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Evil Is Not Well Lit: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|''Men have preferred [[Dark Is Evil|darkness]] to [[Light Is Good]] because their deeds were evil.''|'''[[The Bible|John 3:19]]'''}}
Any scene location where the villains do their plotting is invariably dark. This includes, but is not limited to, starship command centers, unethical laboratories and throne rooms. A more personal effect is when the villain seems to absorb the light around him, presenting dramatic shadows that you could have sworn weren't there moments before the heroes arrived.
In some circumstances, it's obvious. The villains don't want to meet on the street, either to conspire or with a victim of [[Blackmail]], or travel with their ill-gotten and conspicious goods, or go into their stronghold, when it's broad daylight; people will ''see'' them. Night is necessary to hide. Also, they may not want the characters they are talking to to be able to recognize them, and gloom helps there.
But they don't turn on the lights once they're inside the stronghold and everyone knows them.
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* The Seven Stars from ''[[Shikabane Hime]]''.
* The senators in ''[[Eureka 7]]''. (Points for a dramatic green light in the center of the room.)
* Akatsuki in ''[[Naruto]]'' were initially shown to meet in a really dark cave with only their outlines being (barely) visible.
* ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'' has Precia and most of the areas in her [[Ominous Floating Castle|Garden of Time]].
* In ''[[Death Note]]'' Light Yagami's room, where he does most of his evil planning in the earlier part of the anime, is always dark.
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== Fanfiction ==
* In ''[[Tiberium Wars]]'', this is [[Invoked Trope|invoked]] by Kane, because making his minions stumble around in the dark [[It Amused Me|is funny]].
* [[Lampshaded]] in ''[[A Cure for Love]]'': after [[Death Note|L and Light have a fight]] (and L reflects that [[Bullying a Dragon|perhaps upsetting Kira like that was a bad idea]]) L returns to HQ to find Light sitting alone in the dark:
{{quote|'''L''' (to Light): Did you forget where the light switch was or are you endeavouring to save on our carbon footprint?}}
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**** Except for Palpatine's throne room. Clearly he got a taste for it.
* The evil owner of the baseball team from ''[[The Natural]]'' kept his office unlit. That led to a humorous scene when the hero turned on the light on his way out, and the team owner completely overreacted. ([[Roger Ebert]] complained about the opposite device in his review, saying that Robert Redford and Glenn Close were frequently lit like angelic beings, just in case you didn't know who to root for.)
* Common in the [[Disney Animated Canon]]; villains almost always get a scene or two with low lighting.
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{{quote|'''Duke:''' Jeez, you'd think Morphix could afford a few light bulbs.}}
* In [[The Sims|the Sims 3]] sims will get a negative moodlet without proper lighting. Sims with the [[Card-Carrying Villain|evil trait won't.]]
* In the ''[[Command
* In [[The Dark Meadow]], monsters won't attack you in any room that has light coming in. (Although a little bit getting in through a crack is OK for them, apparently.)
* The BlackCastle in ''[[An Untitled Story]]''. Not only is it [[Meaningful Name|black]], it also has a room [[Blackout Basement|with a faulty lighting]].
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== Webcomics ==
* Subverted in ''[[Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures]]'': Dan finds the Dark Pegasus plotting in a dimly-lit room, but it's [http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_918.php not because he's evil] - the power went out due to reckless damage caused by Dan's allies.
* Kyran from [[Emergency Exit]] [http://eecomics.net/?strip_id=104 likes] [http://eecomics.net/?strip_id=1117 this,] despite complaints about its impracticality.
* ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' both plays straight and lampshades this one with sinister corporation Hereti-Corp, whose "Evil Room" is kept dark. Lampshaded [http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20011111 in its initial appearance] and again when the company is dismantled and [http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20020824 its leaders take over a fast-food franchise from the bottom up]. The rebuilt corporation of later years plays it straight.
* ''[[Bob and George]]'' [http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/010308 here] and [http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/020307 here]
* Lampshaded via a [[Running Gag]] in [[Pebble Version]] is the (presumably) [[Big Bad]]'s search for adequate lighting in his office. When he did get a lamp, it was blindingly bright.
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