History Main / SinisterSwine

* ''Manga/OnePiece'': [[spoiler:Saint Topman Warcury of the [[OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness Five Elder Stars]] can transform into a Fengxi, a gigantic boar from Chinese mythology that often terrorizes the countryside and causes great havoc. His transformation possesses four tusks and is bigger than a building.]]

* ''Manga/OnePiece'': [[spoiler:Saint Topman Warcury of the [[OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness Five Elders]] can transform into a Fengxi, a gigantic boar from Chinese mythology that often terrorizes the countryside and causes great havoc. His transformation possesses four tusks and is bigger than a building.]]

* ''Literature/AnimalFarm'': Most of the pigs in the story are portrayed as greedy and hypocritical villains, especially after [[BigBad Napoleon]] takes the helm. The pigs usurp control over the titular farm because [[BrainyPig they were the only animals smart enough to do so]], and begin to change the rules of the farm to their own benefit until eventually [[spoiler:a FullCircleRevolution ensues and the animals find that they can no longer tell the difference between the pigs and the humans]]. Snowball is generally considered to be the TokenGoodTeammate, but even he is a {{downplayed|Trope}} example of this trope, frequently being an InsufferableGenius; he even berates Boxer the horse for showing remorse after seemingly killing one of the humans.

->''Big and fat. \\
Pig's supposed to look like that. \\
Barnyard thug, \\
Sleeps on straw and he calls it a rug, \\
Yeah, that's a rug, okay... \\
He's walking down the street \\
And nobody's gonna argue with him -- \\

-->-- "Pigs, Sheep and Wolves", '''Music/PaulSimon'''

To fit this trope, the character must be a pig, PigMan, or otherwise have swine as a prominent AnimalMotif. Since "pig" is a fairly common insult, as described above, do not list characters who are compared to pigs as a generic insult.

* ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'' begins TheHerosJourney when a hideous creature attacks the Emishi farming village. Ashitaka is able to down the monster, which is revealed to be a giant boar forest god, filled with rage and hatred after getting shot with a steel musket ball. This hatred manifests as ugly worms that cover the boar like armor, and one worm infects Ashitaka's arm. He becomes an outcast from the village for being cursed by a god.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'': One of the supervillains in Gotham is Lazlo Valentin, better known as Professor Pyg. [[MeaningfulName As his codename would suggest]], he is an ominous, AxCrazy surgeon who regularly wears a pig mask, and even has at least some resemblance to a pig in most versions of his character.

* One of the new strips in ''The Cor!! Comicbook/{{Buster}} Humour Special'' is ''Swines of Anarchy'', a child-friendly {{parody}} of ''Series/{{Sons of Anarchy}}'' about a [[AllBikersAreHellsAngels violent biker gang]] made up of anthropomorphic pigs.

* ''WesternAnimation/USAcres'' has Orson Pig's three older brothers, who are [[BigBrotherBully big brother bullies]] to Orson. They disappeared after the first three weeks of the strip, but the AnimatedAdaptation on ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' [[AscendedExtra made them recurring villains]] and [[NamedByTheAdaptation gave them the names Gort, Wart, and Mort]]. There, they continue to bully Orson and attempt to steal his farm's crops.

* MonsterOfTheWeek in one vignette from ''Fanfic/DifferentTalesDifferentLessons'' is Kang Yuwang, a pig gang leader who appears to be a serious danger to the city of Shanghai, due to his numerous supporters, the [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney wealth]] and [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections influence]] he's gained from his numerous illegal activities, and the fact that [[DirtyCop he can pay off most of the city constabularies]], so that both the travellers Crane, Jia, and Mei Ling meet along the way are [[TheDreaded seriously frightened of him]]. The "Sinister" part is ultimately subverted once the heroes actually confront Kang, however, when they find out he's ultimately a HarmlessVillain whose {{Mook}}s are effortlessly overpowered, and the most dangerous thing about him is that [[PervertedPig he's a massive lecher]]. The author admits that they made Kang a slovenly, unpleasant villain both to offend Western sensibilities and Chinese ones, given that he behaves in contrast to the pig's respected and honoured status in the Chinese Zodiac.

* ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol3'': One of the minor antagonists in the film is War Pig, a scary-looking {{cyborg}} pig who serves as one of [[BigBad The High Evolutionary]]'s guards.
* ''Film/Hellboy2019'': Nimue's main [[TheDragon Dragon]] for the majority of the film is Gruagach, a [[TheFairFolk malicious fairy]] with the appearance of a [[PigMan boar man]] with [[ItsPersonalWithTheDragon a personal enmity with Hellboy]] for getting him banished and stripped of his powers long ago. Towards the climax of the film, he grows brawny and powerful enough to physically hold his own against both Hellboy and [[OurWerebeastsAreDifferent werejaguar]] Ben Daimio at the same time.

