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| 3 | %% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks! |
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| 7 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1538888353090388400 |
| 8 | %% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread. |
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| 10 | [[quoteright:300:[[Literature/TheThiefsApprentice https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thiefs_apprentice.jpg]]]] |
| 11 | |
| 12 | ->'''Ra's Al-Ghul:''' You were my greatest student. It should be you standing by my side, saving the world.\ |
| 13 | '''Bruce Wayne:''' I'll be standing where I belong -- between you and the people of Gotham. |
| 14 | -->-- ''Film/BatmanBegins'' |
| 15 | |
| 16 | TheHero, or a member of the heroic band, finds a {{Mentor|Archetype}} with new secret techniques to teach. The student eagerly signs on, only to learn later that there's a catch -- the mentor is evil, has a [[EvilPlan hidden agenda of their own]], and those new abilities are seriously [[BadPowersBadPeople nasty]] (though certainly not [[UselessSuperpowers useless]]). The student may feel [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone "soiled"]] by having learned these [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique techniques]] and might swear off ever using them again, or they might have to [[EvilFeelsGood wrestle with temptation]] against using them regularly. Of course, it's only a matter of time until there's a great need, and [[ChekhovsSkill out will come the evil technique]] because ItsTheOnlyWay. Cue the evil mentor's SoProudOfYou and the hero's YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | The Evil Mentor will lead them down the path to the DarkSide. This can involve teaching the character BlackMagic, a DangerousForbiddenTechnique, how to use a DeadlyUpgrade (while downplaying the costs), advanced PsychicPowers like MindRape or {{Brainwash|ed}}ing, and generally introduce them to abilities or substances that are [[ThisIsYourBrainOnEvil painfully addictive]] and make PsychoSerum seem safe to use by comparison. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | The Evil Mentor's motivation for this are similar to those of an OldMaster, but with a ZenSurvivor's more elitist air: they're looking for someone to carry on their legacy, warts and all, [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes (and may actually grow to care a bit)]] usually ''against'' the pupil's wishes because only ''they'' are "worthy enough" to learn it. This usually entails actively [[MoreThanMindControl corrupting the hero]] and netting him a personal [[TheDragon Dragon]], not just to spread evil and [[FallenHero deny good a powerful champion]]. The Evil Mentor is also patient enough to wait, hoping that if attempts to actively corrupt fail at forcing a FaceHeelTurn, then more passive temptation will do their work for them. Also, people who easily FaceHeelTurn also easily HeelFaceTurn. If you want quality in your minion, do it the long way. |
| 21 | |
| 22 | For some Evil Mentors, it's a game of wits to see if their student's philosophy can stand against their own. After all, just [[MightMakesRight beating someone in a flat out fight doesn't necessarily mean that someone is right.]] A slow battle for a soul can be just as rewarding; and honestly, more entertaining if the student's mind and heart is a WorthyOpponent. A gracious Evil Mentor will give their brand of help just out of curiosity to see how long HeroicWillpower can last. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | A variant is the Evil Mentor's [[TomeOfEldritchLore Book]], which is not evil ''per se'', but contains [[TheDarkArts dark-side-y formulas]] and things the student [[YouAreNotReady might not be ready to learn]]. Unless, y'know, it's an ArtifactOfDoom, in which case it's an Evil Mentor in book form. |
| 25 | |
| 26 | Compare and contrast DeceptiveDisciple, who, representing the other end of the chain, turns "good" or honorable martial arts or powers on their head to achieve evil ends or inverts them into BlackMagic. See also BastardUnderstudy and the RuleOfTwo for a villain's voluntary apprentice. |
| 27 | |
| 28 | If the mentor pretends to be a good mentor but is actually a villain out to exploit his student, he's a TreacherousAdvisor. The step-down of this trope is the BrokenPedestal, who trains the student well, but is eventually revealed to be bad or corrupt, much to the student's chagrin. See also TheSvengali, whose purpose is typically to exploit the mentee for his own gain (and possibly the kick of exerting MoreThanMindControl), rather than to pass on a legacy of evil. TheCorrupter will often take on the guise of the Evil Mentor, though he doesn't have to; almost all Evil Mentors are Corruptors, but not all Corruptors are Evil Mentors. |
| 29 | |
| 30 | [[noreallife]] |
| 31 | ---- |
| 32 | !!Examples: |
| 33 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 34 | |
| 35 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 36 | %%* ''Manga/AstroBoy'': Dr. Umatarō Tenma. |
| 37 | * ''Manga/{{Basilisk}}'': The BigBad, [[spoiler:Tenzen Yakushiji]], takes a boy in ([[spoiler:Koushirou Chikuma]]) and trains him as his apprentice and [[TheDragon right hand]], years before the events of the series start. |
| 38 | * ''Manga/BlackCat'' has Zagine, the assassin who killed Train's parents and taught him the art of killing when he was just 10 years old. It's not stated outright, but it's heavily implied the reason he did this is because Zagine WouldntHurtAChild and felt guilt over making Train into an orphan (when Zagine was assigned to kill his parents, the fact that they had a child was kept a secret from him). |
| 39 | * ''Manga/BungouStrayDogs'': Osamu Dazai was trained directly under the Port Mafia's current boss to be a coldhearted, [[ManipulativeBastard manipulative]] [[TheChessmaster strategist]] as a teenager. Years after defecting from the Port Mafia, the effects still linger. |
| 40 | %%* ''Anime/CodeGeass R2'': Schneizel El Britannia plays this role towards [[spoiler:Nina Einstein]]. |
| 41 | * In ''Manga/TheDemonGirlNextDoor'', Lilith acts as one to Yuko, teaching the latter how to use their familial DreamWalker powers, yet often denigrating her modesty and integrity as unbecoming of a demon. |
| 42 | * ''Manga/DragonBall'': |
| 43 | ** The world's greatest assassin, Tao Pai Pai, and his brother, the Crane Hermit, were Tenshinhan and Chiaotzu's teachers before they defected. |
| 44 | ** PlayedWith in regard to Piccolo and Gohan. Piccolo was still evil when he kidnapped Gohan and planned to raise him to help him take over the world and fight his own father. [[{{Irony}} Gohan's kindness ended turning Piccolo into a good person instead]]. |
| 45 | ** After Freeza murdered the Saiyans, [[SparingTheAces he took Vegeta in and raised him as one of his men]]. Despite Freeza saying that he pampered and took care of Vegeta, he was often the subject of FantasticRacism. That being said, Vegeta was still damn evil himself regardless, and he wouldn't complete his full FaceHeelTurn until much later in the Boo arc. |
| 46 | * ''Manga/DrStone'': Dr. Xeno Houston Wingfield, a former NASA scientist, was a downplayed example to [[spoiler:[[TheHero Senku Ishigame]]]] before the Petrification event. [[spoiler:Xeno in the past helped Senku design his rocket and gave him numerous scientific lectures. However, even in the 21st century Xeno was a CardCarryingVillain, openly telling his co-workers how if he was sent to the past he would use science to become a dictator, and told Senku how science can be used to create destructive technologies such as germ warfare (which ends up encouraging Senku to research how science can save people)]]. |
| 47 | * ''Literature/FateZero'': Gilgamesh acts as this in a slightly odd way to Kotomine Kirei. It's not that Gil is ''evil'', he just believes a person should do what brings them the most [[TheHedonist pleasure]], which for Kirei turns out to be causing others pain (which Kirei hates). Gil then spends the series encouraging a reluctant Kirei to embrace his true self, which he eventually does to the rest of the cast's misfortune. |
| 48 | * ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'': |
| 49 | ** [[DarkMessiah Paptimus Scirocco]] of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Zeta Gundam]]'' ends up serving as a mentor for several other characters. Naturally, his harem of newtype pilots comes to mind most easily, but Scirocco also mentors [[JerkJock Jerid Mesa]] and [[BloodKnight Yazan Gable]] throughout the course of the series. |
| 50 | ** Ali Al-Saachez from ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Gundam 00]]'' served as one to Kurdish ChildSoldiers, going as far as to instruct them to become {{Self Made Orphan}}s in the name of "god". (Ali himself couldn't care less about religion, other than as a tool to motivate the kids he's manipulating.) One of those children, Soran Ibrahim, eventually became Setsuna F. Seiei, TheHero of the series. |
| 51 | ** Master Asia of ''[[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam G Gundam]]'' {{train|ingFromHell}}ed [[TheHero Domon]] since childhood (''before'' he became evil, though), and is revealed to be the BigBad. He remains so for a good part of the show. |
| 52 | * ''Manga/KenichiTheMightiestDisciple'' introduces a ''whole organization'' of these in the manga after the arc covered in the anime called Yami. Unlike Kenichi's masters, Yami stresses the value of martial arts as killing methods. One member in particular [[spoiler:Isshinsai Ogata aka the Saint Fist]] has taken an interest in Kenichi... |
| 53 | ** Though despite this, the majority of One Shadow Nine Fists masters appear to have genuine close bonds with their disciples. Only Jenezad and Mikumo have been shown to mistreat their students in any way. |
| 54 | * In ''Manga/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess2016'', it is revealed that Zant used to be Midna’s tutor, although he never managed to bring her under his influence. |
| 55 | * ''Manga/MajinTanteiNougamiNeuro'': Yako learns about the mysteries of humanity from a demon from hell, a sociopath killer, and the {{Yakuza}}. By the end of the manga, she takes all that she's learned from monsters and [[spoiler:dedicates herself to peaceful conflict resolution regardless of country or creed.]] |
| 56 | * ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': [[BigBad Tomura Shigaraki]]'s "Sensei" is [[Characters/MyHeroAcademiaAllForOne All For One]], [[BigGood All Might]]'s ArchEnemy, who essentially took him off the streets after the death of his family (which Shigarki's [[MakeThemRot Quirk]] caused, [[WildMassGuessing at least according]] to [[UnreliableNarrator All For One]]), and raised him to be his successor after his and All Might's FinalBattle left him crippled. This is later revealed to be because [[spoiler: Shigaraki is actually Tenko Shimura, the grandson of Nana Shimura, All Might's beloved mentor. All For One thought it would be entertaining to see All Might's reaction to that]]. This is presented as a direct {{Foil}} to [[TheHero Deku]]'s more traditional [[MentorArchetype student/teacher relationship]] with All Might. |
| 57 | * ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': |
| 58 | ** Orochimaru seems to collect apprentices, and most of them wind up either evil and/or slavishly devoted to him. |
| 59 | ** Tobi picked Sasuke up a while after he split from Orochimaru and did an even better job at this. The contrast between emo boy and the blank-faced teen who stabbed Naruto on his first appearance after the time skip was impressive, but the contrast between the shinobi who told his two minions 'no unnecessary killing' when they assaulted a whole fortress and the psycho who decided to off a village and threw away three loyal subordinates without blinking is also pretty wow. |
| 60 | *** Tobi had his own evil mentor: [[spoiler:Madara Uchiha, who convinced him to help him carry the Moon Eye's plan by making Obito Uchiha lose all hope in the world and creating an ideal, illusionary world. Tobi even used Madara's name as an alias to do so]]. |
| 61 | ** Shimura Danzou did a version of this, too, though he tended more towards [[TheSvengali Svengali]] territory, with the MoreThanMindControl conditioning and what he did to Uchiha Itachi and all. |
| 62 | * ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'': |
