History Main / GoodCastlesEvilCastles

* ''Toys/KnightsKingdom2'' takes an interesting spin on this trope with the Castle of Morcia set, which is designed to transform between the two, starting out as castle of [[BigGood King Mathias]] only to be taken and turned more sinister looking with the takeover of [[BigBad Lord Vladek]]. It was even more pronounced in the [[https://www.mikerayhawk.com/2016/castle.htm original beta design]], but was [[https://www.mikerayhawk.com/2016/castle.htm scaled back]] due to concerns over whether or not seven year old kids could handle the complex transformation.

* ''VideoGame/DeadCells'' zig-zags this. Before the time of the game, High Peak Castle was a prosperous place where the King of the island would meet with his trusted advisors and guests to discuss important matters. The king himself was a benevolent, if somewhat incompetent ruler. Now, with the island overrun by Malaise, it's LightIsNotGood incarnate, with infected monstrous guards patrolling the halls in search of next victim, many people dead and death traps aplenty.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfKyrandia'': Castle Kyrandia appears in both forms. When Malcolm was in control, it was dark and ominous, its gates guarded by acid spitting dragon statues, and its interiors gloomy and in great disrepair. Upon his defeat, it was magically restored to its former glory, all bright and beautiful.

* ''VideoGame/{{Overlord}}'': The general appearance of your tower changes depending on your standing on the KarmaMeter. Also the good and evil option for your mistress offer different extensions to buy, which rely on this trope. Although the good version is rather {{downplayed|trope}}, with you being a VillainProtagonist after all.

Castles are fortified structures widely used by Middle Age BlueBlood elites. They are different from mansions since the latter are homes for relaxing in. A proper castle is a combined manor house or palace and fortress, made to keep its inhabitants safe from enemy armies; it has arrowslits, portcullises, and a tower, and it is surrounded by a water-filled moat. Even though gunpowder and cannons eventually rendered castles obsolete from a military standpoint, wealthy elites remained in love with building them in the 19th century.

[[folder:Myth & Religion]]

* ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'': While the very beast is not a villain, before he was transformed his castle was very bright and colorful. After he was transformed his castle was transformed into a darker version with darker gloomy colors, beast-face-shaped doorknockers, gargoyles, etc.

* 'VideoGane/DeadCells'' zig-zags this. Before the time of the game, High Peak Castle was a prosperous place where the King of the island would meet with his trusted advisors and guests to discuss important matters. The king himself was a benevolent, if somewhat incompetent ruler. Now, with the island overrun by Malaise, it's LightIsNotGood incarnate, with infected monstrous guards patrolling the halls in search of next victim, many people dead and death traps aplenty.

* ''Toys/KnightsKingdom2'' takes an interesting spin on this trope with the Castle of Morcia set, which is designed to transform between the two, starting out as castle of [[BigGood King Leo]] only to be taken and turned more sinister looking with the takeover of [[BigBad Lord Vladek]].

Heroic designs usually have very clear and bright colors and are situation in very calm and peaceful environments. Bad guy castles, on the other hand, have dark or drab colors, sinister designs (often incorporating SpikesOfVillainy), and are surrounded by [[{{Mordor}} hellish landscapes]].

* The first location in ''VideoGame/EpicMickey'', Dark Beauty Castle, is a dark version of Sleeping Beauty Castle and Cinderella Castle mixed with the Beast's Castle to reflect its fallen state by the Shadow Blot. at the end of the game, along with the rest of the Wasteland, the castle is restored to the enchanted form it had before its corruption.

* The original ''Literature/LordOfTheRings'' and the film adaptation of ''Film/TheTwoTowers'' both emphasise this concept when dealing with the fortress strongholds of Gondor, Rohan, and Mordor. Minas Tirith is a fortress of air and light and gleaming whiteness; Minas Morgul emits an eerie, sickly glow that somehow doesn't illuminate the dark landscape around it. After the wizard Saruman falls into Sauron's camp, the tower of Osgiliath is seen to degenerate from a place of light and peace to a place of darkness and evil. (The Rohanian citadel of Helm's Deep, however, contradicts the premise of this trope: this is a fortress. It's neither good nor evil; it just is.)

