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9[[quoteright:350:[[Webcomic/HarkAVagrant https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eviluncle_7629.png]]]]
10
11->''"How come the kindest parents always have the most dickass relatives?"''
12-->-- '''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic''', reviewing ''Film/JamesAndTheGiantPeach''
13
14Everyone has an uncle who they're not allowed to go camping with. For some reason, the brother and occasionally sister of the hero's father (rarely mother - see below) has a tendency to be evil. No one is exactly sure why, given that the two were raised in the same environment and there was no VillainousLineage. Maybe simply because of [[GreenEyedMonster envy]], and because the uncle will [[{{Greed}} stand pretty high in the succession row]].
15
16The concept stems far back to the medieval days, where the firstborn son is the crown prince, [[SpareToTheThrone the secondborn son is the "replacement"]] if the firstborn happens to die, and the thirdborn... well, he's sent off to the church. Naturally, the secondborn won't grow to like his position, in turn making this trope a corrupted version of MiddleChildSyndrome -- though in most media, there's only two brothers in the first place, if only to avoid cluttering up the story.
17
18One result of this arrangement is that if the ruler dies while the heir is too young to take over, the old monarch's younger brother (i.e. the new monarch's uncle) would probably become [[EvilRegent the interim de facto ruler]], and would be well positioned to take the crown permanently if [[InheritanceMurder something unfortunate were to happen]]. Since European societies usually (but not always) were [[HeirClubForMen patrilinear]], this would usually be the younger brother, not sister.
19
20This has a tendency to escalate to CainAndAbel; in fact, it almost always does. If he is from a royal family, which he frequently is, he is most commonly TheEvilPrince. In those cases, he is usually the younger brother, with no children at all, while his older brother usually has at least one. He will usually end up killing his brother, thus triggering the hero's quest for vengeance. He may try to kill the hero by giving him TheQuest for an ImpossibleTask; this is usually [[EvilOverlordList unwise]].
21
22A female equivalent is likely to be the WickedStepmother; she is unable to inherit herself, but her children can. When your mom and dad are the problem, see EvilMatriarch and ArchnemesisDad.
23
24Can overlap with CoolUncle (see: EvilIsCool), in this case, the uncle himself might be a FreudianExcuse for a character's StartOfDarkness or FaceHeelTurn. He rarely is a CreepyUncle, however, though the two tropes are by no means mutually-exclusive. Contrast with EvilNephew.
25
26A common way to give a character a terrible childhood [[TraumaCongaLine all in one go]] is to [[DeceasedParentsAreTheBest kill off their (invariably wonderful) parents]] and send them to live with their Evil Uncle (and/or their Evil Aunt) -- the dark side of {{Nephewism}}.
27
28[[noreallife]]
29----
30!!Examples:
31
32[[foldercontrol]]
33
34[[index]]
35* EvilUncle/AnimeAndManga
36* EvilUncle/ComicBooks
37* EvilUncle/AnimatedFilms
38* EvilUncle/{{Film}}
39* EvilUncle/{{Literature}}
40* EvilUncle/LiveActionTV
41* EvilUncle/VideoGames
42* EvilUncle/WesternAnimation
43[[/index]]
44
45[[folder:Fairy Tales]]
46* In variants of the Aarne-Thompson-Uther tale type ATU 707, "The Three Golden Children", the titular golden children are born to the youngest of three sisters, from whom they are separated by their evil aunts. Years later, the aunts discover the children are alive, they pay them a visit to send them on a dangerous quest for marvellous objects, in hopes they ''fail''. Examples of the tale type include French tale ''Literature/PrincessBelleEtoile'', Russian verse fairy tale ''Literature/TheTaleOfTsarSaltan'', and oral Italian tale ''Literature/TheDancingWaterTheSingingAppleAndTheSpeakingBird''.
47* In "Literature/TheTwoBrothers", collected by Creator/TheBrothersGrimm, the twin brothers' uncle is a wicked and greedy man, though not especially more so to his nephews than to anyone else.
48[[/folder]]
49
50[[folder:Fan Works]]
51* ''Fanfic/AdventuresInTheHumanRealm'': Belos was this to Hunter, denying him recreation opportunities and making Hunter’s work schedules so strict that Hunter treats waking up on time as a life-or-death situation.
52* In the second part of ''Fanfic/ApprenticeAndPregnant'', Laurelpaw meets her paternal uncle Old Gray for the first time. He's just as awful as her father was, if not worse. Old Gray murdered [[DomesticAbuse his mate]] and [[OffingTheOffspring young daughter]]. When Laurelpaw refuses to give him his son back, he threatens to kill her, the friends that tagged along with her, and even her mother. After Laurelpaw's friends escape, he gets even angrier, resulting in him raping and attempting to murder his niece.
