History Main / EvilOrphan

* Johan from ''{{Anime/Monster}}'', of course. [[spoiler: And then there was that time his twin sister Anna poisoned a room full of people...]]
** [[spoiler: Anna (the twin sister) never poisoned anyone; she was completely innocent. It was Franz Bonaparta who poisoned the people, to free her by eliminating anyone in the room who would only view her as part of his experiment. The role of Evil Orphan belongs to Johan alone, not Anna. She's closer to [[HeartWarmingOrphan Heart Warming Orphan]], though it takes quite a while to even get close to any fairy tale conclusion for her....]]

Sometimes you get lucky, and the MysteriousWaif you adopted becomes a [[HappilyAdopted well-adjusted and welcome addition]] to the family. Other times. . .[[AlwaysChaoticEvil not so much]].

[[HowToStopTheDeusExMachina Of course]], the young couple has no idea anything is wrong, but [[TvTropesWillEnhanceYourLife tropers will know]] right away there's something not right with this newcomer. She's a CreepyChild, who looks like she strolled straight out of the UncannyValley. It's not long before things [[ItGotWorse start going wrong]] around her. [[EvilDetectingDog Pets start acting up]]. Things go missing. There are [[PyroManiac fires]]. Injuries. [[OwlBeDamned Nocturnal birds of prey]] show up ''everywhere''.

Feminine pronouns are used because {{Evil Orphan}}s are most times little girls but evil little boys are hardly uncommon.

The EvilOrphan is the modern-day incarnation of [[TheFairFolk the changeling tale]]. It uses the tried-and-true horror of SubvertedInnocence and the DevilInPlainSight, as there is little that can compare to the fear and revulsion of discovering that [[TheFarmerAndTheViper one has been succoring evil incarnate in ones own home]].

Expect anything of the UngratefulBastard, but be particularly on the lookout for those that [[ChildrenAreInnocent play on her youth]], like the WoundedGazelleGambit. May cause FridgeHorror when the audience wonders [[SelfMadeOrphan just how she became an orphan]] in the first place. Incorporates any and every trope having to do with with {{Creepy Child}}ren. See also EnfantTerrible.

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!!Examples:

[[AC:{{Anime}}]]
* Johan from ''{{Anime/Monster}}'', of course. [[spoiler: And then there was that time his twin sister Anna poisoned a room full of people...]]

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* ''TheRing'': Samara Morgan, oh so very much.

** In fact [[spoiler: 33 years old but looks 9 so it may be a subversion]].

* ''TheOmen''. The boy Damien is an orphan substituted for the couple's real child, who died shortly after birth.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

* ''HarryPotter'': Lord Voldemort himself was raised in a Muggle orphanage, where he apparently spent his free time bullying the other children in a variety of cruel and magical ways. Harry, of course, is an [[AvertedTrope aversion]], as is [[spoiler:Teddy]] in the last book.

[[AC: LiveActionTV]]

* ''{{Supernatural}}'' has a young girl in the first season who not only cut the throats of her biological and adoptive families, but made it look like her adoptive father did it. Then she did it to people who owned a painting of her adoptive family.

[[AC: VideoGames]]

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* [[spoiler: Rosemary]] from AshitanoNadja [[UsedToBeaSweetKid didn't start]] [[HeartwarmingOrphan as this]], but she got in the role ''very'' quickly after [[spoiler: an HeroicBSOD caused by seeing that her old friend Nadja was the one living her formerly innocent dream.]]

* ''TheGoodSon''

As if they don't have enough to worry about, the couple's biological child is making up crazy stories about how the orphan is planning to [[AxCrazy kill them all]] in their sleep! [[NotNowKiddo They will]] [[CassandraTruth be ignored]]. Sometimes one or both of the parents figure it out [[RuleOfDrama at the very last minute]]. Sometimes [[AdultsAreUseless it falls to the children]] to stop her.

