History Main / HornsOfVillainy

* UsefulNotes/{{Germany}} has the legend of the Krampus, the flip-side of Santa Claus, to whom he has subcontracted the "naughty..." part of the "naughty or nice?" question. On St Nicholas' night (December 6th) the Krampus does his rounds, armed with a chastising switch and a sack, to suitably punish the naughty children. The Krampus takes the form of a demonic entity, goat-legged from the waist down, with a head crowned by long curling horns. This places the Krampus into three traditions: the Germanic one of "Herne the Hunter", plus Christianised notions of Satan, plus an overlay of Pan and the satyr.

* In ''Webcomic/BasicInstructionsBeforeLeavingEarth'', haruls who dabble in magic tend to grow horns as the magic's corrupting effect reveals their half-demon ancestry.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Heartcore}}'', all of the demons have horns and are evil by nature, but some demons like [[VillainProtagonist Ame]] subvert this by being not-entirely-evil.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'', when someone is BOMF-ed into a devil character, they gain short conical horns on the forehead as part of the transformation. The devil girls have these all the time, as does Slick's devil side.

* ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'': Demons, being a race of random {{Hybrid Monster}}s, may or may not have horns, but the three Prime Evils that rule them always do; these are combined with other SpikesOfVillainy that makes it difficult to count them. The most recent incarnation of Diablo has about six, which are also bifurcated.

* ''ComicBook/KlausGrantMorrison'': Krampus, a sadistic child killer has a pair of long, antelope-like horns sprouting from his skull.

* ''ComicBook/{{Klaus}}'': Krampus, a sadistic child killer has a pair of long, antelope-like horns sprouting from his skull.

* ''Anime/VoltesV'': The noble class of Planet Boazania are horned, and use them as an excuse to deem the hornless Boazanians as inferior. The cruelty towards the hornless Boazanians is so pervasive that [[spoiler:when the Prince of Boazania is born with no horns, his father attempts ''[[OffingTheOffpsring filicide]]'' on him and has to be held back by his wife, the doctor that delivered the baby and his personal messenger. He agrees to spare the child...and raise him with prosthetic horns so that he won't be subject to societal FantasticRacism]].

* ''Literature/TheBeginningAfterTheEnd'': [[BigBad Agrona]] and the Vritra all sport horns that contain the source of their magical power. Given that the Vritra are a clan of EvilutionaryBiologist[=s=] who have experimented on the population of Alacrya for millennia, a tell-tale sign of their corruptive influence is the presence of the same horns of power on other living beings and creatures. In fact, the horns are so symbolic of the Vritra that the the phrase "[[OhMyGods Vritra's Horns]]" is a common swear in Alacryan society.

* ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'': Illidan Stormrage is a night elf demon hunter, who took the HeWhoFightsMonsters path and became a demonic being himself, gaining horns and bat-like wings during the process.

* ''Literature/DiamondDogs''. When Childe first turns up to recruit his childhood friend Richard for an expedition to break into an EvilTowerOfOminousness, Richard notes that he's replaced his satanic horns (this is in a future where body modification isn't unusual) with a BeardOfEvil. [[spoiler:Apart from establishing Childe's villainy, it also serves as a ChekhovsGun when someone finds a horn among the remains dumped outside the tower, revealing that the real Childe is dead.]]

* ''Anime/{{Voltes V}}'': The noble class of Planet Boazania are horned, and use them as an excuse to deem the hornless Boazanians as inferior. The cruelty towards the hornless Boazanians is so pervasive that [[spoiler: when the Prince of Boazania is born with no horns, his father attempts ''[[OffingTheOffpsring filicide]]'' on him and has to be held back by his wife, the doctor that delivered the baby and his personal messenger. He agrees to spare the child...and raise him with prosthetic horns so that he won't be subject to societal FantasticRacism]].

* ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'': While its description in [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings the books]] is rather vague, the movies' balrog has a fiery devil-like appearance and massive ram-like horns.

*** Hela's hairdress is decorated with a multitude of horns. She uses them as projectiles in fight.

* In ''Series/BabylonFive'', Ambassador Kosh has little stylised wings on the shoulders of his encounter suit. Rather than wings, his replacement has curved tubes that resemble horns -- and, sure enough, turns out to be much less affable.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': While they're not true horns, the Night King's head has several icy spikes protruding from his forehead and the crown of his head, giving him an appearance similiar to Darth Maul.

* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'':

CuckoldHorns are something else entirely. DevilishHairHorns are a symbolic version of this.

SisterTrope to SpikesOfVillainy and HornsOfBarbarism, with which this does not necessarily have to coincide. The horns being antlers can overlap with SinisterDeerSkull. Contrast HolyHalo.

SisterTrope to SpikesOfVillainy and HornsOfBarbarism, with which this does not necessarily have to coincide. Contrast HolyHalo.

** The TropeCodifier is usually {{Satan}}, who is always depicted with horns unless [[LouisCypher masquerading as someone else]]. This image is derived from various goat/man hybrids in Myth/ClassicalMythology, such as fauns, satyrs, and the god Pan, who were basically incarnations of lust; thus, in traditional art Satan is also shown with hooves and a tail, though this aspect is somewhat less common today. Over time Satan's horns have evolved in artwork from curly goat horns to longer cow- or ram-like horns, and these are so iconic that they are even now primary indicators of all demons, or of a SatanicArchetype or a BigRedDevil.

** The TropeCodifier is usually {{Satan}}, who is always depicted with horns unless [[LouisCypher masquerading as someone else]]. This image is derived from various goat/man hybrids in Myth/ClassicalMythology, such as fauns, satyrs, and the god Pan, who were basically incarnations of lust; thus, in traditional art Satan is also shown with hooves and a tail, though this aspect is somewhat less common today. Over time Satan's horns have evolved in artwork from curly goat horns to longer cow- or ram-like horns, and these are so iconic that they are even now primary indicators of all demons ([[HornyDevils whether they be horny in another sense]]), or of a SatanicArchetype or a BigRedDevil.

* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', in addition to the usual HornyDevils, has Nicol Bolas, a planeswalking elder dragon legend of tremendous power, with a focus on tyranny and cruelty. Not only does he have immense sinister horns, he uses them as his sigil, to the point where the plane he rules, Amonkhet, treats them as a [[ReligionOfEvil religious icon]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': Emperor Belos, the tyrannical ruler of the Boiling Isles who seeks to subjugate "wild magic" and all who practice it, wears a golden mask with antlers on it.

** The [[RatMan skaven]] worship a deity known as the Great Horned Rat, and some skaven are rarely born with white/grey fur and horns that mark them as having the favor of their god. Separated from their original litters, the Grey Seers are raised to become scheming {{Evil Sorcerer}}s and the ruling priesthood of skaven society. Verminlords, meanwhile, are [[PhysicalGod supernatural avatars of the Horned Rat]] (analogous to the "greater daemons" of the Chaos Gods), and possess particularly outrageous sets of horns befitting their patron and their [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever colossal stature]].

* [[Music/GhostBand Ghost]] plays rock with distinctly Satanic themes. Its musicians, the Nameless Ghouls, have wore horned devil masks during the ''Meliora'' and ''Prequelle'' eras.