Trope Talk: Pure Evil

[@shadowthekelpie5147]

The "I just wish I was loved as much as I love skinning puppies" joke has aged *phenomenally* with the Cruella trailer drop

[@TheSchultinator]

No kidding. I wonder if Red can see the future

[@davidalicea6705]

Oh trust me that's not the Canon origin story you want to hear the Canon one is really is just basically a drama with no magical elements or anything that Cruella has like she doesn't get redeemed and the only reason why it seems like she's killing the puppies is because her own dog was given to Anita and her dog didn't remember her so basically sounds like she's spiking a dog and Anita so basically just became a revenge storyline

[@glasscardproductions4736]

@@davidalicea6705, at this point, all of these are just separate canons that are somehow all correct.

[@Don_Ratski]

Aged almost as well as a popular Twisted quote "I only wished to have a coat made out of puppies." - Team Starkid

[@tigerwolf2243]

When was this quote in the video?

[@lazyliongames6660]

Sympathetic villains: “Am I the villain? Oh no” Pure villains: “Am I the villain? Yes, do I care? No”

[@comlitbeta7532]

"Am i the villain?" "Of course!" -General M.Bison in the street fighter movie

[@Non-vegen]

Sympathetic villain: wait my captain has been lying? Pure villain: those were some delicous orphans

[@Mr_Mistah]

This what I love about Fisk or Lex Luthor. They literally accept that they are villains and embrace it

[@phantomJ67]

@@Mr_Mistah Lex says he has a lofty motive, but deep down knows he just wants to be the most powerful, and sees Superman as his main obstacle.

[@monitorlizardkid8253]

What about a villain who wants to conquer the galaxy, but wants to do so so he can genuinely solve its problems, and this villain treats his high command as though they were family(and they return this sentiment, which says a lot about how things work in his empire.), plus despite his tendency to conquer, he tries his hardest not to oppress those he rules, among other very high standards. lastly, he likes giant superweapons, but only uses them against military targets. Where would that fall on the sliding scale of super villainy in your opinions?(frankly, the character in question, made by me, is more of a crazed man-child living out his space villain fantasies than anything else.)

[@Its_just_mary]

“Murder soulmate” is the best term for arch nemesis I have ever heard

[@ahappyjackolantern]

Agreed

[@incorporealnuance]

The wise man smiled: "The word you are looking for is kismesis"

[@antitheist3206]

@@incorporealnuance Optimus

[@pinkwings8036]

@@incorporealnuance There it is.

[@herickkenalgin4473]

Optimus ♠️ Megatron

[@tetzujin]

The Lich from Adventure Time is the perfect example of a pure evil villain. There was even an episode where Finn called him "so evil its boring" but the lich has the perfect rebuttal. He says "While the mortal world doubts and questions I know exactly what I am." I thought that was the coolest shit ever

[@afellowpotato]

I'm just replying so you can see how much likes you got

[@rainboi5920]

then he became a tetris block, still loves him though

[@kjj26k]

Finn is still blatantly right though. Doubting and questioning is far more interesting than always -being- feeling right, and What Else Is There than being interesting?

[@rainboi5920]

@@kjj26k we did get a glimpse of this doubt in F&C, but then the evil death-wishing monster turn into a block

[@-libertyprimev1-902]

Can't forget the "You are Strong. 💀 ...But I Am Beyond Strength." speech

[@quinnsinclair7028]

"What's the matter? I thought the Joker always wanted to make Batman laugh." "YOU'RE! NOT! BATMAN!"

[@zachbahamutson5477]

I got say it this was the best villain's mental breakdown.

[@fantasy873]

@@zachbahamutson5477 I agree wholeheartedly! It's as scary as it is satisfying!

[@SolomonCaineReaper]

I! AM! Batman!

[@esteban8471]

What I love about that moment is Joker's hypocrisy. He dismisses Terry as a threat from the start, as both a fighter and as a Batman. Yet at the same time, he expected Terry to follow Bruce's code of morality and fighting style to the letter. And this is shown immediately after Terry takes a different approach to the fight. "What are you doing?!" "Fighting dirty." "The real Batman would never-Oof!" He held Batman to such a high regard that he couldn't even fathom the idea of Terry being anything more than just an inexperienced Bruce, to the point where he was ultimately defeated by one of the oldest gags in the book (the joy buzzer). Terry did what Bruce never really did: He took advantage of Joker's dynamic obsession with Batman and used it against him.

[@SteveCrafts2k]

@@esteban8471 so...superboy prime?

[@atk05003]

The simple motivation is why Megamind worked so well. His motivation was to fight a super hero. He didn't know what to do with himself after beating the super hero. Pure evil villains exist to be thwarted. Megamind was almost aware of this in-universe.

[@paurepiccheeseman]

Kyle Atkinson Honestly Megamind is one of the best satires of superhero movies ever made and I will fight anyone that says otherwise

[@ultimatehope549]

Megamind is such an underrated movie

[@NamelessAidan]

"Tighten" is also a good example of this pure evil trope in his own way, I think.

[@RonnieFlare17]

​@@NamelessAidan Oh definitely. He's aware of the tropes around superhero romance (heroes always get the girl after saving them and then doing over the top romantic gestures) and gets incensed and violent when he's rejected. His 'motive' is simple to understand, and he doesn't seem to give a thought as to whether or not what he's doing is right or wrong.

[@SalinaMoonfall]

Agree, Megamind very much has it's main heroes and villains self aware or grow into becoming self aware of their own tropes, Megamind ends up defeating the bad guy because he grows into not only being self aware but genre savvy and uses his own experience as a villain against his opponent. Where as the OG hero in the beginning abandons his role because he comes to the realization that their just doing the same tired dance over and over and that it's not what he wants for himself, and that Megamind despite being seemingly pure evil is actually not that harmful and is only doing what he does because of him. Defiantly an underrated movie and a great deconstruction.

[@laylaloves5587]

Harley Quinn's motivation: "I just wish he loved me as much as he loves skinning puppies."

[@cuttlefishonfire7502]

How does this comic not have more likes?

[@darthlazurus4382]

Her FORMER motivation.

[@rogueflare4929]

Me : WHO THE BLOODY HELL WOULD LOVE SKINNING PUPPIES!?!?😠😬😡😱 Also me : Only Joker and maybe Cruella De Vil. 😧😥😑

[@bunnyconcubus8468]

@@rogueflare4929 Joker will only enjoy if there's a punch to it or they annoy him, that's like his only motivation

[@rogueflare4929]

@@bunnyconcubus8468 Yeah.....There's no denying that. 😧😨😖

[@DumbCrow1]

Jack Horner is the perfect example of a pure evil villain. “Jack, do you really plan to shoot a puppy?” “Yeah, in the face. Why?”

[@BlakeShannonMusic]

"You're an irredeemable monster!" "Oh- oh- oh- what took you so long? Idiot!"

[@kalinaribic6383]

From what movie is this character?

[@amog8202]

@@kalinaribic6383 the new puss in boots sequel

[@amog8202]

"Well, you know what they say; can't bake a pie without losing a dozen men."

[@lukaspollard1048]

Puss in Boots 2. It's somehow really good

[@QueenFondue]

"I just want to be loved as much as I love skinning puppies!" I'm dead. You've killed me.

[@cesarvictoriano8072]

Max the Big Bad I automatically read that with Antfish’s DIO voice in my head.

[@TheFloatingLlamas]

She skinned you

[@oddfuturestudios9766]

The puppies, too

[@itsashane1552]

Lilllice just like those puppies

[@chimedemon]

We’re you a puppy? :D

[@debraboutom2060]

And then we have a third category: The Doofenshmirtz. The incompetent yet friendly villain that has a ridiculously pitiable backstory to the point that it's comedic.

[@alyxs131]

And who we all love.

[@hairglowingkyle4572]

His parents weren't even present at his birth

[@alyxs131]

@@hairglowingkyle4572 just... just rip doof. rip

[@affirmingtoe15]

He was raised by ocelots.

[@themonarchofbaddecisionmak1405]

And can never be a villain.

[@thehopeofeden597]

"Good writing is any writing that works." Red, You just said the truest thing I've ever heard in my life.

[@rebelcipher]

Awsamazing Eden Same here

[@JohnnyElRed]

Exactly. If sometimes the most formulaic tropes and cliches are the most successful, is because they have certain charm to them. If ain't broke, don't fix it.

[@jewe37]

i dont think the tautology is any more true than any other purely logical statement.

[@XanderVJ]

@The One-Man Army Well, it isn't because there is a lot of social and intellectual status involved this kind of discussions. If "good writing is all writing that works" was accepted as a rule, then it would be next to impossible to clearly establish hierarchies based on taste, which is what academia discussions and now a big chunk of Internet discussions are all about when you cut out the BS. Also, pure evil villains (when executed right) are enjoyed by the biggest amount of people, and you can't have a meaningful socio-intellectual hierarchy if the most valued asset is shared by the majority, since then you can't stand out and have that sweet, sweet dopamine rush your brain gets when you see yourself as superior to others.

[@nukebiohazard1]

I’m happy because I was the 666 like on this comment

[@st0ryt3ll3r8]

Jack Horner of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish fits this trope exactly. He’s a bad person, he knows it, and just does not care.

[@FortressWolf97]

And he has a foil to contrast to.

[@isdrakon9802]

He does care, he just loves it

[@Bobbiit]

Heh 404 likes

[@emanuelrojas2]

Plus, they even parodied the sympathetic backstory that just made him seem like a brat.

[@Rachel-lo6if]

And he's got two different types of foils

[@danhelsting6308]

"Villains have to be complicated and or sympathetic" "THIS IS A LIE!" Thank you. I'm so glad to hear someone say it.

[@SiddarthaTB]

pure evil villains are boring “LOOK AT ME, I AM EVIL AND I AM GONNA DO EVIL THINGS, WHY? BECAUSE FUCK YOU THATS WHY”

[@Obi-Wan_Kenobi]

And I think someone like Hitler is proof of pure evil villains.

[@dragoncatgaming5481]

@@SiddarthaTB It does have one major benefit, it leaves you with a no-holds-barred mentality for both sides, removing a lot of the 'should I kill them? they could be a decent person inside' and leaves room for more characterization for the protagonists and their side characters...

[@GigawingsVideo]

THIS. My problem is a lot of armchair movie critics start making videos claiming that "Marvel villains are better now!" or "MCU is maturing!" I mean seriously just because some villains got a bit of backstory suddenly they're super deep and some even idolizing them to the point of worship and love. Even when Loki himself can do that even when he's still depicted as pure evil and not some mischiveous little brother.

[@doesntmatter2467]

At the end of the day an antagonist is nothing more then a glorified punching bag for the protagonists too overcome by the end of the story. You can make them interesting in their own right, but if the environment can make for a good antagonist then anything can, they don't need too be fully flushed out or too have a realistic backstory.

[@danieltscharner1967]

The funniest part of Loki's beatdown is that that is his genuine reaction, he had a rope on his ankle and told them to pull it at a random point in his rant. I love this.

[@Overused_Toothbrush]

I didn’t notice that, but it’s hilarious

[@lucarvee]

That is the best thing ever

[@emblemblade9245]

Oh my GOD!

[@im_tired1439]

That is a great idea! It captured what would actually happen if it were to, you know, happen!😂

[@sydhenderson6753]

@@emblemblade9245 Puny god.

