History Main / NephariousPharaoh

* Most works based off the Literature/BookOfExodus from Literature/TheBible, like ''Film/ExodusGodsAndKings'' and ''Film/TheTenCommandments'' have the Pharaoh Ramses as the BigBad.

The appearance of this character is pretty recognizable. Chances are, you will see a striped head dress (called a ''neme''), some sort of ancient-looking robe or kilt (called a ''shendyt''), and a sceptre. And if the work in question isn't set in AncientEgypt, the Pharaoh may be found sealed inside some kind of tomb or pyramid and will [[CurseOfThePharaoh vow to curse any explorer who comes near]], making the overlap with the {{Mummy}} even clearer.

** The villain Kang the Conqueror (who may or may not be a future version of Doctor Doom) first appeared as the pharaoh Rama Tut; he had gone back in time to ancient Egypt to conquer from there.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt'', being the story of Moses and the Exodus, has two: Seti, who orchestrated the enslavement and the original mass infanticide against the Hebrew slaves; and his son Rameses, who, while [[AdaptationalHeroism portrayed more sympathetically than his Biblical counterpart]], is determined to keep his adoptive brother's people in bondage, no matter the consequences to his kingdom.

** There is also the ComicBook/Nova villain, the Sphinx, who physically resembles the Living Monolith, and has some of the same motivations: restoring Egypt to its former glory.

** There is also the ComicBook/FantasticFour villain, the Sphinx, who physically resembles the Living Monolith, and has some of the same motivations: restoring Egypt to its former glory.

The appearance of this character is pretty recognisable. Chances are, you will see a striped head dress (called a 'Nemes'), some sort of ancient-looking robe or kilt, and a sceptre. And if the work in question isn't set in AncientEgypt, the Pharaoh may be found sealed inside some kind of tomb or pyramid and will [[CurseOfThePharaoh vow to curse any explorer who comes near]], making the overlap with the {{Mummy}} even clearer.

* The Tomb Kings of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' are this, as the priests who were supposed to grant them entry to the afterlife instead brought them back as undead corpses. In an interesting variation, they all still think themselves the rightful rulers of Khemri, which doesn't go well with the previous and following rightful rulers of Khemri.

** First we have a supervillain named The Pharaoh, who dresses the last complete with gold body glitter and make-up. He wields a powerful hammer (either magical or advanced alien tech) that, when he says a word, makes him powerful enough to face off against the resident Justice League expies by himself. He also claims it's his mission to restore the glories of Ancient Egypt and that he is the reincarnation of Ramses. The problem is he doesn't know WHICH Ramses he's supposed to be, can't read hieroglyphics,and barely knows anymore about Ancient Egypt than your average person. Dr. Impossible suspects he's either delusional or outright lying.

* [[DarkIsEvil Dark]] Pharaoh Tekahn in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' is the leader of a faction of very sphinx-like creatures who allied themselves with Deathwing, the BigBad of the ''Cataclysm'' expansion.
* For the most part, averted in, well, ''VideoGame/{{Pharaoh}}''. With one or two exceptions, the current ruler of Egypt isn't too bad, but piss him off too much and he considers it a rebellion and sends his army against you. Once you achieve the title you can't do anything worse than refuse to answer requests, which quickly gets you a game over.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'': Irwin's grandfather was one and during his appearance he convinced his grandson to follow his example with promises that being a pharaoh would win him points with the ladies. Under his tutelage Irwin brainwashes almost everyone into Endsville into becoming his slaves who will do nothing but chant "Long live the Nerd King" and build him a pyramid of his own. [[BuriedAlive But unfortunately for him all good things have to end, and all evil too.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'': Irwin's grandfather was one and in one episode Irwin followed his example. Under his granddad's guidance, Irwin brainwashed everyone in Endsville and become Tuten Puten the Nerd King. [[BuriedAlive But unfortunately for him all good things have to end, and all evil things do too.]]

The other stock Egyptian-style villain alongside the {{Mummy}} (which this guy is likely to become in death).

In video games, this character has a 50% chance of being the Boss found in ShiftingSandLand, with the {{Mummy}} being the other... who may well have ''been'' a Pharaoh, come to that.

See also AristocratsAreEvil and {{Mummy}}; the Nepharious Pharaoh is likely to become the latter following his death. Because Egypt is in North UsefulNotes/{{Africa}}, this trope can easily have UnfortunateImplications that, depending on the villain's skin tone, can overlap either with the ScaryBlackMan trope or with {{Orientalis|m}}t stereotypes of cruel, decadent olive-skinned despots. Proceed with caution.

* King Tut, one of the supervillains from the 1960s ''Series/Batman1966'', wore clothing appropriate for a pharaoh and liked to use Egyptian-themed dialogue. He was actually Professor William [=McElroy=], an Egyptologist at Yale University. Every time he was hit on the head he developed a split personality that thought he was a reincarnation of the original King Tut (i.e. UsefulNotes/Tutankhamun). Hitting him on the head again restored his original personality.

