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Evil is the violation of, or intent to violate, some moral code. Evil is usually seen as the dualistic opposite of The Good. Definitions of evil vary, as does the analysis of its root motives and causes; however, evil is commonly associated with conscious and deliberate wrongdoing, discrimination designed to harm others, humiliation of people designed to diminish their psychological well-being and dignity, destructiveness, motives of causing pain or suffering for selfish or malicious intentions, and acts of unnecessary or indiscriminate violence.^[1] The philosophical question of whether morality is absolute or relative leads to questions about the nature of evil, with views falling into one of four opposed camps: moral absolutism, amoralism, moral relativism, and moral universalism.

While the term is applied to events and conditions without agency, the forms of evil addressed in this article presume an evildoer or doers.

Etymology[link]

The modern English word "evil" (Old English yfel) and its cognates such as the German Übel and Dutch euvel are widely considered to come from a Proto-Germanic reconstructed form of *ubilaz, comparable to the Hittite huwapp- ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European form *wap- and suffixed zero-grade form *up-elo-. Other later Germanic forms include Middle English evel, ifel, ufel, Old Frisian evel (adjective and noun), Old Saxon ubil, Old High German ubil, and evil Gothic ubils.

The root meaning of the word is of obscure origin though shown^[2] to be akin to modern German Das Übel (although 'Evil' is normally translated as 'Das Böse') with the basic idea of transgressing.^[3]

Chinese moral philosophy[link]

Main: Confucian Ethics, Confucianism and Taoist Ethics

As with Buddhism below, in Confucianism or Taoism, there is no direct analogue to the way "good and evil" are opposed although reference to "demonic influence" is common in Chinese folk religion. Confucianism 's primary concern is with correct social relationships and the behavior appropriate to the learned or superior man. Thus "evil" would correspond to wrong behavior. Still less does it map into Taoism, in spite of the centrality of dualism in that system, but the opposite of the cardinal virtues of Taoism, compassion, moderation, and humility can be inferred to be the analogue of evil in it.^[4][5]

Western philosophy[link]

Nietzsche[link]

Friedrich Nietzsche, in a rejection of the Judeo-Christian morality, addresses this in two works Beyond Good and Evil and On the Genealogy of Morals where he essentially says that the natural functional non-good has been socially transformed into the religious concept of evil by the slave mentality of the weak and oppressed masses who resent their masters (the strong).

Spinoza[link]

Benedict de Spinoza states

Spinoza assumes a quasi-mathematical style and states these further propositions which he purports to prove or demonstrate from the above definitions in part IV of his Ethics ^[6]:

• Proposition 8 Knowledge of good or evil is nothing but affect of joy or sorrow in so far as we are conscious of it.
• Proposition 30 Nothing can be evil through that which it possesses in common with our nature, but in so far as a thing is evil to us it is contrary to us.
• Proposition 64 The knowledge of evil is inadequate knowledge.
  • Corollary Hence it follows that if the human mind had none but adequate ideas, it would form no notion of evil.
• Proposition 65 According to the guidance of reason, of two things which are good, we shall follow the greater good, and of two evils, follow the less.
• Proposition 68 If men were born free, they would form no conception of good and evil so long as they were free.

The philosophical notion such as those of Nietzsche, Rand, and Spinoza above can be compared and contrasted with the theological notion below, but it should be noted that Rand and Nietzsche were both atheists, Spinoza was not.

Psychology[link]

Carl Jung[link]

Carl Jung, in his book Answer to Job and elsewhere, depicted evil as the "dark side of the Devil". People tend to believe evil is something external to them, because they project their shadow onto others. Jung interpreted the story of Jesus as an account of God facing his own shadow.^[7]

Zimbardo[link]

In 2007, Philip Zimbardo suggested that people may act in evil ways as a result of a collective identity. This hypothesis, based on his previous experience from the Stanford prison experiment, was published in the book The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil.^[8]

Religion[link]

Buddhism[link]

Main: Buddhist Ethics

Extermination of Evil, The God of Heavenly Punishment, from the Chinese tradition of yin and yang. Late Heian period (12th Century Japan)

The primal duality in Buddhism is between suffering and enlightenment, so the good vs. evil splitting has no direct analogue in it. One may infer however from the general teachings of the Buddha that the catalogued causes of suffering are what correspond in this belief system to "evil".^[9][10]

Practically this can refer to 1) the three selfish emotions—desire, hate and delusion; and 2) to their expression in physical and verbal actions. See "ten unvirtuous actions in Buddhism". Specifically, "evil" means whatever harms or obstructs the causes for happiness in this life, a better rebirth, liberation from samsara, and the true and complete enlightenment of a buddha (samyaksambodhi). Ignorance is defined as the root of all evil.^{[11][ungrammatical/illogical]}

Hinduism[link]

In Hinduism the concept of Dharma or righteousness clearly divides the world into good and evil, and clearly explains that wars have to be waged sometimes to establish and protect Dharma, this war is called Dharmayuddha. This division of good and evil is of major importance in both the Hindu epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata.

