History Main / HopeCrusher

They will be very fond of the DespairGambit. They will often give a HopeSpot to their victims, and then yank it away at the last second, mostly thinking that despair is at its finest when the last ray of hope is destroyed right in front of their eyes. If they would instill HopeIsScary, so much the merrier! [[ItsAllAboutMe Don't expect them to enjoy their own despair, though.]] [[BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad Most of the time.]]

A popular non-ForTheEvulz [[FreudianExcuse explanation]] for these sorts of characters is an inability to experience positive emotions themselves coupled with [[GreenEyedMonster a jealousy for other people's happiness]] and wanting these people to be just as miserable as they themselves are. There are also some villains who believe that despair is necessary and don't seek pleasure in destroying hopes and dreams, but do so because they believe that they have to. It's a common 'means' in DespotismJustifiesTheMeans - an EvilOverlord or DiabolicalMastermind can't have their oppressed underlings getting uppity and spoiling their fun.

''Note'': targeting just one specific person to make them miserable doesn't make a character a Hope Crusher, to be this trope the character has to have a desire to make everyone around him or her miserable or have a specific plan in effect to make large groups of people miserable for that purpose alone.

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* The party "Gathering of Races" was already pretty bad at this in ''Literature/BackstabbedInABackwaterDungeon'', by pretending to be kind to the protagonist Light only to turn on him and try to drive him to death by despair as a sick game, but former party member Shion goes even further. She teams up with an other-world soul dragon to torment a little human girl they name "Momo" by intentionally setting her ghost loose in a dungeon, making it a game to see how long she can wander aimlessly before they capture her and put her into a grotesque undead body to torment. They confuse Light's TranquilFury for despair and taunt him to show them more despair for their amusement. They get to see how despair is on the receiving end when he goes into ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill, with the dragon's KryptoniteFactor.

* [[spoiler:Prince Schneizel]] of ''Anime/CodeGeass'' also turns out to use this strategy along with DivideAndConquer. Unlike most villains, however, he does it because he believes AmbitionIsEvil and hope and dreams are only sources of problems that the world wishes to get rid of forever. This goes from [[spoiler:painting the BigGood as a ManipulativeBastard who only cares about personal gain to using KillSat to nuke every single city in the world, halting any attempt at progress in the world.]]

* ''Manga/SeraphOfTheEnd'': Ferid Bathory shows a sign of this in this line towards the Hyakuya orphans right before [[WouldHurtAChild he murders them,]] apart from Yuu and Mika.
--> '''Ferid''': Caught between hope and despair, I wonder how you'll cry.

** ''ComicBook/TheFlash'': [[Characters/TheFlashHunterZolomon Hunter Zolomon, the second Professor Zoom/Reverse-Flash]] is a former criminal profiler whose entire ''modus operandi'' is forcing superheroes to suffer horrible tragedies, in the warped belief that such tragedies [[MiseryBuildsCharacter will make them better heroes]].

--->'''Gary''': Echo: What's my inspirational quote for today?
--->'''Possessed Echo Dot''': '''YOU WILL DROWN IN A SEA OF EXISTENTIAL DREAD!'''

* ''Animation/BoBoiBoyTheMovie'': Bora Ra [[spoiler:interrupts Ochobot's last words of "I hope..." to [=BoBoiBoy=] by yanking Ochobot out of his hands and declaring that he'll destroy that hope. He then kills Ochobot.]]

* ''TabletopGame/PrincessTheHopeful:'' This is a common trope for the Cataphractoi, intelligent spirits of Darkness created when someone commits suicide or otherwise dies after crossing the DespairEventHorizon. Since Cataphractoi know how they are formed, they will often work to push people into despair in order to try and create new Cataphractoi.

* Yuuki Terumi from ''Franchise/BlazBlue'' is an unabashed {{Troll}} who goes out of his way to make everyone around him miserable, as it's what he counts as 'interesting'. A reason was he thinks that despair is the only truth there is, it, along with hatred towards him, empowers him, and he's hellbent on making it to be the sole accepted truth of the world, claiming that everything else are lies. In ''VideoGame/BlazBlueCentralFiction'', it's all coming together with how it's revealed that [[spoiler:he's the original spirit of Susano'o Unit, who held the grandeur of creating a world where everyone lives in fear of his strength and are hopeless to match him.]]

* Eridan Ampora from ''{{Webcomic/Homestuck}}'', whose title is Prince of Hope. Don't let the title fool you, the Prince class is a destroyer of/through its aspect, and so Eridan is literally a destroyer of hope. Proving the point, [[spoiler:after the trolls were denied entrance into the new universe they had created, Eridan took away their last hope for restoring their race by destroying the matriorb.]]

* The Ministry of Love from ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour''. Where a lesser regime would be content with simply eliminating an insurgent or [[{{Unperson}} even erasing all notions of them from history]], the Ministry of Love goes much further. They utterly crush their victims first and force them to abandon and betray everything and everyone they ever stood for or loved and to accept that there's nothing worthy in their life, except for their "love" for Big Brother. It's not just instrumental either: the Party seems to see such violence as part of what it means to have power, and thus part of what it desires for its own sake.

* Crocodile of ''Manga/OnePiece'' took it upon himself to trample on the dreams and the ideals of those who oppose him. Every time the Straw Hats and Vivi think they've stopped his plan, they quickly learn that Crocodile has a backup contingency just in case. It's implied he does this because his own dreams were crushed in his past.

* Palpatine from Creator/GeorgeLucas' ''Franchise/StarWars'' excels at this. First, he completes Anakin Skywalker's turn to the [[FaceHeelTurn Dark Side]] by telling him that the Jedi Knights have turned against him and murdered his pregnant wife. Much later, he implements the same tactic upon Luke Skywalker by showing him the rebel fleet in a CurbStompBattle, and that his close friends are horribly outnumbered on the Endor moon.

* In his first appearance in the first book of the ''Literature/ChroniclesOfThomasCovenant'', [[GodOfEvil Lord Foul]] announces that his ultimate intention is to annihilate hope from the Land. He then proceeds to spend the rest of the trilogy (and the two SequelSeries) going about doing exactly that.

