History Main / EvilPlan

* ''Manga/DeathNote'': Light Yagami wanted a world without crime or evil, and for those pesky cops to stay out of his way. Light being [[TheChessmaster Light]], [[GambitPileup everything goes just according to keikaku]]. ([[FootnoteFever TL note]]: [[GratuitousJapanese "Keikaku"]] [[GagSub means]] [[MemeticMutation plan]]). [[VillainProtagonist "Evil"]] [[BlackAndGreyMorality has a loose value in this series.]]

* ''Film/TheCrow'': Top Dollar seeks to burn Detroit to the ground ForTheEvulz.

* "Film/SupermanTheMovie": Lex Luthor reprograms two nuclear missiles, causing one to head to the San Andreas fault in California and the other towards Hackensack New Jersey. The purpose of the latter is to divert Superman away from the former, which is supposed to rupture the fault, causing California to fall into the Pacific Ocean. Prior to this, Luthor purchased thousands of acres of worthless desert in Nevada which would become priceless beach front property once California is gone.

* The ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' movies had more than a few of these on the part of its main villains:
** ''Film/Batman1989'' had Joker seeking to poison and kill just about everyone in Gotham, first by means of a two-part poison with its components hidden in different cosmetic products and then by releasing balloons of the stuff during the Gotham City parade. Both of these things were foiled in grand fashion by the Batman.
** ''Film/BatmanReturns'' had ''three'' of these on the part of the Penguin, the primary villain of the film:
*** The first, worked out with Max Shreck and Catwoman, was to become Mayor of Gotham City and destroy Batman's reputation by murdering the Ice Princess and framing Batman for it (though Catwoman didn't know about the murder part), as well as taking remote control of the Batmobile for further mayhem.
*** The second, Penguin's big plan, involved kidnapping every firstborn son of Gotham so that he could kill them by drowning them in Max Shreck's industrial byproducts.
*** The final plan, implemented when both of those plans were sent crashing down and sent him into VillainousBreakdown mode, was using his penguin army to destroy Gotham.
** ''Film/BatmanForever'''s main villain, The Riddler, wanted to use The Box to learn Batman's identity and everything else related to everyone, as well as get revenge on Bruce Wayne for rejecting him. Two-Face, in contrast, just wants to kill Batman in revenge for having acid thrown on his face by Boss Maroni (something which wasn't Batman's fault, but which he'd gone insane enough to blame on him following the attack).

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':
** All of the events within the first 12 issues of ''Red Robin'' were planned by [[spoiler: Ra's Al Ghul]], who was testing Tim Drake's worthiness as a potential father to his next heir apparent. It ended up an AbortedArc when the universe rebooted before it could be finished.

* The BOOM! Comics revival of ''ComicBook/DarkwingDuck'' revealed that Quackwerks' takeover of St. Canard and the implementations of Crimebots was just so [[spoiler:its CEO, Taurus Bulba, could find out the code to activate the Gizmoduck armor.]]

* In ''Franchise/GreenLantern'' storyline ''ComicBook/BlackestNight'' Nekron, who represents the forces of death on a cosmic level, wishes to consume all positive and negative life force in the universe. To take it, he needs to draw everyone into his realm... effectively making him an OmnicidalManiac. It turns out that the resurrections of various heroes in the DC Universe were a plan on the part of Nekron to give him thralls to control.
* ''ComicBook/YokoTsuno'': Ito Kazuky's company created a disintegration chamber. With the end of the Cold War, countries are desperate to get rid of their stockpile of nukes. However, the machine doesn't eliminate the radiation. Nonetheless, Kazuky advertises that his machine is fully functional. When countries will deliver him the warheads for disposition, he'll secretly keep them intact and well hidden. Presumably, he's going to resell them to the black market.

* In "ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga", the Hellfire Club, who have spent centuries manipulating the world behind the scenes, mindrape ComicBook/JeanGrey into believing she's the group's Black Queen in order to destroy the Franchise/XMen and consolidate their power base. Unfortunately for the Club, they have bitten more than they can chew.
* ''ComicBook/LobsterRandom'': Sergeant Diaz's motivation is just to be liked. So [[spoiler:his scheme as Mister Copious is to use Mind Spheres to rob various planets of their wealth just so he can surrounded by adoring socialites.]]
* In ''ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}}'', the first reason for suspicion whenever Baron Zemo comes up with a new plan to "save the world" is that every one looks exactly like a villainous plot to take over the world. At least Zemo has stylistic consistency.

** Parodied in the third season, specifically "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueUnlimitedS3E6DeadReckoning Dead Reckoning]]", in which Grodd's elaborate evil plan turns out to be "[[spoiler:transforming every man, woman and child on Earth... '''''[[LargeHam INTO AN APE]]''''']]". This is appropriately lampshaded, and also [[CoupDeGrace face-shotted]].

