Some tropes are not good or evil by definition, but tend to be associated with evil more often than not anyway. This is because the tropes use traits that are scary or stereotypically evil to most people.
A trope being on this index does not mean there are no good or neutral examples of the trope, just that most of the examples are likely going to be evil.
Please note that this index is about how the media uses these tropes, not how people on this website use them.
See also Hitler Ate Sugar, a trope where something innocent or mundane is labelled "bad" because a bad person does it, Everybody Hates Hades, when a deity relating to death is treated like a villain because death is a Primal Fear, and Hidden Evil, for tropes about things that don't look evil but are still evil. Also compare Bad Powers, Bad People (and contrast Bad Powers, Good People and Good Powers, Bad People)
Please provide context for each example. We want to know what it is about each trope that gets stereotyped as "evil."
Examples
- Beast Man: Animal-like humanoids can inspire fear in people, especially ones based on animals that are already widely hated and feared:
- Bat People: Bats are often associated with vampires and Gothic Horror, so humanoid bats are most likely going to be portrayed as evil.
- Lizard Folk: Because reptiles are more associated with evil than mammals, lizard people are portrayed as villainous and barbaric. If they resemble monitor lizards, expect them to be even more sinister than other lizards.
- Rat Men: One just has to be a ratlike humanoid to qualify for this trope. However, rats are widely hated and reviled, so humanoid rats are almost always portrayed the same way.
- Scorpion People: Scorpions are often seen as scary arachnids that sting people, so humanoid ones are usually evil.
- Shark Man: Sharks are often depicted as threatening or evil in fiction hence the trope Threatening Shark. Hence, bipedal sharks will often be depicted as evil too.
- Snake People: Snakes Are Sinister to most people, so humanoid snakes are usually evil.
- Spider People: Spiders Are Scary, so this often applies to humanoid spiders as well.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: Many people are afraid of bugs, and giant versions of normal things tend to be seen as monsters, so giant bugs are rarely friendly.
- Clocks of Control: Being uptight and having a clock motif isn't necessarily a bad thing, but due to the view that Order Is Not Good and the association of clocks with dangerous machines and industrialism (see Science Is Bad and Nightmarish Factory), these characters are usually evil control freaks.
- Education Mama: Mothers who are obsessed with their children's education can be portrayed as strict but well-meaning parents who think they're doing what's best for their children... but they're usually treated as tyrannical control freaks who don't care about anything in their children's life other than their education, which they want them to be the best at, to the point of harshly punishing anything less than perfection.
- Eldritch Abomination: A creature must be unfathomable and mind-bending to fit this trope, but not necessarily evil. However, most eldritch abominations are made villains because the very concept of the trope is scary to humans, and having them be evil reinforces the fear factor. Most subtropes play on specific fears that most people have:
- Animalistic Abomination: Fear of the brutality of the animal kingdom.
- Botanical Abomination: Fear of the otherworldliness of plants.
- Digital Abomination: Fear of new technology like computers.
- Draconic Abomination: Fear of giant, mythical reptiles.
- Genetic Abomination: Fear of genetic engineering and the results it may cause.
- Humanoid Abomination: Fear of things that look human, but aren't.
- Mechanical Abomination: Fear of machines and industry.
- Santabomination: Fear of a beloved holiday icon going through Subverted Innocence.
- Transhuman Abomination: Fear of becoming a monster.
- Undead Abomination: Fear of the dead coming back to life.
- Faux Furby: While the original Furby toy was meant to be cute and lovable, it has gained a reputation as a Memetic Psychopath. Because of that, most fictional parodies are evil. At the very least, they will often be seen as annoying rather than likable.
- The Great Serpent: Snakes Are Sinister, so giant snakes will rarely be seen as anything but terrifying, man-eating monsters. Mythological examples are often portrayed as ornery at best, apocalyptic at worst.
- Grim Up North: The northernmost regions of the world are inhospitable and icy, thus it is hostile to almost all forms of life. Sometimes they'll be home to Horny Vikings or similar groups.
- Inspector Javert: Cops relentlessly pursuing pursuing people for crimes aren't that popular. On the other hand, officers chasing odious criminals might get a bit more leeway.
- Mechanical Insects: Robots can be scary. Insects can be scary. Combining them makes them seem even more inhuman and dangerous.
- The Old North Wind: Evil Is Deathly Cold, so the personification of a frosty northern wind is very likely to be a villain.
- Poisonous Person: Though poison is frequently the domain of Bad Powers, Bad People, some heroes who tend toward the pragmatic hold no qualms about its use.
- Prehistoric Monster: Prehistoric animals are often depicted as hideous and frightening in a way that their modern counterparts rarely are.
- Put on a Prison Bus: This trope is about anyone who disappears from the story by being arrested. However, it more often than not happens to villains because arrest makes for a great "defeat" without killing them, and if a good character does get arrested, it's usually not the last time we'll see them.
- The Savage South: The southernmost regions of the world are not only hot and wild but it's home to poisonous creatures such as snakes and other deadly species.
- Starfish Aliens: Fantasy creatures resembling humans or mammals tend to be more acceptable and sympathetic to audiences than those that don't. Combine an inhuman look with being from outer space, and you get creatures that are almost always portrayed as evil invaders.
- Starfish Robots: There is a general uneasiness about robots and AI. Making them look completely inhuman only strengthens that fear.
- Stealthy Cephalopod: Many people are afraid of tentacled creatures, so having them be great at sneaking around can make them even scarier.
- Womanliness as Pathos: Pathos is conflict, and sometimes that conflict is evil.
- The Worm That Walks: The idea of several organisms acting like one large organism can be disturbing, so these characters are rarely, if ever, portrayed as good.
