Then Let Me Be Evil / Comic Books

SPOILER WARNING: The nature of this trope means that spoilers abound. Tread carefully.

Then Let Me Be Evil moments in Comic Books.

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• Astro City: The Evil Sorcerer Infidel took his name as a badge of honor when people rose up against him as a monster and a jerk and a heretic and, yes, an infidel.^note Granted, the guy really is pretty darn evil long before this.
• Batman:
  • Some authors give Poison Ivy this treatment. In both of her origin stories, she is forced into gaining her powers. Pre-Crisis, she is coerced into helping a criminal steal some rare herbs, only for the crook to poison her with them and cause her transformation. Post-Crisis, she suffers a traumatic childhood thanks to her distant parents and gains a Ph.D. in botany, only to be seduced by Dr. Jason Woodrue and forcibly injected with toxins and poisons as a cruel "experiment." She has repeatedly attempted to go straight and focus on creating botanical paradises, only for various villains, such as a Corrupt Corporate Executive firebombing the island she was living on or Clayface taking over her plant operations, to ruin her genuine attempts to help the world (or at least stop hurting it) and drive her deeper into insanity. It doesn't help that her powers have given her a toxic kiss, making relationships extremely difficult, and a "hyperactive immune system," which means that she can never have children. The years (and in some cases decades) of emotional (and sometimes sexual) abuse at the hands of men have only furthered her problems, to the point where she has essentially given up on aiding humanity at all and instead focuses strictly on the plant world, making her a kind of Well-Intentioned Extremist (who is still criminally insane). It is lampshaded in one story, when Harley Quinn (one of her few friends and occasional lover) points out that Ivy's created plants that are stronger than steel and can generate natural light, would be a huge boon to construction projects and energy crises. When asked why Ivy doesn't share these specimens with the world, or at the very least sell them for a profit, Ivy bitterly replies "I don't do that, Harley—I don't save people. I'm poison, remember?" In essence, people keep stopping her attempts at doing good and treating her like a villain, so she has resigned herself to being one.
  • During a visit to Hell, Bane discovered that despite being a Noble Demon (at least what he thought was one) he was still damned. He figures that since he is beyond redemption anyway, he might as well stop trying to be a half-assed antihero and embraces villainy. First order of business? Settle the score with Batman once and for all.
• Green Lantern: When the Guardians of the Universe stripped him of his rank as Green Lantern for turning his world into a dictatorship, Sinestro declared that if they were branding him an enemy, he would be their greatest one...and lived up to his vow.
• The Incredible Hulk: In The Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect, the Maestro is a Bad Future version of the Hulk who, after surviving a devastating nuclear war, decided to become the monster that everybody believed the Hulk to be, ruling over the remnants of humanity as a cruel tyrant.
  • For a few years, the Abomination acted as a protector of homeless people in New York. Then some police being paid off by a Corrupt Corporate Executive killed them, accidentally abetted by the Hulk (who'd only gotten involved because he thought Emil had abducted a reporter). Enraged, Emil declared he was done with it, and vowed to destroy everything everywhere.
• Irredeemable: This is one of the motivations behind the Plutonian's Face–Heel Turn. In his mind, if the world is just going to fear him like a giant ticking bomb after all that he has done for them, then why not give them what they expect?
• Memin: In the Mexican comic about a poor Black boy, a story had some bullies convince him that Black people never go to Heaven, no matter how good they are (claiming that the fact there are no pictures of Black angels proves it). Memin is so angry that he swears that if he's going to Hell, he'll rule it by being the most evil kid in the world! (being a preteen his idea of evil acts are things like disrespecting his mother.) His friends hatch a plan to reform him by painting one of the angels in a Church (with the clergy's permission) Black and then show it to him. It worked.
• Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (Boom! Studios): This is how Lord Drakkon came to be, answering the question what if Tommy Oliver never joined the Rangers after his defeat to Jason. In an alternate dimension and retelling of the "Green With Evil" arcs, after Jason succeeds in destroying the Sword of Darkness, Tommy runs away confused and unsure of himself as Rita swayed him back to her side. The empress gives her the name Lord Drakkon and aids her in conquering Earth and taking out any remaining opposition, Tommy would then "kill" his dimension's Jason and stole the White Ranger powers for himself, transforming into a Green/White Ranger hybrid, and then betrayed his world's Rita and went on to rule the Earth as its despot and with an army of Ranger Sentries at his disposal. The Shattered Grid saga point out that Drakkon is the only incarnation of Tommy Oliver to become an evil Ranger by choice, whereas other Tommys in the multiverse are all heroic individuals who are loved and respected.