* The Ministry of Love from ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour''. Where a lesser regime would be content with simply eliminating an insurgent or [[{{Unperson}} even erasing all notions of them from history]], the Ministry of Love goes much further. They utterly crush their victims first and force them to abandon and betray everything and everyone they ever stood for or loved and to accept that there's nothing worthy in their life, except for their "love" for Big Brother. It's not just instrumental either: the Party seems to see such violence as part of what it means to have power, and thus part of what it desires for its own sake.
* Sorrow from ''Literature/OfFearAndFaith'' is this, [[AnthropomorphicPersonification pretty much by default]]. In lieu of actually fighting its enemies, it tries to MindRape them and drive them over the DespairEventHorizon. One of the ways it's shown to do this is by forcing people to relive traumatic memories, which works pretty well on several of the [[DarkAndTroubledPast Stray Dogs]].

* In ''Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy'', the Lord Ruler cultivates this trope with a [[TheEmpire ruthless totalitarian regime]], gristly public executions at the slightest sign of defiance, a StateSec of [[TheDreaded horrifying]] [[OneManArmy One-Man Armies]], a [[AGodAmI church in his own name]], ''incredibly'' powerful magical abilities elevating him to a [[NighInvulnerability Nigh-Invulnerable]] PersonOfMassDestruction, and a personal aura of despair that extends for blocks around him.

* In ''Literature/ThePilgrimsProgress'', this is Giant Despair's whole shtick (as you might guess from the MeaningfulName). He captures pilgrims who come too close to [[WorldOfSymbolism Doubting Castle]], locks them in his dungeon, beats them, starves them, [[SuicideDare provides them implements for committing suicide]], and shows them the bones of other pilgrims he's killed, all for no other reason than to make them lose hope. Fortunately, [[spoiler:Christian remembers he had the key to escape from the dungeons with him all along]].

* VillainProtagonist Francis Underwood of ''[[Series/HouseOfCardsUS House of Cards]]'' seems to take some pleasure in this, even though he doesn't generally do it for its own sake but as part of his schemes. For example, in one of his asides, after he sets Peter Russo up to [[spoiler:fall off the wagon and end his political career with a drunken radio interview]], he says with some relish "it takes just ten seconds to crush a man's ambitions." Other remarks he's made similarly indicate that he takes some pleasure in being ruthless and destroying people or "discarding" people he's done using.
** Also where he quietly tells the deranged homeless man trying to get into the congressional offices: "Nobody can hear you. Nobody cares about you. Nothing will come of this." That seemed [[KickTheDog pointlessly cruel]] even if he was a risk to security.

* The episode "The Road" of ''Series/ColdCase'' involves a serial kidnapper known only by the alias "John Smith" who gets off on locking women away in an oubliette for long periods of time and watching as they succumb to despair.
* ''Series/TheFlash2014'': Much like his comic book counterpart, Zoom lives to crush the hope of others ForTheEvulz. [[spoiler: For example, he secretly posed as Jay Garrick/the Flash of Earth-2]] because he enjoyed making others feel hope just so he could take it away.
* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' provides us with an unwitting and PlayedForLaughs example with the recurring character of "Debbie Downer" -- she is just such an unrelentingly dreary [[TheEeyore Eeyore]] that any other character that spends several minutes talking to her will fall into despair, in a ''very'' marked contrast [[BreakTheCutie to how they were at the beginning of the sketch.]]

* The Fall of New York setting supplement for Fast Company, the action rules for the JAGS system, features Dr. Nothing, a [[PsychoPsychologist Psycho Psychotherapist]] who specializes in crushing the dreams of those who seek to make a difference in the WretchedHive that New York has become. In addition to his skills as Fast Company (which makes him as badass as any player character), he likes to BreakThemByTalking as well as other dirty social tricks.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': If someone serves Oblivion willingly, you can bet your yeddim that this is a major aspect of their character. The Archbishop of Chalcedony Thurible is one of the most prominent examples: he spreads a religion that states that hope is a lie.
* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' fifth edition, the Oath of Conquest [[MagicKnight Paladin]] specifically has "Douse the flame of hope" as a rule of its oath. The idea behind it is that an enemy whose hopes and will have been crushed into dust is an enemy that will never, ever rise up against you or the [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans order you're trying to uphold]] ever again. Oath of Conquest paladins [[LawfulEvil tend not to be nice people]].
* The lore of the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' features Shar, the Goddess of Darkness, Loss, and Sorrow. Being a [[GodOfEvil Goddess of Evil]], crushing hope is not only one of her attributes, but one of her key tenants: Shar, and those who follow her, believe hope to be an illusion, and through the destruction of hope can others give in to her despair, and thus bring the realms closer to her idealized perfect silence.
* ''TabletopGame/PrincessTheHopeful:'' This is a common trope for the Cataphractoi, intelligent spirits of Darkness created when someone commits suicide or otherwise dies after crossing the DespairEventHorizon. Since Cataphractoi know how they are formed, they will often work to push people into despair in order to try and create new Cataphractoi.
* One of the methods that a [[TabletopGame/ChangelingTheDreaming changeling]] can use to recharge itself with glamour, Ravaging, can develop in various styles; one of these is the destruction of hope: the character seeks to induce despair in a person. He stands by and lets her sink, refusing to help or even mocking her efforts to reignite any hope she has lost. He may talk her out of taking action to improve her life by pointing out how useless they are.

* Mechakara from ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall''. It isn't enough for him to just kill Linkara, he wants to destroy his spirit first. He has tried to take away everything Linkara cares about, send him mad, and push him over the DespairEventHorizon.

* The Corporate Commander from ''WebVideo/TheAngryJoeShow'' loves to raise the expectations of gamers with an awesome new release before deliberately delivering a poor videogame to them on purpose as a scam he uses to take the consumer's money.

