History Main / TomTheDarkLord

* ''WebVideo/DrHorriblesSingAlongBlog'': Doctor Horrible. His SecretIdentity is that of an awkward nerd named Billy. Of course, his villainous nickname and its accompanying catchphrase ("I've got a [=PhD=] in Horribleness") are intentionally {{Narm}}y as well.
* In TabletopGame/NewVindicators, the main villain of the Laputa arc in the European story, Laputa-Prime, is really named [[spoiler:Elizabeth]], but often addressed by a very cutesy-sounding nickname, [[spoiler: Little Lizzie]].

** The main villains of The Blood Gulch Chronicles are named O'Malley, [[spoiler: Gary, and Reggie. Though O'Malley and Gary aren't their actual names, which are the somewhat more sinister-sounding Omega and Gamma]].
** The Director of Project Freelancer, the [[BigBad main villain]] ultimately behind basically every problem in the series is named [[spoiler: Leonard Church.]] Along with his right-hand man [[spoiler: Aiden Price]].
** [[spoiler: [[BigBadDuumvirate One of the main villains]] of the Chorus Trilogy is simply named Felix. (The other goes by the name of his armor instead of using a proper name.) Their boss, the Chairman of Charon Industries, is named Malcolm Hargrove.]]

* The main antagonist of [[WebAnimation/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers SMG4]]’s Anime Arc is a genocidal crime lord who caused the first ever permanent death in the series, who is given the horrifying name of... [[spoiler:Francis]]. Justified however, as he is a [[AdaptationalVillainy far more villainous variant]] of the character of the same name from ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario''.

* ''Podcast/TheAdventureZoneBalance'':
** Played for laughs with the first major villain, the Black Spider, whose real name is...Brian.
--->'''Magic Brian:''' It's Brian, [[VerbalTic darling.]]\\
'''Merle:''' "Brian Darling?" You're related to [[Literature/PeterPan Wendy Darling?]]\\
'''Magic Brian:''' No, no, just Brian. You don't need to add anything else.
** A more ominous example is [[spoiler:the avatar and true form of [[EldritchAbomination the Hunger]], who goes by "John"]].
* ''Literature/AHerosWar'': Emperor Muppy is a laughingstock among the kids, but strikes dread in adults centuries after his death; having a name too funny not to insult and personal ''death squads'' crushing the populace is ''not'' a healthy combo.
* WebAnimation/DorklyOriginals did this as a joke regarding ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' fan characters. Robotnik shows up and releases a container containing the "Ultimate Original Character". As the light fades, it reveals a tall Echidna with a metal belt, dark eyeliner, Knuckles' signature gloves, two tails (not unlike Tails himself), and sharp dreadlocks like Sonic's spines. He shouts his name to everyone dramatically.
--->''Behold... I... am... KEEEVIIIIIIIN!!!!!''
* ''WebAnimation/HunterTheParenting:'' [[LargeHam THE GREAT AND MIGHTY KEVIN]], a crazed [[TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade Tremere vampire]] from the [[FeralVampires Sabbat]], who has zero problems treating such a mundane name like the loftiest of titles... and as we find out later, there are reasons for that: He's a vampire who still tries to keep a connection to humanity, and was forced to adopt a "shitty Camarilla roleplay name" (Herbertus) when he was embraced, and then got bestowed with an EmbarrassingNickname when he managed to defect to the Sabbat until he earned enough respect to be called what he wanted. Using his own mortal name is both a sign of wanting to remain human and a symbol of the shackles he's shattered in the way... that and he ''despised'' the other names he got, with special hatred for Herbertus.
* ''WebAnimation/SpookyMonth'': The antagonist of "Tender Treats" is a [[ImAHumanitarian cannibalistic]] SerialKiller who actively stalks the main characters, successfully maims someone onscreen, and is consistently treated by everyone as a threat, including [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness the two normally naive and oblivious child protagonists]] towards the episode's end. His name is Bob.

