Let's raise a glass or two, to all the crazy things you do...note
"Gentlemen, to evil!"
— Mr. Black, The Simpsons
So you have a villain. Maybe they're Wicked Cultured or very rich. Either way, when they have a drink close to them, they always do one thing: make a toast.
This trope is used when a villainous character raises a glass. Sometimes it's used to mock the hero, or maybe to celebrate their success. It may be a threat. It may be paired with A Glass of Chianti, but Villainous Toast is a wider trope. While A Glass of Chianti happens when a villain drinks a red wine, they can drink all sorts of things for this trope (but usually wine or champagne).
This trope doesn't apply to characters who raised a glass before becoming villains or were villains secretly. They have to be specifically antagonists/bad guys when they do that.
Compare with Wicked Cultured. If you want to see heroes who raise their toast in honor of their fallen comrades for their heroic cause, see To Absent Friends.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- In My Hero Academia, Re-Destro raises A Glass of Chianti for the Meta Liberation Army's revolution.
- In Yu-Gi-Oh! Pegasus frequently toasts to his plans going well, and occasionally to Yugi or Kaiba when sufficiently impressed by their skills.
Comic Books
- In Issue 10 of Alex Ross' Justice, Lex Luthor makes a toast to the Legion of Doom for having successfully defeated the Justice League and taking their place as the saviors of the universe.
- X-Men:
- Uncanny X-Men 268: Matsu'o and the Strucker twins raise a toast at the end of the comic after they successfully elude capture by Wolverine, Psylocke, Black Widow, and Jubilee.
- At the end of the four-issue 1991's X-Men Family Annuals Crossover, Kings of Pain, King Toad and Gideon make a toast towards each other's tomorrow after their separate attempts to gain control of Proteus came to a draw due to the heroes' actions.note
Fan Works
- The Mountain and the Wolf: The Wolf holds a feast for his warriors before Danaerys' forces set out from King's Landing, inviting Tyrion and Brienne. He toasts Brienne after she hands one of his men his ass in a wrestling contest, and congratulates Tyrion for matching him in terms of Never Gets Drunk. After they drunkenly spill some of their backstories to each other, the Wolf views Tyrion as a friend and great warrior, which Tyrion could very well do without.
Film — Animated
- Corpse Bride: Lord Barkis Bittern mocks Emily over her death before her wedding by raising a goblet of wine as a mock toast before drinking it. Unfortunately for him, the wine was poisoned.
- The Emperor's New Groove: Yzma's plan to kill Kuzco is to poison his drink. At dinner, she gives the ironic toast "Long live Kuzco!" as he's about to take the fatal drink. Unfortunately, her Minion with an F in Evil Kronk mixed up the potions and Kuzco got turned into a llama instead.
- Justice League: Doom: Vandal Savage and the rest of the Legion of Doom raise a glass after defeating the Justice League. Unfortunately for them, the Justice League, who are saved by Cyborg, interrupts their celebration.
Film — Live-Action
- In Misery, Annie Wilkes and Paul Sheldon make a toast to the return of Misery Chastain.
"To Misery."
- Sexy Beast: Teddy Bass delivers such a toast when attending an orgy with rich and depraved men, purely to deliver some insulting flattery.
Teddy Bass: Gentlemen! (raises a wine glass) You're all cunts.
- Spider-Man: Far From Home: After revealing he's the villain, Mysterio raises a toast to his plans and to Mysterio.
- Watchmen: Towards the climax, the Big Bad Adrian Veidt is finally able to complete the scientific breakthrough that makes his doomsday device possible. After he's finished apologizing for providing "such an inadequate reward" to the assembled scientists, he raises a champagne flute "to the Pharaohs! Their greatest secrets entrusted to their servants, buried alive with them in sand-floored chambers..." A cut reveals that the champagne was poisoned and the scientists are all dead.
Literature
- Lord Edgware Dies: After Edgware's death, Jane Wilkinson and Carlotta Adams raise a toast. Too bad Carlotta's drink is poisoned.
- "Screwtape Proposes A Toast" is a lengthy diatribe by C. S. Lewis, usually included in volumes of The Screwtape Letters, where the eponymous demon praises in a toast Tall Poppy Syndrome, religious fundamentalists, Knight Templars, and Deliberate Values Dissonance can all be used to win souls for Hell.
- In Six of Crows, Tante Heleen makes a sinister toast when seeing Kaz Brakker. He considers it a mocking threat.
- A Song of Ice and Fire, many villains raise their cups constantly:
- When Cersei and Tyrion find out about Stannis and Renly fighting each other, they share a mocking toast:
Tyrion: To Stannis!Cersei: To Renly! May they battle long and hard, and the Others take them both!