* [[BigBad Tobi]] [[spoiler:aka [[FallenHero Obito Uchiha]]]] from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' believes that [[CrapsackWorld reality is hell]] and "There is no such thing as hope", and to prove his point to others [[spoiler:(and himself)]] he strives to push others across the DespairEventHorizon to break their will and convince them that [[AssimilationPlot his]] [[LotusEaterMachine plan]] is the right thing for humanity.
-->'''Konan:''' [[[HopeBringer Naruto]]] will become the bridge that leads us to peace! And I will be a support, holding the bridge up! [...] It doesn't matter if I'm scattered to the wind! I will stop y-\\
'''Tobi:''' You called me the darkness, didn't you? Then I will make you wilt... I will take your little rainbow bridge and its seven colors and plunge it all into darkness! ''When my illusion ends, so will your life.''

* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'': Whereas Kyubey's goal is to stop the heat death of the universe by having young girls make a contract with him and become Puella Magi, the BigBad plots to sow despair to create the [[EldritchAbomination witches]], enemies of the Puella Magi. [[spoiler:[[TreacherousAdvisor It's Kyubey themself]]; said girls [[DealWithTheDevil will be doomed to despair and become witches]], the very monsters they fight, bringing Kyubey closer to the aforementioned goal.]] They don’t necessarily enjoy the role, but [[spoiler:are [[TheUnfettered unabashed in driving girls in despair]], and thinks that having emotions to think that despair is bad... ''[[BlueAndOrangeMorality is a]] [[EvilCannotComprehendGood mental defect]]''. But on that revelation, we all know that Kyubey is the true BigBad]].
* Crocodile of ''Manga/OnePiece'' took it upon himself to trample on the dreams and the ideals of those who oppose him. It's implied he does this because his own dreams were crushed in his past.
* The goal of [[spoiler:the Anti-Spiral, the ultimate BigBad]] in ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', is to eliminate Spiral Power, which is derived from hope and courage, in hopes of [[spoiler:preventing the Spiral Nemesis from destroying the universe]]. As such, they deliberately fight just beyond their opponents' abilities and dispense plenty of {{Hope Spot}}s before snatching victory away in the cruelest, most unfair way possible with the aim of destroying their will to fight.
* ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth:'' The anime-only BigBad of the second half, Lady Debonair, is one of these. Not only does she want to destroy Cephiro, she wants its citizens to completely lose their hope of salvation while she's at it. [[spoiler:This is because she is a being that was created by their extreme fear and despair after the death of their Pillar.]]
* Ulquiorra from ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' spends every interaction with Ichigo attempting to dash any hopes he has. He does this to the point that during their final battle, he could have finished Ichigo off just in his second form alone, but transformed into his ''third'' one just to emphasize how screwed Ichigo truly was. He also does this with Orihime, although her humanity starts to rub off on ''him''.
* ''Franchise/DragonBall'':
** ''Anime/DragonBallZ'':
*** Frieza thrives on this. He doesn't just want to defeat his opponents, he wants them to die terrified knowing that they never stood a chance of defeating him. He does this first by going into his true final form when his third transformation was more than enough to crush Piccolo, Vegeta, Gohan, Krillin, and Dende. He toys with Vegeta by letting him throw everything he has against him and showing Vegeta that his new power can't match him before torturing him to death. He then toys with Goku before using half of his full power to slowly beat Goku into a pulp. In the anime, he attempts to kill Goku first after surviving the Spirit Bomb, most likely to crush the little hope of the remaining survivors by taking out their strongest. In the manga, he picks off Goku's friends right in front of him to show him he can't save them and mockingly tells Goku he's going to kill his son next. Unfortunately for Frieza, [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge his hope-crushing hobby comes back to bite him hard]] when Goku becomes the first Super Saiyan in many, many years, the very thing he exterminated the rest of the Saiyan race to try to prevent from arising. His final fight with [[HopeBringer Goku]] also contrasts nicely.
*** Cell strives to become this. He holds the Cell Games not only to fight strong opponents but to crush the hope of everyone on Earth by defeating their strongest fighters before he mercilessly hunts them down and murders them. He nearly achieves this status after he comes back from his near-death experience which killed Goku. After his return, he kills Trunks and badly injures Gohan and Vegeta, [[DespairEventHorizon which broke the Z-Fighter's spirit]]. It takes Goku talking to Gohan from the afterlife to will him to keep fighting.
** ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'': A heroic example with Jiren, whose fighting style consists in [[NoSell taking everything the enemy can dish without damage]] and ''then'' beating them down with his overwhelming power. While him appearing in the Tournament of Power (where every fighter is just too stubborn to give up due to the stakes of the battle), the fact [[spoiler:''Vegeta'']] was affected speaks volumes of just how good he is at it.
* ''Manga/FairyTail'': Tartarus, a guild of demons, whose sole plan is to literally wipe out all of humanity in a massive genocide by removing magic from all around the world so they won't even have the hope of fighting back.
* ''Manga/SeraphOfTheEnd'': Ferid Bathory shows a sign of this in this line towards the Hyakuya orphans right before [[WouldHurtAChild he murders them,]] apart from Yuu and Mika.
--> '''Ferid''': Caught between hope and despair, I wonder how you'll cry.
* This is the end goal of the League of Villains from ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', both that of its founder [[BigBad All for One]] and his heir Tomura Shigaraki; by creating unchecked chaos and eventually defeating [[TheParagon All Might]], they hope to create a world where the public is cowed into obedience to villains and heroes lack the strength or will to fight back.
* In ''Manga/MoriartyThePatriot'', Milverton actively seeks out opportunities to push people past their DespairEventHorizon for the pure enjoyment of watching them fall to evil. Most notably, he does this with Adam Whiteley, but he also tries to do this with Sherlock, Mary Morstan, William, and has done it with many people in the past.
* ''Literature/RebuildWorld'': Carol has a side job as a prostitute whereby she seeks out strong hunters, sells herself to them for cheap, and then keeps doubling the price each visit, driving them to take desperate measures to be able to pay for her. This is because Carol has a deep secret that would ruin her life if it got out, and she does this to feel like she's not alone in feeling at the edge of ruin constantly. Finding someone to be TheConfidant about this secret makes her consider quitting prostitution.
* In ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' this is half of Raoh's modus operandi: whenever faced with a serious opponent he crushes them in a painful and spectacular manner to ensure ''nobody'' will rise against him. Interestingly, the other half is being a HopeBringer for anyone who accepts him as their ruler, as they know his rule is harsh but just, and anyone threatening his loyal followers ''will'' die. A defining moment of this is when some of his soldiers had mutinied following rumors of his death and attacked some villagers when Raoh appeared and slapped the head off a mutineer, resulting in the villagers cheering at his arrival and the mutineers ''kneeling for their execution''.
* ''Anime/PrincessConnectReDive'': Mana exults in taking hope away from her victims, to the point that when she has Pecorine at her mercy early in season 2, she actually chooses to let her go, allowing her to deepen her bonds to the other characters, so her despairing soul will be ''even tastier''.

