History Main / WickedWastefulness

* ''Anime/OnePiece'': Wastefulness is a particularly notable habit of [[AristocratsAreEvil the World Nobles]], who often spend several Beli on luxuries, some of which involve torturing people for no reason other than [[ForTheEvulz boredom]]. To make matters worse, the money they use for said depravity comes from the Heavenly Tribute, a tax that the various countries controlled by the World Government have to pay if they want to enjoy the various benefits it provides, and said tax is so high that many countries go destitute trying to pay it.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'', we know who the villain of the movie will be when Ratcliffe takes one bite out of a drumstick before tossing it.

** If the villain is an [[AbusiveParent an abusive]] and/or [[ParentalNeglect neglectful parent]], one of the ways they can mistreat their kids is by spending money they should be using for their kids on themselves, often to the point where their kids end up starving and/or sick. Variants involving [[EvilOrphanageLady abusive orphanage owners]], [[AbusiveOffspring abusive children]], or evil caretakers can fulfill a similar role.

** Subverted in another episode where Homer starts splurging some of his money due to a big investment opportunity he was confident will make him rich, to celebrate he buys cigars for all the patrons at Moe's tavern and lights his cigar with a dollar bill. Only to then extinguish the flame and place the singed dollar back in his wallet.

* ''Literature/ChroniclesOfAncientDarkness'': In this Stone-Age setting, the main antagonists like demons and the [[ReligionOfEvil Soul Eaters]] tend to kill animals without using every part of the corpse as the clans the heroes live in do in accordance to an ancient pack that demands it as a show of proper respect for the prey.

* ''Film/Dune2021'': The Harkonnens' water wastefulness for the sake of cruelty (aside from any other acts off-screen) is portrayed in this film by them having planted a big row of palm trees at the entrance of the palace that had to be watered daily with what the Fremen gardener says is enough water for five men (for each). When he hears this, Paul offers to get the trees cut down but the gardener declines saying that the trees are like Fremen: resilient (the fact the Harkonnens ordered him to do so under pain of death and he is still weary of the Atreides also factors). [[spoiler:The Harkonnens [[KickTheDog make a point of setting the trees on fire]] when they massacre the Atreides.]]

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': In ''Literature/ADanceWithDragons''. Just in case the wickedness of BastardBastard Ramsay Bolton (née Snow) was not evident from his hobby of flaying others, he enjoys throwing up feasts at the expense of his bannermen. At a point when most people are worrying about having enough food to last through a years-long winter, he ends up forcing a lord to slaughter the cattle set aside as breeding stock, which were the only animals left.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Homer's boss [[Characters/TheSimpsonsCharlesMontgomeryBurns Mr. Burns]] is [[TheScrooge comically miserly]] [[BadBoss toward his employees]], but lives an incredibly wealthy life full of frivolous luxuries. In one episode, it's shown that rather than make his bed, he has it incinerated and gets a new one delivered every day.

* ''TabletopGame/DarkSun'': While many of the Dragon Kings love ConspicuousConsumption of various flavors in a world where survival is a brutal ordeal, the entire mul race is seen as one of the most evil ''and'' the most wasteful. Muls are {{Half Human Hybrid}}s of dwarf and human, and are sturdy, strong, and tireless workers and warriors, but the resulting child is both mostly sterile and potentially lethal to the mother. For this reason, they're usually created through force and {{Breeding Slave}}s. On top of all the other kinds of evil this represents, they're ''also'' wastefully sacrificing a woman's life for something that'll be gone in one generation.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLorax2012'': Unlike the original book, this adaptation makes it clear that the Once-ler doesn't ''have'' to cut down whole Truffula trees to make Thneeds - he only needs to pluck the tufts that grow on them, which will grow back in time. He even promises to do exactly this when the Lorax calls him out on it, only to be manipulated by his family into breaking the promise so they can speed up production. The Once-ler promptly goes JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope, and only realises the damage he's caused when the last Truffula tree falls.

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* ''Literature/ChroniclesOfAncientDarkness'': In this stone-age setting, the main antagonists like demons and the [[ReligionOfEvil Soul Eaters]] tend to kill animals without using every part of the corpse as the clans the heroes live in do in accordance to an ancient pack that demands it as a show of proper respect for the prey.

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* ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'': In-universe, this is how the Clans originally viewed the Inner Sphere- rich and bloated on its excessive consumption of frivolities. In reality, a big part of why the Inner Sphere was so much more economically powerful than the Clans (aside from having a considerably larger population base and number of planets) is that the Clans' frequently stated abhorrence to waste was done in a penny-wise, pound-foolish manner. They saw it as a wasteful extravagance to actually invest in anything other than the warrior caste that ran everything: low caste laborers and merchants were provided with basic necessities as long as they could work, then left to die once they were unable to. Small wonder that within a few decades of invading the Inner Sphere, most of the invader Clans decided that they actually liked the Inner Sphere's lifestyle better.

