History Main / InbredAndEvil

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'': In "The Beacon", the inhabitants of the small town of Mellweather are all descended from a prominent citizen named Seth Janes who lived in the 18th Century. They believe that his spirit guides the Beacon, a lighthouse that seemingly chooses a HumanSacrifice every year, and that they must keep their bloodlines strong in order to serve him. After Dr. Dennis Barrows saves the intended victim, a little girl named Katie, he is killed by the townspeople in order to placate Seth.

* ''Film/HotFuzz'' has Lurch, a [[MentalHandicapMoralDeficiency mentally deficient]] thug who serves as the villain's muscle and whose grandfather was also his father.

* ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'' has the notorious [=McPoyle=] clan. Between the prominent Mc Poyle brothers stating that they take showers together, as well as making out with their sister in public while calling her breasts "top-notch", they also have tried to frame their former gym teacher to be a pedophile simply because he was harsh on them, tricked the gang into thinking they were being held hostage, and stabbed Charlie with a knife.

* ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'' has the notorious Mc Poyle clan. Between the prominent Mc Poyle brothers stating that they take showers together, as well as making out with their sister in public while calling her breasts “top-notch”, they also have tried to frame their former gym teacher to be a pedophile simply because he was harsh on them, tricked the gang into thinking they were being held hostage, and stabbed Charlie with a knife.
* ''Series/LawAndOrderSVU'' has Darius Parker, whose father was also his grandfather. Emotionally abused by his mother, who was never able to forget [[ChildByRape how he was conceived]] Darius grew up to be a murderer and a rapist himself.

* On ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', there have been two different episodes in which the villain ends up being an inbred human.

* The 1997 film ''Film/TheBleeders'', loosely based on H.P. Lovecraft's ''The Lurking Fear'', is about a group of grotesque inbred creatures who descended from an aristocratic family who isolated themselves from the world and started feeding on human blood.

* ''Series/CriminalMinds'': The Killer Woodsman from Season 9's "Blood Relation" is the result of an incestuous relationship between siblings Malachi and Magdalene Lee, who [[ParentalAbandonment abandon him]] due to his deformities. Years later he begins stalking his parents and their new families, killing off his half-siblings in a rage at having been considered worthless.

* The distant past of ''Fanfic/TheAwakeningOfAMagus'' has Demetrius, the child of two twin [[InTheBlood Klaatu-shah]], who had a serpentine UncannyValley appearance from birth. He manipulated his parents into a MutualKill at the age of sixteen, and still survives now, as the controlling mind and progenitor of the Dementors.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'': Julius was born of an incestuous relationship and bears the lineage of the evil dragon Loptous. In fact, because of how the Holy Blood inheritance system worked and the near extinction of the Loptous line, the incestuous relationship was ''required'' to produce someone with major Loptous blood.

** ''FanFic/WishCarefully'': Similarly to the above story, in ''Wish Carefully'', the Light Supporters withdraw from England after Dumbledore's death, leaving the Death Eaters with what they always wanted: a magical society consisting only of Purebloods. Which will fail within another few generations as the already extensive inbreeding becomes even worse and begin producing very few children with magic.

In the real world, the issue with inbreeding is that it increases the risk of a recessive genetic disorder popping up. In fiction, it seems that the single most common [[VillainousLineage recessive genetic disorder is evil]].

* On ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', there have been two different episodes in which the villain ends up being an inbred human.:

* ''Series/TheXFiles'' featured an episode entitled "[[Recap/TheXFilesS04E02Home Home]]", [[BannedEpisode to great controversy]], about a murderous, inbred clan known as the Peacock family. The [[EvilMatriarch matriarch]], Mrs. Peacock, is involved in [[ParentalIncest incestuous relationships with her sons]], one of them being the father of the other two.

* ''Series/TheXFiles'' featured an episode entitled "Home", [[BannedEpisode to great controversy]], about a murderous, inbred clan known as the Peacock family. The [[EvilMatriarch matriarch]], Mrs. Peacock, is involved in [[ParentalIncest incestuous relationships with her sons]], one of them being the father of the other two.

In the real world, the issue with inbreeding is that it increases the risk of a recessive genetic disorder popping up. In fiction, it seems that one of [[VillainousLineage the most common recessive genetic disorders is evil]].

This allows for the usage of tropes such as MentalHandicapMoralDeficiency and EvilCripple while obfuscating the ableism of said tropes. Apparently it's ok to vilify people's genetic disorders as long as their disorder was caused by incest rather than random chance.

The reasons for this trope are varied. Taboos against incest are near-universal, strong, and have only gotten stronger with time. Just as [[BastardBastard illegitimate children]] and [[ChildByRape children of rape]] have historically been shamed for their irregular parentage, so too are children of incest. This shaming may be compounded by the fact that--outside of RoyalInbreeding or cases of SurpriseIncest--children of inbreeding are likely to be illegitimate and/or the products of rape too, worsening the negative connotations associated with them.

