History Main / CivilianVillain

* A PreCrisis Superman story had Luthor reforming after falling in love and deciding to marry. He even allowed Superman to scan his mind with a device to confirm it. Except it turned out to be a convoluted scheme even Luthor himself wasn't aware of ''[[MemoryGambit since erasing his own memories was part of the plan]]''-- so he really DID go straight, only to return to evil when the plan failed and ended up banishing his new wife to another universe instead of Superman.

Compare HeelFaceTurn (where the villain actually becomes an out-and-out hero) and VillainWithGoodPublicity (where the villain cultivates a more or less permanent respectable reputation while continuing his evil deeds out of the public eye). Likewise compare ChronicVillainy for when a villain sincerely attempts to reform but cannot get over his old obsessions. Also compare ReformedButRejected, where the villain really does give up his evil ways -- but the hero still doesn't believe it. See also ThenLetMeBeEvil, where a character (re)turns to evil because everyone treats them with suspicion.

Compare HeelFaceTurn, where the villain becomes an out-and-out hero. Likewise compare ChronicVillainy for when a villain sincerely attempts to reform but cannot get over his old obsessions. Also compare ReformedButRejected, where the villain really does give up his evil ways -- but the hero still doesn't believe it. See also ThenLetMeBeEvil, where a character (re)turns to evil because everyone treats them with suspicion.

** They do it again in the new series episode [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E3VictoryOfTheDaleks "Victory of the Daleks"]], including "[[AC:[[CrowningMomentOfFunny Would you care fro some teeeea?]]]]"

* LexLuthor and the Joker team up with this gambit in ''World's Finest Comics'' #88, building nigh-indestructible industrial robots as a front for their actual plan.

* 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.

** In a short spinoff comic, the Scarecrow starts giving thought to his retirement plans, escapes Arkham, and goes back to teaching under a new identity - this time as an English professor, which has much less opportunity in the line of unethical experimentation. While he dislikes most of his students, he seems to be satisfied with his work otherwise, much to Batman's surprise--until he opens a can of fear gas on the JerkJock who abused (and [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar possibly did]] [[DateRape worse to]]) his favorite pupil. At the end, though Batman chides him about "reverting to type," they're ''both'' arrested.

* In 102 Dalmations, Cruella is seemingly reformed via HeelFaceBrainwashing. After the effects get undone, she continues to act reformed as part of her plan.

** One BronzeAge ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' story opened with him trying to convince the parole board that Penguin was playing them. [[BookEnds It ends]] with Batman [[PerspectiveReversal trying to convince the same board not to revoke Penguin's parole on a technicality]] (associating with ex-cons, even for the purpose of [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished employing them at legitimate jobs]], was a parole violation).

->''"[[AC:[[BlatantLies I am your ser-vant]]!]]"''
-->-- '''Various [[OmnicidalManiac Daleks]]''', ''Series/DoctorWho'', [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E3ThePowerOfTheDaleks "The Power of the Daleks"]]

-->-- '''Various [[OmnicidalManiac Daleks]]''', ''Series/DoctorWho'', [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E3ThePowerOfTheDaleks "The Power of the Daleks"]], and once again in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E3VictoryOfTheDaleks "Victory of the Daleks"]]

-->-- '''Various [[OmnicidalManiac Daleks]]''', ''Series/DoctorWho'', [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E3ThePowerOfTheDaleks "The Power of the Daleks"]]

** Poison Ivy blurs the lines a bit in ''WesternAnimation/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]], who the professor doesn't have custody of.]]

* The StarWarsExpandedUniverse gives us a few of these. Most of the time, the system actually does work. However, when it doesn't, it fails egregiously. Such is the case of Admiral Daala, an Imperial admiral who oversaw the construction of the Death Star, and the orbital bombardment of several planets. Her current job? [[PresidentEvil Head of the Galactic Alliance!]]

** One BronzeAge ''Franchise/{{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]].

Compare HeelFaceTurn, where the villain becomes an out-and-out hero. Likewise compare ChronicVillainy for when a villain sincerely attempts to reform but cannot get over his old obsessions. Also compare ReformedButRejected, where the villain really does give up his evil ways -- but the hero still doesn't believe it. See also ThenLetMeBeEvil, where a character becomes evil because everyone keeps assuming they that they are.

