History Main / SmallTownTyrant

The [[DeepSouth rural southern U.S.]], and indeed, the [[OopNorth rural north of England]], are apparently full of [[IOwnThisTown small towns run by evil hicks of some sort]]. His control over the town may be political, economic, religious, or purely criminal, but in most cases it gradually expands to "all of the above".

* One of ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'''s worst foes was a Corrupt Hick given [[SuperpowerLottery 2012 different superpowers]] and set on them by the G7 leaders. When he's finally defeated, they punish him by [[BalefulPolymorph turning him into seven chickens]] and then [[BlackComedyRape bringing him home to his seven brothers]].

* ''Film/RoadHouse1989'', has Brad Wesley, whose personal fortune and business savvy (he's apparently very talented at getting the town big-name retail franchises) has invigorated the economy of Casper, and as a result he has enough influence to run the place like a crime boss. All the local merchants have to regularly pay up to the "Jasper Improvement Society", the front organization for his protection racket, and are harassed by his hired muscle if they don't; until Dalton arrives and cleans up the Double Deuce, Wesley was also forcing Tilghman to employ both his nephew (who steals from the till) and one of his goons as a bartender and bouncer, respectively. Brad Wesley is so immensely powerful, in fact, that his men can ''destroy a car dealership with a monster truck in broad daylight'', and not even have to worry about police intervention. [[spoiler:The climax features the men of Jasper finally turning on him as one and riddling him with bullets before he can kill Dalton.]]

* In ''Film/BreakerBreaker'', Creator/ChuckNorris battles Judge Trimmings, a grandiose drunken cad who's appointed himself the mayor of Texas City, California, and is using the town's position as an out-of-the-way backwater to harass and extort truckers trying to use its country roads as a shortcut.
* ''Film/DesertHeat'' has a family of these, the Hogans, who are one of two gangs in the film.

* ''Film/RedHill'': Old Bill is the local police inspector, and he dispenses justice if, when and how he sees fit. He also has distinct ideas of what the future of the town should be, and reacts harshly to any critics of his vision.
* ''Film/{{Goldstone}}'': Maureen is the mayor of Goldstone, and is in bed with the local mining corporation as they try to push through a crooked land deal. She will do anything, including murder, to make sure she gets her piece of the pie.
* In ''Film/ShootOutAtMedicineBend'', shady businessman Eb Clark has been slowly [[IOwnThisTown taking over Medicine Bend]]. He controls the mayor and the sheriff, owns most of the major business, and runs a bandit gang that robs wagon trains leaving the town, forcing them to return to Medicine Bend to resupply from Clark's businesses.
* Sheriff Andrews in ''Film/EvenLambsHaveTeeth'' is in league with the sex traffickers, and gives the orders to have the girls murdered when the FBI starts sniffing around.
* ''Film/MaximumOverdrive'': Bubba Hendershot runs a truck stop that mostly employs people on parole allowing him to force them to work more hours than he has to pay them for. If they refuse, then he can get his friend who is on the state patrol to arrest them and send them back to jail. Billy theorizes that Bubba also sells guns on the side when his gun cache is found.
* ''Film/EasyRider:''
** After George gets Billy and Wyatt out of the small-town jail, he thanks the police, and something passes from his hands to theirs.
** Billy, Wyatt and George go into a diner in the DeepSouth. The group of men openly talking about beating up the Yankee hippies include local law enforcement.
* In ''Film/GunsGirlsAndGambling'', The Chief is a Native American crime boss who runs TheCasino on TheRez. His arch-rival is The Rancher, a FatSweatySouthernerInAWhiteSuit who [[IOwnThisTown controls everything not on the reservation]].

