History Main / NoSongForTheWicked

* The ''Theatre/TouMyu'' series includes virtually every character in some singing role-- the Touken Danshi of course get primary singing duty, but the various historical figures are allowed to sing covers of some songs during the special "festival" performances. The overall villains, the Time Retrograde Forces, never get to sing, although none ever get to speak either.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheJungleBook2016'', [[BigBad Shere Khan]] is the only one of the three antagonists (the other two being [[TheDon King Louie]] and [[WildCard Kaa]]) who hasn't his own song (the other two have "I Wanna Be Like You" and "Trust in Me" in respective order) as a way to fortify his KnightOfCerebus status.

* Prudy, Penny's mother in ''Film/{{Hairspray}}'', doesn't get to sing, although Creator/AllisonJanney has a musical background.
* In the [[Film/TheJungleBook2016 2016 remake]] of Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{The Jungle Book|1967}}'', [[BigBad Shere Khan]] is the only one of the three antagonists (the other two being [[TheDon King Louie]] and [[WildCard Kaa]]) who hasn't his own song (the other two have "I Wanna Be Like You" and "Trust in Me" in respective order) as a way to fortify his KnightOfCerebus status.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing2019'' came rather close to cutting "Be Prepared" outright (early promotional materials rather noticeably omit it when listing the songs), and even in the final version, it's drastically cut down from the original.

* ''Film/SinginInTheRain'': Lina Lamont has no singing number, not counting the few lines of "Would You" she can be heard singing as Kathy overdubs her since her voice is really awful. This is averted in the ScreenToStageAdaptation, which gives her a comic song, "What's Wrong with Me?"
* In the film version of ''Theatre/{{Oliver}}'', Bill Sykes never sings, although other people sing about him. In the stage version, instead, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bzBrwdY-GA he does]].
* In the classic 1939 film ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', the Wicked Witch of the West doesn't get to sing. It's worth noting, however, that her counterparts in ''Theatre/TheWiz'' and ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}'' do have songs.
** Creator/AndrewLloydWebber wrote some new songs for the stage version of ''Wizard'', including a song for the Witch called "Red Shoes Blues". The song is better than the title suggests and it basically opens the second act.
* Inverted in ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'' -- It was Creator/JimHenson's idea to have a singing villain, and from there the filmmakers hired [[Music/DavidBowie a performer]] who not only filled the role but also wrote all the songs. Jareth gets ''three'' on-screen musical numbers, and the only other characters who sing are a menacing WackyWaysideTribe who really aren’t that mean spirited, just unaware that limbs aren’t reattach-able like theirs are.

* In the [[Film/TheJungleBook2016 2016 remake]] of Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{The Jungle Book|1967}}'', [[BigBad Shere Khan]] is the only one of the three antagonists (the other two being [[TheDon King Louie]] and [[WildCard Kaa]]) who hasn't his own song (the other two have "I Wanna Be Like You" and "Trust in Me" in respective order) as a way to fortify his KnightOfCerebus status.
* ''Film/Aladdin2019'' is an example, as while Jafar did have a short song in the original, he doesn't sing in the remake.
* In ''Film/TheMuppetChristmasCarol'', unlike in most other musical adaptations of ''Literature/AChristmasCarol,'' Scrooge never sings before his encounters with the three Ghosts of Christmas. Other characters sing about him and to him instead. The first time he sings is during the Christmas Past sequence, when he sings along with [[TheOneThatGotAway Belle's]] parting words in the song "When Love Is Gone": the moment that marks the beginning of his HeelFaceTurn. Only on Christmas morning when his reform is complete does he sing a full solo, "Thankful Heart."

* Downplayed in ''Film/EarthGirlsAreEasy'' -- Ted, Valerie's unfaithful fiance, doesn't get a song, but neither do any of the other male characters; singing wouldn't fit Woody's zoned-out personality, and the alien trio LearntEnglishFromWatchingTelevision and hardly speak as is. (The unproduced JukeboxMusical stage adaptation would have given Ted two {{Villain Love Song}}s: Olivia Newton-John's "Physical" and Richard Marx's "Should've Known Better".)

