Laughably Evil

An laughably evil character is a purely comedic type of villain/antagonist that is evil and intimidating in-universe, yet they are diabolical characters whose antics and shticks are done in the form of comedy/entertainment that makes tons of viewers find them enjoyable and entertaining.

The definitive "Laughably Evil" villain is a silly and threatening villain who is funny in appearance or behavior, but their actions are taken seriously in the story compared to a comic-relief villain, who while they can share similar qualities of Laughably Evil villains with having their evil, intimidating or nasty moments, but they are typically meant to be seen unthreatening and humorous for the audience and the characters, to laugh at them in relief (ex. Professor Monkey-For-A-Head from Earthworm Jim and Robbie Rotten from the LazyTown show).

NOTE: This trope should never be confused with a comic-relief villain. These kinds of antagonists have a wide range, the list ranges from ruthless villains that are taken seriously in the story and treated as a threat to be reckoned with, but have funny moments like having a cruel or witty sense of humor that, not only makes the viewer entertained, but also makes them more heinous, twisted, and threatening than before (ex. Hades from Hercules and Shaw from Open Season), to being depicted as bombastic and ridiculous-looking villains who have committed serious misdeeds throughout the story despite their goofy and campy presence that makes viewers not take them seriously (ex. Plankton from SpongeBob SquarePants and The Red Guy from Cow and Chicken).

See more about the trope on its own following page

Why It's Fun to Be the Bad Guy

They solely exist for providing tons of amusement value to their continual acts of villainy, and many of their humorous and comic traits are downright perfect for the entertainment value. Some of these villains' shticks can reach 'comic relief levels of being hilarious to watch!
They tend to have a strong sadistic sense of humor, which brings a level of charm to their nefarious traits while doing both; posing a threat and partaking in villainous actions all while making you laugh at the same time.
They also bring a level of enjoyment to the audience for how evil and heinous they are (especially if they're menacing and still able to make us laugh at the same time), which adds another type of charm that makes them fun villains to watch.
Even when there are shows, games, or movies where the protagonists (or side characters) aren't viewed as the most interesting, compelling, or funny, several of these villains tend to be such a riot that viewers get hyped to see the villains for their hilarious and entertaining antics that can make a show or movie much more exciting and rewatchable just for them stealing the show (or it makes video games replayable).
- Likewise, some of these villains' antics can potentially redeem a bad episode, or a bad scene from a good episode that took place, given the right amount of timing and writing for that episode.
Despite most of them being rather laughable, it's a great attention to detail for making the viewer remember that they are still villains after all their actions are still taken seriously in the story while having comical traits and moments, especially with having the right amount of balance to their traits of being formidable and humorous.

Bad Qualities

Even though they're well-written, comedy is still subjective, there are viewers that can find some of these villains' comedic traits rather too mean-spirited/sadistic, unfunny, poorly written, corny, unfitting or even forced.
Since these types of villains have so many comedic moments to count, it often confuses the rules on how to make villains a genuine threat and what the difference a "comic-relief villain" even is (despite how similar they can seem). They're only similar in terms of being comedic villains, but are actually very diverse by purpose, despite the trope defining itself claiming itself as "humorous villains".
- The reasons are stated above, but a comic relief villain (with intimidating moments) are different from a villain with some comedic moments. Where providing tons of humorous moments are what comic reliefs are meant to be of any moral alignment, and villains are meant to be despicable or scary (but some can have light-hearted moments here and there). So treating a villain that is meant to be serious but have no reason for us to be scared of them (without any meaning behind their unmenacing demeanor like insecurity or not being good at being a villain), it will make them pathetic excuses for a "villain", and they'll be seen as jokes rather than actual menacing a actual villain is).
Poorly written comedy villains will fall into the categories of either not being as villainous as they should be, aren't really villains as much as the story claims, are lacking qualities that should make them a genuine threat, and/or are far too ridiculous to the point that they aren't threatening or intimidating enough for us to see them as menacing, which can make their unmenacing demeanor out to be annoying, tiresome, bland or even obnoxious in the long run.
- If they're not treated as a threat when they are meant to be or have once too many humorous moments even though they're meant to be villains in a comedy setting (or intended to be a villain that's meant to be intimidating and serious but have too much comedic moments here and there that doesn't make them taken seriously whatsoever), this typically makes them fall into the territory of flanderization and/or character derailment with making them become incompetent/pathetic shells of their former selves, and it will make you wonder what's the point in making a character villainous if their actions don't amount to much, hence making them fall into Villain Wannabe territory.
- Especially when the writers trying to make them more "funny" or "ridiculous" than before, was meant to make them lovable and entertaining to the audience (or even in-universe as well) when this kind of change happens most of the time; it usually doesn't make them any better in terms of executing their traits in a writing standpoint, and it just makes them too much of a joke villain than necessary. There are exceptions, however.
- When a villain has petty and unreasonable motives for their villainy, it will in fact make them more ridiculously one-dimensional rather than genuinely funny.