[@bloodraynestarlet4395]

'Soulmates but for murder.' I have never heard Optimus and Megatron's relationship described more perfectly 😂

[@angeliparraguirre7329]

It's been shipped

[@Peteman]

@@angeliparraguirre7329 But have they been made into ships? New Transformers fan-term definition for "ship": it's like 'waifu' or 'husbando' or I guess if you want a gender-neutral term 'spousi', but for characters that turn into starships. TFAnimated Omega Supreme is my top ship, but I can't deny the appeal of WFC Trypticon.

[@HilariouslyScary]

(It's called a kismesis)

[@verak5261]

@@Peteman It's been a while but as I recall the idw series literally has him join the autobots at some point.

[@autumnramble]

"has him join the autobots" Yes, but he got a professional help, got better and found some new revolution to lead.

[@spectralspooky]

Honestly, having a villain that you genuinely want to see beaten is a breath of fresh air. Having so many "redeemable" villains or ones that make funny jokes makes them feel less intimidating.

[@uncroppedsoop]

in my humble onion, a wisecracking pure evil villain getting completely serious for a moment is far more intimidating than a no-nonsense pure evil villain doing their thing at whatever given moment

[@-libertyprimev1-902]

​@@uncroppedsoopinsert that meme of the Joker during that Captain America/Batman Crossover going "I may be a deranged psychopath, but like hell I'll team up with N*zis... 💥🔫"

[@uncroppedsoop]

@@-libertyprimev1-902 he obviously meant what he said but that wasn't the kind of thing I was referring to at all. it was clearly another bit, since he points out that he's specifically American. to go with your paraphrase, something like "I may be a deranged psychopath, but I'm an _American_ deranged psychopath"

[@-libertyprimev1-902]

@@uncroppedsoop ah you're right, I'm probably thinking of that Batman Who Laughs discussion Joker has with Lex... Been far too long since I read it but it was something along the lines of "That Perversion isn't Funny... He Forgot The Joke." while standing covered in shadow with the deepest glare.

[@MrBe-stFakesVids]

the joker also illustrates that the ultimate pure evil power move is to die before ever second guessing yourself or losing your confidence someone who relishes in the destruction so much that his own death is a ironic joke.

[@nikkospelledlikethat8140]

I don’t remember who said this, but I saw on the internet a really good explanation of why Thanos is like that, and why he “changes” so much in Endgame. Thanos is just a narcissist. He had an idea and nobody listened to him at first, so he decided he would make everyone listen and enact his “genius” plan. What’s happening here is that he THINKS he’s doing it to save the universe, but he’s really just doing it because he wants to, and to prove a point. He sees himself as the reluctant hero, but the reason he’s trying to kill half the universe isn’t to save it, it’s to prove that he was right and that he could.

[@Maninawig]

Though in the source material, he is just a crazy stalker trying to impress his crush. Death is a woman in Marvel, whom rejected Thanos a couple of times. Thanos is pining for her while she's getting it on with Deadpool. The results: Thanos tries to increase his odds by making Deadpool irresistible... In hopes that would break them appart ... And that is why Deadpool is immortal

[@snuffles504]

@@Maninawig MCU isn't the same as the source material, though. Thanos (and other characters) were effectively completely re-written.

[@Maninawig]

@@snuffles504 that makes me sad... Kinda feels like Disney is oversaturating the Greek wine that Marvel gave them stating "you're supposed to water it down"

[@huzaifa8665]

Nah its just lazy writing. Trying to make sense of it thru philosophy is stupid. MCU isn't philosophy. It's one sentence monologue

[@simonegreco1958]

@@huzaifa8665 wtf does that even mean. Nobody here mentioned phylosophy.

[@bob67497]

Backstory can be REALLY good in pure evil villains, the BIG thing is that it can't be an EXCUSE for a pure evil character's actions. If you're gonna enslave races, conquer nations, and use the souls of your slain enemies as fuel in your war machine, you can't say it's all because you got abused as a kid.

[@andrewgreeb916]

The issue with incorporating your backstory into character motivation is if you can break their backstory you can break their character. Pure evil villains do not work if they can be broken like that. Pure evil villains need to be thoroughly bested, or it just doesn't feel right. No easy compromises (just plain bad writing for pure evil villains) only battle

[@randompoet9997]

This immediately made me think of Big Mom from One Piece.

[@dragonhelmofdor-lomin4017]

Pure evil villains will subvert any tragic backstories they have.

[@Tortferngatr]

@@dragonhelmofdor-lomin4017 Yeah, Dio is a good example of a pure evil villain with a backstory done well. (Spoilers for Jojo Part 1, 3, and 6 ahead.) He gets a chance to have a truly loving, non-abusive family living with the Joestars, then immediately decides to murder his adoptive brother’s dog and ruin his life just out of sheer envy anyway. Then he rejects his humanity and becomes a vampire when his later attempts to poison his adoptive father come to light, firmly showing that he’s fully committed to being a pure evil douchebag. And it does add a tragic element when he realizes at the end of Part 1 that he HAS, in fact, lost the one person he could even call close to a friend in Jonathan, but it never tries to humanize him. If anything, his backstory makes him even MORE evil, because he fundamentally rejected all the chances he had to be good. And yes, he posthumously gets a second, not quite pure evil motivation in the form of his plan to attain Heaven (read: reveal everyone’s fates to them to force them to accept fate, either shattering free will or at least its illusion), but if anything it just makes his older, wiser self a different, more philosophical flavor of pure evil that barely matters when fighting him at the end of Part 3 and really only serves to give Pucci (who is very much not an example of Pure Evil) a motive besides getting revenge on the Joestars.

[@dragonhelmofdor-lomin4017]

​@@Tortferngatr Lotso is a great example too.

[@uptownfunk1999]

Optional Quality: being voiced by Mark Hamill

[@totallycrazystudios1801]

Bert from Danger Rangers: Mark Hammel His voice skills never cease to amaze

[@spaceclaw1958]

Mark Hamill is just Tim Curry for people who want to take themselves seriously.

[@Error0101]

Kappa Mikey, anyone?

[@dragonhelmofdor-lomin4017]

Mark Hamill has voiced many pure evil villains: The Joker, Ozai, Malefor, Maltruant, Kavaxas and the Trickster are examples.

[@johnniefinney3266]

Hot take: Ron pearlman

[@bj.bruner]

Person: Pure evil villains are bad writing. Tolkien: I'm about to end this man's whole career

[@Lunacorva]

TBF. His villains were not what made his writing great.

[@kratal122]

Morgoth aside, Sauron did have a degree of nuance to his motivation. He started by wanting a perfect world without wastefulness, but saw domination as the only way of achieving it. Granted, it’s not the deepest of motives and it’s debatable whether he was still pursuing that goal by the War of the Ring, but it is there. But back to Morgoth, it’s hard for me to see him as even a mustache twirling villain. I see him more as a child throwing a tantrum because he was denied the toy he wanted. Which doesn’t make Morgoth a bad villain, just less interesting, imo.

[@improbableopera793]

@@kratal122 I agree it makes him less interesting as an ongoing character, but (at least in my view) having a head-empty tantrum lucifer at the head of a group of nuanced villains makes for an interesting story. Melkor seemed like a tantrum thrower who was addicted to the attention and made a career of it as Morgoth. Then Sauron has the whole "backstab the Valar but undying loyalty to this One Guy because he complimented my beautiful smithing" that segues into playing up that old Mairon persona for the old Numenorians, who were even more complicated... it feels like Morgoth is one-note shallow evil and the lower powered and closer to humanity you get the more nuanced it ends up. Iluvatar and Ungoliant are (imo) the ends of the good-bad scale, then you get the Valar and Morgoth, the Maiar and Sauron, Feanor's line and Balrogs, elves and orcs, and then the mortals are awkwardly in the middle where they meet. It feels like the wider the scope of the conflict, the simpler it is. In no way am I arguing with your point, you just pointed out something that my brain ran with :) I like Morgoth's tantrumminess almost exclusively for the music metaphor of "I didn't want to read off the sheets so I made up my own melody" (says Trombone 1 who's never had any composing experience) and the poor woodwinds in front just kinda go along with it cos this guy has a horn and ungodly lungs. I'm a sucker for musical metaphor and I find the dissonance of his overconfident narcissism just interesting enough to hold my attention where he shows up, but he quickly becomes the commander-bogeyman, which suits me just fine. (it's been forever since I interacted with the Silmarillion, so I might be accidentally fudging details.) TLDR: The archetypal Betrayer who fuels all other evil being a one-note whiny child is kinda hilarious

[@Falcon-doing-doodles]

You cannot convince me that "murder soulmates" isn't the perfect term for Optimus' and Megatrons realtionship

[@salvadortoscano2534]

No need, it suits them xD I've always liked their relationship since the first fight they had in the first Michael Bay movie. How they had this familiarity between each other and how they called each other (or at the very least Optimus called Megatron) "brother." For me, I thought these guys were actually brothers, but as I watched more spin-offs of Transformers, I slowly pieced together that they weren't brothers, but this weird, almost familial relationship stayed between them. I was always fascinated by it, and how it sort of made any fight between the two of them more personal for both.

[@aztn19]

“One shall stand and one shall fall, Megatron!” - Optimus Prime, 1986

[@DGneoseeker1]

Never try to play gay chicken with a truck.

[@jillianbirkbeck3067]

The ENFJ-ENTJ dynamic is powerful-Fe vs. Te function. It can be seen in Hashirama and Madara’s dynamic as well.

[@sekarmaltum1695]

rule34: why cant they just fuck each other to death everyone else: SHUSH YOU HORNY MORON (drags rule34 to horny jail, which causes the internet to break)

[@martinxy1291]

A pure evil villain is basically me playing in sandbox. I dont need a reason to blow the ever loving shit out of a planet or burn a village to ash, Ima bored.

[@charlieclark9552]

Me too

[@seanstange8704]

Me too

[@RequiemPoete]

Why did I build a super effecient villager breeder in Minecraft? Simple. I need virgins to throw in the volcano base I spent three days building, 10 hours of which was moving buckets of lava from the nether to said Volcao base.

[@YataTheFifteenth]

"Oh ok, so y'all want more food huh? alright, food it is. And you over there get some nukes, yeah like that! Those guys over there should go more militant, a~nd there! NOW YOU FUCKERS! GO KILL! KILL! KILL!"

[@masterag4068]

Martin XY I see you’re a person of culture

[@the_furf_of_july4652]

I would love to hear more about “pure chaos” characters

[@lelduck6388]

Same

[@kenku238]

Yeah, villains like Bill Cipher and Jevil are some of my favorites!

[@kenndie434]

Like Anton Chigurh ?

[@TheSchultinator]

@@kenndie434 Anton is more like a demon than pure chaos. He has goals and rules, strange and incomprehensible they may be, but if you play by them you might just survive.

[@17raysplays29]

I want to see Tricky in Trope Talk!

[@domilontano]

"Why does everyone keep giving robots teeth?" These are the real questions of our era.

[@PerkulatorBenny]

It reminds me of a FFXIV joke from when Ruby Weapon was added: Engineer: We have successfully given our robot teeth. Pilot: Uh, question. Why would the robot need teeth? Engineer: To protect the tongue, of course. Pilot: Yeah okay, makes sense... SECOND question.

[@Chatedh]

You seen phyrexians?

[@herowither12354]

What if robot want hambergr?

[@-libertyprimev1-902]

​@@PerkulatorBenny"-the internet can give you several reasons why a Robot needs a tongue. 😶"

[@I5g58]

Evangelion: so they can eat. Why else. That scene still gives me chills

[@Silverwind87]

Favorite type of villain: "I don't have a motive or backstory, I'm just really bored and powerful."

