%%%
%%
%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks!
%%
%%%
%% Trope was declared Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease via crowner by the Real Life Maintenance thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php?crowner_id=fackmrde
%%https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13350380440A15238800
%%%
%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1620016337074038100
%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.
%%
[[quoteright:350:[[WebAnimation/TerribleWritingAdvice https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/twa_jp_crushes_hope_wgerwerwere_capture_1.PNG]]]]
%%
->''"If I am being honest, I care only to give hope to the frightened, huddled masses so that when I come upon them they will have more to lose. Their pain will be greater. Their screams more pure. ''(...)'' Nothing dies like hope. I cherish it."''
-->-- '''Dredgen Yor''', ''Videogame/{{Destiny}}''

We know that the DespairEventHorizon is a line that one loses all hope upon crossing. The crosser may [[{{Determinator}} remain a good person]], or the crosser may [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds turn evil]].

The Hope Crusher is someone who enjoys pushing people toward and over that line.

Hope Crushers love the sense of despair. When other people lose hope, they take pleasure in it. It's not necessary for them to be the one to push them into despair (although they often are); however, they cherish the feelings of despair of many people around them, especially when directed at them. They might not be {{Emotion Eater}}s, but they sure feel good when people around them despair. Since the sense of despair is something people usually try to avoid at all costs, liking despair so much and inflicting it on others are a good indication to the audience that this character is evil incarnate.

They will be very fond of the DespairGambit. They will often give a HopeSpot to their victims, and then yank it away at the last second, mostly thinking that despair is at its finest when the last ray of hope is destroyed right in front of their eyes. If they would instill HopeIsScary, so much the merrier! [[ItsAllAboutMe Don't expect them to enjoy their own despair, though]]. [[BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad Most of the time]].

It's often attempted by {{Complete Monster}}s for the sake of feeding or delighting in their victim's suffering. If they aren't a Complete Monster, there's a chance that they're MadeOfEvil instead.

Their goals are more likely to be ForTheEvulz (this is often seen in the GenericDoomsdayVillain) though this isn't always the case.

A popular non-ForTheEvulz [[FreudianExcuse explanation]] for these sorts of characters is an inability to experience positive emotions themselves coupled with [[GreenEyedMonster a jealousy for other people's happiness]] and wanting these people to be just as miserable as they themselves are. There are also some villains who believe that despair is necessary and don't seek pleasure in destroying hopes and dreams, but do so because they believe that they have to. It's a common 'means' in DespotismJustifiesTheMeans -- an EvilOverlord or DiabolicalMastermind can't have their oppressed underlings getting uppity and spoiling their fun.

'''Note:''' Targeting just ''one'' specific person to make them miserable doesn't make a character a Hope Crusher; to be this trope, the character has to have a desire to make ''everyone'' around them miserable, or have a specific plan in effect to make ''large groups'' of people miserable for that purpose alone.

Contrast with HopeBringer, who is likely to be the natural enemy of this kind of villain. Has occasional overlap with the {{Sadist}}, as sadists delight in other people's pain and suffering and seek to cause it by any way possible, and people suffer the worst when they are driven to despair. Can also overlap with those who believe that DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans. Sometimes overlaps with darker {{Troll}}s if they specifically aim to destroy others' happiness. They may also be an IntentionalHeartbreaker.

----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* ''Literature/BackstabbedInABackwaterDungeon'': The adventuring party calling themselves the "Gathering of Races" pretended to be kind to Light as part of a sick game to drive him to death via despair. One of its members, Shion, goes even further when she teams up with an otherwordly soul dragon to torment a little human girl that they name "Momo", intentionally setting her ghost lose in a dungeon to see how long she can wander aimlessly before they recapture her and put her soul into a grotesque undead body to torment further. They also confuse Light's TranquilFury for despair, taunting him in hopes of drawing out even more agony for their own amusement. They get to experience what it's like to despair themselves when Light reveals he has the dragon's KryptoniteFactor and goes into ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill Mode.
* ''Manga/BlackClover'': There is a reason [[TheBerserker Vetto]] of the [[FantasticTerrorists Eye of the Midnight Sun]]'s [[CoDragons Third Eye]] is known as "[[RedBaron Vetto the Despair]]": he takes sadistic joy in finding what gives his enemies hope, then crushing it with vicious, overwhelming force as he tells them to despair at their powerlessness. Are you a DanceBattler? [[AnArmAndALeg He will cut off your leg]]. Do you dream of becoming an Idol singer? [[ImpromptuTracheotomy He will crush your throat]]. Are you an UnSorcerer who can only fight using AntiMagic swords and [[ToBeAMaster dreams of becoming the Wizard King]]? He will crush your arms with ancient magic and curse them so that they cannot be healed. ''Ever''. When even this doesn't prove enough to crush [[{{determinator}} Asta's]] hope, however, Vetto suffers a VillainousBreakdown as he calls Asta a "despair-eating demon". After Asta defeats him (with more than a little help from [[MasterOfThreads Vanessa]] and [[SpaceMaster Finral]]), Vetto decides to [[TakingYouWithMe blow himself up with an explosion strong enough to destroy the Seabed Temple and kill everyone inside]] in order to [[SoreLoser deny the Black Bulls their victory]], only being stopped by Yami learning a new spell and [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe cutting him down from a distance]]. [[spoiler:It's eventually revealed that the reason Vetto is so obsessed with despair is because [[DespairEventHorizon his own hopes were crushed centuries ago]] when the nobles of the Clover Kingdom slaughtered him along with his fellow elves on the day of Licht's wedding. Once he's [[BodyBackupDrive reincarnated in a cloned body]] months later, however, Vetto's personality stabilizes and becomes closer to who he was in the past, though he still retains his hatred of humans.]]
* Ulquiorra from ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' spends every interaction with Ichigo attempting to dash any hopes he has. He does this to the point that during their final battle, he could have finished Ichigo off just in his second form alone, but transformed into his ''third'' one just to emphasize how screwed Ichigo truly was. He also does this with Orihime, although her humanity starts to rub off on ''him''.
* [[spoiler:Prince Schneizel]] of ''Anime/CodeGeass'' also turns out to use this strategy along with DivideAndConquer. Unlike most villains, however, he does it because he believes AmbitionIsEvil and hope and dreams are only sources of problems that the world wishes to get rid of forever. This goes from [[spoiler:painting the BigGood as a ManipulativeBastard who only cares about personal gain]] to [[spoiler:using KillSat to nuke every single city in the world, halting any attempt at progress in the world]].
* ''Franchise/DragonBall'':
** ''Anime/DragonBallZ'':
*** Frieza thrives on this. He doesn't just want to defeat his opponents, he wants them to die terrified knowing that they never stood a chance of defeating him. He does this first by going into his true final form when his third transformation was more than enough to crush Piccolo, Vegeta, Gohan, Krillin, and Dende. He toys with Vegeta by letting him throw everything he has against him and showing Vegeta that his new power can't match him before torturing him to death. He then toys with Goku before using half of his full power to slowly beat Goku into a pulp. In the anime, he attempts to kill Goku first after surviving the Spirit Bomb, most likely to crush the little hope of the remaining survivors by taking out their strongest. In the manga, he picks off Goku's friends right in front of him to show him he can't save them and mockingly tells Goku he's going to kill his son next. Unfortunately for Frieza, [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge his hope-crushing hobby comes back to bite him hard]] when Goku becomes the first Super Saiyan in many, many years, the very thing he exterminated the rest of the Saiyan race to try to prevent from arising. His final fight with [[HopeBringer Goku]] also contrasts nicely.
