Lust: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

Lust is an intense desire for something that doesn't properly have material existence. It is most commonly understood as sexual desire, but can in fact refer to massive desire for anything abstract. Lust for power is a very common motivation for villains, especially the [[Evil Overlord]]. Conquest, honour, respect, and knowledge are also things that can be lusted after.

 

 

This is similar to [[Greed]], but greed refers to desire for material possessions, lust is desire for abstract concepts. Like greed, lust is rarely satisfied, and just keeps growing until it often brings down the character. Both often go hand in hand with [[Villainous Glutton|gluttony]].

 

Compare or contrast [[For Happiness]] and [[Ethical Slut]], depending on viewpoint. Compare [[Sex Is Evil and I Am Horny]]. In certain viewpoints, compare [[Heteronormative Crusader]].

{{examples}}

* A major trait of [[Lex Luthor]].

 

* [[Everworld|Senna]] [[Magnificent Bastard|Wales]], whose plan follows the ideals of a [[Take Over the World]] villain. Of course, this only the start.

* [[Nineteen Eighty-Four|The Party]].

 

* Ben Linus, ''[[Lost]]''.

 

* Fire Lord Ozai of ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''.

* As well as both Phobos and Nerissa of ''[[WITCH (animation)|WITCH]]''.

 

 

* Pick any version of ''[[Robin Hood]]''. Chances are that either the Sheriff of Nottingham or Guy of Gisborne will lust after Marian.

* The 1998 miniseries ''[[Merlin (TV miniseries)|Merlin]]'' provides a particularly interesting example in King Uther. His [[Fatal Flaw]], and his doom, is his lust for Igraine, the wife of the Duke of Cornwall. To satisfy his desire, he goes to war against the Duke, causing the death of hundreds, eventually kills him, and with Merlin's help, rapes Igraine by deceit. After he's satiated his desire, however, he has no more interest in her, and simply leaves her and the bastard child he'd begotten(Arthur). Over time after the incident, Uther slowly slips into madness until he is almost [[The Caligula]] before he finally commits suicide. At the same time, his killing of her father enrages Morgan le Fay, who later becomes a pivotal enemy of Merlin and Arthur.

 

* Balthamel in ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'' originally became evil so that he could indulge his sexual lust with reckless abandon.

** Ditto Rahvin, who uses mind control to force women into having sex with him, since he can't handle rejection.

* In ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (novel)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'', when Archdeacon Claude Frollo sets his eyes on the beautiful gypsy [[Hot Gypsy Woman|Esmerelda]], he is consumed by his lust for her, which slowly [[Face Heel Turn|drives him insane]] until he decides to try to overcome his sexual desires by killing her.

 

* ''[[Sex and the City]]''

* Phoebe from ''[[Charmed]]'' got hit by lust pretty bad in an episode centered on the [[Seven Deadly Sins]]. Of course, this only magnified what was there originally - her high school nickname was [[Really Gets Around|freebie]].

 

* The [[Seven Deadly Sins]] series, by Vocaloid producer [[Mothy]] aka AkunoP. Lust's song is [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUB9QGKCNmI Madness of Duke Venomania], by Gakupo Kamui. Through a [[Deal with the Devil]], gets the power to lure woman into a large harem at his mansion. Some scenes are NSFW.

 

* In [[Greek Mythology]], [[The Trojan War]] started because of Paris' lust for Helen of Troy.

 

* Judge Turpin from ''[[Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (theatre)|Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street]]''. His lust for Lucy Barker sets the entire plot in motion when he has Benjamin Barker, who would become Sweeney, sent to a penal colony on a false charge so he could have her for himself, and [[Moral Event Horizon|he eventually rapes her at a masked ball that he has the Beadle lure her to]]. And then as Johanna, the daughter of Benjamin and Lucy whom he adopted as his own, gets older, [[Wife Husbandry|he starts lusting after]] ''[[Wife Husbandry|her]]'' [[Wife Husbandry|as well]], [[Squick|which is really,]] ''[[Squick|really]]'' [[Squick|creepy on several levels]]. When he finds out that Johanna won't go along with his plan to marry her, he turns out to be just as cruel as Frollo below, throwing her into [[Bedlam House|Fogg's Asylum]] to spend some time [[Go Among Mad People|Going Among Mad People]].

 

** In the [[The Legend of Zelda (animation)|'80s American cartoon]], Ganon's motivations for kidnapping Zelda sometimes included getting his hands on ''her'', as well as the Triforce of Wisdom. Of course, this may just be part and parcel of his unending lust for power.

* Sir William the Black from ''[[Overlord]]'' is a fallen paladin-turned-cult leader who has spent most of his recent time ignoring the deaths of the people in Heaven's Peak to satisfy his own carnal desires.

* Sector Bootes from ''[[Strange Journey]]''. The entire subdimension is modelled after a red-light district, with a huge central tower nicknamed in-game as the "Palace of Pleasure". It is, however, also home to a fair number of [[Mad Scientist]] demons, who express an obscene lust for knowledge.

 

 

** Coupled with the blatant racial and religious bigotry plotlines, can you believe it only got a G rating?

** In the original book, Captain Phoebus was more of a case of lust, what with the womanizing ("while" engaged to someone he spends most of the book seducing). But Archdeacon Frollo could still counts - he's not a villain, but by the end he's so unhinged and/or desperate he'd rather get Esmeralda hanged than have her refuse him.

* Jafar toward Jasmine in ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]''. You know it's true. Did you see what he ''dressed'' her in after assuming power?

 

* Lust for respect is one of the main flaws of Light Yagami in ''[[Death Note]]''; it combines with his [[Pride]] to generate a [[A God Am I|severe god complex]]. The only time Light shows a strong emotion {{spoiler|(besides when he's defeated by Near)}} is when he feels L humiliated him.

* [[Suzumiya Haruhi|Haruhi Suzumiya]] lusts for weirdness. In fact, the reason why she's so screwed up is probably because there ''is nothing'' in this "boring world". [[Locked Out of the Loop|That's what she thinks.]]

* [[Hellsing|"Gentlemen, I like war]]...[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6wcw5jWRhc Gentlemen, I '''love''' war"].

 

 

* Each of the villains in the ''[[Keys to the Kingdom]]'' series represents a deadly sin, with Lady Friday representing lust. To be precise, lust for human memories and experiences. She seems to be addicted to them, and routinely kidnaps senior citizens (who have had more experiences) and drains them of all their emotions. They never wake up again.

** If the experience is deemed too "impure" (in a quality sense, not anything else), she discards it and gives it to a subordinate.

 

* [[Avatar: The Last Airbender]] [["Well Done, Son" Guy|son, Zuko's]] obsession with "Honor" and his constant searches for his father's approval fit the discription of lust quite nicely.

 

* [[The Sandman|Desire of the Endless]] is the [[Anthropomorphic Personification]] of, well, Desire. Which basically entails this trope.

 

* Andrealphus is the [[Anthropomorphic Personification|Demon Prince of Lust]] in [[In Nomine]]. He mostly (and enthusiastically) focuses on sexual lust, believing that [[Love Hurts]] and is a weak thing as a result, but also covers all other areas of intense desire.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Sex Tropes]]

[[Category:Characterization Tropes]]

[[Category:Character Flaw Index]]

[[Category:Motivation Index]]

[[Category:Lust]]