Basic Trope: A villain has (unrequited) feelings for a hero.
- Straight: Prince Evulz is in love with The Heroine, Alice.
- Exaggerated: Prince Evulz is an apathetic and cold-hearted villain who sees no problem with massacring millions of innocent people for no reason, but instantly falls in love with Alice just when she bats her eyelashes at him.
- Downplayed:
- Prince Evulz is attracted to Alice and flirts with her occasionally, but has no problem with trying to kill her when she gets in his way.
- Abhorrent Admirer
- Justified:
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones.
- Evulz is a Harmless Villain or a Lovable Rogue who hates Emperor Terruble, and sees something in Alice which nobody on his side has.
- Alice is Evulz's former fiancée and he wants her back.
- Evulz is starved for affection and latches on to Alice, as she is the only constant presence in his life.
- Evulz is a Fallen Hero who was once friends with Alice, and still harbors feelings for her.
- Evulz is in love with Alice's carnage, much to her consternation.
- Inverted:
- Alice is in love with Prince Evulz in a case of All Girls Want Bad Boys.
- Prince Evulz can't stand Alice.
- Subverted: Prince Evulz seems to be in love with Alice, with his general touchy-feeliness around her and We Can Rule Together speeches towards her that can be summed up as marriage proposals, but it turns out it was all a ploy to mess with her mind.
- Double Subverted: ...but it also turns out that he's developed some kind of twisted affection towards her during these mind games.
- Parodied: Prince Evulz is Ax-Crazy and has all the markings of a cliché Evil Overlord, but around Alice, he becomes a completely lovestruck loon who gets immediate heart-shaped Wingding Eyes whenever he sees her, complete with Maniac Tongue, and showers her with flowers, chocolates and other gifts.
- Zig Zagged: Prince Evulz has declared his love to Alice more than once and has given her a We Can Rule Together speech, but then it turns out he was just messing with her to creep her out, and seeing her creeped out amuses him. Then he reveals he really has grown to care about her, and does think she would be better with him. But then he reverts back to hating her when she manages to blow up his evil headquarters...
- Averted: Prince Evulz considers Alice a Worthy Opponent at best, and otherwise treats her the same as his other enemies.
- Enforced: "We need more drama; let's make Prince Evulz fall in love with Alice!"
- Lampshaded:
Alice: "You've never had a problem with bloodshed. Why do you always pass up the opportunity to kill me?"
Evulz: "Because I want you."
Evulz: "We don't have to fight, my dear. Just submit and you shall live. By my side."
Alice: "Are you... proposing?"
Evulz: "Yes."
- Invoked:
- Exploited: Alice tries to seduce him in order to throw him off guard.
- Defied:
- When one of his advisers asks Prince Evulz if he is in love with Alice, he is deeply disgusted and disturbed by the idea.
- After capturing the heroes, Evulz realizes he has feelings for Alice. So he shoots her in the head immediately; he can't afford having her as a distraction.
- Deconstructed:
- Evulz ends up getting softer and less cruel because of Alice's influence on him, to the point where he has an existential crisis on whether he's truly the bad guy he wants to be anymore.
- Evulz gets ostracized by other villains for falling in love with someone of the opposite morality, believing that he is a traitor as a result.
- Evulz is a Well-Intentioned Extremist and is aware that his actions are villainous and that a heroine like Alice would never love him for it. He would try to change for her, but he doesn’t think there's any other option in his cause. Therefore, he's desperately trying to make Alice see his visions in hopes for her to see him as the righteous one when deep down, he doubts that dream will come to fruition.
- Turns out that Evulz is so desperate for affection to the point that he's more interested in the idea of a relationship than truly being dedicated to a person. And since Alice is the only female in his age group that he knows, she's the only person he can turn to.
- Reconstructed:
- Alice helps Evulz see the error of his ways, prompting him to make a Heel–Face Turn. And in turn, they end up becoming an Official Couple.
- Evulz gives up on winning Alice over and lets her go to be with the hero. He eventually finds another woman who has the same beliefs he has and they hit it off.
- Discussed: "You know Alice, the fact that Evulz loves you could actually be a good thing if you convince him to switch sides." "Except, I'm already taken so... no thanks."
- Conversed: "Why does Evulz always try to capture Alice alive rather than battle her?" "He wants to make her his queen, simple as that."
- Implied:
- Prince Evulz regularly flirts with Alice, and Alice is his favorite of the Five-Man Band.
- Defecting for Love.
- Played For Laughs:
- Prince Evulz asks Alice out in the middle of fighting. Unfazed, Alice wipes the floor with him. A heavily injured Prince Evulz quips how beautiful she is when she's angry. Hilarity Ensues, complete with Alice facepalming.
- Evulz acts like a lovestruck Tsundere for Alice: "We'll meet again, Alice! ...I-I mean, not that I want to see you again..."
- Played For Drama: Prince Evulz, aware of his romantic attraction to Alice, must choose between her and his dream of taking over the world.
Back to Villainous Crush, my dearest. Just accept it, you might like it.
