History Main / CivilianVillain

Sometimes the villain is so proficient at leading a normal life that you have to wonder why they even bother with being a villain. Couldn't they just get someone to CutLexLuthorACheck? This is more plausible if the villain is [[YoureInsane just insane]].

* Casanova Frankenstein in ''MysteryMen''. Captain Amazing is GenreSavvy enough to know this supervillain will commence at once on an EvilPlan once he is let out of the asylum (with great publicity), but not quite savvy enough to prevent himself from falling victim to it.
** The guy used his alter ego to ''make sure'' Casanova got out of the asylum so he could have someone who would provide just enough of a fight, be famous enough to please the sponsors and be smart enough to escape for later battle.[[GenreSavvy He chose a good opponent,]] [[WrongGenreSavvy but apparently]] [[spoiler: [[WrongGenreSavvy this particular foe was just a little too good.]]]]

* Frank White in ''KingOfNewYork'' wants everyone to believe that he was reformed by prison, and is now just a philanthropist with an interest in helping the poor. In reality, not so much.
* In 102 Dalmations, Cruella is seemingly reformed via HeelFaceBrainwashing. After the efficts get undone, she continues to act reformed as part of her plan.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': After Voldemort was defeated trying to murder baby Harry, some Death Eaters claimed to have been bewitched or unwilling participants and tried to go back to living a normal life. This was most successful in conjunction with ministry connections and large bribes. In most cases it was only a lie to keep them out of Azkaban.
** It is further implied that at least some of those who ''were'' sent to Azkaban really had been coerced or mind-slaved, and simply didn't have the money to bribe people. Not many people ''really'' cared about the truth as long as they got paid.

* {{Batman}} gets this one a lot, since his theme is "justice, not vengeance" and he's contractually obligated to give people a chance, even if he doesn't believe it himself.
** In the "Going Sane" story in ''Legends of the Dark Knight'', after TheJoker thinks Batman has died, he gets plastic surgery and goes on a regime of prescription drugs to make himself look normal. In a short while, he [[LaserGuidedAmnesia forgets all about his life as the Joker]] and turns into a shy, kindly eccentric. (Amnesia of this kind can [very rarely] happen in the RealLife. Psychologists call this "fugue".) Needless to say, this all falls apart when the Batman re-appears.
** ''TheDarkKnightReturns'' has ''two'' instances of this:

** One BronzeAge ''{{Batman}}'' story opened with him trying to convince the parole board that Penguin was playing them. It end with him [[PerspectiveReversal trying to convince the same board not to revoke his parole on a technicality]].

* Frank White in ''KingOfNewYork'' wants everyone to believe that he was totally reformed by prison, and is now just a philanthropist with an interest in helping the poor. In reality, not so much.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': After Voldemort was defeated trying to murder baby Harry, some Death Eaters claimed to have been bewitched or unwilling participants and tried to go back to living a normal life. This was most successful in conjunction with ministry connections and large bribes. Of course, in most cases it was only a lie to keep them out of Azkaban.

* The plot to ''VideoGame/MegaMan3''. Dr. Wily claims to have reformed, and works with Dr. Light to build a giant "peacekeeping robot" which Mega Man has to go out and get the components for. The components, oddly enough, are guarded by 8 robot masters... and once they've gathered them all, Dr. Wily steals the new robot and plots to use it to take over the world, of course.

* Parodied by Legendary Frog's "[[http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/105053 The Return of Ganondorf]]", in which Ganondorf from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' comes back after his defeat claiming to have stopped being evil. Link doesn't believe him, of course, and keeps trying to spy on him to catch him being evil. In the end, [[spoiler:it turns out he isn't evil after all, Link's just nuts]].

** The Riddler also reforms in the episode "Riddler's Reform." He does seem to be genuinely trying to reform, and his legitimate business is quite lucrative, but his obsession with outsmarting Batman won't leave him alone, so he decides that the only solution is to kill him. When he thinks Batman is dead, he does literally burn his mask and swear to quit being the Riddler, but of course it doesn't work out that way.

