History Main / VillainwithGoodPublicity

* ''Series/{{Andor}}'': Chief Inspector Hyne orders Syril to write up a fake report about the deaths of two {{dirty cop}}s saying they died protecting someone from harm during an "unfortunate calamity", rather than admit they tried to shake down the wrong person at the wrong time.

** Donquixote Doflamingo to Dressrosa. To the public, he is a benevolent rightful king who rescued the country from the previous ruler who apparently went insane one day and started indiscriminately killing civilians, and ushered in a new age of peace, wealth, and prosperity. Behind the scenes though, he is a bloodthirsty pirate and underworld crime lord who usurped the throne by using his string powers to puppet the king and his army into committing atrocities. He uses his subordinate, Sugar's ability to [[MadeASlave turn any troublemakers, criminals, and opponents into subservient toys]] and [[Unperson mindwipe any memories of them from the world]]. [[spoiler:His approval rating literally falls to 0 once Usopp defeats Sugar and everyone connects the missing pieces, and find out Doflamingo was the one who destroyed the nation in the first place]].

** Ainz wants to be this to avoid antagonizing any fellow Yggdrasil players who may have also ended up in the New World as well as anyone else who might be powerful enough to actually defeat him. He has succeeded in this regard with Carne Village, who revere him as their savior and benefactor for very good reasons: he saved them from being massacred by the Sunlight Scripture, he provided Enri with the Horns of the Goblin General that summoned very helpful goblin soldiers, and he also provided them golems to help with construction. He is also this in the Re-Estize Kingdom his "Momon" adventurer guise, having duped just about everyone in the New World into believing he is humanity's greatest champion, and in the Holy Kingdom, where after saving them from a demihuman invasion ([[EngineeredHeroics which he engineered in the first place]]) there is now a significant number of people joining a cult dedicated to him.
** Princess Reneer the "Golden Princess" is beloved by the Kingdom for being a kind and gentle monarch who pushes for reforms such as abolishing the slave trade. [[spoiler:She's actually a very disturbed and intelligent BrokenBird due to growing up feared and hated by everyone around her who thought she was too smart for her own good. She is in truth a psychopath who doesn't really care about anyone else but Climb, the first person to see her as a human. Her idea of "love" is to chain up Climb and use him as her SexSlave. It's telling that ''[[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Demiurge]]'' of all people considers her to be the only person of interest in the Kingdom.]]

** This is a theme in the Punk Hazard arc as two separate villains get this treatment. The primary BigBad of the arc, Caesar Clown, has devoted followers that call him Master, but whom he sees as mere experiment fodder. The second is [[spoiler:Marine Vice-Admiral Vergo]], who puts up the front of AFatherToHisMen but is revealed to be in league with the mysterious "Joker." Oddly enough, the character in this arc with the worst reputation actually chooses to ally with the Straw Hats.
** The first to do this was Captain Kuro, who first appears as Kaya's loyal, if stuffy, butler Klahadore. As he tells his subordinate Django, the three years he spent Kaya's employ was to build up a good reputation, so that when Kaya dies in the Black Cat Pirates' raid, no one in the village will think twice about Kaya leaving him her fortune- provided Django hypnotizes her into making said will before dying, anyway.
** Donquixote Doflamingo to Dressrosa. To the public, he is a benevolent rightful king who rescued the country from the previous ruler who apparently went insane one day and started indiscriminately killing civilians, and ushered in a new age of peace, wealth, and prosperity. Behind the scenes though, he is a bloodthirsty pirate and underworld crime lord who usurped the throne by using his string powers to puppet the king and his army into committing atrocities. He used his subordinate, Sugar's ability to turn any troublemakers, criminals, and opponents into subservient toys and mindwipe any memories of them from the world. [[spoiler: His approval rating literally falls to 0 once Usopp defeats Sugar and everyone connects the missing pieces, and found out Doflamingo was the one who destroyed the nation in the first place]].

