History Main / DevilinPlainSight

* Count Olaf of ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents''. Though the Baudelaire orphans always see through his flimsy disguises, [[AdultsAreUseless none of the adults]] [[CassandraTruth ever believe them]].
** Until the last book, when the orphans are shocked to discover a community of adults who ''immediately'' perceive Count Olaf as both obviously in disguise and an untrustworthy villain. This comes with its own problems, of course, as they've already encountered "[[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope The Slippery Slope]]".
*** [[PaperThinDisguise It probably helped that his costume was algae as a wig and a helmet as a pregnant woman's belly.]] [[spoiler:Also, the leader of the island had a relationship with VFD, and knew of Olaf.]]

* ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'': When Godzilla attacks Pensacola, he ''only'' focuses his destruction on Apex Cybernetics' local facility (something which a national TV report observes), and he causes very few deaths for a Titan of his power before departing. And yet ''no-one'' in the world except for Team Godzilla thinks they should actually be subjecting [[Characters/MonsterVerseHumans Apex]] to scrutiny and work out why Godzilla targeted their factory, when the much wilder and less rational assumption on the table is that Godzilla [[EasilyCondemned has turned evil]] for no reason (bear in mind that previous movies in the Franchise/MonsterVerse continuity made it clear that this Godzilla ''always'' has a reason for attacking) and he's now attacking all of humanity. Worse yet, the fact it's obvious to anyone with half a brain that Godzilla had something against Apex's factory specifically doesn't stop Monarch from ''partnering up with Apex'' to try and take Godzilla down, by following a plan that ''Apex themselves'' set forth. Really, humanity has no-one but themselves to blame for how much death and destruction in this movie could have been avoided but wasn't.

** Littlefinger, as noted in Literature, was already an example in the books, but the series increase the ObviouslyEvil factor by making him even more slimy and visibly smug.

->''"And when the cops came through, me and [[Music/DrDre Dre]] stood next to a burnt-down house\\

->''"And when the cops came through, me and Dre stood next to a burnt-down house\\

->''"And when the cops came through, me and Dre stood next to a burnt-down house.\\

* An odd example: Mephisto Pheles of ''Manga/BlueExorcist'' seems to be playing with this. It's difficult to tell at this point, but his first entrance drew immediate suspicion. He [[VillainousFashionSense dressed extravagantly]], [[VillainInAWhiteSuit wore all white]], had [[LargeHam dramatic mannerisms]], and his looks made it obvious that he was a demon of some sort. Heck, even his [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast name]] [[LouisCypher is an obvious pun on that of a famous demon]]. But then this was subverted as it turned out that [[spoiler:a lot of people have demon blood in the series, and some of them are exorcists]]. Then it turns out that he is [[spoiler:another one of Satan's sons - the second eldest, actually. Then again, the main character is also a son of Satan. So, Mephisto could still go either way at this point]]. He plays loads of "tricks" on his students, such as [[spoiler:letting high-level demons on campus to challenge the potential exorcists (particularly [[AntiAntiChrist Rin]])]] [[TricksterMentor which, he implies, is for the purpose of making them all stronger.]] But then he may have...[[WildMassGuessing some other reasons.]] The fandom suspicion only mounts the more "tricks" he plays, but there's still too much evidence to support the idea that he may [[spoiler:genuinely want to bring peace to Assiah and Gehenna]]. He was in fact friends with Rin's adoptive [[BadassPreacher father]], and was [[spoiler:responsible for sealing Rin's demon soul inside the demon sword when Rin was born]]. Really, he is pretty much the most mysterious character in the series at this point. It's highly possible that he is a Devil In Plain Sight but he may very well be a subversion of the trope. The fandom will have to wait and see.

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'': Aunt May can't seem to understand why the police would want to arrest the nice [[Characters/MarvelComicsOttoOctavius Dr. Otto Octavius]].

* Zim in ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZIM''.

** Cartman. In many ways, this trope is averted: after all, most of the characters know just how horrible he is. That said, Stan and Kyle oftentimes get punished right alongside him, despite being [[OnlySaneMan generally good kids]] who are usually trying to ''stop'' whatever evil scheme he has going. This becomes especially painful (not to mention a DownerEnding) in "Toilet Paper," in which they're given much harsher punishments despite being genuinely apologetic--unlike Cartman, who only apologized [[WithFriendsLikeThese so they would get most of the blame.]] The best example, which is lampshaded, is the episode "Cartman's Incredible Gift". In the episode, Cartman pretends to have psychic powers and the police blindly listen to whatever he says, ignoring important evidence. Kyle suspects a disturbed man to be a vicious serial killer (he is) and tries to tell the police about him but they are completely blind to the killer's suspicious behavior and mannerisms and make no attempt to bring him in for questioning.

** [[AlphaBitch Heather]] in the first season; most of the characters actually figure this out pretty quickly, but [[ContractualGenreBlindness somehow keep falling for her schemes anyway]].
** Season three's Alejandro is a more JustForFun/{{egregious}} example--he lasts until nearly the end of the season before Cody and Sierra, the last "good" contestants, figure him out, while everyone else (save for Heather, Noah, and [[JerkAss Duncan]]) somehow ignore the fact that [[LoveMakesYouDumb every girl he hits on (at least one of whom was spoken for) would be immediately eliminated]], or never question why he had [[KeepingSecretsSucks Tyler]] reveal Duncan and Gwen's affair in order to win a challenge.

* Pretty much the entire plot of the ''[[Franchise/StarWars Star Wars prequels]]''. [[EvilChancellor Palpatine]] is [[BigBad Darth Sidious]] and behind everything, which the audience [[DramaticIrony knows from the start]]. According to the [[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse expanded universe]], this trope plays out in-universe as well in the sense that yes, there were those who distrusted Palpatine, not the least of which being the Jedi, but they didn't think him to be Sidious himself because he was ''too obvious''.

* [[ManipulativeBastard Izaya]] [[{{Troll}} Orihara]] from ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'' is the ultimate DiabolicalMastermind of [[CityOfAdventure Ikebukuro]] who loves nothing more than to [[ForTheEvulz screw with people]], to the point where he started a city-wide war between three different street gangs, a MadScientist facility and six former Members of TheMafiya, to name a few parties. Nobody sees that a certain KnowledgeBroker might be behind this. Well... except for the guy who's TooDumbToFool who happens to be [[WorldsStrongestMan Shizuo]] [[HairTriggerTemper Heiwajima]]. Granted, this is because Shizuo has hated Izaya for years and thinks he's responsible for everything that goes wrong in Ikebukuro, but seeing as Izaya usually ''is'' responsible for everything that goes wrong in Ikebukuro, you'd think other people would've caught on.

* Xellos of ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}''. Even though the whole party knows he's a demon, no one seems to mind him much - and that's despite his gruesome KickTheDog record.

%% Image replaced per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1585243236097283300
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[[quoteright:267:[[Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/devil_in_plain_sight.png]]]]

!!Examples

%%* Guu in ''[[Manga/HareGuu Haré+ Guu]]''.

* ''Anime/ThrillerRestaurant'': In Episode 14, Anko's wart takes over her body and mind. The only ones who seem to notice anything wrong with her are her dog [[EvilDetectingDog Kicchomu]] and Shou. Her parents actually ''become impressed'' by her personality makeover and maturity.

