History Main / EvilGloating

* ''Anime/CodeGeass'': Although he's an AntiHero, Lelouch is ''very'' fond of doing this to a poor hapless victim to his CompellingVoice before using it. In R2 C.C. lampshades it which Lelouch dismisses; he apparently can't pass on an opportunity to be [[LargeHam dramatic]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'' character Colonel H. Stinkmeaner is quite possibly the king of this trope. Every single word he says is evil gloating. At one point he even dies, goes to hell and basically gloats that he is more evil than the Satan, to which Satan readily agrees.
* Even [[FaceHeelTurn good guys gone bad]] suffer from this. In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' where Rhinox is turned into a Predacon and nearly takes over, this is what trips him up:
-->'''Megatron:''' Even now, Rhinox, you're teaching me a valuable lesson...\\

--->'''Starscream:''' YOU... INTERRUPTED... MY... SPEEEEEEEEEECH!
** At one point, [[spoiler: he gets cloned, [[LiteralSplitPersonality each one of which represents a bit of his personality.]] One, Thundercracker, speaks entirely in evil gloating.]]
** This is averted with Megatron (the only TF canon where it ''is'' averted, come to think of it), who stands over Optimus and gloats that he's going to finally destroy the person who left him as a head for fifty years [[spoiler:before turning right around and blasting the slag out of Starscream, the guy who actually did it.]]

** Ironically enough, Megatron would subsequently forget this lesson, at one point gloating over a dying [[spoiler:Dinobot]] long enough to let his target improvise a weapon and hit him very hard with it.
* Endlessly parodied in ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'', where [[HarmlessVillain Dr. Drakken]] just can't quit gloating, no matter how many times [[TheDragon Shego]] warns him about it. Of course, the otherwise savvy Shego lost when she was EvilOverlord because she gloated herself, angering [[ThisLoserIsYou Ron Stoppable]].
** Amusingly, Shego ''wasn't'' going to gloat at first, and only decided to do so after Drakken goaded her into it.

** Light also gloats evilly at the end of the penultimate episode. While it wouldn't have changed the outcome had he not done so, it was pretty reckless of him, and he only did it as a matter of pride to show how confident he was that he had successfully tied up all remaining loose ends.

* ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'': After Team Godzilla are captured and brought to him, [[Characters/MonsterVerseWalterSimmons Walter Simmons]] begins monologuing to them about his egotistical EvilPlan. He's so wrapped up in his own SmugSnake vision that he doesn't notice for a while that the heroes and his own staff are backing away from the display window behind him, at which point he's CaughtMonologuing and turns around to see a very much [[spoiler:Ghidorah]]-controlled Mechagodzilla about to kill him.

* ''Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'':

* ''Literature/TheCaskOfAmontillado'' is a monologue by a Villain Protagonist about how he buried a friend alive fifty years prior. In short, the entire story is an example of Evil Gloating.

[[folder:Web Original]]

* Pretty much every villain from the web fiction serial ''Literature/DimensionHeroes'' displays this trait to some degree.

* A frequently exploited trope in ''Podcast/RedPandaAdventures''. Multiple episodes, such as "Barbarian at the Gates" and "The Doctor is In", open with the Red Panda seemingly at his enemy's mercy, only to eventually reveal that the Red Panda had long since freed himself and was simply egging his captor on to try and learn more information. If the villain isn't obliging on their own, the Red Panda gives them a little nudge with his hypnotic abilities.

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[[quoteright:312:[[Webcomic/RustyAndCo https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gloat2_6.png]]]]

** The look on [[spoiler: his face when L dies]]. Hell, in the anime, Light went so far as to literally ''dance on his grave'' while gloating about his victory.

'''Supergirl:''' ''[thinking]'' She keeps talking, just watching the fight like it's all for her amusement. But I stopped listening a long time ago. I'm too busy trying to stay alive.