** In "Joker's Millions", the Joker becomes legitimately insanely rich by inheriting the wealth of an old enemy. He gives up crime and takes up things like golf. Unfortunately, the money turns out to be mostly counterfeit, and he goes back to his old ways when he tries to hijack an armored truck filled with cash when faced with the massive inheritance taxes and being the laughingstock of the underworld by being so thoroughly cheated.
*** Considering it's the Joker we're talking about it's sort of justified. If word got out that he had been duped by an old rival who was on his death bed every wannabe super villain would be coming after his head either to make a name for themselves or seek revenge for something he'd done to them in the past.
** Harley Quinn was once declared fit to re-enter society, and while she was still [[GenkiGirl bubbly as all hell]] and kept giving other people the willies with her pet hyenas, she was well-behaved and did nothing illegal. Then she took off with a dress she'd ''paid for'' before the store clerk could remove the anti-theft widget, causing a store alarm to go off. [[FromBadToWorse Things then spiral out of control, as she drops back into her criminal habits.]] [[OhCrap To mention nothing about the crazy general pursuing her on a tank.]] Batman recognizes that Harley is one of his few villains who isn't irredeemable, just sort of misguided and broken. WordOfGod is that after the [[spoiler: Joker's timely and well deserved death]], Harley went straight and started a family.

* On ''SuperFriends'', the Legion of Doom pulled this once. Of course since they proceeded to travel into the future because they thought the Superfriends wouldn't find them there, the viewer is left to question why.

*** Harvey Dent (AKA Two-Face) gets plastic surgery to fix his mutilated face, but it doesn't actually cure his insanity, despite a promising start. Batman really hoped it would work (especially since Bruce and Harvey were friends).

** Harley Quinn was once declared fit to re-enter society, and while she was still [[GenkiGirl bubbly as all hell]] and kept giving other people the willies with her pet hyenas, she was well-behaved and did nothing illegal. Then a store clerk forgot to remove an anti-theft widget from a dress she bought, causing a store alarm to go off. [[FromBadToWorse Things then spiral out of control, as she drops back into her criminal habits.]] [[OhCrap To mention nothing about the crazy general pursuing her on a tank.]] Batman recognizes that Harley is one of his few villains who isn't irredeemable, just sort of misguided and broken. WordOfGod is that after the [[spoiler: Joker's timely and well deserved death]], Harley went straight and started a family.

* ''HarryPotter'': After Voldemort was defeated trying to murder baby Harry, some Death Eaters claimed to have been bewitched or unwilling participants and tried to go back to living a normal life. This was most successful in conjunction with ministry connections and large bribes. Of course, in most cases it was only a lie to keep them out of Azkaban.

** Correction they wanted to [[spoiler: DIESECT him, vivisection is when the subject is still alive, they tried to kill him first, he may have consented to a vivisection if they asked. They really were idiots, especially since they needed to test this process for a cure for their boss and freeze was the only one with a comparable condition to compare it to, no other test subject would have a condition to revert to if the process went wrong.]]

* ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' had the Penguin reform, genuinely, only to go back to his villainous ways when the woman he loved betrayed him.

** Poison Ivy blurs the lines a bit in BatmanTheAnimatedSeries "House and Garden." She's out of prison, marries a biology professor and takes care of his two sons, Chris and Kelly. Batman spends half the episode tailing her and yeah, she seems OK. The catch? She wants to have a family ''on her terms,'' so she's [[spoiler: locked up her husband and replaced him with a long series of plant/human hybrids using the professor's DNA]]. Robin realizes something's amiss when [[spoiler:he points out [[GenderBlenderName the real Chris and Kelly are supposed to be girls.]]]]

* Ultros in ''Videogame/FinalFantasyVI'' eventually becomes the receptionist at the Coliseum. Subverted in that he never attacks the party again. On the other hand, his pet Chupon is now your only opponent in the arena, ever. [[ThatOneBoss Dammit]].

And if you believe that, I've got a [[LandmarkSale slightly used]] DeathRay [[LandmarkSale to sell you]]. This is usually just a ruse on the part of the villain, who's plotting his crimes in secret. It may even be part of an elaborate scheme to get the heroes to drop their guard and insinuate themselves as a HeelFaceMole.

An important part of this plot is that everyone else will usually believe the villain right away, it's the heroes who are made to look like fools by their paranoid suspicions. This can veer into ThroughTheEyesOfMadness territory. The villain may set up a situation that looks like he's up to his old tricks, so that the heroes will come barging in to stop his... perfectly lawful activities. This makes the villain look like [[WoundedGazelleGambit an innocent victim]] of [[WhatTheHellHero petty harassment]] and discredits any heroes who continue to suspect that he's still up to no good.

* Ultros in ''FinalFantasyVI'' eventually becomes the receptionist at the Coliseum. Subverted in that he never attacks the party again. On the other hand, his pet Chupon is now your only opponent in the arena, ever. [[ThatOneBoss Dammit]].
* Dr. Cortex in ''CrashBandicoot2CortexStrikesBack'' pretends to be reformed, so that Crash will collect crystals for him so that he can "save the Earth".

