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President Evil (view source)

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{{trope}}
[[File:cthulhuforpresident_3130.jpg|link=Cthulhu Mythos|frame|[[The Spoony Experiment (Web Video)|But he seemed like such a nice guy during the election!]]]]
 
 
{{quote|''"Computers may be twice as fast as they were in 1973, but the average voter is as drunk and stupid as ever. The only one who's changed is me. I've become more bitter and, let's face it, crazy over the years. And when I'm swept into office, I'll sell our children's organs to zoos for meat, and I'll go into people's houses at night and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|wreck up the place!]] [[Evil Laugh|Woahahahahaha!!]]"''|'''President Richard Nixon's Head''', ''[[Futurama (Animation)|Futurama]]''}}
 
This supervillain doesn't just have an [[Elaborate Underground Base]], they have their own ''country'', often a [[Ruritania]], [[Banana Republic]], or [[Qurac]]. This affords them so many resources and so much power that the heroes [[Failure Is the Only Option|are never able to truly beat them]].
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Usually, the heroes aren't fighting against the country ''itself'', apart from the occasional loyal citizen who's been turned into a [[Super Soldier]]. Their beef is strictly with the villain, and the country is usually just a convenient plot device.
 
The villain's leaderly reputation varies between [[Villain Withwith Good Publicity]] and [[Zero-Percent Approval Rating]]. Sometimes, the heroes go into the country and foment [[La Résistance|a rebellion]] to get the villain kicked out; naturally, this often leads to someone ''even worse'' stepping up (as with [[Hitler's Time Travel Exemption Act]]) and an [[Enemy Mine]] storyline to [[Reset Button|restore the status quo]]. Or, the "oppressed masses" are actually [[Gullible Lemmings]] who ''like'' their leader, and might not be oppressed at all!
 
Similar to the [[Evil Overlord]], but with an international scope. See also [[The Caligula]], which is this trope turned [[Up to Eleven]], ''sans'' the Democracy. [[Our Presidents Are Different|A Different sort of President.]] Not to be confused with [[The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy|Hoss Delgado]]'s appearance in the fictional [[Show Within a Show|video game within a show]] ''President Evil,'' or with the actual video game series ''[[Resident Evil]]''.
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== Anime and Manga ==
* In the ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' anime and manga, {{spoiler|Fuhrer King Bradley is a homunculus.}} When Colonel Roy Mustang tries to expose him to top military brass, he gets a shocker: {{spoiler|most of them were already in on it.}} In the manga, {{spoiler|the entire country of Amestris was founded by Father and the homunculi. Bradley was a human chosen to be the country's ruler and injected with the Philosopher's Stone to make him a homunculus.}}
* In ''Steel Ball Run'' (Part 7 of ''[[Jo Jo's Bizarre Adventure (Manga)|Jo Jos Bizarre Adventure]]'') the president, Funny Valentine (yes, that is his name), is a corrupt, morally devoid lunatic who somehow still manages to be a [[Villain Withwith Good Publicity]] (probably the American flag scar). Among other things, he uses government funds to secretly hire criminals and lackeys for his dirty work and he obviously has some sort of plan for ultimate power that involves using said lackeys to get [[Upgrade Artifact|"Saint Parts"]] for him. Oh, and he tried to rape a 14 year-old girl in one scene. He wasn't sure she was 14 years-old, but attempted none the less.
* [[Mai Chans Daily Life]]- [[Complete Monster|president]] of [[Eagle Land|"A Country"]]
* In [[Bloody Monday]] (Season Two) President Adams seems to do this, only he's just more of a [[Jerkass]] than someone that's genuinely evil.
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== Comic Books ==
* The trope name is taken from the [[Superman (Comic Book)|Superman]] arc in which [[Lex Luthor]] became President of the United States, which is most likely a play on the title of the ''[[Resident Evil]]'' series.
