History Main / MayorPain

%%'''Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease''' We've got enough on our hands with every political ad painting the opponent as either flavor. Not to mention, it's also not nice to call RealLife mayors %%evil either.

This Trope usually overlaps with CorruptPolitician or SleazyPolitician. Related to PresidentEvil (which applies on a way larger scale). Expect some {{Permanent Elected Official}}s to fulfill this trope. Near obligatory in a TownWithADarkSecret, especially one infected with a WeirdnessCensor. If this is an UltimateAuthorityMayor, things aren't getting better for the town, and they may need to be voted out or worse. The incompetent version may be an AuthorityInNameOnly.

* Justin Lawson, the mayor of Concordia from ''VideoGame/CriminalCaseMysteriesOfThePast''. Having been thrust into the office of mayor after the previous mayor was assassinated, he goes to extreme lengths to eliminate crime in the city, including forming a secret police answerable only to him, suspending civil liberties, and executing lawbreakers [[AllCrimesAreEqual regardless of their offense]].

* ''Film/SomeGuyWHoKillsPeople'': The mayor shows up at a crime scene to yell at the small sheriff's department for not solving the murder spree, even though it's his decision not to call in out-of-state cops.

* Hamilton Hill from the ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' comics was an Evil Mayor Pain; a competent politician, but completely in the pocket of crime boss Rupert Thorne. He was succeeded in office by Armand Krol, who was an Incompetent Mayor Pain.

* An Orange Islands ''{{Anime/Pokemon}}'' episode had [[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Mayor_of_Trovitopolis one of these.]] When a mysterious creature is wandering the sewers on his island, he intends to kill it rather than capture it, as he's worried its existence will affect his status as mayor. [[spoiler:Turns out it was his Bulbasaur he abandoned as a child. Poor thing was still happy to see him]].

* Mayor from ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' is so incompetent, he somehow managed to kill Navi when playing ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]''. It's safe to assume that the ''real'' mayor of Townsville is his much smarter assistant, Sarah Bellum.

* Mayor Clancy in ''Literature/{{Scorpions}}''. He's demonstrably crooked and supposedly has ties to TheMafia and keeps a staff of hired {{Mooks}} on retainer. In addition, there are rumors that he has had people killed when they wouldn't sell him their land for development purposes.

* The Mayor in ''Film/PoliceAcademy6CityUnderSiege'' is an Evil Mayor Payne, and is [[spoiler:secretly the BigBad]].

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]

* ''Film/{{Ghostbusters 2016}}'' directly references the below movie, as Erin calls out the New York mayor feeling the city hall obstructing their job makes him like the mayor from ''Jaws'. [[BerserkButton He gets mad at the comparison]]. (specially as he's an aversion of the trope: the mayor is just hiding his support from the populace because PlausibleDeniability [[TheWorldIsNotReady will help avoid panic, while secretly funding the Ghostbusters as he sees them as the only legitimate means of fighting ghosts.]])

* Justin Lawson, the mayor of Concordia from Season 4 of ''VideoGame/CriminalCase''. Having been thrust into the office of mayor after the previous mayor was assassinated, he goes to extreme lengths to eliminate crime in the city, including forming a secret police answerable only to him, suspending civil liberties, and executing lawbreakers [[AllCrimesAreEqual regardless of their offense]].

* Mayor Pamela Winchell from ''Podcast/WelcomeToNightVale''. She's a strange mix of both the "evil" variant and "incompetent" variant, although she's not stupid and it's difficult to peg her as out and out evil. Given the way she's described, it seems more like she's just totally insane. She eventually falls more directly into the "incompetent" category after she becomes obsessed with "emergency press conferences," and later steps down as Mayor; her successor is [[spoiler: Dana Cardinal, that being former Night Vale Community Radio intern Dana]], who is ''much'' more level headed, but allows Winchell to stay in "government" (and indulge her obsession) as Director of Emergency Press Conferences. Of course, the Mayor of Night Vale's powers are actually pretty limited, with affairs seemingly being mostly in the hands of the City Council (which has had the same composition since the city was founded over a century ago), the vague-but-menacing government agency, and the Sheriff's Secret Police. Oh, and the [[TheHypnotoad Glow Cloud]] ([[PhraseCatcher all hail]]), if the issue involves the Night Vale School District in any way.

