Evil Is Hammy / Live-Action TV

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the biggest diva of them all?

Examples of Evil Is Hammy in live-action TV.

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• Babylon 5: Invoked Trope in the Season 4 finale. A future propagandist is using holographic versions of several main characters to engage in some historical revisionism. When Evil Capitan Sheridan is making a speech in front of a group of about-to-be-executed prisoners, Bruce Boxleitner hams it up for all he's worth.
• Blake's 7. Averted with the soulless Orwellian bureaucrats of the Terran Administration, but once we leave Earth and those tranquilizers they put in the water there are no shortage of Mad Scientists, religious maniacs (one played by BRIAN BLESSED), campy crime bosses, power-hungry schemers, murderous Femme Fatales and psychotic Federation thugs to make things interesting, half of them dressed in Impractically Fancy Outfits and Chewing the Scenery for all it's worth. And while "evil" is an open question, it's certainly true that the more embittered and morally-compromised Avon becomes, the more studs he wears, poses he strikes, and lines he delivers in staccato barks.
• Buffyverse:
  • In the first season of Buffy, The Master had moments of incredible ham:
    "Yes, shake, Earth! This is a sign! We are in the final days! My time is come! Glory! GLORY! *pause* What do you think? 5.1?"
  • And Glory was just made of ham. Seriously, she might not have had a single scene that wasn't gloriously hammy. Overcompensating for your lost hell-empire will do that to you.
  • In both Buffy and Angel we have Angelus, who uses those vampire teeth to chew all the scenery he can find. Particularly in his second appearance. Good lord, man, switch to decaf.
    Angelus: "Uh-ohhh! Vampire with a gun!"
• The Chronicles of Narnia: All of Barbara Kellerman's roles in the BBC TV adaptations of the book series, i.e. the White Witch in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the Hag in Prince Caspian, and the Lady of the Green Kirtle in The Silver Chair. Her attempts to sound angry are more likely to send the audience into giggles than intimidate them.
• Criminal Minds: Being a show full of unstable killers, many of whom have a genuine mental illness, this is common.
  • The Reaper stands out even among other UnSubs. He's over-the-top to the point where he's like a comic book super-villain. Due to his desire for twisted fame, he wants to make everything as dramatic as possible. He overacts his role even when pretending to be his own victim.
  • Billy Flynn is played by Tim Curry. Enough said.
  • Paul and John Mulford are clear cases of Giggling Villain, and visibly enjoy Hunting the Most Dangerous Game.
• CSI: Nate Haskell hams it up to no end at his trial for stabbing Langston. It's clearly the character being hammy, as the actor can do a very good subtly creepy when he wants to.
• Dexter: The show seems to be rather fond of this one for the seasonal Big Bad. Season 3 had Jimmy Smits, season 4 had John Lithgow, and season 6 has Edward James Olmos AND Colin Hanks.
• While the show is in general a World of Ham, any Doctor Who villain worth their salt will out-ham the heroes.
  • Professor Zaroff is so shouty, mad-eyed, and completely over-the-top that it keys off the Doctor into knowing he's Obviously Evil long before anyone else has figured it out. And no one else seems to understand this, much to the Doctor's confusion.
  • The Master (not that one) possessing Padmarsambhavar in "The Abominable Snowman" endlessly, hopelessly overacts everything he says and pulls this off in the audio recording. You can even hear the microphone popping as he hisses and spits his consonants.
  • In the fascism-ruled Alternate Universe in "Inferno", the doppelganger of the normally calm and subtle Brig is the wonderfully hammy Brigade Leader.
  • Azal; literally every one of his lines is solid shouting.
  • Omega is one of the best examples of this in the franchise, which is saying quite a lot.