[@Nai-qk4vp]

1) Art has always been political. That sounds like an absolute chudmeister who complains about mUh pOLItICS whenever a character of a demographic they don't like is in a story. 2. Ledger's joker's motivation was still very much in line with previous iterations. Wanting to have Batman become just like him , and just wwanting to see the world burn. They say it explicitly.

[@lostgem8225]

@@Nai-qk4vp hrgh?

[@pale_hispanic2429]

@@Nai-qk4vp I think you replied under the wrong comment lmao

[@angelusvastator1297]

Pure evil villains with a dark sense of humor always appeal to me for some reason.

[@neksnek2032]

Chaotic bored gods?

[@juliamenard1374]

You know the difference between a villain and a supervillain? . . PRESENTATION!

[@deathbower]

That was going through my head the entire time, even though it feels like Megamind was more into the competition than the evil

[@jlokison]

Agreed, Megamind was all about the game once he actually won he got bored incredibly quickly, and lost a lot of his motivation. He was a great example of chaotic evil, his Evil had no purpose other than the fun and joy he got from the games he played.

[@Nukefandango]

My kid watched that show for the first time the other day haha

[@tenhirankei]

My answer is the scope of their acts of villainy, the amount of power invested in any single act of villainy and how quickly the acts of villainy are carried out. A street punk that botches up a convenience store hold-up can't even rise to the level of villain. But have (insert name) target (NO PUN INTENDED!) all convenience stores worldwide for destruction at a given time and have it done simultaneously - then you're in the supervillain league.

[@ddqfpluskick]

Megamind is an example of a complex villian and Titan is the pure evil villian.

[@RelativelyBest]

"If it works, it's not bad writing, it's just unfashionable." I want that on a damn t-shirt.

[@noodlelenoodles7152]

Me to

[@SirSoliloquy]

I remember someone telling me that Django from Django Unchained is a bad character because he never doubts his own motivation - as though what makes a good or bad character can be distilled down to a checklist of character arc moments that must be followed at all costs. That’s not how writing works, but it always seems to be how people think writing works. At like how in the mid-1600s everyone thought plays needed to adhere strictly to Aristotle’s “unities.” It’s pure nonsense. I feel like the epidemic of “meh...” movies comes from a generation of writers who were told that every story needs certain qualities, so they shoehorn in everything their English teacher told them without question

[@RelativelyBest]

@@SirSoliloquy Yeah, sometimes it really feels like "trying to reduce writing down to checklists" is where most people go wrong in general. Once you start to think of this stuff as _arbitrarily_ good or bad writing without considering why or how, or in what context, something has gone terribly wrong.

[@SimonWolfie]

that would be quite the... unfashionable shirt.

[@l.o.b.2433]

@@SirSoliloquy Yes, writing doesn't work like this in the most cases. But also in the most cases when writers break with the classic structure of a story, the story sucks.

[@TyphinHoofbun]

That bit about what makes a Pure Evil villain good instead of bad had me quoting Megamind in my head. "Oh, you're a villain all right, just not a SUPER one!" "What's the difference?" "PRE-SEN-TATION!" In my own writing, I had a villain who basically thought of himself as being a lot more competent than he really was, like he watched all the Pure Evil villains and said "I'm that! That's me!" but couldn't actually back it up. He was kinda fun to write, and I hope I did a good job in having him come across as selfish, greedy, vain, quick-tempered, and mildly unhinged. Several of his interactions see him crack but recover his composure, only to turn tail and run when he's actually faced with a real threat, and the be dumb and overconfident enough to do something really dangerous that makes him a REAL threat, even if only briefly. At that point, the heroes have to endure and outsmart him so that he's undone by his own greed in order to win. In another story, I have planned a villain who's a little closer to the Pure Evil ideal. He's motivated by an ideology, knows he's being a hypocrite, but doesn't care because he enjoys the killing. It's debatable whether he enjoys the killing because it furthers his ideology, or whether he joined that ideology because it allowed him to indulge in killing and label it "good". When he comes across new information, he's going to basically use it to go, "Not only was I right all along, I wasn't going far enough!" and get even worse. In combat, he's going to be the "ruthlessly efficient" kind, killing in cold blood because He's Right and therefore Everything He Does Is Right, in his head. If he chooses to kill someone, it's because They Deserved It, and he will have no qualms or hesitation. ...Whether I pull this off, well, remains to be seen. But I'll give it my best. ^_^;;

[@cookiepotatohybrid1940]

"000 What's the name of the story? And it does sound pretty cool! "D Those villains sound pretty interesting and I feel like you're do great "D

[@desired_effect5251]

this comment is written like a TV Tropes article

[@monitorlizardkid8253]

As a fellow amateur writer wannabe I hope you pull it off. Just remember to post a link in this comment chain if and when you do.

[@bigmonkey1254]

I like these ideas a lot actually. Honestly, I find hypocritical pure evil characters can feel a bit sloppy and just a stand-in for an author's perceived notion of strict authority in general. But you've found the element that makes the self-righteous monster complete. Pointing out that at a certain point, they did abandon their moral cause. They aren't so stupid they don't know their own rules anymore, they're hoping everyone else will.

[@orrorsaness5942]

@@bigmonkey1254 Lol, I agree. Pensuke, from my KZbin only comic book series is exactly that. His faction is always right, according to Pensuke.

[@bubbleruler515]

Is nobody going to talk about the epic orchestral version of Bad by Michael Jackson in the background? Just me? Okay.

[@TheGuardDuck]

So THATS what that was!!! Thanks!

[@doesitreallymatter3239]

I was thinking about that the entire time I was watching this video it fits the pure evil "bad because I wanna be" vibe perfectly and honestly I could see it being used as like an almost theme song of sorts for characters like the joker who tend to have a bit of fun when they do the murder

[@GermanGoodGuy]

I like it, but it is a little bit too loud, distracting from the content.

[@TheGuardDuck]

@@doesitreallymatter3239 Ever see Megamind?

[@doesitreallymatter3239]

TheGuardDuck who hasn't?

[@AncientAccounts]

The only thing that's pure evil is The last airbender movie

[@SpiderandMosquito]

*Pfft* someone's never seen Movie 43

[@rebelcipher]

Ancient Accounts - Animated History AMEN!

[@russel9225]

We don't talk about that one.

[@SpiderandMosquito]

@One Thou Wou .... /8

[@LAHFaust]

*laughs in Dragon Ball Evolution*

[@kxena2913]

I was alarmingly unprepared to hear a marching band cover of Michael Jackson’s bad

[@dandragonz3483]

Same

[@rooseveltboyland4050]

Hot take: I liked the info in this video, and I found this cover completely distracting. I think the music is iconic enough and the chorus attention-grabbing enough that any time they make a good point my mind has to go "I'm bad! I'm bad! You know it!" They *maybe* could have gotten away with just using the verse, but even that is a stretch.

[@carianawaters6425]

OH SO THAT’S WHY THE SONG WAS SO FAMILIAR

[@clockworkpotato9892]

I just wish she put a link to the original song

[@alanp741]

Honestly when I sing that song I need to have background music or karaoke vid or else I'll be making a mash up of bad by michael jackson and Metatron's battle theme by toby fox

[@valentinkambushev4968]

Jack Horner from "Puss in boots: the last wish" is a good example of a purely evil villain. I feel like he was even created to mock the trend of redeeming villains and having villains with sad backstories.

[@shockwavespider3942]

and he succeeded in doing so.

[@PriceMw123]

And had Death as the proper Antagonist for Puss through most of the movie. Very clever decisions.

[@MidoseitoAkage]

​​@@PriceMw123 Death is actually more a gray character than a villain.

[@Ninja07Keaton]

@@MidoseitoAkage That's why alexmarwick230 referred to Death as an antagonist. All villains are antagonists, but not all antagonists are villains. An antagonist's role is to oppose the protagonist, a situation where villainy is asked for, but not demanded. Death's role throughout the story was to specifically target Puss. He had no other role in the movie outside of this.

[@MidoseitoAkage]

@@Ninja07Keaton Ah yeah... I forgot that thing...

[@cristhianramirez6939]

Good example of third act breakdown: Ozai getting his lightning redirected by Zuko and getting hit with it, someone he thought was pathetic and weak, now got him stunned and defeated

[@salvadortoscano2534]

*Then* he gets his bending toy taken away by Cousin Aang xD

[@blaxidii7360]

Dang, avatar was just the best at everything huh?

[@anatoldenevers237]

@@blaxidii7360 Not at everything. I've seen some shows with better villains, though Avatar does have some great ones. I've rarely seen a show that does o many things so well though.

[@a.f.schmied1571]

except he is never, ever shown being actually in control of the situation. We are told all of the bad villaninous stuff he did, but the only thing we see is him getting defeated. I think Ozai sucks badly as a villain. Luckily there's Azula to make up for that.

[@lachlanmckinnie1406]

@@a.f.schmied1571 Ozai's really made to be the "man behind the man", offscreen villain. He's the Emperor to Azula's Vader.

[@tygamike]

17:00 One of the reasons JoJo's really hooked me was how refreshing it was to have such an affably evil villain as Dio. In one episode you get both the "he's evil and loves it" when he kisses Erina, and the payoff when Jonathan subsequently socks him in the face after a decent while of trying to tolerate his douchebaggery.

[@Dr.JonathanCrane]

and don't even get started on the punch jotaro gave dio right in his skull. oh man do i love this moment the most of the entire fight

[@jessicawilliams3849]

Thank you! Dio’s casual evilness has always been so funny to me. Like in part 3 when he makes that politician run people over on the sidewalk for him. He mentally torments him by confusing the guy with his power and essentially making him a murderer. Then he just kills him right afterwards with no explanation.

[@arminc4658]

I do think DIO is an example of a good pure evil villain, however, I do believe most of why he is a good villain comes from the very first episode of JJBA in which he see the world he grew up in and how his father resulted in him having the goals and values he does.

[@Tortferngatr]

@@arminc4658 Yeah, Dio is weird in that despite getting both a backstory and (posthumously in Part 6, though with a small element of it in Part 3) a slightly more complex motivation than just “rule the world”, he’s still a fantastic example of a pure evil villain. And he’s not even the only “pure evil” flavor we see. Kira is also a neat take on the trope, being a cold ham and a serial killer who hides his pure evil under a white collar facade. Diavolo has Passione sell drugs to children, but has no interest in being visibly hammy for most of the story-he wants to be both hidden and unchallenged and absolutely brutal. Heck, his motivation is to destroy the one part of his backstory that DID lead to something good happening and be traced back to him. Kars might be a slight stretch (he did at least offer a chance to conquer the sun to his fellow Pillar Folk before murdering most of them), but he’s still an evil bastard contrasting nicely with his honorable minion Wamuu. Tooru is probably the most boring of the bunch, but he gets Jobin as a proper foil and the climax is half focused on dealing with the literal force of nature that is his Stand and half focused on a plot device race at the Higashikata mansion for the New Rokakaka, meaning Tooru himself isn’t really carrying the story. Heck, we even get a number of pure evil minions we find satisfying to punch: Cioccalata is a sadistic douchebag of a doctor who gets murdered over seven pages, for example.

[@sev1120]

@@Dr.JonathanCrane DIO's death was purely a result of his own arrogance. He thought he had become unstoppable, so he swung for Jotaro with his weaker leg, and he lost because of one other simple fact. He pissed off Jotaro

[@manofgray5239]

Just realized the backing track is "Bad" by Michael Jackson... **slow clap**

[@d.b.4671]

And now I want to hear Red do a cover of it.