53* A ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' fic, [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8744418/1/The-Danish-Slaughterhouse The Danish Slaughterhouse]] has Denmark [[spoiler: plotting the murders of his family and raping his nephew, Sealand several times.]]
54* ''Fanfic/DestinyAfterandalasia'': Marie from ''The Aristocats'' was actually a little girl who was temporarily left with her angry, [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]] uncle while her mother was in labor. Her uncle got drunk and took her out riding on his motorcycle. They were hit by a train and Marie died in the crash.
55* Downplayed with Mammom in ''Fanfic/ADivineRomanticComedy''. Yes, he's the vilest of the Seven Deadly Sins and is Charlie's HonoraryUncle, but he's uncharacteristically generous with her on a level that he isn't with anyone else and is shown to sincerely care for his niece. He also doesn't oppose or antagonize her like a straightforward example of this trope and is actually somewhat helpful, having given her the seed money needed to help her get started with her hotel.
56* In the MyHeroAcademia fanfiction ''Fanfic/FearOfYou'' one of the villains turns out to be [[spoiler: Takami Keigo's Uncle "Takami Junto" aka. Harima Junto.]]
57* The ''Jem'' fanfic ''Fanfic/FreshBlood'', and other fics set its continuity, depict Roxy's uncle as this. Her aunt was also cruel, but her uncle haunts Roxy more-so. Roxy was [[{{Nephewism}} raised by her aunt and uncle]] but they never loved her and always abused her. When she was little, Roxy's uncle would hold her off the balcony of their twelve story apartment and threaten to drop her. Eventually she [[TheRunaway ran away]] as a teenager.
58* The Dark Man, aka [[spoiler: Gordon Freeman]] to Henry Freeman, in ''Fanfic/HalfLifeFullLifeConsequences''.
59* A recurring antagonist in ''Fanfic/MaFille'' is Katrina's maternal aunt Laura, who is hellbent on taking custody away from her father Joe, despite having cut off her sister Heather (Katrina's mother) and not even knowing Katrina was born until she was eight. Her escapades include trying to abduct Katrina from a mall, and later claiming to the police that Joe and her mother Louise (Katrina's grandmother) kidnapped her, which landed them all in court. [[spoiler:In the end, Laura is finally defeated for good when she is sent to prison for breaking the restraining order and loses custody of her newborn baby.]]
60* Tabitha's uncle in ''Fanfic/PointsOfFamiliarity'' keeps sending Tabitha on impossible missions to get her killed. She insists on not only surviving these missions, but successfully completes them.
61* In ''Fanfic/TheShadowWars'' Story Verse of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', Fluttershy's Uncle Windvane, a Pegasus supremacist who launches a major armed rebellion against Equestria and routinely murders captive civilians to drain their LifeEnergy by means of his Pegasus Device, certainly qualifies.
62* ''Fanfic/ThrowAwayYourMask'' plays with this: while the being [[EyeDentityGiveaway claiming]] to be Kurusu Tsuyoshi almost definitely isn't actually related to Akira, he still [[BlatantLies claims]] that Akira is his nephew when Akechi asks what he is.
63* Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik is this to Natural "N" Harmonia Blair in ''Fanfic/TokimekiPokeLiveAndTwinbee''.
64[[/folder]]
65
66[[folder:Music]]
67* There is a German band known as Boehse Onkelz, which translates as... well, you know.
68* Music/TheWho's Music/{{Tommy}}'s Wicked Uncle Ernie. He molested Tommy when Tommy was a teenager, and exploits him after Tommy's cult becomes a religion.
69* ''Music/UncleMeat'' by Music/FrankZappa was the intended soundtrack to "a movie we haven't got enough money for to make yet". In the liner notes of the album we find out that Uncle Meat is a MadScientist who wants to rule the world with an army of mutant monsters. He would return in the liner notes of ''Music/TheGrandWazoo''.
70[[/folder]]
71
72[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
73* Gender-Flipped with the Goddess Hera, who often tortured her brother Zeus's children. [[BrotherSisterIncest Since she was also his wife]], and the kids she did this to [[ReallyGetsAround were his children by other women]] (which pissed her off like you wouldn't ''believe'') she literally doubles as a WickedStepmother.
74* OlderThanDirt: Set, the [[Myth/EgyptianMythology Egyptian]] god of chaos, violence, and the desert, murdered his brother Osiris and usurped his kingdom. Then afterwards, Osiris's sister/wife Isis had to hide their infant son Horus from Set. When Horus gew up, Set refused to return the kingdom to Horus, leading to a long fight between them.
