History Main / AmbitionisEvil

* {{Exploited|Trope]] in ''Fanfic/SonOfTheSannin''. Just like in canon, Danzo has the ambition to become Hokage and is shown to be extremely bitter that he's always been passed over for the position every time, which leads him to stoop down to things like allying with Orochimaru and leaking intel to Akatsuki about the jinchuriki's whereabouts, resulting in several missions to retrieve them gone wrong. When he's confronted about it, he reveals that his plan was to let Akatsuki gather all the Tailed Beasts in a single place to take them back for Konoha, [[spoiler:or so it seems, as shortly after [[UnwittingPawn he turns out to have been under Kotoamatsukami influence]], thanks to Obito Uchiha. Rather than outright mind-controlling Danzo, all he did was plant the idea on him and let his ambitions do the rest. Given Danzo's reputation, nobody would have even suspected it wasn't his idea to begin with]].

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* Inverted by Tobias Grey in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3353818/1/Shade-to-Shade The Anguis Series]]''. He's definitely the most ambitious of his [[Franchise/HarryPotter Slytherin mates]], shown by his desire to work in the Ministry in Magic, whereas his peers are more content to just enjoy their school life. However, he's also the most scrupulous of them all, being the only Slytherin who refuses to join [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad]], even though this hurts his chances of becoming Head Boy.

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* [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] in ''Fanfic/YoungMidoriya''. Izuku's desire to succeed All Might and become the next Symbol of Peace is treated as noble, and Miruko even tells him outright that he needs to become ''more'' ambitious and start seeking out the spotlight more... or at least greater recognition for his deeds.

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* Exploited in ''Fanfic/SonOfTheSannin''. Just like in canon, Danzo has the ambition to become Hokage and is shown to be extremely bitter that he's always been passed over for the position every time, which leads him to stoop down to things like allying with Orochimaru and leaking intel to Akatsuki about the jinchuriki's whereabouts, resulting in several missions to retrieve them gone wrong. When he's confronted about it, he reveals that his plan was to let Akatsuki gather all the Tailed Beasts in a single place to take them back for Konoha, [[spoiler:or so it seems, as shortly after [[UnwittingPawn he turns out to have been under Kotoamatsukami influence]], thanks to Obito Uchiha. Rather than outright mind-controlling Danzo, all he did was plant the idea on him and let his ambitions do the rest. Given Danzo's reputation, nobody would have even suspected it wasn't his idea to begin with]].
* A running theme in ''Fanfic/{{sunflower|Naruto}}'':

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** {{Downplayed}} with Catra and Glimmer; like Shadow Weaver, both are driven by their ambitions... and desire for revenge. Both are {{Villain Protagonist}}s to some extent, with Glimmer being [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen just as ruthless as Shadow Weaver]] in her own ways.

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* Discussed in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11171261/28/Free-from-Force Free from Force]]''. Ahsoka decries the Seperatists, claiming those in charge only want to "fill their pockets". Darth Maul counters that there's nothing inherently evil in wanting to live a life of luxury. As a Sith, though not a particularly evil one, he freely supports the idea that the cunning and ambitious should thrive over less intelligent individuals.

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*** [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zagged]] by the Tyrells, who aim to increase their own power and prestige through some fairly shady schemes, but are adored in-universe for their appearance as noble and charitable figures, and the fandom can empathize with them in their rivalry with the proud and conservative Lannisters.

--> '''Christian Kane:''' I still think this cat looks at the glass as being half empty. And so, damn it, I'm going to drink the rest of that water.

** In the episode [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E5EvolutionOfTheDaleks "Evolution of the Daleks"]], [[spoiler:[[HalfHumanHybrid Human-Dalek hybrid]]]] Dalek Sec spouts the following line after his transformation (note the other words besides "ambition"):

** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E3TheDeadlyAssassin "The Deadly Assassin"]], the Master subverts his ally by appealing to his ambition.

* On ''Series/{{ER}}'', Kerry Weaver did increasingly underhanded and immoral things in order to advance her career.

