Evil laughter

For the film, see Evil Laugh.

Evil laughter or maniacal laughter is a stock manic laughter by a villain in fiction. The expression "evil laugh" dates back to at least 1860. "Wicked laugh" can be found even earlier, dating back to at least 1784.

In comic books, where supervillains utter such laughs, it is variously rendered as mwahahaha, muwhahaha, muahahaha, buahahaha, etc. (Compared to Ho ho ho). These words are also commonly used on internet Blogs, Bulletin board systems, 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 less frequently, as nouns. An evil laugh is often entertaining for friends because each one may be unique.

The most recognizable and copied evil laugh is probably the one voiced by the late Vincent Price, as it has been used or copied in radio, film, music, and television, most notably in the end of the music video Michael Jackson's Thriller.

In films, evil laughter often fills the soundtrack even though the villain is off-camera. The laughter therefore follows the hero or victim as they try to escape. Examples include Raiders of the Lost Ark, where Belloq's laugh fills the South American jungle while Indiana Jones attempts to escape from the Hovitos, and Predator, where the Predator's evil laugh fills the jungle just before his self-destruct mechanism detonates.

Also each character usually has their own unique evil laugh.

External links

• Evil Laugh on TV Tropes
• Examples of Evil Laugh Sound Effects