History Main / VillainyFreeVillain

On the other hand, if they are evil but barely even do anything to fill the "antagonist" role, then they're a PlotIrrelevantVillain. If they aren't necessarily unpleasant -- heck, they can be even downright nice -- yet their actions are the cause of unpleasant effects for other innocents without their knowing, they're ObliviouslyEvil. If the antagonist is morally good and intended to be so, they are a HeroAntagonist. Compare HateSink, who may not be the main conflict-maker but acts nasty so the audience has someone to root against, and SitcomArchNemesis, who is usually unpleasant and antagonistic but not a genuine threat. Contrast AntiVillain, a sympathetic and generally likable villain who isn't outright villainous, and AffablyEvil, for a villain who is downright ''nice''. For the {{Fanon}} version, see RonTheDeathEater, where a character is good in Canon, but fans demonize them and cherry-pick their actions to make them seem evil. If the fans hate this character more than other, legitimately evil characters, then you have a case of JerksAreWorseThanVillains.

* In the early seasons of ''Series/BreakingBad'', Skyler is simply a concerned wife wondering why her husband has suddenly become so distant, having no idea that he's started cooking meth to pay for his cancer treatment. Her main function in the show is to put pressure on Walt's already stressful double life, making her somewhat unsympathetic by default. Once she [[spoiler: learns the truth, she reacts the way most people would, trying to divorce Walt and deny him access to the kids, making her even more unsympathetic as it renders Walt's sacrifices meaningless.]] Subverted [[spoiler: once she starts getting involved in Walt's business and commits several illegal and unethical acts.]]

* Unless they KickTheDog all the time, many of the heels in Wrestling/{{WWE}} (and to a lesser extent [[Wrestling/ImpactWrestling TNA]]) aren't all that villainous. Many times, all it takes for them to get booed is to be a little whiny or contrary, or to [[TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong say something that nobody wants to hear]]. The worst instances are when a wrestler is a heel simply because he or she is a ForeignWrestlingHeel from a country that Americans don't really like, and has the balls to [[CaptainPatriotic praise his or her own country instead of automatically bowing down to worship the United States of America]].

* Augustus St. Cloud from ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' is little more than a pompous collector who only tries to get under Billy Quizboy's skin. The worst he usually does is outbid Billy at auctions, cheat at games and mishandle the memorabilia he owns. When he tries getting into professional costumed villainy as another way to one-up Billy, he quickly proves to be far out of his depth, even with The Monarch's tutelage.

* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'': In general, the prosecutors are this. Since the series follows defense attorneys who clear the name of innocents falsely accused of murder, the prosecutors they face are typically smug {{Jerkass}}es who belittle the defense, insist on the guilt of the defendant, and do everything in their legal power to make your job difficult, all to make the player ''really'' want to beat them in court. Despite this, most of them are simply doing their jobs and always work within the law (with the exception of some UnconventionalCourtroomTactics that might get them contempt charges in real life but have no bearing on the case), and it's repeatedly pointed out that prosecutors are necessary counterparts to defense attorneys. Typically, the main prosecutor of each game will even do a HeelFaceTurn and befriend the protagonist. There are exceptions, such as Klavier Gavin (who's friendly to Apollo and never presents himself as a villain) and some who are criminals themselves: [[spoiler: Manfred von Karma is known to have resorted to illegal tactics such as coaching witnesses and killed the lawyer who got him penalized (''once'', and he didn't even lose that case), Godot is a murderer (albeit a sympathetic one), and Queen Ga'ran is TheUsurper and a murderess herself]].

