Tropedia

  • Before making a single edit, Tropedia EXPECTS our site policy and manual of style to be followed. Failure to do so may result in deletion of contributions and blocks of users who refuse to learn to do so. Our policies can be reviewed here.
  • All images MUST now have proper attribution, those who neglect to assign at least the "fair use" licensing to an image may have it deleted. All new pages should use the preloadable templates feature on the edit page to add the appropriate basic page markup. Pages that don't do this will be subject to deletion, with or without explanation.
  • All new trope pages will be made with the "Trope Workshop" found on the "Troper Tools" menu and worked on until they have at least three examples. The Trope workshop specific templates can then be removed and it will be regarded as a regular trope page after being moved to the Main namespace. THIS SHOULD BE WORKING NOW, REPORT ANY ISSUES TO Janna2000, SelfCloak or RRabbit42. DON'T MAKE PAGES MANUALLY UNLESS A TEMPLATE IS BROKEN, AND REPORT IT THAT IS THE CASE. PAGES WILL BE DELETED OTHERWISE IF THEY ARE MISSING BASIC MARKUP.

READ MORE

Tropedia
Register
Advertisement
WikEd fancyquotesQuotesBug-silkHeadscratchersIcons-mini-icon extensionPlaying WithUseful NotesMagnifierAnalysisPhoto linkImage LinksHaiku-wide-iconHaikuLaconic
Themayor

The Mayor of Sunnydale. Cheerful. Fatherly. Wants to be a giant snake demon.


Cquote1
"Bad man. Good manners."
Ron Stoppable referring to Señor Senior, Senior on Kim Possible
Cquote2


Most of the time, when there is a Villain, they're going to have a personality or manner that underscores how evil they are. They may kick puppies for giggles, be particularly insensitive, even during sex, or might just be too unknowable to be anything but evil.

And then, there are villains who are Affably Evil. There is absolutely nothing separating them from being normal, polite people except for the fact that they want to Take Over the World or use human souls to power their Artifact of Doom. They're not the Stepford Smiler—their affability is a genuine part of their personality, not a mask. If they have underlings, expect them to be a Benevolent Boss. In one way, they're the opposite of an Anti-Hero. They may Pet the Dog on occasion, but won't hesitate to kick it with steel-toed boots the next second if it helps them accomplish their goals. They may well be a Villain with Good Publicity.

This villain will invite the hero out to tea, offer him a favorite dish, make pleasant small talk, try to appeal to the hero's better nature, and convince the heroes that the villain's plan isn't worth getting involved in. Of course, if the hero still won't change their mind, the villain will remind them that they are, after all, still a villain. It may or may not involve a Death Trap, depending on how nice the villain really is when crossed. Of course, inviting the hero's mom out to tea might send a stronger message. The friendliness of said villains can serve to humanize these guys.

Almost always either comedic, or a charismatic Magnificent Bastard, or a Well-Intentioned Extremist who really believes that they are the good guys, but the occasional Complete Monster can exhibit such qualities as well. Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor is not true for them, and their affability even makes them easy to "compliment" with an Insult Backfire. Captives of an affably evil villain won't be kept in dungeons, but in a Gilded Cage.

Please note, in the event an Affably Evil villain does undergo a Villainous Breakdown, the very traits that make them so pleasant often serve to make their breakdown extremely creepy or outright scary. A kind, friendly man suddenly going into a psychotic rage is made all the more scary by the simple fact that he was previously so nice and kind. If they keep their inviting personality while going utterly Ax Crazy, it makes them seem downright creepy and disturbing.

Compare:

  • Punch Clock Villain, who isn't necessarily evil at all—they simply have a job to do, and if that job involves slaughtering innocent children or stealing people's life savings, well, that's what they get paid for.
  • Villains Out Shopping for Affably Evil behavior in otherwise normal villains. Often a trait of a Card-Carrying Villain, especially in the more ironic portrayals.
  • Villain with Good Publicity. This trope may be the reason WHY he is so popular with common people.

Contrast:

Good Is Not Nice is the good(ish) Sister Trope, and such good guys are particularly good at giving the Affably Evil a proverbial punch in the nose. I'm Not Hungry is often dealing with this villain. A villain will often engage in Too Funny to Be Evil to achieve this effect.

Most, if not all, real life monsters fall under this trope, as without charisma, there's no way they could have done much of anything. Given that this is a Good/Evil trope, No Real Life Examples, Please

Examples of Affably Evil include:


  1. They'll chat pleasantly with their victims while engaging in Cold-Blooded Torture, or hum cheerfully to themselves while setting an orphanage on fire. Unlike Affably Evil characters, they're genuinely mean, and often do things For the Evulz, but you'd never know it just by talking to them.
Advertisement