** It's actually more of a multi-arc crossover -- he remains president for several years, and becomes more involved in the rest of the DC continuity (for example, framing [[Batman|Bruce Wayne]] for murder in a lengthy arc in ''that'' comic). Surprisingly, though, he's not any more evil than usual; he's no more corrupt or power mad than when he was a regular [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]]. The only time he really snaps is a relatively short arc where he tries to frame Superman for a Kryptonite comet heading to Earth, and then loses it -- this is what gets him impeached. Going on a killing spree with your old Apokoliptian powersuit will do that.
** [[Walkyverse|Shortpacked]] has a [http://www.shortpacked.com/toynewsi/sp-tni229.png great deal of fun] with this one from time to time.
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** "'All shall kiss my smouldering hoof', said the Mayor in a statement yesterday."
** "Minority groups cheered the Mayor's statement that he would bring 'A new era of blackness' to the city..."
* Philip Nolan Voigt in Marvel's [[New Universe]], a paranormal who can duplicate any other paranormal's powers, only better, uses his abilities to become President. [[Heroes (TV series)|sound familiar]]? Also, Voigt tries to intimidate an [[Intrepid Reporter]] by threatening his elderly mother.
* Black Adam as the leader of Khandaq, though that all came crashing down in ''52''.
* During the '80s, when tensions with Iran were still high after the hostage crisis, the Joker from [[Batman]], who'd just killed Jason Todd in Africa, was chosen to serve as Iran's UN representative, thus giving him diplomatic immunity. I'll repeat that: ''Iran made The Joker a diplomat.'' This was later [[Retcon|retconned]] so that it was [[Qurac]], a (totally fictitious) terrorist state, that gave The Joker diplomatic immunity.
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** Now Osborn is considered a criminal by the general public once again following the Siege.
* In the ''[[Marvel 1602]]'' series, we see a brief shot of the modern world, where second-string supervillain the Purple Man has been elected President of the United States of America (presumably using his mind control powers).
* [[A Nightmare Onon Elm Street|Freddy Krueger]] actually names himself president after decimating Washington DC in ''[[Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash]]: The Nightmare Warriors''.
* In ''[[Daredevil|Elektra]]: Assassin'', the Beast manages to get Ken Wind elected president, but Elektra thwarts the plan with her psychic powers and ninja skills.
* ''[[Monster Plus]]'' has World President Mark Darke, who, if the name isn't helping you get it, authorized the creation of EVLI Eye squadrons to handle dissidents.
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== Fan Fiction ==
* The President of the United States is the last foe Vash fights in [[Christian Humber Reloaded (Fanfic)|Christian Humber Reloaded]].
* One of the conspirators working for "[[Omniscient Council of Vagueness|the council]]" in [[Naruto Veangance Revelaitons (Fanfic)|Naruto Veangance Revelaitons]] is the President of the United States.
* Crops up ''very'' often in [[Axis Powers Hetalia]] fanfiction. Evil presidents and other 'bosses' in the near future are frequently used as either the villains themselves, or as the man behind the man, forcing the otherwise decent [[Moe Anthropomorphism|nations]] to do evil things.
 
 
== Film ==
* Apparently, the people in [[John Carpenter]]'s [[Crapsack World]] future in the ''Escape From...'' film series can'''not''' get a good president. In ''[[Escape Fromfrom New York|...New York]]'', [[Halloween (Filmfilm)|Doctor Loomis]] was a scheming little crook, and ''[[Escape From LAL.A.|...LA]]'' had [[Spider -Man (Filmfilm)|Uncle Ben]] as an outright religious psychotic.
** The second guy actually managed to get the Constitution amended to stay president for life. His first act after that? Move the capital to his hometown (Lynchburg, VA).
* The poster for ''[[The Omen|Omen III: The Final Conflict]]'' makes it seem like [[Anti Christ|Damien]] becomes President of the United States. [[Covers Always Lie|He doesn't]]; he ''does'' become the Ambassador to the Court of St. James though.