- During the Red Wedding, Roose Bolton raises a toast for Big and Small Walder Freys. This is a hidden threat, as he holds them captive in his castle.
- During his wedding, Joffrey makes a toast to Margaery. This is one of the few examples when a villain does this not as a threat or a mock.
- When Cersei and Tyrion find out about Stannis and Renly fighting each other, they share a mocking toast:
- Wuthering Heights: When Hamish succumbs to alcoholism, he drinks for eternal damnation of his soul and throws his son off the stairs.
Live-Action TV
- American Horror Story: Hotel: In "Battle Royale", James Patrick Marsh is finally able to permanently curtail Countess Elizabeth's attempts to leave him by having John Lowe murder her as the final act of the Ten Commandments Killings, essentially leaving her trapped with him in the hotel for all eternity. As Elizabeth joins him at the dinner table, Marsh gloatingly raises a toast, taking great delight in Elizabeth's despairing expression as he does so.
"A toast! How thrilled I am to have you across from me. Not once a month, but from now on... until the sun falls from the sky and the heavens burn in conflagration!"
- The Boys (2019): In "Barbary Coast", Homelander, The Deep, Ashley Barrett and Cassandra Schwartz celebrate Deep's return into The Seven this way.
"To us."
- Columbo: In the first episode, the killer makes a toast with his business partner to the end of their cooperation. He kills him a few hours later.
- The Fall of the House of Usher (2023): Happens twice in the final episode, both on new year's even in 1980.
- First, Roderick, Madeline and Rufus raise a glass of Amontillado to Fortunato and its future after Rufus managed to avoid being arrested by Dupin. Rufus' drink is poisoned and soon the twins bury him alive in the wall. They also additionaly poison him again with cyanide.
- After the first toast, when twins meet Verna and make a deal with her so they'll become rich, but their children will die young, they raise a glass of Cognac to celebrate the deal.
"To house of Usher, whose time has come." - Game of Thrones: Subverted in the first scene of Season 7. Walder Frey has called all Freys back to The Twins in preparation for winter and to discuss House Frey's plans for growth, having previously ended up in charge of the Riverlands due to their role in the death of Robb Stark, and Frey opens proceedings with a toast to the house's good fortune. However, the Arbor Gold they're drinking has been laced with a poison known as the Strangler, which leaves all of them to drown choking in their own blood, and as they're starting to cough and sputter, Frey's speech turns into a scathing one, tearing them apart for their role in the Red Wedding. Once all members of House Frey are dead, Walder pulls his face off to reveal that he's actually Arya Stark
- In Gotham, after becoming a villain, Jeremiah Valeska raises a glass of champagne as a mockery to Bruce.
- In one of the last episodes of Season 2 of His Dark Materials, Marisa Coulter and Carlo Boreal drink to their cooperation. Unfortunately for Boreal, the cooperation ended right in that moment, as Marisa poisoned the wine.
- Power Rangers in Space: In "From Out of Nowhere" (Part One), the gathered villains celebrate Dark Spectre's capture of Zordon with a "lava juice" toast.
- Stargate SG-1: In the episode "Threads", Daniel is in the realm of the Ascended and spends most of the episode chatting with a friendly older man who was introduced as "Jim". When Jim reveals that is actually the ascended half of Anubis, and thanks to Oma, can wreak havoc on the universe as an immortal System Lord, "Jim" mockingly raises a glass with a cheerful "Cheers".
- Riverdale: Hiram Lodge drinks to the Gargoyle King after another criminal success of theirs.
Theatre
- Madama Butterfly: Right before his wedding to Japanese girl Cio-Cio-san who adores him, Lieutenant Pinkerton raises a toast "to the day when he marries a real American bride in a real wedding", showing that, from the very start, he is a callous bastard who only dallies with Cio-Cio-san for fun and never intends to stay loyal to her.
Video Games
- In God of War III, Hera invokes raising a toast when Kratos tells her he is going to kill Zeus.
"I'll drink to that."
- Hearthstone: When played, Sire Denathrius says "A toast to my everlasting reign" and does a Life Drain attack. As for his villainy, he's depicted drinking anima, which is equivalent to Soul Eating.
- Nintendo Wars, Dual Strike ends with Kindle riding away with the other bad guys and declaring she'll raise a glass to the victory of the heroes.
Webcomics
- In Twokinds, Brahn raises a toast for peace between humans and Keidran. It's obviously ironic, as his people attack moments later.
Western Animation
- The Simpsons: In "Kamp Krusty", Mr. Black, Jimbo, Dolph, and Kearney make a toast after a day full of breaking campers' spirits.
Gentlemen, to evil!