[@ivandekad7249]

THANK YOU. God, that was driving me nuts trying to figure out what that was....

[@hotspurre]

It took me a bit to identify it, which distracted me from what she was saying, so I had to back up. But yeah, that's fabulous. ;)

[@1JackieLane]

Ahahah, yeah. As soon as it started, I thought "Why is there a Michael Jackson tune in the background?" and it took me a moment to realize which song it was. XD

[@Volvith]

I know. SUBTLE RIGHT?! :D But seriously, love that.

[@bellasartcoven]

Ace attorney does pure evil villain really well. I think it’s because if the fifth quality you mentioned, the “third act breakdown.” Most of the villains spend the entire game being (entertainably) terrible. And they usually have the upper hand on Phoenix, they are very smug and self assured. It makes their breakdowns so satisfying.

[@draconicfeline6177]

I'd argue that sadmadhi doesn't get that nice catharsis, and he was awful.

[@innocuoushappenstance6259]

Ace attorney gives their villains simple evil motivations that make sense, so it's easy and straightforward to hate them, but they put a ton of complexity into how that pure evil person affects the people around them. Franziska and Edgeworth are both deeply impacted being raised around Von Karma's perfectionist brand of evil, to the point that their character arcs are primarily about how they try to change away from it in order to live with themselves

[@innocuoushappenstance6259]

Anyway, I love how Ace Attorney does its villains, yeah the breakdowns are So satisfying

[@ericathompson7836]

AA villains also have a LOT of wiggle room for interpretation, so you get to play around with their complexity for fun and headcanons! Why did MvK take in Miles, and was he always terrible to him or (like in the anime) was it more complicated? We don’t know! Have fun coming up with your own ideas about THAT! Gant did terrible things, but he was motivated by a desire to protect people. How did that downward spiral affect him, and did it happen all at once or was it more gradual? De Killer is a gentleman assassin, which he sometimes manages to not turn into an oxymoron??? (Engarde just straight-up sucks lmao.) And Dahlia is lowkey SO complicated that I could spend an entire extra paragraph talking about how her family situation and the ambiguity of her consent/role in her relationships/schemes means you can interpret her as anything from a pure evil femme fatale to a tragic victim.

[@thegreatgonzales6813]

Pearl: Why would you do something so wrong? Engarde: Because I can.

[@hellocentral5551]

Oddly enough, I loved Thanos in Infinity War, however, it's Endgame that shows who he really is. MCU Thanos only loves one things: Winning. It's proven in all of his good moments. He loves Gamora because she became EXACTLY what he wanted her to be: the perfect living weapon. Remember what he did to Nebula, the one who wasn't perfect like Gamora. Remember how much he loved her? If you want more examples, I have them. The point is: Thanos is a simple villain, his big flaw is a fear of failure.

[@pn2294]

It also serves as a great foil for Tony who is worried that the universe would end without him. His willingness to sacrifice himself rather than other people shows that he has faith that it won’t.

[@FabbrizioPlays]

Yeah, I think Red's take on this only applies if you take Thanos at his word on what his motivation is. In truth, he is meant to be decently unhinged. He's strong, sharp, and cunning, and has convinced himself that his goals are noble, but his sense of justice is completely delusional, in a Harvey Two-Face sort of way. And we're meant to keep that in mind every time he talks about his philosophies.

[@goodnewsgeek42]

I love that you called Hero/Villain partner relationships "Murder Soulmates"

[@flamethrowex]

basically kismesises points if you know what that means

[@kaibeattie2230]

@@flamethrowex annnd there's the homestuck

[@TheRojo387]

Think Bianca and Nera, or Motochika and Motonari, or Ieyasu and Mitsunari.

[@SeraphimCramer]

This just brought to mind another reason why it was a mistake to bring Palpatine back for the sequel trilogy; he was never the most threatening villain. Easily the most powerful, but everything that made the originals & the prequels great was centered around Vader. Palpatine was basically just an inciting incident.

[@oimate6357]

Everything that was great about the prequels is obi wan and palpatine

[@Tortferngatr]

It did have some continuity precedent in the Legends canon (which may or may not have done a better job of fleshing him out as a chess master), but yeah-it wasn’t handled well in RoS.

[@Nerthos]

The sequel trilogy was a mistake all around. They should have just adapted Kyle Katarn or some other decent, non-disruptive sequel, they had 3-5 of those written already from before the buyout.

[@SeraphimCramer]

@@Nerthos Or even just used George Lucas' story treatments like they told him they would.

[@phastinemoon]

It’s why it was a mistake to give him a prequel story in the books, and ESPECIALLY to start the palpatine clones that we in the legends eu.

[@Silverwind87]

"You're an irredeemable monster!" "Wha, wha, what took you so long, IDIOT?"

[@NexusKirin]

Big Jack Horner is definitely a breath of fresh air

[@Silverwind87]

@@NexusKirin And yet people STILL simped for him. Didn't even bother to use the "I can fix him" argument. I love the internet.

[@foldabotZ]

@@Silverwind87 Well, I think it’s because he’s the first, big and overt pure evil villain in a long time.

[@ReblazeGaming]

@@NexusKirinWhat’s funny is to me Jack Horner is one of the worst parts of the movie. This isn’t me saying he’s bad though, he’s just a lil funny and that’s about it. What made the movie for me in terms of villains was Death who’s an actually interesting villain.

[@NexusKirin]

@@ReblazeGaming I feel the same way, although while I see him as the worst part of the movie, it’s not that he’s bad, but just a little less interesting. The most interesting thing about him is that he gives 0 shits about others, only being selfish. Was the funny little magic puppet stealing his show *really* the tipping point for him? I guess we’ll never know. Death will be Death(I liked the message he got across to Puss)

[@purplehaze2358]

"I do it all because I'm evil! This is the life you see, the devil tips his hat to me! I do it all because I’m evil. And I do it all for free...your tears are all the pay I'll ever need!" -Voltaire

[@fart-man0]

The nostalgia... 😩

[@purplehaze2358]

@@fart-man0 You should listen to his other songs. They're REALLY good.

[@cayreet5992]

An addition to this: the first time I heard this song (not the only great song by Voltaire, of course), it was set to a montage of Loki from the MCU. Perfect match.

[@Springxnich21]

i thought i was the only one who knew that song

[@purplehaze2358]

@@Springxnich21 No, no you're not. It's voltaire's second most popular song.

[@JokerFan-hj4iv]

Finally some one who has advice other than “all villains see themselves as the hero”. As long as you give them a interesting personality and purpose to the story a truly depraved selfish villain can be amazing. Joker, scar, Voldemort,aku, pennywise etc all of these villains and more have no redeeming/Nobel quality’s whatsoever but are all still iconic pop culture characters. Morally grey/sympathetic villains are great but I think every hero needs to face at least one pure evil enemy because they push the hero to they’re limits the most.

[@henrypaleveda7760]

I know it's not technically a "pure evil" villain but there's an immortal (he is immutably immortal but not infallible and is still working with vulnerability to age diseases [which itself will be more rare] famine, wounds, and so on but is less severely so) villain of Nordic/eastern culture (having taken the elements of the eastern culture {where he came from} and fathering the Nordic variant) who believes that he is destined for this "great task" and that is what drives him. It also bolsters his confidence so he ends up doing all of these terrible things (starting wars rape pillaging general medieval warfare dialed up to 12) because he thinks he's the only one allowed to (this is subverted occasionally by challenges that the protagonists and even other antagonists make) do so or the only one who is capable of the greater or mythic feats. The great task is ridding the world of a vial serpent that would consume the world. he interpenetrates this as a number of things including, killing a necromacing dragon (someone else deals the killing blow after his fight with the dragon leaves them both within an inch of their lives [the immortal is incapacitated due to the damage taken even if he can't die] and he is still conscious enough to know what is happening), ridding the world of a rapidly spreading cult (which one of the other three main villains is manipulating to his own ends), and a third thing that just takes too much explaining and context, even for a comment of this length). His end is when he (the immortal) gets trapped underneath a tectonic plate of the planet (super durability isn't always an advantage). Thoughts?

[@JokerFan-hj4iv]

Henry Paleveda that sounds very similar to Thor. He was tasked to kill a world serpent wasn’t he? (I’m not very versed with ancient mythologies sorry lol). I like how in the end all that strength and power the immortal thought made him better than everyone else became his punishment stuck in the earth unable to die poetic justice! Like I said in my previous comment villains can definitely see themselves as the hero (which it sounds like he did as his whole goal was to save the earth from the serpent but he took it too far.) and make them compelling characters that way but I don’t like when writers tell people that they HAVE to or your a lazy writer or your character is a one dimensional stereotype. I mean did Jeffery Dahmer think he was a good guy when he was stuffing body parts in his fridge?

[@henrypaleveda7760]

@@JokerFan-hj4iv A yes it is similar to Thor in that way (intentionally), b thank you I thought that was good,C thank you for saying that (a lot of horror movie villains seem like an exception to that honestly), D I'm not sure if he thinks of himself as a hero or knows what he's doing is wrong and does it anyway or if he even sees good and bad at all.

[@Disconnect350]

Clarence Boddicker, Agent Smith, The Kurgan, Hans Gruber, Frank Booth, T-1000, etc. Much better than all the sympathetic trash villains now.

[@calebwheeler8143]

There's a type I heard about on Extra Credits- the force of nature villain. These villains have four characteristics: 1. They are beings of great and malevolent power 2. This great and malevolent power drives the story forward 3. They have little in the way of motive, personality and backstory 4. Their traits allow them to act as foils to the hero Sauron doesn't need a nuanced personality. Cthulhu doesn't need a complex backstory. The Joker doesn't need a sympathetic backstory. In fact, in most cases the story would be actively harmed by giving the villains these traits. Instead, their impersonal evil makes them a foil to the hero, by representing something the hero opposes (Militarism, the insignificance of humanity and chaos, respectively).

[@spiderpsycho_8887]

We can't forget the Deliverer of Darkness, the Shogun of Sorrow, the Shapeshifting Master of Darkness, *Aku*

[@The-kr9rb]

*G R E A T F L A M I N G E Y E B R O W S*

[@jaegercat6702]

*E X T R A T H I C C*

[@Kirhean]

S-tier villain right there, fully half of what makes Samurai Jack an excellent show.

[@Scientin]

Oh I'm sorry, I think you meant to say *AAAAAKKKKKUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!*

[@rbwjakfjenwbw1009]

Aku is the single greatest cartoon villain of all time and you can do nothing to change my mind.

[@andrewsannar5328]

Donquixote Doflamingo from One Piece manages to take an incredibly pure evil villain and fit in an in-depth backstory that only accentuates his pure evilness. He's the only villain I've seen where that backstory and motivation actually add to his megalomaniacal villainy!

[@sunlitsonata6853]

I’d add Emperor Belos from The Owl House here. Already an evil villain; but the more you learn of his backstory (as well as what’s heavily suggested) the more maniacal evil he gets.

[@glasscardproductions4736]

@@sunlitsonata6853 Puritans weren't exactly the full ticket.

[@frankielovejoy9928]

@SunlitSonata It also paints the picture of a very pathetic old man who's living in the past for selfish reasons, and he allowed it to completely consume him. Not sympathizing with him, I just think this aspect of his character is interesting.