* In ''[[G.I. Joe: theThe Rise of Cobra]]'' {{spoiler|Zartan manages to disguise himself and take the place of the President.}}
* In ''[[The Dead Zone]]'', Johnny Smith (played by [[Christopher Walken]]) shakes the hand of politician Greg Stillson (Martin Sheen) and forsees that he will become president who, in a moment of megalomania ("YOU are not the voice of the people! I AM THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE!"), orders a nuclear strike, thus destroying the world. [[Hilarious in Hindsight|This scene is pretty funny to those who mainly know]] [[The West Wing|Sheen as the wise, principled President Jed Bartlet]]
* [[Big Bad|Palpatine]] of [[Star Wars]] was one of these as [[The Federation|Chancellor]]. Of course, [[It Got Worse|it was just a stepping stone to becoming Emperor]].
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* In ''[[Harry Potter]] and The [[Deathly Hallows]]'' Voldemort manages to {{spoiler|take control over the Ministry of Magic and all of wizarding England by placing Imperius Curses over some officials, murdering others, and placing Death Eaters and sympathizers of his cause in positions of power}}. This allows him to (without much resistance, thanks to the previous Ministers) {{spoiler|enact what would end up as a pureblood regime.}} However, Voldemort never seems interested in becoming Minister of Magic himself.
** There were several attempts at justification in-story, mostly of the "Direct Parallels To Nazi Germany" variety. Voldemort and his most infamous Death Eaters {{spoiler|stayed in the shadows, so mostly semi-legit followers/not-necessarily-enemies like Umbridge were the public face of the DE government; the general wizarding public were lied to as to what was really being done to half-bloods and muggle-borns, and those that did suspect the truth were either too scared to act (remembering Voldemort at his height, 20 years earlier) or were otherwise neutralized (like they attempted to do with the Weasleys).}}
* In the ''[[Left Behind]]'' series, Nicolae Carpathia starts out as the president of Romania, and moves on to become Secretary-General of the UN (later called the Supreme Potentate of the Global Community). He's [[The Antichrist|the Antichrist]].
* President Lindbergh in Philip Roth's ''The Plot Against America''.
* GamePro Magazine used "[[President Evil]]" during the April Fools issue (with a zombie version of Abe Lincoln on the cover) a few months after [[Resident Evil]] first came out.
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== Live Action TV ==
* U.S. President Charles Logan and Russian President Yuri Suvarov from ''[[Twenty Four|24]]''.
* In ''[[Read All About It]]'', Dunedon, the evil ruler of Trialveron, is also secretly Don Eden, mayor of our heroes' home town on Earth.
* Nathan Petrelli {{spoiler|/Sylar}} of ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' becomes the U.S. Prez in the alternate future presented in "Five Years Gone", and tries to enact a program to kill off all the superpowered people in the world (except himself, of course. Because "I can fly. I'm hardly dangerous.").
* At the end of Series 3 of ''[[Doctor Who]]'', {{spoiler|The Master, posing as Mr. Saxon, gets himself elected as Prime Minister of Great Britain, and promptly uses his authority to gas the Cabinet, declare the Doctor and his friends fugitives, arrest Martha Jones' family, make fun of/assassinate the US President, take over the world and generally act like a [[Magnificent Bastard]].}} In the end, it is {{spoiler|time-reverted, except for the deaths of the U.S. President and the British Cabinet. Ouch}}. In "The End of Time", {{spoiler|he conquers the world by transforming all of humanity into carbon copies of himself, consequently making him president of every single country at once. Even [[Lampshade Hanging|acknowledges]] this himself: "I'm President! President of the United States! Look at me! Financial solution... deleted!". Also in "The End of Time", we discover that the last Lord President of Gallifrey (who may also have been the first) was an [[Omnicidal Maniac]] who was planning to destroy the universe so that he could [[Ascend to Aa Higher Plane of Existence]].}}
** In Series 1, a Slitheen wearing the skin of a mid-level politician manages to become Acting Prime Minister by offing the real one and being the highest ranking elected official around during a time of crisis. Presumably he would have been replaced as soon as the panic subsided, but it gives the Slitheen all the time in power they need to spark a nuclear war and destroy the earth.
