History Main / EvilIsCool

There is a reason actors fight for the chance to play the bad guy. The lines [[ChewingTheScenery are great,]] the costumes [[EvilCostumeSwitch are awesome]], the [[VillainSong songs are spectacular]], the villains often look [[EvilIsSexy much sexier]] [[SensibleHeroesSkimpyVillains than the heroes]], and they don't have to spend the whole shoot pretending they are nicer than anyone they've ever met. [[https://www.wired.com/2012/07/why-do-supervillains-fascinate-us/ No, seriously.]]

There is a reason actors fight for the chance to play the bad guy. The lines [[ChewingTheScenery are great,]] the costumes [[EvilCostumeSwitch are awesome]], the [[VillainSong songs are spectacular]], the villains often look [[EvilIsSexy much sexier]] [[SensibleHeroesSkimpyVillains than the heroes]], and they don't have to spend the whole shoot pretending they are nicer than anyone they've ever met.

* The [[TheEmpire Imperium]] in ''TabletopGame/StrikeLegion'' has this going for it by being an {{Expy}} of the Imperium of Man, but they go MANY extra miles, possessing armies that include Godzilla type monsters, MANY forms of super soldiers even deadlier than its [[SpaceMarine Space Marines]], and [[MonsterClown MonsterClowns]] that include lightsaber wielding {{Expy}}s of TheJoker.

* ''FanFic/QueenOfAllOni'' initially plays this straight, but the second half of the story [[AvertedTrope averts]] it ''[[{{Deconstruction}} hard]]''. At first, Jade is essentially the same character, with the addition that she's now a villain, and generally just succeeds where other villains failed just to prove that she ''can'', without really acting truly "evil" (at one point she organizes a complex scheme top steal the Dog Talisman for no other reason than to make her dog immortal). But RealityEnsues amd between the continued Shadowkahn corruption, and a TraumaCongaLine [[spoiler: she [[MotiveDecay slowly becomes]] [[SanitySlippage worse and]] [[TheCaligula worse]] and starts crossing the MoralEventHorizon repeatedly, and becoming less and less sympathetic.]] Lampshaded by the author at one point:
--> ''' Eduard Kassel:''' I am sure many of you are disappointed, wanting a cool villain Jade. Well, you had her, more or less, for a while. This story has been about exploring Jade's fall to darkness, not celebrating it. And my explorations, in planning this story, lead me to [[EvilIsNotAToy evil not being a toy]]. And as [[SLowlySlippingIntoEvil you give yourself to darkness]], [[BeingEvilSucks bit by bit you lose yourself to it]].

Why is all that true? Why does the bad guy get all the cool stuff? [[TheVillainMakesThePlot The more interesting the bad guy, the more interesting the story]]. It really is that simple. You don't have a story unless you have conflict. The bad guy in most cases ''is'' the conflict.

** From the spinoff ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'' computer games: [[SinisterMinister Eliphas the Inheritor]] is universally considered one of the top five characters, as is [[LaughablyEvil Gorgutz 'Ead 'Unter]]. Mainly because Eliphas is almost painfully {{badass}} with a dark charisma and Gorgutz is {{crazy awesome}}ly insane.

** From the spinoff ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'' computer games: Eliphas the Inheritor is universally considered one of the top five characters, as is Gorgutz 'Ead 'Unter. Mainly because Eliphas is almost painfully badass and Gorgutz is awesomely insane.

** Also, [[AxCrazy Kharn]] [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder the Betrayer]]. Seriously, what a great guy!

* ''FanFic/QueenOfAllOni'' initially plays this straight, but the second half of the story [[AvertedTrope averts]] it ''[[{{Deconstruction}} hard]]''. At first, Jade is essentially the same character, with the addition that she's now a villain, and generally just uses her [[GenreSavvy Genre Saviness]] to succeed where other villains failed just to prove that she ''can'', without really acting truly "evil" (at one point she organizes a complex scheme top steal the Dog Talisman for no other reason than to make her dog immortal). But RealityEnsues amd between the continued Shadowkahn corruption, and a TraumaCongaLine [[spoiler: she [[MotiveDecay slowly becomes]] [[SanitySlippage worse and]] [[TheCaligula worse]] and starts crossing the MoralEventHorizon repeatedly, and becoming less and less sympathetic.]] Lampshaded by the author at one point:

* ''FanFic/QueenOfAllOni'' initially plays this straight, but the second half of the story [[AvertedTrope averts]] it ''[[{{Deconstruction}} hard]]''. At first, Jade is essentially the same character, with the addition that she's now a villain, and generally just uses her [[GenreSavvy Genre Saviness]] to succeed where other villains failed just to prove that she ''can'', without really acting truly "evil" (at one point she organizes a complex scheme top steal the Dog Talisman for no other reason than to make her dog immortal). But RealityEnsues amd between the continued Shadowkahn corruption, and a TraumaCongaLine [[spoiler: she [[MoralityDecay slowly becomes]] [[SanitySlippage worse and]] [[TheCaligula worse]] and starts crossing the MoralEventHorizon repeatedly, and becoming less and less sympathetic.]] Lampshaded by the author at one point:

** They eventually won the popularity contest and took over the world which they were fighting for.

* For ''TabletopGame/IronKingdoms'' players, much of the appeal of the evil factions is how cool their models look.

[[caption-width-right:350:[-[[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader]] DualWielding {{chainsaw|Good}} [[LaserBlade lightsabers]]. [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Hell yeah.]] [[AwesomenessIsVolatile If he got any more awesome he'd explode.]]-] ]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* WebVideo/JesuOtaku presents [[http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/ir/jo/cd/31284-top-20-deliciously-evil-anime-villains Top 20 Most Deliciously Evil Anime Villains]].
* The Principality of Zeon in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam''. They have the fancy uniforms and scary CyberCyclops, and gained huge legions of fans in Japan and everywhere.
** [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Ali al-Saachez]] is ''incredibly'' popular with the fans. Why? Well, for the girls, there's his [[EvilIsSexy rugged good looks, and for the guys? Put simply, Ali is horribly evil...and he's]] [[LaughablyEvil made of]] [[BadAssNormal awesome.]]
** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'' has two examples of this. While [[GeneralRipper Patrick Zala]] is too close to a real dictator to be cool, the other two...
*** [[SmugSnake Muruta Azrael]] is the leader of a terrorist organization and enjoys nuking whole cities based on nothing but racial hatred...yet, like Ali, Azrael still manages to be awesome, with his [[ManOfWealthAndTaste stylish suit]], [[LaughablyEvil wonderfully dark sense of humor]], and the fact that he's [[MeaningfulName named after]] ''[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the angel of death.]]'' While he [[NukeEm nukes]] [[MacrossMissileMassacre the]] ''[[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill shit]]'' out of a ZAFT base, his reaction is such that you expect him to pull out a bag of popcorn and a soda to enjoy the show with.
*** [[MagnificentBastard Rau Le Creuset]] is the show's [[MaskPower masked man]], so fans know he's going to be cool from the start, but toward the end of the show, when he gets to show his TrueColors, he reveals himself not only to be an AcePilot and total badass, but to also be an impossible-seeming combination of [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Char Aznable]], [[TheSilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lecter]], and [[Manga/YuYuHakusho Shinobu Sensui]].
* Played straight in ''Manga/{{X1999}}'', where the main villain turns from rather dorky to very cool.
* Parodied in ''[[WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Movie]]'', where Kaiba (the AntiHero) says to Yami (TheHero) during their duel "You're pathetic! No one cares about you! I'm the only reason people watch ''Anime/YuGiOh''. Me, Seto Kaiba! I have [[WhereDoesHeGetAllThoseWonderfulToys all the cool gadgets]], I have [[BadassLongcoat all the best outfits]], and I have the most powerful monsters. [[EnsembleDarkhorse Nobody would be watching this movie right now if it weren't for me]]. So just this once I deserve to win."
* Inverted in ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'': Jessie, James, and Meowth can't do anything evil right, but are [[RedemptionPromotion highly useful when they're working with Ash]]. Still doesn't stop half the fan base [[RootingForTheEmpire rooting for them]] however.
** Played straight in "Training Daze", in the Japanese version, at least, where it is shown that Jessie and James were actually pretty cool.
** And as of the Unova saga, they now have new black costumes, gliders, ''jet packs,'' a bunch of spy gadgets, and [[spoiler: effectively kick ass.]]
** Some of the villains in the movies also qualify - especially the ones from Takeshi Shudo's earlier movies, which tend to be both badass and justifiably sympathetic and relatable. Examples include [[Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie Mewtwo]] (especially in the Japanese version due to much of its character being LostInTranslation) and [[Anime/{{Pokemon3}} Entei]].
* Light Yagami from ''Manga/DeathNote'' clearly fits.
** As do most of the other villains, especially Mello and Ryuk.
** The author himself was shocked that ''so many'' people seemed to love evil characters such as [[EscapistCharacter Light]]. He probably decided to have [[spoiler:Light lose and die at the end]] simply because so many people wanted a character he ''purposely'' made more evil to win.
** That outcome was almost certainly 'planned from the start'. However, [[spoiler:they probably made Light's epic crash and burn ending even harsher than originally conceived to drive home what they [[ThisLoserIsYou really thought]] of their "hero". Ironically, the last scene of the manga tries to soften the blow by showing a cult commemorating his deeds.]]
* Examples in ''Anime/CodeGeass''.
** [[MagnificentBastard Lelouch]]/Zero. Although not truly evil like, say, his father (see below), his methods are [[BlackAndGrayMorality definitely questionable]].
** Charles zi Britannia, who's voiced by none other than '''Creator/NorioWakamoto'''.
** Britannia as a whole. A ton of fans tend not to see all the nazism and casual mass murder because of all the pretty uniforms and badass mecha!
* In the BadFuture of ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'', Negi's students capture Takane D. Goodman and her posse, and (painlessly) MindProbe them to know where Negi is imprisoned. This leads to the following exchange:
-->'''Asuna:''' Don't we look like the bad-guys here?
-->'''Haruna:''' Bad-guys are cool!
* ''Manga/BlackLagoon'' runs largely on this.
* Sir Crocodile of ''Manga/OnePiece'' pulls this off almost too well. A list of atrocities can fill a book. However, he commits his evil acts while dressed like a blinged-out mafia don, complete with a ring on almost every finger and a pimpin' green fur coat. Not only that, but he controls an organization made up of CrazyAwesome badasses, owns a casino, trots around with a scantily-clad hot chick as his #2, keeps incredibly dangerous predators as pets, and is also made of and can control sand, and he has a hook for a hand. That's just darn cool. But he's such a ''bastard''...
** You can't one up a bastard-8 foot plus tall-knight-marine-Godfather-insanely choking-likely rapist-pirate who kills people by touching them named Crocodile...unless you are a silent-8 foot plus tall-gangster-pirate-superstrong-hetero-ninja who is also a sword named DAZ BONES. He's like Raven from Tekken, only bigger, stronger, a pirate, has no need for weapons, and has the greatest name ever hands down. His loss, or, actually, both of their losses, lost the strawhats fans.
** ''All'' of the villains are incredibly awesome in their own singular ways. Though the best way to put it is...
--->''WebVideo/YRulerOfTime'': '''on One Piece's villains''' How is it possible that these guys are so awesome I want to root ''against'' the Straw Hats?!
*** Well, not quite ''all'' of the villians. Oda does manage to occasionally introduce a villain that's so thoroughly unlikable that they're obviously meant just to be hated until they receive an immensely satisfying asskicking from the heroes. One notable example is Bellamy [[spoiler: - before he returns post-Timeskip - ]], who's an imbecilic bully with a fairly dumb-looking power that he obviously isn't using to even close to its fullest extent who goes down like a bitch the instant Luffy decides it's worth the effort to bother fighting him. Another are the Celestial Dragons, a bunch of inbred spoiled brats whose impossibly self-centered behavior is only tolerated by anyone because they were born into nobility and thus have [[TheDreaded the Admirals]] at their beck and call. American audiences would throw Spandam into this category, but since he apparently enjoys some popularity among Japanese audiences, he seems to manage to employ EvilIsCool for them.
* Negishi from ''Manga/DetroitMetalCity'' is hated for his music, and generally considered to be a spineless douche by virtually anyone...until he becomes Krauser II in Detroit Metal City, a Death Metal band. And once there, he embodies this trope.
* It says something about ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' that the bad guys tend to be more popular than the good guys. Just look at how [[EvilCounterpart Grimmjow]] [[BloodKnight Jaegerjaquez]] and [[NietzscheWannabe Ulquiorra]] [[TheStoic Cifer]] scored higher on the popularity polls than [[IdiotHero Ichigo Kurosaki's]] FiveManBand and their allies. However, the inverse is also true: for the longest time, [[TheBrute Kaname Tosen]] was the [[TheScrappy least-liked]] of the thirteen captains, due to a vast majority of the fandom perceiving him as an insufferable, justice-spouting hypocrite, a view that was actually ''dis''proven by this time (he's more along the lines of a WellIntentionedExtremist), but he remains as the second most maligned of the thirteen captains. Furthermore, [[BigBad Sosuke Aizen]] is, by far and large, '''the''' [[CreatorsPet most hated]] of all enemies, due to being a combination of the GenericDoomsdayVillain, VillainSue, absurd SpotlightStealingSquad, and the embodiment of GambitRoulette all at once.
** Also inverted with the Xcution [[spoiler:/Full-Bringers]], who are insufferable [[SmugSnake sneaks]] who are objectively weaker than the previous enemies and have overall less interesting powers.
*** Played straight with the Vandenreich [[spoiler: Quincies]] who have pretty much dominated all of [[spoiler: Soul Society]] with their powers, while looking awesome in their [[spoiler: Quincy]] outfits. Especially their leader, [[spoiler: Yhwach]], who has managed to [[spoiler: kill Yamamoto]] that makes the latter look like a complete amateur.
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'':
** The Akatsuki. Every member of it falls under this trope.
** A surprising number of people have become fans of [[spoiler: Sasuke]] after he [[spoiler: stabbed through Karin to kill Danzo.]] This trope is probably the reason.%%Do not attempt to explain whether people liking Sasuke is crazy or not. It's irrelevant to the trope and natter.
** Two words: ''Madara. Uchiha''.
* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'': Dio Brando, the [[EvilIsSexy handsome]] and [[CharmPerson charismatic]] [[TimeStandsStill time-stopping]] [[VampiresAreSexGods vampire]], with [[FountainOfMemes enough quotes to fit a book]]. {{The| World Is Just Awesome}} [[IncrediblyLamePun World Is]] [[IThoughtItMeant Just Awesome]].
** While Dio is the most prominent example, this trope applies to ''every'' main villain in the series. All of them are handsome, [[HotterAndSexier and even more so]] [[ArtEvolution as the series goes on]] and have blatantly overpowering and impossibly cool abilities, with most being able to [[UpToEleven alter the flow of time and space.]] For some examples:
*** [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Kars/Cars/Kaazu]] from part 2 is a nigh-invincible transcendent vampire [[spoiler:who becomes a [[PhysicalGod Physical God]] by the climax.]]
*** Yoshikage Kira's stand can turn ''anything'' into a [[ActionBomb bomb.]] So as long as he can touch it, [[TouchOfDeath it will die.]] And let's not even begin with [[GroundhogDayLoop Bites The Dust.]]
*** [[spoiler:Diavolo,]] the [[TheDon Don]] of the Passione gang in part 5, can [[CombatClairvoyance see ten seconds into the future]] and cut out any amount of that future he wants. The details of this ability are... [[MindScrew unspecified.]] His stand is also one of the physically strongest Stands in the entire reality.
*** Arguably the ''least'' badass example is Pucci from part 6. He isn't cool (besides his [[AnimeHair sweet hair]]) and he isn't intimidating, but [[spoiler:By the end, he speeds up time so much that he resets the universe and [[HeroKiller kills the entire main cast, save for one boy.]]]]
*** And in part 7, we have Funny Valentine: [[ActionPolitician The President of the United States]] and [[spoiler:the one chosen by ''Jesus Himself'']] with [[CoveredWithScars scars on his back]] [[PatrioticFervor in the shape of the American Flag.]] The only problem is [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation the question of whether or not]] [[AntiVillain he is actually Evil.]]
* [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in ''Manga/TwentiethCenturyBoys''.
-->"I always found those justice-defending heroes in manga and on tv to be so stupid... the villains were always so much cooler."
* ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato2199'' has many notable characters from [[EvilEmpire Garmillas]], including Elk Domel, who is introduced in the series during his CurbStompBattle against the Comet Empire; and Wolf Frakken, captain of a ''subspace submarine''.
* Izaya of ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}''.
* ''Manga/FullMetalAlchemist'' has two crowning examples of this:
** [[BadassInCharge Fuhrer]] [[PresidentEvil King]] [[PuttingOnTheReich Bradley]], who's supposed to be the living incarnation of Wrath, but is more like the living incarnation of badass, complete with EyePatchOfPower, ImplausibleFencingPowers, and a [[AwesomeMcCoolname really cool name]].
** [[SociopathicSoldier Solf J. Kimblee]]: MadBomber meets BreakingSpeech and ThePhilosopher, all wrapped up in the height of [[BadassInANiceSuit 1920s fashion]]. That's without mentioning his [[EvilIsSexy appearance]], NiceHat, badassery, and [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome epic sendoff]].
** [[AxCrazy Envy]] got a lot of love here, early on, before Arakawa started [[VillainDecay messing with him]]. His true form did not help.
* All of the major ''Franchise/DragonBall'' villains fall into this with [[EvilOverlord Freeza]] and [[FromASingleCell Cell]] being the kings of it. [[WarriorPrince Vegeta]] also qualifies as per being one of the most popular characters. Also an in-universe example [[spoiler: when he makes a FaceHeelTurn to get his badassery back.]]
** Among the movie villains, Broly. Turles and Cooler have their share of fans as well.
* Medusa from ''Manga/SoulEater'', anyone?
* Accelerator from ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', [[spoiler:before his HeelFaceTurn]].
* Cobra, Midnight, Jellal, and [[spoiler:Erza]] Knightwalker from ''Manga/FairyTail''
* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' both uses and averts this. Fate, the Wolkenritter, and most of the Numbers were cool, but Precia and Quattro were unlikably evil, and Jail is something of a BaseBreakingCharacter.
** The Hückebein is ''Force'' are an aversion. The power they have looks like it would push them into this trope, but fans thought they were [[InvincibleVillain TOO powerful]] and didn't have any traits to make them interesting. Funnily enough, they're actually one of the few that are traditionally, well, evil.
* Lordgenome from ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann''. On the one hand, he is a ruthless tyrant and AntiVillain who doesn't care if his daughters live or die...on the other hand, he has rugged good looks and a cool-looking and powerful HumongousMecha, and he can fight MiniMecha with ''zero weaponry whatsoever''; by which we mean his '''bare hands''', and [[spoiler: almost tank a Big Bang-level attack with a scaled-up version of his mech]].
* Lordgenome owes much to his [[SpiritualAntithesis spiritual antecedent]] - Gendo Ikari of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', one of the most famous and memorable villains in anime. [[Creator/FumihikoTachiki His]] [[Creator/JohnSwasey voice]] is cool, he's a SharpDressedMan, his ScaryShinyGlasses and FingerTenting are iconic, he's so much of a MagnificentBastard that he manipulates the BigBad committee and [[spoiler:comes dangerously close to achieving his own personal victory]], and [[spoiler:his backstory and the explanation for his personality even make him a little [[TragicVillain sympathetic]]]].
* The Laughing Man from ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex''. He has tons of copycat supporters, and in one episode, Motoko visits a chat room devoted to discussing how cool and rebellious the participants think he is.
* Femto [[spoiler: a.k.a. Griffith in demon mode]] from ''{{Manga/Berserk}}''. He is, considered by most of the fanbase, the most despised villain for what he has done over the course of the story (and particularly for doing one ''[[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil very heinous]]'' deed to a lovable character). Surely, [[ThisIsUnforgivable his actions are unforgivable!]]... But DAMMIT! ''Why'' does he have to look so friggin' awesome in that quasi- [[EvilCostumeSwitch evil costume]] (since he's technically naked)?! And dude - he has the [[RealityWarper power to bend reality at his will!]] '''How awesome can you get??'''
* Kotomine Kirei from ''LightNovel/FateZero'' ''BadassNormal'' priest, with bullet-proof vestments, extreme skill in Baji quan and insanely accurate and deadly knife skills. Also Gilgamesh, King of Heroes, with a largest sense of entitlement/ego. And they team up.
* Berg Katse from ''Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman'' has his fans. The messed-up childhood and cool new toy nearly every episode probably have something to do with it, even with the silly ears.
* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' gives us Kyoko Sakura, a badass AxCrazy BloodKnight FieryRedhead whose callous and selfish personality contrasts sharply with the four other main girls introduced up to that point. In short, while the series' main villains are mostly a somewhat passive manipulative cat-rabbit thing and some mindless [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]], Kyoko is the first weapon-wielding Magical Girl to show an evil streak. To elaborate: when she first introduces herself to the two protagonists (at the time), [[CurbStompBattle she uses her very cool chain-spear-whip weapon to utterly trounce one of them around]] in, as the English dub calls it, "a bona fide fight to the death, for reals", all while giving a big TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to them [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and munching]] [[BigEater on a taiyaki]]. [[spoiler: Then we find out about her DarkAndTroubledPast that shows her depth as a character, and [[HeelFaceTurn she gets]] [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold better]]. [[HeroicSacrifice Much, much better]].]]
* Just about everyone in ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'', but [[HumanoidAbomination Alucard]] and [[KnightTemplar Alexander Anderson]] particularly stand out the most out of the lot.
** The Major. He's a NonActionBigBad in a series that basically runs on badass characters pulling off RuleOfCool, but he manages to pull this off regardless by [[MagnificentBastard being smarter than everyone]]. Also, the reveal why he's not a vampire like the rest of Millennium, [[spoiler: [[VillainousValor he took too much pride in being human to surrender to the power of monsters]].]]
* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'', Younger Toguro. Compare with villains before, [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer he's only power being]] [[HulkOut Hulking Out]] might seem lame at a glance, but he gets so much power from sheer brute strength that he can render flashy techniques utterly useless (and the fights with him are still damn cool to watch), and has force extremely powerful youkai into working for him without even fighting at full strength.
* In ''Anime/YuGiOhCapsuleMonsters'', [[spoiler:Alexander the Great]] is an EvilBrit, has a cool design, and gives the heroes quite a fight. It helps that, like fan favorite Yami Bakura, he's someone's SuperpoweredEvilSide. He also gets to perform GrandTheftMe on [[spoiler:his descendent, Alex Brisbane]].
* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'':
** The Armored and Female Titan. For those [[NightmareFetishist into that kind of thing]], the Female Titan might also fall into EvilIsSexy.
** [[spoiler:Kenny Ackerman]] for his [[spoiler:antipersonnel 3D maneuvering gear skills]] and overall Creator/ClintEastwood-like appearance, though he's not entirely without some [[EvilIsHammy hammy]] qualities.
* InUniverse, Panda from ''Anime/ShirokumaCafe'' once showed up dressed wearing a [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader]] mask and cape because he thinks bad guys are cool. Unfortunately, Panda doesn't really understand how to be evil or cool.

