History ObviouslyEvil / ComicBooks

* Subverted by Franchise/{{Batman}}, whose costume [[TerrorHero and persona]] [[DarkIsNotEvil are more akin to that of a traditional villain]], and his {{archenemy}} the [[MonsterClown jolly-looking]] [[ComicBook/TheJoker Joker]], who is colorful (although in purple and green) and often smiling (albeit in [[SlasherSmile a disturbing way]]). Then again, [[MonsterClown clowns aren't generally viewed as all that benevolent]]....

* One of the greatest of the Franchise/GreenLantern Corps was a man with reddish purple skin, a Snidely Whiplash-style mustache and a clear superiority complex named '''Sinestro'''. Go on and guess how his tenure ended.

* Comicbook/DoctorStrange's foes who fit this trope include Dormammu (covered in SpikesOfVillainy, with a skull-like head surrounded by flames) and Shuma-Gorath ({{Starfish Alien|s}} with a single staring red eye in the center of his tentacles). Satannish, Mephisto, Chthon, Sligguth, N'Gabthoth...
* John Byrne actually played with this nicely when he reintroduced the Toyman into the post-Crisis DCU. A Scotland Yard inspector tells Franchise/{{Superman}} how they've been tracking the murders of board members of a toy company after the axing of Winslow Schott, all of whom were killed by deadly toys of Schott's design. When a baffled Superman asks why Scotland Yard didn't just target Scott first, the embarrassed inspector admits that he and his team have been so used to cases where it's the ''least'' obvious person who's the killer that it took a while to realize that, for once, it actually was the most obvious choice.

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':

* The Demons from ''Comicbook/{{Spawn}}'' are hideous deformed beings with fangs, claws and horns. Even their human forms don't help; for example, the Violator takes the form of a MonsterClown when posing as a human. Averted however with [[LightIsNotGood God and the Angels]], as well as Spawn, who despite being a HumanoidAbomination with a disfigured face, black and red suit and downright creepy powers, is at worst a AntiHero.

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman '':

** Black Mask intentionally leans into the aesthetic with his skull mask. Fittingly, he’s the most brutal and vicious of Gotham’s crime bosses.

** Joker is a case of DependingOnTheArtist. Sometimes he looks like the kind of clown you might see at a circus. But often his depiction is more MonsterClown than friendly clown. Fittingly, it’s usually the versions of him that are less evil than his usual portrayal that look that way.

** Another Spidey villain, the Hobgoblin, is actually a bit more obviously evil-looking than his predecessor, the Green Goblin. His original appearances showed him almost always InTheHood with GlowingEyesOfDoom, and when his mask is shown, he looks like... well... a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin goblin]]. He also has the Goblin staple weapons of jack-o-lantern pumpkin bombs, bat-shaped throwing blades, and a demon-headed bat-glider. When the Jason Macendale version got possessed by a demon, the obvious evilness of him went UpToEleven, adding reptilian skin and eyes, sharp fangs, and Hellfire-producing powers. This was intentional on Hobgoblin's part (especially Roderick Kingsley) as he's a huge AttentionWhore who loves playing the part of villain.

** From Spidey's RoguesGallery we have ComicBook/{{Venom}}, ComicBook/{{Carnage}}, and whatever other symbiote villains are in there. Just the gaping, drooling mouths filled with MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily is enough, but add in the claws, creeping tendrils, and their penchant for [[RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver red and black colorations]], and you have a whole family of obvious evil. Inverted, however, with the few good symbiotes: Toxin and Anti-Venom. Venom himself [[CharacterDevelopment has also changed]] into a more heroic figure over the years, but still keeps his menacing looks.
** Another Spidey villain, the Hobgoblin, is actually a bit more obviously evil-looking than his predecessor, the Green Goblin. His original appearances showed him almost always InTheHood with GlowingEyesOfDoom, and when his mask is shown, he looks like... well... a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin goblin]]. He also has the Goblin staple weapons of jack-o-lantern pumpkin bombs, bat-shaped throwing blades, and a demon-headed bat-glider. When the Jason Macendale version got possessed by a demon, the obvious evilness of him went up to eleven, adding reptilian skin and eyes, sharp fangs, and Hellfire-producing powers. This was intentional on Hobgoblin's part (especially Roderick Kingsley) as he's a huge AttentionWhore who loves playing the part of villain.

** This is later justified in the comics by Adolf Hitler himself, who wanted the Red Skull to play a role in a national version of GoodCopBadCop where he could remain the popular leader of Germany while the Red Skull could be the stick of the government of Nazi Germany.

* Exar Kun, the BigBad of ''ComicBook/TalesOfTheJedi'''s Great Sith War, starts off as a Jedi--a JerkJock Jedi who makes [[FantasticRacism insulting comments]] about non-humans and a particular eagerness for knowledge about the Sith, along with [[AmbitionIsEvil unseemly ambition]] for a Jedi. Really, he was already one foot over the line. (Other works set in the same era have various Jedi calling WhatAnIdiot on Kun's master for not predicting his fall sooner.)

** Another Spidey villain, the Hobgoblin, is actually a bit more obviously evil-looking than his predecessor, the Green Goblin. His original appearances showed him almost always InTheHood with GlowingEyesOfDoom, and when his mask is shown, he looks like... well... a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin goblin]]. He also has the Goblin staple weapons of jack-o-lantern pumpkin bombs, bat-shaped throwing blades, and a demon-headed bat-glider. When the Jason Macendale version got possessed by a demon, the obvious evilness of him went UpToEleven, adding reptilian skin and eyes, sharp fangs, and Hellfire-producing powers. This was intentional on Hobgoblin's part (especially Roderick Kingsley) as he's a huge AttentionWhore who loves playing the part of villain.

** Atrocitus is actually a lot less evil than he looks, but he’s still very much not a nice guy.