%%** Also: the World Government.

** Played Straight, but later Subverted. Kumiru Shikimi puts up the façade of [[TheFakeCutie being a perky and fun-loving high school girl]]... but since she's spent ''years'' having transactional relationships ''at best'' with her classmates, no one really likes her or trusts her word anymore. Even when she [[FrameUp framed]] Kiritaka for stealing her gym clothes two years ago, he noted that few of their classmates ''believed'' her claims- they were just worried about ending up the next victims if they called her out. Fast forward to the present day, and her ''latest'' claims that there's a pervert in class are met with apathy and accusations of [[NotMeThisTime trying her old tricks]].

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* ''Fanfic/AllForLuz'': Tyler Wittebane leads a conservative mega-church that's popular enough to indoctrinate people in his FantasticRacism "crusade" against superpowers and other minorities, and has many supporters. This makes it more difficult for Luz to bring him down by legal means. Millie sees him as the Human Realm version of Emperor Belos, as he's so revered by the people that followed him.

* ''Fanfic/ADevilAmongstWorms'', Makima becomes this [[spoiler:after defeating Leviathan by sending him to Mercury]], quickly becoming the most beloved hero in the world as a result, and receiving enormous donations of money and support from all across the world, with Rachel noting that posters of her placed across pretty much every building in Brockton Bay. This backfires on Makima, as the resulting love and adoration severely weakens her.

* "Film/{{Enough}}" is strongly implied to be a case of this, as the abusive husband Mitch Hiller is shown to come from a family of much wealth and high social standing, along with the fact that he is very successful and appears to be fairly popular and well known in town, not to mention that a line of dialogue implies that he is more affiliated with the police than just his corrupt friend, which could explain why he was so willing to openly cheat on his wife and commit routine threats and crimes against his wife and her friends. He knows that he has much influence that can work to his advantage to establish [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem his own set of morals for pretty much everyone]], especially when [[BitchInSheepsClothing they don't know his true nature]].

* "Film/Enough" is strongly implied to be a case of this, as the abusive husband Mitch Hiller is shown to come from a family of much wealth and high social standing, along with the fact that he is very successful and appears to be fairly popular and well known in town, not to mention that a line of dialogue implies that he is more affiliated with the police than just his corrupt friend, which could explain why he was so willing to openly cheat on his wife and commit routine threats and crimes against his wife and her friends. He knows that he has much influence that can work to his advantage to establish [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem his own set of morals for pretty much everyone]], especially when [[BitchInSheepsClothing they don't know his true nature]].

* In ''Videogame/YakuzaLikeADragon'', Ryo Aoki is the Governor of Tokyo and in-universe a very popular politician due to being a [[YoungerAndHipper relative young face]] among the elder statesmen of Japan running on a campaign of cleaning up the streets (which in his case means [[VillainousGentrification getting rid of the undesirables of society to make way for his criminal allies]]). His lackey Ogasawara refers to this as "Front-facing power" while his secret connections to the criminal underworld is known as "back-facing power".

* ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'':
** Ian Quinn presents himself as a champion of free business and small government but is actually a textbook CorruptCorporateExecutive [[spoiler:working for [[BigBad The Clairvoyant]]]].
** [[spoiler:Jiaying]], the leader of the Inhumans, is viewed as a wise and benevolent ruler. However, she turns out to be a totally unhinged WarHawk who has no problem engaging in total war with SHIELD, even knowing it'll cause countless deaths on both sides.
** Season 3 has Gideon Malick, a philanthropist and former member of the World Security Council who acts as the benefactor for the ATCU. He also turns out to be a member of HYDRA's old guard and leader of the faction dedicated to their true original purpose [[spoiler:of worshipping and working to [[SealedEvilInACan unleash]] an ancient Inhuman]].

---> '''Holland:''' ''"Can we really change the world? At Wolfram & Hart, We're Counting On It.™"''
** Jasmine takes this trope to the logical extreme with good publicity through [[{{Brainwashed}} mass brainwashing]].