* A recurring theme on ''Series/LittleHouseOnThePrairie''. Anyone with money is bad or downright evil (Harriet Olesen, Ebeneezer Sprague), and doing things that will make a character successful will only backfire and provide an Aesop for the protagonists.

** When Winchester joins the cast, he wants to be head of thoracic surgery at a Boston hospital.
*** Then again, Winchester is also portrayed as more than competent enough to handle this. Unlike Frank, his antagonism comes from a clashing personality as opposed to incompetence. By the end of the show, this troper wanted him to run that hospital!

** One episode sees the company clerk, Radar, promoted from Corporal to Lieutenant. He's then put in charge of his "friends," who decide that since he's now an officer, he's automatically a JerkAss and no longer their buddy -- even though he's shown to be quite laid back, and is only doing the job he was assigned. Radar is so troubled by this that at the end of the episode he asks to be demoted back to Corporal.
*** There was also a nurse who had a crush on him. She was always making passes at him, but he didn't act on them because he was only a lowly corporal. When he's promoted to lieutenant, the nurse loses interest in him and explains that the only reason she was attracted to him in the first place was that it was wrong.
** Subverted with Father Mulcahy, who pushes for promotion but remains a nice guy. And it was because he was jealous of a colleague getting a similar promotion!
*** Not quite subverted -- he's shown regretting his actions and talks about the sin of pride.
%%* Morgan le Fay in the 1998 ''Series/{{Merlin|1998}}'' miniseries.

* Arguably, the US version of ''Series/{{The Office|US}}''. In the first few seasons, Dwight and Angela are the meanest employees who are [[UnpopularPopularCharacter the most unpopular with their coworkers]]. They are also the most driven, hard-working, and likely to take charge. Then Andy was added to the cast and he was originally characterized as someone who, like Dwight, would stop at nothing to become Number Three in the office. By the time he was RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap, this goal had mysteriously disappeared. Ryan was corrupted with power when he got promoted to corporate and TookALevelInJerkass to extreme levels. Jim is at his best when he is BrilliantButLazy and whenever he takes on management duties he finds himself LonelyAtTheTop and is unsure of how to handle the job. Pam has always had an ambitious streak (even if it was repressed at first) which appears to run much deeper than that of Jim. However, while she originally had the sympathetic goals of wanting to prove herself talented and capable and escape her disliked receptionist job ever since she came back from Pratt she has gradually become more concerned with making money than being competent and has undertaken more questionable means of getting herself promoted. In fact, the only notably ambitious character who neither does mean things just to get ahead of others nor gets an intelligence downgrade after being promoted is Karen (she was sometimes mean to Pam because she was a rival love interest, not out of ambition). And that's because she was always going to be PutOnABus for [[DieForOurShip unrelated reasons.]]
* This is the lesson of ''Series/TheOuterLimits1963'' episode "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1963S1E20TheBelleroShield The Bellero Shield]]". Judith Bellero, a RichBitch inspired by LadyMacbeth, already has a life most people would envy--a wealthy scientist husband, a BigFancyHouse -- but it's not enough for her. She wants "Power, far-flung holdings, undiminishable authority", and she plans to get them by taking over her father-in-law's MegaCorp. When Judith's husband accidentally intercepts an [[AllLovingHero all-loving alien]] who uses an impenetrable shield to travel the stars, Judith kills the Christ-like creature and tries to pass its shield off as her husband's invention, which [[ItWontTurnOff backfires]] [[LaserGuidedKarma spectacularly]].

* Never, ''ever'' go on a [[RealityTV reality show]] and express a desire to ''actually win''. After all, that'd be silly -- who'd enter a GameShow with [[ThisIsACompetition the intention of succeeding]]?

* Played with in ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch:'' When Harvey tells Sabrina he doesn't plan on going to college, Sabrina secretly doses him with a magical "Ambition" line of toiletries sold to her by her cousin. However, she uses too much turning Harvey into a CorruptCorporateExecutive that manages to buy the school and plan on demolishing it. When Sabrina's aunts find out, they learn that the Ambition products lacked a key "expensive and imported" component: Perspective, meaning that Harvey was dosed with "Blind Ambition". When Harvey is dosed with Perspective, he cancels the plan, gives all his money to charity, and everything goes back to normal with an Aesop about [[PygmalionSnapback wanting to change people...]] until Harvey tells Sabrina that he ''will'' go to college after all. (It's important to note that the Harvey at the end of the episode is still Harvey dosed with Ambition-plus-Perspective, not the original, unaltered personality.)

* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'': [[Characters/SupermanLexLuthor Lex Luthor]] seemed to catch more than a little flak for ever wanting to help people. Phrases like "The world doesn't need Lex Luthor to save it" were bandied about ''constantly,'' with the implication that because of his destiny to be Superman's greatest enemy ([[DramaticIrony which no one knew at the time because PREQUEL]]) meant that any and all efforts he made to be something other than a regular nobody would end in a FaceHeelTurn. [[spoiler: And with his murder by Oliver Queen and having been effectively replaced by his clone, it seems all of that worrying was for absolutely nothing.]]
* ''Franchise/ASongOfIceAndFire'' TV adaptations:

* Somewhat subverted with ''Series/{{Glee}}'': Main character Rachel is ''extremely'' ambitious, but it's portrayed in both good and bad ways: her insistence on always getting the spotlight alienates people, but her go-getter attitude combined with her talent is ultimately what will save her from the fate of many of her classmates (being stuck in Lima, OH). Certainly, she's never seen as evil. On the other hand, we have Sue, who single-mindedly pursues her goal of destroying Glee Club -- and there's Terri, Will's wife who cruelly pushes him to give up teaching and become an accountant so they make more money.
** Rachel often seems to lack perspective and goes to extreme lengths such as sending Sunshine to a crack house to scare her out of the glee club, this eliminating her (perceived) competition. By the end of Season 2, though, Rachel seems to have learned her lesson. She'll still be ambitious, but she's going to be nicer about it. Hopefully...
** Will ''is'' ambitious, though. It's just that these ambitions are directed toward elevating the [=McKinley=] High Glee Club as high as possible, rather than making money.
* Sauron from ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'' could be the physical embodiment of this trope. Even when he has good intentions, he is going to use the cruelest methods to achieve his goals. After Morgoth's defeat, he continued to make cruel experiments on Orcs just so he could obtain the power of the Seen and the Unseen World, which led to being betrayed be Orcs and temporary killed for his deeds.
* In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' and ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', this is explicitly given as the reason why genetic engineering is illegal in the Federation, with Khan as the defining example (naturally, this overlaps heavily with FantasticRacism). It's specifically mentioned that "superior ability breeds superior ambition", and that dabbling in genetic engineering risks the creation of another superhuman like Khan, "whose ambition and thirst for power have been enhanced along with his intellect."
** Gowron is an example. He was presented as a Klingon who genuinely gave a crap about honor. Indeed, he was a political outsider who often opposed the High Council. But as time went by, he cared more and more about keeping his position as leader of the Empire secure, to the point of deliberately sending a brilliant general he viewed as a rival on impossible missions.
** Kai Winn was genuinely dedicated to her faith and her people during the occupation. Her desire to become Kai led her to be a FantasticRacist, a murderer, a terrorist, and eventually a traitor.

---> '''Worf''': Great men do not seek power. They have power thrust upon them.
* There are some indications on ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' that Sam's desire to go to school was bad.
** His desire for the power to stop Lilith is treated as bad only partly because of the way he goes about getting it.
** Similarly, in the episode "It's a Terrible Life," the moral of the story can be seen as "being a businessman is evil."

* Explicitly addressed and rejected by Toby in ''Series/TheWestWing,'' where he explains to Josh that it's actually a bad thing that Josh's preferred presidential candidate had to be aggressively persuaded to run for President. Toby's argument is that the decisions the President has to make, and the burdens he has to bear, are so extraordinary that they can only be handled by someone who sincerely believes that they were placed on this Earth to do the job. A President ''needs'' to be a breathtakingly ambitious person.
* HBO's ''Series/TheWire'' argues that every system, from law enforcement to schools to government, is hamstrung by personal ambition. Everyone is too obsessed with advancing their own careers to actually do what is best for the community; since selflessly trying to do what's right, even if you succeed, causes you to fall behind in the race for status, the people who end up on top are always the people who sacrifice the most morality to achieve their goals.
* An episode of ''Series/YouCantDoThatOnTelevision'' specifically dealt with ambition. One of the cast members remarked that the problem with ambition was "If you don't have enough, you're lazy. And if you have too much, you're ruthless. You can't win." His solution? Be lazy and get a ruthless manager.