Islam[link]

There is no concept of absolute evil in Islam, as a fundamental universal principle that is independent from and equal with good in a dualistic sense. Within Islam, it is considered essential to believe that all comes from Allah, whether it is perceived as good or bad by individuals; and that what the things that are perceived as "evil" or "bad" are either natural events(natural disasters or illnesses) or caused by humanity's free will to disobey Allah's orders. See however Iblis.

Judeo-Christian thought[link]

Evil is that which is not good. The Bible defines evil as the condition of being alone (the "not good" of Genesis 2:18). In this sense, evil may be seen as that which goes against, or is outside of society, both in terms of values and actions.

The Devil, the personification of evil, tempts Christ, the personification of good. Ary Scheffer, 1854.

Some authors, such as Christian apologist William Lane Craig,^{[citation needed]} have divided evil into moral evil, or harms perpetrated by some agent; and natural evil, harms resulting from natural disasters, disease, or other agentless causes. Natural evil has particular import to theodicy, as it cannot be simply explained as the result of an agent's free will.

Christian[link]

Christian theology draws its concept of evil from the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament, evil is understood to be an opposition to God as well as something unsuitable or inferior such as the leader of the Fallen Angels Satan ^[12] In the New Testament the Greek word poneros is used to indicate unsuitability, while kakos is used to refer to opposition to God in the human realm.^[13] Officially, the Catholic Church extracts its understanding of evil from the Dominican theologian, Thomas Aquinas, who in SUMMA THEOLOGICA defines evil as the absence or privation of good.^[14]French-American theologian Henri Blocher describes evil, when viewed as a theological concept, as an "unjustifiable reality. In common parlance, evil is 'something' that occurs in experience that ought not to be."^[15]

Judaism[link]

In Judaism, evil is the result of forsaking God. (Deuteronomy 28:20) Judaism stresses obedience to God's laws as written in the Torah (see also Tanakh) and the laws and rituals laid down in the Mishnah and the Talmud.

Some forms of Judaism do not personify evil in Satan; these instead consider the human heart to be inherently bent toward deceit, although human beings are responsible for their choices. In other forms of Judaism, there is no prejudice in one's becoming good or evil at time of birth. In Judaism, Satan is viewed as one who tests us for God rather than one who works against God, and evil, as in the Christian denominations above, is a matter of choice.

Some cultures or philosophies believe that evil can arise without meaning or reason (in neoplatonic philosophy, this is called absurd evil). Christianity in general does not adhere to this belief, but the prophet Isaiah implied that God is ultimately responsible for everything. (Isa.45:7).^{[dubious – discuss]}

Non-Trinitarians[link]

In Mormonism, mortal life is viewed as a test of faith, where one's choices are central to the Plan of Salvation. See Agency (LDS Church). Evil is that which keeps one from discovering the nature of God. It is believed that one must choose not to be evil to return to God.

Christian Science believes that evil arises from a misunderstanding of the goodness of nature, which is understood as being inherently perfect if viewed from the correct (spiritual) perspective. Misunderstanding God's reality leads to incorrect choices, which are termed evil. This has led to the rejection of any separate power being the source of evil, or of God as being the source of evil; instead, the appearance of evil is the result of a mistaken concept of good. Christian Scientists argue that even the most "evil" person does not pursue evil for its own sake, but from the mistaken viewpoint that he or she will achieve some kind of good thereby.

Zoroastrian[link]

In the originally Persian religion of Zoroastrianism, the world is a battle ground between the god Ahura Mazda (also called Ormazd) and the malignant spirit Angra Mainyu (also called Ahriman). The final resolution of the struggle between good and evil was supposed to occur on a day of Judgement, in which all beings that have lived will be led across a bridge of fire, and those who are evil will be cast down forever. In Iranian belief, angels and saints are beings sent to help us achieve the path towards goodness.

Philosophical questions about evil[link]

Is evil universal?[link]

A fundamental question is whether there is a universal, transcendent definition of evil, or whether evil is determined by one's social or cultural background.^{[citation needed]} C. S. Lewis, in The Abolition of Man, maintained that there are certain acts that are universally considered evil, such as rape and murder. However the numerous instances in which rape or murder is morally affected by social context call this into question. One might argue, nevertheless, that the definition of the word rape necessitates that any action described by the word is evil, since the concept refers to causing sexual harm to another. Up until the mid-19th century, the United States — along with many other countries — practiced forms of slavery. As is often the case, those transgressing moral boundaries stood to profit from that exercise. Arguably, slavery has always been the same and objectively evil, but men with a motivation to transgress will justify that action.

Adolf Hitler is often used as a personification of evil.^[16]

The Nazis, during World War II, found genocide acceptable,^[17] as did the Hutu Interhamwe in the Rwandan genocide.^[18][19] One might point out, though, that the actual perpetrators of those atrocities probably avoided calling their actions genocide, since the objective meaning of any act accurately described by that word is to wrongfully kill a selected group of people, which is an action that at least the victimized party will understand to be evil. Universalists consider evil independent of culture, and wholly related to acts or intents. Thus, while the ideological leaders of Nazism and the Hutu Interhamwe accepted (and considered it moral) to commit genocide, the belief in genocide as "fundamentally" or "universally" evil holds that those who instigated this genocide are actually evil.^{[improper synthesis?]} Other universalists might argue that although the commission of an evil act is always evil, those who perpetrate may not be wholly evil or wholly good entities. To say that someone who has stolen a candy bar, for instance, becomes wholly evil is a rather untenable position. However, universalists might also argue that a person can choose a decidedly evil or a decidedly good life career, and genocidal dictatorship plainly falls on the side of the former.