| 63 | ** The story plays a lot with this one, with Negi becoming apprentice to Evangeline, who holds a reputation as the most powerful, evil, undead vampire mage alive. Negi is fully aware of this, but trains with her anyway after deciding that [[AntiVillain she's not really]] ''[[AntiVillain that]]'' [[AntiVillain evil]]. And he seems to be right, regardless of [[NobleDemon how evil she claims to be.]] Her case for villainy is definitely not helped by the fact that, aside from one or two {{breaking lecture}}s and an [[TheVamp attempted seduction]], her most evil deeds have been being a ClingyJealousGirl and SinkOrSwimMentor-ness. |
| 64 | ** Also Evangeline's scroll about Magia Erebea counts as mentor: it contains also a replica of Evangeline as teacher, too. |
| 65 | * ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'': Played for laughs with Happosai, the OldMaster of the Anything-Goes Martial Arts style, and also a selfish, petty, cruel, malicious, obnoxious little jerk whose most defining characteristic is being a DirtyOldMan. He's so lecherous that touching women's breasts and buttocks, as well as [[PantyThief playing with stolen women's underwear]] has become a FantasticDrug to him, and going too long without being a perv will start killing him through withdrawal. He revels in tormenting others, especially his own ostensible "student", Ranma Saotome, and in the manga has both suffered an agonizing headache whilst trying to think of something good he could do and proudly bragged about never helping anyone ever in his entire life. |
| 66 | * ''Literature/RebuildWorld'': |
| 67 | ** The story starts with Akira acquiring Alpha as both his VirtualSidekick and this. She is a ManipulativeBitch who pulls all kinds of schemes to make him dependent on her and make sure he completes the mission she wants him to. It seems like Akira is a straightforward UnwittingPawn to her, but it’s later shown that he is fully aware of her manipulative nature, justifying their contract together citing IGaveMyWord and IOweYouMyLife, evoking something similar to a Dark type LadyAndKnight dynamic, with Akira being an UnscrupulousHero in the first place. What’s not clear, is if Akira knows that Alpha’s been specifically sabotaging his relationships to isolate him. |
| 68 | ** Viola eventually becomes both this, and a rival to Sheryl, after Akira forces Viola to work under Sheryl. While Viola gives plenty of advice and aid, she also plots to make Akira abandon Sheryl, [[ThisIsUnforgivable something unforgiveable]] to Sheryl (as he’s her LivingEmotionalCrutch and love). |
| 69 | * ''Anime/RingingBell'': The wolf becomes this to Chirin near the end. It's a ''very'' interesting and unique example because it's ''Chirin'' who initiates the relationship in a rather insane plan to surpass and kill him and by the end of it he grows to see Wor as a ParentalSubstitute. |
| 70 | * ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'': Makoto Shishio towards Soujirou Seta. He was kinder towards Soujirou [[AbusiveParents than his abusive stepsiblings]] [[TheUnfavorite ever were to him]]. |
| 71 | %%* ''Manga/SoulEater'': The Book of Eibon's Index/tables of contents. |
| 72 | * ''Franchise/YuGiOh'': |
| 73 | ** In the original ''Anime/YuGiOh'', Gozaburo Kaiba was this to Seto Kaiba, at least in his own mind. While he was exceptionally harsh and strict to the young Kaiba -- and even abusive at times -- he was trying to mold Kaiba into the ruthless tycoon that ''he'' was, devoid of emotion and able to continue his military firm. Ironically, this was Gozaburo's undoing. He specifically told Kaiba that to succeed, he could not trust ''anyone'', not even ''him'', and while Kaiba grew to ''despise'' Gozaburo, that was a lesson he learned only too well, [[DeceptiveDisciple using it to take over KaibaCorp in a hostile takeover]] and once in charge proceed to destroy his adoptive father's life's work. |
| 74 | ** In ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'', Monkey Saruyama (called [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Mr. Shroud]] in the dub) was this to Ryo Marufuji, better known as Kaiba; a seedy duelist manager, he used brutal FightClubbing to help get Kaiser back on his feet and back to the top of the Pro Leagues, but in the process, fully transformed Kaiser from the honorable duelist he was to "Hell Kaiser", the selfish one who would win at all costs, no matter who he hurt. Unfortunately for Saruyama, it worked only too well; once Kaiser decided he didn't need him, he fired Saruyama and threw him out of his car like garbage. |
| 75 | ** Divine from ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds''. As leader of the Arcadia Movement, he told his students (such as Aki) that he was trying to help them control their PsychicPowers. Truthfully, he was purposely making them even ''more'' destructive, hoping to mold them into an army of psychic assassins. |
| 76 | ** ''Anime/YuGiOhSEVENS'' has [[spoiler:Otes]]. He was initially introduced as a benevolent mentor, but it becomes clear by the end of the first season that he has ulterior motives. At the very end of the second season, his true plan is revealed and he becomes the series' final BigBad. |
| 77 | [[/folder]] |
| 78 | |
| 79 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 80 | * ''ComicBook/{{Aero}}'': The titular character was once mentored by Madame Huang, before she learned that Huang had sinister ulterior motives. |
| 81 | * ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': |
| 82 | ** Many different versions of ComicBook/TheJoker have done this, corrupting everyone from ComicBook/HarleyQuinn to [[WesternAnimation/TheBatman different versions of Clayface]] to [[WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker Tim Drake]] to [[ComicBook/TheKillingJoke Jim Gordon.]] |
| 83 | ** Although ComicBook/LadyShiva is generally more of a Neutral Mentor, she can fall into this at times. For example, when Batman went to her for training as part of his post-{{ComicBook/Bane}} recovery, she "trained" Batman by disguising herself as him and murdering an OldMaster. Those pissed-off students out for revenge? That's the training! |
| 84 | ** In ''ComicBook/RedHoodTheLostDays'', ComicBook/TaliaAlGhul searches these out to teach Jason how to use a gun, and how to effectively maim and kill in a fight. Jason requested Talia be one to him but she's really using the training time to stall as she has no desire to see Jason or Bruce die. |
| 85 | ** The Scarecrow has tried this a couple of times, encouraging young victims of bullying toward bloody revenge. He's had various degrees of success -- one of his "students" prevented him from stabbing Franchise/{{Batman}} but kept and used a can of his fear gas. |
| 86 | *** The ''Heart of Hush'' storyline revealed that twenty years ago Scarecrow played this to a young Tommy Elliot -- better known as [[ManipulativeBastard Hush]]. |
| 87 | ** ''ComicBook/BatmanBeyondTheWhiteKnight'': Derek Powers convinces Terry [=McGinnis=] that Bruce orchestrated his father's murder and tries conditioning him into becoming Batman with the Beyond Suit. He tries encouraging him to act more ruthlessly, and later takes remote control of the suit when Terry learns the truth, even trying to goad him into {{Mercy Kill}}ing him after his mutation into Blight. |
| 88 | * ''ComicBook/BlackMoonChronicles'': Haazheel to Wismerhill, as he grants him entry to the highest orders of the Black Moon to teach him TheDarkArts and make Wismerhill a dark general in his war against the Empire of Lynn. |
| 89 | %%* ''ComicBook/TheBoys'': It's beginning to look as if [[spoiler: Billy Butcher]] might be this to the boys, although given the CrapsackWorld that the work is set in, it might be more of a ''Necessarily'' Evil Mentor.%%Examples aren't recent. Is he or not? How? |
| 90 | * ''ComicBook/TheDeadBoyDetectives'''': In the 2004 miniseries Marquez teaches the boys some tricks on using their ghostly powers for investigation...in order to aid them in his agenda of killing Hob and stealing his immortality. |
| 91 | * ''ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}}'': Deathstroke does this as a hobby. He once acted as an Evil Mentor to Terra, before he realized too late that she was [[EvilerThanThou even more evil than him]]. He also tried to turn ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} evil in the "Renegade" storyline, but Nightwing turned that around by acting as a ''Good'' Mentor to Slade's daughter Rose which led to her HeelFaceTurn. He also founded an EvilCounterpart to the ComicBook/TeenTitans ''twice''. Slade in general has a disturbing interest in corrupting the next generation of superbeings. |
| 92 | ** In ''ComicBook/Outsiders2003'', while fighting Arsenal, he once mentioned that after he killed Roy he would take Lian and raise her to be an assassin. |
| 93 | * ''ComicBook/DoctorStrange'': Doctor Strange once had to learn dark magic from Kaluu, the rival of his original mentor known as the Ancient One, in order to combat the demon Shuma-Gorath. Deconstruction of the trope soon followed -- Kaluu may have been ruthless or pragmatic, but he still did far more good than harm. |
| 94 | * ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'': Sinestro is not only a mentor turned to evil, but he wanted Hal to join him, and repeatedly offers him a place at his side. Even after he truly performs his FaceHeelTurn, he occasionally still teaches Hal - otherwise his best student and, in a warped way, only friend - lessons about how to use a ring because while Hal's Will is the only one that [[SurpassedTheTeacher surpasses his own]] (not that he'd ever admit it), even after a decade, Sinestro knows tricks with a power ring that leave Hal gaping. Of course, Sinestro being Sinestro, this teaching is usually to put Hal in his place, or otherwise for his own ends. |
| 95 | * ''ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}'': Clint Barton's mentor Trickshot, the man who taught him archery in the first place, was this at first. He trained young Clint to be a great marksman -- so he could have an accomplice watching his back when he committed crimes. After being forced to shoot his own brother, Clint backed out of their arrangement, causing Trickshot to promise he'll live to regret that decision. [[spoiler:When they meet again in the present day, Trickshot gradually becomes Hawkeye's ally if not necessarily his friend.]] |
| 96 | * ''ComicBook/JewGangster'': The mobster Monk Shapiro is this to Reuben Kaplan, teaching him the ways of the gangster life, along with ancillary skills such as driving (and stealing) cars. |
| 97 | * ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'': |
| 98 | ** Alien sorcerer Murd the Oppressor from the ''Judge Child'' arc is revealed in ''Judgment Day'' to have been the zombie-controlling villain Sabbat's old mentor and taught him most of the tricks of {{necromancy}}. |
| 99 | ** The series ''ComicBook/TheFallOfDeadworld'' set in an AlternateUniverse features the gruff Judge Fairfax as its protagonist, who just wants to ride out the ensuing apocalypse. It turns out that in Law School he was the favorite protegé of none other than [[OmnicidalManiac Judge Death]], the monster who is destroying that world. Death still wants Fairfax back in his inner circle as his fourth lieutenant. |
| 100 | * ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'': Prometheus gives this a brief shot when he takes in a young sociopath named Chad Graham. He intends Chad to be his Robin, but the kid turns out to be a huge disappointment. Eventually he [[KillItWithFire sets him on fire]] for his trouble. |
| 101 | * ''ComicBook/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'': [[spoiler:Haazen]], secretly a Sith, taught Lucien most of what he knows, and has slowly been working to turn him toward the Dark side of the Force. |
| 102 | * ''ComicBook/NewGods'': Granny Goodness was a mentor for several villains from Apokolips, but also trained Scott Free (aka Mister Miracle) and Big Barda, both of whom eventually became heroes. |
| 103 | * ''ComicBook/{{Preacher}}'': Jody, the man who killed Jesse's father, served as an Evil Mentor and substitute father figure to the young Jesse. Jesse hates Jody with a fiery passion, but he's man enough to admit that he wouldn't be the man he is without Jody's abusive lessons; he picked up what he knows about horses and engines from watching him, and when he puts every single round from his pistol in the ten-ring of a target and is asked who taught him to shoot, he answers "Sadistic fuckin' madman I used to know. Long story." |
| 104 | * ''ComicBook/RedRobin'': Following Bruce's "death" when Tim is on his own ComicBook/RasAlGhul tried to step in as a mentor figure for Tim, and did for a little while but ''both'' of them had ulterior motives and Tim blew up multiple League of Assassins bases while ruing their computer network on his way out the door. He is concerned he may have slipped a little too close to breaking Batman's golden rule while working with Ra's but he doesn't plan on doing so again. |