* Perfectio from ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsDestiny'', as an EmotionEater of negative emotions, likes despair the most. To make matters worse, he has a circular wave that will plunge any caught in it into despair, usually via the sheer power he exudes as a [[NighInvulnerability Nigh-Invulnerable]] EldritchAbomination.

* Jedah from ''VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}}'' taunts his defeated opponents in his win quotes for losing to him by criticizing how they never had a chance to win to begin with.
* Unsurprisingly, Lucifer from ''VideoGame/DantesInferno'' tries to trick Dante into thinking he has hope for leaving Hell and rescuing his beloved Beatrice's soul. However, his ultimate plan is to use Dante to help him gain the power to crush the almighty lord himself; the biggest source of hope if there ever was.
* Rakanoth, one of Diablo's minions in ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'', is called the Lord of Despair. He sought to drive both the High Heavens and Sanctuary into despair by [[spoiler:capturing Auriel, the Archangel of Hope during Diablo's invasion of the High Heavens]], and only after destroying him and [[spoiler:freeing Auriel]] is hope restored to both.

* From ''VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsKingAbaddon'', Abaddon-Shinado's Aspect of Anger is half of a divine monster powered by despair. Technically, its mission is to cast all despairing humans into the Abyss, but in its zealousness, it seeks to drive ''all'' humans to despair deep enough that it might just dump the race there. The PlayerCharacter is such a HopeBringer that it resorts to progressively harsher forms of MindRape - [[{{Determinator}} which fail to put a dent on him]]. Eventually, both are forced into a confrontation in which Shinado plays its trump card by breaking the spirit of one of the hero's new friends, absorbing and through him or her attempting to crush his hope one last time. It wasn't such a good idea, to say the least.

* The CIMA in ''VideoGame/CIMATheEnemy'' do this to [[EmotionEater feed off of people's hope]], trapping them in the CIMA dimension, but leaving them a long, arduous escape route while they try to kill them before they can get out.
* This is [[BigBad Scarecrow's]] goal in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight''. Just killing Batman will turn him into a martyr and secure his status as a legend, a beacon of hope that will prevent people from feeling true fear. He doesn't just want to kill him, he wants to break him and destroy his myth.
--> '''Scarecrow:''' When the dawn comes, when Gotham lies in ruin and I turn my gaze to the world beyond, the Legend of the Batman will be worth nothing at all!
* In ''Videogame/{{Destiny}}'':
** [[FallenHero Dredgen Yor]] (once known as [[spoiler: Rezzyl Azir]]) was [[TheCorruption corrupted over time]] by exposure to the bones of [[TheUndead the Hive]], which he took as trophies and grafted to his HandCannon "Rose." He gradually abandoned his noble goals as a Guardian and became a terrifying monster who enjoyed inflicting pain and despair on others, and if he did something seemingly altruistic, it was only to give his victims hope before he turned and destroyed them all. In the end, he was undone by the apprentice of a Guardian he killed; after slaying the Hunter Jaren Ward, he forced Ward's [[SoulJar personal Ghost]] to give the Hunter's hand cannon "The Last Word" to the apprentice Shin Malphur, because he knew the boy would come after him, and Yor wanted the apprentice to feel angry and hopeful with his mentor's weapon. When they met again years later, Yor barely got a few words in before Shin Malphur blasted him with a [[KillItWithFire Golden Gun]] and killed Yor where he stood.
** The Hive god Crota goes by the epithet "The Eater of Hope." This is most likely because, during the battle on the Moon, he was nigh-invincible and cut down so many Guardians that they couldn't believe for a second that humans could stand against him.
* Lord Achriman, the sadistic BigBad of ''VideoGame/SeriousSam4'', tries to deliver a BreakingSpeech practically every time he opens his mouth. As the [[WickedCultured lead philosopher and propagandist]] of EvilOverlord [[GreaterScopeVillain Mental]], Achriman does his best to convince humanity that there is nothing they can do to stop Mental's Horde from wiping them out and that surrendering themselves to be [[MeatPuppet processed]] is in their own best interest.
* Among a bunch of other [[{{Sadist}} sadistic tendencies]], Infinite from ''Videogame/SonicForces'' takes pleasure in doing this.
-->'''Infinite:''' ''(to Silver)'' This wasn't part of my agenda, but I'm always happy to crush a hero. It keeps the rabble in line. Shows them that there is no hope.
* By the time of ''VideoGame/MegaManZero4'', Dr. Weil is the undisputed ruler of Neo Arcadia and was so tyrannical that its citizens choose to escape into the wastelands to find a new home rather than stay under his rule. Because of this, Dr. Weil initiated Operation Ragnarok, a military op where he sends his army to all habitable areas outside Neo Arcadia and destroys all signs of nature growing back, believing this will dissuade anyone from deserting his domain. At the end of the game, when LaResistance thought everything is over with Weil's apparent death, he fires a "warning shot" from his Ragnarok KillSat, alerting everyone that it hasn't been shut down. Weil sends Ragnarok on a ColonyDrop towards Area Zero, the largest habitable region outside Neo Arcadia; the "warning shot" earlier implies (and eventually confirms) to be a taunt because he believes that the Resistance is now powerless to stop the crash.
* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'': The objective of the Smithy Gang was to seize up the fragments of the Star Road to get rid of the wishes of everyone and "create a world filled with... WEAPONS!". In particular, Axem Red, leader of the Axem Rangers, explicitly states that the star fragment they're fighting over with Mario and Co. give people hope, therefore "it needs to be destroyed!".

