[[StarWars http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/le.jpg]]

->''"Peace through tyranny."''
-->-- '''[[{{Transformers}} Megatron]]'''

->''"To instill fear is to instill order. '''Our''' order."''
-->-- ''GreenLantern'' ArchEnemy '''Sinestro'''

LawfulEvil comes in two flavours. The first is an evil villain who either believes in keeping order at ''all costs'', or that it's much easier to become ruler of the world by exploiting the existing system than by tearing it down and starting anew. If the villain is [[GoodRepublicEvilEmpire supreme ruler of their realm]], then they are probably either Lawful Evil or TheCaligula. This is the canonical alignment of devils in ''DungeonsAndDragons''.

Lawful evil can be the most dangerous alignment because it represents methodical, intentional, and frequently successful evil.

The second type is a baddie with a code of honour that prevents them from doing [[EvenEvilhasStandards truly heinous things.]] The second type tends to either perform a HeelFaceTurn or suffer [[RedemptionEqualsDeath death by redemption]]. These tend to be reliable allies in an EnemyMine situation where [[CharacterAlignment alignments]] would fizzle out.

A variety are evil characters who [[WhatIsEvil don't care if what they do is "heinous" or "horrible",]] but who will always follow certain rules. Such characters are, for example:
A gangster who would kill anyone who crosses him--except, say, [[WouldntHurtAChild kids]], and never forget a favour he owes; or a psycho who [[TheMostDangerousGame hunts people for fun]] but always gives a fair warning; or a villain whose [[IGaveMyWord word is absolutely binding]]; or any kind of evil character that might deliver a HannibalLecture that borders on MindRape but WillNotTellALie. Or a character who does, without flinching, anything their master orders them to do, anything, because their one rule is absolute obedience.\\
Still, turning hero is the farthest thing from any of these characters' minds.

An ObstructiveBureaucrat may be LawfulNeutral or LawfulEvil, depending on how much they enjoy what they do. A Lawful Evil bureaucrat will take perverse pleasure in strangling the heroes with red tape and burying them in as much paperwork as possible, while a Lawful Neutral version will simply insist that everything has to be done by the book.

'''The first type includes characters such as the:'''
* BigBad
* DiabolicalMastermind
* [[TheEmpire The Emperor]]
* EvilOverlord
* [[GodIsEvil God, When he's evil]]
* HangingJudge
* HeWhoFightsMonsters
* KnightTemplar
* ManipulativeBastard
* PresidentEvil
* SecretPolice

'''Characters of the second type include:'''
* NecessarilyEvil
* NobleDemon
* WorthyOpponent
----
!!Examples
When dealing with the examples of specific characters, remember that assigning an alignment to a character who doesn't come with one is pretty [[SubjectiveTropes subjective]]. If you've got a problem with a character being listed here, it probably belongs on the discussion page.

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
* Arguably, Kira from ''DeathNote''. He's certainly got his own plans for the world, including a rigid social structure and oppressive laws, all punishable by death (note). He starts out pretty much LawfulGood, following his father's example, until he finds the Death Note and goes JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope. Though some argue he became NeutralEvil later on.
** Yotsuba is of this alignment, especially since in the manga, it is revealed that they like what Kira is doing because a peaceful world (even one ruled by fear), is good for business, and they, especially the Kira among them ([[spoiler:Higuchi]]) have no qualms about killing business rivals.
* In contrast of many pirates in ''OnePiece'' being ChaoticGood, but still labeled as villains, World Government is a good example of this, although there are some LawfulNeutral (Smoker) and even LawfulGood (T-Bone) members.
** Of particular note are the members of [=CP9=], who are professional assassins hired by the World Government. Though some of them ''really'' push the limits of what can be defined as Lawful Evil.
**Admiral Akainu is this of the other Amirals (Aokiji being LawfulGood and Kizaru being LawfulNeutral) willing to open fire on ships full of civilian just in cast criminals he's after got onboard.
***Admiral Aokiji put the entire country of Ohara, including the children, to the torch. Kizaru uncaringly enforced the tyranny of a bunch of slavers. All the admirals are lawful evil as far as we know.
** The guards of Impel Down might be some of the nicest workers for the World Government but they still run one of the worst pirsons ''ever'' (and used to be even worst before the current Warren took over) because they belief they are a NecessaryEvil in order to keep the people safe.
* Griffith from ''{{Berserk}}'', using the system to grab hold of as much power as he can, no matter who has to suffer. Dips into Neutral Evil during his CompleteMonster moment, but then pulls back into Lawful for a turn as a DarkMessiah.
* Lucemon of ''DigimonFrontier'', who thought people were unable to properly rule themselves, and that the world would have been a much better place if he decided everything for everyone. He even had his [[KnightTemplar "thought police"]] in the form of the Royal Knights.
* BigBad [[spoiler:Sosuke Aizen]] in ''{{Bleach}}''.
** WellIntentionedExtremist [[spoiler:Kaname Tousen]] initially seems LawfulGood, but supports killing people who disrupt order despite otherwise being a pacifist, and sides with the BigBad.
