History Main / DastardlyWhiplash

Boo! Hiss! An oddly specific kind of character, the Dastardly Whiplash is a [[VaudevilleVillain cartoonish villain]] taken from the silent film tradition (or really from the [[OlderThanRadio old stage melodrama tradition).]] Usually a ManOfWealthAndTaste, in Great Britain (cough [[EvilBrit]] cough) he was generally a [[AristocratsAreEvil Bad Baronet]]; in America, he was often an [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Evil Banker]] who held the mortgage on the heroine's farm. Physically he's slightly hunched with an exaggerated nose and chin, a curling black moustache (typically of the handlebar type, the better to twirl menacingly while concocting his evil schemes or taunting the DistressedDamsel), and an elaborate costume, usually an old-fashioned [[PaintItBlack black suit]] with a cloak and a hat, usually a top hat.

Boo! Hiss! An oddly specific kind of character, the Dastardly Whiplash is a [[VaudevilleVillain cartoonish villain]] taken from the silent film tradition (or really from the [[OlderThanRadio old stage melodrama tradition).]] Usually a ManOfWealthAndTaste, in Great Britain he was generally a [[AristocratsAreEvil Bad Baronet]]; in America, he was often an [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Evil Banker]] who held the mortgage on the heroine's farm. Physically he's slightly hunched with an exaggerated nose and chin, a curling black moustache (typically of the handlebar type, the better to twirl menacingly while concocting his evil schemes or taunting the DistressedDamsel), and an elaborate costume, usually an old-fashioned [[PaintItBlack black suit]] with a cloak and a hat, usually a top hat.

* Spoofed in GilbertAndSullivan's ''Ruddigore''. [[OlderThanRadio In 1887]]. The baronet of Ruddigore is required, due to an ancestral curse, to commit a single evil deed daily. When the tenor lead, Robin Oakapple, is exposed to secretly be Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd, the true heir to the seat of Ruddigore, he exits and then returns with the moustache and top hat. Similiarly, his servant Old Adam spontaneously acquires [[TheIgor a hump]].

* GreenLantern's nemesis Sinestro certainly looks the part. In terms of personality, he's a little more complex (but only a little).

* Professor Hinkel, the self-styled Evil Magician of ''{{Frosty the Snowman}}'' has the antiquated costume (though he loses the top hat, [[YouShouldKnowThisAlready of course]]), the handlebar moustache, the exaggerated mannerisms, and the general incompetence associated with this trope. The fact that he is voiced by Billy [=DeWolfe=] (''See'' {{Film}},'' above'') demonstrates the provenance of the character.

* Robbie Rotten of ''{{LazyTown}}'' may not have the loftiest of goals (he just wants the kids to be lazy so they won't be running back and forth across the roof of his subterranean lair all day -- one might suggest he move, but it's probably rent-controlled), but he more than makes up for it with the kind of elaborate costumes and schemes that define this trope.

** He's the trope namer tho.

Often turns out to be a HarmlessVillain, despite his menacing appearance. This trope is almost never played straight today. The DastardlyWhiplash is well on its way to being a DeadHorseTrope except in parody.

Often turns out to be a HarmlessVillain, despite his menacing appearance.

Read more: http://www.cracked.com/article_18758_the-5-most-ridiculous-assassination-plots-ever-attempted.html#ixzz119fZTPFC

->"I mean, threatening innocent to get the Good Guy to cave? I might as well grow a mustache and twirl the end while I'm at it."

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Olw47fs7Tc Tod Slaughter]], in nearly all his roles, played this character seriously -- or, at least, as seriously as one can. "So, you wanted to be a bride, eh, my dear Jessica? Well, so you shall be --''a bride of DEATH!'' Ehehehehehhehaaa!"

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Olw47fs7Tc Tod Slaughter]], in nearly all his roles, played this character seriously -- or, at least, as seriously as one can.

''Curses! But though I be foiled to-day, my proud beauty, a time will come! [[EvilLaugh Ha-ha]]!''

Boo! Hiss! An oddly specific kind of character, the Dastardly Whiplash is a cartoonish villain taken from the silent film tradition (or really from the [[OlderThanRadio old stage melodrama tradition).]] Usually a ManOfWealthAndTaste, in Great Britain he was generally a [[AristocratsAreEvil Bad Baronet]]; in America, he was often an [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Evil Banker]] who held the mortgage on the heroine's farm. Physically he's slightly hunched with an exaggerated nose and chin, a curling black moustache (typically of the handlebar type, the better to twirl menacingly while concocting his evil schemes or taunting the DistressedDamsel), and an elaborate costume, usually an old-fashioned [[PaintItBlack black suit]] with a cloak and a hat, usually a top hat.

He generally has two moods: when happy, he sneers, cackles, and rubs his hands in malevolent glee, and when unhappy he glowers, sulks, makes a fist and bites his index finger and [[BadBoss snaps at his sidekick/henchman]], should he have any. He speaks largely in AntiquatedLinguistics, preferring expletives such as "Curses! Foiled again!" and "Drat!", or, for extreme cases, "Drat and ''double'' drat!"

* The original [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Beach_Boys_-_Heroes_and_Villains.jpg picture sleeve]] for The Beach Boys' 1967 single ''Heroes and Villains'' had a cartoon illustration of one of these (getting bested by a DudleyDoRight-esque hero, of course).

* One of the earlier examples of this was Relentless Rudolph Ruddigore Rassendale, the villain of C.W. Kahles' 1906-1940 strip ''[[http://www.toonopedia.com/hairbr.htm Hairbreadth Harry]]''. An almost direct rip-off of this character was the eponymous ''[[http://www.toonopedia.com/desmond.htm Desperate Desmond]]''.

* The Vinegar bottle, the villain of the 1935 ''MerrieMelodies'' short, "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cWTEwpGsc8 The Little Dutch Plate]]", [[PoirotSpeak mit addischonal German akzent]]. He [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty even ties the little Dutch girl figurine to a log]], and is about to saw her in half -- using the gears of a Dutch clock! [[spoiler:But in a nicely contrived TwistEnding, he [[NightmareFuel replaces his head]] with a more handsome one from a perfume bottle, and goes off with the heroine!]]

* The Vinegar bottle, the villain of the 1935 ''MerrieMelodies'' short, "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cWTEwpGsc8 The Little Dutch Plate]]", [[PoirotSpeak mit addischonal German akzent]]. He even ties the little Dutch girl figurine to a log, and is about to saw her in half -- using the gears of a Dutch clock!

* Dan Backslide (coward-bully-cad-and-thief) of the LooneyTunes short ''[[TheDoverBoys The Dover Boys at Pimento University [--OR--] The Rivals of Roquefort Hall]]'':

* Dan Backslide (coward-bully-cad-and-thief) of the LooneyTunes short ''The Dover Boys at Pimento University; or, The Rivals of Roquefort Hall'':

* The Vinegar bottle, the villain of the 1935 ''MerrieMelodies'' short, "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cWTEwpGsc8 The Little Dutch Plate]]", [[PoirotSpeak mit addischonal German akzent]]!