75* Myth/HinduMythology:
76** The Avatar Krishna's uncle Kamsa was a kind fellow who loved his sister until he heard a prophecy stating that his nephew would overthrow him. This made him go berserk, imprisoning his sister and killing her nine children in succession as soon as they were born. Needless to say, the tenth child escaped and kicked his ass after he grew up.
77** ''Literature/{{Mahabharata}}'' has Shakuni, brother of Queen Gandhari and thus the maternal uncle of the Kaurava, who deliberately instigated the Kurukshethra War by pitting his nephews against their cousins the Pandava, because of his deep-seated hatred against the Kuru, who had betrothed Gandhari to a blind man and brutally subjugated their homeland, Gandhara. While the book has [[GreyAndGreyMorality numerous characters of varying degrees of grayness in morality]], Shakuni is widely considered to be the true villain of the story.
78* Loki in the actual Myth/NorseMythology, is not Odin's son as in the Marvel version but his foster-brother (a custom of the Norsemen where very close friends took an oath that made them legally siblings). Although mostly a trickster, in the end he is destined to ''murder'' his foster-nephew Baldr and start the process that will lead to Ragnarök!
79* The founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, killed their grand-uncle, Amulius. He had usurped the throne of Alba Longa from his brother Numitor and killed his son and daughter (the mother of the twins).
80[[/folder]]
81
82[[folder:Pinballs]]
83* In the backstory of ''VideoGame/MadDaedalus'', the Greek inventor Daedalus murders his nephew due to jealousy over the accolades the latter received.
84[[/folder]]
85
86[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
87* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' has [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=1743 Uncle Istvan]], from ''The Dark'' expansion. Although we only have the card's name to take for the fact that he is an uncle, his flavor text makes it clear that he is [[AxCrazy quite evil]].
88* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' features Nagash, who in addition to his many, many, ''many'' other crimes murdered his nephew, the legitimate heir to his brother Thutep's throne ([[CainAndAbel who he also murdered]]) and then tricked the kid's mother into drinking a potion containing her murdered son's remains.
89[[/folder]]
90
91[[folder:Theatre]]
92%%* ''Theatre/{{Antigone}}'': Creon is a subversion, assuming it doesn't count as an UnbuiltTrope. He's certainly ''against'' Antigone, but neither of them is at all ''evil'', simply torn between their obligations and loyalties.
93* ''Theatre/{{Electra}}'': Aegisthus, being a close cousin who became Electra's step-father after murdering her dad and marrying her mom. He also plans to seal her up in a cave.
94* ''Theatre/TheLionKing'': Scar believes that having heirs will make him feel complete as a king. It's in fact his guilty conscience about killing his own brother and exiling his nephew that makes him feel empty, but that doesn't stop him from [[{{Squick}} hitting on]] [[WifeHusbandry Nala]].
95* ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'': Claudius, generally considered the TropeCodifier, having killed his own brother and then married his wife, prompting Hamlet to seek revenge at the behest of his father's ghost.
96* ''Theatre/TheLittleMermaid'': Ursula is Ariel's evil ''aunt''. This connection was cut from the movie, but it was restored for the Broadway musical.
97* Creator/WilliamShakespeare's ''Theatre/RichardIII'' is one of the most famous examples of an uncle out to kill his nephew so he can assume the throne himself.
98* ''Theatre/{{Thyestes}}'': Atreus is the definitive Evil Uncle -- he [[MoralEventHorizon feeds his nephews to their father]] to avenge Thyestes's affair with Mrs. Atreus.
99[[/folder]]
100
101[[folder:Visual Novels]]
102* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'': Satoko's uncle Teppei physically abuses her in ''Tatarigoroshi-hen'' and ''Minagoroshi-hen''. Her aunt, Tamae, wasn't very nice either.
103* ''Franchise/AceAttorney''
104** [[spoiler: Morgan Fey]] in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' is an evil aunt. First, she tries to get [[spoiler: Maya]] framed for murder, and then when that doesn't work she outright tries to get [[spoiler: Maya]] killed. Note that, since [[spoiler: Morgan actually ''was'' the older sister and was passed up for the position of Master of Kurain because her spiritual power was weak compared to her younger sister's]], this technically isn't for her ''own'' benefit, but rather to [[spoiler: install her ChildProdigy daughter, Pearl, as the next Master, [[StageMom with her controlling the kid]]]].
105** The BigBad of ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice'' is [[spoiler:Queen Ga'ran Sigatar Khura'in, who's Princess Rayfa's aunt and adoptive mother. Like Morgan, she was passed over for her family's hereditary leadership position- Queen of Khura'in- in favor of her younger sister Amara due to lacking spiritual power. As a result, she stages an assassination attempt on Amara while framing Amara's husband Dhurke, fakes Amara's death and forces her sister to impersonate her while channeling spirits under threat of harm coming to Rayfa. Ga'ran rules as a tyrant for 23 years, until Apollo finally manages to expose her as a murderer and a fraud]].
