History Monster / TopCowProductions

'''Lara Croft:''' A shame those poor souls you tortured to death must pay the prize for your immortality. The talisman curses them, doesn't it? Makes them eternal prisoners of this castle?\\

** Issues #21-23 & #29-30: [[AristocratsAreEvil Lord Vymes]] is a being of {{antimatter}} who is rumored to be an Asura, an evil lower god. Starting of as a stream of raw shapeless hunger, Vymes clawed his way to Earth and took the form of a human that [[ToServeMan he first devoured]]. Rising to nobility in human society, Vymes devoured and murdered countless people in the past and decorated his castle with their bones. After Lara Croft refused to have any deals with him, Vymes tried to kill her and captured her lover Tsang. Buying her Croft Manor, Vymes tried to trick her into finding him the Waters of Death and Life, threatening to eat Tsang, whom he imprisoned in his own flesh, while fully intending on killing and devouring them both anyway as soon as Lara gave him what he wanted.

%%'''Note 1: Due to the controversial nature of this trope, any changes (additions, removals, edits) should be discussed [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16706336400A42573900 here]] or [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16738556630A78599000 here]].'''

%%'''Note 2: A CompleteMonster is an individual character, not a collective. Therefore a faction cannot be listed as one. A faction can attract Complete Monsters and can have them among its members, but cannot be one in and of itself.'''

-->--''ComicBook/TombRaider: [[ComicBook/TombRaiderTheSeries The Series]]'', issue #44--"Tower of Souls, Part 2"

[[folder:Pre-Rebirth]]

** Vol. 2 issues #1-6--"Resurrection" arc: [[TheDon Paulie Franchetti]] is the cousin of Frankie Franchetti, and desired to take over the latter's organization after his death. Arriving in town, Paulie has an innocent man [[CementShoes drowned in cement]], before he decided to try to force Jackie Estacado to become his personal hitman. When Jackie refused, Paulie, out of spite, [[BurnTheOrphanage blew up the orphanage]] where Jackie grew up, killing at least two dozen [[WouldHurtAChild children]] and the staff working there. {{Blackmail}}ing Jackie into accepting his offer, Paulie has him kill people for the slightest insults, and threatens to kill the husband and the infant child of Jackie's deceased childhood friend Jenny's sister, should he try to defy him.
** Vol. 3 issue #89--"High Noon" & ''[[ComicBook/WitchbladeDayOfTheOutlaw Witchblade: Day of the Outlaw]]'', written by Joshua Hale Fialkov: [[SerialRapist Ramon Estacado]] is an especially vile ancestor of Jackie Estacado from TheWildWest. Using his newfound powers and gang to RapePillageAndBurn entire towns, Ramon at one point has his former henchmen transformed into demons and left to die. Robbing a train full of gold and slaughtering all its guards, Ramon eventually managed to take back control of his gang by killing two of its members, and decided to continue the pillaging of the town they were in. Later arriving at another town, Ramon immediately has his men wreak havoc on the streets and drag women out to be raped.

** Issues #43-44--"Tower of Souls" arc: [[ImmortalityImmorality Ian O'Conner]] is a vile member of the O'Conner family. After his father died, he begins fighting for control of their castle, eventually [[SiblingMurder killing his priest brother]] on a holy altar. Discovering the existence of the Dolmen Emerald, the ancient artifact which gives the owner immortality in exchange for torture and pain, Ian starts [[ColdBloodedTorture torturing]] countless men, women and children to death. In the present, he uses his henchman to lure people into his castle as [[PoweredByAForsakenChild fuel]] for the Dolmen Emerald, and attempts to torture Lara Croft to death after capturing her.