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ComicBook/TheJoker, in most incarnations. It doesn't matter whether he's a giggling, goofy clown prince of crime (e.g. the 60's ''Series/{{Batman}}'' television series), a mass-murdering sociopathic MonsterClown (e.g. ''Film/TheDarkKnight''), or a seemingly impossible mixture of the two (e.g. ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''), he will inevitably overshadow every other character, have all the best lines, and, while Batman will always have the best toys (he's the goddamn Batman, after all), the Joker will find the most creative and spectacular ways to use the tools at his disposal. No matter what he does or who he does it to, he ''will'' make you laugh, because of the simple fact that he's just that good.
** Discussed in an issue of ''Batman: Black and White'', a short-story anthology. In this story, Batman and the Joker are actors playing their comic book roles as if they were roles in a movie. The Joker brings up the fact that Batman always gets to make a big, dramatic, splash-panel entrances, complaining that he never gets to look that good. Batman then points out that the Joker always gets the best lines, while he just has generic crime-fighting hero lines.
** ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' in general is a magnet for this. When your main character is a traumatized billionaire dressed as a bat and you have villains drawing your attention far away from ''that'', it really says something.
---> '''[[WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers Le Tueur]]''': I have a confession to make: I only like the Batman because he has the best villains!
* In the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, Doctor Doom practically owns this trope. He's a science genius (and a [[OurMagesAreDifferent wizard]]) who wears a cloak and a suit of armor, rules his own country, and lives in a castle. And refers to himself in the third person! DOOM insists on it!
* Archangel from the X-Men. He's the SuperPoweredEvilSide of Angel, whose power is... [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway flight]] and decent (not great) healing. Archangel has metal retractable wings which are dipped in poison and can be launched. Said wings are also razor sharp. Also, Archangel just looks cool. Needless to say, ''a lot'' of fans prefer Archangel.
* Monsieur Choc, the main villain in the ''ComicBook/TifEtTondu'' Belgian comic book series. He is considered so cool that he is the reason the series became popular in the first place, and the recent re-releases deliberately put him as the focus on the covers of the stories chosen.
* The titular character of ''ComicBook/{{Lucifer}}'' is a horrible, destructive person, but (likely in reference to ''Literature/ParadiseLost'' below) is incredibly awesome all the same.
* Comicbook/{{Daredevil}} villain Bullseye; even if he's a PsychoForHire, he still has enough style that it's gained him many fans.
* Played with in ''Comicbook/SinCity''. The pure evil characters are usually pretty ugly and often cowardly, or just plain creepy. Some of the good guys, however, are [[AntiHero at the extreme end of anti-herodom]]. The most popular tend to be Marv, Dwight, and Miho, who would normally be considered bad guys in any other work. They are also damn cool.
* Franchise/{{Superman}}'s ArchEnemy ComicBook/LexLuthor, up there with ComicBook/TheJoker as one of comics' most iconic villains. He is bar none, the smartest human in the Franchise/DCUniverse, and one of the most [[MagnificentBastard magnificent of bastards]]. He also gets a lot of RootingForTheEmpire because he, a VillainWithGoodPublicity who worked hard to get to his station, goes up against Superman, a hero with better publicity than he who is loved by all just because of his alien heritage.
* One arc in ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' features a convention of {{Serial Killer}}s who think of themselves as this (they pick impressive-sounding names for themselves and think of themselves as {{Ubermensch}}), but as the reader sees more of them their combination of petty delusions of grandeur, personal insecurities, copying of their predecessors and occasional stark-raving-madness becomes more obvious. This is ultimately confirmed when [[spoiler: the eponymous Morpheus gives them all a blistering TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, tells them that "Until now, you have all sustained fantasies in which you are the maltreated heroes of your own stories. Comforting daydreams in which, ultimately, you are shown to be in the right" and then uses his power as lord of dreams (and thus fantasies as well,) to strip them of their self-deception so that "you shall know, at all times, and forever, exactly what you are. And you shall know just how LITTLE that means."]]
* Bronies seem to really like the idea of [[spoiler:Rarity going evil]] in ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW'' given all the fanart Nightmare Moon II has gotten.
* ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}. He's a badass that can go to head to head with Superman, and on occasions has beaten him. But he's also a {{Chessmaster}} that rules over an entire planet and can come up with schemes that leave the universe trembling before he even bothers to get off his throne.
* ''ComicBook/LokiAgentOfAsgard'': [[spoiler:Old!]]Loki, evil dick though they may be, is definitely considered cool. The fact that in their first full outing they successfully manipulated history itself and got away with it might be a factor.
* ''ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'': While they are a group of truly evil monsters who given half the chance would (and ''could'') murder the entire cast, the Decepticon Justice Division count. And their leader Tarn in particular. It helps that most of them, Tarn in particular, just look badass.