** Poison Ivy blurs the lines a bit in ''WesternAnimation/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.]]]]

->''"[[BlatantLies I AM YOUR SER-VANT]]!"''
-->-- '''Various [[OmnicidalManiac Daleks]]''', ''[[Series/DoctorWho The Power of the Daleks]]''

* In the exceptionally dark ''Series/DoctorWho'' story ''Revelation of the Daleks'', Davros takes to calling himself the Great Healer [[spoiler:and offering a solution to galactic famine. Thanks to this, Davros can truly call himself [[ImAHumanitarian humanitarian]].]] (Somewhat subverted in that Davros somehow thinks that he can remain anonymous, despite his unique appearance. The story itself does not address this.)
** In ''The Curse of Peladon'', where ProudWarriorRace the Ice Warriors claim to want to have given up their militaristic ways, which the Doctor does not believe. In fact, they have. Though as the next story, ''The Monster of Peladon'', as with humans and Time Lords, you can trust some Ice Warriors but not others.
** The first Second Doctor episode, ''The Power of the Daleks''. ''I AM YOUR SER-VANT!''
** They do it again in the new series episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E03VictoryOfTheDaleks Victory Of The Daleks]]" including "[[CrowningMomentOfFunny WOULD YOU CARE FOR SOME TEEEEA?]]"

* Averted in ''Series/TheWire''. When Cutty is released from prison, drug lord Avon Barksdale offers him work as an enforcer; after trying it briefly, however, Cutty decides he can't stomach it anymore, and settles down for a quieter life as a wrestling coach.

* In the {{Tortall Universe}}, Duke Roger is one of these for the last two books of the Lioness quartet. Before he died the first time, he ''tried to kill the crown prince as well as the queen'', among others. After he came BackFromTheDead, people just kind of [[TooDumbToLive accepted his word]] and the word of his necromancer that Roger wasn't dangerous anymore.
** The belief was that having died had changed him, and it had - before he'd just been trying to gain the throne, but after being brought back he wanted to destroy everything.

* Eggman of ''SonicTheHedgehog'' does this from time to time. (And in lots of incarnations, whether he's Eggman or Robotnik, not just the games.)
** In ''SonicChronicles: The Dark Brotherhood'', he claims to have "completely reformed". ''Nobody'' believes him, but ''they [[EnemyMine work with him]] anyway'' for a good stretch of the game since they legitimately need his tech. No prizes for guessing how ''that'' turned out.

** Wily does it again in '' 9'', when he gets out of jail, having apparently reformed. He then frames ''Dr. Light'' as plotting to take over the world, and asks all the people of the world to send donations to his {{Swiss bank account}} so that he can build a new fighting robot to stop Light and his eight robot masters.

* [=LeChuck=] seems to turn over a new leaf in ''TalesOfMonkeyIsland'' when he is transformed into a human. Logically, Guybrush doesn't trust him for a minute, despite Elaine's pleas to let bygones be bygones.

* In the comic ''[[BobandGeorge Bob and George]]'', Dr. Wily does this by faking amnesia to become Dr. Light's assistant again.

* Lex Luthor in the Cadmus story arc of ''JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' does [[BatmanGambit to discredit Superman]]. He knows that Superman will never believe he's going legit so he can make the Man of Steel look like a bully when he pretends he does.
* About half of Sideshow Bob's appearances in ''TheSimpsons''.

* On ''SuperFriends'', the Legion of Doom pulled this once. 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.

* After being defeated the first time in ''TheSpectacularSpiderman'', Doctor Octopus pretends to have returned to his original meek personality and asserts that criminal actions were the result of his tentacles forcing him into it. By doing this, it allows him to be kept at an institution under relatively low security and mastermind a break-out for his fellow villains, who, being sane, are kept in maximum security prison.
* There was one of these in the PowerpuffGirls. Perhaps dealing with Mojo Jo Jo?

** 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. Temporarily, anyway

** Much like the animated version, ComicBook/TheRiddler has gone straight as both a ploy and legitimately several times, including (for a while) being a private detective who ''might'' actually exceed Batman in ability except he stays (mostly) by the book. He tends to relapse, though, and often. He's also one of the few members of Batman's rogue gallery that [[HeelRealization realized he has a serious compulsion, and "might actually be crazy".]]

* Exploited in ''Film/MysteryMen''. Captain Amazing is GenreSavvy enough to know Casanova Frankenstein will commence with an EvilPlan once he is let out of the asylum, so he had him freed.