History EvilVersusEvil / Literature

* In ''[[Literature/RobJHayesTheTiesThatBind The Ties That Bind]]'' by Rob J. Hayes, the heroes are pretty terrible people but they're in a GrimDark SwordAndSorcery world so they kind of half to be. Special attention goes to the Blackthorn and Inquisitor Darkheart who would be villains in most other S&S novels.

** When the Greyjoys (and, by extension, the entire Iron Isles) splinter and start fighting each other, we're left grading the relative shades of midnight blue ([[BlueAndOrangeMorality anybody banging the drum on behalf of the Drowned God]]), dark violet (Victarion Greyjoy's more [[ObliviouslyEvil oblivious to his heinous actions]] than anything else), various shades of slate (most of the RapePillageAndBurn-happy Ironborn) and absolute pitch black (this would be Euron Greyjoy, primarily). When everybody's favourite immature, smug, JerkJock rapist and murderer, Theon Greyjoy, is about the closest we get to an innocent baa-lamb in this mess (he was too busy "entertaining" Ramsay Bolton in the North to be directly involved in the family spat when it kicked off), we've hit this trope.

** When the Greyjoys (and, by extension, the entire Iron Isles) splinter and start fighting each other, we're left grading the relative shades of midnight blue, dark violet and pitch black. When everybody's favourite immature, smug, JerkJock rapist and murderer, Theon Greyjoy, is about the closest we get to an innocent baa-lamb in this mess (he was too busy "entertaining" Ramsay Bolton to be directly involved in the family spat when it kicked off), we've hit this trope.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' generally features GreyAndGrayMorality, but occasionally two straight up villains are thrown into the ring together: Ser Gregor Clegane vs Vargo Hoat, for example.

* In the ''Literature/SixteenThirtyTwo'' series, the UsefulNotes/ThirtyYearsWar is described as this.

* Happens in-universe in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'', although it's more a case of JerkAss vs. Annoying. When Snape and Lockhart are dueling, Harry and Ron think the best outcome would be if they finished each other off. Also, when Harry was revealed to be a Parseltongue and everyone believed him to be dark because of this, somebody theorized he only defeated Voldemort to have no competition.

* The final battle of the ''Literature/BookOfSwords'' trilogy is fought between Yambu, the Silver Queen, BigBad of the first 2 novels, and [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Vilkata, the Dark King]], the even BiggerBad of the 3rd book. Interestingly, Yambu only does her HeelFaceTurn ''after'' she wins the battle but loses her throne. The 3rd book does give Yambu a [[BrokenBird sympathetic backstory]], including something of a FreudianExcuse. But it's not an accident that she wins the battle using Soulcutter, also known as the Tyrant's Blade, a name she acknowledges.

* [[BigBad Caine]] seems to be bumping heads more with villains like Drake and Penny than he does the heroes in ''Literature/{{Gone}}''. He actually ends up [[spoiler: being the one to kill Penny]], and [[spoiler: he [[GrandTheftMe gives his body]] to [[BigGood Little Pete]] for a Mutual Kill with [[BiggerBad Gaia]].]]

* The ''Literature/Parker'' series by Donald Westlake features the titular VillainProtagonist whose main redeeming quality is that he's just so ''good'' at being a [[ConsummateProfessional career criminal.]]

* The ''Literature/Parker'' series by Donald Westlake features the titular VillainProtagonist whose main redeeming quality is that he's just so ''good'' at being a CareerCriminal.

* ''Everyone'' in ''Literature/HIVESeries'' is evil to some degree. Even the leader of G.L.O.V.E.'s rival group, [[spoiler: H.O.P.E.]], hires assassins to kill the world's greatest assassin and a teenaged boy, who just happens to [[spoiler:have a "binary brain"]]. It doesn't help that the series is based around an AcademyOfEvil.

* In ''Literature/{{Everworld}},'' pretty much all of [[JerkassGods the gods are psychopaths]] and working for their own motives. In particular, [[EldritchAbomination Ka Anor]] wants to [[ImAHumanitarian eat all the gods]] while [[ScaryDogmaticAliens his followers]] wipe out all the mortals, while [[Myth/NorseMythology Loki]] wants to escape him back into our world...and probably conquer it in the process. Then you have gods like [[NightmareFetishist Hel]] and [[TheCaligula Neptune]] who are just maniacs for no good reason. [[spoiler:And in the end, you have Senna, who wants to [[AGodAmI overthrow the gods and rule herself]].

* In ''Literature/{{Everworld}},'' pretty much all of [[JerkassGods the gods are psychopaths]] and working for their own motives. In particular, [[EldritchAbomination Ka Anor]] wants to [[ImAHumanitarian eat all the gods]] while [[ScaryDogmaticAliens his followers]] wipe out all the mortals, while [[NorseMythology Loki]] wants to escape him back into our world...and probably conquer it in the process. Then you have gods like [[NightmareFetishist Hel]] and [[TheCaligula Neptune]] who are just maniacs for no good reason. [[spoiler:And in the end, you have Senna, who wants to [[AGodAmI overthrow the gods and rule herself]].

* In ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'', [[TheCaligula Visser Three]] and [[PragmaticVillainy Visser One]] are usually at each other's throats--Visser Three wants Visser One's spot and she knows it. The Animorphs and Visser One are [[EnemyMine willing to work together]] to stymie Visser Three, but they are in a tight position since she can be quite dangerous herself (especially after [[spoiler:she figures out at least some of them are human]]). In one book, the Animorphs, Visser One, and Visser Three all had their own plans to kill off the other two.

* Much of Glen Cook's ''Annals of the Literature/BlackCompany'' is devoted to the internal conflicts between powerful evil sorcerers. Much of the original trilogy involves the Lady's struggle to keep her EvilerThanThou husband, the Dominator, from freeing himself, so she can keep ruling her own empire as she pleases.

* [[Literature/HaloPrimordium Primordium]] has a complicated example. In it, the Forerunners are revealed to have been at war with themselves (in isolated areas) for many years, with the war now in full force all across the empire. To the main characters, all human, this is an example of the trope, as the Forerunners have treated their species as animals and test-subjects for the Flood for years. Especially evident when the "spirit" of the Lord of Admirals, who fought and lost to the Forerunners once and displays extreme RevengeBeforeReason tendencies toward them, finds a ruined city destroyed years ago in a battle. At first he is so overjoyed he is able to control his host and wander the ruins, but is quickly overtaken by sorrow at its pitiful attempts to rebuild itself, musing that humans and Forerunners are NotSoDifferent.

* Creator/Edgar Rice Burroughs' ''[[Literature/JohnCarterOfMars The Gods of Mars]]'' has the [[LightIsNotGood Therns]] and the [[DarkIsEvil First-Born]] civilizations. They were supposedly [[NotSoExtinct extinct]] [[MasterRace supremacist]] AlwaysChaoticEvil races that secretly manipulated Barsoom's inhabitants for millenia into travelling to the River Iss at the end of their lives in search of paradise so they could be enslaved. However, the Therns and First-Born have long clashed among themselves, with the latter regularly abducting the former's females to be taken to what is believed AFateWorseThanDeath. [[TheHero John Carter]] fights against both them over the course of the book when he is trying to expose their ploys to the rest of the planet.