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* Almost any villain in ''Fanfic/TheLionKingAdventures'' would have to qualify. [[Main/EvilSorcerer Hago]], [[Main/TheCaligula Scar]], [[Main/AnthropomorphicPersonification Death]], [[Main/ViolentGlaswegian Interceptor]], [[Main/ShockAndAwe Shocker]], [[Main/ReptilesAreAbhorrent Nyoka]], [[Main/ScaryBlackMan Virusi]], and many more...
* Princess Jody's LegionOfDoom-type organization "Injustice Unit Patrol Squad" in [[http://fav.me/d4a27sp Super Milestone Wars]].
* In ''Fanfic/TheOfficialFanfictionUniversityOfMiddleEarth'', this gets deconstructed with the subject "Evil Is as Evil Does 101", taught by Sauron himself, to teach that Evil is more than calling yourself evil because it's cool and dark and edgy. Like causing a river of blood, at least.
* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has Lucius Malfoy. The guy's as evil as they come, but he's also AManOfWealthAndTaste, an even bigger MagnificentBastard than Nick Fury himself, he's pragmatic, ruthless and proves that, despite the fact that he actually needs his ClassyCane to walk after Nick Fury destroyed his knee the night after the attack on Godric's Hollow, he is personally very dangerous by [[spoiler: killing Baron Von Strucker]]. And it's recently been revealed that he's been manipulating everyone, good guys and bad. At the start, he managed to weld together an impromptu alliance of some Death Eaters and HYDRA, along with [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity Grave]][[OmnicidalManiac moss]]. Now, [[spoiler: he's the undisputed Master of HYDRA with vast financial resources after inheriting or being granted control over a significant number of Death Eaters accounts, much of which is being invested by the Goblins on the London Stock Exchange, and he has command of [[OneManArmy the Winter Soldier]]]]. He's evil, but he's got ''style''.
* In ''FanFic/TheFireOfFuturesPast'', Bonnie (Experiment 149)'s response to being the villain of Nani's story is just the third word of this trope. She likes the idea of being the bad guy so much that she impatiently gets Nani to skip to the climax.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* Almost every Franchise/{{Disney|AnimatedCanon}} villain imaginable turns out to be cooler and much more lovable and funny than the protagonist. Having really awesome {{Villain Song}}s probably helps.
** Hades from ''Disney/{{Hercules}}''. Creator/RogerEbert even said Hades brought, "something of the same verbal inventiveness that Creator/RobinWilliams brought to ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}''." In addition, he's such a fast talker he got The Fates, Megara, and Hercules himself to obey his whims, all while being a CardCarryingVillain in the whole process.
** Honest John and his sidekick, Gideon, from ''Disney/{{Pinocchio}}'' have one of the coolest songs in Disney history: "Hi Diddle Dee Dee".
** Who was your favorite character from ''Disney/{{Fantasia}}''? If you responded anything but [[OurGargoylesRock Chernabog]], the towering demon on the mountain from the end of the movie, your pants are now on fire.
** Jafar from ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'' and [[NonHumanSidekick Iago]] before his HeelFaceTurn, one of the funniest characters in both the films and the tv series.
** Yzma from ''Disney/TheEmperorsNewGroove'' is arguably the most entertaining character (with the possible exception of Kronk) in the movie in her own right, completely setting aside the issue of the protagonist being less than likable. And if her initial VillainSong, ''"Snuff Out The Light"'' had ended up in the film, she would've been bumped up even further. In-universe, this trope itself was lampshaded by Kronk's [[GoodAngelBadAngel Shoulder Devil]], who promised to lead Kronk "down the path that '''rocks'''!"
** Scar from ''Disney/TheLionKing''. He's a regicidal, fratricidal bastard, and yet none of us can shake off just how much we love Creator/JeremyIrons. Aside from that, [[MagnificentBastard he has to be among the Disney villain whose plans reach fruition the fastest (halfway through).]] For most villains, even in general, they have to wait till the third act to get their dark rewards. He keeps them longest, too, leaving aside folks like Maleficent, who wasn't looking to ''gain'' anything as such. Plus, he has one of the best {{Villain Song}}s ever.
** And, if you consider them to be truly evil, [[DarkChick Shenzi]], [[DumbMuscle Banzai]] and [[CrazyAwesome Ed]] take this trope UpToEleven. They have a dark, sinster design, look very badass (even if they aren't much), provide great comic relief, create good chemistry, and take down the villian themselves. Oh, and Shenzi is quite popular among furries. Interestingly, the 1995 TV series tones them down to LoveableRogue territory, as if the creators realized how they were being received.
** Zira continues his legacy in ''Disney/TheLionKing II'', with her [[DarkerAndEdgier relatively more intense]] VillainSong.
** Ursula from ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid''.
** [[MemeticBadass Gaston]] from ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast''. [[MemeticMutation No one overshadows-their-respective-protagonist like Gaston!]]
** And what about Maleficent from ''Disney/SleepingBeauty''? Probably the most obvious Disney Villain example! Why because she can summon lightning and a valley of thorns when angry, yet is subtle enough to hypnotize Aurora into touching a spindle of her own creation, captures the prince before he can save the girl and oh [[OneWingedAngel can turn into a dragon that causes everyone to go "Oh Crap"]].
** The villain of ''Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' ''breathes'' this trope. Dr. Facilier (voiced by KeithDavid) is a nasty piece of work: powerful, scheming, persuasive, stylish, charismatic, ''and'' he has an awesome VillainSong. Now ''this'' is following tradition!
** Judge Claude Frollo from ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' fits, too, and he has not one, but TWO heroes to overshadow. It helps that he has probably the most audacious and amazing villain song ever, and that neither hero is really interesting enough to stand up to a character with as many layers as Frollo. And then there's Tony Jay's voice. Frollo seems like an attempt to subvert this trope, though. Instead of being a CardCarryingVillain, he is a self-righteous, [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain genocidal]] KnightTemplar. Instead of being some wisecracking EvilSorcerer (like a LOT of their villains are) or some macho hunter (like Gaston and [=McLeach=] are), he is a [[LeanAndMean skinny]], old, prudish, religious judge. One cannot help but wonder if they saw people root for Scar and the hyenas, thought "wow, they rooted for some power-hungry dictator who murdered his own brother? [[TemptingFate Let's give them a villain they couldn't POSSIBLY root for!]]", and created Frollo...but upon witnessing the MisaimedFandom, gave up and created [[Disney/{{Hercules}} Hades]].
** Appropriately enough, considering his contribution on the quotes page, VincentPrice as Ratigan from ''Disney/TheGreatMouseDetective''. They even wrote a VillainSong just for him, and he said it was some of the most fun he ever had making a movie.
** In ''Disney/TheJungleBook'', there's the suavely spoken, AffablyEvil, badass tiger Shere Khan.
** ''Disney/TheBlackCauldron'' may have not been a smash hit, but the [[HornedHumanoid Horned King]] is by far the most redeemable part of the movie, being subtle, yet terrifying and can get scarier when excited.
** ''Disney/HomeOnTheRange'' may not be Disney's most well-received film, but Alameda Slim is a popular character due to his [[NarmCharm hilarious]] and [[EarWorm catchy]] VillainSong.
** Heck, this trope is the whole reason animators [[Creator/DisneysNineOldMen Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston]] wrote their book ''Literature/TheDisneyVillain'', which covers the creation and thought process behind the Disney foes from Peg Leg Pete up to Jafar. Over 50 of the Renaissance era Disney animators actually asked them to make the book, and decided "Sure, why not?"
* The sexy, singing smog cloud that was Hexxus in ''WesternAnimation/FernGullyTheLastRainforest'' (voiced by Creator/TimCurry, no less)
** Really, any villain played or voiced by Tim Curry will shine so much that it can be almost dangerous in how awesome they turn out. Screw the protagonists, let's throw them in a death trap so we can hear the bad guy do that evil laugh again!
* Sharptooth from ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime''. Despite killing Littlefoot's mother, there is no doubt he is this, and probably the coolest Tyranosaurus ever to appear in an animated film.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Rango}}'', this is pretty much the reason behind Rattlesnake Jake's popularity. The RuleOfCool runs very high for him; he's a black hat rattlesnake western outlaw modeled after [[TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly Angel Eyes]], he weaves words of hellfire and damnation into his speech (which is provided by Bill Nighy), and has a [[GatlingGood Gatling gun]] grafted onto [[BewareMyStingerTail his tail]]. He's CreepyAwesome and CrazyAwesome all rolled into one!
* Tai Lung of ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'', all the way. He's also one of the most [[WellDoneSonGuy sympathetic]] characters in the film.
** And [[FeatheredFiend Lord Shen]] from the sequel, as well. Never before has a ''peacock'' of all things been this badass.
** Their [[Creator/IanMcshane respective]] [[Creator/GaryOldman voice actors]] have a lot to do with it.
* Pitch Black from ''WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheGuardians''. He's extremely creepy, he has a sympathetic motivation for his actions, and he has an army of literal nightmares.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Franchise/StarWars''
** Darth Vader kicked this trope into high gear, to the point that he became the SeriesMascot, [[DarthVaderClone inspired a slew of expies]], and became one of the most beloved characters in pop culture, villain or otherwise.
** There are only two things in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' that are, without debate, universally considered awesome: [[AwesomeMusic/JohnWilliams Duel of the Fates]] New World Symphony and Darth Maul. Both of which occur at the same time.
** Emperor Palpatine's spectacular combination of [[LargeHam hammery]], badassery, and MagnificentBastard-ry in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith''.
** [[CoolStarship Star Destroyers, Super Star Destroyers, TIE Defenders, and the fucking Death Star.]]
** [[BountyHunter Boba Fett]]
** Also, Grand Moff Tarkin. There's only two people in the universe that can order Darth Vader around--the Emperor and Grand Moff Tarkin. And Tarkin's not even a Jedi nor a Sith of any kind.
** The new Disney films introduce the Empire's successor, [[Film/TheForceAwakens the First Order]]. And not only are their ships and uniforms redesigned and sleeker-looking, but their Stormtroopers [[TookALevelInBadass are now trained to go toe-to-toe in melee combat against Jedi]].
** Kylo Ren, while only [[BrokenBase debatably]] a straight example, is a {{deconstruction}} of how this trope made Darth Vader so popular. He's got a really cool suit, mask and lightsaber...but he also behaves like a {{wangst}}y EmoTeen throughout the movie, throwing {{narm}}ful temper tantrums which have reached MemeticMutation levels. What makes Ren interesting is that rather than being one of many unstoppable stoic badasses like previous ''Star Wars'' villains, he's what you get when you have a typical immature, geeky Vader fanboy ''in the Star Wars universe itself'', and demonstrates why looking up to such a villainous figure for his impressively evil deeds would be a bad thing if not for the fact that said figure is fictional: Ren's worship of Vader is such that he deliberately ''tries'' to be as evil as possible, to the point that [[spoiler: he [[ItWasHisSled kills Han Solo]], ''his own father'', [[HateSink which has earned him a lot of hate in many a fan's eyes]].]]
* Frank from ''Film/OnceUponATimeInTheWest'' fits very well to the trope. Its combination of badass, ProfessionalKiller, DeadpanSnarker and his suit practically makes him a cool villain.
* Arguably ''the point'' of mob films like ''Film/TheGodfather'', ''Film/{{Scarface 1983}}'' and ''Film/GoodFellas''.
* ''Film/TheMatrix'' has an obvious example of this trope: Agent Smith. HugoWeaving in general apparently loves playing awesome bad guys. Take a look at ''Film/{{V|ForVendetta}}'' and [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger Red Skull]] Even more so, Megatron (see below).
* [[Film/TheCabinetOfDrCaligari Cesare]]. There's a reason that so many other characters - usually nicer ones - [[LooksLikeCesare look like him]].
* Clu from ''Film/TronLegacy''. He has [[CoolShip really]] [[CoolPlane nice]] [[CoolBike vehicles]], some [[CoolHelmet great headgear]], pretty badass EliteMooks, and a [[TheFaceless faceless]] DualWielding [[TheDragon dragon]] [[spoiler:that happens to be a BrainwashedAndCrazy Tron, and not just a random grunt]]. All covered in orange or red TronLines.
** Clu's aforementioned Dragon, Rinzler. He has a cool outfit and mad fighting skills, [[spoiler: and his being Tron himself not only makes him cooler, but also makes his HeelFaceTurn and subsequent HeroicSacrifice that much more poignant]].
* ''Film/{{Legend 1985}}'' thrives on this. People may complain that Tom Cruise isn't wearing pants and there's glitter on everything, but those horrifically cheesy lines the Lord of Darkness provides? Priceless.
* ''Film/SpiderMan1'': Norman Osborn fits this trope well. He was at coolest while talking to himself and wigging out. Being played by Willem Dafoe also helps out.
* ''Film/SpiderMan2'': Played perfectly straight. Doctor Octopus is made of win.
* ''Film/SpiderMan3'':
** Subverted in a way when Peter Parker is possessed by the symbiote. He ''thinks'' he becomes this, but he is still noticeably our favorite geeky and clueless hero-- he's just now arrogant and out of control. Though eventually he realizes that the symboiote is corrupting him and gets rid of the symbiote suit before more harm can be done. Furthermore, the symbiote eventually merges with Eddie Brock, who is noticeably slimy, unctuous, and creepy.
** Harry Osborn gets this treatment in the 3rd film. Calmly rubbing a break up in your best friend's face is so wrong, but boy did Harry make it look cool. Especially while he is enjoying a pie. Plus this guy went through some of the worse beatings in the film and STILL survived most of them.
* Darryl Revok of ''Film/{{Scanners}}''. Bad, bad dude. [[YourHeadASplode Pow.]] Michael Ironside always invokes this trope, whether its either [[WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries Darkseid]] or [[Film/TotalRecall1990 Richter]], even when playing a nominally ''good'' guy.
* Applies to various evil monsters in the ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' movies, especially the ''Film/GodzillaFinalWars'' version of Gigan that gets ''{{chainsaw|Good}} hands'' for the final battle. Also applies to Godzilla himself in the films where he is evil.
* ''Film/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'':
** In ''Film/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'', Queen Jadis in her bright attire out-cools almost all of her opponents on the battlefield, possible because actress TildaSwinton is inherently cool in all her roles.
** In ''Film/PrinceCaspian'', nasty uncle Miraz has some of the best lines (although it's hard to beat Edmund), ''the'' [[BadassBeard best beard]] (not counting Aslan's), and probably the genuinely best set of armour. Miraz was less cool in the book, but the all-dialogue scene in the Howe with the hag and the werewolf was one of its most memorable bits, mostly due to the werewolf's creepy bragging. It ranks up there with Aslan growing delicious grapes for everyone and the duel.
* ''Film/BloodFeast'' is a great example of this. Fuad Ramses is the only good character in the whole movie.
%%* ''Film/FrightNight1985'' has Jerry Dandridge.
* The independent horror/comedy film ''Film/BehindTheMaskTheRiseOfLeslieVernon'' has the coolest new killer who looks up to Jason and Freddy, who lets a crew document his future reign of terror. Leslie Vernon is not only charming, witty, and genuinely friendly; before beginning his legacy, while in a library, he says, "Paradise Lost? Found it!" while grabbing John Milton's ''Paradise Lost.'' And he keeps turtles as pets and then tells the young woman interviewing him that he only kept pets that he could eat. His mask is amazing as well.
* ''Film/{{Avatar}}''. Colonel. Miles. Motherfucking. Quaritch. Works out to stay strong on a planet with weaker gravity, commands a platoon of tough ex-armed forces mercenaries, rocks a customized [[MiniMecha mecha]] with a freakin' dragon painted on the gun barrel ''and'' a huge-ass combat knife, holds his breath, kicks down a door and steps into toxic air simply to pursue a traitor with his assault rifle, sports [[GoodScarsEvilScars scary scars]] on one side of his face, and rides to battle in the [[CoolShip Dragon Gunship]] while sipping fine Arabica Roast coffee. That he possesses the courage and determination to keep fighting no matter the odds merely adds to his ColonelBadass bona fides.
** It helps that he is considered a DesignatedVillain and a WellIntentionedExtremist by many fans, in contrast to the heroes, who are considered MarySue [[DesignatedHero Designated Heroes]] with ProtagonistCenteredMorality.
* ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' films bring a perfect examples of this.
** While the men of Gondor are [[GoodIsBoring just a bunch of unshaven men wearing plate mail]], Sauron has not just his orcs and trolls, but the soldiers of Rhûn, spearmen with remotely creative looking armor and warchants that sound like the Haka, and the Haradim, who ride Mûmakil, which are essentially the ninety foot tall war elephants that Hannibal had wet dreams about. Their impact onto the frontlines of a charge from the Riders of Rohan (which had routed an orc army of dramatically superior size) was a moment where even the orchestra abandoned the forces of order as the Haradim rampaged through the helpless Riders until driven off by the StrongAsTheyNeedToBe protagonists.
** Plus, Sauron's armour is ridiculously cool looking. [[SpikesOfVillainy Spikes everywhere]], a huge, crownlike helmet that looks like a horse's skull, and the whole thing has a faint and delicate poison ivy motif etched into it.
** Also, just as applicable, Saruman. It helps being played and voiced by Creator/ChristopherLee.
** For a giant eyeball, Sauron is quite cool-looking himself. And then there's the Nazgûl.
** Even though he was a minor bad guy, the Uruk-hai captain that popped up at the end of the first flick was also cool. He's one of the few characters that gets to smack Aragorn around a little, does a really cool ComicBook/CaptainAmerica-like shield throw, and has the audacity to shove Aragorn's sword into his gut the rest of the way [[FaceDeathWithDignity with utter contempt and defiance]].
** The Balrog, who is probably the Boba Fett of the movies series: he's a OneSceneWonder that takes out a major hero for the remainder of a movie and is one of the more memorable characters.
** [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Smaug,]] ALL THE WAY, in [[Film/TheHobbit the second Hobbit film.]] He's brought down kingdoms single-handedly, and he's voiced by ''BenedictCumberbatch''
* Keyser Soze of ''Film/TheUsualSuspects'' is clearly a monstrously evil man if even half of the things said about him are true, but his coolness in doing them is indisputable, particularly given the [[spoiler:famous twist ending has made him a by-word for the DiabolicalMastermind.]]
* [[TheSilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lecter]]--is there a character more evil, or more cool?
* Hans Landa from ''Film/InglouriousBasterds''. Despite being a Nazi officer, his intelligence, smooth and confident demeanor, and being a polyglot serve to make him probably the biggest EnsembleDarkhorse in the movie.
* Col. Koobus from ''Film/{{District 9}}''. He's undeniably a ColonelBadass in every respect (though also a mass-murderer, which hasn't stopped a MisaimedFandom bordering on {{Draco In Leather Pants}}ing).
* [[FeatheredFiend The]] [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent Skeksis]] from ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'' are perhaps the [[SpotlightStealingSquad most entertaining characters]] in the film due to their ruthlessness, especially [[TheHeavy skekSil the Chamberlain]]. He holds off the [[GiantEnemyCrab terrifying Garthim]] sicced on the protagonists through his own will, and singlehandedly [[SuperStrength topples an enormous stone arch with one hand.]]
* ''Film/TheDarkKnightSaga'':
** Scarecrow from ''Film/BatmanBegins'', who has an awesome answer to every problem that comes his way. Mob boss knows too much about his secret identity? Scarecrow pumps him with so much fear-gas that it drives him ''insane''. The Batman shows up in his hideout? Scarecrow ''lights him on fire and kicks him out the window!''
** ComicBook/TheJoker from ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' is both incredibly evil and [[MisaimedFandom highly admired by audiences]]. His [[MagnificentBastard skill in committing crimes]], his [[DeadpanSnarker witty commentary on a variety of subjects]], his clever assessments of how people are going to react, his [[CrossesTheLineTwice darkly]] [[LaughablyEvil comedic]] approach, his [[TheHyena willingness to laugh at everything]], including [[TooKinkyToTorture being beaten up by vigilantes]] (who he [[StrikeMeDownWithAllOfYourHatred would rather see kill him if it means proving that the potential for brutality is within them]]), and his overall [[CrazyAwesome highly unconventional approach to villainy]] probably [[CaptainObvious has something to do with this]].
** Rounding out the trilogy, ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' introduces Bane. His appearance would suggest your [[DumbMuscle typical dumb brute]], but he's actually a GeniusBruiser ManipulativeBastard with a sympathetic backstory. He opens the movie by cutting a plane in half mid-flight and only proceeds to get more awesome from there. The first time he fights Batman is almost [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown hilariously one-sided]], he has a CoolMask that makes his voice [[EvilSoundsDeep omniously low]], and he [[spoiler: completely takes over Gotham]] with minimal effort. He [[spoiler: breaks Batman's spine (sort of) and sends him to a nigh-unescapable prison for several months]].
* Subverted with Roman and Minnie Castevet in ''Film/RosemarysBaby'' - the tackiest Satanists ever.
* [[spoiler: Gabriel]] from ''Film/{{Constantine}}''. Also, the Devil and Balthazar.
* The Decepticons of the ''Franchise/TransformersFilmSeries'', as they usually are in most ''Transformers'' series. Case in point: the Autobots are limited by their desire to make Earth their second home, and must take on friendly appearances and altmodes to blend in with civilians. The Decepticons, on the other hand, have no such limitation. Therefore, they take on the forms of tanks, F-22s, and satellites, or, in the case of Megatron and Shockwave, simply reject reformatting their original forms. Additionally, they have access to numerous weapons, ranging from Transformer-sized fighter jets to ''a giant mechanical worm that serves as a war beast.'' Even the humans are aware of this, as Epps, at one point, asks to no one in particular "''[[LampshadeHanging How come the Decepticons get all the good shit!?]]''"
** [[BigBad Megatron]] (as mentioned above) is possibly the best example of this among the 'Cons themselves, especially in the first movie where he's at his most AxCrazy and badass, and is easily the most interesting and entertaining of the robots in the movie, despite getting less screen time than the humans or Autobots. Oh, and he's voiced by HugoWeaving (see above).
* While ''Film/CatsAndDogs'' gets flak from cat lovers for making [[CatsAreMean all felines villainous]], it does redeem itself a bit with this trope, with Mr Tinkles and his henchmen often claiming more amusing personalities and gags than the heroic dogs.
* ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}''; the bad guy is Music/DavidBowie and he has AdorableEvilMinions; need anything more be said?
* ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'':
** The BadassLongcoat wearing EvilBrit John Harrison. [[spoiler:And then we find out he's Khan]], and it gets a million times cooler.
** [[spoiler:Admiral Marcus']] jet black CoolStarship, the ''Vengeance.''
* ''Film/ManOfSteel'': Zod and his minions sport some pretty badass ships, armor and weapons, that's for damn sure.
* Vincent from ''Film/{{Collateral}}'' dresses himself in some [[BadassInANiceSuit badass threads]], is dangerously efficient as his [[ProfessionalKiller job]] ([[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiqwF_Y9S5Q case in point]]), has a fairly extensive knowledge of jazz, and is pretty friggin' [[EvilIsSexy handsome]].
* ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' runs on this with the titular machines, so much so that the one played by Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger got promoted to be a good guy in the [[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay second movie]].
* ''Film/{{Predator}}'', the titular villain proved to be far more remembered than the movie's heroes thanks to it be a badass that can CurbStompBattle Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger in a fist fight in addition to its cool weapons.
* The Hellfire Club from ''Film/XMenFirstClass''. What else did you expect with villains that seem to have just stepped out of a Bond movie?
* In-universe for ''Bollywood/RaOne'': video-game designer Shekar creates a game with an unstoppable cool, evil, and undefeatable villain for his villain-fanboy son. It turns out the kid should [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor have been careful what he wished for...]]
* In-universe in ''Film/PacificRim'', where evil {{Kaiju}} are coming out of the ocean to kill humanity. The scientist Newt loves Kaiju, has tattoos of them on his arms, and even wants to see one up close some day. He's viewed by the others as a freak bordering on TheQuisling. On one hand, 2500 ton giants with wings and knife-heads and acidic saliva and tentacle tails. On the other hand, murderous monsters. And eventually, [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor he gets his wish]]. [[SuperPersistentPredator Twice]].
* Gazelle from ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'', the badass double amputee with {{Absurdly Sharp Blade}}s for legs and enough skill to vertically bisect a Kingsman before he knew what hit him.
* Ultron from ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', even more so than usual. Many found him a worthy successor to Loki, even more as Ultron actually fights the heroes by himself, is eight feet tall and sounds like a mixture of an ultra-snarky Tony Stark and [[VideoGame/{{Borderlands2}} Handsome Jack]].
* In-universe with the ''Indominus Rex'' of ''Film/JurassicWorld''. This {{Mix And Match Critter|s}} mutant dinosaur was created by Masrani geneticists to replace [[NeverMessWithGranny good ol']] [[TyrannosaurusRex Rexy]] as the biggest, baddest super-predator mascot of the park.Too bad she's also a psychopathic killing machine.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* This has notoriously been the biggest problem with Creator/JohnMilton's ''Literature/ParadiseLost.'' Satan is, in fact, so much more interesting to read about than God or Christ (except when the latter [[KungFuJesus gets into His chariot]]) that Creator/WilliamBlake thought Milton was "of the Devil's party without knowing it." The immense MisaimedFandom hasn't helped. Even though what looked like was going to be an awesome battle scene over Earth turned into Satan running away after realizing that ''he's not cool anymore'', which the sneering angels already knew, and the rest of the story after that shows him being humiliated worse until he wins with Eve and the narrative loses interest in him, for the most part. He's still falling the whole time. But who gets past the first couple of books, anyway?
* ''Claudius the God'' is the story of Emperor Claudius, portrayed as a decent and honorable man thrust unwillingly into a position of ultimate power. ''Series/IClaudius'' chronicles the reigns of Augustus (and his wife [[MagnificentBastard Livia]]), [[DirtyOldMan Tiberius]], and [[TheCaligula Caligula]]. Guess which one is the most fun read? In case you need a hint: one chapter of ''Claudius the God'' is devoted to the protagonist's [[SeasonalRot visit to the doctor.]]
