is wrong and has both a [[Jerkass Facade]] and horrific rumors of his killing prowess to keep people away.}}
** [[Complete Monster|Kumagawa]], though, probably is a straight example. It is technically possible, that he might want [[Revenge]] against the rest of the world, but so far all of his actions were aimed towards torturing other characters, because he could (up to and including intending to return one of his most dangerous enemies to life to hurt him some more). Also, the main character of the series considers Kumagawa the main exception from her character-defining belief that no human is truly evil (rather than twisted by circumstances) and unworthy of trust.
** Chances are if you have a Minus Power in Medaka Box you are in it
* This is pretty much the reason why Izaya does ''anything'' in ''[[Durarara
* ''[[
* ''[[
* [[Creepy Twins]] Hansel and Gretel from ''[[
** Balalaika herself might as well qualify. She explains in the Japan arc that her motives are basically war and destruction.
{{quote|
* While Mukuro of ''[[
* Resident [[Ted Baxter]] Prussia of ''[[
* In the second Japanese ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh (
* Agon Kongo from ''[[
** On the other hand, Hiruma [[Subverted Trope|''seems'' like he's like this, but does have his reasons. He just happens to accomplish his goals using the most sadistic tactics possible.]]
* [[Psycho Lesbian|Tsukoyomi]] from ''[[
* King Dedede in ''[[Kirby:
* In ''[[
** Averted and invoked after {{spoiler|Izawa beats the shit out of Yoshi}}, who was the main antagonist for most of the series. Most characters think everything he did was for the evulz, turns out {{spoiler|he was simply jealous of Izawa, but didn't wanted anyone to know it, so he pretended to do it for the evulz. Even when asked directly, he answered "because he's an eyesore".}}
* ''[[Pokémon: Zoroark: Master of Illusions
* From ''[[Rosario
* Assuming one character's interpretation is correct, {{spoiler|Pariston}} of ''[[
* [[Higurashi no Naku Koro
{{quote|
** {{spoiler|She then goes on to dispose of the bodies, attempt to kill her twin sister's love interest (with her imprisoned sister listening from the other room), but ends up sparing him and killing her sister to escape from the police. Then she stabs her now dead sister's love interest. Just because the demon makes her.}}
*** {{spoiler|She ''thinks'' the demon makes her. She's just delusional, which wasn't her fault to begin with.}}
== Comics ==▼
* Nearly all depictions of [[Batman]]'s arch-nemesis, [[The Joker]], who might as well be the trope incarnate.
** Example: In one issue of ''Gotham Adventures'', the comic based on ''[[Batman:
{{quote|
** Even when he is out for money, he only really wants it to fund his sadistic plans. One of the first things he does in Brian Azzarello's ''[[Joker]]'' is to rob a bank. While he does get a decent of amount of cash, he considers the robbery itself to be ho-hum at best, due to a lack of carnage.
* Victor Zsasz, a Batman foe who, even more than the Joker, just likes to kill people. That's it. Unlike the Joker he does not have schemes, plans or esoteric motivations, he just likes to kill. When Black Mask, the criminal mastermind who managed to take control of ''all'' crime in Gotham City after the ''War Gamrs'' crossover, tells him he has potential for greater evil as a part of Mask's criminal empire, he asks Zsasz what he would like to do. Zsasz's reply is simple: "I like to hurt people."
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* The Scarecrow, also from Batman. While he claims he's exposing people to his fear gas for scientific interests, it's pretty generously implied that he's either sadistic or has a torturous compulsion.
* In the Sonic the Hedgehog Archie comics, this is {{spoiler|Fiona Fox's}} reasoning for {{spoiler|turning traitor and joining Scourge, Sonic's anti-universe counterpart.}}
* In one ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]'' strip, Calvin asks Moe why he bullies him all the time. Moe's answer is "Because it's fun." Calvin, lying in the dirt, remarks, "Oh, he's a ''sportsman.''"▼
* A ''[[Star Wars]]'' Boba Fett comic featured a Mengele-analogue who has given up any pretense of being scientific. He openly admits that he's butchering entire alien races because it's fun.
** In ''[[Dark Times]]'', this is why Dezono Qua [[Eats Babies]].
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* Carnage, of ''[[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]]''. Blood. Just 'cause he can. It isn't the symbiote's influence on Cletus either. He was a murdering psychopath before he ever bonded with the Carnage symbiote.
* [[Norman Osborn]] is in this. Green Goblin's motivation in ''all'' of the situations is just for evil fun. [[Subverted Trope|That's just his Goblin persona, mind you. Osborn himself is usually out to extend his power and influence.]] [[Deconstructed Trope|Sometimes the Goblin's lulz actually bite him in the ass.]]
* ''[[Daredevil]]''{{'}}s Bullseye. It's the reason why Kingpin and other crime lords hire him. The cops have a hard time figuring out when he kills because he was hired to and when he kills because he felt like it. He even recently claimed he probably has more money than ''Norman Osborn'' yet doesn't feel the need to spend it and continues killing "because it's fun".
** Sometimes, he'll even kill his client's own mooks just to entertain himself when he's bored, as lampshaded in the film version when the Kingpin finds Bullseye sitting in his office with the still warm corpse of his security guard.
{{quote|
'''Bullseye''': ''Necessary? No, it was fun.'' }}
* Whenever Sabretooth isn't [[Psycho for Hire|carrying out a job]], he's either tormenting [[Wolverine]] or slaughtering random innocents. Sometimes he does those things anyways even when he is on a job.
** One comic had Wolverine running into a group who videotapes themselves hunting and murdering innocent mutants; when confronted, they readily admit that they're just doing it for kicks and that they don't have a specific agenda in targeting mutants; as Logan put it, "It could have been anyone -- blacks, or gays, or Jews".
* This was the only visible motivation of Antonio Prohías' ''[[El Hombre Sinestro|Sinister Man]]'' and Sinister Woman.
* In the original ''[[
* When The Hobgoblin was asked why he framed Flash Thompson for his crimes, he answered "Why not?" That being said, this in fact turns out to be a subversion, since there was a reason the Hobgoblin decided to frame ''him''. At the time of Tom DeFalco's story where The Hobgoblin frames Flash, Ned Leeds (whom DeFalco was using at his Hobgoblin [[Red Herring]]) had discovered Flash had been sleeping with his wife. This would be a "clue" to the readers, as Leeds would be understandably pissed. Years later, Roger Stern wrote a retcon in which the ''true'' Hobgoblin was actually Roderick Kingsley (his original choice when he created the Hobgoblin). Kingsley also had a reason to single out Flash, however; Flash had been on TV calling the Hobgoblin a "creep and a coward", among other things.
* [[The Sandman
* ''[[Supreme Power]]'' villain Redstone's reasons for killing: "Because I can, because I'm good at it, and because I like it." Well, okay, the ''real'' reason he does it is because he's crazy and he thinks nobody can stop him, but as you can imagine he doesn't recognize this.
*
* Sid Fernwilter of ''[[Piranha Club]]'' (formerly known as ''Ernie''), who is vicious just because he can. Purely on principle, he refuses to spend money on anything useful or necessary. He would rather sit in the darkness and freeze than to pay the electricity bill - [[Stupid Evil|And he has]].
* Also, Mr. Mxyzptlk in ''[[Whatever Happened to
* The "Reaver-Cleaver" killer from ''[[Preacher (Comic Book)|Preacher]]'' confesses to one of the protagonists that he only does what he does because it's fun, being amused at having gotten away clean with killing a man in a drunken hit-and-run and just kept on killing to see how far he could push his luck.
* Cletus from [[The Authority]]
{{quote|
Cletus: "Hell, ''I'' did." }}
** Kaizen Gamorra from the very first [[Warren Ellis]]
* [[Justice League of America|JLA]] villain Prometheus had this exchange with [[Lex Luthor]] during "World War III", the last arc of [[Grant Morrison]]'s run on ''JLA''.
{{quote|
Prometheus: Money isn't what motivates me. If I want something, I just take it. I'm in this for the buzz. }}
* In the third ''[[Batgirl]]'' series, the final arc dealt with the Reapers, a semi-cult of college students with advanced combat armor who had been running around Gotham for a few weeks. In their final battle, after Batgirl had foiled their individual schemes for money and power, Batgirl asked them why they were doing any of this in the first place. The response was the simple "because we ''can''."
* Gary "[[Stepford Smiler|The Smiler]]" Callahan, the [[President Evil]] of ''[[Transmetropolitan]]''. He flatly tells protagonist Spider Jerusalem that he ran for President simply because he likes to hurt people and wants to do it on as grand a scale as possible. By the time he's done, Spider is almost nostalgic for Callahan's predecessor, a thinly-veiled [[Richard Nixon]] [[Expy]] dubbed "The Beast."
* In the original ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'', Baxter Stockman seemed to have no motive at all for unleashing his Mouser robots on the city; extortion, maybe, but it became clear he would still have done it even had the city paid them. As far as villains go in this version, he was worse than the Shredder.
* ''[[Ultimate
▲== [[Fanfic]] ==
▲* ''[[Ultimate Spider Woman (Fanfic)|Ultimate Spider-Woman: Change With the Light]]'' features Jack O' Lantern, who starts out with bank robberies before graduating to hostage-takings, gassings, [[Mind Rape]], and finally orchestrating a city-wide gang war. He implies that the reason he commits these increasingly ghastly crimes is, quite simply, because he knows it's wrong. Jack O' Lantern also brags about being so superior to people who in his mind [[At Least I Admit It|hide their impulses behind their civilized facades]], and develops an almost insane hatred for Spider-Woman in part for defending those people and in part for interfering with his fun.