** Invoked by Raphael, who refers to ambition as a sin in one of the game's MultipleEndings where Gale becomes a DeityOfHumanOrigin: the God of Ambition. Raphael anticipates that Gale will cause complete chaos in his new godly role, and plans to use the opportunity to seize more power for himself.

*** After watching his dynasty nearly ruined by his ineffectual father, Tywin Lannister's dream is to "establish a dynasty that will last a thousand years," and he will do anything, no matter how vicious, to maintain his family's greatness and is ruthless when playing the game of thrones. Robert is even more generous, summing Tywin's goal up as "wanting to own the world". His outsize ambition is the main reason why he doesn't get along very well with his children -- in his eyes, they've done nothing with their lives without his help or name, or at least so he believes. He approves of Jaime's great skill as a MasterSwordsman but is disappointed that he doesn't apply himself. As for Cersei, he feels that she didn't do enough in her position as Queen and did a poor job raising Joffrey. As for Tyrion, from his perspective, Tyrion was content to spend all his time drinking and whoring until Tywin appointed him Hand and later Master of Coin. From Tyrion's perspective, he hardly ever got opportunities because his father kept insulting him with tasks like manage the cisterns of Casterly Rock, and even when Tyrion did great at that, hardly considers it indicative of any talent.
*** The only trait Cersei inherited from her Lord father and her brothers didn't. Never satisfied with her station in life, she is by far the most power-hungry of the Lannister siblings, always equating power with victory, no matter the cost (including losing her own children).
*** Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish was born without wealth, influence, or a great title. By Season 3, he's gained all three by being a scheming backstabber.

*** According to writer Creator/DavidBenioff, Stannis chooses ambition over family in "The Dance of Dragons" and this is what ultimately does him in. Given Stannis's general [[TheDutifulSon characterization]] [[TheMenFirst before]] [[GoodParents said]] [[PrinciplesZealot episode]], this explanation has been [[BrokenBase contested]], to say the least. Despite having alleged noble ends, Stannis is bound and determined that absolutely no one but ''him'' should sit on the Iron Throne, and every time he has to choose between ambition and his family (or his honor, or his principles) he chooses ambition. Ultimately, this results in his downfall, as even hired sellswords can't stomach the lengths to which he is willing to go and abandon him en masse, leading to his defeat by the Boltons and execution at the hands of Brienne. This exception is, of course, in the backstory, where Stannis supported his family and nearly starved to death in TheSiege for a brother he never even liked because blood is ThickerThanWater rather than support his lawful ruler who would undoubtedly have rewarded him handsomely, most likely by fulfilling Stannis' ambition to be Lord of Storm's End.

* Subverted in ''Anime/CodeGeass''; [[spoiler: everyone assumes Lelouch, a prince, used the Black Knights for personal gain at best and a [[ForTheEvulz game]] at the worst. However, by the end, a select few realize that all of Lelouch's ambition was for the good of the world]].

* Played straight with ''Manga/DeathNote'''s Light Yagami; by the time [[spoiler:the US President surrenders to Kira, his father is dead and his sister is traumatized. He even allowed his father to put himself in a life-threatening situation for his own gain, which ultimately ''led'' to his demise]]. And that's not even counting the countless other times Light has made morally questionable decisions in order to realize his dream of a perfect new world. The difference between his innocent, idealistic self and the person he becomes with the Note is startling.

* Subversion: Tony Stark (aka ComicBook/IronMan) is hugely ambitious, to the point of it frequently [[ComicBook/CivilWar2006 biting him in the ass]], but his drive is less for personal gain and more for the betterment of mankind... he hopes. His worst excesses (such as ''ComicBook/{{Civil War|2006}}'' and ''ComicBook/ArmorWars'') are usually not driven by lust for power, but by an overzealous [[ComesGreatResponsibility sense of guilt and responsibility]].

