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1%% Zero Context Example entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
2%%
3A subtrope of EvilSoundsDeep. In musical theatre, MediaNotes/VoiceTypes are often stereotypes too: the main hero will often be [[TenorBoy tenor]] if male or [[InnocentSoprano soprano]] if female. If the villain is female, however, she will often sing alto. This is quite often the case if the villainess is LargeAndInCharge.
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5Altos themselves frequently refer to their options as "witches, bitches, and britches" (crossdressing roles as boys or young men). This would be the "bitches" part of that triad.
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7Compare other tropes for characters with deep voices: AuthoritySoundsDeep, for socially powerful characters; BaritoneOfStrength[[note]]Despite the name, it applies to characters of all genders[[/note]] for strong characters; and finally, PowerMakesYourVoiceDeep, when a character's voice becomes deeper after they gain some sort of power.
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10!!Examples:
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12[[foldercontrol]]
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14[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
15* Ursula the sea witch, the main antagonist in ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'', has Pat Carroll's throaty alto, opposing the more crisp and pure higher range of Ariel, the protagonist. The contrast is most clear at the end of Ursula's "Poor Unfortunate Souls", when she commands Ariel to sing. (This is reduced in the stage version, where Ursula sings in more of a mezzo register.)
16* Mother Gothel, witch and main antagonist in Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'', is voiced by Donna Murphy.
17* Eartha Kitt provides the voice of the villainous Yzma in ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove''.
18* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls'':
19** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls1'': Sunset Shimmer in has an alto voice that gets even deeper after going OneWingedAngel. Although Sunset retains her alto voice after having [[HeelFaceTurn switched to the good side]].
20** The Dazzlings in the sequel, ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks Rainbow Rocks]]'', especially Adagio Dazzle, though Sonata Dusk averts this.
21[[/folder]]
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23[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
24* Averted in ''Film/AcrossTheUniverse2007,'' in which the female lead has a mezzo-soprano voice that borders on alto, as do most of the women.
25* Winifred "Winnie" Sanderson, the leader of the Sanderson sisters and the main antagonist in ''Film/HocusPocus'', played by Creator/BetteMidler.
26* ''Film/RockOfAges'' : Both Creator/CatherineZetaJones and Music/MaryJBlige play antagonists to the main heroes, and sing in a lower range than the heroine.
27* In a speaking-only version of this trope, Amy, the calculating, manipulative title character in the film ''Film/GoneGirl''. Rosamund Pike pitches her voice to be low and husky, as opposed to her voice in other roles.
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30[[folder:Literature]]
31* ''Literature/TheBasicEight'': murderess Flan Culp is (fittingly) an alto, albeit a rather off-key one.
32[[/folder]]
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34[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
35* ''Series/{{Glee}}:'' The more antagonistic roles are played by the actors with lower voices, including Quinn and Santana (altos in the group) and Sue Sylvester. Kurt's voice is also in a much higher range than his antagonists.
36[[/folder]]
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38[[folder:Music]]
39* ''Music/EvilliousChronicles'': There are a lot of characters who fulfill this role depending on which Music/{{Vocaloid}} he uses. [[IAmAHumanitarian Banica Conchita/Master of the Graveyard]] (Meiko); [[BigBad Irina]] (Iroha); and [[{{Yandere}} Kayo]] and MA (Luka) are the most obvious examples, but there are numerous aversions: [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans The Master of the Court]], [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Riliane]], [[AxCrazy Arte]], [[BrokenBird Margarita]], and [[LoveMakesYouCrazy Eve]] all have very high voices, being played by Rin or Miku.
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42[[folder:Theatre]]
43 * Mrs. Meers from ''Theatre/ThoroughlyModernMillie''. The owner of the Hotel Priscilla, she runs the business as a front for her real stock in trade; white slavery.
44 * Lucy from ''{{Theatre/Thirteen}}''. Lucy is the AlphaBitch and has learned how to manipulate her friends.
45* Madame Morrible from ''{{Theatre/Wicked}}''. Though the wizard is the one initially responsible for the oppression in Oz, Madame Morrible pushes him to greater levels of tyranny and summons the storm that brings Dorothy's house to Oz. Then again, she barely has a singing part.
46%% * Miss Hannigan from ''Theatre/{{Annie}}''.
47%% * Mayoress Cora Hoover Hooper in ''Theatre/AnyoneCanWhistle''.
48 * Mrs. Lovett in ''Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet''. She goes into business with Sweeney Todd, baking pies.
49 * Audrey II from ''Theatre/LittleShopOfHorrors''. Though voiced by a man, she does refer to herself as a mother. And she eats people.
50%% * The Killer Queen from ''Theatre/WeWillRockYou''.
