Lean and Mean: Difference between revisions

Line 1:

[[File:yzma.jpg|link=The Emperor's New Groove ~~(Disney)~~|frame|Nothing burns calories quite like evil.]]

[[File:yzma.jpg|link=The Emperor's New Groove|frame|Nothing burns calories quite like evil.]]

{{quote|''"Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look;<br />

He thinks too much: such men are dangerous."''|'''Caesar''', ''[[Julius Caesar (~~Theatre~~)|Julius Caesar]]''}}

He thinks too much: such men are dangerous."''|'''Caesar''', ''[[Julius Caesar (theatre)|Julius Caesar]]''}}

[[Evil Costume Switch|Black robes]] not fitting properly? Just try being a little more evil! [[Kick the Dog|Kicking puppies]] is good exercise after all! And don't worry about those meals you skip while you're scheming to take over the kingdom. Yes, the combination of your new villainous lifestyle and the laws of narrative causality will make those annoying extra pounds vanish before you can say "Are they even ''feeding'' [[The Emperor's New Groove ~~(Disney)~~|Yzma]]?"

[[Evil Costume Switch|Black robes]] not fitting properly? Just try being a little more evil! [[Kick the Dog|Kicking puppies]] is good exercise after all! And don't worry about those meals you skip while you're scheming to take over the kingdom. Yes, the combination of your new villainous lifestyle and the laws of narrative causality will make those annoying extra pounds vanish before you can say "Are they even ''feeding'' [[The Emperor's New Groove|Yzma]]?"

Sometimes used for a [[Freud Was Right]] explanation, where the villain is nasty and vicious ''because'' she's so hungry. Very common among fashion-oriented shows to explain why the size 0 model is so cranky.

The reverse [[Villainous Glutton]] / [[Fat Bastard]] style is also relatively frequent (cf. [[The Little Mermaid ~~(Disney)~~|Ursula]], the Blob), but nowhere as lampshaded as the Lean and Mean look. Also contrast [[Large and In Charge]]. Particularly skinny or gangly-proportioned villains may qualify as [[Noodle People]].

The reverse [[Villainous Glutton]] / [[Fat Bastard]] style is also relatively frequent (cf. [[The Little Mermaid|Ursula]], the Blob), but nowhere as lampshaded as the Lean and Mean look. Also contrast [[Large and In Charge]]. Particularly skinny or gangly-proportioned villains may qualify as [[Noodle People]].

When the hero is stronger and/or dumber, this often leads to [[Brains Evil Brawn Good]].

Line 27:

== Comic Books ==

* Most incarnations of Ragdoll in [[The DCU]], but in ''[[~~The Batman (Animation)|~~The Batman]]'' it was taken to serious extremes; the Ragdoll is a tall, rail-thin thief and contortionist who is literally capable of fitting inside a top hat. Also, as he is often depicted as frail, one of The Joker's [[I Have Many Names|many nicknames]] is "The Thin White Duke of Death."

* Most incarnations of Ragdoll in [[The DCU]], but in ''[[The Batman]]'' it was taken to serious extremes; the Ragdoll is a tall, rail-thin thief and contortionist who is literally capable of fitting inside a top hat. Also, as he is often depicted as frail, one of The Joker's [[I Have Many Names|many nicknames]] is "The Thin White Duke of Death."

* The [[Batman]] villain [[Scarecrow]] is so thin that he was bullied as a child for his resemblance to [[The Legend of Sleepy Hollow|Ichabod Crane]].

* Many skinny aliens in [[Sillage]] turn out to be villains. Most notable of them is consul Atsukau, a corrupt politician and collector of lovers from different species, obsessed with the protagonist.

Line 38:

* ''[[Ratatouille]]'': [[Straw Critic]] Anton Ego is thin for someone who eats for a living. As he explains, "If I don't love it, I don't ''swallow''."

* Franklin Bean in ''[[Fantastic Mr. Fox]]'' is noted for being skinny because he subsists only on cider.

** Yzma of ''[[The Emperor's New Groove ~~(Disney)~~|The Emperors New Groove]]'' takes this to a new extreme, although it's not unreasonable to assume she may have been most attractive a century or two ago.

** Yzma of ''[[The Emperor's New Groove|The Emperors New Groove]]'' takes this to a new extreme, although it's not unreasonable to assume she may have been most attractive a century or two ago.

*** Yzma was shown to be quite attractive as a teenager in the episode "Cool Summer" of [[The Emperor's New School ~~(Animation)~~|the show]].