Examples of well-written "Laughably Evil" villains

Al McWhiggin (Toy Story 2; a iconic example of being funny despite being more of a greedy thief and a cranky businessman than a typical villain)
Bill Cipher (Gravity Falls; A chaotic trickster entity that has a sarcastic and witty sense of humor despite being pure evil)
Bowser (Super Mario franchise, especially his cinematic animated version that gives him a voice by Jack Black and his lustful simping for Peach being downright hilarious to see despite being taken fairly seriously as a threat)
Dimentio (Super Paper Mario; An catacylsmic magician who is a genuine threat to Paper Mario and the gang, but also has a sadistic sense of humor)
Dr. Ivo Robotnik (Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog; This incarnation has often been considered to be easily a fan-favorite outside of internet memes)I
Dr. Weird (Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters; getting this treatment where in the show, he is comic-relief)
Evil the Cat (Earthworm Jim; An evil-personified demonic cat villain who has a comical snarky attitude and funny violent moments that makes him sinsister despite being comedic and a sneaky threat to Earthworm Jim)
Joey, Marky and Dee Dee (Oggy and the Cockroaches, seasons 1-4, 6-present; being trio of mischievous villains who love messing with Oggy for their own amusement, and some of their)
The Joker (Batman; an iconic comic book example of how much of a sadistic dark villain he is while also carrying "comedic trickster" vibes to his villainy, and some of his darkest jokes just highlights how despicable, depraved and evil he truly is)
Keldor/Skeletor (He-Man franchise: one of the biggest icons of villainy with a side of sarcasm.)
Kenny Ackerman (Attack on Titan): A funny villain with a snarky attitude in an otherwise dark and grim show.
Kichimura Washuu/Nimura Furuta (Tokyo Ghoul :re): He is a hilarious villain due to how he acts, his plans, true nature, and what his motivations are, he is a perfect example of the Joker to Ken Kaneki's Batman.
Layton T Montgomery (The Bee Movie; being a ridiculously over-the-top lawyer with a comical hatred for bees, was willing to blackmail and poison the bees in a devious manner, is voiced by John Goodman for extra measure and how overdramatic he is, all makes him hammy and goofy in the right way.)
Lord Dominator (Wander Over Yonder; hating Wander with a passion and him losing to Wander a lot makes him comedic.)
Lord Hater (Wander Over Yonder; Being a eyeball with arms and legs, but has many absurdly expressive moments in the show.)
Loki (The Super Hero Squad Show; being a god of mischief, his mischievous and comical tone of personality just explains for itself, and it applies to him as a villain and his envy towards Thor)
Mephisto (Marvel; being humorous in a black comedy form with how much of a sadistic demon he is.)
Mojo Jojo (The Powerpuff Girls; being very well-known for how speedy he speaks, and being melodramatic in his hopes to conquer Townsville while failing at it)
Mortimer Mouse (Disney; Being a mischievous rival of Mickey Mouse, he stands out as a trickster who comes up with creatively humorous ways to bully and torment Mickey, but happens to be comical and incompetent due to being a sleazeball and getting tons of hilarious karma for his sadistic actions)
The Minions (Despicable Me franchise, excluding Minions and Despicable Me 3)
Mr. Burns (The Simpsons; being a iconic diabolical villain of the show who has hilariously snarky tone to how villainous he is, and he also parodies several villains such as The Grinch for example)
Dr. Nefario (Despicable Me franchise; having ridiculously slow technology at times, and being a little absent-minded despite being a villainous supporter of Gru.)
The Nerdlucks/The Monstars (Space Jam; the squad starting off as incompetent dimwits, and while they come from a world called "Moron Mountain", they have threatening moments despite being humorous within a Looney Tunes dimension)
Oogie Boogie (The Nightmare Before Christmas; being very sassy with his rhymes and how much of a sadistic, gambling bogeyman he is)
Pain and Panic (Hercules; being a duo of incompetent minions who fail to curse Hercules with a potion Hades told them to bring to Hercules)
Peg-Leg Pete (Disney; While more of a anti-heroic bully nowadays, he started off as a villainous thug who is taken seriously, and venturing in the Goofy movies and some of his appearances such as "Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers", he also had his fair share of moments with being evil, diabolical, deceptive and sadistic in a humorous way. Heck, "Goof Troop" makes him a incompetent trickster whose many backfires to tormenting Goofy, are very funny to see.)
Queen of Hearts (Alice in Wonderland (1951); Her ridiculous and over-the-top short temper makes her laughable and comedic)
Ralph Wolf (Looney Tunes; being a ineffectual trickster and a friendly rival whose failures are fun to see and has a clever twist at every scenario)
Red Skull (The Super Hero Squad Show)
Robbie Rotten (Especially his original stage play incarnation, Glanni Glaepur)