* ''Film/RiseOfTheScarecrows'': Sheriff Howards has been stranding people in the town of Adams, Massachusetts to hand them off as victims for the ScaryScarecrows to kill. He's also determined to keep it a secret, disregarding claims regarding the scarecrows[[spoiler:, and handing the protagonists off to them personally in the end]].
* ''Film/RoadHouse1989'', has Brad Wesley, whose personal fortune and business savvy (he's apparently very talented at getting the town big-name retail franchises) has invigorated the economy of Casper, and as a result has enough influence to run the place like a crime boss. All the local merchants have to regularly pay up to the "Jasper Improvement Society", the front organization for his protection racket, and are harassed by his hired muscle if they don't; until Dalton arrives and cleans up the Double Deuce, Wesley was also forcing Tilghman to employ both his nephew (who steals from the till) and one of his goons as a bartender and bouncer, respectively. Brad Wesley is so immensely powerful, in fact, that his men can ''destroy a car dealership with a monster truck in broad daylight'', and not even have to worry about police intervention. [[spoiler:The climax features the men of Jasper finally turning on him as one and riddling him with bullets before he can kill Dalton.]]
* ''Film/SmokeyAndTheBandit'': Sheriff Buford T. Justice is ''treated'' as one of these, even though it's really the Bandit who is breaking the law left and right. Justice himself isn't shown to be [[DirtyCop corrupt]], he's just loud and bigoted to the point that nobody really cares about [[ButtMonkey what happens to him]].
* ''Film/SwampShark'': Sheriff Watson is involved in an animal smuggling ring, the same one that lost the titular shark in the swamp.
* Appears in ''Film/{{Troll 2}}'', with the added kicker that the evil townsfolk are also goblins in disguise.

* ''Film/NationalLampoonsVacation'' features a scene where Chevy Chase is taken advantage of by a couple of hicks at a gas station, who barely fix his car, then take all of his money. Chevy asks them what their local sheriff thinks of their shady "business" dealings, leading the men to laugh, and one of them to pull out and display a sheriff's badge.
* ''Film/{{Tank}}'': Command Sergeant Major Zack Carey [[note]]Played by Creator/JamesGarner[[/note]] gets on the bad side of one of these, who ends up framing his son for drug possession and cheating him out of his retirement money. Garner's character, however, is a Command Sergeant Major in the Army -- literally almost a RetiredBadass- - and owns a fully restored, fully ''armed'' WWII Sherman tank. HilarityEnsues.
* Reno Smith from ''Film/BadDayAtBlackRock''.

* ''Film/FoxyBrown'' has two grime-covered drug dealers who operate a front operation out on a farm.
* There's racist Sheriff J.W. Pepper who gets the ButtMonkey treatment in at least two ''Film/JamesBond'' movies.

* In ''Film/PetesDragon1977'', the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nmV_QZxbuU Gogan family]].
* The Cajun hunters in the 1981 film ''Film/SouthernComfort''.
* The film ''Film/TheMuppetMovie'' averts this. Kermit the Frog hails from southeastern U.S., more specifically from a swamp with alligators in it. He does play a banjo. However, he proves to be the StraightMan and the leader of the entire gang.
** Played straight with Tex Richman from ''[[Film/TheMuppets the 2011 movie]]'', however.
* Creator/ChuckNorris battles one of these in ''Film/BreakerBreaker''.

* The antagonists of ''Film/PrimeCut'' are a psychopathic slaughterhouse owner and his inbred hillbilly mooks.

* ''Film/RoadHouse1989'', staring Patrick Swayze, features a no-gooder trying to take over the bar and businesses in a little backwater town with his hired redneck muscle.

One of the most obvious hallmarks of a town run by a Tyrant is the apparent lack of a judicial system, oftentimes because they’re the [[{{Sheriff}} local sheriff]] and take this role to mean JudgeJuryAndExecutioner. It seems the Tyrant can just go around arresting whomever he wants for no reason without them ever getting a trial. If there's a courthouse in town, it's certainly not being used. (On the rare occasion there is a trial, it ''will'' have a HangingJudge who ''will'' be on the [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney payroll]].) In all these respects, this trope is effectively a modern-day version of the FeudalOverlord of yore. The fact that he was probably elected due to his popularity will usually be ignored, though expect him to be a CorruptPolitician who buys his elections if this comes up.

One of the most obvious hallmarks of a town run by a Tyrant is the apparent lack of a judicial system, oftentimes because they’re the [[DirtyCop local sheriff]] and take this role to mean JudgeJuryAndExecutioner. It seems the Tyrant can just go around arresting whomever he wants for no reason without them ever getting a trial. If there's a courthouse in town, it's certainly not being used. (On the rare occasion there is a trial, it ''will'' have a HangingJudge who ''will'' be on the [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney payroll]].) In all these respects, this trope is effectively a modern-day version of the FeudalOverlord of yore. The fact that he was probably elected due to his popularity will usually be ignored, though expect him to be a CorruptPolitician who buys his elections if this comes up.