*** Cell strives to become this. He holds the Cell Games not only to fight strong opponents but to crush the hope of everyone on Earth by defeating their strongest fighters before he mercilessly hunts them down and murders them. He nearly achieves this status after he comes back from his near-death experience which killed Goku. After his return, he kills Trunks and badly injures Gohan and Vegeta, [[DespairEventHorizon which broke the Z-Fighter's spirit]]. It takes Goku talking to Gohan from the afterlife to will him to keep fighting.
** ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'': A heroic example with Jiren, whose fighting style consists in [[NoSell taking everything the enemy can dish without damage]] and ''then'' beating them down with his overwhelming power. While him appearing in the Tournament of Power (where every fighter is just too stubborn to give up due to the stakes of the battle), the fact [[spoiler:''Vegeta'']] was affected speaks volumes of just how good he is at it.
* ''Manga/FairyTail'': Tartarus, a guild of demons, whose sole plan is to literally wipe out all of humanity in a massive genocide by removing magic from all around the world so they won't even have the hope of fighting back.
* In ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' this is half of Raoh's modus operandi: whenever faced with a serious opponent he crushes them in a painful and spectacular manner to ensure ''nobody'' will rise against him. Interestingly, the other half is being a HopeBringer for anyone who accepts him as their ruler, as they know his rule is harsh but just, and anyone threatening his loyal followers ''will'' die. A defining moment of this is when some of his soldiers had mutinied following rumors of his death and attacked some villagers when Raoh appeared and slapped the head off a mutineer, resulting in the villagers cheering at his arrival and the mutineers ''kneeling for their execution''.
* Cioccolata from ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind'' believes that there are two ways that he may attain happiness. The first is when his own despair is replaced with hope, and the second is looking down on someone else in utter despair. This goes along with his ''modus operandi'' of recording his victims suffering.
* ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth:'' The anime-only BigBad of the second half, Lady Debonair, is one of these. Not only does she want to destroy Cephiro, she wants its citizens to completely lose their hope of salvation while she's at it. [[spoiler:This is because she is a being that was created by their extreme fear and despair after the death of their Pillar.]]
* In ''Manga/MoriartyThePatriot'', Milverton actively seeks out opportunities to push people past their DespairEventHorizon for the pure enjoyment of watching them fall to evil. Most notably, he does this with Adam Whiteley, but he also tries to do this with Sherlock, Mary Morstan, William, and has done it with many people in the past.
* This is the end goal of the League of Villains from ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', both that of its founder [[BigBad All for One]] and his heir Tomura Shigaraki; by creating unchecked chaos and eventually defeating [[TheParagon All Might]], they hope to create a world where the public is cowed into obedience to villains and heroes lack the strength or will to fight back.
* [[BigBad Tobi]] [[spoiler:aka [[FallenHero Obito Uchiha]]]] from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' believes that [[CrapsackWorld reality is hell]] and "There is no such thing as hope", and to prove his point to others [[spoiler:([[BecomingTheMask and himself]])]] he strives to push others across the DespairEventHorizon to break their will and convince them that [[AssimilationPlot his]] [[LotusEaterMachine plan]] is the right thing for humanity.
-->'''Konan:''' [[[HopeBringer Naruto]]] will become the bridge that leads us to peace! And I will be a support, holding the bridge up! [...] It doesn't matter if I'm scattered to the wind! I will stop y-\\
'''Tobi:''' You called me the darkness, didn't you? Then I will make you wilt... I will take your little rainbow bridge and its seven colors and plunge it all into darkness! ''When my illusion ends, so will your life.''
* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
** Crocodile takes it upon himself to trample on the dreams and the ideals of those who oppose him. Every time the Straw Hats and Vivi think they've stopped his plan, they quickly learn that Crocodile has a backup contingency just in case. It's implied he does this because his own dreams were crushed in his past.
** Saint Jaygarcia Saturn repeatedly and vindictively goes out of his way to torment people simply for daring to [[spoiler:believe in [[HopeBringer Nika]], the Sun God and Warrior of Liberation who is the antithesis of everything the oppressive World Government stands for. It's implied that he's been doing this for a ''very'' long time with the express purpose of erasing Nika's name and the very idea of his existence from the world, and the fact that after several decades of doing this [[YouCannotKillAnIdea people still pop up who learn Nika's name]] and [[HopeSpringsEternal believe in the hope that he represents]] ''infuriates'' Saturn to no end]].
* Many a ''Anime/PrettyCure'' villain use this modus operandi, liking despair of men. Examples include [[Anime/FreshPrettyCure Northa]], [[Anime/SmilePrecure Joker]], [[Anime/YesPrettyCure5 Kawarino]], and [[Anime/GoPrincessPrettyCure Dyspear]].
** The BigBad of ''Anime/YesPrettyCure5'', Despariah, usually [[OrcusOnHisThrone sat on her throne]] with the goal of obtaining the Dream Collet to obtain immortality, then finally shroud the people in despair. In the end, she [[spoiler:subverts this by showing absolute fear over how the Cures won't despair no matter what. Realizing that despair is not the answer, she pulls a HeelFaceTurn.]]
* ''Anime/PrincessConnectReDive'': Mana exults in taking hope away from her victims, to the point that when she has Pecorine at her mercy early in season 2, she actually chooses to let her go, allowing her to deepen her bonds to the other characters, so her despairing soul will be ''even tastier''.
* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'': Whereas Kyubey's goal is to stop the heat death of the universe by having young girls make a contract with him and become Puella Magi, the BigBad plots to sow despair to create the [[EldritchAbomination witches]], enemies of the Puella Magi. [[spoiler:[[TreacherousAdvisor It's Kyubey themself]]; said girls [[DealWithTheDevil will be doomed to despair and become witches]], the very monsters they fight, bringing Kyubey closer to the aforementioned goal.]] They don’t necessarily enjoy the role, but [[spoiler:are [[TheUnfettered unabashed in driving girls in despair]], and thinks that having emotions to think that despair is bad... ''[[BlueAndOrangeMorality is a]] [[EvilCannotComprehendGood mental defect]]''. But on that revelation, we all know that Kyubey is the true BigBad]].
* ''Literature/RebuildWorld'': Carol has a side job as a prostitute whereby she seeks out strong hunters, sells herself to them for cheap, and then keeps doubling the price each visit, driving them to take desperate measures to be able to pay for her. This is because Carol has a deep secret that would ruin her life if it got out, and she does this to feel like she's not alone in feeling at the edge of ruin constantly. Finding someone to be TheConfidant about this secret makes her consider quitting prostitution.
* ''Manga/SeraphOfTheEnd'': Ferid Bathory shows a sign of this in this line towards the Hyakuya orphans right before [[WouldHurtAChild he murders them]], apart from Yuu and Mika.
-->'''Ferid''': Caught between hope and despair, I wonder how you'll cry.