Roger Smith (American Dad; being a silly flamboyant ailen who has comically exaggerated personalities of a evil-personified sadist)
Satania (Gabriel Dropout; being an incompetent doofus despite being a "devil")
Sheldon J. Plankton (SpongeBob Squarepants; being a egotistical and power-hungry, but an hilariously ineffectual genius villain who loves being evil, has comical defeats, is extremely sarcastic and grumpy, and his yelling makes him a iconic vlllain made by Nickelodeon)
The Red Guy (Cow and Chicken; one of the many iconic characters on this wiki who revels in doing evil things despite being a "villain".)
Sideshow Bob (The Simpsons; being a very persistent psychopathic archenemy of Bart Simpson who provides many silly scenes such as him slamming his face on a rake for example, as a part of his comical defeat)
Scratch and Grounder (Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog; being a duo of "metallic morons" who)
Shredder (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; 1990s; having a cartoonishly evil personality that standed out from the Shredder we know today.)
Slick Wolf (Droopy/Tex Avery MGM Cartoons; being a egotisical rival whose lust for a woman makes him act silly and over-the-top, but still gets a taste of his medicene at the end with hilarious karma)
Stewie Griffin (Family Guy; while now he's changed into a kind but quirky and sometimes lethal anti-hero, he started off as a cartoonishly evil character who hated Lois so bad that he seeked to kill his mom in any way in many ways, to the point it can be comical of the black comedy type.)
Syndrome (The Incredibles; a legendary example of a comical "sidekick turned villain" where his formerly understandable amount of envy and spite he had for Mr. Incredible as a rejected and underestimated (if overzealous and pestering) fanboy of Mr. Incredible, has made "Buddy" turn into Syndrome has a comically envious, dramatic, unhinged and egotistical supervillain who, despite being taken completely seriously as a villain, had his fair share hilarious moments amount him embarassing himself)
Sylvester (Looney Tunes; another example of a comically ineffectual villain who remains persistent despite his incompetence, has moments of posing a threat to people that aren't only Tweety Bird such as Speedy Gonazlez, and his moments of being mean-spirited are arguably more funny than him being "inept" all the time.)
Takaya Sakaki (Persona 3 Reload; is more insane and power-hungry than in the original game/movies, wants more suffering, but with all that, he remains respectful towards Makoto Yuki despite their two different ideologies on death.)
Taurus Bulba (Darkwing Duck; A intelligent bull who is a good mix of competent, threatening and humorous)
Thanos (The Super Hero Squad Show; Arguably the show's most definitive and iconic comedic villain. Who despite being a self-serving supervillain who does sneaky and unscrupulous behavior for his own deeds for conquering the universe, defeating the Super Hero Squad and making everyone bow down to him, he is still very egotistical, sassy, expressive, somewhat childish, sometimes lazy, making some comically affable moments despite how power-hungry and opportunistic he is, and his overall exuberance isn't helped by the fact that Jim Cummings voices him, which makes him extremely comedic and comical.)
Taz the Tasmanian Devil (Looney Tunes; Once standing out as the show's most fearsome and threatening villain for some time for being mindless, destructive and more than willing to eat and murder any animal around him without question, thus making him a destructive brute who accurately represented the scary and menacing side of a tasmanian devil. But in the show of Looney Tunes, it's obvious that Taz has to have moments of being comically dumb and gullible for someone like Bugs Bunny to outsmart, and being easy to fool. Despite him having humorous moments here and there throughout the franchise, he still remains as a threat once provoked, thus making him more of a anti-villain with certain violent sides to him that makes him undeniably evil and menacing)
Tom Cat (Tom and Jerry; an iconic ineffectual villain whose yells and yelps just make him hilarious on his own, as well as his comical defeats)
Tweaky the Lackey (The New Woody Woodpecker Show)
Vector (Despicable Me; being a silly and hilariously eccentric "supervillain" who strives to be evil and him kidnapping the girls while keeping the moon makes him villainous and taking serious despite being a overdramatic goofball throughout the film)
Vicky (The Fairly OddParents, seasons 1-5; being a cartoonishly evil babysitter who loves being sadistic towards Timmy Turner)
Wile E. Coyote (Looney Tunes; another iconic ineffectual villainous genius who loses to the Road Runner very much to the point of it being comical and fun to watch)
Yosemite Sam (Looney Tunes; being very much a short-tempered jerk whose hilarity comes from how much he gets karma for his villainous and jerkish behavior)
Yzma and Kronk (The Emperor's New Groove; the duo are a comedic "smart jerk with a nice moron" pairing)