The appearance of this character is pretty recognisable. Chances are, you will see a striped head dress (called a 'Nemes'), some sort of ancient-looking robe or kilt, and a sceptre.

And if the work in question isn't set in AncientEgypt, they may be found sealed inside some kind of tomb or pyramid and [[CurseOfThePharaoh vow to curse any explorer who comes near]].

In video games, this character has a 50% chance of being the Boss found in ShiftingSandLand, with the {{Mummy}} being the other... who may well have ''been'' a Pharaoh, come to think of it...

The TropeMaker, TropeCodifier, and UrExample is probably the Literature/BookOfExodus in Literature/TheBible, with that nasty pharaoh as one of the villains of the Old Testament, making this OlderThanFeudalism. In fact, before UsefulNotes/WorldWarII made ThoseWackyNazis the most popular shorthand for evil, comparisons to the pharaohs, along with other {{Biblical bad guy}}s like Pontius Pilate and Judas Iscariot, were among the [[http://www.slate.com/articles/briefing/explainer/2011/10/hank_williams_jr_firing_who_was_the_rhetorical_worst_person_in_h.html strongest insults]] thrown at politicians, in a predecessor to GodwinsLaw (comparisons to UsefulNotes/AttilaTheHun were also popular).

* ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD'': A first-season OVA sets the Occult Research Club against a pharaoh who had been sealed away in his coffin after insulting a Devil he had summoned. When Rias accidentally opens the coffin, the Pharaoh promptly possesses Issei and blackmails the Club into performing three [[RuleOfSexy (degrading)]] tasks that end up breaking the curse on him and reviving him proper... right into a room of the very annoyed, very powerful Devils he had tried to take advantage of, whereupon [[DidntThinkThisThrough his brand-spankin'-new physical form is promptly vaporized by Rias]]. Not so much 'nefarious' as far as some of the other entries on the page, but most certainly a perverted douchebag.

* ComicBook/BlackAdam in the Shazam (Captain Marvel) comics. After learning how to use the word "Shazam!" to gain superpowers, he overthrows the pharaoh of Egypt and assumes the throne.

** The Living Pharaoh, an ''ComicBook/XMen'' villain (also in [[VideoGame/XMen the arcade game]]) who later became upgraded to The Living Monolith when he learned how to grow to colossal size.

* King Tut, one of the supervillains from the 1960s ''Series/Batman1966''. He wore clothing appropriate for a pharaoh and liked to use Egyptian-themed dialogue. He was actually Professor William [=McElroy=], an Egyptologist at Yale University. Every time he gets hit on the head he develops a split personality that thinks he's a reincarnation of the original King Tut. Hitting him on the head again restores his original personality.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' has Sutekh, a SufficientlyAdvancedAlien with an Egyptian theme and {{Mooks}} disguised as {{Mumm|y}}ies from the [[TheNthDoctor Fourth Doctor]] story, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E3PyramidsOfMars Pyramids of Mars]]."

See also AristocratsAreEvil and {{Mummy}}; the Nepharious Pharaoh is likely to become the latter following his death. Because Egypt is in North UsefulNotes/{{Africa}}, this trope can easily have UnfortunateImplications that, depending on the villain's skin tone, can overlap either with ScaryBlackMan or with {{Orientalis|m}}t stereotypes of cruel, decadent olive-skinned despots. Proceed with caution.

The TropeMaker, TropeCodifier, and UrExample is probably Literature/TheBible, with that nasty pharaoh as one of the villains of the Old Testament, making this OlderThanFeudalism. In fact, before UsefulNotes/WorldWarII made ThoseWackyNazis the most popular shorthand for evil, comparisons to the pharaohs, along with other {{Biblical bad guy}}s like Pontius Pilate and Judas Iscariot, were among the [[http://www.slate.com/articles/briefing/explainer/2011/10/hank_williams_jr_firing_who_was_the_rhetorical_worst_person_in_h.html strongest insults]] thrown at politicians, in a predecessor to GodwinsLaw (comparisons to UsefulNotes/AttilaTheHun were also popular).

* ComicBook/BlackAdam in the Shazam (Captain Marvel) comics. After learning how to use the word "Shazam!" to gain super powers, he overthrows the pharaoh of Egypt and assumes the throne.

* [[DarkIsEvil Dark]] Pharaoh Tekahn in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' is the leader of a faction of very sphinx-like creatures who allied themselves with Deathwing, the BigBad of the "Cataclysm" expansion.
* For the most part, averted in, well, ''VideoGame/{{Pharaoh}}''. With one or two exceptions, the current ruler of Egypt isn't too bad, but piss him off too much and he considers it a rebellion, and sends his army against you. Once you achieve the title you can't do anything worse than refuse to answer requests, which quickly gets you a game over.