* Nobody in ''Anime/MyOtome'' except for Chie seems to suspect anything of #2 Coral Tomoe, even though the latter's sarcastic tone of voice (and occasional smirk, even in front of the teachers) is often blatantly obvious.
* ''Manga/{{Monster}}'': To Nina, seeing Johan is like seeing pure evil. To everyone else, it's just seeing a blond pretty boy. At least until they see the {{light|IsNotGood}}...
* ''Anime/{{Gankutsuou}}'': Let's see, the Count has long, sharp nails, pointed ears, fangs, his picture doesn't develop if he's photographed, has moments of cruel and disturbing behavior, oh yeah, and he's blue. Only one character ever calls attention to his odd features, and [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter Albert]] can't understand why his friends could possibly suggest that the Count is evil. Of course in ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'', people calling the Count a vampire is a continuously running joke. Even though he isn't blue.
* ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'': Scanty and Kneesocks, quite literally. Not even the [[BigRedDevil red skin]], [[HornedHumanoid horns]], devil tails or the fact they were actually called [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin ''The Demon Sisters'']] rang any bells with Panty and Stocking regarding the obvious truth about them.
* An odd example: Mephisto Pheles of ''Manga/BlueExorcist'' seems to be playing with this. It's difficult to tell at this point, but his first entrance drew immediate suspicion. He [[VillainousFashionSense dressed extravagantly]], [[VillainInAWhiteSuit wore all white]], had [[LargeHam dramatic mannerisms]], and his looks made it obvious that he was a demon of some sort. Heck, even his [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast name]] [[LouisCypher is an obvious pun on that of a famous demon]]. But then this was subverted as it turned out that [[spoiler:a lot of people have demon blood in the series, and some of them are exorcists]]. Then it turns out that he is [[spoiler:another one of Satan's sons - the second eldest, actually. Then again, the main character is also a son of Satan. So, Mephisto could still go either way at this point]]. He plays loads of "tricks" on his students, such as [[spoiler:letting high-level demons on campus to challenge the potential exorcists (particularly [[AntiAntiChrist Rin]])]] [[TricksterMentor which, he implies, is for the purpose of making them all stronger.]] But then he may have...[[WildMassGuessing some other reasons.]] The fandom suspicion only mounts the more "tricks" he plays, but there's still too much evidence to support the idea that he may [[spoiler:genuinely want to bring peace to Assiah and Gehenna]]. He was in fact friends with Rin's adoptive [[BadassPreacher father]], and was [[spoiler:responsible for sealing Rin's demon soul inside the demon sword when Rin was born]]. Really, he is pretty much the most mysterious character in the series at this point. It's highly possible that he is a Devil In Plain Sight but he may very well be a subversion of the trope. The fandom will have to wait and see.
* [[spoiler:Kumiko-san]] from ''Manga/KamisamaKazoku'' plays this trope LITERALLY. Only Tenko gets to see [[spoiler:her]] true face, and her stories are so outrageous that no-one believes her - least of all Kazoku.
* In ''Manga/OnePiece'' Ceasar Clown of the Punk Hazard arc is an ObviouslyEvil (he even has horns) MadScientist who specializes in weapons of mass destruction and regularly performs experiments on kidnapped children and his own subordinates. He has had nearly everyone around him convinced he's a paragon of virtue using a poorly executed combination of transparent lies, fake concern, and CrocodileTears.
** The third movie has the main villain Count Butler. He even wears a coat that has the Kanji for EVIL written on his back, all while claiming he isn't evil.
* Schneizel el Britannia from ''Anime/CodeGeass'' can be considered one of these. He may be one of Britannia's most prominent royal figures, but masks his true intentions with apparently conciliatory actions, making him appear to be a PrincelyYoungMan, managing to fool most everyone he comes across. Lelouch and Xingke are two notable exceptions. Of course, both have specific and personal reasons not to trust him. In addition, his father knows his real nature, and Suzaku just seems to [[spoiler: assume that he's planning on killing his father, now that Zero is dead. Which he was indeed considering]].
** On the other hand, we've got Cecile and Euphemia who just seem to completely gloss over the fact that Schneizel's first appearance was him [[spoiler: ordering their close friend and Euphemia's love interest and Knight, Suzaku, in holding down the main character while he fires deadly lasers at the both of them, with the expectation that Suzaku would die]], after some shameless flattery towards the angry Cecile, as well as saying that he was sure that Suzaku would "somehow" survive, and Euphemia has other important things to worry about. Schneizel, himself, smiles and says that Suzaku shouldn't worry - he's not going to ''court-martial'' him. For ''not being killed by him''. You have to wonder just ''how'' Schneizel can be this blatant, and not seem evil. I'm sure there is something kind of unacceptable about asking someone else's direct subordinates to die - for anyone other than the Emperor, at least.
** During the grand finale, Schneizel is the bonus boss [[spoiler:after Lelouch successfully killed his psycho parents]], because he's in control of an entire army that should hate his guts but is unquestioning towards his orders, while commanding a giant floating airbase with a primary weapon system that fires [[spoiler:Freya]] NUKES at infantry units, and nobody seems to care that even though his opponent is[[spoiler:/seems like]] a tyrant, he's basically the frickin' demon lord. Schneizel reveals his grand plan to Cornelia: take over the world by [[spoiler:nuking everything that resists or keeps fighting in civil wars, with the black knights basically prohibiting freedom in the name of justice]]. She's absolutely disgusted by this and his previous [[spoiler:nuking of his own capital to silence any hope of evidence of Lelouch's Geass]], but his second-in-command and media director are in awe and worship of this.
** Similarly, Clovis, despite his very short appearance. His public face and his actual ethics are very different. Not that any of his immediate subordinates care.
* [[ManipulativeBastard Izaya]] [[{{Troll}} Orihara]] from ''{{LightNovel/Durarara}}'' is the ultimate DiabolicalMastermind of [[CityOfAdventure Ikebukuro]] who loves nothing more than to [[ForTheEvulz screw with people]], to the point where he started a city-wide war between three different street gangs, a MadScientist facility and six former Members of TheMafiya, to name a few parties. Nobody sees that a certain KnowledgeBroker might be behind this. Well... except for the guy who's TooDumbToFool who happens to be [[WorldsStrongestMan Shizuo]] [[HairTriggerTemper Heiwajima]]. Granted, this is because Shizuo has hated Izaya for years and thinks he's responsible for everything that goes wrong in Ikebukuro, but seeing as Izaya usually ''is'' responsible for everything that goes wrong in Ikebukuro, you'd think other people would've caught on.
* In Part 1 of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'', Jonathan Joestar learns very soon after meeting Dio Brando that he's bad news, but very good at faking otherwise, thus winning his father's approval and alienating his friends. It's not until several years later when Jonathan finds evidence of Dio poisoning his father (plus bringing Speedwagon along, since he can tell just by smell a person's true nature) that he brings Dio's evil nature to light.
* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', Izuku and Mirio come across Eri, a girl wearing a raggedy dress and bandaged arms, who is clearly afraid of her "father" Overhaul, a guy with a beak-mask who's entire looks just screams "I am a Supervillain." What do they do? ''They let them go.'' Granted, they knew something was off, and they also knew that Overhaul was a {{Yakuza}} leader. But they were under strict instructions from Sir Nighteye to not do anything that would tip Overhaul off that he was under investigation. (This allows the trope to produce tension in an unusual way, as they're blatantly in the area as hero trainees and so have to judge whether leaving an apparent abusive situation alone ''would'' be just such a tip-off. Ultimately they judge he's shown himself to be so dangerous that smart trainees really would back off even if they suspected him, to report.)

* Nobody outside of people he has come in direct contact with (most of the people anyway) seem to notice that Roark Jr. from the ''ComicBook/SinCity'' story "That Yellow Bastard" is a psychopathic SerialKiller who has raped, tortured and killed a vast number of little girls (that may be because [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections his father is a United States Senator and no one on the force dares to try to bring him down]] -- at least until John Hartigan gets involved). It's implied that it was a public secret; everybody knew, nobody dared to act.

