History Main / DarkIsEvil

The logic behind the trope is as follows: [[PrimalFear most humans have the fear the dark]] (a.k.a. "'''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_of_the_dark nyctophobia]]'''"), at least to some degree; our sight is the sense we depend on the most, and we cannot see well in the dark, therefore a lack of light makes us feel very vulnerable to danger.[[note]]Leopards, one kind of predator our ancestors had to deal with on the African plains, prefer to hunt on moonless nights so that they can sneak up on their prey. Humans that ''weren't'' afraid of the dark probably became leopard chow.[[/note]] Furthermore, the fact that it's so hard to see in the dark (well, for humans, anyways) has caused some of us to associate dark with deception. Evil is associated with deception, fitting in with darkness. If you want to be even more obvious about it, give the bad guy a [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast name]] that has something to do with dark, shadows or the color black.

* ''WesternAnimation/GeneratorRex'' has the aptly named Black Knight, who is basically [[MoreDeadlyThanTheMale the much more corrupt counterpart]] of her predecessor White Knight, to which she took over Providence for a while and ruled the organization with an iron fist (at least, before her exile).

The logic behind the trope is as follows: [[PrimalFear most humans fear the dark]] (a.k.a. "'''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_of_the_dark nyctophobia]]'''"), at least to some degree; our sight is the sense we depend on the most, and we cannot see well in the dark, therefore a lack of light makes us feel very vulnerable to danger.[[note]]Leopards, one kind of predator our ancestors had to deal with on the African plains, prefer to hunt on moonless nights so that they can sneak up on their prey. Humans that ''weren't'' afraid of the dark probably became leopard chow.[[/note]] Furthermore, the fact that it's so hard to see in the dark (well, for humans, anyways) has caused some of us to associate dark with deception. Evil is associated with deception, fitting in with darkness. If you want to be even more obvious about it, give the bad guy a [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast name]] that has something to do with dark, shadows or the color black.

** The [[WesternAnimation/HotelTransylvania first film]] has Esmeralda, who is Chef Quasimodo Wilson's sneaky pet rat who has played things dirty with him (as shown when she helped him in capturing Jonathan "Johnny" Loughran).

** The [[WesternAnimation/HotelTransylvania first film]] has Esmeralda, who is Chef Quasimodo Wilson's sneaky pet rat who has played things dirty with him.
** In ''WesternAnimation/HotelTransylvania2'', Bela, the leader of the Bat Cronies and Vlad Dracula's former assistant, is a giant anthropormorphic bat who is proven to be '''''far''''' worse than Esmeralda, as he has [[MisanthropeSupreme a strong distaste for humanity]] in general, to which he tries to eliminate those who are part of the human lineage (whether it's full or just partial) rather brutally.

** ''WesternAnimation/Increbiles2'' has Screenslaver, who dons a black suit and has lured Elastigirl into fighting against the villain. [[spoiler:However, the person behind the suit is revealed to be a decoy, and is just an ordinary pizza delivery man who was brainwashed. It turns out that this was all orchestrated by Evelyn Deavor, the '''real''' Screenslaver who tries to prevent superheroes in becoming legal again due to her past tragedy. In addition, she herself has also donned dark-shaded attires throughout her appearance.]]

** ''WesternAnimation/Increibles2'' has Screenslaver, who dons a black suit and has lured Elastigirl into fighting against the villain. [[spoiler:However, the person behind the suit is revealed to be a decoy, and is just an ordinary pizza delivery man who was brainwashed. It turns out that this was all orchestrated by Evelyn Deavor, the '''real''' Screenslaver who tries to prevent superheroes in becoming legal again due to her past tragedy. In addition, she herself has also donned dark-shaded attires throughout her appearance.]

** ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective'' has Professor Padraic Ratigan, a criminal giant ra-, oh, no, mouse.

* In ''WesternAnimation/HotelTransylvania2'', Bela, the leader of the Bat Cronies and Vlad Dracula's former assistant, is a giant anthropormorphic bat who has [[MisanthropeSupreme a strong distaste for humanity]] in general, to which he tries to eliminate those who are part of the human lineage (whether it's full or just partial) rather brutally.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1'' introduces Syndrome (who used to be Buddy Pine, a.k.a. Incrediboy), who plans on [[EngineeredHeroics faking heroism]] in front of the public by continuously eliminating supers and then using the Omnidroid v.10 in Metroville to implement such heinous purpose of his.

** The ''Franchise/{{Aladdin}}'' franchise's movies has its primary villains possessing dark colors:
*** The [[WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} first]] [[WesternAnimation/AladdinTheReturnOfJafar two]] movies have Jafar, whose original outfit largely consists of the color black. In his genie form (after replacing the Genie himself), his own lamp is color black, as well [[spoiler:which was [[MistreatementInducedBetrayal later destroyed]] by his former pet macaw and henchman [[RedIsHeroic Iago]], completely ending the corrupt vizier-turned-genie once and for all]].
*** The third movie ''WesternAnimation/AladdinAndTheKingOfThieves'' introduces Sa'luk, who not only wears a black vest, but also bears a grey skin complexity.

* ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride'': For a thematically gothic movie, the undead pale in comparison to Barkis Bittern, who is shown to be '''A LOT''' more soulless than any of them (which is further proven by the fact that [[spoiler:he was the one who killed Emily for her previous wealth]]).

The logic behind the trope is as follows: [[PrimalFear most humans fear the dark]], at least to some degree; our sight is the sense we depend on the most, and we cannot see well in the dark, therefore a lack of light makes us feel very vulnerable to danger.[[note]]Leopards, one kind of predator our ancestors had to deal with on the African plains, prefer to hunt on moonless nights so that they can sneak up on their prey. Humans that ''weren't'' afraid of the dark probably became leopard chow.[[/note]] Furthermore, the fact that it's so hard to see in the dark (well, for humans, anyways) has caused some of us to associate dark with deception. Evil is associated with deception, fitting in with darkness. If you want to be even more obvious about it, give the bad guy a [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast name]] that has something to do with dark, shadows or the color black.

** ''WesternAnimation/MeetTheRobinsons'': Both the Bowler Hat Guy and DOR-15 sought out to find Lewis and have tried to ruin the latter's successful future. However, this trope is ''far'' more prevalent on DOR-15 herself than the former (who is really [[spoiler:a future Mike Yagoobian, Lewis' old roommate]]), since she has much more sinister tricks up her sleeve, [[spoiler:where it includes betraying her partner-in-crime, who [[EvenEvilHasStandards felt devastated]] about her overall goal]].