History DracoInLeatherPants / Literature

* Luke from ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians''.

* ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'' pretty much popularized the concept of VampiresAreSexGods. Which is thoroughly disturbing considering in the original novel, he was ''never'' portrayed as anything other than a hideous monster devoted to killing everyone and everything.

** Another Franchise/CthulhuMythos creature that gets this treatment in some sects of the fandom - [[MagnificentBastard Nyarlathotep]]. Yes, [[EldritchAbomination that one]], [[BlueAndOrangeMorality the one that messes with humans]] [[ItAmusedMe because he's bored]]. It doesn't help that Lovecraft himself basically described him as being "[[TallDarkAndHandsome Slender, swarthy]][[EvilIsSexy , and sinister]]" in one story, or that he appears as a rather attractive-looking Pharaoh in ''Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath''.

* ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'s'' vermin sometimes get this, though in their case it's less "In Leather Pants" than "Posing For CutenessOverload", [[FetishFuel except among certain sections of the]] UsefulNotes/FurryFandom. Yeah, the woodlanders are prejudiced against them, but that that might be because the vermin attempt to ''eat'' them at every opportunity.

*** To be fair, he DID spend most of his life in a place filled with practically nothing but cruel practically moraless jerks and starvation.

** The minor [[EnfantTerrible "Big" Walder Frey]] is gaining a following, partially due to the influence of the Tumblr writer Poor Quentyn, who called them his "favorite minor character" in [[http://poorquentyn.tumblr.com/post/120497478148/big-walder-the-builder this post]]. Big Walder at a young age is plotting to become Lord of the Crossing despite being very low in the line of succession (he's the son of Lord Walder Frey's 12th son), implying he means to murder a lot of relatives. Its almost certain he stabbed his cousin "Little" Walder to death to move up the line of succession, even though they were both about 9. However Big Walder still comes across as fairly likable, considering how unlikable most of the Freys ahead of him are. While Little Walder was constantly portrayed as a bully and was becoming worse, Big Walder shows a nicer side in ADWD, being one of the few people who's kind to Theon, and, as Poor Quentyn notes, there is something comicable about a child going on about how they'll be a Lord.

** The minor [[InfantTerrible "Big" Walder Frey]] is gaining a following, partially due to the influence of the Tumblr writer Poor Quentyn, who called them his "favorite minor character" in [[http://poorquentyn.tumblr.com/post/120497478148/big-walder-the-builder this post]]. Big Walder at a young age is plotting to become Lord of the Crossing despite being very low in the line of succession (he's the son of Lord Walder Frey's 12th son), implying he means to murder a lot of relatives. Its almost certain he stabbed his cousin "Little" Walder to death to move up the line of succession, even though they were both about 9. However Big Walder still comes across as fairly likable, considering how unlikable most of the Freys ahead of him are. While Little Walder was constantly portrayed as a bully and was becoming worse, Big Walder shows a nicer side in ADWD, being one of the few people who's kind to Theon, and, as Poor Quentyn notes, there is something comicable about a child going on about how they'll be a Lord.

** In ''Discworld/CarpeJugulum'', Pratchett deliberately subverts the trope at the end, when the dashingly gorgeous male vampire asks his object of affection, the young witch Agnes, if she'd reason with the mob to save him from the stake. Her SplitPersonality Perdita is tempted, but Agnes, whose qualifications as a [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Witch of Lancre]] derive from her being sensible and intelligent remembers some of the evil things she's seen the vampires do. She tells him that she wouldn't just let the mob kill him, she'd hold their coats for them while they did it.

* Heathcliff in ''Literature/WutheringHeights'' has received this treatment over the years, having become something of an archetype of the tortured-but-dashing Gothic Romantic Hero With A Heart Of Gold, up there with Mr. Darcy from ''PrideAndPrejudice'' and Mr. Edward Rochester from ''Literature/JaneEyre''. This completely overlooks the fact that, within the novel, he's presented as a repellent, violent, and obsessively vindictive bully who spitefully destroys everyone who ever looked cross-eyed at him... and then, when they're dead, immediately does his best to destroy the lives of their ''children'' instead.

** Feanor himself is universally lionized despite causing all the conflict in the first place, because, despite being a selfish and paranoid bastard who takes any disagreement or well-meaning advice as utter emnity, he is also an omnidisciplinary genius and complete and utter badass.