-->"''E͏ven͟ if̶ ̴y͡ǫu ̶kil̢l us̷ ͡yoų'̕v͜e ǫnly̵ slash͞e̶d o͘ff o̶ne̷ ten̸d͝r͝i̡l of a s͏in̡gle͘ g͏rea̢ter̢ or͜ga͝nism̵.͟ [[spoiler: ̷So m͢an̴y sam͠p̴l̨e̕s. ͟ ̧S͞o m̕a̶n̸y people͠ o͟uţ ͠t͏her͏e͝ h̛op҉i̵ng̢ ̵to͜ ͞start a famil̨y҉, b͞ut can'͝t̛ ̛co͘n͏ceive̶. S͞o ͏th̴e͟y ͞re͘s̷or͘t to... ͝o҉utsid͠e a̕s̴si͘s҉t̡an̡ce̷. ͞ H̴ow ̸m̨an҉y g͟enerątion͝s wįll i̸t͡ ̸t͠a͟ke, do y̨ou͡ ̷thi͞nk̸,̴ ͞be͟fơre̢ ҉t͟he c̨ḩi͘ldre̶n͠ o͡f ̛the dra͠gǫn̷ ̸w͘alk̸ t̕h̨e ͝ci̢ty ̢s̛tr҉e͢et̢s i͟n̵ ͝p̛l̸ai͘n si̢gh͟ţ, ͝n̕o͜ ̡one sųsp͢ec̡t̵ing̸ ̢a th̴ing?]] ̶ H͞o͝w many mo͟re ̧frien̴ds͠ of yo̢u̢r͡s͟ m̵ight sti҉l̷l͘ be ̶end͘an̢ger͟ed̶? ͞''"
* ''Fanfic/HarryIsADragonAndThatsOk'': Draco's gloating is so informative that Harry assumes he was being [[CouldSayItBut surreptitiously helpful]], and thanks him for the warning. Draco's face turns interesting colours as he tries to stammer out a rebuttal before walking away.
--> '''Harry:''' He's quite nice if you think about what he's saying.
* ''Fanfic/LovedAndLost'':
** After [[spoiler:Jewelius]] has the [[HeroWithBadPublicity disgraced heroes]] imprisoned, he reveals that [[spoiler: he orchestrated the invasion of Canterlot, [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder double-crossed the Changelings]] to [[ICanRuleAlone take the throne for himself]], and plans to make Twilight ([[CorruptTheCutie whom he has been manipulating all along]]) [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe his new queen]]]]. This ends up [[VillainBall leading to his downfall]] as it motivates the demoralized heroes -- [[MustMakeAmends who all desire to get back into Twilight's good graces]] -- to save their friend from his manipulations.
** This happens again when [[spoiler:Jewelius]] reveals to Twilight that [[spoiler:her friends were [[CassandraTruth right all along about him being evil]]]]. This also proves to be a big mistake as it causes Twilight to have a massive JerkassRealization and motivates her to [[MustMakeAmends reconcile with her loved ones]].
* In ''Fanfic/QueenOfAllOni'', Jade sometimes lapses into this, but is aware of it, being the savvy villain that she is, and tries to avoid it most of the time. Finn, Valmont, and some other characters also do this at multiple times throughout the story, and it usually doesn't turn out well for them.
* {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries'':
-->'''Thunderstorm:''' Oh, but of course! If there's anything I love, it's gloating!
* Subverted in the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfic ''Envy And Arrogance''. Arrogance soundly trashes the mane six and their allies. Then she launches into a long Evil Gloating monologue, which lets them recover and focus their powers. The subversion comes from the fact that she is quite obviously doing this on purpose - as she has outright stated that her boss' XanatosGambit will work better if they win.

* ''Fanfic/PoniesOfOlympus: Atlas Strongest Tournament'': When the changelings reveal themselves during the final match of the tournament, [[TheDragon Aurelia]] goes into detail how they've been manipulating everyone in order to feed off of their skills and power, and will use it to conquer Equestria. [[EvilMatriarch Chrysalis]] sheds [[TearsOfJoy tears of pride]] on her artful delivery.
* Lampshaded in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9776859/7/Blaze-Into-the-Inferno Blaze: Into the Inferno]]'' when after capturing an initially reticent Bellatrix Lestrange Harry quipped "Real villains always explain their evil plots."
* Lampshaded in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8106168/6/Weres-Harry Weres Harry]]'' when Harry commented to Riddle's shade "You're monologueing. That is what the bad guy does just before everything usually goes to shite."
* ''Fanfic/TheVerySecretDiary'': Tom Riddle unloads a plethora of truly, twisted taunts on Ginny, calling her a dumb fool for not figuring him out sooner.
* ''Fanfic/AnUnsungSong'': In "The Place of White and Gold", Licinius plans on doing more gloating, but still gets some in.