** [[An Ice Person|Blizzard]] is a less malevolent example, in that he and his entire family are a group of chronic jailbirds who are always in and out of prison for offenses ranging from drug dealing to armed robbery to car theft. They actually ''enjoy'' prison, which for them is an extended family reunion. On the other hand, [[Even Evil Has Standards]] and Blizzard and draws the line at rape or murder. When an army of [[Brainwashed and Crazy]] supervillains are invading New York, Blizzard actually helps Spider-Woman protect the people of the city, before sticking around for the police to take him back to Ryker's Island.
* Anything relating to [[Touhou Project|yukkuri abuse]] tends to revolve [[Complete Monster|monsters of humans]] who delight themselves in causing harm and death towards defenseless head-like creatures just because they can. Then there's [[Root of All Evil|the factory]], which all yukkuri are naturally afraid of. They say it won't let them "take it easy", but it's way more sinister than that. There are even yukkuri shops people can go to select their "victim" on some works.
* Pictured above, [[The Joker]] in ''[[The Dark Knight Saga
▲== Film ==
▲* Pictured above, [[The Joker]] in ''[[The Dark Knight Saga (Film)|The Dark Knight]]''. The Joker actually seems more Nietzchean than sado-hedonistically Evil-for-evils-sake. He does not care about lost lives or pain - including his own! He lives without rules and enjoys showing others how stupid living by the rules is. We cannot reason with him - only make a different choice. Which is really the point and why it is so important for Batman to save him in the end. And why his real victory is bringing Dent down. If evil-for-the-sake-of-evil was the motivation, he would have blown up more hospitals and subverted less [[D As]].
** Other than the obvious mention of [[The Joker]] in ''[[The Dark Knight]]'', there was also the Burmese Bandit that Alfred Pennyworth mentioned in the movie, who frequently stole gems that were intended to be given by the SAS to various tribes to bribe them, and then scattered them around, strongly implying that he only stole them simply because he could and that such antics greatly amused him.
* The main character's former partner in ''[[
* The evil scientist from ''[[The Human Centipede]]'' [[Squick|wants to join together three peoples' digestive systems]]. Why? Well, why the hell not?
* Castor Troy from ''[[Face
{{quote|
* Kathryn's reason for destroying her [[Ladykiller in Love]] stepbrother's relationship in [[Cruel Intentions]].
{{quote|
** At least, she ''says'' that's the reason to Sebastian. It's heavily suggested that [[Green-Eyed Monster|jealousy]] in regards to [[Flirty Stepsiblings|her twisted relationship with Sebastian]] was the actual driving force at work. In that light, "For the Evulz" is a ''less'' creepy reason.
* The sociopathic door gunner from ''[[Full Metal Jacket]]''. While machine-gunning Vietnamese peasants from his helicopter:
{{quote|
'''Gunner:''' Easy. You just don't lead 'em so much! ''(cackles)'' Ain't war hell? }}
** "[[Madness Mantra|Get some! Get some! Get some! Get some! Get some! Get some! Get some!]]"
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* The [[Creepy Child]] [[Enfante Terrible]] titular character of ''[[The Good Son]]''.
* John Ryder from ''[[The Hitcher]]''.
* All the [[Mad Scientist
* ''[[Reservoir Dogs]]'': "Was that as good for you as it was for me?"
** Specifically, Mr. Blonde: "Listen kid, I'm not gonna bullshit you, all right? I don't give a good fuck what you know, or don't know, but I'm gonna torture you anyway, regardless. Not to get information. It's amusing, to me, to torture a cop. You can say anything you want cause I've heard it all before. All you can do is pray for a quick death, which you ain't gonna get."
*** "It's so hard to keep this smile from my face, Losin' control, yea I'm all over the place!"
* ''[[
* Hannibal Lecter, the quintessential psychopathic [[Serial Killer]], at least in ''[[Silence of the Lambs]]'', ''Manhunter'', and ''[[Red Dragon]]''.
* The three killers from ''[[The Strangers]]''.
{{quote|
"Because you were home." }}
* Lola from ''[[The Transporter]] 2'' is outright [[Ax Crazy]]. When the hero asks her why she slaughters people nearly at will she says, "Because it's fun".
* ''[[The Warriors (
{{quote|
{{spoiler|'''Luther'''}}: No reason. I just ''like'' doing things like that. }}
* ''[[The Wizard of Oz (
* Michael Myers from the ''[[Halloween (
{{quote|
* Despite the (former) picture above, [[The Matrix|Agent Smith]] is an [[Averted Trope|aversion]]. He may do a huge amount of evil things, but he does them for a simple reason:
{{quote|
** In the first film Agent Smith's motivation is simply entirely self-serving: "I hate this place. This zoo. This prison. This reality, whatever you want to call it, I can't stand it any longer. It's the smell, if there is such a thing. I feel saturated by it. I can taste your stink and every time I do, I fear that I've somehow been infected by it." In the sequels his motives start sliding to that direction. It's clear at the very end of the trilogy that for all the philosophical nihilistic extracurricular motives he claims to be acting on, Smith doesn't really understand WHY in hell he is doing what he does, but he
{{quote|
'''Agent Smith:'''
* Daisy Pringle, a [[Creepy Child]] from ''[[The Wicker Man]]''.
{{quote|
'''[[Only Sane Man|Sgt. Howie]]''': 'Poor old thing'? Then why in God's name do you do it, girl? }}
* The truck-driver in ''[[Duel (
* Played straight rather well with [[Our Angels Are Different|Gabriel]] in ''[[The Prophecy (
{{quote|
* Chad in ''[[In the Company of Men]]''. When asked why he manipulated a deaf woman into a love triangle, he says "Because I could."
* Alex from ''[[A Clockwork Orange (
* A deleted scene in ''[[Dogma]]'' revealed that the triplets from Hell died, when they were being carted to Juvenile Hall for bashing in a baby's head to see what it would look like.
* ''[[Josie and
* The villain in ''[[The Vanishing]]'' is an emotional blank slate. The greatest high of his life was when he saved his daughter from drowning. Now he wants to see if he can get a similar high from doing something really evil.
* In ''[[The Crow]]'', Top Dollar gives a speech about how profiting from Devil's Night has grown boring to him, and the criminals of the city should sow mayhem purely for the evil of it.
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** ''The Search for Santa Paws'' has Ms. Stout, the evil head of the orphanage who hates Christmas. She isn't even given a [[Freudian Excuse]], she just hates Christmas for no reason. And she destroys any toys and decorations she finds in the orphans' possession. The only thing she does with an actual motivation is attempt to run off with her boyfriend with embezzled money and leave the orphans by themselves.
* ''[[Paranormal Activity]]'': Katie's demon. Honestly, it slams the door shut then bangs on the other side of it just to fuck with them. Indeed, Katie even acknowledges this trope when she asks "Do you think it would have left footprints if it didn't want to? Do you think it would do ANYTHING if it didn't want to?" In the 2007 ending, {{spoiler|the demon fucks with them one last time. Just before the police discover Katie, a light down the hall is turned on and then turned off. The police end up shooting Katie because they were startled by the sound of someone slamming a door behind them.}}
* This is discussed in ''[[Scream (
{{quote|
▲* This is discussed in ''[[Scream (Film)|Scream]]'', which was big on lampshading various horror film Tropes. Randy points out how about halfway through the film that in most horror movies "Motives are incidental." The eventual killer does have one (rather flimsy) motive for the carnage he unleashes, but does lampshade this fact.
▲{{quote| ''' {{spoiler|Billy:}}''' I don't really believe in a motive, Sid. I mean, did Norman Bates have a motive? Did we ever find out why Hannibal Lector liked to eat people? Don't think so! [[Lampshade Hanging|See, it's much scarier if there's no motive.]]}}
** Also, {{spoiler|Stu (the second killer) has the following exchange with [[Final Girl|Sidney]]}}:
{{quote|
{{spoiler|'''Stu:'''}} Peer pressure, I'm far too sensitive. }}
* Several of the villains in ''[[
{{quote|
* Played with in both the novel and film ''[[No Country for Old Men]]''. [[Complete Monster|Anton Chigurh]], to any of his victims would definitely appear to this and even to the viewer at first sight. However, it's stated that he has morals and values that make sense only to him. This is part of what makes him so frightening.
** How about unlike most other examples in this page, the Anton rarely even enjoys what he's doing. Just utter indifference most of the time, the rest of the examples at least get a kick out of it for their atrocities.
* Arguably, Count Rugen from ''[[The Princess Bride (
* [[Serial Killer|Scorpio]] from the ''[[Dirty Harry]]'' series starts out asking for ransom money, but as time goes on is implied to be more so motivated by the "fun" of committing his crimes.
{{quote|
* "Ghidorah", of the "[[Godzilla]]" series of films, for his debut movie "Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster". He's just here to destroy Earth for seeming kicks, like he apparently has for countless planets, including Mars. We're never given a reason why he's been doing this, nor do we know where he's originally come from.
** He was later enslaved by various alien races in the subsequent movies afterwards.
** [[Godzilla vs. Destoroyah|Destoroyah]] is this even moreso. At one point he even {{spoiler|[[Kick the Dog|brutally murders Junior right in front of Godzilla and then proceeds to drag the mourning Godzilla around by the throat with his tail]]}} while ''laughing''. Why? For no other reason than for his own sick amusement.
