History Main / OneBadMother

* M.U.T.H.E.R., the crazy ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound}}''-style master-computer in the bunker from ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers''.

* The Mother of Flies in ''Literature/{{Ferals}}'', real name Cynthia Davenport.

* ''Series/LukeCage'': "Mama" Mabel was TheQueenpin of Harlem back in the day, and she was [[AbusiveParents several]] [[EvilMatriarch different]] [[{{Fingore}} flavors]] of ''[[TheDreaded scary.]]''

* The villains of Creator/DarioArgento's ''Film/Suspiria1977'' and ''Film/{{Inferno}}'' are known, respectively, as the Mother of Sighs and the Mother of Darkness. The villain of the third film, ''Film/MotherOfTears'', should be obvious.

* Mother Miranda of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilVillage'' is [[spoiler: the [[BigBad true mastermind]] behind the events of the game]]. Bonus points for [[spoiler: actually being Evelyn's mother]].

* ''Franchise/OnePiece'' has the aptly named "Big Mom" (real name: Charlotte Linlin), one of the top 4 pirates in the world who are known as "Yonkou" (translates to "Four Emperors"). She's an insane, ruthless and terrifying glutton who [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen rules her very own nation]]. She also has [[ExplosiveBreeder 85 children]].

Have you noticed that the word "mother" is a common villain name? Maybe it's [[FluffyTheTerrible ironic]], maybe it's symbolic, maybe it overlaps with the HiveQueen, but writers seem to think [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast it's a scary word]]. And sometimes, of course, it's a CurseCutShort that's very effective at GettingCrapPastTheRadar.

* Mother Gothel from ''Disney/{{Tangled}}'', who abducted Rapunzel as a baby to maintain access to her immortality-granting hair and emotionally manipulates her.

* Ma Lilywhite in ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}''. Her son Medium Dave is a hardened criminal, and her anger remains his worst nightmare years after her death. Based on Mr. Brown the lockpick's testimony, this is entirely warranted: he considers her scarier than [[PsychoForHire Mr. Teatime.]]
** It's also invoked by Nanny Ogg in ''Discworld/LordsAndLadies''. Specifically, "there's a reason they call Nature a Mother." At the time she's also comparing Granny to said Mother, while musing that Granny is actually all three of TheHecateSisters at once.

* Shelly Winters played the villain "Ma Parker" on the 1960s ''Series/{{Batman}}'' series.

* Ma Beagle from ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales''.

* The Un-Mother on ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}},'' though only in the dub. In Japanese, she's the mythological creature ''mu onna'', which translates into "nothing woman." While the ''mu onna'' '''is''' the ghost of a mother, the word is not in her title.

* ''Series/PushingDaisies'' has the Norwegians' high-tech van called Mother. They're not villainous per se, but are definitely antagonistic.

* In the ''Series/{{Lost}}'' episode "Across the Sea," we meet the island's previous protector, known only as Mother. As the writers acknowledge, her bad parenting 2,000 years before the events of the series has led to pretty much everything bad that ever happened on the island.
* The Mother of All in ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' is the progenitor of all monster races, and resides in Purgatory, the afterlife where all monster souls go to prey on each other for eternity. She eventually returns to Earth to protect her young by making everyone on the planet one of her children. To make the point even more obvious to Sam and Dean, [[spoiler:she transforms into their deceased mother Mary Winchester to mess with them]].

** In the episode [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E2TheShakespeareCode "The Shakespeare Code,"]] there were three evil alien "witches" called Carrionites, of which the older two were both called "Mother" by the third.
** There was also the Family of Blood, of which one member was called Mother of Mine by her two children.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': The Mother Bezoar in "Bad Eggs."
* ''OnceUponATime'', being the great adapter of Disney, has its own version of Mother Gothel. In this case, "Mother" turns out to be the inherited title for the leader of her grove of tree nymphs. Her own mother, Mother Flora, was much nicer.

* Music/{{Danzig}}'s "Mother," a sarcastic TakeThat about the [[MoralGuardians PMRC]].
* Music/PinkFloyd also did a song about "Mother." Shudder.

[[folder:Theater]]

* ''Franchise/OnePiece'' has the aptly named "Big Mom" (real name: Charlotte Linlin), one of the top 4 pirates in the world who are known as "Yonkou" (translates to "Four Emperors"). She's an insane, ruthless and terrifying glutton who [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen rules her very own nation]]. She also has over [[ExplosiveBreeder 80 children]].

* The villains of Dario Argento's ''Film/{{Suspiria}}'' and ''Film/{{Inferno}}'' are known, respectively, as the Mother of Sighs and the Mother of Darkness. The villain of the third film, ''Film/MotherOfTears'', should be obvious.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' gives us Raven Branwen, Yang Xiao Long's MissingMom. Not only is she a SocialDarwinist, but she's also TheDreaded as the head of BanditTribe.

* ''Manga/MagiLabyrinthOfMagic'' has Ren Gyokuen, the mother of Ren Hakuryuu and Ren Hakuei. She is also [[spoiler: TheUsurper of the Kou Empire and third Emperor, and a member of [[NebulousEvilOrganization Al-Sarmen]], and quite the EvilMatriarch]].
** There is also the leader of that children pirate crew, Aum Madaura, who kidnapped children and used her magic tool "Holy Mother Halo Fan" to make them think she's their mother. In reality she did not care about the children and only saw them as tools for taking over the world by becoming the "mother" of the world's future leaders.
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'''s [[AbusivePrecursors abusive precursor]] Kaguya Otsutsuki is probably one of the finest bad mothers around, because she wants to kill her children to get back the power she gave them when they were born.

* ''ComicBook/{{Kamandi}}: [[DarkerAndEdgier At Earth's End]]'' featured Mother Machine ([[SeriesContinuityError or Machine Mother]]), a supercomputer who kept Kamandi alive and sent him to kill Franchise/{{Superman}}. It's eventually revealed that her program is an [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity insane]] copy of Kamandi's biological mother's mind... [[PlotHole which doesn't make sense]], since the computer apparently caused the apocalypse decades before his birth, but whatever.

* Animal Mother from ''Film/FullMetalJacket'' is (presumably) an example of the CurseCutShort version.
* Averted in ''Film/{{Sneakers}}''--Creator/DanAykroyd's character was named "Mother," but was a good guy.
** But played straight in the Dan Aykroyd comedy ''Film/DoctorDetroit'', where the ruthless drug dealer was called "Mom."

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'': In the Dreamland season, Sterling's [[EvilMatriarch wicked mother]] Malory plays a crime boss actually named "Mother" in Sterling's 1940s dream.