An evil empire is a speculative fiction trope in which a major antagonist of the story is a technologically advanced nation, typically ruled by an evil emperor or empress, that aims to control the world or conquer some specific group. They are opposed by a hero from more common origins who uses their guile or the help of an

underground resistance Underground Resistance (commonly abbreviated to UR) are an American musical collective from Detroit, Michigan. Producing primarily Detroit techno since 1990 with a grungy four-track musical aesthetic, they are also renowned for their militant p ...

to fight them. Well-known examples are the

Galactic Empire Galactic empires are a common trope used in science fantasy and science fiction, particularly in works known as 'space operas'. Many authors have either used a galaxy-spanning empire as background or written about the growth and/or decline of s ...

in '' Star Wars'', which forms as a result of a fascist auto-coup which abolishes the liberal-democratic

Galactic Republic The Galactic Republic, often referred to as simply the Republic, is a fictional galactic polity depicted in the ''Star Wars'' universe, where it existed prior to the establishment of the Galactic Empire. The Republic is most prominently por ...

and is opposed by the

Rebel Alliance The Alliance to Restore the Republic (colloquial: Rebel Alliance; the Rebellion; the Alliance; or the Rebels) is a fictional stateless interstellar coalition of republican dissidents, imperial defectors, revolutionary factions and anti-imperi ...

including

Luke Skywalker Luke Skywalker is a fictional character and the protagonist of the original film trilogy of the ''Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. Portrayed by Mark Hamill, Luke first appeared in ''Star Wars'' (1977), and he returned in ''The E ...

, as well as the Galactic Empire in '' Dune'', whose Emperor plots the downfall of

House Atreides ''Dune'', also known as the ''Dune Chronicles'', is an American science fiction media franchise that originated with the 1965 novel ''Dune'' by Frank Herbert and has continued to add new publications. ''Dune'' is frequently described as the best ...

, and is opposed by Paul Atreides. The theme also often appears in video games. A recurring element of the ''

Final Fantasy is a Japanese video game, Japanese science fantasy anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and developed and owned by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and ...

'' series is an evil empire as the primary antagonistic faction, starting with ''

Final Fantasy II * is a fantasy role-playing video game developed and published by Square in 1988 for the Family Computer as the second installment of the ''Final Fantasy'' series. The game has received numerous enhanced remakes for the WonderSwan Color, the ...

'', which was itself inspired by ''Star Wars''. It is a major aspect of the story of ''

Final Fantasy VI also known as ''Final Fantasy III'' from its initial North American release, is a 1994 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the sixth main entry in the ''Final Fantasy'' ...

'' in the form of the Gestahl Empire, proceeding onward to ''

Final Fantasy XV is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix. The fifteenth main installment of the ''Final Fantasy'' series, it was released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2016, Microsoft Windows in 2018, and as a launch title ...

'', in which the empire of Niflheim conquers the kingdom of Lucis, forcing its heir,

Noctis Lucis Caelum , for short, is a fictional character from Square Enix's ''Final Fantasy'' video game series. Noctis is a playable character and the main protagonist of ''Final Fantasy XV''. Noctis has also appeared in the game's expanded media, including ''Fi ...

, to fight back and reclaim his homeland. In ''

Mother 3 is a 2006 role-playing video game developed by Brownie Brown and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance. It is the third entry in the Mother (video game series), ''Mother'' series. The game follows Lucas, a young boy ...

'', the protagonist Lucas has his home attacked by the villainous Pigmask Army, which seeks to turn animals into robotic Chimeras and brainwash the land's agrarian inhabitants via Happy Boxes.

Characteristics

Fantastical evil empires typically make heavy use of technology and mechanization, refusing to coexist with nature and destroying or exploiting it instead. The hero or heroes of the story often make use of these natural elements to fight the empire, such as the

Ewok The Ewoks (singular: Ewok) are a fictional species There are a number of lists of fictional species: Extraterrestrial *List of fictional extraterrestrials (by media type) *Lists of fictional alien species: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, ...

s of

Endor Endor or Ein Dor may refer to: Places * Endor (village), from the Hebrew Bible, a Canaanite village where the Witch of Endor lived * Indur, a Palestinian village depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war * Ein Dor, a Kibbutz in modern Israel F ...

or the Sandworms of

Arrakis Arrakis ()—informally known as Dune and later called Rakis—is a fictional desert planet featured in the ''Dune'' series of novels by Frank Herbert. Herbert's first novel in the series, 1965's ''Dune'', is considered one of the greatest scien ...

. When the empire is defeated, the world returns to its natural state. This is often a metaphor for modern

environmental problems Environmental issues are effects of human activity on the biophysical environment, most often of which are harmful effects that cause environmental degradation. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment on t ...

caused by the negligence of global superpowers.

Use in politics

The concept of an "evil empire" was appropriated from ''Star Wars'' by Ronald Reagan, who used it in his 1983

Evil Empire speech The "Evil Empire" speech was a speech delivered by U.S. President Ronald Reagan to the National Association of Evangelicals on March 8, 1983 during the Cold War. In that speech, Reagan referred to the Soviet Union as an "evil empire" and as "th ...

to describe the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, dramatically raising the stakes in the arms race between it and the United States.

References

Fantasy tropes Fictional empires Science fiction themes {{fiction-stub

Characteristics

Use in politics

See also

References