* Terry Silver in ''[[Karate Kid]] III'' is an unintentional example. He's supposed to be helping avenge his war buddy John Kreese and restore the dignity of the Cobra Kai, but in practice he's far too into it given that it's not his disgrace, seems to be aware that his buddy Kreese is the one who stepped over the line and is neglecting his multi-million dollar business to get vengeance on a teenager and his elderly mentor. Also, the vengeance is all his idea and is planned and executed by him with Kreese only getting to jump out from behind a cardboard cut out to scare Daniel in one scene.
* The Martians from ''[[Mars Attacks
* Freddy Krueger from the ''[[A Nightmare
* A relatively mild example occurs in the comedy ''[[
** In the sequel, Simon Kurtz covers up flaws in the shuttle and leaves everyone on it to die for no apparent reason.
* The gang member at the beginning of ''[[Assault
* Carcer from the ''[[Discworld]]'' novel ''[[
▲== Literature ==
▲* Carcer from the ''[[Discworld]]'' novel ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Night Watch|Night Watch]]''. "The sort that joins up for the looting, and that you end up hanging as an example to the men". Possessed of a pair of shoulder demons, in competition with each other.
* In ''[[Under the Dome]]'' by ''[[Stephen King]]'' those responsible for the Dome.
* While Nyarlathotep from [[
** While Nyarlathotep may have had a reason to return the Gods of Earth to Kadath (that's where they're supposed to live), him sending Carter to accomplish the task for him and subsequently betraying him serves no point other than being a dick. Especially since in the end it's revealed he's powerful enough to return the Gods to Kadath with no effort at all.
* In ''[[
* [[Robert Silverberg]]'s short story "Flies", in ''[[Dangerous Visions]]'', deals with a man [[A God I Am|who is given God-like powers]], and uses them to torture people,
* ''[[Fantomas]]'': the valuables he steals is just an added bonus, what he really enjoys is to [[Complete Monster|spread fear]].
* Pretty much the guiding philosophy of Acheron Hades from the ''[[Thursday Next]]'' series, and probably the rest of his family as well. He even says as much in one of the quotes from his book "Degeneracy for Pleasure and Profit"; despite the title he feels that crime-for-money is rather crass and much prefers evil for evils sake.
* Inverted in ''[[
* Edgler Vess from [[Dean Koontz]]' ''Intensity'' is a self-proclaimed homicidal adventurer, who loves to kill just for the sheer intensity of it. Vassago from another [[Dean Koontz]] novel ''Hideaway'' kills people so he could be reincarnated as one of the demon princes in Hell(it's not clarified what it would benefit him). As a matter of fact, simply every villain in every [[Dean Koontz]] book ever written ever.
* In [[
* Averted in ''[[The Screwtape Letters]]''. The preface to later editions notes avoidance of "the absurd fancy that devils are engaged in the disinterested pursuit of something called Evil (the capital is essential). Mine have no use for any such turnip ghost. Bad angels, like bad men, are entirely practical. They have two motives. The first is fear of punishment.... Their second motive is a kind of hunger."
* In James Beauseigneur's ''[[Christ Clone Trilogy]]'' when Decker, the viewpoint character, asks [[The Antichrist]] ( {{spoiler|Christopher Goodman}}) why he does what he does when he knows he's going to lose, the reply is "Because it feels so good to twist the nose of God!" The same Antichrist later muses how an eternity in [[Fire and Brimstone Hell|Hell]] will be tolerable in the knowledge that he tricked millions of people to join him there so he can listen to their screams forever, {{spoiler|[[Moral Event Horizon|including his own parents]]}}. [[Complete Monster]] doesn't begin to describe this guy.
* In Orwell's ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'', {{spoiler|O'Brien}} admits that the Party isn't looking forward to improving the world, only seeking power for the sake of power, oppression for the sake of oppression. Ironically, this is the same reason why the nameless prole woman sings: just for the sake of singing.
* Most of the villains in [[Thomas Berger]]'s Arthurian novel ''[[Arthur Rex]]''.
* Jack Mort, a minor villain from [[Stephen King]]'s ''[[Dark Tower]]'' series likes to hurt people and has ruined the lives of two major characters just for his own sadistic joy.
* ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]''
* Alex from ''[[A Clockwork Orange (
* Organizations with essentially the same motives as ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'''s The Party are a recurring element in the satirical horror novels of [[Bentley Little]]. e.g. ''The Store'' is about a Walmart-esque retail chain that goes far out of its way to be as oppressive and cause as much unnecessary suffering as it can; ''The Association'' is about a homeowner's association that does the same; ''The Policy'' is about an insurance company that does the same.
* ''[[
* Dr. Mabuse from ''[[Dr. Mabuse the Gambler]]'', who was inspired by Fantomas (see above). In addition to spreading fear, however, Mabuse wants to destroy the world... and laugh maniacally over the rubble.
* Bellatrix Lestrange from the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' series always seems to have way too much fun killing people, breaking their stuff and {{spoiler|torturing innocent people into insanity}}.
*** Much more obvious in her movie portrayal, where she spends quite a bit of her screen time laughing maniacally. Even more obvious near the end of ''Half Blood Prince'', {{spoiler|1=where while all the other Death Eaters are just calmly leaving the castle after Dumbledore's been killed, she decides to [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTEU9H-zMYM&feature=related cause as much destruction as possible,] clearly enjoying herself.}}
** The werewolf Greyback also qualifies. He takes to infecting [[Complete Monster|''small children'']] because he thinks they will be more likely to join his cause if they are infected young. He claims motives such as overthrowing the wizards, but most of his actions are purely for the fun of destroying people.
*** According to [http://www.hp-lexicon.org/ the Harry Potter Lexicon], all Dark creatures (including werewolves) harm people for the sake of harming people, not for survival like normal animals. Greyback is unique because he hurts people in his human form.
* At the end of the ''[[The Saga of Darren Shan]]'', {{spoiler|it is revealed that Desmond Tiny's plan - fortunately foiled by Darren - involved magically fathering both Darren and Steve and giving the Vampaneze the fire coffin (so that they could find the Vampeneze Lord) and the Vampires a special stone that would help them in their hour of need (made from the brain of a dragon). He then manipulated events to ensure that Steve and Darren both went to see the Cirque du Freak, paving the way for Darren to eventually become a Vampire Prince and Steve to become the Vampaneze Lord. He then pits the two against one another, insisting that the vampires only have three chances to kill Steve before he overthrows the Vampires and later tells them that whichever boy won - Darren or Steve - would become the Lord of Shadows and kill all of their friends. When the vampires used the stone gift to create more vampires, it would create a new breed of violent ones.}} The reason he did all of this? He looked into the future and saw that things were going to be too peaceful for his liking, so he set the stage for a lot of chaos to amuse him.
* The protagonists of the Marquis de Sade's ''[[
* Speculated as being one of the motives of the mutineers in the first ''[[Empire From the Ashes]]'' book for meddling with human civilization.
* The protagonist in [[Edgar Allan Poe]]'s ''The Black Cat'' starts hurting people and animals around him
* Melisande Shahrizai, of the ''[[
* The Vardii Collective Military in [[
* An awful lot of misbehavior in the ''[[Nightside]]'' series, from heinous torture of innocents to the merely rude, is attributed to the "just because he/she/it/they could" motive.
* The Order of the Blackened Denarius from ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' are explicitly stated as being out to inflict as much chaos, death, and destruction as possible, and are responsible for inciting numerous plagues, wars, and other disasters.
** Shagnasty, if anything, was even worse than the Denarians, deliberately striking out at hapless bystanders and opponents far too weak to hurt it, simply to show off how much pain it could inflict.
* ''[[In Death]]'': A number of times in the series, the murderer or criminal says that s/he is doing what s/he is doing because s/he can. If that's not another way of expressing this trope, then what is?
* Venandekatra the Vile in ''[[Belisarius Series]]'' seems so evil that one wonders if the writer was doing a whimsical exercise in how to create the most evil villain.
* The vampire [[The Vampire Chronicles|Lestat]] from the novel by the same name and others by Anne Rice. When asked why he is so cruel, Lestat simply states that he likes it and enjoys it.
* The sadistic serial killer in [[Spider Robinson]]'s novel ''[[Very Bad Deaths]]'' exemplifies this: He inflicts horrible cruelties upon his victims because he enjoys it. He derives the same sense of satisfaction from cruelty than most people get from kind ones.
==
* Q in ''[[Star Trek:
** Arguably, Gul Madred, the Cardassian interrogator from "Chains of Command". Eventually, he lays off of the torture and drugs when he realizes that Picard really doesn't know what he wants to hear... and then picks up where he left off and keeps going ''for the sole purpose of breaking Picard's brain''.
*** Considering that [[Hey, It's That Guy!|Gul Madred]] is also [[Tron|the MCP]], this isn't too far fetched.
*** That whole episode was essentially one big [[Shout-Out]] to George Orwell's ''1984''.
*
** In one episode we have this dialogue between Martha and a [[Monster of the Week|Toclafane]]:
{{quote|
'''Toclafane:''' Because it's ''
** While he hasn't always been as open about it as in his John Simm incarnation, [[The Master (trope)|The Master]] has always been more interested in screwing with the Doctor than actually taking over the world. In ''The Sea Devils'', he flat-out admits he's only working with the villains so they can get rid of "the human race of which you are so very fond."
** [[Played for Drama]] and [[Deconstruction|deconstructed]] in the [[Big Finish]] audio ''Master''. All his evil plans were ''never'' expected to work, they were only designed to cause as much misery and destruction as possible. Why? Because as one of the Doctor's titles is Time's Champion, the Master is ''Death's Champion''.
** Weeping Angels are cruel beings who also prey on humans for fun. While they do consume a victim's "time energy", this is akin to humans eating chocolate, as they gain no real nourishment from it, and have no need for food at all.
