History Main / DarkMessiah

* In [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12851155/1/Dark-Prince-Marco Dark Prince Marco]] the Mirrorverse Star is an EvilGenius who conquered and turned her timeline RepressiveButEfficient but other than [[TheJeeves Mirror Toffee]] [[TheDreaded has no friends.]]

* ''Film/DunePartTwo'': [[spoiler:Paul Atreides becomes exactly this. He destroys the Harkonnen and Sardaukar forces, but after the other Great Houses refuse to acknowledge him as emperor, he unleashes the Fremen on them in a holy war.]]

** [[Characters/BerserkGriffithFemto Griffith]] is a definite example. He cares for the weak and helpless everywhere, fights tyranny and cruelty, and everyone loves him. However, after getting [[spoiler:imprisoned and tortured within an inch of his life]], he sold his soul to the evil Godhand to become its fifth member Femto, hired demons as enforcers, and ruthlessly killed anyone who opposed his rise to power, [[spoiler:including the Band of the Hawks that he once led, whom he sacrificed in order to become Femto in the first place]]. [[spoiler:And in a later arc, Griffith is called an actual Messiah by the people. He has the CrystalDragonJesus equivalent of the Pope proclaiming him to be the best thing since sliced bread]]. We, the readers, can only cringe in expectation of the devastation that will ensue. And to make it even worse, [[spoiler:since he still possesses at least a significant amount of a Godhand's power even though he was supposedly reborn as a human, and seems to still be backed by the other four demon lords, he actually IS a Crystal Dragon [[TheAntichrist Anti-Christ]], ''who is currently posing as a Dark Messiah'']]. No matter how bleak things are already, [[FromBadToWorse they WILL get much, MUCH worse]].

* [[Characters/CodeGeassLelouchLamperouge Lelouch Lamperouge]], the main character of ''Anime/CodeGeass'', is a nicer version. He seeks to overthrow of TheEmpire that killed his mother and ''means'' well (most of the time), but even at his best, he's [[ShootTheDog shot a dog or two]] -- some of whom he even unleashed himself. And he's obviously aware of his status, as he ends up [[spoiler:setting himself up as the ultimate tyrant and [[ZeroApprovalGambit concentrating the hatred of the world on him, so that when he's killed, the world can finally unite in peace]]]].
* ''Manga/DeathNote'' has [[Characters/DeathNoteLightYagami Light Yagami]]. He intends to annihilate all the evil and worthless people from the world for the good of humanity. [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope This also includes almost anyone who opposes him and tries to stop him, even if they happen to be otherwise upstanding enforcers of the law.]] His [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder tendency to deceive and often betray those around him doesn't help]], and at one point he even changes the emphasis of his message from "[[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans and I shall be god of that]] '''''[[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans perfect world!]]'''''" to "'''''[[GodhoodSeeker And I shall be GOD!]]''''' [[AGodAmI of that perfect world.]]"

** [[Characters/DragonBallFrieza Frieza]] is an example of a Dark Messiah who becomes one entirely by incident. He cares nothing for anyone in the universe but himself, and really is nothing more than a SpoiledBrat at his core, but [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership his sheer power leads most of his followers to see him as a necessary evil]], the iron-fisted tyrant that keeps their empire together. For his part, Frieza doesn't consider his soldiers an army so much as a rabble of convenient underlings to protect or dispose of as he sees fit (though he does get fond of certain underlings, such as Zarbon and Ginyu).

** [[Characters/DragonBallZamasu Zamasu]], an apprentice [[PhysicalGod Supreme Kai]] and prodigy who stands as the strongest Kai seen. He's strong enough to fight on par with Super Saiyan 2 Goku after he's received training from [[PhysicalGod Whis]], but he suffers from a very bad case of FantasticRacism towards mortals since [[HumansAreFlawed he sees them as fools who have abused the gifts and protection the gods have given them]] and despises the fact [[TheGodsMustBeLazy the gods are not allowed to take direct action to watch over the multiverse]]. [[spoiler:Eventually, he goes full-on KnightTemplar and begins a crusade to rid the multiverse of mortals to create a paradise, which includes [[APupilOfMineUntilHeTurnedToEvil killing his master]], [[GrandTheftMe stealing Goku's body]] before killing him and his loved ones, corrupting an [[AlternateSelf alternate version of himself]] and giving him [[CompleteImmortality immortality]], and committing mass genocide [[GenocideFromTheInside on his fellow gods]] to keep them from stopping him.]]
** [[Characters/DragonBallGokuBlack Goku Black]], [[spoiler:another incarnation of Zamasu]], has streaks of this, as his appearance heralds the coming of an apocalypse, takes the bastardised form of a MessianicArchetype, and although he preaches good intentions behind his evil, he's ultimately doing this to satiate his own selfish ends and lust for destruction.

