History Main / VainSorceress

* Catherine Madison from Season 1 of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''.

** In the anime, this was partially [[spoiler:an after-effect of said MagicMirror [[MoreThanMindControl putting the whammy on her]]. She was still crazy and vain enough to choose being imprisoned in said mirror than losing her good looks, until Sailor Galaxia released her.]]

* An odd male, more or less benign version: Anji Mito from ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'', who greatly dislikes the mere idea of growing older. [[spoiler:One of his GGX endings has [[MagnificentBastard That Man]] [[WeCanRuleTogether offering him]] the chance to join him and get his wish to stay young forever. Anji's reply is not shown, but later games show him to be working for That Man.]]

* This is also a running gag for the sorceress Marjolly, from the NipponIchi ''Marl Kingdom'' games (''RhapsodyAMusicalAdventure'') and cameos in ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea}}''.

** Played straight with Trixie who loves showing off how talented she is.
** Sunset Shimmer in [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls Equestria Girls]] who is the polar opposite of Twilight, as she see's herself superior than her and Celestia.

** Played straight with Trixie who loves showing off how talented she is. Or Queen Chrysalis who wants to harvest the love in Equestria for power.
** Sunset Shimmer in [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls Equestria Girls]] who is the polar opposite of Twilight.

->''"When a woman stays young and beautiful forever, the world is hers."''

* Mages (male and female) who obsess over looks and use their powers for cosmetic purposes sometimes figure on the fringes of TamoraPierce's books, portrayed with varying levels of sympathy. [[LadyInRed Varice Kingsford]] from the TortallUniverse is part of the BigBad's court and considered a waste of time at best by the protagonist, but is last seen sobbing amid the ruins of the palace (sans makeup) and saying that she just likes pretty things, and does that make her a bad person? Contrast the fourth CircleOfMagic book, where a pox epidemic is traced back to a mage (one Eilisa Pearldrop, whose very name inspires contempt in the sensible mage protagonists) specializing in beauty magic, who messes up a weight-loss spell and, rather than pay for her magical waste to be disposed of safely, lets it get carried out in the sewage system, thereby creating a magically strengthened disease. Very unsexy.

* Trakeena from ''Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy'' was like this in the first half of the series; in one episode, she ordered the MonsterOfTheWeek to steal the beauty from the female inhabitants of Terra Venture to enhance her own. While that failed plot seemed like a one-shot deal, the conclusion of the episode quickly turned this into a major plot point, when her father offered her a cocoon that would increase her powers exponentially through evolution - but cause her to shed her human form. Trakeena wasn't willing to make that trade, and ran away rather than do it. Eventually, however, after [[TookALevelInBadass Taking a Level in Badass]] on her own (thanks in part to Villimax) she dropped this attitude, and took over after Scorpius' death, and eventually ''did'' use the thing. (Unfortunately, while she was no longer vain after that, it pretty cost her every bit of humanity she ever might have had, making her a cold-blooded demon who was worse than ever.)

* Lady Bane from ''{{Disney}}'s AdventuresOfTheGummiBears'' used the "sucking the youth out of younger characters" method of de-agifying herself.
* Porcina in the ''MyLittlePony'' episode "The Glass Princess" wants to turn everything into glass so she can see her reflection everywhere.

* Toyed with in ''JusticeLeague'' - their version of Morgan Le Fay drains youth from random {{Muggle}}s...but it's not really a case of vanity, since her costume covers up her entire body except for her hands. Mostly it seems to be for the benefit of her son, Mordred, whom she cast a spell on to grant eternal life and eternal youth. Evidently, it fixed him at that age and can't be broken or altered [[spoiler:without causing him to [[ThisWasHisTrueForm instantly turn into a withered old man]].]]

* Laverna in the {{Barbie}} Fairytopia movies.

* Brilliantly {{deconstructed}} with the Witch in IntoTheWoods. [[spoiler:She trades her powers in to get back her (rightfully)good looks, only to massively regret it later]]. She's not so much AxCrazy over being ugly as she is weary of being [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer treated like a freak]].

* {{Justified|Trope}} in the case of the ''Comicbook/{{X-Men}}'' opponent Selene in that even if she did not [[HealingFactor regenerate]], use her various PsychicPowers, or [[FunctionalMagic cast any of the spells she has picked up over the centuries]] she has to drain life from others just to stay alive. One may ask if it would be more efficient to let herself age past thirty or so, but not to her face if you like being healthy.
** Note that it's not a case of merely natural aging; if she goes too long without a LifeEnergy fix, she starts to revert to her true age-- of about ten thousand years or so. Dust to dust.
** It's implied that her Good Counterpart (or at least Less Evil Counterpart) Emma Frost uses her psychic powers to appear slightly more beautiful than she already is. Considering she's one of the few comic book characters to admit to plastic surgery, it doesn't take too much effort.

%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.

[[quoteright:320:[[Literature/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/VainSorceress.JPG]]]]
[[caption-width-right:320:Literature/SnowWhite's WickedStepmother checks her success in her MagicMirror]]

* Maleficent, in Disney's ''Disney/SleepingBeauty''. Her grudge against the title heroine is based on other factors, but this 'tall, dark and lethal' lady [[http://kingdomhearts.wikia.com/wiki/Maleficent clearly hasn't neglected her looks]].

So, by studying magic or [[WitchSpecies through being extraordinarily gifted genetically,]] you've managed to acquire the power to cast flashy destructive spells, {{brainwash|ed}} people ''en masse'', and pretty much [[RealityWarper bend the whole of reality to your wil]]. What is the first thing you do?

* Mother Gothel in ''Disney/{{Tangled}}'' completely embodies this trope, hoarding a magical healing flower to keep herself alive for centuries and then kidnapping baby Rapunzel and raising her in a tower for 18 years when the flower's powers are transferred to her.

* Inverted by classic ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' character [[PunnyName Witch Hazel]], who is very vain and obsessive about her ''ugliness''. In "Broomstick Bunny", Hazel becomes jealous when Bugs shows up at her house on Halloween, wearing a witch mask more hideous than she is. In the same cartoon, she's tricked into drinking a potion that actually turns her into a beautiful woman, which causes her to FreakOut.

* In ''[[LarryNiven The Magic Goes Away]]'' all mages use youth spells to [[WeAreAsMayflies extend their life spans.]] However, the female mage has the lowest physical age.

So, by studying magic or [[WitchSpecies through being extraordinarily gifted genetically,]] you've managed to acquire the power to cast flashy destructive spells, {{brainwash|ed}} people ''en masse'', and pretty much bend the whole of reality to your will. What is the first thing you do?

The Vain Sorceress' youthfulness is often related to a specific power, where the character has to maintain their appearance by sucking energy from the young -- if not be an outright vampire. Evil sorceresses tend to be far more [[IJustWantToBeBeautiful obsessed with the perfection of their appearance]], and go to further lengths to maintain it than good ones will. They may even go so far as to pull a GrandTheftMe, stealing a younger, prettier body to act as the vessel for their soul. In any case, they ''have'' to be the FairestOfThemAll... by any means necessary.