History Main / ChurchgoingVillain

-->-- '''Claude Frollo''', ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame''

-->-- '''Frollo''', ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame''

* ''The Uncanny X-Men'' graphic novel "God Loves, Man Kills" presented William Stryker, a highly religious minister whose sole mission is to rid the world of mutants because they're not (his words) "children of God." His goons had already killed two mutant children, and at a revival he tried to shoot Kitty when she renounced his God for her friendship with Nightcrawler.

** Ragetti and Pintel from , PlayedForLaughs. After losing their immortality and escaping the death penalty, they both become mildly religious. However, they always use it as a way of rationalizing their own selfish desires.

** Jack Sparrow himself leans towards this in ''On Stranger Tides'' as well. He tells a missionary that he's concerned about where he'll end up in the afterlife. However, he's not concerned enough to convert.
* ''Film/CruelIntentions'': Kathryn makes noise about Christian piety, but she's a scheming adulterous harpy who hides cocaine in the crucifix on her rosary.

* The Sheriff in ''Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves'' is shown attending church services a few times, but he's also shown to not actually believe in any of it. He's even got a Corrupt Clergyman under his thumb.

* Cardinal Richelieu from ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers''. First, he tries to become the Queen's lover. Not only is this adultery (she is married), but as a Catholic priest, Richelieu is supposed to remain celibate. When she rejects him, he plots to turn the King against her by exposing her affair with the Duke of Buckingham. He also wants to start a war between England and France.
* Big Jim Rennie in ''Literature/UnderTheDome'' by Creator/StephenKing. Many of King's novels have a bad guy fall under this trope, but Big Jim is one of the best examples.
** The mother in ''Literature/{{Carrie}}'' is also a very good example. While Big Jim [[AffablyEvil acts civil and uses his charisma to win over followers]], Mrs. White is batshit and everyone knows it.

* In the TV show ''Series/{{Oz}}'', most of the Christian gang is this, especially William Cudney and Timmy Kirk. One is a vindictive child murderer, the other is a manipulative sociopath and ex-Irish gangster.

* The Irish gangsters on ''Series/{{Castle}}'' are portrayed as these.

* The Corleones and other crime families in ''Film/TheGodfather'' were pretty devout Catholics, and ruthless racketeers.

* The Sheriff in ''Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves'' is shown attending church services a few times, but he's also shown to not actually believe in any of it. He's even got a CorruptClergyman under his thumb.

* ''ComicBook/TheUncannyXMen'' graphic novel "God Loves, Man Kills" presented William Stryker, a highly religious minister whose sole mission is to rid the world of mutants because they're not (his words) "children of God." His goons had already killed two mutant children, and at a revival he tried to shoot Kitty when she renounced his God for her friendship with Nightcrawler.

* ''ComicBook/TheXMen'' graphic novel "God Loves, Man Kills" presented William Stryker, a highly religious minister whose sole mission is to rid the world of mutants because they're not (his words) "children of God. His goons had already killed two mutant children, and at a revival he tried to shoot Kitty when she renounced his God for her friendship with Nightcrawler.

* Cardinal Richelieu from ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers''. First off, he tried to become the Queen's lover. Not only is this adultery (she is married), but as a Catholic priest, Richelieu is supposed to remain celibate. When she rejects him, he plots to turn the King against her by exposing her affair with the Duke of Buckingham. He also wants to start a war between England and France.

** You'd never find him worshipping in a manmade building like a church, but Lucifer's love for God is and always has been genuine.

* Made possible with the worship rules in the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' campaign setting ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}.'' As opposed to the rules of the standard setting, there's no requirement for a cleric to match their deity's alignment. Thus, there can be evil worshippers of good gods who barely follow the tenets of their religion, and yet can still cast spells and gain power through their worship, and are still considered members of the church. The [[CrystalDragonJesus Church of the Silver Flame]] in particular has a problem with corruption and violently zealous followers.

* In the RobinHood mythos one of the bad guys is an abbot who serves as an EvilCounterpart to Friar Tuck.

* ''Film/ISpitOnYourGrave'': The Sheriff in the remake repeatedly mentions going to church with his family, and claims he's God-fearing (but of course it's pretty hollow given his crimes in the film).

* Bender from ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' is sometimes this. His occasional religious conversions have been fleeting, but he [[spoiler:gives his son Ben a "Bot-Mitzvah" at the [[ChurchOfHappyology Church of Robotology]]]] in "The Bots and the Bees," and claims that his pastor helped him work through his grief when Fry is thought to be dead in "Fun on a Bun."

* Bender from ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' is sometimes this. His occasional religious conversions have been fleeting, but he [[spoiler:gives his son Ben a "Bot-Mitzvah" at the [[ChurchOfHappyology Church of Robotology]] in "The Bots and the Bees," and claims that his pastor helped him work through his grief when Fry is thought to be dead in "Fun on a Bun."

* All of the slave-owners shown in ''Film/12YearsASlave'' are devoutly religious.

This trope does not include religious extremists. Religious extremists do evil ''because'' of their views on religion. Churchgoing Villains identify with a religion but their evil acts are not connected to their identity in any way. It also does not include people who are members of a ReligionOfEvil. Compare and contrast HidingBehindReligion, when a villain affects religious behavior as a cover. The NoTrueScotsman fallacy may be discussed if someone says "He's not a ''real'' member of that religion!"

* In the ''Series/ColdCase'' episode "Creatures of the Night", the MonsterOfTheWeek is a fanatically religious serial killer. His religion actually plays a role in his killings, as he goes after people who "disrespect the Lord", believing that God is commanding him to do so.

* Eco and Sayyid in ''Series/{{Lost}}'' are kind of the AntiHero version of this, especially if Sayyid were [[InformedAbility actually any good at torturing]].

He'll go to church on Sunday and rob a bank on Monday. He'll lie to get what he wants but he won't take the Lord's name in vain. He'll kill innocent people but won't hurt a priest. This is a character who identifies with a religion and participates in religious rituals but also commits crimes in his everyday life. Basically, a FamilyValuesVillain if the "family value" is going to church.

%%* Robert Hanssen in ''Film/{{Breach}}''.

* Derek Sagan from the ''Literature/TheStarOfTheGuardians'' series by MargaretWeis.

* Kirei Kotomine from ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'', who gets bonus points by actually being an ''ordained priest''. He's not a [[TheManBehindTheMan villain per se]], but he is quite an evil person who actually delights in the suffering of others (down to the point that he's also TheGadfly). It doesn't help that the church actually trained him to become a ChurchMilitant exorcist, though in their defense ''nobody'' realized just how dangerous he could become. In fairness, it's not entirely his fault: there's something deeply wrong with his psychosis that means he has a conscience and understands the importance of doing good but can't personally derive any enjoyment from anything that doesn't cause evil and suffering to others.

[[folder: Film ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* Frollo in ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame''. A judge of deep religious devotion, he is still governed by his lusts, hatred, prejudice, and revenge and driven to attempted kidnapping and murder. In the original story he is also a clergyman, alchemist, and sorcerer.

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** Jack Sparrow himself leans towards this in ''On Stranger Tides'' as well. He tells a missionary that he's concerned about where he'll end up in the afterlife. However, he's not concerned enough to convert.