History Main / ForTheEvulz

[[folder: Tabletop Games]]

This may be because EvilFeelsGood while GoodIsBoring [[GoodIsDumb and dumb]], but The Evulz is different from ItAmusedMe in that the Evulz-seeker need not find any pleasure in their evil acts -- in some cases they themselves (also) suffer as a consequence of the [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans crapsack world they inflict upon themselves and others]]. In other words, while many villains who follow this trope enjoy what they're doing, their actions also possess an underlying sense of indifference. Note that [[ItAmusedMe self-centered and amoral types merely seeking amusement]] wouldn't bother doing something bad [[PragmaticVillainy if it harmed them too]].

** In "Oceans Unmoving", he told another character (condensed quote): "I thought there was something about you that I liked. Now that I have the opportunity to [[BreakThemByTalking crush your soul]], I like you even more!"

That said, ChaoticEvil is ''not'' the same thing as For The Evulz. Chaotic Evil a likely CharacterAlignment for someone with this as their motivation, since irrationality and acting chaotically often go hand in hand, but Chaotic Evil encompasses anyone else who is clearly more evil than good and more chaotic than not. This means that, realistically, even if someone is Chaotic Evil, they still can and likely do have more logical motivations than For The Evulz. Furthermore, it's possible to be NeutralEvil or even LawfulEvil and be in it For The Evulz.

* In ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog, this is [[spoiler: Fiona Fox]]'s reasoning for [[spoiler: turning traitor and joining Scourge, Sonic's anti-universe counterpart.]]

* Creator/WilliamShakespeare villains are [[JustForFun/ZerothLawOfTropeExamples known for doing this]]:

[[caption-width-right:350:"It's not about money. It's about sending a message: ''Everything burns''."[[note]]Not pictured: corrupt banker bound and gagged on top of the burning money.[[/note]]]]

A non-comedic character whose personality is ''defined'' by this trope can be a CompleteMonster, the Complete Monster being defined as, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin completely monstrous]] -- needing no justifications for doing evil and having no humanising or sympathetic elements (e.g., [[WellIntentionedExtremist good intent]] or [[AntiVillain self-doubt]]) whatsoever. Note, however, that the reverse is not true -- the Monster, after all, is a character defined by their boundless heinousness, not by having reasonless evil as their only possible motivation; some may be PragmaticEvil types who want to TakeOverTheWorld. Other villainous personality types associated with For The Evulz include the PsychoForHire (who is very likely to be AxCrazy), the StrawNihilist, TheSociopath, and variants of the ChaoticEvil character alignment.

** Even in ''Shadowhunter Peril'', she will occasionally do something that could be slightly considered evil towards the Resistance, such as setting demonic, tentacled, man-eating pies on her friends (she commands them to eat Nicholas and Umbra); and [[BazookaFrenzy firing missiles at Oblivion.]] When asked why she does this, she just giggles. It goes without saying that Veronica is [[AxCrazy definitely insane.]]

* Crossed with TheBully, this seemed to be why [[Wrestling/CarleneMoore Jazz]] does what she does. She HatesEveryoneEqually and had no problem beating people up at random. Attached to the "Bra and Panties Wrestling/{{Trish|Stratus}} vs. [[Characters/WWEDivas Miss Jackie (Gayda)]]" extra on the 2004 ''WWE Divas South of the Border'' [=DVD=] is an EasterEgg of Jackie doing a photo shoot next to a small pool and Jazz randomly walking over, pushing Jackie into the pool and yelling "BITCH!", with Jackie looking completely confused.

* ''VisualNovel/{{Danganronpa}}'''s BigBad Monokuma (who is actually [[spoiler:Junko Enoshima]]) is an intentional creation of this kind of character. Head scenario writer Kazutaka Kodaka [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2015-07-22/interview-danganronpa-creator-kazutaka-kodaka/.90760 feels that giving a villain]] a FreudianExcuse is "cheating," and so crafted the villain to be defined by a complete lack of purpose in creating the DeadlyGame that the series is based around.

* ForTheEvulz/LiveActionFilms

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[[folder: Professional Wrestling]]

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** ''ComicBook/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'': In in alternate version of the DCU, the Joker's main reason to nuke Metropolis, link the trigger to Superman's wife Lois and trick the Man of Steel into killing him is to see if someone would become just as evil as he is from his twisted viewpoint. Also the reason he targets Superman in the prequel: he was bored of losing to Batman, so he decided to go on "easy mode." [[TheBadGuyWins The Joker wins here]], as he manages to turn Superman into something as evil as himself after giving him a nasty BreakingSpeech. To him, it doesn't matter at all if he was killed as a consequence. The fact that he is laughing maniacally as Superman kills him says it all.