Views on the nature of evil tend to fall into one of four opposed camps:

• Moral absolutism holds that good and evil are fixed concepts established by a deity or deities, nature, morality, common sense, or some other source.^[20]
• Amoralism claims that good and evil are meaningless, that there is no moral ingredient in nature.
• Moral relativism holds that standards of good and evil are only products of local culture, custom, or prejudice.
• Moral universalism is the attempt to find a compromise between the absolutist sense of morality, and the relativist view; universalism claims that morality is only flexible to a degree, and that what is truly good or evil can be determined by examining what is commonly considered to be evil amongst all humans.

Plato wrote that there are relatively few ways to do good, but there are countless ways to do evil, which can therefore have a much greater impact on our lives, and the lives of other beings capable of suffering. For this reason, philosophers such as Bernard Gert maintain that preventing evil is more important than promoting good in formulating moral rules and in conduct.^{[citation needed]}

Is evil a useful term?[link]

There is a school of thought that holds that no person is evil, that only acts may be properly considered evil. Psychologist and mediator Marshall Rosenberg claims that the root of violence is the very concept of "evil" or "badness." When we label someone as bad or evil, Rosenberg claims, it invokes the desire to punish or inflict pain. It also makes it easy for us to turn off our feelings towards the person we are harming. He cites the use of language in Nazi Germany as being a key to how the German people were able to do things to other human beings that they normally would not do. He links the concept of evil to our judicial system, which seeks to create justice via punishment — "punitive justice" — punishing acts that are seen as bad or wrong. He contrasts this approach with what he found in cultures where the idea of evil was non-existent. In such cultures, when someone harms another person, they are believed to be out of harmony with themselves and their community, are seen as sick or ill and measures are taken to restore them to a sense of harmonious relations with themselves and others.

Psychologist Albert Ellis makes a similar claim, in his school of psychology called Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy, or REBT. He says the root of anger, and the desire to harm someone, is almost always related to variations of implicit or explicit philosophical beliefs about other human beings. He further claims that without holding variants of those covert or overt belief and assumptions, the tendency to resort to violence in most cases is less likely.

Prominent American psychiatrist M. Scott Peck on the other hand, describes evil as "militant ignorance".^[21] The original Judeo-Christian concept of "sin" is as a process that leads us to "miss the mark" and fall short of perfection. Peck argues that while most people are conscious of this at least on some level, those that are evil actively and militantly refuse this consciousness. Peck characterizes evil as a malignant type of self-righteousness which results in a projection of evil onto selected specific innocent victims (often children or other people in relatively powerless positions). Peck considers those he calls evil to be attempting to escape and hide from their own conscience (through self deception) and views this as being quite distinct from the apparent absence of conscience evident in sociopaths.

According to Peck, an evil person:^[21][22]

• Is consistently self-deceiving, with the intent of avoiding guilt and maintaining a self-image of perfection
• Deceives others as a consequence of their own self-deception
• Projects his or her evils and sins onto very specific targets, scapegoating others while appearing normal with everyone else ("their insensitivity toward him was selective") ^[23]
• Commonly hates with the pretense of love, for the purposes of self-deception as much as deception of others
• Abuses political (emotional) power ("the imposition of one's will upon others by overt or covert coercion") ^[24]
• Maintains a high level of respectability and lies incessantly in order to do so
• Is consistent in his or her sins. Evil persons are characterized not so much by the magnitude of their sins, but by their consistency (of destructiveness)
• Is unable to think from the viewpoint of their victim
• Has a covert intolerance to criticism and other forms of narcissistic injury

He also considers certain institutions may be evil, as his discussion of the My Lai Massacre and its attempted coverup illustrate. By this definition, acts of criminal and state terrorism would also be considered evil.

Is evil necessary?[link]

Martin Luther allowed that there are cases where a little evil is a positive good. He wrote, "Seek out the society of your boon companions, drink, play, talk bawdy, and amuse yourself. One must sometimes commit a sin out of hate and contempt for the Devil, so as not to give him the chance to make one scrupulous over mere nothings... ."^[25]

In certain schools of political philosophy, leaders are encouraged to be indifferent to good or evil, taking actions based solely on practicality; this approach to politics was put forth by Niccolò Machiavelli, a 16th-century Florentine writer who advised politicians "...it is far safer to be feared than loved."^[26]

The international relations theories of realism and neorealism, sometimes called realpolitik advise politicians to explicitly disavow absolute moral and ethical considerations in international politics in favor of a focus on self-interest, political survival, and power politics, which they hold to be more accurate in explaining a world they view as explicitly amoral and dangerous. Political realists usually justify their perspectives by laying claim to a "higher moral duty" specific to political leaders, under which the greatest evil is seen to be the failure of the state to protect itself and its citizens. Machiavelli wrote: "...there will be traits considered good that, if followed, will lead to ruin, while other traits, considered vices which if practiced achieve security and well being for the Prince."^[26]