* ''ComicBook/{{Witchblade}}'':
** Vol. 1:
*** Issues #40-41 & #48-49: [[{{Pyromaniac}} "The Pyromancer" or "the Firestarter"]] is a [[OurDemonsAreDifferent fire-obsessed demon]] who [[DemonicPossession possessed]] the innocent math teacher Ray Perkins. Using his body to set buildings on fire, the demons decided to find a large truck full of explosive material and drive it to the center of a populated city, where he would blow it up, destroying a large part of the city and killing two thousand people. Deciding to present the biggest [[HumanSacrifice sacrifice to his masters]], the Undying Ones, in exchange for power, the demon invaded the nuclear plant and planned to cause it to explode and destroy the city, killing millions of people. Returning after being defeated by Sara, the demon continues to kill people by [[ManOnFire burning them]] and tries to corrupt Sara Pezzini, the current wielder of Witchblade, so that he could use her as a weapon.
*** Issue #67: [[ImAHumanitarian Mother Mary]] is the cannibalistic [[CorruptCorporateExecutive head]] of a large meat production factory called "Mother's Meat", who [[SelfMadeOrphan ate her parents]] when she was young. Using her factory as a secret base, Mother Mary created a {{cult}} of cannibals and kidnapped dozens of people so they could carve them apart and eat them, with some of the victims being eaten alive. Transferring to Manhattan after she finds out that Witchblade is there, Mother Mary has her "sons" kill people and eat them, while she planned to devour Sara Pezzini to "get her power".
*** Issues #99-100: The nameless [[AGodAmI dark entity]] is an extremely powerful being who was able to escape from his dimension and [[DemonicPossession possess]] Jake [=McCarthy=], Sara's former partner. Getting used to his body, the entity tricked Sara into giving him a view of his "future kingdom" before he attacked her. Revealing his intention on turning the Earth into a [[HellOnEarth hellish nightmare]], where people would [[AndIMustScream burn alive for eternity]], before he consumes the whole population of the planet, the entity taunts Sara with the fact that he will [[ForcedToWatch force Jake to watch]] as he will kill her and enact his plans.
*** Issues #106-107--"Raising the Dead" two-parter: [[{{Sadist}} Madeline Desormeaux]] has a sick fascination for [[ColdBloodedTorture torturing and dismembering]] her slaves, then putting them back together in [[BodyHorror grotesque ways]] where they suffered until death. After the escape of [[WouldHurtAChild a little boy]] whose eyes and [[MouthStitchedShut mouth]] she had stitched shut, Madeline ultimately died. However, even this would not keep her evil from infecting the land, cursing all of her former victims to wander in agony until the day her wicked soul is destroyed for good. When Danielle Baptiste shows up to put the slaves' souls to rest, Madeline gleefully attempts to torture her due to her fraternization with the "filth" of her former slaves.
** ''[[ComicBook/MedievalSpawnWitchblade Medieval Spawn/Witchblade]]'', written by Creator/GarthEnnis: [[BigBad Lord Cardinale]] is a medieval wielder of "ComicBook/TheDarkness", and definitely the vilest. Using his power to take over a large chunk of territory, Cardinale rules like an EvilOverlord. After Matthew Royale told him about the power of Elven artifacts, Cardinale eagerly invaded the Elven homeland of Faerie, massacring thousands of Elves and destroying their homes. When the current wielder of Witchblade and ComicBook/{{Spawn}} were close to defeating him, he decided to power himself up by absorbing all Darkness essence from--in effect killing--all his servants, including his lover.
** ''[[ComicBook/WitchbladeBloodOath Blood Oath]]'', written by R.J.M. Lofficier: [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen Mauve]] is a high-ranking demon who desired to conquer the Outer Circles of Hell. After being summoned by UsefulNotes/GillesDeRais, the lover of UsefulNotes/JoanOfArc, Mauve [[DealWithTheDevil made a pact]] with him, saving Joan from being burned alive in exchange for Gilles becoming the host for her servant demons. Later on, Mauve has Gilles sacrifice hundreds of [[WouldHurtAChild infants]] to her by torturing, killing, and eating them at her altar. When Gilles was hanged for these crimes, Mauve kept him alive and has him commit various atrocities across history. When Sara Pezzini, the wielder of Witchblade in modern times, offered her services to her, Mauve threw Gilles aside and was ready to fully manifest on Earth and vaporize three quarters of the Earth's atmosphere.

[[folder:Post-Rebirth]]
* ''[[ComicBook/Cyberforce2012 Cyberforce]]'' Vol. 4, ''[[ComicBook/AphroditeIX Aphrodite IX]]'', & ''[[ComicBook/IXthGeneration IXth Generation]]'': [[CorruptCorporateExecutive The Chairwoman]], real name Francesca Taylor, managed to dispose of her husband, head of the Cyber Data Corporation, by stringing along her daughter, Carin "Velocity" Taylor, into finding her true father, Stryker, so that he may attack and kill him. Taking control of her husband's company after his assassination, Francesca [[ManipulativeBitch manipulates]] Stryker and his team into uploading nuclear launch codes in a Russian military base, resulting in the destruction of China and Russia and causing billions of deaths, allowing her to TakeOverTheWorld. With the Aphrodite program, Francesca has dozens of women kidnapped and [[BreedingSlave forcibly impregnated]] to birth androids, after which [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness they are disposed of]]. Using Aphrodite IX as her personal soldier and assassin, Francesca later has Velocity help her "cleanse" the Earth by [[KillAllHumans killing all surviving humans]] of a planetary catastrophe. In the far future, Francesca instigates a war between cyborgs and animal-human hybrids to devastate both species, solely to weed out those who would challenge her rule. Tricking Velocity into manipulating the IX androids into going to war with each other, Francesca takes the opportunity to trick the wielders of the ComicBook/{{Witchblade}}, [[ComicBook/TheDarkness the Darkness]], and Angelus to come to her, using their powers to resurrect herself before personally killing Velocity, after the deaths of nearly all of her IX androids, intending to rule over the remnants of the world as a sole "[[AGodAmI God]]", while openly planning to possess Aphrodite's body.
* ''ComicBook/{{Artifacts}}'' issue #33--"The Teacher and the Preacher": [[WouldHurtAChild Matthew Strow]] is a sadistic SerialKiller who practiced [[BlackMagic dark arts]]. Posing as a piano teacher, Matthew kidnapped 51 children and killed them, [[AndIMustScream trapping their souls in his piano]], where he would put them through constant agony by forcing his next victim to play it. [[LovesTheSoundOfScreaming Enjoying the sounds of their screams]], Matthew planned to kill his latest victim after she would create a "perfect music" from the screams of his captured souls.

[[folder:Non-Canon (includes Crossovers)]]