* In ''Fanfic/HellsisterTrilogy'', Satan Girl has mastered this art, and she launches into a monologue as she is beating ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} up during their final battle.
-->'''Satan Girl:''' Do you know what I'm going to do after I kill you, Kara? Do you know? Well, listen. I'm going to find my child. I'm going to raise him to be what neither Mordru nor I could be alone. A sorcerer with the genes and power of the greatest necromancer in the universe, plus the body and powers of a Kryptonian. He will be a scourge such as Mordru never dreamed of. And I will rule through him, and he will rule because of me. We will conquer as none have ever conquered. But it may take a little while to find him. So I'm going to do something first, just to get the kinks out. I'm going to find me a planet, one with people on it, lots and lots of people. And I'm going to kill them all. Then I'm going to another planet, and kill just, maybe, half of them. And I'll make the ones who live worship me. By the time I find my child, he may be the object of a new religion. Wouldn't that be nice, Kara?
* In ''Fanfic/WorstCaseScenarioClcman'', Vandal Savage states his intention to kill Robin, Artemis and Kid Flash immediately, but Robin distracts him into spouting an evil monologue. The narration notes that while this is "Supervillain Cliché #1", Savage probably invented it, and has been falling for it for centuries.
* Conquest loves to do this in ''Fanfic/FallOfStarfleetRebirthOfFriendship''.

* ''Fanfic/TantabusMarkII'': Lampshaded; Daring Do (who is both an adventurer and an author) notes that absolutely everyone loves a good monologue, which is why villains still do it and authors still use it even when they're mocking the absurdity.

-->'''Red Skull:''' "Do you think I am innocent of anything the Reich did? I shot down partisans and Allied soldiers. I tortured captives. I supervised operations, at times, in a concentration camp. My hands are as red as my skull, Captain. I would do it again. If I triumph, I will."

* This is usually par-for-the-course in salt fics involving Lila Rossi's downfall for ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'', where she will drop the act upon people realising what she's truly like and gloat to them about how easily they fell for all her lies, how easily they believed all her malicious slander about Marinette, how she hates Ladybug and all the other "self-righteous, goody two-shoes heroes"... and usually turning out to have [[EngineeredPublicConfession gloated whilst she's being recorded or observed by authority figures with the power to punish her and who aren't happy about being fooled]]. This trope is lampshaded in the fic ''Fanfic/MissingMiraculousLadybug'', where Chloe (who'd had her lackey Sabrina call her while she was in the principal's office with him, Lila's mother and several police officers) remarks on the fact that her tendency to do this when she thinks she holds all the cards has just cemented her downfall.

* The ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' fic ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/27853170/chapters/68194306 Pulse and Void]]'' has the creepy torturer Fusion who starts this with Aizawa. He seems to be trying to provoke Aizawa to make a mistake by gloating about how he made Present Mic scream and bleed and dehumanizing him as he says he’s taking him with as a pet and plaything. It’s a fatal mistake because Aizawa is already enraged and though he tries to block it out, he ultimately channels his rage into the battle and saving Mic.

** Discussed by Frozone and Mr. Incredible when recounting stories of their glory days:

'''Mr. Incredible:''' ''[chuckles]'' He starts monologuing?\\

'''Mr. Incredible:''' Yep! ''[laughs]''\\
'''Frozone:''' He starts, like, this prepared speech about how "feeble" I am, compared to him, how "inevitable" my defeat is, how the ''[makes dramatic hand gesture]'' "[[PunctuatedForEmphasis World! Will soon! Be his!]]" Yadda, yadda...\\

''[[[TalkToTheFist Mr. Incredible hurls a log at him]]; Syndrome barely dodges it and quickly immobilizes him with his zero-point energy ray]''\\

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'', [[spoiler: this ends up biting [[BitchInSheepsClothing Dawn Bellwether]] in the butt; Nick and Judy [[EngineeredPublicConfession manage to catch a recording]] of her gloating about how she used Night Howler extract to [[HatePlague make predators go savage]], and how she exploited the ensuing [[FantasticRacism anti-pred hysteria]] to seize power.]]