On the other hand, some villains cannot be reasoned with because there is ''nothing'' reasonable about their reasons for acting... well, ''evil''. Unlike the ''amoral'' motivation we call ItAmusedMe, which may lead to evil in the pursuit of ([[TheUnfettered attachment-free]]) amusement, someone whose motivation is For The Evulz knows and cares about the morality of their actions -- insofar as they deliberately choose to do evil, and delight in doing so. To them, evil is not [[WellIntentionedExtremist a bad means]] [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans to a good end]] or even a [[BestServedCold bad means to a justifiable end]]; to them, evil is the means ''and'' the end, their motivation, and their justification. In short, it's saying "I did this evil thing because it was an evil thing to do."

* [[SinisterMinistee Kirei Kotomine]], the BigBad of the Fate route in ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'', was going to [[spoiler:empty the contents of the Holy Grail, an ArtifactOfDoom containing a tangible form of all of man's evil upon the world]], causing untold amounts of death and destruction. When TheHero asks him why he's doing it, he replies with a speech that can be summed up as: "Just as some people find music or art entertaining, I can only find amusement in watching other people suffer".

* ''Disney/WreckItRalph'': At the climax of the movie, the villain [[spoiler:King Candy]] [[EvilGloating gloats to Ralph]] [[NiceJobBreakingItHero that because of his gamejumping]], [[spoiler:the [[TheAssimilator giant mechanical bugs]] Ralph introduced to Sugar Rush have turned the King into one. This has made him powerful enough to take over the whole arcade.]] Still, he tries to kill Ralph first, apparently just because he feels like it.

* Creator/WilliamShakespeare is [[JustForFun/ZerothLawOfTropeExamples known for doing this]]:

* [[spoiler:Kirei Kotomine]], the BigBad of the Fate route in ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'', was going to [[spoiler:empty the contents of the Holy Grail, an ArtifactOfDoom containing a tangible form of all of man's evil]] upon the world, causing untold amounts of death and destruction. When TheHero asks him why he's doing it, he replies with a speech that can be summed up as: "Just as some people find music or art entertaining, I can only find amusement in watching other people suffer".
** The Heaven's Feel scenario [[spoiler:turns this into a DeconstructedTrope by giving us Kotomine's backstory and showing just what sort of twisted and tormented person he is: Kotomine is perfectly capable of understanding the nuances of right and wrong and has, in fact, on several occasions tried to live a good life -- by for instance becoming a priest specializing in healing and trying to have a family -- while at the same time being utterly unable to get any pleasure from life unless he's causing (or simply observing - he's not picky) someone pain and suffering. He is fully aware of just how deviant this makes him and he considers his birth to be a 'mistake'. This in fact turns his motives into a subversion. What he is truly aiming for is something close to a RageAgainstTheHeavens.]]
*** A more fitting and non-deconstructed example within the same series would be [[spoiler:Zouken Matou]], the BigBad of the Heaven's Feel route. To put his actions into perspective, even the aforementioned example above has a problem with this guy and considers him a bastard. In ''LightNovel/FateZero''[[spoiler:Zouken chose to act for the evulz over being able to wish for anything.]]
* Seems to be almost the entire motivation for the witches in ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' [[spoiler:especially the Voyager witch Bernkastel.]] [[WhoWantsToLiveForever But when you live for a thousand years, your sources of entertainment eventually start to run out.]]

** From ''Justice for All'' we've got [[spoiler: Matt Engarde. Sure, he's got a motive for paying an assassin to kill Juan Corrida, but he pulls a ForTheEvulz when he asks Phoenix to feed his cat. Why? Because he's plotted to abduct Maya Fey and is holding her hostage in his wine cellar, and the assassin he paid is there guarding Maya and posing as Matt's butler. He's sending Phoenix to his house essentially just to enjoy the fact that Phoenix can't solve his case or escape his blackmail plot even when the killer (and Maya) are literally right in front of him.]]
** In ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'', [[spoiler:Kristoph Gavin]] invokes this trope and claims that he killed Shadi Smith simply because "I am an evil human being." The truth is a little more complicated: [[spoiler:Shadi is really Zak Gramarye, a defendant who spurned Kristoph in favor of Phoenix Wright 7 years ago. Kristoph murdered him to exact revenge and clean up loose ends for his plot to get Phoenix disbarred]].