Origin Story



Much like how ordinary good guys eventually became heroes, villains themselves also have an Origin Story of how they eventually become the villains that the heroes ultimately face later on. This is called the Start of Darkness.

In order to keep their characters current, various media companies frequently rewrite the origins of their oldest characters; this goes from adding details that do not contradict earlier facts to a totally new origin which makes it seem that it is an altogether different character.

"Origin story", or pourquoi story, is also a term used in mythology. It can refer to narratives of how the world began, how creatures and plants came into existence, and why certain things in the cosmos have certain qualities.

How the characters eventually became the very villains that everyone known were varies, though some cases tend to be related with Mad Science.

Variations of Origin Story Scenarios
Each villains had various scenarios regarding how they went to the dark side, which includes:
 * Being Tortured Makes You Evil Scenario: Popularized by TV Trope of the same name, this scenario revolves around how a villain comes to being as product of torture or abuse, mentally and psychically. Motivation of torture that resulting a character become evil in this way ranges from simply mere amusement to more complex and systematic one, the way a Big Bad indoctrinated his subjects.
 * Rival Turned Evil: Also popularized by TV Trope of the same name, thsi scenario revolves around how a villain comes to being as mere rival of the hero until they went bad.

Anime and Manga

 * Naruto:
 * Orochimaru: As result of his parent's death during the war, Orochimaru became disillusioned with the reality where all living being would die someday, and sought to become the strongest shinobi in the world and an immortal via combining kinjutsu and various experimentations.
 * Mizuki: Due to his personal obsession to be the strongest shinobi that escalated to unhealthy level, Mizuki became indifferent with by things like morals or teamwork (traits which made Orochimaru became interested by him that he gave him Curse Mark that would activated through certain drug combination as seen in anime) and ultimately became a villain and one of Naruto's most dangerous advesary during his youth.
 * Dragon Balls series:
 * King Piccolo: The demonic Piccolo was originally the evil part within a powerful Namekian. When the said Namekian expelled all evil within him, his expelled evil manifests into Piccolo whom born with flesh and blood like regular Namekian, but only carry malevolence within his creator. In spite of his, his final spawn, Piccolo. Jr., whom Piccolo created to avenge his death and initially believed as evil as his parent, revealed to be born as regular Namekian who lacked his predecessor's malevolence in spite of possessing powers that as immense as the former. The lack of his parent's malevolence of course, what contribute to Piccolo Jr.'s choice to become a good person.
 * Scar from Fullmetal Alchemist: Sought revenge on every State Alchemist for the Ishvalan massacre many of them have comitted.

Comic Books

 * Man-Bat: Dr. Langstrom's attempt to cure his deafness with help of serum based on bats' DNA and to help those whom are deaf and blind and test the serum on himself, only to ended up turned into humanoid bat-like monster. This prompt Batman to cured him to normal.
 * The Lizard: Similar with Dr. Langstrom's case, Dr. Connors creates a serum based on lizards' DNA to create regenerative serum that would beneficially help those whom became disable or severe injuries where he test the serum on himself that not only regrows his right arm, but ended up transformed into a humanoid lizard where Peter Parker had to create a cure to restore him.
 * Magneto: Having survived Nazi Holocaust during events of World War 2 where his powers manifests for the first time and sees mutants whom mistreated due to jealousy, hatred, or prejudice in reminiscent way Nazis mistreated many innocents includes himself, he sought to ensure that mutants would live in peace in the world, but in more extreme way than his friend Xavier's methods as he also believed that mutantkinds are better than humanity.
 * Scorpion: Mac Gargan, the nasty private investigator whom hired by J. Jonah Jameson to stalk on Peter Parker to find out how he can easily get his alter ego Spider-Man's photos, conspired with his client to defeat the web-slinger with Dr. Stillwell's help whom enhanced his DNA with that of scorpion that grant him superhuman capabilities and a scorpion suit and become the notorious supervillain called Scorpion upon the revelation of his genetic enhancement would render him insane as Dr. Stillwell's feared.
 * Apocalypse: When EN Sabah Nur was born, he was abandoned of having grey skin, blue lips, and unusual facial markings. He would eventually rise to become a strong warrior and soon, a powerful mutant by mastering his powers and acquiring alien technology. He would be worshipped as a god by many and years later, he would awaken from dormancy into the modern world and pose the biggest threat to the X-Men as he would seek to destroy the current world and build a new one in his image referred to simply as the Age of Apocalypse.
 * Jason Todd (nicknamed Red Hood): Disillusioned by Batman's code not to kill his enemies, which worsened with his near-death experience by Joker whom intended to killed him, Jason Todd, upon survived his ordeal (resurrected in some versions soon after killed outright), decided to become a villainous vigilante called Red Hood.
 * Darth Wredd: Darth Wredd himself was a normal human boy when his hometown was destroyed by a band of barbarians and was eventually inducted into the One Sith after his homeworld was invaded by the Galactic Empire lead by Darth Krayt. He was instructed in the ways of the dark side of the force, but soon found out that his entire homeworld was destroyed by the One Sith and defected to seek revenge against them and restore the Sith Order under the ancient Rule of Two.