* WhiteHairedPrettyBoy Nagi from ''{{Mai-HiME}}'' and ''{{Mai-Otome}}''. He [[ManipulativeBastard plays with people's emotions like a six-string guitar]], but rarely ever attempts to physically harm anyone still [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness useful to him]].
* Gihren Zabi from ''[[MobileSuitGundam Mobile Suit Gundam]]''. Both in the series itself and among fans, he's commonly known as "the Universal Century's version of Hitler".
** [[EvilChancellor Haman Kahn]] from ''[[GundamZZ ZZ Gundam]]'' qualifies as well.
** Char Aznable, the single most popular character in the franchise, probably started out LawfulNeutral. However, in ''Char's Counterattack'', he has given in to his disillusionment about mankind, has turned Lawful Evil and has become a WellIntentionedExtremist who [[spoiler:wants to realize his father's dream by dropping Axis on Earth and forcing humanity to live in space]]. He freely admits he's committing an act of evil, but sees it as necessary for the future of mankind. Oh, and he has no problem manipulating the people next to him, especially Nanai and Quess, into being loyal to him.
** Shifting focus to the Cosmic Era, Gilbert Durandal from ''GundamSEEDDestiny'', a WellIntentionedExtremist as well, whose plan consisted of [[spoiler:creating a society where people's future and standing in society was determined by genes]]. WordOfGod insists he was right, but [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans his actions]] (among which, [[spoiler:trying to wipe out countries who rejected his Destiny Plan with a WaveMotionGun]]) speak otherwise.
** ''{{Gundam 00}}'' BigBad [[spoiler: Ribbons Almark]] sees himself as God and wants to turn all of humanity into [[spoiler: Innovators]] in order to bring about eternal peace, however he has no problem using [[KillSat orbital death rays]] or [[spoiler: mind controlling his subordinates]] in order to stamp out opposition.
*** Also from the same series are the StateSec A-LAWS, although there are members who are more of the second type (Soma, Kati, [[spoiler: Louise at first]]) or just LawfulNeutral (Kati, Patrick and Soma). Mr. Bushido slides between the second type and ChaoticNeutral.
*** Celestial Being themselves started out as a NecessarilyEvil organization. They later shift to NeutralGood.
* Guoda from ''GhostInTheShell:StandAloneComplex'' is a type two. He doesn't even try to hide or deny that he uses people as tools and views lives as expendable. But in the World of Ghost in the Shell, that doesn't mean he can't be a productive and highly regarded employe of the Ministery of the Interior.
* The Anti-Spirals from ''GurrenLagann'' are Lawful Evil take to logical extremes. They seek to protect the universe from the dangers of Spiral Power and to do this they are willing to exterminate any race that contains that power.
** [[TheEmperor Lordgenome]], who keeps humanity caged in underground villages and kills any who wander to the surface in order to protect the human race from complete annihilation by aforementioned Anti-Spirals (their DoomsdayDevice will activate when the surface human population reaches 1 million).
* Yagyu Retsudo from LoneWolfAndCub. He wants to wipe out the Ogami family, come out on top, and sacrifice as many of his friends and family as he needs to, but he wants to do it ''by the book''. He has no problem doing horrible things to innocent people, but he hates doing ''dishonorable'' things.
* Frieza of ''DragonBallZ'' is perhaps the ''only'' villain in that series to qualify as lawful evil, as he's the only villain who has a purpose bigger than proving his strength by beating the heroes and killing things. In this case, Frieza is the long-time ruler of the galaxy, putting down insurrections by [[EarthShatteringKaboom destroying planets]] and cowing the gods themselves (though the ''Dragonball'' gods aren't necessarily anything to write home about).
* Alucard, the VillainProtagonist and HeroicSociopath of ''{{Hellsing}}'' enjoys slaughtering his opponents with sadistic glee even if their innocent pawns, however he must first get the command of his master Sir Integra Wingates Hellsing in order to do so.
**Doesn't mean ''he's'' Lawful Evil. It just means Integra's Lawful (probably Lawful Good, though it's debateable). Alucard's much closer to ChaoticEvil or ChaoticNeutral , and is by self-admission just a step shy of OmnicidalManiac [Which springs from the NeutralEvil alignment!]
***Amusingly, Alucard ''during his life'' was Lawful Evil. At least by most people's gauge: [[spoiler: Vlad Tepes']] peasants adored him, if this troper remembers right.
*Danzo in ''{{Naruto}}'', who wants to turn Konoha into a militaristic state with himself as Hokage, and is willing to see it destroyed to take power because he cares more about what's good "for the village" than the actual ''villagers''. [[spoiler:Homura and Koharu, his accomplices in orchestrating the Uchiha clan massacre]], also count. Pain's goal of [[spoiler: establishing world peace [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans by creating and making publicly available a weapon that would destroy entire countries]]]] also counts.
* [[BigBad The Demon Lord Vearn]] from DaiNoDaibouken is the textbook example of type I. Another main villain Hadler is an interesting case in that he starts out as type I (EvilOverlord) and moves to type II (WorthyOpponent) later on.
* Chairman Keel Lorenz and the SEELE council in ''NeonGenesisEvangelion''.