  • The Fourth Doctor is a ham to end all hams when he's his NORMAL self, but the various Robot Mes, evil computer selves, Evil Knockoffs, and the various times he pretends to be evil for plot, humour or Superdickery all involve universe-shattering levels of overacting. In the last case, it's justified, as the Doctor himself is clearly loving the opportunity to be evil for a while because he loves dramatics. One of his most cunning moments is in "Shada", where he teases the villain Skagra about his emotionlessness being an affectation because there is no way he would be fighting someone who didn't have a "manic gleam" in the eye and keep announcing things like "The universe belongs to me!!". Skagra pretends to be above that sort of thing, but still heads headfirst into Villainous Breakdown between his plan failing and the Doctor intentionally annoying him, eventually being reduced to having a manic gleam in the eye and shouting things like "The universe belongs to me!!".
  • Eldrad. The more he reveals his megalomania, the hammier he gets.
  • BY ALL THE MOONS OF CALLUFRAX, YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR FAILURE TO NOT MENTION THE PIRATE CAPTAIN FROM THE CLASSIC SERIES SERIAL "THE PIRATE PLANET"! MR. FIBULI! MR. FIBULI! WHERE IS THAT NINCOMPOOP, MR. FIBULI?!?
  • Soldeed from "The Horns of Nimon" is infamously campy. So much so that his confrontation with Romana has a dance remix. "MY DREAMS OF CON-QUEST!"
  • Subverted in "Warriors Gate". Captain Rorvik has the required scenery-chewing villainy, but he's constantly undercut by his apathetic crew.
  • Sharaz Jek and Morgus are almost Shakespearean in their furious ranting and scheming asides, respectively.
  • King Yrcanos from "The Trial of a Time Lord: Mindwarp", which is no surprise since he's played by BRIAN BLESSED! However, he only really had that status at the start of the story — The evil, that is. Not the hamminess. In fact, the hamminess just kept increasing as the story progressed.
  • The Seventh Doctor lampshades this when he interrupts Davros in "Remembrance of the Daleks".
    Davros: The Daleks shall become Lords of Time! We shall become all-
    Seven: Powerful! Crush the lesser races! Conquer the galaxy! UNIMAGINABLE POWER! UNLIMITED RICE PUDDING! ET CETERA, ET CETERA!
  • The Eighth Doctor, in the Big Finish audios, functions as almost a controlled experiment in this trope. When he's himself, he's quite soft-spoken (so you turn up the volume). But if he gets turned evil, he has NO INDOOR VOICE (and you scream and fling your mp3 player of choice as he assaults your eardrums when he turns up the volume too).
    I AM BECOME ZAGREUS!^note The Doctor is never too evil and hammy to make highbrow references.
  • Most incarnations of The Master serve up large slices of ham, notably John Simm, Anthony Ainley, and (in spoof Doctor Who: The Curse of Fatal Death) Jonathan Pryce. Although he only plays the Master for a few minutes (on the TV show, anyway), Derek Jacobi manages to be pretty hammy himself. Quite the change from the mild-mannered Professor Yana.
    Anthony Ainley: I'm not a ham, you can cure a ham!
    • Sacha Dhawan's O keeps the ham in the fridge for most of an episode until he's ready to reveal himself.
    • The Eric Roberts incarnation will always... drezz for the occasion, in possibly the hammiest moment of any of his incarnations.
  • Lady Cassandra from "The End of the World" and "New Earth", especially in the latter, where she gains the ability to Body Surf and possesses both Rose and the Doctor. Billie Piper and David Tennant appear to be having a grand old time camping it up as Cassandra.
  • John Lumic starts hamming it up the very minute he wheels on screen.
    John Lumic: And how will you do that FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE?
  • The Racnoss Empress in "The Runaway Bride" is truly one of the largest hams the series has ever seen. Catherine Tate, in her first appearance as companion Donna Noble, counters with Ham-to-Ham Combat.
  • The Nothing Is Scarier-shrouded Eldritch Abomination in Sky's body, once it has its own voice, positively revels in the Doctor's helplessness and its own ability to easily influence the passengers.
  • Averted in the Tenth Doctor audio story "Dead Air", in which the sound creature impersonating the Doctor's voice is almost right and can semi-convincingly get the patter down, but has a noticeably flatter and less dramatic delivery to its words than the (actual) Doctor narrating the events.