| 105 | * ''ComicBook/{{Spawn}}'': The Clown/Violator was a demon tasked with training the Hellspawn Al Simmons and making sure that he fulfilled his purpose. |
| 106 | * ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': ComicBook/DoctorOctopus was this to Carolyn Trainer (aka Lady Octopus) and Stunner, who was also his lover. (Both were likely the only allies he had who truly had loyalty to him, and even ''he'' questioned what he had done to earn it.) |
| 107 | * ''ComicBook/StarWarsInvasion'': Master Dray is revealed to be this for Finn, as his lessons are intended to eventually make him embrace his anger and desire for vengeance. |
| 108 | * ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'': |
| 109 | ** In ''ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton2004'', Darkseid intended to be this to Supergirl, so he got her kidnapped and brainwashed her. However, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman ruined his plans when they rescued her. |
| 110 | ** In ''ComicBook/ElseworldsFinestSupergirlAndBatgirl'', ''ComicBook/LexLuthor'' was this to ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}''. He befriended her and became her father-like figure in order to manipulate her and kill her when she outlived her usefulness. |
| 111 | * ComicBook/{{Taskmaster}} is a Marvel villain who does this ''professionally''. Occasionally working for the ComicBook/RedSkull, he hires himself out to train mercenaries and super-villains; while some of his students have become successful super-villains -- or even heroes, more or less -- in their own right (examples include Crossbones and Cutthroat (also henchmen of the Skull), U.S. Agent, Hauptmann Deutschland, Diamondback, Spymaster, the original Spider-Woman, and Agent X) most of the time he just trains thugs to be low-rent henchmen and cannon fodder. (When working for the ComicBook/RedSkull, he can often cross the line to TreacherousAdvisor at times, in one case sending the more disappointing ones to be "sparring partners" for his boss, which was a death sentence. On his own, he's more by the book, in case one hiring other super-villains to form formal academies, like the time Anaconda worked for him as a calisthenics instructor.) |
| 112 | * ''ComicBook/{{Wanted}}'': The entire Fraternity serves as this to Wesley, but Solomon Seltzer and the Fox in particular. Their goal is to make him a powerful and feared {{supervillain}} like his father, but in a subversion, they ''do'' have his best interests at heart. [[spoiler:Wesley's father is a more distant version, as he doesn't reveal himself until the end to complete his son's training.]] |
| 113 | * ''ComicBook/WarOfKings'': Talon of the Fraternity of Raptors plays with this trope a bit. He he tells Darkhawk the origin of his powers, omitting that the powers are actually for intergalactic espionage and assassination. |
| 114 | [[/folder]] |
| 115 | |
| 116 | [[folder:Comic Strips]] |
| 117 | * Parodied in ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'' when [[BrilliantButLazy Wally]] mentors [[DitzyGenius Asok]] -- the presentation is comparable to serious examples of this trope, but the actual content is training in how to avoid having to work while still getting paid. Asok may or may not be [[CorruptTheCutie becoming more like Wally]], but if he is, it's a slow process. |
| 118 | [[/folder]] |
| 119 | |
| 120 | [[folder:Fairy Tales]] |
| 121 | * In "Literature/FarmerWeathersky" ([[https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/ptn/ptn51.htm here]]) the boy's master teaches him magic but will keep him forever unless his father can find and recognize him, which he manages only with difficulty. Father Weathersky then tries to get the boy back with trickery. |
| 122 | * In Creator/TheBrothersGrimm' "Literature/TheThiefAndHisMaster" ([[https://www.worldoftales.com/fairy_tales/Brothers_Grimm/Margaret_Hunt/The_Thief_and_his_Master.html#gsc.tab=0 link]]), the father only has to pay if he can't recognize his son, but the master uses magic to prevent him. And when the father succeeds, he tries to reclaim the boy. |
| 123 | [[/folder]] |
| 124 | |
| 125 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 126 | * ''Fanfic/AllForLuz'': [[Characters/AllForLuzAllForOne All For One]] acts as a SpiritAdvisor version of this to Luz, the inheritor of his Quirk. He teaches how to use her powers while subtly trying corrupt her into a colder, darker, and more brutal version of herself to make her a more ideal SuperiorSuccessor. |
| 127 | * Voldemort to Harry in the ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' fanfic ''Fanfic/AnAuntsLove''. Well, Bleys did say that Voldemort had to give him something twice, because of Voldemort's taking of his parents and his blood. This could be the way it happens. |
| 128 | * Daniel to Danny in the ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' fanfic ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4350896/1/Daniel_Masters Daniel Masters]]''. Slightly played with in that Daniel believes in BlackAndGreyMorality. He teaches Danny about some abilities, but -- because he actually respects Danny's character -- won't teach him the more... ''deadly'' skills until Danny asks. |
| 129 | ** Daniel himself is a willing BastardUnderstudy to his step-father, [[HappilyAdopted Vlad Masters]]. [[spoiler: When the two finally reunite, it's as [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes Heartwarming]] as it is [[BlackAndGreyMorality disturbing]].]] |
| 130 | * In the ''Literature/TheHungerGames''/''Series/{{Angel}}'' crossover "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10718717/1/Demon-s-Games Demon's Games]]", Alma Coin takes on this role for Gale during the rebellion, encouraging his more ruthless tendencies and desire for revenge against the Capitol so that he'll help her get rid of Angel, Coin convincing Gale that Angel's too kind to properly punish the Capitol residents for their past actions while claiming she'll deal with them as appropriate when really she just wants to be the one in charge. |
| 131 | * ''Fanfic/DungeonKeeperAmi'': The first Horned Reaper, a demon, teaches Ami how to be a keeper. |
| 132 | ** ''Fanfic/DungeonKeeperOfLoveAndJustice'': A RecursiveFanfiction of the above, which has this trope in common. |
| 133 | * Lama Nawang in ''Fanfic/FairVote''. |
| 134 | * ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/705578/1/Genma-s-Journal Genma’s Journal]] '' has the cast of Manga/RanmaOneHalf learn that Genma was ObfuscatingStupidity to conceal his motives to turn Ranma into TheUnfettered WorldsBestWarrior. |
| 135 | * Subverted in [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1644645/1/Harrys_Savior Harry's Savior]], when Voldemort is actually turned back to the light. |
| 136 | * While we're on the subject, [[spoiler: Quirrelmort]] in ''Fanfic/HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality''. Rather than try to kill Harry, he's instead trying to bring him around to his point of view. |
| 137 | * In ''Fanfic/HopeForTheHeartless'', it's revealed that the lessons that set [[WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron the Horned King]] to become the [[TheDreaded feared walord]] he's known as were originally learned centuries ago from [[AscendedExtra Arawn]], the [[NamesToRunAwayFrom/{{Nouns}} Death]] [[NamesToRunAwayFrom/{{Titles}} Lord]] of [[Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain Annuvin]] (whose spirit is [[SealedEvilInACan trapped]] inside [[ArtifactOfDoom the Black Cauldron]]). |
| 138 | * ''Fanfic/InnerDemons'': [[BigBad Queen!]][[FaceHeelTurn Twilight Sparkle]] is this to her closest minions, [[TheDragon Trixie]] especially. |
| 139 | * In the ''Literature/WarriorCats'' fanfiction ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13688255/3/A-Lion-s-Strength A Lion's Strength]]'', one of the deciding factors in whether Tigerclaw should be exiled or not is that his apprentice -- once a lively, happy kit -- is always withdrawn and visibly terrified around him. It's not proof that he murdered Redtail, but circumstantially it lends a lot of credence to Ravenpaw's accusations. |
| 140 | * In ''Fanfic/LittleBlackDeathNote'' [[Manga/DeathNote Light Yagami]] becomes this to [[Franchise/HarryPotter Harry Potter]] (who he intends to use as a pawn) and gives him TrainingFromHell, though Light fears he's going "too easy" on him because this is nothing compared to the "training" he recieved from his own mentor, [[OriginalCharacter Hondo Marukai]], who introduced Light to the Wizarding World. Marukai is a [[AffablyEvil kindly]], reclusive wizard of great power with a [[LaughablyEvil wicked sense of humor]]... [[spoiler: oh, and he too is a SerialKiller]]. |
| 141 | * ''Fanfic/AMothToAFlame'': The Core acts as this to Marcy, essentially the Palpatine to her Anakin Skywalker. [[TheCorrupter They encourage her to have a darker mentality]] that consists of ItsAllAboutMe, NeverMyFault, EntitledToHaveYou, ThatManIsDead and finally AGodAmI, turning her into a devout follower who is utterly dedicated to the MindHive. |
| 142 | * In ''Fanfic/PointOfSuccession'' Beyond Birthday plays this for [[CorruptTheCutie Mello]] and to an extent [[BreakThemByTalking Light]]. |
| 143 | * The ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'' has Celestia's {{Fallen A|ngel}}licorn brother [[SatanicArchetype Morning Star]] having taught Discord how to be an effective ManipulativeBastard. Though, naturally, Discord was already evil before he ever started learning from Morning Star. [[spoiler:Discord becomes this to Diamond Tiara later on, simultaneously breaking her mind to raise her into his new TheDragon.]] |
| 144 | * Tom Riddle really wants to mentor Rigel in ''Fanfic/TheRigelBlackChronicles'', in order to elevate him as a symbol of pureblood superiority, but has been misreading Rigel's character (notably, the fact that "Rigel" is really half-blood Harriett Potter in disguise) and so his efforts to reach out have fallen flat. Still, Riddle is known for being persistent in getting what he wants. |
| 145 | * In ''Fanfic/ThisBites'', [[spoiler:Sir Crocodile offers Vivi the tutelage of improving her Logia abilities to fight in the New World during the two years time skip, [[INeedYouStronger knowing that the Straw Hat Pirates' chaos will always leave him new opportunities]]. While enraged at the destruction Crocodile had brought before, Vivi accepts knowing those skills he will teach her are too invaluable to ignore. But she makes it clear that when she is strong enough, [[IllKillYou she will kill him for everything he had done to her country]]]]. |
| 146 | * ZigZagged in the ''Manga/DeathNote'' [[AlternateUniverseFic AU]] ''Fanfic/ThoseWhoStandForNothingFallForAnything'' where L the AmoralAttorney is this for Light the SleazyPolitician [[MindScrew but at the same time]] L also plays the role of Light's MoralityPet -- L wants to corrupt Light out of his [[WideEyedIdealist idealism]] and [[PureIsNotGood Light is idealistic but not good.]] |
| 147 | * ''Fanfic/{{Webwork}}'': Jade's transformation back into a Shadowkhan already screwed up her moral compass, but she's further corrupted by the tutoring of [[ManipulativeBastard Tarakudo]] and [[SpiderPeople the Jorogumo Queen]]. |
| 148 | * Played with in ''Fanfic/WhatAboutWitchQueen''. General Berg is EvilMentor to Kai, trying to buy him for his case, although he's more of WellIntentionedExtremist than outright evil and he's sorry for having to drag Kai into this entire mess. He's also hinted to honestly like Kai. |
| 149 | [[/folder]] |
| 150 | |
| 151 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 152 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisney'', Judge Claude Frollo takes the orphaned Quasimodo in as his ward and trains him for twenty years, hoping to one day make use of him to find the Court of Miracles. Quasimodo does not find out until later that Frollo was responsible for his mother's death. |
| 153 | * Deconstructed in ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'' when the eponymous villain, bored half to death after defeating his archnemesis [[TheCape Metroman]], decides to introduce a new adversary into his life. He trains unassuming cameraman Hal while disguised as Hal's "space dad". When he ambushes Hal later on after Hal becomes Titan and breaks the news that he was the one who trained him incognito, the roles are quickly reversed as Megamind is forced to stop Titan before he wrecks Metro City. |
| 154 | [[/folder]] |
| 155 | |