* During a questline in ''WorldofWarcraft'' [[spoiler: Alliance players encounter Hope Saldean, a friendly young lady who was adopted by the Saldean couple four years earlier. While Hope seemingly spends much of the Westfall-storyline feeding the homeless, a shadowy figure is gathering the old members of the Defias Brotherhood. In the end Hope reveals herself to be Vanessa Vancleef, the daughter of Defias leader Edwin Vancleef, who has been secretly plotting against the Kingdom of Stormwind the whole time.]]

* ''HarryPotter'': Lord Voldemort himself was raised in a Muggle orphanage, where he apparently spent his free time bullying the other children in a variety of cruel and magical ways. Harry, of course, is an [[AvertedTrope aversion]], as is [[spoiler:Teddy]] in the last book.

* During a questline in ''WorldofWarcraft'' [[spoiler: alliance players encounter Hope Saldean, a friendly young lady who was adopted by the Saldean couple four years earlier. While Hope seemingly spends much of the Westfall-storyline feeding the homeless, a shadowy figure is gathering the old members of the Defias Brotherhood. In the end Hope reveals herself to be Vanessa Vancleef, the daughter of Defias leader Edwin Vancleef, who has been secretly plotting against the Kingdom of Stormwind the whole time.]]

* Whole bunch of them in ''RuleOfRose'', though all have their own FreudianExcuse, and you will end up feeling more pity than loathing for them by the end. [[spoiler:Wendy tops all the others by making the others kill Jennifer's dog, and then setting a serial killer loose on the orphanage. [[LoveMakesYouEvil All because Jennifer didn't love her alone.]]]]

* Johan from ''{{Monster}}'', of course. [[spoiler: And then there was that time his twin sister Anna poisoned a room full of people...]]

* ''Film/{{Orphan}}'': Yeah. [[CharacterTitle That one]].

* During a questline in ''WorldofWarcraft'' [[spoiler: alliance players encounter Hope Saldean, a friendly young lady who was adopted by the Saldean couple four years earlier. While Hope seemingly spends much of the Westfall-storyline feeding the homeless, a shadowy figure is gathering the old members of the Defias Brotherhood. In the end Hope reveals herself to be Vanessa Vancleef, the daughter of Defias leader Edwin Vancleef, who has been secretly plotting against the Kingdom of Stormwind the whole time.]]

* ''HarryPotter'': Tom Marvolo Riddle, aka [[spoiler:Lord Voldemort]].

* The novel ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}'' features [[KnifeNut Mr. Teatime]], who was taken in by the Assassin's Guild after both his parents died suddenly when he was very young. In the words of guildmaster Lord Downey, "[[FridgeHorror In hindsight]], [[SelfMadeOrphan perhaps we should have looked into that a bit more.]]"

* [[spoiler: Rosemary]] from AshitanoNadja [[UsedToBeaSweetKid didn't start]] [[HeartwarmingOrphan as this]], but she got in the role ''very'' quickly after [[spoiler: an HeroicBSOD vaused by seeing that her old friend Nadja was the one living her formerly innocent dream.]]

As if they don't have enough to worry about, the couple's biological child is making up crazy stories about how the orphan is planning to [[AxCrazy kill them all]] in their sleep! [[NotNowKiddo They will be ignored]]. Sometimes one or both of the parents figure it out [[RuleOfDrama at the very last minute]]. Sometimes [[AdultsAreUseless it falls to the children]] to stop her.

* The title character of ''Mikey''.

* Johan from ''{{Monster}}'', of course. [[spoiler: And then there was that time his twin sister poisoned a room full of people...]]

* ''TheRing'': Samara, oh so very much.

* ''HarryPotter'': Tom Riddle, aka [[spoiler:Lord Voldemort]].

* The novel ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}'' features [[KnifeNut Mr. Teatime]], who was taken in by the Assassin's Guild after both his parents died suddenly when he was very young. In the words of guildmaster Lord Downey, "[[FridgeHorror In hindsight]], [[SelfMadeOrphan perhaps we should have looked into that a bit more.]"

* The novel ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}'' features Mr. Teatime, who was taken in by the Assassin's Guild after both his parents died suddenly when he was very young. In the words of guildmaster Lord Downey, "In hindsight, perhaps we should have looked into that a bit more."

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