* The Mayor of ''VideoGame/HiddenCity'' is actually pretty decent, but he's extremely misguided and has done plenty of questionable things while under the influence of external forces. In one side quest, he kidnaps a bunch of people for the Shadow Cult in hopes that they will give him a corporeal body. In another, he gets possessed by a malicious demon who made him act like a tyrant until the Huntress exorcised the demon.

* ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'': The mayor of Daten City is [[spoiler:Corset, a powerful demon with a [[BondageIsBad BDSM fetish]]. Definitely the Wilkins type.]]

* Mayor Phlegmming in ''Film/OsmosisJones'', is as incompetent as they come. It's his idiotic decisions that are the reason why Frank is such a slob and he cares more about his re-election than the lethal threat that could [[spoiler: and almost did]] kill Frank. Unsurprisingly, he is fired from his job after the incident and later accidentally ejects himself from Frank's body.
* ''Film/AnimalHouse'': The Mayor of Faber, Carmine De Pasto, is a perfect example of the "evil" version. Although [[DeanBitterman Dean Wormer]] was already looking for a reason to kick the Deltas out, it's De Pasto who exacerbates the film's events by explicitly telling Wormer that if he doesn't find a way to expel them pronto and the Deltas cause any trouble at the parade as a result, ''he will have the Dean's legs broken''. He also strong-arms the Dean to give money to fund the parade, which explicitly will strain the college's budget.

* In ''Film/Godzilla1998'', Mayor Ebert of New York City is a definitive "incompetent" type, obsessed with how a rampaging Kaiju and the United States military [[DestructiveSavior accidentally blowing up Manhattan in its attempt to save it]] will reflect on his chances to be re-elected.

* Governor Grice from the Literature/CiaphasCain novel ''For The Emperor'' is incompetent, [[spoiler:except that he's really an evil [[EldritchAbomination genestealer]] [[HalfHumanHybrid hybrid]] (the Evil Mayor Pain) who is [[HanlonsRazor disguising his treason as mere incompetence]].]]
** As there's no evidence he has any personal planning or administrative skills, and Grice's personal and family histories must be consistent, he probably really ''is'' an incompetent governor. They show up a lot in the setting and tend to stay in place until they impede somebody important who can have them killed.

* In the ''VideoGame/SimCity'' series of games, [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential the players themselves]] can easily invoke this, due to the whole UltimateAuthorityMayor aspect giving you control of natural disasters and {{Alien Invasion}}s.

* Justin Lawson, the mayor of Concordia from Season 4 of ''VideoGame/CriminalCase''. Having been thrust into the office of mayor after the previous mayor was assassinated, he goes to extreme lengths to eliminate crime in the city, including forming a secret police answerable only to him, suspending civil liberties, and executing lawbreakers [[AllCrimesAreEqual regardless of their offense]].
* In ''VideoGame/BatmanTheTelltaleSeries'', Mayor Hamilton Hill is still an Evil Mayor Pain and in the pocket of a crime boss, but here, [[spoiler:he's part of a triumvirate with both Carmine Falcone and [[AdaptationalVillainy Thomas Wayne]] and all three essentially ran Gotham. He also put the hit on the Wayne family.]] Harvey Dent spends the first two episodes running against him for mayor but, the whole thing goes moot when [[spoiler:the Penguin fatally shoots Hill.]]
* Mayor [=McDonough=] of Diamond City from ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' qualifies as an Evil Mayor Pain. He threw out all the city's ghouls upon first coming to power, turns a blind eye to the kidnappings and synth infiltrations that have been going on in town, and Piper Wright, the IntrepidReporter in charge of the city's only paper, even suspects him of being a synth himself. [[spoiler:She turns out to be right]].

* ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars: Days of Ruin'''s Mayor of Freehaven is pretty much constantly skirting Evil and Incompetent. He's a transparently self-centered, hideously smug guy who insists on abusing any authority given to him. The guy is mostly defined by him a) [[EntitledBastard constantly ordering around the main characters and demanding they cater to his every whim,]] and b) [[UngratefulBastard constantly disrespecting the main characters and attempting to kick them and any civilians traveling with them out at any opportunity.]] However, he doesn't dip into outright evil until he becomes TheQuisling -- which [[AssholeVictim doesn't end well for him.]]
* ''VisualNovel/HeartOfTheWoods'' has Evelyn Fischer, Morgan's mother and the mayor of the small town of Eysenfeld, who's the Evil type. [[spoiler:Evelyn is actually a rogue fairy known as "The Moonsick One," who has been stealing people's bodies for centuries to prolong her life, resulting in the village sacrificing people every generation. She uses a {{Glamour}} to win the loyalty of the town's citizens, and is apparently responsible for cursing people who get close to her daughter Morgan. She even doesn't care for her town, since by the end of the game, she's decided to possess Tara and leave Eysenfeld in the body of a minor internet celebrity.]]
* ''VideoGame/ClamMan'': Mayor King initially seems like a typical politician (although Clam Man seems to be one of the few people who isn't fond of him), but [[spoiler:eventually [[EvilAllAlong turns out to be the Evil type]]. He's the real BigBad of the game, leading a conspiracy to demolish the part of the city where Clam Man lives since many people have complained about [[WrongSideOfTheTracks how trashy that area is]], and King wants to secure his re-election.]]
* An evil example from ''[[VideoGame/HenryStickminSeries The Henry Stickmin Collection]]'': While Mayor Greg Frederickson appears to be a kindly public figure in the beginning cutscene of ''Stealing the Diamond'', [[spoiler:he is in truth a member of an infamous crime syndicate called the Toppat Clan. As revealed in his bio for ''Completing the Mission'', he and his fellow criminals were planning to steal the same Tunisian Diamond he presented to the public that day.]]

* The Mayor of ''VideoGame/HiddenCity'' is actually pretty decent, but he's extremely misguided and has done plenty of questionable things while under the influence of external forces. In one side quest, he kidnaps a bunch of people for the Shadow Cult in hopes that they will give him a corporeal body. In another, he gets possessed by a malicious demon who made him act like a tyrant until the Huntress exorcised the demon.

* In ''[[Webcomic/DarylAndSusie Daryl and Susie]]'', Daryl the dragon has a town in his head, run by an Evil Mayor Pain (based loosely on the Mayor from ''Buffy''). This Mayor incessantly tries to get Daryl upset, for doing so makes monsters appear from Daryl's head, and collaborates with Daryl's arch-nemesis Aosoth [[spoiler: before becoming TheStarscream]].
* Leonard Zachary of the Shanafelt City Council from ''Webcomic/TruLifeAdventures'' is this in all but title. Getting the city to restore the position of mayor is high on his list of priorities.

* Creator/AdamWest would be the Incompetent Mayor Pain in ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''.
** One episode had Lois manage to replace him as Mayor, only to become an evil variant. At the end of the episode, she pulls a WhatHaveIDone moment and promptly [[StatusQuoIsGod hands the office back over to West]].

* Mayor André Bourgeois from ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' is a heavily implied SleazyPolitician who frequently abuses his power to spoil his daughter [[AlphaBitch Chloé]].
* Mayor Toadstool from ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'' is basically Joe Quimby as a toad. He's a corrupt, sleazy, and amoral official who regularly embezzles the town's money, frequently tries to bribe his way to victory, and is clearly in the position for himself.
** Begins a HeelFaceTurn towards the end of Season 1 when he helps Anne save the town twice; by mid-season 2 he realizes he actually cares for the town and its people and turns down a major promotion to stay in Wartwood.
* Mayor Robert "Bob" White on ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'', whose entire platform seems to be [[CatchPhrase "Vote for me!"]] He never seems to do anything but campaign for re-election, which is probably why he ends up being replaced by Doug's neighbor [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Mrs. Dink]].
* Mayor Pelican from ''WesternAnimation/BlinkyBill'' certainly counts, as his incompetence and [[ItsAllAboutMe narcissism]] cause plenty of annoyance for the people of Greenpatch.
* Mayor Mellow from ''WesternAnimation/{{Grojband}}'' is a bumbling idiot who takes advice from a picture of his late mother and often dishes out {{Disproportionate Retribution}}s in response to anything disrupting Peaceville's, erm, peace.
* Mayor Peeve from ''WesternAnimation/MiddlemostPost'', while not particularly evil in general, will often let his grudge against Angus and the Middlemost Post (held because Angus’s ship, parked atop Mount Middlemost, leaves City Hall in its perpetual shadow) get in the way of his mayor duties to the detriment of his citizens; for example, purchasing a robot to drive the post out of business while not accounting for the damage it causes.

This Trope usually overlaps with CorruptPolitician or SleazyPolitician. Related to PresidentEvil (which applies on a way larger scale). Expect some {{Permanent Elected Official}}s to fulfill this trope. Near obligatory in a TownWithADarkSecret, especially one infected with SunnydaleSyndrome. If this is an UltimateAuthorityMayor, things aren't getting better for the town, and they may need to be voted out or worse. The incompetent version may be an AuthorityInNameOnly.