* ''I Luv Halloween''. A black comedy of the darkest kind. About a group of amoral trick-or-treaters who want their Halloween candy even in the midst of an alien invasion and zombie apocalypse. One of the characters is Devil-lad, a hooded young boy wearing a devil's mask who patiently goes along with the group's crazy hijinks. The other trick-or-treaters note he smells like sulfur. Proven in the second volume, when he nonchalantly rises from a crater after being in the middle of a nuclear explosion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxDZ7DQmYwA&feature=related

* Franchise/SpiderMan: Aunt May can't seem to understand why the police would want to arrest the nice [[Characters/MarvelComicsOttoOctavius Dr. Otto Octavius]].
* [[Characters/MarvelComicsDoctorDoom Doctor Doom]] makes frequent attempts to take over the world that would be considered acts of war by real-world standards, and most governments in the world just ignore him. No wonder he feels he is better suited to rule the world. This may count as FridgeBrilliance though: maybe world leaders have gotten the clue that all Doom wants is to keep having his little tiff with Reed Richards, so they just lay low and let the ComicBook/FantasticFour deal with him to avoid getting targeted and devastated by Doom rather than just battered a bit in the crossfire.
* Count Kasino in [[ComicBook/LesLegendaires Les Légendaires]]. He's a young [[SmugSnake arrogant man]] who hires two assassins as his bodyguards, has a typical [[AristocratsAreEvil evil aristocrat]] face and attitude and is known by everyone to be a ruthless dictator on his own territory. He even has an [[PsychoticSmirk evil grin]] when learning he has his chance to become king of Orchidia instead of his cousins Jadina [[spoiler:and Tenebris]]. Yet, Vangelis actually seems ''surprised'' when learning it was him who attempted to kill Jadina and the Legendaries in the Gamera Mines. [[spoiler:Partially subverted/inverted later however, as it turns out Kasino was actually nothing more than an UnwittingPawn and the actual villain ''was'' [[BitchInSheepsClothing Vangelis]]]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Iznogoud}}'': Comically inverted; Iznogoud looks, acts and IS definitely ObviouslyEvil, and people of Baghdad are perfectly aware of his desire to overthrow the Caliph... but the Caliph himself never suspects a thing, instead seeing Iznogoud as a devoted, good, trustworthy friend. He even once admitted he often received anonymous letters trying to warn him about it but never believed them. Ironically, the Caliph is the only person Iznogoud bothers acting good with.
* [[Characters/SupermanLexLuthor Lex Luthor]]: Post-Crisis Lex has been depicted as a CorruptCorporateExecutive and/or PresidentEvil.

* Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon:

---> "We are Siamese if you please/We are Siamese if you don't please" as they try to knock off vases and get in the crib…

* ''WesternAnimation/CloudyWithAChanceOfMeatballs2'': [[BigBad Chester V]] isn't fooling anyone in the audience.
---> '''Chester V''': Now we can keep an eye on him. He has no idea of our ''real'' plan!

--> '''Scott:''' Who are these guys?
--> '''Tony:''' They are SHIELD... Well, actually Hydra. But, we didn't know that yet.
--> '''Scott:''' Seriously, you didn't? I mean... they look like bad guys.

--->''[in a JustBetweenYouAndMe moment at a holiday costume party]''
--->'''Bruce Wayne:''' You almost made a monster the mayor of Gotham City.
--->'''Max Shreck:''' [[IAmTheNoun I am the]] ''[[IAmTheNoun light]]'' [[IAmTheNoun of this city]], and I am its mean, twisted soul. [[TheManBehindTheMan Does it really matter who's mayor?]]

--> '''John Milton''': I'm the hand up Mona Lisa's skirt. I'm a surprise, Kevin. They don't see me coming: that's what you're missing.

---> '''John Milton''': There's this beautiful girl just fucked me 40 ways from Sunday... we're done, she's walking to the bathroom, she's trying to walk, she turns... she looks... it's me. Not the Trojan army just fucked her. Little ol' me. She gets this look on her face like: "How the hell did that happen?"

--> '''Jay:''' ''(to Seth)'' Nobody is that nice. ''Serial killers'' are that nice.

* ''Literature/TheDeadZone'': Greg Stillson is obviously a nut-case to the most of the characters, the press, and most intelligent people who are paying attention, leaving them baffled why he wins elections. On a smaller scale, for security at rallies Stillson uses bikers wielding sawed-off pool cues; when Johnny points them out to a fan, he shrugs it off and says they're just for show, despite there being a history of people getting hurt at Stillson's rallies.

* Count Olaf of ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents''. Though the Baudelaire orphans always see through his flimsy disguises, [[AdultsAreUseless none of the adults]] [[CassandraTruth ever believe them]].
** Until the last book, when the orphans are shocked to discover a community of adults who ''immediately'' perceive Count Olaf as both obviously in disguise and an untrustworthy villain. This comes with its own problems, of course, as they've already encountered "[[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope The Slippery Slope]]".
*** [[PaperThinDisguise It probably helped that his costume was algae as a wig and a helmet as a pregnant woman's belly.]] [[spoiler: Also, the leader of the island had a relationship with VFD, and knew of Olaf.]]

* ''[[Literature/{{Redwall}} Outcast of Redwall]]'': Reversed with Veil Sixclaw. Everyone except his foster-mother Bryony realises that he's a delinquent and guess that it was him when an Abbeydweller is nearly killed. Ironically, it's heavily implied that if they'd treated him as if he was normal, he'd have grown up okay. But then they ''are'' [[CarnivoreConfusion mice trying to raise a ferret]].

* ''Literature/TheDemonPrinces'': The titular villains from Creator/JackVance's series, despite being infamous pirate lords and criminal bosses, value their anonymity and are essentially this. One has a position at a prestigious university, and on one occasion the hero Kirth Gersen gets into a bar fight with a Demon Prince without knowing. Often, the most difficult thing for Gersen is just figuring out who the Demon Prince is.
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'':
** How anyone in Westeros could ever find it in themselves to trust Roose Bolton, lord of the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Dreadfort]], is, frankly, shocking. The man's sigil is a flayed man because he comes from a family with a long-standing tradition of skinning their enemies alive and wearing their skins in battle; he always speaks in a CreepyMonotone, is a PaleSkinnedBrunette with godsdamned CreepyBlueEyes ''and'' his favorite pastime is getting leeched. Granted, everyone finds him a little unsettling but still, he's relied upon to perform extremely important roles several times. [[spoiler:Trusting him never, ever turns out well.]]
** Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish is obviously up to no good from the moment he appears in ''A Game Of Thrones''. He even flat-out tells Ned Stark not to trust him. When Ned does inexplicably trust him, cue backstab... to nobody's surprise, except Ned's. In the next two novels, where Littlefinger interacts with the Lannisters/the DecadentCourt, mostly everyone seems to think that he is just some ambitious commoner who wants to be a lord, and, apart from the keeping-fairly-mum-about-it Varys, only Tyrion gets how much of a ruthless and dangerous backstabber he really is, [[spoiler: or so he thinks. Even Tyrion never imagined that Littlefinger was essentially the BigBad who deliberately engineered the civil war engulfing the continent, and orchestrated the murder of [[TheGoodChancellor Jon Arryn]] that kicked off the plot. He still doesn't know that, in fact -- Baelish only confessed it in a MotiveRant to his hostage/protege Sansa Stark, adding that he is doing it for the sake of power, and is well on his way to becoming the most powerful man in the realm. He's probably holding stuff back from her, too]].
** As it turns out, trusting a random, dodgy commoner who looks like a RummageSaleReject, smells worse, goes by the name of Reek and always suggests courses of action that should really set alarm bells off happens -- if you're Theon Greyjoy. Seriously, Theon? [[spoiler: Ramsay just had to show how much like his dad he can be when he puts his mind to it...]]
** Euron Greyjoy returns to the Iron Islands on a blood-red ship crewed by deformed mutes and sorcerers, his lips stained an unnatural blue and a stereotypical pirate eyepatch over one eye, ''the day after'' his brother, King Balon, fell to his death in a "freak accident". His personal emblem is essentially [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings the Eye of Sauron]] with added CreepyCrows, and he brings with him sorcerous artifacts that incinerate those who try to use them from the inside out. [[StupidEvil The Ironborn]] elect him as the new king ''immediately'' once he starts handing out treasure. Only his niece and youngest brother realize just how monumentally screwed they are.
* Literally the case in the ''Literature/LeftBehind'' book series.

