Sinister Minister: Difference between revisions
→Film
(→Film) |
|||
| (16 intermediate revisions by 3 users not shown) | |||
Line 15:
Unmasking the Sinister Minister is a waste of time, as his followers will believe any lies and fabrications the Minister employs as a cover against the brave heroes attempting to reveal him for the monster he really is. This particular school of villainy usually meets its end violently, not through rhetoric.
The [[Corrupt Church]] tends to be rife with the likes of him, but the [[Saintly Church]] may also prove to have a few black sheep. Will often overlap with [[Light Is Not Good]].
Not to be confused with high level government officials in [[British Political System|Westminster-style]] governments—if they're a villain, they'd fall under [[Evil Chancellor]].
Line 26:
{{noreallife|tell your local police force, not us.}}
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* Father Cornello from ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]''.
* Father Enrico Pucci from ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]'' is a corrupt priest who works at a prison and uses his status and special ability to gain many of the guards and prisoners as followers. It is revealed later that he set up the protagonist, Jolyne, to get framed at the beginning of Part 6.
* Bishop and High Inquisitor Mozgus of ''[[Berserk]]'' is very much one of these.
* Father Enrico Maxwell from ''[[Hellsing]]'' definitely qualifies, being both self-serving hypocrite and a ruthless [[Knight Templar]]. He thankfully never gets contact with regular churchgoers, though.
Line 42 ⟶ 43:
** While Jesse Custer is used as the page image, he is not, in fact, this trope, and is more of a [[Badass Preacher]].
* Deacon Blackfire, a [[Batman]] villain who debuts in the four-issue miniseries ''[[Batman: The Cult]]'', is a power-crazed charismatic con artist and cult leader skilled in manipulation and brainwashing, owing both to his unnaturally long lifespan and actual mind-control powers.
** Minor villain Malochia, a profit of doom who believes he is the one chosen to "cleanse" the Earth of wickedness in preparation for the apocalypse. In his second appearance, it is revealed his father (his first victim) was an actual minister, [[Abusive Parent| and was just as rotten.]]
* Cardinal Patrick Henry Roark from ''[[Sin City]]'', the most nefarious member of the city's [[Corrupt Church]] and just one member of the series resident powerful [[Big Screwed-Up Family]].
* The Reverend William Stryker, an ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'' villain. He and his [[Corrupt Church]] believe that mutants are demons from Hell, and has an army of mercenaries to carry out his will. He first appeared in the graphic novel ''God Loves, Man Kills'', and became a recurring villain after the success of the movies, as ''X2'' was loosely based on said graphic novel (though Stryker was a [[Adaptation Decay|rather generic military general]] instead of a reverend).
Line 78 ⟶ 80:
* Zachary Malius from ''[[Happy Hell Night]]''.
* [[Zig-Zagging Trope|Zig-zagged]] with Thanos' henchman Ebon Maw from ''[[Avengers: Infinity War]]''. He at least acts like one as he preaches to victims of Thanos' atrocities that it's all for a greater purpose. While Maw is a cruel sadist, evident by his dialogue while interrogating Dr. Strange, it's never outright stated that he doesn't truly believe Thanos is [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|the savior he claims he is.]]
* In ''[[Wonka]]'', the “Chocolaholoic Cleric” [[No Name Given| (as he is called)]], is on the take for the Chocolate Cartel; he and fifty equally-chocolate-addicted monks guard the only entrance to Slugworth’s vault - a secret elevator in the confessional boots no less. He despises himself, [[I'm Going to Hell For This| admitting during the climax of the movie]] that he's a [[Dirty Coward]] who has “sold his soul for [[Thirty Pieces of Silver|thirty pieces of chocolate".]]
== [[Literature]] ==
Line 97 ⟶ 100:
* Arguably, the Reverend [[Dr Syn]], a "mild mannered clergyman from Kent", also known as the vicious criminal "the Scarecrow", and the feared pirate Captain Clegg.
** The [[Hammer Horror]] version plays him as a good-guy, but calls him "Blyss" as Walt Disney had the rights to the name "Syn".
* Vorbis from the ''[[Discworld]]'' book ''[[
* The 'helpful' clergyman of the John Dickson Carr mystery ''Hag'''s Nook''.
* The [[Evil Jesuit]] Father Rodin in Eugene Sue's ''THE WANDERING JEW—and to a lesser extent his rival Father d'Aigrigny—is a magnificently drawn example of this. The Jesuits here are a Corrupt Order rather than a [[Corrupt Church]].
Line 144 ⟶ 147:
* The Canon on the medieval planet in ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' made use of ''creative'' interpretations of [[The Bible]], the fear engendered by the Goa'uld System Lord Sokar's raids for hosts, and a [[Applied Phlebotinum|lightning-summoning ring]] in order to maintain control over his village. When SG-1 arrived, he accused Teal'c of consorting with demons.
* The High Sparrow [[No Name Given|(as he is called)]] in ''[[Game of Thrones]]'' could be considered the embodiment of religious zealotry. Running his faith with a Machiavellian iron fist and holier-than-thou attitude, he is given power by Cersei which he uses to ruin and punish nobles for any real or imagined sin he assumes they have committed, all dependent on his own biased opinion. While it is rather karmic to see this happen to Cersei herself, many citizens become victims of [[Disproportionate Retribution]] (and many innocents die) before he finally [[Bullying a Dragon| does himself in with his own carelessness and overconfidence.]]