* ''Series/TheWire'': Mayor Clarence Royce fits squarely in the Quimby camp, taking a purely superficial approach to the city's crime problem by pressuring the Baltimore Police to produce data that suggests the murder rate is falling, which in turn forces the department to "juke the stats". Tommy Carcetti starts off better when he replaces Royce, but he gradually puts the needs of the city on the back burner as he eyes a run for governor. However, Carcetti's arc reveals that [[SubvertedTrope it's the system rather than whoever is at the top which is responsible for the city's plight]].

* Averted in "Faculty Band" and "Public Property on Parade". Mayor Pain had been replaced by an honest, and, based on his appearance in "Public Property on Parade", a competent mayor.

* [[spoiler:Clay Puppington]] from ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel''.

* '''The Evil Mayor Pain''' ([[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer The Wilkins]]): Wickedness over incompetence. The mayor does a relatively good work with the town and can even be a [[AffablyEvil pleasant person]], yet they have a secret EvilPlan to carry out -- or else they're AWolfInSheepsClothing. This is the kind of mayor that [[GratuitousItalian puts the "sin" in "sindaco".]]

* An Orange Islands ''{{Anime/Pokemon}}'' episode had [[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Mayor_of_Trovitopolis one of these.]] When a mystery creature is wandering the sewers on his island, he intends to kill it rather than capture it, as he's worried its existence will affect his status as mayor. [[spoiler:Turns out it was his Bulbasaur he abandoned as a child. Poor thing was still happy to see him]].

* Mr. Heartland from ''Anime/YuGiOhZexal'' is an Evil Mayor Payne, and a VillainWithGoodPublicity ''and'' a DevilInPlainSight. While only TheDragon during the time he's mayor (the first season) he proves worse than the apparent BigBad of that season.

* Mayor Larry Vaughn in ''Film/{{Jaws}}''. He may have a point that the tourist trade from the beaches is the lifeblood of the town's economy, but ordering them to be opened after being warned of the danger of attacks from a man-eating shark is inexcusable. The novel provides additional reason for him in the fact that it's the local Mafia strong-arming him to do it -- but on the other hand he got in bed with them, meaning he's even more malicious.

* ''Film/AnimalHouse'': The Mayor of Faber, Carmine De Pasto, is a perfect example of the "evil" version. Although [[DeanBitterman Dean Wormer]] was already looking for a reason to kick the Deltas out, it's De Pasto who exacerbates the film's events by explicitly telling Wormer that if he doesn't finds a way to expel them pronto and the Deltas cause any trouble at the parade as a result, ''he will have the Dean's legs broken''. He also strong-arms the Dean to give money to fund the parade, which explicitly will strain the college's budget.

* Mayor Petty is this in ''Literature/{{Sunrise}}'', though there are hints of this in the previous book Ashen Winter. He first calls an attack on a neighboring city called Stockton, despite warnings from an autistic teenager named Ben that the attack was too predictable, and therefore would fail. Just as he had predicted, the attack fails, leading to many casualties, and he's only able to get Warren back because of a carefully planned mission by Alex and Ben. Despite this, he continually refuses to accept advice from Alex despite the fact that he was the only reason the citizens of Warren were able to obtain it again. He effectively takes credit for Alex's military successes, and evades responsibility for his own failures. It's not until Warren is completely destroyed when he is forced to move to Alex's new town named Speranta and become subservient to him, which he is quite unhappy about because he clearly hates the idea of being talked down to by a mere teenager. However, despite his blatant incompetence in dealing with the realities of a post-apocalyptic world, he is still well-beloved by the former residents of Warren, which goes to show that they love him because of familiarity and his supposed "experience" than they do about any actual merit.

** As there's no evidence he has any personal planning or administrative skills, and Grice's personal and family histories must be consistent, he probably really ''is'' an incompetent governor. They show up a lot in the setting, and tend to stay in place until they impede somebody important who can have them killed.

* ''Series/OnceUponATime'': Regina Mills, aka The Evil Queen, is definitely the evil version. In the beginning at least, post HeelFaceTurn she remains mayor largely because she is competent at the job.