• The Mighty Thor: Loki fits, Depending on the Writer. It is almost always more that Loki THOUGHT that the Asgardians didn't trust him and that he was The Unfavorite compared with Thor (combined in some continuities with the reveal that he is a Frost Giant, an Always Chaotic Evil race) that caused his Start of Darkness, not that he was actually disliked/hated. Thor, years later after fighting as the hero to his villain, still cares enough about him to get him reincarnated after Loki engineered the near fall of Asgard and helped save it in a last-ditch Heroic Sacrifice. Enemy Mine has been a recurring thing for Loki when the threat gets too great for a long, long time.
  • Since Thor destroyed the fate of the gods, and his death and rebirth even after the child murder, body snatching and guilt complex over it, long story, Loki is determined to not become evil again, or at least not go quietly into any box others build for him, because there are forces, some even on the side of good like the All-Mother of Asgardia, who want the status quo back and actively make his life miserable for this reason. Yeah, if he would snap now he would be perfectly justified.
  • In Thor (2020), he stabs Freyja with a poison knife during a civil war on Asgard between her and Odin. Freyja lives, but barely, and is in no condition to rule. Odin's brother Cul — who has a certain insight on being an evil prince — notes that to just barely keep somebody alive, Loki must be either very bad at poisoning, or very, very good at it (and as it turns out, he's right). But thanks to Loki's actions, the civil war in Asgard is over, the Asgardians are united against coming threats, and Loki is the most hated man in Asgard, not Odin or Cul. As usual for Loki, he appears to be playing both sides, but making sure to give the Asgardians the villain they desire. It later turns out that he'd settled on the side of good, ultimately cutting his way out from his Laufey's stomach and becoming the mostly heroic King of Jotunheim.
  • Mostly these days, when he plays the villain, it's with an additional purpose — when Tony Stark assumes that Loki's pulled a Face–Heel Turn again, stating that his 'phase' as an 'emo anti-hero' is over, T'Challa points out that Loki's latest scheme (involving the Celestials and the Final Host), erased the Final Host as a threat and created a new Avengers team with a giant dead Celestial as their HQ. As he once put it in Young Avengers... "putting together the Avengers. It's Loki's greatest hit."
• My Little Pony: FIENDship Is Magic: The comic does this to King Sombra, of all Ponies. He is an artificial, Living Shadow Pony created by another Sealed Evil in a Can entity in order to conquer the Crystal Empire via The Power of Hate. And despite him having an Only Friend/Love Interest, all of the other Crystal Ponies shun him; and the annual, Light Is Good Crystal Faire only causes him near-fatal pain despite his desire to attend (thus giving him a Dream-Crushing Handicap too). This, combined with him eventually meeting said entity and learning about his true nature, makes him finally snap and embrace Dark Is Evil — turning him into the Evil Overlord that we see on the show. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (IDW) Issue 34 to 37, he actually gets better in the end: Not only does he invoke Heroic Sacrifice against his creator because Being Evil Sucks, but he also gets a new (i.e., non-Living Shadow) body via Redemption Earns Life. Furthermore, he is last seen Walking the Earth with his aforementioned Only Friend/Love Interest, while they seek to repair the damage that he previously caused throughout Equestria.
• Paperinik New Adventures:
  • Angus Fangus is implied to be this. While he has always been a jerk, in his youth he used to be a genuine Intrepid Reporter, with his first claim to fame being exposing a traffic of nuclear weapons (made more notable by the fact the traffic was happening in the United States and Angus hadn't left New Zealand yet), but constant insults on his workplace and a colleague stealing his Pulitzer-winning investigation eventually turned him into the Jerkass that picks on Paperinik just to gain more fame. He still keeps some of his past goodness and courage (he left New Zealand for the consequences of how he saved his ancestral lands, and going after Paperinik requires a lot of courage), but he is nowhere as good as he used to be.
  • Defied with Paperinik: he once admitted, at least to himself, that his poor reputation as a hero and the constant mistreatment which he suffers in his civilian identity tempts him to throw away everything and either retire or even become the villain, but he will not do either.
  • Paperinik is often tempted even in the 'classic' continuity, and was extremely close to this in his early stories, making people pay for the mistreatment he suffered in his civilian identity of Donald Duck. Eventually he became a more heroic character, even if he is still someone you should not provoke lightly.