Animated

 * Aggie Prenderghast from ParaNorman: Sought revenge on the townspeople as well as Judge Hopkins for their discrimination against her.
 * Lord Shen from Kung Fu Panda 2: He became disturbingly obsessed with fireworks as he saw they could also be used in warfare. His concerned parents consulted the Soothsayer who foretells Shen's destined downfall at the hands of "a warrior of black and white." Shen overhears this prophecy and decides to avert it by massacring a nearby village of  innocent pandas. Shen returns to his parents with sadistic joy, but his parents, horrified that their son would do such a wicked deed, banished him from the city as punishment. Shen, believing his parents hated and wronged him, vows revenge that he will return to Gongmen one day.
 * Syndrome:
 * Professor Screweyes: When he was a child, he was snoozing by a berry bush, and after a berry fell upon his eye, a crow pecked for the fruit, while at the same time, taking his eye. Ever since then, Screweyes decided that the world around him made no sense at all and therefore acts accordingly to life's senseless ways by using fear to get his way. Because of his incident, he had a fear of crows, and uses this as his act. This way, even while he fears the crows, they are still under his control.
 * Lots-O'-Huggin' Bear: Was the favorite toy to a little girl named Daisy. One day, Daisy's family took a little road trip, when as the family left, they accidentally left Lotso, Chuckles and Big Baby behind. Lotso and his allies walk for miles before finally reaching Daisy's house--only to discover Daisy has a new replacement Lotso. This tragic event causes Lotso to snap and turn evil and insane and he lies to the other toys that Daisy replaced them as well. Eventually, they came across Sunnyside Daycare and Lotso took control of the place and ran it like a prison for all the toys who resided there.
 * Francis E. Francis: Was a worker at Baby Corp known as the Super Colossal Big Fat Boss Baby eventually working himself up as its new CEO until he got kicked out for having lactose intolerance as he couldn't drink a secret formula that made babies act like adults, which resulted at him getting older, much to his dismay. After getting replaced and fired, Francis was sent to be adopted by the Francis family with an older brother named Eugene. Ever since then, Francis angrily vowed revenge on Baby Corp for this. Growing up to become a middle-aged businessman, Francis founded Puppy Co. to act as a rival to Baby Corp, becoming more popular to the public.
 * Robert Callaghan aka Yokai from Big Hero 6: Sought revenge on Alistair Krei for his role in his daughter's perceived death.
 * Phango from Khumba: Was born with one blind eye and was abandoned by his clan as the runt of the litter. He was thrown in the magical water pond in the clan's lair. This only made him stronger giving him an extra, almost mystical strong sense of smell. He become ruthless killer after killed his clan in revenge. He is obsessed with being whole.
 * Tai Lung