Examples of poorly-written "Laughably Evil" villains

9 Egyptian Gods (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 3 - Stardust Crusaders; being too much of a perverted pedophile for us to find him funny in a good light, but more unfunny than necessary)
Aiden (Minecraft Story Mode; way too pathetic for a "tyrant" and his laughable moments make him too weak for us to find him funny in a good way)
Ally Cassandra, Bozwell "Boz" Buzzard and Sid "Sidney" the Vicious Shrew (Bubsy; being a trio of forgettable villains who are too incompetent as villains, thus making Ally and sometimes Buzz, more unintimidating than neccesary)
Amanda Banshee (The Wacky World of Tex Avery; being too inept to be a villain and too short-tempered to come off as hilarious)
Beauty's sisters (Beauty and the Beast (Golden Films); being too mean-spirited in the worst way, even more than Cinderella's despicable sisters.)
Bowser (Super Mario Bros. (1993); Not being funny at all despite his "pizza call" being intended to be funny and despite being played by Dennis Hopper, he lacks the villainous charm that Bowser should have.)
Carl (Talking Tom & Friends; being too much of a loud-mouthed egotist for us to find him hilarious and acts more one-dimensional and greedy than humorously over-the-top)
Claude Cat (Looney Tunes, 1952-1962; being a scumbag of a pet whose actions are more mean-spirited and not pleasant to watch despite being a yellow-furred "hate sink" clone of Sylvester)
Daffy Duck (Looney Tunes, DePatie-Freleng, Format Films and Seven-Arts eras, 1964-1968; coming off as more creepy, bland and unsettling than funny)
Dan (The Wacky World of Tex Avery; Being too pathetic for a villain and forced to be seen as the bad guy in a forced slapstick world that treats morally wrong "protagonists" as the hero)
Dirty Dog (Cool Cat Fights Coronavirus; being infamous for his act of spreading COVID, which by alone is tasteless and insulting to people in real life who died from COVID-19, and being more of a laughably one-dimensional manchild than a well-developed comedy villain)
Dr. Drakken (Kim Possible (2019); losing the silly charm he had in the original show, and coming off as bland and boring to watch)
Evelyn Claythorne (Meta Runner; being more of a annoying, unlikable womanchild rather than a enjoyable villainess)
Ferdinand (Tom and Jerry: The Movie (1992); being way too much of a stereotypically fat and gluttonous comic relief villain whose incompetence is more pathetic and sometimes disturbing rather than hilarious)
Ghenghis the Lion (The Wacky World of Tex Avery; Being too sympathetic and incompetent for us to see him as a villain, and forced in a violent slapstick world no less, and similar to Dan in the show, he's treated as evil when Khannie the Panda does more worse things than Ghenghis ever did)