| 156 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 157 | * ''Film/AmericanHistoryX'': The white supremacist leader Cameron Alexander manipulates whole scores of youngsters into the Neo-Nazi lifestyle by presenting himself as a wise mentor. Like a true evil mentor, he also has no problems selling out his followers when it suits him. |
| 158 | * In ''Film/AnAmericanChristmasCarol'', Jack Latham taught Slade all he knows, even giving him last-minute advice on his deathbed. |
| 159 | * Henri Ducard/[[spoiler:Ra's al Ghul]] in ''Film/BatmanBegins''. He inducts Bruce Wayne into the League of Shadows and teaches him the skills of combat, camouflage, and how to strike fear into the minds of criminals. Their methods are ultimately too extreme for Bruce, as they would prefer to [[KnightTemplar kill all criminals without mercy and even destroy entire cities they deem too corrupt to survive with everyone inside]]. Even near the end, [[spoiler:the real Rha's Al Ghul calls Bruce his greatest student, and voices his regret that Bruce is not "saving" Gotham along with him by destroying it.]] |
| 160 | * ''Film/BlackLightning2009'': On a few occasions, Kuptsov tells Dima to live only for himself. Dima realizes later that Kuptsov is not just a SelfMadeMan, but is also TheSociopath. |
| 161 | %%* Jade Fox in ''Film/CrouchingTigerHiddenDragon''. |
| 162 | * John Milton in ''Film/TheDevilsAdvocate''. Curiously, he doesn't actively encourage Kevin to become an AmoralAttorney, just indirectly encourages him by surrounding him with the perks of being one, because he wants Kevin to choose that path himself. |
| 163 | * In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'', Yondu, the grouchy old leader of the Ravagers could be considered this to Quill, ''if'' you consider him evil. (Which is sort of [[BlackAndGrayMorality a grey area, as is the case with a lot of characters]]. Yondu is clearly an AntiVillain, and he's definitely a greedy and selfish mercenary, but he did help defend Nova against Ronan's army, so it's hard to classify him in such terms.) |
| 164 | * In film centering around Franchise/HannibalLecter, some fans interpret Hannibal as regarding himself as this to Clarice Starling in ''Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'' and ''Film/{{Hannibal}}'', but if so, it's ''entirely'' one-sided. |
| 165 | * In ''Film/KarateAMuerteEnTorremolinos'', we discover that Orloff had been Malvedades's disciple, even if they are now enemies. |
| 166 | * ''Film/TheKarateKid'' films are well-known for these. |
| 167 | ** ''Film/TheKarateKid1984'' has John Kreese indoctrinating his students (particularly his champion, Johnny Lawrence) under the "No-Mercy mindset", turning them into outright bullies as a result. It becomes much more personal with Johnny after Kreese nearly chokes him to death, and Johnny himself resenting Kreese 34 years later. |
| 168 | ** ''Film/TheKarateKidPartII'' is subverted with Sato Toguchi — while he is Chozen's sensei, along with his hatred for Mr. Miyagi influencing Chozen to pass it down to Daniel [=LaRusso=], he still has a sense of honor and moral code that Chozen lacks. This becomes outright averted when Sato reforms after Mr. Miyagi saves him from the typhoon and Chozen taking over as the film's BigBad and FinalBoss. |
| 169 | ** ''Film/TheKarateKidPartIII'' has Terry Silver as '''Daniel's''' EvilMentor, slowly training Daniel to become more and more vicious in his fighting tactics (while under the true intention of torturing Daniel on behalf of avenging his war buddy, Kreese, from the 1984 All-Valley loss). This climaxes when Daniel punches another guy in the nose at a dance, which makes him realize [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone what he has done]], prior to Silver revealing his true colors to him. He's also this to his champion, Mike Barnes, ordering him to abuse Daniel in the 1985 tournament, and [[spoiler:as ''Series/CobraKai'' Season 5 reveals, having him bully Daniel as part of his contract]]. |
| 170 | ** ''Film/TheNextKarateKid'' has Colonel Dugan, who basically is a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute to Kreese. |
| 171 | * In ''Film/KillBillVol2'', there's the Bride's sensei, Pai Mei. He's clearly a cruel man, and according to the film's mythology was responsible for the destruction of the Shaolin Temple because [[DisproportionateRetribution a Shaolin monk that he passed on the road didn't return the slight nod that he gave him]]. He's been known to snatch out the eyes of those who look on him with defiance and snap the backs and necks of those who give him sass like they were twigs. [[spoiler: This eventually gets him killed when he snatches out Elle Driver's right eye for calling him a "miserable old fool," and she retaliates by poisoning his fish heads]]. He hates Caucasians, despises Americans and has nothing but contempt for women. Despite this, the Bride, an [[MightyWhitey American, white]] [[LadyOfWar woman]], becomes his greatest student, the only one he teaches his [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique]]. She also learns to love him like a father, [[spoiler:eventually avenging his death by snatching out Driver's ''left'' eye.]] |
| 172 | * ''Franchise/StarWars'' |
| 173 | ** Anakin Skywalker and Chancellor Palpatine: "I can teach you things you need to know in order to save Padmé. Oh, and you'll have to kill a bunch of kids for me too, but never mind that now..." |
| 174 | ** This happens often in the Expanded Universe (Exar Kun to Ulic Qel-Droma, [[spoiler:Joruus C'baoth and the reborn Emperor Palpatine]] to Luke Skywalker, [[spoiler:Lumiya]] to Jacen Solo...). Since aside from a few periods of Sith ascendancy, the Jedi Order is usually a much larger organization with a correspondingly larger talent pool, corrupting a promising Jedi is a common method of producing the next Dark Lord of the Sith. Though it has mixed results for the Sith, when it does work it tends to work ''very well''. [[GoneHorriblyRight Sometimes]] [[KlingonPromotion too well]], but a Sith master already knows that's a risk they take when training ''anyone''. |
| 175 | ** Ben Solo had one in [[spoiler:Supreme Leader Snoke, who lured him to the Dark Side while he was training to be a Jedi, with much the same results as the Palpatine-Anakin mentorship]]. He then [[spoiler:offered to be one to Rey, but she refused]]. |
| 176 | * ''Film/TrainingDay'': Alonzo tries to groom Jake into becoming a DirtyCop. [[spoiler:When Alonzo fails to corrupt Jake, who's willing to stick to his principles, he ultimately sets him up to be killed by a bunch of gangsters.]] |
| 177 | * Gordon Gekko from ''Film/WallStreet''. In this case, it's the student who pushes for the mentor's advice. As soon as Bud Fox makes himself useful to Gekko's financial schemes, Gekko takes him under his wing and gives him the life he always wanted while teaching him to be driven solely by greed and use illegal means if necessary to ensure his profits. |
| 178 | * ''Film/TheWolfOfWallStreet'': Mark Hanna, despite only appearing in a couple of scenes, is one of the main influences for Jordan going from a well-intentioned NaiveNewcomer to a [[VillainProtagonist ruthless and amoral]] stockbroker. He's also the one who encourages Jordan to get into drugs. |
| 179 | * Sebastian Shaw towards Erik in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', who eventually took up Shaw's mutant supremacy ideology. A truly evil one at that, as Shaw killed his new student's mother in front of him to unleash the boy's powers and performed horrifying medical experiments on Erik. |
| 180 | [[/folder]] |
| 181 | |
| 182 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 183 | * Benedict Jacka's ''Literature/AlexVerus'' novel ''Fated'' the main character is an ex dark-apprentice who was recruited by a Dark mage in his late teens. |
| 184 | * Parodied and lampshaded at the end of ''Literature/AlmostNight'' with Dumbledalf. As a mentor, he would die or turn evil by the end. He chose the latter. |
| 185 | * Creator/PaoloBacigalupi: |
| 186 | ** In ''Literature/ShipBreaker'', Nailer's [[AxeCrazy insane]] [[DrugsAreBad drug addict]] [[ArchnemesisDad father Richard Lopez]], is the man who taught him how to swim, how to fight, and how to survive. This doesn't stop Nailer from recognising Richard for the dangerous loose cannon that he is, and while he is grateful to his father [[spoiler:ultimately ends up killing him in the climax]]. |
| 187 | ** In ''Literature/TheDrownedCities'', [[TheDragon Lieutenant Sayle]] is an Evil Mentor to Sargeant Ocho and the other soldier boys in his company. While the others look up to the LT, Ocho is fully aware of [[SociopathicSoldier what]] [[PsychoForHire Sayle]] [[ColonelKilgore is]], and [[spoiler:turns on him in the end.]] |
| 188 | * ''Literature/TheBlackArrow'': Sir Daniel Brackley murdered Harry Shelton, heir of Tunstall, and obtained guardianship of his minor son Dick to hijack his inheritance. When Dick discovers Sir Daniel's plot, his mentor attempts to murder him. |
| 189 | * Creator/TeresaEdgerton's ''Literature/TheCastleOfTheSilverWheel'': The dwarf Brangwengwen, a partially trained, elderly witch, knows the castle well enough to get into the Princess Diaspad's old rooms and thus to her old spellbooks (which feature BlackMagic), and offers instruction in witchcraft to Gwenlliant (who otherwise has no teacher, and few people to talk to). |
| 190 | * ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': |
| 191 | ** Justin [=DuMorne=], Harry's guardian and first teacher in magic. Later in the series, the fallen angel Lasciel attempts to become an Evil Mentor by teaching Harry how to power his spells with literal hellfire. [[spoiler:It doesn't work. If anything, Lasciel's image is "corrupted" by Harry, whose fundamental decency actually bleeds over into her.]] |
| 192 | ** Also Lea, his [[OurFairiesAreDifferent faerie]] [[TheFairFolk godmother]] who, while she never tries to corrupt Harry, is extremely dangerous and not overburdened with morals, beyond the usual faery sensibilities. |
| 193 | ** In ''Ghost Story'' [[spoiler: Lea moves onto teaching Molly as well. And in a MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment Harry calls ''himself'' one of these by bargaining with [[TheFairFolk Mab]] for power while officially employed as Molly's role model.]] |
| 194 | ** Harry wonders if the reason he survived [[spoiler:his battle with He Who Walks Behind]] was that the latter was trying to ''train'' Harry, not kill him.[[spoiler: The answer, it turns out, is a little of both; the Walker was holding back to give Harry a chance, but by the time it had realized that Harry was actually in a position to harm it, it was already weakened enough that it didn't dare risk another attack and fled.]] |
| 195 | * In Sukhinov's ''Emerald City'' decalogy, The Wicked Witch of the East (Named Gingema in text) adopts Corina, a little Munchkin girl, and trains her in magic. Needless to say, Corina ends up massively screwed up (though not outright evil). |
| 196 | * ''Franchise/HarryPotter'': |
| 197 | ** ZigZagged in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'' with [[spoiler:Barty Crouch Junior. While in his Moody disguise, he teaches his students about the [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique Unforgivable Curses]] in ways that were almost certainly completely illegal. However, his lessons are useful and instructive and Harry even learns to fight off the powerful [[MindControlDevice Imperius curse]] completely thanks to him. Despite being thoroughly evil, Crouch ends up being one of the most competent and helpful teachers Harry ever runs into and his lessons have no negative or morally ambiguous results. It can be argued that this was a result of him either [[BecomingTheMask playing the role of Moody FAR too well]] or simply not caring about whether the kids were properly trained or not, or perhaps likely, [[PragmaticVillainy figuring that, with Voldemort's return approaching, a fourth-year defense education would not give any significant advantage to the "other side" and that there's no reason not to do a credible job.]] His students admit that despite him being a lunatic they still managed to learn loads from him.]] |
| 198 | ** Another Evil Mentor's Book is the annotated Potions textbook in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'': Harry has no idea what one of the spells written in the book does until he uses it on Draco Malfoy and severely injures him. |
| 199 | * In ''In the Midnight Hour'' by Patti O'Shea, Ryne's mentor Anise turns to the dark side. Ryne doesn't know for sure during her years-long training period with Anise that she's secretly evil but eventually figures out that she must have been bad all along. (You'd think Anise's kinky bedroom antics would have been a clue.) As the person closest to her, Ryne is assigned to be the one who takes Anise down, and she's afraid that she may turn to the dark side as well. |