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[[folder: Western Animation]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSpiritOf43'': This trope is mixed with GoodAngelBadAngel; the "Good Angel" is represented the Thrifty, Donald's frugal side who warns Donald to save money to pay his income tax, while the role of the "Bad Angel" is the Spendthrift, Donald's more hedonistic side who wants Donald to blow his money on idle pleasures. Being a WartimeCartoon made during UsefulNotes/WorldWar2, the cartoon portrays the Thrifty as a patriot who's doing his duty to his country, while the Spendthrift is a spy trying to help the Axis by convincing citizens to blow their tax money.

** If the [[SlobsVersusSnobs villain is wealthier than the hero]], then the villain's wastefulness is probably because they grew up in wealth were never taught the importance of frugality while the hero had to be smart with his finances due to [[WorkingClassHero not having]] [[HomelessHero much money]]. Alternatively, if the hero is wealthier than the villain, then it will be because the hero's good financial sense results in them having plenty of money to spare, while the villain's reckless spending results in them going broke, even if they make a lot.

** If the [[SlobsVersusSnobs villain is wealthier than the hero]], then the villain's wastefulness is probably because they grew up in wealth were never taught the importance of frugality while the hero had to be smart with his finances due to [[WorkingClassHero not having]] [[HomelessHero much money]]. Alternatively if the hero is wealthier than the villain, then it will be because the hero's good financial sense results in them having plenty of money to spare, while the villain's reckless spending results in them going broke, even if they make a lot.
** The hero and villain often differ in their attitude towards saving money in that the hero believes in the importance of saving, while the villain scoffs at the idea saving money because they are either too short-sighted to understand the importance of saving, too concerned with appearances, or both. An especially prideful villain might even insist on wasting money [[MockMillionaire trying to look rich]] even when they go broke.

# Media about [[GreenAesop environmentalism]] often show effects of wastefulness on the environment by having people's wastefulness hurt said environment and exhaust the Earth's resources.

{{Supertrope}} to WeHaveReserves, which involves villains being wasteful with their soldier' lives, and MoneyToBurn as a specific exaggeration on money. Overlaps with MoneyDumb, RichInDollarsPoorInSense, MsRedInk, AFoolAndHisNewMoneyAreSoonParted, GamblingRuinsLives, and/or ConspicuousConsumption if the villain is wasteful with money, EcocidalAntagonist if the villain's actions destroy the environment, or VillainousGlutton and/or TastesLikeDisdain if the villain wastes food. More negative depictions of {{The Hedonist}} will often have wastefulness as a consequence of their pursuit of pleasure against common sense. Contrast TheScrooge, AllJewsAreCheapskates, and ThriftyScot for characters who are overly concerned with ''saving'' money, and MoneyFetish, {{Greed}}, LovesOnlyGold, and GoldFever for characters who desire to gain or horde money.

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[[folder: Fan Works]]

[[folder: Films -- Animated]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AnimalFarm1954'': After the pigs led by Napoleon make the farm a profitable enterprise for themselves, Benjamin, the donkey, spies into the farm house, and sees a pig taking a bite out of an apple, and then throwing it over his shoulder. The apple lands close to another pig, who brushes it away onto a pile of more apples that each only has one bite taken out.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': The Gaunts were an [[OldMoney old]] [[FantasticRacism pureblood-supremacist]] [[BigScrewedUpFamily family]] whose pride and desire to show-off their wealth resulted in them [[ImpoverishedPatrician squandering it]] and sending their family into financial ruin.

-> All I can think of is the emaciated bodies of the children on our kitchen table as my mother prescribes what the parents can't give. More food. Now that we're rich, she'll send some home with them. But often in the old days, there was nothing to give and the child was past saving, anyway. And here in the Capitol they're vomiting for the pleasure of filling their bellies again and again. Not from some illness of body or mind, not from spoiled food. It's what everyone does at a party. Expected. Part of the fun.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': In ''Literature/ADanceWithDragons''. Just in case the wickedness of BastardBastard Ramsay Bolton (née Snow) was not evident from his hobby of flaying others, he enjoys throwing up feasts at the expense of his banner men. At a point when most people are worrying about having enough food to last through a years-long winter, he ends up forcing a lord to slaughter the cattle set aside as breeding stock, which were the only animals left.