See also[link]

	Philosophy portal
	Ethics portal

Further reading[link]

• Baumeister, Roy F. (1999) Evil: Inside Human Violence and Cruelty. New York: A. W. H. Freeman / Owl Book
• Bennett, Gaymon, Hewlett, Martinez J, Peters, Ted, Russell, Robert John (2008). The Evolution of Evil. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. ISBN 978-3-525-56979-5
• Katz, Fred Emil (1993) "Ordinary People and Extraordinary Evil", [SUNY Press], ISBN 0-7914-1442-6;
• Katz, Fred Emil (2004) "Confronting Evil", [SUNY Press], ISBN 0-7914-6030-4.
• Oppenheimer, Paul (1996). Evil and the Demonic: A New Theory of Monstrous Behavior. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 0-8147-6193-3. 
• Shermer, M. (2004). The Science of Good & Evil. New York: Time Books. ISBN 0-8050-7520-8
• Steven Mintz, John Stauffer, ed. (2007). The Problem of Evil: Slavery, Freedom, and the Ambiguities of American Reform. University of Massachusetts Press. ISBN 978-1-55849-570-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=OatyHcQmLb4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Steven+Mintz#v=onepage&q=&f=false. 
• Stapley, A. B. & Elder Delbert L., "Using Our Free Agency". Ensign May 1975: 21
• Vetlesen, Arne Johan (2005) "Evil and Human Agency - Understanding Collective Evildoing" New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-85694-2
• Wilson, William McF., and Julian N. Hartt. "Farrer's Theodicy." In David Hein and Edward Hugh Henderson (eds), Captured by the Crucified: The Practical Theology of Austin Farrer. New York and London: T & T Clark / Continuum, 2004. ISBN 0-567-02510-1

References[link]

External links[link]

Look up evil in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Evil on In Our Time at the BBC. (listen now)
• Good and Evil in (Ultra Orthodox) Judaism
• ABC News: Looking for Evil in Everyday Life
• Psychology Today: Indexing Evil
• Booknotes interview with Lance Morrow on Evil: An Investigation, October 19, 2003.

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Dr. Evil (b. Douglas Powers) is a fictional character, played by Mike Myers in the Austin Powers film series. He is the antagonist of the movies, and Austin Powers' nemesis. He is a parody of James Bond villains, primarily Donald Pleasence's Ernst Stavro Blofeld (as featured in You Only Live Twice). Dr. Evil routinely hatches schemes to terrorize and take over the world, and is typically accompanied by his cat Mr. Bigglesworth and his sidekick Mini-Me, a dwarf clone of himself.

Background[link]

According to his own account in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, delivered in a group therapy session with his estranged son Scott, Dr. Evil's upbringing went as follows:

The details of my life are quite inconsequential ... Very well, where do I begin? My father was a relentlessly self-improving boulangerie owner from Belgium with low-grade narcolepsy and a penchant for buggery. My mother was a 15-year-old French prostitute named Chloe with webbed feet. My father would womanize; he would drink. He would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark. Sometimes, he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy. The sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament ... My childhood was typical: summers in Rangoon ... luge lessons ... In the spring, we'd make meat helmets ... When I was insolent I was placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds — pretty standard, really. At the age of 12, I received my first scribe. At the age of 14, a Zoroastrian named Vilmer ritualistically shaved my testicles. There really is nothing like a shorn scrotum — it's breathtaking ... I suggest you try it.^{[citation needed]}

TV versions skipped the last three lines and replaced it with

When I was 18 I went to evil medical school. At age 25 I took up tap dancing. I wanted to be a quadruple threat: an actor, dancer ...^{[citation needed]}

In the second film, he went on the Jerry Springer show to talk to Scott. In the deleted scene Jerry asked him to open up to his son, at first he refused, but then started to say very bizarre facts about himself. Like how when he was on a bus he willed himself a menstrual cycle, he loves toe cleavage, he named his left testicle piss and his right testicle vinegar, he was the first person to use quotation fingers, he slept in a horse, he once made a marzipan voodoo effigy of the Fonz while in a coma after smoking some Bolivian prayer hash at Sammy Davis Jr's house, and that he's the Princess of Canada.

In the third Austin Powers film, Goldmember, Dr. Evil claims that his adopted mother was the love-slave of the Belgian baker rather than a prostitute.

In Goldmember, Nigel Powers reveals that Dr. Evil is Austin Powers' twin brother and that his real name is Douglas ("Dougie") Powers. He explains that Douglas and Austin were separated as babies following a car explosion, and that he thought that only Austin had survived. Dougie was raised by Belgians, which is what made him so complex and evil. Interestingly, despite the fact that he cites his home town is Bruges, which is situated in the Dutch-speaking Flemish Region of Belgium, he claims to not know how to speak "Freaky-Deaky Dutch", instead speaking French, the main language of southern Belgium.

