History Main / EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas

See MommasBoy or DaddysGirl for a similar (and usually more heroic) trope. The parent in question may or may not be a MamaBear or PapaWolf. If the parent is a villain themselves, the trope will always overlap with TheFamilyThatSlaysTogether. In this case, it could also be a case of a VillainousMotherSonDuo. The inverse is VillainousParentalInstinct, where a villainous character still feels parental instinct and will sacrifice something important when their kids are in danger. Compare EvenEvilCanBeLoved.

''(Hopper spins around and [[BlofeldPloy punches out another grasshopper who was standing behind him]])''

* Strong Bad from ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' is a bully who torments others, including his own family. But in an interview he is very protective of his unseen mom and threatens an emailer to not go anywhere near her.

* Strong Bad from ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' is a bully who torments others, including his own family. But in an interview he is very protective of his unseen mom and threatens an emailer to not go anywhere near her.

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* Brian Goldstein, the Big Bad Pirate King in the ''Literature/UnionSeries'' exemplifies this. When the ship carrying his mother is seized by a Colonial frigate [[spoiler:[[BlackandGrayMorality So they can use his mother as a bargaining chip.]]]] causes him to take a level in Badass just to rescue his mother, ultimately being shot for his trouble. His last words to his mother, as she cradles his broken and bleeding body. "Mama, it hurts." Heartbreaking, even for a Big Bad.
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* Brian Goldstein, the Big Bad Pirate King in the ''Literature/UnionSeries'' exemplifies this. When the ship carrying his mother is seized by a Colonial frigate [[spoiler:[[BlackandGrayMorality So they can use his mother as a bargaining chip.]]]] causes him to take a level in Badass just to rescue his mother, ultimately being shot for his trouble. His last words to his mother, as she cradles his broken and bleeding body. "Mama, it hurts." Heartbreaking, even for a Big Bad.

* In ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'s case, "bad" is subjective (it depends on the situation, really), but he does love his mother dearly. A very long series of strips had him run away from home, get lost, and end up in a touching reunion with her. (The later animated special ''[[WesternAnimation/GarfieldSpecials Garfield on the Town]]'' was an expanded adaptation of this story.)

* A very cynical approach to the trope shows up in ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride''. [[BigBad Zira]] treated all her offspring cruelly, but especially [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain Nuka]]; yet Kovu and Vitani were the ones who actively rebelled, while Nuka went out of his way for Zira, such as when Kovu first refused to take part in an attack on the pridelands, and Nuka tried to take charge to win Zira's attention, yet [[spoiler:died in the process]].

* The ''Franchise/{{Shrek}}'' sequels show that Prince Charming is a complete and utter Mama's boy. In fact, it's his desire to make her proud that leads him to hatch another villainous plan in ''WesternAnimation/ShrekTheThird''. [[spoiler:And his last word]], before he gets trapped under a tower, is "[[IWantMyMommy Mummy]]?"

* Zigzagged by Music/{{Eminem}}. His real life relationship with his mother was hostile as she [[MunchausenSyndrome abused him]] as a kid; at a time when their relationship was still functional, he mocked this by making a fictionalised version of her the EvilMatriarch of his Slim Shady character's HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood - but with subtext and adlibs saying he still loved her. In response, his mother attempted to sue him for $10m for defamation of character, while continuing to harass him through fabricated stories to the press confirming [[TheTysonZone moral panic beliefs]] and, bizarrely, dropping a DissTrack against him. In response, Eminem made the AnswerSong "Cleanin' Out My Closet", in which he said that he was dead to her and she would never get to see her grandchild. However, over a decade later, Eminem released "Headlights", in which he claimed he still loves her and sees her as beautiful, apologising for "Cleanin' Out My Closet" and acknowledging that, while she abused him, at least he wasn't his dad, who abandoned them both. Later Slim Shady HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood songs feature Slim's dad and stepdads as the villains, and mostly leave out Mom.

* Played for laughs in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8701006/1/I-m-Sorry I'm Sorry]]'', a ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'' fanfic where Izaya humiliates Shizuo by bringing his mother to one of their fights. To the shock of everyone, even infamous badass Shizuo Heiwajima can't be so aggressive around his mother, and because Izaya tricked her into thinking he was a nice guy, she gets quite angry at him for "bullying" Izaya. [[spoiler:Gets even better when Shizuo turns the tables on Izaya at the end and calls his sisters so they can bring ''Izaya's'' mother to join the fun. Izaya has pretty much the same horrified reaction Shizuo had earlier.]]

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' sequels show that Prince Charming is a complete and utter Mama's boy. In fact, it's his desire to make her proud that leads him to hatch another villainous plan in ''WesternAnimation/ShrekTheThird''. [[spoiler:And his last word]], before he gets trapped under a tower, is "[[IWantMyMommy Mummy]]?"

--->"And mama don't cry, ya son can handle his/ I got her out the hood and put her in the hills/ Yeah when I was fourteen I told my mom we will see better days/ And sure enough I got Miss Cita in a better place"

-->My mother was a [[FreudianSlip stupid bitch]]… caring lady\\

* [[Music/{{ElP}} Run The Jewels's]] ''Oh Mama'' is halfway between a BoastfulRap and this trope; the refrain [[DeconstructedTrope lamenting the toll that their criminal acts take on the mother's psyche. ]]

I said, "I'm trying mama"\\]

* ''Animation/BoBoiBoy'': The StarterVillain Adu Du has a beloved mother who visits him on Earth in the third season. Unfortunately, his mom comes from a family of {{Card Carrying Villain}}s, and she's utterly displeased when she learns her son made a HeelFaceTurn[[spoiler:, to the extent of exploiting Adu Du's love for her by staging it so that [=BoBoiBoy=] would hit her when he acts in self-defense, successfully turning her son into a villain again]].