* ''ComicBook/{{Witchblade}}'', by release date:
** ''[[ComicBook/WitchbladeDestinysChild Destiny's Child]]'', written by Christina Z.: In this AlternateContinuity, [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Kenneth Irons]] is an immortal businessman who is obsessed with the Witchblade. Hiring Ian Nottingham as his personal bodyguard after beating him in a fight, Irons tortured him to make him learn his place, then he has him kill people for defying him or to get the magic items that he needed. At some point, finding out the identity of the future wielder of Witchblade, Sara Pezzini, who was [[WouldHurtAChild a child]] at the time, Irons has her kidnapped, tortured, set her on a path to meet him years later and stalked her through the years. Then, setting up his underground laboratory, Irons [[PlayingWithSyringes experiments]] on several innocent people, with one of his victims being a child. Capturing Sara, Irons desires to transform her into his puppet goddess, who will destroy and create at his command, and use her to TakeOverTheWorld.
** ''[[ComicBook/LadyDeathMedievalWitchblade Lady Death/Medieval Witchblade]]'', written by Brian Augustyn & Brian Pulido: [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen Morrigan]] is a powerful [[EvilSorceress dark sorceress]] who took over the lands in the past. Turning her newfound kingdom into the dead wasteland, Queen terrorizes the population, and when she hears of the prophecy that [[TheChosenOne the "Son of Light"]], the one who could end her reign, was about to be born, she rounded up hundreds of pregnant women and women with [[WouldHurtAChild infants]] and tried to have them thrown into a fiery pit. After ComicBook/LadyDeath stopped that, Morrigan orders her knights to kill her, while she finds out the town where the supposed "Child of Light" would be born and [[RapePillageAndBurn burns it to the ground]], along with all men, women and children inside. When she finds out that the true "Child of Light" is her stepdaughter, she immediately tries to kill her, while attempting to spread her darkness across the world.
** ''ComicBook/{{Vampirella}}/Witchblade: [[ComicBook/VampirellaWitchbladeTheFeast The Feast]]'', written by Justin Gray: [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Rod Sterling]] is the unofficial head of the J. Holmes Modeling Agency, who discovered a MagicalCamera which allowed him to [[YourSoulIsMine steal the souls]] of innocent women to keep himself [[ImmortalityImmorality immortal and young]]. Having J. Holmes himself find and prepare the women for him by [[ModelScam promising them a model career]], Rod hires some people to track down the vampire for him and cut them apart, so he could make the "Eternal Slender" product from their meat and feed it to unsuspecting women, before he steals their souls and turn them into his undead slaves. Making a deal with other vampires, Rod feeds them his zombified models, so he could have them hunt down and harvested as well.
** ''[[ComicBook/WitchbladeRedSonja Witchblade/Red Sonja]]'', written by Doug Wagner: [[BigBad Ragniel]] is one of the {{Fallen Angel}}s who were cast down from Heavens after the rebellion against God. Being freed by a mad wizard, Ragniel immediately [[UngratefulBastard killed him]] and then, when ComicBook/RedSonja refused to be his concubine, he forced her to fight against her deceased father, whom he had resurrected. After being defeated and [[SealedEvilInACan sealed away]] by Red Sonja, Ragniel eventually frees himself, forms a cult and has them commit ritualistic murders by [[FlayingAlive skinning people alive]]. Tracking down the current wielder of the Witchblade, Ragniel zombified some of her fellow police officers and tries to force her to give up Witchblade, before he spitefully has her husband mortally wounded and declares his intention on kidnapping her infant daughter and having her breed the new race, with which he intends to take over Heaven and Earth. When Sara Pezzini picked on his trail, Ragniel painfully transformed all his followers into the mindless monsters and sends them to kill Sara.
** ''[[ComicBook/MedievalSpawnAndWitchblade Medieval Spawn and Witchblade]]'', written by Brian Haberlin & Brian Holguin: [[BigBad The Trinity]] is a being from another dimension who managed to find his way to Earth. Splitting itself into three forms of the Mother, the Daughter, and the Unholy Spirit, The Trinity used its "Daughter" form to seduce both King Valon and his friend Leith and then convinced Leith to kill Valon. Revealing its true form to Leith, leading to him [[DrivenToSuicide committing suicide]] and becoming Hellspawn, the Trinity began corrupting the lands, spreading the Blight and sending its monsters to attack and kill innocent people. Using its "Mother" form to kidnap the women of the tribe, which rebelled against her with newly arrived ComicBook/{{Spawn}}, it painfully killed them and tried to [[WouldHurtAChild kill a little girl]], who was the current wielder of Witchblade. Later trying to corrupt the wielder of Witchblade to its side, the Trinity attempted to consume the Earth by merging it with the Nightmare Realm.

%%'''Note 1: Due to the controversial nature of this trope, any changes (additions, removals, edits) should be discussed [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=6vic3f9h1cy5qivsenw8llok here]].'''

-->--''ComicBook/TombRaider: The Series'', #44, "Tower of Souls, part 2"

[[AC:Pre-Rebirth]]
[[folder:Examples]]
* ''Ascension'': [[BigBad Voivodul]] is an ancient, extremely powerful Dayak and the one behind the never-ending war between Dayaks and Mineans. Born among Dayaks, Voivodul was naturally ahead of everyone else in terms of power. [[PlayingWithSyringes Experimenting]] on thousands of people not important enough to get noticed missing, and creating various monsters, Voivodul was able to take over Dayaks and started a long bloody war with Mineans. After being imprisoned by both Dayaks and Mineans, Voivodul swore to get revenge by killing all of them. [[ManipulativeBastard Manipulating]] Dayaks into starting another war, Voivodul managed to free himself and was able to kill hundreds of Dayaks and Mineans before he was defeated. Managing to survive, Voivodul manifest himself later by using his undead army to kill nearly all Mineans.

** ''Codename: Strykeforce'': [[FromNobodyToNightmare Felix Abbott]], aka Death's Angel, the first enemy Strykeforce encountered as a team, is a former computer nerd who, after being humiliated in public, used stolen technology and data from Cyberdata to transform himself into a superpowered being. Managing to get a powerful submarine and his own private army, Death's Angel kidnapped various politicians from a big international meeting, in the process killing dozens of civilians and security guards, as well as Strykeforce member Icarus. When Strykeforce started tracking him down, he captured them and decided to [[ForcedToWatch force them to watch]] as he sent his missiles towards New York, intending to kill millions people there just to showcase the power of his submarine. A pathetic wannabe with a massive inferiority complex, Death's Angel nevertheless managed to prove himself as the worst enemy Strykeforce has ever encountered.