* The cubi of clan Seme in Amber Panyko Williams' ''Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures'' feed upon the emotion of despair. Since cubi can exert some amount of Thought Control, clan Seme can create the despair upon which they feed.
* ''Webcomic/Aurora2019'': Tynan, Shadow of Thunder, is a storm god who feeds on mortal fear, and as such has devoted his entire existence to getting better at spreading fear and dread.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', Fire Lord Ozai is told that the people of the Earth Kingdom can persist for as long as they have hope. His solution? Take away their hope by burning the kingdom to the ground. Though this particular case isn't so much trying to crush hope as it is being so thorough that there's no one left to ''have'' hope.

* In ''WesternAnimation/OperationZERO'', since he was overthrown in the past when his son found the Book of KND which gave him hope, Grandfather sets out to find and destroy the book to ensure history never repeats.
* ComicBook/TheJoker in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' tries to kill Batman/Dick Grayson (who's currently the last member of the Bat Family) in order to rid Gotham City of their savior and his legacy forever.

* [[BigBad Aku]] from ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' is one to the world he rules over in general and Jack in particular, leading to the series' many, '''many''' infamous ShaggyDogStory moments. One of his favorite tactics is to let Jack come '''this close''' to finding a way to the past, before destroying it and flying off while taunting the Samurai mercilessly. In season 5, it is shown that [[spoiler:he has '''succeeded''' in breaking Jack's spirit completely, destroying the last portal to the past and forcing him to kill innocents.]] In one comics-only story, Aku [[spoiler:disguises himself as a woman and travels with Jack for what must have been months if not '''years''' before revealing himself, '''solely''' to teach Jack that he "will always be alone".]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Chris Hedges, an influential left-wing columnist and former Pulitzer-winning war correspondent, has [[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anis-shivani/pessimism-porn-chris-hedges_b_788504.html been]] [[http://www.opednews.com/articles/Chris-Hedges--Genocide-J-by-Robert-S-Becker-120808-361.html accused]] of using his more recent writings to pull readers into his own DespairEventHorizon, especially with regards to corporate power and environmentalism.
[[/folder]]

Hope Crushers love the sense of despair. When other people lose hope, they take pleasure in it. It's not necessary for them to be the one to push them into despair (although they often are); however, they cherish the feelings of despair of many people around them, especially when directed at them. They might not be {{Emotion Eater}}s, but they sure feel good when people around them despair. Since the sense of despair is something people usually try to avoid at all cost, liking despair so much and inflicting it on others are a good indication for the audience that this character is evil incarnate.

It's often attempted by {{Complete Monster}}s for the sake of feeding or delighting on their victim's suffering. If they aren't a Complete Monster, there's a chance that they're MadeOfEvil instead.

A popular non-ForTheEvulz [[FreudianExcuse explanation]] for these sorts of characters is an inability to experience positive emotions themselves coupled with [[GreenEyedMonster a jealousy for other people's happiness]] and wanting these people to be just as miserable as they themselves are. There are also some villains that believe that despair is necessary, and don't seek pleasure in destroying hopes and dreams, but do so because they believe that they have to. It's a common 'means' in DespotismJustifiesTheMeans - an EvilOverlord or DiabolicalMastermind can't have their oppressed underlings getting uppity and spoiling their fun.

** In the ''Manga/YuGiOh'' manga, Ms. Chono lives to crush the hearts of men, and delights in expelling students on technicalities.

*** Aporia is a man who has lived through all forms of Despair, and tries to pulverize the hopes of 3 heroes in a sadistic duel with real harmful electric shocks, even delivering a BreakingSpeech about all their dreams being nothing more than harmful illusions.
*** Only his boss, Z-ONE, manages to out-do him. When Aporia performs a HeelFaceTurn and attempts to fight him, Z-ONE promptly crushes his hopes and destroys him by ironically using the same tactics Aporia himself had been using before. He does the same to Yusei during their Duel, first attempting to trick him into thinking he was a future version of Yusei himself and then revealing the actual circumstances of the future and the lengths he's already gone to trying to avert it—and all while constantly overwhelming him with his Timelord cards.

* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'': Wheras Kyubey's goal is to stop the heat death of the universe by having young girls make a contract with him and become Puella Magi, the BigBad plots to sow despair to create the [[EldritchAbomination witches]], enemies of the Puella Magi. [[spoiler:[[TreacherousAdvisor It's Kyubey themself]]; said girls [[DealWithTheDevil will be doomed to despair and become witches]], the very monsters they fight, bringing Kyubey closer to the aforementioned goal.]] They don’t necessarily enjoy the role, but [[spoiler:are [[TheUnfettered unabashed in driving girls in despair]], and thinks that having emotions to think that despair is bad... ''[[BlueAndOrangeMorality is a]] [[EvilCannotComprehendGood mental defect]]''. But on that revelation, we all know that Kyubey is the true BigBad]].

*** Frieza thrives on this. He doesn't just want to defeat his opponents, he wants them to die terrified knowing that they never stood a chance of defeating him. He does this first by going into his true final form when his third transformation was more than enough to crush Piccolo, Vegeta, Gohan, Krillin, and Dende. He toys with Vegeta by letting him throw everything he has against him and showing Vegeta that his new power can't match him before torturing him to death. He then toys with Goku before using half of his full power to slowly beat Goku into a pulp. In the anime, he attempts to kill Goku first after surviving the Spirit Bomb, most likely to crush the little hope of the remaining survivors by taking out their strongest. In the manga, he picks off Goku's friends right in front of him to show him he can't save them and mockingly tells Goku he's going to kill his son next. Unfortunately for Frieza, [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge his hope crushing hobby comes back to bite him hard]] when Goku becomes the first Super Saiyan in many, many years, the very thing he exterminated the rest of the Saiyan race to try to prevent from arising. His final fight with [[HopeBringer Goku]] also contrasts nicely.