* ''Film/{{Razorback}}'', a 1984 Australian horror film about a gigantic wild boar that terrorizes the outback, killing and devouring people.

** As well as borrowing the pig mask from the Jigsaw killers, the Spiral Killer from ''[[Film/Spiral2021 Spiral]]'' has a creepy-looking PolicePig puppet known as "Mr. Snuggles".

* One of Torok’s minions that he spawns from Barry in Film/Troll1986 is a hairy pig with claws.

* The Swine in ''Darkest Dungeon'' were inspired by ''Literature/TheHouseOnTheBorderland'', a work of early cosmic horror by Creator/WilliamHopeHodgson; the House is intermittently transported to an alien world inhabited by ambiguously-sapient but very aggressive pig-men.

* More of a motif than a character, but the Creator/AmbroseBierce [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar Civil War]] short story [[https://www.gutenberg.org/files/13334/13334-h/13334-h.htm#page122 "The Coup de Grace"]] has the protagonist trying to steel himself to MercyKill a severely wounded comrade who has been partly eaten by feral hogs. (This, by the way, was TruthInTelevision; hogs would scavenge after battles and eat human bodies, even if they weren't quite dead.)

* ''Series/AceLightning'': One of [[BigBad Lord Fear's]] minions is Pigface, a [[VillainousGlutton gluttonous]], [[MessyPig unhygienic]] pig monster.
* Deliberately [[InvokedTrope invoked]] InUniverse in the ''Series/BlackMirror'' pilot episode "The National Anthem." The popular Princess Susannah (a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed amalgamation of Princesses Diana and Kate Middleton) is kidnapped, with the criminal demanding that Prime Minister Michael Callow have [[BestialityIsDepraved sex with a pig]] on live television to free her, or else she'll be killed. The choice of the pig is debated by the government, with some suggesting that it might be a clue that the culprits are a terrorist sect from a religion that thinks pigs are "unclean." [[spoiler:The real kidnapper turns out to be a MadArtist making a statement about how BileFascination [[HumansAreBastards turns humans into terrible people]], implying that he deliberately chose a pig for its symbolic nature.]]
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': Subverted with the [[PigMan humanoid pig slaves]] from "Daleks in Manhattan"/"Evolution of the Daleks". While they first appear sinister when they kidnap Lazlo in the cold open, [[spoiler:they turn out to be victims of the Daleks, irreversibly transformed from their human state against their will.]]

** Downplayed, concerning the main pig [[BeastMan Wesen]] the [[PigMan Bauerschwein]], who are generally regarded as a diligent, hardworking and social race. Whilst a Bauerschwein was the antagonist on both episodes that tackle their feud with the [[WolfMan Blutbadden]], it's acknowledged they didn't start the feud and have to put up with Blutbadden murdering their kind with near immunity for centuries. The issue being their efforts to retaliate often [[HeWhoFightsMonsters making them come across as just as vicious and callous]] as their enemies. [[EvilChef Chef Ostler]] was a particularly nasty example, due to him deliberately making it so that his food would agonisingly kill any Blutbadden who unknowingly ate it.
** Downplayed also, concerning the Maline Fatal (wild boar Wesen), whilst known for being steadfast and protective they also have a reputation for being extremely ferocious and dangerous, to the point that Josef Stalin chose them to be his personal bodyguards.
** Played Straight with Schinderdiv (Warthog like Wesen) who have a reputation for being ruthless, selfish, and dishonest. Of the two to appear, one was a callous abusive boss who forced his employee into dangerous and traumatising fights for cash and willing to murder anyone who got in his way. The second was a senior member of a terrorist organisation.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] with the Tellarites, one of the four founding races (along with humans, Vulcans, and Andorians) of the United Federation of Planets. The species is loud, belligerent, and rude, to the point where it's common for a conversation with a Tellarite to begin with them complaining about various things or simply insulting the other party. They're also so combative in speech that the most popular sport on Tellar Prime is ''arguing''. However, the Tellarites as a whole are loyal and helpful members of the Federation who show respect to those who earn it from them.

* Music/TheBeatles: ''Music/TheWhiteAlbum'' features the song "Piggies", which is a commentary about greed and consumerism, as "bigger piggies" consume the "little piggies".
* ''Music/BlackSabbath'': Invoked through their song "War Pigs", an anti-war song about the horrors of war and the destruction caused by man. In the song, pigs are a metaphor for people who send the young and poor to fight and die in the Vietnam War.
--> "Day of judgement, God is calling
--> On their knees, the war pigs crawling
--> Begging mercy for their sins
--> Satan laughing, spreads his wings"
* Fittingly for a ConceptAlbum based on ''Literature/AnimalFarm'', the album ''Music/Animals1977'' by Music/PinkFloyd portrays the pigs (a metaphor for greedy, authoritative capitalists) as the primary antagonists. "Pigs (Three Different Ones)" is a TheVillainSucksSong about the pigs which also makes use of the scary/ominous definition of the trope, due to the creepy-sounding pig snorts and squeals that occasionally play throughout the song.
* Pigs are one of the numerous animals mentioned in the lyrics of Music/NineInchNails[='=] ''Music/TheDownwardSpiral'', being used as an AnimalMotif within the bleak storyline that the album follows. The songs with the most prominent references are "Piggy", "Heresy" (which uses "swine" as a word), and "March of the Pigs".
* Paul Gray, a founding (now deceased) member of Music/{{Slipknot}}, is known for his various grim-looking pig masks, though his masks for the later albums he was involved in only had a vague resemblance to pigs.

