Dark Chick

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Simply put, the Evil Counterpart to The Chick. Just as the heroic Chick represents diversity and an emphasis on emotion, so, too, does the Dark Chick. He/she (the gender ratio is fairly evenly split) is the member of the villainous ensemble that adds a certain indescribable quality. How it does this can vary. Most frequent is for the member to be a Token Minority (relative to their peers; it's not unheard of for this member to be a Token White or The One Guy), acting out their status to an excessive degree. For example, if this member is the Dark Action Girl in a male dominated organization, she'll also base a lot of her actions and dialogue on how she is breaking gender stereotypes. If it's a Scot in an otherwise English group, expect her to be wearing a red plaid kilt and speaking with a thick Glaswegian accent while perpetually drunk.

This member is often defined based exclusively on their relative personality beyond ethnic and gender stereotypes, though. If the other members are deadly serious, this is the member that constantly jokes around and pokes fun at the other members, much to their irritation. If all the members of the group are in it for the money or power, this is the person that's just in it for the hell of it. It's fairly frequent that the other members of the organization either don't take this member seriously and/or even actively hate them, but put up with them because they get results or are needed for some facet of the plan.

However, also as frequent is for this member to be defined by their tactics. If the other members revolve their plans around stealth infiltration to get things done, this is the member whose plan involves a 'distraction' - often involving them and a small explosive device. If the organization involves manipulating people through blackmail, then this is the member that seduces people to further the plans. Also common is for this member to factor emotion into their tactics moreso than the other members. Instead of setting up a Batman Gambit based on the logical actions and reactions of the parties involved, they instead set up emotional strife that has little to do with their roles but sets up their actions.

This character archetype almost always overlaps with at least one other. Most often, this is an Enigmatic Minion that is given a large amount of importance. A female Dark Chick will often also be The Baroness, a Dark Action Girl, The Vamp, a Femme Fatale, a Perky Female Minion, or an Alpha Bitch. Prone to the Heel Face Turn when they either realize that they just aren't fit for villainy or find that being a hero would be even more fun. If the Dark Chick is female and romantically linked with the main villain this chance rises to a near certainty.

The Dark Chick is an integral part of the Five-Bad Band dynamic. It's also the predominant type of member that shows up in the Quirky Miniboss Squad, where pretty much everybody overlaps with this. It's also not impossible for the Dark Chick to show up in a Five-Man Band in place of The Chick. In any case, they are liable to becoming The Face because of their said difference.

The Chick + Dark Chick = Designated Girl Fight

Examples of Dark Chick include:

Anime and Manga


Comic Books

  • Scarlet Witch in the original Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.
    • Destiny in Mystique's New Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.
  • The second Trickster in The Flash's Rogues. He's a Tagalong Kid who's one joke away from being freeze-rayed.
  • Superboy-Prime never believed in the Sinestro Corps' cause. This lead to betrayal motivated by revenge.
  • Moonstone / Ms. Marvel in the Dark Avengers and Thunderbolts.
  • Wallace has two in the Sin City story, Hell And Back. Blue Eyes poses as the friend to The Chick in order to seduce and kill him. Mariah is more hands-on and simply tries to kill him on the spot. There is also Maxine in that story but she works behind the scenes. All three women work for the same organization and make catty comments about each other quite a bit (Blue Eyes mostly does it in a seperate story).
  • Amora, the Enchantress, a villain of Thor's, particularly when she was in the original incarnation of the Masters of Evil.


Film


Literature


Live-Action TV

  • In Power Rangers, the villainesses tend to mix this with Dark Action Girl.
  • And in Super Sentai, they have a lot!(The list is as long as that for Dragons)
    • Farrah in Bioman
    • Zonnette in Carranger
    • Shibolena
    • Shelinda in Gingaman, she has reputation for most revealing outfit in the series.
    • Venus in Gogofive
    • Lira
    • Tsuetsue
    • And conversely, Lamie in Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger. In fact, since Battle Fever J, it became pretty much the norm for the villains to have at least one of these in the team, and the same holds true for the entire Power Rangers franchise.
  • Mio Kuroki from Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon.
  • Drusilla from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, especially as part of The Whirlwind, amongst Angelus, Darla, and Spike.
  • While she isn't seen very much, Degrassi the Next Generation gives us Amy, who is mostly known for being Sean's rebound and giving Jay gonorrhea, which he then gave to Alex and Emma.
  • On Leverage, Parker is the Dark Chick of the Anti-Villain Protagonists. The team all have, by season 2 at least, the desire help people for its own sake. But most of the crew are very sane and, although they enjoy the thrill of the chase, they really, really enjoy spending their earnings and living the high life. They also tend to be able to lead relatively normal lives aside from the addiction to con-jobs. Parker, meanwhile, is the loon who enjoys having and fondling money itself, rather than spending any of it. She enjoys the job itself more than any vacation and she has no understanding of any kind of life outside of committing crimes for their own sake.


Theater


Videogames

Webcomics


Western Animation

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