* Emperor Charles zi Britannia and Prince Schneizel el Britannia of ''CodeGeass''
** Though [[spoiler: Schneizel could qualify as LawfulNeutral or NeutralGood in ''Knightmare Of Nunnally'']]
* In the manga version of YuYuHakusho, it is revealed that [[spoiler:King Yama]] is of this alignment, despite initially being LawfulNeutral, as he [[spoiler:released captured demons to attack humans as a justification for maintaining the barrier on Demon World and to portray the Spirit World as being the defenders of humanity]]. Sakyo, the main antagonist of the Dark Tournament arc, also qualifies, as while he wants to open a portal to the Demon World that will allow powerful demons into the human world, he dislikes foul play and is willing to honor his agreements, including [[spoiler:betting his life on Toguro's victory- and honoring his end of the deal when he loses the bet]].
*[[spoiler:King Bradley]] in FullmetalAlchemist, who mercilessly kills his enemies and is responsible for genocide while head of state for [[spoiler:Amestris]]. His generals in the military who are loyal to the homunculi also count.
** Not to mention The Truth, which trades with alchemists for the right to gaze into the vast collection of all knowledge it serves as the guardian for. The catch? It usually trades in their own body parts, or even their souls, rarely tells them before pushing them in, and clearly takes immense sadistic delight in the whole process.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* Alignment? Bah! [[MarvelUniverse Doom]] does not fit into your pathetic categories!
* Comicbook/{{Superman}}'s archfoe Lex Luthor, given his constant manipulation of the Metropolis legal system to keep himself out of hot water, not to mention his vast network of supervillain contacts.
* The ''IronMan'' villain, the Mandarin, fits both examples of Lawful Evil. He's an EvilOverlord through and through, but he also has a very strict code of honor. On one occasion, he [[YouHaveFailedMe destroyed one of his martial arts students for cheating by trying to drug him in a training session]], and on another gave his word that he would stop hindering the activities of Stark Enterprises if Iron Man defeated him in [[CombatByChampion single combat]]. When Iron Man triumphed in their eventual battle, the Mandarin fulfilled his promise and cleared the way for Stark Enterprises to set itself up in Hong Kong.
* TheDCU's uber-BigBad Darkseid is Lawful Evil in its purest form. His goal is to rule the entire universe by finding the Anti-Life Equation, which would destroy the free will of everyone except him. One blogger called him "the god of fascism."
* [[FaceHeelTurn Former]] GreenLantern Sinestro seeks to bring order to the universe. And what better way to do that than through fear?
** Although half his Corps is AxeCrazy ChaoticEvil, as a result most of the ChaoticEvil ones went on killing sprees and joined up Mongul [[spoiler: until Sinestro showed up with the LawfulEvil ones and curb-stomped them]]
* The Assassin group in ''FateZero'' (this includes ''FateStayNight'''s True Assassin) are all LawfulEvil. True, they follows the order of the group, they do it proudly and it involves lots and lots of killing.
* Newspaper comic example: Catbert, Evil Head of Human Resources, from ''{{Dilbert}}'' walks the fine line between this and NeutralEvil; he spends his entire life making people miserable through new rules.
*When he's thinking straight, [[SpiderMan Spider-Man]] archnemesis and current MarvelUniverse BigBad Norman Osborn is LE in true ManipulativeBastard fashion. Of course, when the [[ChaoticEvil Green Goblin comes out to play..]]
**And while on the subject of the Dark Avengers, Moonstone fits the LE alignment as well.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film]]
* Darth Vader, and TheEmpire more generally, in ''StarWars''.
** Debatable, since he had a tendency to go back on his word, such as the situation on Bespin.
*** True, but it's still probably the alignment which fits him more - he's too cold and methodical to be ChaoticEvil, and too obedient to the Emperor (well, he kind of tried to overthrow him with the help of Luke, but he did what Palpatine ordered for years and has been his faithful right hand man) to be NeutralEvil.
* Dr. Evil of ''AustinPowers'', right down to attending [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate Evil Medical School]].
* Michael Corleone from ''TheGodfather''. He began as either Lawful Neutral or True Neutral but moved steadily towards evil.
* The Operative from ''{{Serenity}}'', who ruthlessly pursues anyone or -thing which threatens the perfect utopia he hopes to build, even if it means slaughtering entire worlds or murdering children. To his credit, [[WellIntentionedExtremist he never claims that what he does is right or just]], [[NecessarilyEvil only necessary]], and freely admits that he's a monster [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans who has no place in the utopia he dreams of]].
* [[TheProposition Eden Fletcher]] is a bad bad man.
* [[ManosTheHandsOfFate The Master]] (no, not [[DoctorWho that one]]) would approve of this alignment.
* Peter Creedy in the ''V for Vendetta'' movie adaptation (more than in the comic book) comes across as a textbook Lawful Evil character.
* Harry Waters from ''InBruges''. That fucking motherfucker sticks to his fucking principles.