*** Some of them are crueler than others; at least the ones in "Blink" don't torture their victims; the ones in "Flesh and Stone" truly kill most victims, and {{spoiler|tell the Doctor, via Bob, that they are forcing Amy to count down to her death "for fun, sir."}} The ones in their third appearance keep victims in solitary confinement forever, simply to feed on them over and over.
*** Although, one exception might be the Angel at the end of "The Angels Take Manhattan", who show a small degree of mercy towards Amy and Rory, sending them to the same time period and sparing them the miserable loneliness suffered by most of their victims.
** "Everything you say, Waterfield, is true. If we cannot find Jamie, the Daleks will take pleasure in killing everyone in sight, and their greatest pleasure will be in killing me." - the Doctor, ''The Evil of the Daleks''.
* Similarly, a villain in the ''[[
** And there's this quote from a charming recurring villain in "Exit Wounds":
{{quote|
* Dr. Mikoto Nakadai in ''[[Super Sentai|Bakuryu Sentai Abaranger]]'' is an [[Evil Genius]] who is utterly bored with life... until he discovers that tormenting the heroes and plotting widespread death and destruction is just the kick he's been missing.
* Similarly, in the ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' episode "The Benders", Sam gets captured by a family of cannibal hillbillies, and Dean allies himself with a female county cop (whose brother was captured by the same hillbillies) to get him back. At the end, the female cop asks the hillbilly patriarch why they killed her brother, and he answers, "Because it was FUN." She shoots him off-screen.
* Subtly subverted in the ''[[Millennium (TV series)|Millennium]]'' episode "Somehow, Satan Got Behind Me". Four demons cause death and destruction behind the scenes apparently just because it's fun for them. Except at the end, it's revealed (by Frank Black himself) that the demons are very lonely, simply doing evil not because they like it, but because it's what they've been doing forever and they don't know what else to do.
* About the only reason why Arthur Petrelli of ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' does anything. Mr. Linderman of Season One wanted to blow up NYC to heal the world and Adam Monroe of Season Two wanted to release a deadly virus to give his people a second chance, but Arthur didn't even bother with idealistic pretense. He just spouted the usual [[Card-Carrying Villain|villainous cliches]], and even then in a half-hearted fashion, as if he could barely be bothered to even offer a modicum of justification for his douchery.
** The only justification for anything Sylar has ever done aside from wanting more abilities is simply because he can.
* {{spoiler|Angelus}} during season 2 of ''[[
** Most demons and vampires are like this, by their very nature. Two villains, however, get special mention: Spike and Ethan Rayne. Spike at least has an excuse, he's a vampire, and therefore is [[
*** Angel and Spike have a conversation in ''[[
*** Spike could also be considered a subversion. While he enjoys killing humans as individuals, he actually likes human society in general (with [[Sex Pistols]] being his favorite rock band) and doesn't want to see it destroyed.
{{quote|
** One episode of ''Angel'' had a twist on this; the demon possessing a small boy did all his crimes
** Hauser, a former employee of Wolfram and Hart, believes in evil.
* ''[[
* ''[[
** Also the (unrelated) rioters in the same episode.
** This seems to be the case for the Reaper {{spoiler|George Foyet}} as well. The core of his character is that he gets off (maybe literally, it's hard to tell) on manipulating and having power over people.
** Adrian Bale in the early episode "Won't Get Fooled Again". He agrees to tell the BAU how to disarm a complicated bomb, and in exchange he will be transferred from his maximum security prison to a mental hospital, and Agent Gideon will have to apologize to his victims' families, and admit that it was entirely his fault their respective relative died. When the inevitable [[Wire Dilemma]] occurs, Bale, even though doing so ''completely invalidates his deal'', purposely tells them to cut the wrong wire... because the bomb blowing up will give him some kind of "emotional release".
** It's a TV show about FBI profilers who hunt down (mostly) serial killers. At least half the episodes fall into this trope. The other half, however, [[Subverted Trope|subverts it to hell and back]].
** Subverted in the ''episode''
* Rico in ''[[
* On an episode of ''[[Law
* ''[[
* Every villain in the 1960's ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'' TV show. Has even ''one'' of them ever tried to commit a subtle and/or profitable crime?
* In the ''[[
{{quote|
* [[Professional Wrestling]]: [[
* In ''[[Kamen Rider Kuuga]]'' The [[Big Bad]] was quite different from other final bosses of [[Kamen Rider]], no speech about his desire to win the game, all he wants to do is fight Yosuke and even as he died fighting him. He didn't whine about how a mortal beaten him, just smiling as he watches Yuusuke being so violent.
* A rather light example in ''[[
{{quote|
'''Graeme:''' Oh really? What's that?
'''Bill:''' ''I like violence! (jumps Graeme, beginning to strangle him)'' }}
* {{spoiler|Jim Moriarty}} from ''[[
** Also Inverted with Sherlock Holmes himself, the only reason he solves crimes instead of commits them is because he gets to brag about it afterwards.
* ''[[The Vampire Diaries]]'' - The motivation for most of Damon Salvatore's actions.
* On ''[[Degrassi the Next Generation]]'', Peter likes Manny, but Emma likes Peter. Manny gets drunk, and Peter films Manny stripping and uses it for blackmail. Emma then puts Peter [[Draco in Leather Pants|in leather pants]] and blames Manny, but starts dating the guy who filmed her best friend stripping. Strike that. That whole plot was
* This is Sue Sylvester's primary motivation in ''[[
* The motivation of Joey Heric, the resident [[Magnificent Bastard]] on ''[[The Practice]]''. As his psychiatrist points out, he is clearly smart enough to commit murder in such a way that he would never be suspected, but that wouldn't be nearly as much fun as letting everyone know he is guilty and then getting away with it anyway.
* The killer in the ''[[Criminal Minds
* Francis from ''[[Malcolm in
* In [[Sentai]] series, a general rule is that the villain's ''only'' ideology is evil.
* ''[[
* Thomas and O'Brien from ''[[Downton Abbey]]'', who have attracted criticism that the mostly realistic series suffers from having these cartoon villains with no identifiable motivation. And ironically, the one thing O'Brien at least thought she had a motivation for ({{spoiler|planting a bar of soap so Cora would have a miscarriage, and wouldn't fire her}}) is the only one she actually shows regret for.
* One episode of ''[[The Pretender]]'' has Jared try to get into the mind of a serial killer to try and find his latest victim. He almost [[Logic Bomb|Logic-Bombs]] himself because he can't understand the reasoning behind the killer's actions. The killer helpfully informs him that there is no reason; he kills because he wants to.
* When {{spoiler|Methos}} from the ''[[Highlander (TV series)|Highlander]]''
{{quote|
▲== Music ==
* ''Folsom Prison Blues'' by Johnny Cash:
{{quote|
* Voltaire's "When You're Evil" pretty much sums up the trope.
{{quote|
''This is the life, you see
''The Devil tips his hat to me
''I do it all because I'm evil
''And I do it all for free
''Your tears are all the pay I'll ever need }}
* My Chemical Romance's "I Never Told You What I Do For A Living"
{{quote|
''And it sure as hell ain't just for the fame
''It's for the bodies I claim
''And those only go so far }}
* "Only a Lad" by [[Oingo Boingo]] discusses Johnny, who appears to have been born this way, despite society's attempts to suggest otherwise (Primarily as an excuse not to deal with it.)
{{quote|
''They kicked him out of school at a tender, early age just because
''He didn't want to learn things,
''Had other interests...
''He liked to burn things! }}
** Johnny ''does'' have motives occasionally, but they are so absurd that they hardly count. (He once shot a neighbor in the leg ''just so he could steal her radio''.)
* "Such Horrible Things" by Creature Feature:
{{quote|
''Even though I do bad things, very bad things, such horrible things
''But it's not quite what it seems, not quite what I seem
''Ah hell, I'm exactly what I seem. }}
* "French" by [[OFWGKTA|Tyler, the Creator]]:
{{quote|
''And fuck Mary in her ass.. ha-ha.. yo
''I'm fuckin' Goldilocks up in the forest
''In the three bear house eatin' their muthafuckin' porridge
''I tell her it's my house, give her a tour
''In my basement, and keep that bitch locked up in my storage
''Rape her and record it, then edit it with more shit }}
* ''The Bright Young Things'' by [[Marilyn Manson]] is this meets [[The Hedonist]], referencing the titular "Bright Young People" of 1920s London.
{{quote|
''Spit vitriol, not swallow
''Good for nothing but being
''Everything that's bad }}
* "The Curse of Milhaven" by Nick Cave is a prime example.
{{quote|
''They ask me if I feel remorse and I answer, why of
''Course!
''There is so much more I could have done if they'd let
''Me! }}
* "Sinner" by [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzNqHgBCItU a) Judas Priest] doesn't seem to give a motive to the subject of the song beyond enjoyment of his (or her) own sin (evulz), the same can be said of the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlTupfMZP1Q b) Drowning Pool] song of the same name. Also note that no particular preference is given to any one [[Seven Deadly Sins|sin]] in particular over the others.
* The title character of "Excitable Boy" by [[Warren Zevon]] seems to be this.
== [[Newspaper Comics]] ==
▲* In one ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]'' strip, Calvin asks Moe why he bullies him all the time. Moe's answer is "Because it's fun." Calvin, lying in the dirt, remarks, "Oh, he's a ''sportsman.''"