** Vol. 3 issue #89--"High Noon" & ''ComicBook/{{Witchblade}}: Day of the Outlaw'': [[SerialRapist Ramon Estacado]] is an especially vile ancestor of Jackie Estacado from TheWildWest. Using his newfound powers and gang to RapePillageAndBurn entire towns, Ramon at one point has his former henchmen transformed into demons and left to die. Robbing a train full of gold and slaughtering all its guards, Ramon eventually managed to take back control of his gang by killing two of its members, and decided to continue the pillaging of the town they were in. Later arriving at another town, Ramon immediately has his men wreak havoc on the streets and drag women out to be raped.
* ''Devil's Reign'': [[{{Mephistopheles}} Mephisto]] is as vile as ever. Discovering the existence of another universe, where he would have less opposition, he decided to come there and [[SoulEating devour the souls]] of every living being to make himself more powerful than ever. Arriving there, by tricking Silver Surfer into opening a portal, Mephisto begins [[TheCorrupter corrupting]] this world with various sins, killing and devouring the souls of thousands. Using natural disasters and cataclysms, Mephisto attempted to trick millions of people in to giving him their souls, pretending to be their savior. When his true form was revealed to the people, he simply ordered his army of demons to massacre everyone in sight.
* ''ComicBook/TombRaider: The Series'':

* ''ComicBook/TomJudgeTheRapture'': [[BigBad Mr. Black]], debuting in ''Inferno: Hellbound'', is a former government agent, who after discovering that all people go to Hell after death, decided to try and avoid that fate. [[ManipulativeBastard Manipulating]] many demons into deals, Black tries to get his hands on the ancient artifact the Rapture, which supposedly gives its owner nearly-infinite power over Hell. Eventually [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder backstabbing everyone]], Black decided to start the End of Days by releasing a [[DeadlyGas toxin]] in the city, killing hundreds of people, at which point Black would [[YourSoulIsMine collect their souls]], so that he would become "rich" in Hell.

** Main series:

*** Issues #99-100--"In the Darkness...Something Stirs" & "Gods and Monsters": The nameless [[AGodAmI dark entity]] is an extremely powerful being who was able to escape from his dimension and [[DemonicPossession possess]] Jake [=McCarthy=], Sara's former partner. Getting used to his body, the entity tricked Sara into giving him a view of his "future kingdom" before he attacked her. Revealing his intention on turning the Earth into a [[HellOnEarth hellish nightmare]], where people would [[AndIMustScream burn alive for eternity]], before he consumes the whole population of the planet, the entity taunts Sara with the fact that he will [[ForcedToWatch force Jake to watch]] as he will kill her and enact his plans.

** Other works:
*** ''Medieval ComicBook/{{Spawn}}[=/=]Witchblade'' (1996, by Creator/GarthEnnis et al.): [[BigBad Lord Cardinale]] is a medieval wielder of "ComicBook/TheDarkness", and definitely the vilest. Using his power to take over a large chunk of territory, Cardinale rules like an EvilOverlord. After Matthew Royale told him about the power of Elven artifacts, Cardinale eagerly invaded the Elven homeland of Faerie, massacring thousands of Elves and destroying their homes. When the current wielder of Witchblade and Spawn were close to defeating him, he decided to power himself up by absorbing all Darkness essence from--in effect killing--all his servants, including his lover.
*** ''Blood Oath'' (2004, written by R.J.M. Lofficier): [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen Mauve]] is a high-ranking demon who desired to conquer the Outer Circles of Hell. After being summoned by UsefulNotes/GillesDeRais, the lover of UsefulNotes/JoanOfArc, Mauve [[DealWithTheDevil made a pact]] with him, saving Joan from being burned alive in exchange for Gilles becoming the host for her servant demons. Later on, Mauve has Gilles sacrifice hundreds of [[WouldHurtAChild infants]] to her by torturing, killing, and eating them at her altar. When Gilles was hanged for these crimes, Mauve kept him alive and has him commit various atrocities across history. When Sara Pezzini, the wielder of Witchblade in modern times, offered her services to her, Mauve threw Gilles aside and was ready to fully manifest on Earth and vaporize three quarters of the Earth's atmosphere.

[[AC:Post-Rebirth]]
* [[CorruptCorporateExecutive The Chairwoman]] [[labelnote:appearances]]''ComicBook/{{Cyberforce}}'' (2012), ''Aphrodite IX'', & ''[=IXth=] Generation''[[/labelnote]]: Real name Francesca Taylor, she managed to dispose of her husband, head of the Cyber Data Corporation, by stringing along her daughter, Carin "Velocity" Taylor, into finding her true father, Stryker, so that he may attack and kill him. Taking control of her husband's company after his assassination, Francesca [[ManipulativeBitch manipulates]] Stryker and his team into uploading nuclear launch codes in a Russian military base, resulting in the destruction of China and Russia and causing billions of deaths, allowing her to TakeOverTheWorld. With the Aphrodite program, Francesca has dozens of women kidnapped and [[BreedingSlave forcibly impregnated]] to birth androids, after which [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness they are disposed of]]. Using Aphrodite IX as her personal soldier and assassin, Francesca later has Velocity help her "cleanse" the Earth by [[KillAllHumans killing all surviving humans]] of a planetary catastrophe. In the far future, Francesca instigates a war between cyborgs and animal-human hybrids to devastate both species, solely to weed out those who would challenge her rule. Tricking Velocity into manipulating the IX androids into going to war with each other, Francesca takes the opportunity to trick the wielders of the ComicBook/{{Witchblade}}, [[ComicBook/TheDarkness the Darkness]], and Angelus to come to her, using their powers to resurrect herself before personally killing Velocity, after the deaths of nearly all of her IX androids, intending to rule over the remnants of the world as a sole "[[AGodAmI God]]", while openly planning to possess Aphrodite's body.
* ''Artifacts''' issue #33--"The Teacher and the Preacher": [[WouldHurtAChild Matthew Strow]] is a sadistic SerialKiller who practiced [[BlackMagic dark arts]]. Posing as a piano teacher, Matthew kidnapped 51 children and killed them, [[AndIMustScream trapping their souls in his piano]], where he would put them through constant agony by forcing his next victim to play it. [[LovesTheSoundOfScreaming Enjoying the sounds of their screams]], Matthew planned to kill his latest victim after she would create a "perfect music" from the screams of his captured souls.