He also attended the British Intelligence Academy with Austin (along with Basil Exposition and Number 2), and is angered that Austin won the "International Man of Mystery" award, while he, the academy's best student, was overlooked.

In the first film, Dr. Evil is an internationally known criminal genius cryogenically frozen in 1967 and reawakened in 1997. Like Austin Powers, he faces challenges in acclimating to the new period (although he has his staff, who remained behind, to help him).

He often places his little finger near his mouth, especially when excited or to emphasize a statement. Although expanded upon, this signature move may have been taken from "Number 12 Looks Just Like You," an episode of The Twilight Zone in which Dr. Rex uses the same gesture several times. Although the idiosyncrasy was intended to be a humorous "signature move" for Evil, the only apparent reason for Rex's use of it was to differentiate him from several other characters (played by the same actor) who were intentionally physically identical to him.

Evil also repetitively uses the euphemism frickin'. He occasionally uses unnecessary finger quotes around now-familiar technical terms such as laser.

The scar on his face is a reference to similar scars on early 20th century movie villains such as several portrayed by Erich von Stroheim (as well as a homage to Donald Pleasence as Blofeld in You Only Live Twice). This type of scar is usually a remnant of Mensur fencing, an activity in which elite European student groups participate. In Goldmember it is revealed that he has a tattoo on his buttocks that reads "E. Diddy" and he also claimed to have three testicles. Dr. Evil also tends to get angry when he is referred to as "Mr. Evil" and then proceeds to say that "didn't spend six years in evil medical school to be called 'Mister', thank you very much!"

In theAustin Powers films, Mike Myers wore blue colored-contacts for the role of Dr. Evil, though his eyes were a more icy-blue in Goldmember.

Entourage[link]

Dr. Evil employs a diverse and highly stereotypical group of minions.

Frau Farbissina[link]

Perhaps closest to Dr. Evil is his assistant, Frau Farbissina, founder of the militant wing of the Salvation Army. ("Farbissina" is German/Yiddish for "embittered".) In the second film, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, after imbibing some of Austin Powers' mojo Dr. Evil becomes temporarily irresistible and they have sex. However, this leads to an uncomfortable morning-after encounter. In the closing credits she is revealed to be Scott's mother. (In the first film, it is asserted that Scott was created via Dr. Evil's frozen semen, thought it is assumed that in traveling back through time he altered this particular event.) In Goldmember, Farbissina and Dr. Evil also kiss while he is in prison; although the two enjoyed it (despite having been established as a lesbian in the previous movie), the purpose was to transfer a key to Evil so that he could escape. She is probably a parody of either the character Rosa Klebb in the James Bond movie From Russia with Love, or that of Irma Bunt from On Her Majesty's Secret Service. She does not appear to age as she looked the same in the 1960s as she did in the 1990s, which was used for comedic effect in the film. Dr. Evil meets the younger Number Two and comments 'You look so healthy and youthful.' Farbissina's voice is heard offscreen and Dr. Evil turns and says, 'And Frau, you look so ...' as the audience is shown she has not changed at all, leading Dr. Evil to finish with '... ri-ght'.

Scott Evil[link]

Dr. Evil carries on a strained relationship with his son Scott. Dr. Evil liquidates their therapy group, accusing them of being "insolent". Scott is also known for pointing out Dr. Evil's incompetence and immaturity as well as obvious mistakes and flaws in Dr. Evil's plans. For instance, when Dr. Evil asks why Austin Powers always foils their plans, Scott says "Because you never kill him when you have the chance and you're a big dope". Dr. Evil mocks Scott and ignores his corrections, which often leads to failure. Scott later grows more "evil", thus losing his hair; this gains his father's respect momentarily, especially after Scott provides him a pool filled with "frickin' sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their frickin' heads". When Dr. Evil switches sides to help Austin save the world, Scott takes over as the head of the evil organization.

Number 2[link]

Number 2 is the leader of Dr. Evil's industrial empire, Virtucon. A natural businessman, Number 2 is often more concerned about the financial aspects of world domination than the world domination itself. In each successive film, Number 2 has devised various schemes and ventures which would not only garner massive profits for - and expand the power-base of - the Virtucon empire, but would do so legitimately, leaving the authorities with little excuse for apprehending Dr. Evil (such as shifting their resources towards investing in Starbucks). Evil, however, refuses to heed Number 2's advice and has often made Number 2 suffer for his insolence, claiming that his strategies in bringing in legitimately-obtained income are insulting to the ideals of an evil empire. In the first film Number 2 tries to do a deal with Austin, causing Dr. Evil to try sending him into flames. However he returns in the next film. He helps Dr. Evil adjust to the new era, such as explaining the financial differences. Number 2 is a parody of Emilio Largo from the James Bond film Thunderball, second in command of The SPECTRE terrorist organization.

Mr. Bigglesworth[link]

Mr. Bigglesworth is a fictional cat belonging to Dr. Evil. He was originally similar to Blofeld's cat, a typical white Persian cat from the James Bond movie series.

He was forced to escape hastily with Dr. Evil in a cryogenic capsule, but lost all of his fur due to an error in the thawing out process.