** In "The Five Doctors", Borusa, Lord President of Gallifrey, seeks to manipulate the Doctor's first five incarnations into recovering Time Lord founder Rassilon's fabled secret of immortality for himself so that he might rule Gallifrey forever.
* In ''[[Torchwood (TV)|Torchwood]]: Children of Earth'', there's Prime Minister Green. True, the whole leadership of the government reluctantly goes along with the plan of handing ten percent of the world's children over to the 4-5-6, but they didn't really have any choice, and they're shown to take no enjoyment from crossing this [[Moral Event Horizon]]. However, at the end of the miniseries, when the 4-5-6 have just barely been defeated in time, Green proves himself to be truly morally corrupt by gleefully announcing how he plans to blame everything on the Americans. This proves to be the last straw for his cabinet, and they blackmail him into standing down.
* [[Babylon Five5|President Clark]]: Assassinated the old leader? Check. Iron-fisted regime? Check. Tried to tempt, coerce, and finally smash the heroes? Check, check, and most definitely check. Of course, since this is Babylon Five, status quo is not god, and he eventually loses.
** His final act as president before offing himself is to set all [[Kill Sat|Kill Sats]] in Earth's orbit to fire at the planet. Luckily, the good guys manage to stop them in time.
* Various alternate realities in ''[[Stargate SG -1]]'' where Senator Kinsey managed to become President.
** Which is odd because Kinsey doesn't seem to even have a political platform.
*** Nothing beyond "Stop the SGC from using the Stargate so that the National Institute of Defense can use it to make Earth safe by killing anything that isn't from Earth", anyway.
* Evil Governor Colonel Montoya from ''[[Queen of Swords (TV)|Queen of Swords]]''.
* In a couple of ''[[Smallville]]'''s [[Bad Future|Bad Futures]], [[Manipulative Bastard|Lex Luthor]] is shown to either be President, or running for it, as a very intimidating [[Man in White]] with a [[Red Right Hand]].
** In the [[Distant Finale]], set in 2018, {{spoiler|Lex has just been elected. Uh-oh.}}
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*** And then Mr. Spatula becomes Vice-President Evil and tries to off Max, accidentally getting himself killed.
* The [[Big Bad|Big Bads]] of ''[[Fallout]] 2'' and ''[[Fallout]] 3'' are President Evils, focused on cleansing the post-apocalyptic world of any dangerous mutants. Given that, under their standards, the vast majority of the irradiated planet's surface-dwelling population would qualify as a dangerous mutant, including most of the good guys, this is obviously not a fun plan. Subverted by President Tandi and Kimball of the NCR, though Kimball is a jingoistic imperialist.
* Andrew Ryan of ''[[Bio ShockBioshock]]'' is the president/founder/king of Rapture.
* Subverted with [[Final Fantasy VIII]], Vinzer Deling, president of the (mostly portrayed as) antagonistic Galbadian nation is made out to be the Big bad when the plot kicks off, only to be killed very early on by his [[The Dragon|Dragon, Edea]].
* Karasov in [[Republic the Revolution]]. He rules [[Ruritania|Novastrana]] with an iron fist, siphons money from the national stock exchange, uses his political and military power to imprison and/or murder his enemies, is above the law and he damn well knows it. {{spoiler|Until the [[Rebel Leader|man whose parents he arrested]] ten years ago comes back to [[La Résistance|lead a revolt]].}}
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== Web Original ==
* [[The Spoony Experiment (Web Video)|President Dr. Insano,]] '''[[Street Fighter (Filmfilm)|OF COURSE!]]'''