  • A villain called Androvax from a species whose hat is Grand Theft Me pays our heroes a visit on The Sarah Jane Adventures. Elisabeth Sladen was clearly having a lot of fun as a possessed Sarah Jane.
  • She's always been brassy, sassy, and flirty, but Brainwashed and Crazy River Song from "Let's Kill Hitler" could stock a deli counter all by her lonesome.
  • The Eleventh Doctor is already a scenery-chewer to start with, but gets even hammier when infected with Cyber-tech in "Nightmare in Silver". Matt Smith's Acting for Two moment as the Cyberplanner Mr. Clever manages to out-ham the Doctor... as the Doctor!
    Cyberplanner: Good news, boys and girls! THEEEEEEEY'RRRRRREEE HEEEEEERRREE!
  • The various villains of "The Husbands of River Song" each embody this trope in distinct ways: Hydroflax's constant shouting, his body's deep-voiced robotic menace, Flemming's sliminess, Scratch and his compatriots' hissing...
  • In "The Witchfinders", the Morax Queen possessing Becka Savage eats the scenery with every line.
• The Flash (2014): Leonard Snart was originally a calm and methodical criminal who planned every robbery out to the second. He succeeded every time without any real trouble, but he wasn't enjoying it. After the Flash beat him for the first time and he got a freeze gun, he embraced his new "Captain Cold" identity with gusto.
  Cold: AT LAST! THE SCARLET SPEEDSTER!
• Game of Thrones: Ramsay Snow, Lord Bolton's bastard son. Initially, while pretending to be Theon Greyjoy's friend and rescuer, he seems quite calm and soft-spoken; however, the moment he reveals his true colors, he turns into a giggling, jumpy, mood-swinging, psychotic Large Ham.
• Unsurprisingly, considering that they are part of the Batman Rogues Gallery, almost all of the villains on Gotham can be this way. Penguin is a mob boss with a Hair-Trigger Temper who is prone to Suddenly Shouting (and homicidal rage) when things don't go his way, and Jerome Valeska is a laughably evil Captain Ersatz of the Joker who has to kill people in the funniest and most theatrical way possible. His twin brother, Jeremiah Valeska, another Captain Ersatz of the Joker, is less funny than his brother, but no less theatrical. He wears make-up and fancy suits in outlandish colors just like the comic character, and he actually dresses up as Zorro at one point as part of a convoluted scheme that also involved kidnapping Bruce Wayne. Bonus points that the actor who played him got inspiration for his role by watching Tim Curry play Dr. Frank N. Furter.
  Jeremiah: I wanna be the star of the show!
• Many of the villains are this way on Highlander: The Series, just like they are in the Highlander movies. Kalas, a former opera singer, is of particular note, of the villains that last for more than one episode, as is Kronos, an immortal so old he's been terrorizing people ever since the Bronze Age. While he is equally good at exuding quiet menace, he definitely has his hammy moments, especially when he's dueling Macleod.
  Kronos: I am the end of time!
• Horrible Histories portrays historical villains this way occasionally, especially Caligula. Philip II of Spain has his hammy moments too.
• Hounded: The villain's name is Dr. Muhahahaha. See quote page.
• iCarly: Nevel hams up every appearance by yelling his monologues to the gang and laughing maniacally when things go his way, while screaming and flailing when they don't
• Jekyll: Doctor Tom Jackman is a quiet father of two with a deadpan sense of humor. Hyde, by contrast, is an unrepentant maniac and acts like it.
• This is the general rule for Kamen Rider and other Tokusatsu villains, they have to be hammy to keep up with action and pace of the series.
  • Kamen Rider OOO: Parodied when Kougami (an extremely Large Ham as is) makes a Kamen Rider movie in-universe. Everyone playing a villain in the film suddenly becomes a gigantic ham, especially Ankh as the Big Bad, who gives Kougami a run for his money. Of course, this might be because he's still kind of a villain anyway.