* The goal of [[spoiler:the Anti-Spiral, the ultimate BigBad]] in ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', is to eliminate Spiral Power, which is derived from hope and courage, in hopes of [[spoiler:preventing the Spiral Nemesis from destroying the universe]]. As such, they deliberately fight just beyond their opponents' abilities and dispense plenty of {{Hope Spot}}s before snatching victory away in the cruelest, most unfair way possible with the aim of destroying their will to fight.
* ''Anime/VoltesV'': Prince Heinel loves this trope.
** In episode 14, he promises Mr. Sakame, an enslaved human, the freedom of his captive daughter under the condition that he infiltrates Big Falcon and sabotages Voltes V. [[spoiler: Though Sakame holds up his end of the bargain, Heinel doesn't, before setting off a bomb that [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness kills him]]. Oh, and said daughter was DeadAllAlong.]]
** [[spoiler:In episode 22, after Zuhl betrays him, Heinel offers him his position as his aide back, much to Zuhl's joy...and then calls him an idiot for thinking he can't see through his scheme, and ordering for Zuhl's execution.]]
* ''Franchise/YuGiOh'':
** In the ''Manga/YuGiOh'' manga, Ms. Chono lives to crush the hearts of men and delights in expelling students on technicalities.
** ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'':
*** X (Howard X Miller in the dub) says that he uses a Deck Destruction deck because he loves driving duelists to despair by severing the bond between them and their deck.
*** Alice, the living doll who uses doll monsters, says she aims to crush duelists' hopes and drive them to despair just like she was after she witnessed some really awful duelists. However, Jaden manages to restore her hope in their duel.
*** The True BigBad is Nightshroud (Darkness), who wants to fuse all humans with a WorldOfSilence, where their hopes and dreams will be cruelly crushed [[HopeIsScary until the victims give up on them]], along with their individuality.
** ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'':
*** Aporia is a man who has lived through all forms of Despair and tries to pulverize the hopes of 3 heroes in a sadistic duel with real harmful electric shocks, even delivering a BreakingSpeech about all their dreams being nothing more than harmful illusions.
*** Only his boss, Z-ONE, manages to outdo him. When Aporia performs a HeelFaceTurn and attempts to fight him, Z-ONE promptly crushes his hopes and destroys him by ironically using the same tactics Aporia himself had been using before. He does the same to Yusei during their Duel, first attempting to trick him into thinking he was a future version of Yusei himself and then revealing the actual circumstances of the future and the lengths he's already gone to trying to avert it—and all while constantly overwhelming him with his Timelord cards.
** In ''Anime/YuGiOhZEXAL'''s manga, we have a [[spoiler: deity of Despair, E'Rah, who feeds on hope, leaving nothing positive behind.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''Franchise/TheDCU'':
** [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]] of the ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'' mythos can qualify as this, seeing as his life's goal is to either kill [[HopeBringer Batman]] or corrupt him by getting him to break [[ThouShaltNotKill his one rule]]. Most of the time he doesn't intend to stop at Batman either; he's a StrawNihilist outright ''[[MisanthropeSupreme disgusted]]'' with humanity, and his murderous behavior -- as well as his suicidal recklessness -- are violent acts of protest and despair at the world and not purely ForTheEvulz, with his battle with Batman being an ideological one over who is correct. What he really wants [[ToCreateAPlaygroundForEvil is to give all mankind one bad day]].
** ''ComicBook/TheFlash'': [[Characters/TheFlashHunterZolomon Hunter Zolomon, the second Professor Zoom/Reverse-Flash]] is a former criminal profiler whose entire ''modus operandi'' is forcing superheroes to suffer horrible tragedies, in the warped belief that such tragedies [[MiseryBuildsCharacter will make them better heroes]].
** ''ComicBook/NewGods'': One of [[Characters/NewGodsDarkseid Darkseid]]'s consistent goals is to crush people's hope so thoroughly and utterly that there is nothing left but to surrender their free will and give in to Darkseid. When he finally finds the Anti-Life Equation, which lets him do this on a much broader scale, [[CrisisCrossover things get very]], [[ComicBook/FinalCrisis very, ugly]]. In ''ComicBook/SupermanSupergirlMaelstrom'', one of his elite soldiers believes she can win Darkseid over by killing ComicBook/{{Superman}}. Since Maelstrom is absolutely and arrogantly certain that she can make the deed, Darkseid says he will consider making her his private slave if she succeeds, but he will banish her forever if she fails. Shortly after, Desaad asks Darkseid why he is entertaining Maelstrom's delusions, Darkseid explains he cannot properly destroy her hopes if she is not hoping for anything.
--->'''Desaad:''' I apologize, master, but my curiosity is piqued, and I cannot fathom why you would entertain that woman's desires.\\
'''Darkseid:''' I wouldn't expect a lowly dog as yourself to comprehend my reasons for doing anything.\\
'''Desaad:''' I beg for enlightenment on this particular matter. To give her false hope...\\
'''Darkseid:''' Only to see it crushed? Maelstrom will fail in her quest and that will cause her more pain and suffering than any torture device you could imagine.
* ''Franchise/MarvelUniverse'':
** D'Spayre is an AnthropomorphicPersonification who both induces and [[EmotionEater feeds on]] the emotion of despair.
** In ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'', the aptly-named Witchbreaker's job is to break the wills of other superhumans so that they cooperate with the Upward Path, a fiercely intolerant gang of religious fanatics and xenophobes with powers. She also tries to push her great-granddaughter Nico Minoru over to the dark side; it's left ambiguous whether or not she succeeded.
** [[BigBad Thanos]] partakes in this [[EvilIsPetty as a hobby]], going around the galaxy driving people to despair simply for his own amusement.
* ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW'': The Nightmare Forces gave everypony in Ponyville nightmares and in issue 5 used the nightmares to kidnap Rarity in her sleep and convinced her that she will be forgotten and replaced [[spoiler: so that they can force her to become the new Nightmare Moon]]. Issue 6 also has the nightmare forces trying to break Luna (and give the other ponies nightmares as well, but they broke through that). And in issue 8, the Nightmare Forces try this again with Luna but fail.
* Despair of the Endless from ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'', being the AnthropomorphicPersonification of despair, serves as this. Given that making people despair is her ''fundamental nature'', and that she's certainly not immune from it herself, she's a more sympathetic version than most, though she very much enjoys her work.
-->'''Despair:''' Today he's sitting in their family room. Realizing that his life is over, wondering if he has the courage to [[DrivenToSuicide physically end it]]. He doesn't. Isn't it '''beautiful'''?
* In ''ComicBook/StarWarsMarvel2015'', this is Vader's plan during the fittingly titled ''Hope Dies'' arc. When the newly constructed Rebel fleet is gathered for a demonstration before the Rebellion's assembled leadership and allies, Vader has his DoubleAgent [[spoiler:Queen Trios]] sabotage the fleet's systems and give their location to the Imperials, who can then swoop in to wipe the fleet out. In Vader's view, this will demonstrate to the whole galaxy that there is no real hope of fighting the Empire and prove that the Rebellion is doomed to fail. [[spoiler:He mostly succeeds, destroying most of the fleet and scattering the rest as they flee.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* ''ComicStrip/ScaryGary'':
** Leopold thoroughly enjoys making his (often depressed or on the edge of despair) housemates miserable whenever he gets the opportunity, and revels in their suffering. Chances are if someone is unhappy, then it makes him happy (and he may or may not have been the cause).
