History EvilVersusEvil / TabletopGames

* The fundamental premise of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', where ''every'' side is supposed to be evil, and if the players ever start [[MisaimedFandom thinking otherwise]], the writers make that side [[MoralEventHorizon even more evil]] to make sure it doesn't happen any more. The sales pitch is essentially 'pick your favourite brand of sci-fi villain and have them duke it out with all the others'.
** The biggest two examples being the Eldar and the Tau. The Eldar are psychic space elves that [[ManipulativeBastard can see the future.]] They fight against [[EldritchAbomination Chaos]], which is what {{Eldritch Abomination}}s fear when they're up late at night. The latest editions of the game has played up the "ManipulativeBastard" part to 11 and making it clear that they're all about the long game. In one example, they caused an Ork warlord to attack the Human world of Armageddon, killing ''billions'' in order to save a few thousand Eldar lives; in another, they happily purged of all life on both Orkish and Imperium worlds in order to deny the Tyranids biomass. Further, an Eldar captured by the Imperial Guard claims that once they are back on top they will systematically kill every single human in existence (though this isn't a sentiment shared by all Eldar Craftworlds).
** The Tau are idealistic space-communists that fight for The Greater Good, and are the closest thing the setting has to a neutral or even good faction. That is, if you ignore the fact that their entire race is being mind controlled by their leaders. Not wanting such an obvious good race in the series, Games-Workshop pointed out that the Tau's plans for humanity include forced sterility, labor camps, and genocide. The kicker? [[CrapsackWorld They're still the only thing close to a good race the game has.]]
** The Imperium gets this too. For every hardworking adept who agonizes over every difficult decision, honorable space marine, or working class guardsmen with balls of steel they show you; they are contractually obligated to show ten KnightTemplar inquisitors screaming "EXTERMINATUS!"
** It cuts both ways, however. [[GenericDoomsdayVillain Necrons were just too evil]], so they [[AlasPoorVillain later explained why]] [[AIIsACrapshoot they hate the living so much]] and gave them more moral ambiguity.
** The Evil Versus Evil mentality is justified, however. TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} is such a CrapsackWorld that the only way you have a chance of surviving is if you're a WellIntentionedExtremist AT BEST. Any unambiguously heroic individual would ultimately be killed gruesomely and subjected to a FateWorseThanDeath...which is a feat in itself, considering [[DespairEventHorizon living in the Warhammer 40K universe]] Hell is a FateWorseThanDeath in itself. It's really telling just how bad this setting is when [[MessianicArchetype the Emperor of Mankind]] [[WellIntentionedExtremist has to commit atrocities just to keep mankind alive.]]
** It's hinted that one of the reasons the galaxy hasn't already fallen is because [[VetinariJobSecurity the]] ''[[VetinariJobSecurity more]]'' [[VetinariJobSecurity evil and destructive factions have collided with each other and effectively canceled each other out]].
** The Chaos Gods also spend just as much time fighting each other (If not MORE time) as they do fighting the other factions.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Villainous|Ravensburger}}'', players play the role of evil characters from ''Creator/{{Disney}}'' or the ''Franchise/MarvelUniverse''. Each player tries to win the game by succeeding at their unique EvilPlan while also sabotaging their opponent players with "Twists of Fate".

** Another example is between the god of fear, Bane (no, [[NamesTheSame not that one]]) and the god of murder, Cyric, in the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' setting. This isn't a case of OrderVersusChaos or trying to decide which is EvilerThanThou. These two just hate each other on a very personal level. The problem is that Cyric is currently [[SealedEvilInACan sealed in a can]], so they can't fight directly. Instead, they're marshalling their respective [[ReligionOfEvil worshippers]] to go on an (un)holy war against one another. Since in the Forgotten Realms, [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly the gods need worshippers to survive]], this is the only way they have to kill one another.

* The fundamental premise of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', where ''every'' side is supposed to be evil, and if the players ever start [[MisaimedFandom thinking otherwise]], the writers make that side [[MoralEventHorizon even more evil]] to make sure it doesn't happen any more.

