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shroudofsorrow

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Lawful Evil

"With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict, and bring order to the galaxy!"

-Darth Vader

The first of the three evil alignments, Lawful Evil characters are villains who prefer to operate within the system, and from their position of power and authority in said system do evil. Lawful Evil characters can either be self-righteous anti-villains who genuinely desire to bring a kind of peace, but via fascism and brutality, or alternatively just sadistic control freaks who enjoy having power over others. If a villain makes it clear that they desire some kind of order, then they are most certainly this alignment. Villains who again, do evil from a position of power and authority are also almost invariably this. While there are some villains in positions of authority who are not Lawful Evil, they are the exception, not the rule, and for the most part being evil and in a position of authority denotes Lawful Evil. Finally, though this by no means a universal truth, Lawful Evil is the most likely of the three evil alignments to have villains who actually honor their word. While I do not believe that having a code of honor automatically makes you Lawful (plenty of the characters described below have no such codes of scruples), Lawful Evil characters are nevertheless still the Evil characters most likely to have some kind of honor and again, keep their word.

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  • Source of the page quote and far and away one of the best examples of this alignment. Of course in fairness a great many Star Wars villains are Lawful Evil, but even so Darth Vader, a man deeply ingrained in the Imperial and Sith hierarchies and an enforcer of fascist order, remains the trend-setter.

  • Let's see...monarch? Check. Rules over his people with an iron fist? Check. Desires order as dictated by him? Check. Megalomaniacal? Check. Has a code of honor and keeps his word in spite of villainy? Check. Yeah, Doctor Doom is text-book Lawful Evil. Not to mention that Darth Vader was supposedly based off of him, so...yeah.

  • Seeks to create a "better" world for Mutants where they are dominant over humanity and lord over them with an iron fist. And of course in this ideal world Magneto's the man in charge. Then there's his being leader of the Brotherhood and also having some honor despite being and a villain. Yeah, Magneto fits this to a T.

  • A lot of people consider him Neutral Evil, but let's consider a few things: he attained success largely by working within an organized system, be it the Sith or the Republic. He does nearly all of his evil from a position of power and authority that he clearly enjoys having, and as the Emperor created a totalitarian dictatorship that imposed "order" on the rest of the galaxy. Honestly looking at all of that I feel his being Lawful Evil is rather obvious. On that note...

  • Yep, the Sith as a collective are Lawful Evil, in contrast to their arch-enemies being Lawful Good. The Sith constantly seek power and influence over others, and almost always aspire to rule the galaxy and impose their own desires on others. In fact part of Sith philosophy is the idea that the Sith aren't just able to rule, they're ENTITLED to rule. That and Sith are generally encouraged to seek success by working within the Sith system, which generally translates to scheming against and ultimately overthrowing their masters.

  • More of the same.

  • As with most other Dark Lords of the Sith, especially considering that when Dark Side his initial goal was to bring "order" to the Galaxy in the wake of the Mandalorian Wars.

  • When Dark Side

  • Ah yes, this character. My least favorite Star Wars character (yes, even worse than Jar-Jar) and the very definition of a hypocrite. So puritanical she makes even the most conservative RoE era Jedi look good and also being a Dark Side devotee who collects Sith holocrons the way I do LEGO sets, she's a pretty insufferable character in addition to being a villain.

  • Just one of many Dark Lords of the Sith to fit this alignment, and in his case especially fitting given that he ultimately becomes the new Sith Emperor.

  • Especially since he tries to curry favor with the Dark Council by convincing them that he is the Voice of the Emperor and also the Sith Warrior player character's villainous master.

  • Second apprentice to Darth Sidious and like many of the other Sith here a text-book Lawful Evil character who desires to bring "order and structure" to the Galaxy, also leading the CIS/Separatists.

  • Though not a true Sith, Asajj Ventress nevertheless fit this during her tenure to Dooku due to respecting his authority, performing evil from her position as a Separatist military leader, and honestly kind of fancying herself Dooku's apprentice. Sith she might not have been, but she did adhere pretty strongly to their ideals. A little TOO strongly for Palpatine's liking.

  • When serving as Darth Vader's apprentice, as he seeks to rule the Galaxy along Vader and hunts down and kills surviving Jedi. He shifts to a more neutral alignment in good time though.