[@Broomer52]

@@frankielovejoy9928 theirs a difference between Sympathize and Empathize. One is feeling pity the other is relating. You can sympathize but it’d be concerning to empathize with Belos. The man is trapped in the past and let his hate consume him. Belos has a God Complex but he still cares about his brother in spite of the fact he killed him. Because in his mind it was a mercy killing and he preformed ancient magic just to get him back even though each one would eventually betray him. It’s a fascinating form of twisted love. It’s sad, it’s pathetic and you understand where he’s coming from but still think “he’s such a monster” and that’s a well written Villain.

[@frankielovejoy9928]

@@Broomer52 I understand that. I just didn't want anyone to think I somehow supported his actions. I just find Belos interesting because he somehow manages to double as a very intelligent and twisted maniacal maniac and a very sad old man who continued on the same path for hundreds of years. It seems like he never once, in 400-something years, stopped to reevaluate what he was doing. That is so much time to think and reflect on everything that happened and everything he did. But instead, he just kept doing what he was doing. It's evil but sad at the same time. But not sad in a sympathetic OR empathetic way, at least not to me. It's sad in a pathetic way.

[@stanletters]

You really went and put an "I'm Bad" remix in the back of the video, and I ain't even mad

[@jessicabraud3307]

The smug pvp shows this lmao

[@rickjones7444]

Took me till the end of the video to realize that’s what song it was 😅

[@iateyoface9d7]

"No, no, no... I can’t die like this... not when I’m so close... and not at the hands of a filthy bandit! I coulda saved this planet! I could have actually restored order! I wasn’t supposed to die by the hands of a child-killing psychopath! You’re a savage! You’re a maniac! You are a bandit AND I AM THE GODDAMN HERO!" - Handsome Jack, reverse Vegeta

[@odysseusinspace9704]

Charles Edwards not quite pure evil, but just as fun.

[@names1139]

Not pure evil but still a 11/10 villan

[@mitochondria6247]

Handsome jack takes the "justified villain that does pure evil things" mistake and somehow makes it work to his advantage.

[@insertusernamehere3173]

As soon as I read the first line I knew... it was Handsome Jack.

[@im_tired1439]

Charles Edwards, I knew this was a Handsome Jack quote when I read “I AM THE GODDAMN HERO”.😂

[@jackiechan3620]

I've heard a good interpretation of Thanos as a massive egomaniac. He believes his ideology is the ONLY and BEST solution, so is blinded to other peoples views and opinions. He is calm and collected, preaching his views of 'perfectly balanced', but is full of self-righteous rage at those who oppose him.

[@jordanread5829]

Exactly. He believed the universe would praise him for making such a heroic and selfless sacrifice. However when a past version of him learns that the universe still thinks he is an insane idiot, he decides, "fuck it. If they won't be grateful, I will wipe the slate clean. Literally". At the start of Endgame when the Avengers crash his little farm the only thing he says to them as they punch him is, "you should be grateful".

[@kaleeshsynth9994]

Also he's called the mad titan

[@vazak11]

That would rely on anyone presenting an alternative opinion or ideology that both addresses his grievance and doesn't involve genocide, but the heroes just say "We don't trade lives" even though Thanos's ideology is stupid as fuck.

[@thesymbiotenation.4552]

@@vazak11 it was either that or.. and hear us out.... He gets a boner for the personification of death... and would you want a movie all about a Big purple dude going on and on about how he wants to lay in bed with death?

[@dantestrl1851]

@@vazak11 What If? Episode 2 - Tchalla turned Thanos into a Ravager, and they even used a better alternative, but Thanos is still clinging to the snap idea

[@kenthefele113]

Providing backstory to a pure evil villain can work though depending on the story. Griffith and Sauron for instance used to have redeeming qualities, but the point is that they eventually threw them away in order to achieve their selfish goals. Doing this helps add layers to your villain without detracting from the fact that the audience is supposed to view them as a monster they should fear and hate. If anything, it makes them more hateable because it shows that they ARE capable of good, they just prefer evil.

[@MostafaElSakari]

Exactly. Griffith is probably the greatest villain of all time, in my opinion. His backstory gives him more depth but doesn’t take away from his pure evil

[@rewrew897]

I love how thanos’s original gional motive is *WANTING TO SMASH DEATH*

[@Justanotherconsumer]

For a very specific definition of “smash.”

[@BenefitCounterbench]

Which is historically accurate. The driving force of pussy was always a great motivation in real-life wars too.

[@pretzelbomb6105]

Unfortunately for both halves of the universe, Death was thoroughly uninterested in him. She and Deadpool had a thing going already.

[@when7573]

@@pretzelbomb6105 imagine killing half of the universe and beocming a godlike being just to get cucked by Funni Chimichanga Man

[@im_tired1439]

Pretzelbomb, and I believe in the comics, Thanos cursed Deadpool with his crazy healing factor so he couldn’t die to be with death.

[@woozean]

Me: Oh megabyte would be a good example, but it’s pretty niche so- Red: sO meGaByTe-

[@DarkAngelEU]

I remember having a VHS of that show and it was so good. Didn't know there was more of it, let alone 4 entire seasons. Just in time for my Autumn/Winter hibernation mode as well ^_^

[@RogueT-Rex8468]

IFKR??? God that show was my sugar honey ice TEA. ..... great. Now I gotta find it.

[@ericwithakay3559]

Megabyte: pure evil Hexadecimal: pure chaos Bill Cipher: both

[@lie-rose]

Bill cipher is just chaos. Not really evil, just a jerk with godmode.

[@lie-rose]

Not saying I don't love it though, he's definitely my favorite villian.

[@atomicbuttocks]

@@lie-rose mans jus wanna fuck shit up for the giggles

[@austinkersey2445]

Melkor/Morgoth: Please allow me to introduce myself. For context, the guy helped the LOTR God (Eru Iluvatar), his godly brothers and sisters (Valar), and the Maiar sing the world into existence. This asshole decides that it's time for a solo. Hell, he tortured and killed people in mass quantities for shits and giggles. But, he also made Sauron what he is by ripping every happy memory and person he related to happiness from his mind and soul. Oh and he created Orcs by torturing Elves and created dragons (one the size of at least two large mountains). In short he's both. I could make a case for Sauron being pure evil but the Silmarillion removed that ability. He's just too pitiable. The most evil thing he personally did was corrupting the most powerful nation in Middle Earth and causing them to attempt to invade Middle Earth Heaven (Valinor) but caused the only instance of Eru intervening (which is more than Morgoth ever did) and sweeping the entire nation beneath the sea. Evil, but not exactly comparable.

[@thecourtjester2610]

Bill has a backstory (you have to do some digging to find it) and it is tragic. But Bill acts out anyway, he's lost everything he loved and now he just wants to party and have fun forever. His backstory is little more of an explanation to where he came from and why he is like this, it gives no reason to trust or try to talk to him about it because he either will kill you because he doesn't want to talk about ot or he just dosen't care anymore.

[@Hallows4]

For some reason, the Sanderson sisters from Hocus Pocus just popped into my head. They seem to have most of the characteristics mentioned here - vague backstory, delight in their evilness, and selfish motivations - but lack the “supreme confidence” aspect. Their uncertainty with the modern world certainly holds them back on occasion (while offering plenty of laughs for the audience) but in the long run that doesn’t make them any less threatening to the protagonists or diminish their evil personalities. Do they still count as “pure evil” or does their bumbling/gullibility actually disqualify them?

[@piralos1329]

Like a month late, but I do believe they do fit!! The "supreme confidence" isn't confidence in everything they do, it's self-confidence!! In this, the witches very much do fit - whilst they are bumbling, this is because it is a comedy, but the witches do 100% have confidence in who they are!! They have no idea what kind of strange new world they're in, but they're certain that they will master it, once they understand it!!!

[@GuyLott-r4b]

I’m a year late but unfortunately Hocus Pocus 2 totally undid this and threw them solidly into the “Tragic Backstory” category. Although it doesn’t really work because “I love my sisters just as much as I love murdering children 💕✨“ does not hold up in a court of law.

[@OmegaHulk2010]

"Oh you're a *Villain* alright. Just not a *Super* one." "Yeah, what's the difference?!" *"PRESENTATION!!!"*

[@danielawesome36]

* "PRESENTATION!!!" * which is: *"PRESENTATION!!!"*

[@OmegaHulk2010]

@@danielawesome36 "Ah Minion, you fantastic fish you."

[@bluelandyaandgreenlandya1788]

Alot of Batman villains can agree with that

[@tbnrrenagade9507]

perfect.

[@thetechnocrat4979]

Megamind is an amazing ' villain '.

[@nolanhembree5565]

The whole "evil because its fun" thing is my favorite. If you got a bad guy, and they're some sort of magic evil spirit thing with a good sense of humor, I want them.

[@dragonhelmofdor-lomin4017]

Pure evils can also be delusional villains who thinks they're the heroes.

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

*E* - Every *V* - Villain *I* - Is *L* Lemon _Perfect description of a pure evil villain..._

[@Skallva]

Xenoblade Chronicles (2010)

[@TangmoMopet]

*We are LEMON*

[@kabob0077]

Huh? EVIL!

[@ronank.6608]

Lemon grab

[@iampandorabitches1912]

Oof I’m so stupid for thinking the saying was “Every Villain Is Lemons” lmao.

[@X-35173]

I remember watching Star wars for the first time only last year. After decades of media exposure to star wars and Vader indirectly I went in expecting him to be a Pure Evil villain and was pleasantly surprised to see what I can best describe as a "fallen paladin"

[@MerkhVision]

That’s actually very accurate, knowing his backstory from the prequels. That’s an interesting term to use!

[@rebeccaliar9873]

God, seeing Cruella as the first example of Pure Evil is just... such a relief after that live-action train wreck.

[@BookWyrmOnAString]

It's ok, their mother got pushed off a cliff by good writing

[@davidalicea6705]

Okay you want to know a better origin story read the book evil thing which is part of the villain series which is a back story for Disney villains written by Selena Valentino

[@Pandie2828]

Personally I like her backstory it didn't redeem her in my opinion she starts as a problem child who turns into a common Criminal Who turns into a Revenge obsessed drama-queen all while maintaining a passion for fashion but that's just my opinion

[@pottertheavenger1363]

It was not a trainwreck. It was quite fun.

[@pottertheavenger1363]

@@BookWyrmOnAString It did not explain motive or purpose. It didn't even make her hate dogs.

[@legendarytat8278]

So, no backstory, personal/illogical motive, and absolute confidence? Kids are pure evil villains. (when they want to)

[@zoro115-s6b]

Pure evil villains are basically what happens when you take a kid who burns ants with a magnifying glass and give them a death star instead.

[@Sharkakaka]

Pure chaos. When they want they are pure evil when they want they are pure good

[@keithbryden2040]

I know your comment is at least partially a joke, but that brings up an interesting point: aren't all pure evil villains, by their nature, childlike? They're doing the things they do for purely selfish reasons - "I just want to" or "Because it's fun" or "Because I know it pisses you off." Their egos are inflated beyond sanity and they basically can't grasp the concept that they might not be able to do what they want - in other words, they *hate* being told No. (Seriously, look how many villains get mad at their minions for bringing up the possibility of failure, even if they have legitimate concerns about the integrity of the villain's plans.) And most of all, they don't give a flying shit about morals. They don't care that what they're doing is wrong because *they're having fun.* All that matters to them is that they get a kick out of it. The third-act breakdown is essentially the villain throwing a tantrum when, for one reason or another, they STOP having fun.