--->'''Leopold''': ''(Sitting on the kitchen table in front of Gary and smiling after Gary told him how he feels like his life is a hollow lie)'' Your despair nourishes me.
** The poltergeist enjoys causing misery for Gary and his housemates. When the poltergeist takes possession of Gary's Echo Dot, it seems content to make Gary feel worse about himself.
--->'''Gary''': Echo: What's my inspirational quote for today?\\
'''Possessed Echo Dot''': '''YOU WILL DROWN IN A SEA OF EXISTENTIAL DREAD!'''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''Fanfic/AceSavvyANewHope'': Lord Tetherby's plan essentially boils down to him having Ace Savvy killed so he can destroy the hope of the city, which means they will be forced to turn to his security company to keep the city safe.
* In ''Fanfic/ApotheosisMHA'', [[VillainProtagonist Izuku]] intends to completely shatter everyone's faith in the hero system... before [[HopeBringer offering them hope]] in the form of a "new and improved" hero system, one built to ''his'' specifications.
* ''Fanfic/EquestriaGirlsFriendshipSouls'': Cheese Sandwich accidentally becomes this at the end of his fight with Pinkie. Him shrugging off her strongest attacks and taking out Pinkamena so easily robbed her of the will to fight so thoroughly that her hair goes straight and she doesn't even try to resist when Cheese knocks her out to take her to Zecora for healing.
* ''Fanfic/GuysBeingDudes'': Sierra claims that she joined Team GO Rocket specifically to crush people's dreams.
* ''Fanfic/IWillRememberYou'': [[ArchnemesisDad Ulrich's father]] thrives upon this, who not only [[spoiler:murders his wife]], but manipulates and {{gaslight|ing}}s his own son into believing ''he'' was responsible.
* ''Fanfic/RevelationHellaverse'': Alastor rules over Hell with an iron fist, taking sadistic pleasure in harming others simply ''[[ForTheEvulz because he can]]''. His AllCrimesAreEqual approach to enforcing his rule results in Moxxie inadvertantly becoming an IconOfRebellion after he [[OpenMouthInsertFoot describes the Crimson Guard as "brutal"]], and he aims to [[MakeAnExampleOfThem make an example out of him]] and [[AndYourLittleDogToo everyone he cares about]].
* ''Webcomic/ScarletLady'': Hawkmoth certainly plays the part during the GrandFinale arc, due to being a LargeHam who's desperately trying to convince himself that he's much more of a [[TheChessmaster chessmaster]] than he actually is. His big plan for Heroes' Day is to make all of Paris believe that the heroes have already fallen before the FinalBattle even begins, and he ''[[VillainousBreakdown loses his shit]]'' when [[spoiler:Ladybug unleashes a wave of purified butterflies to prove that they're still fighting]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* ''Animation/BoBoiBoyTheMovie'': Bora Ra [[spoiler:interrupts Ochobot's last words of "I hope..." to [=BoBoiBoy=] by yanking Ochobot out of his hands and declaring that he'll destroy that hope. He then kills Ochobot]].
* ''WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheGuardians'' has main villain Pitch, whose goal is to grow more powerful by spreading despair amongst the children of the world.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ComicBook/{{Thanos}} in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar''. More horrifying than his ability to shatter worlds is Thanos's power to shatter hope itself. With a single gauntleted fist, he crushed all that was held dear by and gave courage to the hearts of [[spoiler:Bruce Banner, Thor Odinson, Tony Stark, and Steve Rogers]] - destroying the souls of four mighty warriors who are embodiments of courage and reducing them to hollow shells of terrified, hopeless resignation.
* Not content with the conquering and extermination of species he deems beneath him, Sarris of ''Film/GalaxyQuest'' relishes in breaking their spirits before finally killing them, as we see in a recording of him torturing the previous Thermian leader to death (and denying them a MercyKill after the leader begs for one after they supplied Sarris of all the information they knew) and later when he [[spoiler: forces Jason to admit to the still hopeful Mathesar that he and the rest of the [=GalaxyQuest=] crew are merely actors and their exploits were fictional]].
* [[AnimalisticAbomination G'mork]] from ''Film/TheNeverEndingStory'', a wolf monster who serves as a herald to [[EldritchAbomination the Nothing]], aiding it in its destruction of Fantasia expressly to crush the hopes and dreams of mankind, as people [[DespairEventHorizon without hope]] are easier to control and with control comes ''power'', meaning G'mork can take reign over the despairing humans as [[GodIsEvil a demon god]].
* Palpatine from Creator/GeorgeLucas' ''Franchise/StarWars'' excels at this. First, he completes Anakin Skywalker's turn to the [[FaceHeelTurn Dark Side]] by telling him that the Jedi Knights have turned against him and murdered his pregnant wife. Much later, he implements the same tactic upon Luke Skywalker by showing him the rebel fleet in a CurbStompBattle, and that his close friends are horribly outnumbered on the Endor moon.
* ''Film/TheSunsetLimited'' revolves around "Black" (an ex-con who found religion) trying to talk "White" (a suicidal StrawNihilist HollywoodAtheist professor) out of killing himself. White remains so relentlessly driven to see the world as a hellhole full of humans he hates, created by a vile God (if there is one at all) and from which the only escape is the sweet embrace of death, and his {{Breaking Speech}}es much more effective than Black's reaffirmations, that he completely annihilates Black's beliefs. The final scene of the film is White walking out of the room the whole conversation has been done in (presumably to kill himself for good) and Black [[RageAgainstTheHeavens raging at God]] over his lack of usefulness.
--->'''Black''': You gave him the words! If you wanted me to help him, how come you didn't give me the words?!
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/AccelWorld'': Dusk Taker's character arc drives around crushing the hopes and spirit of Silver Crow, and the heroes by [[PowerParasite stealing their powers]], one of their new teammates, and using blackmail to put them past their DespairEventHorizon so that it looks like it's impossible for them to win.
* In his first appearance in the first book of the ''Literature/ChroniclesOfThomasCovenant'', [[GodOfEvil Lord Foul]] announces that his ultimate intention is to annihilate hope from the Land. He then proceeds to spend the rest of the trilogy (and the two SequelSeries) going about doing exactly that.
* Caster/Gilles de Rais from ''Literature/FateZero'' considers inflicting despair to be an ''art''. His debut scene involves letting go of a BoundAndGagged boy at the mercy of his SerialKiller new master, and then right before the boy got out, Caster had his monster devour the boy, stating that despair is at its finest when [[YankTheDogsChain it's about yanking]] [[HopeSpot a nearly fulfilled hope]].
* The BigBad AM from ''Literature/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream'' was an evil, omniscient [[AIIsACrapshoot AI]] that despised humanity for giving him knowledge of life [[BecomeARealBoy and no way to experience any of it]]. After deciding to KillAllHumans, he kept a handful alive with the intent of eternally tormenting them emotionally and physically for his own amusement, reducing them to mere parodies of the people they once were. After [[AndIMustScream starving them on and off for a century]], the plot kicks off with him promising them canned food... only for them to find out in the end that [[YankTheDogsChain the cans couldn't be opened]].
* In ''Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy'', the Lord Ruler cultivates this trope with a [[TheEmpire ruthless totalitarian regime]], gristly public executions at the slightest sign of defiance, a StateSec of [[TheDreaded horrifying]] [[OneManArmy One-Man Armies]], a [[AGodAmI church in his own name]], ''incredibly'' powerful magical abilities elevating him to a [[NighInvulnerability Nigh-Invulnerable]] PersonOfMassDestruction, and a personal aura of despair that extends for blocks around him.