[[folder:Comicbooks]]

** The Harvey Dent example later showed up in current DCU continuity when he received plastic surgery as part of the "Hush" conspiracy, but in an example of petard-hoisting, the surgery put Two-Face out of control, giving Dent his sanity back. [[ItGotWorse He got worse]].

** In '''Joker's Millions''', the Joker becomes legitimately insanely rich by inheriting the wealth of an old enemy. He gives up crime and takes up things like golf. Unfortunately, the money turns out to be mostly counterfeit, and he goes back to his old ways when he tries to hijack an armored truck filled with cash when faced with the massive inheritance taxes and being the laughingstock of the underworld by being so thoroughly cheated.

** Harley Quinn was once declared fit to re-enter society, and while she was still [[GenkiGirl bubbly as all hell]] and kept giving other people the willies with her pet hyenas, she was well-behaved and did nothing illegal. Then a store clerk forgot to remove an anti-theft widget from a dress she bought, causing a store alarm to go off. [[ItGotWorse Then things got sad,]] [[TheWoobie poor Harley.]] [[OhCrap To mention nothing about the crazy general pursuing her on a tank.]]
*** Batman recognizes that Harley is one of his few villains who isn't irredeemable, just sort of misguided and broken. WordOfGod is that after the [[spoiler: Joker's timely and well deserved death]], Harley went straight and started a family.
*** Indeed, ''BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker'' shows her as a stereotypical Jewish grandmother, and an extremely pissed one due to her granddaughters' fall to delinquency - in a gang called the Jokerz, no less!

* There was Gil from ''KimPossible''--Everybody bought it except for Ron, which ended up being the key to his defeat.

** [[spoiler:Actually they wanted to disect him, after killing him, and it was his sort of girlfriend and the one that created the treatment in the first place that tries to do him in]]

** In the "Going Sane" story in ''Legends of the Dark Knight'', after the Joker thinks Batman has died, he gets plastic surgery and goes on a regime of prescription drugs to make himself look normal. In a short while, he [[LaserGuidedAmnesia forgets all about his life as the Joker]] and turns into a shy, kindly eccentric. (Amnesia of this kind can [very rarely] happen in the RealLife. Psychologists call this "fugue".) Needless to say, this all falls apart when the Batman re-appears.

*** The Riddler is seriously unbalanced in this episode, demonstrated by how [[spoiler:[[ConvictionByContradiction he can't for the life of him even figure out how Batman survived being sealed in a room with a time bomb... and a giant safe.]]]]

** In one especially screwy story, an overly-suspicious Batman broke into Penguin's factory, realized Penguin wasn't doing anything wrong, and got him on a parole violation anyway--Penguin was trying to help other ex-cons go straight, but the terms of his parole were that he wasn't supposed to associate with them.
*** Batman storms out of the parole board hearing, after failing to convince them that the Penguin's heart was in the right place, complaining that they won't listen. (Ironically, [[BookEnds the story began]] with Batman storming out of the original parole hearing because they let the Penguin out in the first place.)

**** Ironically he used some ReversePsychology on his psychiatrist, claiming to have been cured, but also that he doesn't deserve to ever walk free because of the horrible things he has done, and should just be locked up and forgotten for good. The psychiatrist sees this as a good enough reason to put him in a talkshow.

** Shockingly averted by the Penguin, who had been happily running a nightclub frequented by supervillains while doing nothing more criminal than overcharging for tee shirts in the gift shop for years, before eventually running for mayor of Gotham City... all above board, to the shock of both Batman and readers.
*** Not entirely. The Penguin did fence stolen property and arrange early paroles on the side (Batman tolerated it because the Penguin made a great stool pigeon when necessary), but he seems to have put even that behind him now.
** More recently, the Riddler is making an honest try at being a private detective, and it mostly looks like he'll join the Penguin in averting the trope. Even Batman (as Bruce Wayne) hired him once.
** Harley Quinn got this one, with a weird start. She was rejected parole(Bruce Wayne is on Arkham's board of directors), but then she was broken out of Arkham on the way back to her cell by Scarface. While she does play along with Scarface's scheme, she takes her first oppurtunity to call GCPD and get Batman to help attempt capture of the crooks and to escort her back to Arkham. Bruce Wayne called for a rehearing to reverse his vote and if what this troper has heard is correct, she has since gone on to reform.
*** She's still nuttier than a Snickers bar, but is no longer a serious threat to the society...although a friendly encounter with Mr J might change that at any time.
* LexLuthor and the Joker team up with this gambit in ''World's Finest Comics'' #88. In the classic CutLexLuthorACheck tradition, the nigh-indestructible industrial robots they were manufacturing as a front would have made them fabulously rich.
** Of course, the Joker is insane. And Luthor is quite capable of making as much money as he feels like whenever he feels like it, but he's absolutely convinced that Superman is holding back Humanity from it's true potential. Neither of them are in it for the money, so cutting them a check won't work.
*** Also, it was the Silver Age.
* Moloch from ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}''. Unfortunately for him, Rorschach never forgives a former villain, and even breaks Moloch's finger when he tries to defend himself from Ror's unjustified home invasion.

