“ | First we live. Then we die. In between is just blood and noise. | „ |
~ Omega Red |
“ | You think God survived? He's dead, along with the rest of humanity. There's no law or order, no good or evil. Just us. | „ |
~ Corporal Gallo |
Pure Evils who believe that all life is meaningless, their own included. Nihilists do not believe in objective morality and all rules/codes they follow, if any are superficial or due to practical reasons. They usually do not have specific long–term goals or purposes, will sink to all levels of depravity to further their arbitrary objectives and are often Suicidal; they can overlap with Social Darwinists and Harbingers for Rebirth as well through shared beliefs in a purpose of bringing about the "end of times" and leaving others or themselves to pick up the pieces left behind by the mess they've created.
It is important to know, that while They are less rare than their Pure Good equivalent Nihilistic, most Nihilistic villains are not Purely Evil, since most of them are portrayed as sympathetic villains, but these types of Nihilists are the worst of the worst since they have no redeeming qualities.
Examples are most versions of the Joker, Kefka Palazzo, Isaac Ray Peram Westcott, Carnage, Victor Zsasz, Mephiles the Dark, John Doe, Micah Bell, Solomon Lane, Owlman, Invictus, The End, AM, Jim Moriarty, Patrick Bateman, Tom Cooper, Norman Stansfield, Junko Enoshima, Scarlet King and Michael Myers.
NOTE: Villains who show nihilistic traits and worldviews but still overvalue their own lives (e.g. The Ink Demon, Randall Flagg, Peter Stegman, The Outsider, Lotso, Ego, Cell, Muzan Kibutsuji, Morgoth, Henry Evans, Moon, Bill Cipher, Mahito, Freddy Krueger, Chucky, Art The Clown, Dimentio (Super Paper Mario), Sal (Wadanohara), Dr. Robotnik (SatAM), and The Dark Lord (AvA)) do not count. The correct term for them is Absurdists and those should instead be listed under these categories; Cowards if they at first showed nihilistic behaviors and then ran away during the climax, Hypocrites if they say life is worthless and meaningless and than ran away from danger, Egotists when they complain how valueless life is but mostly because they have bad lives of their own that they chose not to fix, and/or Misanthropes who show nihilistic qualities but only do because they harbor hatred for humans or their species of origin.
Villains also do not count if they only show gleefulness during their death and/or are defiant to the end (e.g. Pong Krell). A villain MUST express through their words, actions, writings (if any), or flashbacks (if it's visual) to show that they are a nihilist and don't value any life at all, including their own in order to count as a nihilist. They can also qualify if they developed it in their lives (e.g. Kefka Palazzo, given how he did run away at times and also was shocked to see his own blood but subverted it after the world was shifted).
There are some nihilists who overlap with Thrill-Seekers because they believe that if life is meaningless, they might as well just fun (e.g. William Wharton).
Note: There can be egotistical nihilists who believe life isn't worth living, but its only because their life is worthless first. If they show that in later times, they do not count as nihilists.
All items (334)
- Aaron
- Abaddon the Despoiler
- Abraxas (Marvel)
- Absolute Hades God N Ma
- Absolute Solver
- Ai Magase
- Akasha (The Vampire Chronicles)
- Alan Jago
- Alan Wilson
- Alien Pedan
- Alina Gray
- Alistair Pratt
- AM
- Amon (StarCraft)
- Amy Hughes
- Anarky (Beware the Batman)
- Andrei Sator
- Angelus
- Angra Mainyu
- Anti-Monitor (Arrowverse)
- Anti-Monitor (DC)
- Anton Chigurh
- Apep (mythology)
- Apollyon
- Arba
- Armageddon (Chaos!)
- Arthur Savage
- Arthur Watts
- Aunt Ruth Chandler
- Aya Tokoyogi
- Azazel (Tekken)
- Calamity Mary
- Camerupt (The Lost Child)
- Captain Darrow
- Captain Frye
- Carnage (Halloween Horror Nights)
- Carnage (Marvel)
- Carnage (Sony's Spider-Man Universe)
- Carnage (Spider-Man: The Animated Series)
- Cassandra Nova (Marvel Cinematic Universe)
- Caulder
- Chaos Kin
- Chara
- Chara (DulcetRefrain)
- Chara (Dusttale)
- Chara (The Indie Game Movie)
- Charles Rane
- Cheshire Cat (Alice Mare)
- Colonel de Sade
- Contagion
- Controller X
- Corporal Gallo
- Creeper (Jeepers Creepers)
- Crimson King
- Cronal
- Cursa
- Cyrus (Pokémon anime)
- Dante Zogratis
- Dark Samus
- Dark Samus (Man on the Internet)
- Darkseid (DC Animated Universe)
- Darkseid (DC Extended Universe)
- Darth Krayt
- David Robey
- DD
- Deadpool
- Deathborn
- Decagrammaton
- Dimentio (Man on the Internet)
- Doc Scratch
- Dominique Baldwin
- Dormammu (Marvel)
- Dr. Gaul
- Dr. Nefarious (Remake)
- Dr. Nuvo Vindi
- Dr. Weil
- Jabberwocky
- Jack Barts
- Jackal (Fairy Tail)
- James Patrick March
- Jan Valentine (Hellsing 2001)
- Jerome Valeska
- Jim Moriarty (BBC)
- John Doe
- Johnny Ringo
- Joker (2008 Graphic Novel)
- Joker (Batman: Dying is Easy)
- Joker (DC)
- Joker (Injustice Film)
- Joker (JLA: The Nail)
- Joker (Nolanverse)
- Joker (Spider-Man and Batman: Disordered Minds)
- Joker (The Dark Knight Returns)
- Joker (Tomorrowverse)
- Joker (Under the Red Hood)
- Jones (Ghost Rider)
- Judge Holden
- Junko Enoshima
- M. Bison (Street Fighter)
- Machine (8MM)
- Machine (8mm)
- Maerlyn
- Magdalena
- Major (Hellsing)
- Makuta Teridax
- Malefor
- Marlo Stanfield
- Masayuki Kaneki
- Mephiles the Dark (Sonic the Hedgehog)
- Micah Bell
- Michael (Apocalypse World)
- Michael Garfield
- Michael Myers (2018 Timeline)
- Michael Myers (H20 Timeline)
- Michael Myers (original)
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- Monika (Madame Macabre)
- Monster 5
- Morgaroth
- Mr. Null
- Muscular
- Muse
- Myotismon