Mr. Bigglesworth has since that time been bald, played by a Sphynx cat named Ted NudeGent. Dr. Evil's miniature clone, Mini-Me, has a tiny cat called "Mini Mr. Bigglesworth", presumably^{[citation needed]} also a clone of Mr. Bigglesworth. One of Doctor Evil's lines in the movie to Mini Me is "No Mini Me, we do not gnaw on our kitty." In the third installment of the franchise, Austin Powers in Goldmember, Mr. Bigglesworth is not seen once in the entire length of the film, except for promotional shots, the school flashback to when he still had hair as a kitten, where he was played by a 12-week-old kitten named Chloe.^[1] He was in a deleted scene in which Dr. Evil describes what it is like to hold a hairless cat - "like holding somebody's ass."

To illustrate his importance, Dr. Evil states in the first movie: "When Dr. Evil gets angry, Mr. Bigglesworth gets upset. And when Mr. Bigglesworth gets upset, people DIE!"

Fat Bastard[link]

Fat Bastard is an immensely obese henchman hailing from Scotland, weighing a metric ton. His extreme size endows Fat Bastard with super-human strength as exhibited by his prowess in the Sumo ring from Goldmember. This makes him a formidable enemy for Austin Powers. Fat Bastard is noted for his foul temper, his frequent flatulence, his vulgar and revolting bad manners and his unusual eating habits, which include cannibalism, more specifically a taste for human infants (which he calls "the other other white meat") or anything that looks like a baby, e.g. midgets/dwarves, by which even Dr. Evil is grossed out. Fat Bastard was originally in the employ of the British Ministry of Defence as a guard, but his resentment of being told to lose weight caused him to defect, and he stole Austin's mojo while he was in cryostasis in 1969. Fat Bastard appears at the end of Austin Powers in Goldmember, having lost most of his girth, claiming he lost "180 lbs" (contradicting the notion he weighed a metric ton) and attributing the loss to the "Subway diet", though he complains about the excess skin (notably around his neck, in the "shape of a vagina") left over from the weight loss.

Random Task[link]

Dr. Evil's handyman extraordinaire is Random Task, a Korean ex-wrestler whose personality and assassination style is a parody to that of Oddjob from Goldfinger, except he throws his shoe instead of his hat. His names themselves are synonyms of 'odd' and 'job'. Task repetitively cracks his neck and it is often his job to silently move dead bodies away and move Dr. Evil's chair. Random Task attempts to kill Austin in his Honeymoon suite unsuccessfully as Austin uses the Swedish-made penis enlarger pump on him before Vanessa Kensington breaks a bottle of champagne over his head to subdue him. His unconscious but broadly-grinning body is then placed on a trolley and pushed along the corridor of the hotel.

Patty O'Brien[link]

Patty O'Brien is an ex-Irish assassin who is extremely superstitious, leaving a keepsake from his good-luck charm bracelet on the body of every victim he kills. Apparently Scotland Yard has been trying to get a hold of that bracelet for some time. O'Brien explains in his Irish accent: "They're always after me lucky charms!", a reference to an American breakfast cereal television ad. Dr. Evil and Frau insult O'Brien revealing his voice to sound like the Leprechaun mascot from the Lucky Charms advertisement. However, O'Brien does not understand the reference. O'Brien attempts to assassinate Austin by choking him with his bracelet in the bathroom stall, but Austin drives his head into the toilet, drowning him. Patty's charms on his bracelet actually look like the marshmallows found in Lucky Charms cereal. He is a parody of Donald "Red" Grant from the 007 film From Russia With Love.

Mustafa[link]

Mustafa is a Crimean Tatar and another notable assistant, for he designs the cryogenic freezing process that preserves Dr. Evil for 30 years. In 1969, two years after the 1960s Dr. Evil was frozen, Mustafa is caught by the 1990s Austin Powers (who had followed 90's Dr. Evil through time) and is forced to answer questions on the location of 90's Dr. Evil's hideout (as it turns out, he can't help but answer any question that is asked to him three times). He is silenced by Mini-Me before he can reveal his boss's location and is nearly killed when he falls down a cliff. He survives, however, but breaks both his legs, and he pleads for someone to help him while at the bottom of the cliff. In 1997, he sees to it that the 90's Dr. Evil is thawed out, but he is dumped into an incineration chamber after he learns that the cryogenic freezing process has left Mr. Bigglesworth completely furless. He survives this as well, and calls for help after saying that he's in "quite a lot of pain". Dr. Evil sends a henchman down to shoot him to death. The first shot hits him in the arm, which only causes Mustafa to complain, before a second shot quiets him. Mustafa is still alive and has found employment working for Scott Evil.

Mini-Me[link]

The second film introduces Dr. Evil's clone, Mini-Me, who is 1/8 his size but twice as evil. Dr. Evil considers him more of a real son than Scott, provoking the latter's jealousy. As revealed by Myers in the audio commentary for the 2nd film, Mini-Me is a parody of the character Majai, from the film The Island of Dr. Moreau, as played by 2'4" actor Nelson de la Rosa, whose sole purpose in that film is to follow Marlon Brando's Dr. Moreau character around and copy his every move, even dressing identically to Brando in every scene. Majai never speaks in the film, and simillarly, Mini-Me does not speak either. Any comparison to Herve Villechaize's "Nick-Nack" character from The Man with the Golden Gun is merely coincidental.