* The Ministry of Love from ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour''. Where a lesser regime would be content with simply eliminating an insurgent or [[{{Unperson}} even erasing all notions of them from history]], the Ministry of Love goes much further. They utterly crush their victims first and force them to abandon and betray everything and everyone they ever stood for or loved and to accept that there's nothing worthy in their life, except for their "love" for Big Brother. It's not just instrumental either: the Party seems to see such violence as [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans part of what it means to have power, and thus part of what it desires for its own sake]].
* Sorrow from ''Literature/OfFearAndFaith'' is this, [[AnthropomorphicPersonification pretty much by default]]. In lieu of actually fighting its enemies, it tries to MindRape them and drive them over the DespairEventHorizon. One of the ways it's shown to do this is by forcing people to relive traumatic memories, which works pretty well on several of the [[DarkAndTroubledPast Stray Dogs]].
* In ''Literature/ThePendragonAdventure'', Saint Dane doesn't just want to beat Bobby, he wants to beat Bobby ''right after'' Bobby thinks he's won - which he does on several occasions.
* In ''Literature/ThePilgrimsProgress'', this is Giant Despair's whole shtick (as you might guess from the MeaningfulName). He captures pilgrims who come too close to [[WorldOfSymbolism Doubting Castle]], locks them in his dungeon, beats them, starves them, [[SuicideDare provides them implements for committing suicide]], and shows them the bones of other pilgrims he's killed, all for no other reason than to make them lose hope. Fortunately, [[spoiler:Christian remembers he had the key to escape from the dungeons with him all along]].
* In ''Literature/ThoseThatWake'', Man in Suit lives by this, as he's hopelessness' given form.
* In ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'':
** The Forsaken are the greatest servants of the [[GodOfEvil Dark]] [[TheAntiGod One]], each of whom is named after a particular depravity they committed during the War of Power. Two of them fit this trope:
*** Sammael, the ''Destroyer of Hope'', was a general of the Light who [[TheQuisling defected]] by leaving a major city's gates open to the Shadow's forces.
*** Ishamael, the ''Betrayer of Hope'', was a highly renowned philosopher who announced his allegiance to the Shadow through a public lecture in which he explained that the Shadow's absolute victory was [[EvilOnlyHasToWinOnce inevitable]] and [[StrawNihilist resisting it was pointless]]. It caused massive riots.
** The Seanchan empire believes channelers of the One Power to be dangerous animals [[SuperHumanTrafficking in need of strict control]]. Their handlers accomplish this with leashes that work as RestrainingBolt and ShockCollar, along with years of psychological conditioning until the channelers [[DespairEventHorizon lose all hope of freedom]] and even [[LossOfIdentity stop seeing themselves as human beings]]. When some captive channelers are released, they immediately [[MoreThanMindControl panic and beg to be collared again]].
* ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' has ''three'' of these.
** First, and most importantly, The Simurgh, the third of the Endbringers. Unlike her brethren Leviathan and Behemoth, Simurgh doesn't focus on widescale destruction, but on mental damage. As the setting's only confirmed Psychic, Simurgh specializes in traumatizing people working for the betterment of mankind, which she is able to recognize through her ability to perceive the past, present, and future simultaneously. Not only does she destroy the hope of the people she hurts in her attacks, she also destroys the hope of humanity at large.
** Jack Slash, the leader of the Slaughterhouse 9, is a human-level Hope Destroyer. While his power is dangerous, it's fairly low-key as far as parahumans are concerned (he can extend the slash radius of the blades he uses, letting him kill crowds of people at a time). Instead, what really makes him dangerous is his entirely human talent for psychological torture. He delights in preying on the flaws and insecurities of everyone, be they hero or villain, and knows how to break the hope of almost anyone. He also ''loves'' to dangle false hope in front of his victims.
** Finally, Mannequin, one of the members of the Slaughterhouse 9. Mannequin was originally a Tinker (parahuman with superpowered tech skills) named Sphere, whose life's work was to construct space habitats for humanity. Then Simurgh struck Switzerland, killing his family and traumatizing him so badly that he abandoned his former identity completely. Now, Mannequin's favorite victims are people who succeed where he failed, improving life for humanity.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* The episode "The Road" of ''Series/ColdCase'' involves a serial kidnapper known only by the alias "John Smith" who gets off on locking women away in an oubliette for long periods of time and watching as they succumb to despair.
* ''Series/TheFlash2014'': Much like his comic book counterpart, Zoom lives to crush the hope of others ForTheEvulz. [[spoiler: For example, he secretly posed as Jay Garrick/the Flash of Earth-2]] because he enjoyed making others feel hope just so he could take it away.
* VillainProtagonist Francis Underwood of ''[[Series/HouseOfCardsUS House of Cards]]'' seems to take some pleasure in this, even though he doesn't generally do it for its own sake but as part of his schemes. For example, in one of his asides, after he sets Peter Russo up to [[spoiler:fall off the wagon and end his political career with a drunken radio interview]], he says with some relish "it takes just ten seconds to crush a man's ambitions." Other remarks he's made similarly indicate that he takes some pleasure in being ruthless and destroying people or "discarding" people he's done using.
** Also where he quietly tells the deranged homeless man trying to get into the congressional offices: "Nobody can hear you. Nobody cares about you. Nothing will come of this." That seemed [[KickTheDog pointlessly cruel]] even if he was a risk to security.
* Many ''Franchise/KamenRider'' villains are also pretty fond of this modus operandi.
** ''Series/KamenRiderWizard'' has this specifically as the bad guy's job - the Phantoms find Gates (victim of the week) and destroy their hopes and dreams or something they love. The despair causes the victim to become a new [[MonsterOfTheWeek Phantom]].
** While most of the Greeed in ''Series/KamenRiderOOO'' are embodiments of desire, the Purple Greeed embodies ''lack'' of desires. This gives it the power to [[MindRape permanently destroy the goals and dreams of humans]], leaving them empty and apathetic, [[spoiler:as well as to kill other Greeed DeaderThanDead]].
*** The Unicorn Yummy, created by the Purple Greeed, specifically has the power to pull a person's dream out of their heads, give it physical form, and then destroy it. [[spoiler:It manages to destroy Hina's dream of being a famous fashion designer, but when it tries to do the same to [[AllLovingHero Eiji]], his desire to protect everyone is '''literally''' too large to destroy.]]
** In ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'', [[spoiler:Mitsuzane/Kamen Rider Ryugen becomes one after he spends a good chunk of the series undergoing a FaceHeelTurn. He becomes convinced that the hope [[TheHero Kouta]] inspires in others is a threat to [[ManipulativeBastard his own plans]], especially in regards to his [[{{Yandere}} obsession with protecting Mai]].]]
* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' provides us with an unwitting and PlayedForLaughs example with the recurring character of "Debbie Downer" -- she is just such an unrelentingly dreary [[TheEeyore Eeyore]] that any other character that spends several minutes talking to her will fall into despair, in a ''very'' marked contrast [[BreakTheCutie to how they were at the beginning of the sketch.]]
* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' emphasizes this aspect of {{ComicBook/Darkseid}} as a "Great Darkness" that consumes the Earth by crushing people's hopes and spirits.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Roleplay]]
* ''Roleplay/WhatHappenedInEdmontom'': This is practically Nighthound's entire MO, a fact he lampshades in one of his first few appearances in the original roleplay, ''Roleplay/WhatHappenedInPortlandOregon.''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* One of the methods that a [[TabletopGame/ChangelingTheDreaming changeling]] can use to recharge itself with glamour, Ravaging, can develop in various styles; one of these is the destruction of hope: the character seeks to induce despair in a person. He stands by and lets her sink, refusing to help or even mocking her efforts to reignite any hope she has lost. He may talk her out of taking action to improve her life by pointing out how useless they are.
* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' fifth edition, the Oath of Conquest [[MagicKnight Paladin]] specifically has "Douse the flame of hope" as a rule of its oath. The idea behind it is that an enemy whose hopes and will have been crushed into dust is an enemy that will never, ever rise up against you or the [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans order you're trying to uphold]] ever again. Oath of Conquest paladins [[LawfulEvil tend not to be nice people]].
* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': If someone serves Oblivion willingly, you can bet your yeddim that this is a major aspect of their character. The Archbishop of Chalcedony Thurible is one of the most prominent examples: he spreads a religion that states that hope is a lie.
* The Fall of New York setting supplement for Fast Company, the action rules for the JAGS system, features Dr. Nothing, a [[PsychoPsychologist Psycho Psychotherapist]] who specializes in crushing the dreams of those who seek to make a difference in the WretchedHive that New York has become. In addition to his skills as Fast Company (which makes him as badass as any player character), he likes to BreakThemByTalking as well as other dirty social tricks.
* The lore of the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' features Shar, the Goddess of Darkness, Loss, and Sorrow. Being a [[GodOfEvil Goddess of Evil]], crushing hope is not only one of her attributes, but one of her key tenants: Shar, and those who follow her, believe hope to be an illusion, and through the destruction of hope can others give in to her despair, and thus bring the realms closer to her idealized perfect silence.
* ''TabletopGame/PrincessTheHopeful'': This is a common trope for the Cataphractoi, intelligent spirits of Darkness created when someone commits suicide or otherwise dies after crossing the DespairEventHorizon. Since Cataphractoi know how they are formed, they will often work to push people into despair in order to try and create new Cataphractoi.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' and ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':
** Nurgle, the embodiment of despair, is strengthened whenever large amounts of people start feeling it (his opposite god is the embodiment of hope), so naturally his followers tend towards this. Ironic, given that Nurgle and many of his followers are AffablyEvil (Nurgle genuinely loves his followers) while Tzeentch and his followers tend to be cruel, manipulative {{Troll}}s.
** In 40K, one planet still remembers the Imperium's coming and believes they will one day return to them. The planet is way out in the middle of non-Imperium-controlled space, so not only will they not do anything to assist, the likelihood of anyone knowing about them is near zero. Chaos troops take sadistic glee in kidnapping natives and revealing to them just how insignificant they are and how little the Imperium they worship cares about their very existence.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theatre]]
* In ''Theatre/HMSPinafore'', Dick Deadeye spends most of his time trying to be as much of a wet blanket as possible to Ralph and Josephine's romance, constantly pointing out how it will never work, and eventually even [[spoiler:ratting out their elopement plans to the Captain so they can be foiled]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Raphael, a demon from ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'', likes to present himself as a HopeBringer who helps those in most need, if only they [[DealWithTheDevil make a deal with him]]. However, he typically only appears when his intended quarry is at the DespairEventHorizon, and he's not shy about saying what he thinks will be just the right combination of words at just the right time to push someone over that Event Horizon and into his clutches.
-->'''Raphael''': "Hope"...such a ''tease''.
* This is [[BigBad Scarecrow's]] goal in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight''. Just killing Batman will turn him into a martyr and secure his status as a legend, a beacon of hope that will prevent people from feeling true fear. He doesn't just want to kill him, he wants to break him and destroy his myth.
--> '''Scarecrow:''' When the dawn comes, when Gotham lies in ruin and I turn my gaze to the world beyond, the Legend of the Batman will be worth nothing at all!
* Yuuki Terumi from ''Franchise/BlazBlue'' is an unabashed {{Troll}} who goes out of his way to make everyone around him miserable, as it's what he counts as 'interesting'. A reason was he thinks that despair is the only truth there is, it, along with hatred towards him, empowers him, and he's hellbent on making it to be the sole accepted truth of the world, claiming that everything else are lies. In ''VideoGame/BlazBlueCentralFiction'', it's all coming together with how it's revealed that [[spoiler:he's the original spirit of Susano'o Unit, who held the grandeur of creating a world where everyone lives in fear of his strength and are hopeless to match him]].
* The CIMA in ''VideoGame/CIMATheEnemy'' do this to [[EmotionEater feed off of people's hope]], trapping them in the CIMA dimension, but leaving them a long, arduous escape route while they try to kill them before they can get out.
* Unsurprisingly, Lucifer from ''VideoGame/DantesInferno'' tries to trick Dante into thinking he has hope for leaving Hell and rescuing his beloved Beatrice's soul. However, his ultimate plan is to use Dante to help him gain the power to crush the almighty lord himself; the biggest source of hope if there ever was.
* Jedah from ''VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}}'' taunts his defeated opponents in his win quotes for losing to him by criticizing how they never had a chance to win to begin with.
* In ''Videogame/{{Destiny}}'':
** [[FallenHero Dredgen Yor]] (once known as [[spoiler: Rezzyl Azir]]) was [[TheCorruption corrupted over time]] by exposure to the bones of [[TheUndead the Hive]], which he took as trophies and grafted to his HandCannon "Rose." He gradually abandoned his noble goals as a Guardian and became a terrifying monster who enjoyed inflicting pain and despair on others, and if he did something seemingly altruistic, it was only to give his victims hope before he turned and destroyed them all. In the end, he was undone by the apprentice of a Guardian he killed; after slaying the Hunter Jaren Ward, he forced Ward's [[SoulJar personal Ghost]] to give the Hunter's hand cannon "The Last Word" to the apprentice Shin Malphur, because he knew the boy would come after him, and Yor wanted the apprentice to feel angry and hopeful with his mentor's weapon. When they met again years later, Yor barely got a few words in before Shin Malphur blasted him with a [[KillItWithFire Golden Gun]] and killed Yor where he stood.
** The Hive god Crota goes by the epithet "The Eater of Hope." This is most likely because, during the battle on the Moon, he was nigh-invincible and cut down so many Guardians that they couldn't believe for a second that humans could stand against him.
* Rakanoth, one of Diablo's minions in ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'', is called the Lord of Despair. He sought to drive both the High Heavens and Sanctuary into despair by [[spoiler:capturing Auriel, the Archangel of Hope during Diablo's invasion of the High Heavens]], and only after destroying him and [[spoiler:freeing Auriel]] is hope restored to both.
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'': The goal of BigBad Kefka isn't just world destruction, it's to completely break the spirit of everyone who lives in it too. [[EvilCannotComprehendGood He can't understand why people strive for hope and good feeling against impossible odds, especially when time destroys all things]].