| 200 | * In the ''Literature/KnightAndRogueSeries'' the man whose name is not Jack Bannister is a variant of this for Fisk. The skills he was teaching were along the lines of conning and burglary, so it wasn't as though Fisk didn't know he was a bad guy, he just turned out to be a much greater {{Jerkass}} than Fisk had first thought. His last lesson to Fisk is that life sucks, and when Fisk finally recovers from the schooling, Jack tries to reinforce the lesson by [[spoiler:having Michael tossed off a cliff]]. |
| 201 | * Viv Ivins in the ''Literature/LeftBehind'' prequel books serves this role to Marilena Carpathia when she seeks to be pregnant and ends up becoming the mother to the future Antichrist Nicolae Carpathia until [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness she is killed off]]. |
| 202 | * Literature/LightAndDarkTheAwakeningOfTheMageknight: Played with. While [[spoiler:Syndil]] is hinted to be this from his intro and [[spoiler: does eventually FaceHeelTurn]] it's implied that he was driven by despair. [[spoiler: He wanted the Mageknight to met his expectations.]] He did his best to develop his powers and those of the other knights until then. |
| 203 | * Pythie Frederica from ''Literature/MagicalGirlRaisingProject'' trains Snow White to become a strong warrior and ideal MagicalGirl when Snow White decides she needs to become stronger so as to not be useless anymore. Pythie is also willing to kill anyone that holds Snow White back from becoming the ideal Magical Girl and forces other Magical Girls to kill each other in death games in order to create more ideal Magical Girls. This leads her to being arrested by her own student, which Pythie is okay with as she believes Snow White has become what she was searching for. |
| 204 | * ''The Return of the Home Run Kid'' by Matt Christopher (sequel to ''The Kid Who Only Hit Homers'') is essentially the G-rated version of this. The mentor is a former baseball player kicked out for betting against his own team, and he teaches the main character tricks like how to fake getting hit by a pitch. (It's not entirely clear [[FelonyMIsdemeanor how this is worse]] than cheating through magic in the previous book, but it's pretty clear that we're supposed to see this as a negative development.) |
| 205 | * ''Literature/ScavengeTheStars'': Boon acts as Amaya's benefactor and teaches her all his criminal skills as a way to get revenge on the people who've wronged her. |
| 206 | * Littlefinger from ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' ends up becoming this for [[spoiler: [[BreakTheCutie Sansa Stark]].]]. He has... [[ParentalIncest paternal]] feelings for her. |
| 207 | ** Also, the Three-Eyed Crow [[spoiler:aka Brynden "Bloodraven" Rivers]] serves as one of these to Bran... maybe. The ambiguity isn't whether or not he's a mentor, because he is training Bran in how to use his greenseer and warg abilities. The ambiguity comes from whether he really can be considered evil. [[spoiler:Before he went and merged with a tree, Bloodraven went to truly extreme lengths to destroy House Blackfyre and their rival claim to the Iron Throne, to the point that King Aegon V, the direct beneficiary of his actions, sent him to the Wall in disgust. On the other hand, his extermination of the Blackfyres brought nearly half a century of relative peace to Westeros, so it could well be a case of TheExtremistWasRight, and Bloodraven is on record giving IDidWhatIHadToDo as his reason for his actions. And given the nature of [[ProphecyTwist greensight]], he may not have had a choice in the matter. Despite his intentions, however, most of Westeros remembers Bloodraven as a villainous sorcerer and EvilChancellor.]] |
| 208 | * Joruus C'baoth in ''Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy'' calls Luke to him, and for a few days Luke follows him around trying to learn from him but quickly comes to believe that C'baoth was insane and had possibly fallen to the Dark Side. C'baoth believes himself to be [[AGodAmI the ultimate authority]], naturally above [[WhatMeasureIsANonSuper those who are not Jedi]]. This is cinched when Luke tries to leave with Mara Jade and they are attacked, and later when they find that he was working with Thrawn. |
| 209 | ** Interestingly played with in ''Literature/OutboundFlight'', with Jorus C'baoth ([[CloningGambit the original]]) and his interest in the 14-year-old Anakin Skywalker. The original C'baoth had a superiority complex and beliefs [[InTheBlood much like his clone's]], though slightly less obvious (since C'baoth hasn't actually gone insane ''yet''). Obi-Wan is uneasy about this. Anakin, in some of the most subtle this-kid-isn't-gonna-turn-out-right characterization in or out of the ExpandedUniverse, thinks that C'baoth is awesome. He solves things so ''quickly'', and he doesn't take nonsense from anyone. |
| 210 | * ''Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium'': |
| 211 | ** In the Second Age, Sauron taught Celebrimbor and his smiths the art of ring-craft, but never told them that the rings included binding magic (and could be controlled by the [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings One Ring]]). He was also a full-on Evil Mentor to the last king of Númenor. |
| 212 | ** Morgoth claimed to be this to Feanor in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', but in reality, Feanor couldn't stand him, so he was more the mentor to ''everyone else''. Which didn't help matters. |
| 213 | * [[EvilSorcerer The Morgawr]] to [[DarkMagicalGirl The Ilse Witch]] in ''Literature/TheVoyageOfTheJerleShannara''. |
| 214 | * Falcone in the ''Literature/WarchildSeries'' plays this role for Yuri. He attempts it with Jos and Cairo, too, but they don't jump at his call and both reject his teachings at once. Only Yuri follows Falcone's training and instruction without protest. |
| 215 | * Sacrifice acts as one in ''Literature/WhenTheHuntingPartyCame'' |
| 216 | [[/folder]] |
| 217 | |
| 218 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 219 | * ''Series/{{Angel}}'' has Holland Manners, a senior attorney at [[EvilInc Wolfram & Hart]] who considers Lindsey [=MacDonald=] as his protégé. He's actually quite similar to Wilkins from ''Angel's'' parent show, though he leans more toward the AmbitionIsEvil side of things. |
| 220 | ** Angel himself, or rather [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Angelus]], was this for Spike and Penn. He taught Penn to murder his family and leave a signature cross carved in his victims' cheeks. Spike has said that while Drusilla sired him, Angelus was the one that taught him to be a ruthless, evil killer. |
| 221 | * It's revealed late in ''Series/BabylonFive'''s third season that [[spoiler:The Shadows]] view themselves as essentially this. They spread chaos and war and corrupt people because they are {{Social Darwinist}}s who want to encourage people towards their version of 'freedom' and help them evolve by cutting loose all fetters and encouraging and aiding [[AmbitionIsEvil those with ambition]]. |
| 222 | -->'''Morden''': It's like knocking over an anthill. Every new generation gets stronger. The anthill gets redesigned, made better.\ |
| 223 | '''Sheridan''': So that's what [[spoiler:the Shadows]] do. Come out every few thousand years, and kick over all the anthills, start wars, destroy entire races.\ |
| 224 | '''Justin''': A few get lost along the way, yes, and that's unfortunate. I don't think it was ever easy, but you can't let that get in the way of the dream. |
| 225 | * ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': |
| 226 | ** The Master to the Anointed One. |
| 227 | ** Professor Maggie Walsh to Riley. |
| 228 | ** Mayor Wilkins represents an Evil Mentor / {{Parental Substitute}} to Faith, the series' renegade Slayer. While not directly causing her StartOfDarkness, he genuinely cares for Faith very deeply. Perversely, Wilkins is the closest thing to a father that Faith has. |
| 229 | ** Also Gwendolyn Post, Faith's treacherous Watcher. Faith ''really'' can't catch a break... |
| 230 | * On ''Series/BurnNotice'', we learn that Larry "[[RunningGag Dead Larry]]" Sizemore, the man who trained Michael Westen in most of what he knows, eventually [[FakingTheDead faked his own death]] and went freelance. He's now a PsychoForHire [[ProfessionalKiller contract killer]] who enjoys using poisons and knives way too much and thinks that MurderIsTheBestSolution to any obstacle. He's also trying to get Michael to be more like him. |
| 231 | --> '''Larry''': Well it's nice to see you too, Michael, and Sam! I also see you... seriously, pal, we do twenty missions on three continents and this is how you greet me?\ |
| 232 | '''Michael''': Well, that was before you [[FakingTheDead faked your own death]] and came back [[InLoveWithYourCarnage without a]] [[BloodKnight soul.]] |
| 233 | ** Michael admits that with hindsight, he can tell how unbalanced Larry always was. They worked together during a crazy time, so he seemed somewhat sane in comparison. It's also implied that Larry faking his death allowed Michael to spend more time with saner people, leading to him recognizing Larry for what he was. |
| 234 | * ''Series/CobraKai'' |
| 235 | ** The series explores further how John Kreese is this as a sensei, showing his preference for latching onto students who have messed up homelives or who are lost like Johnny, Hawk, Tory, and eventually [[spoiler:Robby]], filling the void as a "protective" father figure, and then turning his back on and weeding out "the weak ones", and basically warping whoever is left into vicious and violent thugs that follow his ideology. When Johnny’s high school buddies and Cobra-Kai dojo mates Bobby, Jimmy, and Tommy meet with Johnny they're ''horrified'' that he's given Kreese a second chance as they're all unanimous in that, while [[EvilFeelsGood being the bad guys felt good]], all of their lives were worse because of it (the biggest example being their friend Dutch, who has spent much of his life in and out of prison because of his antics and the philosophy he learned from Kreese) and how their lives all improved when they turned their backs on Cobra Kai and straightened out their lives. Johnny eventually becomes deadset on ''not'' being an evil mentor, believing that the discipline, toughness, and bad-assery of Cobra Kai can be taught ''without'' the mercilessness, thuggery, and outright villainy that Kreese teaches. In one episode he explains that his vision for the dojo is all about becoming a bad-ass, and that a true bad-ass wins without needing to cheat, fighting without honor, or hitting opponents who are down or helpless. |
| 236 | ** And guess who else comes back? Terry Silver, and what really stands out about him not seen in ''Part III'' is his emphasis on CombatPragmatism, discovering opponents' weaknesses, and his belief that unlike Kreese, who is all about forming a strong core and weeding out the "weak ones", anyone can become a champion — which is why he puts further emphasis on enlisting female students and favors unorthodox fighters like Kenny, Piper, and eventually [[spoiler:Devon]]. And that's not counting the fact that he secretly bribes the ref in competitions as an "insurance policy" to give leniency advantage to his fighters. Season 5 has him fully focused on his desire to pass on Kim Sun-Yung's legacy to global levels after he takes over the dojo and uses it as a corporate empire; so that '''everyone''' (or at least a good chunk of the world) will embrace his style of "no honor, no mercy." |
| 237 | * In ''Series/Daredevil2015'', Matt Murdock has Stick as a mentor. He taught him how to sense when he was a child. When Matt gifted him a bracelet, he destroyed it and abandoned him. He reappeared later in his life to destroy a Black Sky. It turned out that the Black Sky was a [[spoiler: child, and he fatally shot the child with an arrow]]. This turned Matt against him again. They fought before he left again. |