** The two Fiendish Codexes explain that there are an infinite number of demons, and more of them are always spawning. Angels, Archons, Devils & company are in a finite number. The Devils exist in fact so they can use their superior tactics and teamwork (due to their Lawfulness) along with similar weapons as those used by the demons, to keep the demons in check. The books make it explicit that if the Devils weren't around, the demons would swarm and destroy all of creation. The books also hint that if the demons vanished, the Devils could probably conquer the Multiverse, being a race composed entirely of {{Magnificent Bastard}}s and [[TheChessmaster Chessmasters]]. And in the 2nd Edition of the game, the various forces of good took time to fan the flames, hoping to break their enemies against each other. In the ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'' boxed set "Hellbound: the Blood War", there's even an adventure where player characters discover high-ranking angelic beings funneling weapons and armor to their favored side in the war so more and more of the fiends would be killed. Some demon sub-races are also enemies of other demon sub-races (bebiliths eat other demons, for example). Some members of the higher ranking devil sub-races get promoted to the next higher-ranking sub-race by getting their [[KlingonPromotion direct superior killed]] or demoted, while some pit fiends (the highest-ranking sub-race) do the same to replace the devil dukes and duchesses who themselves are TheStarscream to the archdevils. There's also much enmity between [[DemonLordsAndArchDevils the archdevils (Dispater and Mephistipholes vs. Baalzebul, Prince Levistus vs. Princess Glasya, all the other archdevils trying to take Asmodeous' throne) and the demon lords]] (Juiblex vs. Zugtmoy, Baphomet vs. Yenoghu, the three-way battle between Graz'zt, Orcus and Demogorgan). In the ''Complete Scoundrel'' supplement, a prestige class called the Malconvoker is introduced which follows the teachings of a book called ''Vital Pact'' to impersonate evil for the sole purpose of summoning fiends to fight other evils and other with perpetuate all of the fighting between evil above, since the Celestial beings are too few to win their war against evil otherwise.

* Though it tends towards GreyAndGrayMorality on the whole, ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'' has its share of purely malevolent elder evils. That does ''not'' mean said elder evils get along. [[DemonLordsAndArchDevils The Lords of Dust]] are prone to internecine conflict, since different factions of them serve different [[GodOfEvil Overlords]] who tend to have wildly differing agendas, and they ''all'' view the [[PathOfInspiration Inspired]] as a bunch of posers butting in on their turf when they have no right to; the Inspired, for their part, don't like the Lords of Dust because they view them (and especially the threat of them managing to wake one of the Overlords up) as a threat to their plans to create perfect order in the mortal world and thereby anchor their own [[DreamLand dimension]] in its current LawfulEvil state; to top if off, nobody likes the [[HumanoidAbomination Daelkyr]], mostly because even the most powerful demon or Inspired can't predict what ''those'' [[AxCrazy maniacs]] want, and if the Daelkyr have any opinion on the matter (or any particular conflicts among themselves) they're not chatty about it.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Villainous}}'', players play the role of evil characters from ''Creator/{{Disney}}'' or the ''Franchise/MarvelUniverse''. Each player tries to win the game by succeeding at their unique EvilPlan while also sabotaging their opponent players with "Twists of Fate".

* Likewise, the fundamental premise in {{TabletopGame/Warhammer Fantasy|Roleplay}}. From [[HornyVikings barbaric Norscans]] battling infernal [[TheLegionsOfHell Warriors of Chaos]] and [[OurDemonsAreDifferent their daemonic legions]], to the savage [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Greenskins]] and [[OurOgresAreHungrier Ogre Kingdoms]], the brutal [[EvilCounterpartRace Druchii and Chaos Dwarfs]], the treacherous [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Skaven]], and [[Main/Pirate various]] [[TheNecrocracy perfidious]] forms of [[OurVampiresAreDifferent undead]], the [[EarthIsABattlefield Warhammer world]] has become an enormous battlefield for these various horrors to dominate. And they will even fight against members from the same army to become the most powerful of them all.

* Likewise, the fundamental premise in {{TabletopGame/Warhammer Fantasy|Roleplay}}. From [[HornyVikings barbaric Norscans]] battling infernal [[TheLegionsOfHell Warriors of Chaos]] and [[OurDemonsAreDifferent their daemonic legions]], to the savage [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Greenskins]] and [[OurOgresAreHungrier Ogre Kingdoms]], the brutal [[EvilCounterpartRace Druchii and Chaos Dwarfs]], the treacherous [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Skaven]], and [[Pirate the]] [[TheNecrocracy perfidious]] [[OurVampiresAreDifferent undead]], the world has become an enormous battlefield for these various horrors to dominate. And they will even fight against members from the same army to become the most powerful of them all.

* Likewise, the fundamental premise in {{TabletopGame/Warhammer Fantasy|Roleplay}}. Its nice guys - [[TheEmpire High Elves]], [[TheFairFolk Wood Elves]], [[DungAges Bretonnians]], [[AllGermansAreNazis Empire]], [[RevengeBeforeReason Dwarfs]] -- are not.