  • Fittingly, it is actually Invoked by lord John Lamont Quackett, AKA Fantomius the Gentleman Thief, whose journal would later inspire Donald into becoming Paperinik (even using his costume and, early on, his gadgets): having moved to Duckburg from his native England, the local high society treated him as a lazy do-nothing because he didn't lower himself to their hypocrisy. The day he saw one of the most important members of Duckburg's high society frame Gyro Gearloose's great-grandfather for a theft he himself had committed made him decide that the best way to deal with thieves masquerading as gentlemen was to be an actual gentleman masquerading as a thief... And on that very day he first wore the costume of Fantomius, exposed the frame-up, and stole the diamond himself.
• Sin City: Marv wonders if he is unknowingly following this trope in both the film and comic version. All his life, people told him that he would grow up to be "a psycho killer" and he contemplates whether or not it is happening to him.
• Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Surge explains to Sonic her reasoning for going this route: She nor Kitsunami have any idea who they were before Dr. Starline took them and transformed them into who they are and the doctor seemingly had kept no records of them at all. In Surge's mind, if they joined Starline, then they were not on good terms with people and if they were taken off the streets, that means nobody is really out there looking for them.
• Spider-Man:
  • While it never actually happens, Spider-Man comics have repeatedly teased the reader with the possibility of Spider-Man becoming a menace due to the All of the Other Reindeer mentality of the world around him. In the Ultimate Spiderman comics, Nick Fury was particularly worried that all of the tragedy and bad publicity in Peter's life would drive him to villainy — and given the combination of Peter's intelligence, determination, and superpowers, that would be a very bad thing.
  • The closest it came in the mainstream Marvel Universe was during the Acts of Vengeance, when he gained the godlike powers of Captain Universe, which he could not control, making the New Yorkers more scared of him than ever. The fact that super-villains were attacking him for no seemingly reason at all (something that was happening to the entire hero community during the crisis) only made him angrier. Finally, during his battle with the robot T.E.S.S. One, the insults from the people he was trying to help made him lose his temper, and he screamed, "You want a menace?? I've got your menace right here!!" And then he blew T.E.S.S. One to smithereens. (He may have eventually truly fallen into this trope had he not been able to win their respect by saving the city and winning their respect again — at least for a while.)
  • The Scorcher, a Spider-Man foe, reportedly started out like this. According to his origin story, research scientist Steven Jamal Hudak was framed for embezzlement by a co-worker and had to go into hiding to avoid his arrest. Being a wanted man with little chance of finding work at his chosen field, Hudak used his scientific knowledge to build a Powered Armor and started a career as a freelance mercenary.
• Superman:
  • This happened to Supergirl of all people in Action Comics #362 (April, 1968). A descendant of Mxyzptlk commands everyone in the 40th century to believe that Supergirl is a criminal. Supergirl is captured with Kryptonite, tried, and sentenced to have the word "OUTLAW" branded on her forehead. Afterwards Kara is marginalized, insulted and bullied until she cracks and decides that "[She's] been branded an outlaw, so [she'll] be one!" Subverted, since she had realized that Mxyzptlk was behind everything, and she pretended to crack to fool him.
    Supergirl: All right! I've had it! I've been branded an outlaw, so I'll be one! I'll pull a robbery right now!
  • Subverted in The Girl with the X-Ray Mind. After being rejected by the F.B.I., Lena Thorul (born Lena Luthor) gets a job offer from a criminal boss. Lena angrily takes up his offer, stating she will become a criminal since the authorities do not want her on their side. However, it turns out her true goal was to destroy her "employer's" criminal gang from within, hoping to prove she can become an asset for the F.B.I.
    Lena Thorul: I wanted to devote my talents to the law, but the F.B.I. turned me down! Very well then, I'll go where I'm appreciated! I'll join the underworld.
  • What's So Funny About Truth, Justice & the American Way?; a group of Anti-Heroes called the Elite challenge Superman, saying his Good Is Old-Fashioned ways are not suited for the realities of the modern world, specifically targeting his reluctance to kill his enemies. After a severe beating at their hands, Superman snaps and decides to embrace their teachings, brutally killing all of them and leaving their leader powerless... Except not really; Superman used his impressive array of technology and skills to make it appear as though he killed the Elite when he really just temporarily depowered them, using the experience to show them why he holds so many rules and why they shouldn't try to see him break them.