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited'', where Grodd's elaborate evil plan turns out to be "[[spoiler:transforming every man, woman and child on Earth...'''''[[LargeHam INTO AN APE!!!]]''''']]" This is appropriately lampshaded, and also [[CoupDeGrace face-shotted]]. In "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueUnlimitedS2E4TaskForceX Task Force X]]", this episode has one of the most beautifully constructed Evil Plans. The plan is fueled by PragmaticVillainy, because the suicide squad is formed enterely by sociopaths and a TokenGoodTeammate, so they can be controlled because they are not psychopaths. The plan must be followed RightOnTheTick and it does not permit unnecesary killing because it wastes time. ''It works'' because it was planned by a ClockKing who is TheSociopath himself and understands how they think. It seems to be a classic [[MacGuffin Grand Theft Macguffin]]... but in reality it is a [[spoiler: DespairGambit [[TheGovernment Cadmus]] is pulling on the Justice League]]

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': [[RedHerring At first]], the heroes believe that the villains, [[spoiler:the Homeworld Gems]], are trying to [[spoiler:reactivate the Kindergarten to produce an army of Gems to conquer Earth]]. They're wrong, their real evil plan is ''far'' more horrific: [[spoiler:the Kindergarten is merely an experiment ground for forcing shattered Gem shards to undergo fusion to create the Cluster, a gigantic mutant Gem that has been incubating inside the Earth's core for 5000 years; when the Cluster awakens, [[EarthShatteringKaboom it'll crack the Earth open like a chick inside an egg]].]] So, basically, they're engaging in [[spoiler:''rape and [[{{Necromancer}} necromancy]]'']]. Why? [[spoiler:Because the leader Diamonds on the Gem Homeworld are still sore about losing a war to the protagonist's mother a thousand years ago and want to destroy the whole planet out of spite. [[VileVillainSaccharineShow And you thought this was a cute little show.]]]]
** [[spoiler: It’s later revealed the protagonist’s mother also supposedly [[ItsPersonal shattered one of their own, Pink Diamond]], who was originally meant to rule Earth as her first colony until the war broke out]].

* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'': Early in ''Manga/StardustCrusaders'', Joseph presumed [[BigBad DIO]] was in the midst of plotting a way to allow him [[TakeOverTheWorld total control over the world]]. While this wasn't explored much, it isn't until ''Manga/StoneOcean'' reveals DIO found the means to [[spoiler:obtain "Heaven" by creating a [[FightingSpirit Stand]] to remake the universe into his own twisted vision of "Heaven". A "Heaven" where [[InTheirOwnImage all will worship him]]]], and wrote the process in his personal notebook, which would be carried out by his most trusted follower, [[DragonAscendant Enrico Pucci]].

** VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia: [[spoiler:Mithos]] Yggdrasil wishes to [[spoiler:revive his sister and end discrimination, and to do that he splits a world in two and makes them fight over {{Mana}} while his evil army antagonizes the dying one]]. The first part is being his UnwittingPawn and the rest of the game is the heroes unraveling the plan and how to foil it.
** VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss: Mohs wants to cause a war between the local kingdom and empire [[BecauseDestinySaysSo because The Score]] says so. [[spoiler:Van Grants and his minions are more upfront about their goal of ending The Score, but unraveling the details and creating a counter measure still drives the bulk of the plot.]]
** VideoGame/TalesOfLegendia: Has Vaclav Bolud who wants to TakeOverTheWorld [[spoiler:and Nerifes who wants to commit genocide]].

* ''VideoGame/MarvelsSpiderMan'' has Martin Li[=/=]Mister Negative's evil plan of exacting revenge against Normal Osborne for killing his family, killing anyone and everyone that stands in his way. [[spoiler:Later, Dr. Octavius takes up that mantle as he uses a bioweapon that Osborne developed to ruin his reputation before making a more direct attempt on Norman's life.]]
* ''VideoGame/MarvelsSpiderMan2'' has Kraven the Hunter, who is searching for a WorthyOpponent among New York's supervillains, breaking several out of prison and threatening those who had made honest attempts to reform their lives. [[spoiler:This is because Kraven is SecretlyDying of a terminal illness, and he wants to go out fighting against a stronger opponent rather than wait for the inevitable. He eventually gets what he wants from Venom, who has an evil plot of their own: turn the Earth into a symbiote-infested wasteland.]]

* ''Franchise/MetalGear''

** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'': Liquid Snake's master plan is to create an EndlessWar where soldiers such as himself will have value.

* In ''VideoGame/MegaManZero4'', Dr. Weil's plan is to destroy Area Zero and the resistance with it.

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* Dennis from ''VisualNovel/DoubleHomework'' comes up with a plan to sleep with all the girls in his summer school class, despite the fact that they would never touch him with a ten-foot pole.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* ''WebVideo/SomeJerkWithACamera'': The creation of Disney's California Adventure is portrayed like this, with Michael Eisner as a ''Franchise/JamesBond'' villain, complete with an eyepatch, a German accent, fedora and a (plush toy) RightHandCat.