* ''Series/TheWire'': Mayor Clarence Royce fits squarely in the Quimby camp, taking a purely superficial approach to the city's crime problem by pressuring the Baltimore Police to produce data which suggests the murder rate is falling, which in turn forces the department to "juke the stats". Tommy Carcetti starts off better when he replaces Royce, but he gradually puts the needs of the city on the back burner as he eyes a run for governor. However, Carcetti's arc reveals that [[SubvertedTrope it's the system rather than whoever is at the top which is responsible for the city's plight]].

* ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'''s signature MadScientist, Dr. Aeon pulls double duty as both the Wilkins and the Quimby at the same time. Since he works as a governor of a City of Villains, naturally he is evil. He takes public office as little more than an excuse to get funding for his mad experiments. So he is unapologetically evil, but while he is a decent mad-scientist he is utterly inept as a politician and his attendants/babysitters need to do the actual policy-enforcement.

* Justin Lawson, the mayor of Concordia from Season 4 of ''VideoGame/CriminalCase''. Haven been thrust into the office of mayor after the previous mayor was assassinated, he goes to extreme lengths to eliminate crime in the city, including forming a secret police answerable only to him, suspending civil liberties, and executing lawbreakers [[AllCrimesAreEqual regardless of their offense]].

* ''VideoGame/ClamMan'': Mayor King initially seems like a typical politician (although Clam Man seems to be one of the few people who isn't fond of him), but [[spoiler:eventually [[EvilAllAlong turns out to be the Evil type]]. He's the real BigBad of the game, leading a conspiracy to demolish the part of the city where Clam Man lives, since many people have complained about [[WrongSideOfTheTracks how trashy that area is]], and King wants to secure his re-election.]]

* Played with in ''Webcomic/LeagueOfSuperRedundantHeroes''. Kurgh the Conqueror — warlord and scourge of the galaxy — conquers Shitropolis in his first appearance, however based on his later appearances he is a competent and dedicated mayor, doing his best to run the city efficiently. The previous mayor was likely an straight example, given that he gleefully quits when Kurgh demands leadership of the city and runs away laughing, clutching a BriefcaseFullOfMoney.

* Mayor Mike of [[QuirkyTown Teufort]] in ''Webcomic/TeamFortress2'' is definitely a Mayor Evil, [[FauxAffablyEvil acting completely friendly]] while he charges [[PunchClockVillain the Spy and the Scout]] not for the crimes they've actually committed, [[TheChessmaster but as scapegoats for the awful things he's done as mayor]]. [[spoiler:He's actually a Mayor Incompetent, as he did all those things because [[ObliviouslyEvil he's too brain damaged to know they were wrong]] (and his constituents are no better).]]

* "His Dishonor, [[EverybodyCallsHimBarkeep The Mayor]]" from ''WesternAnimation/ActionLeagueNow'' is basically the closest thing the titular Action League has to an arch-nemesis, and plain [[CardCarryingVillain card-carrying evil]] to boot, frequently plotting to harm or kill the League, or harm other people. ([[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed His voice is a parody of then-Pittsburgh mayor Tom Murphy]], as the voice cast of the show worked on a morning radio show there.) We only ever see him doing evil things, rather than actually, you know, [[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything mayoring]], which leads to the question... What is he the mayor of?

* After the events of the first season finale of ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'', Mayor Jones is a definite Evil Mayor Pain. In that one episode we learn that [[spoiler:he moved to Crystal Cove only to look for treasure, blackmailed the original Mystery Inc. into leaving, double-crossed Professor Pericles, dressed up as the Freak of Crystal Cove, and to top it off, concealed the true identity of Fred's real parents while raising him as his own son.]]

* A lot of the problems of Griffin Rock in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersRescueBots'' can be lain at the feet of Mayor H.B. Luskey. A lot of problems in the town stem from his ego, blame-shifting, and total ineptitude at pretty much everything he does. He's at his worst in "The Vigilant Town", where his demands that an experimental computer meant to protect the town be turned on full power, even after it demonstrates that it's willing to violate civil liberties to perform its function. [[spoiler: In Season 4, after the Rescue Bots reveal themselves as aliens, Chase runs against Luskey and wins--but Chase being TheSpock, a RulesLawyer, and a strict ByTheBookCop didn't make him any better and he resigned, with Luskey resuming the post.]]

* Mayor Toadstool from ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'' is basically Joe Quimby as a toad. He's corrupt, sleazy, and amoral official who regularly embezzles the town's money, frequently tries to bribe his way to victory, and is clearly in the position for himself.