* The original ''Literature/LordOfTheRings'' and the film adaptation of ''Film/TheTwoTowers'' both emphasise this concept when dealing with the fortress strongholds of Gondor, Rohan, and Mordor. Minas Tirith is a fortress of air and light and gleaming whiteness; Minas Morgul is black, dark, and sinister. After the wizard Saruman falls into Sauron's camp, the tower of Osgiliath is seen to degenerate from a place of light and peace to a place of darkness and evil. (The Rohanian citadel of Helm's Deep, however, contradicts the premise of this trope: this is a fortress. It's neither good nor evil; it just is.)

Castles are fortified structures widely used by Middle Ages BlueBlood elites. They are different from mansions since these are homes for relaxing in. A proper castle has arrowslits, portcullises, and a tower, and it is surrounded by a water-filled moat. Even though gunpowder and cannons eventually rendered castles obsolete from a military standpoint, wealthy elites remained in love with building them in the nineteenth century.

Heroic designs usually have very clear and bright colors and very calm and peaceful environments. Bad guys on the other hand have more darker designs with paler colors and hellish landscapes.

Another related pattern is what's inside the castle. Heroic castles tend to have richer designs with bright colors and are more open to the public with fewer defenses. Villainous designs however have darker designs, multiple weapons, various egotistical paintings, numerous {{Death Trap}}s, and higher defenses to show the villain is more militaristic and menacing. The evil castle will sometimes be an OminousFloatingCastle.

Compare FisherKing, for when the environment is changed by a different ruler's characterization. VillainousBadlandHeroicArcadia for different landscapes.

SubTrope to BrightCastle for when it's just heroic designs only, and EvilTowerOfOminousness for when it's just villainous designs only.

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[[folder:Animated Films]]

*** Played with. Alexandria Castle is a fairytale castle of white marble with four huge towers, domed rooftops, and a crystal spire at the center of it...as it turns out, Alexandria is the villain faction for the first two discs, with the extravagance and pomposity of the interior matched by [[StarterVillain Queen Brahne]]'s greed and [[AmbitionIsEvil bottomless ambition]]... just as the ominous dungeons below match her growing cruelty. And yet [[spoiler: when Brahne dies and is replaced by Princess Garnet, the decor remains the same - likely because Garnet is [[EvenEvilCanBeLoved still in mourning]] and can't bear to change any of it.]] By contrast, [[EmperorScientist Regent Cid]]'s castle at the heart of Lindblum is just as industrialized as the rest of the city, bristling with airship hangars, construction sites, and steampunk engines... and to clue you in to the fact that Cid and Lindblum are straightforward heroes, the interior is decorated [[RedIsHeroic all in fire-engine red.]]
*** In Disc 3, [[OutsideContextProblem Garland]]'s castle of Pandemonium is immediately outed as a villainous place by the sheer number of eldritch elements: it looks like it's been sculpted from black coral or random machine parts, features a teleporter studded with giant ''eyes'', and is topped with a spikey tower with a glowing red sphere atop it - all immediate indicators that Garland is not just a villain, but the GreaterScopeVillain of the story as a whole.

* ''VideoGame/LegendOfDragoon'': In Disc 1, [[TheGoodKing King Albert]]'s Indels Castle is a relatively small castle more akin to a mansion than a palace, and the interior is brightly lit, comfortable, but [[ModestRoyalty not obscenely luxurious]]. By contrast, [[StarterVillain Emperor Doel]]'s Black Castle of Sandora is a huge imposing black fortress dotted with glowing green windows and smokestacks - to the point that the sky overhead always looks dark and polluted; meanwhile, the spartan interior is lit in various shades of green and purple, dominated by creepy magical research labs and training barracks. [[spoiler: Subverted after Emperor Doel's defeat: returning to the Black Castle reveals that it still looks pretty ominous even now that it answers to King Albert and its researchers are using their discoveries to help the people of the surrounding city.]]