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Talespin}}'' episode "Citizen Khan" has the Sea Duck stopped by a sheriff for flying over the town's airspace, and then sentenced to work in the mines by the same guy as judge. All while the town's OnlySaneWoman protests that he doesn't actually hold ''either'' of these positions, it's just that nobody else does.

* '''WesternAnimation/RobinHood''': The Sheriff of Nottingham is an obese wolf with a thick Texas accent, who acts as Prince John's enforcer.

* '''WesternAnimation/Robin Hood''': The Sheriff of Nottingham is an obese wolf with a thick Texas accent, who acts as Prince John's enforcer.

He will almost certainly wear a [[NiceHat hat]], probably carry a gun, will probably chew tobacco and/or smoke cigars, is almost always white, and is virtually AlwaysMale. Will typically have [[HayseedName a uniquely Southern given name akin to Rufus or Clement]]. Good odds of being a FatSweatySouthernerInAWhiteSuit, and if he's the mayor of the town, he will most likely be an evil MayorPain.

* ''Film/RoadHouse'', staring Patrick Swayze, features a no-gooder trying to take over the bar and businesses in a little backwater town with his hired redneck muscle.

One of the most obvious hallmarks of a town run by a Tyrant is the apparent lack of a judicial system, oftentimes because they’re the [[DirtyCop local sheriff]]. It seems the Tyrant can just go around arresting whomever he wants for no reason without them ever getting a trial. If there's a courthouse in town, it's certainly not being used. (On the rare occasion there is a trial, it ''will'' have a HangingJudge who ''will'' be on the [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney payroll]].) In all these respects, this trope is effectively a modern-day version of the FeudalOverlord of yore. The fact that he was probably elected due to his popularity will usually be ignored, though expect him to be a CorruptPolitician who buys his elections if this comes up.

His underlings will be either corrupt themselves or [[CluelessDeputy clueless]] -- Areas that tolerate these folks generally don't get reformed from inside. If it's a horror story, he may be keeping a MadwomanInTheAttic, as well as hiding much worse things from the public eye.

The underlings of a Corrupt Hick will be either corrupt themselves or [[CluelessDeputy clueless]]. Areas that tolerate corrupt hicks generally don't get reformed from inside. If it's a horror story, he may be keeping a MadwomanInTheAttic, as well as hiding much worse things from the public eye.

One of the most obvious hallmarks of a town run by a Corrupt Hick is the apparent lack of a judicial system. It seems the Corrupt Hick can just go around arresting whomever he wants for no reason without them ever getting a trial. If there's a courthouse in town, it's certainly not being used. (On the rare occasion there is a trial, it ''will'' have a HangingJudge who ''will'' be on the [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney payroll]].) In all these respects, the Corrupt Hick is effectively a modern-day version of the FeudalOverlord of yore. The fact that he was probably elected due to his popularity will usually be ignored, though expect him to be a CorruptPolitician who buys his elections if this comes up.

WalkingTheEarth shows, particularly those set in the modern day, run into a ''lot'' of these. And virtually every adventure series or cop show made in the 1970s, whether it be ''Series/{{Cannon}}'' or ''Series/TheSixMillionDollarMan'' or ''Series/{{Wonder Woman|1975}}'' had at least one episode featuring the corrupt hick scenario.

* ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood'': The Sheriff of Nottingham, who has a Southern accent despite the film taking place in England. Presumably the script team heard the word "sheriff"[[note]]which means something somewhat different in Britain, by the way[[/note]] and decided to stick to what they knew. Averted with Friar Tuck (voiced by Andy Devine), who sounds like a Deep South PreacherMan stereotype, albeit the heroic GoodShepherd variety.

