History Main / PettheDog

* When he was not tearing people's faces open with his teeth or stealing masks, Perro Aguayo Jr. could often be found playing with dogs.
* Wrestling/CMPunk voluntarily excused Wrestling/ColtCabana from their Wrestling/RingOfHonor TagTeam title defense at ''Survival Of The Fittest'', voluntarily taking on The Outkast Killaz, The Ringcrew Express and Special K by himself so that Cabana would have a better shot at winning the titular "Survival Of The Fittest'' {{tournament|arc}}.

* PetTheDog/AnimatedFilms

* When he's not tearing people's faces open with his teeth or stealing masks, Perro Auagayo Jr can often be found playing with dogs.

This term was coined by screenwriters, basically meaning: show the nasty old crank petting a dog, and you show the audience, ''aw shucks, [[RuleOfEmpathy he's all right after all.]]'' Often used to demonstrate that a {{Jerkass}} is really a JerkWithAHeartOfGold, or, if more limited, that the character is goal oriented rather than sadistic and/or thoroughly evil. If used as an EstablishingCharacterMoment then you skip right past the jerkass phase.

%% Little do they know, that kitten's also a suicide bomber. Hence the 'nade.

This term was coined by cynical screenwriters, basically meaning: show the nasty old crank petting a dog, and you show the audience, ''aw shucks, [[RuleOfEmpathy he's all right after all.]]'' Often used to demonstrate that a {{Jerkass}} is really a JerkWithAHeartOfGold, or, if more limited, that the character is goal oriented rather than sadistic and/or thoroughly evil. If used as an EstablishingCharacterMoment then you skip right past the jerkass phase.

[[caption-width-right:350:''[[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Blitzkrieg]] can vait; [[JustAStupidAccent it's time to]] [[CutenessProximity pet ze kitty!]]'']]

* When he's not tearing people's faces open with his teeth or stealing masks, Perro Auagayo Jr can often be found playing with dogs.[[/folder]]

Of course, this doesn't mean specifically petting a cute animal. It's just any attempt to mellow out a villain (or AntiHero).

{{Sub Trope}}s include PhotoOpWithTheDog, EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas, MoralityPet (a character's entire relationship with a villain is one long PetTheDog moment), and AndroclesLion (where the dog would later reward the one who petted him/her). Compare LickedByTheDog. A few ways to pet the dog include: being an AnonymousBenefactor, IWasJustPassingThrough, and EvenEvilHasStandards. Demonstrating MoralMyopia could also work, granted if the people they favor aren't evil. Contrast KickTheDog, MustMakeAmends (when a character tries to undo or atone for having [[ShootTheDog Shot The Dog]]), BaitTheDog (when this is darkly {{subverted}}).

Of course, this doesn't specifically mean petting a cute animal, but merely an attempt to mellow out a villain (or AntiHero).

Of course, this doesn't mean specifically petting a cute animal, but just a sign showing ALighterShadeOfBlack (or [[ALighterShadeOfGrey grey]]) within a villain or Anti-hero.

Of course, this doesn't mean specifically petting a cute animal, but any sign of nobility within a morally ambiguous character.

{{Sub Trope}}s include PhotoOpWithTheDog, EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas, MoralityPet (a character's entire relationship with a villain is one long PetTheDog moment), and AndroclesLion (where the dog would later reward the one who petted him/her). Compare LickedByTheDog. A few ways to pet the dog include: being an AnonymousBenefactor, IWasJustPassingThrough, and EvenEvilHasStandards. Demonstrating MoralMyopia can also do the trick, by proving the character is not actually ItsAllAboutMe but does regard at least someone else as having rights. Contrast KickTheDog, MustMakeAmends (when a character tries to undo or atone for having [[ShootTheDog Shot The Dog]]), BaitTheDog (when this is darkly {{subverted}}).

* PetTheDog/{{Live-Action Films}}

* PetTheDog/{{Live-Action TV}}

This term was coined by cynical screenwriters, basically meaning: show the nasty old crank petting a dog, and you show the audience, ''aw shucks, [[RuleOfEmpathy he's all right after all.]]'' Often used to demonstrate that a {{Jerkass}} is really a JerkWithAHeartOfGold, or, if more limited, that the character is goal oriented rather than sadistic and/or thoroughly evil. If used as an EstablishingCharacterMoment then you skip right past the JerkAss phase.