* Charlie Prince in the ''3:10 to Yuma'' remake is a trigger-happy, murderous bastard, but his loyalty and devotion to his boss Ben Wade are impressive - he goes to almost superhuman lengths to rescue him. [[HoYay With maybe a slight hint of subtext]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Folk Lore]]
* [[RobinHood The Sheriff of Nottingham]] is usually portrayed as Lawful Evil.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* The Auditors from ''{{Discworld}}'' who have repeatedly tried to exterminate all life on the Disc (and in one case Earth) to leave a more orderly Universe. Really, Death says it best:
-->'''Death''': [[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Down in the deepest kingdoms of the sea, where there is no light, there lives a type of creature with no brain and no eyes and no mouth. It does nothing but live and put forth petals of perfect crimson where none are there to see. It is nothing but a tiny yes in the night. And yet... And yet... It has enemies who bear it a vicious, unbending malice, who wish not only for its tiny life to be over but also that it had never existed. Are you with me so far? ]]

-->'''Susan''': "Well, yes, but-"
-->'''Death''': [[/folder]]

[[folder: Good. Now, imagine what they think of humanity. ]]

** In fact, Lawful Evil is the alignment of choice for many {{Discworld}} villains: Trymon, Vorbis and Lilith Weatherwax most clearly.
** Evil Harry Dread in the ''{{Discworld}}'' novel ''The Last Hero'' selects his guards for stupidity and designs his dungeons to facilitate escape, all out of a sense of professional ethics and playing-the-game; he betrays Cohen and the Silver Horde at the first opportunity for exactly the same reason.
** Havelock Vetinari at one point describes himself this way to Samuel Vimes, citing that Good really can't plan--especially for when the Lawful Evil empire gets overthrown.
* Voldemort of ''HarryPotter'' is a tough pick. While he does run the Death Eaters, he never seems to have much hand in their operations besides ones directly related to himself. A good example is the last book, most of which he's abroad, searching for the Unbeatable Wand. It's either [[LawfulEvil Lawful]] or NeutralEvil for him.
** Dolores Umbridge, too.
* Professor Moriarty of ''SherlockHolmes'' - "The Napoleon of Crime".
* "Gentleman Johnnie" Marcone from ''TheDresdenFiles,'' a control-freak crime lord who keeps such an orderly rule over Chicago's criminal underworld that the authorities actually prefer having him there, rather than several rival gangs constantly fighting it out. He also has a definite sense of honor and obligations, and is a prime example of EvenEvilHasStandards.
* The government of Oceania from the GeorgeOrwell novel ''[[NineteenEightyFour 1984]]'' (The most common inspiration for the first kind in modern Western literature).
* Sauron. Possibly a surprise to those who are only familiar with ''TheLordOfTheRings'' (by which era he has undergone considerable ''canon'' VillainDecay and MotiveDecay towards ChaoticEvil) but in the beginning, according to WordOfGod, he only followed Morgoth out of the desire to build a rigidly ordered empire, quite the opposite of Morgoth's motivations. The character of Saruman in TheLordOfTheRings is in many ways a reflection of Sauron's original reasons for turning evil, and the contrast with present-day Sauron is meant to highlight how futile those desires for order are, as evil always ends in chaos.
** Objection. His goal in Lord of the Rings was clearly to enslave the people of Middle Earth, not destroy destroy it, and industrialize and turn Middle Earth into a dark and grey world. He even tried diplomacy, Mouth of Sauron and all trying to negociate with the free people of Middle Earth (with deals obviously favoring Sauron more than the free people). Yep, still Lawful Evil. Still, it is pretty easy to misinterpret his goals during the books, as it isn't looked upon much, and when you look at his minions, it is pretty darn easy to assume their supreme leader is ChaoticEvil too.
** It would probably be more accurate to say that he suffered straight MotiveDecay without really shifting his alignment- he started out as a WellIntentionedExtremist who thought absolute order would be a ''good thing'' and ended up a power-mad tyrant, but the essential goal of creating order was there to the end.
* [[TheChessmaster Lord Tywin Lannister]] from ''ASongOfIceAndFire''. His son Jaime probably also fits, up until [[spoiler:his HeelFaceTurn]].
* The devils in ''TheScrewtapeLetters'' are a group of scheming bureaucrats who have quite a few rules in Hell to better manipulate each other with.
* King Gasam, in John Maddox Roberts's ''Stormlands'' series, who seems to be somewhat based off of Genghis Khan.
* ''TheBookOfLordShang'' explicitly states that it is better for a country to be run by evil men, because they will follow the law to the letter, while good men will be willing to overlook minor offences if the perpetrator had a good reason.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* Kai Winn, the Bajoran spiritual leader for most of the run of ''StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', is pretty thoroughly Lawful Evil, with a bit more emphasis on law and a little less on evil. Then, she becomes a little more thoroughly evil and a little less thoroughly lawful...[[spoiler:and finally becomes a [[LawfulNeutral pretty solid lawful and a pretty solid neutral]]]].
* Cardassian society from ''StarTrek'', with its heavy undertones of Fascism is a good example of a strongly LawfulEvil state.
** Which is probably why they were able to align with the Founders, who are so obsessed with creating "perfect order" that they have bred an unstoppable army of fanatical Jem'Hadar soldiers to conquer everything and rule it with an iron fist.
* [[DoctorWho Daleks and Cybermen]].
* Dexter Morgan of ''{{Dexter}}''. He's a murderous sociopath with no illusions about what he is, but, as he stated in the first episode: "I have [[EvenEvilHasStandards standards]]."
** His strict adherence to his code, the fact that he kills only murderers and that he seems to feel some genuine (although hidden under layers of sociopathy) affection for his sister, Rita and the kids could also make him LawfulNeutral.