* ''Literature/NightfallSeries'': Myra struggles with this when she arrives in the Palace. All vampires she meets are undeniably evil, but for the first time she has access to theater, opera, balls, and huge libraries.
* Averted in ''Literature/ProtectorOfTheSmall'', quite deliberately. Kel is disappointed that [[EvilGenius Blayce]] is ''not'' some grand wizard, and instead, just a short and ugly wimp. [[TheBrute His muscle]] isn't too impressive either.
* Subverted in ''Literature/TheScrewtapeLetters''. Devils are bureaucratic, cranky, selfish killjoys who actively try and reduce the pleasure sinning gives people.
** Creator/CSLewis appears to have been very well aware of what happened to Milton and to have deliberately gone out of his way to avoid it; in much of his fiction, the good guys are ''far'' cooler than the evil ones, who are almost universally shallow and petty. In ''Literature/{{Perelandra}}'', for example, Satan is depicted as being perfectly willing to sit around saying Ransom's name over and over again until he finally asks what Satan wants, and then saying "Nothing." For days on end.
* ''Literature/HarounAndTheSeaOfStories'' averts and references this. The villains are the enemies of all stories - therefore, they despise anything that looks interesting or impressive. The BigBad, Katham-Shud, even turns into a dramatic EldritchAbomination OneWingedAngel form for all of a second just to contrast this trope to his weaselly, unimpressive self.
* Creator/StephenKing reportedly hates this idea, and his later works try to send the message that "evil is pathetic". This is probably why the villains from his ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' series suffered ''severe'' VillainDecay in [[Literature/TheWindThroughTheKeyhole the last book]].
* [[InterviewWithAVampire Lestat]].
* The (extremely fangirled) WhiteHairedAndBlackHearted Pollution in Creator/TerryPratchett and Creator/NeilGaiman's book ''Literature/GoodOmens'' is VERY MUCH Evil Is Cool. And [[EvilIsSexy hot]].
** And Crowley
** All of the Four Horsepersons of the Apocalypse fall under this trope, as the parts featuring one or all of them are easily the coolest and most awesome parts of the book.
* ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'': Although you wouldn't know it from reading the actual book, where he is hideous, disgusting, and creepy, Dracula is essentially responsible for the entire western world's vampire obsession.
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': Lord Voldemort is one of the most powerful and cunning characters in the series ''and'' has a kickass army of Dark wizards and various sinister creatures at his disposal.
* Dante's ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'' is split up into three poems, detailing the narrator's journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. Guess which one is the best known. Similarly, while everyone knows about the SevenDeadlySins, not too many people are familiar with [[GoodCounterpart the Seven Cardinal Virtues]] (Humility, Generosity, Chastity, Meekness, Temperance, Brotherly Love, and Diligence).
* In the ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'', Murtagh does a FaceHeelTurn and get his strength boosted to many times his original level by being taught "secret magic" by Galbatorix. He is considered an EnsembleDarkHorse by many, especially in comparison to Eragon.
* Among the ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'' fandom, the AlwaysChaoticEvil vermin tend to be more well-liked than the AlwaysLawfulGood woodlanders.
* Although determining who is "evil" in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' can get quite difficult, there are some characters who simply exude cool. [[EvilOverlord Tywin Lannister]], especially when he puts on his [[BlingOfWar golden lion battle armour]], his [[AntiHero son Jaime]], the [[WeirdTradeUnion Faceless Men]], the [[AlwaysChaoticEvil White Walkers]], [[CainAndAbel both Cleganes]], [[MagnificentBastard Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish]], [[TheChessmaster Varys "the Spider"]], [[BadassBookworm Prince Rhaegar Targaryen]], [[NeverMessWithGranny Olenna "Queen of Thorns" Tyrell]], [[NobleTopEnforcer Kevan Lannister]], [[SoftSpokenSadist Roose Bolton]], and [[EmpoweredBadassNormal Euron "Crow's Eye" Greyjoy]].
** Gerold "Darkstar" Dayne on the other hand [[InvokedTrope tries very hard to invoke this]], but is [[TheScrappy not regarded as cool at all by the majority of the fans]], to MemeticLoser levels.
* Smaug from ''Literature/TheHobbit''. It helps that he's a badass dragon.
** Sauron and Saruman from ''Literature/LordOfTheRings'', plus the Nazgûl.
* Literature/{{Discworld}} has some examples, including [[Discworld/WitchesAbroad Lady Lilith]], [[Discworld/{{Hogfather}} Mr. Teatime]], and [[MurderInc the entire Assassins' Guild]]. Subverted in that the coolest characters are generally considered to be [[DaChief Vimes]], [[NeverMessWithGranny Granny Weatherwax]] and [[MagnificentBastard Lord Vetinari]]. The first two are GoodIsNotNice and the last is at worst an AntiVillain.
* ''Literature/TheFirstDwarfKing'': Say what you will about the [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demons]] and the [[TheClan Bloody Talons]]...there is no denying that they are ''awesome''.
** The Osthan are some of the most obvious examples in the book. They're [[EvilIsBigger 8'2" musclebound]] men [[EvilWearsBlack dressed in black]], wield [[{{BFS}} gigantic claymores]] and [[{{BFG}} assault rifles]], and are ImmuneToBullets.
** Trang Barok is made of this. He's a [[FatBastard fat]] MagnificentBastard who can match wits with the best of them; he teaches his armies to avoid HollywoodTactics, and his NervesOfSteel, coupled with his [[CantKillYouStillNeedYou usefulness]] enable him to [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu mock demons to their faces]].
** Pathruushkè is pretty cool. He's an [[LeanAndMean emaciated]] black-skinned demon [[PurpleIsPowerful who wears a purple robe]] and wields a MagicStaff that has [[HellIsThatNoise voices coming from it]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/{{Alias}}'': Julian Sark is the epitome of this trope. He's young and attractive, he frequently wears expensive, elegant suits, and his dry sense of humour produces numerous amusing quips. Sark even sports stylish sunglasses to enhance his villainous awesomeness.
* In ''Series/FamilyMatters'', ExtravertedNerd Steve Urkel's formula based off the "cool gene" transformed him into Stefan Urkél, who was suave but amoral. However, this was subverted in Stefan's next appearance, where Steve revealed that he'd accidentally involved the "evil gene" in the formula; from then on, Stefan was both cool and nice.
* For some reason, evil, batshit insane, brain-stealing villain Sylar from ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' is a lot cooler than sane, geeky Sylar. Apparently, evil wears contacts. Ditching the specs (and also acquiring stubble) seems to be mandatory for characters taking a walk on the dark side.
** The ruthless Adam Monroe scores ''much'' higher on the coolness factor than either Hiro Nakamura or Peter Petrelli, the two heroes that he interacts with.
* ''{{Series/Buffy|TheVampireSlayer}}''/''Series/{{Angel}}'':
** Spike, who, before he was turned into a vampire, was laughed at and wrote "poncy poetry", whereas when he was sired, he became all bad ass. (His actor, Creator/JamesMarsters, has since made this his specialty, as the rest of this page shows.)
** [[FaceHeelTurn Evil Angel]] is about seven times cooler than [[TheAtoner Good Angel]]. It probably has to do with the lack of [[DarkAndTroubledPast brooding]]. Evil Angel is [[TallDarkAndSnarky funny.]] He also gets several times smarter when he goes evil, which was lampshaded in the episode ''Awakening''.
** In an alternate universe, Xander and Willow got rid of their geeky sides after vampirization, instead opting for black leather and a smooth demeanour.
** Faith thought this for a while, mostly as a resultof her living conditions improving (going from living in a roach motel that could be and was attacked by vampires, to a giant studio apartment that had all the furnishings and luxury items one could want), until she saw what she had become and attempts [[SuicideByCop suicide by Angel, then Buffy.]]
** Consider Wesley from ''Series/{{Angel}}'': glasses on -- the scholar and gentleman of the group. His attempts to be baddass are laughable. Glasses off -- beds Lilah, keeps a woman tied up in his closet, breaks rogue Slayers out of jail, and tortures junkies for information.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** The Daleks, especially in the revived series. They might look goofy at a glance, but they are a HigherTechSpecies and a single one them can take own dozens of armed humans with ease, and that's without bringing in their bigger weapons.
*** The Daleks are arguably also the only characters/race in the series to have [[RootingForTheEmpire as many, if not more, fans as the Doctor himself]]. In fact, they were so popular upon their first appearance (in 1963) that they were the first recurring villain.
** Contrast Patrick Troughton as the playful and impish Second Doctor, and as the frilly-shirted, pleather-covered, exotic and [[EvilIsSexy sleazy]] DiabolicalMastermind Salamander in "Enemy of the World". Similarly, contrast Tom Baker as the childish and manic Fourth Doctor, and as the dominating, darkly charismatic and sadomasochistic EvilTwin Meglos. Both of the Doctor roles are {{Adorkable}}. Both of the villain roles ooze a staggering of coolness that you would not see in the Doctor performances.
** The Master, in all his incarnations.
** Also [[OmnicidalManiac Davros]].
** All three of the villain characters played by Peter Miles - Dr Lawrence, Professor Whitaker, and ''especially'' [[PuttingOnTheReich Nyder]]. And all in different ways - Dr Lawrence is EvilIsHammy, Nyder is CreepyMonotone, and Whitaker is pretty much exactly between the two.
** Brother Lassar. He's played by Anthony Head. Nothing more needs to be said.
* Captain John Hart of ''Series/{{Torchwood}}''. Kills someone and then says, totally bored, "Thirsty now". Casually admits he killed someone, apologises for the mess, clears a bar of all he considers ugly, and orders one shot of every drink in the bar. Then drinks what appears to be a bottle of Vodka. In one go. With no noticeable side effects. Comes out with regular quips. The only person who really gets the better of him is Gwen Cooper. It helps the same actor played Spike in Buffy, and there is a definite similarity between the two.
* Malcolm Tucker from ''Series/TheThickOfIt'', possibly the only political satire character ever to have been likened to [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader]].
* Ba'al from ''Series/StargateSG1''. He's the one System Lord who wasn't handed an IdiotBall, and, as a result, causes all sorts of unexpected trouble for SG-1. True, he also usually wears some [[BadAssLongcoat really]] [[BadassInANiceSuit nice]] [[ImpossiblyCoolClothes clothes]] that seem to be specially tailored. He's also one of the more fun, [[LargeHam hammy]] Goa'uld, partly due to his pride and being a bit of a DeadpanSnarker with a [[MagnificentBastard really good plan]].
* The villains in ''Series/{{Batman}}'' were always more colorful than Batman and Robin. No wonder so many established actors were willing to play them!
* Mark Sheppard plays delightfully evil characters in ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' and ''Series/{{White Collar}}'', among others, that seem to come out on top and have lots of fun while doing so. From his shiny shoes to his amazingly charismatic voice, he effortlessly manages to outshine and out-cool the regulars on the show.
** Although it's to be noted that on Leverage, he [[HeroAntagonist isn't really a villain]].
* [[Creator/WilWheaton "Chaos"]], [[TheCracker a rival computer hacker]] on ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' seems to genuinely believe this and adopts it as his personal philosophy.
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': Castiel seems to get more bad ass and confident as he [[spoiler: turns to the dark side in Season 6.]]
** Also, lots and lots of the smarter villains. Including a season-seven appearance by an aging Creator/JamesMarsters, playing an apparently immortal witch capable of treating our god-killing heroes like gnats. Many of the coolest ones get EnemyMine situations (like Crowley) or turn out to be fairly decent, or at least relatable, like Patrick the Gambler.
* ''Scorpius'' from ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' is this, right down to the leather clothes.
* This is why [[CorruptHick Tubbs and Edward]] and [[MonsterClown Papa Lazarou]] from ''TheLeagueOfGentlemen'' are the most remembered characters: they're easily the most fucked up.
* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'':
** A major reason for Lionel Luthor's popularity and EnsembleDarkHorse status is how utterly cool Creator/JohnGlover is with a CorruptCorporateExecutive and ArchnemesisDad look. Being TheChessmaster in a show full of [[IdiotBall morons]] didn't hurt either.
** [[RoboticPsychopath Brainiac]] was also very popular, and, unlike [[EvenEvilHasStandards Lionel]], had absolutely no redeeming qualities. Being played by Creator/JamesMarsters explains a part of his appeal, but a lot of it seems to be rooted in the fact that, well, he had no redeeming qualities. When a show is as full of {{Designated Villain}}s, [[IdiotBall imbeciles]], and {{Wangst}} as ''Smallville'', it was rather nice to have a [[TheChessmaster smart]] villain who we could LoveToHate. Being a [[ShapeShifter shapeshifting]] BadassBookworm and EvilTeacher also added to his cool factor.
** Compare [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Kal]] or [[EvilTwin Bizarro]] to [[TheHero Clark]].
* Just in general, on many reality TV shows, the villains are much more memorable and recognizable than the heroes are.
* ''TrueBlood'':
** [[AxCrazy Russell]] motherf*cking [[LargeHam Edgington]]. Especially aided by Denis O'Hare's performance.
** His husband [[CampGay Talbot]] could count as well, although he's not quite as evil.
** Maryann kind of [[BrokenBase broke the base]] on whether she was this trope, or just plain tedious.
** [[GodOfEvil Lilith]]. Even in-universe.
* Generally averted in ''Series/CriminalMinds'', where the various killers usually come across as rather pathetic as soon as they're not in a position of power, (they are usually trying to fulfil some fantasy or make themselves feel better about some perceived deficiency in themselves,) and the whole focus of the show is on TheProfiler team proving themselves intellectually superior to the killers by outsmarting and catching them. The only exceptions to this tend to be killers like [[MagnificentBastard the Boston Reaper]], who gives off this vibe due to his ''extremely'' high level of competence and his apparent lack of any fantasy-fulfilment (he just kills because he's an evil sadist who enjoys tormenting his victims and being notorious).
* ''Series/{{Once Upon A Time}}'': Brings us [[TheChessMaster Rumplestiltskin]], [[TheHighQueen Regina]] and [[MrFanservice Captain]] [[AffablyEvil Hook.]]
** Averted with most of the other villains though. Cora was too relentlessly monstrous, [[spoiler:Greg and Tamara]] were just boring (and clearly pawns), and Peter Pan was just a selfish dick.
** '''Maleficent.''' Her dragon-fire burned so hot that it reduced an entire forest to nothing but blackened branches - and left a single tree '''still burning''' for "half a lifetime", as Rumplestiltskin puts it. [[spoiler: She was also powerful enough to put a sleeping curse on all of Storybrooke in mere seconds without breaking a single sweat.]] The good guys really have their work cut out for them this time.
* ''Franchise/PowerRangers''; the good guys are cool and all, but let's be honest, the Monsters are the real stars; creativity in these things is the key that's made the show so popular.
* Mike, Gus, and Walt from ''Series/BreakingBad'' are undeniably villains, but they're so brilliant and badass that it's hard not to admire them.
** For an even clearer example, Walt is ''far'' cooler when he adopts his Heisenberg persona than he is when he's being himself.
* Any good ''SuperSentai'' villain should embody this. Prime example is Shinkenger's BigBad Dokokou. He's taken on the titular heroes more than once and flattened them. He manages to reduce an apparent DragonInChief Akomaru to BigBadWanabee when he appears.
* ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'':
** Rufus Zeno, being genuinely [[ManipulativeBastard manipulative]], savvy, and insane, just enough to be well liked by fans.
** The Sinner versions of the Sibuna members were liked partially for this reason. They were confident, manipulative, cruel...and very entertaining to watch even as they did horrible things.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* This is a key part of the appeal of {{Gangsta Rap}}pers such as [[Music/{{EazyE}} Eazy-E]], Music/TheNotoriousBIG, KoolGRap, [[Music/{{IceT}} Ice-T]] and Music/{{NWA}}.
* [[Music/{{Thriller}} No mere mortal can resist.. the evil of..]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOnqjkJTMaA The Thriller!]]
* Jace Everett's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0eQL5R3bw4 Bad Things]]. There's a reason it was used as the theme song for Series/TrueBlood.
* In the same vein as John Milton, [[Music/TheRollingStones "Please allow me to introduce myself/I'm a man of wealth and taste..."]]
* The majority of all [[BlackMetal black]] and DeathMetal rejoices in evil, be it Satanism, genocidal misanthropy, [[ThoseWackyNazis National Socialism]], the violent kind of Odin-worship, or any other [[EvilTastesGood flavour]] of evil.
** Often subverted in the lyrical content, however. A lot of black metal is individualistic in the NietzscheWannabe tradition, while death metal tends towards either nihilism or more traditional "punk ethics". In these cases, the Evil Is Cool aesthetics are intended to be provocative and anti-social, rather than to be taken at face value. It's much less a rejoicing in actual evil as it is simply an embracing of this trope at an aesthetic level. Lyricists are aware that people, and they themselves, find villains, darkness, and horror to be interesting. As bands like CannibalCorpse have said, very few extreme metal bands take their own lyrics seriously, and those who do are usually rather unstable. As Black Sabbath also stated, they're intended to be viewed much in the same light as horror films. A lot of bands simply use their music as a VillainBasedFranchise.
* Without a doubt, the coolest song in Music/TheDecemberists' RockOpera ''The Hazards of Love'' is [[VillainSong The Rake's Song]], which happens to be a man casually telling the story of how he nonchalantly [[OffingTheOffspring murdered all his children.]]
* Music/{{Powerman 5000}}'s "Super Villain" song. That is all.
* ''Dr. Steel''. Many fans like him not for the music, but for the incredibly cool Steampunk Villain getup.
* There's this line from Music/BillyJoel's "Only the Good Die Young":
-->''They say there's a heaven for those who will wait''
-->''Some say it's better but I say it ain't''
-->''I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints''
-->''The sinners are much more fun''
** As Joel himself points out, however, this is a subversion, as neither this nor the rest of what the singer says seems to be very convincing to Virginia.
* TheoryOfADeadman has the song "Villain":
-->''Everybody wants to be like me''
-->''[[JustHereForGodzilla The villain is the one]] [[TheVillainMakesThePlot that you came to see]]''
* [[VillainSong "In the Flesh", "Run Like Hell", and "Waiting for the Worms"]] from ''Music/TheWall'' by Music/PinkFloyd are all about the main character hallucinating about being a Neo-Nazi. They are also some of the best songs on the album.
** The film version takes it further, with "In the Flesh" being an orchestral reprise at a Neo-Nazi rally, "Run Like Hell" showing the Neo-Nazis attacking various minorities, and "Waiting for the Worms" featuring an animated sequence with [[RuleOfCool goose-stepping hammers]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
* It was this concept that led Wrestling/{{WCW}} to temporarily take the crown as the #1 wrestling promotion in the world with the Wrestling/NewWorldOrder. Although the nWo was comprised of {{heel}}s, the charisma of its top members like Hogan and the Outsiders, combined with some innovative marketing ''(this announcement has been paid for by the New World Order)'', attracted many fans to their side.
* Many {{professional wrestl|ing}}ers profess to enjoying playing a {{heel}} far more than playing a {{face}}. For some of them, this can bleed through into their performances, such that a wrestler who undergoes a HeelFaceTurn actually ''loses'' popularity due to his lackluster performances afterwards. There's a reason a lot of professional wrestlers and wrestling fans tend to think GoodIsBoring. Faces tend to fall into being good role-models or, because GoodIsDumb, lose any skills they had as a heel and end up with no real personality. {{Heel Face Turn}}s often result in promos that don't consist of anything more than saying, "I respect my opponents," "I want to prove that I'm the best," etc., as opposed to being able to take advantage of their creative mic skills. This is probably why many of the most popular wrestlers of the last twenty years have been tweeners or even heels, as opposed to faces.
* A good heel turn can also save someone's career and end up making them a star after a disastrous or boring face run. See [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]], Wrestling/RandyOrton, Wrestling/JohnCena, and Wrestling/SantinoMarella for prime examples of this in the past decade.
* An interesting phenomena is when, through excellence in performance, an interesting persona, and good mic skills, a supposed Heel wins over the crowd and becomes a fan-favorite Heel.
** When Wrestling/KurtAngle first joined the WWE, he was considered to be a yet another "real" fighter who had not yet paid his dues as a {{Jobber}}. However, his ring skills were incredibly impressive, and his two gold medals (1996, Atlanta Olympics, and 1995, World Championships) weren't fake. Even more impressively, he won one of them while having a broken neck. And then, something miraculous happened. During a Monday Night Raw episode, the crowd started chanting [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWuqNxU-Oug "You Suck, You Suck" along with Angle's wrestling music.]] His reaction not only clarified his persona, but it also created the most loved heel in the history of wrestling.
** [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]] had little or choice in the matter. The level of his creative and imaginative speeches won over the crowd almost against his will. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APH33kaFhKQ&feature=related One example of many, many, many classic Rock moments here.]]
** Wrestling/CMPunk doesn't like you but everyone likes him due to his rebellious and frank attitude about WWE. He often gets cheered even when he expressly disparages against the audience because no one disagrees with his claim that he's the "Best in the World".
** While putting heels against each other in matches often leads to disaster (Wrestling/BigELangston vs Wrestling/JackSwagger wrestled a good match and still got shat on by the crowd, for example compared to their more positively received bouts with not even that popular of a baby face Wrestling/AlbertoDelRio) Wrestling/TheWyattFamily vs Wrestling/TheShield was a match everyone wanted to see, even as the Shield continued to get booed after beating faces, though they eventually became baby faces themselves as it went on.
* Wrestling/MsChif was perceived this way in IWA Mid-South, to the point she could work take the slowest, most obvious approach against the otherwise beloved Wrestling/DaizeeHaze and still have audible crowd support.
* Wrestling/BulletClub with Machine Gun Karl Anderson at the helm and Wrestling/TheYoungBucks in the back. Especially after Wrestling/AJStyles became a member of the group.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
* Uncle Deadly of Franchise/TheMuppets. He's a sinister-looking and eerie [[{{Dracolich}} ghostly dragon]] [[ClassicallyTrainedExtra Shakespearean]] [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot actor]]. Being a Muppet, this trope is subverted for most of his appearances; in ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' [[spoiler:he was only scaring the cast for fun and [[DarkIsNotEvil pretending to be evil]]]], and in [[Film/TheMuppets the 2011 movie]] he [[spoiler:performs a HeelFaceTurn and has his CrowningMomentOfAwesome right at that point]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* Chaos epitomizes this trope in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''. Then again, [[TheEmpire so does the Imperium...]]
** Also, [[AxCrazy Kharn]] [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder the Betrayer]]. Seriously, what a great guy!
** From the spinoff ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'' computer games: Eliphas the Inheritor is universally considered one of the top five characters, as is Gorgutz 'Ead 'Unter. Mainly because Eliphas is almost painfully badass and Gorgutz is awesomely insane.
* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' reintroduced the [[TheLegionsOfHell Phy]][[CyberneticsEatYourSoul rexians]], who want to corrupt and assimilate the entire multiverse. Naturally, half the fan base takes their side. 51%, at last count, in fact.
** They eventually won the popularity contest and took over the world which they were fighting for.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': [[DealWithTheDevil Infernals]] are widely considered to be ''way'' more awesome than Solars. The Solar charmset is generally viewed as kind of bland (the overriding theme is "I am really good at this" with a few paragraphs for each Charm describing what they are good at and how that is expressed), while Infernals do things like turning a glass of water into a tentacle or ''undergoing mitosis''. Solars have an ascension path of "Solars with higher Essence", while Infernals can forge themselves into new Primordials. Abyssals, the other equivalent of Solars, [[SubvertedTrope on the other hand, are much less popular due to flaws in their Charmset]] and limited support for character paths other than "angsty penitent" or "kill the world and piss on the ashes".
** The Ebon Dragon is seen as this as a portion of the fandom, even the point of his character is the [[TheDevilIsALoser opposite]].
* For ''TabletopGame/IronKingdoms'' players, much of the appeal of the evil factions is how cool their models look.
* The [[TheEmpire Imperium]] in ''TabletopGame/StrikeLegion'' has this going for it by being an {{Expy}} of the Imperium of Man, but they go MANY extra miles, possessing armies that include Godzilla type monsters, MANY forms of super soldiers even deadlier than its [[SpaceMarine Space Marines]], and [[MonsterClown MonsterClowns]] that include lightsaber wielding {{Expy}}s of TheJoker.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theater]]
* The Creator/{{Shakespeare}}an characters ''every'' actor wants to play are his most notorious villains, Iago of ''Theatre/{{Othello}}'', and the eponymous MagnificentBastard of ''Theatre/RichardIII''. Similarly, every actress wants to be Lady Theatre/{{Macbeth}}, his greatest villainess. The roguish buffoon Falstaff was so popular that Shakespeare gave him his own spin-off comedy in which he is the protagonist. (By royal command, no less - Queen Elizabeth turned out to be one of Falstaff's admirers.)
* Similarly, the really cool characters in opera are not the tenor good guys, but the jealous/mad/pervert baritones and the creepy basses who sing low notes of Doom. Who would ever prefer the nice, boring tenor Don Ottavio to the MagnificentBastard Don Giovanni? Or, in ''Theatre/DerFreischuetz'', prefer the utterly bland Max to the ribaldly malevolent Kaspar?
* And one of the greatest soprano roles in the entire repertoire is the evil [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen of the Night]] in ''Theatre/TheMagicFlute'', despite having only two solo arias -- they're both [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome complete show-stoppers]], especially "Der Hölle Rache köcht in meinem Herzen" ([[VillainSong "Hell's vengeance boils in my heart"]]).
