alt title(s): The Dark Chick
Simply put, the
Evil Counterpart to
The Chick. Just as the heroic Chick represents diversity and an emphasis on emotion, so, too, does the Dark Chick. He/she (the gender ratio is fairly evenly split) is the member of the villainous ensemble that adds a certain indescribable quality. How it does this can vary. Most frequent is for the member to be a
Token Minority (relative to their peers; it's not unheard of for this member to be a
Token White or
The One Guy), acting out their status to an excessive degree. For example, if this member is the
Dark Action Girl in a male dominated organization, she'll also base a lot of her actions and dialogue on how she is breaking gender stereotypes. If it's a Scot in an otherwise English group, expect him to be wearing a red plaid kilt and speaking with a
thick Glaswegian accent while perpetually drunk.
This member is often defined based exclusively on their relative personality beyond ethnic and gender stereotypes, though. If the other members are deadly serious, this is the member that constantly jokes around and pokes fun at the other members, much to their irritation. If all the members of the group are in it for the money or power, this is the person that's just in it for the hell of it. It's fairly frequent that the other members of the organization either don't take this member seriously and/or even actively hate them, but put up with them because they get results or are needed for some facet of the plan.
However, also as frequent is for this member to be defined by their tactics. If the other members revolve their plans around stealth infiltration to get things done, this is the member that slams the front door open, walks up to the front desk, and says "Give me the
Mac Guffin". If the organization involves manipulating people through blackmail, then this is the member that seduces people to further the plans. Also common is for this member to factor emotion into their tactics moreso than the other members. Instead of setting up a
Xanatos Gambit based on the logical actions and reactions of the parties involved, they instead set up emotional strife that has little to do with their roles but sets up their actions.
This character archetype almost always overlaps with at least one other. Most often, this is an
Enigmatic Minion that is given a large amount of importance. A female Dark Chick will often also be
The Baroness, a
Dark Action Girl,
The Vamp, a
Femme Fatale, or a
Perky Female Minion. Prone to the
Heel Face Turn when they either realize that they just aren't fit for villainy or find that being a hero would be even
more fun. If the
Dark Chick is female and romantically linked with the main villain this chance rises to
a near certainty.
The Dark Chick is an integral part of the
Five Bad Band dynamic. It's also the predominant type of member that shows up in the
Quirky Miniboss Squad, where pretty much everybody overlaps with this.
The Chick +
Dark Chick =
Designated Girl Fight
Examples
Anime
- Garma Zabi in Mobile Suit Gundam.
- Ninja heir Kyoichi Kunugi in Real Bout High School. His nickname, "Kunoichi" (which basically means "female ninja"), drives the point home.
- Both Kanon Maldini and Nina Einstein (mix of this and Evil Genius) from Code Geass fulfill this role for Schneizel El Britannia.
- Tayuya from Naruto. Foul-mouthed, arrogant, and
one of the least effeminate ninja the Sound village have ever produced (and one of the only females), she hates her teammates at least as much as she hates the enemy. Also a Dark Action Girl, based on the impressively kinetic face-punching she inflicts on the titular character.
- Later on there's Karin, who it part this and Evil Genius. Her teammates abilities are mostly purely offensive or defensive, but hers are based on tracking and analysis (with some stealth and an emergency healing power). She's also mostly there because she wants to be with Sasuke (a lot).
- Zetsu and Konan both serve as this for Akatsuki: almost everyone else in the organization is based on offensive power, they're role seems to be more on support and reconnaissance (though Konan has demonstrated some fighting skills).
- In Chrono Crusade, this role can either fall to Rizel (a Dark Action Girl whose tactics depend mainly on controlling people like puppets while the other warriors in the group are more direct) or to Shader (a Perky Female Minion who doubles as the team's Evil Genius and rarely does any fighting—and, in fact, doesn't seem to even like fighting in the manga).
Comic Book
Film
Live Action TV
Theater
Videogame
- Sonia in Fire Emblem.
- Scarlet in Final Fantasy VII.
- Axem Pink in Super Mario RPG.
- Zexion in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.
- Kariya and Uzuki in The World Ends With You.
- Veronica in Shadow Hearts 2.
- Belleza in Skies Of Arcadia.
- Shannon in God Hand.
- Sniper Wolf in Metal Gear Solid.
- Scirocco and Maestro from City Of Heroes.
- Woof in Batman: Return of the Joker.
- Mz Ruby and Dmitri in the Sly Cooper games.
- Mimi in Super Paper Mario.
- Wendy O. Koopa in the Super Mario Adventures comics and The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3.
- Fox, from the first Bloody Roar game. A sadistic transvestite in hot pink leather. Also considered his fox beastform "ugly," despite it being one of the most attractive animals to turn into — especially compared to the gorilla and boar.
- In Final Fantasy VI, Kefka was the Dark Chick of the Five Bad Band, despite the presence of Celes, the female general. In a twist, he also becomes the final Big Bad by killing another general and then the Emperor.
- He takes a similar role in Dissidia. In a cast of villains mainly consisting of cold schemers and Tin Tyrants, he stands out as a giggling, unserious, destruction-loving maniac that none of the villains seem to take seriously.
- There's also some examples from Advance Wars.
- Adder in Black Hole Rising.
- Lash in Dual Strike.
- Whiptail from Heavenly Sword.
- While there are many examples in Cross Edge, Anesha is probably the best example.
- Kartikeya from Wild AR Ms 5.
- Tamoko from Baldurs Gate: The only "minion" of Sarevok who actually cares about him and doesn't want him to go through with his somewhat insane plan. The others are presumably in it for a share of the power he's after. Tamoko has almost made a Heel Face Turn by the time you first talk to her, and the PC can convince her not to attack at the end by being morally good enough.
- Rare PC example: Black Magician Girl Chloe from Mana Khemia 2.
Webcomics
Western Animation
