Evil laughter or maniacal laughter is manic

laughter Laughter is a pleasant physical reaction and emotion consisting usually of rhythmical, often audible contractions of the diaphragm and other parts of the respiratory system. It is a response to certain external or internal stimuli. Laughter ...

by a

villain A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character a ...

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

. The expression dates to at least 1860. "Wicked laugh" can be found even earlier, dating back to at least 1784. Another variant, the "sardonic laugh," shows up in 1714 and might date back even further. A 2018 paper argued that this specific type of laugh has foundations in human psychology. In comic books, where

supervillain A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero. Supervillains are oft ...

s utter such laughs, they are variously rendered as ''mwahahaha'', ''muwhahaha'', ''muahahaha'', ''bwahahaha'', etc. These words are also commonly used on internet

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

bulletin board system A bulletin board system (BBS), also called computer bulletin board service (CBBS), is a computer server running software that allows users to connect to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, the user can perform functions such as ...

s, and games. There, they are generally used when some form of victory is attained, or to indicate superiority over someone else ( ownage), or also mockingly at a statement one finds hard to believe was uttered in earnestness. During the 1930s, the popular radio program ''

The Shadow The Shadow is a fictional character created by magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator, and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by writer Walter ...

'' used a signature evil laugh as part of its presentation. This was a rare case of a non-villain character using an evil laugh, and it was voiced by actor

Frank Readick Frank Marvin Readick Jr. (November 6, 1896 — December 27, 1965) was an American radio and film actor. Born in Seattle, Washington, Readick was well known for his evil laughter that followed the introduction from ''The Shadow'' radio dram ...

. His laugh was used even after

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

took over the lead role. Actor

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...

's evil laugh has been used or copied many times in radio, film, music, and television, notably at the end of the music video '' Michael Jackson's Thriller''. In films, evil laughter often fills the soundtrack when the villain is off-camera. In such cases, the laughter follows the hero or victim as they try to escape. An example of this is in ''

Raiders of the Lost Ark ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. It stars Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronal ...

'', where

Belloq This is a list of characters in the Indiana Jones (franchise), ''Indiana Jones'' series. Introduced in ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' Indiana Jones Indiana Jones (character), Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr. (Harrison Ford), the titular chara ...

's laugh fills the South American jungle as

Indiana Jones ''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise based on the adventures of Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., a fictional professor of archaeology, that began in 1981 with the film '' Raiders of the Lost Ark''. In 1984, a prequel, '' Th ...

escapes from the Hovitos.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evil Laughter 1860s neologisms Sound effects Humour Interjections Laughter Good and evil fi:Nauraminen#Paha nauru