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alt title(s): Maniacal Laugh
You know you're in trouble when their laughter begins with 'Nya'.
You don't understand a thing. Laughing is a very important aspect of being the Overlord.
Ha ha ha! Mine is an evil laugh!
— Wash's Tyrannosaurus rex, Firefly
I find her happiness quite disturbing.
Your Applied Phlebotinum doomsday device has been activated. The MacGuffin is within your grasp. The good guys are locked away in the Death Trap. Your circuitous Evil Plan is three-quarters complete! You know what, screw being the Evil Overlord of the world - you're already a god. There is only one thing left for you to do - but first things first:
Muahahahahaha... Muahahahahahaha... Muahahahahahaha !.
The Evil Laugh. Don't knock it 'til you tried it, folks.
There are only a few characters who are able to get away with this in modern media:
In any case, it has since devolved to the occasional evil chuckle (which may or may not be a bit scarier) or so every once in a while, except in certain cases, and the trope of laughing while your victim is helpless is definitely dead, as modern villains usually laugh while they work (to much better effect).
A common subversion is to have a villain have an Un Evil Laugh, with snorting, chuckling and squeaking.
On the other hand, it's also an extreme Undead Horse Trope, and if you can pull it off, you're encouraged to go for it.
In Anime, haughty female villains (as well as some male ones) will overlap this with Noblewomans Laugh. Other villains, for reasons known only to themselves, go for the Giggling Villain approach. Often goes well with Drunk On The Dark Side.
It's even more jarring (and awesome) when the villain in question is an emotionless character, proving Evil Has A Bad Sense Of Humor every which way.
Just remember, you Genre Savvy villains, the Evil Overlord List:
20. Despite its proven stress-relieving effect, I will not indulge in maniacal laughter. When so occupied, it's too easy to miss unexpected developments that a more attentive individual could adjust to accordingly.
Compare Noblewomans Laugh.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- One Piece not only has several characters performing the Evil Laugh but usually every character who performs the laugh has a unique and distinct version of it that only that character says. For example, Marshall D. Teach aka Blackbeard's signature laugh has a "Ze" sound to it, and Sir Crocodile's laugh is dry and monotone.
- Light of Death Note indulges in an Evil Laugh when at his most sinister. In fact, in the final story he struggles to hold in his imminent victorious laughter, and ultimately fails in a scene that cranks the full-blown psycho version of the evil laugh up to eleven. Sanity's pretty much gone at this point.The English dub infamously added one to the potato chips scene. You know the one.
- Am I the only one who doesn't hear evil laughter as English Light eats a potato chip? Heavy, excited breathing, sure, but no laughter.
- Higuchi gets one, too. It's not used as often, but that may just be because he doesn't have anywhere near as much screen time as Light.
- Ryuk possesses one as well, written "Hyuk hyuk hyuk hyuk". It's more of an evil chuckle.
- It better be an evil chuckle. "Hyuk hyuk" sounds like something out of Goofy's mouth.
- Peacemaker Kurogane: Suzu gets one of these, after he goes Ax Crazy.
- For the protagonist of the series, Lelouch from Code Geass gets an inordinate number of evil laughs, usually when he's just pulled another utter pwnage on his enemies with some unexpected genius tactic. His most maniacal ones were in episodes 17 and 23 of season 1, and episodes 2, 7, and 9 of R2.
- Katekyo Hitman Reborn features two characters that fit the trope: Belphegor's "Ushishishi!" and Mukuro's "Ku fu fu~" - the latter character actually managed to score an Image Song titled "Kufufu no Fu". Both character's image songs feature solos of them doing their laughs.
- Birds, anyone? *shudders*
- Heero Yuy from Gundam Wing does this in the first episode but drops it after that, as well as Chief Engineer Tubarov just before his death.
- Speaking of Gundam, the Delaz Fleet's Cima Garahau from Gundam 0083 does this when she's beginning the true objective of Operation Stardust— A Colony Drop.
- Friday Monday from Madlax is of the third category, perhaps even the epitome of the third category as he sometimes struggles to contain his evil laughter in times of victory and will cackle for quite some time.
- Many, many protagonists gone Ax Crazy in Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni. Yes, it's creepy.
- Katsuhiko Jinnai from El Hazard (particularly the OVAs). In the original Japanese he simply sounds like a megalomaniacal Evil Overlord [tm] when he laughs. In the dub he sounds - completely unhinged. It's both hysterically funny and extremely creepy at the same time.
- Mad Pierrot from the Cowboy Bebop episode "Pierrot le Fou" pulls off the truly unhinged version of this trope in a very disturbing fashion.
- Several characters from Hellsing indulge in this, but the most famous examples have to be Alucard and Anderson's laughs.
- And the best part? They're two of the series' heroes!
- Hollow Ichigo from Bleach.
- Grimmjow too, but only when he's fighting Ichigo.
- Supervillains (Heel wrestlers) in Kinnikuman tend to have very distinctive laughs. There are many, MANY examples, but some of the best examples are those of Ditto Fighter Stecase King ("Kekekekekeke!") and Joke Character villain Kinkotsuman ("Muhyohyohyooo!")
- Ashuraman's laugh ("Kakakakakaka!") is so distinctive, it's actually used as a lyric in his theme song.
- On that note, Torpedo Girl from Bobobobo Bobobo laughs using the word "Torpedo" over and over again. It's really creepy.
- Desty Nova from Battle Angel Alita tends to enjoy this trope. The awesomeness of the laugh in this troper's mind may be somewhat borrowed, however, as he imagines Mark Hamill doing Nova's voice (see Western Animation entry below).
- Full Metal Panic. A teenage terrorist in his enormous Humongous Mecha unleashed a hysterical yet pretty normal laughter while devastating a city. However, megaphones in his mecha repeated his laugh all over the city, so it sounded sufficiently evil.