* The Alexander Romances feature an encounter with a PigMan that Alexander and his troops attempt to trap by luring it out with a beautiful, scantily clad woman. However, the plan hits an unexpected snag when the pigman carries the woman off and [[ToServeMan devours her alive]]. Eventually Alexander and his men are able to chase it down and spear the creature to death.
* The Gadarene Swine of Literature/TheBible. Already vilified by being an unclean animal in the eyes of the Jews, an extra dimension of disgust is added by their becoming a mechanism for the destruction of a host of unclean demons.
** The downfall of the Prodigal Son is LampShaded by the only work he can find being as a pig-herd, dealing with dirty and unclean animals no Jew should ever go near. An extra dimension to both stories is added when you wonder what the hell at least two herds of farmed pigs were doing in Jewish Palestine in the first place, a place where pork produce would not be a meat of choice. The answer -- historically -- is that this was the meat ration for the Roman occupiers. The Prodigal Son is therefore disgracing and demeaning himself on another level by working for the Romans. The pigs are Roman pigs -- a little detail the audience of Jesus would have appreciated.

[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
* ''Series/TheMuppetShow'': Downplayed with Miss Piggy. While she isn't evil, she is an aggressive and somewhat {{Jerkass}} diva, and often schemes to either get Kermit or [[ItsAllAboutMe the spotlight.]]
[[/folder]]

* ''TabletopGame/AdvancedDungeonsAndDragons2ndEdition'' supplement ''TabletopGame/MystaraMonstrousCompendiumAppendix''. The wereswine is a lycanthrope that can take the form of a giant hog or a very fat human. They have a voracious appetite, love to eat human flesh, and will ruthlessly murder humans to obtain it.

* The antagonists of the ''VideoGame/AngryBirds'' series are the Bad Piggies, a group of gluttonous, green swine who continually try to steal and eat the birds' eggs. They're quite persistent- no matter how many times the birds break their structures and beat them up, they're always coming back for more.

* ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'': The Swine are filthy, disgusting creatures that run rampant through the Warrens. They're the results of failed experiments that [[BigBad The Ancestor]] attempted involving the binding of extraplanar demons/EldritchAbomination/things into pig carcasses for research. What the Ancestor got instead were three things; a race of semi-intelligent beings that are slowly raising an army to march on the hamlet with, a [[MuckMonster formless, ever-shifting pile of pig goop]] made from the bits he threw away, and a supersized pig-creature that the swine venerate as their god.
* ''VideoGame/DeadRising2'': Invoked through Randall "Randy" Tugman, an obese, porn-addicted virgin who's taking advantage of the Fortune City outbreak to abduct women, force them to marry him, and then rape them before killing them to repeat the process. Randy has a [[PervertedPig pig]] [[AnimalMotif motif]] as shown by his obesity, S&M pig cowl mask, and a pig head crotch decoration which he calls "Mr. Oink".

* ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'': Porky/Pokey has pigs as an AnimalMotif with his [[FatBastard chubbiness and rudeness]], as well as his name in the Japanese version. He also ends up becoming an OmnicidalManiac who even usurps ''[[EldritchAbomination Giygas]]''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Manhunt}}'': [[spoiler:Invoked through Piggsy, the final boss of the game who is an obese naked man who wields a chainsaw and wears nothing but the severed head of a pig as he makes pig squeals and grunts. Prior to the events of the game, he was a snuff film actor who was driven insane by his over-indulgence in violence.]]

* ''VideoGame/Persona5'': Junya Kaneshiro, a FatBastard mafia boss who represents gluttony in the SevenDeadlySins, has both pigs and flies as his AnimalMotif. In his boss fight, he summons a piggy bank-shaped HumongousMecha called "Piggytron".
* ''VideoGame/{{Pigsaw}}'': The game is set in a giant meat processing plant in a world where humans are processed as meat for anthropomorphic pig people. All the enemies in the game are [[PigMan Pig Men]] with [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eyes]] and a circular saw appendage who will attack the PlayerCharacter on sight.