[[AC:Non-Canon ({{Crossover}}s, etc.}]]
[[folder:Examples]]
* ''ComicBook/TheMagdalena[=/=]ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}: The Devil in Longhand'', written by Phil Hester: The [[OurDemonsAreDifferent unnamed demon]] is an ancient being who, after being captured and tortured by a group of monks, decided to make himself more powerful. Setting up a scheme to steal the innocence of [[WouldHurtAChild children]], he kidnapped a dozen of young [[RevengeByProxy descendants of the men who tortured him]]. Turning the children into statues, he made an armor for himself out of their [[YourSoulIsMine souls]] and desired to bind them to himself for eternity. When Magdalena and Daredevil tracked him down he used children's souls as a HumanShield and orders his enslaved children to kill them.

* ''Painkiller Jane vs. ComicBook/TheDarkness: Stripper'', by Creator/GarthEnnis et al.: "[[PredatoryProstitute The Stripper]]" is a sadistic SerialKiller who loves to kill her victims by [[FlayingAlive removing their skin while they are still alive]]. Having already managed to kill this way around a dozen of people, including [[SelfMadeOrphan her parents]], the Stripper finds herself a new victim in lowly conman Terrence J. Flannery. Initially saving him from a mob of angry ninjas, she drives him to her house. As Jackie Estacado and Jane managed to track down Terrence in her house, they find him alive with most of his skin removed. The Stripper attacks them, intending to skin them alive as well.
* ''ComicBook/{{Witchblade}}'', by appearance date:
** ''Destiny's Child'' (2000, written by Christina Z.): In this AlternateContinuity, [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Kenneth Irons]] is an immortal businessman who is obsessed with the Witchblade. Hiring Ian Nottingham as his personal bodyguard after beating him in a fight, Irons tortured him to make him learn his place, then he has him kill people for defying him or to get the magic items that he needed. At some point, finding out the identity of the future wielder of Witchblade, Sara Pezzini, who was [[WouldHurtAChild a child]] at the time, Irons has her kidnapped, tortured, set her on a path to meet him years later and stalked her through the years. Then, setting up his underground laboratory, Irons [[PlayingWithSyringes experiments]] on several innocent people, with one of his victims being a child. Capturing Sara, Irons desires to transform her into his puppet goddess, who will destroy and create at his command, and use her to TakeOverTheWorld.
** ''ComicBook/LadyDeath[=/=]Medieval Witchblade'' (2001, written by Brian Augustyn & Brian Pulido): [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen Morrigan]] is a powerful [[EvilSorceress dark sorceress]] who took over the lands in the past. Turning her newfound kingdom into the dead wasteland, Queen terrorizes the population, and when she hears of the prophecy that [[TheChosenOne the "Son of Light"]], the one who could end her reign, was about to be born, she rounded up hundreds of pregnant women and women with [[WouldHurtAChild infants]] and tried to have them thrown into a fiery pit. After Lady Death stopped that, Morrigan orders her knights to kill her, while she finds out the town where the supposed "Child of Light" would be born and [[RapePillageAndBurn burns it to the ground]], along with all men, women and children inside. When she finds out that the true "Child of Light" is her stepdaughter, she immediately tries to kill her, while attempting to spread her darkness across the world.
** ''ComicBook/{{Vampirella}}/Witchblade: The Feast'' (2005, written by Justin Gray): [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Rod Sterling]] is the unofficial head of the J. Holmes Modeling Agency, who discovered a MagicalCamera which allowed him to [[YourSoulIsMine steal the souls]] of innocent women to keep himself [[ImmortalityImmorality immortal and young]]. Having J. Holmes himself find and prepare the women for him by [[ModelScam promising them a model career]], Rod hires some people to track down the vampire for him and cut them apart, so he could make the "Eternal Slender" product from their meat and feed it to unsuspecting women, before he steals their souls and turn them into his undead slaves. Making a deal with other vampires, Rod feeds them his zombified models, so he could have them hunt down and harvested as well.
** ''Witchblade[=/=]ComicBook/RedSonja'' (2013, written by Doug Wagner): [[BigBad Ragniel]] is one of the {{Fallen Angel}}s who were cast down from Heavens after the rebellion against God. Being freed by a mad wizard, Ragniel immediately [[UngratefulBastard killed him]] and then, when Red Sonja refused to be his concubine, he forced her to fight against her deceased father, whom he had resurrected. After being defeated and [[SealedEvilInACan sealed away]] by Red Sonja, Ragniel eventually frees himself, forms a cult and has them commit ritualistic murders by [[FlayingAlive skinning people alive]]. Tracking down the current wielder of the Witchblade, Ragniel zombified some of her fellow police officers and tries to force her to give up Witchblade, before he spitefully has her husband mortally wounded and declares his intention on kidnapping her infant daughter and having her breed the new race, with which he intends to take over Heaven and Earth. When Sara Pezzini picked on his trail, Ragniel painfully transformed all his followers into the mindless monsters and sends them to kill Sara.
** ''Medieval ComicBook/{{Spawn}} and Witchblade'' (2018, written by Brian Haberlin & Brian Holguin): [[BigBad The Trinity]] is a being from another dimension who managed to find his way to Earth. Splitting itself into three forms of the Mother, the Daughter, and the Unholy Spirit, The Trinity used its "Daughter" form to seduce both King Valon and his friend Leith and then convinced Leith to kill Valon. Revealing its true form to Leith, leading to him [[DrivenToSuicide committing suicide]] and becoming Hellspawn, the Trinity began corrupting the lands, spreading the Blight and sending its monsters to attack and kill innocent people. Using its "Mother" form to kidnap the women of the tribe, which rebelled against her with newly arrived Spawn, it painfully killed them and tried to [[WouldHurtAChild kill a little girl]], who was the current wielder of Witchblade. Later trying to corrupt the wielder of Witchblade to its side, the Trinity attempted to consume the Earth by merging it with the Nightmare Realm.