* [[TheDukesOfHazzard Roscoe P. Coltrane]]'s factory specs call for Lawful Evil alignment, but danged if, no matter how often ol'Cooter has him up on the alignment jig an' how many shims he uses, he just keeps on driftin' out to [[LawfulStupidChaoticStupid Lawful Stupid]]. Must be all those hard landings, gol'durn it!
* Esteban of {{Weeds}}. Charming, charismatic, [[EvilIsSexy handsome]], [[PresidentEvil the mayor of Tijuana]], and a drug kingpin. He's almost always polite, but when he shows his dark side, it's downright scary.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
* {{WWE}}'s Triple H is often referred to as "The Cerebral Assassin" for the way he manipulates the system, his opponents, and anybody whose head he can get inside to maintain his position on top of the mountain. He's at his most comfortable when he's surrounded by "friends" who help him carry out his plans, but no matter what happens, he is always out for himself and his own betterment in the end.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* The Imperium of Man, Craftworld Eldar, Tau Empire, and Necrons of {{Warhammer 40000}} all lean towards this end to varying degrees-the first three vary between Lawful Evil and Lawful Neutral, while the last are so enigmatic that no one's sure where they fall, but Lawful Evil seems to fit them the most.
** The Imperium are more Lawful Lawful (To avoid losing anybody to Chaos), the Eldar are more Lawful Jackass (Neutral), while the Tau come ''off'' as Lawful Good (Especially in the Dawn of War games), there's some stuff about their government that seems to push them towards Neutral. The necrons, however, are simply Lawful Evil, by the perception that they intend to put the universe into a very, very strict order to eliminate Chaos. By eradicating all life. Ever. To the last bacterium. They're more Lawful Lawful Lawful.
*** The necrons are arguably so lawful that they make ANY other race seem nice by comparison. Which also includes AxCrazy, [[TheChessmaster overplotting]], disease-ridden, {{Squick}}-inducing demons from hell bent on slaughtering everything that is remotely good and orderly, which in turn proves they don't care about anything other than feeding their gods with delicious souls. The only thing keeping the Necrons from being the most dangerous race in the setting is the BadassDecay into secondary villains in later codexes from their introduction, focusing more on Chaos and Tyranids as the largest threats against humanity.
* Hobgoblins in ''DungeonsAndDragons'' are just as brutal as [[OurOrcsAreDifferent orcs]], but have a regimented society and cooperative spirit that makes them doubly dangerous.
** The Devils are the archetypal LawfulEvil creatures (as opposed to the ChaoticEvil Demons). They have a strict hierarchy, and seek to conquer rather destroy the multiverse. They are extremely organized but utterly ruthless. In 4th edition, Asmodeus, the lord of all devils was actually made into the god of Tyranny.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Greyfield, from ''[[NintendoWars Advance Wars]]: Days of Ruin''. He maintains control of his army through threats and manipulation.
* Sister Miriam Godwinson, ''SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'''s religious nutbar, relies on a strict interpretation of certain Biblical passages. Arguably LawfulNeutral--she's not completely evil or backwards--she acknowledges in her game quote that any evil that exists in, for example, [[NewMediaAreEvil new forms of media]] isn't ''created'' by that media--but she's a definite KnightTemplar, especially as the game goes on over hundreds of turns. ThisTroper does ''not'' want to know how she deals with heretics.
** Chairman Shen-Ji Yang is another example of Lawful Evil. His faction is called the Human Hive, which should tell you everything you need to know about his opinion of such dangerously destabilizing ideas as "freedom" and "individuality".
* [[NightsIntoDreams NiGHTS]]' EvilTwin [[MonsterClown Reala]] is also his exact opposite in alignment: utterly loyal to the evil Wizeman, not to mention dirty, cruel and insidious.
* In ''MegamanNTWarrior'''s Stream season, we have Slur, Duo's [[TheDragon right-hand-woman]]. Utterly and unswervingly loyal to her master, she despises humans, considering them a cancer to the universe, and thinks they deserve to be exterminated for their evil. Unlike Duo himself, she obviously takes cruel delight in handing out punishment and killing those who go against her master's word.
* Prince Laharl from ''{{Disgaea}}'', as a CardCarryingVillain who knows the importance of a good EvilLaugh, definitely starts out at this but gravitates towards LawfulNeutral as the game progresses.
** Vulcanus is also Lawful Evil
*** This troper would debate that Laharl is Lawful Evil. Though he is fundamentally an AffablyEvil demon either way (as are most of the characters in the Disgaea series), this troper thinks that NeutralEvil or even ChaoticEvil describe him better. He is a selfish, self-centered character who firmly believes that might makes right (and, naturally, that he is the strongest in the Netherverse- which is why he is the one who should rule) and will throw any rule out the window if it impedes him. Lying, cheating and stealing- there's no (petty) crime that he won't commit. Simply barging into various Nether Nobles' houses in order to steal every last valuable they have in order to pay for the Prinnies, for example.
* The Begnion senators in ''FireEmblem: Path of Radiance'' and especially ''Radiant Dawn'' fit the description of the first flavor to a T (excluding Sepheran). They're genocidal, greedy, ruthless, and collectively wield power over the most influential nation in the continent. Their only hindrance is the more benevolent empress who is politically above them, but they can still get away with, say, enslaving an entire war-torn nation by hiding their actions and shifting blame to subordinates.
