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Anime and Manga
"So he's like a child with superhuman capabilities. And really, there's nothing more pure and cruel as a child."
— Jet Black on Mad Pierrot, Cowboy Bebop, "Pierrot le Fou"
"You're not a grown man taking control of things! You're a child throwing a tantrum!"
— Yukiko Amagi to Tohru Adachi, Persona 4: The Animation
Audio Plays
The Doctor: Ludo, there's something else you should know about the Toymaker.
Ludovic Comfort: What?
The Doctor: He likes games.
Ludovic Comfort: So he's a jolly sort of chap then, is he?
The Doctor: If he wins.
Ludovic Comfort: It's the same with all children, Doctor.
The Doctor: Children tend not to kill their opponents if they beat them at snakes and ladders.
Ludovic Comfort: What?
The Doctor: He likes games.
Ludovic Comfort: So he's a jolly sort of chap then, is he?
The Doctor: If he wins.
Ludovic Comfort: It's the same with all children, Doctor.
The Doctor: Children tend not to kill their opponents if they beat them at snakes and ladders.
Comic Books
"We're going to play, little girl. We can make-believe it's my special place. It's a small world after all... I love that song. It's so true. So true. Now, when we've finished, you mustn't tell anybody that I played with you. Especially not Mister Nimrod. He said that dirty stuff at the beginning about what we don't do where we eat. Wash his mouth out with soap, Momma. I love, you little girl. I love you to death..."
— Nathan "Fun Land" Diskin, The Sandman: Collectors
Finally then, home to Connecticut; mom; his old room; that old peach tree outside...as his mother tucks him in, the killer sighs. Slippering softly from the room, she says she'll bring him cocoa later, if he's still awake, and the killer says "Thanks, ma."
— Swamp Thing #63, "Loose Ends (Reprise)"
Fan Works
"You are not some sort of goddess of death. You are nothing more than an egotistical brat with delusions of grandeur because you're still angry that your mommy hurt you in the past."
— Dr. Watts to Cinder Fall, CRME
"I see. I see. I see how this works. Everyone gets their precious toys and DOLLS and playthings. Everyone gets what they want... except ME. Nobody likes it when I collect dolls. That's how the world works, is it? The bullies get everything and I get nothing? You just get to take and take and take AND TAKE WHAT ISN'T YOURS! Well I've had enough of things not being fair! I make things fair! You wouldn't give me back what was mine, so I forced you to share with me! I told you again and again I had your precious STUFFED LION, and you didn't care until I carved off his tail and sent it to you! And now, after I gave everything back, you're here trying to steal from me again - ME, the only good girl on the playground! YOU DON'T DESERVE DOLLS!"
— The Hellion, The Land of What Might-Have-Been
"You threaten others. The act of a small child breaking old toys because his mother wouldn't buy him a new one. ... The child wants ice cream after dinner. The mother says no. The child breaks something in response during the ensuing tantrum. Next time, the mother gets ice cream and the child assumes their basic attempt at manipulation succeeded. But then the mother starts using it as bargaining chip. 'If you clean your room, you get ice cream. If you don't, you get nothing.' The child could trash his room, but he knows that ice cream is guaranteed if he behaves. So he does as the mother says. And the mother retains the power. What are you, if not a small child throwing a tantrum?"
— Locus analyzing O'Malley's behavior, Murderer's Row
Alice treated the Mad Hatter as if he were a small, silly child. Katrina was like a silly child, too, but in real life, a grown-up acting like a child was scary.
— Overnight
Film — Live-Action
"Mommmmmyyyy! MOMMYYYY! Baby wants to FUCK! GET READY TO FUCK! YOU FUCKER'S FUCKER! YOU FUCKER! [slaps Dorothy across the face] DON'T YOU FUCKIN' LOOK AT ME!"''
— Frank Booth, Blue Velvet
"You're a child. That's what makes you so fucking scary."
— Nicholas Garrigan to Idi Amin, The Last King of Scotland
Connor Rooney: I can look after myself.
Frank Nitti: No, you can't! This is the point. You're a big baby who doesn't know his thumb from his dick!
Frank Nitti: No, you can't! This is the point. You're a big baby who doesn't know his thumb from his dick!
Madeleine Swann: Why are you doing this?
Franz Oberhauser/Ernst Stavro Blofeld: You probably know that James here lost his parents when he was young. But did you know that it was my father who helped him through this difficult time? Over the course of two winters, he taught him to ski, and climb, and hunt. He soothed the wounds of the poor little blue-eyed orphan. Asked me to treat him as a brother. My little brother. They formed quite an attachment.