** Seymour Guado in ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasyOperaOmnia''. Being revived and put in a new world doesn't change his omnicidal ambitions a jot. Instead, he derides various heroes for managing to find reasons to live even when they've suffered pain and loss, and tries repeatedly to break them into his own nihilistic worldview by playing off of their missing memories or trying to instill self-doubt.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': [[spoiler: [[TheDreaded Sephiroth]]]] absolutely '''relishes''' doing this to Cloud and co., to the point where it literally [[HeroicBSOD breaks Cloud in two mentally.]] [[spoiler: Temporarily at least.]]
** The BigBad of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV Endwalker'' started out as [[spoiler:an innocent, childlike entity created specifically [[TheEmpath to connect with the feelings and emotions of others]], and countless copies of her were sent out to the Universe to find the meaning of life among the myriad civilizations in the stars. However, all she found was dead-end worlds annihilated by cataclysmic disease or war, societies so advanced they eliminated all conflict and all purpose and meaning to life, and immortal entities who had nothing left to exist for but wait for the end of the universe itself, all of them sharing a wish for nothingness and the belief that life, ultimately, had no purpose and that the road to this realization was nothing but pain. With no other perspective to counter this argument, she was consumed by their suffering and their despair and now believes that [[CessationOfExistence to end]] ''[[CessationOfExistence everything]]'' [[CessationOfExistence in nothingness]] is [[MercyKill a kindness]]. So she sits at the edge of the Universe and sings a song that weaponizes the very concept of despair: utilizing ''Dynamis'', the power of emotion, the song of the Final Days utterly consumes anyone who feels a particularly strong negative emotion, such as anger, sorrow, and ESPECIALLY despair, so that their soul is erased from existence, and their bodies are turned into a Blasphemy, a monstrous creature that in turn causes others who see it to despair and become Blasphemies themselves. She doesn't even have to be the ''direct cause'' of said despair in order to cause the transformation, nor does she deliberately intend it--merely being exposed to despair while she sings her song provokes it, which is what makes her especially dangerous.]]
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames'', the true {{Big Bad}}s need to light "the flames of sorrow, destruction and despair" in their plan to [[spoiler:resurrect Ganon]]. The first two are lit by Veran and Onox, respectively, and they light the last one personally by [[spoiler:kidnapping Zelda in broad daylight, in view of the villagers]].
* By the time of ''VideoGame/MegaManZero4'', Dr. Weil is the undisputed ruler of Neo Arcadia and was so tyrannical that its citizens choose to escape into the wastelands to find a new home rather than stay under his rule. Because of this, Dr. Weil initiated Operation Ragnarok, a military op where he sends his army to all habitable areas outside Neo Arcadia and destroys all signs of nature growing back, believing this will dissuade anyone from deserting his domain. At the end of the game, when LaResistance thought everything is over with Weil's apparent death, he fires a "warning shot" from his Ragnarok KillSat, alerting everyone that it hasn't been shut down. Weil sends Ragnarok on a ColonyDrop towards Area Zero, the largest habitable region outside Neo Arcadia; the "warning shot" earlier implies (and eventually confirms) to be a taunt because he believes that the Resistance is now powerless to stop the crash.
* From ''VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsKingAbaddon'', Abaddon-Shinado's Aspect of Anger is half of a divine monster powered by despair. Technically, its mission is to cast all despairing humans into the Abyss, but in its zealousness, it seeks to drive ''all'' humans to despair deep enough that it might just dump the race there. The PlayerCharacter is such a HopeBringer that it resorts to progressively harsher forms of MindRape - [[{{Determinator}} which fail to put a dent on him]]. Eventually, both are forced into a confrontation in which Shinado plays its trump card by breaking the spirit of one of the hero's new friends, absorbing and through him or her attempting to crush his hope one last time. It wasn't such a good idea, to say the least.
* Otani Yoshitsugu from ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'', due to being ridiculed for his leprosy, made it his goal to spread misery and despair throughout the world so they suffer as he does. To achieve that, he attempts to kill Tokugawa Ieyasu, the one who's [[HopeBringer trying to bring bonds and hope to the war-torn land]].
* Lord Achriman, the sadistic BigBad of ''VideoGame/SeriousSam4'', tries to deliver a BreakingSpeech practically every time he opens his mouth. As the [[WickedCultured lead philosopher and propagandist]] of EvilOverlord [[GreaterScopeVillain Mental]], Achriman does his best to convince humanity that there is nothing they can do to stop Mental's Horde from wiping them out and that surrendering themselves to be [[MeatPuppet processed]] is in their own best interest.
* The White in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' [[spoiler:are {{Anthropomorphic Personification}}s of Humanity's despair at being forever locked in the middle of the OrderVersusChaos ForeverWar. They seek ultimate destruction and to that end they send Flynn to the {{Alternate Timeline}}s of Blasted and Infernal Tokyo, so he will see neither Law nor Chaos is the answer. They despise Neutral, the most hopeful of endings. To make Flynn despair if that doesn't work, they send him against extremely lethal entities (the Ancient of Days and Sanat Kumara).]] The ArchangelGabriel says they became this when they "gained knowledge beyond their ken" - which in this series is ''never'' a good thing.
* Among a bunch of other [[{{Sadist}} sadistic tendencies]], Infinite from ''Videogame/SonicForces'' takes pleasure in doing this.
-->'''Infinite:''' ''(to Silver)'' This wasn't part of my agenda, but I'm always happy to crush a hero. It keeps the rabble in line. Shows them that there is no hope.
* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'': The objective of the Smithy Gang was to seize up the fragments of the Star Road to get rid of the wishes of everyone and "create a world filled with... WEAPONS!". In particular, Axem Red, leader of the Axem Rangers, explicitly states that the star fragment they're fighting over with Mario and Co. give people hope, therefore "it needs to be destroyed!".
* Perfectio from ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsDestiny'', as an EmotionEater of negative emotions, likes despair the most. To make matters worse, he has a circular wave that will plunge any caught in it into despair, usually via the sheer power he exudes as a [[NighInvulnerability Nigh-Invulnerable]] EldritchAbomination.
* The Sha of Despair from ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', like the rest of the Sha, [[EmotionEater feeds off of]] and causes its negative emotion, namely despair. It thus stands in opposition to Chi-Ji, the Red Crane of Hope.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* In ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'', this is the modus operandi of the BigBad Monokuma, [[spoiler:and by extension the [[NebulousEvilOrganisation Ultimate Despair]], which he runs]]. Despair is his favorite word, and he creates the DeadlyGame for no other reason than [[ForTheEvulz to make its participants suffer]]. Monokuma[[spoiler:'s controller Junko Enoshima]] takes the concept to its extreme by making it into a fetish to the point of [[spoiler:being obsessed with her ''[[TooKinkyToTorture own]]'' despair as much as anyone else's: she is thrilled when her plans are thwarted because it means she can inflict the ultimate despair ''[[DrivenToSuicide on herself]]''. Of course, at the exact moment that she is about to die, her death is delayed by a split second, and she dies confused without realizing it instead of in the despair she wanted]]. Further materials such as ''Literature/DanganronpaZero'' and ''Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool'' explore this further: [[spoiler:her true talent was supposedly the "Ultimate Analyst", allowing her to analyze every possible outcome of every action. Due to being able to do this, she got quickly bored at everything and decided that despair is unpredictable while [[GoodIsBoring hope, harmony, and good things are pretty boring]]... So Junko decided to not only worship despair but also shove it to the whole world whether they like it or not to make things, [[ItsAllAboutMe in her eyes]], [[ItAmusedMe more exciting]]]].