  • Dan Kuroto, the Big Bad of Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, leaves no scenery unchewed as he becomes more and more unhinged and his god complex grows. His Slasher Smile moments even get special camera effects and sounds. He was actually more of a calm and dignified villain at the beginning but it's clear that that's just a mask and one he's not able to keep on for long periods. There's also his father, Masamune Dan, who displays an excessive level of ham once he reveals himself (helped by the fact that he's played by a famous singer).
  • Blood Stalk of Kamen Rider Build is incredibly flamboyant, frequently vibrating between being eerily casual and excessively showy.
  • Kamen Rider Saber: Isaac/Master Logos, who takes a few cues from Kuroto up there, is a completely off his rocker evil mastermind just barely able to put on a Mask of Sanity. Even when he's not boasting about how great he is he can't help but let out a psychotic smirk that more than conveys just how megalomaniacal he is.
• Robbie Rotten of LazyTown, with an eccentric delivery from actor Stefán Karl Stefánsson mixed with Jim Carrey-level facial contortions. Exhibit A.
• In the BBC's 2008 adaptation of Little Dorrit, Andy Serkis clearly had a ball playing the villain of the piece Rigaud.
• Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers:
  • Invoked Trope, where Kimberly is kidnapped by Zed's minions. They try a failed Hypnotize the Captive spell on her, but she fakes it working by acting like Rita in all her scenery-chewing glory.
  • Rita herself, as her line in the opening of the show proves it:
    Rita Repulsa: AAAAHHH!! After 10,000 years, I'm FREE! It's time to CONQUER EARTH!
    • Rita's boss Lord Zedd manages to equally as hammy with No Indoor Voice. His volume typically consists either of shouting or really shouting.
  • It's basically required for any Power Rangers villain to be hammy enough to reach Camp status.
  • Tommy / the original Green Ranger. As a good guy, not really much hammier than the other Rangers. As a bad guy? "MUHAHAHA! I will DESTROY the Power Rangers!" He reverts to this when brainwashed by Gasket in Zeo.
  • There's also Astronema/Karone, who was INCREDIBLY hammy as a villain, but no more so than other characters after making a Heel–Face Turn.
• Odd Squad: Odd Todd is easily one of the hammiest villains in the entire show. With his constant taunting, his tendency to invade the personal space of his enemies, and his Evil Laugh, it's no wonder he's one of the most iconic villains of the series. Even before he became a villain, he was constantly Chewing the Scenery. Since his character is inspired by The Joker, though, hamminess is to be expected.
• Once Upon a Time:
  • The Evil Queen and Rumpelstiltskin are both rather hammy in the Enchanted Forest. Rumpelstiltskin combines this with Giggling Villain, The Evil Queen absolutely devours the scenery. Regina and Mr. Gold, their human Storybrooke counterparts, however, choose to become a Cold Ham.
  • Rumpelstiltskin is probably hammier than Mr. Gold because he's also far crazier. Regina, on the other hand, was probably hamming it up for kicks.
  • You thought the Evil Queen was hammy? Wait until you see her impersonate Ursula. Lana Parrilla is clearly having the time of her life.
  • Dr. Whale's true identity turns out to be Dr. Frankenstein. He's as hammy as you'd expect.
  • Virtually every villain is either a classic ham, or at least a Cold Ham, with the Wicked Witch of the West and the majority of Disney villains who appear (Cruella, Hades, Dr. Facilier, the real Ursula) being the former and Jafar (ironically), Lady Tremaine, and Drizella Tremaine being the latter.
• Quark. In "The Good, the Bad and the Ficus", a Negative Space Wedgie creates an evil version of our heroes.
  Quark: (calmly) Ficus, program Maneuver Plan Red. Jean, give me as much power as you can.
  Jean: Yes sir.
  (cut to other ship)
  Evil!Quark: FICUS! Program ATTACK Plan RED! (grabs Jean's shirt) Jean, give me more POWER or I'll BREAK your face!
  Evil!Jean: (grabs Quark's shirt) Commander, you're such a SPACE-HEAD, I'M taking over this ship!