* There are many [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer fans of Buffy]] who see the appeal of both the MusicalEpisode "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E7OnceMoreWithFeeling Once More, with Feeling]]", and the villainous activities of [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain the Trio of Warren, Andrew and Jonathan]]. Such fans would undoubtedly have loved for the episode to have a VillainSong by the Trio. The writers surely could have come up with something good, and of course, the actors were all guest stars who were probably completely available for an episode that season. No doubt, though, it would have been too difficult and involved sacrificing too much of the screen time used for other stuff, to rewrite the episode in such a way that it included the Trio. But the magical effect that caused everyone to burst into song was operating throughout Sunnydale, so of course, there must have been some such song that happened off-screen, which was not recorded by the TV show -- but that's exactly the kind of thing FanFiction is for...

* The [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen]] from ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'' doesn't have a VillainSong despite being the first villain of the DisneyAnimatedCanon. In fact, the absence of a song highlights how cold and heartless she is in contrast to the other characters, even as a hammy WickedWitch.

* The [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen]] from ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs''.
* Despite singing a single line while playing the piano, the Stepmother in ''WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}'' has no VillainSong, which makes her even scarier. One of the stepsisters begins "Sing, Sweet Nightingale" while the other plays the flute, but [[DreadfulMusician mercifully]] our focus shifts to Cinderella's rendition.

* In ''Theatre/TheBookOfMormon'', the General doesn't get a VillainSong, and only gets to sing after he converts.

But there are also villains that don't have a song. While TheHero and his or her companions have their own musical numbers, the villain doesn't sing a single note. This choice can be made for various reasons: to show that the villain is a SeriousBusiness individual, likely to be [[HateSink hated for their wickedness]], to highlight his or her scary nature, or maybe because the villain has [[RealLifeWritesThePlot a bad voice]]. It could also have happened that the villain was originally meant to have a song, but for various reasons, it ended up being [[CutSong cut]].

* Exaggerated in ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}''. Shan Yu and his army of Huns don't just lack a song, they stop the musical portion of the film in its tracks. Up until about the halfway point of the film, Mulan functions as a typical Disney Musical. Starting with the introductory "Honor to Us All" (wherein the entirety of Mulan's village comes together to give musical exposition on Mulan's expected place in society as a daughter, a woman, and eventually a bride and mother) and continuing with the [[IWantSong mournful, introspective]] "Reflections" and the fiery, upbeat "I'll Make a Man Out of You", the film delivers on its promised musical numbers. The Huns appear between these sets as ominous figures, clearly the villains of the film but not committing much on-screen villainy beyond skulking in the dark and sending threatening messages to the Emperor. (The implications of their actions are that the Huns are murdering and ravaging their way across China, but none of the outright bloodshed is shown directly to viewers. It's carefully concealed just outside the view of the camera, or committed just after a scene cuts away.) It's only at the end of the upbeat and irreverent "Girl Worth Fighting For" (sung by the soldiers marching to war, cheerfully fantasizing about the beautiful women who make the fighting all worthwhile) that the true devastation of the Huns is made apparent, with the MoodWhiplash literally cutting off the song. In the space of a second, the film goes from a marching chorus of joyful soldiers and Mulan's comrades preparing to engage in a playful snowball fight to the sight of a burned-out village, flames still flickering in the gutted ruins of the town. The Huns have massacred every civilian in the village and killed the soldiers sent to protect it. From that moment on there are no more musical numbers, no more bursting into song -- the Huns are too terrible for that, too evil and cruel to exist in the same universe as random musicals. Not even at his moment of apparent triumph over the Emperor of China does Shan Yu get a song to gloat, and not even in their final victory over the Huns do Mulan and her companions get a song to praise their heroics.