* Pigma Dengar from ''Franchise/StarFox'' was a member of Star Fox, until he betrayed the group to Andross by luring them into a trap, which resulted in James [=McCloud=]'s "[[NeverFoundTheBody disappearance]]." He would become a member of Star Wolf until Wolf kicks him out of the group in ''VideoGame/StarFoxAssault''. Regardless of continuity, he is always depicted as greedy.

* ''VideoGame/TideUp'': [[spoiler:The Girl's AbusiveMom]] takes the form of a giant, bloody pig head in the strange world [[spoiler:of her nightmares]], where she greedily demands to be fed coins and will berate the Girl should she be given anything else. In addition, giving her [[spoiler:the pearls]] leads to the Bad Ending.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Tomba}}'' series of games, where you play as the titular jungle boy battling hordes of hostile, andromorphic pigs, lead by one simply named The Evil Swine who wants to TakeOverTheWorld with magical artifacts.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': Tibbley Tibblet Grimhammer III, aka Tibbles, is a recurring con artist with a piglike appearance. Though he seems to be a HarmlessVillain on the surface, he's actually deceptively clever and resourceful and has come close to killing the heroes on occasion.

* [=ManBearPig=] from ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' is an [[OurDemonsAreDifferent evil monster from Hell]] who, just as his name implies, resembles a hybrid of a human, [[BearsAreBadNews bear]], and pig. [=ManBearPig=] frequently makes noises that alternate between a bear's roaring and a pig's squealing, whenever he shows up to attack people and tear them to pieces.

* In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand26GoldenCoins'', the Three Little Pigheads serve as the bosses of [[ToyTime Mario Zone]]. They emerge from their houses made of straw, sticks, and bricks, and attempt to attack Mario with CollisionDamage.

* ''Film/Hellboy2019'': Nimue's main {{Dragon}} for the majority of the film is Gruagach, a [[TheFairFolk malicious fairy]] with the appearance of a [[PigMan boar man]] with [[ItsPersonalWithTheDragon a personal enmity with Hellboy]] for getting him banished and stripped of his powers long ago. Towards the climax of the film, he grows brawny and powerful enough to physically hold his own against both Hellboy and [[OurWerebeastsAreDifferent werejaguar]] Ben Daimio at the same time.

* ''Anime/{{Aggretsuko}}'': Ton is a [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain literal chauvinist pig]] as well as a MeanBoss towards Retsuko. This is later downplayed when he is shown to have a [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold nicer side]].

As a result, it's not a surprise that many fictional pigs are portrayed as cruel and/or dangerous. It helps that many traits associated with pigs are also traits that evil characters often have. For instance, a GluttonousPig or MessyPig could be portrayed as a VillainousGlutton, FatBastard, and/or have JabbaTableManners; the trope FedToPigs might even come into play, which can become even ''more'' disturbing when the pigs are sapient. A PervertedPig can easily be used in conjunction with just about any of the TropesAboutPerverts, or in more extreme cases, even SexualHarassmentAndRapeTropes. Boars (especially wild boars) are often portrayed as [[FullBoarAction dangerous and formidable fighters]]. Even the often-positive BrainyPig trope can easily be used for a pig that's an EvilGenius or InsufferableGenius.

[[quoteright:350:[[Literature/AnimalFarm https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thenapoleon.jpg]]]] [[caption-width-right:350:''[[Music/PinkFloyd Big man, pig man — ha-ha, charade you are!]]'']]

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': Dudley Dursley is a cruel, selfish, and [[FatBastard fat bully]] who is often compared in text to a pig, and even gets a curly pig tail (courtesy of Hagrid). Hagrid remarks that he actually meant to turn Dudley into a pig entirely, but "I suppose he was so much like a pig anyway there wasn't much left ter do."

* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'''s primary BigBad, Ganon, is typically depicted as either a monstrous PigMan, or a humanoid sorcerer who can assume such a form at will. Ganon's primary motivation is lust for power and conquest, and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link to the Past]]'' implies his piglike appearance is a result of the Sacred Realm twisting his form to match his true character.

** The original idea for the motif among the Jigsaw killers came from John Kramer, who, as an EasternZodiac believer who began his career as the first of the killers in the Year of the Pig, used pigs to represent a rotting world. He made scary pig masks to wear as disguises (after the first, more mundane-looking pair of masks that he got at a festival), and several of the traps he planned use actual pig corpses or draw parallels to them (including a pig farm for testing field that was previously owned by his ex-wife's family). While later killers and accomplices still used the pig masks, none of them had pigs as a regular symbol like John, with Hoffman only using them (and following John's MO most of the time) in order to cover up his drastically different manners until he's publicly exposed in ''Film/Saw3D''.

** As well as reusing the pig mask from the Jigsaw killers, the Spiral Killer from ''[[Film/Spiral2021 Spiral]]'' has a creepy-looking pig puppet known as "Mr. Snuggles".