Finally, incest and inbreeding may serve as a FreudianExcuse of sorts for a villainous character. The [[VillainousIncest kind of person]] who would deliberately engage in incest is not, after all, likely to be [[AbusiveParents breathtaking parental material]]. Said children are also likely to learn some very warped lessons about appropriate social behaviour and sexual mores from such a parent.

SubTrope of VillainousLineage and HollywoodGenetics. See RedRightHand, EvilCripple, MentalHandicapMoralDeficiency, InsaneEqualsViolent, and TheCaligula for what the trope might be used to explain away. Often overlaps with VillainousIncest (on the part of the parents) as well as BastardBastard and ChildByRape. A staple of the HillbillyHorrors genre, this trope can be nevertheless be found on both ends of the villainous socioeconomic spectrum, overlapping with AristocratsAreEvil and RoyalInbreeding as often as it does with rural {{Bandit Clan}}s and {{Cannibal Clan}}s.

* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'', Dumbledore says he partially attributes the mania of the Gaunt family to frequent marriage between cousins in an effort to keep the bloodline pure.

* ''Literature/DollangangerSeries'': Corrine eloped with her uncle Christopher[[note]]What they did not know was that they were also half-siblings[[/note]] and they had four children. They were very nervous before their first child was born, but after having four kids and none of them having any physical or mental disabilities, Corrine is convinced that this lack of LaserGuidedKarma means that the PowersThatBe have no issue with what they did. Corrine's mother Olivia is convinced that the kids are inherently wicked and sinful, and abuses them in a self-fulfilling prophecy to prove she was right. As a series, the books definitely come down on the side of ''incest kids are not inherently wicked... although they might indeed be more inclined to be incestuous themselves.''

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-3288 SCP-3288]] ("TheAristocrats") is the (literally) monstrous bloodline of Leopold I, who used eldritch magic to make his descendants highly resilient to incestual genetic defects. The magic succeeded in suppressing inbreeding-related disabilities such as infertility, illness, and retardation, but did not suppress other kinds of genetic defects such as deformities and mental illness, and now said descendants are insane, cannibalistic, narcissistic mutants.

->''"Corruption! Yes, we are swollen, bloated, foul! Brother fornicates with sister in the bed of kings, and we're surprised when the fruit of their incest is rotten?! Yes, a rotten king!"''

** Also as in the novels, the Targaryen family has a proud history of marrying cousin to cousin, uncle to niece, and brother to sister, producing the likes of Aerys the Mad and his equally unhinged son Viserys the Beggar King and, ultimately, [[spoiler: [[FallenHero Daenerys]]]]. Perhaps notably, the two least inbred Targaryens in the show (Aemon and [[spoiler:Jon Snow]]) are also the most sane.

SubTrope of VillainousLineage and HollywoodGenetics. See RedRightHand, EvilCripple, MentalHandicapMoralDeficiency, and TheCaligula for what the trope might be used to explain away. Often overlaps with VillainousIncest (on the part of the parents) as well as BastardBastard and ChildByRape. A staple of the HillbillyHorrors genre, this trope can be nevertheless be found on both ends of the villainous socioeconomic spectrum, overlapping with AristocratsAreEvil and RoyalInbreeding as often as it does with rural {{Bandit Clan}}s and {{Cannibal Clan}}s.

* The 1997 film ''Film/TheBleeders'', loosely based of Hp Lovecraft's ''The Lurking Fear'' is about a group of grotesque inbred creatures who descended from an aristocratic family who isolated themselves from the world and started feeding on human blood.

* "Literature/{{Olalla}}" plays with this. When the soldier protagonist is sent to recuperate with a decayed noble family in Spain, he discovers that the family's isolation has resulted in extensive inbreeding, leaving them all with the same set of recessive traits, most notably [[EvilRedhead flaming red hair]], in addition to leaving the son, Felipe, and the unnamed mother, intellectually disabled. The protagonist nevertheless falls in love with the family's beautiful daughter, Olalla, and is pursuing a romance with her when he receives a cut on his hand that prompts the mother to attack him and [[CannibalClan try to eat him]]. Olalla sends him away after that, informing him that her family is too damaged for him to become a part of.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-3288 SCP-3288]] ("TheAristocrats") is the (literally) monstrous bloodline of Leopold I, who used eldritch magic to make his descendants highly resilient to incestual genetic defects. The magic succeeded in suppressing inbreeding related disabilities such as infertility, illness, and retardation, but did not suppress other kinds of genetic defects such as deformities and mental illness, and now said descendants are insane, cannibalistic, narcissistic mutants.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-3288 SCP-3288]] is the (literally) monstrous bloodline of Leopold I, who used eldritch magic to make his descendants highly resilient to incestual genetic defects. The magic succeeded in suppressing inbreeding related disabilities such as infertility, illness, and retardation, but did not suppress other kinds of genetic defects such as deformities and mental illness, and now said descendants are insane, cannibalistic, narcissistic mutants.

* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', Sibbi and Ingun Black-Briar could easily be seen as this. Family matriarch Maven refers to them as her children--and so does her oldest son Hemming. This was probably a RelationshipWritingFumble, though, and not intended. Probably.