* In Creator/MichaelKurland's ''Literature/TheUnicornGirl'', Michael visits a universe where most of the people literally ''cannot see'' naked people, which leads to much confusion when some naked thieves begin to steal from people at a dinner party. Michael watches dumbfounded as his hosts are robbed right in front of his eyes, and when he tries to point it out, he ends up getting blamed for the crime himself. Fortunately, he realizes there's an obvious way to escape...
* Sauron becomes this at one point in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' when he becomes a DragonWithAnAgenda to Ar-Pharazôn the Golden, the last king of Numenór.

%% * Some demons, and [[spoiler: Sebastian]] in ''Literature/TheMortalInstruments''.
* Played for all its worth by [[EvilSorcerer Sinistrad]] in ''Literature/TheDeathGateCycle''. As a young man, he knew he was getting a reputation among other [[TheArchmage mysteriarchs]] for being an EvilSorcerer, so instead of trying to hide his behavior he [[CardCarryingVillain played it up]] (to the point of changing his name to "Sinistrad") to such a level that he was dismissed as merely a harmless eccentric (he also seduced and married a beautiful, idealistic young sorceress to add to the impression that he really wasn't so bad underneath his "cliché evil wizard" schtick). That allowed him to quietly build up his power and finally take over as head mysteriarch before anyone quite processed that yes, he really ''was'' that dangerous after all.

* In ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' the Bucket family, especially the grandparents, is dismayed to learn that each of the first four Golden Ticket finders is repulsive in their own way (in order -- gluttonous, greedy, proud/rude, slothful). Yet they are all indulged by their parents and acclaimed and celebrated for their luck, which isn't even really luck in Veruca's case, by the rest of the world. The four kids get a ''very'' rude awakening to their own faults once they're in the factory, because -- while he may not show it at first -- Willy Wonka, to say nothing of his Oompa-Loompas, ''does'' recognize them for who they are and has NoSympathy for what happens to them when they give in to their vices and meet dreadful fates.
* In ''Literature/TheBadSeed'', Rhoda Penmark appears to be a nice and polite eight-year-old. She wears pretty dresses, has her hair in braids, and can tap along on the sidewalk to make your heart melt. But she's also a multiple murderer at the age of eight. Because she also will push people down stairs, set people on fire, and let boys drown after they fell off a pier in an argument.

-->'''Chloe''': I'm going to figure out your secret.
-->'''Lucifer''': It's not a secret when I'm telling you!

-->''And when the cops came through, me and Dre stood next to a burnt-down house ''
-->''With a can full of gas and a hand full of matches, and still weren't found out''

* In ''VisualNovel/DoubleHomework'', the protagonist is the only one who notices on the first day of summer school that Dennis is more sinister than your average nerd.

* ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'': Manfred von Karma. The thing most characters in-game focus on when discussing him is his incredible record as a prosecutor, but... frankly, the guy may as well have 'evil' stamped across his forehead. [[http://www.court-records.net/sounds/Karma%20-%20objection.mp3 And then he talks, and it just gets worse.]]
** [[spoiler:Damon Gant]], [[spoiler:Morgan Fey]] and [[spoiler:Kristoph Gavin]] are better disguised versions, but still obviously bad people.
** And [[spoiler:Matt Engarde]] is a much better-disguised version. Also [[spoiler:his butler, aka Shelly De Killer]].
** Most culprits have a bad habit of turning into this as the trial goes on, suffering {{Freak Out}}s when Phoenix has them on the ropes and openly gloating when they have the upper hand, to the point that, if they were being judged by a real-life jury, most of them would probably be convicted just by how suspicious they're acting. [[spoiler:It's implied this very thing might have happened at the end of case 4-4 to Kristoph Gavin, as the new (or, [[{{Woolseyism}} in North America]], revived) Jurist System was a key part of that trial.]]

* ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'': Bakura is this to a huge degree. His introduction scene is complete with OminousLatinChanting and when asked to show his favourite card, he whips out a picture of Sephiroth before hastily replacing it.
** And Alex Brisbane, Mr "I'm MostDefinitelyNotAVillain". Fortunately, he only has to trick Tristan, Tea, Joey, and Yugi, which isn't exactly difficult.
** And then there's [[strike:Marik Ishtar]] "Malik Blishtar"...
-->'''Joey''': ''[thinking]'' I still think there's something fishy about that guy...
-->'''Marik''': Wahahaha! Destroy you all!
-->'''Joey''': ''[thinking]'' Man, if I could only put my finger on it...
* In ''Theatre/AVeryPotterMusical'', Quirrell/Voldemort are played by two people standing back-to-back in the same set of robes. Quirrel's turban covers Voldemort's head, but it looks exactly like what it is: a second head, covered by a turban. Also, the turban occasionally sneezes. Needless to say, this is played for laughs.
* Also played for laughs in one video of WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment where Dr. Insano ran for president... and won.
-->'''Dr. Insano''': My advisor was Fu Manchu for God's sake, how can you be this STUPID!?! (insane giggling laughter)
* ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'': Don Sebastiano -- that's his chosen codename. I mean, he's known as 'The Don', he turned two teenagers into mindslaves last year, and he's still walking around campus as the head of the Alphas. Yet no one in the school administration seems to realize how badly he needs to be stopped. [[spoiler: It's later revealed that they DO know - even the Headmistress is fully aware. But they're keeping him on because he is the only link they have to the real as-of-yet-unknown mastermind behind his actions....]]

--->'''Kendall:''' ''[innocently]'' But I don't know the killer!"
--->'''Snob:''' Sure you do! It's '''[[DeanBitterman THE DEAN!]]'''
* Exaggerated in ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee''. Mechakara is this from the start: his voice noticeably synthesized and he acts completely differently from Linkara. Then he assimilates the Nostalgia Chick, and she looks like Seven of Nine, her voice is even more synthesized, and she starts using RoboSpeak. And then he assimilates Todd, who becomes Robocop. Most of them still don't notice.
* ''WebVideo/PhilosophyTube'': Inverted with the character of the Traveling Salesman, AKA [[spoiler: the Arsonist]], from [[https://youtu.be/wO6uD3c2qMo "Steve Bannon"]]. He's charming, witty, and often directly calls the audience clever, brave or special, in order to sway them to his side. He talks a lot about how people, him included, often get accused of being arsonists for simply lighting a cigarette, and paints the people accusing them of arson as oversensitive and not worth listening to... [[spoiler: all the while mentioning arson attacks that just so happened to occur wherever he goes. Towards the end of the video, the camera slowly pans out to show him leaning on a gas tank, and in the final segment, the Salesman questions the true intentions of firefighters, while ordering several tanks of propane and making a Molotov cocktail out of a bottle of booze, before putting a cigarette in his mouth and directly asking the viewer for a match.]] The point of the character is to gradually show the viewer how fascist talking points can be hidden in plain sight while slowly gaining the trust of its target audience.
-->'''Abigail Thorn:''' So, fire is a metaphor for fascism, obvs — the point of the Travelling Salesman is to show that villains like him aren't always obvious. All the techniques I talk about in the video, he then uses — he's very charming, he makes you feel special, ''(...)'' he appeals to traditional values like trust and freedom — and all the while '''''[[spoiler: he is the Arsonist]].'''''

--> '''Dad:''' Now Chip Skylark's hit song "Icky Vicky" finally makes sense!
--> '''Doug Dimmadome:''' Well, what did you ''think'' that song was about? Pumpkins?!
--> '''Dad:''' .....Yes!

--> '''Grune''': Look at us, Panthro, soon [[WeCanRuleTogether we'll run]] this entire kingdom.
--> '''Panthro''': You planning on becoming [[KingOfBeasts a lion]]?
--> '''Grune''': No, I'm planning on becoming ''king''.

* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated''

* ''WesternAnimation/CloudyWithAChanceOfMeatballs2'': [[BigBad Chester V]] isn't fooling anyone in the audience.
---> '''Chester V''': Now we can keep an eye on him. He has no idea of our ''real'' plan!

Sometimes this can be a villain hiding as a lesser immoral person. For example, [[AcceptablePoliticalTargets no one would be the least bit surprised to find out that any given politician]] is a [[SleazyPolitician slimy]] [[CorruptPolitician scheming]] {{Jerkass}}, and thus they manage to hide their greater villainy as the simple pettiness of your every day scumbag.