* ComicBook/TheHood suffers MotiveDecay (he initially just wanted to support his family) because of his ambition to be a big-time supervillain criminal mastermind instead of the street thug he really is. Acquiring the magical hood and boots [[spoiler:empowered by Dormammu]] gave Parker Robbins an appetite for power that has gotten worse with time.

* ''Fanfic/TheKakashiWay'': Danzo fully embodies this. While Hiruzen naively believed that his old rival was a WellIntentionedExtremist whose love for Konoha would prevent him from doing anything that would harm its residents, Danzo was more than willing to destroy anyone and anything he saw as an obstacle between him and claiming Hokageship for himself. On top of all his canonical scheming, he [[AdaptationalVillainy also had a hand]] in several tragedies that he helped orchestrate in order to [[TargetedToHurtTheHero hurt, ruin, and destroy]] those he perceived as threats, such as Minato, Kakashi, and the legendary sannin. Hiruzen is aghast to learn just how many of those incidents were ''inside jobs'', including [[spoiler:Sakumo being DrivenToSuicide]], [[spoiler:the Kannabi bridge incident]], [[spoiler:Tsunade losing her little brother and LoveInterest]]... all casualties wrought by Danzo's desire to seize control of Konoha.

* A RunningTheme in ''Fanfic/{{sunflower|Naruto}}'':

** The central theme of ''Series/KamenRiderOOO'' is desire, and most of the story arcs are about dealing with some ambition that's run out of control. The main character himself is characterized by an utter lack of any kind of ambition. [[SuperpoweredEvilSide And then]] [[PowerDegeneration the trope was]] [[HeroicRROD inverted.]] Particularly by Kosei Kougami, perhaps the closest thing there is to a BigGood in the series. He [[LargeHam loudly]] and frequently espouses the virtue of desire and ambition because it leads to [[RomanticismVersusEnlightenment progress and evolution]]. This is in contrast to [[TheHero Eiji]], whose lack of desire and focus on what's immediately in front of him are initially played as entirely virtuous, but his outlook is later shown to be the result of [[DarkAndTroubledPast severe emotional trauma]] [[spoiler: and eventually causes him to start losing himself as he transforms into the Purple Greed, which represents the antithesis of desire]].

* In ''VideoGame/LiveALive'', [[spoiler:This ends up being the downfall of Streibough in the Middle Ages Chapter. When Oersted's party crashed into the Archon's Roost and wandered into a dead end, Streibough figured out there was actually a secret passage where the princess was kept, but wanting to get one over on his rival and take her for himself, Streibough faked the room collapsing to get everyone else out, then tricked Oersted into killing the king [[HatedByAll and becoming a pariah]]. In the end, his ambition resulted not only in his death and the princess committing suicide to follow him, but Oersted became insane and driven into becoming [[BigBad Odio]] because of this, [[GoneHorriblyWrong dooming all of Lucrece and kickstarting the events of the other 7 chapters.]]]]

* [[spoiler:Penelope]] in ''VideoGame/SlyCooperThievesInTime''. [[spoiler:Her intent was to invent and sell weapons in the black market for billions of dollars, and TakeOverTheWorld. But she needs Bentley's cooperation, as he's the brains of the pair, but she grew jealous of his two ChildhoodFriends Sly and Murray, who were also friends with Penelope, and came to believe that killing them both would hasten her climb to power and ensure Bentley's continued loyalty. It backfires ''spectacularly'', leaving Penelope broke, friendless, and a wanted fugitive]].