106* Crow Harbor in the backstory of ''VisualNovel/{{Sunrider}}'' was the [[BastardBastard bastard son]] of the Ryuvian [[GodEmperor Infinite Emperor]], and after the Emperor and the crown prince were assassinated by an unknown party (it is never confirmed whether it was Crow, his brother, or someone else entirely), he plunged the galaxy into a devastating civil war in a bid to put himself on the throne. His niece Sola, who happened to be a [[HeroicBastard bastard herself]], led the fight against him, and it’s implied that he tried to kill her many times. [[spoiler:Then he and his fleet wind up traveling forward in time, creating a rift in time, and he becomes the GreaterScopeVillain, lying in wait to conquer the galaxy.]]
107* ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' has Kasumi Sumadera, an Evil Aunt who's out for revenge against her niece Ange since her mother Kyrie's marriage to Rudolf Ushiromiya ruined her life.
108[[/folder]]
109
110[[folder:Web Animation]]
111* ''WebAnimation/AttackOnMika'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9jsA1ePFpY Ichi's uncle]] refused to get a job and was always selling his mother's mementos for money and planned to force him to get a job after middle school. Ichi eventually moved into a dorm of a high school and left his uncle high and dry.
112* ''WebAnimation/LiliumSims2'' has a case of an evil aunt. The protagonist, Isis, is in love with [[BrotherSisterIncest her brother]]; however, her brother rejects her and marries another. The two have a daughter together. Upon meeting her young niece, Isis is struck by [[StrongFamilyResemblance how much she resembles her mother]]. In her jealousy, [[spoiler:she kills her]].
113* In the story titled, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmNTmcWdmVE "My mom is controlling,"]] from ''WebAnimation/MyStoryAnimated'', it is revealed that the reason why Princess Aurora's parents kept her from leaving their castle for her entire life is because [[spoiler:when Aurora was a baby, her evil aunt abducted Aurora in an attempt to become next in line for the throne.]]
114* ''WebAnimation/RefreshingStories'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrCXPKhgzWo Hiroshi's]] uncle adopted him and his brother Satoshi after his parents died in a car accident. He treated the brothers poorly and when Hiroshi protested that he couldn't work while in high school, he kicked them out of the house.
115* ''WebAnimation/StoryTimeAnimated'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rGSXv62wKk Abuela]] hid Isabella's parents from her, pretending they went missing by forcing them to find an ancient mirror for her.
116[[/folder]]
117
118[[folder:Web Comics]]
119* ''Webcomic/TheHandbookOfHeroes'' has Wizard's uncle, the appropriately named Wicked Uncle, who kills Wizard's father and usurps the Ivy Throne of the elves.
120* Richard III, as depicted in ''Webcomic/HarkAVagrant'', of whom [[TheFateOfThePrincesInTheTower urban legend credits with murdering his two nephews]]. [[SubvertedTrope While a historian in the comic interrupts to point out that many other historical figures had reason for killing the boys]], [[DoubleSubvertedTrope Richard's already killed one]].
121-->'''Richard:''' Tell you what -- I'll go halvsies with Buckingham.
122* In ''Webcomic/{{Plume}}'', Vesper's narration tries to convince us that Aunt Agatha is an example of this, but she comes across more as strict and demanding rather than evil. Though she does send a bounty hunter after Vesper...
123* Avagadro Pompey of ''Webcomic/SomethingPositive'' sexually and verbally abused his nephew Ollie, who was pathetically grateful as Avagadro had "saved" him from physical abuse at his father's hands.
124* In ''Webcomic/ThistilMistilKistil'', [[http://tmkcomic.depleti.com/comic/ch06-pg21/ Coal's back story has some evil uncles in it.]]
125* ''Webcomic/{{Zoophobia}}'''s [[BornUnlucky Jack]] has one who's just evil in general, on account of him being {{Satan}}.
126[[/folder]]
127
128[[folder:Web Original]]
129%%* Shin's uncle from ''Literature/SailorNothing''.
130* "The Head Start," an edition of R.L. Stine's ''Rainy Night Theater'', featured a boy and her female cousin learning about a werewolf committing various attacks in the forest, and they are led to believe the werewolf was the boy's father (the girl's uncle). [[spoiler:In actuality, the werewolf was revealed as the girl's ''aunt'' (the boy's mother).]]
131[[/folder]]
132
133[[folder:Web Videos]]
134* Uncle Lies and Aunt Despair from ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic'', who were created by Critic to cope with his parents and treat both their children and him awfully. It's also canon that Uncle Lies is WebVideo/AskThatGuyWithTheGlasses back from the dead.
135[[/folder]]

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