- The Vampire Princess Miyu OAV. Miyu is sometimes heard laughing in the end of each OAV and it's a soft, child-like, almost gentle laugh. Hoever, due to the circumstances and Miyu's own nature, such giggles potentially can be more Nightmare Fuel-ish than a typical Evil Laugh.
- Lampshaded in an episode of Digimon Adventure 02 (dub only) when the Digimon Emperor burst into a fit of evil laughter after expounding on one of his evil plans, then stopping and muttering "Eh, it's not that funny..."
- Jaeger of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's has a subdued yet equally sinister laugh of "Hi hi hi!". The dub version, Lazar, does not.
- No one seems to have mentioned Kiryu yet...
- Mega and Giga in Transformers Super God Masterforce occasionally indulge in evil laughter. Mega's evil laugh doubles as a Noblewomans Laugh.
- Penchinon from Gao Gai Gar has his "BREEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"
- What about Justice from Afro Samurai, his laugh is just... ill.
- Professor Tomoe in Sailor Moon S. His laugh is just...insane.
- Of all people, Tuxedo Mask has one in an early episode, for no apparent reason. Maybe he was just happy to survive Jadeite's attempt to kill him.
- Sailor Galaxia does this a lot in Sailor Stars. Methinks she's just pleased as punch that it was so easy to cause a global apocalypse.
- Jail Scaglietti of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha uses a deliciously full-blown one when he broadcasts the triumphant return of the Saint's Cradle to the Time-Space Administration Bureau.
- Kururu from Keroro Gunsou tends to evilly laugh "ku-ku-ku!" when something unfortunate but amusing happens to another character, especially if he was the one responsible.
- Ran, Urusei Yatsura's resident Yandere, often does this when planning revenge on Lum.
- Hansel and Gretel from Black Lagoon should be the poster characters for Creepy Laugh, and they are very, very evil.
- Creed from Black Cat has a typical villain laugh. He mostly does it when Train is involved though.
- Hidan from Naruto has a very... distinct and psychotic laugh when he uses his voodoo ability.
- Kabuto indulges in an evil little giggle at times.
- And then there's Orochimaru.
- Eyeshield 21's Hiruma has his distinctive "ke-ke-ke-ke-ke!" even though he's one of the protagonists. He's still evil though.
- Yusuke has some fun with this one in Yu Yu Hakusho. After dying a second time and reincarnating as a half-demon, he does this along with a little speech to toy with the elite squad of soldiers dispatched to destroy his corpse and prevent said reincarnation. They fall for it, if only because it's what they expected to happen anyway, and he has a good normal laugh at their expense immediately afterward.
- The brazilian version of Saga's laugh in Saint Seiya is worldwide known as awesome.
- There are quite a few notable ones in The Slayers, the best one being either Rezo's or Phibrizzo's.
- Evangeline of Mahou Sensei Negima, being a Noble Demon who repeatedly insists that she's a Big Bad, naturally releases a hearty Evil Laugh whenever she feels like it, such as when she was showing off her true power by obliterating a Demon God with little to no effort.
- While Kimura's laugh isn't a bona fide evil laugh, it sure is scary.
- Gauron from Full Metal Panic. It's to be expected of a series' Ax Crazy Psycho For Hire.
- Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann's Lordgenome does this during his fight with Simon while he's tearing the Lagann apart with his bare hands
- Most villains in Yu-Gi-Oh! tend to have an evil laugh, but Yami Bakura's stands out the most. He starts constantly laughing at the start of the Battle City Finals, and those laughs get more nightmarish in the Millennium World Arc. Bonus points for being voiced by Rica Matsumoto.
- This troper thinks that the dub Bakura's voice is more sinister, due to it being both British and very evil-sounding. And his laugh is a lot better. And it's also an example of foreshadowing, because whenever he laughs, you know he's either doing something bad, or about to do something bad.
- Niwe, The Caligula from Utawarerumono, is known by fans for his intensely annoying "GYAH KA KA KA KA KAT" laugh. He would occasionally use it more than once per episode. Apparently he was known for it by characters too, since just when Hakuoro thought they were rid of Niwe, his laugh returns with a vengeance in his dreams.
- Although he's an Anti Villain, Greed of Fullmetal Alchemist has a rather evil laugh/chuckle, which one scanlation translated as something like "gwa-ha-ha-ha-ha", and which on notable ocassions of anquish, goes into Laughing Mad territory and is really maniacal.
- Nanami Kiryuu may just be a Rich Bitch, but when things go her way, her laugh goes straight into ridiculous. Still, it's hilarious.
- Beatrice gets a fantastic one in episode 14, although her servant tells her it lacks elegance.
- Alan Gabriel from the Big O is prone to this, though it's more of the maniacal giggle type; the fact that it's Crispin Freeman of all people doing it just makes it more creepy.
- Tadase Hotori's laugh in Shugo Chara (while he is in his "king" persona) may either be this or a male Noblewomans Laugh depending on how you look at it.
- Uighur/Wigul in Fist Of The North Star (NGYA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA~!)
- Fushigi Yuugi's Tomo, surprisingly, does this more often than Nakago, who can't even match up to the former's signature laugh ("Kakakakakakaka!"). Not to mention Mayo Sakaki, who for a bratty sixteen-year-old emo has an evil laugh creepier than Nakago's.
Comic Books
- Green Goblin, from the Marvel Universe, and the Joker, from the DCU, are archetypical examples of the first type of exception. (Of course, the Joker is also a bona-fide psycho, prone to impressive cackling.)
- See also the various Batman adaptations, below.
- Mark Hamill's Joker laugh is the epitome of this trope.
- Worth noting is that the Goblin's laugh is explicitly one of his super powers. It's a sonic weapon.
- Appearances of superhero The Creeper in The DCU are accompanied by a high-pitched, maniacal laugh. Depending On The Writer, he's either pretending to be a lunatic or the real thing.