==
* Doing this in pro wrestling is generally called garnering "[[Cheap Heat]]"; being booed by the fans not for doing something legitimately vile but simply for the sake of being jeered. Interrupting someone's well-deserved title match to spoil their opportunity at glory is a truly nefarious act and being booed for this is well-earned. Telling the town you're in that their local football team just lost to [some other city] is done
▲== Stand-Up Comedy ==
* In one [[George Carlin]] routine Carlin discusses the Catholic doctrine of sins of intent, and uses the hypothetical example: "You could wake up one morning and say to yourself, 'I think I'm going to go down to 27th St. today and commit myself a mortal sin!' Save your bus fare, man! You did it!"
▲== Tabletop Games ==
* Many older RPG modules had this in spades due to the focus being on the gaming rather than the story - why did the evil overlord capture the princess, build a ten-level dungeon, hire all those monsters and threaten to destroy the world with his ritual? I already mentioned he's Evil, didn't I? So do you want this loot and XP or not?
* In ''[[Exalted]]'', the Ebon Dragon is the incarnation of this trope. Seriously, when the world was being created from formless chaos, he invented the entire ''concept'' of betrayal. He also argued for the invention of a being of virtue and light to defend the world solely because its formation would empower him as something to oppose. His power suite is built entirely around dicking people over. Just to cap it off, while he's trapped in the prison-body of his king like the rest of his kin, he would gladly make his escape back into the world and slam the door shut behind him in the face of the Yozis, and possibly seal them away for all eternity just to laugh in their faces. This guy just doesn't do it
** Some of the material implies that he actually orchestrated the war that resulted in him and his fellows being trapped in said Hell. And actually came out ahead for
* Quite a few Dark Eldar and followers of Chaos in ''[[Warhammer
** As for Chaos, most who serve it do so for the promise of power and advancement from them, or are even just clinging to it for the hopes their god(s) may help them (they generally won't, and even if they do, you still probably won't find it pleasant). However, it's not uncommon for many of their servants to simply become addicted to the horror they inflict in the names of Chaos. With Khorne's followers, it's generally hard to tell due to their sheer [[Ax Crazy]]. It also is worthy of mention that once you get far enough into slaaneshi cultism, everything you do to yourself/other beings is for some kind of high. Removing your own arm then replacing it with someone else's leg, for teh lolz.
** The Orks, meanwhile, are an ''entire species'' who embark upon interstellar campaigns of genocide for entertainment purposes. "[[Funetik Aksent|Orkz wuz made fo']] [[Blood Knight|fightin' an' winnin'!]]"
** Remiare, the assassin, in ''Mechanicum'', who casually burned out a man's memory centres simply because she enjoys making living beings suffer.
* The old fantasy ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' has the Skaven... Frankly, most of their clans neither want nor need a motive for what they do.
** Though they are pretty goal-oriented whenever they are put up against someone of equal or superior skill (and considering the strength of the average skaven, that isn't too hard).
* Tends to happen rather spectacularly every time PCs are permitted to be actually ''evil'' rather than just [[Designated Hero|designated]]. The ''[[Full Frontal Nerdity]]'' take on this gave us the [[Sarcasm Mode|cleverly innocent name of]] [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Dark Lord Evisceratrix O'Kittensquisher]]. This is ''not'' much of an exaggeration.
* Depending on what Haunt you trigger in ''[[Betrayal
* ''[[Vampire: The Requiem]]'' has the Crassus family. It's a horrible, horrible example to retype here, so just check it out on their section on the Requiem article.
* Fiends in ''[[Dungeons
{{quote|
* In the ''[[Magic:
* Most agents of the Wyrm in ''[[
▲== Theatre ==
* [[Shakespeare]] is known for doing this:
** Iago's motives from ''[[Othello]]'' were noticeably thin and contradictory, which leads many scholars to surmise that he doesn't have motives at all, only excuses. This trope was almost named "The Iago" because of this. The alternative title [[Motiveless Malignity]] is a term Shakespearean scholars often use to describe his actions.
Line 404 ⟶ 401:
** Don John from ''[[Much Ado About Nothing]]'', actually mentions early in the play that since people have pegged him as a bastard already, he might as well get into it and enjoy himself.
** ''[[Richard III]]'': He tells us in the very first speech of the play that he's going to be a villain because he has nothing else with which to occupy himself.
** Aaron of ''[[Titus Andronicus (
{{quote|
I am no baby, I, that with base prayers
I should repent the evils I have done;
Ten thousand worse than ever yet I did
Would I perform, if I might have my will.
If one good deed in all my life I did,
I do repent it from my very soul. }}
* Ursula in the stage version of ''[[The Little Mermaid]]'', from her [[Villain Song]] entitled "I Want the Good Times Back".
{{quote|
I wanna hear their screams
I want that special rush
You get from crushing
Hopes and dreams }}
== [[Toys]] ==
▲== [[Toys]] ==
* From ''[[Bionicle]]'', we have the Piraka, six (formerly seven) former [[Bounty Hunter|Dark Hunters]] out for the [[MacGuffin|Mask of Life]].
** Even [[Big Bad|Makuta Teridax]] himself strayed into this territory at times, like when he ''became'' the Matoran Universe itself, and so gained control over the natural forces of the universe.
* The ''[[Purr
==
* ''[[World of Warcraft]]'': As a Horde character, many players may enjoy engaging in particularly Orcish behaviour towards the Alliance. It was also part of the game's history, that the reason why Blizzard removed the ability of the two factions to communicate with each other, was because of how savage and profane player communication could become during combat. Given that the Alliance could be considered the "jock," faction, [[WoW]] provided an environment where the average Horde gamer could release and work through the sorts of psychosocial dynamics that probably led to the Columbine Massacre, without actually entering a real classroom with a gun.
** Here's a humorous example from the [[Black Comedy]] that is the Forsaken:
{{quote|
'''Argent Confessor Paletress''': Oh, my. Do you feel remorseful, at least?
'''Undercity Champion''': Nah, not really. I just wanted to see the look on your face. [[Evil Laugh|(laughs)]] }}
* [[Monster Clown|Kefka]] from ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'' is the result of crossing this trope with [[Nietzsche Wannabe]]. Thanks to the Magitek experiments he's undergone, his mind has rotted to the point that destruction and death are the only things that bring meaning to his life, so he destroys and kills everything and everyone he can because it's the only thing that puts a smile on his face. [[Complete Monster|And boy does it ever.]] Towards the end, it's possible that the only reason he stops playing this trope straight is because he's so ridiculously powerful that it just isn't fun anymore. Without the Evulz to drive him, he no longer has any use for either the world or even his own existence.
* Saleh, one of the [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]] in ''[[
* {{spoiler|Kirei Kotomine}}, the [[Big Bad]] of the Fate route in ''[[Fate/stay
** The Heaven's Feel scenario {{spoiler|turns this into a [[Deconstructed Trope]] by giving us Kotomine's backstory and showing just what sort of twisted and tormented person he is: Kotomine is perfectly capable of understanding the nuances of right and wrong and has, in fact, on several occasions tried to live a good life -- by for instance becoming a priest specializing in healing and trying to have a family -- while at the same time being utterly unable to get any pleasure from life unless he's causing (or simply observing - he's not picky) someone pain and suffering. He is fully aware of just how deviant this makes him and he considers his birth to be a 'mistake'. This in fact turns his motives into a subversion. What he is truly aiming for is something close to a [[Rage Against the Heavens]].}}
* [[Psycho for Hire|Yuber]] and [[The Caligula|Luca]] [[Omnicidal Maniac|Blight]] from the ''[[Suikoden]]'' series.
Line 440 ⟶ 435:
* Both [[Psycho for Hire]] [[Super Robot Wars Original Generation|Grims]] and [[Super Robot Wars Gaiden|Lubikka Hakinnen]] from ''[[Super Robot Wars]]''. Archibald forced Elzam von Branstein to make the [[Sadistic Choice]] between killing his wife or having his whole colony gassed, as well as bombing an excavation site all for the lulz. His predecessor Lubikka is also said to have done a lot of atrocities for the lulz, and takes extra lulz if he is torturing [[Super Robot Wars Gaiden|Tytti Noorbuck]] mentally.
** Archibald actually does have a grudge against the Branstein family, but when not torturing them, he just really likes killing people. His hobbies include joining rebellions that he couldn't give a damn about, "accidentally" firing on civilians in an occupied country, and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|drinking red tea because it looks like blood]].
* The eponymous mask from ''[[The Legend of Zelda:
** Doubly so in the questionably canon manga adaptation, where the Mask is revealed to have hexed Kafei into a child for the hell of it when he refused to play with the possessed Skull Kid, and once discarding the Skull Kid, comments that Link "looks like a fun fellow" and tosses off a few [[Nightmare Fuel|inexplicably creepy]] lines about how he wants to play with Link now, eventually settling on "tag". Majora further has a [[Villainous Breakdown]] as he and Oni Link fight, calling Oni Link a "meanie" when he hits him the first time and giggling madly before repeating his actions from the video game of running around tittering with excitement. In the final form, he bawls out Link for ruining his "game", screaming that humans had always "played" willingly with him before. We're given a pretty good view that Majora threw the entire world into chaos and tried to destroy it purely because it was fun.
** Not Majora himself, but they establish a [[Freudian Excuse]] for the Skull Kid, who was being influenced by him at one point in the game. A long time ago, the Skull Kid and the Giants were friends (his
** Plus the evil plan brings his friends back to visit/stop him from destroying the world!
* Minions (especially brown ones) from ''[[Overlord]]'' might also count toward this trope - they simply enjoy killing and crashing everything (this is evident from their constant remarks, like "Kill, kill!" or "Burn, burn!").
* Doctor Neo Cortex in ''[[Crash Bandicoot]]''.