* In ''Manga/MoriartyThePatriot'', Milverton actively seeks out opportunities to push people past their DespairEventHorizon for pure enjoyment of watching them fall to evil. Most notably, he does this with Adam Whiteley, but he also tries to do this with Sherlock, Mary Morstan, William, and has done it with many people in the past.
* ''Literature/RebuildWorld'': Carol has a side-job as a prostitute whereby she seeks out strong hunters, sells herself to them for cheap, and then keeps doubling the price each visit, driving them to take desperate measures to be able to pay for her. This is because Carol has a deep secret that would ruin her life if it got out, and she does this to feel like she's not alone in feeling at the edge of ruin constantly. Finding someone to be TheConfidant about this secret makes her consider quitting prostitution.
* In ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' this is half of Raoh's modus operandi: whenever faced with a serious opponent he crushes them in a painful and spectacular manner to insure ''nobody'' will rise against him. Interestingly, the other half is being a HopeBringer for anyone who accepts him as their ruler, as they know his rule is harsh but just and anyone threatening his loyal followers ''will'' die. A defining moment of this is when some of his soldiers had mutinied following rumors of his death and attacked some villagers when Raoh appeared and slapped the head off a mutineer, resulting in the villagers cheering at his arrival and the mutineers ''kneeling for their execution''.

** In ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'', the aptly-named Witchbreaker's job is break the wills of other superhumans so that they cooperate with the Upward Path, a fiercely intolerant gang of religious fanatics and xenophobes with powers. She also tries to push her great-granddaughter Nico Minoru over to the dark side; it's left ambiguous whether or not she succeeded.

* ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW'': The Nightmare Forces gave everypony in Ponyville nightmares and in issue 5 used the nightmares to kidnap Rarity in her sleep and convinced her that she will be forgotten and replaced [[spoiler: so that they can force her to become the new Nightmare Moon]]. Issue 6 also has the nightmare forces trying to break Luna (and give the other ponies nightmares as well, but they broke through that). And in issue 8, the Nightmare Forces try this again with Luna, but fail.

* Palpatine from Creator/GeorgeLucas' ''Franchise/StarWars'' excels at this. First, he completes Anakin Skywalker's turn to the [[FaceHeelTurn Dark Side]] by telling him that the Jedi Knights have turned against him, and murdered his pregnant wife. Much later, he implements the same tactic upon Luke Skywalker by showing him the rebel fleet in a CurbStompBattle, and that his close friends are horribly outnumbered on the Endor moon.
* ComicBook/{{Thanos}} in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar''. More horrifying than his ability to shatter worlds is Thanos's power to shatter hope itself. With a single gauntleted fist, he crushed all that was held dear by and gave courage to the hearts of [[spoiler:Bruce Banner, Thor Odinson, Tony Stark and Steve Rogers]] - destroying the souls of four mighty warriors who are embodiments of courage and reducing them to hollow shells of terrified, hopeless resignation.

* [[AnimalisticAbomination G'mork]] from ''Film/TheNeverEndingStory'', a wolf monster who serves as a herald to [[EldritchAbomination the Nothing]], aiding it in it's destruction of Fantasia expressly to crush the hopes and dreams of mankind, as people [[DespairEventHorizon without hope]] are easier to control and with control comes ''power'', meaning G'mork can take reign over the despairing humans as [[GodIsEvil a demon god]].

* In ''Literature/ThePendragonAdventure'', Saint Dane doesn't just want to beat Bobby, he wants to beat Bobby ''right after'' Bobby think's he's won - which he does on several occasions.

* In ''Literature/ThoseThatWake'', Man in Suit lives by this, as he's hopelessness given form.
* The Ministry of Love from ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour''. Where a lesser regime would be content with simply eliminating an insurgent or [[{{Unperson}} even erasing all notions of them from history]], the Ministry of Love goes much further. They utterly crush their victims first, and force them to abandon and betray everything and everyone they ever stood for or loved and to accept that there's nothing worthy in their life, except for their "love" for Big Brother. It's not just instrumental either: the Party seems to see such violence as part of what it means to have power, and thus part of what it desires for its own sake.
* Sorrow from ''Literature/OfFearAndFaith'' is this, [[AnthropomorphicPersonification pretty much by default]]. In lieu of actually fighting its enemies it tries to MindRape them and drive them over the DespairEventHorizon. One of the ways it's shown to do this is by forcing people to relive traumatic memories, which works pretty well on several of the [[DarkAndTroubledPast Stray Dogs]].

** First, and most importantly, The Simurgh, the third of the Endbringers. Unlike her brethren Leviathan and Behemoth, Simurgh doesnt focus on widescale destruction, but on mental damage. As the setting's only confirmed Psychic, Simurgh specializes in traumatizing people working for the betterment of mankind, which she is able to recognize through her ability to perceive the past, present and future simultaneously. Not only does she destroy the hope of the people she hurts in her attacks, she also destroys the hope of humanity at large.
** Jack Slash, the leader of the Slaughterhouse 9, is a human-level Hope Destroyer. While his power is dangerous, it's fairly low key as far as parahumans are concerned (he can extend the slash radius of the blades he uses, letting him kill crowds of people at a time). Instead, what really makes him dangerous is his entirely human talent for psychological torture. He delights in preying on the flaws and insecurities of everyone, be they hero or villain, and knows how to break the hope of almost anyone. He also ''loves'' to dangle false hope in front of his victims.

* ''Series/TheFlash2014'': Much like his comic book counterpart, Zoom lives to crush the hope of others ForTheEvulz. [[spoiler: For example, he secretly posed as Jay Garrick/ the Flash of Earth-2]] because he enjoyed making others feel hope just so he could take it away.