Other assistants[link]

In the opening few minutes of the first film, Dr. Evil has four henchmen, namely Jurgen, Generalisimo, Rita, and Don Luigi, who are all executed because of their failure to kill Austin Powers. Rita was the final person to be killed. There are also unnamed henchmen who, in The Spy Who Shagged Me and Goldmember, witness Austin and Felicity and Austin and Mini-Me, respectively, perform rather mundane tasks which look depraved, as the henchmen are observing their silhouettes through a tent or screen (making it appear that Felicity is pulling objects out of Austin's bottom where she is actually pulling them out of a bag, or Austin's genitalia, which is really Mini-Me's arm, tossing him an apple).

Lairs[link]

The Space Needle in Seattle

Parodying the many Bond villains, Dr. Evil inhabits a sequence of elaborate lairs.

In Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery, Dr. Evil's first lair is underground in the Nevada desert, outside Las Vegas; an obvious homage to Diamonds Are Forever.

Following a successful investment by Number 2, Dr. Evil's lair in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me is atop the Space Needle in Seattle, portrayed to be the Starbucks headquarters; later, it is housed first in a volcano with Dr. Evil's face carved into it on a Caribbean island (an homage to both You Only Live Twice and Live and Let Die), and then on the moon (the film's final villainous homage, to Moonraker). He also has a spaceship that looks like a penis.

For the third film, Austin Powers In Goldmember, Dr. Evil has a new lair behind the famous Hollywood sign and a submarine lair, shaped like himself (an homage to Karl Stromberg's Liparus tanker in The Spy Who Loved Me).

Schemes[link]

Dr. Evil's projects for world domination are often named after pop culture trademarks (Death Star, The Alan Parsons Project, Preparation H) and he is often unaware of the accidental pun. For example, when Dr. Evil says he will turn the moon into a "Death Star" (said with finger quotes), Scott laughs and calls him "Darth". Scott also coughs and mutters "Rip-off!" After a slight pause, his father says, "Bless you."

Dr. Evil varies in how real he makes his threats out to be. When he makes his threat of causing all of the volcanoes in the world to erupt at once, all he does is display his machinery, something of an homage to Thunderball. When he makes the threat of "Death Star", he "demonstrates" the power of his laser by showing the President and the cabinet footage of the White House being destroyed. After the President and the cabinet realize they're still alive, he says "Well actually that was just footage from the movie Independence Day, but the real laser would be a lot like that". With his threat of flooding the world, he shows that the tractor beam is real by pulling down a satellite that looks like a pair of breasts.

A Dr. Evil impersonator.

Dr. Evil seems to have a problem in general with understanding money, especially regarding the modern American economy and inflation. In the first film, he intends to hold the world ransom for one million dollars, but doesn't understand that isn't as large a sum of money as it was in the 1960s, because of inflation, and the demand causes the U.N. to burst out laughing. In the second film, Dr. Evil goes back to 1969 and plans to hold the world ransom for $100 billion, and when he tells the amount to the President, he receives a similar reaction as in the first film when the President and his cabinet laugh at him. In the second film, Dr. Evil says, "Why make trillions when we can make ... BILLIONS?" not knowing that trillions are a thousand times larger than billions. In the third movie, he demands "1 billion, gagillion, fafillion, shabolubalu million illion yillion ... yen." This time his demand is met with simple confusion from the world leaders. In his first film his other idiotic schemes include a threat to destroy the ozone layer and make a scandal of Prince Charles' marriage, humorously unaware that these were both major issues recently and have since subsided.

One of Dr. Evil's greatest desires is to have "frickin' sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their frickin' heads," and is disappointed when he can't have the sharks because of laws on endangered species. Instead, Number 2 gives him mutated sea bass, which Dr. Evil grudgingly accepts, muttering "well, it's a start" (they were ill-tempered, as the bass do manage to eat the head of one unfortunate henchman hired by Dr. Evil). Scott however, manages to get him said sharks in the third film as a father-son gift.

Dr. Evil can't resist cracking puns at his own work (he says his submarine lair is "long and hard and full of seamen"). As with Auric Goldfinger, he creates models of his plans, worried that they are too complicated for his minions to understand. He also cares nothing for the companies (Virtucon, Starbucks, Hollywood Talent Agency) that fund his plans, ignoring all suggestions from Number 2 on how to increase the profit of such companies. Although he was impressed that Number 2's Hollywood Talent Agency was able to recruit celebrities such as George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Parody[link]

The James Bond films[link]

Just as Austin Powers lampoons James Bond, Dr. Evil parodies several James Bond villains. The first is Ernst Stavro Blofeld, as portrayed by Donald Pleasence in the film You Only Live Twice. (Curiously, Pleasence was a regular to the Halloween movie series, whose villain is named Michael Myers.) Blofeld has a white Persian cat, parodied by Dr. Evil's Mr. Bigglesworth.