* Despite the fact that ''ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' is an obsessive, controlling, homicidal, textbook 'bad boyfriend', he is inevitably the one the audience roots for. You'll have to scour through hundreds of Phantom/Christine {{Shipping}} {{Fan Fic}}s to find one Raoul/Christine, and it's better than even money that actors would rather play the Phantom. Why? Raoul is a largely ineffective ponce; Erik ''drops chandeliers on people''. Plus, in the case of the musical, he gets all of [[VillainSong the cool songs]] and a [[BlackCloak stylish black cape]].
* ''Theatre/{{Cats}}'' has Macavity.
* Creator/ChristopherMarlowe was good at writing this type of character; the best-known example is Mephistopheles in ''Theatre/DoctorFaustus'', but Tamburlaine of [[Theatre/{{Tamburlaine}} the play of the same name]] and Barabas of ''Theatre/TheJewOfMalta'' also qualify. Oh, and the evil ghost Machiavelli.
* Mr Doolittle of ''Theatre/MyFairLady'' is an amoral drunkard, but for all his faults, "With a little bit of luck" is so charming, we can't help but think this guy cool.
* The entire point of the ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8233sYUDn8 Villains Tonight!]]'' stage show on the Disney Cruise Line, featuring Hades, Maleficent, Ursula, Jafar, Yzma, Captain Hook, Cruella [=DeVil=], and Dr. Facilier ''all together'' in one show!
* In ''Theatre/PokemonLive'', Giovanni, Team Rocket, and even the Rocket Grunts completely steal the show.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Arguably ''the point'' of games like ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'', ''VideoGame/ScarfaceTheWorldIsYours'', and ''VideoGame/EvilGenius''.
** Tommy Vercetti from ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity'' is a perfect example. He's a badass, BadassInANiceSuit, and a BloodKnight mobster.
** CJ and the Grove Street Families from ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' as well.
** And Johnny Klebitz from ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV''. He's a BadassBiker and OneManArmy with a BadassMustache and is BaldOfAwesome.
** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' carries on the tradition. In particular, Trevor is far and away the most evil of the three protagonists. He's also the most popular.
* Jean Descole from the Franchise/ProfessorLayton series was most likely created with this trope in mind. He is a MalevolentMaskedMan who combines [[NiceHat almost]] [[BadassInANiceSuit all]] [[CoolMask the]] [[PrettyInMink over the top]] [[BadassCape clothing]] tropes and actually ''pulls it off''. And his coolness goes UpToEleven in the movie ''Anime/ProfessorLaytonAndTheEternalDiva''.
* Used quite a bit the ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' series. Dante's enemies (primarily his EvilCounterpart, his brother Vergil) are pretty darn cool, but Dante still generally mops the floor with them with style.
* ''SaintsRow'': Every chapter ends in an EvilerThanThou CoupDeGrace. Almost everyone kisses the Protagonist's ass by complimenting his/her murderous psychosis. Arguably the coolest character in the series so far is unrepentant mass murderer Johnny Gat.
* Also the point of ''VideoGame/DungeonKeeper'', where you are the Dark Lord who builds his eldritch underground kingdom and throws adventuring heroes in [[ColdBloodedTorture torture]] chambers. Remember: Evil is Good.
* It is primarily for this reason that ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' and similar games have an evil option. KOTOR is further helped in this regard, since ''Franchise/StarWars'' villains are generally among the most badass characters in all of fiction.
** This is acknowledged in the second game, where the opening screen shows one of the various Sith Lords of the game. Go bad enough, and your character will replace them after you complete the game.
** The King of KOTOR [[XtremeKoolLetterz Kool]] himself - the psychotic, [[ChaoticEvil homicidal]] HK-47 assassin droid. "Definition: 'Love' is making a shot to the knees of a target 120 kilometers away using an Aratech sniper rifle with a tri-light scope." He is far and away the single most beloved character by the meatbags playing the games, even though he's regarded as among the least useful in gameplay.
** Both KOTOR games actually provide especially good foundations for this. In the first game, you're playing an [[spoiler: amnesic Sith Lord]], and if you decide to reclaim your former glory, characters will acknowledge you as such. And KOTOR II just takes it UpToEleven. This time, you aren't technically on a mission to be the hero, so it's not even expected of you. In this game, you get to wear a black BadassLongcoat, teach your companions the way of the Dark Side, cut your way through small armies like a knife through butter, take out entire ambush teams of mercenaries with a single Force Storm, [[CurbStompBattle curbstomp]] ''Jedi Masters'' in a duel, [[AwesomenessByAnalysis steal their techniques]], then suck up their power for yourself...and that's all ''before'' you get Force Crush, [[PurposelyOverpowered against which there is no defense!]] The Light Side path may have more plot exposition, but the Dark Side one is definitely the cooler one.
** ''Videogame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' also has a Dark Side path for this reason, even for the Republic side. Yes, you can pretty much do a [[MassEffect Renegade Shepard]] run as a Republic Trooper, be an underworld thug as a Smuggler, and go full Anakin Skywalker {{Expy}} KnightTemplar on the Jedi paths. If you do a dark side ''Imperial'' run, you're even more of a puppy-kicking, manipulative, brutal monster...but wow, you can certainly look cool doing it.
*** It's lampshaded in-game by Kira (a Jedi Knight companion) : "Have you seen what the Sith are wearing ? It's like every fashion designer in the galaxy went over to the dark side".
** Also from ''Franchise/StarWars'', ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefront II'' has you playing as the 501st Legion in the "Rise of the Empire" story mode. Needless to say, after the Evil Empire rises and the 501st becomes evil, they're still awesome.
** Another ''Star Wars'' example: ''TIEFighter''. Darth Vader is your ''wingman.'' That is all. [[note]]Granted some view that as turning your character into a TheWoobie since Vader is [[BadBoss one of the meanest bosses ever]] [[/note]].
* The ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'' series always has fiendishly enjoyable Evil campaigns. Especially in ''Red Alert'', the evil is served with a generous side of LargeHam. Starting in Tiberian Sun, Nod had much cooler outfits than GDI, and in Tiberium Wars, they had cooler looking vehicles. This is somewhat offset by the fact that Nod has a tendency to favor looks over practicality. GDI's ground vehicles tend to be better, and their soldiers actually look like soldiers, while Nod's look like a bunch of, abeit cool looking, KKK rejects.
** Yuri's faction ''Red Alert 2'', while its [[GameBreaker overpowered]] status has its usage in multiplayer frowned on, fans agree that its gimmicks make it fun to play as and many fans were disappointed that it didn't get its own campaign, so many of the mods to the game, in addition to balancing the faction, focus on giving it one.
* Pick a ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' game, go ahead, pick one. To recount some of the more famous examples:
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV Golbez]]: a BlackKnight EvilSorcerer with a BadassCape and an OminousPipeOrgan for his theme, which often plays [[CutscenePowerToTheMax in cutscenes]] when he [[CurbStompBattle casually swats your party members aside]]. Oh, and he's a BadassBaritone to boot. [[spoiler:Even in sequels and spin-offs which deal with him after he is freed from his mind control, he remains very badass, keeping his magical powers and occasionally swapping out his black armor to be a BarbarianHero with a {{BFS}}.]]
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Kefka Palazzo]], the LaughablyEvil FountainOfMemes MonsterClown who became a god, caused TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt turned into a NietzscheWannabe, and decided to destroy all existence, {{Laughing Mad}}ly all the while. He's been called the ''Final Fantasy'' incarnation of ComicBook/TheJoker, and this is in no way a bad thing.
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Sephiroth]]: A FallenHero with a completely unflappable and stylish demeanor, [[WhiteHairBlackHeart silver hair]], a BadassLongcoat, [[CoolSword a cool]] {{BFS}}, the ability to spam {{Sword Beam}}s, and his theme, which is full of OminousLatinChanting. He became a God too (almost), but even if he didn't quite make it, he gets to keep [[PowerGivesYouWings a lone black wing]] as a reminder.
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX Kuja]]: May be a bit of a BaseBreakingCharacter with his [[ViewerGenderConfusion effeminate]] [[AgentPeacock appearance]], but damn if he didn't have flare. Among other things, he tanks a blast from Bahamut and comes away with only a minor scratch, pulls the rug out from under, kills, and replaces the BiggerBad ([[spoiler:who also created him]]), [[ApocalypseWow destroys a planet]], very nearly [[RetGone reality itself]], making him perhaps the most successful Final Fantasy villain next to Kefka, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking walking around referencing plays]] as if he were in one. Oh, and he has one of the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3dw74XNavI greatest lietmotifs in the series]].
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV Ardyn Izunia]]: While there's a considerable BrokenBase regarding changes made to the fifteenth game's story, the one thing fans near unanimously approve of is making Ardyn Iznuia the new BigBad. He's the enigmatic yet stylish chancellor of Niflheim, has a mysterious backstory and strange powers, drives a CoolCar, and constantly speaks in a tone of voice which is somehow both oily and suave at the same time. He gets the [[LaughablyEvil best lines]] in the game, makes no pretext in hiding how evil he is, and is a MagnificentBastard whose schemes tend to go off without a hitch. He's also [[spoiler:a man turned into an immortal HumanoidAbomination from all the daemons he's absorbed into himself, which just helps make him CreepyAwesome as well.]]
** ''All'' the bad guys in ''Dissidia'', including the three above. There's [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyX Jecht]], [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI Garland]], who is an AdaptationalBadass, [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyII The Emperor]], who proves AuthorityEqualsAsskicking, and [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyV Exdeath]], [[LargeHam who is]] [[FountainOfMemes just]] [[{{Mondegreen}} Exdeath]].
* Do you see the cool, black, [[SpikesOfVillainy spiky]] barrier jacket of ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'''s Chrono? That's [[TheArtifact an artifact]] from his days as a villain in the [[WhatCouldHaveBeen original]] ''Nanoha'' [[TheAnimeOfTheGame mini-scenario]] included in the ''VideoGame/TriangleHeart3SweetSongsForever'' [[{{Omake}} fanbox]].
* The Helghast of ''VideoGame/{{Killzone}}'', with their ''Jin-Roh'' inspired battle armor (the {{Custom Uniform}}s of which are [[http://psnow.es/uploads/images/artwork/general/KZ2_HG_Radec.jpg extra-awesome]]), sympathetic back story, and a leader that [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGy6SEEXcJA gloriously feasts on ham]]. Every time a sequel is announced, the fanbase hopes they'll finally be able to play as them in single-player mode...and then they get stuck playing the painfully generic loud-mouthed American soldier guys of the ISA again, killing legions of people much cooler-looking than you.
* Gig from ''VideoGame/SoulNomadAndTheWorldEaters''. He comes off as a threatening badass even though he's a SealedEvilInACan most of the game, along with having by far the funniest moments in it, though in an odd case of this trope he's on the hero's side.
* Kotomine in ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight''...well, he's cool enough that the fact he has a mullet ceases to matter. Possibly helped along by every scene contrasting him to Shirou. The other BigBad, Zouken, is not cool. Or likable. Or, well, tolerable. You just kind of want him to hurry up and die already. Helped by the fact that Kotomine really knows how to talk; it's hard to be bored of his often long speeches. Most of his speeches have very little to do with him being evil or evil in general.
* Looking back at ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'', many people were turned off by Ky Kiske because he's too much of a goody two shoes. Then, in ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'', he's given an {{Expy}} in form of Jin Kisaragi, a twisted, erratic JerkAss whose unwholesome personality was nonetheless well-met by many fans.
** There is the matter of Hazama, a.k.a. Yuuki Terumi, who's taken the role of the BigBad of the series. He's an arrogant {{Troll}} who's even ''more'' abrasive and mean-spirited than Jin and has more or less fucked up the lives of everyone in the series, most of all, [[spoiler:[[TheWoobie Noel]], when he transforms her into Mu-12]]. Fans love him because he's [[LaughablyEvil funny]], [[EvilIsSexy handsome]], and [[BadassLongcoat a cool dresser]].
** Although over time, people somehow got sick of Terumi being constantly pushed to attention and looking too invincible nearing [[InvincibleVillain Boring Invincible Villain]] status. On the other hand, this title now goes into his partner Relius Clover, who's not as pushed to attention, but remains a LargeHam, composed, a cool dresser, rugged, and just as depraved as Hazama (or even more).
** However Terumi becoming a separate playable character form Hazama made fans love him again, mostly due to the fact that he took Hazama's personality and threw any and all restraints aside. [[spoiler:And then the fourth game boosted it even further when he ''kills'' the coolest good guy, Hakumen, and then reveals he's actually a literal ''god'']].
** Nine and Izanami as of the fourth game got into this.
* Id from ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}''. Oh, what's that? You want a reason why? Ok, [[http://whatdoesgodneedwithastarship.com/71whoops.png here's ONE.]]
* [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Bowser]], despite his VillainDecay and [[GoKartingWithBowser penchant for competitive sports]] over the years, is still a giant, [[SpikesOfVillainy spiky]], [[BreathWeapon fire-breathing]] turtle-dragon, and winning a one-on-one fight with him as a pudgy plumber will always be satisfying - and yet, he's still a powerful menace when he needs to be, especially in the main Mario platformers. ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story]]'' seems to play to this, where the big bad spiky dude is the main character (even if he ultimately has to save the Mushroom Kingdom) and, rather than being merely a comedic ButtMonkey, he's shown as a HotBlooded badass when he needs to be, and still gets plenty of hilarious scenes. Subsequent ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' installments run with this trope and depict Bowser as a much smarter and more menacing villain than in previous RPG's, all while keeping him as the LaughablyEvil BoisterousBruiser fans know and love.
** This was more-or-less acknowledged in the E3 trailer for ''VideoGame/MarioParty 10'', which features a "Bowser Party" mode where one player controls Bowser and gets to wreak havoc on other players.
** [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi Fawful]]. [[VideoGame/PaperMario Dimentio]]. Pretty much every villain in the franchise, to be honest. Cool technology and weapons? Check. Best lines in the series (especially Fawful)? Check. Look awesome? Also check. There's a reason many of the other bad guys end up being the EnsembleDarkhorse.
* Nightmare in the VideoGame/SoulSeries. His armor is damn cool, he carries a {{BFS}} as big as he is.
%%* ''VideoGame/{{Overlord}}''
* The reason [[Franchise/SonictheHedgehog Dr. Eggman]] is so popular is because of this trope. Seriously, he can make damn near ''whatever'' type of machine he wants for any situation and his various evil lairs tend to be among the best levels in the series, in addition to his various boss fights. His AffablyEvil LargeHam tendencies also play a large role, in that despite being a villain, he is such a jovial and over the top guy that you can't help but love his antics. You can only imagine how elated fans were when Sega ''finally'' stopped shafting him in favor of whatever MonsterOfTheWeek he had unleashed and finally let him shine as a villain.
** This trope may be partially the reason why [[EvilTwin Shadow]] started off as such an EnsembleDarkhorse as he has had nowhere near the good reception ever since his transition to AntiHero.
%%* Also, the ''VideoGame/{{Deception}}'' games.
* Admit it: even after you find out that his [[spoiler:cluelessness and uselessness]] was a disguise, you can't help but love [[spoiler:Adachi Tohru]] from ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}''.
* If [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go2SMXxE-8Q#t=2m29s this]] video is of any guideline, Baal from ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}} 2'' counts.
* VideoGame/{{Robopon}} has this with the BigBad, Dr. Zero. [[http://www.rpgfan.com/pics/robopon-gba/art-char-01.jpg Just look at him]].
* And then there's [[Franchise/ResidentEvil Albert Wesker]]. He just became cooler and crueler throughout the series.
* Name one original ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' villain that isn't ''awesome''. Especially the various incarnations of [[BigBad Xehanort]]. ''Especially'' Xemnas. It helps when you're Creator/NorioWakamoto dual-wielding red [[strike:lightsabers]] [[LaserBlade ethereal blades]].
** Riku also qualified when he appeared in the [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI first game]].
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** While supposedly no Pokémon is truly evil, many of the most popular Pokémon are those who act in defiance of that:
*** Tyranitar and Hydreigon, a Franchise/{{Godzilla}}[=/=]TyrannosaurusRex and a King Ghidorah/Hydra Pokémon respectively. Both of them are ''extremely'' savage and destructive, are Dark-types who use ''actual'' [[DarkIsEdgy darkness powers]] as compared to [[CombatPragmatist most other Dark types]], and their BST of 600 makes them comparable to some legendaries in terms of power. (Unsurprisingly, they're both in the OU tier.)
*** Additionally, there's [[MagikarpPower Gyarados]], [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Salamence]], [[ThreateningShark Garchomp]], and [[SpiderTank Metagross]]. While not Dark-types, they're just as savage and deadly as Hydreigon.
*** Houndoom is a Dark-type literal HellHound and one of the more popular Pokémon.
*** And of course, there's one of the best-known and most powerful "evil" Pokémon, [[EnsembleDarkhorse Mewtwo]]. Beyond being ''the'' original GameBreaker, its depiction in [[Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie the animé's first movie]] (in which he openly slaughtered humans and tries to annihilate all life on Earth) remains popular among fans. Even in the games, Mewtwo's Pokédex entries repeatedly emphasise that of all Pokémon, [[BloodKnight it has the most savage and uncompassionate heart]].
*** By far the most popular "shiny" Pokémon coloration belongs to Charizard, already an enormous EnsembleDarkHorse. In its shiny form, it gets an evil-looking black color scheme with blood-red wings and sinister red eyes (this form was actually depicted as a [[CastingAShadow Darkness-type]] in the TCG in one card, and the card is one of the most sought-after and ridiculously overpriced cards today).
*** Unlike Reshiram and Zekrom, Kyurem is a truly evil (or at least corrupt) Pokémon by nature that [[ImAHumanitarian eats humans]]. And it's a giant [[AnIcePerson ice]] [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragon]] that can absorb Reshiram or Zekrom to switch forms and become more powerful.
*** Genesect, an apex insect predator from the Paleozoic period, can be interpreted as an evil(er) counterpart of Mewtwo; being revived by [[AnimalWrongsGroup Team Plasma]] and cybernetically enhanced (such as attaching a ''laser cannon'' to it) to be the strongest Pokémon ever.
*** [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY Yveltal]], the gigantic bird-like Destruction Pokémon, screams this trope.
*** Malamar, Dark/Psychic squid Pokémon, which unlike the above Pokémon, [[DarkIsNotEvil who aren't always evil]], is an AlwaysChaoticEvil [[DarkIsEvil Pokémon that is using mind control as they plot world domination]], especially as seen in the anime. [[CreepyAwesome Malamar's fans wouldn't want it any other way]].
*** Incineroar, the fully-evolved Fire-type starter from ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon''. It's an [[RatedMForManly extremely manly]] Fire/Dark bipedal tiger with the personality of a {{heel}} wrestler, complete with a championship belt made of fire. While it's a BaseBreakingCharacter (quite fittingly for its status as a heel), it has fans that love it a lot, many of which are in the {{bara}} community. This also applies in-universe, as its "bad guy" act makes it popular with children.
** A lot of the evil organizations such as Team Rocket can be this with their stylish uniforms, cool hideouts, and intimidating Pokémon teams.
** From ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', there's BigBad PsychopathicManchild, N ([[spoiler:something of an AntiVillain with [[AbusiveParents serious daddy issues]]), and, by extension, his [[PlayingWithFire Reshiram]] (in ''White'') and [[ShockAndAwe Zekrom]] (in ''Black''). (The opposite dragon is yours to use and therefore "heroic" in its respective game, however.)]]
* Kratos from ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' is an excellent example, as his ''very'' anti-heroic tendencies make him a more interesting character. He's a complete badass. though in a subversion, some fans fond his progressively worse actions in the sequels made him hard to root for.
** Ares, to a certain extent, though he is not so cool as Kratos due to being such a despicable character. He has ''cool'' [[FlamingHair hair, that seem to be made of fire.]] And his armor?? Man, best armor in the franchise!
** Zeus in the sequels, probably the only one of the villains besides Ares to get much of following since A, the major antagonists besides him and Ares don't have much personality, or even screen time, and B, he's the [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking king of the gods and shows why]] since he fights [[GoodOldFisticuffs barehanded]] in a series where nearly everyone else uses some sort of weapon, and defeats a titan while human sized.
* Arthas from ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'', after his FaceHeelTurn into a Death Knight. Sadly, with [[VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft Wrath of the Lich King]], he suffered a HUGE deal of VillainDecay.
* Jack of Blades from ''VideoGame/{{Fable}}'' may [[spoiler:murder your mother and blind your sister among other things]]. However, being one of the few well-voiced characters in the game, the first BigBad in the series, and just generally an all around badass [[spoiler:HumanoidAbomination[=/=]EldritchAbomination]], he earns this status. He easily ranks as the best villain in the series.
* As evil as they are, you have to admit the Reapers from ''Franchise/MassEffect'' are pretty cool. They're unfathomably advanced squid-shaped spaceships with apparently no desire beyond killing everyone every few thousand years because, hey, why not?
*** Plus [[http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Banshee their]] [[http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Brute indoctrinated]] [[http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Cannibal slave soldiers]].
** Despite being slavers, pirates, murderers and generally scum, the [[http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Eclipse Eclipse]] and [[http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Blue_Suns Blue Suns]] [[PrivateMilitaryContractors mercenary gangs]] do have great taste in armour.
** Saren is definetely an evil FourStarBadass. So is DarkActionGirl Tela Vasir.
** Harbinger. Especially its [[EvilSoundsDeep voice]], [[SuperpoweredMooks its ability to turn a mook into a fireball throwing monster with a barrier around it,]] and the fact that it is ''very'' smart.
** Party members aren't above this: [[spoiler: Morinth]] and Zaeed.
** The [[spoiler: heretic]] geth.
** The [[TheChessmaster Shadow Broker]]. He can kick some serious ass, and he has a {{BFG}} and a ''shield''.
** Cerberus has [[http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120715083826/masseffect/images/e/e4/Cronos_station_docking_bay_entrance.png some]] [[http://cft2.igromania.ru/upload/articles/291/145507/04.jpg very]] ''[[http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/3024/phantomt.jpg very]]'' [[http://images.wikia.com/masseffect/images/0/01/Cerberus_dragoon_smash.png cool]] ([[ArtificialBrilliance and smart]]) {{Mooks}}
*** The Illusive Man gets a special mention. Not only is he a TheChessmaster, leader of a Pro-Human terrorist organization, he's also voiced by MartinSheen, and ''brought Shepard back from the dead''.
** Illusive Man's [[TheDragon right hand man]] Kai Leng, is a bit of a BaseBreakingCharacter in this regard, as he's seemingly intended to come as off as badass EvilCounterpart to Shepard, but some fans outright hated him since the bulk of his success in fights comes CutsceneIncompetence on the heroes part, his supposed [[FlatCharacter lack of personality]] out side of being a colossal {{Jerkass}}, and being a textbook example of a FlunkyBoss where the enemies that come to help him are what actually result in the fight's difficulty, and the only thing keeping the player from killing him early a lot of the time is JokerImmunity.
** Renegade [[PlayerCharacter Shepard]]. The [[DeadpanSnarker dialogue options]], the [[BloodKnight actions]], the [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eyes]] and [[GoodScarsEvilScars scars]]. The interrupt prompts that lead to some cool moments, including [[DestinationDefenestration shoving a person through a window]]. That said, [[GoodIsNotSoft Paragon Shepard]] is no slouch themselves.
* The homely Sligs from ''VideoGame/{{Oddworld}}''. Perhaps it's the combination of [[ArtificialLimbs slick cybernetics]], glowing [[ElectronicEyes red visors]] and [[KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter standard issue rifles]]. If [[EvilIsSexy Evil Makes Them Sexy]] (and each to their own), the fact that they shoot at you on sight is [[TheMasochismTango just gravy]].
* Through not exactly a villain at the moment(but perhaps will be a antagonist an X-Pack), the KnightTemplar Angel Imperius from VideoGame/DiabloIII seems to be heading in this direction given his badass armor design and [[spoiler:the short but badass fight between him and Diablo at the beginning of Act IV]].
* [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Ganondorf]], in all four games he appears in.
** Ghirahim in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' proves himself a deadly EvilCounterpart to [[TheHero Link]] that can fight him on equal terms in a sword fight, and anybody else that tries getting in his way gets flattened.
* Ridley from the ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' series, a highly intelligent and bloodthirsty [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Space Dragon]], menace to the Galaxy and Samus' ArchEnemy. While his Space Pirate lackeys are merely just darkly comedic buffoons, he still manages to assert himself as one of the most dangerous adversaries Samus has ever known. [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic And then there's his incredibly catchy theme music]].
* Among ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'' fans, their favorite villain is typically Luca Blight from the second game. First signs of it, he's unit in the war sections is by far the best in the game. When it finally comes around time to kill him, despite him not having a major rune or some source magic like other major villains in the series, he still proves to be [[ThatOneBoss an incredibly difficult fight]] where he takes on [[RasputinianDeath three different parties in quick succession, takes hundreds to the chest, and finally]] TheHero [[RasputinianDeath finishing him off in a duel after he's half dead]]. His whole DyingMomentOfAwesome cemented he's spot in this trope.
* ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'' characters believe in this trope, but it ends being subverted when an actual villain appears as they also turn out to be too much of a {{Jerkass}} to apply to this trope.
* ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheStickOfTruth'' provides a hilarious inversion. Fan-favorite [[spoiler: Kenny [=McCormick=]]] turns out to be the FinalBoss and one of the main villains (by way of an AssPull), but what kind of character is he playing? An EvilOverlord? A roguish AntiHero BlackKnight (which should come to mind when you think of [[spoiler: Mysterion]])? [[spoiler: Nope, a [[WholesomeCrossdresser pretty]] [[EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses princess]]]].
* Go into any forum currently discussing ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' and you'll find at least person who loves the [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Thalmor,]] elven supremacists with [[EvilIsSexy impeccable fashion sense]].
* For [[AntiHero a sufficiently loose definition of "evil"]], the gleefully sadistic, dominatrix-esque titular protagonist of ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' has this in spades. The BigBad of the first game, [[spoiler:Father Balder]] actually manages this as well: while his general demeanor is that of a SissyVillain with [[FashionVictimVillain a truly hideous sense of fashion]], he's just so badass and [[AwesomeBosses/{{Bayonetta}} epic in battle]], especially with "[[AwesomeMusic/{{Bayonetta}} You May Call Me Father]]" for a theme song, that he [[AgentPeacock makes it all work]].
* The ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'' is naturally full of them, but three stand out among the rest.
** ComicBook/TheJoker for obvious and already documented reasons.
** Scarecrow for his show-stealing hallucination moments in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'', [[Creator/JohnNoble his awesome voice]], [[NightmareFace terrifying new look]] and [[TookALevelInBadass new]] MagnificentBastard status in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'', as well as holding the distinction of being the only Batman villain in any media ''ever'' [[spoiler:to successfully unmask Batman to the world]].
** Joker goes from funny to hilariously cliché. Then he dies. Then somehow he's even MORE funny. You have to see it for yourself.
** The Arkham Knight for being a savvy EvilCounterpart to Batman.
* The Enclave, specifically in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}''. They have badass suits of PowerArmor, CoolGuns, and are lead by an AffablyEvil WellIntentionedExtremist (who is voiced by {{Creator/MalcolmMcDowell}}).
* The Institute in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}''. They're scheming bastards prone to horribly abusing the clearly sentient and self-aware synths they create as slaves, assassinating and replacing people, performing unspeakable scientific experiments, and generally maintaining a "MurderIsTheBestSolution" policy towards Wastelanders. But their RaygunGothic CrystalSpiresAndTogas, a massive contrast to the dirty, post-apocalyptic wasteland of the rest of the game, their genuine WellIntentionedExtremist goals, and the discovery that [[spoiler:the Lone Survivor's son was raised as one of their own and has become their leader]], combine together to make their WeCanRuleTogether offer ([[FactionSpecificEndings which the player is free to accept]]) ''very'' tempting.
** Conversely, the new Brotherhood of Steel [[BaseBreakingCharacter could be seen as this]]. On one hand, they have genocidal tendencies towards Synths, ghouls, super mutants and other non-humans with [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Nazi-like fanaticism]], but [[JerkassHasAPoint on the other hand]], most of these are AlwaysChaoticEvil monsters anyway (it's the Brotherhood's refusal to acknowledge a few ''aren't'' that makes it a KickTheDog from them). Whether the Brotherhood of Steel qualify as evil is arguable, but what isn't is that they're ''awesome''. Knights clad in T-60 power armour, fleets of Vertibirds, [[spoiler:a CoolAirship, and they've even rebuilt Liberty Prime!]]
* ''VideoGame/NocturneRPGMaker'': All three of the vampire Ancestors in this game qualify.
** Reviel, the VillainProtagonist of the game, is a TallDarkAndHandsome DualWielding MagicKnight BloodKnight who tends to be the monster in MuggingTheMonster scenarios. And unlike most RPG protagonists, he can [[DungeonBypass break down]] puzzle-locked doors and barriers with his brute strength alone. He was also once known as a [[TheDreaded "Satan"]] to mankind for easily slaughtering all human civilization that he comes across. [[spoiler:As an inversion, he arguably becomes even cooler after his HeelFaceTurn, where he tanks a villain's strongest spells at point blank range in order to protect the village and still comes out on top, albeit with help from Luna.]]
** Ristill might be the weakest of the Ancestors, but she proves to be a clever schemer and a MadScientist who comes up with ways to make up for the power discrepancy. She also has a past-paced boss theme that really highlights how frantically difficult she is after she uses Maxwell to gain an infinite supply of mana. Even Khaos notes that her ability to create existence from nothing is a potential StoryBreakerPower, which is proven true when her ability renders his CombatClairvoyance useless.
** Khaos is a BadassBookworm who managed to discover how to control time and space, among other magical concepts that he studies. He's also the most powerful of the three because he knows how to apply his vast knowledge to combat, as shown when he uses time-based spells to give himself extra turns and predict the future. Better yet, the latter spell replaces the ordinary battlefield with a purple space, magic circle platform, and spinning gears in the background. [[spoiler:The evil part is downplayed because he used to be the Ancestors' TokenGoodTeammate and is only the main antagonist because he wants to control time and space to bring his lover back.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* Ito, the God of Trust and Betrayal from ''Webcomic/AMomentOfPeace'', [[http://www.amomentofpeace.net/comic.php?num=108 steals dreams and crushes hopes]] for a living, and has prosthetic hands forged from moments of despair by crows that grew hands to strangle people.
* ''Webcomic/{{Sins}}''. Soul destroying {{Anthropomorphic Personification}}s of The SevenDeadlySins they may be, but they are also cool ([[ReplacementScrappy ok, not New Envy]]) and way more fun than their opponents, The Virtues. It doesn't hurt that [[EvilIsSexy Lust is pretty hot]]!
* Richard from ''Webcomic/LookingForGroup'' is an over-the-top chaotic evil necromancer working with an ostensibly good group, and he's easily the most interesting and coolest character in the series.
* Black Mage from ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'' subverts this trope. Every single other character in the series utterly confirms it.
** As does Thief, the resident MagnificentBastard.
** Black Mage also plays this trope straight, as he is, at the same time, one of the most loved characters and the most psychotic.
* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'':
** Xykon's second rule of thumb is "Whatever you want to do, look cool doing it". His first one is "Also, don't bother with pesky morals, they just make you lose". Some of his [[MoralEventHorizon worst moments]] are also listed as [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome the best of the comic]].
** Also, [[spoiler: [[CharacterizationTags Evil]]!Vaarsuvius, for the short time we seem them]], pulls off some pretty awesome and ridiculously immoral actions. [[spoiler: Like a ''[[MoralEventHorizon FAMILICIDE]]'' !]]
** [[spoiler: SubvertedTrope for General]] Tarquin, who earned himself fandom adoration for his affability and for being savvy. He actually [[LampshadeHanging comments that]] "Audiences always think the villain is cooler than the hero is, anyway.". [[spoiler:He starts loosing his cool after the death of Malack, however, making increasingly bad decisions that make him look more and more like a deranged psychopath and less like an AffablyEvil villain.]]
** Belkar, the Sexy Shoeless God of War, who defines HeroicComedicSociopath and is beloved by the fans.
* {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in [[http://www.littledee.net/2007pics/20070324.gif this]] ''Little Dee'' strip.
* Bob from ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'' easily fits here, not only taking on all the other characters in the series (often at the same time), but trying to eliminate the author of the comic so he can take over.
* ''Webcomic/{{XKCD}}'' : Black Hat is one of the only defined characters, and provide most of the CrossedTheLineTwice humor.
* ''Webcomic/CaseyAndAndy'' has Satan, as shown in the example image. Yes, ''[[RuleSixtyThree that]]'' Satan.
* Oasis from ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance''. It helps that she's also hot, and in her first appearance, she was naked.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'',
** [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2009-05-18 Fuschia invokes this trope explicitly in universe -- to hide from her boss, Satan]].
** [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2007-08-02 Satan grumpily asserts it himself after the angels leave.]]
* [[CardCarryingVillain Rhea]] in [[http://worldpeace.emilymarthasorensen.com To Prevent World Peace]] is a fashion designer who specializes in corrupting magical girls through "villain fashions" (which are designed to look cooler).
* Mr. Hyde in ''Webcomic/TheGlassScientists'' certainly thinks so, and often tries to [[InvokedTrope invoke this trope]] on purpose, though whether or not he actually succeeds is another matter.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* On a more or less literal example, sites like Website/SomethingAwful and Encyclopedia Dramatica took off on and later propagated the idea that e-baggery is hip and whoever feels empathy for others is not a true nerd.
* Evil Flippy from ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends''.
* Mecha Sonic from ''WebAnimation/SuperMarioBrosZ'' is incredibly evil, yet incredibly badass. Every time he appears in the story, he hands someone's ass over to them (Yoshi's [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown brutal defeat in episode 3]] and [[MookHorrorShow the utter massacre]] [[EarthShatteringKaboom that was episode 6 come to mind]]). The series is already 8 episodes long and the most heroes managed to do was temporarily inconvenience him.
* While calling him evil is a bit of a stretch, Strong Bad of ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' was originally intended to be a bumbling bad guy who always lost. He quickly became the most popular character on the website. His old introduction video actually said "you don't know it yet, but ''I'm'' the ''real'' reason you're here." From the first Strong Bad Email: "Do you use [your powers] for good, or for awesome?"
* Arc villains in ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall'', assuming they aren't set up to humorous, play this trope straight.
** Mechakara is badass and outright menacing, nearly killing Linkara in both fights and proving unlike early villains, he's no joke.
** Lord Vyce's badassery (with Linkara stating fighting him head on was impossible) and BadassBaritone earned him a lot of fans even if number of them agree that his story was [[ArcFatigue longer than it needed to be]].
* Part of the love ''Creator/TeamFourStar'' gets with their AbridgedSeries work is that any characters they work are just as awesome as canon incarnations. Special mention goes to ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'''s Freeza, who despite being [[LaughablyEvil a lot funnier]] in their series, is still the HeroKiller he was in canon, and some of the humorous moments done actually make him an AdapationalBadass as it has him [[NoSell laughing off]] a BoltOfDivineRetribution after daring {{God}} to strike him down.
* Take a look at this very wiki. Villains have more tropes and usually longer entries in their works. An excellent example is ''Characters/OnceUponATime'', where the Evil Queen and the Dark One each have their own page and are the only ones who do in a show with LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters.
* ''Podcast/KakosIndustries'' takes this concept and very well runs it for its money. In this world, being Evil and in the ranks with the named corporation, promises rare gourmet food, parties, orgies, and robot fights in between the average dose of torment the corporation might feel like dishing out for fun.
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}} has Roman Torchwick and Cinder Fall. Roman for being a stylish, snarky, badass who can mange to look cool even while losing. Cinder for being mysterious and CreepyAwesome. [[spoiler: [[BigBad Cinder's apparent boss, Salem,]] also qualifies, with a seriously cool design, and being voiced by Jen freaking Taylor.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* This is the point of Eric Cartman from ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', especially as The Coon from the "Coon & Friends" trilogy, although this is sometimes not the case.
** Used in a subtle way in the episode "Freemium isn't Free." The episode has Stan addicted to a mobile game and eventually he summons the Devil for help in dealing with it. After a pretty good explanation, the Devil actually sees what Stan is addicted to and pretty much implies this trope in regards to temptation over the exploitation mechanics of the game.
--> '''Satan:''' No, see, if something's addictive because it's fun, that's one thing. But this is just blatant Skinner box manipulation. Wait a minute. Who put this out?!
* Hank Scorpio from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. Helps that's he's quite affable and a nice boss.
** Sideshow Bob and Mr. Burns can sometimes become this, though the latter is much more often depicted as being BornInTheWrongCentury or TwoDecadesBehind.
* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'':
** Although [[BigBad Ice King]] isn't much of a terrifying menace like the other villains on this page, he's a CrazyAwesome EvilSorcerer with [[AnIcePerson power over ice]] who rules over his own kingdom with [[EverythingsBetterWithPenguins penguin minions]]. Not to mention that he's so eccentric and antisocial it's ''[[LaughablyEvil hilarious]]'', and he even has a tragic backstory.
** [[KnightOfCerebus The Lich]] definitely qualifies.
* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'':
** [[DarkActionGirl Shego]] lives for this Trope. For starters, her backstory reveals that she started as a hero but turned villain since evil is cooler. And then she does, in fact, become the coolest person in the show.
** It's not surprising considering all the crap she puts up with.
** Every time some sort of AppliedPhlebotinum brings out goofy old Ron's SuperpoweredEvilSide, he becomes so damn awesome at being evil (while still being kinda goofy) that he actually scares ''Shego''.
** Senor Senior, Senior was just a bored billionaire until [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Ron gave him the idea]] that it would be really cool if his mansion were an actual supervillain lair.
** Ron often parodies this trope when faced with Deadly Invention of the Week.
--> '''Ron:''' That would be so cool if it wasn't going to hurt us.
*** Not to mention the episodes where he becomes evil. When this happens, he is quite possibly the most badass character in the entire show.
* ''WesternAnimation/MightyMax'': the archvillain Skullmaster was voiced by Creator/TimCurry. Luckily, for the rest of the cast, he only showed up in about 5 episodes. But in those episodes, well, he rules hell, and has demon and zombie armies at his command. Oh, and he can outsmart the SmartGuy and beat the BigGuy in a straight fight. Oh, and [[EvilPlan all of his convoluted plans succeed]]...except for the last one. [[TimeyWimeyBall Maybe.]]
* The BigBad of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', Slade, is the most utterly badass character in the show.
* Megabyte from ''ReBoot''. While fairly average throughout the first season, in subsequent seasons, he became increasingly hardcore, with [[EvilPlan impressive plans]] and still enough time to hand the heroes' asses to them in occasional fights. Being voiced by the late Creator/TonyJay doesn't hurt, either.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'':
** You're watching it, right? The show that does ''not'' advocate the cool crime of robbery!
** Bender is a guy who is loved in-universe and out, by everyone, despite being a hedonistic thief and sometimes a murderer. For example, in "Hell is Other Robots":
-->'''Leela:''' Bender, we didn't mind we didn't mind your drinking, or your kleptomania, or your pornography ring.
-->'''Zoidberg:''' In fact, that's why we loved you!
* On the HalloweenEpisode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'', every kid wanted to dress as the Jack O' Bots, four villains from [[ShowWithinAShow Crash Nebula]], since the bad guys' costumes were the coolest.
* [[MagnificentBastard David Xanatos]] from ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'', who manages to be both really cool and really fascinating.
** Thailog. He actually [[OutGambitted outwits]] ''Xanatos'', and any time he appears with another villain almost always has him pulling EvilerThanThou on them.
* ''WesternAnimation/CareBears1980s'': For some older fans, the main villains of the Nelvana series and movies are more entertaining than the Care Bears and Cousins.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheDreamstone'' falls under similar territory. The fanbase largely favors Zordrak and the Urpneys over the cutesy residents of the Land Of The Dreams. Granted, for the Urpneys, it may be more a case of "[[LaughablyEvil Evil Is Funny]]".
* Similar to Xanatos and Slade above, Tombstone and Green Goblin, the two main {{Big Bad}}s of ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'', are perhaps two of the most awesome characters in a series full of them.
* Victor Veloci, the villain of ''WesternAnimation/DinoSquad'', is seen by many of the show's few viewers as the only interesting character.
* The Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse is chock-full of cool bad guys.
** Darkseid is possibly the apex of villainous awesome. He's an ObviouslyEvil despotic tyrant, who rules over the hellish world of Apokolips. He's also incredibly strong, enough to fight Superman hand-to-hand, but intelligent enough to mind-control Superman, double-cross [[AIIsACrapshoot Brainiac]], and be acknowledged as a living God by the very people he oppresses. Being voiced by [[Creator/MichaelIronside Michael]] fucking Iron''seid'' is really just the icing on the villainous cake.
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'';
** Her Majesty [[MagnificentBastard Princess Azula]] of the Fire Nation. Aside from being able to do all sorts of neat tricks with her blue fire and her ability to bend ''[[ShockAndAwe lightning]]'', she's also the walking embodiment of savviness ([[TheChessmaster her actions]] in [[WhamEpisode the Book Two finale]] are [[HeroKiller simultaneously terrifying]] and a CrowningMomentOfAwesome). The fact that she's only ''14'' only ups her coolness and terrifyingness.
** Zuko also managed to profit from this; considerably less since he's a) not that good at being evil and b) TheWoobie even ''when'' he's [[RoyalBrat evil]], but it gave him a certain style and badass cred that seems to help draw in the fans. Especially in the beginning of the first season, when he was actually the villain.
-->'''Zuko:''' WHY AM I SO BAD AT BEING GOOD?!
** Koh the Face-Stealer was also kinda cool.
** The [[TheMenInBlack Dai Li]]!
** And Fire Lord Ozai. Not the MagnificentBastard his daughter is, though he sure seemed something like it until he completely lost his mind. His [[FlatCharacter lack of personality]] made him a bit of BaseBreakingCharacter though.
** Averted with Zhao, though he easily is memorable for the LoveToHate factor.
* [[BigBad Amon]] from ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra''. He's voiced by SteveBlum and therefore has a [[EvilSoundsDeep deep voice]] that he uses in frightening threats, a cool and scary mask, doesn't flinch when fire blasts into the room he and his mooks are in (incapacitating them) and [[spoiler:can resist the assault of a powerful rogue bloodbender, something only an equally powerful waterbender has been shown to do]]. Finally, he absolutely terrifies Korra. A guy who claims to be a [[BadassNormal non-bender]] manages to terrify the most powerful bender in the world. Just as she's starting to get her confidence back, he ambushes her and delivers a BreakingSpeech so effective that [[HeroicBSOD she breaks down into tears afterwards.]] He achieved true MagnificentBastard status in record time. It took only six episodes to achieve it and he's only had a major part in THREE!
** His {{Mook}}s, the chi-blockers, also count. Not only do they look cool, but are also some of the most competent and dangerous mooks ever put into WesternAnimation. They're like an army of EliteMooks. Two of them can put up a strong fight against two very powerful benders.
** [[spoiler: Varrick]] in the show's second season, surprisingly. At first appearing to be nothing more than a CloudCuckoolander, and a downright hilarious one at that, but TheReveal that he was a villain [[spoiler: turned him into such a MagnificentBastard]] that it made him even more appealing. Suffice it to say he was far more interesting to watch [[FlatCharacter then the shows actual villains that season]].
** The Red Lotus from Book 3; criminals who all possess a form of bending that is impossible or unnatural under normal circumstances, their combined strength is enough to challenge even the most powerful fighters in the world:
*** [[WickedCultured Zaheer]], a BadassNormal who gained Airbending through Harmonic Convergence
*** Ghazan, an Earthbender whose standard battle plan is to attack targets with [[MagmaMan magma shuriken]].
*** Ming-Hua, a Waterbender who fights with CombatTentacles due to [[HandicappedBadass lacking arms]].
*** P'Li, a Firebender who can [[StuffBlowingUp blow stuff up with her mind]] ala Combustion Man.
** [[EvilCounterpart Kuvira]] the FinalBoss of the series also deserves mention as well since she became beloved in the fandom thanks to the trailer from Book 4 alone and the first episode of the season cemented her from then on. Admittedly she's easily the biggest BaseBreakingCharacter on this list (with some fans decrying her as an InvincibleVillain [[VillainSue Sue]]) for others in the fanbase she's still quite beloved for her numerous badass feats (hey when you can go [[spoiler: toe to toe with the Avatar and win and your finishing move in the series is to attack the Heroes city with a giant mech you definitely deserve to be on this list]]).
* As mentioned above under Film, the Decepticons in most Franchise/{{Transformers}} franchises fall under this.
** Of note is their leader, [[BigBad Megatron]], in any incarnation. He's usually depicted as an imposing, badass, no-nonsense megalomaniacal leader who rivals (or surpasses) Optimus Prime in power, though his various incarnations emphasize some traits and downplay others. Though [[TransformersGenerationOne the original Megatron]] loses points for being a GeneralFailure and for his alternate mode being ''a tiny handgun'', he still has a ton of admiring fans, and has been depicted as more threatening (with more imposing altmodes) in later G1-based continuities.
** Also, [[TransformersGenerationOne G1]] Megatron's Creator/LeonardNimoy-voiced alter ego [[PurpleIsPowerful Galvatron]] and, as mentioned above, his TyrannosaurusRex (later [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragon]]) MagnificentBastard successor from ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'', also called Megatron.
*** G1 Galvatron managed to amass a sizable in the Marvel Transformers comics by asserting himself as [[TheJuggernaut virtually unbeatable]], his popularity leading to his JokerImmunity for most the comic's run, and the sheer number of things he survived arguably added to his appeal due to how unkillable it made him seem. All this in spite he was FAR more evil than his cartoon incarnation.
** Shockwave, also across his various incarnations, is a coldly logical MadScientist who's able to, and in some cases willing to, throw down with Megatron and live.
** Predaking from ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' is one of the most powerful Transformers in the series, period, and has an [[InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons awesome black dragon]] for an alternate mode. The only thing that could beat him in a straight fight was [[EldritchAbomination Unicron]].
** SOUNDWAVE. He's been the most popular Decepticon [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers since the first series]]. And it later gets taken UpToEleven in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' in [[MemeticBadass terms of design]]. He's popular mostly because he's so powerful and savvy that he could take down [[OneManArmy Megatron]] in a one on one fight and win. However, he prefers to stay out of the line of fire and take care of the Decepticon missions from a safe distance so he'll have a higher chance of winning. To further this trait, he doesn't even do any [[KickTheDog dog kicking]] or have fun performing evil. It's [[AffablyEvil just business.]]
** ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'':
*** Blackarachnia is very popular amongst the fanbase -- like she says, she's hot, poisonous, and deadly. (Also, a FemmeFatale with the sort of body most fanboys only get to look at, that might also have something to do with it.)
*** Other popular Predacons include [[MagnificentBastard Megatron]], [[TheDragon Inferno]], [[MadScientist Tarantulas]], [[MixAndMatchCritters Quickstrike]], [[AxCrazy Rampage]], and [[TheChewtoy Waspinator]].
** The villains always have cooler ''names''. The Autobots have "Optimus Prime", "Bumblebee", "Ironhide", "Ultra Magnus", "Trailbreaker", "Cliffjumper", "Bulkhead", "Wheeljack", "Smokescreen", and "Blurr", but how do they compare with Decepticons "Megatron", "Starscream", "Devastator", "Demolishor", "Frenzy", "Bonecrusher", "Barricade", "Blitzwing", "Shockwave", "Skullcruncher", "Ruination", "Predaking" and..."The Fallen"?
* Heloise on ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'' is undoubtably the [[EnsembleDarkhorse most popular character]] on the show. The [[AxCrazy sheer]] [[EnfantTerrible number]] [[MadScientist of]] [[HairTriggerTemper evil]] [[ForTheEvulz tropes]] [[{{Yandere}} that]] [[MagnificentBastard apply]] is staggering.
* An in-universe example: in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Bart dismisses the entire genre of Christian rock because "everyone knows the best rock groups are affiliated with Satan."
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipisMagic'', any significant villain that appears at the start or end of a season:
** Nightmare Moon in the pilot. While not especially interesting personality wise, fans loved her design, [[EvilIsHammy hamminess]], and that despite being a StarterVillain was reasonably savvy.
** Discord from the start of the second season, a [[MagnificentBastard manipulative]] RealityWarper that has touches of CreepyAwesome through MindRape and CrazyAwesome through the his sheer hilarity.
** Queen Chrysalis at the end of season two has an excellent VillainSong.
** King Sombra, while a BaseBreakingCharacter due to [[GenericDoomsdayVillain his lack of personality]], is this a portion of the fanbase for his menacing design, competence, often applied the use of [[CreepyAwesome horrifying]] BlackMagic that meant earned him a NearVillainVictory despite spending most of his screen time as a looming background menace.
** And then there's Lord Tirek, who starts out weak and helpless, only able to absorb the magic of one pony at a time, he [[MagnificentBastard manages to outwit Discord]] and make him have a FaceHeelTurn, steals the draconequus's magic, fights Princess Twilight in a [[KamehameHadoken fight that looks like something out of Dragonball Z]] and ends up defeated by being essentially sent to Tartarus, which seems to be the pony equivalent of Hell.
* ''WesternAnimation/SonicSatAM'' gives us possibly the most evil incarnation of Robotnik ever, and also one of the most popular. Being voiced by Creator/JimCummings helps.
[[/folder]]