  • Official D&D books list him as Lawful Evil, and in fairness there is some evidence to support this: besides having a code of honor to some extent (he is usually depicted as keeping his word and not breaking deals no matter what), Boba is also, at least in earlier EU stories, depicted as being chummy with the Empire and taking a lot of jobs for them because he believes in their ideas of "order" and seems to be in favor of a twisted kind of fascist order himself. So while I would argue later writers have made Boba more Neutral Evil, in the earlier days of Star Wars I'd say that he is indeed Lawful Evil just like the D&D books say he is.

  • Kind of in-between this and Neutral Evil. He's greedy, treacherous, conniving, and self-interested, but also attains most of his success by working within the system and goes out of his way to be a total kiss-up to Palpatine. He was also at his peak the most powerful man in the Galaxy other than Palpatine and Vader. So ultimately I do feel he's in-between this and Neutral Evil.

  • As a fascist totalitarian government that imposes brutal order on the rest of the galaxy by permeating a constant state of fear and also having a rigid and complex military hierarchy, this shouldn't come as any kind of surprise. Again, most Star Wars villains are Lawful Evil.

  • The merciless footsoldiers of the Empire and enforcers of it's will, they're fitting this shouldn't come as any kind of surprise.

  • Not as bad as Tarkin or Ysanne Isard, but still definitely an example of this. Especially since he had his own unique kind of "order" that he desired to impose on the Galaxy.

  • The same deal as most other Imperial Officers, only a part of Malak's Sith Empire instead of Palpatine's Empire.

  • A deeply corrupt SPECTRE who abused his power to further his blatantly xenophobic and anti-human agenda. When he learned of the Reapers he shamelessly threw his lot in with them to save his own skin, at which point he became Sovereign's dedicated servant, finding said servitude to be preferable to what he perceived as inevitable death otherwise. Funny thing is that he died anyway.

  • They claim to be imposing "order" on the "chaos" that is organic life. They are also ruthless genocidal lovecraftian horrors who have wiped out all sentient life in the galaxy several times over.

  • One of the two known named Reapers, the other being...

  • ...this guy, who also happens to be the oldest and most powerful Reaper.

  • In the sequels, where they basically betray Shepard and humanity by refusing to listen to a word the good Commander says and basically destroy all of the bridges (Paragon) Shepard went out of their way to build with them, and when the Reapers make Earth their first target, how do the Council choose to repay the race that sacrificed several of their own to save them two and a half years ago? By doing...absolutely nothing. It takes Shepard saving their ungrateful hides a second time to get them to sign up. Basically a bunch of xenophobic nitwits who wouldn't listen to Shepard or help humanity if their immortal souls depended on it.

  • The leader of Cerberus who believes that humanity needs to fight for it's place in the Galaxy, but also having long since allowed his views to be marred by xenophobia and an "ends justify the means" philosophy. For him the only good order, is a human dominant one.

  • A dedicated, high-ranked member of Cerberus. Now while Miranda fits that description too and is not evil, the difference is that Petrovsky took over Omega, established a strong (and tyrannical) Cerberus presence there, AND was also sending people to Henry Lawson's Husk facility on Horizon. So his actions comes out as being much worse, and between that and his lack of a sympathetic backstory like Miranda's I'd say he's ultimately this, even if he does also have some measure of honor and affability.

  • In the Dante's Inferno video game while off fighting in the Crusades, considering that he not only commits adultery while there, but his religious fanaticism and xenophobia mixed with a nasty temper and bloodlust (along with assurance that he was absolved of all sin) caused him to mercilessly slaughter a large number of Saracen prisoners of war, many of whom were noncombatant civilians in the animated movie. Fortunately, he eventually moves past this and becomes Neutral Good after coming to terms with his sins and achieving true, genuine redemption.

  • In the Assassins Creed series, where they're re-imagined as cynical machiavellian power-mongers who believe that humanity as a collective are too dim-witted and prone to aberrant behavior to be allowed to think for themselves, and thus advocate a fascist world order where peace will be secured at the cost of liberty.

  • The modern-day front for the Templar Order.

  • Prominent member of the Templar Order's aforementioned modern-day front Abstergo. And as bad a guy as he is, he does seem to have the same good (if not misguided) intentions same as the other Templars.

  • Prominent Templar from the time of the Crusades.

  • The Assassin's Creed version obviously. And this Templar in particular is very big on the "I like power" bit and also very big on the "evil" bit. In fact, modern day Templars are disgusted with the state of the order during the time of the Renaissance, which tells you just how bad it was then.

  • Just like daddy.

