History Main / ClassicVillain

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': Voldemort, without a doubt. Ambition, snake-headed, hissing speech, his time as Tom Riddle in the diary, and everything else. In the end, it's his excessive pride or arrogance that lead to his downfall, since his egocentric worldview means that 1: he constantly underestimates his opponents, even after he is beaten a dozen times, 2: he's [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter a bad judge of character]], as he cannot comprehend [[EvilCannotComprehendGood love and friendship]], and doesn't see [[spoiler:Snape's HeelFaceTurn and the Malfoy family's betrayal]] coming, and 3: he refuses to admit he needs and relies on others, treating them as pawns instead of comrades (see the above spoiler for how that worked out).

** Yawgmoth, the Machine-God of Phyrexia represents ambition and greed, with no qualms about little things like consent or the natural order. When portrayed in human form, he's a black-clad goth with eyeliner.
** Yawgmoth's successor, Elesh Norn, decked out in blood red and bone white. As a white villain, she represents white's desire for order and community but stripping away free will.
** Nicol Bolas, an enormous black dragon, is one of six primordial dragons and the most evil by far.
** Tezzeret, a flunky villain who has sided with all of the above at different times. He sports distinctive dreadlocks and a prosthetic magitek arm.

[[caption-width-right:340:[[ObviouslyEvil The one]][[FeatheredFiend (s)]] on the [[RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver right]].]]

* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'': Tai Lung (envy, ambition, wrath) fits everything aside form the deception part. His appearance is at least slightly special -- he's a rare animal, a snow leopard -- and he's an EvilBrit by voice. More importantly, the hero's quest is defined by the demand to defeat him, whereas Tai Lung defeats everyone else before facing the hero, Po. He's the complete opposite of Po: absurdly talented from the start and foiled by inner weakness, whereas Po appears as a ridiculous prospect for a kung fu master but prevails in the end by finding confidence. They have a dramatic if humorous FinalBattle, and Tai Lung is defeated in a way that highlights his underlying weakness and Po's strength.

** ComicBook/{{Ares|DC}} traditionally is an example of Wrath taking the role of an {{Evil|God}} WarGod who derives his power from conflict, from either almost starting WorldWarIII or [[DivineConflict attempting to seize power of Olympus]]. This stands in stark contrast to Diana's role as a loving ambassador for peace. In addition, in comparison to his fellow Olympians who often dress in robes and togas, he's usually adorned in layered blued armor decorated in spikes and skeletal motifs with a helmet that cover all but his eyes.

* ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride'' gives us Barkis Bittern as a Greed and Wrath villain. Your classic GoldDigger and TheBluebeard, Barkis seeks to marry young rich women for their inheritance, before murdering them and looting their riches. [[spoiler:He does this to Emily and plans to do this to Victoria, only to discover that her family is at risk of going to the poor house, at which point he attempts to kill her and Victor out of spite. In appearance Barkis is a buffish, older, confident and cruel man, with the protagonist Victor being a scrawny, timid, and young NiceGuy]].

* ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride'' gives us Barkis Bittern as a Greed and Wrath villain. Your classic GoldDigger and TheBluebeard, Barkis seeks to marry young rich women for their inheritance, before murdering them and looting their riches. [[spoiler:He does this to Emily and plans to do this to Victoria, only to discover that her family is at risk of going to the poor house, at which point he attempts to kill her and Victor out of spite. In appearance Barkis is a buffish, older, confident and cruel man, with the protagonist Victor being a scrawny, timid, and young NiceGuyъъ.

* ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride'' gives us Barkis Bittern as a Greed and Wrath villain. Your classic GoldDigger and TheBluebeard, Barkis seeks to marry young rich women for their inheritance, before murdering them and looting their riches. He does this to Emily and plans to do this to Victoria, only to discover that her family is at risk of going to the poor house, at which point he attempts to kill her and Victor out of spite. In appearance Barkis is a buffish, older, confident and cruel man, with the protagonist Victor being a scrawny, timid, and young NiceGuy.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''WebVideo/DreamSMP'': Dream. Vice: {{Pride}} (most prominently seen in the [[AGodAmI god complex]] he develops in Seasons 2 and 3) and his VirtueIsWeakness attitude. A masked man [[GreenAndMean associated with the colour green]] who manipulates and hurts other members of the server ([[WouldHurtAChild and especially Tommy]]) in order to maintain the status quo of the server -- [[ControlFreak himself being the ultimate power on it]], with no major factions or rebels to threaten his rule. He almost succeeds in this with the [[NukeEm annihilation of L'Manburg]] in the Doomsday War and eventually the Disc War Finale in his vault in the shattered savanna. However, this is where his VirtueIsWeakness attitude [[FatalFlaw became his downfall]], as he cut off all of his friends and potential allies due to said attitude, who [[BigDamnHeroes turned against him alongside Punz]], a mercenary who was willing to betray Dream as soon as Tommy (who is characterized by his attachments, which Dream shuns) [[OnlyInItForTheMoney paid him more]]. This ultimately ended with Dream being [[HoistByHisOwnPetard carted off to the prison he built for potential 'dissenters']], with two of his canon lives lost to the teenager he abused. [[spoiler:This ultimately turns out to be a {{subver|tedTrope}}sion as it's later revealed that the Disc War Finale was [[ISurrenderSuckers staged by Dream and Punz in the first place]], and that Punz turns out to be a FakeDefector.]]
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->''"In a comic you know how you can tell who the arch villain's going to be? He's the exact opposite of the hero!"''

* At their core, behind it all, Classic Villains are the [[{{Foil}} complete opposite]] of the heroes, lacking the strengths the hero does, while being strong where the hero is weak.

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'':
** ComicBook/{{Circe}} is a Proud, narcissistic, shapeshifting WickedWitch who often uses lies and half-truths. Her opponent is a humble sincere warrior princess who carries the Lasso of Truth.