** Their alignment (and fitting the first description) are, of course, derived from the [[GodIsEvil goddess they serve]]. [[spoiler:Wanting to keep the order at all costs, the "Good" goddess Ashera that they serve is willing to [[TakenForGranite statue-ize]] every living thing on the planet to stop the war they're caught up in. The only exceptions were the followers of Ashera (the aforementioned senators) and the ones under the protection of Ashera's ChaoticGood counterpart "Evil" goddess Yune (the party members). This alignment mix was to prove that Chaotic isn't always evil and Lawful isn't always good.]]
* [[http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i212/Kerrah_photos/LAWFULEVIL.jpg Kil'Jaeden the Deceiver]] in {{Warcraft}}. In addition to being a big-time [[TheChessmaster master in chess]], he seems to be pretty much the only demon in the universe who gives minions second chances to further his plans rather than just kill everyone who fails him like the common BadBoss.
** [[http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i212/Kerrah_photos/LAWFULEVIL-1.jpg Kel'Thuzad]], the right hand of the Lich King. While the Dark Lord's alignment kind of fluctuates from time to time, good old Kel stays the same ever since swearing his soul to the master of death. In ''Warcraft III'', his LawfulEvil poses a nice comparison to [[VillainProtagonist Arthas]]' NeutralEvil.
*** Ironically, the [[CanonDisContinuity frequently ignored]] role-playing game guides put both Kel'Thuzad and Arthas under ChaoticEvil, both obviously more methodic in their workings than Illidan, who is listed as Neutral Evil. But, since these guides are full of fallacies in character alignments anyway (the definitions for the alignments seem to differ a lot from the D&D one), this is obviously more of a case of bad design. Kel'Thuzad is still definitely Lawful Evil.
* Several people from FinalFantasy usually Type I
** Emperor Mateus Palamecia from FinalFantasyII who is so evil that upon being killed descends into hell, and becomes the ruler of it.
** Golbez from FinalFantasyIV who uses Baron to collect the crystals. Rubicante is Type II
*** Rubicante is practically the personification of Type II. While evil, he still insists that you fight at the peak of your abilities (fully healing your party), insists that he feels horrible for what a colleague did to an enemies parents, and then advises said enemy that he should calm down, as fighting mad will simply cause him to make stupid mistakes.
*** It should be noted that Golbez [[spoiler:is under mind control, so he's not entirely responsible for his actions]], which brings his actual alignment into question.
** Emperor Gestahl from FinalFantasy VI
** The [[MegaCorp Shinra Corporation]] from FinalFantasyVII is a LawfulEvil electric company that runs the world.
** Also Edea from VIII, alongside the general Gelabadian government. However, it's revealed that Edea is just BrainwashedAndCrazy by Ultimecia.
** Queen Brahne the fat evil Emperess who plans for World Domination in FinalFantasyIX
** X has his own evil government, hiding important secrets from the people. And Seymour is an excellent example for someone using the system to gain power for mischievous plans.
** And of course TheEvilEmpire in XII, especially main villain Vayne and MadScientist Dr. Cid.
* Doctor Eggman/Robotnik ([[BrokenBase Whatever you prefer]], [[UnpleasableFanbase please stop whining]]), the arch-enemy of SonicTheHedgehog. Generally an AffablyEvil gentleman, but also a CardCarryingVillain with plans to establish an '[[TheEmpire Eggman Empire]]'. His Archie comics version is decidedly less affable, but carries many of the same traits.
**Imperator Ix, the BigBad of ''Chronicles'', is also of this alignment.
* [[DarkMessiah Kane]] of ''CommandAndConquer'' fits this to the letter.
* Saren Arterius in ''MassEffect'' ("Is submission not preferable to extinction?").
* Possibly, Goenitz in TheKingOfFighters.
* The majority of Organization XIII in KingdomHearts are either this or LawfulNeutral (with a few exceptions like ChaoticEvil Larxene). In ''Chain of Memories'', [[MagnificentBastard Axel]] turns this trope on it's head by [[spoiler: killing one of the Org's founding members as a ploy to join Marluxia and Larxene in their plan to take over the Organization, only to sabotage their efforts by freeing Namine. And later removing another Org member just to cover his tracks.]] What makes him LawfulEvil instead of ChaoticEvil was that he was commanded by [[spoiler:[[BigBad Xemnas]]]] to do it. Who says LawfulEvil can't be creative?
** To make things even more twisted, [[spoiler: while Axel was under Xemnas' orders, he was aternatively doing it for himself and Saix, who both had their own plans to betray the Organization and didn't want interference from Marluxia and Zexion.]]
* The instruction booklet for ''{{Castlevania}}: Portrait of Ruin'' explicitly states that Death is LawfulEvil.
* In {{Overlord}}, your EvilChancellor Gnarl advises you to be this, stating that being AxCrazy and slaughtering everyone in your way, while can be boatloads of fun is not good for long-term world domination since you will need servants for your empire. He also sees giving peasants some help as PragmaticVillainy, saying that "gratitude comes with it's own rewards". Still, the decision is all up to you as a player and he does delight in acts of particularly vicious evil, though canonically it's suggested that the Overlord was a NobleDemon who at the least saved the elves and slain the {{Fallen Hero}}es ruining the lands.