== [[Magazines]] ==
* This was [[Played for Laughs]] in a famous ''[[Mad]]'' article, "When Priests Go Bad".<ref>Which was followed by sequels like [[Nun-Too-Holy|"When Nuns Go Bad"]] and [[Monster Clown| "When Clowns Go Bad"]].</ref>
== [[Music]] ==
Line 153 ⟶ 159:
* The priest mentioned in a few songs from [[Queensrÿche]]'s ''Operation: Mindcrime'' is one of these; he is a corrupt televangelist who sleeps with nuns.
* [[Ozzy Osbourne]]'s "Miracle Man", a [[Take That]] toward [[Real Life]] Sinister Minister, televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, with whom Ozzy had a feud in the eighties.
* The album cover for the band [https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Sorcerer%20(band) Sorcerer's] album ''The Lament of the Innocent'' [https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Sorcerer_Lamenting-of-the-Innocent.jpg features a Sinister Minister.]
== [[Professional Wrestling]] ==
Line 158 ⟶ 165:
** The man behind this gimmick did much the same act in [[TNA]] as Minister/Father James Mitchell.
* Brother Love, the stereotypical evil preacher and wrestling manager.
* [[The Undertaker]] is like this, sometimes.
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
Line 166 ⟶ 174:
* In ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'', Elesh Norn, Praetor of the white-aligned faction of New Phyrexia, leads her faction as Grand Cenobite (which is equivalent to the position of Pope) of the [[Religion of Evil]] called the Machine Orthodoxy.
* Any cleric, inquisitor, or antipaladin in service to one of the setting's [[Religion of Evil|Religions of Evil]] is liable to be this in ''[[Pathfinder]]''. Grundmoch from ''Legacy of Fire'' is an interesting example in that he's a [[Chaotic Evil]] [[Lizard Folk|troglodyte]] [[Church Militant|cleric]] of [[Omnicidal Maniac|Rovagug]], yet will actually ally with the PC's against the Adventure Path's greater antagonist, Zayifid.
* There are a few monsters in the ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! (Tabletop Game)|Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' card game that suggest this, but the most obvious example would be [https://yugioh.fandom.com/wiki/Darkbishop_Archfiend Darkbishop Archfiend]. Seriously, just from the look of him, ''that'' guy is [[Obviously Evil]].
== [[Theater]] ==
Line 205 ⟶ 214:
* Father Prime from ''[[Messiah (video game)|Messiah]]'', although far more emphasis on the "sinister" part; while assumed to be the [[Big Bad]] at first, he's actually an [[Unwitting Pawn]] of [[Satan|the true villain.]]
* In ''[[Batman: Arkham Knight]]'', Deacon Blackfire makes his adaptation debut as the head of a cult comprised of Gotham's impoverished and unhoused; Batman confronts him in the Gotham's Most Wanted side mission "Lamb to the Slaughter".
* Zigzagged with Father Zachary Hale Comstock, the [[Big Bad]] of ''[[BioShock Infinite]]''. While [[A Nazi By Any Other Name| clearly ''very'' Sinister]], he is a phony Minster, his claims of being an ordained priest only the first of many lies he has used to gain followers.
== [[Web Original]] ==
Line 216 ⟶ 226:
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Brother Blood]] from ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'' (a cult leader) is the [[Big Bad]] of season 3. He's teaching supervillains how to take over the world. When he sees a potential new recruit he tries to seduce them by promising to make their wildest dreams come true. And when that doesn't work, it's time for [[Mind Control]].
* [[Depending on the Writer]], Reverend Lovejoy on ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' can range from a [[Straw Hypocrite]] to a mild example of this Trope. His sermons vary from, at best, dreary recitations of more opaque parts of the Old Testament, to the occasional "fire and brimstone" scaremongering about Hell — and very little of the love and joy [[Non
** Among the gravest examples of his transgressions: when Lisa converted to Buddhism, he called her "Marge Simpson's devil-daughter"; he got into ''a fist fight'' with a Catholic priest; told Marge he might as well "do a Voodoo dance" for Abe Simpson when he asked him to give him the last rites; and helped kidnap Bart to keep him from converting to Catholicism. Naturally, he [[Never My Fault|blames this all on Ned Flanders]], claiming Ned's complaining made him stop caring (though he adds, "Fortunately by that time it was the eighties, and no one noticed").
* In ''[[Inside Job]]'' the Catholic Church is one of the six [[Nebulous Evil Organisation]]s that secretly rule the world, and supposedly, the former Pope did fit this trope, but the ''current'' Pope is actually a friendly and approachable fellow - until, that is, Reagan tries to brainwash him to comply with Rand's scheme, and carelessly tries to rush the job, turning him into [[Forced Into Evil|a tyrannical madman.]]
* From ''[[Helluva Boss]]''; as odd as it may seem, Hell has ministers, such as the one who Moxxie's father has to officiate the wedding between Moxxie and Chazz. Like most members of Crimson's Mafia, he is a shark-demon, specifically a hammerhead shark. ''Unlike'' most of Crimson's Mafia, [[Screw This, I'm Outta Here|he's smart enough to flee]] when rage-induced Millie attacks the ceremony, [[Flipping the Bird|making a well-known obscene gesture]] to everyone on the way out.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]▼
[[Category:Dead Horse Trope]]
[[Category:Religion Tropes]]
Line 225 ⟶ 238:
[[Category:Sublime Rhyme]]
[[Category:Villains]]
▲[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
| |||