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 in

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 blogs,

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'' 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 took over the lead role. Actor Vincent Price'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'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