** In the sequel this is known as Domination, with the Overlad merely choosing to brainwash any civilians he comes across to become slaves that toil for him.
* Akuma/Gouki, from StreetFighter, is a definite type II. A ruthless and vicious martial artist who has killed a number of people with his bare hands... but only in one on one duels to the death, with his intentions firmly declared beforehand.
** No Akuma/Gouki is not evil, he is just a full on BloodKnight, living for the battle (with a DeathWish). Think [[{{Bleach}} Kenpachi Zaraki]] of [[SoulCalibur Mitsurugi]]. He's basically a swordless samurai as I said on the ChaoticNeutral page.
** A more obvious example in the franchise, however, is M. Bison, who practically lives by his main goal of... Guess What? TakeOverTheWorld. ([[ThatGuyWithTheGlasses OF COURSE!]])
* [[AristocratsAreEvil Baron Praxis]] from the second JakAndDaxter game.
** Count Vigor in the third and ''[[{{Interquel}} Daxter]].''
*** "[[MyNameIsNotDurwood VEGER! It's VEGER, you idiot!]]"
* ''Phoenix Wright: AceAttorney'' has [[spoiler:Manfred Von Karma]] and [[spoiler:Damon Gant]], both of whom used every tactic from deception to murder to gain and maintain control of the legal system. [[CareerKillers Shelley De Killer]] is an example of the second type: a ruthless assassin who takes his contracts very seriously and is a man of his word.
* [[CityOfHeroes Lord Recluse]] is an EvilOverlord who rules his island nation with an iron first, but privately relishes a chance to get blood on his hands.
*Hector from Dept Heaven series is a tough call between this and Lawful Evil. He's at the top of [[CelestialBureaucracy Asgard]] and his ultimate desire was [[spoiler: to rule over the world as god.]]
* Canderous in ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' prefers to operate within the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Mandalorian]] rules of war, but has no particular objection to vaporising urban centres in order to achieve an objective. He doesn't ''like'' it, but nor does he feel any particular distaste for it. Throw in the way that you can only gain influence with him in ''KOTOR II'' by being a ruthless bastard, and you get a pretty solid LawfulEvil.
* Prince Maximillian in ValkyriaChronicles is the ruler of TheEmpire and overall BigBad of the game who invades the main characters' nation. However he's also a strict follower of the rules of war and has an officer of his court-martialled for war crimes.
* Very common in the ''WildArms'' series.
** Ziekfried, Alhazad and Lady Harkan from ''WildArms1''
** Vinsfield, and by extension, Odessa from ''WildArms2'', save for [[ChaoticEvil Judecca]] and [[LawfulNeutral Ptolemea]].
** The Prophets and [[spoiler:Siegfried]] from ''WildArms3''
** [[TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness The Cabal]] from ''WildArms4''
** The Ice Queen from ''WildArms5''
* Several characters and factions are in ''{{Fallout}}'' are this alignment, most notably the Enclave.
* [[{{God}} YHVH]] from ShinMegamiTensei series take it to extreme in ShinMegamiTenseiII when he order {{Satan}} to wipe "unworthy" life from Earth with the [[{{BFG}} Megido Arc]].
* Ryo Ishikawa of ShogoMobileArmorDivision is quite ruthless in his plan to control Cronus's supply of Kato, but rather than do anything overtly illegal, he settles for manipulating the UCA into destroying the Fallen to create a power vacuum.
* The Morag Tong and the Dark Brotherhood, the guilds of assassins in the {{Elder Scrolls}} Universe. The Morag Tong has worked alongside the government of Morrowind to allow it's members to murder with impunity, and the Dark Brotherhood is dependant on order and regulation of it's members to preserve it's secrecy.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* [[OrderOfTheStick Redcloak]] is a textbook example of having a Lawful Evil attitude and proud of it:
-->'''Redcloak''': Do they think crushing an entire civilization beneath our heels "just happens?" It's all fun and games for them, but ''I'm'' the one who has to make the magical lightning-powered trains run on time.
** Elan's EvilTwin brother Nale is also LE, all the better to contrast with the ChaoticGood Elan. Note that much like [[HeroicSociopath Belkar]] and [[ForTheEvulz Xykon]] are both ChaoticEvil but ultimately very different both in personality and motive, they're not all that similar (in fact Nale tends more toward the first flavor and Redcloak the second). Alignment not being a straightjacket is one of the comic's major themes.
** Daimyo Kubota, a corrupt aristocrat of Azure City, is a near-perfect example of flavor 1, exploiting every legal loophole he could find in his schemes to assassinate [[TheAragorn Hinjo]] and seize power. It takes [[WhatTheHellHero a bit of chaotic action]] to bring him down.
* In [[http://www.webcomicsnation.com/eddurd/everydayheroes/series.php?view=single&ID=114113 Everyday Heroes]], Dr. Unpleasant won't use his Hyperframmiton(tm) Ray against Mr. Mighty [[spoiler: because they're within 500 feet of an elementary school.]]