* The witches in ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry''. Most notably, the BigBad is a {{Troll}} comparable to [[VideoGame/{{Blazblue}} Terumi]] in terms of cruelty (and if ''Umineko'' were more widespread would equal or even surpass him in notoriety) that takes absolute delight in the despair she sows. [[spoiler:Not [[DiscOneFinalBoss Beatrice]], but Bernkastel (and Lambdadelta to a lesser extent).]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* ''Webcomic/Aurora2019'': Tynan, Shadow of Thunder, is a storm god who feeds on mortal fear, and as such has devoted his entire existence to getting better at spreading fear and dread.
* The cubi of clan Seme in Amber Panyko Williams' ''Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures'' feed upon the emotion of despair. Since cubi can exert some amount of Thought Control, clan Seme can create the despair upon which they feed.
* Eridan Ampora from ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', whose title is Prince of Hope. Don't let the title fool you, the Prince class is a destroyer of/through its aspect, and so Eridan is literally a destroyer of hope. Proving the point, [[spoiler:after the trolls were denied entrance into the new universe they had created, Eridan took away their last hope for restoring their race by destroying the matriorb.]]
** Eridan definitely fits the non-"ForTheEvulz" reasoning of this trope due to having crossed the DespairEventHorizon himself before that point.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* The Corporate Commander from ''WebVideo/TheAngryJoeShow'' loves to raise the expectations of gamers with an awesome new release before deliberately delivering a poor videogame to them on purpose as a scam he uses to take the consumer's money.
* Mechakara from ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall''. It isn't enough for him to just kill Linkara, he wants to destroy his spirit first. He has tried to take away everything Linkara cares about, send him mad, and push him over the DespairEventHorizon.
* "Crushing Hopes and Dreams" has become a catchphrase of the ''Gundamn!'' podcast, as certain ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' fans tend to develop unrealistic expectations to which they need to administer a sometimes lethal dose of reality.
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': [[BigBad Salem]] admits that [[BigGood Ozpin's]] faith in humanity's potential is not misplaced. She can see how strong humanity is capable of being when it stands united against any threat or adversity. As a result, her plan is to turn humanity against itself, dividing and weakening them, cultivating mistrust, paranoia, and war until all hope humanity has for itself is destroyed. Every human. Everywhere. Salem knows she cannot kill [[ResurrectiveImmortality Ozpin]] so instead plans to destroy his hope in humanity's future and defeat him with despair.
* The Baron Richmond, in ''Literature/{{Twig}}'', delights in tormenting the small town of Warrick, composed entirely of people he's had shipped there, with random executions and an oppressive atmosphere of despair, but what causes him to fit this trope are the churches. When the Baron had Warrick constructed, he made sure to include several churches, empty buildings without any religious functionaries to staff them, and with all the holy symbols ruined in some way. The churches exist ''solely'' to tempt the people of Warrick into seeking some small spiritual comfort just so that he can crush it in an inventive and cruel fashion; for example, when the townsfolk started leaving rose petals on the doorstep he had his doctors develop a monster which could track them by the oils their fingers left on the petals.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', Fire Lord Ozai is told that the people of the Earth Kingdom can persist for as long as they have hope. His solution? Take away their hope by burning the kingdom to the ground. Though this particular case isn't so much trying to crush hope as it is being so thorough that there's no one left to ''have'' hope.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''/''New Batman Adventures'' episode "Cold Comfort," Mr. Freeze has lost his wife [[spoiler:and his entire body from the neck down]] so he spends the episode destroying the things people hold most dear to them, including the skeleton of a dinosaur an archaeologist discovered, and the magnum opus of a painter.
* ComicBook/TheJoker in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' tries to kill Batman/Dick Grayson (who's currently the last member of the Bat Family) in order to rid Gotham City of their savior and his legacy forever.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** Discord in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E1TheReturnOfHarmonyPart1 The Return]] [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E2TheReturnOfHarmonyPart2 of Harmony]]" has corrupted the rest of the Mane 6 and let them become such {{Jerkass}}es that Twilight Sparkle just gives up on trying to save Equestria.
** Principal Abacus Cinch of Crystal Prep Academy in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsFriendshipGames''. She wants to prove how perfect her school is by destroying the confidence of Canterlot High. Ironically, she's also this to her prized student Twilight.
* In ''WesternAnimation/OperationZERO'', since he was overthrown in the past when his son found the Book of KND which gave him hope, Grandfather sets out to find and destroy the book to ensure history never repeats.
* ''WesternAnimation/RoboCopTheAnimatedSeries'' had a villain who was actually named Hope Crusher.
* [[BigBad Aku]] from ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' is one to the world he rules over in general and Jack in particular, leading to the series' many, '''many''' infamous ShaggyDogStory moments. One of his favorite tactics is to let Jack come '''this close''' to finding a way to the past, before destroying it and flying off while taunting the Samurai mercilessly. In season 5, it is shown that [[spoiler:he has '''succeeded''' in breaking Jack's spirit completely, destroying the last portal to the past and forcing him to kill innocents.]] In one comics-only story, Aku [[spoiler:disguises himself as a woman and travels with Jack for what must have been months if not '''years''' before revealing himself, '''solely''' to teach Jack that he "will always be alone".]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** [[DrowningMySorrows Depressing]] Springfield tavern owner Moe Szyslak.
--->'''Moe:''' I like creating disappointment. You know that little moment when people's hope dies? I feed on that.
** Principal Seymour Skinner has an obsession with forcing the children of his school to become dull, mediocre, conformist, devoid of dreams (and thus sheep-like [[{{Jerkass}} and easier for him to manage because they won't protest stuff like the budget cuts]]) that borders on that of an Creator/AynRand villain (or a caricature thereof) at times.
--->'''Mrs. Krabappel:''' Our demands are very reasonable. By ignoring them, you're selling out these children's futures.\\
'''Seymour:''' Oh, come on, Edna! We both know that these children ''have'' no future!\\
[''All of the children in the cafeteria stop what they are doing and stare at Skinner out of fright. Skinner [[OhCrap notices]]''.]\\
'''Skinner''': [[VerbalBackspace Prove me wrong, children!]] Prove me wrong!
** In the Season 6 episode "And Maggie Makes Three" the show's most popular example of this trope is when Homer is forced to return to his job at the Nuclear Plant in order to support Maggie's upcoming birth. Mr. Burns allows him to come back but as punishment for his desertion, it's company policy to give him a demotivational plaque that says "Don't Forget: You're Here Forever!" in front of his post in order to break what's left of his spirit. Thankfully, after Maggie is born Homer is motivated to continue working there because of his love for her, he puts her baby pictures on the plaque, thus making the words look like it's saying: "Do It For Her!"
* ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'': Robotnik won't go out of his way to crush people's hope due to generally being too pragmatic to waste time like that, but due to his general sadism he'll gladly take the opportunity if given one.
-->'''Robotnik:''' A nice dream. But dreams are meant to be… '''''broken.'''''
* Lord Dominator from ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'' is revealed to be this in "My Fair Hatey", as she explains in her VillainSong "I'm the Bad Guy":
-->I've always had a weakness\\
For barrenness and bleakness\\
I crush all your hopes\\
And then I watch you cry!
[[/folder]]
----