* ''MightyMax'': the archvillain Skullmaster was voiced by Creator/TimCurry. Luckily, for the rest of the cast, he only showed up in about 5 episodes. But in those episodes, well, he rules hell, and has demon and zombie armies at his command. Oh, and he can outsmart the SmartGuy and beat the BigGuy in a straight fight. Oh, and [[EvilPlan all of his convoluted plans succeed]]...except for the last one. [[TimeyWimeyBall Maybe.]]

** [[spoiler:Kenny Ackerman]] for his [[spoiler:antipersonnel 3D maneuvering gear skills]] and overall ClintEastwood-like appearance, though he's not entirely without some [[EvilIsHammy hammy]] qualities.

* [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Bowser]], despite his VillainDecay and [[GoKartingWithBowser penchant for competitive sports]] over the years, is still a giant, [[SpikesOfVillainy spiky]], [[BreathWeapon fire-breathing]] turtle-dragon, and winning a one-on-one fight with him as a pudgy plumber will always be satisfying - and yet, he's still a powerful menace when he needs to be, especially in the main Mario platformers. ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story]]'' seems to play to this, where the big bad spiky dude is the main character (even if he ultimately has to save the Mushroom Kingdom) and, rather than being merely a comedic ButtMonkey, he's shown as a HotBlooded Badass when he needs to be, and still gets plenty of hilarious scenes. Subsequent ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' installments run with this trope and depict Bowser as a much smarter and more menacing villain than in previous RPG's, all while keeping him as the LaughablyEvil BoisterousBruiser fans know and love.