- Not to mention that in the later versions his laughter actually caused damage.
- HAW HAW HAW
- Storm is one of the good guys, but in one issue of Marvel Adventures she gets to play the part of a weather witch. Maniacal laughter is part of the package.
Film
Literature
- There are many villains with Evil Laugh on Discworld. One of them (in Maskerade) writes his evil laugh down. With five exclamation marks. Sure sign for insanity.
- A relatively minor character in Making Money has one of the best evil laughs seen in the series. His co-worker Igor laments that it is so unfortunate that he is neither technically insane, nor evil.
- Granny Weatherwax does not do this but her genteel chuckle when she is about to do the Right Thing has been described as far FAR scarier.
- Witches of the Discworld in general try to watch themselves and each other for excessive cackling, which is a sign of going mad and turning into a fairytale-style wicked witch.
- Lampshaded with Lord Hong, who would only have laughed maniacally if he were the traditional type of Evil Grand Vizier.
- Doctor Impossible in Soon I Will Be Invincible declares in the narration that he will have the last laugh, "and I have a very good laugh." Damsel says to the other heroes "He's out there somewhere, probably half a kilometer underground. Laughing his freaky laugh. Talking to his robots." When he captures them, he lets it rip.
- Count Olaf in A Series Of Unfortunate Events has a distinctively wheezy voice and a laugh to go with it. In The Grim Grotto, he's doing his darndest to make it the most elaborate, obnoxious evil laugh ever. (This is great fun in the audio books with Tim Curry doing the reading.)
- In later books in the series, Olaf deliberately inverts this by shortening his laugh to a simple "Ha!"
- In the movie Olaf kind of experiments with it near the end. On the dvd feature Interact Olaf he demonstrates an evil laugh at one point.
- Saint Dane, of The Pendragon Adventure fame, has a trademark laugh that Bobby hates having to listen to — probably in part because half the time, it means he's about to hear how he's been outsmarted this week.
- While it is normally left to the imagination, there is a spectacularly chilling example from the audio-book of The Rivers of Zadaa. Who knew William Dufris had it in him?
- Lampshaded by Harry Dresden in Grave Peril. At Bianca's party, the lights go dark, and spooky laughter comes out of nowhere. Harry notes that it's tough to beat vampires at the creepy laugh. They get a lot of practice.
- Harry points out an Evil Laugh again in Dead Beat when he encounters the vampire Mavra. He also gives a fairly apt description of what makes an evil laugh.
Maybe it was the atmosphere, but something about it, the way that it simply lacked anything to do with the things that should motivate laughter... There was no warmth in it, no humanity, no kindness, no joy. It was like Mavra herself - it had the withered human shell, but underneath it all was something from a nightmare.
- In the Harry Potter series, Lord Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange. Subverted with Sirius Black who had one, but turned out to be a good guy.
- In Edgar Rice Burroughs's The Gods of Mars, when John Carter and Tars Tarkus enter a chamber, the door closed behind them and "And then, from unseen lips, a cruel and mocking peal of laughter rang through the desolate place."
Live Action TV
Music
- Vincent Price ends his section of "Thriller" with a wry evil laugh, arguably doing more to relieve the tension than to amplify it. Man was creepy.
- The beginning of the song "Bump In The Night" by Allstars has a talking section similar to the Thriller example above which is followed by an evil laugh.
- Peter Murphy's cackle two-thirds of the way through Bauhaus's cover of John Cale's "Rosegarden Funeral of Sores" definitely counts. Crowning Moment Of Awesome ensues.
Professional Wrestling
- "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase's Evil Laugh was so important to his character that it was even part of his entrance music.
- Even after turning face, Kane is likely to do this at the end of his promos. He didn't become a true bona fide psycho until he was unmasked, though.
- Since unmasking, "The Big Red Machine" Kane has taunted and tourmented his targets, often laughing after describing or inflicting torture.
- Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart had an annoying laugh that sometimes terrified opponents.
- Unlike Dibiase, Jim's evil laughter appears to be hereditary as near perfect duplications of his laugh can be heard echoing from whatever room or hall his daughter Nattie is in. Incidentally, she also thinks its funny to tear ligaments with the sharp shooter.
Close Professional Wrestling
Radio
- The Shadow, of radio, pulp, and Alec Baldwin fame, is another example of a hero using the evil laugh - in his case, as psychological warfare. After all, maniac laughter from nowhere is unnerving, and criminals are a superstitious and cowardly lot...
- Dr. Regis Blackgaard had a memorable evil laugh that was quite effective in small doses. When he appears in the "Darkness Before Dawn" arc, you can hear bits of it trying to escape at certain points, but he holds it in until he finally takes over Whit's End.
- A minute before the scene in question, he and his underling Mr. Glossman actually share a laugh together. The contrast makes him sound positively demented.
- In a later episode, we learn that while his twin brother Edwin may be merely a hammy actor with an inflated ego, he has the laugh in his repertoire, as well.
Tabletop Games
- Chaos in Warhammer 40000 specializes in this; most Traitor Marines having been turned batshit insane over ten thousand years of war and slaughter, and the mind-warping effects of the Immaterium. Dawn Of War has Chaos Marines randomly break down and cackle occasionally.
Theatre and Opera
- Damn Yankees has Applegate sing the Villain Song, "The Good Old Days", which while sounding a lot like an inspirational song in the way it is sung, has Applegate laughing evilly in between stanzas.
- In Act One of the The Phantom Of The Opera, the Phantom breaks out in evil laughter when he ruins Carlotta's performance and later crashes the chandelier. Michael Crawford really makes the most of both occasions on the original cast album.
- This troper loves Crawford's Evil Laugh at the end of the All I Ask Of You track, though she fails to remember who he's screaming "GO!" at.