  Evil!Quark: Try it, transmute, and you're SPACE JELLY!
• Red Dwarf: Any of the characters from WaxWorld's "Villain World" qualify. Among the villains are the particularly hammy Caligula and Napoleon.
• Revolution: Captain, no, Major Tom Neville engages in this at times. Bass describing how he'd use a working Blackhawk helicopter against the other republics is pure ham.
• Robin Hood: In this 2006 BBC production, NO ONE chews more scenery than the Sheriff of Nottingham. NO ONE.
• Sherlock: Moriarty, to a certain extent. He's very hammy when he feels like it, but is just as good at being calm and creepy when that suits him better.
• Smallville: Clark would become far hammier whenever he was under the influence of Red K or switched out for an evil doppelganger. And that's without getting into the series' villains. Between John Glover as Lionel Luthor, Michael Rosenbaum's Lex Luthor, and Callum Blue's scenery chewing as the horrifically unstable Major Zod, the show had this trope covered.
  "Unlike you I will lead from a throne, not from the shadows. Everyone on Earth, including the woman you love, will Kneel Before Zod!"
• Stargate SG-1:
  • The Goa'uld pretty much had hammy-ness as a species trait. This was justified because all the Goa'uld were egotistical, bought into their own act of playing gods, and based their entire civilization on ruling through fear. Their Cool, but Impractical technology, their outfits, and their behavior all went along with this trope. Nothing like a booming "KNEEL BEFORE YOUR GOD!" accompanied with some Glowing Eyes of Doom to get the peasants in line.
  • A Goa'uld could tone it down if it ever needed to pretend to be human, but the hammy-ness returned the instant its true nature got discovered.
  • Case in point:
    Anubis: I am Anubis. Humans of the Tau'ri! Your End of Days finally approaches! There will be no mercy!
    Jack O'Neill: Aw, c'mon. Who talks like that?!
  • The Priors could also ham it up occasionally, especially when quoting the Book of Origin.
• Supernatural:
  • Though he didn't start that way, Lucifer has become hammier over time.
  • This is the easiest way to tell if Castiel is himself or not. In his right mind, he's The Comically Serious. When he gets body-jacked by the Leviathans or Lucifer, however, Misha Collins gets to chew scenery with gusto.
  • Witch Rowena is fairly hammy as well. But even she is out-hammed by the witch, Catriona Loughlin, in "Regarding Dean".
    OOOOHHHH RAGGEDY ANNNNNN!!
• True Blood: Russell Edgington, Vampire King of Louisiana, in the third season. *rips news anchor's spinal cord out, waves it around* "We! Will EAT YOU. AFTER we eat your children! [Beat] And now for the weather. Tiffany?"
• Ultraman Trigger: New Generation Tiga: Carmeara has a knack of mad laughter and constantly yelling the titular Ultra's name, and by extension Kengo Manaka, the reincarnation of said Ultra in a bombastic way possible.
  "Kengo... Kengo... MANAKA KENGOOO!!!"
• Adolf Hitler as depicted in the 1988 miniseries War and Remembrance. It actually did the now-infamous Hitler Rant made famous by Downfall. While arguably Downfall pulled off the scene better, this version cranks the evil ham Up to Eleven.
  "THIS IS THE END!! TREACHERY! INCOMPETENCE! COWARDICE!! THE END! THE END! I SHALL KILL MYSELF! MY DECISION IS IRREVOCABLE! BETRAYED! DOUBLE-CROSSED! DECEIVED! SURROUNDED! BY! LIARS! I can't... I CAN NO LONGER GO ON! I SHALL DIE. IN. BERLIN! THE WAR IS LOST! LOST! LOST! LOST! LOST! LOST! LOST, STUPID. INCOMPETENT. IDIOTS!!"
• Pretty much every villain in Wizards vs. Aliens, especially the Nekross King, voiced by none other than BRIAN BLESSED. The Nekross' hamminess makes them surprisingly lovable!
  "The Nekross Shall Feast!"