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'':

*** In his first form, Cell takes the time to tell a wounded Piccolo about his origins and goals after attempting to absorb him. It bites him in the ass when Piccolo reveals he was faking the injury to get him to talk and promptly regenerates his arm. Which Cell should have known Piccolo could do, since ''he has the exact same power, inherited '''from''' Piccolo''.

* In the ''Literature/ThursdayNext'' novel ''The Eyre Affair'', BigBad Acheron Hades launches into a gloating soliloquy right when he has Thursday cornered. In the time it takes him to gloat, Thursday is able to [[spoiler: figure out his one weakness (silver) and shoot him dead with a silver bullet.]]

* ''Literature/TheEyreAffair'': Acheron Hades has Thursday Next at his mercy and starts gloating shamelessly, to the point that the narrative stops quoting him and just notes that he continues gloating.

->''"If you have to look along the shaft of an arrow from the wrong end, if a man has you entirely at his mercy, then hope like hell that man is an evil man. Because the evil like power, power over people, and they want to see you in fear. They want you to know you're going to die. So they'll talk. They'll gloat. They'll watch you squirm. They'll put off the moment of murder like another man will put off a good cigar. So hope like hell your captor is an evil man. A good man will kill you with hardly a word."''
-->-- '''Terry Pratchett''', ''Literature/MenAtArms''

* In the ''Literature/ThursdayNext'' novel ''Literature/TheEyreAffair'', BigBad Acheron Hades launches into a gloating soliloquy right when he has Thursday cornered. In the time it takes him to gloat, Thursday is able to [[spoiler: figure out his one weakness (silver) and shoot him dead with a silver bullet.]]
* In ''[[Literature/BooksOfBayern The Goose Girl]]'' by Creator/ShannonHale, Selia gloats for a few PAGES about how she's a better princess, how [[spoiler: Falada]] died, and so on, and how no one will believe poor Ani. She should have double checked behind the tapestries before she started...

* In ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'', [[spoiler: Felix]] does this when he captures the Reds and Blues, despite [[NoNonsenseNemesis his partner]] telling him to just get on with killing them already. He calls it therapy for having to [[SurroundedByIdiots deal with their idiocy]]. Naturally, this bites him in the rear, since it gives [[ActionGirl Carolina]] a chance to save them. The Reds and Blues [[BatmanGambit take advantage]] of his love of this later on, getting him to gloat about how he'd been PlayingBothSides of Chorus's civil war... [[EngineeredPublicConfession while unknowingly being recorded]]. Finding that he'd been OutGambitted by the people he dismissed as losers sends him straight into SarcasmFailure.

* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': In this ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' fanfiction, [[Characters/AbraxasHrodvitnonTitansAndOtherCreatures the Many]] -- deranged, fanatical HiveMind that they are -- take some time boasting to [[AdaptationalHeroism Monster X]] during their battle at Yonaguni:
--->"''E͏ven͟ if̶ ̴y͡ǫu ̶kil̢l us̷ ͡yoų'̕v͜e ǫnly̵ slash͞e̶d o͘ff o̶ne̷ ten̸d͝r͝i̡l of a s͏in̡gle͘ g͏rea̢ter̢ or͜ga͝nism̵.͟ [[spoiler: ̷So m͢an̴y sam͠p̴l̨e̕s. ͟ ̧S͞o m̕a̶n̸y people͠ o͟uţ ͠t͏her͏e͝ h̛op҉i̵ng̢ ̵to͜ ͞start a famil̨y҉, b͞ut can'͝t̛ ̛co͘n͏ceive̶. S͞o ͏th̴e͟y ͞re͘s̷or͘t to... ͝o҉utsid͠e a̕s̴si͘s҉t̡an̡ce̷. ͞ H̴ow ̸m̨an҉y g͟enerątion͝s wįll i̸t͡ ̸t͠a͟ke, do y̨ou͡ ̷thi͞nk̸,̴ ͞be͟fơre̢ ҉t͟he c̨ḩi͘ldre̶n͠ o͡f ̛the dra͠gǫn̷ ̸w͘alk̸ t̕h̨e ͝ci̢ty ̢s̛tr҉e͢et̢s i͟n̵ ͝p̛l̸ai͘n si̢gh͟ţ, ͝n̕o͜ ̡one sųsp͢ec̡t̵ing̸ ̢a th̴ing?]] ̶ H͞o͝w many mo͟re ̧frien̴ds͠ of yo̢u̢r͡s͟ m̵ight sti҉l̷l͘ be ̶end͘an̢ger͟ed̶? ͞''"
* Occurs in the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fic, ''Fanfic/LovedAndLost'':