* ''Manga/FairyTail'': [[TheArchmage The Black Wizard]] [[BigBad Zeref]] genuinely wants to see the world become a better place and even [[spoiler:created an entire country where he rules as a relatively benevolent Emperor, though he himself admits he didn't create [[TheEmpire Albareth]] for the sake of being a ruler]]. His very [[ThenLetMeBeEvil motivation]] for becoming [[spoiler:an OmnicidalManiac]] is "to cleanse the world of its sins", and is perfectly prepared to die to atone for his own [[spoiler:which was why he created [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou E.N.D.]] out of his [[CainAndAbel little brother]] [[TheHero Natsu's]] [[TomatoInTheMirror dead body]]]]. He even has [[spoiler:twelve disciples in the form of the [[PraetorianGuard Spriggan Twelve]]]], as if Mashima was intentionally invoking the trope. Hell, even his plan to "cleanse the world" is this. He plans to [[spoiler: capture the limitless magic within his former lover Mavis and use it to time travel back to the past to stop himself from becoming immortal. To him, he views his existence as having brought untold calamity to the world in the various magic users looking for his artifacts, emulating him, and so on. And he's unfortunately quite right as most of the villains could be traced to him as their origin, with the main exception being ironically the most dangerous one, Achnologia. However, it would in fact destroy the world in the sense that Natsu and everyone would not exist by changing the past]].

* [[Characters/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineGulDukat Gul Dukat]] was this for a bit in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' when he led a cult to the Pah Wraiths. Kai Winn exemplified this trope.

* [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraAmon Amon]] from ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' fits this trope. He leads the Equalists, an AntiMagicalFaction that wishes to rid the world of [[ElementalPowers bending]], claiming that benders oppress the non-benders of the world (and he's not entirely wrong). His status as a Dark Messiah stems from how he claims to have been chosen by the spirits to replace the Avatar as the world's savior, believing that the Avatar has failed to balance the world as promised. [[spoiler:Of course, he's lying his ass off about being chosen by the spirits, and even the fact [[BoomerangBigot that he's a non-bender]].]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'': [[Characters/TheDragonPrinceViren Lord Viren]] views himself as humanity's savior. In season 2 he saves people from a famine, and in season 3 he is seen in white robes, parts a river of lava-like Moses did with the Red Sea, and is raised from the dead after a few days. However he is incredibly ruthless, power-hungry and manipulative.

** [[WhiteHairBlackHeart Griffith]] is a definite example. He cares for the weak and helpless everywhere, fights tyranny and cruelty, and everyone loves him. However, after getting [[spoiler:imprisoned and tortured within an inch of his life]], he sold his soul to the evil Godhand to become its fifth member Femto, hired demons as enforcers, and ruthlessly killed anyone who opposed his rise to power, [[spoiler:including the Band of the Hawks that he once led, whom he sacrificed in order to become Femto in the first place]]. [[spoiler:And in a later arc, Griffith is called an actual Messiah by the people. He has the CrystalDragonJesus equivalent of the Pope proclaiming him to be the best thing since sliced bread]]. We, the readers, can only cringe in expectation of the devastation that will ensue. And to make it even worse, [[spoiler:since he still possesses at least a significant amount of a Godhand's power even though he was supposedly reborn as a human, and seems to still be backed by the other four demon lords, he actually IS a Crystal Dragon [[TheAntichrist Anti-Christ]], ''who is currently posing as a Dark Messiah'']]. No matter how bleak things are already, [[FromBadToWorse they WILL get much, MUCH worse]].

