Evil laughter: Difference between revisions
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*[[Zim (Invader Zim)|Zim]] from [[Nickelodeon (TV channel)|Nickelodeon]]'s ''[[Invader Zim]]'' |
*[[Zim (Invader Zim)|Zim]] from [[Nickelodeon (TV channel)|Nickelodeon]]'s ''[[Invader Zim]]'' |
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*[[Doctor Evil]] from the ''[[Austin Powers]]'' movie |
*[[Doctor Evil]] from the ''[[Austin Powers]]'' movie |
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*[[Doctor Eggman]] from the Sonic the hedgehog video games ( |
*[[Doctor Eggman]] from the Sonic the hedgehog video games ("HOO! HOO! HOO! HOO! HOO!") |
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*[[Yautja|Alien hunter]] from the film ''[[Predator (film)|Predator]]''. |
*[[Yautja|Alien hunter]] from the film ''[[Predator (film)|Predator]]''. |
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*Professor Miloch from ''[[Blake and Mortimer]]'' |
*Professor Miloch from ''[[Blake and Mortimer]]'' |
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Revision as of 21:23, 27 March 2006
An evil laugh is a stock megalomaniacal laugh by a villain in fiction. In comic books, where supervillains utter such laughs, it is variously rendered as mwahahahaha, muhuhahaha, mwahahaha, and mwa ha ha. (Compare Ho ho ho.) These words are also commonly used on internet Blogs, BBSes, and games. There, they are generally used when some form of victory is attained, or to indicate superiority over someone else. The words are often used as either interjections or nouns.
The Evil Overlord List notes that evil laughter often distracts the villain from important details that the hero can use to escape or prevail.
Popular culture
Characters that use an evil laugh include:
- Brian Fury from the Tekken Series
- X-Death in Final Fantasy V
- Kefka in Final Fantasy VI
- Blofeld in the opening sequence of For Your Eyes Only
- Bowser from the Mario series
- The Joker from Batman
- Green Goblin from Spider-Man
- Zim from Nickelodeon's Invader Zim
- Doctor Evil from the Austin Powers movie
- Doctor Eggman from the Sonic the hedgehog video games ("HOO! HOO! HOO! HOO! HOO!")
- Alien hunter from the film Predator.
- Professor Miloch from Blake and Mortimer
- "Lamont Cranston" in the radio drama The Shadow.
- Jack Spicer in Xiaolin Showdown
- "O'Malley" in the machinima series Red vs Blue
- Mandark in the animated series Dexter's Laboratory ("HA-Haha! Ha Haha Haha!")
- Freeza, Raditz and Cell from Dragon Ball Z
- Kodachi "the Black Rose" from Ranma 1/2 ("OHHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!")
- Ayeka from Tenchi Muyo!, and
- Naga the White Serpent from Slayers also have the same laugh.
- Katsuhiko Jinnai from El-Hazard
- Albel Nox from the video game Star Ocean 3
- Lezard Valeth from the video game Valkyrie Profile
- Isaac from the video game Castlevania: Curse of Darkness
- Albedo from the game Xenosaga
- Robert Blake's unnamed character in Lost Highway
- Sarevok from Baldur's Gate
- The Summoner from Diablo II
- Purple Tentacle from Day of the Tentacle
- Murray the talking skull from the Monkey Island game series
- Master Hand from Super Smash Brothers
- Dark Samus from Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
- Evil Emperor Zurg from Toy Story's Buzz Lightyear of Star Command
- Hector Con Carne from Evil Con Carne
- Jabba the Hutt and Emperor Palpatine (exhibiting the rarer "evil cackle") from Star Wars
- Sideshow Bob from The Simpsons
Other notable occurrences of the evil laugh in popular culture include:
- the fade-out of the video for the song "Tribute" by Tenacious D
- the song "Welcome to the Pleasuredome" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood
- the end of Vincent Price's spoken "rap" in Michael Jackson's Thriller
- the song "Feel Good Inc" by Gorillaz
- various occurrences in the Dilbert cartoons, usually though not always by Dogbert, and usually spelled "Buwahahah" or some variation.
Professional wrestler Ted DiBiase was well known for an evil laugh whenever he performed as the Million Dollar Man during his run in the WWF. Although he doesn't usually laugh, The Undertaker does give a spine-chilling laugh once in while at the end of a promo, especially his brother Kane.
The "evil laugh" has become an almost-total cliché in recent pop culture and is now almost only used in a comedy light or satire. For example, Gary Larson drew a Far Side cartoon which portrayed a lecture hall full of science students aspiring to be mad scientists. The mad science curriculum, asserts Larson, requires all students to take "one semester of maniacal laughter".