** Notably, this was Dr. Insano's ''debut'' on the Spoony Experiment; he was a merciless parody of Sorceress Edea in Final Fantasy VIII becoming a country's leader despite openly despising her own subjects and literally burning the legitimate President of the country alive.
* Supervillain Lord Paramount of the [[Whateley Universe]] has his own country [[Ruritania|Wallachia]].
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* Both of the presidents featured in the e-novel [[EHUD Prelude to Apocalypse|E.H.U.D.: Prelude to Apocalypse]] are evil, although one is more of the corrupt old polititian kept aloft by corrupt advisers type, while the other is definetly a terrible, terrible human being, even before getting elected.
* General MacArthur becomes this in the [[Reds]] [[Alternate History]], with a healthy side of [[General Ripper]].
* In the [[Alternate Universe]] [[The Nostalgia Critic (Web Video)|The Nostalgia Critic]] is shown in the 2010 Christmas special ''[[It's a Wonderful Plot|You're A Rotten Dirty Bastard]]'', [[The Angry Joe Show (Web Video)|Angry Joe]] is shown to have become the evil president of the United States, blowing up Canada and publicly executing Tom Green. To be fair, [[Humans Are Bastards|it's what the people wanted.]]
** Debateable, as its possible Canada really had become an evil nation even worse than Nazi Germany in this alternate future.
* In the novel ''[[A Girl Who Brought Down the World]]'', Christopher Winnifred Vega <ref>a [[Captain Ersatz]] of [[Sonichu|Christian Weston Chandler]]</ref> is made President of the US thanks to a massive conspiracy. In due time, he ravages the entire world in an attempt to bring in a girl he had fallen in love with years ago who had no interest in him.
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** A Lincoln-style monument depicts a president (in the sixties I think) who was apparently a brutal alien warlord. His chair is surrounded by a pile of human skulls. The people of Earth apparently do not care who they elect.
*** What does this have to do with "people"?
* In ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]'', student council president Jimmy McGarfield revealed at the end of his debut appearance that he was in allegiance with the adults instead of the kids. At the end of his next appearance, he was sent to prison, leaving Numbuh 1 confident that he would take his place, only to find out that the [[Creepy Child|Delightful Children From Down the Lane]] had in fact bought the election and become president(s) themselves.
* The text above warned you not to confuse this trope with the moment in ''The Grim Adventures Of Billy And Mandy'' where Mandy plays a videogame titled ''President Evil'', but in fact, [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|it DOES features evil presidents.]] ''[[Everything's Deader Withwith Zombies|Zombified evil presidents.]]''
* Technically only Governor Evil, but when Nathan Explosion was elected governor of Florida in ''[[Metalocalypse]]'', Florida ended up decimated and abandoned due to his rampant disregard for life. Crime was up, the economy was in the tank, etc. He ''did'' try to help Florida by putting on a concert, but that ended up summoning a hurricane. The funniest part? He's ''still'' regarded as the greatest governor Florida ever had.
* Not technically president, but "his dishonor" the Mayor from ''[[Action League NowNOW]]'' can qualify for this. He does everything from kidnapping children, stealing priceless artwork, melting his chief nuclear safety adviser, causing massive train wrecks (he wanted the insurance money), unleashing ancient mummy curses, taking out NFL quarterbacks, and even trying to blow up Washington D.C., all complete with a huge grin on his face, and evil pointed eyebrows. But despite all his acts of villainy, he's never removed from office.
* In ''[[The Simpsons]]'', the aliens Kang and Kodos impersonate [[Bill Clinton]] and Bob Dole during the 1996 election, figuring one of them would be elected. When Homer reveals the truth, the aliens claim that American citizens have to vote for one of them anyway and voting for a third party would be pointless. The ending of the episode shows that Kang has been elected President, and he proceeds to enslave humanity and forcing them to build monuments. Homer claims it's not his fault, as he voted for Kodos.
 
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