* Examples from ''VideoGame/TheDarkness'' video game duology can be found [[Monster/VideoGamesAToF here]].

->'''Ian O'Conner''': The Dolmen Emerald. The Source of "Tir Na Nog." The Realm of Eternal Youth. As long as I possess the talisman, I shall never die.\\
'''Lara Croft''': A shame those poor souls you tortured to death must pay the prize for your immortality. The talisman curses them, doesn't it? Makes them eternal prisoners of this castle?\\
'''Ian''': The talisman draws power from torment and death. The greater the agony of the death, the more power the talisman absorbs...As long as I live, I don't believe I'll ever grow tired of this.

** "Resurrection" arc: [[TheDon Paulie Franchetti]] is the cousin of Frankie Franchetti, and desired to take over the latter's organization after his death. Arriving in town, Paulie has an innocent man [[CementShoes drowned in cement]], before he decided to try to force Jackie Estacado to become his personal hitman. When Jackie refused, Paulie, out of spite, [[BurnTheOrphanage blew up the orphanage]] where Jackie grew up, killing at least two dozen [[WouldHurtAChild children]] and the staff working there. {{Blackmail}}ing Jackie into accepting his offer, Paulie has him kill people for the slightest insults, and threatens to kill the husband and the infant child of Jackie's deceased childhood friend Jenny's sister, should he try to defy him.
** Issue #89 ("High Noon") & ''ComicBook/{{Witchblade}}: Day of the Outlaw'': [[SerialRapist Ramon Estacado]] is an especially vile ancestor of Jackie Estacado from TheWildWest. Using his newfound powers and gang to RapePillageAndBurn entire towns, Ramon at one point has his former henchmen transformed into demons and left to die. Robbing a train full of gold and slaughtering all its guards, Ramon eventually managed to take back control of his gang by killing two of its members, and decided to continue the pillaging of the town they were in. Later arriving at another town, Ramon immediately has his men wreak havoc on the streets and drag women out to be raped.

** "The Trap--Path of the Tiger" (#21-23) & "Strange Flesh" (#29-30) arcs: [[AristocratsAreEvil Lord Vymes]] is a being of AntiMatter who is rumored to be an Asura, an evil lower god. Starting of as a stream of raw shapeless hunger, Vymes clawed his way to Earth and took the form of a human that [[ToServeMan he first devoured]]. Rising to nobility in human society, Vymes devoured and murdered countless people in the past and decorated his castle with their bones. After Lara Croft refused to have any deals with him, Vymes tried to kill her and captured her lover Tsang. Buying her Croft Manor, Vymes tried to trick her into finding him the Waters of Death and Life, threatening to eat Tsang, whom he imprisoned in his own flesh, while fully intending on killing and devouring them both anyway as soon as Lara gave him what he wanted.
** "Tower of Souls" arc (#43-44): [[ImmortalityImmorality Ian O'Conner]] is a vile member of the O'Conner family. After his father died, he begins fighting for control of their castle, eventually [[SiblingMurder killing his priest brother]] on a holy altar. Discovering the existence of the Dolmen Emerald, the ancient artifact which gives the owner immortality in exchange for torture and pain, Ian starts [[ColdBloodedTorture torturing]] countless men, women and children to death. In the present, he uses his henchman to lure people into his castle as [[PoweredByAForsakenChild fuel]] for the Dolmen Emerald, and attempts to torture Lara Croft to death after capturing her.

*** Issues #99-100: The nameless [[AGodAmI dark entity]] is an extremely powerful being who was able to escape from his dimension and [[DemonicPossession possess]] Jake [=McCarthy=], Sara's former partner. Getting used to his body, the entity tricked Sara into giving him a view of his "future kingdom" before he attacked her. Revealing his intention on turning the Earth into a [[HellOnEarth hellish nightmare]], where people would [[AndIMustScream burn alive for eternity]], before he consumes the whole population of the planet, the entity taunts Sara with the fact that he will [[ForcedToWatch force Jake to watch]] as he will kill her and enact his plans.
*** Issues #106-107: [[{{Sadist}} Madeline Desormeaux]] has a sick fascination for [[ColdBloodedTorture torturing and dismembering]] her slaves, then putting them back together in [[BodyHorror grotesque ways]] where they suffered until death. After the escape of [[WouldHurtAChild a little boy]] whose eyes and [[MouthStitchedShut mouth]] she had stitched shut, Madeline ultimately died. However, even this would not keep her evil from infecting the land, cursing all of her former victims to wander in agony until the day her wicked soul is destroyed for good. When Danielle Baptiste shows up to put the slaves' souls to rest, Madeline gleefully attempts to torture her due to her fraternization with the "filth" of her former slaves.

* ''Artifacts''' Issue #33 ("The Teacher and the Preacher"): [[WouldHurtAChild Matthew Strow]] is a sadistic SerialKiller who practiced [[BlackMagic dark arts]]. Posing as a piano teacher, Matthew kidnapped 51 children and killed them, [[AndIMustScream trapping their souls in his piano]], where he would put them through constant agony by forcing his next victim to play it. [[LovesTheSoundOfScreaming Enjoying the sounds of their screams]], Matthew planned to kill his latest victim after she would create a "perfect music" from the screams of his captured souls.