James Bond: So you killed him.
Oberhauser/Blofeld: Yes, I did. [to Swann] You know what happens when a cuckoo hatches inside another bird's nest?
Swann: Yes. It forces the other eggs out.
Oberhauser/Blofeld: [pointing to 007] Yes. Well, this "cuckoo" made me realize my father's life had to end. In a way, he's responsible for the path I took, so thank you, cuckoo!
Bond: Do you know any other bird calls, Franz?
Franz Oberhauser/Ernst Stavro Blofeld: You probably know that James here lost his parents when he was young. But did you know that it was my father who helped him through this difficult time? Over the course of two winters, he taught him to ski, and climb, and hunt. He soothed the wounds of the poor little blue-eyed orphan. Asked me to treat him as a brother. My little brother. They formed quite an attachment.
James Bond: So you killed him.
Oberhauser/Blofeld: Yes, I did. [to Swann] You know what happens when a cuckoo hatches inside another bird's nest?
Swann: Yes. It forces the other eggs out.
Oberhauser/Blofeld: [pointing to 007] Yes. Well, this "cuckoo" made me realize my father's life had to end. In a way, he's responsible for the path I took, so thank you, cuckoo!
Bond: Do you know any other bird calls, Franz?
— Spectre
Literature
"It's like a horrible child playing a game."
— Vera Claythorne, And Then There Were None
"You think you can talk him out of it — make him see reason — but it doesn't work that way. Prince Yuebek may be like a child, but his mind works like a sharp knife. Sometimes I believe he acts the way he does to throw people off guard, to make them think he is less than what he appears. He may seem unhinged, but he is also extremely focused, Queen Talyien, and this is the important part you have to remember: he always gets what he wants. It is the only thing that matters to him."
— Zhu about Prince Yuebek, Chronicles of the Bitch Queen by K.S. Villoso
"I think I know you, Teatime. You're the mad kid they're all scared of, right? The giggling excitable one even the bullies never touched because if they did he went insane and kicked and bit. The kid who didn't know the difference between chucking a stone at a cat and setting it on fire."
— Susan Sto Helit, Hogfather
"So you think you're the biggest monster in the room? You're not even a magician at all, are you, Martin? You're just a little boy. That's all you are. That's all you ever were. Well, I'm sorry."
— Alice, The Magicians
This was a double game: he was trying to save his childhood, to preserve it and trap it in amber, but to do that, he was calling on things that partook of the world beyond childhood whose touch would him even less innocent than he already was. What would that make him? Neither a child nor an adult, neither innocent nor wise. Perhaps that is what a monster is.
— Rupert Chatwin on The Beast, AKA Martin Chatwin, The Magician's Land
"But you know, my dear Miss Conway, sometimes cruelty is not so much innate as due to the fact that imagination is slow in ripening. That is why, if you conceive of a grown man with the mentality of a child, you realize that the cunning and brutality of a lunatic may be quite unrealized by the man himself. A lack of growth somewhere, that, I am convinced, is at the root of much of the cruelty and stupid brutality in the world today. One must put away childish things -" He shook his head and spread out his hands.
Bridget said, in a voice suddenly hoarse, "Yes, you're right. I know what you mean. A man who is a child is the most frightening thing in the world."
Bridget said, in a voice suddenly hoarse, "Yes, you're right. I know what you mean. A man who is a child is the most frightening thing in the world."
"If you don't tell me a story, I'll go pay your mother and father a visit. They'd entertain me. Though the visit might not be so much fun for them."
— Talon, The Ruin of Kings
Live-Action TV
"The lady doesn't like us. Silly lady. Dead lady."
— The Toclafane, Doctor Who, "The Sound of Drums"
Bob: He's not a toy, Elle.
Elle: He could be.
Elle: He could be.
— Heroes
Jim: It has been fun, though, hasn't it? This little game of ours. Playing "Jim from I.T.", playing gay — did you like that little touch with the underwear?
Sherlock: People have died.
Jim Moriarty: THAT'S WHAT PEOPLE DO!!
Sherlock: People have died.
Jim Moriarty: THAT'S WHAT PEOPLE DO!!
— Sherlock, "The Great Game"
"I'm more powerful than you can process, and I'm enslaved to a bratty child throwing a tantrum."
— Death on Lucifer, Supernatural
"It is busy, isn't it? It may be small but it is my room and also the universe. Space is cramped. No-one can even imagine what it is like out there. It is something that even a small brain like you, leaving on that measly Earth in an even smaller galaxy, should understand. How about this? How careless of me. I was about to crush Earth. There are too many lives and planets in this room. I need to organise but tidying up is boring. So, I made it fun. I made a game where I make people fight and destroy their planet. It entertains me! You rouse some people every now and again and then, you just watch. Now, the universe has tidied up!"