[[caption-width-right:350:''[[WorldWarII Blitzkrieg]] can vait; [[JustAStupidAccent it's time to]] [[CutenessProximity pet ze kitty!]]'']]

[[caption-width-right:350:''[[WorldWarII Blitzkrieg]] can vait; [[JustAStupidAccent it's time to pet ze kitty!]]'']]

[[caption-width-right:350:''[[WorldWarII Blitzkrieg]] can vait; it's time to pet ze kitty!'']]

* PetTheDog/{{Newspaper Comics}}
* PetTheDog/RealLife

* PetTheDog/{{Anime And Manga}}
* PetTheDog/{{Comic Books}}
* PetTheDog/{{Animated Films}}
* PetTheDog/{{Fan Works}}

* PetTheDog/{{Mythology And Religion}}
* PetTheDog/{{New Media}}

* PetTheDog/{{Real Life}}

* PetTheDog/{{Video Games}}
* PetTheDog/{{Web Comics}}
* PetTheDog/{{Web Original}}
* PetTheDog/{{Western Animation}}

%% This image was chosen in an Image Pickin' thread, please don't replace it without starting a new thread.%%
[[quoteright:350:[[ThoseWackyNazis http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nazis_with_kittens_5152.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''[[WorldWarII Blitzkrieg]] can vait; it's time to pet ze kitty!'']]

%% Little do they know, that kitten's also a suicide bomber. Hence the 'nade.

This term was coined by cynical screenwriters, basically meaning: show the nasty old crank petting a dog, and you show the audience, ''aw shucks, [[RuleOfEmpathy he's all right after all.]]'' Often used to demonstrate that a {{Jerkass}} is really a JerkWithAHeartOfGold, or, if more limited, that the character is goal oriented rather than sadistic and/or thoroughly evil. If used as an EstablishingCharacterMoment then you skip right past the JerkAss phase.

Of course, this doesn't mean specifically petting a cute animal, but any sign of nobility within a morally ambiguous character.

{{Sub Trope}}s include PhotoOpWithTheDog, EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas, MoralityPet (a character's entire relationship with a villain is one long PetTheDog moment), and AndroclesLion (where the dog would later reward the one who petted him/her). Compare LickedByTheDog. A few ways to pet the dog include: being an AnonymousBenefactor, IWasJustPassingThrough, and EvenEvilHasStandards. Demonstrating MoralMyopia can also do the trick, by proving the character is not actually ItsAllAboutMe but does regard at least someone else as having rights. Contrast KickTheDog, MustMakeAmends (when a character tries to undo or atone for having [[ShootTheDog Shot The Dog]]), BaitTheDog (when this is darkly {{subverted}}).

!!Example subpages
[[index]]
* PetTheDog/{{Advertising}}
* PetTheDog/{{Anime And Manga}}
* PetTheDog/{{Comic Books}}
* PetTheDog/{{Animated Films}}
* PetTheDog/{{Fan Works}}
* PetTheDog/{{Gamebooks}}
* PetTheDog/{{Live-Action Films}}
* PetTheDog/{{Literature}}
* PetTheDog/{{Live-Action TV}}
* PetTheDog/{{Mythology And Religion}}
* PetTheDog/{{New Media}}
* PetTheDog/{{Newspaper Comics}}
* PetTheDog/{{Real Life}}
* PetTheDog/{{Theater}}
* PetTheDog/{{Video Games}}
* PetTheDog/{{Web Comics}}
* PetTheDog/{{Web Original}}
* PetTheDog/{{Western Animation}}
[[/index]]
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* PetTheDog/{{Real Life}}