* The mastermind behind the anomalies in ''ARG/TheNoedolekcinArchives'' is named "Kirk".

** ''Videogame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' has [[spoiler: a MegaCorp called Macro Cosmos, which is trying to kickstart the Darkest Day and unleash an EldritchAbomination. Its leader has the fairly benign name of "Chairman Rose". [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in that Rose is a WellIntentionedExtremist; his plan is an attempt to solve an energy crisis that he predicts will happen some thousand years in the future.]]
** A less villainous version: The Normal/Flying-type gym leader in the Victory Road storyline of ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'' is named Larry in the English localization.

* In ''Literature/MuddleEarth'' the villain, described as being the most evil man there ever was, is called Dr. Cuddles. He's also [[spoiler: a pink teddy bear]], which explains the name.

* In the ''{{Literature/Twilight}} Illustrated Guide'':

** All three of the major villains in ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'' have harmless-sounding names: [[AffablyEvil Susie]] and [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Max Haltmann,]] and [[spoiler: [[LightIsNotGood Star]] [[AIIsACrapshoot Dream]]]]. [[DarkerAndEdgier They are easily the darkest villains in the series.]]

** Videogame/PokemonSwordAndShield has [[spoiler: a MegaCorp called Macro Cosmos, which is trying to kickstart the Darkest Day and unleash an EldritchAbomination. Its leader has the fairly benign name of "Chairman Rose". [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in that Rose is a WellIntentionedExtremist; his plan is an attempt to solve an energy crisis that he predicts will happen some thousand years in the future.]]

* In the TV adaptation of ''Series/TheManInTheHighCastle'', in which [[AlternateHistory the Axis powers won World War II and conquered America]], the most senior Nazi in New York is Obergruppenführer John Smith.

* ''Literature/TheLockedTomb'': TheEmperor of the [[TheEmpire Nine Houses]], also known as God, Necrolord Prime, the King Undying, the Kindly Prince of Death, the Resurrector, etcetera, is revealed in [[Literature/HarrowTheNinth the second book]] to be named John. His last name is Gaius, which makes up for it a little.

* The BigBad of ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/46883770/chapters/118098412 You will always have a part of me nobody else is ever gonna see]] is a British Stand-user and ex-Dio follower named Jeffrey "Jeff" Kline . Jolyne and other characters lampshade how lame "Jeff" is for a villain name.

* ''VideoGame/KirbysEpicYarn'':

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks'', the most [[TheHeavy active antagonist]] is known as [[spoiler:Cole.]]

** Videogame/PokemonSwordAndShield has [[spoiler: a MegaCorp called Macro Cosmos, which is trying to kickstart the Darkest Day and unleash an EldritchAbomination. Its leader has the fairly benign name of "Chairman Rose" [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in that Rose is a WellIntentionedExtremist; his plan is an attempt to solve an energy crisis that he predicts will happen some thousand years in the future.]]

* The main villain of ''Videogame/{{Undertale}}'' refers to himself as [[spoiler:Flowey the Flower]]. Kind of odd considering that [[spoiler:he probably came up with that himself, and the name of his original self is Asriel Dreemurr, which is much more intimidating aside from the fact that it's just a mash-up of his parents' names]].

* ''VideoGame/YIIKAPostmodernRPG:'' The universe-destroying FinalBoss has the rather mundane name [[spoiler:Alex.]]

* ''Webcomic/{{Housepets}}'' has the Cosmic Gryphon, an extremely powerful demigod. Though not really ''Evil'', he's an extremely callous narcissist with a dangerously competitive spirit who views mortals as little more than toys and whose cruel actions set in motion much of the plot. His name is Pete.

* ''Webcomic/{{Housepets}}'' has the Cosmic Gryphon, an extremely powerful demigod. Though not really ''Evil'', he's an extremely callous narcissist with a dangerously competitive spirit who views mortals as little more than toys. His name is Pete.

** In ''Series/StargateSG1'', there was the villain Seth. While it was the name of an Egyptian God, [[Website/SFDebris SFDebris]] pointed out that it was also a common English name, so that made it lose a lot of its punch.