| 238 | * In ''Series/TheFlash2014'', it is revealed that [[spoiler:Harrison Wells]], Barry's mentor, is secretly [[spoiler:the man in yellow, i.e., the Reverse Flash]]. The reason for that is [[spoiler:Eobard Thawne, the Flash's nemesis from the distant future, went back in time to when Barry was 12 to try to kill him, only to be stopped by Future!Barry. Angry, Thawne killed Barry's mother out of spite but discovered that the time jump robbed him of a stable connection to the Speed Force, stranding him in the past. Killing and taking the face of the real Dr. Wells, Thawne built the particle accelerator several years earlier than intended in order to create the Flash himself in order to eventually use Barry's connection to the Speed Force to get back home]]. Later, [[spoiler:Barry's new mentor Jay Garrick, the Flash of Earth 2, turns out to be the same person as Zoom, the evil speedster of Earth 2. As Zoom, he keeps sending enemies to try and kill Barry. As Jay, he trains Barry to be faster. His end goal is to siphon away Barry's speed for himself in order to cure his degenerative condition, caused by his abuse of the Velocity SuperSerum]]. Averted with [[spoiler:Harry Wells, Harrison's Earth-2 doppleganger]]; despite being kind of an ass and frequently advocating ruthlessly pragmatic options, he's ultimately a JerkWithAHeartOfGold. Also averted with [[spoiler:the real Jay Garrick, the Flash of Earth 3. It helps that Jay is the double of Barry's late father, so Barry is predisposed to trusting him]]. |
| 239 | * ''Series/GameOfThrones'': |
| 240 | ** The show reimagines the character of Dagmer into one of these for [[spoiler:Theon Grejoy]]. He feeds his pupil's ambition and feelings of insecurity, clinging on to feed off his success. [[spoiler:When Theon intends to die in a blaze of glory alongside his men, Dagmer knocks him unconscious and sells him to their enemies for a ticket home. Ramsay Snow takes Theon but has Dagmer flayed alive instead when he captures the Ironborn, possibly for his treachery, but more likely because he just thought it'd be fun.]] |
| 241 | ** Littlefinger seems to have begun coaching Sansa in how to play the game of thrones in Season 4. |
| 242 | ** Roose tries to be to Robb. He definitely is one to Ramsay. His "mentoring" of them is actually the opposite approach to reach the same goal: Roose tries to make Robb become more sadistic and cruel, while he tries the opposite with Ramsay. In the end, it's for the ultimate goal of making them embrace his own pragmatic villainy. |
| 243 | * In Season 2 of ''Series/{{Heroes}}'', BigBad Adam Monroe takes under his wing resident IdiotHero Peter Petrelli, successfully [[ManipulativeBastard manipulating]] him into furthering his plans to release an apocalyptic virus upon the Earth. |
| 244 | ** In the same season, Sylar acts as a mentor to Maya, teaching her how to control [[WalkingWasteland her power]] without the help of her brother. And in late Season 3, Sylar himself meets up with his father, a RetiredMonster who used to be just like him and who convinces him that he needs to stop hunting "small game" and go after real power. This eventually inspires Sylar to [[spoiler:try to kill the President and take his place using VoluntaryShapeshifting]]. |
| 245 | * ''Franchise/KamenRider'' seems to enjoy this trope. |
| 246 | ** ''Series/KamenRiderRyuki'' had the Alternates, who believe that in order to save a thousand lives, they must kill at least one person and have been aiming to kill a central character for her ties to the Mirror World. They taught their student, a participant in the [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne Rider War]], the "kill one, save a thousand" motto. [[spoiler:What they didn't bank on was that he'd take it to mean that if he killed ''them'', he'd save a thousand.]] |
| 247 | ** ''Series/KamenRiderDouble'' has Shroud, who gave her student his TransformationTrinket after he lost his parents to a Dopant attack. The evil kicks in when it's revealed that she was the one who gave the Dopant ''his'' trinket as well and both of them were her attempts at a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the BigBad. She didn't intend for the Dopant to turn out as monstrous as he did, though, and Terui eventually manages to show Shroud the error of her ways. |
| 248 | ** Ankh of ''Series/KamenRiderOOO'' thinks he's this, but his intended puppet turns out to be an exemplar of ObfuscatingStupidity and instead starts the slow process of turning Ankh into a JerkWithAHeartOfGold. |
| 249 | ** ''Series/KamenRiderWizard'' has its evil mentor double as its BigBad, as Wiseman and the White Wizard are proven to be one and the same, sending Phantoms to drive the VictimOfTheWeek to despair as Wiseman and having Haruto kill the Phantoms as the White Wizard. His real goal is to find four victims who become new wizards instead of new Phantoms so that he can use them as sacrifices to resurrect his daughter. |
| 250 | ** ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'' receives frequent advice and gifts from DJ Sagara, who at first appears to be a humble Yggdrasil employee before steadily revealing himself to be the avatar of the Helheim Forest itself, and thus the EldritchAbomination behind everything, with his gifts pushing Kouta to win the fight for the Golden Fruit. Unusually for the franchise, [[KarmaHoudini Sagara gets away with everything]], being treated as a force of nature rather than a person. |
| 251 | ** ''Series/KamenRiderDrive'' has the Angel Roidmude, villain of the ''Kamen Rider Chaser'' film, who offers [[GettingSmiliesPaintedOnYourSoul the ability to experience human emotions]] to the android Chase. It works as advertised, but the modification makes him no longer able to become a Kamen Rider, and will eventually cause him to become catatonic from bliss. She intends to do this to ''everyone'', human and Roidmude alike, to produce a WorldOfSilence. |
| 252 | ** ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'' repeats Gaim's trick in a more complex manner: all sides of the show's conflict are pushed and prodded along in their LensmanArmsRace by Blood Stalk, who seems oddly unconcerned with gathering any more power of his own. While he favors Sento and Banjou as the main targets of his pushing, he'll just as gladly hand other characters the keys to more power in order to give them a steady stream of appropriate rivals to fight. |
| 253 | * ''Series/Liar2017'': When [[spoiler:Andrew]] discovered [[spoiler:Oliver]] was a {{serial rapist}} he confronted him, but instead of handing Oliver over he ended up being instructed how to get away with rape. |
| 254 | * Of a sort on ''[[Series/{{PersonofInterest}} Person of Interest]]''. Kara and Snow act as sort-of mentors for Reese in the CIA, yet they are both series villains. |
| 255 | ** Played more straight with [[spoiler:Hersh]] and Shaw, but not entirely since [[spoiler:Hersh]] is more of a PunchClockVillain. Indeed, he gets a HeelFaceTurn [[spoiler:and dies trying to save innocent people in an explosion, [[KarmicDeath one similar to the very explosion he triggered to kill Nathan Ingram (which also killed innocents).]]]] |
| 256 | * Franchise/PowerRangers: |
| 257 | ** ''Series/PowerRangersJungleFury'': The ancient spirit Dai Shi [[DemonicPossession hijacks Jarrod]], hoping to better understand the human experience so he can more easily rid the world of them. [[TheOlderImmortal The Sky, Sea, and Earth Overlords]] train Dai Shi to adjust to his new body, and help him suppress Jarrod or being out the most useful parts of Jarrod's personality. |
| 258 | ** ''Series/PowerRangersCosmicFury'': Lord Zedd brainwashes Ollie the Blue Ranger, essentially making the boy into TheDragon for the season. Having previously mind-controlled Ollie for one episode [[Series/PowerRangersDinoFury last season]], Zedd puts in the effort to make sure Ollie stays evil this time, acting as a twisted father figure to him. |
| 259 | * ''Series/RomperStomper'': Vic/Cackles is revealed to have inducted Kane into Neo-Nazism. |
| 260 | * The mentor of ''Series/{{Smallville}}'''s version of ComicBook/GreenArrow is a cold-blooded murderer and looks down on Ollie for becoming a superhero. In Season 5, [[RoboticPsychopath Brainiac]] begins as one for [[TheHero Clark]]. |
| 261 | * The Female Changeling from ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' serves as this to Odo, with a strong dose of [[TheVamp vamp]]. In "The Search", she teaches him about the history of the Changeling race and helps him hone his shapeshifting abilities. When Odo discovers that she and the other Founders lead the tyrannical Dominion, he leaves her. Later, during the occupation of Deep Space Nine, she teaches him more about his people and [[GRatedSex links with him.]] |
| 262 | ** Garak takes on this role for Sisko in the episode ''In The Pale Moonlight'', though given the [[GreyAndGreyMorality nature of the series]] his manipulation of the Captain into lies, forgery, and murder [[GodzillaThreshold is only debatably evil]]. |
| 263 | * ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': The demons usually take up this role towards the heroes. |
| 264 | ** The Yellow-Eyed Demon, Azazel, fancied himself this and sort of managed it, in a ham-handed way, with the rest of his specials, but Sam has a personal grudge and HeroicWillpower and a big brother, so it never really worked. [[spoiler: Ruby's the follow-up.]] |
| 265 | ** Ruby. She spends a season being mysterious and helpful before Dean dies, and then provides the bereaved Sam with emotional support, and encourages him to develop his PsychicPowers, which are [[BadPowersBadPeople of demonic origin]], in order to avenge Dean. Even though he'd promised Dean he wouldn't use them. [[spoiler: She gets him hooked on [[PsychoSerum demon blood]], a power booster that turns out to be [[DrunkOnTheDarkSide highly addictive]] as well as revolting, and ultimately uses him to free TheDevil. She was [[ThanatosGambit Lilith's]] inside woman all along.]] Even though he showed a lot of TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget markers, he never got further than a rather lukewarm WellIntentionedExtremist...unless he actually ''exsanguinated'' that poor nurse Cindy, but that ''was'' a once-off. He trespasses rather badly against his family, but almost all of it is either under [[MindControl siren venom]] or in the throes of withdrawal. Sam is actually a really good guy, but no one [[DeathSeeker including Sam]] really believes that even a little for much of Season 5. |
| 266 | ** Alastair to Dean. When Dean was in Hell he tortured Dean for decades until he broke completely, and then taught him the arts of torture so his student could apply his teachings on the new arrivals. Plays up the avuncular thing kind of the way Azazel used to. Thankfully no signs of UsefulNotes/StockholmSyndrome, at least not that survived his resurrection. |
| 267 | ** Lucifer toyed with the role as well. These idiots will ''not'' leave Sam ''alone''. On the other hand, [[CameBackWrong Soulless Sam]] in six didn't need Samuel's influence to be a cold sonuvabitch. |
| 268 | ** Season 6 [[spoiler:Crowley to Cas]], a bit. Not that the latter isn't the more powerful, but the former leads him by the nose with the hope of knowledge he can use to end the war, and his [[DealWithTheDevil partnership with the devil's replacement]] drags him down until the MoralEventHorizon makes a faint ''whooshing'' sound as it flies by. Somewhere around the time he started killing his friends so they couldn't stop him, maybe? And then he succeeds and goes batshit insane. |
| 269 | ** In the eighth season episode "Freaks and Geeks", Victor Rogers takes in three orphaned teenagers and trains them to hunt the sort of monsters that killed their families. If that was all he did, it would be downright heartwarming by ''Supernatural'''s standards. Unfortunately, he's also the one who arranged their families' murders in the first place and had innocent people turned to play the part of the villains for the RoaringRampageOfRevenge. |
| 270 | * On ''Series/{{The Wire}}'', Chris and Snoop, Marlo Stanfield's top enforcers, tutor [[spoiler: Micheal]] in the ways of the game. |
| 271 | * Played for laughs in ''Series/YesMinister'' by Sir Humphrey Appleby, who has this kind of relationship with Bernard, a young and naive civil servant. |
| 272 | [[/folder]] |
| 273 | |
| 274 | [[folder:Manhua]] |
| 275 | * ''Manhua/TheCelestialZone'': Xue Wu runs across one of these near the end of the series. Given that his insane competitiveness has been pushing him down the slippery slope, and that a villain recently gave him the [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim If You Kill Me You Will Be Just Like Me]] speech right before he kebabed her, it doesn't end well. |
| 276 | [[/folder]] |
| 277 | |
| 278 | [[folder:Professional Wrestling]] |
| 279 | * When Wrestling/RingOfHonor decided to officially launch its own women's division in 2015, Kelly Klein signed on as a chance to reinvent herself. BJ Whitmer, who had come to embrace the fact he was an "evil man", jumped on this chance to ensure someone would carry on his evil legacy and turned out to be [[SoProudOfYou very proud]] of the results.[[/folder]] |
| 280 | |