** In 40K, one planet still remembers the Imperium's coming and believes they will one day return to them. The planet is way out in the middle of non-Imperium controlled space, so not only will they not do anything to assist, the likelihood of anyone knowing about them is near zero. Chaos troops take sadistic glee in kidnapping natives and revealing to them just how insignificant they are and how little the Imperium they worship cares about their very existence.

* The lore of the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' featurs Shar, the Goddess of Darkness, Loss, and Sorrow. Being a [[GodOfEvil Goddess of Evil]], crushing hope is not only one of her attributes, but one of her key tenants: Shar, and those who follow her, believe hope to be an illusion, and through the destruction of hope can others give in to her despair, and thus bring the realms closer to her idealized perfect silence.

* One of the methods that a [[TabletopGame/ChangelingTheDreaming changeling]] can use to recharge itself with glamour, Ravaging, can develop in various styles; one of these is the destruction of hope: the character seeks to induce despair in a person. He stands by and lets her sink, refusing to help or even mocking her efforts to reignite any hope she has lost. He may talk her out of taking actions to improve her life by pointing out how useless they are.

* Yuuki Terumi from ''Franchise/BlazBlue'' is an unabashed {{Troll}} who goes out of his way to make everyone around him miserable, as it's what he counts as 'interesting'. A reason was he thinks that despair is the only truth there is, it, along with hatred towards him, empowers him, and he's hellbent to make it to be the sole accepted truth of the world, claiming that everything else are lies. In ''VideoGame/BlazBlueCentralFiction'', it's all coming together with how it's revealed that [[spoiler:he's the original spirit of Susano'o Unit, who held the grandeur of creating a world where everyone lives in fear of his strength and are hopeless to match him.]]

** The BigBad of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV Endwalker'' started out as [[spoiler:an innocent, childlike entity created specifically [[TheEmpath to connect with the feelings and emotions of others]], and countless copies of her were sent out to the Universe to find the meaning of life among the myriad civilizations in the stars. However, all she found was dead-end worlds annihilated by cataclysmic disease or war, societies so advanced they eliminated all conflict and all purpose and meaning to life, and immortal entities who had nothing left to exist for but wait for the end of the universe itself, all of them sharing a wish for nothingness and the belief that life, ultimately, had no purpose, and that the road to this realization was nothing but pain. With no other perspective to counter this argument, she was consumed by their suffering and their despair, and now believes that [[CessationOfExistence to end]] ''[[CessationOfExistence everything]]'' [[CessationOfExistence in nothingness]] is [[MercyKill a kindness]]. So she sits at the edge of the Universe and sings a song that weaponizes the very concept of despair: utilizing ''Dynamis'', the power of emotion, the song of the Final Days utterly consumes anyone who feels a particularly strong negative emotion, such as anger, sorrow and ESPECIALLY despair, so that their soul is erased from existence, and their bodies are turned into a Blasphemy, a monstrous creature that in turn causes others who see it to despair and become Blasphemies themselves. She doesn't even have to be the ''direct cause'' of said despair in order to cause the transformation, nor does she deliberately intend it--merely being exposed to despair while she sings her song provokes it, which is what makes her especially dangerous.]]

* Unsurprisingly, Lucifer from ''VideoGame/DantesInferno'' tries to trick Dante into thinking he has hope for leaving Hell and rescuing his beloved Beatrice's soul. However, his ultimate plan is to use Dante into helping him gain the power to crush the almighty lord himself; the biggest source of hope if there ever was.

** The Hive god Crota goes by the ephitet "The Eater of Hope." This is most likely because during the battle on the Moon, he was nigh-invincible and cut down so many Guardians that they couldn't believe for a second humans could stand against him.
* Lord Achriman, the sadistic BigBad of ''VideoGame/SeriousSam4'', tries to deliver a BreakingSpeech practically every time he opens his mouth. As the [[WickedCultured lead philosopher and propagandist]] of EvilOverlord [[GreaterScopeVillain Mental]], Achriman does his best to convince humanity that there is nothing they can do to stop Mental's Horde from wiping them out, and that surrendering themselves to be [[MeatPuppet processed]] is in their own best interest.

* By the time of ''VideoGame/MegaManZero4'', Dr. Weil is undisputed ruler of Neo Arcadia, and was so tyrannical that its citizens choose to escape into the wastelands to find a new home rather than stay under his rule. Because of this, Dr. Weil initiated Operation Ragnarok, a military op where he sends his army to all habitable areas outside Neo Arcadia and destroys all signs of nature growing back, believing this will dissuade anyone from deserting his domain. At the end of the game, when LaResistance thought everything is over with Weil's apparent death, he fires a "warning shot" from his Ragnarok KillSat, alerting everyone that it hasn't been shut down. Weil sends Ragnarok on a ColonyDrop towards Area Zero, the largest habitable region outside Neo Arcadia; the "warning shot" earlier implies (and eventually confirms) to be a taunt because he believes that the Resistance is now powerless to stop the crash.
* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'': The objective of the Smithy Gang was to seize up the fragments of the Star Road to get ride of the wishes of everyone and "create a world filled with... WEAPONS!". In particular, Axem Red, leader of the Axem Rangers, explicitly states that the star fragment they're fighting over with Mario and Co. give people hope, therefore "it needs to be destroyed!".

* In ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'', this is the modus operandi of the BigBad Monokuma, [[spoiler:and by extension the [[NebulousEvilOrganisation Ultimate Despair]], which he runs]]. Despair is his favorite word, and he creates the DeadlyGame for no other reason than [[ForTheEvulz to make its participants suffer]]. Monokuma[[spoiler:'s controller Junko Enoshima]] takes the concept to its extreme by making it into a fetish to the point of [[spoiler:being obsessed with her ''[[TooKinkyToTorture own]]'' despair as much as anyone else's: she is thrilled when her plans are thwarted, because it means she can inflict the ultimate despair ''[[DrivenToSuicide on herself]]''. Of course, at the exact moment that she is about to die, her death is delayed by a split second, and she dies confused without realizing it instead of in the despair she wanted]]. Further materials such as ''Literature/DanganronpaZero'' and ''Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool'' explore this further: [[spoiler:her true talent was supposedly the "Ultimate Analyst", allowing her to analyze every possible outcome of every action. Due to being able to do this, she got quickly bored at everything and decided that despair is unpredictable while [[GoodIsBoring hope, harmony and good things are pretty boring]]... So Junko decided to not only worship despair, but also shove it to the whole world whether they like it or not to make things, [[ItsAllAboutMe in her eyes]], [[ItAmusedMe more exciting]]]].