* In many versions of the myth of Myth/KingArthur, Mordred is born of a union between Arthur and his half-sister Morgause (it varies on adaptations how this happened, in some versions Arthur [[BedTrick impersonates]] his brother-in-law King Lot, in others Morgause basically rapes him, though in most versions Arthur was unaware at the time she was his sister). Mordred goes on to be an AntagonisticOffspring whose need for revenge for how he was conceived brings down Camelot.

** ''Literature/{{Whispers}}'': "Bruno Frye" is the [[SingleMindedTwins collective]] name for a pair of [[CreepyTwins murderous twins]] whose father was also their grandfather. Left completely unbalanced by a lifetime of being sexually abused by her father and his sudden death during the pregnancy, Katherine Frye raised her twin boys to think of themselves as one person, and to see sexuality as a product of the Devil. The two become {{Serial Killer}}s who hunt down and murder women they believe to be reincarnations of their now-deceased mother since they believe their genitals to be abnormal, so think they can only have sex with each other or with the one woman who knows their secret--Mom.
** ''Literature/TheBadPlace'': Candy Pollard's grandfather was an incestuous rapist who impregnated his younger sister (an event that apparently did considerable harm to her mental health). His mother was the hermaphroditic child of that union, who went on to repeatedly impregnate ''[[ScrewYourself herself]]'', producing four children, all with PsychicPowers. While youngest son Frank is emotionally damaged but moral, and twins Violent and Verbina are feral and amoral but not necessarily malicious, Candy is a genetically damaged, physically deformed monster, born with two sets of testicles and no external genitalia, who uses his [[VillainTeleportation teleporting]] and [[MindOverMatter telekinetic]] abilities to become a serial murderer of the women he desperately wants to, but physically cannot have, sex with.
** ''Literature/WhatTheNightKnows'': the villain is the product of three generations of line-breeding, starting from a non-consensual brother-sister pairing. The father/uncle then impregnated his daughter/niece, who bore twin girls. The villain is the offspring of one twin, sired by the family patriarch.

** In "The Lurking Fear" the monsters terrorizing a small town turn out to be the inbred descendants of a once-prominent family, who retreated underground and began marrying their own once their reputation got too ugly.
** In "The Dunwich Horror" it's heavily implied that when Yog-Sothoth fathered Wilbur and his brother on Lavinia Whateley, he did so while possessing her father Old Wizard Whateley.

* ''Literature/DollangangerSeries'': Corrine eloped with her uncle Christopher[[note]]What they did not know was that they were also half-siblings[[/note]] and they had four children. They were very nervous before their first child was born, but after having four kids and none of them having any physical or mental disabilities, Corrine is convinced that this lack of LaserGuidedKarma means that the PowersThatBe have no issue with what they did. Corrine's mother Olivia is convinced that the kids are inherently wicked and sinful, and abuses them in a self-fulfilling prophecy to prove she was right. As a series, the books definitely come down on the side of ''incest kids are not inherently wicked… although they might indeed be more inclined to be incestuous themselves.''

* Creator/RobertLouisStevenson's short story "Olalla" plays with this. When the soldier protagonist is sent to recuperate with a decayed noble family in Spain, he discovers that the family's isolation has resulted in extensive inbreeding, leaving them all with the same set of recessive traits, most notably [[EvilRedhead flaming red hair]], in addition to leaving the son, Felipe, and the unnamed mother, intellectually disabled. The protagonist nevertheless falls in love with the family's beautiful daughter, Olalla, and is pursuing a romance with her when he receives a cut on his hand that prompts the mother to attack him and [[CannibalClan try to eat him]]. Olalla sends him away after that, informing him that her family is too damaged for him to become a part of.
* ''Literature/RedDragon'': Graham suggests to sleazy tabloid reporter Freddy Lounds that the [[SerialKiller Tooth Fairy]] is the product of incest, as part of various other insults. This majorly pisses off the Tooth Fairy, [[spoiler:who subsequently murders Lounds.]]

** Jaime and Cersei Lannister have a long-term {{twincest}}uous relationship going on, and they have three kids together. (Also, their parents were [[KissingCousins cousins]].) The eldest, Joffrey, is a blatant case of TheCaligula. Alternatively, this could be viewed as a SubvertedTrope, as Cersei's other two children, Tommen and Myrcella, are total sweethearts with nothing wrong with them, thus implying it's not a pattern: Joffrey's just a {{jerkass}}. (Also worth mentioning that the actual ''genetic'' disorder that we know is present in their family -- dwarfism -- was not inherited by any of the three kids.)

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'': Julius was born of an incestuous relationship and bears the lineage of the evil dragon Loptyr. In fact, because of how the Holy Blood inheritance system worked and the near extinction of the Loptyr line, the incestuous relationship was ''required'' to produce someone with major Loptyr blood.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-3288 SCP-3288]] is the (literally) monstrous bloodline of Leopold I, who used eldritch magic to make his descendants highly resilient to incestual genetic defects. The defects still propagated and now said descendants are insane, cannibalistic, narcissistic mutants.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'': Julius was born of an incestuous relationship and bears the lineage of the evil dragon Loptyr.