* Shere Khan from ''WesternAnimation/TheJungleBook1967'', who actually did not sing at all except for the final lyrics of "That's What Friends Are For." He was originally going to have his own VillainSong, however, he does his very best to make his one singing line count, though, ending it on a bone-rattling bass note (performed by Bill Lee of The Mellomen)

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'' doesn't have a single straight example of VillainSong, despite numerous opportunities and near-misses. "Let It Go" is a NotEvilJustMisunderstood WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom song for Elsa, and [[spoiler: [[EvilAllAlong Prince Hans]]'s part of "Love is an Open Door" is a cleverly-disguised VillainLoveSong]], but neither the evil Duke of Wesselton nor [[spoiler: post-[[TheReveal Reveal]] Hans]] actually sing anything during their time on-screen. "Let It Go" ''was'' going to be the VillainSong (while Elsa was still the villain of the story), but while it was being written the writers realized that it was too empowering to work as one; and also realized Elsa herself hadn't done anything wrong.

But there are also villains that don't have a song. While TheHero and his or her companions have their own musical numbers, the villain doesn't sing a single note. This choice can be made for various reasons: to show that the villain is a SeriousBusiness individual, to highlight his or her scary nature, or maybe because the villain has [[RealLifeWritesThePlot a bad voice]]. It could also have happened that the villain was originally meant to have a song, but for various reasons, it ended up being [[CutSong cut]].

* Averted and played straight in the ''Series/OnceUponATime'' MusicalEpisode [[Recap/OnceUponATimeS6E20TheSongInYourHeart "The Song in Your Heart"]]; whilst Regina the Evil Queen and Zelena the Wicked Witch of the West both have showstopping numbers, Rumplestiltskin prepares to sing, with his usual {{Leitmotif}} swelling in the background... before stating he'd rather poke his eyes out with a rusty fork. "Do you think the Dark One sings?"

* PlayedStraight in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls1'' as Sunset Shimmer doesn't sing a note. [[spoiler:With her HeelFaceTurn at the end of the movie, she does get plenty of solos in the sequels]].
* PlayedWith in ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie2TheSecondPart''. There is a villain song from Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi, "[[MostDefinitelyNotAVillain Not Evil]]", [[spoiler: but then it's revealed she was GoodAllAlong and the song was in complete sincerity. The ''real'' BigBad, Rex Dangervest, doesn't get a musical number.]]

* Averted and played straight in the ''Series/OnceUponATime'' MusicalEpisode [[Recap/OnceUponATimeS6E20TheSongInYourHeart The Song in Your Heart]]; whilst Regina the Evil Queen and Zelena the Wicked Witch of the West both have showstopping numbers, Rumplestiltskin prepares to sing, with his usual {{Leitmotif}} swelling in the background... before stating he'd rather poke his eyes out with a rusty fork. "Do you think the Dark One sings?"

* Averted and played straight in the Series/OnceUponATime MusicalEpisode [[Recap/OnceUponATimeS6E20TheSongInYourHeart The Song in Your Heart]]; whilst Regina and Zelena have showstopping numbers, Rumplestiltskin prepares to sing... before stating he'd rather poke his eyes out with a rusty fork.

* Averted and played straight in the Series/OnceUponATime MusicalEpisode [[Recap/OnceUponATimeS6E20TheSongInYourHeart|The Song in Your Heart]]; whilst Regina and Zelena have showstopping numbers, Rumplestiltskin prepares to sing... before stating he'd rather poke his eyes out with a rusty fork.

* ''Film/MoulinRogue'' has a {{Downplayed}} version. The villainous Duke never gets a song to himself, with the closest thing he has being his role in "Like a Virgin", which is mostly sung by Harold Zidler, and then in the last third becomes a duet between the two of them. Additionally, he gets a few lines during "The Pitch". However, considering the vast majority of solos in this film are given to Christian, Satine, and Zidler, the Duke still has more solo singing than most other characters. In the Broadway adaptation, he would go on to have a much larger singing role.

* ''Film/MoulineRogue'' has a {{Downplayed}} version. The villainous Duke never gets a song to himself, with the closest thing he has being his role in "Like a Virgin", which is mostly sung by Harold Zidler, and then in the last third becomes a duet between the two of them. Additionally, he gets a few lines during "The Pitch". However, considering the vast majority of solos in this film are given to Christian, Satine, and Zidler, the Duke still has more solo singing than most other characters. In the Broadway adaptation, he would go on to have a much larger singing role.