— Dagded Dujardin to Gira, Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger
Music
My dad says I am such a brat.
I really can't agree with that.
My mental health is really fine,
Gee whiz, I'm only 29!
I really can't agree with that.
My mental health is really fine,
Gee whiz, I'm only 29!
— The Gorilla Did It!, "Tantrums"
Tabletop Games
It is a playful and wreckful mind that lies behind the birdlike gaze of the Lord of Change, deeply intelligent, yet as uncaring of consequence as it is fascinated by it. The Lord of Change is like a child playing upon some gigantic anthill, poking with a stick at its inhabitants and laughing at the hopeless antics of their defence.
— Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Realm of Chaos - The Lost And The Damned (1st ed)
Video Games
"After twenty years, that spoiled young boy is a very powerful industrialist. He swore vengeance on the world of amusements and proclaimed that one day he would destroy it all! He was now a spoiled, yet bitter and eccentric man!"
— Opening narration, Aero The Acrobat, Game Boy Advance port
When she was a girl, she toyed with nastiness and sadism. Children often grow out of this; they get hobbies. For Orin, that taste for cruelty fermented, and in a way she did find hobbies. Ones that screamed.
— Item description for Crimson Mischief, Baldur's Gate III
"Sorry Eddie, it's just that I have all these clients who aren't insecure little power-mad man children."
— Catwoman to the Riddler, Batman: Arkham Knight
"Pyg happy, Pyg glad, Pyg gets to play with flesh, make it look pretty after death!"
— Professor Pyg's Game Over screen, Batman: Arkham Knight
"You have waylaid all his other plans. Now, as a petulant child, he will destroy the game board rather than admit defeat. Be ready for anything. He still believes himself a god, and gods do not fall gracefully."
— Solas, on the Elder One, Dragon Age: Inquisition
The Lone Wanderer: Let these people go. There's no reason to keep them here.
Stanislaus Braun: Oh, but there is! They continue to amuse me. That is purpose enough for their lives, don't you think? You are serving the same purpose after all. I do enjoy having someone new to play with...
Stanislaus Braun: Oh, but there is! They continue to amuse me. That is purpose enough for their lives, don't you think? You are serving the same purpose after all. I do enjoy having someone new to play with...
"There's old stories about gods and men, past history, into myth — where the gods, they're like children, petulant, cruel."
— Ulysses, Fallout: New Vegas: Lonesome Road
"I've gone through time and space so many times that I haven't aged like a normal person. Who knows, I might be 1,000 years old, or even 10,000 years old. But, despite that, I'm still the same kid at heart! Is that funny? It is, isn't it? Does it make you laugh? Are you laughing at me?!"
— King P/Porky Minch, Mother 3
"Maybe you should marry that thing since you love it so much. Do you want to marry it? WELL, I WON'T LET YOU! How does that feel?"
— GLaDOS, Portal
Visual Novels
"Probably not somethin' her own daughter should be sayin', but my mom's basically a nasty little kid who never grew up."
— Makina Irisu describing her mother Kiyoka, The Fruit of Grisaia
Webcomics
Thief: What's worse? That he urinates when he is angry or he calls it tinkle?
Red Mage: With Black Mage, it's really a menagerie of horror.
Red Mage: With Black Mage, it's really a menagerie of horror.
"oh tiny ice cream friends! thog delay boredom driven rampage only for you!"
— Thog, The Order of the Stick
Web Original
But you know what the best part about Kuroto is? It's not that he's a threat. It's not that he's a genius. It's not even that he's a memelord. It's that underneath all of that, he's a petty, screeching child. I am not joking here. Kuroto got his start as a villain back when he was a kid trying to design games for the company — and because of the even younger Emu, incidentally. As it turns out, Emu was a fan of Kuroto's work, so much so that he sent him fan mail with his own creations. Kuroto saw those designs and thought that they were genius... and got so butthurt that he became intensely jealous of an eight-year-old and shipped him a disk infested with Bugsters, thereby turning Emu into Patient Zero (and ironically ensuring that he would become a Gamer Rider far stronger than Kuroto ever would) and eliminating the competition with a single trip to the mailbox. That. Is. AMAZING. Kuroto's entire life from that moment on is about him trying to prove how talented and cool he is, but he already got beat by an elementary schooler and couldn't handle it. And he still can't handle it. Even if he's a better game designer (by virtue of time and resources), he's stuck in the shadow of Emu because he can't reconcile with not being the best. Hell, it's even reflected in his Rider suit; instead of coming up with an original design, the best he can do is be a black offshoot of Emu's Ex-Aid. Everything he does isn't in service of asserting his control over all; he just wants to get over his crippling inferiority complex in the most bombastic way possible.