*** Yzma was shown to be quite attractive as a teenager in the episode "Cool Summer" of [[The Emperor's New School|the show]].

** And then there's Dr. Facilier from the new ''[[The Princess and ~~The~~ Frog]]''. He's thin to the point of stylized in an otherwise rounded, naturalistic-proportioned world. He also shows off his belly-button with a midriff-bearing shirt.

** And then there's Dr. Facilier from the new ''[[The Princess and the Frog]]''. He's thin to the point of stylized in an otherwise rounded, naturalistic-proportioned world. He also shows off his belly-button with a midriff-bearing shirt.

** Honorable mention must be given to ''[[Mulan]]'''s [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]] Chi-Fu.

* {{spoiler|The Other Mother's true form}} in ''[[Coraline (~~Film~~)|Coraline]]''.

* {{spoiler|The Other Mother's true form}} in ''[[Coraline (animation)|Coraline]]''.

* Tzekel-Kan, the evil High Priest in ''[[The Road to El Dorado]]'', highlighting his asceticism and religious devotion beside the comfortably worldy (and obese) Chief Tannabok.

* From ''[[Kung Fu Panda 2]]'', we have Lord Shen, an albino peacock who is the movie's [[Big Bad]].

Line 49:

== Films -- Live-Action ==

* ''[[~~Charlies~~ Angels]]'': Creepy Thin Man from the movie had a [[Heel Face Turn]] which triggered [[Redemption Equals Death]].

* ''[[Charlie's Angels]]'': Creepy Thin Man from the movie had a [[Heel Face Turn]] which triggered [[Redemption Equals Death]].

* '' [[Metropolis]]'': Joh. Fredersen, ruler of Metropolis, has an assistant only credited as "The Thin Man". And while most of his scenes got chopped out in subsequent releases, it's indicated in the 2002 restoration that he beat the crap out of Josaphat trying to find out what Freder was up to. (This may need to be edited once the full restoration with the missing scenes comes out.)

* ''[[Star Wars]]'':

** General Grievous

** [[Peter Cushing]] as Grand Moff Tarkin. Especially interesting because, despite his amazingly [[Villainous Cheekbones]] he was [[Playing Against Type]] after a career of playing [[Sherlock Holmes]] and [[Dracula|Dr. Van Helsing]].

* In ''[[~~Pans~~ Labyrinth]]'', the Pale Man.

* In ''[[Pan's Labyrinth]]'', the Pale Man.

* ''[[Home Alone]]'': Inverted in the first two movies, where short, round Harry is clearly the more malevolent half of the Wet Bandit Gang. Tall, skinny Marv, by contrast, borders on [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain]] much of the time.

* In ''[[~~Hellraiser (Film)|~~Hellraiser]]'', all Cenobites are rather slender, except [[Fat Bastard|Butterball]], of course.

* In ''[[Hellraiser]]'', all Cenobites are rather slender, except [[Fat Bastard|Butterball]], of course.

* Loki in ''[[Thor (~~Film~~)|Thor]]''.

* Loki in ''[[Thor (film)|Thor]]''.

Line 70:

** Lord Vetinari is a scheming Machiavellian dictator and is thin as a rail, voluntarily subsisting on nothing but bread and water. However, while he describes himself as evil, he is never an outright antagonist and is often on the heroes' side. Strangely, his (unnamed) appearance in the first book is as a [[Fat Bastard]], and was generally considered to be his predecessor until [[Word of God]] confirmed they were the same character.

** Granny Weatherwax, a manipulative [[Good Is Not Nice]] character in the same vein, is also tall, thin and wears black, though her slimness is not quite emphasised as much. It's more obvious contrasted with her fellow witch and lifelong friend, the short, plump, amicable Nanny Ogg.

** Lacrimosa in [[Discworld ~~(Literature)~~/Carpe Jugulum|Carpe Jugulum]], who actually ''is'' evil, is the epitome of this, though, especially lampshaded in that she's mostly seen from the POV of Agnes Nitt, a large girl of roughly her own age...

** Lacrimosa in [[Discworld/Carpe Jugulum|Carpe Jugulum]], who actually ''is'' evil, is the epitome of this, though, especially lampshaded in that she's mostly seen from the POV of Agnes Nitt, a large girl of roughly her own age...