  • Dedicated servant to his father who respects his authority and carries out his commands...until deciding that he wants that power and authority for himself.

  • A serious egomaniac who betrayed the Edenian Resistance that took him in with open arms just because he was not made leader (showing his clear desire to be in charge). From there he becomes a loyal lackey to Shao Kahn...until deciding that he wants Shao Kahn's power and authority for himself too. Simply put Rain wants desperately to be in charge. And once he gets there, it's a very bad turn of events, as his MK 9 ending clearly shows.

  • Well, she IS an extension of Soul Calibur and a physical manifestation of it's will, same as Nightmare with Soul Edge, so her having the same world-view and with it alignment makes sense.

  • First takes over the kingdom of Hyrule after integrating himself into it's royal court and from there working his way up the ladder until finally he's deposed the king and princess and comes to rule Hyrule and the lands beyond it with an iron fist. Classic megalomaniac and evil ruler and also a fitting contrast to Link and Zelda's Lawful Good.

  • Leader of Organization XIII who from this position of leadership and authority over the other Nobodies does all of his evil deeds, also cruelly manipulating the other members of the Organization into doing his dirty work at the cost of their own salvation. And he's the LEAST evil of Xehanort's different forms.

  • Organization XIII's second in command who makes sure the rules are obeyed to the letter and also dutifully follows Xemnas' every order.

  • High-ranking member of Organization XIII who like Saix and Xemnas does his evil deeds from a position of power and authority. He also clearly enjoys having control over others, such as Beast and Belle.

  • Another high-ranking member of Organization XIII and one of it's founders. Pretty dedicated to their goal, and while not openly sadistic like say, Xigbar or Larxene, is nevertheless still ruthless when needed, as shown by his run-in with Riku. Basically just totally cold-blooded, much like fellow Organization lieutenants Saix and...

  • Another high-ranking member of Organization XIII and also one who aspires to become the new leader. He is also the Lord of Castle Oblivion. So between all of that it's clear that he likes to be in charge.

  • The Disney version, who's a sadistic and corrupt hanging judge that's more concerned with killing Gypsies then actually dealing with REAL law-breakers. He may have some clear self-righteous delusions about what he's doing but as Esmeralda herself puts it: "You speak of justice yet you are cruel to those most in need of your help". I'd say that sums it up rather nicely.

  • Sought to "create the perfect system", which caused him to become a psychotic control freak and basically a techno-nazi.

  • Essentially the wizarding world's equivalent to Hitler and Stalin who aspires to create a new world order where he and his fellow purebloods are at the top and the muggles and "mudbloods" are relegated to their..."rightful place". And he's also the leader of the Death Eaters and likes having them all be unquestioningly devoted to him, so...

  • A particularly twisted kind of sycophant who owes his success and prosperity to his devotion to Trigon, obeying his every command and working tirelessly to free him. Success by working within the system (or a system in this case)+nasty supervillain=Lawful Evil.

  • A man who aspires to lead, no matter the moral cost. Over the centuries of his immortal life he's been an emperor, a king, a brief replacement for Hitler, and so on. Through it all, he's so bad most other supervillains in the DCU are freaked out by him.

  • Leader of the League of Assassins who seeks to bring about a new world order that will be akin to a Green Utopia, but also one he's willing to go pretty darn far to make a reality. This is why Batman, who Ras has long tried to recruit, has never accepted him and his fanaticism.

  • A supervillain who's convinced he's the hero, seeking to bring order to the world by crushing any who would dare stand in his way.

  • A text-book megalomaniac who aspired to conquer first Krypton and then Earth. He enjoys ruling and leading with an iron fist, likes it when people kneel before him and generally just seeks to be treated like a monarch/god in general.

  • Naturally given that his whole MO has always been a belief in maintaining order through fear.

  • In the DCAU where he sets himself up as this "Dark Messiah" esque ruler over the people of his homeworld, also aspiring to conquer the galaxy at large. Not to mention the blatant nazi allegories in those episodes with his goons.

  • Also the DCAU version, who's a clear megalomaniac that also very much prefers being in control and working within some kind of system, be it Lexcorp, Cadmus, or just plain old politics. And hey, this is a guy who said he'd have to GIVE UP a lot of power to be president. The mainstream version of Lex on the other hand, is more Neutral Evil to me.

  • Considering that he lords over both his fellow Crime Syndicate members and his planet's population in general with an iron fist, I'd say this is a fair choice for his alignment.