{{quote|
'''Doctor Neo Cortex:''' Well, actually it's pretty fun. You should try it. Y'know, riding around in huge, rumbling machines and whatnot? Very stimulating. }}
** Perhaps in the new games, but in the original three Neo Cortex was always all about [[Take Over the World|World Domination]].
* The killer in ''[[Persona 4]]'' decides to cure a ''serious'' case of [[Small Town Boredom]] with murder and (attempted) rape. In his own words:
{{quote|
* Rugal Bernstein from ''[[King of Fighters]]''. Some of his plans have a reasonable motivation, but he usually just does evil because he's amused at how low he can sink. Why do you think he killed all those people he then made into decorative bronze statues? Because he could.
* The [[Evil Matriarch]] Hilda from ''[[Fire Emblem]] 4''. Most of her acts seems to derive from her lust of power. But [[Break the Cutie|torturing her sister in law Tiltyu to death and then her daughter too]]? That's simply done
* Carnage and mass destruction are integral parts of fun for [[Omnicidal Maniac|Gig]] from ''[[Soul Nomad and The World Eaters]]''. He is very open about this, by the way.
** Likewise, Thuris seems to cook up virulent, nigh-incurable plagues mainly for shits and giggles. {{spoiler|The protagonist of the Demon Path trumps them both by a long shot. His/her final words after destroying reality itself in a [[Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum]]? "It doesn't matter. It was fun."}}
* This is what {{spoiler|The Adel Bernal's}} motivation boils down to essentially in ''[[Super Robot Wars|Super Robot Wars Z]]''.
* Meria, of ''[[Knights in The Nightmare]]'', ''loves'' to run around blowing shit up. She will actually take it {{spoiler|all the way to [[Rage Against the Heavens|Asgard]]}} if you let her.
* [[Spell My Name
* Rosso from ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]: [[Dirge of Cerberus]]''. Her motivation boils down to "why not?". The rest of the Tsviets say similar things, to the tune of "We were made as killing machines, so why not do what we do best?"
* Most characters in ''[[Touhou]]'' have a reason for what they do, if not a good one. Except for Tenshi, who causes a lot of chaos and some earthquakes because she was bored. Utsuho would also qualify, but she got beaten down before she actually did anything.
* More than half of the Acts of Infamy in ''[[Evil Genius (
* ''[[Spyro the Dragon
** Not to mention when the heroes show up to stop him, he gets a kick out of using [[Mind Control]] to turn one against the other, and is visibly miffed when she breaks free, ruining his game. Then as the planet starts to disintegrate during the final battle, he gets an even ''bigger'' kick out of taunting them for being too late: "Welcome to the end of the world!"
* And if you you're really looking for nasty evil leadership, seems like the whole place of ''[[The Sims|Sim]] [[
** The people living in those cities aren't too bright for staying there either. Try reducing all firefighter budget to zero and set a few fires. As the industries explode and set the entire map on fire, you will find that even with a third of the map burning and another third already turned to ashes, 30% of people polled will still find traffic or taxes to be the biggest problem in town
* [[Word of God]] states that this is Wario's reason why he's working with the Subspace Army in ''[[Super Smash Bros.]] Brawl''. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130617052223/http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/gamemode/modea/modea17.html
** Wario does have motivation in greed, but the efforts he goes through to get it, right down to literally shaking money out of enemies way too gleefully just proves he enjoys the methods as much as the gains.
* ''[[Metal Wolf Chaos
* Most villainous contacts in ''[[City of Villains]]'' use you as a tool in their [[Evil Plan]], for some petty thefts or revenge plots, or trying to further their own (and, in some cases, your) agendas. Westin Phipps, on the other hand, poses as a charity worker and sends you to do things like kidnap an inspirational schoolteacher, destroy textbooks, and ''[[Moral Event Horizon|poison food supplies]]''. Why? [[Complete Monster|For no reason other than to crush the hopes of the downtrodden poor]]. People are split over whether or not he's evil enough to make even villains uncomfortable.
* Murray, the Demonic Talking Skull from the ''[[Monkey Island]]'' series fits this trope quite nicely.
{{quote|
"Yes, thus making my betrayal all the more evil! Muhahaha!" }}
* The first mission of ''[[Ace Combat]] X: Skies of Deception'' has [[Enemy Chatter]] showing that some Leasath chair forcers are raining bombs on a defenceless city just because they can spare the ordnance.
* ''[[Mass Effect]]'': The Reapers plan to purge the galaxy of all intelligent life, including mankind, because... that's simply what they've been doing for ages.
{{quote|
** It should be noted that this is game one of a planned trilogy, their motives right now may appear to be "for the evulz" but by the end of the third game it's likely that there will be an actual reason given.
** And in ''[[Mass Effect]] ''2, their secondary motivation has been revealed to be {{spoiler|reproduction. By way of ''melting'' the most appropriate races into primordial porridge. This porridge is then used as the primary ingredient for a gargantuan cyberorganic gestalt of the entire species in question, that then becomes the core of a new Reaper.}} While the biological imperative of this motivation is typical, the sheer absurd horribleness of it is probably Lulz related.
** ''[[Mass Effect]]'' 3 finally did reveal their motives (which are spoilerific and long-winded in explanation), and it turns out they were operating on [[Blue and Orange Morality]] / [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] rather than this trope.
* ''[[Summoner]]'': Emperor Murod, {{spoiler|Prince Sornehan, and Queen Galliene}} purposely cultivate [[
* SHODAN from ''[[System Shock]]''. She's an
** After you defeat her in the first game, there's also her appearance in [[System Shock 2]]. SHODAN merely used Dr. Marie Delecroix as a pawn for disposing of The Many after {{spoiler|Dr. Janice Polito [[Better to Die Than Be Killed|commits suicide]].}} But she [[Kick the Dog|abandoned her]] when she needed her most. She also made a deal with you: if you destroy The Many, she will let you live. She never lets you come to the aid of another human being in need of your help. You destroy the Many, and she leaves you for dead. Only to fight you... and die. {{spoiler|But not really, because you then see her [[Grand Theft Me|TAKE OVER REBECCA SIDDONS!]]}} Why? 'Cuz she's "[[A God Am I|a perfect immortal machine]]!"
* Nene in ''[[Blue Dragon]]'' has an actual ultimate plan: he tricks {{spoiler|your party into powering up their magic so he can steal it and save himself from a wasting disease}}, but in order to pull this off, he simply cackles and invokes this Trope at every one of their meetings. At a certain point, it starts to seem like he just sits around brainstorming new ways to make the heroes mad.
* In ''[[Elder Scrolls]] IV: [[Oblivion]]'' there is the Dark Brotherhood which the ''player'' can join by murdering someone who doesn't deserve to die. The first time you 'sleep rather soundly' after doing so and consequently meet Lucien Lachance and ask him about the Dark Brotherhood, he remarks:
{{quote|
** Some of the victims are slain for revenge, for selfish gain of whoever pays, to (assumably) remove someone seen as a threat or to send a powerful message to the Brotherhood's enemies. Even the murder of Baenlin on your second mission, the harmless old man who doesn't seem to have done
** The stark contrast from ''Morrowind's'' [[I Did What I Had to Do]] Morag Tong can be very disappointing for people coming to Oblivion from that game. Of course, the Dark Brotherhood are in ''[[Morrowind]]'' too, albeit as NPC antagonists, specifically set up as the [[Chaotic Evil]] [[Evil Counterpart|counterpart]] to the [[Lawful Neutral]] Morag Tong. The disparity ''is'' deliberate.
** Again, that above statement about "for the glory of our Dread Father Sithis"? That gets even worse when you consider that canonically, Sithis ''isn't even sentient'', it's the term for the void, basically nonexistence. The Dark Brotherhood take up many of their missions to kill people in order to appease ''an abstract concept'' that ''wouldn't even care''. Talk about [[Complete Monster
* The Dark Star in ''[[
* By the time Travis Touchdown reaches her, Bad Girl in ''[[No More Heroes]]'' is so utterly burned out by her career as an assassin that she slaughters countless gimp clones just for the fun of it. She openly admits that she has no reason to kill anyone, she does it to keep herself entertained. Travis, who is only slightly less of a [[Villain Protagonist]] than [[God of War (
* Most of the villains in the first ''[[Sly Cooper]]'' game have some sort of [[Freudian Excuse]] or another behind their criminal careers. Sir Raleigh, however, is simply a bored aristocrat who commits crimes and sinks ships to entertain himself.
* In ''[[Assassin's Creed]]'', Majd Addin is the only one of Altair's targets not to try and justify his actions by claiming they were [[Utopia Justifies the Means|for the greater good.]] When asked why he executed innocent people (to the point of performing the executions ''himself''), he replies that he simply enjoyed the feeling of holding someone else's life in his hands.
* In ''[[Prototype (
** Blackwatch is implied to be heavy believers of this trope. One of the consumed memories are about [[Knight Templar|Black]][[Psycho for Hire|watch]] troopers [[Complete Monster|shooting civilians just for the hell of it, laughing the whole time]].
* The Blood Roses from ''[[All Points Bulletin]]'' are bored rich kids who commit crimes for fun. Their leader, Jeung, started with killing a hobo just because he felt like it.
* [[Complete Monster|Terumi Yuuki]] from ''[[
** It goes deeper than that, though. Terumi has stated that if he is not hated, he would cease to exist. Therefore, he had to be as Troll-ish as possible and make as many people hate him. It's a double-subversion, however, because Terumi himself ''enjoys'' inflicting sufferings here and there.
** He actually put it best himself when explaining his motives to [[Badass|Hakumen]]:
{{quote|
* Seems to be almost the entire motivation for the witches in ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro
* My own personal theory on how any why [[Kaizo Mario World]] was born. If so, it worked.