- It's the cue for aforementioned chandelier to come crashing down.
- The aria "Vous qui faites l'endormie", from Faust by Charles Gounod, has a number of evil laughs written into the score. This is perhaps unsurprising, as it's sung by Mephistopheles, but it does mean that this trope is Older Than Radio.
- The title character in Mozart and Da Ponte's Don Giovanni has a very unsettling laugh in the beginning of act two.
- Though the Wicked Witch of the West is portrayed sympathetically in Wicked (and given the name Elphaba), she still gets her trademark cackle when Glinda slaps her.
- The title role in Gilbert&Sullivan's "The Mikado" has some improvised Evil Laughs in between verses in his song about the Cool And Unusual Punishments he's concocted.
Video Games
- The Engineer in Team Fortress 2 has one as a taunt.
- The Medic's laugh command alternates between this and some very Un Evil Laughs.
- Although he mostly avoids this in all his other appearances, Albert Wesker can't resist letting fly with this in Code: Veronica. He's definitely outclassed by the Ashford twins, though; both seem to have a rather serious case of the sillies.
- From Halo, there is but one maniacal laugh, but considering who it comes from, it's creepy as hell. Y'know how, villainous as he was, the Gravemind always seemed fairly calm, and even convincingly sane for monster in any previous talks or encounters? Well all of that is thrown down right after the final obstacle to his plan dies, and it lets rip a spectacular one. It's even worse when you remember (and hear) that even his VOICE is composite in nature. Listen to it here, and crank up the volume after the 'obstacle' dies.
- Darth Malak in Knights Of The Old Republic gets into near the end of the game. Got kind of cheesy though as the laugh is played along with an animation where he actually holds his hand on his stomach like a bad actor trying to simulate gut busting laughter.
- One of Iori Yagami's more beloved traits in The King Of Fighters series is his habit of breaking into maniacal laughter when he wins a match. This is a bit odd, considering he's also a protagonist. Sample
- Ryuji Yamazaki has a really crazy laugh that's heard in his winpose. 2002 Rugal has a good one, too, but it's to be expected since he's voiced by Norio Wakamoto.
- Being fair though, Rugal's original voice actor, Toshimitsu Arai, pulled off a pretty great Evil Laugh in 98.
- Predating KOF, Fatal Fury had Geese Howard, whose evil laughs ranged from small chuckles to even pulling off maniacal laughter when he lost.
- While it still feels evil, 2002 UM Rugal's evil laugh sounded like it came from an aging man.
- Kefka of Final Fantasy VI had a grand evil laugh of his own, instantly identifiable by anyone that's heard it. This is especially impressive as the game has no vocal track.
- In Dissidia, he gets to laugh at the heroes together with Exdeath from FF5 during the opening of Shade Impulse. Kefka's high-pitched howling and Exdeath's deep belly laughter mix together well.
- Albedo Piazzola from the Xenosaga series had a particularly deranged Evil Laugh fitting with his overall character.
- An evil laugh given so convincingly can make one worry about the mental stability of the voice actor...
- His voice actor is Crispin Freeman, for those who are wondering. He's not insane, he's just that awesome.
- His Japanese voice doesn't fail to impress either.
- Luca Blight from Suikoden II had an evil laugh accompanied by an enormous amount of exclamation marks.
- Ganondorf of The Legend Of Zelda series has his fair share of laughs. Sometimes it is a simple, self-satisfied "Hm-hm-hmm...", other times it is used in a mocking tone after he has succeeded in an attack. One of the most flamboyant is in Wind Waker where, after the King of Hyrule uses the Triforce to wish for "hope" for Link and Zelda and the old Hyrule begins to flood and vanish under the water, Ganon starts to laugh madly, his sanity broken at seeing all his dreams smashed before his eyes. The laughter continues to grow until he is eventually practically shrieking. Some found it quite silly, others thought it was pretty awesome.
- To say nothing of what he was like in The Adventure of Link (Zelda 2). You can hear the same laugh in Ocarina of Time, but it doesn't quite have the same context...
- Then there's his laugh in Super Smash Bros Brawl. Specifically, in Subspace Emmisary. He's laughing from across a very shaky holographic interface, so his laugh dissolves into the most malevolent sounding static you've ever heard in your life.
- Hojo from the Final Fantasy VII games comes from the "sick psycho" school of evil laughter. Here's a sample.
- Ditto for Vexen from Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories. [1] Expected, as they both share the same voice actor.
- Laharl from Disgaea, as quoted above. Upon officially becoming an Evil Overlord (well, mostly evil), he even spends the next few days perfecting it.
- It comes to the point that this is whenever Laharl shows up in the sequels, the first indication you have that he has appeared is his (very recognizable) Evil Laugh piercing the air.
- Badly attempted by evil clones of Kurtis in the sequel. Given the fact that their speech is more stilted than William Shatner, it comes out as a robotic "HA hee HA HA."
- Like Laharl, Mao, the main character of Disgaea 3 will actually begin his respective turn with a humorously quick but evil "Mwuhu-haha!" What make it more funny is hearing it from the same voice actor that does Edward Elric in the English dub of Fullmetal Alchemist, Vic Mignogna. In the Japanese, it's loud but simple "HA HA HA!"
- Honestly, anyone with a good enough title will be subject to this trope, especially the Overlords in the Disgaea series and Makai Kingdom.
- Dr. Robotnik of the Sonic The Hedgehog series has a peculiar Santa-esqe chuckle in his Japanese incarnations (which has only been done successfuly in English once, during Sonic Rush), but he also has a more traditional Evil Laugh that he uses when he's feeling particularly good.
- Take, for example, the Dark ending in Sonic Adventure 2, as he puts the final Chaos Emerald into the Eclipse Canon. Alas...
- Don't forget about Mephiles the Dark from Sonic 2006. Watch Dan Green at his hammiest.