* The Earth government of ''Series/BabylonFive'' in the second through fourth seasons stays in power largely by controlling all the media and spinning everything in their favour. It engages in practically every single Trope in the description, including capturing Sheridan and attempting an EngineeredPublicConfession as a major story arc. Tellingly, during a meeting with an Earth Force Major who reports martial law has been declared and troops are deployed in all Earth's major cities, he notes that martial law has been (officially) met with widespread public ''approval!'' And things have never been calmer. Sheridan replies, "Yeah, but it's the peace of the gun". Sheridan then proceeds to use his own guns quite effectively.

* ''{{Series/Camelot}}'': Morgan begins increasingly painting a good image of herself in people's minds to help gain supporters that will turn against Arthur (who she's made look bad by comparison).
* Parodied in one ''Series/ChappellesShow'' sketch where the famously friendly and squeaky-clean Creator/WayneBrady is portrayed as secretly being a deranged, sociopathic criminal who performs drive-by shootings, pimps out women, forces Creator/DaveChappelle to take drugs, steals food, and murders a cop for pulling him over on a traffic violation.

* ''Series/CobraKai'': John Kreese becomes one of these in Season 3. Knowing how to pay lip-service to social justice culture (earning the respect of a councilman by calling her "councilperson", for instance) and his past as a decorated veteran means he automatically gets a certain amount of respect in the community, even as he steadily escalates his harassment campaign and violence against the Miyagi-Do dojo and Johnny Lawrence. When Kreese speaks at a local political meeting, both Johnny and Daniel are stunned at how easily the abusive, manipulative psychopath can win people over while their own legitimate but poorly phrased/spoken points get ignored.

** Mr. Saxon. See PresidentEvil. Like Jasmine, brainwashing was involved.
** Davros, in "Genesis of the Daleks". At least, before he [[spoiler:arranged the Kaled Dome's destruction (and the extermination of his people) to avoid having to cover his tracks]].
** Davros also returns to this in his Sixth Doctor appearance in "Revelation of the Daleks," where he's credited for helping solve universal hunger. You know, until it was revealed his food was [[spoiler:[[ImAHumanitarian Made of people]]]]. Whoops.
** The Daleks could count as a group of Villains with Good Publicity in "Victory of the Daleks". The Doctor knows what they really are, but they have even Winston Churchill convinced that they are nothing but loyal robots who will fight for England. And serve them tea.
** The same thing is true in the Second Doctor-era story, "The Power of the Daleks". Everyone in the human colony is convinced that the Daleks are robots that are there to help them in any way possible. This belief is reinforced by the Daleks' seemingly endless mantra of "I. AM. YOUR. SER-VANT."

** Rassilon, Founder of Time Lord Society was often portrayed as a benevolent figure by the Time Lords. In "The Five Doctors" he even helps defeat the villain and restore order. However, in this story, he is implied to be this trope, the Third Doctor says he put a stop to misuse of time travel while the Second Doctor says the official history portrayed him well but there were rumours he was a tyrant who was imprisoned in the Dark Tower by his fellow Time Lords. In "The End of Time" he has returned during the Time War to lead the Time Lords and has become an OmnicidalManiac, willing to bring about the title threat to ensure the Time Lords AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence.\\\
This had already been happening in the Expanded Universe, where it was implied he brought about the supposed death of his friend Omega to ensure he could rule Gallifrey. And in AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho he is the BigBad of many of 8's stories and a massive EvilutionaryBiologist. It is claimed he stole the power of regeneration from the Vampires and tried to exterminate them all even though they were a peaceful race that only fed on mindless animals they bred. Then to prevent any races developing which could threaten the Time Lords he made sure many races evolved in [[HumanAliens Time Lord form]] and trapped the Divergence in another Universe.

