Writing: The Evil Mother
Since the beginning of storytelling, one trope has been recognised through fairy tales into adult fiction - an Evil or Wicked Mother. A mother is one of the most central figures that a character can have growing up, and her influence can have an impact on that character even as an adult. If the character is lucky, that mother will be a loving one - but in many cases, The mother figure is truly evil in a traditional sense, and is one of the worst villains one can face, especially if one of the Heroes or Love Interests is one of her children (or if she's married into his or her family as a stepmother).