- Castlevania's version of Dracula loves doing this, and since he's voiced by Norio Wakamoto, it makes it all the more enjoyable. It's also apparently a mandatory thing for the Lord of Darkness, because Soma Cruz does it, too.
- Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia has one too in the form of Albus, who laughs maniacally at complete random during the fight.
- Don't forget about Barlowe's laugh, especially when he frees Dracula's soul.
- Bryan Fury in Tekken has a particularly disturbing one, thanks to the mechanical effect on his voice (due to his being a cyborg).
- Then there's Devil Jin, who has a Jokeresquely high evil laugh after winning in a fight, complete with an evil grin, showing off his pearly white fangs.
- Kadaj, from Final Fantasy VII Advent Children might be worth a mention, since while auditioning for her church's play, this troper was asked to do her best evil laugh. Just for kicks, she decided to imitate his, and was cast as Satan.
- This troper does not see Bowser...here's a fun fact: when you speed up his Mario 64 laugh, it sounds like Boo!
- He let out a particularly infamous one at the very beginning of Hotel Mario ("It's dat creepy Bowsuh's laugh!"), which has been mocked and re-mocked in You Tube Poop videos about 50,000 times now. [2]
- In Super Paper Mario Count Bleck has his own weird laugh, "Bleh heh heh heh heh...".
- "BLECK!"
- Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door has three villains with their own distinct and annoying laughs. Emperor Grodus's is something like "Gaaack aaack aaack aaack aaack"; Lord Crump's is a "Buh! Buh huh huh huh huh!"; and Beldam's is "Mwee hee hee hee hee".
- Also Doopliss's "hyuk hyuk hyuk".
- And the Shadow Queen's "Muh huh huh huh huh".
- Being who he is, Wario has been known to do this. He even does this in his first appearance (Super Mario Land 2), or at least that's what it's supposed to sound like.
- The Guardian from the final Ultima trilogy had a particularly memorable bass-pitched resonating laugh, courtesy of Bill Johnson and a filter that made his voice progressively deeper in each of the games.
- Lampshaded in Splinter Cell 2: Pandora Tomorrow, where a terrorist typing a speech by his boss includes the following footnote: " {note: ironic, not maniacal}".
- Don't forget Master and Crazy Hand, with MH's being deeper and more serious, and CH's as the Laughing Mad variant. Here's an example.
- Actually, in Melee, Crazy Hand's laugh was a reversed version of Master Hand's for extra-creepiness.
- Mithos Yggdrasill of Tales Of Symphonia manages the third kind in a spectacularly creepy fashion in at least one scene... another is debatable.
- And let it be well noted that on one of these occasions he is kicking Kratos on a potentially endless loop (that is, until you can drag your eyes away from the train wreck and press A).
- Prometheus from Mega Man ZX series. Sure you can only hear it in the Japanese version of the game after losing his battle, but STILL [3]!
- On that note, what about Siarnaq? He laughs like a demented clown, and he's supposed to be a freakin' emotionless ninja!
- Dr. Weil, from Mega Man Zero, counts as well.
- Wannabe mad scientist Vernon Von Grun frequently does this in City Of Villains several times when you report back to him after a mission. It is made funnier by him asking you if you can tell that he's been working on the laugh, the laugh changing a few times, him asking you to join him in the laugh, and once breaking into a cough mid-laugh.
- How has Final Fantasy XI's Shantotto NOT yet made this list? It's text-only, but the little witch still scares the heck out of this troper whenever she does it!
- Because the specific "Oooh-ho-ho-ho" is the Noblewomans Laugh. That being said, the laugh is very characteristic of Shantotto. Just listen to her EX-Burst in Dissidia.
- Valkyrie Profile 2's Lezard Valeth has a pretty maniacal laugh when he pulls off a special - and even more so when he teleports around during the final boss battle.
- Gongora, the Big Bad of Lost Odyssey indulges in evil laughter when his plans are going well. Though being a Villain With Good Publicity he generally only indulges in it when alone for most of the game.
- Klogg, the villain from the claymation Adventure Game The Neverhood, has a pretty awesome laugh, which not only appears in the Bad Ending (which manages to top it by having the hero, Klaymen, do an even better one of his own, after his mutation into a Klogg-like being) but in the opening credits as well.
- In Fable, your character can perform an evil laugh as an expression if he's renowned enough.
- Every Undead characters /laugh in World Of Warcraft.
- Kurow Kirishima, master of the Slasher Smile, sneaks sinister laughter into his winposes.
- Jedah of Dark Stalkers is normally unflappable and very polite, but occasionally will indulge in a bit of mad laughter; most notably in one of his supers when he drags you underground and has hands of blood beat the crap out of you.
- Destoroyah in Godzilla: Unleashed will start laughing after he defeats his enemies.
- Lampshaded in The Curse of Monkey Island. During Guybrush's first encounter with Murray, the Demonic Talking Skull, Murray busts out a laugh and Guybrush asks him about it. Murray (whom Guybrush had just blown apart) says that there's a fish nibbling on his foot somewhere, and it really tickles.
- Above lampshading happens in the first few minutes of the game. The trope is played straight in the rest of the game. He really likes to let us know who he is.
Murray:"I AM MURRAY, THE EVIL DEMONIC SKULL! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
- Gruntilda in Banjo-Kazooie. She gave out a rather impressive evil cackle whenever you hit the "Save and Quit" option in the menu.
- Vernon Von Grun in City Of Villains is an apprentice mad scientist who recruits you into his schemes. He tries to master the evil laugh early into your work with him and towards the end invites you to laugh with him as well.
- There is also an evil laugh emote for the players, though it lacks sound it does go through physical motions that would make Doctor Frankenstein proud.
