Dark Priests

Dark Priests" are a type of villains that are popular in many media, and despite this name, does not require the characters to be actual priests - any members of any clergy or cult is appliable for this position: unlike a, a "Dark Priest" uses his position to knowingly commit crimes that are deeply at odds with his religion, often they will try to convince themselves or others they are doing good but other times they may simply not care at all.What makes a "Dark Priest" so dangerous is that despite his obvious evil, he can still hold great power in others and due to his status as a "man of the cloth", he is often hard for a protagonist to counter without risking public backlash (especially if the setting is in the past, when the clergy had greater control than they do today). In many world religions, especially Christianity, a "Dark Priest" is also known as a false teacher or prophet.Alternatively, a "Dark Priest" may not actually be a member of the clergy at all but a deranged and/or evil being who has adopted the guise of a cleric for whatever reasons they may have, or a corrupt clergyman who renounced his divine alliegances to worship demons or more simply to commit crimes.