** Then there's Scourge, the leader of [=BloodClan=]. His fans tend to come in two varieties: Those who think he's a {{Badass}}, and those who pity him due to his [[FreudianExcuse rough childhood]]. However, the latter group is mostly made up of MisaimedFandom - the [[WordOfGod author's note]] included in ''The Rise of Scourge'' specifically says that in writing the story they were trying to ''explain'' Scourge's evil behavior, and establish him as a {{Foil}} to Firestar, not ''justify'' what he did. In fact, when Scourge's abusive siblings - Socks and Ruby - come to Scourge after being abandoned by their owners, Scourge seems to have gotten over their bullying enough to simply have them chased away, rather than getting any sort of revenge on them. The fact that he continues to be evil despite having got over what originally ''made'' him one shows that his rough childhood doesn't excuse him for his atrocities.

** Perhaps the greatest ''Star Wars'' example though, is Literature/DarthBane. He's a merciless, child-murdering monster of a VillainProtagonist, yet many fans overlooked that in favor of how {{Badass}} he was.

** Feanor himself is universally lionized despite causing all the conflict in the first place, because, despite being a selfish and paranoid bastard who takes any disagreement or well-meaning advice as utter emnity, he is also an omnidisciplinary genius and complete and utter {{Badass}}.

** Got referenced in [[http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/2231.html this]] ''IrregularWebcomic'' strip (with link to this page, of course), when Cthulhu has problems dealing with fans wanting his autograph.

** Another CthulhuMythos creature that gets this treatment in some sects of the fandom - [[MagnificentBastard Nyarlathotep]]. Yes, [[EldritchAbomination that one]], [[BlueAndOrangeMorality the one that messes with humans]] [[ItAmusedMe because he's bored]]. It doesn't help that Lovecraft himself basically described him as being "[[TallDarkAndHandsome Slender, swarthy]][[EvilIsSexy , and sinister]]" in one story, or that he appears as a rather attractive-looking Pharaoh in ''Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath''.

** Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish. Charming, handsome, witty, always cheerful and a ManipulativeBastard with ChronicBackstabbingDisorder to boot. His ultimate goals are rather unclear, as is just how much of the anarchy and war that dominates the books has been orchestrated by him, but he has taken credit for the majority of it and its implied to be little more than DespotismJustifiesTheMeans. Whilst the character is definitely subject to AlternativeCharacterInterpretation and has many hidden depths to his personality, corners of the fandom treat him like a divine savior whose goals are all working to the benefit of the small folk, the people the wars have screwed over the most. Not to mention, they also "forget" how he [[ForcefulKiss forces unwanted kisses]] on [[spoiler: his teenage niece-by-marriage]] Sansa Stark, his disciple and possible candidate for Queen, how he personally murdered [[spoiler:his wife, Lysa Arryn]] and was responsible for the deaths of [[spoiler:Jon Arryn and Sansa's father Ned Stark]] and how he forced an 11-year-old girl [[spoiler:Sansa's friend, Jeyne Poole]] into prostitution, then sold Jeyne into marriage to a {{Sadist}}.

* Invoked in-universe in the first ''Literature/BlackCompany'' novel. Croaker, the main character and narrator, is the surgeon of the titular mercenary company and also an amateur historian who keeps the Company's annals. The Company works for an enigmatic female EvilOverlord called the Lady, and Croaker before long starts writing what amounts to bad self-insert RealPersonFic starring himself becoming romantically involved with a romantically idealized version of her. Then Croaker meets the ''real'' Lady, and she scares the crap out of him, after which he regards the whole thing as an OldShame (but it doesn't stop the other Company members from constantly ribbing him about his "girlfriend"). [[spoiler: Then, in the last book of the initial trilogy, Croaker gets to know the real Lady better as a deeply flawed but human individual- albeit one with godlike levels of magical power- and ends up falling for her anyway. After she gets BroughtDownToNormal and joins the Company herself, they're the OfficialCouple for most of the series.]].