* Among others, Captain Cold in ''TheFlash'' has done this several times. On at least one occasion he even fought crime alongside the vocally suspicious Flash on the encouragement of his then-girlfriend. Then it turned out that at night she was using his equipment and costume to commit burglaries so that he would take the blame if she was ever spotted. He promptly attempted murder-suicide.
** Also, the Threat from the [[TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] ''Flash'' story "Challenge of the Threat" (from ''All Flash Quarterly'' #2). Back when he was a small-time burglar named Joe Connor, he pretended to go straight when he went to jail, using his time to study and sophisticate himself as a secret revenge plot against the D.A. who sent him to jail. Upon being released, he makes peace with the D.A. and has his goons kidnap his only son. Connor moves to Valley Hill to bring up the child against his real father, but upon meeting Annie Crowley, he falls in love with her and goes straight for real, even having a daughter together with her. However, after Annie died, Connor went back to his revenge plot and told his adopted son that the D.A. killed his mother.
* At one point, [[{{Superman}} the Cyborg Superman]] attempted this, creating a new identity as a schoolteacher and befriending a high school student who, co-incidentally, was involved in a few of Superman's adventures, mostly those in the original post-Crisis Kandar. When his identity was revealed, he snapped and attacked, only to escape once more.

* ''[[Disney/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians 102 Dalmatians]]'': Cruella is let out of custody after being 'reformed' via hypnotism. It turns out she really '''is''' reformed... but when she hear Big Ben's bells, she starts seeing spots...

* In the backstory to ''TheLordOfTheRings'', Sauron, after the events of ''TheSilmarillion'', promised to abandon the ways of his former EvilOverlord and master Morgoth. Then he went and made [[ArtifactOfDoom the One Ring]]?
** Things went in a bit different order; Sauron was implied to have genuinely regret his decision of siding with Morgoth after the first time he fell, if for no other reason than that it lead to such a humiliating defeat, but was too proud to beg for forgiveness, and soon fell into villainy, once again. The forging of the One Ring took place a millennium later, and at that time Sauron was an all-out villain, forced to disguise himself, and work under a false identity to get the elves trust him for awhile.
*** I heard somewhere that in addition to his pride, Sauron realized that with Morgoth defeated and the Valar returning to Valinor, ''he'' was now the most powerful being in Middle-Earth, and he decided to take advantage of it.
** Of course this brings up the topic of Morgoth, who was let out from imprisonment and seemed to be an allright guy? Until he destroyed the trees, stole the Silmarils, and murdered Fëanor's father.
*** Not really. Morgoth is Tolkien's analogue for {{Satan}}: he is the incarnation of evil; he never reformed and never will. Morgoth's brother [[WideEyedIdealist Manwë]], the guy who released him, simply failed to understand why anybody would want to be evil. When I think of it, remind me why Eru Ilúvatar put Manwë in charge of the world…

* Subverted in KurtBusiek's ''AstroCity'' during the ''Tarnished Angel'' arc. Steeljack, former supervillain, does indeed try to go straight. No one believes him, and about the only work he can find is people who want to hire him to do criminal jobs for them. Then he discovers an actual evil conspiracy...only none of the good guys will believe a thing he says because of his past reputation. He does [[spoiler:manage to go straight]] in the end, although he has to [[spoiler:almost die before any of the heroes are willing to listen to him]].

* As a parody/homage to/of Batman, DarkwingDuck faced something similar in one episode, with one twist: Darkwing, under his secret identity Drake, ended up hosting the criminal Tuskernini after (accidentally) enrolling in the city's 'Adopt-A-Con' program. His trick in getting Tuskernini to reveal his con? Convincing him that [[spoiler:he, his daughter, and his sidekick were undercover criminals, that they believed Tuskernini all along, and that Tuskernini caught ''them'' in the act of plotting a robbery.]]

** [[Actually they wanted to disect him, after killing him, and it was his sort of girlfriend and the one that created the treatment in the first place that tries to do him in]]

* ''102 Dalmatians'': Cruella is let out of custody after being 'reformed' via hypnotism. It turns out she really '''is''' reformed... but when she hear Big Ben's bells, she starts seeing spots...