* ''Anime/{{Gankutsuou}}'': Let's see, the Count has long, sharp nails, pointed ears, fangs, his picture doesn't develop if he's photographed, has moments of cruel and disturbing behavior, oh yeah, and he's blue. Only one character ever calls attention to his odd features, and [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter Albert]] can't understand why his friends could possibly suggest that the Count is evil.
** Of course in ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'', people calling the Count a vampire is a continuously running joke. Even though he isn't blue.

* As most {{muggles}} in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse are TooDumbToLive, none of ComicBook/NormanOsborn's previous actions prevent him from doing whatever he wants.
* Franchise/SpiderMan: Aunt May can't seem to understand why the police would want to arrest the nice [[ComicBook/DoctorOctopus Dr. Otto Octavius]].
* ComicBook/DoctorDoom makes frequent attempts to take over the world that would be considered acts of war by real-world standards, and most governments in the world just ignore him. No wonder he feels he is better suited to rule the world. This may count as FridgeBrilliance though: maybe world leaders have gotten the clue that all Doom wants is to keep having his little tiff with Reed Richards, so they just lay low and let the ComicBook/FantasticFour deal with him to avoid getting targeted and devastated by Doom rather than just battered a bit in the crossfire.

* ComicBook/LexLuthor: Post-Crisis Lex has been depicted as a CorruptCorporateExecutive and/or PresidentEvil.
* Before his HeelFaceTurn, Vathek of ''ComicBook/{{WITCH}}'' was able to go around Heatherfield without nobody noticing, and that's with him looking like an ''ogre'' ({{Justified|Trope}} because he would go around with Cedric, [[MasterOfDisguise who knows how to disguise people]]. After becoming good and losing Cedric's support he has a much more difficult time getting around).

** The cats Si and Am in ''WesternAnimation/LadyAndTheTramp''.
--> "We are Siamese if you please/We are Siamese if you don't please" as they try to knock off vases and get in the crib…

-->'''Sultan''': (responding to Jafar walking in like into a room like ''[[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/92/Jafar_Disney.jpg this]]'') Ah, Jafar, my most ''trusted'' advisor!

* Pretty much the entire plot of the ''[[Franchise/StarWars Star Wars prequels]]''. [[EvilChancellor Palpatine]] is [[BigBad Darth Sidious]] and behind everything, which the audience [[DramaticIrony knows from the start]]. According to the [[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse expanded universe]], this trope plays out in-universe as well in the sense that yes, there were those who distrusted Palpatine, not the least of which being the Jedi, but they didn't think him to be Sidious himself because he was ''too obvious''.
* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}''
** In ''Film/Batman1989'', everyone in Gotham ''knows'' that Carl Grissom is the city's most notorious gangster, but District Attorney Harvey Dent just can't gather enough evidence to put him away. Ironically enough, ComicBook/TheJoker [[BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork takes care of that little problem]].
** Max Shreck in ''Film/BatmanReturns'' retains public respectability even after his mayoral candidate, Oswald Cobblepot (The Penguin) is exposed as a criminal.
--->''[in a JustBetweenYouAndMe moment at a holiday costume party]''
--->'''Bruce Wayne:''' You almost made a monster the mayor of Gotham City.
--->'''Max Shreck:''' [[IAmTheNoun I am the]] ''[[IAmTheNoun light]]'' [[IAmTheNoun of this city]], and I am its mean, twisted soul. [[TheManBehindTheMan Does it really matter who's mayor?]]
* ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'': When Godzilla attacks Pensacola, he ''only'' focuses his destruction on Apex Cybernetics' local facility (something which a national TV report observes), and he causes very few deaths for a Titan of his power before departing. And yet ''no-one'' in the world except for Team Godzilla thinks they should actually be subjecting [[Characters/MonsterVerseHumans Apex]] to scrutiny and work out why Godzilla targeted their factory, when the much wilder and less rational assumption on the table is that Godzilla [[EasilyCondemned has turned evil]] for no reason (bear in mind that previous movies in the Franchise/MonsterVerse continuity made it clear that this Godzilla ''always'' has a reason for attacking) and he's now attacking all of humanity. Worse yet, the fact it's obvious to anyone with half a brain that Godzilla had something against Apex's factory specifically doesn't stop Monarch from ''partnering up with Apex'' to try and take Godzilla down, by following a plan that ''Apex themselves'' set forth. Really, humanity has no-one but themselves to blame for how much death and destruction in this movie could have been avoided but wasn't.
* The entire town in ''Film/LittleSweetheart'' isn't just holding the IdiotBall, they're firmly grasping the IdiotBall. John Hurt's character, Robert Burger, practically has idiot ball hot glue gunned to him. His mistress, Dorothea, on the other hand, can tell that [[BigBad Thelma]] is not sweet, innocent, kind or anything but evil.
* Tom Riddle comes across as completely creepy and obviously sinister in both ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'' and ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'', but he's completely trusted and well-liked by the teachers, especially by Slughorn. His creepiness in the films contrasts with the books, where he's stated and shown to be very charming as a young man and very good at presenting himself well.
* Rhoda Penmark in ''Film/TheBadSeed1956'' personifies this trope as does her remade update Rachel Penmark in ''Film/TheBadSeed1985''.

* ''Film/ThereWillBeBlood'': The main character is clearly one of these, complete with the MeaningfulName of Daniel Plainview. How much better his enemies the Sundays are is up to debate. At least [[spoiler: until the bodies begin piling up]].
* ''Film/HotFuzz'': Simon Skinner, owner of the local supermarket. He often behaves extraordinarily creepy around Sergeant Nick Angel, having a bit of a PsychoticSmirk, making puns about killing and showing up around the murder scenes. The fact that the murders committed lead Angel to believe that Skinner is responsible in order to get more land for his supermarket doesn't help either (though [[RedHerring that wasn't the true nature]]. [[spoiler:Turns out Angel's only part right.]])
** Then there's the wonderful scene where Skinner drives up to a burnt down house with a song about fire playing loudly on his car radio.
** In fact, every time Skinner turns up there's a song that's related to the murder. His drive past the scene of the "traffic collision" features Romeo and Juliet by Dire Straits.
* ''Film/TheGoodSon'': Henry's robot voice makes even his bogus innocent act seem... well, bogus. But, of course, [[ParentalObliviousness even his parents can't see this...]]
* ''Film/RedEye'': Jackson Rippner is, although nice, a bit too interested in Lisa. And let's face it, if a name like [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Jackson Rippner]] doesn't tip you off, you're probably TooDumbToLive anyway.
* In ''Film/ThePaperboy'' Ms. Rosemont tells Cammie that Johnny is this.

* ''Film/CapeFear'': This trope is the whole point of the film. It's even more obvious in the remake. At least in this case the local police ''did'' actually believe the protagonist's accusations, [[PoliceAreUseless but were powerless anyway]] due to the antagonist being pretty cunning with regards to legal tricks he can use.
* The remake of ''Film/TheOmen2006''. Unlike [[Film/TheOmen1976 the original]], where [[FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon Damien's angelic look was in a striking contrast to his infernal nature]], the new Damien is constantly frowning, glouting, is generally creepy and has an "I-hate-you-all-and-hope-you-will-burn-for-all-eternity" look at all times.