51* Shenzi the hyena in the stage adaptation of ''Theatre/TheLionKing''.
52* Somewhat surprisingly, {{opera}} tends to avert this trope more often than not, partially because the pitch of the voice is perhaps more commonly correlated to a character's age than to their moral alignment, and also because sopranos tend to hog most of the bigger female roles. Some of the most notable evil or borderline evil female roles - the Queen of the Night from ''Theatre/TheMagicFlute'', Lady Macbeth from Verdi's ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'', Puccini's ''Theatre/{{Turandot}}'', Richard Strauss's ''Theatre/{{Salome}}'' (despite a few unusually low notes), Alban Berg's ''Lulu'', and Katerina from Shostakovich's ''Lady Macbeth of Mzensk'' - thus are soprano parts. However, Bizet's femme fatale ''Theatre/{{Carmen}}'' was originally scored for a mezzo (like Delilah from Saint-Saëns's ''Samson and Delilah''), but has also often been performed as an alto (or a soprano) and thus usually has a deeper voice than her foil, the angelic Micaela, and Herodias from ''Salome'' is a mezzo or alto. Klytemnestra from Strauss's ''Elektra'' is nominally a mezzo-soprano, but with much darker inflections than the soprano title character.
53%% ** Gioacchino Rossini subverts expectations in ''La Cenerentola'', a modernized "Cinderella". [[SignificantName Angelina]] is a mezzo, her two stepsisters are an alto and a soprano.
54%% ** Music/RichardWagner averts this trope with Venus and Ortrud (soprano, sometimes mezzo), Fricka (mezzo, though she's more an antagonist than a villainess), and Kundry (mezzo or soprano).
55%% ** Music/GiuseppeVerdi has scored both Azucena from ''Il Trovatore'' and Amneris from ''Aida'' as altos (they can also be played by mezzos)
56%% ** The Countess from Tchaikovsky's ''Pique Dame'' is played by a mezzo or alto.
57%% ** The Witch in Engelbert Humperdinck's ''Hänsel und Gretel'' can be performed by a soprano, mezzo or a tenor.
58** In ''The Love of the Three Oranges'' Prokofiev averts it with Fata Morgana (soprano), plays it straight with Princess Clarisse (alto), and turns it up to eleven with the cook (a bass in drag). He also scores Hélène as an alto in his operatic adaptation of ''Literature/WarAndPeace''.
59* Whenever Creator/GilbertAndSullivan's operettas involve an even vaguely antagonistic female character, it's usually a contralto part (and was always played by Rosina Brandram either originally or in an early Savoy revival). These include the "bloodthirsty" Katisha in ''Theatre/TheMikado''; Ruth in ''Theatre/ThePiratesOfPenzance'', whose allegiance to the pirates is mostly PlayedForLaughs; and the Queen of the Fairies in ''Theatre/{{Iolanthe}}'', who, despite having no tendency towards villainy, stops a little short of executing the title character twice. The mezzo-soprano characters, by contrast, tend to receive warmer characterizations than even the unambiguously good contralto {{Grand Dame}}s.
60* In ''Theatre/{{Matilda}}: The Musical'', the evil headmistress Trunchbull has traditionally been a CrosscastRole played by baritone-tenors.
61* In TheMusical of '' Literature/HowlsMovingCastle'', the [[WickedWitch Witch of the Waste]] is a contralto.
62* In ''Theatre/IntoTheWoods'', the {{Anti Villain}}ous Witch sings alto (and, unusually, raps too), which helps set her voice apart from the soprano ingenue part of Rapunzel.
63* Hélène from ''Theatre/NatashaPierreAndTheGreatCometOf1812''.
64* In ''Theatre/{{Hadestown}}'', the three Fates sing a three-part harmony in a lower register than the other female leads. The Fates are a trio of women who use half-truths and pessimism to manipulate people into making terrible choices.
65* ''Theatre/AnyoneCanWhistle'' has Cora Hoover-Hooper, the corrupt Mayoress, displaying plenty of chest voice in her opening number.
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68[[folder:Video Games]]
69* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'':
70** Sheeva is a female member of the [[MultiArmedAndDangerous Shokkan]] race. She is often on the side of the villains and speaks with a deep, commanding voice.
71** Sindel has been depicted as a villain since ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'' and has a deep voice.
72* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilVillage'': Lady Dimestrescu is one of the villains of the game. She has a deep voice to go with her imposing height.
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75[[folder:Western Animation]]
76* In the 2018 reboot of ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'', Shadow Weaver (voiced by Lorraine Toussaint) has a deep, silky voice.
77* Katrina Stoneheart from the 1980s ''[[WesternAnimation/PoundPuppies1980s Pound Puppies]]'' series (who was voiced by the same actress as Ursula).
78[[/folder]]

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