- In Bioshock, Atlas/Frank Fontaine bursts into an Evil Laugh once you have killed Andrew Ryan and shut off the self-destruct. Arguably, this is also a moment of Nice Job Breaking It Hero, although one built into the game's plot.
- In what is probably the strangest example this troper has ever seen, the vending machines have a truly unsettling evil laugh.
- Bagular's evil laugh in Bomberman Hero is... Well, it's weird, creepy and strangely awesome at the same time. Seriously.
- Then there's Rukifellth from Bomberman 64: The Second Attack whose evil laugh can probably be considered a Verbal Tic.
Rukifellth: Once I regain my earthly body, I shall create a new cosmos. MY Cosmos. A cosmos of chaos where only the strong shall survive! Ha ha... Ha ha... Bwah ha ha ha ha ha!
Rukifellth: (5 second pause) It's not much fun making speeches about my plans without an audience... (pause) Ha ha... Ha ha... Bwah ha ha ha ha ha!
- Verbal tic or not, his laugh is still awesome.
- Dark Samus in Metroid Prime 2 and 3 is an Evil Twin made of Toxic Phlebotinum and has an appropriately distorted laugh.
- The final boss of Gradius Gaiden is the only one in the series to possess one. He laughs at the player while taunting him, though he's as powerless as every other final boss.
- Kira Daidohji of Arcana Heart. A pre-pubescent Large Ham Mad Scientist with dreams of World Domination? This trope is practically required!
- Actually, as with the Wicked Witch, an evil laugh is also traditional for a Mad Scientist character (though not all of them).
- Recurring Boss Fassad in Mother 3 has an especially unique one, indicated in his text boxes to be, "NWE-HE-HE-HE-HE-HEEE!"
- "That's one 'Nwe', and eight '-he's."
- Ghaleon in the PS 1 version of Lunar: The Silver Star Story. Tell me this isn't the coolest laugh ever
- The evil AI CABAL in Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun and the expansion pack Firestorm will, occasionally, do the mechanized Evil Laugh in the middle of a mission for no apparent reason.
- The Commodore 64 port of the 1984 computer game Impossible Mission is one of the earliest examples of digitized speech in a game. The villain's evil laugh signified that the clock had run out and the game was over. (Conversely, if the player successfully completed the game, he gave a kind of Big No.)
- The evilest in evil laughs technology, the Duck Hunt Dog.
- Leopold Charles Anthony Weasleby the Third from Henry Hatsworth In The Puzzling Adventure is unique in the fact that his Simlish Speak is mostly compromised of variation of his maniacal cackle and sneer. Cole actually has a similar one, not surprising since Weasleby is actually a robot that Cole created to antagonize Henry.
- In Baldurs Gate, Sarevok from the first game is available in the final expansion as an optional party member. His maniacal laughter is one his battlecry and he'll sometime throw his evil laugh when you give him orders.
- In Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky, most of the villains have a unique Evil Laugh.
- Zubat: "Heh heh heh"
- Koffing: "Whoa ho ho"
- Skuntank: "Chaw haw haw"
- Dusknoir: "Uwhoo hoo hoo"
- Sableye: "Weh heh heh"
- In Chrono Trigger, if you choose to sit down on the evil-looking throne in the Giant's Claw, really the Tyranno Lair long after Azarla's defeat, the character in the front of the party will do an evil laugh, proving just how fun it is, to good guys and bad guys alike.
- Evil Witch/Warlock Sims in The Sims 2 had idle sequences in which they would cackle and Clasp Your Hands If You Deceive. (It became even more amusing when this troper had a Sim of Jafar. Finally, he was in character!)
- A-no-ther ex-am-ple is the Wi-zard of Wo-r in Wizard Of Wor. Ha-ha-ha-ha.
- Grandmaster Meio does this in Strider (the arcade game) both when you start the game, AND when you lose all your lives.
- Of course, Richard Hawk makes a habit of this in Metal Wolf Chaos.
- This troper is shocked to see no mention of Kain from the Legacy Of Kain series. Ever the maniacal genius, this laugh from Soul Reaver embodies all that he is.
Web Comics
- Lampshaded in this Order Of The Stick strip, in which Xykon declines to join Redcloak and the Monster in the Dark in an evil laugh, because he can't quite deliver one properly since becoming a skeletal (and thus lung-less) lich.
- Vaarsuvius gets a very straight one in this strip, though they can't quite help it.
- The more villainous and/or powerful "Sparks" (genius gadgeteers and mad scientists) in the gaslamp fantasy world of Girl Genius ("Adventure! Romance! Mad Science!") are remarkably prone to this. But then, frankly speaking, every Spark is prone to ranting and raving and overdramatic gestures (often involving blowing things up, or sometimes, coffee) when "in the Madness Place" (sparking at full throttle). "Forward, my minions! Mhuahahaha!"
- Damien from El Goonish Shive does one of these. Not because he's just done something evil, or because Our Heroes are falling into his diabolical trap, but because he thinks it's genuinely hilarious that Grace could ever be a threat to him.
- Likewise, Raven has a pretty well-developed evil laugh about him.
- Khrima indulges in evil laugh in this Adventurers! strip.
- While not quite the most evil of the lot, Rocky and his cousin from Lackadaisy Cats tend to laugh hysterically whenever they cheat death.
- Narbonic loves this trope.
- Bob and George, per se. Quote from Dr Wily and the Helmeted Author: "I think I'm supposed to laugh maniacally now."
- In 8-bit Theater, when the Light Warriors hand over the last orb of light, Sarda does one of these. Red Mage dismisses it as allergies and Sarda goes along with that.
- In Erfworld, Wanda's maniacal laugh upon acquiring and attuning to the Arkenpliers was a break from her previous complete lack of laughter.
Web Original
- The Dr. Horrible from the quotes section opens Act I with his unbelievably artificial maniacal laughter. Hey, he's working on it (with a voice coach).
- He gets it extremely right in Act III.