* ''Film/{{Wonder Woman|2017}}'': It's easy to suspect that a monster like Ludendorff is Ares, [[spoiler: and that's just what Ares wants Diana to think. In reality, his true identity is in even plainer sight, that of Sir Patrick Morgan, a British politician who appears to be an old man who needs a cane to walk. And Steve's superior, who sent him and Diana on the mission to begin with. But who could ever have suspected that the leading advocate of a negotiated peace could the ''God of War''? That's exactly what Ares was counting on.]]
* Done ''brilliantly'' in ''Film/{{Scream}}'' to MetaTwist the viewers. Billy Loomis is obviously the killer. So ''very'' obviously the killer. However, in slasher films the killer is never the suspicious guy who obviously is the killer. So imagine everyone's surprise when the killer is revealed, and sure enough it's Billy. Well, it's Billy and Stu Macher, but Billy's clearly the one in charge.
* ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' hangs a huge lampshade on this trope for Sitwell and Rumlow all the way back to in-universe 2012, when time-traveling Tony & Scott meet them -- Scott for the first time:
--> '''Scott:''' Who are these guys?
--> '''Tony:''' They are SHIELD... Well, actually Hydra. But, we didn't know that yet.
--> '''Scott:''' Seriously, you didn't? I mean... they look like bad guys.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''

* A literal example as ''Series/Lucifer2016'' has the title character making no secret of how he ''is'' the Devil come to Earth to anyone he meets...and no one ever believes him unless they see his "[[NightmareFace devil face]]" or are a fellow celestial.
-->'''Chloe''': I'm going to figure out your secret.
-->'''Lucifer''': It's not a secret when I'm telling you!

* Megan on ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'', to the point where [[GodModeSue it's not funny anymore.]]
* ''Series/{{Dexter}}'' works in the homicide department of the Miami police department by day, and kills by night. Despite this, he stays well under everyone else's "something's not right with him" radar, except for Doakes. Dexter comments at one point about being in a room full of police officers and Doakes being the only one who has any sort of sense of something wrong about him.
** Done again in Season 3 with [[spoiler: Miguel Prada, the local DA]], who only Dexter suspects of sinister urges. It turns out that [[spoiler: Dexter underestimates the degree of his sociopathy and has to kill him]].
* The '80s sitcom ''It's Your Move'' starred Creator/JasonBateman as a manipulative [[HighSchoolHustler teenaged con artist]] whose single mom was (initially, at least) blissfully unaware of his intrigues. The first dozen or so episodes dealt with his efforts to prevent the mother's equally devious boyfriend from exposing him. When she finally got wise to him, the show's whole comedic premise was effectively {{retool}}ed (and, arguably, ruined).
* ''{{Series/Dollhouse}}'': Laurence Dominic. In episode 5, he tries to kill Echo. In episode 9, [[spoiler:he is revealed to be the mole. Note that at the time of the episode's airing, the [[WMG/{{Dollhouse}} Dollhouse WMG page]] had eight guesses as to the identity of the mole, only one of which was a repeat, and yet no one had bothered to guess that it was Dominic. Because we won't fall for such an ''obvious'' RedHerring...yeah]]. And then it turns out he wasn't so much a "devil;" he saw himself as protecting the Dollhouse AND protecting the world from the technology it used. His negative convictions turned out to be right. Nobody important in the House figured that out until too late.

* Subverted and parodied in the ''Series/{{Blackadder}} Goes Forth'' episode "General Hospital"; a German spy has infiltrated a nearby field hospital and Blackadder is assigned to find out who it is. In the field hospital, he meets a wounded man with a German accent so thick it could be spread on bread ("My name... eeeees Meeeiiiister... Smeeeeth.") who's always skulking around acting suspiciously. Turns out he is a spy... a ''British'' spy, who's been undercover in Germany so long he's picked up "a teensy bit of an accent", and was even the one who informed Melchett there was a spy there in the first place. Blackadder even {{lampshade|Hanging}}s how ludicrous it would be for the Germans to place in a British field hospital a spy with a thick German accent. This doesn't stop Darling from humiliating himself by trying to arrest him, however, or George from blithely asking him whether he had seen any spies in the hospital (and this was not George being clever enough to realise that the man with a strong accent couldn't be a spy, he was simply too thick to notice it).
** Also done ''literally'' in the ''The Black Adder'' episode, '' Witchsmeller Pursuivant''. When Prince Edmund is accused by the titular Witchsmeller of being a witch, during his trial, he calls a random peasant woman to testify against Edmund, and who claims she bore his son, which the Witchsmeller claims is "the son of Satan." He then asks the people watching the trial if they can "see this son of Satan anywhere in this room?" When the camera shows the people looking at the person next to them to see who it is, it shows what clearly looks like a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNz4iHtGAvs&t=1m56s Devil at 2:04]], but no-one apparently realises this.

* ''Series/{{Brimstone}}'': The Devil is shown at the local hot dog stand and jogging.
* ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|1978}}'': Count Iblis in the original is this... literally.
* From ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}'', Agravaine, who waltzes around Camelot in a forbidding all-black outfit and Severus Snape's hairstyle, frequently flashing [[PsychoticSmirk Psychotic Smirks]] when nobody's looking and [[TheMole popping off to visit Morgana]] at regular intervals. Merlin and Gaius quickly peg him as a villain, but can't say anything due to him being Arthur's uncle and chief advisor, and therefore above reproach without serious evidence.
* Creator/PatrickWarburton played a [[CardCarryingVillain self-described evil businessman]] on a few ''Series/NewsRadio'' episodes. Despite his transparent and self-professed villainy, [[OnlySaneMan no one but Dave clues in that he's there to take over the station.]] At one point he leaves the room and can plainly be heard laughing maniacally in the next room; everyone but Dave assumes he's crying. He finally reveals the truth when their boss is about to go to jail and everyone is honestly shocked when Dave sighs that "it's all his evil plan. You know, the evil plan I've been warning you about for ''weeks?''"
* Mr. Morden in ''Series/BabylonFive''. In his first appearance, he's faultlessly polite and even does an unasked-for favor for Ambassador Mollari ...and yet he's got an unsettling and even sinister air about him that clearly marks him as "evil". Only Kosh and Delenn recognize him for what he is that first time (and it takes a moment for Delenn), and by "The Coming of Shadows" in Season 2, Vir has also realized that Morden is trouble (relatively quickly, as Vir didn't even know about Morden until the last episode of season 1).
* Patricia in ''Series/HouseOfAnubis''- At least when she becomes a sinner. She tricked the others into believing the sinner was KT, while her [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness out of character attitude]] should have suggested otherwise. A lot of the other villains seem to fall under this as well, such as Rufus- who wore all black and was basically stalking Patricia for a few episodes before they met.
* The TV series ''Series/{{Hannibal}}'' expands on this aspect of [[PsychoPsychologist Dr.]] [[ImAHumanitarian Hannibal]] [[SerialKiller Lecter]] by initially taking place in [[{{Prequel}} the years before his incarceration]] and [[AdaptationExpansion elaborating on the backstory and relationships]] in ''Red Dragon''. Here, Lecter is seen by the world at large as an [[TheShrink esteemed psychiatrist]], [[ManOfWealthAndTaste a lover of art and culture]], [[SupremeChef an accomplished gourmet chef]] and occasionally [[TheProfiler a helpful professional consultant for the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit]].
* Villanelle from ''Series/KillingEve '' is a very skilled assassin who enjoys killing people but she’s able to blend in pretty seamlessly as just another twenty-something woman. This was intentional on the creator Creator/PhoebeWallerBridge’s part as she wants to show that there are monsters walking amongst us that you’d never be able to discern.
* In ''Series/BreakingBad'', this is the modus operandi for many of the major players in the drug industry.
** Saul Goodman, the AmoralAttorney of the industry, places cheesy adverts on benches and TV channels, appearing as a cheap and unscrupulous AmbulanceChaser instead of the hyper-competent law-breaker he is.
** Gustavo Fring, the biggest boss in the Albuquerque-area drug trade, raises money and galas for his adversaries in the Drug Enforcement Administration, is a very public pillar of the community, and is commonly seen at his (legitimate) businesses overseeing operations as a BenevolentBoss.
** The protagonist, Walter White himself, keeps his job as a high school teacher and continues hanging out with his DEA brother-in-law, despite getting deeper into the drug trade.
* Charlotte Wills, a minor antagonist in ''Series/TorchwoodMiracleDay'', is a CIA watch analyst who's also working as TheMole for TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness known as the Three Families. From her shifty mannerisms and openly nervous behavior when her colleagues try to figure out who among them is a traitor right down to her choice of bold, red clothing, it's clear she does very little to hide the fact that she's up to something. Naturally, no one catches on until the last moments of the finale.
* ''Series/OnceUponATime'': For all her pretense of acting nice, it's absurd that nobody notices Zelena's giant emerald brooch and occasional black cloak and hat when she's in Storybrooke.
* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': Halbrand is cryptic about his mysterious past, warns Galadriel he's not the hero she's looking for and that he's done terrible things before. He's great at manipulating people and even gives her a lesson on mastering other people by giving them a way to master their fear. It grew so obvious that most assumed it had to be a RedHerring. [[spoiler:Turns out he is indeed the DarkLord Sauron in disguise. Galadriel was just too focused on plowing forward against all obstacles that she never stopped to suspect about her new companion. When Galadriel finally does have a moment of rest, she figures it out quickly.]]

* ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'': Manfred von Karma. The thing most characters in-game focus on when discussing him is his incredible record as a prosecutor, but... frankly, the guy may as well have 'evil' stamped across his forehead. [[http://www.court-records.net/sounds/Karma%20-%20objection.mp3 And then he talks, and it just gets worse.]]
** [[spoiler:Damon Gant]], [[spoiler:Morgan Fey]] and [[spoiler:Kristoph Gavin]] are better disguised versions, but still obviously bad people.
** And [[spoiler:Matt Engarde]] is a much better-disguised version. Also [[spoiler:his butler, aka Shelly De Killer]].
** Most culprits have a bad habit of turning into this as the trial goes on, suffering {{Freak Out}}s when Phoenix has them on the ropes and openly gloating when they have the upper hand, to the point that, if they were being judged by a real-life jury, most of them would probably be convicted just by how suspicious they're acting. [[spoiler:It's implied this very thing might have happened at the end of case 4-4 to Kristoph Gavin, as the new (or, [[{{Woolseyism}} in North America]], revived) Jurist System was a key part of that trial.]]
* ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'': [[spoiler:Al-Mualim. Despite every target telling Altair he's lying or using him, and the lack of any explanations for anything]], everyone pretends to be surprised when he turns out to be the Big Bad.
* ''VideoGame/Persona3'': [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Tanaka]] is much like this, particularly with the fact that he is represented as the [[TarotMotifs Devil Arcana]].
* [[ObviousJudas Kreia]] from ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords''. A unique example in that everyone except the PlayerCharacter notices, except if you have the right stats you can get her to admit to being a [[EvilMentor former Sith Lord]] although they let her stick around regardless.
* In ''VideoGame/WallaceAndGromitsGrandAdventures: The Last Resort'', Ms. Flit's cutesy dogs Poodgie-Woo and Tinkie-Wee are quickly revealed to be ill-tempered, mischievous mongrels with a collective mean streak twice as long as your arm.

* ''Franchise/DragonAge''
** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'': Teyrn Loghain was painfully obvious, though everyone trusts him because he placed the blame on the Grey Wardens and was also a national hero for freeing the kingdom from decades of foreign occupation. The former can also be said of Arl Howe.
*** Arl Howe was voiced by Creator/TimCurry. Other than being voiced by Curry, though, you probably wouldn't be expecting him to be a bad guy. At first.
** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', Mother Petrice. Tell me you didn't look at that cold, piercing gaze and at least predict she'd be a SmugSnake.
*** Also Bartrand. Listening to him, you wonder why anyone works for him, why Varric hasn't abandoned him, and why Hawke and the rest of the group don't just shoot him on sight. [[spoiler:It would have saved them a lot of trouble.]]

* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda''
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'' gives us Ganondorf. Despite the various red flags this guy gives off (has a constant smug grin, spiky armor, is known to be causing trouble for the various races of Hyrule, is the ''King of Thieves'') the King of Hyrule places all his trust in this guy...which will lead to Hyrule's downfall and Ganondorf's ascension to power as the [[CardCarryingVillain Great King of Evil]].
** The third line of dialogue from [[EvilChancellor Chancellor Cole]] in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks Spirit Tracks]]'' includes an ominous prediction while he stares at you with an insane evil smile. If you are still surprised when he shows himself as the BigBad of the game five minutes later, you should start getting worried.
* [[spoiler:The scientist, Kindjal]] of ''VideoGame/CustomRobo Arena''. She was so obviously a villain the second you saw her sprite.
* From ''VideoGame/CustomRobo'' for the Gamecube, there is Evil, a flamboyantly overdressed nemesis to the player and the Steel Hearts...he seems more like a SmugSnake who exists to beat the Steel Hearts to all the good jobs, at first. While it stuns the cast when he declares his true intentions, it's no surprise to the player when he [[spoiler: defects to the Z Syndicate with a Robo that will ''destroy the world'' to try and gain favor with the Z-twins]]. Love Makes You [[LoveMakesYouDumb Stupid]] [[LoveMakesYouEvil Evil]].
* Jan Rosencrantz in ''VideoGame/VagrantStory''. Everyone knows he's a traitor and an all-around bastard. It's just that no one ''cares''. He turns out to be more powerful and ambitious than the characters had anticipated. And many times more ruthless.
* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' gave us LouisCypher. We all know about that one, though.
** Ironically though, even if you do realize that, he's actually a pretty nice guy personality-wise, and in some games, he has a really strong claim to being considered a good guy anyway, especially compared to just how EvilerThanThou his competition can be.
** Also ironically, attentive fans will spot him the moment they see his face. (See that mysterious [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI blonde]] [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII man]]/[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne old man/little boy]]/[[VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsKingAbaddon scholar]]/[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney young woman]]?) On a more meta-note, the [[OncePerEpisode designated]] Chaos Heroes will usually have [[{{Jerkass}} surly attitudes]] and [[CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority hate on The Man]] while Law Heroes are often [[NiceGuy polite]] and [[LawfulGood kind]] ([[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope at first]]). [[VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2 Note that exceptions do occur]]...
** And in some situations, a demon will look like an ordinary, regular human, but immediately start spewing bullshit that points at their façade within five sentences. Examples include [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI a hot seductress who basically glomps onto the player for no good reason, kidnaps the heroine in her third appearance, and is revealed to be Lilith herself]], [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV a high-school student who seems like an average ditz, but waltzes in the middle of a gang turf with no escorts and starts deducing who you are mere minutes after you arrive in Tokyo, and is revealed to be Lucifer]]. Basically, when the demons start using less obvious disguises, they make their sentences look like bullshit instead.
** Then there's also the spin-off turned standalone ''Franchise/{{Persona}}''. For most of its installments, there will be a really suspicious person in around the first ten scenes of the game who acts in an abnormally antagonistic or condescending manner, acting ''really'' oddly, and if they were impersonating someone they don't even act like that person at all. Yet, nobody around seems to notice something is off with them. Usually and obviously, they are the StarterVillain, TheDragon, the BigBad, or even the GreaterScopeVillain himself.
* ''VideoGame/InvestiGatorTheCaseOfTheBigCrime'': Insti-Gator is obviously a criminal, from his name to his shifty behavior, to hiding evidence of his crimes right in front of Investi-Gator with {{Suspiciously Specific Denial}}s. But Investi-Gator is blissfully unaware of this and sees Insti-Gator as his beloved brother.
* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'', one of the missions you can do for the local assassins' guild involves you, around a half-dozen of poor saps who become your victims, and a [[ClosedCircle house locked from the outside]]. Funny thing is, you have the choice of telling one of your victims that you are the assassin right before you off everyone (though she just laughs it off).
* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'': Master Xehanort might as well be carrying a neon sign reading "I am evil, nyahahaha". Nobody, other than Yen Sid, seems to notice, not even the guy who ''fought him once before in a battle of light against darkness''.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' has an interesting variation in the form of the game's Metal Gear, ST-84 Sahelanthropus. It is a walking bipedal weapon, so anyone who saw it would know it was dangerous. However, it only has conventional weapons, and so wouldn't be subject to any nuclear treaties. But, thanks to the metallic arachea making up its body, it can become a nuclear bomb. [[note]]Depleted uranium cannot be used as such, but the metallic arachea metabolize uranium and give off uranium-235, nuclear material, as a byproduct.[[/note]]

* PlayedWith in ''VideoGame/UntilDawn''. [[spoiler:Josh]] predicted he would be the very first suspect in the killings since they are obviously motivated by [[spoiler:the deaths of Beth and his sister Hannah, and so he [[FakingTheDead fakes his death]] very early in the story to remove himself as a suspect and be able to freely move in his Psycho persona]]. Meanwhile, [[spoiler:The Stranger]] is very ''obviously'' the bad guy and yet, [[GoodIsNotNice while a massive jerk]], he's actually a pretty good guy. [[spoiler:The Wendigos play this trope very ''very'' straight though]].