| 281 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 282 | * The Dark playbook from ''TabletopGame/InterstitialOurHeartsIntertwined'' works by manipulating other players, and is even specifically referred to as a mirror to The Mystic (whose moves are based on MentorArchetype tropes). |
| 283 | * ''TabletopGame/TheOneRing'': {{Downplayed|Trope}} as the game is set in [[Literature/TolkiensLegendarium Middle-earth]] before the time of Saruman's fall to the Shadow. Nonetheless, a PlayerCharacter can study under him to gain a bonus proficiency in Shadow Lore at the cost of a permanent [[KarmaMeter Shadow point]]. |
| 284 | * In ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'', Changelings are the daughters of humans and hags. Their wicked mothers typically leave them among humans to be raised, but at some point, they will feel "the call" to join their mothers and receive training in witchcraft, and eventually have the opportunity to submit to depravity and become hags themselves. Some embrace this, some ignore the call entirely, and some accept some training ([[DarkIsNotEvil not all witches are bad, after all]]) but leave before taking the final steps. |
| 285 | [[/folder]] |
| 286 | |
| 287 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 288 | * Roy Cohn to Joe Pitt in ''Theatre/AngelsInAmerica''. Despite being a hideously loathsome man, he has a genuine affection for Joe and offers him much in the way of (what he thinks of as) advice, which later leads to problems when Joe refuses to believe his "questionable but good-at-heart" mentor could do the kind of horrible things Roy Cohn [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome really did]]. |
| 289 | * Madame Morrible to Glinda and Elphaba in ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}''. |
| 290 | [[/folder]] |
| 291 | |
| 292 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 293 | * In the video game tie-in to ''VideoGame/TheAmazingSpiderMan2'', [[EgomaniacHunter Kraven the Hunter]] acts as this to Spider-Man. He teaches Spidey his hunting techniques and how to apply them to crimefighting, but only as a pretense to study the wall-crawler and figure out how best to kill him. |
| 294 | * The Baron in ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent'' is revealed to be this [[spoiler: for Daniel]] towards the very end -- though if the ''player'' didn't suspect this long beforehand, they might be carrying the IdiotBall. |
| 295 | * [[spoiler:[[TheMaster Al Mualim]]]] in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI'', who, at the end of the game, [[spoiler:uses the Apple Of Eden to turn everyone in Masyaf into his MindControl slaves who constantly praise him and his every deed]]. |
| 296 | * ''VideoGame/ClawsOfFurry'': [[spoiler:Your sensei, as it turned out, was planning on ripping your soul out of your body once you freed him from the chains he was bound by. And you're not the first cat he's done this to either, as he states he's trained cats for hundreds of years, and removed all of their souls in the same way.]] |
| 297 | * ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII'': The player characters likely resort to this to [[TimeToUnlockMoreTruePotential unlock their Source powers]] in Act II, as their erstwhile mentor has been [[DePower De-Powered]] and their other options include a {{Soul Eat|ing}}er, the [[ProperlyParanoid paranoid]] creator of a heinous PhlebotinumBomb, an ally of the BigBad, and a [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demon]]. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d if a PC asks the mentor if she ''really'' expects them to get lessons from {{Evil So|rcerer}}urcerers: she reminds them that the alternative is to let the world end. |
| 298 | * In ''VideoGame/DragonBallXenoverse'', [[spoiler: villains like Captain Ginyu, Frieza, and Cell]] can become TheHero's mentor. For [[spoiler: Ginyu,]] he wants to train them because he thinks they're candidates to expand [[spoiler: the Ginyu Force.]] For [[spoiler: Frieza,]] he wants the hero to become his minion, having heard so much about them from [[spoiler: Ginyu.]] And [[spoiler: Cell?]] Well, for no reason other than he's bored and wants to make a game of training an imperfect creature to become perfect -- but becomes very [[VillainTakesAnInterest intrigued]] by the hero's growing power that he now wants them to become his ''rival''. |
| 299 | * ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' |
| 300 | ** Throughout the series, Hagravens, a species of flightless [[HarpingOnAboutHarpies harpy]] who were [[WasOnceAMan once mortal women]] that traded their humanity for [[MageSpecies access to powerful magic]], serve as these to still-mortal witches. Eventually, these mortal witches undergo the ritual as well, becoming Hagravens themselves. |
| 301 | ** The series' [[OurLichesAreDifferent Liches]] commonly serve as these to still-mortal {{necromancer}}s, who hope to one day become Liches themselves. |
| 302 | ** A book in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' talks about how [[OurGodsAreDifferent Nocturnal]]'s cowl was stolen. A young thief tries to steal from a master thief, who summarily catches her but lets her be his protege. Eventually, they plan a heist to [[DidYouJustScamCthulhu steal the cowl of Nocturnal]]. The young thief is to wait in a nearby tree, wait for Nocturnal to remove her cowl, then let the elder make a distraction. When the distraction never comes, the young thief attempts to steal the cowl without help. After she is caught, she looks over to realize that Nocturnal's cowl is gone. When asked who she is, she says, [[IronicEcho "I'm the distraction."]] |
| 303 | * In ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'', [[spoiler:Sun Li has been training your character in martial arts so that you can kill his brother, Emperor Sun Hai, only for him to assassinate you and claim the imperial throne for himself.]] |
| 304 | * ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series: |
| 305 | ** Riku had this as a recurring problem. The power he learned from Maleficent and Ansem was too useful not to use but gave him serious self-image issues. |
| 306 | ** Terra and Master Xehanort in ''Birth by Sleep''. After Terra's brief use of dark power costs him his Mark of Mastery exam, Xehanort takes advantage of Terra's strained relationship with the mentor (Eraqus) and offers him the validation he craves. While Riku later proves that darkness can be safely channeled, Xehanort's "comfort" is entirely self-serving. It's like Anakin and Palpatine compressed into one story. |
| 307 | * ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'': |
| 308 | ** Kreia is an ex-Jedi extremely disillusioned with the Order and is quickly revealed to be a former Sith Lord as well. Her lessons to you are mostly ones of bitter and at times ruthless pragmatism, encouraging you to only help others if it helps you and to manipulate people to your own ends. [[spoiler:She is also the BigBad, but unlike a TreacherousAdvisor she never uses her mentor position to backstab the protagonist, as she actually cares for The Exile -- her training was a legitimate attempt to groom a successor. She turns on you only as a means to impart her final, cynical lesson: mentors are {{Manipulative Bastard}}s and you should forge your own path.]] |
| 309 | ** Certain elements of the story allow the player character to play this role for the Handmaiden, the Disciple, Bao-dur, Mira, and Atton if you turn them to the Dark Side. |
| 310 | * [[MysteriousBacker The Illusive Man]] from the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' series attempts to be this to Commander Shepard in [[VideoGame/MassEffect2 the second installment]]. It's up to the player whether or not Shepard buys into it or completely rebuffs him. |
| 311 | * ''VideoGame/Persona3'': PlayedForLaughs with Tanaka, the Devil Social Link, who takes the protagonist under his wing to teach him the harsh realities of adult life and how to succeed in business. In order to get the social link you need to let Tanaka scam you out of several thousand yen, and the social link mostly involves Tanaka giving you extremely suspect advice, bragging about how he got so rich, and blackmailing you into not revealing his true nature by threatening you [[CutHisHeartOutWithASpoon with extremely over-the-top threats]]. The final event of the Social Link reveals that Tanaka has been inspired by your interactions to donate money to a charity for orphaned children, because talking to you has made him realise that he's already won at life by becoming richer than the people who used to look down on him and by giving away a little bit of all that money he can buy himself a reputation for goodness on top of it. |
| 312 | * PlayedWith in ''VideoGame/Persona5'', where Madarame at first appears to be a possibly abusive art tutor who adopts students before driving them away with harsh treatment, but is nonetheless a skilled artist on his own. His inner ShadowArchetype eventually reveals he's TheSvengali more than an EvilMentor, seeing his students as nothing more but producers of art he can appropriate for his own to make money, and none of his artwork -- including his most famous piece, "Sayuri" -- is his original work. |
| 313 | * Muttonhead in ''VideoGame/PopfulMail''. Before he became a notorious criminal, he used to be the mentor of Tatto, one of the heroes. |
| 314 | * ''VideoGame/RadiantHistoria'' [[ObviouslyEvil doesn't even bother to hide]] that [[TheHero Stocke]]'s boss/mentor Heiss is a villain. [[spoiler:It does, however, hide the ''extent'' of it. Heiss is the BigBad, and one of his primary goals is to try to train Stocke to take over for him. [[AntiAntiChrist This fails miserably]].]] |
| 315 | * ''VideoGame/ShantaeAndThePiratesCurse'' reveals that the Pirate Master was this for Shantae's ArchEnemy, Risky Boots. Before the Pirate Master was sealed by the Genies, Risky sailed under his command as his first mate and he taught her everything she knows. |
| 316 | * Houzuki from ''VisualNovel/SharinNoKuni'' is not only an Evil Mentor, but also the BigBad, and doesn't make any attempt to disguise what he is -- his EstablishingCharacterMoment is shooting one of the trainees under his tutelage for being late to an appointment and Kenichi, the protagonist and his protege for the last seven years, is under no illusions as to what sort of person he is. |
| 317 | * ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}'': [[DeadlyDoctor Valentine]] has a more adversarial version of this with [[LivingWeapon Painwheel]], at least in the former's story mode. She "created" Painwheel in the first place, and wants to see the girl-turned-monster become strong enough to [[spoiler:kill the [[BigBad Skullgirl]]]]. Even if Valentine has to [[spoiler:become a Skullgirl]] to do so. This relationship is best summed up in her dialogue whenever Painwheel beats her: "Atta girl". |
| 318 | * Goutetsu in ''Franchise/StreetFighter'', who taught a form of martial arts that used murderous intent in every move. Two of his students were Gouken and Akuma; Gouken purged the murderous aspects of the martial art and went on to teach this form to his students Ryu and Ken, while Akuma used the form as it was intended. Akuma used it to kill Goutetsu (who died happy, knowing his legacy would carry on through his student) and later tried to pass it on to Ryu. |
| 319 | ** The manga adaptation of ''Street Fighter Alpha'' by Masahiko Nakahira deviated from this back-story by making Goutetsu the one who purged the ''Satsui no Hadou'' from the art itself. |
| 320 | * In the ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' video game ''World Championship 2010: Reverse of Arcadia'', the PlayerCharacter is in much the same situation that Aki is in, with Divine as his/her mentor. (And plays a big part in defeating him ''and'' the Dark Signers; the storyline of the game is similar to that of the Anime but has your character substituting for many key characters in important roles.) |
| 321 | [[/folder]] |
| 322 | |
| 323 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 324 | * ''Franchise/AceAttorney'': |
| 325 | ** The first game has Manfred von Karma, to Miles Edgeworth and his daughter Franziska. Any time they say something about a perfect win record being paramount or resorting to shady tactics such as witness coaching, hiding evidence, blocking important lines of inquiry, and updating autopsy reports, it's because that's what he taught them.[[spoiler: He has an ulterior motive in mentoring Edgeworth- Manfred hates Miles' father Gregory for giving him a penalty and took Miles under his wing partially so he could [[RevengeThroughCorruption teach him to be the sort of]] AmoralAttorney [[CrusadingLawyer Gregory despised]], and partially so he could manipulate Edgeworth into believing ''he'' accidentally killed his father, and frame Edgeworth for murder.]] |
