Examples:
- Darth Vader — Star Wars
- The Emperor — Return of the Jedi
- The Wicked Witch of the West — The Wizard of Oz
- The Queen — Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
- Alex De Large — A Clockwork Orange
- Man — Bambi
- Max Cady — Cape Fear
- Count Dracula — Dracula
- Cruella De Vil — 101 Dalmations
- The Joker — The Dark Knight
- Mola Ram — Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
- Sauron — The Lord of the Rings
The Personification of Evil is just that — pure evil. The character is offered little to no backstory. Their motives are nothing more than performing evil doings, which obviously oppose the protagonist’s journey. While Darth Vader was given a backstory, in Star Wars: A New Hope George Lucas was adamant that the good guys and the bad guys would have no gray area between them.
The above examples, at least within the context of the films mentioned, are full force evil doers through and through. You could argue that Alex from A Clockwork Orange is dancing the line between The Disturbed and The Personification of Evil, but we’re pushing him into this category because the acts that he does perform are so outright evil that it overshadows any hope that the character has a true good side in the end. These villains can appear in all genres, but prevail in fantasy especially. Sauron is the ultimate example of The Personification of Evil.