- And then there's Bad Horse, the leader of The Evil League of Evil, with his "terrible death whinny".
- The best use of You Tube yet is broadcasting an Evil Laugh competition.
- In the Halo 3 machinima, Deus Ex Machina, a villain starts laughing because he's supposed to be a robotic time-gasbomb, when it turns out to be a dud, he plays a looping laugh sound. Yes, it is creepy as hell.
- Another earlier villain chuckles to himself in a completely normal manner. Since he is laughing about the hero's imminent doom, it still feels very evil.
- From Gaia Online. Johnny. K. Gambino. Lampshaded in a later story update where Johnny, stuck in a rut, says he just doesn't have the passion for the Bwahaha stuff anymore.
- Among the site's staff, Qixter, the main dev for zOMG! Makes himself out as an Evil Overlord, complete with Evil Laughter. His trademark quote is "Can I get a Bwuhahaha?" This quote makes it into the description of the item at the end of the game.
- In the 'Mental Floss' web animation Be Amazing!, around 3:12 - "Maniacally, I said! MANIACALLY!"
- The Spoony One has a pretty, well, insane laugh when he's portraying the diabolical Doctor Insano.
- Parodied by Adam in Maddison Atkins episode 9, and also demonstrated by Maddison in episode 38.
- Although he's gone a long way since his villain status, Strong Bad from Homestar Runner has a pretty neat - if seldom used - laugh (seen in "dragon" and "Most In The Graveyard").
- Mwhahaha... in America!
Western Animation
- The Joker from Batman The Animated Series has the most distinctive version of the Joker's trademark insane laugh. Mark Hamill does an excellent job of conveying just how damn creepy the guy can really be. Here's some examples of just how awesomely creepy it is.
- Also The Creeper does a pretty good job on this.
- In The Movie of Batman Beyond, even Terry (Batman II) gets in one of these, beating the Joker to the punch.
- Batman himself performs one on Harley Quinn when she tells him about her plans to settle down.. and then proceeds to give a Hannibal Lecture about Joker's Multiple Choice Past.
- Should be noted that said laugh scares the daylights out of Harley.
- Mark Hamill and some people from Batman: TAS talking about the art of his laugh
- David Warner's mad laughter as Ra's al Ghul was creepy enough after he rose from the Lazarus Pit.
- Bart Simpson's laugh is pretty evil, even when he's laughing about something innocent.
- Mr. Burns has a pretty good one too.
- Sideshow Bob has one Hell of a Evil Laugh.
- After elaborating a scheme against Bart, Lisa has an evil laugh which was comically followed by their monkey helper's own evil laugh, creeping out Lisa.
- The sheer creepiness of Megatron's laugh in the original Transformers animated series is in and of itself Nightmare Fuel.
- The Quintessons during the "Five Faces of Darkness" arc were initially so overcome by their moment of triumph, they were at a loss as to how to go about celebrating it. Then one of them suggests a quite chuckle. And so they do, and rather creepingly.
- Because of his normally almost emotionless demeanor, Soundwave very rarely laughs in the original series. When he does, though—with his flanged, echoing voice—it is awesome creepy.
- Beast Wars has a number of the Predacons do this, including but by no means limited to: Megatron when he's feeling smug, Rampage when he's inflicting pain, and Tarantulas almost constantly... They're always the third sort, and always a pro at it.
- Lampshaded near the end of "Other Visits Part 1", where both Megatron and Tarantulas begin cackling at the same time after coming together to work on the same Evil Plan. Hard to describe on paper, but plays out very nicely.
- Almost every Decepticon in Transformers Armada indulges in this at least once, most often Psycho For Hire Cyclonus.
- Megatron in Transformers Armada is the biggest offender, though: he laughs a lot, never passing up an excuse to do so, to the point that it becomes Narmish. As the Big Bad, he has that right, but the Cybertron version, played by the same voice actor, (who also played the Beast Wars Megs) doesn't laugh nearly as much. (This troper hasn't seen Energon.)
- Kilokhan in Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad tried to do this, but being an AI who spoke in a monotone, it basically came out to "A-heh, heh, heh. Heh, heh. heh, heh, heh. *beat* A-heh."
- Lampshaded in Kim Possible when Señor Senior Senior turns to crime and decides that - as all great villains - he needs an Evil Laugh. There's even an episode that ends with him saying, "Come, son, let us return to our lair and practice our evil laughs together." This troper and HIS son still say that line to each other.
- When turned evil, Ron Stoppable combines the laugh with his Catch Phrase: "Ah-BOOYAH-hahahahaha!"
- It's note pointing out that Shego strictly discourages the use of Evil Laugh while being the Evil Mentor to Señor Senior, Jr.
- Parodied in Freakazoid: the villain Guitierrez is not only prone to evil laughs, but asks people around him to laugh along.
- Also lampshaded with Dr. Mystico, who bursts out in a fit of evil laughter and then explains, "Sorry, I just thought of something funny."
- Few villains rock the Evil Laugh harder than Evil Chancellor Jafar on Aladdin, especially at the end of his song. On the Cartoon Crossover with Hercules, Hades calls him up on it.
- Of course, when Jafar actually convinces Hades to give it a shot, the big blue guy admits that "It's cleansing."
- Darla Dimple from Cats Don't Dance manages to laugh diabolically pretty well (she is, after all, an actress); when her Battle Butler tries to join in, she snaps, "Shut up, Max."
- Scar in The Lion King lets out a particularly great one at the end of his Villain Song, "Be Prepared".
- Well, when your henchmen of choice are hyenas, you've got a lot to live up to.
- Ratigan from The Great Mouse Detective after his attack on Basil. Voiced by Vincent Price. Can't get much greater than that.
- Aku from Samurai Jack. They also parodied this: in one episode Aku orders an assassin to kill the samurai and then laughs evilly into the phone, then he looks confused as they hang up.