* "Victor," a so-far unknown character from ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'' lampshades this trope in [[http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/14p21/ these]] [[http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/14p22/ two comics]], the latter of which provides the page image. Luckily, Gordito and Judy are not stupid and come with the ingenious plot of [[spoiler:[[BoringYetPractical firing him and hiring a new plumber.]]]] And now Sparklelord.

* ''WebVideo/TheCinemaSnob''

-->'''Abigail Thorn:''' So, fire is a metaphor for fascism, obvs — the point of the Travelling Salesman is to show that villains like him aren't always obvious. All the techniques I talk about in the video, he then uses — he's very charming, he makes you feel special, ''(...)'' he appeals to traditional values like trust and freedom — and all the while '''''[[spoiler: he is the Arsonist.]]'''''

* Angelica of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'', though occasionally she ''did'' get caught. Her role was eventually trumped by Savannah Shane in both ''Rugrats Preschool Daze'' and ''WesternAnimation/AllGrownUp''. However, unlike Angelica, she has yet to receive any ''real'' comeuppance or consequences.
* Stewie on ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', during its early episodes. It probably helped that no one expects an ''[[EnfantTerrible infant]]'' to be an EvilOverlord wannabe.
* Jessica Lovejoy from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Bart's Girlfriend". Her parents (the local minister and his wife) ''know'' that she's a troublemaker, but consistently look the other way because they do not want to bring disgrace upon the Lovejoy family. This allows Jessica to be both this trope ''and'' a BitchInSheepsClothing - and to frame innocent boyfriends (in this case, Bart) for her many misdeeds.

* "The Precious, Wonderful, Adorable, Loveable Duckling" from the ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'' episode of the same name.

%%* ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatiansTheSeries'': Ivy de Vil, Cruella's niece.
* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated''
** Soundwave definitely qualifies in his premiere episode. Bulkhead spends half the episode trying to convince everyone else that the robot is evil. Guess who was right.
** Longarm also fits, given that he was hinted the entirety of "Autoboot Camp" to be TheMole. [[spoiler: The fact that he was actually Shockwave in disguise, we didn't see coming.]]
%%* The anonymous bunny in the ''WesternAnimation/RubyGloom'' episode "Bad Hare Day".

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': Vicky is constantly left in charge of Timmy despite obviously being a malicious monster. Inverted in that Timmy's parents are the only ones who ''don't'' notice that Vicky is evil. They eventually do find out she's evil, but it gets {{Reset Button}}ed because it's [[StatusQuoIsGod that kind of show]].
--> '''Dad:''' Now Chip Skylark's hit song "Icky Vicky" finally makes sense!
--> '''Doug Dimmadome:''' Well, what did you ''think'' that song was about? Pumpkins?!
--> '''Dad:''' .....Yes!
%%* Mr.Kat from ''KidVsKat''. Poor Coop...
* The Golden Eagle Twins in ''WesternAnimation/ElTigreTheAdventuresOfMannyRivera''. Two twins who take advantage of their superhero fame to scam the locals into getting whatever they want. Only Manny and Frida are aware of this.

* ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeRenegades'': The newest incarnation of Cobra has the ruthless terrorist organization posing as a benevolent corporation providing essentials such as defense technology, pharmaceuticals, retail outlets, and apple pie. Their corporate logo not only bares a casual resemblance to the classic "hooded cobra" symbol of the original, but it also closely resembles the Greek letter "''Omega''". Add to that, the CEO "Adam Decobray" has never been seen in public, and even putting on his best nice-guy voice in video conferences, he ''still'' sounds like the creepiest, most sinister man that ever lived (as opposed the to horror it really is) thanks to Charlie Adler's fiendishly subtle acting.
* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama''
** [[AlphaBitch Heather]] in the first season; most of the characters actually figure this out pretty quickly, but [[ContractualGenreBlindness somehow keep falling for her schemes anyway]].
** Season three's Alejandro is a more JustForFun/{{egregious}} example--he lasts until nearly the end of the season before Cody and Sierra, the last "good" contestants, figure him out, while everyone else (save for Heather, Noah, and [[JerkAss Duncan]]) somehow ignore the fact that [[LoveMakesYouDumb every girl he hits on (at least one of whom was spoken for) would be immediately eliminated]], or never question why he had [[KeepingSecretsSucks Tyler]] reveal Duncan and Gwen's affair in order to win a challenge.
** Then there's Scott in season 4 who sabotages his own team and blames others. He is found out, but most of the time they're the ones he eliminates.
* Vertex in ''WesternAnimation/{{Rollbots}}''. In one episode, he is in a disguise (which is about as sinister as when [[PaperThinDisguise undisguised]]) and directly has a conversation with Pounder and Aria of all people, right in front of Spin, the one person who knows the truth about him.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''
** ZigZaggingTrope in the season two finale. Twilight Sparkle assumes Princess Cadence is evil, namely because she didn't respond to her SecretHandshake, and how she (Cadence) mistreats her friends. She tries to warn her friends, but they simply wave it off, and her last attempt causes them to leave her in disgust. [[spoiler:It isn't until Twilight arrives with the real Cadence that she is sorta proven right. But by then, the Changeling impersonating Cadence had already become too powerful to stop.]] In short, the show is subverting "BitchInSheepsClothing" by playing it [[spoiler:[[ShapeShifting literally]]]].
** [[AlphaBitch Diamond Tiara]] [[HeelFaceTurn was]] a {{downplayed|Trope}} example. She mercilessly bullied the [[PowerTrio Cutie Mark Crusaders]], sometimes in the presence of adults, and [[KarmaHoudini seldom got punished for it]].
* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' has [[EvilIsHammy Ricardio The Heart Guy]]. Finn can automatically tell that he's evil due to his appearance, but [[YouHaveToBelieveMe no one believes him]]. Jake thinks he is not evil, he just looks like he is.

%%* ''Rick & Morty'' - Coach Feratu. Who knew?
* Remember how bad Palpatine was at hiding his evil-ness in the Prequels? Well in ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' he's ''even worse''. He nigh constantly wears a huge, smug, blatantly evil smile and when he's not smiling he's scowling which just makes him look more evil. Add on to this his laugh and his general lack of concern when it comes to dangerous situations and it's ridiculous that nobody caught on sooner.

* ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'': [[spoiler:Lyblac]] does little to hide [[spoiler:her]] evil personality, what with the [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eyes]], [[DarkIsEvil black dress]] and creepy monologues. Somehow, the only character InUniverse who foresaw the full depths of her evil before it was too late is [[spoiler:Werner]] of all people.

** Then there's the wonderful scene where Skinner drives up to a burnt down house with a song about fire playing loudly on his card radio.

* ''VideoGame/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope'': Done with an entire country. Should the Black League unify western Russia and become visible on the world stage, they intentionally conceal their Ultranationalist ideology underneath an appearance of defensive militarism. They even give themselves a non-descript regional name, the "West Siberian Provisional Authority", and the stat screen lists their ideology as Despotism. But make no mistake, they're still the same old war-hawks and maniacs plotting an [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt apocalyptic]], [[FinalSolution genocidal]] [[red:Great Trial]] against Nazi Germany.

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'': Hades is an obvious villain from the moment he appears on screen, but none of the other gods realize he's trying to overthrow Zeus. Taken UpToEleven in the [[WesternAnimation/HerculesTheAnimatedSeries animated series]], where he hatches multiple plots to overthrow Zeus or trick the other gods, and they still keep falling for his tricks.