...\\

Other Top Cow comics, i.e. those which don't use SharedUniverse characters, can be found [[Monster/ComicBooks here]].

* ''Tom Judge: The Rapture'': [[BigBad Mr. Black]], debuting in ''Inferno: Hellbound'', is a former government agent, who after discovering that all people go to Hell after death, decided to try and avoid that fate. [[ManipulativeBastard Manipulating]] many demons into deals, Black tries to get his hands on the ancient artifact the Rapture, which supposedly gives its owner nearly-infinite power over Hell. Eventually [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder backstabbing everyone]], Black decided to start the End of Days by releasing a [[DeadlyGas toxin]] in the city, killing hundreds of people, at which point Black would [[YourSoulIsMine collect their souls]], so that he would become "rich" in Hell.

* [[CorruptCorporateExecutive The Chairwoman]] [[labelnote:appearances]]''ComicBook/{{Cyberforce}}'' (2012), ''Aphrodite IX'', & ''[=IXth=] Generation''[[/labelnote]]: Real name Francesca Taylor, she managed to dispose of her husband, head of the Cyber Data Corporation, by stringing along her daughter, Carin "Velocity" Taylor, into finding her true father, Stryker, so that he may attack and kill him. Taking control of her husband's company after his assassination, Francesca [[ManipulativeBitch manipulates]] Stryker and his team into uploading nuclear launch codes in a Russian military base, resulting in the destruction of China and Russia and causing billions of deaths, allowing her to TakeOverTheWorld. With the Aphrodite program, Francesca has dozens of women kidnapped and [[BreedingSlave forcibly impregnated]] to birth androids, after which [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness they are disposed of]]. Using Aphrodite IX as her personal soldier and assassin, Francesca later has Velocity help her "cleanse" the Earth by [[KillAllHumans killing all surviving humans]] of a planetary catastrophe. In the far future, Francesca instigates a war between cyborgs and animal-human hybrids to devastate both species, solely to weed out those who would challenge her rule. Tricking Velocity into manipulating the IX androids into going to war with each other, Francesca takes the opportunity to trick the wielders of the ComicBook/{{Witchblade}}, [[ComicBook/TheDarkness the Darkness]], and Angelus to come to her, using their powers to resurrect herself before personally killing Velocity, after the deaths of nearly all of her IX androids, intending to rule over the remnants of the world as a sole "[[AGodAmI God]]", while openly planning to possess Aphrodite's body.

* ''Devil's Reign'': [[Characters/MarvelComicsDemons Mephisto]] is as vile as ever. Discovering the existence of another universe, where he would have less opposition, he decided to come there and [[SoulEating devour the souls]] of every living being to make himself more powerful than ever. Arriving there, by tricking Silver Surfer into opening a portal, Mephisto begins [[TheCorrupter corrupting]] this world with various sins, killing and devouring the souls of thousands. Using natural disasters and cataclysms, Mephisto attempted to trick millions of people in to giving him their souls, pretending to be their savior. When his true form was revealed to the people, he simply ordered his army of demons to massacre everyone in sight.

* ''Painkiller Jane vs. ComicBook/TheDarkness: Stripper'', by Creator/GarthEnnis et al.: "[[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname The Stripper]]" is a sadistic SerialKiller who loves to kill her victims by [[FlayingAlive removing their skin while they are still alive]]. Having already managed to kill this way around a dozen of people, including [[SelfMadeOrphan her parents]], the Stripper finds herself a new victim in lowly conman Terrence J. Flannery. Initially saving him from a mob of angry ninjas, she drives him to her house. As Jackie Estacado and Jane managed to track down Terrence in her house, they find him alive with most of his skin removed. The Stripper attacks them, intending to skin them alive as well.

** 2002-2003's "Resurrection" arc: [[TheDon Paulie Franchetti]] is the cousin of Frankie Franchetti, and desired to take over the latter's organization after his death. Arriving in town, Paulie has an innocent man [[CementShoes drowned in cement]], before he decided to try to force Jackie Estacado to become his personal hitman. When Jackie refused, Paulie, out of spite, [[BurnTheOrphanage blew up the orphanage]] where Jackie grew up, killing at least two dozen [[WouldHurtAChild children]] and the staff working there. {{Blackmail}}ing Jackie into accepting his offer, Paulie has him kill people for the slightest insults, and threatens to kill the husband and the infant child of Jackie's deceased childhood friend Jenny's sister, should he try to defy him.
** January 2011's "High Noon" & ''ComicBook/{{Witchblade}}: Day of the Outlaw'': [[SerialRapist Ramon Estacado]] is an especially vile ancestor of Jackie Estacado from TheWildWest. Using his newfound powers and gang to RapePillageAndBurn entire towns, Ramon at one point has his former henchmen transformed into demons and left to die. Robbing a train full of gold and slaughtering all its guards, Ramon eventually managed to take back control of his gang by killing two of its members, and decided to continue the pillaging of the town they were in. Later arriving at another town, Ramon immediately has his men wreak havoc on the streets and drag women out to be raped.