  • In The Plague of the Antibiotic Man, Nam-Ek travels to Earth to warn Superman of Amalak's scheme to unleash a plague, but when Superman disbelieves that Nam-Ek is not involved in the plague, the latter declares that if Superman will treat him as a villain then he will be one.
    Nam-Ek: I went to Earth after defeating you...to warn the Terrans— and Superman— of the impeding plague! But he refused my efforts— turned against me! So now I shall turn against him...and join forces with you— Amalak, the Kryptonian-Killer!
  • After much trauma from the death of his world and loved ones and violent rejections from his former heroic idols, Superboy Prime decided he'd become the worst villain the DC Verse has ever known since he couldn't be the hero he originally wanted to be. Made even more apparent after Prime went to the future and found out history described him as an annoying footnote instead of anyone notable.
  • Superman (Rebirth): After a turn as a genuine Anti-Hero, Lex Luthor got so fed up with Superman's suspicions (especially what he perceived to be Superman abandoning him on Apokolips) that he rips the S emblem off his super suit and all but declares himself a villain again.
• Teen Titans: The original version of Blackfire. As the first princess born from Tamaran's royal family in centuries, her birth was supposed to be a joyous day. Then the day she was born was marred by the Citadel destroying a city and slaughtering its three thousand inhabitants in her name, and a childhood illness robbed her of the ability to fly. Because of this, everyone hated her, treating her like a villain and passing her birthright to her little sister Starfire, who became the focus of Blackfire's rage. Then one day she snapped during training and tried to kill her sister, and was exiled... And when she returned on Tamaran, she was leading the Citadel's armies to conquer the planet, relenting only when Starfire too was stripped of her birthright and made her sister's slave. To add salt in the wound, it is eventually found out that Blackfire is a born queen, as shown when she takes over Tamaran and quickly becomes a much better ruler than her father ever was.
  • Arsenal's evil ex Cheshire also has this issue, mainly because her determination to prove how dangerous she is resulted in her dropping a nuke on the country of Qurac and laughing as it burned. That's not something a person simply walks away from and it's been held over her head ever since, to the point she finds it much easier to keep living as a remorseless sociopath than feel guilt for the thousands of people she murdered.
• The Unbelievable Gwenpool: Future Gwen claims that the universe itself was setting her on a Start of Darkness by killing her friends and constantly getting her punished for trying to commit heroic acts, along with giving her evil-aligned powers. So she decides to be evil and finds it quite a bit of fun.
• X-Men:
  • Magneto has generally been written as a Well-Intentioned Extremist for a few decades now, which makes the name of his old supervillain group, the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, seem a little strange. It has, therefore, been stated that the name invokes this trope. The way he sees it, humans will always be afraid of mutants... so he is going to give them something to be afraid of.
    • In Earth X, Uatu The Watcher (who knows a thing or two about human behavior) implies that the opposite is also true: Magneto forces Professor X to be the "good guy," and therefore saddle himself with all the limitations heroes must operate under.
  • Sabretooth seems to qualify. At one point, he mentions all the bad which he has done is on him, but his father showed him the ropes. When he was a child, his father kept him chained in a cellar and would routinely pull out his fangs and claws with pliers. Birdy, Creed's short-lived henchwoman, even says that it seems he was hurt too much as a child. His father constantly called him a monster and animal -even keeping a muzzle on him at one point. After escaping, Creed killed his father and continued to live like the animal his father treated him as -openly declaring that he is a loser and a beast.
  • Nightcrawler's father, Azazel, was a mutant during Bible Times who was thought and treated like a demon by many people. Because of this Azazel himself thinks that he is a demon.
  • Cyclops, after the events of Avengers vs. X-Men. At first it seemed that he would surrender and stand trial for the murder of Charles Xavier, but after spending some time in prison and seeing a fellow prisoner and newly manifested mutant who he tried protect be murdered by his fellow prisoners, he decides that he is more useful outside bars, and since he and his "Phoenix Five" team are already fugitives believed to be guilty, why not take advantage of that to go where the regular X-Men can't go, and operate outside the law?
  • In the mini-series Fallen Angels, Professor X suspects that one of his students, Sunspot, might follow down the road of his villainous father. Sunspot learns of the professor's opinion just after giving his friend an (accidental) concussion, leading him to believe that he is destined to become evil. He leaves the New Mutants and embarks on his new life as a villain... and over the course of the series realizes that he is not very good at it. He eventually returns to the side of good.

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