  • With Apocalypse, imagine Magneto's idea for a "better" world, and then make it a hundred times worse, and that's essentially what Apocalypse would give you.

  • The terrifying Mutant hunters who are programmed to maintain order...by hunting, capturing, and killing all mutants. Days of Future Past shows the worst possible end result of this goal, where the Sentinels rule the future with an iron fist and keep what few mutants they haven't yet killed in concentration camps.

  • The movie version, who's re-imagined as a sadistic military scientist who has been spending years trying to get rid of the mutants, whom he views as a disease.

  • A crime boss who does actually work within the system to a degree, and also as the top dog in New York's criminal underworld maintains a certain kind of order. So much so in fact that on the times he's left New York for whatever reason the criminal underworld in New York has exploded into chaos, to the point that on one occasion the police aided and abetted his return to prominence. So he does maintain order despite being a criminal, and is also sometimes depicted as having some measure of honor. So between it all, I'd say he's actually Lawful Evil.

  • One of the founders and leaders of Hydra and someone who definitely enjoys maintaining his position of authority. Not to mention that he was also a high-ranking nazi back in the day, and like many a nazi is guilty of genocide.

  • And here's another one of the founders and leaders of Hydra. Maybe not quite as bad as Strucker, but still plenty evil.

  • While they do operate outside of authority as a terrorist organization, I still ultimately feel that Hydra is this due to 1. Having an organized hierarchy and 2. Aspiring to take over the world and remold it in their (rather grisly) image. The MCU versions also fit this I'd say, given that there (and I quote): "Hydra was founded on the belief that humanity could not be trusted with it's own freedom." So basically fascist order just like the Nazis they're descended from.

  • Like Hydra, they're also this in spite of being terrorists who respect no existing authority and in fact fit this alignment for the very same reasons, with the society AIM is hoping to create being technocratic in addition to totalitarian.

  • AIM's leader (usually) who runs it with an iron (and tiny) fist.

  • Sees himself as a ruler born and is willing to crush any number of people to either get himself onto a throne or maintain one.

  • The Marvel Cinematic Universe version, who is ever conspiring to become king of Asgard, a position he also clearly enjoyed being in and in the first Thor movie did evil from. In the Avengers, he tries to subjugate humanity, forces a large crowd to kneel before him, enjoys making people subservient to him via mind control, and outright says that he believes humans were "made to be ruled". So ultimately a text-book megalomaniac who's always trying to lord his power and influence over others. His desire to be a king hasn't gone away in Thor: The Dark World, and in fact (spoiler!) the movie ends with him becoming king of Asgard disguised as Odin.

  • In "Earth's Mightiest Heroes" where he outright states that his function is to instill peace and order but also comes to believe that the only way to do that is to eliminate all life everywhere, which he views as inherently chaotic. He seems to have the very same mentality in the Marvel Cinematic Universe going by what information about the film has been released.

  • Evil versions of the Avengers who under Norman Osborn's leadership pretend to be heroes who maintain order and hunt down "lawbreakers" (such as the real heroes incidentally) while all the while being one seriously twisted crew of psychos.

  • The blatantly fascistic regime formed by a villainous version of the Justice League as seen in Injustice Gods Among Us. The clear cues these chaps take from Hitler and Stalin are rather hard to ignore.

  • Whenever Superman goes bad, he can usually be counted on to become this, as seen with the Justice Lords, Injustice Gods Among Us, and albeit briefly, Superman Red Son.

  • Like Superman, she tends to become this whenever she's turned evil. More specifically her Justice Lord and Regime counterparts.

  • The Regime and Justice Lords versions, though having said that the latter was also the most reluctant and remorseful of all the Justice Lords other than Batman by quite a margin. As such I could see her as being more in-between this and Lawful Neutral.

  • The Justice Lords version, who unlike his partner Hawkgirl became MORE militant and brutal, and is in fact one of the most extreme and fanatical of all the Justice Lords, second only to their Superman.

  • As Yellow Lantern in Injustice Gods Among Us, having come to embrace Sinestro's idea of ruling and imposing order through fear and also being one of the top dogs in the fascistic One-Earth Regime.

  • The Justice Lords version.

  • The Justice Lord version, who in his own words made a world where no eight year old boy would ever have to lose his parents because of some punk with a gun. But at what cost?

  • In Batman Arkham City, where he seeks to rid Gotham of it's criminal element in a much more brutal manner than Batman does, including creating "Arkham City" and overseeing it like a tyrannical prison warden.