* ''Literature/WarriorCats'' : One rule in the Warrior Code is to only kill prey for food. Tigerstar, tyrannical and racist dictator that he is, is shown ignoring this rule. On one occasion, he left dead rabbit around just to bring dogs into the [=ThunderClan=] territory. In a more blatant case, he was later shown to have killed a vast amount of prey solely to build himself a pile of bones in the "[=TigerClan=]" camp.

* ''Series/TrueJacksonVP'': World-famous super model Dakota North is introduced as being ''extremely'' wasteful of her items as well as extremely rude to other people. Her EstablishingCharacterMoment features her literally throwing phones away simply for being out of battery or the wrong color, while completely ignoring True's attempts to talk to her.

* ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'': Nobanion is a LawfulGood deity whose dogma teaches that people should only eat when hungry and never gorge without need, and that if people don't waste anything, there would be plenty for all.

* ''VideoGame/Persona5'': Part of the reason why Kaneshiro, a {{Yakuza}} [[TheDon boss]], represents the [[SevenDeadlySins sin]] of Gluttony rather than {{Greed}} is because he desires money solely to use it on frivolous luxuries rather than any type of long-term goal. Said money primarily comes from dealing drugs, blackmail, and sex trafficking.
* ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'': Grendel's backstory gives us Karishh, the ruler of the city of Riddha. He's described as a "violet-scented brute", had twelve(!) grafted stomachs and held lavish feasts for himself and his sycophants while the citizens of Riddha starved. Fittingly, it's implied that Grendel [[EatTheRich ate him]] after freeing the city from his rule.

** [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=X9QAV03higs&pp=ygUWVHJvdWJsZSBidXN0ZXJzIHNpc3Rlcg%3D%3D Alan and Aaron]] are brothers in-law who make the ''exact same'' amount of money, but unlike Alan, who's humble and only spends what he needs, Aaron and his wife Sandra are arrogant show-offs who end up in debt because of their constant need to spend money on expensive status symbols. Even after going in debt, they still insist of indulging in wasteful luxuries because of their obsession with status.

-->'''Allison:''' Are you... just going to throw this all away? ''Why?''

** In general, Hoggish Greedly tends to be the most prominent villain in this regards, as he represents the dangers of overconsumption and waste. His plots usually involve destroying entire ecosystems via various destructive and wasteful practices such as dynamite fishing, strip-mining, and clear-cutting forests.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Homer's boss [[Characters/TheSimpsonsCharlesMontgomeryBurns Mr. Burns]] is [[TheScrooge comically miserly]] toward his employees, but lives an incredibly wealthy life full of frivolous luxuries. In one episode, it's shown that rather than make his bed, he has it incinerated and gets a new one delivered every day.

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* ''Film/Dune2021'': The Harkonnens' water wastefulness for the sake of cruelty (aside from any other acts off-screen) is portrayed in this film by them having planted a big row of palm trees at the entrance of the palace that had to be watered daily with what the Fremen gardener says is enough water for five men (for each). When he hears this, Paul offers to get the trees cut down but the gardener declines saying that the trees are like Fremen: resilient. [[spoiler:The Harkonnens [[KickTheDog make a point of setting the trees on fire]] when they massacre the Atreides.]]

{{Supertrope}} to WeHaveReserves, which involves villains being wasteful with their soldier' lives. Overlaps with MoneyDumb, RichInDollarsPoorInSense, MsRedInk, AFoolAndHisNewMoneyAreSoonParted, GamblingRuinsLives, and/or ConspicuousConsumption if the villain is wasteful with money, EcocidalAntagonist if the villain's actions destroy the environment, or VillainousGlutton and/or TastesLikeDisdain if the villain wastes food. More negative depictions of {{The Hedonist}} will often have wastefulness as a consequence of their pursuit of pleasure against common sense. Contrast TheScrooge, AllJewsAreCheapskates, and ThriftyScot for characters who are overly concerned with ''saving'' money, and MoneyFetish, {{Greed}}, LovesOnlyGold, and GoldFever for characters who desire to gain or horde money.

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'''Indices'''
* StupidEvil
* MoralityTropes
* CapitalismIsBad
* AlliterativeName/TropesStoZ
* EvilTropes

* ''WesternAnimation/AnimalFarm1954'': After the pigs led by Napoleon make the farm a profitable enterprise for themselves, Benjamin, the donkey, spies into the farm house, and sees a pig taking bite out of an apple, and throwing over his shoulder. The apple lands close to another pig, who brushes it away onto a pile of more apples that only has one bite taken out.

* ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'': In ''Inferno'', Dante depicts wastefulness of resources as a mortal sin. In the Third Circle, the squanderers are imprisoned alongside the hoarders, with their punishment being engaging in an endless and futile battle by rolling huge stones at one another.