[@zoro115-s6b]

@@keithbryden2040 Yea, and it actually highlights one of the main reasons pure evil villains work. When they're introduced, they generally seem extremely collected, confident, powerful, and generally cool, which contrasts sharply with heroes who tend to start off the story much less put together seeming. But as the hero grows and we learn more about the villain's character, we start to see that the villain who seemed like such an unstoppable force is maybe not as cool as they seemed. The suave dark overlord with his incredible power and army of minions starts to seem less like an evil genius and more like a spoiled brat. People criticize villains for making dumb decisions, but sometimes that's the point, the villain is so assured that they'll always get their way in the end that they don't think their choices through. And in the final third act breakdown we finally see the villain's true face fully revealed: A spoiled child who cannot conceive of things not going their way and breaks down the moment they realize that world domination is no longer an option for them. Bonus points if the villain rails against the unfairness of the world for a defeat that they brought entirely on themselves, or whines about the hero ruing their life, when the villain has being ruining countless lives this whole time. Part of the appeal of pure evil villains is showing how uncool they really are beneath their confident exteriors.

[@linkskywalker5417]

@@keithbryden2040 Pure good heroes are also known for being childlike

[@sunlitsonata6853]

Now that Hollow Mind aired, I think Belos comes off as an incredibly compellingly written case of a Pure Evil villain in The Owl House. That he spent hundreds of years orchestrating an entire society of witches to genocide off itself because he still has that Salem Witch Trials mindset and never evolved as the human world did is a pretty chilling villain motivation for a Disney cartoon. And killing his brother out of spite, only to keep recreating him as homunculus designed to be loyal up until he inevitably murders them and starts it over again, all with the same face.

[@Ruby-Doc]

Ikr

[@matthewfrye6061]

Yes! And the most horrifying part is that he's got just enough hints of humanity in what we, the audience, sees, we think that he might have a redeemable part. But no. And that is further made horrifying in that his racist hate, abuse, and manipulation are so horribly human that we know people like him exist. It is like this crescendo of how horrible humanity can be and that is why I love to hate him.

[@voydcat8089]

The best villainous breakdown is Doctor Facilier, from the Princess and the Frog. He’s definitely a pure evil Disney villain, and while supplemental materials do reveal that he did have a catalyst for becoming evil, it’s hardly relevant as the monstrous acts he wants to commit (offering the souls of everyone in New Orleans to his Friends on the Other Side) are way, way out of proportion to his motivation for doing them (he’s trying to pay off a debt to them). The moment Tiana breaks the talisman that his plan hinges on, he flies into one of the most dramatic, ironic, and honestly pitiful breakdowns in villain history. The animation and voice acting are perfect; he is _absolutely terrified_ because it’s time to pay the piper. His Friends on the Other Side aren’t his friends anymore; they’ve come to collect, and his frantic pleas for mercy and desperate promises to pay them back go ignored, as he gets dragged off to the Other Side. Here lies Facilier. He wasn’t ready.

[@hannahmetzger6622]

"I don't want to go. I don't want to go...,". - The Friggin' Doctor. :3.

[@lorettabes4553]

Yes! He's my absolute favourite. When I tried to explain to my family, after we watched the second Maleficent film, why I was disappointed with the villain, I compared her to Dr. Facilier. He had a good breakdown in the end that didn't disappoint and kept the evil going. The bad guy in Maleficent 2 became a coward in the end and I just didn't know how to feel about it beside being disappointed.

[@bouboulroz]

While it wasn't as powerful, seeing Hades realizing that Hercules is now a god that CAN hurt him feels very cathartic, even though you enjoyed him the whole movie.

[@tobsonasanya4765]

eh he ain't really pure evil

[@dragonhelmofdor-lomin4017]

Having a villainous breakdown is not a requirement to be a pure evil villain. John Doe is a prime example.

[@johnp.2267]

(in Mark Hamill's Joker voice) "You know what I love about this new crop of heroes...?" (chuckles wickedly) "...they're all so breakable..." (cue build-up of insane laughter)

[@ethanmcfarland8240]

Joker, Ozai, and luke. Mark hamill is one hell of an actor

[@danielawesome36]

Vader be like: "That's my boy!"

[@bluelandyaandgreenlandya1788]

Holy Jesus that's a good line

[@Hello-og]

@@ethanmcfarland8240 Wait, Ozia was played by Hamil?!! HOW DID I NOT KNOW THAT?

[@ethanmcfarland8240]

@@Hello-og Yep

[@Alias_Anybody]

"Unless the heroes are really insufferable" Next episode: Nominal heroes/assh*** protagonists

[@kreeesqeeel]

Alias Anybody yessssssssss

[@Alias_Anybody]

I forgot something: Please!

[@patrickfrost9405]

Akame ga Kill.

[@liLightaura]

I would love an episode about this.

[@Rick586]

Konosuba

[@gerstein03]

"You're not gonna shoot a puppy are ya Jack?" "Yeah in the face why?"

[@paulwagner688]

"Your overconfidence is your weakness" "Your faith in your friends is yours"

[@harlannguyen4048]

"Heh, your faith in your mama..." "What was that?" kzbin.info/www/bejne/jGXRYXlvh55jfJI

[@DaneTheDane]

@@harlannguyen4048 Yo mama so fat, Jabba the Hutt said "Daaaaaaaaaaaaamn!"

[@jaketheberge1970]

Funny i seem to remember gravity being Palpatine's big weaknesss.

[@h0m3st4r]

@@briankeys5941 Yo mama's so stupid, she tried digging for buried treasure in an X-wing.

[@DaneTheDane]

@@h0m3st4r Yo mama so dumb, she thought Jar Jar comes with Pickles Pickles!

[@robbieaulia6462]

Red while showing Cruella de Vil: "Some of the most iconic villains are pure evil, and they never even made eye contact with sympathetic motivation." Me in 2021: Yeah about that

[@platinumchromee3191]

Me: well fuck,goodbye might see you all again on my way to conquer universe

[@Tortferngatr]

I still wonder why the hell Disney executives thought trying to humanize a villain whose goal is *literally murdering puppies* was a good idea.

[@GodittoC]

69 likes, make a wish!

[@llanfairpwlgwyngyll7331]

@@Tortferngatr not even. They just rewrote her entire character because it wouldn't work otherwise

[@Nerthos]

I'd argue that a completely different set of writers trying to retcon a character that was well established in a self-contained story 30 years ago counts as much as a bootleg GTA:SA mod where the groove street gang is replaced by the K-on gang counts for the story of K-on

[@daniellipko710]

In Endgame, we saw who Thanos truly was. He’s irredeemably evil and loving it, but sees himself as a tragic hero. In the end, it was always about himself.

[@Maninawig]

Read the comics. Thanos is pretty different, being a Death's jealous stalker. When he saw Deadpool flirting with Death (literally as Death is a woman in Marvel), he cursed Wade Wilson with immortality... Cause her rejections didn't give Thanos a hint that she's not that into him... Btw, this only made Death want Deadpool even more because he is literally the one man she cannot have.

[@Dyneamaeus]

Not exactly. While there is certainly an element of self satisfaction in MCU Thanos, seeing his 'future' self succeed changed End-Thanos dramatically by relieving him of his doubt. Infin-Thanos referred to himself as destiny as a sort of mantra, a way to solidify his intentions. End-Thanos does the same because he now truly believes it. It's a subtle difference but they are different characters.

[@johnnytwotimes7854]

Exactly, he's irrational

[@willieoelkers5568]

@@Dyneamaeus I'd say what we see in End-Thanos is more an extended villainous breakdown. He learned that in spite of his plan succeeding people not only still reject his "vision", but they're actively on track to unmake his victory and his future self won't be around to do anything about it. He's dedicated his life to proving his thesis, and I imagine there's a strong Sunk Cost Fallacy in play by this point, so when he learns that thesis is about to be comprehensively and irreversibly disproved he just starts lashing out in an attempt to force the world to conform to his vision, since he cannot accept that he might be wrong.

[@coolgreenbug7551]

The sympathetic villain is the lie he tells himself

[@skyhideaway]

"You're insane!" "Sure I am, what's your point?" - "You're insane if you think I'll help you!" "I'm insane either way, brainiac!" - Bill Cipher is the best pure evil, mainly because of his one-liners and charisma.

[@bradleyadams5252]

Yeah, he gives of the "I know I'm ruining the whole existence thing for everyone else, but I legitimately don't care" vibe.

[@bradleyadams5252]

"Off"

[@cosmicspacething3474]

He’s more of a chaotic neutral imo

[@skyhideaway]

@@cosmicspacething3474 he literally brought on an apocalypse and killed people for fun, what are you talking about?

[@cosmicspacething3474]

@@skyhideaway I mean he’s there more to cause chaos than just kill people. The world just happens to be collateral damage in his extremely twisted plans for hedonism.

[@dragoon3219]

Thanos' character makes perfect sense. He's a narcissistic megalomaniac that sees himself as a tragic hero thus he tries to *act* like a tragic hero most of the time, but the mask slips every now and then to show what's underneath: a monster.

[@ivrydice0954]

Thanos is just Light Yagami.

[@dragoon3219]

@@ivrydice0954 Nah, Light at least fully embraces his god complex.

[@ivrydice0954]

@@dragoon3219 TRUE

[@saintlybovine9665]

EXACTLY. MCU Thanos was a product of sloppy inconsistent writing that ended up being accidentally brilliant. Thanos was more concerned about proving his (long dead) haters wrong than he was about actually helping people.

[@sircuffington]

My thoughts exactly

[@radioactivegorgon2307]

'Pure Evil' villains are the most fun as a kind of rejection of all the emotional management and compromises that go into how we usually end up treating ourselves under the umbrella of morality. Someone who knows their desires and pursues them utterly even against most sensibilities is also partially why they can be so charismatic. And when sensibilities shift it can provide a sort of new insight and reconceptualization of that character's motivations in a way that draws out the lost nuance.

[@dragonhelmofdor-lomin4017]

Pure evils are the most heinous characters, they are played seriously with no redeeming qualities and their crimes sets them apart from other villains in the setting.

[@captainseyepatch3879]

As a interesting note. Speaking of Avatar.... Azula is in fact a great example of how to do this whole thing... and then just pulling the rub our from under the viewers. We get Azula as this kind of villian until much later, then BAM... We get hit with the concept that she's the way she is because of emotional abuse. And the emotional breakdown is almost.. like your being cheated. Her 3rd act breakdown is just.. painful.

[@VapricKnight]

As a kid I thought seeing her finally defeated by Katara was awesome! But when I got older I started realizing. 1: All the awful shit that Ozai put her through 2: *Shes 14*

[@cheesecakelasagna]

@@VapricKnight relatable, have a nice day.

[@cynicaloptimist970]

Thank you. I always appreciate finding someone who shares that same opinion.

[@Bacxaber]

*pulling the rug

[@quack-tastictictac1630]

Allen White Hold up... she's 14?! I thought she was 16!

[@benjaminvonstein]

In my experience, “evil & loving it”, “reluctant monster”, & “unintentionally destructive” can very much inhabit the same person.

[@kreyne10]

"I just wish I was loved as much as I love skinning puppies!" Why did you Cruella de Vil and Zuko, Red? Why would you do this, Red?

[@fairycat23]

She's implying that Zuko is Carlos's dad. (I'm kidding.)

[@jesterleafnose798]

She wants to skin the avatar, because daddy issues and a sense of fashion.

[@Pigeonswain]

Dark Pit..... Haha, nice profile pic.

[@laylamorrison9596]

@@fairycat23 Oh my god.....

[@AR-mq2sd]

Evil villian: I do it for the money. Complex villian: I need the money to pay for my sick child's surgery. Hope that helped.