Live-Action

 * David Banner: Sought revenge on General Thunderbolt Ross for berating him for experimenting on himself and his son Bruce, and later tried to absorb his son's powers after gaining matter-absorbing powers.
 * Toho's Godzilla films & MonsterVerse film series:
 * Godzilla: Godzilla' Toho incarnations were originally dinosaur-like prehistoric intermediate reptilian lifeforms (clarified as Godzillasaurus in Heisei series and unspecified marine reptile in Godzilla: Resurgence) mutated by radioactive materials produced by either nuclear tests or nuclear waste dumped to his habitat which mutated him into nuclear-powered kaiju. MonsterVerse incarnation however, gave him more realistic origin as he was established as known still-living member of prehistoric reptile species that evolved by natural radiation on Earth during prehistoric era.
 * Destoroyah: Destoroyah are malevolent monster that originally result of prehistoric crustaceans empowered by chemicals within Oxygen Destroyer used to kill first Godzilla. But in IDW comics, he was instead products of chemicals (with presumably coincidentally identical properties with Oxygen Destroyer) used by Devonians to bio-engineered same prehistoric crustaceans with similar results.
 * Keizer Ghidorah: Keizer Ghidorah is cryptic variant of Ghidorah with cryptic origin, as it's unclear whether Xiliens either engineered him or merely found him before out him under their control.

Literature

 * Lord Voldemort: Birthed from the impure, loveless union between Tom Riddle Sr. and Merope Gaunt, and later sought for immortality via Horcruxes when he discovered his magical inheritance, Lord Voldemort sought to rule the world which is pure from humanity and became the Dark Lord that is infamous to all to the day.
 * Sauron: Formerly a Maia of Aulë the Smith named Mairon, Sauron was seduced into servtitude for Morgoth, and is reduced into a fearsome new Dark Lord.

Live-Action TV

 * Azazel (Supernatural): One of the Princes of Hell created by Lucifer, Azazel schemed to create many Special Children who could potentially serve as his master's vessel and released many demons, chief among them Lilith so she could begin breaking the 66 Seals of Lucifer's Cage. He fed various babies, including an infant Sam Winchester, his blood to give them psychic abilities; he also murdered Sam's mother Mary, leading Mary's husband John and their two sons to become Hunters.

Videogames

 * Alex Mercer: After the ill-attempt escape from Blackwatch soldier and is gunned to death not long after destroyed the vial of Blacklight virus that he took with him, Alex later rises as the new being which code named Zeus where the later plot twist revealed that Alex was already dead and his body actually possessed by the very virus that he released whom unknowingly took his identity.
 * Count Bleck from Super Paper Mario: Heartbroken at the disappearance of his beloved at the hands of his father, Lord Blumiere sought to destroy all the worlds for the world is meaningless for him without her.
 * Cole MacGrath: Cole was originally an ordinary man who worked as a courier and had his future self Kessler awakened his electrokinetic powers awakened with Ray Sphere explosion he instigated before faced several arranged tests as ordeal to see whether he will choose good path or evil path.

Web Series

 * Jeff the Killer: Jeff was originally normal young man with surprising agility that his brother Liu willing to take blame over his fight against a trio of bullies until the same bullies incinerate his face alive in their next fight. Unable to cope with his injuries, he went mad and reduced into serial killer.

Western Animation

 * Lord Garmadon: Lord Garmadon used to be a human until being bitten by the baby Great Devourer where the said snake's venom ultimately corrode his mind and turned him into a black armored-clad, four-armed evil entity. It's later revealed how Great Devourer's venom corrupt Garmadon's mind and turned him evil like that was due to corruption within the Devourer's venom contained part of more malevolent being called Overlord.
 * Blight: Prior to his transformation into Blight, Derek Powers was a corrupt businessman who killed his own employee Harry Tully in cold blood to test a nerve gas that his company invented and ordered his subordinate Mr. Fixx to murder Warren McGinnis who learned about the gas; this led to Warren's son, Terry, to become the new Batman and stop Powers' evil plan to sell the gas to Kasnia. However, in the ensuing fight, Derek ended up exposed to the nerve gas; to make matters worse, radiation treatment intended to save Derek's life mutated him into a monstrous creature with glowing transparent flesh and a black skeleton.