* Lelouch Lamperouge, the main character of ''Anime/CodeGeass'', is a nicer version. He seeks to overthrow of TheEmpire that killed his mother and ''means'' well (most of the time), but even at his best, he's [[ShootTheDog shot a dog or two]] -- some of whom he even unleashed himself. And he's obviously aware of his status, as he ends up [[spoiler:setting himself up as the ultimate tyrant and [[ZeroApprovalGambit concentrating the hatred of the world on him, so that when he's killed, the world can finally unite in peace]]]].
* ''Manga/DeathNote'' has [[LightIsNotGood Light Yagami]]. He intends to annihilate all the evil and worthless people from the world for the good of humanity. [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope This also includes almost anyone who opposes him and tries to stop him, even if they happen to be otherwise upstanding enforcers of the law.]] His [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder tendency to deceive and often betray those around him doesn't help]], and at one point he even changes the emphasis of his message from "[[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans and I shall be god of that]] '''''[[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans perfect world!]]'''''" to "'''''[[GodhoodSeeker And I shall be GOD!]]''''' [[AGodAmI of that perfect world.]]"

** Frieza is an example of a Dark Messiah who becomes one entirely by incident. He cares nothing for anyone in the universe but himself, and really is nothing more than a SpoiledBrat at his core, but [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership his sheer power leads most of his followers to see him as a necessary evil]], the iron-fisted tyrant that keeps their empire together. For his part, Frieza doesn't consider his soldiers an army so much as a rabble of convenient underlings to protect or dispose of as he sees fit (though he does get fond of certain underlings, such as Zarbon and Ginyu).

** [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity Zamasu]], an apprentice [[PhysicalGod Supreme Kai]] and prodigy who stands as the strongest Kai seen. He's strong enough to fight on par with Super Saiyan 2 Goku after he's received training from [[PhysicalGod Whis]], but he suffers from a very bad case of FantasticRacism towards mortals since [[HumansAreFlawed he sees them as fools who have abused the gifts and protection the gods have given them]] and despises the fact [[TheGodsMustBeLazy the gods are not allowed to take direct action to watch over the multiverse]]. [[spoiler:Eventually, he goes full-on KnightTemplar and begins a crusade to rid the multiverse of mortals to create a paradise, which includes [[APupilOfMineUntilHeTurnedToEvil killing his master]], [[GrandTheftMe stealing Goku's body]] before killing him and his loved ones, corrupting an [[AlternateSelf alternate version of himself]] and giving him [[CompleteImmortality immortality]], and committing mass genocide [[GenocideFromTheInside on his fellow gods]] to keep them from stopping him.]]
** Goku Black, [[spoiler:another incarnation of Zamasu]], has streaks of this, as his appearance heralds the coming of an apocalypse, takes the bastardised form of a MessianicArchetype, and although he preaches good intentions behind his evil, he's ultimately doing this to satiate his own selfish ends and lust for destruction.

** [[EvilOverlord The Lord Ruler]] is a Dark Messiah made good. [[spoiler: Turns out, he actually did save the world from an OmnicidalManiac about a thousand years ago, but turned it into a hellish totalitarian theocracy in the process.]]

* Joseph Balsamo a.k.a. [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade Cagliostro]] in the 1949 film ''Black Magic'' starring Creator/OrsonWelles. He uses his talent as a Hypnotist to make himself seem like a UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} type Healer but is in fact motivated by greed and revenge. He then plans to use his [[DoubleStandardRapeSciFi Mind Controlled]] {{Doppelganger}} of UsefulNotes/MarieAntoinette he's in love in an EvilPlan to become ruler of the world by starting UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution. At first, he doesn't actually believe his divine claims, but then he losses it and goes full-on AGodAmI. He's a MagnificentBastard and the plan would have worked [[spoiler: if not for the interference of Anton Mesmer, who first helped him discover his gift]].

[[folder:Manwha]]

* In ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'', PosthumousCharacter Dolores Dei was a JeanneDArchetype GodEmperor who's venerated as the PatronSaint of [[BoldExplorer exploration]] and neoliberalism. She was both a figure capable of influencing humanity into great deeds as well as a ruthless demagogue unafraid of enforcing her will over those who stand against her, as she was known for being TheFundamentalist who violently suppressed secularism and dissent while spearheading mandatory education and colonization programs to spread her message.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Chronnopia}}'', a game with clear influences from TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'', there's the [[GodEmperor One King]] of the Kingdom of the Firstborn. After being killed by Elves, he reincarnated as the savior who freed the Firstborn from slavery by inhuman races. Unfortunately, he combines an "I'm always right" arrogance with becoming a WellIntenionedExtremist's tunnel vision. As such his neglect of them, led his prophets to join the Devout cult and his ambition to steal the Tablets of Fate would cause the Stygians to declare a genocidal global war.

* Gul Dukat was this for a bit in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' when he led a cult to the Pah Wraiths. Kai Winn exemplified this trope.