[@carloscaro9121]

Not at all. That motivation, helping one's child, is usually heroic. Thus, that motivation could be anything from heroic to antiheroic to anti-villainous to simply an antagonist. For example, in a heist movie where the protagonists are all morally grey thieves, the guy who betrays the group to save his sick kid is simply an antagonist - not really a villain.

[@skracha2]

this is wrong, but thanks anyway

[@MultiSuperGuide]

@@carloscaro9121 What if you murder 10 people to get the money?

[@sinjinreed2091]

Pure Evil Villain: I do it because I want to.

[@captainseyepatch3879]

As others have pointed out. This is a flawed statement. Pure Evil Characters: I kill people for fun and make money. (Joker) Evil Character: I kill people if its required to make money. Complex Character: I kill people and make money but have a more noble cause for that.

[@StrikaAmaru]

10:00 I just interpreted that as Thanos being intelligent and completely batshit crazy. Thanos himself thinks he's a complex anti-hero, and he acts like that, but he's just nuts.

[@waluigisbizzareadventuresi1430]

Agreed.

[@saikanji9570]

I do need to re-watch Infinity War to really make a solid conclusion, but that was how I saw it, too. There are a lot of shots revolving around Thanos and his thought process, which make him out to be sympathetic and gets the audience to go, "Aww, look, he does care about the universe! He's just conflicted." When in reality, he's completely deluded himself (and the audience) to believe he's a heroic character and is just a genocidal maniac. In Infinity War, him killing the dwarves is a clear example of him overlooking his principle of leaving half of a population alive because it doesn't suit him to leave them to build a counter to his infinity gauntlet. In short: Thanos talks a good game about being conflicted and doing "what's necessary", but doesn't actually do any of those things. He's a psychopath that wants to believe he's the good guy.

[@CitrusUprising]

This was always my read to, especially when adding in the abusive dynamics with him and Gamora & Nebula. I always read Thanks as character who thought of himself as sympathetic, but in reality loved killing and holding power over others, and the image he was doing good rather than actually... well, doing good

[@Maninawig]

All stalkers are

[@snuffles504]

This is pretty much confirmed in Endgame. Thanos realized the universe will never be grateful to him for his "benevolence," so he decides to scrap the whole thing and become a god instead. Seeing as that Thanos was actually an earlier version of the character, it proves his sadism and desire for power was always present under the facade.

[@LargeBlueCircle]

Thats why i really liked Shan Yu as a Disney Villian. He had no real complex motivation, embodied every hyper masculine villian trope (relentless, cruel, unmerciful, kills children, obsessed with conquest). He doesnt need a backstory- he has great voice acting, a killer theme song, and is a great, albeit simple, villian.

[@lucyandecember2843]

o.o

[@emanuelrojas2]

Arguably to the point of being too simple.

[@willieoelkers5568]

@@emanuelrojas2 Well, he was never the main source of conflict in the story. The conflict was about Mulan sorting out her place in the setting, Shan Yu was just a milestone within that conflict.

[@_spooky_mars_]

"reality warping through the system's paint program" that's fucking hilarious and I love that

[@IggyTthunders]

One of my favorite lines from the Joker Blogs, it's a gorgeously amoral monologue about playing cards and what they represent, : "There's a card that doesn't add, or take away, it just...is..." *magics a joker into his hand* "There's one in every deck, and it always shows up when you least expect it."

[@camdenthompson4307]

"...We miss the Ursula's, the Maleficent's, and the Jafar's" well, you could also say: " we have to many god damn, complex villains that aren't good" but hey, i won't judge

[@elenacienfuegos8450]

And even when they are evil people still like them, and not even for good reasons. I don’t care that’s he’s hot, he murdered by favorite character, started a war in Miraland, and sound like a 14 year old manifesto.

[@davidalicea6705]

Oh no the first two you mentioned do have origin stories in fact both of the movies take place one after another according to the villain series by Selena Valentino which is where the origin story comes from

[@dragonhelmofdor-lomin4017]

Ursula, Maleficent and Jafar are not pure evil villains.

[@bababanana20123]

Jack Horner from the New Puss In Boots movie might honestly be the quintessential pure evil villain, he does literally everything described here

[@Zhroomy]

As megamind once said, and I paraphrase, a real super villain is dependent on PRESENTATION! A cruel, sadistic, selfish, and powerful villain who doesn’t stop at anything short of their own death is a good one.

[@bluesapphire170]

"His murder soulmate Optimus Prime" this is the best way to describe their relationship.

[@irondolphin9387]

Also a good way to describe Batman and the Joker.

[@hedgededge1436]

@@irondolphin9387 Except that with the joker, Batman keeps fightzoning him, and refusing to take their relationship the full murder way. Punching him, but never finishing him off.

[@supremecaffeine2633]

@@hedgededge1436 Batman is such a tease.

[@cameronfox4401]

@@hedgededge1436 It's a shame too, the Joker is such a nice villain. Plus his fedora looks sweet.

[@Speed001]

His hate boner wasn't strong enough.

[@TheSpearkan]

13:23 PRAISE THE EVIL BOWLING PIN! HIS POWER STRIKES FEAR IN THE HEARTS OF MEN!

[@orangecrust8002]

Spearka “strikes” fear?

[@aaronlittle5478]

@@orangecrust8002 and "spares" no one.

[@geraldfrost4710]

@@aaronlittle5478 you're going to have to polish the dialog a bit, but for your setup you'll get a return on your investment. Where does this kingpin hang out? Certainly not some back alley, and his sidekick Hookshot is always cleaning up his mistakes.

[@Silverwind87]

@@geraldfrost4710 He's just a big turkey!

[@stephenquinn7931]

Only the chosen one Bowling Ball has a chance of striking a killing blow against, but even if he wins, another evil bowling pin will take the originals place

[@sans8162]

When i was little my mom used to leave me at her friends place during work. I was about 3 or 4 so i barely remeber anything, but i did remeber a little bit of a show i was watching over there. Very loosely, with only a few details. There was a main guy, but the main guy vanished, and then the kid had to take over. But the kid failed, and then there was a time skip when the kid returned as grownup. This was all that i remeber, and i would constanty try to find the show and quite fruitlessly at that. Since i didn't get internet until WAY later in life. So thank you for dropping the name of ReBoot. Took me 23 years, but now i can go and finish it :)

[@MrSaunamies95]

"Why you're pure evil?" "You are asking me why? I did it because I was bored"

[@a_casual_human4674]

*cough* Byakuran *cough*

[@matthewmuir8884]

That's a good example, but my favourite line from a pure evil villain would have to be this one from Metal Face from Xenoblade Chronicles. No words from an antagonist have given me more chills than this exchange: Dunban: Why attack Colony 9? Metal Face: You want to know why, Dunban? Because it's your hometown.

[@a_casual_human4674]

@@matthewmuir8884 No, he literally tried to take over the universe cause he was bored.

[@matthewmuir8884]

@@a_casual_human4674 What does that have to do with what I said? I haven't seen whatever it was that he was referencing, but I figured that that's what happened from the quote he used. So I said that's a good example of a line from a pure evil villain, and then I mentioned another good line from a pure evil villain.

[@a_casual_human4674]

@@matthewmuir8884 I was commenting in relation to OP's comment. Byakuran's reason for taking over the world was purely because he was bored.

[@0rangeeccentric]

My favorite pure evil character is Hades from Kid Icarus Uprising. He's hammy, he's sarcastic, he's funny, his only motive is a willingness to keep the status quo, and when he needs to act, he does so ruthlessly.

[@dragonhelmofdor-lomin4017]

So you like laughably pure evil villains?

[@chadpeterson5698]

@@dragonhelmofdor-lomin4017 it's a balance between likability, and a lack of redeeming qualities. Hate Sinks are cool if done right but not all Pure Evil villains need to be Hate Sinks

[@dragonhelmofdor-lomin4017]

@@chadpeterson5698 I prefer Pure Evil villains who are somwhere in between, villains like Sauron, Morgoth, Johan Liebert, Anton Chigurh and Michael Myers.

[@Light-at-Dawn]

My favorite video game villain! A truly great one!

[@daleketchup7434]

@@dragonhelmofdor-lomin4017 Michael Myers is really a “perspective” thing. And that’s due to his massive timeline (not as big as Kingdom Hearts but memorable). The best reason that people like for his killing is just for the hell of it

[@sarahcoleman5269]

My favorite subversion of the "pure evil villain" is Dr. Drakken from Kim Possible. He basically has the "I'm an evil genius, let's take over the world" mentality, but he's actually a pretty big dufus. He's able to create all the evil machines he wants, but he has a very narrow idea of "evil". He kind of becomes more of a comedic character. . The actual competent villain is She-go. She is basically Kim's opposite, and her biggest motivation is "winning". She's not trying to take over the world, she just wants to beat Kim. It's been 10 years since I've watched the show, so correct me if I'm wrong.

[@Hexagonaldonut]

Never forget the bottomless pit he wanted to fill with water.

[@spareribbs2304]

Tbh, it always seemed to me that Drakken complemented Ron in the way Shego complemented Kim. Loveable, aimless, not particularly brave, but wouldn't abandon his friends.

[@fantasy873]

Not to mention his attempts to take over Canada which he only wanted to do so he could change the name to Drakanada.

[@commanderpeacekeeper937]

@@fantasy873 he did what now???? god its been forever since i watched that show....

[@kawaiiconcept7479]

That show was my childhood omg. I've grown to like Drakken more as I grew older because as a kid I didn't really like boy characters. (the boy characters I did like were very effeminant) but you are very much correct

[@MikuFutaba]

"You're not just going to shoot a puppy, are you?" "Yeah, in the face, why?"

[@23iamelvis23]

Umbridge The poster child for pure evil.

[@Xx_Oleander_xX]

she feels like a better villain than Voldemort tbh

[@Azraeltheangelofdeath]

She makes other pure evil villians seem like saints

[@szarekhthesilent2047]

I agree. Mostly, because I must not tell lies.

[@kianpfannenstiel]

I disagree. She is entitled, but not evil. As a matter of fact, I'd argue that on an alignment scale she'd fall squarely on LN. She isn't bothered strongly by the evilness or goodness of her actions as long as it supports the Ministry. She's a phenomenal bad guy, but she isn't evil per se.

[@BaallMularac]

@@kianpfannenstiel She carried out a genocide against muggleborns! Did people not read the 7th book? And even in the context of the 5º book alone, she was as evil as someone could be for the setting (magic school drama) to make sense.

[@EvilOverlord1662]

No love for Aku? His name literally means "evil".

[@lewisirwin5363]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJrNo6Gmjp6ZrcU 'nuff said.

[@vladimirenlow4388]

Good catch. Ticks all the boxes. And then disintegrates them. Scaramouche from the last 6 also works.

[@sarafontanini7051]

ehhhh in later seasons he can come off as a bit too humurous to take seriously enough, I feel

[@gilgamesh310]

It’s strange you say that, because Aku Aku is Crash Bandicoot is good, and Uka Uka is bad.

[@doesntmatter2467]

@@sarafontanini7051 His win rate doesn't help much either, especially when Jack begins too out smart him.

[@davididiart5934]

On Thanos: He's just crazy. I'm 90% certain his problem is he's a true psychopath who's convinced he's a tragic hero.

[@jasonblalock4429]

Right. But the problem is in the presentation. The movie absolutely buys into the idea that he's a tragic figure. Just look at how many "Thanos is right!" fanboys there are out there. They spent ten goddamn years building him up into being the galaxy's ultimate monster, then practically throw that out the window in their rush to make him sympathetic and relateable. So you end up with a confused movie with a confused central villain who is treated as the protagonist, while the heroes keep making dumb mistakes that let him win. That's just not narratively satisfying on any particular level.

