Being Evil for the Sake of Evil

[Mindfire]

I know it's generally poor storytelling to make a villain evil just because evil. But what if it was played for laughs in a kind of dark way? Like there's this card-carrying villain who boasts and brags about how evil he is and how much he enjoys being evil, but really he only does it because he gets a kick out of rebellion, discord, and trolling society at large. Then one day he accidentally summons a powerful demon and gets a taste of what real evil is and it scares him straighter than a yardstick. (Or drives him gibbering mad.)

 

[JCFarnham]

Nothing wrong with lampshading tropes for laughs

Just keep card-carrying villians out of my "serious" fiction haha

 

[CupofJoe]

Then one day he accidentally summons a powerful demon and gets a taste of what real evil is and it scares him straighter than a yardstick. (Or drives him gibbering mad.)

That would almost be Lovecraftian... you ain't see evil 'til you've seen really Old Evil...

 

[Anders Ämting]

I know it's generally poor storytelling to make a villain evil just because evil. But what if it was played for laughs in a kind of dark way? Like there's this card-carrying villain who boasts and brags about how evil he is and how much he enjoys being evil, but really he only does it because he gets a kick out of rebellion, discord, and trolling society at large. Then one day he accidentally summons a powerful demon and gets a taste of what real evil is and it scares him straighter than a yardstick. (Or drives him gibbering mad.)

Well, I see a few issues here that I think needs to be considered.

First of all, you say this person does evil things because he naturally enjoys causing disharmony. Some would say that's actually a pretty good definition of "evil for the sake of evil" - to do evil because you think it's entertaining or satisfying. Now, you may be of the opinion that being pure evil is quantifiably different from being a huge sadistic power-abusing jerkass, and that's fine, but your idea here kinda hinges on your readers sharing that opinion. So you risk having a lot of people not actually getting the joke.

Second, if you have him summon a demon that is actually pure evil, then you are aknowledging that within your story, it is actually possible to be inherently evil by nature. That is to say, you are poking fun at this trope but at the same time playing it straight. That might come across as contradicting, even a bit hypocritical.

Finally, all this aside, you'll have to do a very good job describing exactly in what way the demon's true evil differs from the man's false evil, because if the demon also does evil things simply because it wants to, then your story is not "a person pretends to be evil, then gets a taste of true evil", but rather "an evil person is out-eviled by an even more evil person."

 

[Mindfire]

Well, I see a few issues here that I think needs to be considered.

First of all, you say this person does evil things because he naturally enjoys causing disharmony. Some would say that's actually a pretty good definition of "evil for the sake of evil" - to do evil because you think it's entertaining or satisfying. Now, you may be of the opinion that being pure evil is quantifiably different from being a huge sadistic power-abusing jerkass, and that's fine, but your idea here kinda hinges on your readers sharing that opinion. So you risk having a lot of people not actually getting the joke.

Second, if you have him summon a demon that is actually pure evil, then you are aknowledging that within your story, it is actually possible to be inherently evil by nature. That is to say, you are poking fun at this trope but at the same time playing it straight. That might come across as contradicting, even a bit hypocritical.

Finally, all this aside, you'll have to do a very good job describing exactly in what way the demon's true evil differs from the man's false evil, because if the demon also does evil things simply because it wants to, then your story is not "a person pretends to be evil, then gets a taste of true evil", but rather "an evil person is out-eviled by an even more evil person."

Have you watched Phineas and Ferb? The "villain" of the show, Dr. Doofenschmertz, is close to the quality of evil I'm picturing for this self proclaimed "dark lord". He's not really a genuine threat, just a pompous jerk.

Also, I don't think it's a contradiction. Human characters need human motives, but that rule doesn't apply to supernatural forces like demons. Why should demons need sympathetic or understandable goals of any kind?

 

[Catharsis]

Are you intending to write some sort of parody of the "Dark Lord" archetype? Sounds like it could certainly be an interesting twist on the cliché of pure evil villainy. I wouldn't recommend adding such a character to a more novel with a more serious theme. I suppose that goes without saying though.

 

[Steerpike]

I don't agree that the idea of a purely evil villain or antagonist can't be used successfully, even in a serious work. Given the number of times it has been done successfully, it seems apparent to me that it can. There was a quote I read a while back, something to the effect that any cliche can be made new and fresh in the hands of a skilled writer. That applies here as well.

 

[Phietadix]

,but really he only does it because he gets a kick out of rebellion, discord, and trolling society at large.

But then he's not being evil for the sake of evil but being evil because he gets a 'kick' out of it.