* ''[[Golden Sun: Dark Dawn]]'' brings us Blados, a [[Card-Carrying Villain]] who just plain loves his job. Whether it's kidnapping a child, [[Lost Forever|blowing up and collapsing a cavern so the heroes can never go back to that area]], [[Blood Knight|taunting characters for being "too weak for a good fight"]], forcing the heroes to {{spoiler|[[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|activate a forbidden Alchemy Machine]] and plunge most of the continent into a [[Total Eclipse of the Plot]]}}, or {{spoiler|[[The Starscream|turning a giant laser superweapon against his own country]]}}, it looks like he's only doing it for laughs.
* Gary from ''[[Bully (
* In the second ''[[Pokémon Mystery Dungeon]]'' game, it's never explained why {{spoiler|[[Big Bad|Darkrai]]}} wanted to {{spoiler|cover the world in darkness aside from destroying both space and time in order for his evil plan to work.}}
* {{spoiler|Iris Sepperin}} of ''[[Rosenkreuzstilette]]'' states that {{spoiler|she made the organization of RKS fight against the Holy Empire just for her own amusement. She also [[Complete Monster|amuses herself with other people's suffering]], such as Zorne's when she killed her father whom she was desperately trying to get to accept her as his real daughter, and Grolla's when she had arranged for her long-dead grandfather to be brought back by her father as [[The Grim Reaper]]}}.
{{quote|
* [[Affably Evil|Reaver]] in ''[[Fable II]]'': "There's something rather [[Evil Feels Good|edifying]] about hurting people."
* Bulnoil in ''[[Brigandine]]'', due to being a [[Card-Carrying Villain]]. He wants to summon Ouroboros to engulf Forsena in chaos... for no reasons other reasons aside of he's a huge dickhead.
* In ''[[Final Fantasy XIII]]'', was there any sensible reason for Primarch Dysley to shoot Jihl Nabaat in the back when she was about to defend him from the party? Even if his killing her was important to the plot and his characterization, wouldn't waiting until she'd fought the party and then invoking [[You Have Failed Me...]] have made more sense?
** Actually, no. Dysley's two irreconcilable Focuses were to Protect Cocoon and to Destroy Cocoon; to that end it was important that the main characters were not killed before they could help him carry out the 2nd Focus. Had they fought Jihl it's possible that they would've been unable to, in their weakened state, protect themselves against Dysley himself when he had been forced to fight the party in order to further his 1st Focus. Or, in other words: Jihl even being given the chance to fail him wasn't in his best interests.
* The Nightmare Court in ''[[Guild Wars 2]]'' manages to have an actual plan that requires its followers to kill and torment
* It isn't made very clear why Tuber kidnapped the fruits in ''[[
** [[Fridge Logic|He was going to make one heck of a fruit salad!]]
* Solomon in ''[[
* [[Ax Crazy|Munenori]] from ''[[Onimusha]]'': Dawn of Dreams is a crazy piece of work. His motivation in this is cemented {{spoiler|when he learns that his eye from his mother was not forced upon him to make him strong but given by his mother willingly to save his life.}} He begins to break down....and then ''starts [[Evil Laugh|cackling]] and explaining that it's irrelevant to why he does anything.''
▲== [[Web Comics]] ==
* Jeff of ''[[RPG World]]'', Eikre's {{spoiler|former best friend}}, essentially {{spoiler|killed Eikre's mother, neighbor, and burned down part his village simply to show everyone what true evil was and because he enjoyed it. He has now ascended to [[The Dragon|Dragon]] status.}}
* One Stolen Pixels strip has [[Jerkass|Fran]][[Left 4 Dead|cis]] trick Bill into thinking a pushbroom is the best weapon.
* ''[[
** The lich Xykon, the [[Big Bad]], is simply out to be as evil as possible, and often goes out of his way to commit atrocities just 'cause it's fun. The result is the bizarre twist of an <s>[[Affably Evil]]</s> [[Faux Affably Evil]] [[Complete Monster]].
{{quote|
<Last moving warrior in the room commits ritual suicide for the horrible deeds she did because of Xykon's tricks> }}
** Xykon was like this even as a mortal, but he got ''even worse'' when he realized that, as a lich, he could no longer taste coffee. Killing and torturing people are now the only pleasures Xykon has now that he can no longer enjoy a good or bad cup of coffee.
** Belkar may also qualify in his more [[Perfectly Cromulent Word|murderiffic]] moments. Especially when he tries to get a Paladin to murder him in cold blood surely so she'd fall because of how funny it would be.
** General Tarquin is a really odd case. He ''thinks'' he's [[Above Good and Evil]], but for some reason he keeps doing things in the most evil (and often [[Obviously Evil]]) way possible. Often it's quite possibly just to get what he wants regardless of who is hurt, but sometimes there's no logical reason for it at all.
{{quote|
* Bun-bun of ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' fame is sometimes this. A lot of the time, he's after something (money, strippers, alfalfa hay), but sometimes, he just wants a bit of a laugh. A sadistic one. Ka-CLICK.
* In the second ''[[Dungeons
** His character type, Dark Kantian, is based on this trope. His Categorical Imperative is that he must do evil regardless of its utility. (And all the Platonists have headaches now. Whee....)
* Richard from ''[[Looking for Group]]'' is a delightfully evil character who will happily slaughter entire villages out of sheer boredom. He takes great joy in seeing the hero of the comic, Cale, slowly become less innocent, more violent, and more cynical. His motivations are largely unknown, but after each of the other characters had explained their reasons behind the main quest, he simply states "'''I like to kill things.''' How do you not get that by now?"
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** Actually, this is his main motivation for traveling with the group at all. He's bored, and enjoys all the chances he gets to do very bad, exceedingly violent things.
*** During his [http://www.lfgcomic.com/page/158 trial] in issue 6 Richard says that he feels he's on a path like Cale is.
* Black Mage from ''[[
{{quote|
'''Black Mage:''' Because it seemed excessively cruel! [''winks''] }}
* Cyndi of ''[[Penny and Aggie]]'' toys with others' lust for her, and manipulates people into abandoning their friends or into [[Moral Event Horizon|eating disorders and suicide attempts]], simply because it amuses her: "I do like to play." Best summed up by Penny:
{{quote|
* ''[[Juathuur]]'' averts this trope, and explicitly evokes it [https://web.archive.org/web/20100821053440/http://oneway.juathuur.com/1/?strip_id=254 here]. The comic, as a whole, makes a point that no one is evil 'just because', everyone has his reasons.
* This is the motivation for easily half the people and events involved in ''[[Ansem Retort]]''. Axel even explicitly stated that this is why Zexion should steal tax dollars from his constituents to finance Axel's wedding: just to prove he ''could''.
* In ''[[Girl Genius]]'', most of the old Heterodyne family's sadistic experiments were [[For Science!]], but they left behind a [[
* Norman from ''[[Dragon Tails]]'' wants to conquer the world and destroy Enigma seemingly because he has nothing better to do. Unfortuantely for him, he's...not very good at either.
* The Grand Highblood from ''[[Homestuck]]'' seems to be the troll incarnate of this trope, killing those who seek him out on a whim simply because he truly thinks of himself as the highest on the troll totem pole. {{spoiler|And he's also Gamzee's ancestor, and the moment Gamzee sobers up, he decides it's time to prepare for The Vast Honk via killing off all the other remaining trolls. Which he successfully does in a doomed timeline, considering he has their blood to paint with.}}
* This is the only discernible reason why [[Designated Hero|Christian Weston Chandler]]'s enemies continually try to ruin his Love Quests in ''[[Sonichu]]''.
** In fairness, Chris is a Jerkass at best, so it's probably the same reason why many people troll him in [[Real Life]]-[[Asshole Victim|they think he ''deserves'' to be trolled.]]
* The hat guy in ''[[
* Aram of ''[[Men in Hats]]''. His two entertainments are television and the physical and psychological torment of his housemates.
▲== Web Original ==
▲* [[Troll|Trolls]], of course.
* Blood Boy of ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]''. [[Word of God]] states he does have a motive, but it A) Doesn't make sense, and B) If it did, boils more or less down to this anyway.
** There's also the [[Alternative Character Interpretation]] some handlers have that this is essentially why [[Big Bad|Danya]] is abducting American students and making them kill each other.
** Maxwell Lombardi is one of the few killers in v4 who genuinely enjoys killing, and often goes out of his way to kill people. [[Complete Monster|He's... quite good at it.]]
* Don Sebastiano of the ''[[Whateley Universe]]''. His idea of 'romance' is seducing a classmate, having sex with her until she's in love, then humiliating her in front of the whole school. And that's the least damaging side of him.
* Entire basis of ''[[Evil FTW]]'', but not
* [[Dr.
** Actually, Dr. Horrible is a subversion; it's made a clear on a couple of occasions that he feels the world is corrupted, and the only way to "save" it is to take control himself; most obviously in his opening spiel and during the song "My Eyes". Indeed, when it comes time to kill the "hero" of the piece, {{spoiler|he can't bring himself to do it until he's lost his chance.}}
* Dr. Heiter in ''[[
* [[That Guy With
{{quote|
* In ''[[Dragon Ball Abridged|Dragon Ball Z Abridged]]'', it seems that this is part of Vegeta's motivation for his presence on (and subsequent attempt at destroying) Earth.
{{quote|
'''Goku/Kakarot''': "That's not very nice."