* ''Website/{{Neopets}}'': Meridell and Darigan Citadel, rival nations that fought two wars, have a contrasting aesthetic and theme. Meridell's castle is large, shiny, and white, and exists in a forested, sunny, prospering kingdom. Darigan Citadel is primarily purple and black, with tall, spiky towers, surrounded by barren, rocky wasteland. This actually leads to a bit of a subversion during the first war; Darigan is initially presented as being a group of evil, power-hungry monsters. When it turns out that they're all suffering from the theft of their magical orb, it reveals that Darigan's edgier look was ''magically enforced'', and that they were once a peaceful and wealthy kingdom much like Meridell - with the look to match. All they wanted was the orb back from Meridell, who were benefiting from their loss. Things are straighter in the second war, where the new lord of the Citadel is far more evil.

** The Templars' headquarters of Temple Hall is a neoclassical homage to their medieval glory days, being essentially a marble castle studded with domes, Romanesque columns, classical statuary... and a very high wall to keep out both their enemies and [[FantasticRacism the more diverse elements]] of Ealdwic's magical bazaars - a hint that the Templars might be [[ALighterShadeOfGrey one of the nicer factions]] in the Secret World, but they're not ''that'' nice... if the sumptuous training room full of tortured demons for new recruits to practice their skills on didn't clue you in.

* VideoGame/FableIII: At one point, the player character has to make a decision to which sort of castle you want yours to look like. A Good Castle to show your people that you're TheGoodKing, or an Evil Castle to have your enemies remember to fear [[EvilHero you]].

*** In Disc 3, [[OutsideContextThreat Garland]]'s castle of Pandemonium is immediately outed as a villainous place by the sheer number of eldritch elements: it looks like it's been sculpted from black coral or random machine parts, features a teleporter studded with giant ''eyes'', and is topped with a spikey tower with a glowing red sphere atop it - all immediate indicators that Garland is not just a villain, but the GreaterScopeVillain of the story as a whole.

* ''VideoGame/{{Overlord}}'': The general appearance of your tower changes depending on your standing on the Main/KarmaMeter. Also the good and evil option for your mistress offer different extensions to buy, that rely on this trope. Although the good version is rather downplayed, with you being a Main/VillainProtagonist after all.

** Princess Peach's castle is shown to be a BigFancyCastle in a white design with a calm blue sky atmosphere. While Bowser's various castles tend to have darker monochromatic colors, militaristic elements, and more violent environments.

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!!Examples

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* ''{{VideoGame/Overlord}}'': The general appearance of your tower changes depending on your standing on the Main/KarmaMeter. Also the good and evil option for your mistress offer different extensions to buy, that rely on this trope. Although the good version is rather downplayed, with you being a Main/VillainProtagonist after all.

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* Inverted in ''Franchise/MastersOfTheUniverse'' franchise with Castle Greyskull. Greyskull is depicted as a massive green castle with a large green skull on the front, yet it is the home base of [[BigGood Sorceress]] and where He-Man's power is kept.

Castles are fortified structures widely used by Middle Ages BlueBlood elites. They are different from mansions since these are homes for relaxing in. A proper castle has arrowslits, portcullises, and a tower, and it is surrounded by a water-filled moat. Even though gunpowder and cannons rendered castles obsolete from a military standpoint, wealthy elites remained in love with building them in the nineteenth century.

[[quoteright:350:[[TabletopGame/YuGiOh https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thing_52.jpg]]]]

Castles are fortified structures widely used by Middle Ages BlueBlood elites. They are different from mansions, since these are homes for relaxing in. A proper castle has arrowslits, and portcullises, and a tower, and it is surrounded by a water-filled moat. Even though gunpowder and cannons rendered castles obselete from a military standpoint, wealthy elites remained in love with building them in the nineteenth century.

