Line #53 Main/BiblicalBadGuy


1	->''"Like unthinking animals they do whatever their instincts tell them, and so they bring about their own destruction. What sorrow awaits them! For they follow in the footsteps of Cain, who killed his brother. Like Balaam, they deceive people for money. And like Korah, they perish in their rebellion."''
2	-->-- '''[[Literature/EpistleOfJude Jude 1:10-11]]''', ''Literature/TheBible''
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4	The bad guys from Literature/TheBible are often well known and as such don't require introduction, and [[VillainByDefault everyone knows they are evil]]. The really handy thing is that many of them are regularly theorized to be [[BlessedWithSuck cursed]] with [[WhoWantsToLiveForever immortality]] as part of their punishment for being bad guys, providing a decent reason for them to show up in any time period.
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6	'''Note:''' {{Satan}}, GodIsEvil, {{Cain}}, [[NephariousPharaoh The Pharaoh of the Exodus]] and the HorsemenOfTheApocalypse have their own tropes -- as do the {{Nephilim}}, who aren't ''always'' evil but often are. Because the Bible also features a few gods of other traditions as demons or even other names for Satan himself - figures like Dagon and [[VillainBaal Baal]] - this may overlap with MesopotamianMonstrosity.
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8	'''Note 2:''' [[MeaningfulName Sharing a name with any of these absolutely is symbolic]], but not enough for a character to qualify. They have to actually ''be'' the same person as the one in the Bible to be this trope. If the name is the only connection, see [[NamesToRunAwayFrom/BiblicalNames Names To Run Away From: Biblical Names]]. See also the NameOfCain and TheDescendantsOfCain. For an Abrahamic baddie who originated in Literature/TheTalmud instead of the Bible, see Myth/{{Lilith}}.
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10	Not to be confused with ChurchgoingVillain.
11	----
12	!!Examples:
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14	[[foldercontrol]]
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16	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
17	* ''Manga/UQHolder'': {{Subverted}} with [[spoiler: Karin]], who is implied to be a {{Gender Flip}}ped Judas Iscariot but is one of the heroes.
18	[[/folder]]
19
20	[[folder:Arts]]
21	* ''Art/TheSin'': The woman is Eve who, in the Abrahamic religions, is responsible for introducing original sin to mankind. Here, she has accepted it so thoroughly, she's tempting the viewer.
22	[[/folder]]
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24	[[folder:Comic Books]]
25	* As of the ComicBook/New52 of DC Comics, [[spoiler:it has been revealed that ComicBook/ThePhantomStranger is Judas Iscariot.]] In this case, he's actually repented since then and has spent the past two thousand years helping people from the shadows as penance. It's not known if this is continued in Rebirth.
26	* ''ComicBook/GhostRider2011'' features Adam as one of its key villains. He felt bad about the whole original sin thing, so plotted to use Ghost Rider's powers to burn sin out of the world.
27	* ''ComicBook/{{Vampirella}}'':
28	** In one of the 90s Harris stories Vampirella fights the "[[ReligiousVampire Black Pope of the Vampire Church]]", who turns out to be Judas Iscariot.
29	** The Blood Red Queen of Hearts was a body-hopping demoness who was identified as the Whore of Babylon.
30	** Lilith, the first wife of Adam, also used to be a malevolent figure who gave birth to many demonic races and monsters. But she has since repented and turned into TheAtoner. [[spoiler:Or so she has lead others to believe and remained evil as ever.]]
31	[[/folder]]
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33	[[folder:Film]]
34	* ''Film/TheLibrarian'' has Judas as the first vampire.
35	* In ''Film/{{Dracula 2000}}'', [[spoiler:Dracula is Judas, who is also the Wandering Jew, a legend of a man forced to WalkTheEarth very clearly based on the story of Cain.]] Interestingly, [[spoiler:the way to kill him is to re-create the conditions of the incomplete hanging that caused him to be trapped between life and death.]]
36	[[/folder]]
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38	[[folder:Literature]]
39	* Not a direct example, but The Knights of the Blackened Denarius in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' get their powers from 30 silver coins, each with a fallen angel inside. The coins are heavily implied to be ''the'' ThirtyPiecesOfSilver that Judas was paid to betray Jesus. Nicodemus, leader of the Knights, also wears the noose Judas hung himself with as a necktie; it offers him protection from anything. [[spoiler:Except, as Harry finds out when he tugs on the end of it, itself.]]
40	* ''Literature/PleaseDontTellMyParentsImASupervillain'' gives us Lucyfar, a sorceress who claims to be the Archangel Lucifer, Princess of Darkness. Most people think she's crazy or lying, but she is surprisingly powerful when she gets serious. The crown of black fire, especially, is the kind of thing that makes you re-evaluate your assumptions.
41	* ''Literature/{{Nightside}}'': John Taylor has an OhCrap moment when he realizes he's delivered the [[ArtifactOfDoom Unholy Grail]] to Judas Iscariot himself. [[spoiler:{{Subverted\|Trope}} when Judas reveals himself to be TheAtoner and breaks the bowl's power by using it for Communion.]]
