Evil Overlord

In fiction, Dark Lord (or Evil Overlord) is often used to refer to a powerful villain or antagonist with evil henchmen. In particular, it is used as a moniker in universes where it is thought that pronouncing the villain's real name will bring bad luck or represents a bad omen. Such a villain usually seeks to rule or destroy the universe around them.

In a religious context, Dark Lord usually means Satan or other similar entities who hold power over lesser fiendish creatures and seek to disrupt the comfort and lives of people.

In fantasy novels, Dark Lords have become something of a cliché stemming from the success of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, in which the main antagonist, Sauron, is often referred to as the "Dark Lord". On occasion, the people of Gondor in Middle-earth refer to Sauron as "The Enemy" or "The Nameless Enemy" despite knowing his real name; arguably starting the practice of avoiding pronouncing a Dark Lord's actual name. In Tolkien's legendarium, Sauron is the second Dark Lord; he was the lieutenant of the first Dark Lord, Morgoth (also a title or epithet meaning "dark enemy"), until the latter's defeat. Morgoth's original name was Melkor (he who arises in might). Following the example of Sauron, Dark Lords in fantasy are always depicted as immensely powerful and implacably evil creatures with a great desire for power. One example of a powerful Dark Lord in the world of literature is the Dark Wizard Lord Voldemort from J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels, earning his place as a Dark Lord having surpassed the magical abilities of any other dark wizard before him, thus he is considered not a Dark Wizard but the first and only Dark Lord within that universe, being so powerful and evil that his enemies even dreaded to speak his name. Dark Lords have a negative effect in their universe, throwing them into ruin and despair. Sauron, for example, turned Mordor into a "wasteland where the very air saps one's will". He planned to do the same to all of Middle-earth. Dark Lords have mostly been male, with few exceptions such as the White Witch from The Chronicles of Narnia, who casts the world into an eternal winter but never Christmas.

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