Another related pattern is what's inside the castle. Heroic castles tend to have more rich designs with bright colors and more open to the public with less defenses. Villainous designs however have more darker designs, multiple weapons, various egotistical paintings, numerous {{Death Trap}}s, and higher defenses to show the villain is more militaristic and menacing. The evil castle will sometimes be an OminousFloatingCastle.

* ''Anime/{{Daimos}}'': Leon was TheGoodKing and his palace, where Erika and Richter grew up, was dainty, made of white stones and welcoming to all Baam-seijin regardless of social status (servant girl Cindy was even able to become Erika's best friend, for example). When he dies and Olban becomes the ruler, his palace looks like an archetypical villain fortress, with only his aides being allowed to enter.
* ''Manga/{{Lady}}'' has a variant. The Russells are British nobles, and they live in the generations-old Marble Mansion, a beautiful, spacious home with a gorgeous garden. It resembles a medieval castle. Whereas the Spencers (while not evil, but certainly stuck-up, aggressive and hoity-toity) live in a more modern-looking brickwall house.

* ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'': While the very beast is not a villain, before he was transformed his castle was very bright and colorful. After he was transformed his castle was transformed into a darker version with darker gloomy colors, beast face-shaped doorknockers, gargoyles, etc.
* ''WesternAnimation/FireAndIce'' has two castles: Firekeep and Icepeak. King Jarol rules in Firekeep, which is inside a mountain. His throne room is a spacious cavern with minimal decoration, suggesting Jarol favors uplifting his people rather than glorifying himself. In contrast, Queen Juliana and her son, the wicked wizard Nekron, rule Icepeak. This palace is shaped like a giant skull, covered in ice. This is likely due to Nekron's magic, as he's shown making his icy kingdom grow, sprouting glaciers out of seeming nothingness. His subjects are knuckle-dragging Neanderthals that conduct raids for sustenance.

* The original ''Literature/LordOfTheRings'' and the film adaptation of ''Film/TheTwoTowers'' both emphasise this concept when dealing with the fortress strongholds of Gondor, Rohan and Mordor. Minas Tirith is a fortress of air and light and gleaming whiteness; Minas Morgul is black, dark and sinister. After the wizard Saruman falls into Sauron's camp, the tower of Osgiliath is seen to degenerate from a place of light and peace to a place of darkness and evil. (The Rohanian citadel of Helm's Deep, however, contradicts the premise of this trope: this is a fortress. It's neither good nor evil; it just is.)

* Myth/ArthurianLegend: Lancelot's backstory involves him liberating the castle of Dolores Gard ('Dolores' being derived from a French word meaning 'painful') from an evil knight. In doing so, he finds a coffin with his family tree, including his own name, inscribed under the lid; its liberation causes it to be renamed to 'Joyous Gard' [[spoiler:but after Lancelot betrays Arthur and his affair with Guenevere is exposed, he flees back to the castle and it once gain becomes Dolores Gard]].

* In ''VideoGame/BlackAndWhite'', your temple changes its appearance in response to your alignment. It starts out looking like an ordinary stone tower, and will remain that way if you play neutral. If you play good, the shape doesn't change much but it'll turn white, looking more like marble, and begin glowing with an ethereal light. If you play evil, it'll turn red and black, start growing SpikesOfVillainy, and be surrounded by dark mist.
* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'': The titular Castlevania is Dracula's base of operations, described as a living creature of Chaos which always alters itself (thus explaining why the castle is different in every game). The castle houses the forces of darkness the Belmont clan and their allies fight throughout the centuries, including zombies, ghosts, succubi, bats, assorted demons and the ranks of the undead. Dracula himself is lord of the castle, from where he menaces Wallachia and, by extension, the world.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'': The castles occupied by the heroes and their allies are made of stone and have a familiar layout. BigBad Exdeath's castle seems to be an aversion at first, using the same castle tileset as everyone else's but is later revealed to be made out of flesh, bones and other viscera.

