Infiction andmythology, adark lord (sometimes capitalized asDark Lord or referred to as anevil overlord,evil emperor etc. depending on the work) is anantagonisticarchetype, acting as the pinnacle ofvillainy andevil within a typicallyheroic narrative.
The term and similar concepts enjoy widespread popularity as astock character and a villainous moniker infantasy andrelated genres as well as inliterary analysis of such works. As the name implies, a dark lord is characterized as a given setting's embodiment of evil,darkness, ordeath (either metatextually or as literal figure within a work'smythopoeia) in a position of immense power, most often as a leader oremperor with a variety ofminions and/or lesser villains at their disposal to influence their conflict against a heroicprotagonist in a primarily indirect way, though they may additionally be depicted as wielding great physical ormagical capabilities should a hero ever confront them personally.[1]
There is a wealth ofliterary,folkloric, andtheological precedent for the idea of a dark lord, including theCelticBalor,[2] theChristianLucifer, (known in Latin as thePrinceps Tenebrarum, thePrince of Darkness inMilton'sParadise Lost) and various otherchthonic figures or evil kings andsorcerers. The concept was developed throughout the nineteenth century with characters such asRichard Wagner'sAlberich[1] orBram Stoker'sCount Dracula,[3] before crystalizing in 1954 with the character ofSauron inJ. R. R. Tolkien'sepic fantasy novelThe Lord of the Rings, from which the archetype most often takes its name. LaterThe Silmarillion would focus on the character ofMorgoth, of whom Sauron was the principal lieutenant and then successor, while other works would further popularize and diversify the concept with antagonists such asDarkseid in theDC Universe,Emperor Palpatine in thescience fantasyStar Wars saga, orLord Voldemort in theHarry Potter series. More recent works sometimes also move away from the archetype's mythic origins in favour of historical allusions to infamous conquerors anddictators such asJulius Caesar orAdolf Hitler.[4][5]
Dark lord figures are characterized by aspirations to power and identification with some fundamental force of evil or chaos, such as adevil orantichrist figure.[1] TheEncyclopedia of Fantasy notes that common features of a dark lord character include being "already defeated but not destroyedaeons before" and engaging in "wounding of the land" or other rituals ofdesecration.[1]
Japanese media often features an equivalent of this archetype called a "demon king" (魔王,maō),[6] drawing from analogous figures in religion and folklore.
Philip Pullman noted that the dark lord archetype in literature can often reflect the belief "thatevil in the real world is usually embodied in a single person and requires a high position to be effective" and that this contrasts withHannah Arendt's notion of thebanality of evil.[7]
In part due to the literary popularity of dark lords in fiction,science fiction and fantasy fans have collected several satirical lists of resolutions for a competent evil overlord to avoid the well-known,cliché blunders committed by dark lords,supervillains, and other archetypal antagonists in popular fiction. For example, one such resolution is: "I will not gloat over my enemies' predicament to show my superiority. I will shoot them." Internet copies of these lists vary in number and order of entries.
The most famous lists, both referred to as the Evil Overlord List, were developed concurrently. Both were published to the Web in the early 1990s. The original, if lesser-known list was compiled in 1990 by members of the now-defunctFidoNet Science Fiction and Fandom (SFFAN) email echo. The FidoNet list originated with a 1988Saturday Night Live skit featuringBond Villains touting a bookWhat Not to Do When You Capture James Bond. The FidoNet list arose out of discussions regarding what sort of advice might be in that book, and was compiled and published by Jack Butler. It predated the following list, but was only widely published later, and is the more obscure of the two.[citation needed]
The later-produced and more famous version of the list was compiled in 1994 by Peter Anspach (hence it is occasionally titled "Peter's Evil Overlord List") based on informal discussions at conventions and on online bulletin boards in the early 1990s,[10] and has subsequently become one of the best-known parodies of badSF/F writing, frequently referenced online. It was originallyThe Top 100 Things I'd Do If I Ever Became an Evil Overlord, but grew to include over 100 entries.[citation needed]
Anspach and Butler acknowledge the existence of each other's lists, and state that their two lists have been so cross-pollinated over the years as to become effectively identical.[citation needed]
The Evil Overlord List has led to spin-offs, including lists forstock characters including (but not limited to)heroes,henchmen,sidekicks, the Evil Overlord'sAccountant, andStarfleet captains.[11]
In Australia, a minor literary scandal erupted in 1997 when it emerged that award-winning authorHelen Darvilleplagiarised the list for her regular column inBrisbane'sThe Courier-Mail newspaper, which led to her being fired.[12][13]
Teresa Nielsen Hayden, author and lecturer, uses an expanded version of the list in her lectures on writing science fiction. She recommends selecting fiverandom clichés from the list, and using them, or their reverse ("Say you've drawn A-34, 'I will not turn into a snake. It never helps.' You can have a character turn into a snake and find it doesn't help, or do it and find it very useful indeed") as the basis for a plot.[14]
The people give their democracy to a dictator, whether it'sJulius Caesar orNapoleon orAdolf Hitler. Ultimately, the general population goes along with the idea ... That's the issue I've been exploring: how did the Republic turn into the Empire?