** Tywin Lannister has a fair amount of fans, who admire his talent for scheming and take as WordOfGod his brother's assessment that while a harsh man, he was no harsher than necessary, and [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans acted for the good of the family/realm]]. The "no harsher than necessary" goes out the window when we learn he once ''ordered a gang-rape of 14-year-old girl to punish his son''. Regardless of any positive outcomes of his actions, Tywin is shown to be totally unempathetic and treats everyone as pawns in his current scheme. He may have been upset about his beloved wife Joanna dying in childbirth, but that doesn't justify his horrible treatment of Tyrion, refusing to name them heir to Casterly Rock, treating them as an embarrassment to the family for being a dwarf, and leaving Tyrion permanently damaged with his cruel treatment. Moreover, the circumstances of [[spoiler: Tywin's death at Tyrion's hand]] basically imply that he was just a hypocrite, and that Tywin's adoring brother [[NobleTopEnforcer Kevan]] was deluded by love for his brother into seeing good that wasn't there. In fairness, Kevan and Genna knew what Tywin was, they just loved him for being their brother.

** One of the few villains of the Power of Three series, Ashfur [[spoiler:tried to get revenge on Squirrelflight, who rejected him as a mate a year ago, by killing her supposed kits Hollyleaf, Lionblaze and Jayfeather in hope that he would cause her the same pain that she caused him when she rejected him.]] [[BrokenBase Opinions remain divided across the fanbase on whether this was justified or not]]. However, some manic supporters of [[BaseBreaker Ashfur]] try to paint him as a helpless victim, and even go as far as portraying [[RonTheDeathEater Squirrelflight as a villain]]. Even worse, some of them even [[MisaimedFandom wish that he had been successful in killing the threes kits]].

* Hannibal Lecter from ''Literature/TheSilenceOfTheLambs''. Exacerbated by prequel ''Hannibal Rising'', which turns Hannibal from a SerialKiller to a vigilante on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge with a FreudianExcuse for his cannibalism.

* Senna Wales from the ''{{Everworld}}'' series. She's [[HotWitch attractive]] and super-intelligent. She also gets a VillainEpisode in the ninth book of the series, dedicated to exploring her personality and past, that gives her a FreudianExcuse and paints her as more of a JerkassWoobie than a straight-up villain. Of course, most of her fans fully embrace that she's sick and twisted and just decide to [[RootingForTheEmpire root for her anyway]].

* ''{{Redwall}}'s'' vermin sometimes get this, though in their case it's less "In Leather Pants" than "Posing For CutenessOverload", [[FetishFuel except among certain sections of the]] UsefulNotes/FurryFandom. Yeah, the woodlanders are prejudiced against them, but that that might be because the vermin attempt to ''eat'' them at every opportunity.

* Bohun from ''SienkiewiczTrilogy'' ( from "With the Fire and the Sword"). His devotion to Helena is admirable, but lots of the readers forget that Helena feared him due to the fact that his actions were considered violent and unpredictable even by XVII century Cossacks.

* Senna Wales from the ''{{Everworld}}'' series. She's [[HotWitch attractive]] and [[DangerouslyGenreSavvy super-intelligent]]. She also gets a VillainEpisode in the ninth book of the series, dedicated to exploring her personality and past, that gives her a FreudianExcuse and paints her as more of a JerkassWoobie than a straight-up villain. Of course, most of her fans fully embrace that she's sick and twisted and just decide to [[RootingForTheEmpire root for her anyway]].

** In ''Discworld/CarpeJugulum'', Pratchett deliberately subverts the trope at the end, when the dashingly gorgeous male vampire asks his object of affection, the young witch Agnes, if she'd reason with the mob to save him from the stake. Agnes, whose qualifications as a [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Witch of Lancre]] derive from her being sensible and intelligent, contemplates his sexy gorgeousness and the way he fills out those leather pants, then remembers some of the evil things she's seen the vampires do. She tells him that she cares so very much for him, that she'd hold them back by their coat-tails. It acknowledges that she is regretful that he has to die (temporarily), but knows it must be done.

* Most of the males in the ''BlackJewels'' series fit this trope. Daemon and [[spoiler:his father]] Saetan are literally written to be walking sex, and are given sympathetic backstories and valid reasons to be total bastards. But they're still murderers.

* To a certain extent, [[TheThrawnTrilogy Thrawn]] from the ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse''. Yes, Creator/TimothyZahn made him and the other Imperials complex and generally admirable. He wasn't ''evil'', not black-and-white. But he was very ruthless, pragmatic, and above all, ''Imperial''. He wasn't above YouHaveFailedMe, even if he needed more of a reason and was more forgiving of crew who weren't at fault. He [[ILied lied]], he was willing to hand Leia and her unborn twins to Joruus C'baoth, and he kept the Noghri in indefinite servitude with the lie that when he finished repairing their homeworld, they'd be free. Often, though, he's portrayed purely as someone who [[IDidWhatIHadToDo did what he had to do]] and chose to become a NecessaryEvil.