— Cross-Up
I always look forward to hearing from Sil, easily the strongest villainous creation to have stepped from the Colin Baker era... Sil indignantly exclaims that he is still young and I rather liked the idea that he genuinely is a repugnant little infant that has been let loose on the universe's economy, with all the bloodlust and anger that comes with it.
— Joe Ford on Big Finish Doctor Who: Antidote to Oblivion
on Big Finish Doctor Who: Antidote to OblivionYou could also argue that Scaramanga's whole island lair counts as an example of his arrested development. He explicitly states that he doesn't own the island, despite his vast fortune. Instead, he lives there rent-free in return for the odd favour for his landlords, Red China. Of course, it seems like a technicality, given the millions he has likely invested, but it's interesting that a man of Scaramanga's age and wealth doesn't actually own his own property. In effect, Scaramanga is living in the Bond villain equivalent of his parents' basement. He gets a nice pad to crash in, and in return he has to occasionally take out the trash for his folks.
Web Videos
"But you don't understand! The Legendary Super Saiyan is motivated by a crying infant! He is a literal giant fucking baby!"
— Vegeta, Dragon Ball Z Abridged, "Broly The Legendary Super Saiyan"
Screenwriter: ...And then we're gonna finally meet this Russian oligarch, and kind of figure out what his evil plan is.
Producer: Okay, and so, what is his plan?
Screenwriter: So in the future this scientist developed this algorithm that could kind of invert the world, right, because they're all mad in the future about global warming. Like, we destroyed the planet.
Producer: Okay.
Screenwriter: And she split up this algorithm into nine pieces and hid them in the past because they would pretty much end the past and so maybe the future too.
Producer: And so the bad guy is putting this algorithm together?
Screenwriter: Exactly, and he's actually dying, so he's kind of like, "Well, might as well take out the whole world with me as I go out".
Producer: So he has kind of the same motivation as a kid flipping a Monopoly board because he's losing.
Screenwriter: Pretty much. Yeah!
Producer: Okay, and so, what is his plan?
Screenwriter: So in the future this scientist developed this algorithm that could kind of invert the world, right, because they're all mad in the future about global warming. Like, we destroyed the planet.
Producer: Okay.
Screenwriter: And she split up this algorithm into nine pieces and hid them in the past because they would pretty much end the past and so maybe the future too.
Producer: And so the bad guy is putting this algorithm together?
Screenwriter: Exactly, and he's actually dying, so he's kind of like, "Well, might as well take out the whole world with me as I go out".
Producer: So he has kind of the same motivation as a kid flipping a Monopoly board because he's losing.
Screenwriter: Pretty much. Yeah!
"Fajo has to hit just the right tone: he has to have a sense of menace to him, but also a sense of playfulness. He has to hit somewhere in between a Trelane and a Dukat, if you will. You need to see this jolly sort of character, this excitable little boy, almost, who is nevertheless a very dangerous and cunning individual, and I think Saul Rubinek hit that note just right.
Zant: Is there cake? I smell cake.
Ghirahim: I... just finished eating when you called.
Zant: Then I must dig it out of your desecrated corpse...
Ghirahim: I... just finished eating when you called.
Zant: Then I must dig it out of your desecrated corpse...
— Bourbon Dodongo's Zant and Ghirahim, episode 1 (mirror)
) Western Animation
"A party that never ends with a host that never dies! No more restrictions! No more laws!"
— Bill Cipher (pitching The End of the World as We Know It to Stanford Pines), Gravity Falls, "Weirdmageddon Part 3: Take Back the Falls"
"A childhood is a terrible thing to lose, Ms. Lane. But I'm getting mine back... with a vengeance."
— Winslow Schott, Jr./The Toyman, Superman: The Animated Series, "Fun and Games"
Real Life
"It might help to think of the Homelander as having all the self-control of, let’s say, a fourteen-year-old."
With his poor childhood development record, even minor criticism would be experienced as a wound by Mugabe. He is a person who cannot tolerate difference. Being profoundly doubtful about himself, he is oversensitive to the idea that he is not as good as everyone else. People are either with him or against him. Differences of opinion are provocative and hurtful to Mugabe, who may think that compromise reduces him. The closer a compromise comes to his emotional self, the more he resists it.
— Heidi Holland, Dinner with Mugabe