** This happens again when [[spoiler: Jewelius]] reveals to Twilight that [[spoiler: her friends were [[CassandraTruth right all along about him being evil]]]]. This also proves to be a big mistake as it causes Twilight to have a massive JerkassRealization and motivates her to [[MustMakeAmends reconcile with her loved ones]].
* In the ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' fic ''Fanfic/QueenOfAllOni'', Jade sometimes lapses into this, but is aware of it, being the savvy villain that she is, and tries to avoid it most of the time. Finn, Valmont, and some other characters also do this at multiple times throughout the story, and it usually doesn't turn out well for them.
* {{Lampshaded}} in ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries'':

-->'''ComicBook/{{Shazam}}''': "I almost didn't escape. But all I had to do, in the end, was use my flight power to its fullest extent. For about an hour, to be precise. If you hadn't been so intent on making a long speech, you could probably have gotten me."

-->'''Ladd:''' And therefore, as such, in light of that revelation, I'll say that one is enough, and since that one is of course myself, I want you all to shut up. You're boring. Swallow those words and take them to the afterlife yourself if you want them delivered there so damn much."
* ''Anime/BirdyTheMighty: Decode'': Averted hilariously in episode 5 of the first season, in which Birdy punches Kinzel's mecha, the [[MeaningfulName Amubis 777]] (yes, like Anubis) in the middle of his explanation of why it is so awesome and will own her (to which he responds, "You oughta listen until I'm finished!").

Or perhaps this is the place where they finally have a chance to get [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech all the reasons they despise the hero personally]] off their chest. Any [[WhatTheHellHero mistakes]] the hero makes are also fair game for villainous gloating. At any rate, while this is a villainous staple on par with a hero and InTheNameOfTheMoon, it's still one of the things the EvilOverlordList strenuously warns against, as any villain caught gloating is sure to be either killed or foiled, as in the end his gloating always ends up giving the hero that little bit of extra time or information that helps him counter the villain's EvilPlan. In their defense, it's really ''[[ComplexityAddiction fun]]'' and gives you that [[EvilFeelsGood warm evil feeling]] in the black pit of your soul when you utterly [[HeroicBSOD grind your opponent's face into the dirt.]] Unfortunately, most villains fail to [[VillainForgotToLevelGrind grind hard enough]]. But how could anyone appreciate the [[JustBetweenYouAndMe brilliance of your scheme]] unless you explained it to them?

This also goes hand in hand with EvilPlan, where it's practically required to give the hero and viewer exposition of just what the heck is happening. Expect the villain to let out an EvilLaugh and start to TrashTalk about how the hero(es) are powerless to stop his EvilPlan. It can greatly surprise them when the hero interrupts with GetItOverWith.

If they've just finished owning TheHero, this may have been preceded by OminousAdversarialAmusement and is sure to become TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, but don't worry, a ThwartedCoupDeGrace is coming up. If they are making their speech [[NiceJobFixingItVillain only for their opponent]] [[TalktotheFist to use it as an advantage]], that person was most likely CaughtMonologuing. May overlap with TrashTalk. See also VillainBall and DidYouActuallyBelieve Has some similarities to the MotiveRant.