'''Vegeta''': "{{smallcaps|Of course not! I'm f** king evil!}}" }}
* Veronica Carter of ''[[Shadowhunter Peril]]'', through a technicality, falls under this category. When she originally existed in Fan Fiction, Veronica was a psychotic vampire who had bullied her three siblings into working for her in her quest for total destruction of everything, murdered her rebellious little brother's best and only friend, killed and drained blood from the bodies of humans well after she was full satisfying her thirst, and went on a celebratory trek across of vandalism across the country after she killed her own army and attacked the opposing one (keep in mind that her idea of vandalism is burning everything she sees). Her reasoning for all this is because she "was just bored".
** Even in ''Shadowhunter Peril'', she will occasionally do something that could be slightly considered evil towards the Resistance, such as setting demonic, tentacled, man-eating pies on her friends (she literally commands them to eat Nicholas and Umbra); and [[
*** It goes without saying that Veronica is [[Ax Crazy|definitely insane.]]
▲== Western Animation ==
* All the villains from ''[[Captain Planet]]'' except [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|Looten Plunder]], [[Corrupt Hick|Hoggish Greedly]] and [[Name's the Same|Duke]] [[I Love Nuclear Power|Nukem]].
** Sly Sludge ''usually'' has greed as a motivation like Looten Plunder, but sometimes is just out to pollute apparently for the heck of it.
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* Although eponymous ''[[Invader Zim]]'' does have a motive, it's obvious from his actions, particularly in flashbacks, that he's more concerned with the evulz than anything else.
** Especially since his actual mission is to observe and report. His decision to conquer and destroy is all for the heck of it. Well, and his ego.
{{quote|
* [[Hypercompetent Sidekick|Shego]] from ''[[Kim Possible]]''. her entire family is classic [[Lawful Stupid]]. When Kim, visiting another superheroic team composed of Shego's old family, points out that having a huge TV screen in their base that the villain can appear on any time he likes for spying purposes is a huge security flaw, Shego's response is an annoyed "Why do you think I left?!"
{{quote|
'''Ron:''' The fighting?
'''Kim:''' The evil. }}
* The anti-fairies in ''[[The Fairly
** Well they ''are'' the [[Evil Counterpart]] to the Fairies, who go out to help kids basically [[For Great Justice]](and to fill the void of not having kids of their own.) [[Wild Mass Guessing|Maybe they cause bad luck to "fill the void" too?]]
** Vicky also counts. Her very purpose in life is either to swindle cash or torture those under her care, even her own little sister. When Timmy (who needs his tonsils removed) demands why she is working in the hospital, she replies with this obvious answer: "I like volunteering in places where there's pain."
* ''[[Samurai Jack]]'': In the [[DVD Commentary]], [[Word of God|Genndy Tartakovsky]] mentioned the idea that [[Big Bad|Aku]] set up the [[Jackass Genie]] well in Episode VII as well as several other obstacles Jack encounters throughout his travels. He notes this isn't to capture Jack, but so Aku could just mess with the people he's already enslaved.
* One memorable episode of ''[[Teen Titans (
** Also the Brotherhood of Evil, at least in their first appearance. There is no logic reason, other than being a massive dick (quite an accomplishment for a [[Brain In
*** On the other hand, there's really quite a lot that the head of an international crime ring ''could'' do with a black hole machine, even if it's not spelled out. Can you say "extortion", anyone?
** Even ''Slade'' flirted with
*** Slade in that episode could be [[Fan Wank
** Trigon, being
* ''[[Sleeping Beauty (Disney film)|Sleeping Beauty]]'' has Maleficent. She tries to murder the titular character. And when that fails, she captures her [[Prince Charming]] so she can send him back when he's old and grey. Why? 'Cuz she's "[[Large Ham|the mistress of all evil]]!"
** That and she didn't like the fact [[Disproportionate Retribution|she wasn't invited to the little baby princess's birthday party.]]
* On ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'', Lucius is pretty much evil for the sake of being evil. The sole focus of his [[Mega Corp]] is to make people miserable.
** [[Enfante Terrible|Heloise]] too. On one occasion she was seen sucking up all the water around a tree just to get it to wilt.
* There is no doubt that this is the cause of
** Hexadecimal is so chaotic that she sometimes falls into this trope, for example creating the Medusa Bug and overriding the system Paint command. She even fires The Hardware at the Principal Office, despite Megabyte's warning that doing so will destroy the entire system and everyone in it, including herself, simply because it is "screaming out to be destroyed".
* In the ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' cartoons, King Koopa and his kids are [[Card-Carrying Villain|Card Carrying Villains]] that are always doing evil for the sake of doing evil. Occasionally they would have plans that involved financial gain, but evil always took top priority and financial gain was a bonus.
* Arguably, Swiper from ''[[Dora the Explorer]]'' might count. As a villain, Swiper's only motivation seems to be to steal Macguffins for the purpose of inconveniencing the protagonists and then throwing them away (similar to the jewel thief mentioned in ''[[The Dark Knight]]'').
* Lamilton from ''[[The Boondocks]]''. "It's fun to do bad things" is basically his catch phrase throughout the episode.
* In ''[[Powerpuff Girls]]'', this is the only reason ''Him'' does anything.
** Except his aerobics.
* In ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'', though Lex Luthor ''does'' have a legitimate master plan, he explains this as his motive for the part where he tricks the League into thinking they were destined to become like their [[Knight Templar]] [[Alternate Universe]] selves.
{{quote|
* Skeletor in the original ''[[He
* Eris from ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy
* Mr. Black in episode 401 of ''[[The Simpsons]]'', "Kamp Krusty", as demonstrated by his toast to the three juvenile delinquints he is employing as camp counselors:
{{quote|
* [[The Itchy and Scratchy Show|Itchy]] kills his Best friend Scratchy for this. A good example is a cartoon where Itchy [[Wounded Gazelle Gambit|pretends to commit suicide by jumping in a well]] so he can shoot Scratchy when he comes down to save him.
* Gnorga, the Queen of Trolls in ''[[A Troll in Central Park]]'', who likes to watch babies cry just for fun and even goes so far as to sing [[Villain Song|a song about]] this being her motivation.
* Madam Mim in the Disney film ''[[The Sword in
* The villains from ''[[Freddie
* One episode of ''[[Johnny Bravo]]'' had the devil's nephew, IIRC, possess Johnny in order to turn off the filter to the city's water supply, giving the water a metallic taste. When Pops asks why the demon couldn't have done it himself, the demon says that he could, but it wouldn't be as interesting as forcing someone else to do it.
* While many of the other ghostly villains from ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' did what they did for money, power, revenge, or just because it was their job, [[Future Me Scares Me|Dark Danny]] clearly caused chaos and destruction throughout the Earth and the Ghost Zone mainly for this trope. Unlike most Western Animation examples, which are hammy, Anvilicous or just an excuse motif, Dark Danny [[Ax Crazy|plays]] [[Fallen Hero|this]] [[What Do You Mean It's Not for Kids?|for]] [[Complete Monster|pure]] [[Nightmare Fuel|terror.]]
** Later on we have [[The Blank|Amorpho]], who [[Shape Shifter|can morph and disguise himself]] as other other people, and does it to pull pranks and cause chaos for his own amusement.
*** So it's more [[It Amused Me]] then.
* Sid from ''[[Toy Story (franchise)|Toy Story]]'' spends most of his free time thinking up ways of torturing toys for a quick laugh, including, but not limited to, tearing them apart and switching their pieces together.
** Sid only seems this way to the audience and the toys—who are aware that he is doing this to sentient beings—but as far as he and any human in the movie is concerned, he just has a creepy hobby. Of course, he does wreck his sister's toys and delights in her horror at the monstrosities he creates, but picking on your sibling isn't exactly "evil."
*** It's more bullying rather than just picking on her. But bully ≠ evil villain.
* [[Complete Monster|Katz]] from ''[[Courage the Cowardly Dog]]'' ''lives'' for this trope, to the point that [[Nightmare Fuel|it's actually frightening]].
* Many villains in ''[[Megas XLR]]'' live by this trope. Two explicitly notable examples include Gerrkek the Planet Killer and Ender.
{{quote|
* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'': Azula may have her eyes set on the crown and other external motivations, but a lot of times she seems to just enjoy being an evil bastard. Then again, she's very clearly insane, even before her [[Villainous Breakdown]] toward the end of the series -- she even ends up ranting in an asylum.
* [[Complete Monster|The Coachman]] from ''[[Pinocchio (Disney film)|Pinocchio]]'', who actually kidnaps naughty young boys, brings them all to Pleasure Island, turns them all into donkeys, and locks them all up in crates headed either for the salt mines or the circus just for the fun of it! And to make matters worse, he's actually a [[Karma Houdini]]!
** Even worse, he's actually ''[[Stupid Evil|losing money]]'' [[Stupid Evil|by doing this]], since fellow villains who persuade wayward boys to go with the Coachman typically demand payment in the form of gold coins.
* [[Meaningful Name|Discord]] from ''[[My Little Pony:
* In ''[[G.I. Joe: Resolute]]'', Zartan says this about why he does what he does: "But I like the idea of living in a world where I can kill anyone I like, anytime I like. I don't need the money; I just need the killing."
* In the Disney ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'' series, Mirage is a cat goddess who's labeled as "Evil Incarnate" and whose primary motivation is to destroy good and spread misery. She developed into wanting revenge on Aladdin, but started out trying to hurt Agrabah because there was too much good in it.
**
** Of note is the being literally named [[Reality Warper|Chaos]]. Aladdin and Co. ''think'' he's following this trope, but it's really more because [[It Amused Me]]. They eventually find out he's not
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Evil Tropes]]
[[Category:Obviously Evil]]
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[[Category:Motivation Index]]
[[Category:Villains]]
[[Category:
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