Katnip (Herman and Katnip; being too sympathetic and tragic for us to laugh at him despite Katnip being a incompetent dimwit)
Lord Betrayus (Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures; being the worst case example of trying way too hard to come off as comical, but comes off as an manchild who is annoying, witless, ear-grating and rather irritating to watch.)
Lex Luthor (Superman: Brainiac Attacks; being way too dorky and awkward for us to take him seriously despite his "villainous" actions)
Mark Thresher (Plumbers Don't Wear Ties; being a perverted businessman whose only humorous factor was yelling at Jane to take her clothes off, and even by that, it was not intended to be funny, thus making him not funny at all and his actions amount to nothing as a villain)
Mr Freeze (Batman and Robin; making once too many cheesy ice puns and having too much of a exuberant Schwarzenegger mannerism for us to take him seriously as a villain)
Mooch the Fox (The Wacky World of Tex Avery; Sharing the same flaws as Ghenghis the Lion within the same show of a forced slapstick world that forces the viewer to contempt Mooch, when Mooch doesn't do much for us to hate him and comes off pathetic)
The Minions (Minions; being clueless creatures who are despicable but lost the charm they once had in the first two Despicable Me films)
Rasputia Latimore (Norbit; being way too sassy and overdramatic to the point of being unfunny and easier to hate)
Sagebrush Sid (The Wacky World of Tex Avery; Sharing the exact same reasons as Ghenghis the Lion and Mooch the Fox within the same show)
The Storm King (My Little Pony: The Movie; being too campy to the point it's humorless most of the time)
Sonny Appleday (Re-Animated/Out of Jimmy's Head; being a ineffectual creep who just comes off as unnaturally creepy for a "villain", like him being mentally ill grown-up who keeps trying to kidnap a kid to steal his brain)
Skeletor (Masters of the Universe: Revelation; making him too pathetic and making him lose all of his villainous charm he was once beloved and well-known for in the previous adaptation)
Sir Rothbart (The Swan Princess Christmas; being way too inept as a "ghostly villain" and doesn't do much harm as a villain)
Spike Bulldog (The Tom and Jerry Show (2014); not being too much of a villain and still a abusive antagonist towards Tom whose villainous actions comes off as more petty and violent than outright evil)
Jessie, James and Meowth (Pokemon, seasons 14-15; being flanderized into a overly incompetent trio)
Joey, Marky and Dee Dee (Oggy and the Cockroaches, season 5; a time where the three cockroaches lost their mischievous charm and became only jerks who are more pathetic than villainous)
Wile E. Coyote (Looney Tunes, The Larriva Eleven era; becoming too inept to qualify as "evil" and is treated like a punching bag towards the Road Runner.)

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