*** Played with. Alexandria Castle is a fairytale castle of white marble with four huge towers, domed rooftops, and a crystal spire at the center of it... and as it turns out, Alexandria is the villain faction for the first two discs, with the extravagance and pomposity of the interior matched by [[StarterVillain Queen Brahne]]'s greed and [[AmbitionIsEvil bottomless ambition]]... just as the ominous dungeons below match her growing cruelty. And yet [[spoiler: when Brahne dies and is replaced by Princess Garnet, the decor remains the same - likely because Garnet is [[EvenEvilCanBeLoved still in mourning]] and can't bear to change any of it.]] By contrast, [[EmperorScientist Regent Cid]]'s castle at the heart of Lindblum is just as industrialized as the rest of the city, bristling with airship hangars, construction sites, and steampunk engines... and to clue you in to the fact that Cid and Lindblum are straightforward heroes, the interior is decorated [[RedIsHeroic all in fire-engine red.]]

*** Maleficent returns in the game and uses the Villain's Vale as her new headquarters, a decrepit castle with decayed towers rising out of debriis, on an isolated cliff.
*** The Organization XIII's base of operations if the ominous-sounding "Castle That Never Was", located in the even more foreboding The World That Never Was. The castle itself is a flying dark grey fortress floating over a gaping abyss in its homeworld, and decorated with the Nobody sigil. Inside, the castle is almost labyrinthine, with walls of a clinical white in some areas. The Organization are the antagonists of the game who oppose Sora, King Mickey and other Keybearers.

* ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonorUnderground'': Two notable castles occupied by Nazi Forces are depicted, Wewelsburg in the main campaign, and the Black Forest Castle in the SecretLevel. Both are surrounded by large walls, have large gates, and (partly) defended by Knights decorated with Nazi imagery. In terms of design, they both feature a lot of pointy rooves and towers, and each have interiors reminiscent of dungeons, reflecting the Nazis using them for secretive and definitely malicious purposes (the former serving as a base of operations for the [[StateSec Waffen-SS]], the latter serving as a science lab and testing site for the same organization).
* In the classic ''Franchise/MegaMan'' games, Dr. Wily's bases, called Wily Castle, are depicted as massive futuristic castles with, at least, a massive skull on front.

** In the Carpathian Fangs, the highest mountain peak is topped by a small castle in the gothic style. Sporting sharply turreted towers instead of domes, it comes across as lonely and slightly ominous rather than grand, and though it sports an interior just as luxurious as Temple Hall, it's [[EvilIsNotWellLit oppressively dark]], littered with surveillance equipment, and the only inhabitants are the vampires that [[VampireMonarch Queen Mara]] has sent to occupy the place. For good measure, "Mortal Sins" reveals that Mara herself is hanging out in a sinister blood-soaked underground chapel just past the dungeons...

* Inverted in ''Franchise/MastersOfTheUniverse'' franchise with Castle Greyskull. Greyskull is depicted as a massive green castle with a large green skull on front, yet it is the home base of [[BigGood Sorceress]] and where He-Man's power is kept.

* ''WesternAnimation/SuperMarioBros2023'': Peach's castle is a brightly lit traditional princess's palace, while Bowser's castle is a mobile fortress used for his attacks on the other kingdoms. Unsurprisingly, Peach and her Mushroom Kingdom is the BigGood while Bowser is the primary villain.

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* Two evil castles in ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'': the one where Princess Fiona is held prisoner, surrounded by a moat of lava, whose smoke means the castle is always dark, even in the daytime. Also Lord Farquaard's castle, which is extremely angular to reflect Farquaard's rigid personality, and very tall indeed, because the very short Farquaard might be compensating for something.

** The Sand Castle is a PlatialSandcastle, being surrounded by sand and having crabs serve as enemies. It also features an [[UnderTheSea underwater section]] that Mickey has to swim through. The boss of the stage is a GiantEnemyCrab, who upon defeat, reveals himself to be WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck, who has been forcibly transformed by The Phantom.