-->"Citizens of me! The cruelty of the old Pharaoh is a thing of the past!"
-->''[crowd cheers]''
-->"[[MeetTheNewBoss Let a whole new wave of cruelty wash over this lazy land]]!"
-->''[crowd cheers, then is confused]''

* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'': Irwin's grandfather was one and in one episode Irwin followed his example. Under his granddad's guidance Irwin brainwashed everyone in Endsville and become Tuten Puten the Nerd King. [[BuriedAlive But unfortunately for him all good things have to end, and all evil things do too.]]
* ''Toys/MonsterHigh'' Ramses de Nile (Cleo and Nefera's father) is shown to be like this, especially in the AristocratsAreEvil part.

See also AristocratsAreEvil and {{Mummy}}; the Nepharious Pharaoh is likely to become the latter following his death. Because Egypt is in UsefulNotes/{{Africa}}, this trope can easily have UnfortunateImplications that, depending on the villain's skin tone, can overlap either with ScaryBlackMan or with {{Orientalis|m}}t stereotypes of cruel, decadent olive-skinned despots. Proceed with caution.

See also AristocratsAreEvil and {{Mummy}}; the Nepharious Pharaoh is likely to become the latter following his death. Because Egypt is in UsefulNotes/{{Africa}}, this trope can easily have UnfortunateImplications that, depending on the villain's skin tone, can overlapp either with ScaryBlackMan or with {{Orientalis|m}}t stereotypes of cruel, decadent olive-skinned despots. Proceed with caution.

See also AristocratsAreEvil and {{Mummy}}; the Nepharious Pharaoh is likely to become the latter following his death. Because Egypt is in UsefulNotes/{{Africa}}, this trope can easily have UnfortunateImplications that, depending on the villain's skin tone, can overlapp either with ScaryBlackMan or with {{Orientalist}} stereotypes of cruel, decadent olive-skinned despots. Proceed with caution.

See also AristocratsAreEvil and {{Mummy}} - the Nepharious Pharaoh is likely to become the latter following his death. Because Egypt is in UsefulNotes/{{Africa}}, this trope can easily have UnfortunateImplications (often overlapping with ScaryBlackMan), so proceed with caution.

* ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDxD'': A first-season OVA sets the Occult Research Club against a pharaoh who had been sealed away in his coffin after insulting a Devil he had summoned. When Rias accidentally opens the coffin, the Pharaoh promptly possesses Issei and blackmails the Club into performing three [[RuleOfSexy (degrading)]] tasks that end up breaking the curse on him and reviving him proper... right into a room of the very annoyed, very powerful Devils he had tried to take advantage of, whereupon [[DidntThinkThisThrough his brand-spankin'-new physical form is promptly vaporized by Rias]]. Not so much 'nefarious' as far as some of the other entries on the page, but most certainly a perverted douchebag.

* Also Subverted with Abisos the Third in ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'', who despite being an AntiVillain for the Shadow Riders isn't evil and even has a fun duel with Judai once he learns that his reputation was faked by his servants.

** One of the many forms of Nyarlathotep, the most actively evil EldritchAbomination, is the Black Pharaoh, a haughty Egyptian pharaoh with black skin (not brown or tan" ''[[UncannyValley jet, beetle-shell black]]'') wearing a brightly colored robe. He also used to be worshipped in AncientEgypt. Notably appears as such to the protagonist in ''Literature/TheDreamQuestOfUnknownKadath''.

** One of the many forms of Nyarlathotep, the most actively evil EldritchAbomination, is the Black Pharaoh, a haughty Egyptian pharaoh with black skin (not brown or tan, [[UncannyValley jet, beetle-shell black]]) wearing a brightly colored robe. He also used to be worshipped in AncientEgypt. Notably appears as such to the protagonist in ''Literature/TheDreamQuestOfUnknownKadath''.

The other stock Egyptian-style villain alongside the {{Mummy}}.

See also AristocratsAreEvil and {{Mummy}} - the Nepharious Pharaoh is likely to become the latter following his death. Because Egypt is in Africa, use of this trope can very easily have UnfortunateImplications (because it can so often overlap with ScaryMinoritySuspect) so beware!

* A female example is Nitocris in [[Magazine/WeirdTales “The Vengeance of Nitocris]] by Creator/TennesseeWilliams. After her brother (the previous pharaoh) is killed by the high priests, Nitocris becomes pharaoh. She decides to get revenge for her brother’s death by killing the high priests in an elaborate death trap that consists of [[spoiler:a great underground chamber that can be sealed shut and has behind one of the walls a sluice gate that opens onto the Nile; raising the sluice gate floods the chamber, drowning everyone inside.]]