History Main / LadyMacbeth

The real Lady Macbeth was ''probably'' [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade nothing like this]], but historical records are few.

The real Lady Macbeth was ''probably'' [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade nothing like this]], but historical records are few. The only things we absolutely know about her is that her name was Gruoch, Macbeth was her second husband, and she had one son from her first marriage. We do know that she didn't nag him into killing a wise old king in his sleep, though; the real Duncan was younger than Macbeth and a worthless wastrel, and Macbeth killed him in a fair fight in battle.

This trope is a twisted version of its cousin MoreDeadlyThanTheMale, in the sense that it can ''only'' describe women who have cruel or wicked intentions. Additionally, while both of them are possible [[DistaffCounterpart feminine equivalents]] to AllAbusersAreMale, this trope makes a more [[BirdsOfAFeather fitting]] [[UnholyMatrimony bond]] with that male-based trope due to their shared senses of nastiness.

In short, this trope is basically like a much more twisted version of its cousin MoreDeadlyThanTheMale, in the sense that it can '''''only''''' describe women who have cruel or wicked intentions. Additionally, while both of them are possible [[DistaffCounterpart feminine equivalents]] to AllAbusersAreMale, this trope makes a more [[BirdsOfAFeather fitting]] [[UnholyMatrimony bond]] with that male-based trope due to their shared senses of nastiness.

In more modern works, however, it is becoming more frequent for her to kill, or at least betrays him once he [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness outlives his usefulness]] and take the reins herself. Or if he expires some other way, she'll make the most of his death and either become the new BigBad or make it clear that she has been the main villain all along. This is especially common if TheHero is a woman as well, to have the DesignatedGirlFight at the climax.

In more modern works, however, it is becoming more frequent for her to kill him once he [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness outlives his usefulness]] and take the reins herself. Or if he expires some other way, she'll make the most of his death and either become the new BigBad or make it clear that she has been the main villain all along. This is especially common if TheHero is a woman as well, to have the DesignatedGirlFight at the climax.

In short, this trope is basically like a much more twisted version of its cousin MoreDeadlyThanTheMale, in the sense that it can '''''only''''' describe women who have cruel or wicked intentions. Additionally, while both of them are possible [[DistaffCounterpart feminine equivalents]] to AllAbusersAreMale, this trope makes a more [[BirdsOfAFeather fitting]] [[UnholyMatrimony bond]] with that male-based trope due to their shared nasty nature.

* ''Series/{{The Flash|2014}}'': A non-romantic example with Dr. Ambres, who not only aids and abets Cicada in his murder spree aimed at metahumans, but actively encourages him and even picks some of his targets. Apparently, she's had enough of treating people hurt by criminal metas and wants to use Cicada's grudge against them to end the threat once and for all.

* In ''Roleplay/AsteroidQuest'', Waska is officially the leader of Waska's gang, but he leaves the actual thinking to his girlfriend Mimi. Waska himself is a bit too impulsive to be a good leader, in contrast to Mimi's calm and collectedness. However he resents it a bit, every few years he tries to pull some scheme without her help.

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* ''Webcomic/AsteroidQuest'': Waska is ostensibly the leader of his gang, but his girlfriend Mimi is the actual brains, ensuring the gang's day-to-day operation. She's a lot more pragmatic and reasonable than Waska, but by her own admission she "absolutely can be" a "cold hearted bitch" when she wants to.
* Vriska in ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' towards her [[TheMasochismTango Masochism Tango]] partner Tavros. At least, she fancies herself as this, but since she is, for the most part, terrible at manipulating people, she ends up more as a particularly psychotic ToxicFriendInfluence - the only person she can manipulate is Tavros, and despite her influence over him she can't make him kill her when he needs to as part of her plan to [[CameBackStrong Come Back Strong]].

* Dame Vaako from the movie ''Film/TheChroniclesOfRiddick'' is shown constantly trying to convince her husband to [[YouKillItYouBoughtIt kill the Lord Marshal and take his place.]] Lord Vaako is initially reluctant given his oath of loyalty until he perceives the Lord Marshal to have acted in weakness by pursuing Riddick and opens himself to his wife's prodding.

* ''Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'': Though Mrs. Lovett never actually marries Sweeney Todd, Sweeney wouldn't have gotten as far as he did without her, as she was the one who came up with the idea to bake his victims into pies.

** Played with in Demona's relationship with Thailog; Goliath originally assumes she's playing this role for him, since she's an established villain while he's a [[CloningBlues clone]] who's only evil because he was programmed that way... [[spoiler: but it turns out he knows full well what she is, and is manipulating ''her'' rather than the other way around - right down to ''getting her to kill Macbeth for him'' despite the fact that this will '''kill them both.''' In fact, it's ultimately established that Demona has at least some genuine feelings for Thailog, but he never sees her as anything but a tool]].

Whether it's lying to cops, disposing of a body, or helping her man overcome any uncertainty about carrying out his EvilPlan, she'll do it. She might even push him to do it. She'll take charge if she has to. In fact, she may turn to be such a good villain in her own right that the audience will wonder, "Why is she with this guy? She could have just done X by herself!" In the end, this usually is not the case. If she doesn't [[KarmicDeath get herself killed]] ([[OutDamnedSpot or outright]] [[DrivenToSuicide kill herself]] out of guilt like her namesake), it is inevitable that something will happen to her so that she can no longer upstage her husband.

* The [[TropeNamer trope is named after]] the female lead of Creator/WilliamShakespeare's ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}''. While Macbeth is keen on becoming king from the beginning, it is his wife who encourages him to take the throne through regicide. Ironically, unlike most examples of this trope, ends up going insane with guilt when her actions spur her husband into becoming a tyrant.

[[caption-width-right:250:Infirm of purpose! Give ''me'' the daggers!]]

* PlayedForLaughs in ''Series/TheBoys'' as ButtMonkey The Deep's GoldDigger wife Cassandra acts more like his manager than his spouse, pushing him to do whatever it takes to suck up to [[BigBad Homelander]] and feeding him lines to say.

[[caption-width-right:250:The couple that slays together...]]

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-->Eddie: "It's pretty clear to me who has the balls in this marriage."

* In ''Film/SuperMarioBros'', Lena supports Koopa's plans to take over Earth, sharing his disgust for mammals and the fungus-infested city, and mentions to Daisy that he needed her close by, hence her promotion. Later in the film, she betrays Koopa and tries to kill Daisy, intent on merging the dimensions herself.