** "The Trap--Path of the Tiger" arc (issues 21-23) & "Strange Flesh" arc (issues 29-30): [[AristocratsAreEvil Lord Vymes]] is a being of AntiMatter who is rumored to be an Asura, an evil lower god. Starting of as a stream of raw shapeless hunger, Vymes clawed his way to Earth and took the form of a human that [[ToServeMan he first devoured]]. Rising to nobility in human society, Vymes devoured and murdered countless people in the past and decorated his castle with their bones. After Lara Croft refused to have any deals with him, Vymes tried to kill her and captured her lover Tsang. Buying her Croft Manor, Vymes tried to trick her into finding him the Waters of Death and Life, threatening to eat Tsang, whom he imprisoned in his own flesh, while fully intending on killing and devouring them both anyway as soon as Lara gave him what he wanted.
** "Tower of Souls" arc (issues 43-44): [[ImmortalityImmorality Ian O'Conner]] is a vile member of the O'Conner family. After his father died, he begins fighting for control of their castle, eventually [[SiblingMurder killing his priest brother]] on a holy altar. Discovering the existence of the Dolmen Emerald, the ancient artifact which gives the owner immortality in exchange for torture and pain, Ian starts [[ColdBloodedTorture torturing]] countless men, women and children to death. In the present, he uses his henchman to lure people into his castle as [[PoweredByAForsakenChild fuel]] for the Dolmen Emerald, and attempts to torture Lara Croft to death after capturing her.

* ''ComicBook/{{Witchblade}}'', by appearance date:
** ''Medieval ComicBook/{{Spawn}}[=/=]Witchblade'' (1996, by Creator/GarthEnnis et al.): [[BigBad Lord Cardinale]] is a medieval wielder of "ComicBook/TheDarkness", and definitely the vilest. Using his power to take over a large chunk of territory, Cardinale rules like an EvilOverlord. After Matthew Royale told him about the power of Elven artifacts, Cardinale eagerly invaded the Elven homeland of Faerie, massacring thousands of Elves and destroying their homes. When the current wielder of Witchblade and Spawn were close to defeating him, he decided to power himself up by absorbing all Darkness essence from--in effect killing--all his servants, including his lover.
** June & July 2000, June & August 2001 issues: [[{{Pyromaniac}} "The Pyromancer" or "the Firestarter"]] is a [[OurDemonsAreDifferent fire-obsessed demon]] who [[DemonicPossession possessed]] the innocent math teacher Ray Perkins. Using his body to set buildings on fire, the demons decided to find a large truck full of explosive material and drive it to the center of a populated city, where he would blow it up, destroying a large part of the city and killing two thousand people. Deciding to present the biggest [[HumanSacrifice sacrifice to his masters]], the Undying Ones, in exchange for power, the demon invaded the nuclear plant and planned to cause it to explode and destroy the city, killing millions of people. Returning after being defeated by Sara, the demon continues to kill people by [[ManOnFire burning them]] and tries to corrupt Sara Pezzini, the current wielder of Witchblade, so that he could use her as a weapon.
** August 2003 issue: [[ImAHumanitarian Mother Mary]] is the cannibalistic [[CorruptCorporateExecutive head]] of a large meat production factory called "Mother's Meat", who [[SelfMadeOrphan ate her parents]] when she was young. Using her factory as a secret base, Mother Mary created a {{cult}} of cannibals and kidnapped dozens of people so they could carve them apart and eat them, with some of the victims being eaten alive. Transferring to Manhattan after she finds out that Witchblade is there, Mother Mary has her "sons" kill people and eat them, while she planned to devour Sara Pezzini to "get her power".
** ''Blood Oath'' (2004, written by R.J.M. Lofficier): [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen Mauve]] is a high-ranking demon who desired to conquer the Outer Circles of Hell. After being summoned by UsefulNotes/GillesDeRais, the lover of UsefulNotes/JoanOfArc, Mauve [[DealWithTheDevil made a pact]] with him, saving Joan from being burned alive in exchange for Gilles becoming the host for her servant demons. Later on, Mauve has Gilles sacrifice hundreds of [[WouldHurtAChild infants]] to her by torturing, killing, and eating them at her altar. When Gilles was hanged for these crimes, Mauve kept him alive and has him commit various atrocities across history. When Sara Pezzini, the wielder of Witchblade in modern times, offered her services to her, Mauve threw Gilles aside and was ready to fully manifest on Earth and vaporize three quarters of the Earth's atmosphere.
** July & August 2006 issues: The nameless [[AGodAmI dark entity]] is an extremely powerful being who was able to escape from his dimension and [[DemonicPossession possess]] Jake [=McCarthy=], Sara's former partner. Getting used to his body, the entity tricked Sara into giving him a view of his "future kingdom" before he attacked her. Revealing his intention on turning the Earth into a [[HellOnEarth hellish nightmare]], where people would [[AndIMustScream burn alive for eternity]], before he consumes the whole population of the planet, the entity taunts Sara with the fact that he will [[ForcedToWatch force Jake to watch]] as he will kill her and enact his plans.
** 2007's 2-part "Raising the Dead" arc: [[{{Sadist}} Madeline Desormeaux]] has a sick fascination for [[ColdBloodedTorture torturing and dismembering]] her slaves, then putting them back together in [[BodyHorror grotesque ways]] where they suffered until death. After the escape of [[WouldHurtAChild a little boy]] whose eyes and [[MouthStitchedShut mouth]] she had stitched shut, Madeline ultimately died. However, even this would not keep her evil from infecting the land, cursing all of her former victims to wander in agony until the day her wicked soul is destroyed for good. When Danielle Baptiste shows up to put the slaves' souls to rest, Madeline gleefully attempts to torture her due to her fraternization with the "filth" of her former slaves.

* ''ComicBook/PainkillerJane vs. ComicBook/TheDarkness: Stripper'', by Creator/GarthEnnis et al.: "[[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname The Stripper]]" is a sadistic SerialKiller who loves to kill her victims by [[FlayingAlive removing their skin while they are still alive]]. Having already managed to kill this way around a dozen of people, including [[SelfMadeOrphan her parents]], the Stripper finds herself a new victim in lowly conman Terrence J. Flannery. Initially saving him from a mob of angry ninjas, she drives him to her house. As Jackie Estacado and Jane managed to track down Terrence in her house, they find him alive with most of his skin removed. The Stripper attacks them, intending to skin them alive as well.