* An in-universe example appears in ''TheAdventuresOfTomSawyer''. In the chapter where it's revealed that Injun Joe was dead, it's mentioned that the women of the town had been in the process of getting together a petition to get him pardoned (despite the fact that he committed murder and framed a man too drunk to remember the events of the night properly). As Twain notes, the women would probably have put together the petition if it had been Satan himself being arrested.
* Irial from ''WickedLovely''. Good looking and interesting, yes, but far from good.

* Murtagh from ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'' has a vast following in the fandom. He's frequently referred to as the "real hero" of the Cycle. Please note that this didn't apply until ''after'' his [[spoiler: FaceHeelTurn.]]

* Mrs. Coulter and Lord Asriel in ''HisDarkMaterials''. Granted, they're {{AntiVillain}}s, but many people are willing to completely ignore the questionable, cruel, and downright ''evil'' things they have done.

* Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish in ''ASongOfIceAndFire''. Charming, handsome, witty, always cheerful and a ManipulativeBastard with ChronicBackstabbingDisorder to boot. His ultimate goals are rather unclear, as is just how much of the anarchy and war that dominates the books has been orchestrated by him, but he has taken credit for the majority of it and its implied to be little more than DespotismJustifiesTheMeans. Whilst the character is definitely subject to AlternativeCharacterInterpretation and has many hidden depths to his personality, corners of the fandom treat him like a divine savior whose goals are all working to the benefit of the small folk, the people the wars have screwed over the most. Not to mention, they also "forget" how he [[ForcefulKiss forces unwanted kisses]] on [[spoiler: his teenage niece-by-marriage]] Sansa Stark, his disciple and possible candidate for Queen, how he personally murdered [[spoiler:his wife, Lysa Arryn]] and was responsible for the deaths of [[spoiler:Jon Arryn and Sansa's father Ned Stark]] and how he forced an 11-year-old girl [[spoiler:Sansa's friend, Jeyne Poole]] into prostitution, then sold Jeyne into marriage to a {{Sadist}}.

** As it turns out, there is also a small portion of the fandom that has decided, against all evidence, that Cersei Lannister is a tragic heroine trapped in abusive relationships with Jaime (in which ''she'' is the abuser) and Robert (even though she's just as much if not more of an abuser than Robert, basically sexually exploiting her weak-willed cousin Lancel because he looks like Jaime, her love with Jaime is implied to stem from narcissism). While it's true that her life hasn't always been a bed of roses, this doesn't even come ''close'' to absolving Cersei of guilt for the monstrous crimes she herself has committed. Her love for her children seems possessive, to the point she allows [[RoyalBrat Joffrey]] to satisfy his cruelty without being disciplined, meaning he ends up as one of the most monstrous and incompetent Kings to ever sit the Iron Throne.
** [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys Sandor "The Hound" Clegane]] gets this from time to time himself. Granted, he does go through considerable CharacterDevelopment, along with a FreudianExcuse and later characterization as an AntiVillain [[spoiler:with shades of TheAtoner, even. However, despite his protective attitude towards [[MoralityPet both of the Stark girls]], he's still a violent {{Jerkass}} up until the end]].
** Tywin Lannister has a fair amount of fans, who admire his talent for scheming and take as WordOfGod his brother's assessment that while a harsh man, he was no harsher than necessary, and [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans acted for the good of the family/realm]]. However, regardless of any positive outcomes of his actions, Tywin is shown to be totally unempathetic and treats everyone as pawns in his current scheme. He may have been upset about his beloved wife Joanna dying in childbirth, but that doesn't justify his horrible treatment of Tyrion, refusing to name them heir to Casterly Rock, treating them as an embarrassment to the family for being a dwarf, and leaving Tyrion permanently damaged with his cruel treatment. Moreover, the circumstances of [[spoiler: Tywin's death at Tyrion's hand]] basically imply that he was just a hypocrite, and that Tywin's adoring brother [[NobleTopEnforcer Kevan]] was deluded by love for his brother into seeing good that wasn't there. In fairness, Kevan and Genna knew what Tywin was, they just loved him for being their brother.