Quotes
"Now, it all started at Baby Corp, a long, long time ago. I was a hotshot executive, heading start to the top. Everyone loved me. They gave me a promotion, the Corner Office, and my very own (Boss Baby: ... personal potty.) SHING! I had it all, but then one day, I made a terrible discovery: I was getting... old. The formula wasn't working anymore. It turns out I was lactose Intolerant. (Boss Baby: No...) Yes! I got called in to see the Boarding Directors (Tim: Who are the Boarding Directors?) The biggest baby bosses of them all! I thought they loved me, but they replaced with someone new... someone younger. (Tim: That's horrible!) All of a sudden, she got all the love, all the attention.... you know how that feels, don't you, Tim? It hurts, doesn't it? (Tim: Yeah, it does. And then what happened?) Well.... they fired me! And took away my special formula. Then they sent me down to live with a f-f-family! (Boss Baby: Oh Francis no!) Baby Corp betrayed me, and I'm finally going to get revenge with...the Forever Puppy!"

- Francis E. Francis explains his backstory and plan for revenge.

"There was a time when he was the outcast of the litter. Born blind in one eye. Abandoned by his own kind. Little did they know that his blindness would give him a sense of smell like no other leopard before him. And he would grow up to be a great hunter. He got his revenge, but it seems that isn't enough for him. (humba: So he keeps on killing.) Having everyone live in fear of you doesn't change who you are."

- The Black Eagle telling to Khumba about Phango's origin, how he become ruthless killer.

"Long ago, in ancient China, the Peacocks ruled over Gongmen city. They brought great joy and prosperity to the city for they have invented fireworks. But their son, Lord Shen, saw a darker power in the fireworks. What had brought color and joy could also bring darkness and destruction. Shen's troubled parents consulted a Soothsayer. She foretold that if Shen continued down this dark path, he would be defeated by a warrior of black and white. The young lord set out to change his fate. But what he did next only sealed it. Shen returned to his parents full of pride. But in their faces, he saw only horror. He was banished from the city forever. But Shen swore revenge. Someday, he would return, and all of China would bow at his feet."

- The Soothsayer's opening narration of Lord Shen's backstory. He became disturbingly obsessed with fireworks as he saw they could also be used in warfare. His concerned parents consulted the Soothsayer who foretells Shen's destined downfall at the hands of "a warrior of black and white." Shen overhears this prophecy and decides to avert it by massacring a nearby village of innocent pandas. Shen's parents, horrified that their son would do such a wicked deed, banished him from the city as punishment. Shen, believing his parents wronged and hated him, vows revenge that he will return to Gongmen one day.