  • Of all the corrupt cops in the GCPD, this jerk's one of the worst. Gordon even likened him and his men to the Gestapo.

  • While they're usually Lawful Neutral, the Judges of Mega-City One are still text-book fascists, and as such even the well-meaning and normally Lawful Neutral Judge Dredd can and does sometimes slip into this depending on the particular story. But in fairness to him he's usually able to pull himself back from it at the same time.

  • A psychotic power-hungry would-be dictator who has it made quite clear a number of times that he wants the whole world under his heel.

  • This is a guy who's said "peace through tyranny" after all.

  • Constantly seeks power and is always trying to assume leadership of the Decepticons. But while a villain who tries to attain success by working within the system and clearly desiring to be in charge, he is also astonishingly incompetent (like, the poster boy for villain incompetence), which makes his desire to be in charge very ironic.

  • Also noteworthy for being one of the only two Lawful Evil party members in the whole series though honestly he like Kagain comes off as more Neutral Evil to me. But even so, I'll list him here.

  • A dedicated and (mindlessly) loyal servant to Soul Edge's power, believing it to be his dead master's spirit.

  • As a kind of cosmic judge, she appears to be Lawful Neutral for the most part, but her ending reveals her to be this when it's shown that she would not have hesitated to destroy the Earth and completely wipe out the human race if not for the presence of non-human life on the planet. But that one small scruple is not enough to save her from this.

  • A rather twisted bunch from the Fallout universe who are the remnant of the pre-war US Government. Seeing everyone but themselves and a few Vault Dwellers as being "tainted" by the wasteland, they seek to kill them all. Basically think the Empire of the Fallout-verse. Their officers even look a lot like Imperial Officers.

  • The Regime version from Injustice Gods Among Us, who was fine with torturing Deathstroke just because he was "on the wrong side of the law".

  • The Regime version from Injustice Gods Among Us, who's policies disgust his mainstream counterpart.

  • Well, he IS a power-hungry megalomaniac who's hell-bent on becoming king of Atlantis.

  • The Young Justice version, where he has integrated himself into the Light's hierarchy and goes out of his way to stay in their good graces. He also leads his own small army with a firm hand but actually not quite an iron one, as in spite of his villainy he does have a code of honor.

  • Whenever he's turned into too much of a jerk, at which point he transforms into a mean-spirited bully and control freak who lords over both humanity and his fellow gods with an iron fist.

  • Of all the many Greek Gods, Hera tends to be depicted as one of the more vengeful, sadistic, and cruel ones, mostly in respects to her husband's mistresses and the children that these illicit unions produce. Never mind that said children don't get to choose who their parents are and that it's not their fault daddy was a lying philanderer, but that then that's why Hera is evil isn't it? Especially when she made Heracles murder his own family just because she didn't like him and that when he undertook his 12 labors went out of her way to make it even harder on him. Yeah, I'd say that constitutes Lawful Evil. A Queen of the Gods who's also a pretty merciless b-word.

  • Like his brother, Hades could be said to fit this in his more malevolent depictions. After all, he is ruler of the Underworld and maintains "order" down there and making sure no one ever, ever leaves. Malevolent depictions of Hades also often depict him as coveting Zeus' position as King of the Gods, feeling that he was cheated out of it when the three brothers first drew lots to decide who got what.

  • Initially, back when he was more of a well-intentioned anti-villain who genuinely wanted to bring lasting order to Middle-Earth. He also still respected Morgoth's authority at that time. But of course as time passed this didn't stick, and he began to make the shift to Chaotic Evil.

  • A dedicated servant of Sauron who true to his name "speaks" for him, also acting as a particularly twisted and sadistic ambassador for the Dark Lord.

  • One of Sauron's greatest and most dedicated servants, who also leads the Nazgul and is the ruler of Minas Morgul.

  • A megalomaniac who became a dedicated servant of Sauron but also aspired to take Sauron's power for himself and from there impose his own designs on Middle-Earth.

  • As an evil emperor who serves as a brutal fascist dictator over his nation and desires that all in the world bend knee to him, this shouldn't come as any kind of surprise. He also favors brutal discipline when dealing with his kids (as Zuko would attest).

  • Before losing her marbles she was this by virtue of being a dedicated (and completely sadistic) servant of her father who also clearly relished being in charge of other people, imposing her own kind of order, acquiring power, and just being a bully in general.
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