fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

and mythology, a dark lord (sometimes capitalized as Dark Lord or referred to as an evil overlord, evil emperor etc. depending on the work) is an

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.archetype, acting as the pinnacle of

villain A villain (also known as a " black hat", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...

y and

evil Evil, as a concept, is usually defined as profoundly immoral behavior, and it is related to acts that cause unnecessary pain and suffering to others. Evil is commonly seen as the opposite, or sometimes absence, of good. It can be an extreme ...

within a typically

hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...

ic narrative.

Description

The term and similar concepts enjoy widespread popularity as a

stock character A stock character, also known as a character archetype, is a type of character in a narrative (e.g. a novel, play, television show, or film) whom audiences recognize across many narratives or as part of a storytelling tradition or convention. Th ...

and a villainous moniker in

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

and related genres as well as in literary analysis of such works. As the name implies, a dark lord is characterized as a given setting's embodiment of evil, darkness, or

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

(either metatextually or as literal figure within a work's mythopoeia) in a position of immense power, most often as a leader or

emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

with a variety of minions and/or lesser villains at their disposal to influence their conflict against a heroic

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...

in a primarily indirect way, though they may additionally be depicted as wielding great physical or magical capabilities should a hero ever confront them personally."Dark Lord" in ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' (eds. John Clute & John Grant: First St. Martin's Griffin ed.: 1999), p. 250. There is a wealth of literary, folkloric, and theological precedent for the idea of a dark lord, including the Celtic Balor, the

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Lucifer, (known in Latin as the ''Princeps Tenebrarum'', the Prince of Darkness in Milton's '' Paradise Lost'') and various other chthonic figures or evil kings and sorcerers. The concept was developed throughout the nineteenth century with characters such as

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

's Alberich or Bram Stoker's Count Dracula, before crystalizing in 1954 with the character of Sauron in

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

epic fantasy High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy defined by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, or plot. Brian Stableford, ''The A to Z of Fantasy Literature'', (p. 198), Scarecrow Pres ...

novel ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'', from which the archetype most often takes its name. Later '' The Silmarillion'' would focus on the character of Morgoth, of whom Sauron was the principal lieutenant and then successor, while other works would further popularize and diversify the concept with antagonists such as Darkseid in the

DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the shared universe in which most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. In context, the term "DC Universe" usually refers to the main DC Continuity (fiction), continuity. It contains v ...

, Emperor Palpatine in the

science fantasy file:Warhammer40kcosplay.jpg, Cosplay of a character from the ''Warhammer 40,000'' tabletop game; one critic has characterized the game's setting as "action-oriented science-fantasy." Science fantasy is a hybrid genre within speculative fiction ...

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' saga, or

Lord Voldemort Lord Voldemort ( , in the films) is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the ''Harry Potter'' series of novels by J. K. Rowling. He first appears in ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' (1997) and returns either in pers ...

in the ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

'' series. More recent works sometimes also move away from the archetype's mythic origins in favour of historical allusions to infamous conquerors and dictators such as

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

Characteristics

Dark lord figures are characterized by aspirations to power and identification with some fundamental force of evil or chaos, such as a

devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

or antichrist figure. The ''Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' notes that common features of a dark lord character include being "already defeated but not destroyed aeons before" and engaging in "wounding of the land" or other rituals of desecration. Japanese media often features an equivalent of this archetype called a , drawing from analogous figures in religion and folklore. Philip Pullman noted that the dark lord archetype in literature can often reflect the belief "that

in the real world is usually embodied in a single person and requires a high position to be effective" and that this contrasts with Hannah Arendt's notion of the banality of evil.

Notable examples

* Alberich of

's Ring cycle, a prototypical dark lord * Count Dracula of Bram Stoker's novel and later franchises * Sauron and Morgoth of

's ''

'' and '' The Silmarillion'' respectively * Darkseid of the New Gods in

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

, originally appearing in Jack Kirby's ''Fourth World'' metaseries * Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine of the ''

'' series * Skeletor from the '' Masters of the Universe'' franchise * Skeksis from '' The Dark Crystal'' are portrayed as evil overlords * Ganondorf from ''

The Legend of Zelda is a media franchise, video game series created by the Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo; some portable installments and re-releases have been outsourced to Flags ...

'' series * The Crimson King of

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

's '' The Dark Tower'' series *

of J.K. Rowling's ''

'' series * Ineluki the Storm King of Tad Williams's ''

Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn ''Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn'' is a trilogy of epic fantasy novels by American writer Tad Williams, comprising ''The Dragonbone Chair'' (1988), ''Stone of Farewell'' (1990), and ''To Green Angel Tower'' (1993). ''Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn'' takes ...

Evil Overlord List

In part due to the literary popularity of dark lords in fiction,

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

and fantasy fans have collected several satirical lists of resolutions for a competent evil overlord to avoid the well-known, cliché blunders committed by dark lords,

supervillain A supervillain, supervillainess or supercriminal is a major antagonist and variant of the villainous stock character who possesses Superpower (ability), superpowers. The character type is sometimes found in comic books and is often the primary ...

s, and other archetypal antagonists in popular fiction. For example, one such resolution is: "I will not gloat over my enemies' predicament to show my superiority. I will shoot them." Internet copies of these lists vary in number and order of entries. The most famous lists, both referred to as the Evil Overlord List, were developed concurrently. Both were published to the Web in the early 1990s. The original, if lesser-known list was compiled in 1990 by members of the now-defunct FidoNet Science Fiction and Fandom (SFFAN) email echo. The FidoNet list originated with a 1988 ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' skit featuring Bond Villains touting a book ''What Not to Do When You Capture James Bond''. The FidoNet list arose out of discussions regarding what sort of advice might be in that book, and was compiled and published by Jack Butler. It predated the following list, but was only widely published later, and is the more obscure of the two. The later-produced and more famous version of the list was compiled in 1994 by Peter Anspach (hence it is occasionally titled "Peter's Evil Overlord List") based on informal discussions at conventions and on online bulletin boards in the early 1990s, and has subsequently become one of the best-known parodies of bad SF/F writing, frequently referenced online. It was originally ''The Top 100 Things I'd Do If I Ever Became an Evil Overlord'', but grew to include over 100 entries. The Evil Overlord List has led to spin-offs, including lists for stock characters including (but not limited to) heroes, henchmen, sidekicks, the Evil Overlord's Accountant, and Starfleet captains. In Australia, a minor literary scandal erupted in 1997 when it emerged that award-winning author Helen Darville plagiarised the list for her regular column in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

's '' The Courier-Mail'' newspaper, which led to her being fired. Teresa Nielsen Hayden, author and lecturer, uses an expanded version of the list in her lectures on writing science fiction. She recommends selecting five random clichés from the list, and using them, or their reverse ("Say you've drawn A-34, 'I will not turn into a snake. It never helps.' You can have a character turn into a snake and find it doesn't help, or do it and find it very useful indeed") as the basis for a plot."The Evil Overlord Devises a Plot"
Excerpted from Teresa Nielsen Hayden lecture on Stupid Plotting Tricks

References

External links

(Jack Butler's FidoNet list)
Peter Anspach's version of The Evil Overlord List
at eviloverlord.com (Started subsequent to the Butler list, and created during an overlapping time period, with an independent origin. Copyrighted by Mr. Anspach, and partially but not entirely created by him.)
Evil Overlord
��A short film based on the list above created by members of the Imperial College Science Fiction Society.
Random Plot Generator
��Random selections from the list, hosted by Teresa Nielsen Hayden {{Stock characters Evil gods Fictional deities Fictional demons Stock characters