42	[[/folder]]
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44	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
45	* ''Series/Lucifer2016'':
46	** [[spoiler:Cain]] appears in Season 3 as the ArcVillain.
47	** The ArchangelMichael is given AdaptationalVillainy in Season 5, being the ArcVillain [[spoiler:as well as the BigBad of the series]].
48	* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': Biblical bad guys make up about 90% of the villains on Supernatural, with Lucifer being the bad guy for two seasons and various demons and [[OurAngelsAreDifferent angels]] making up the rest. Archangel Michael, while technically a WellIntentionedExtremist, was actually just as bad as Lucifer. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse were also major villains, with the character of Death recurring every other season or so. Death wasn't a bad guy, but the other three definitely were. Cain makes a guest appearance at one point. Even the Whore of Babylon makes an appearance as a MonsterOfTheWeek.
49	* ''Series/WynonnaEarp'': During the final episodes of Season 3, [[DemonLordsAndArchDevils Bulshar]] (the BigBad of that season and GreaterScopeVillain of the series up to that point) is revealed to have originally been [[spoiler: the Serpent of Eden]].
50	[[/folder]]
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52	[[folder:Music]]
53	* ''Music/JesusChristSuperstar'' deconstructs Judas Iscariot as a tragic and remorseful villain and deuteragonist of the musical, and Pontius Pilate as a world-weary authority figure who doesn't understand why Jesus must die, but must uphold the law as governor of Judea. King Herod, however, is portrayed as a SissyVillain who condemns Jesus for not performing what amounts to magic tricks for him.
54	* Music/RalphVaughanWilliams's adaptation of ''Literature/ThePilgrimsProgress'' adds two New Testament villains to the Vanity Fair sequence. Judas Iscariot appears among the crowd of vendors, boasting about his old silver-piece deal. When the Pilgrim defiantly tells them that he buys the truth, and the crowd jeers, Pontius Pilate puts his words in: "What is truth?"
55	[[/folder]]
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57	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
58	* ''TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness'': According to ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'''s in-universe scripture ''The Book of Nod'', the [[MonsterProgenitor first vampire]] Caine spent a good amount of time with Adam's first wife Lilith, who taught him all about the [[FunctionalMagic Disciplines]]. She is implied to be a mage from ''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension'', though ''TabletopGame/{{Orpheus}}'' suggests she might be Grandmother, a SentientCosmicForce of Oblivion.
59	* In ''TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil'', Nimrod is portrayed as one of the first [[SlasherMovie slashers]].
60	* ''TabletopGame/TheStrange'': [[EgomaniacHunter Nimrod The Hunter]] may not be the biblical Nimrod, but he shares so many traits that others have suggested that he originates from a recursion inspired by biblical stories.
61	[[/folder]]
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63	[[folder:Video Games]]
64	* On ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer,'' Kane is heavily implied to be ''the'' Biblical Cain, showing off the tomb of Abel in Renegade, and having a right-hand man named Seth. The Brotherhood of Nod is named after the land Cain went to to build a city.
65	[[/folder]]
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67	[[folder:Webcomics]]
68	* Both the title of ''Webcomic/TheLettersOfTheDevil'' and some passing comparisons to Lucifer imply that the mysterious "L" is the Devil. Whether this is literal or figurative is not yet clear.
69	[[/folder]]
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71	[[folder:Web Original]]
72	* The ''Website/SCPFoundation'' features an interesting take on this trope. [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-073 SCP-073]] "Cain" and [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-076 SCP-076-2]] "Able" are the biblical CainAndAbel, but their roles are inverted. Cain is a NiceGuy who voluntarily works with the Foundation as a biological backup drive. He still suffers from the Mark of Cain put upon him by god, [[WalkingWasteland causing plant material to crumble at his touch]] (doesn't work on animals) and his wounds to be [[AttackDeflector imparted on his attackers.]] Able, on the other hand, is an AxCrazy, immortal killing machine who seems utterly incapable of doing anything that doesn't involve violence. The Foundation tried to weaponize him once in the ill-fated Pandora's Box project but wisely decided to scrap it. It's implied that 6000 years of bitterness made Able into a murderous monster, while Cain has gone through the same amount of CharacterDevelopment, mellowing out his harsher traits.
73	** While it depends on the writer if they're a villain or not, there's an organization rivaling the Foundation known as the Serpent's Hand, which is based in an [[Website/TheWanderersLibrary interdimensional library containing every story]], which, according to the Serpent's Hand, was created and ruled by the Serpent of Eden. Note that the Library (and thus presumably the Serpent) considers the Hand to be superfluous, and only indulges them because they are no threat.
74	[[/folder]]
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76	[[folder:Western Animation]]
77	* On ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark,'' Haman was depicted as an EldritchAbomination that the Synagogue of Anti-Semitic Jews wants to summon to take over the Jewish people. (Yeah, they were just [[RuleOfFunny reveling]] in ArtisticLicenseReligion on this one.)
78	[[/folder]]

Context Main / BiblicalBadGuy