** Eridan definitely fits the non "ForTheEvulz" reasoning of this trope due to having crossed the DespairEventHorizon himself before that point.

* Mechakara from ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall''. It isn't enough for him to just kill Linkara, he wants to destroy his spirit first. He has tried to take away everything Linkara cares about, send him mad and push him over the DespairEventHorizon.
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': [[BigBad Salem]] admits that [[BigGood Ozpin's]] faith in humanity's potential is not misplaced. She can see how strong humanity is capable of being when it stands united against any threat or adversity. As a result, her plan is to turn humanity against itself, dividing and weakening them, cultivating mistrust, paranoia and war until all hope humanity has for itself is destroyed. Every human. Everywhere. Salem knows she cannot kill [[ResurrectiveImmortality Ozpin]] so instead plans to destroy his hope in humanity's future and defeat him with despair.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''/''New Batman Adventures'' episode "Cold Comfort," Mr. Freeze has lost his wife, [[spoiler:and his entire body from the neck down,]] so he spends the episode destroying the things people hold most dear to them, including the skeleton of a dinosaur an archaeologist discovered, and the magnum opus of a painter.

--> '''Robotnik:''' A nice dream. But dreams are meant to be… '''''broken.'''''

* From VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsKingAbaddon, Abaddon-Shinado's Aspect of Anger is half of a divine monster powered by despair. Technically, its mission is to cast all despairing humans into the Abyss, but in its zealousness, it seeks to drive ''all'' humans to despair deep enough that it might just dump the race there. The PlayerCharacter is such a HopeBringer that it resorts to progressively harsher forms of MindRape - [[{{Determinator}} which fail to put a dent on him]]. Eventually, both are forced into a confrontation in which Shinado plays its trump card by breaking the spirit of one of the hero's new friends, absorbing and through him or her attempting to crush his hope one last time. It wasn't such a good idea, to say the least.

** ''ComicBook/TheFlash'': [[Characters/TheFlashHunterZolomon Hunter Zolomon, the second Professor Zoom/Reverse-Flash]] is a former criminal profiler whose entire ''modus operandi'' is forcing superheroes to suffer horrible tragedies, in the warped belief that such tragedies will make them better heroes.

* [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]] of the ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'' mythos can qualify as this, seeing as his life's goal is to either kill [[HopeBringer Batman]] or corrupt him by getting him to break [[ThouShaltNotKill his one rule]]. Most of the time he doesn't intend to stop at Batman either; he's a StrawNihilist outright ''[[MisanthropeSupreme disgusted]]'' with humanity, and his murderous behaviour -- as well as his suicidal recklessness -- are violent acts of protest and despair at the world and not purely ForTheEvulz, with his battle with Batman being an ideological one over who is correct. What he really wants [[ToCreateAPlaygroundForEvil is to give all mankind one bad day]].

* ''ComicBook/NewGods'': One of [[Characters/NewGodsDarkseid Darkseid]]'s consistent goals is to crush people's hope so thoroughly and utterly that there is nothing left but to surrender their free will and give in to Darkseid. When he finally finds the Anti-Life Equation, which lets him do this on a much broader scale, [[CrisisCrossover things get very]], [[ComicBook/FinalCrisis very, ugly]].
* ''ComicBook/TheFlash'': [[Characters/TheFlashHunterZolomon Professor Zoom]] is a former criminal profiler whose entire ''modus operandi'' is forcing superheroes to suffer horrible tragedies, in the warped belief that such tragedies will make them better heroes.

* In ''ComicBook/SupermanSupergirlMaelstrom'', one of the Darkseid's elite soldiers believes she can win Darkseid over by killing ComicBook/{{Superman}}. Since Maelstrom is absolutely and arrogantly certain that she can make the deed, Darkseid says he will consider making her his private slave if she succeeds, but he will banish her forever if she fails. Shortly after, Desaad asks Darkseid why he is entertaining Maelstrom's delusions, Darkseid explains he cannot properly destroy her hopes if she is not hoping for anything.
-->'''Desaad:''' I apologize, master, but my curiosity is piqued, and I cannot fathom why you would entertain that woman's desires.\\
'''Darkseid:''' I wouldn't expect a lowly dog as yourself to comprehend my reasons for doing anything.\\
'''Desaad:''' I beg for enlightenment on this particular matter. To give her false hope...\\
'''Darkseid:''' Only to see it crushed? Maelstrom will fail in her quest and that will cause her more pain and suffering than any torture device you could imagine.

* "Crushing Hopes and Dreams" has become a CatchPhrase of the ''Gundamn!'' podcast, as certain ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' fans tend to develop unrealistic expectations to which they need to administer a sometimes lethal dose of reality.

A popular non-ForTheEvulz [[FreudianExcuse explanation]] for these sorts of characters is an inability to experience positive emotions themselves coupled with [[GreenEyedMonster a jealousy for other people's happiness]] and wanting these people to be just as miserable as they themselves are. There are also some villains that believe that despair is necessary, and don't seek pleasure in destroying hopes and dreams, but do so because they believe that they have to.

* Caster/Gilles de Rais from ''LightNovel/FateZero'' considers inflicting despair to be an ''art''. His debut scene involves letting go of a BoundAndGagged boy at the mercy of his SerialKiller new master, and then right before the boy got out, Caster had his monster devour the boy, stating that despair is at its finest when [[YankTheDogsChain it's about yanking]] [[HopeSpot a nearly fulfilled hope]].