* On ''Series/TheExorcist'', the Friars of Ascension are a Catholic charity organization whose members include many of Chicago's "pillars of society", such as the police superintendent and a businesswoman/philanthropist who is one of the main benefactors of Father Tomas' struggling church. However, they're all also [[spoiler:closeted Satanists (several of whom may actually be [[DemonicPossession possessed]]) who are plotting to assassinate the Pope during his visit to the city]].

* The Alliance in ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' and ''Film/{{Serenity}}'' (with shades of [[KnightTemplar Knights Templar]]) is a very good example of this. Most of them think they are being no worse than Kipling-style Imperialists who conquer the unwilling but also build hospitals, ship medicine to the Rim and try to establish Rule of Law. Which comes in hard for River and Simon who don't just face exile but the respect with which well-engineered hypocrisy can cover injustice. And it comes especially hard for the inhabitants of places like Miranda...
* In the Sci-Fi Channel's ''Series/{{Flash Gordon|2007}}'' series, Ming of Mongo goes to great lengths to present himself to his subjects as "The Benevolent Father" (but can never quite live down his old nickname "Ming the Merciless"). He can grant a smuggler's sick daughter extra water rations while ordering his execution in the same breath.

* On ''Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'', the only recurring villain was Luther Mahoney, a college-educated drug kingpin whose front was a self-proclaimed "community activist" who ran a number of community centers and charities in the slums. No matter what the detectives tried to pin on him, he always walked away unscathed and with his reputation intact, causing one detective to remark that he would likely someday be elected Mayor. [[spoiler:Eventually, one of the detectives killed him in a questionable shooting, leading to many, many more problems than were solved.]]
* Francis Urquhart from the ''Series/{{House of Cards|UK}}'' trilogy cheats, connives, blackmails, coerces, and murders his way to the post of Prime Minister of the UK. He effortlessly charms his friends and enemies into doing everything he wants as he stabs them in the back, and he enjoys overwhelming popular support. He ends up ruling longer than Margret Thatcher. Frank Underwood, his [[Series/HouseOfCardsUS American counterpart]], is just as much of a political schemer, and just as willing to resort to murder to get what he wants. And he's still considered a personal friend of the (apparently genuinely non-corrupt) President, as well as being quite popular with the public.
* ''Series/{{Impulse|2018}}'': The Boones are well-liked by the community because of how much business they bring in, and the fact Clay is a local hero with the school's basketball team. There's some rumor of their criminal dealings but most seem to see it as a necessary evil, and after his "accident", the entire town rallies behind Clay. Part of the reason Henry never goes public about his DateRape against her is that the town would probably take his side.

* In the ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'' episode [[Recap/LegendsOfTomorrowS2E5Compromised "Compromised"]], Damian Darhk, an EvilSorcerer and head of NebulousEvilOrganisation HIVE has become one of Ronald Reagan's top advisers.

* In his ''Series/LoisAndClark'' incarnation, Lex was a renowned philanthropist, a darling to the press (even Perry White wanted to sell him the ''Daily Planet''), and a god to City Hall -- this despite operating a monopoly on city services and gouging his customers. He also ran a crime syndicate on the side, ensuring that even the lowliest mugger answered to him.

* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:
** In ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'', [[Characters/MarvelComicsTheKingpin Wilson Fisk]] originally subverts this, trying to be a Villain with '''''No''''' Publicity: he goes to great lengths to stay out of the limelight, and [[SpeakOfTheDevil uttering his name carelessly]] will cause him to order a hit on you and everyone you ever cared about as a message to others. Eventually, his new mistress Vanessa Marianna persuades him to make a public appearance as a philanthropist in order to get some good publicity in response to the [[Characters/MarvelComicsMattMurdock Devil of Hell's Kitchen]] becoming a pain in his side.