Dr. Evil also wears clothing with a strong resemblance to Julius No, played by Joseph Wiseman, from the film Dr. No, specifically gray Nehru Jacket jumpsuits and similar anti-radiation suits. Some aspects, including some of his quotes and his henchman Random Task, parody elements from Goldfinger.

While Dr. Evil is primarily a send-up of the 1960s Sean Connery-era Bond villains, the 1970s Roger Moore-era also gets skewered: the interior of Dr. Evil's space station in The Spy Who Shagged Me resembles Hugo Drax's space station from Moonraker, and the film's title spoofs The Spy Who Loved Me. Dr. Evil has three testicles, as is proven in Goldmember when he checks to see that "they're all there" following a rather painful blow to his groin. This is most likely a nod to James Bond villain Francisco Scaramanga from 1974's The Man with the Golden Gun, who has three nipples. Mini-Me may also be another reference to Scaramanga, who has a dwarf servant named Nick Nack.

Others[link]

Some of Dr. Evil's facial and vocal expressions are allegedly patterned after Lorne Michaels, producer of television's Saturday Night Live, where Myers worked for a number of years. Most notably, Dr. Evil's statement "throw me a frickin' bone here, people," was supposedly something Michaels said many times at script meetings for SNL. As Dr. Evil, Myers occasionally affects an Ontario accent, reflecting his (and Michaels') upbringing.

In popular culture[link]

• Jamaican dancehall artist Craig "Leftside" Parks took up the stage name "Dr. Evil," "toasting" (rapping) with the same vocal pattern as the character. He is now known as "Mr. Evil". He was most notable for a song named "More Punany". When Brick FM, a Scottish radio station, broadcast the song and got investigated by Ofcom, they claimed Punany was The heated Italian cheese sandwich, when it was meant as the slang word for the Vagina. The regulator was unimpressed and said it considered regulatory action against Brick FM. Ofcom Ruling Over Brick FM's Offensive Broadcast Causes Hilarity Within Media
• In World of Warcraft, an important raid instance named Naxxramas has Mr. Bigglesworth, a cat which appears at the beginning of the instance. Upon killing the cat, that master of the instance will curse you and promise to punish you dearly. Also in a goblin's quest named A Goblin in Shark's Clothing, ^[2] you have control of a robotic shark and one of your moves fires a laser beam with the description stating, "every shark needs a freakin' laser beam!"^[3]
• Kim Jong-il was referred to as the real life Dr. Evil.^[4]
• When Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom was apprehended on January 21, 2012, UK paper The Daily Mail referred to him as 'Dr. Evil'.^[5]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Dr. Evil

• Dr. Evil at the Internet Movie Database

Eddie Izzard
Izzard performing at the Garrick Theatre, 2 December 2008
Birth name	Edward John Izzard[1]
Born	(1962-02-07) 7 February 1962 (age 50) Colony of Aden, Aden Protectorate (now Aden, Yemen)[2]
Medium	Stand up, Television, Film
Nationality	British
Years active	1982–present
Genres	Surreal humour, Improvisational comedy, Observational comedy.
Subject(s)	History, Celebrities, Religion, Culture, Sex
Influences	Monty Python,[3][4] Billy Connolly,[5] Lenny Bruce, Bill Hicks,[5] Steve Martin,[4] Spike Milligan, Jerry Sadowitz.[4]
Influenced	Hal Sparks, Harry Hill, Rhod Gilbert[6]
Notable works and roles	Live at the Ambassadors Unrepeatable Definite Article Dress to Kill Glorious Circle Lenny Bruce in Lenny Wayne Malloy/Doug Rich in The Riches Roman Nagel in Ocean's Thirteen Erich Fellgiebel in Valkyrie Mr. Kite in Across the Universe
Website	eddieizzard.com
Emmy Awards
Individual Performance In A Variety Or Music Program 2000 Dress to Kill Writing In A Variety, Music Or Comedy Program 2000 Dress to Kill
British Comedy Awards
Top Stand-up 1993 Live at the Ambassadors Best Stand-up 1996 Definite Article

Edward John "Eddie" Izzard^[1] (born 7 February 1962) is an English stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. His comedy style takes the form of rambling, whimsical monologue and self-referential pantomime. He had a starring role in the television series The Riches as Wayne Malloy and has appeared in many motion pictures such as Ocean's Twelve, Ocean's Thirteen, Mystery Men, Shadow of the Vampire, The Cat's Meow, Across the Universe, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and Valkyrie. He is also the voice of Nigel in the 2006 animated film The Wild and Miles Axlerod in the 2011 Disney/Pixar animated film Cars 2.

He has cited his main comedy role model as Monty Python, and John Cleese once referred to him as the "Lost Python".^[3] In 2009, he completed 43 marathons in 51 days for Sport Relief in spite of having no prior history of long distance running.^[7] He is also known for his transvestism. He has won numerous awards including a Primetime Emmy Award for Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program for his comedy special Dress to Kill, in 2000. Izzard's web site won the Yahoo People's Choice Award^[8] and earned the Webby Award.^[9]