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[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Advertising]]
* Ads: Credit card companies love this trope, and know how to use it very effectively.
** Capitol One: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yosTIwbFjzM Warkittens]]
** Mastercard: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNcwqkEtn20&NR=1 Badger and the Biker]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' fanfiction ''Fanfic/QueenOfAllOni'', once Jade turns [[FaceHeelTurn evil once again]], she has her minions steal the [[ImmortalityInducer Dog Talisman]] to make him immortal once more, and pampered him on several other occasions.
* Gerald Langer from the Mass Effect series {{Fanfic/Uplifted}}. He's a Nazi, literally. An anti-Semitic, homophobic Waffen SS officer who took in a young Joachim Hoch and raised him as his own son, and probably the only reason Joachim didn't end a complete sociopath. He is one of the most genuinely caring characters in the series.
* ''Fanfic/{{Luminosity}}'': Santiago works for the Volturi, who are...not nice people. And yet, she appears to genuinely care about everyone she works with, to the point of giving children dance lessons [[spoiler:and needing Chelsea to cut a bond to a human so she doesn't mourn too much]].
* ''ImAMarvelAndImADC''. Green Goblin seems to actually care for Harley Quinn, and gets angry whenever the Joker hits her.
* The MyLittlePony[=/=]SonicTheHedgehog {{Crossover}} ''Fanfic/ChaoticHarmony'': Sonic is a huge {{Jerkass}} thanks to no action over the course of a year. He completely ruined Cream's birthday party, split all ties with his friends, and thought about deserting his friends in Ponyville after they were transported via Chaos Control. But even after all of that, he couldn't resist helping Rarity finding her missing goggles that she needed to finish her design. (That ''Sonic'' helped model, no less.)
* In the ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' fanfic, Times Like These, gives a surprising one to ''[[TheCaligula Aerys]]'' of all people. Apparently, Aerys had a portrait of Steffon Baratheon, Robert's Father, as a babe placed in the Throne Room, because Steffon was loyal and, considering Aerys' state of mind, states that he misses him! Stannis was surprised to see the portrait in such a public place to say the least when shown.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gamebooks]]
* The British ''FightingFantasy Gamebooks'' published in the 1980s and 1990s contain an interesting example in Lord Azzur, the tyrannical ruler of Port Blacksand, the otherwise hopelessly corrupt and vile City of Thieves. While Azzur was a notorious pirate and murderer before he seized control of Blacksand, he indulges some rather odd acts of charity, including providing a luxurious home for a woman abducted by the evil Snake Men of the [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Desert of Skulls]] and left with the head of a giant snake, and celebrating the New Year by executing several of Port Blacksand's wealthiest citizens and donating their riches to the poor.
** Subverted in the ''Blacksand!'' sourcebook, when the entry for his first charity executions is ''immediately'' followed in the timeline by "Several of the now-rich citizens from last year's poor are killed in this year's charity executions." Fine sense of irony, that tyrant.
** The reader can even use Azzur's care of the Serpent Queen (the lady with the snake head) to their advantage in the book City of Thieves. If the player character enters the Serpent Queen's home, they can avoid a fairly difficult fight by presenting her with flowers and saying they are from Lord Azzur. She takes the gift with delight and gives the player a small tip.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mythology and Religion]]
* In UsefulNotes/AztecMythology, the god Tezcatlipoca was the resident ManipulativeBastard, directly responsible for ''three'' [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt apocalypses]] and involved in a fourth, and the god of darkness, magic, chaos, rulership, and slaves. However, in this case, "God of Slaves" means "[[PapaWolf if you mistreat your slaves, prepare for a world of hurt]]."
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Newspaper Comics]]
* Normally, Ms. Wormwood in ''CalvinAndHobbes'' is seen as rather unsympathetic or a constant obstacle. However, in one strip, Calvin freaks out because he's inside school on a beautiful day. Ms. Wormwood calmly leads him back to his seat, saying "Next time, take a few deep breaths and have a drink of water, okay?"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theater]]
* "The Policeman's Song" in GilbertAndSullivan's ''ThePiratesOfPenzance'' laments that even thieves and murderers love the simple, pure English countryside. ("When the coster's finished jumping on his mother / He loves to lie a-basking in the sun...")
** And "When a felon's not engaged in his employment / or maturing his felonious little plans. / His capacity for innocent enjoyment / is just as great as any honest man's."
[[/folder]]

* In the ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' fanfic, Times Like These, gives a surprising one to ''[[TheCaligula AERYS]]'' of all people. Apparently, Aerys had a portrait of Steffon Baratheon, Robert's Father, as a babe placed in the Throne Room, because Steffon was loyal and, considering Aerys' state of mind, states that he misses him! Stannis was surprised to see the portrait in such a public place to say the least when shown.

This term was coined by cynical screenwriters, basically meaning: show the nasty old crank petting a dog, and you show the audience, ''aw shucks, [[RuleOfEmpathy he's all right after all.]]'' Often used to demonstrate that a JerkAss is really a JerkWithAHeartOfGold, or, if more limited, that the character is goal oriented rather than sadistic and/or thoroughly evil. If used as an EstablishingCharacterMoment then you skip right past the JerkAss phase.