** However Terumi become a seperate playable character form Hazama made fans love him again.

* In the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, Doctor Doom practically owns this trope. He's a science genius who wears a cloak and a suit of armor, rules his own country, and lives in a castle. And refers to himself in the third person! DOOM insists on it!

** Their [[Creator/IanMcshane respective]] [[GaryOldman voice actors]] have a lot to do with it.

* The [[TheEmpire Imperium]] in ''StrikeLegion'' has this going for it by being an {{Expy}} of the Imperium of Man, but they go MANY extra miles, possessing armies that include Godzilla type monsters, MANY forms of super soldiers even deadlier than its [[SpaceMarine Space Marines]], and [[MonsterClown MonsterClowns]] that include lightsaber wielding {{Expy}}s of TheJoker.

** Tyranitar and Hydreigon, a Franchise/{{Godzilla}}[=/=]TyrannosaurusRex and a King Ghidorah/Hydra Pokémon respectively. Both of them are ''extremely'' savage and destructive, are Dark-types who use ''actual'' [[DarkIsEdgy darkness powers]] as compared to [[CombatPragmatist most other Dark types]], and their BST of 600 makes them comparable to some legendaries in terms of power. (Unsurprisingly, they're both in the OU tier.)
** Additionally, there's [[MagikarpPower Gyarados]], [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Salamence]], [[ThreateningShark Garchomp]], and [[SpiderTank Metagross]]. While not Dark-types, they're just as savage and deadly as Hydreigon.
** Houndoom is a Dark-type literal HellHound and one of the more popular Pokémon.
** And of course, there's of the best-known and most powerful "evil" Pokémon, [[EnsembleDarkhorse Mewtwo]].
** By far the most popular "shiny" Pokémon coloration belongs to Charizard, already an enormous EnsembleDarkHorse. In its shiny form, it gets an evil-looking black color scheme with blood-red wings and sinister red eyes (this form was actually depicted as a [[CastingAShadow Darkness-type]] in the TCG in one card, and the card is one of the most sought-after and ridiculously overpriced cards today).

** From the new games, there's BigBad PsychopathicManchild, N ([[spoiler:something of an AntiVillain with [[AbusiveParents serious daddy issues]]), and, by extension, his [[PlayingWithFire Reshiram]] (in ''White'') and [[ShockAndAwe Zekrom]] (in ''Black''). (The opposite dragon is yours to use and therefore "heroic" in its respective game, however.)]]
** Unlike Reshiram and Zekrom, Kyurem is shaping up to be a truly evil (or at least corrupt) Pokémon by nature that [[ImAHumanitarian eats humans]]. And it's a giant [[AnIcePerson ice]] [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragon]] that can absorb Reshiram or Zekrom to switch forms and become more powerful.
** [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY Yveltal]], the gigantic bird-like Destruction Pokémon, screams this trope.
** Malamar, Dark/Psychic squid Pokémon, which unlike the above Pokémon, [[DarkIsNotEvil who aren't always evil]], is an AlwaysChaoticEvil [[DarkIsEvil Pokémon that is using mind control as they plot world domination]], especially as seen in the anime. [[CreepyAwesome Malamar's fans wouldn't want it any other way]].
** Incineroar, the fully-evolved Fire-type starter from ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon''. It's an [[RatedMForManly extremely manly]] Fire/Dark bipedal tiger with the personality of a {{heel}} wrestler, complete with a championship belt made of fire. While it's a BaseBreakingCharacter (quite fittingly for its status as a heel), it has fans that love it a lot, many of which are in the {{bara}} community. This also applies in-universe, as its "bad guy" act makes it popular with children.

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

* Through not exactly a villain at the moment(but perhaps will be a antagonist an X-Pack), the KnightTemplar Angel Imperius from VideoGame/DiabloIII seems to be heading in this direction given his badass armor design and [[spoiler: the short but badass fight between him and Diablo at the beginning of Act IV]].

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

* Mecha Sonic from ''WebAnimation/SuperMarioBrosZ'' is incredibly evil, yet incredibly BadAss. Every time he appears in the story, he hands someone's ass over to them (Yoshi's [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown brutal defeat in episode 3]] and [[MookHorrorShow the utter massacre]] [[EarthShatteringKaboom that was episode 6 come to mind]]). The series is already 8 episodes long and the most heroes managed to do was temporarily inconvenience him.

* Sir Crocodile of ''Manga/OnePiece'' pulls this off almost too well. A list of atrocities can fill a book. However, he commits his evil acts while dressed like a blinged-out mafia don, complete with a ring on almost every finger and a pimpin' green fur coat. Not only that, but he controls an organization made up of CrazyAwesome [[BadAss Badasses]], owns a casino, trots around with a scantily-clad hot chick as his #2, keeps incredibly dangerous predators as pets, and is also made of and can control sand, and he has a hook for a hand. That's just darn cool. But he's such a ''bastard''...

** [[BadassInCharge Fuhrer]] [[PresidentEvil King]] [[PuttingOnTheReich Bradley]], who's supposed to be the living incarnation of Wrath, but is more like the living incarnation of BadAss, complete with EyePatchOfPower, ImplausibleFencingPowers, and a [[AwesomeMcCoolname really cool name]].

* Frank from ''Film/OnceUponATimeInTheWest'' fits very well to the trope. Its combination of BadAss, ProfessionalKiller, DeadpanSnarker and his suit practically makes him a cool villain.

* The BigBad of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', Slade, is the most utterly BadAss character in the show.

* For ''IronKingdoms'' players, much of the appeal of the evil factions is how cool their models look.

* Almost every Franchise/{{Disney|AnimatedCanon}} villain imaginable turns out to be cooler and much more lovable and funny than the protagonist. Having really awesome [[VillainSong Villain Songs]] probably helps.

** Honest John and his sidekick, Gideon, from ''Disney/{{Pinocchio}}'' have one of the coolest songs in Disney history: ''Hi Diddle Dee Dee''

* The DCAnimatedUniverse is chock-full of cool bad guys.