* Several characters in the book ''Divine Evil'' by Creator/NoraRoberts. A sculptor named Clare Kimball goes back to her small hometown in Maryland, because she is suffering from depression and nightmares that stem from there and she hopes to deal with them. [[spoiler: It turns out that there is a coven/cult of Satanists in the town. The members of this coven/cult include Clare's father (who left out of guilt and the other members murdered him to ensure his silence), her love interest's Cameron Rafferty's hated stepfather (who ended up murdered), and Ernie (who is a teenaged city boy who the Satanists recruited and they attempted to corrupt him).]]
* Most of the characters identified as hillbillies avert this in ''Nerd In Shining Armor'' by Vicki Lewis Thompson. Three characters that can be called hillbillies are Genevive Terrence, Annabelle, and Lincoln (well, Lincoln apparently doesn't count, because he wasn't born or raised as one). They hail from a small community in Tennessee. Annabelle and Lincoln are apparently psychic. Genevive as a kid had sex with a boy named Clyde Loudermilk back in Tennessee. Why? Because he promised to take her out to a movie in exchange for sex. Too bad she found out after losing her virginity that he didn't even have enough money to go to the movies. Ouch.

* This trope is averted in ''Some Girls Do'' by Leanne Banks. Katie/Priscilla hails from a small town in Texas, and the town is given no name and is reported to have been blown off the map by a tornado. People assumed that she would end up as this trope, because she was the daughter of a woman who ReallyGetsAround. She did manage to form her own life and tried to distance herself from her roots. She also has conversations with her mother, who died years ago. Her employer Ivan wants to see his daughter Wilhemina married and states early on that he can't have a redneck for a son-in-law. This leads to problems when Wilhemina forms a relationship and gets pregnant with Douglas, a hog farmer in Texas and Ivan finds out. Douglas averts this trope, but it took Ivan some time before he could accept Douglas as a son-in-law. Even though Texas is not really part of Appalachia or The Ozarks, some of the characters are clearly categorized as hillbillies.

* Appears in ''Film/{{Troll 2}}'', with the added kicker that the evil townsfolk are also goblins in disguise.

* ''Film/{{Footloose}}'': Nicely subverted with the preacher [[note]]played by John Lithgow[[/note]]. He finally figures out how to let go when his flock starts burning books.
* ''Film/NothingButTrouble'': Judge Alvin Valkenheiser -- and how! Valkenvania is basically his personal fiefdom (his mansion is even built like a castle, complete with moat). Plus his whole operation consists of having his [[DirtyCop deputized family members]] arrest criminals (both [[AssholeVictim real]] and [[DisproportionateRetribution imagined]]) who journey through the town before [[HangingJudge executing them]] so they can loot their cars and other belongings.

* ''Film/{{Deliverance}}''. The film takes place somewhere in Georgia. The four "city boys" are unable to form much of a connection with the locals. The locals fit the stereotypical hillbilly image of being crude, rude, and inbred for some of them. There is also one point when the four "city boys" encounter two hillbillies on their trip down the river. They assume that the two guys are operating a moonshine still and offer to buy some. In response, the two hillbillies have one of them strip himself naked, chase him, and sodomize him, apparently ForTheEvulz. It should also be pointed out that the four "city boys" were rather condescending toward the locals, and the one who got sodomized openly mocked the locals out loud for seeming to display genetic defects.
** The film would seem to be both played straight and subverted. On the one hand, the rapists themselves play this deadly straight. On the other, [[spoiler: we never see the rapists again]], and while the rest of the hillbilly town is set up to be creepy and/or evil, they never really do anything, good or bad. Especially subverted in the case of the mentally challenged banjo player (probably the most famous character in the film), whose banjo playing provides a creepy soundtrack but who is otherwise benevolent.
** For particularly creepy hillbillies, expect to hear [[Film/{{Deliverance}} "Dueling Banjos"]]. (This is a conflation of the two things people generally know about the film- that song and rapist hillbillies. In the actual film, they had nothing to do with one another.)

* Creator/ChuckNorris battles one of these in ''Breaker! Breaker!''

* ''Series/{{Hunter}}'': While Hunter and [=McCall=] are escorting a prisoner through a small Midwestern town, a local girl is raped and beaten and the incident is blamed on the prisoner. In fact, the culprit is the Sheriff, who has been abusing his power and his position as the stepson of the richest man in town.