| 326 | ** [[spoiler: Kristoph Gavin]] is a non-corruptor variant to Apollo Justice. By all accounts he was a good mentor and genuinely taught Apollo to be a conscientious and ethical attorney... which backfired when Apollo took the case for a murder that [[spoiler: Kristoph]] actually committed, and manages to connect the dots [[spoiler:with help from Phoenix]] and formally indict his mentor for it. |
| 327 | * ''VisualNovel/{{Psycholonials}}'': The narrator/Riotus/The Successor (all aspects of the same cosmic eldrich being) appears to Z in dreams, giving her the inspiration to write the Jubilite Manifest (the handbook of MonsterClown revolution) and urging her to commit greater acts of violence so that she may spread their gospel and attain cosmic power and immortality. |
| 328 | * Bernkastel from ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' serves as a meta example to the player as much of her words are actually useful ways to think of the mystery. She's essentially [[spoiler: a MUCH more malicious version]] of Kreia above. Also a rare non-corruptor example; she's an asshole to be certain, but her pointers are genuine. |
| 329 | [[/folder]] |
| 330 | |
| 331 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 332 | * ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}'': Melinda used to be one towards Melissa, before Melissa's HeelFaceTurn. Since she was sealed away, she used Melissa's desire for companionship to manipulate her into doing her evil bidding. |
| 333 | * ''WebAnimation/TheMostEpicStoryEverToldInAllOfHumanHistory'': [[EvilIsHammy Ridiculously Epic]] serves this role to Epic Fail in a more humorous way during “The Most Epic Romance” by giving him horrible “dating” advice, [[ObviouslyEvil which includes stalking and harassing]]. |
| 334 | [[/folder]] |
| 335 | |
| 336 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 337 | * ''Webcomic/AngelMoxie'': Tsutsumu, one of the demon lords, takes the girls in after they have a falling out with Miya. [[spoiler:They turn around and defeat him with the skills and professionalism they've learned.]] |
| 338 | * ''{{Webcomic/Homestuck}}'': [[spoiler: Doc Scratch, the host of "a very evil man", considers himself to be a mentor (or "mentor's mentor's mentor") to several characters, some who stay good and some he turned evil.]] |
| 339 | ** [[spoiler: Aggressive, greedy Meenah, a teenage alternate-universe version of [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen The Troll Empress]], wants to be a friend and mentor to her LighterAndSofter tween clone/ancestor/descendant Feferi but can't due to a genetic compulsion to kill her over the throne (never mind that by the time they meet they're both dead and their planet/galactic empire/universe no longer exists) and declares "maybe some day ill find an heiress who my genes dont instinctively make me wanna murder on sight then i can teach her the badass ways of being a boss n shit!"]] |
| 340 | ** [[spoiler: In the "present", human girl Jane Crocker is heir to the Betty Crocker baked goods empire, unaware that "Betty" is the Troll Empress.]] |
| 341 | ** Though the "evil" label threatens a whole can of worms, Vriska mentored John over the course of Act 5-2 in all her Morally Ambiguous glory, and like many other examples started to achieve some measure of redemption via this association, while still committing some of her most heinous crimes ([[spoiler: murdering Tavros, facilitating Jack's ascension, and almost allowing Jack to slaughter the Trolls]]) in this time span. |
| 342 | * Incubus from ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons''. Even though he is one of the seven Demiurges, he willingly helps Allison, the one prophesized to annihilate them all, at unlocking her potential. His motivation seems to be that he ''wants'' Allison to start a big war to shake up Creation and doesn't care if he ends up in the corpse pile as long as the other six do too, and he is certainly putting a lot of his own world-view into his lessons. Allison is mostly forced to put up with his lessons because there is no-one else who can teach her how to use her Key. |
| 343 | * Amical from ''Webcomic/{{morphE}}''. Though this is more due to Amical's BlueAndOrangeMorality than having malevolent designs -- not that that's any consolation to his victims. |
| 344 | * Miranda West in ''Webcomic/TheWotch'' may qualify for this, given that she's keeping some very big secret from protagonist Anne and that she's willing to destroy the lives of a few people in order to make sure nobody interferes. |
| 345 | * [[spoiler: El Ciervo]] in ''Webcomic/TheHazardsOfLove'' takes in the protagonist as a servant and seems to be best described as a mentor/antagonist figure. |
| 346 | [[/folder]] |
| 347 | |
| 348 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 349 | * ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderKatara Katara]] meets Hama, a waterbender from their South Pole tribe, who uses her waterbending to take control of other peoples' bodies by "bending" the water inside their blood, and uses this power on innocent people in the Fire Nation town where she lives in revenge for her tribe being imprisoned by the [[TheEmpire Fire Nation]]. Katara is horrified and refuses to learn, but in the end must resort to using it on the Evil Mentor in order to save Sokka and Aang. Before being sent away, Hama "congratulates" her for using it and [[EvilLaugh laughs]]. Katara was understandably upset, feeling that the technique can only be used for evil. She does end up using bloodbending again in the middle of a RoaringRampageOfRevenge for her dead mother, indirectly showing how close she is to JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope thanks to Hama. |
| 350 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheAwesomes'': Dr. Turfenpeltz taught Prock to believe in himself and his intellect, but then went bad and built a giant robot suit to copy the Awesome's superpowers, including [[spoiler:Prock's ability to freeze time in 10-second increments. Prock eventually uses this against him by neglecting to mention doing so hurts after the 10 seconds are up.]] |
| 351 | * ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'': Franz Hopper's diary accidentally becomes an evil data disk for Jérémie when he tries a technique... that almost kills him. |
| 352 | * This is exactly what BigBad Vlad Masters wants to accomplish with Danny in ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom''. While Danny does pick up a few techniques and tactics from watching Vlad, he staunchly refuses to work with him. At most, Vlad only mildly succeeds in causing Danny to [[MythArc go through a]] [[StartOfDarkness dark arc]] later on, which the teen eventually got over. |
| 353 | ** Ironically, the only time Danny actually accepted Vlad's guidance was during a BadFuture, at which point both of them were no longer interested in their usual goals. |
| 354 | * In ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' [[spoiler:Eddy's Brother was this to Eddy. Besides being a cruel bully, he seems to have been the one who fostered Eddy's bad attitude and conman mentality.]] |
| 355 | ** Eddy to Jimmy in "Ed in a Halfshell". Eddy tries to make Jimmy a scammer like himself. |
| 356 | * [[EvilSorceror The Archmage]] was this to [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Demona]] on ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}''. |
| 357 | * During one episode of ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'', [[HypercompetentSidekick Shego]] became the Evil Mentor for Señor Senior, Jr. It worked very well, he transformed from MinionWithAnFInEvil to WorthyOpponent, until he was defeated by a DeusExMachina, and his newly found evil skillz [[StatusQuoIsGod were never mentioned ever again]]. |
| 358 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'': |
| 359 | ** [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraAvatarKorra Korra]] herself is instructed briefly by her [[EvilUncle uncle]] Unalaq, who gives her some spiritual training and, like with Hama and Katara, a new waterbending technique, that infuses water with [[LightEmUp light]]. [[spoiler: This bites him ''severely'' in the ass at the season finale when Korra uses this very same technique to purify Unavaatu]]. Later on, she is forced to go to [[spoiler: [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraZaheer Zaheer]]]] for help against the Season 4 BigBad Kuvira, who plays with this trope; he is evil, and he is a mentor, but his advice in this situation is purely beneficial to Korra. |
| 360 | ** [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraBolin Bolin]] had three of these. The first two are Shady Shin and [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraVarrickAndZhuLi Varrick]], neither of whom manage to do anything to corrupt him other than causing him to stretch his morals with less-than-legal tools of the trade. He also becomes one of Kuvira's lieutenants in the fourth book and unwittingly does a lot of morally grey enforcement in her campaign to reunite the Earth Kingdom. Eventually, he cottons on and helps overthrow her. |
| 361 | * Marathon loves this one. Diana Lombard had an evil mentor in ''WesternAnimation/MartinMystery'' [[spoiler:which ended up with her turned into a [[CuteMonsterGirl lizard-esque creature]]]], and a minor character became "Admiral Admirable" with the help of one in ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies''. |
| 362 | * Alpha in ''WesternAnimation/MenInBlackTheSeries'' is this to K. Alpha was K's mentor before he goes rogue and betrays the Men in Black organization. K himself says (in a flashback) "I reject everything you thought me". |
| 363 | * In the final season ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretSaturdays'', [[BigBad V.V. Argost]] offers to teach Zak how to control his [[spoiler:Kur]] powers. Being Argost, he admits to Zak right at the start that he intends to kill him in the end and [[spoiler:take his Kur powers for himself]]. And Zak still accepts... |
| 364 | * Cedric from ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'', who takes Sofia under his wing as part of a scheme to take over the kingdom, though he's also an IneffectualSympatheticVillain who just wants to prove his worth. |
| 365 | * Malchior in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'': |
| 366 | -->'''Raven:''' It's dark magic! You've been teaching me dark magic!\ |
| 367 | '''Malchior:''' Is it dark, or is it simply misunderstood... like you? |
| 368 | ** Ironically, she ends up beating him with the same dark magic he taught her. |
| 369 | ** Slade and Brother Blood, too, at various points. Blood does this ''for a living''. |
| 370 | * PsychoForHire Lockdown plays this for Prowl in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated''. |
| 371 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' (and its prequel book, ''Literature/TransformersExodus''), Megatron was this to Optimus Prime back when they were Megatronus and Orion Pax. [[spoiler:Megatron eagerly resumes this role once Optimus loses his memory of ever being a Prime.]] Played with a bit in that it wasn't really until Orion Pax really started to become TheHero that Megatronus started to become jealous enough to start becoming the BigBad; the situation is almost an inverse of APupilOfMineUntilHeTurnedToEvil. |
| 372 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'': The episode "The Doctor is Sin" has an Evil Mentor who is an interesting inversion of the StealthMentor. Dr. Henry Killinger acts as a life coach to Dr. Venture, revitalizing his company, his life, and his soul. Mystic Dr. Orpheus is convinced from the start that he is pure evil, but [[TheCassandra no one else is too worried]], and all of Killinger's advice is effective. Dr. Venture realizes with a shock only at the very end that Killinger has been grooming him to be a supervillain, archrival of his own [[CainAndAbel brother]]. He decides not to go through with it, and Killinger leaves graciously. |
| 373 | -->'''Dr. Venture:''' He thinks I'm a... Brock, am I a... bad person?\ |
| 374 | '''Brock:''' What the hell just happened?\ |
| 375 | '''Dr. Venture:''' Am I, Brock?!\ |
| 376 | '''Brock:''' [[NonAnswer Ehhh...]] |
| 377 | * Chase Young of ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'' repeatedly tries to recruit Omi as his apprentice [[FaceHeelTurn and he succeeds]]. For a while, at least. |
| 378 | [[/folder]] |
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