* Utilized, and oft-lampshaded, in Robert Jordan's ''[[Wheel of Time]]'' novels, in that all skinny innkeepers that the protagonists come across in their journeys are invariably up to no good.

* ''[[Timeline-191]]'': Jake Featherston, the Hitler-esque Southern dictator of [[Harry Turtledove]] alternate history series, is described as whipcord-lean.

Line 102:

* Psycho Mantis in ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]''. [[Justified Trope|Justified]] in that he's a [[Psychic Powers|psychic]] who floats using [[Mind Over Matter|telekinesis]] rather than walking, causing his muscles to wither away to nothing.

* [[Knight Templar|Count Veger]] from the ''[[Jak and Daxter]]'' series is tall and skinny. And {{spoiler|responsible for ruining Jak's life.}}

* ''[[Battlefield Heroes]]'': Arguably, the [[Putting On the Reich|Nationals]]. Granted, it's [[Gray and Gray Morality|Not exactly clear who started the war]], but looking like the Nazis probably goes a long way in deciding which side they are.

* ''[[Battlefield Heroes]]'': Arguably, the [[Putting on the Reich|Nationals]]. Granted, it's [[Gray and Gray Morality|Not exactly clear who started the war]], but looking like the Nazis probably goes a long way in deciding which side they are.

* The Spy from ''[[~~Team Fortress 2 (Video Game)|~~Team Fortress 2]]'' is incredibly impolite (the Spy has [[I Banged Your Mom|banged the Scout's mom]] and loves to boast and troll the Scout about it, which could make you feel sorry for the biggest [[Jerkass]] in the game that Scout undeniably is) and very tall and slender, which his [[Badass in A Nice Suit|badass-in-a-nice-suit]] attire makes even more noticable. Furthermore, also alongside Scout and Sniper, he's the most prone to calling the Heavy "fatty" and "morbidly obese".

* The Spy from ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'' is incredibly impolite (the Spy has [[I Banged Your Mom|banged the Scout's mom]] and loves to boast and troll the Scout about it, which could make you feel sorry for the biggest [[Jerkass]] in the game that Scout undeniably is) and very tall and slender, which his [[Badass in a Nice Suit|badass-in-a-nice-suit]] attire makes even more noticable. Furthermore, also alongside Scout and Sniper, he's the most prone to calling the Heavy "fatty" and "morbidly obese".

** The Administrator, when she appears in the supplemental materials, is very thin, and seems to be totally amoral and have no emotions other than anger.

* Both Mitsuhide and Mitsunari from ''[[Sengoku Basara]]'' are [[Ax Crazy]] [[White-Haired Pretty Boy|White Haired Pretty Boys]] who are also tall and almost skeletal in appearance. In Mitsunari's case it's because he's too busy angsting to eat, while Mitsuhide is probably just that evil.

Line 115:

== Webcomics ==

* ''[[Homestuck]]'''s Jack Noir is very lean, and very [[Complete Monster|mean]].

* ''[[Daddy Long Legs (~~Webcomic~~)|Daddy Long Legs]]'' has Mr. Scapegrace, who is one of the thinnest characters seen so far and the creepiest.

* ''[[Daddy Long Legs (webcomic)|Daddy Long Legs]]'' has Mr. Scapegrace, who is one of the thinnest characters seen so far and the creepiest.

* Janice Jamison, the head of Magical Research in the Souballo Empire in ''[[Our Little Adventure]]''.

Line 121:

== Western Animation ==

* Mom in ''[[Futurama]]'' is evil and thin, but wears a selection of "fat suits" when she wants to appear the kindly matron.

* Brother Blood in ''[[Teen Titans (~~Animation~~)|Teen Titans]]''

* Brother Blood in ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]''

* Mandark in ''[[~~Dexters~~ Laboratory]]''.

* Mandark in ''[[Dexter's Laboratory]]''.

* The Monarch in ''[[The Venture Bros]]''.

** Subverted with Dr. Orpheus, who is tall and thin (and otherwise looks like a stereotypical necromancer) but is actually one of the ''nicest'' characters.

Line 138:

* Lawson from ''[[Recess]]''.

* Ms. Bitters of ''[[Invader Zim]]'', in keeping with her snakelike demeanor.

* Nightmare Moon, Discord and The Flim Flam Brothers from ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic ~~(Animation)~~|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' all qualify.

* Nightmare Moon, Discord and The Flim Flam Brothers from ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' all qualify.

** So does {{spoiler|Queen Chrysalis}}.