"I think you man OUR old room. (Lewis confused: What?) (Bowler hat guy removing his cloak revealing his tiny, filthy Little League Baseball uniform) Yes! Yes, it is I, Mike Yagoobian!(Lewis gasps) I know, I'm disgusting. But one learns to love it. (How did you end up like this?) Well it's a long pitiful story, about a young boy with a dream. a dream of winning a Little League championship...(flashback to a Little League baseball game, Yagoobian is asleep in the outfield; a sleepy Yagoobian fails to catch a ball headed his way) A dream that was ruined in the last inning. We lost by one run because of me.(Goob wakes up and finds himself surrounded by his teammates as began to beat on him)(Baseball kid: Get him!)(Goob angrily telling his day at the oprhanage: If I hadn't fallen asleep, I would have caught the ball! And we would have won! Do you understand?!) For some reason, no one wanted to adopt me.(Reporterover radio as Goob listens: Whiz kid Cornelius Robinson graduates from college at age 14 - This year's Nobel Prize goes to a young Cornelius Robinson) (Goob walks through the hallway as student greet him but was too angry to notice) (Student 1:Hey Goob. what's up? Cool binder)(Hey Goob, want to come over to my house today) They all hated me. Eventually, they closed down the orphanage and everyone left... except me. (Years go by as Goob listens on the radio of Lewis's successes and comes to a realization.) It was then that I realized it wasn't my fault. It was yours. If you hadn't kept me up all night working on your stupid project, then I wouldn't have missed the catch, So I devised a brilliant plan to get my revenge. (Mike Yagoobian throwing eggs outside Robinson Industries) Robinson, You stink!! Then, just as I was on the brink of destroying Robinson Industries, I met 'her'. We retreated to our villainous lair, where Doris spun a tale of deception and woe. Apparently, you invented her to be a helping hat, a slave to humankind... But Doris knew she was capable of so much more!... (Doris's eye turns red and pulls herself over the lab assistant's eyes and controlling him) However, you didn't see her true potential...(Cornelius: Got it!) So you shut her down... or so you thought. (Doris reactivates herself, breaks free from the glass incasing and secretly escapes from Robinson industries) We both had a score to settle with you, and while my plan for revenge was brilliant, Doris's was... well, we went with Doris's, but I made a very, very important contribution. (Showing her the Science fair flier) Together we made the perfect team. (On a stormy night, Goob and Doris arrive at Lewis's home with Doris putting her night vision goggles, spying on Wilbur) (Franny: Wilbur, make sure you shut that door tight, or else the alarm won't engage.)(Wilbur: Yeah, Mom.) (Lewis leaves without closing the door all the way) I went to your house, snuck in the garage, and stole the time machine. All thanks to that pointy-haired little kid who forgot to lock the garage door. (Mike Yagoobian laughs maniacally as the flashback ends) And now, all that's left is to return to Inventco, where I'll pass off your little gizmo as my own. (Lewis: But you have no idea what that could do to this future!)I don't care! I just want to ruin your life!"

- Bowler Hat Guy reveals himself as Lewis's old roommate and explains his backstory of how he came to be, how he met Doris and plan their revenge on Lewis by stealing his memory scanner and destroying his future.

"Once upon a time, long ago, there was a little girl who was different from the other people in her village. She could see and do things that no one could understand! And that made them scared of her! She turned away from everyone and became sad and lonely, and had no one to turn to! The more she turned away from people, the more scared they were of her. And they did something terrible! They became so scared that they took her away and they killed her! And even though she was dead, something in her came back! And this part of her, wouldn't go away even after three hundred years! And the longer it stayed, the less there was of the little girl."

- Norman Babcock telling Aggie Prenderghast her origin story to make her realize what she has become now.

"That is a very old traditional costume from the Nordic regions. It wasn't until years later, it became a... silly character. The original clown.. it was not funny at all. (Kent McCoy: So, tell me Mr. Karlsson. How are we gonna get this thing off of me?) Very few people know the true origin of what we called "the clown". I can show you here. It lived up in the mountains with a skin white as snow and red nose blistered by the cold. It lured children out of villages into its cave. Five children. One child for every month of winter. Over the centuries, the legend of the Cloyne was long forgotten. He became the clown. His white face and red nose to make people laugh. To entertain children. If only they knew."

- Herbert Karlsson explaining to Kent McCoy the origins of the Cloyne, an ancient mythical demon from Northern Europe.

"I know I had my doubts, but it was worth leaving home. I'm glad I had Xara and Romeo with me. I don't know what Romeo wants anymore. It hurts. All I wanted was the three of us, together. Maybe we should have never left the cabin. We weren't just happy there. We were home. Dear Xara, if you're reading this, I'm already gone. I hid this in one place I knew you would look for it. Fitting the key to ending all this would be here… where it all started. This is the key to defeating Romeo… #POTATO451. Take this word of passage and use it at the primary terminal. You can take away his power and end this. I still have hopes for Romeo. He just wanted us to stay together… more than anything. I know that's why he's doing this. Maybe I'm being foolish, but I need to know for sure before taking the step. Though I guess if you're here, I got my answer. Maybe someday we'll be together again. Your friend, always… Fred."

- Fred's journal talking about the Admins' past, including Romeo's.

Images
NOTE: The limit is for 20 pictures only