[@ninebrains4769]

James Black if you accept OP‘s characterization, you already have a „sympathetic“ villain rather than „pure evil“ because of the trait of self-deception.

[@PabloOlbapPablo]

No. Obviously not

[@bmoney2011]

yup. ignoring the movie's adaptation of his character, the antagonist Thanos is only driven by extremely selfish motivations (that he wants to do the "bedroom dance" with Lady Death) and so he decides that deleting half the universe will be a sufficient panty-dropper to win her over.

[@timothymclean]

@@jasonblalock4429 I don't think the movie portrays him as a sympathetic character. Thanos kills to solve a problem that is never demonstrated; he sends his followers to die and doesn't care when they do; he talks for half the move about how much he loves Gamora, chucks her off the side of a cliff, and never looks back. Infinity War takes for granted that you'll realize that Thanos is crazy, but Marvel didn't realize his excuses would sound so convincing to so many people...

[@chloej1611]

Tynan is a really interesting example of a "pure evil" villain with a third-act breakdown that is not only consistent with his characterization but also in line with the magic system and his source of power. His power _literally_ feeds on fear. The more people fear him, the stronger he is. A high intimidation roll leads to a bonus on intimidation. So he is totally jamming when everyone's running around screaming. Conversely, as soon as he loses that fear, he crumbles. He's lost not only his ego _but_ _also_ his power. Love you, Red!

[@madmanoliver]

You thought this was a redeemable character, but this is me- DIO!

[@chronic-joker]

i was waiting for that

[@youwouldntremembermeanyway7410]

*laughs in Part 6*

[@oimate6357]

@@youwouldntremembermeanyway7410 that doesn’t redeem him or make him redeemable

[@moredetonation3755]

IMO the best villainous breakdown I've ever seen is in The Return of the King, when Sauron's eye goes wide and spins completely around as soon as it realizes where the Ring is.

[@davidweik1167]

And if you think that moment is great in the movie, the paragraph from the book does a phenomenal job at describing just how much Sauron is panicking when he finally realizes what's happening. And far away, as Frodo put on the Ring and claimed it for his own, even in Sammath Naur the very heart of his realm, the Power in Barad-dûr was shaken, and the Tower trembled from its foundations to its proud and bitter crown. The Dark Lord was suddenly aware of him, and his Eye piercing all shadows looked across the plain to the door that he had made; and the magnitude of his own folly was revealed to him in a blinding flash, and all the devices of his enemies were at last laid bare. Then his wrath blazed in consuming flame, but his fear rose like a vast black smoke to choke him. For he knew his deadly peril and the thread upon which his doom now hung. From all his policies and webs of fear and treachery, from all his stratagems and wars his mind shook free; and throughout his realm a tremor ran, his slaves quailed, and his armies halted, and his captains suddenly steerless, bereft of will, wavered and despaired. For they were forgotten. The whole mind and purpose of the Power that wielded them was now bent with overwhelming force upon the Mountain.

[@emblemblade9245]

David Weik Damn

[@NIHIL_EGO]

@@davidweik1167 Am I reading the ancient testament.

[@maddie9602]

@@davidweik1167 To summarize: "Oh Shit."

[@xRaiofSunshine]

@@davidweik1167 Daaaaaamn

[@CailinRuaAnChead]

Dolores umbridge and cinderella's step mother. Awsome pure evil villains

[@MsCassidy23]

Or the principal from Matilda (can't remember how her name is spelled)

[@CailinRuaAnChead]

@@MsCassidy23 YES! Mrs Trunchbull. Pure evil. Two out of three of these bad guys are teachers. I can't help but feel that says something but I'm not sure what

[@MsCassidy23]

@@CailinRuaAnChead Probably bad school experiences as children. God knows I had elementary school teachers who absolutely hated me and never missed an opportunity to humiliate me. I once got into a playfight with some boy (sunday dress and all) and was barred from the class games and candy from my teacher for it. The look of pure spite and open hatred as she shoved her face into mine and plucked the candy of my desk still haunts me, as I was six and couldn't figure out what kept going wrong. I found out later as an adult that she just hated her job in general, and because my parent (another teacher) kept kissing up to her, she felt I was fairer game than the students that were genuinely causing trouble.

[@CailinRuaAnChead]

@@MsCassidy23 wow that's rough. My primary school teachers were all lovely but I definitely had some shall we say, lawful evil, secondary school teachers. One sent me back and forth across the school to get permission from about four different teachers to go home when I had period cramps so bad they made me throw up in class (turned out to be a recognised clinical condition that makes them hurt more than labour but I couldn't possibly be telling the truth and clearly just wanted to ditch my favourite subject). She was a first class asshole.

[@MsCassidy23]

@@CailinRuaAnChead What a prize 🐄. Some people just need to recognize that teaching isn't just summers and weekends off. These things effect kids into adulthood.

[@inertiaking1]

Dio is a perfect example of a pure villain. He's charismatic, an ass, and both of his abilities are representations of Dio's hunger for control, and the moment is seems like jotaro is getting near him in power terrifies him, and he ends up loosing flaunting his control. All of the Jojo villains do this well, loving their control and having a breakdown breakdown when they loose it

[@themudkipmando4125]

I think DIO eventually convinces himself near the end that although Jotaro has infiltrated his world, he isn't anywhere near his power Recovering from a 3rd act breakdown. It's only during the 2nd 3rd act breakdown of Starust Crusaders that he dies. TLDR: Dio dies during Phantom Bloods third act breakdown. DIO dies during Stardust Crusaders 3rd act breakdown

[@giloguy101]

What i love about Dio is that Johnathan and hell even the show itself keeps asking the question, "is Dio evil because of his terrible father and initial upbringing" and then absolute chad and fight commentator Speed Wagon just eventually rolls up flat out says "no, he's evil because he's *just mother fucking evil an will always be evil* " like no if's or buts, he's a dick because he's a dick.

[@mythicalgirl2005]

I personally think “pure evil” villains work better on screen than they do in writing.

[@ianrose6218]

I know this is going to get me roasted to hell, but there's a difference between a "Pure Evil" villain, and Captain Puppykicker McMurdersEveryone. Just hear me out, since this comes down to the writing. On screen, a pure evil villain can be pulled off because a good chunk of people just want an antagonist who fails in the end so the good guys can walk away with a win. This is mostly achieved through the performances of the person in the role, but it also relies on the writing not pushing them too far. For example: Loki could have killed Selvig after he built the device to cement his villainy, but he didn't. Whether that was down to his arrogance that the plan was going to work either way (my personal thought) or some personal code that he secretly had, he didn't cross the line of pointlessly killing an unarmed innocent (unlike what he did with Coulson, who had the weird alien gun pointed at him and was ready to fire if Loki so much as moved). The problem with writing a pure evil villain in a book is that you can't have it carried partially on the character's charismatic portrayal, so it all has to be in writing. You can only write about someone smirking, being smug, or teasing people for so long before it gets boring. A bunch of writers will just tack on more and more villainous acts that hit the moral event horizon and shoot straight through it on an exponential trajectory. Eventually it hits the point of audience apathy, and people will eventually stop caring about what the villain does unless it directly impacts a character working closely with the protagonist, which risks leading to the ultimate "I ran out of ideas, so killing off the protagonist's best friend is the only thing I haven't done yet to prove that this is the bad guy" moment. That's not to say that a pure evil villain *can't* work in a book, but it's all down to keeping them from getting stale, which *is* hard to do in writing.

[@dudemcguy8949]

Complex villains work best when given a redemption ark, makes it a good reason to actually make the villain complex

[@willieoelkers5568]

@@dudemcguy8949 Alternatively complex villains work because of the gravitas them choosing to be evil in the face of an alternative has. I mean, there was no real tension when Harry was giving Voldemort his one last chance. Based on his entire character arc and the differences between Harry and Voldemort that had been highlighted, there was no way he was gonna have an 11th hour heel-face-turn. Redcloak on the other hand, from the Order of the Stick webcomic, has been serving as the second in command to a pure evil lich in a long-term bid to give his deity the power to threaten the other gods into improving things for goblinkind, who are treated as little better than animals to be hunted. He was recently told by one of the heroes of the story "your plan's not going to work, because the gods can and will destroy the world before they risk it succeeding" and that alternatively if he works with the heroes to contain the threat he was planning to use as leverage, they'd work with him to help form the start of a lasting peace. There's a couple pages of debate over how goblins have been treated, what they deserve (they recently conquered a human nation and are keeping the prisoners as slaves), and why they should settle for less and then it gets to the point where he's asked for his answer. There's three panels of him thinking about it and then he gives his reply: "Implosion". That scene and the buildup to it would have been pointless if Redcloak was Pure Evil; no one would buy that he'd even consider sitting down and listening to an alternative. And his refusal to go along with the alternative and instead continue on knowing he risks the destruction of all goblin-kind highlighted how fanatical he's become about the plan. Twice the heroes call him out on how he's killing more goblins than they ever have and for all his talk he doesn't actually care about his people anymore, just the plan. Not coincidentally, those are the only two accusations that he doesn't have a rebuttal for. The fact that he rejected a redemption that he could have plausibly taken makes the scene so much better than if he was the type who'd never have even considered it in the first place, and the rejection itself and the aftermath shows what kind of character he's developed into, one who's ready to risk his people being completely wiped out rather than give up his plan. (sorry this got so long, congratulations if you read the whole thing!! Have a cookie)

[@DarkAngelEU]

@@ianrose6218 It's hard to even find examples of Pure Evil characters in literature, because they always try to shape them with a backstory of how they slowly delved into madness (Joker) or how they consider themselves to be good but are actually a villain (Sauron, Voldemort). The only one that comes to mind is James from Twilight, who is a so-called Tracker, which means he hunts humans for sport. Needless to say, he's just there for plot. EDIT: Nevermind the Twilight, what about Hannibal Lecter? He has no moral compass, kills people for sport (or for dinner), likes to solve puzzles, all in all he has standards, but only cares for those that fulfill his own amusement with the human race he finds such a pity.

[@wannabehistorian371]

@@dudemcguy8949 That’s not what is being discussed.

[@superraegun2649]

Teacher: "You *have* to give your villain a tragic backstory". Me: "He failed to get into art school" Teacher: 😳

[@ramble4395]

This is legit Adolf Hitler.

[@giornogiovanna8486]

Oh shit-

[@kahlzun]

Nein out of ten.

[@ametsunami4070]

r/cursedcomments

[@victoracosta4796]

Hey, you didn't create Hitler!

[@frozeneevee]

Pure Evil villain's can be a lot of fun, they just need to be written in a way that matches with the pure evil nature they present themselves as in the story

[@dragonhelmofdor-lomin4017]

Just don't make them too comedic, because they have to be taken seriously by the narrative.

[@kitty_visionary_meow]

Marvel finally got it right with the High Evolutionary. Definitely one of the best pure evil villains we've had in recent years and cause of some of the most traumatic moments on the MCU.

[@GuyLott-r4b]

THIS! He fits almost perfectly in the “I just love skinning puppies” category, the only difference being its raccoons and otters. Although all three GOTG movies did pure evil really well. One and two being “I just love killing planets full of lower races (cause I’m space racist)” and “I just love killing my own children (if they are not enough like me)” respectively.

[@phellowshipstar8756]

"Good writing is anything that works" is genuinely the best writing advice I can give to anyone.