* In the Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse, Characters/{{Batman|TheCharacter}} was driven by a noble but unrealistic cause to rid all crime from Gotham city, which ultimately caused him to alienate the people closest to him. By ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'', all his vision got him was living utterly alone, in a city that is even worse off than when he was still Batman.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'' suggests this trope is what pushes the InsaneAdmiral trope in the other entries: [[spoiler:according to Vice Admiral Les Buenamigo, Starfleet is ''very'' competitive, with people always trying to make a name for themselves. In Buenamigo's case, this means inflicting LaserGuidedAmnesia on someone working on his project and stealing his work in the process, trying to torpedo trade negotiations by forcing a captain to do the negotiations at the last minute and threatening the lives of numerous Starfleet personnel all in the name of showcasing his pet project.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats2011'', though the FantasticCasteSystem of TheEmpire of Thundera is presented as deeply dysfunctional, the one person who expresses an explicit, deep desire to rise above his station is the villain Grune, a FourStarBadass with dreams of being TheUsurper of Thundera's king. Frustrated in his efforts, he later settles for the more expedient strategy of [[{{Turncoat}} defecting]] to be TheDragon to the series BigBad, [[LesCollaborateurs collaborating]] in Thundera's downfall.

* ''[[Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon AbraxasVerse]]'': [[Characters/AbraxasHrodvitnonHumans Apex Cybernetics]]. Though the exact details of their EvilPlan are kept ambiguous in the [=AbraxasVerse=] canon, it's pretty clear to the reader that it's ''very'' similar to what they attempted in ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'' (see the Films -- Live-Action folder): create mechs on par with the Titans, and implicitly challenge the actual Titans with them once they're brought online, all for the sake of power.

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* In ''Fanfic/DestiniesOfRemnant'', Adam mixes dangerous ambitions into his vengefulness with distressing ease, as part of his revenge involves [[spoiler:stealing the SDC away from Jacque Schnee and turning it to his own ends]].

* ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'': [[Characters/MonsterVerseHumans Apex Cybernetics]], the EvilInc responsible for the plot of the movie. Though they try to justify their EvilPlan to kill and usurp Godzilla by claiming they're [[MugglePower returning total control of the planet to humanity]] and are creating a secure line of defence against the Titans, it's pretty clear from [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Walter Simmons]]' behavior and Apex's '''nightmarish''' lack of regard for the millions of potential casualties they engineer that what Apex ''really'' want is to be the ones credited with breaking new ground in the form of their human-controlled anti-Titan Mecha and [[EngineeredHeroics to be hailed as heroes]]. It's even all but confirmed in the official {{novelization}} that if Apex's plan had succeeded without any hitches, they would've gone on to TakeOverTheWorld outright.

* ''ComicBook/{{Irredeemable}}'': [[Characters/IrredeemablePlutonian The Plutonian]] has a very subtle version of this. It's revealed in flashbacks that he has a strong desire for love and adoration. Since his ambitions were very altruistic, and he used his superpowers to make them come true by helping people, nobody seemed to mind (or just assumed he was doing it out of the goodness of his heart and not a need for affection). But then he eventually realized you can't please everyone and gave up on being a hero, and instead ruined a world that he could never get to love him.

* In ''VideoGame/LiveALive'', [[spoiler:This ends up being the downfall of Streibough in the Middle Ages Chapter. When Oersted's party crashed into the Archon's Roost and wandered into a dead end, Streibough figured out there was actually a secret passage where the princess was kept, but wanting to get one over on his rival and take her for himself, Streibough faked the room collapsing to get everyone else out, then tricked Oersted into killing the king [[HatedByAll and becoming a pariah]]. In the end, his ambition resulted not only in his death and the princess committing suicide to follow him, but Oersted became corrupted into [[BigBad Odio]] because of this, [[GoneHorriblyWrong dooming all of Lucrece and kickstarting the events of the other 7 chapters.]]]]

** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'': Bhelen Aeducan is a WellIntentionedExtremist who wants to drag the dwindling dwarf kingdom into the modern-day, and isn't above [[spoiler: poisoning his own family]] to get on the throne. Should you put him in power, he institutes martial law and sends assassins after anyone who might try to unseat him. He also opens trading deals with the outside world and gives casteless dwarves actual rights. Under the other guy's rule, the dwarves stay an isolationist DecadentCourt and not much gets done.

*** Anders is the only one who shows any kind of ambition towards ending the templar/mage conflict. [[spoiler:So, he blows up the Chantry so there can be no compromise between the two sides.]]

** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'': One of the potential companions of the Inquisition, [[IceQueen Vivienne]], was pretty much described in the promotional material as 'The Ambition'. She's not evil per se, but [[ItsAllAboutMe self-serving]] and tends to cause [[TeethClenchedTeamwork conflicts with other companions]]. Being a player of [[DecadentCourt The Game]], she really needs to claw her way out to a society that despises mages no matter how much blood was spilled.

** Qiyana is the last in line of the royal family of Ixaocan, and a particularly ambitious one at that. She's willing to betray and kill her own family in order to secure the role of empress for herself, and he entitled and short-sighted behavior proves that it would be a terrible thing if she succeeeded.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Cinder will do anything for power. She hunts Maidens for their enormous power, and is willing to destroy entire cities if she has to in order to achieve her goal. She thrives on chaos and carnage, but her lust for power and obsession with hunting anyone who dares cross her becomes her AchillesHeel. [[spoiler:In Volume 8, Watts [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech lectures her]] on where and why she keeps going wrong. Cinder pays attention and successfully captures two Relics for Salem. A flashback reveals she was abused and enslaved from a young age, attempting to murder her enslavers at the age of 10. Although a Huntsman tried to teach her another way, the abuse makes her snap when she's around fifteen years old, resulting in her murdering her abusers. She's been obsessed with becoming as strong, feared and powerful as possible ever since.]]

** The plot of ''WesternAnimation/TheAristocats'' is kickstarted when [[TheButlerDidIt Edgar, the butler of Madame Bonfamille kidnaps his mistress' cats to leave them in the wilderness]]. He does so after he learns that Madame Bonfamille has made her cats her sole heirs, while Edgar hoped to get hands on her fortune thanks to his long service.

** In ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'' Yzma's ambition to [[TheUsurper rule the Inka kingdom]] leads her to trying to outright murder king Kuzco - unfurtunately for her, her MinionWithAnFInEvil Kronk screws the magic poisons up and he is transformed into a lama instead.

** Professor Rattigan, Basil's ArchEnemy in ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective'' and an expy of [[Literature/SherlockHolmes Professor Moriaty]], uses his [[EvilGenius incredible intellect]] to get money and power from his evil doings. His ultimate plan - besides killing his nemesis - includes stealing the crown from the Mouse Queen.

* ''VideoGames//BaldursGateIII'':

* In ''Manhua/CyberWeaponZ'', Leiting may look like a WellIntentionedExtremist but, at the end of the day, what he really cares about is his increasing his own power [[spoiler: by siphoning that of the Demon King Solote]].

!!Example subpages

* AmbitionIsEvil/AnimeAndManga
* AmbitionIsEvil/ComicBooks
* AmbitionIsEvil/FanWorks

* AmbitionIsEvil/LiveActionTV
* AmbitionIsEvil/VideoGames
* AmbitionIsEvil/WesternAnimation

!!Other examples:

[[folder:Visual Novels]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* In ''Webcomic/BrawlInTheFamily'', this is the ultimate source of [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Ganondorf]] and [[spoiler: [[Franchise/{{Kirby}} Dedede]]'s]] respective {{Face Heel Turn}}s.
* ''Webcomic/DICETheCubeThatChangesEverything'': X specifically gives less quests and rewards to people lacking Desire, ensuring that proactive or amoral Dicers stay on top. Every Dicer has an idea what they want from the Final Die and can do anything for it, including killing everyone else.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Pacificators}}'', there is Princess Belinda. [[spoiler: She [[SelfMadeOrphan poisoned her father]], and successfully [[KlingonPromotion got the throne.]]]] This trope is averted with [[GravityMaster Muneca]], however, who is a good guy. She's still awfully ambitious, though.

** Mother Gothel in ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}} is an ImmortalitySeeker who kidnaps and imprisons Rapunzel, using her magical hair to give her [[FountainOfYouth eternal youth]]. Once Rapunzel escapes her prison, she does anything to get the source of her youth back.

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}} has [[EverybodyHatesHades Hades]] who plans to [[TakeOverTheWorld rule the cosmos]] - and get revenge on his brother Zeus. His M.O. are [[DealWithTheDevil shady deals]] which he tries on Hercules. He eventually fails.