** In ''Series/StargateSG1'', there was the villain Seth. While it was the name of an Egyptian God, [[Website/SFDebris SFDebris]] pointed out that it was also a common English name, so that made it lose a lot of its punch.

* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfThomasCovenant'': It's never commented upon, but in the fantasy world of the Land, where characters called Saltheart Foamfollower and Lord Mhoram exist, a central figure in the backstory is High Lord Kevin. This is likely a suggestion that Kevin is, like Thomas Covenant himself, from Earth.

* ''VideoGame/FaithTheUnholyTrinity'' deals with the matter of a Satanic cult, led by a man by the name of...Gary. He's the next-closest thing to a BigBad after Satan himself.

This is for the most part, a trope exclusive to fantastic settings. In a work set in a realistic human society, the bad guy will have a normal human name [[Administrivia/PeopleSitOnChairs without intent of this trope being played]] as opposed to antagonists such as an EvilSorcerer or EldritchAbomination whom you wouldn't expect to be named Alex or Sam.

* The BigBad of ''Film/{{Morbius}}'', a SuperheroHorror about vampires, is actually named Lucien, which is a pretty good name for a vampire. However his AffectionateNickname, which everybody uses throughout the entire film except for a few scenes, is Milo.

* The Pig King of ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'' makes Giygas look tame in comparison, orchestrating the horrific Chimera projects that turn peaceful animals into deranged cyborgs, conquering your hometown and corrupting the residents into greedy, selfish people, and ultimately deciding to destroy the world for laughs. King P[[spoiler:orky]] also qualifies in the [[Videogame/EarthBound previous game he appeared in.]]

When a character that's evil [[SpecialPersonNormalName doesn't have a particularly evil-sounding name]]. While generally PlayedForLaughs, this can also be used to [[NightmareFuel chilling effect]] in combination with tropes such as FromNobodyToNightmare and/or ParanoiaFuel. Tom the Dark Lord sometimes goes hand in hand with EmbarrassingFirstName, but not always. Bonus points if it manages to be {{meaningful|Name}} or {{ironic|Name}}. Contrast with NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast, which is about evil people with ObviouslyEvil names. Also contrast LouisCypher, which are names that indicate someone is a/the devil; these may ''include'' a normal first name (especially a variant of Lou/Lucy or Nick) but overall are not normal names because they're too much of a pun.

* ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'': The dreaded, immortal, lovelorn, tentacle-faced, murderous lord of the ocean's dead is named Davy Jones. In real-life mythology, the name's etymology is unknown- it may be a corruption of "the Devil Jonah", or derived from a Welsh sea god called Dewi. In-universe, it just happens to be his name. For another example, Davy's sadistic bo'sun is named Jimmy Legs. And the [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanOnStrangerTides fourth movie]] brings in Blackbeard, real name Edward Teach. Though it should be noted that Blackbeard was [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade a real person]], and Edward Teach was his name.

** The eleven-year-old [[TheAntiChrist Anti-Christ]] is named [[MeaningfulName Adam]]. Although that is mostly because he managed to slip under the radar due to a little mixup -- the kid whom the forces of Heaven and Hell ''thought'' was the Anti-Christ ended up named "Warlock" thanks to some very persuasive satanic nuns.
** The nun who named Adam was forced to invoke this trope, since she was really trying to give him either a 'satanic' name or an American name (long story), but she was only giving suggestions to the father. After the father vetoed her original ideas, she then suggested Adam.

* Virtually all of the villainous characters in the ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe'' movies:

* In the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' games, the leader of the NebulousEvilOrganisation usually has a cool name; [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Team Rocket]] has Giovanni, [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Team Galactic]] has Cyrus, [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Team Plasma]] has Ghetsis, [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY Team Flare]] has Lysandre, and [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon Team Skull and Aether Foundation]] has Guzma and Lusamine. [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Team Magma and Team Aqua]], however? Maxie and Archie, respectively.