* Morgana of ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}'' in Series 3 was one of these -- despite her repeated attempts to murder Uther and take over Camelot, everyone remained blissfully unaware of her treachery -- one episode ended with [[spoiler:Morgana being praised for foiling her own plot]]. In later series, it's implied that amongst the [[PunchClockVillain opportunists]], Morgana ''does'' have many loyal followers, who believe that she's ''right'' in wanting to eradicate the [[AntiMagicalFaction Pendragon family]] and [[TheMagicComesBack restore magic]] to Camelot.

* ''Series/{{Scandal}}'': Fitz...enough of a good reputation to be President of the United States.

* In ''Literature/{{Victoria}}'', the progressive LadyLand Azania, whose inhabitants have created a successful, borderline posthuman mostly-female society. Although Azania is militarist and in many ways even fascist politically, their prosperity, opportunities for women, tolerance for LGBT people, and similar "enlightened" attitudes stand out in [[CrapsackWorld the setting]], and they wield great "soft power" influence far beyond their borders.

* In the scenario of ''Franchise/{{Tekken}} 6'', former TragicHero Jin becomes corrupted, takes over the Mishima Zaibatsu, and uses it for various atrocities. The people turned to the G Corporation, led by Kazuya, one of the series' villains (and [[BaitTheDog ex-hero]]), as the savior of the world from the Zaibatsu, and Kazuya happily uses it to his advantage to try to get rid of Jin. Never mind that Kazuya is also evil and has done lots of atrocities with the Zaibatsu in the second series. Or maybe Jin's treatment are way worse. And before Jin took over, Heihachi was known to run the Zaibatsu as this -- however, [[spoiler:it turns out that Jin was in fact a WellIntentionedExtremist who was attempting to draw out Azazel, the source of the Devil Gene, and destroy him]].

[[quoteright:350:[[Webcomic/ButAJape https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mayor_goodman_comic.png]]]]

* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'': The rest of the Earth Sphere may view [[GloriousLeader Gihren Zabi]] as an evil despot, but within Zeon he's very popular thanks to his {{rousing speech}}es, skill at manipulating the masses and PropagandaMachine. His younger brother Garma is this as well, although for him it's because he's a [[TokenGoodTeammate legitimately nice person]]. When [[spoiler:Garma dies]], Gihren wastes no time turning it to his advantage by using it to rally support for Zeon's war effort.
* Muruta Azrael from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'' is all-but-worshipped by the EA generals, and has the Earth's rulers in his pocket. His successor, Lord Djibril, is regarded as a pale shadow of him, primarily because he has none of his clout (well, that and his [[FashionVictimVillain ridiculous choice of clothing]]).
* Chairman Durandal in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeedDestiny'' is another good example, his smooth-talking ways and self-positioning as a liberator from the evil Earth Alliance gives him great popularity both in PLANT and on Earth. Though it starts to unravel when [[spoiler:Lacus Clyne appears on a worldwide broadcast publicly denouncing him, and at the same time exposing that he'd been using a body double to impersonate her]].
* In Season 2 of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'', Rustal Elion buys himself some good publicity at the end when he [[spoiler:[[TheBadGuyWins crushes Tekkadan]] and uses his crooked billionaire ally's media connections to make himself out to be the good guy and Tekkadan the villains. He goes on to bolster this by implementing reforms to Gjallarhorn that are really just a way of centralizing power to himself, but nonetheless make him go down as the man who democratically reformed the organization, and by doing gestures such as giving Mars its independence and co-signing a treaty banning ChildSoldiers, both of which gave him a good reputation while not having drawbacks in the slightest for himself.]]

** The person who killed Bruce Goodman [[spoiler:and Niel Marshall]] in "Rise from the Ashes" is [[spoiler:Damon Gant, the police chief. He's good friends with the judge, making your case even more difficult]].

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* ''WesternAnimation/{{Tabaluga}}'': In the 2018 movie, the BigBad Arktos is initially well-liked by his subjects and remains so throughout the movie. Only when he openly tries to kill the titular hero do his subjects realize how evil he truly is.

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[[caption-width-right:230:Can you really complain? Hell has some [[HotAsHell smokin' hot]] babes!]]