|
"I've noticed that comic book superheroes usually fight evil maniacs with grandiose plans to destroy the world. Why don't superheroes go after more subtle, realistic bad guys?"
-Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes
The Generic doomsday villain, also known as the "I'm going to destroy the world because I'm evil!" villain or Dastardly Whiplash is an overpowering antagonist with no clear charisma, no charm, motive, or extensive plan behind their heinous and ruthless actions.
They do not fancy themselves to be doing the right thing, they're not driven by envy, they have no personal vendetta against any of their victims or enemies, they're not being compelled in any way, they are not in it for the money or power, they're not seeking revenge for any real or imagined wrong done to them, they're not trying to satiate their excessive pride, they're not even a sadist who enjoys hurting people for the fun of it. They may have an objective, but they never explain nor have a coherent reason behind it. Essentially, the villain is a flat character, solely defined by the threat they pose and nothing more.
Examples of Generic Doomsday Villains
Anime
Manga
Manhwa
Light Novel
Visual Novel
Animated Films
Live-Action Films
Live-Action TV
Video Games
Web Media
Western Animation
All the villains of the week from The Adventures of Bibleman (no, seriously): Basically, they're all just one-dimensional anti-role models that are presented just to shoehorn Biblical messages.
Comics
Why This Trope Can't Destroy the World Just Because it's Evil
- Nearly every time this is used, the character is a walking plot device who only exists to cause conflict in their world.
- They never have any properly explained motivations for their actions or even any defining personality traits or entertainment factors to make up for it, which makes the villain very dull to watch.
- With the villain in this position, the audience can't have a proper reaction towards them.
- Very often, these characters will be portrayed as an absolute threat or extremely dark and menacing, even though they barely do anything warranting that title. As a result, this makes them come across as obvious straw characters.
- Often steals attention away from other more interesting villains during the climax. (Ex: Sigma becoming the final boss in Megaman X6 instead of Gate.)
- This trope also makes for a pretty boring (and painfully generic) villain.
- Overall because of the reasons explained above, the villain is treated more like a force of nature than an actual character.
Redeeming Qualities
- Having a clear-cut villain with obviously evil motives and no redeeming qualities can be preferable to the modern trend of villains who try to be somehow sympathetic but fail at this and/or are being used as a way for the writers to lecture the viewers about their political beliefs.
- Some of them can rather be entertaining:
- Skeletor from the He-Man franchise, even with the motivations of his being very simple, he's an interesting foil to the protagonist.
- Steppenwolf from the DCEU and Thanos from the MCU have improved with better motivations. However, unlike Steppenwolf, Thanos nearly succeeds and would have if Iron Man didn't step in.