* [[GirlGenius Tarvek Sturmvaraus]], most likely. He seems to care about his subjects in Sturmhalten and he prefers it when people help him voluntarily, but part of his plan to take over the Baron's empire involved [[spoiler: using [[BigBad The Other's]] technology to help him win the battle of hearts and minds with mind control.]]
* The [[PlanetOfHats particular hat]] of elves in [[EightBitTheatre 8 Bit Theatre]], from main character [[MagnificentBastard Thief]] to villain Astos. [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2003/02/20/episode-251-sneaky-elves/ This]] accurately sums up the 'easier to become ruler of the world by exploiting the existing system' flavour of LawfulEvil.
** Thief arguably began dabbling in NeutralEvil after the Earth Orb arc, though.
* The Elite Guard from ''{{Goblins}}'' are ''almost'' explicitly LawfulEvil - they're confirmed Evil, and it's hard to imagine a guard could be anything but Lawful.
* In LookingForGroup, this seems to be the default alignment for [[TheEmpire Legaria]], especially [[BigBad Aelloon]].
* The majority of [[TheEmpire The Feline Empire]] in ''BladeOfToshubi'' are of this alignment. [[TheDragon Advisor Toh]], Lamika and Major Kohi are probably NeutralEvil, though.
* Gordon Frohman of {{Concerned}} is a fanatical follower of The Combine and is a self-proclaimed enemy of the Human Resistance and Gordon Freeman due to a genuine and incredibly idiotic love of tyranny.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Mandy from ''TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy''.
* [[{{Transformers}} Megatron]] in almost all of his incarnations, especially ''BeastWars'', G1 and ''TransformersAnimated''.
** Lockdown from ''TransformersAnimated'' is also Lawful Evil - after all, a well ordered system is so much easier to exploit - but it is very obvious that he prefers to work for the Decepticons, because EvilPaysBetter.
* The Clock King, a villain from ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', who did ''everything'' according to his own by-the-minute schedule every single day. The one time he didn't...er, things didn't go so well.
* Most of the villains from ''KimPossible'' are LawfulEvil, since they do follow the traditions of villainy. Often {{lampshaded}} due to the fact that it is this very tradition that lets Team Possible come out of the traps alive.
** Señor Senior Senior, in particular, ''literally'' goes by the book (of villainy).
* ''TheVentureBrothers'': parodied/deconstructed with the Guild of Calamitous Intent.
** Brock Samson himself might fit into this category. He's certainly willing to follow out brutal and vicious orders, but at the least has a few standards that he adheres by (never killing women or children) and has occasionally called out NeutralEvil Rusty Venture on some of his more questionable actions.
* HP and the pixies on ''TheFairlyOddparents'' want to bring absolute order to both Fairy World and Earth. This is, until "Fairly Oddbaby" where they randomly [[MotiveDecay team up with the anti-fairies and try to destroy Earth]].
* [[AvatarTheLastAirbender The Dai Li]] and their leader [[EvilChancellor Long Feng]] are the purest LawfulEvil this troper has seen in WesternAnimation. They're all about preserving order and stability at the cost of happiness and free will, and have connived and manipulated their way to the top of the government in Ba Sing Se to make sure of that. Favored tactics include kidnapping, misinformation, and [[NightmareFuel total brainwashing]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Newspaper comics]]
*In the ''{{Dilbert}}'' strips, Catbert is the evil director of human resources who helps make the lives of Dilbert and his co-workers miserable by creating ethically questionable policies, never providing useful help, and downsizing workers.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Genghis Khan. Wanted to impose law onto the otherwise lawless Mongolia, too. No matter the cost.
-->'''Genghis Khan''': I will unite all Mongols...even if I have to kill half of them.
** Also, he wanted to take over the world [[ThatGuyWithTheGlasses (OF COURSE!)]], but despite what one may think, he preferred to give the countries he took over a chance to surrender first.
* {{Nazi}}s.
* The Soviet Union
* Mao-era China
* Fascist Italy
* According to Robert Altemeyer's theory of right-wing authoritarianism ("right" as "legalist to a fault", not -necessarily- as "conservative voter and proud of it") a good chunk of mankind could be classified as Lawful Evil.
* The Legalists of ancient China, who were willing to consolidate power and impose law, at the cost of humaneness and autonomy.
* [[DirtyCommunists Josef Stalin]]. He didn't get voted in democratically. He didn't lead a military coup. No, he ground his way up until he could take control of the committee dedicated to appointing everyone else. From here, it was a short walk and a few cheap tricks to total control.
** I'd argue that he's more {{Neutral Evil}}. He did take part in that revolution, being willing to side with rebels over the existing system, before promptly doublecrossing the rebels. That's textbook {{Neutral Evil}}.
* Vlad Tepes would be consider this if half of the stories surrounding him is true. There's a legend of when a Merchant called him about his money stolen, when Vlad asked how much money he lost, the Merchant replied honestly. Later, Vlad's men came by with the cart that had been recovered from the thief, and a message to the man that if the Merchant had even slightly exaggerated his loss - Vlad would have had the man {{Impaled With Extreme Prejudice}} for trying to profit from his lost. There is another where a gold cup is left at a fountain to test his [[SecretTestOfCharacter citizen's honesty]]
[[/folder]]

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