History Main / EvilGloating

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 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?

Gloating. Monologuing. It's what villains ''do.'' Maybe they "[[SomebodySetUpUsTheBomb set up us the bomb]]" and are calling to rub it in and take credit, perhaps he's just [[MacGuffinDeliveryService snatched the MacGuffin]] from the hero's very hands and insist on staying ''just out of reach'' to taunt. Maybe the villain finally has the hero at his mercy and just ''has'' to taunt him one last time before shooting him.

* ''Before I Kill You, Mister Spy...'' (formerly ''James Ernest's Totally Renamed Spy Game'', formerly ''Before I Kill You, Mr. Bond'') is built on this trope. Players are SpyFiction {{Supervillain}}s who score points by creating a SupervillainLair and then luring spies into it. The points scored for a spy increase exponentially if you "taunt" them before killing them, but of course, doing so carries the risk that the spy will escape and destroy your lair.

* ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly'': A vengeful man catches up with Tuco ("the ugly" of the title) while Tuco is taking a bath. The pursuer starts ranting about tracking his quarry for weeks, and Tuco shoots him dead with the gun he has hidden under the soap-foam: "When you have to shoot.... ''[[StateTheSimpleSolution shoot]]'', don't talk!"

* ''LightNovel/HumanityHasDeclined'': Relentlessly parodied: the [[spoiler:[[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext skinless chickens]]]] gloat about their EvilPlan to the heroine, but she's too busy [[PaintingTheMedium adjusting the subtitles]] to pay attention.

* In "Literature/ColdSnap", the villain is an EvilGenius who has spent decades stewing over various perceived slights, including a defeat by the hero's mentor fifty years earlier. When he gets the hero and the hero's archnemesis (present in an EnemyMine capacity) in his clutches, he goes into a rant that lasts for over an hour. The story cuts away to another scene for most of it, and only comes back at the end when he starts getting into useful details about what he's actually done, with his two captives nudging him without him noticing into telling them everything they need to know. The hero notes that this is the sign of a second-class villain, as compared to a consummate professional like his archnemesis who will never give you advance warning of his evil plan -- as his archnemesis demonstrates shortly afterward.

* In the Franchise/SherlockHolmes expanded universe novel ''Dead Man's Land'', the killer thinks the gloating is the best part, as his revenge has been years in the making, but first makes sure his victims are too weak or disabled to do anything about it. However by the time Dr. Watson confronts him, he's had his revenge and has no interest in explaining himself, telling Watson he'll die without knowing the answer.

* ''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 the battle at Yonaguni:

* ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'': After Team Godzilla are captured and brought to him, [[Characters/MonsterVerseHumans 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.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'': Discusssed and lampshaded at how villains typically gloat over near victory long enough for the heroes to gain the upper hand.

* In ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}} 1934 -- Alice in Jails'', Ladd goes on a brief monologue about how stupid it is when people indulge in this trope... [[HypocriticalHumor While indulging in this trope]], [[HypocrisyNod which he is both thoroughly aware of and rather amused by]].

** In ''LightNovel/BleachCannotFearYourOwnWorld'', [[BigBad Tokinada]] {{Lampshade|Hanging}}s that it's incredibly stupid to explain your {{Evil Plan}}s aloud given anyone could be listening in, but also comments he just can't stop himself, because he enjoys seeing [[{{Troll}} his victims' baffled faces]] as he explains his [[XanatosGambit rather circuitous schemes]].

* ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero'': In the first season, Cromwell, the villain behind it all, starts to gloat about how he'll never be defeated as long as he has the ring. [[spoiler:Before he can finish the sentence, Guiche sneaks up behind him and hits him on the head with a big stick. "So, who is this guy?"]]

* ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'':

* In ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'', [[UncannyValleyGirl Ryoko Asakura]] does this when she [[spoiler:attempts to kill Kyon so she can watch Haruhi's reactions. She was literally a second away from killing Kyon when Yuki saved him. If Ryoko hadn't taken the time to explain why she wanted Kyon dead, she presumably could have killed him before Yuki even arrived.]]

* ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'': In "[[Recap/DigimonAdventureE17CockatrimonTheCaptainOfIllusions The Crest of Sincerity]]", Cockatrimon takes time after intercepting Mimi, Sora, Biyomon and Palmon to gloat about how he's captured the other kids and [[TakenForGranite petrified the other Digimon]], and about how he's going to capture them too. This gives the heroes the time to come to grips with the situation, costing him the element of surprise and, when he finally gets around to attacking, allowing them to dodge his {{Eye Beam}}s and flee. If he'd attacked as soon as he saw them he might have won then and there, but...

* ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW'': {{Lampshaded}} and {{Invoked}} on a number of occasions.

** During the Underbase storyline, Ratbat decided to start with some evil gloating to Danial and Hi-Q about his plan to take the Underbase's power for himself. [[TooDumbToLive Unfortunately, he chose to do this]] right in front of Scorponok, a WalkingArmory who was one of the largest and most powerful Decepticons, while Ratbat was one of the smallest. Unsurprisingly, this led to Scorponok deciding that the smaller 'Con had [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness become a liability]].

* In ''Fanfic/WorstCaseScenario'', 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.

* ''VideoGame/ZeroWing'' has the rather infamous scene with Cats phoning into the heroes' ship's huge viewscreen to gloat about how [[AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs all their base are belong to him]], and that they are on the [[YouAreOnTheWayToDestruction way to destruction]]. Incidentally, a better translation to the page image's quote would be: "Make the most of the little time you have left."

* In the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''/''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' crossover, Peter and Homer start a Giant Chicken-style fight over which beer is better (according to Homer and Moe, Pawtucket ripped off Duff). Both end up falling into a vat of radioactive goo, get [[ILoveNuclearPower radioactive powers]], fly into the sky, and continue their fight aboard Kang and Kodos's FlyingSaucer. Eventually, Homer loses his powers and grabs on to keep himself from falling to the ground. Still powered, Peter starts telling Homer what he'll do to him... then he too loses his powers, laments talking for too long, and falls.

* ''ComicBook/{{Irredeemable}}''. Charybdis reveals he's had a PowerUp and starts kicking Plutonian's butt, saying that as Plutonian was NighInvulnerable he'd never learned to fight properly. Plutonian then reveals why he turned evil in the first place.