- A lampshade was hung on this in at least one episode of The Fairly Oddparents, in which the arch-enemy of the Crimson Chin; the Nega-Chin looks at his watch and says "Oh. Time for my Evil Laugh!" He then engages in said evil laugh on cue.
Norm: That's my evil laugh. How is it, huh? I've been practicing.
- On Avatar, "Melon Lord" Toph's Evil Laugh basically consists of saying "Mwa ha hahahaha!"
- Then later on there is Azula's deranged laugh, which is one part evil, two parts crazy, and creepy as hell. It is not a Noblewomans Laugh.
- This troper saw The Dark Knight just two days before watching the finale, and swore up and down that Heath Ledger and Grey DeLisle must have compared notes...
- In Beetlejuice's Animated Adaptation, the eponymous trickster's rather spectacular cackle features prominently in the opening sequence. "It's showtime!"
- A childhood favorite of this troper's was the Evil Laugh of Culinary Quint on Timon and Pumbaa's Wild Adventures, which was literally "Le HAH! Le HAH! Le HAH!" He was French...
- Mandark of Dexter's Laboratory had a whole episode dedicated to his laugh. The only dialogue heard was his laugh ("HA haha! HA haha haha!"), and all the sound effects were set to the same meter.
- It can be viewed here.
- He even says "Chew chewchew! chew chewchewchewchew!" when eating.
- In Cyberchase, the Cybersquad is reading a note sent by the Big Bad, Hacker. At the end of the note, he had written "Ha, ha, ha, ha."
- Danny's future self has a very nice one indeed.
- Invader Zim has Tak, Zim's far more competent and villainous rival, giving an evil laugh that lasts more than ten seconds, followed by still more evil laughter as she goes over her evil plan. Zim doesn't quite get it, despite having his own evil laugh, and responds with "yes, yes, I'm a master of comedy".
- Zim himself plays it straight; after a plan to get rid of Dib appears to be successful, he struggles to find a sufficiently evil way to end his monologue.
Zim:"Now Dib, I leave you to your... eh..."
GIR whispers "say 'moosey fate'!" Zim follows the suggestion, looks like he can't believe he just said that, then nonetheless bursts into explosive evil laughter.
- In this troper's opinion, Zim's evil laugh at the end of the opening sequence of every episode is priceless.
- Ren of Ren and Stimpy has a particular insane laugh after he's lost his mind or accomplished something.
- Mad Scientist Dr. Cockroach of Monsters Vs Aliens has a tendency to do this on a whim, to which Susan asks if he could please stop doing that.
- Stripperella. Mad plastic surgeon Dr Cesarean gives an evil laugh...then stops when he realises he's doing it in a waiting room full of wide-eyed onlookers.
- This shouldn't be surprising as he's voiced by Mark Hamill.
- In Disney's Snow White, the wicked queen uses an Evil Laugh as an ingredient of her disguise potion.
- In the Tom And Jerry short Solid Serenade, Tom traps Jerry in Spike's doghouse and gives the audience an Evil Laugh as he closes the door. Then Jerry emerges, being safely escorted out of the enclosure by Spike himself...who utters an Evil Laugh of his own as he shuts the door again. Hilarity Ensues, natch.
- In Jerry and the Lion, Tom traps Jerry in a closet and again gives one of these to the audience as he closes the door...not realizing that Jerry is accompanied by the escaped circus lion who he's befriended. Hilarity once again ensues.
- The Saturday-Morning Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon's version of Dr. Robotnik had a distinctive, unsettling laugh that sounded more like a weird ecstatic shudder.
- Dr. Zin's laugh was particularly evil in the Jonny Quest episode "The Robot Spy".
- Has everyone forgotten about Jack Spicer's obsession with his evil laugh in Xiaolin Showdown?
- Ursula from The Little Mermaid lets out an evil laugh so friggin' scary while Ariel turns into a human that it shames the Wicked Witch, Jafar, and Maleficent put together.
- Speaking of Maleficent, she lets out many memorable evil laughs, notably when she turns into a dragon.
- Also in the final battle scene in Beauty And The Beast Gaston does an evil laugh before he taunts the beast.
- The Dark Lord Chuckles the Silly Piggy of Dave the Barbarian has one of the most excellent evil laughs ever. He can incorporate an entire taunting sentence into one.
- We went this whole page without mentioning Mojo Jojo? For shame!
- Hexxus from Ferngully: The Last Rainforest has a laugh at the end of his extended song, that ends with a dry cough. Can be seen as a satire, but actually justified, as Hexxus is the embodiment of pollution.
- In Re Boot, Megabyte and Hexadecimal each have their own Evil Laugh: Megabyte, a rich, throaty chuckle; and Hexadecimal, a raspy, psychotic cackle; and neither of them are ever shy about using them.
- Hexadecimal's laugh, in particular, is so popular with the fans, that Shirley Millner (Hex's VA) frequently gets requests for it at conventions (starts at 6:30).
- Don't forget Dick Dastardly in Wacky Races (and everything else he's been in for that matter). In this case though, it doesn't make him threatening at all.
- Skeletor in both versions of He Man And The Masters Of The Universe. In fact, in the remake, there's even a scene-change sequence built around it.
- Unlike Skeletor's, Hordak's laugh in She Ra Princess Of Power actually sounds like "bwa-ha-ha", whereas Skeletor's is more like "heh-heh-heh".
- Even "The Peculiar Purple Pieman of Porcupine Peak", Strawberry Shortcake's only real "arch-nemesis" has one, although it's more subdued, and we don't really hear it that often. I know the 1980s version does this, but I don't think the 2000s version does.
- In fact, pick a villain, any villian from any classic (or even modern) production. It obviously doesn't apply to every villian, but the evil laugh is a traditional element seen in almost any villian character.
Muahaha...
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