* Parodied ([[StealthParody we hope]]) in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'', where Grodd's elaborate evil plan turns out to be "[[spoiler:transforming every man, woman and child on Earth...'''''[[LargeHam INTO AN APE!!!]]''''']]" This is appropriately lampshaded, and also [[CoupDeGrace face-shotted]].
** "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueUnlimitedS2E4TaskForceX Task Force X]]": This episode has one of the most beautifully constructed Evil Plans. The plan is fueled by PragmaticVillainy, because the suicide squad is formed enterely by sociopaths and a TokenGoodTeammate, so they can be controlled because they are not psychopaths. The plan must be followed RightOnTheTick and it does not permit unnecesary killing because it wastes time. ''It works'' because it was planned by a ClockKing who is TheSociopath himself and understands how they think. It seems to be a classic [[MacGuffin Grand Theft Macguffin]]... but in reality it is a [[spoiler: DespairGambit [[TheGovernment Cadmus]] is pulling on the Justice League]]

** The Pejite people using a captured baby Ohmu to make the Ohmu wipe out Kushana's forces so they can get hold of the Giant Warrior.[[note]]In the manga, the baby Ohmu was captured by the Doroks to lure the Ohmu swarm into wiping out Kushana's forces, thereby quickly ending the war; they had no idea at that point the God-Warrior existed.[[/note]]
* ''Manga/{{Strider}}'': The whole story of the manga is revealed to have been the work of Matic, who started it three years before its beginning as a way to get enough power and resources to Take Over the World.

* ''Manga/TentaiSenshiSunred'''s [[NebulousEvilOrganization Florsheim]] has a two-step evil plan: 1) Defeat their ArchEnemy Sunred. 2) TakeOverTheWorld. Admittedly, [[MissingStepsPlan they might have to flesh out step 2 a bit]] if they ever succeed at step 1, but until step 1 is complete Florsheim aren't about to cheat and start step 2 [[ContractualGenreBlindness because all villains know you have to defeat the Hero before you conquer the world]].

** Film/DrNo's plan was to topple American rockets from his island base as part of a mission from [[NebulousEvilOrganization SPECTRE]], probably with a hostile foreign power as a client.

** ''Film/{{Spectre}}'' has Franz Oberhauser [[spoiler: aka Blofeld]] masterminding a series of terrorist attacks in order to trick the governments of the world into setting up an intelligence and surveillance sharing network... which, thanks to his [[TheMole moles]], he'll have total access to, allowing him to stay permanently one step ahead of the opposition. [[ItsPersonal On a personal level]], [[spoiler:Oberhauser developed an IrrationalHatred of 007 just because his father paid more attention to Bond than him when they were in their teens. DrivenByEnvy [[TheResenter and resentment]], [[SelfMadeOrphan he kills his father]] out of jealousy, [[FakingTheDead fakes his own death]] before creating a NebulousEvilOrganization, and made his life's mission to not only [[ItsAllAboutMe orchestrate wanton chaos]] [[ForTheEvulz just for his own benefit]], but to mess around and inflict [[CainAndAbel physical and]] [[BigBrotherBully psychological pain]] on Bond to further punish him just because he was favored by Oberhauser's father.]]

* The Major's Evil Plan in ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' is nothing less than to [[spoiler:destroy Alucard, by far the most powerful vampire in existence, through means of instigating a full-on war]].

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14073644/1/ The Echo Ranger]]'' Demonus has a plan to convert all the Humans on Earth into Power Rangers style monsters, loyal only to him. When the Rangers interfere, the process is slowed down, instead resulting the the birth of Quirks. What he has planned for the rest of the universe with an army of eight billion elite minions is undisclosed, but is enough to make [[AxCrazy Shigaraki]] [[OmnicidalManiac Tomura]] weep for joy.

* The Nod Prophet [[DarkMessiah Kane]] is an uncontested master of these, and in ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer 3: Tiberium Wars'' and ''Kane's Wrath'' pulls of an absolutely ''staggering'' one. Short version: [[spoiler: the ''entire'' Third Tiberium War was orchestrated start-to-finish to bring the Scrin aliens to Earth and allow Kane to steal their technology]].
* In VideoGame/MegaManZero 4, Dr. Weil's plan is to destroy Area Zero and the restistance with it.
* As of ''2nd Original Generations'', [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha Euzeth Gozzo]] has been confirmed to be the mastermind of a spanning '''multiple parallel universes''' to assimilate all destructive technology he can in order to surpass the creators of the original Cross Gate Paradigm System and become powerful enough to destroy Keisar Ephes permanently.

* Several villains of the''VideoGame/SlyCooper'' franchise are motivated by long-term goals.

* "I Have A Plan" is the CatchPhrase of The Evil Count Geoffry from ''WesternAnimation/BlazingDragons''.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1'': Syndrome's in three steps: Lure the supers to their doom, pretend to be a super with technology and evil robots, profit by selling the technology to everyone and thereby making it impossible to be a super.

** Infuriate Juliana's village with his henchmen, take her and Kayley hostage (with the latter escaping from one of the henchmen's grasp), and transform his henchmen from normal ordinary selves to weapon-combined "ironmen".

* "I Have A Plan" is the CatchPhrase of The Evil Count Geoffry from WesternAnimation/BlazingDragons.