** Manfred von Karma is ''absolutely'' an AmoralAttorney who doesn't belong here, but his daughter Franziska and protégé Edgeworth are both prosecutors who genuinely want to do their jobs right (though it takes a few losses to Phoenix to get them to show their nice sides). Franziska initially ''claims'' that she's an AmoralAttorney like her father, but ultimately she just doesn't have it in her to stoop as low as he did.
** Godot prosecutes cases because he despises Phoenix Wright and wants to defeat him, but doesn't do anything beyond that [[spoiler:for most of the game, until the last case where he becomes the final culprit and endangers innocents because he wanted to be the hero]].
** Justine Courtney and Sebastian Debeste are a judge and rookie prosecutor, respectively, who try to interfere in Edgeworth's investigations and play the usual role of making Edgeworth have to prove the innocence of whatever person they've wrongly pinned as the killer. While Justine is willing to bend and flout the law, she does it in the interest of serving justice [[spoiler:and is secretly trying to get her corrupt boss taken down without him noticing]], while Sebastian is an [[SmallNameBigEgo incredible egotist]] but [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain can't even do his job competently enough]] to pose a real threat to Edgeworth.
** Simon Blackquill is a zig-zagged case in that he's a ''convicted murderer'' who was allowed to become a prosecutor and is willing to use psychological techniques to break the witnesses, defendants, and even the Judge. But he only goes so far as the state will allow him, plays by the law, and never kills anyone onscreen. [[spoiler:Also, it turns out that he's innocent of the murder he was convicted for.]]
** Nahyuta Sahdmadhi and Princess Rayfa Padma Khura'in are extremely arrogant, self-righteous enforcers of the Khura'inese regime who look down on the heroes for being defense attorneys (as they are hated in Khura'in and losing ones are [[DystopianEdict punished with their clients]]), but otherwise they're just doing their jobs. Rayfa also doesn't realize the full depth of her actions due to being a young teenager indoctrinated into anti-lawyer propaganda, while Nahyuta is [[spoiler: being blackmailed by Queen Ga'ran; if he doesn't toe the party line and act like a stereotypical HolierThanThou Khura'inese prosecutor, she'll ruin Rayfa's life by exposing her as [[RebelLeader Dhurke]]'s [[SinsOfOurFathers daughter]]. When not being coerced, Nahyuta is quite reasonable and understands the necessity of defense attorneys]].
** Taketsuchi Auchi, Winston Payne's ancestor, fulfills a similar role to him. He's the first prosecutor faced and a stuffy, [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain sexist]] old man who looks down on the youth, insists on Ryunosuke and Rei's guilt, and is willing to disparage his own nation to curry favor with the beautiful yet racist Jezaille Brett. Other than that, he's as law-abiding as his descendant.
** Barok van Zieks is a racist BlueBlood who antagonizes Ryuunosuke Naruhodo for being Japanese, but is one of the most honest and principled prosecutors in the series who only breaks the rules [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight if they contradict the spirit of the law]]. His "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Reaper of Old Bailey]]" reputation is actually not his fault, [[spoiler: being the work of a conspiracy meant to make Barok an unknowing (he's too honest to actively take part) figurehead,]] though his [[ColdHam imposing theatricality]] probably didn't help his case.

* ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'': Professor Farnsworth's {{Jerkass}} rival scientist, WERNSTROM!! Both men are frequently called to come up with solutions to various world-threatening calamities, and the fact that he keeps being called back proves that Wernstrom is just as much of a ScienceHero as Farnsworth... the only difference is he's a ''colossal'' dick about it! Their rivalry actually started over something ridiculously trivial, back when Farnsworth was Wernstrom's college professor and [[TheBGrade he (very slightly) deducted points on a test to penalize bad handwriting]], and Wernstrom [[DisproportionateRetribution swore he'd get revenge even if it took a hundred years]]. This revenge usually comes in the form of criticism, skepticism, and trying to be the better scientist. However, when Farnsworth meekly asks for a team-up, Wernstrom states it would be his honor.

** The Silverfish engineer in "Porky's Railroad" is a jerk, but he isn't doing anything wrong. He just has the more advanced locomotive compared to Porky's outdated engine.
** Yosemite Sam in "WesternAnimation/BigHouseBunny" is just doing his job trying to keep Bugs from escaping after he accidentally hides out in Sing Song Prison. Yes he takes more enjoyment than he should trying to keep Bugs in prison, but he isn't really doing anything wrong.

* The concierge in ''Film/HomeAlone2LostInNewYork'' has every right to be wary and suspicious of a ten-year-old checking into a four-star hotel by himself, so the film has him act as though his very life is consumed by a desire to nail Kevin for "credit card fraud": most of his "villainy" is just ''Creator/TimCurry'' [[ChewingTheScenery munching the scenery like Wrigleys]] to make his otherwise entirely justified actions seem villainous. He would have been negligent if he ignored suspected credit card fraud, and criminally negligent if he didn't try to turn a 10-year-old runaway over to the authorities.

* ''WesternAnimation/AnnabellesWish'': Billy's paternal aunt Agnes is the closest thing the film has to an antagonist, but she's not evil so much as she is snobbish and obnoxious. She wants to take Billy in as her child against his wishes for shallow and self-serving reasons and treats him with CondescendingCompassion, but the worse she does is have her lawyer exploit a legal loophole to take Billy under her care if he remains mute, forcing Anabelle to use her [[SelflessWish Christmas wish to Santa to restore Billy's voice]].

* ''WesternAnimation/AnabellesWish'': Billy's paternal aunt Agnes is the closest thing the film has to an antagonist, but she's not evil so much as she is snobbish and obnoxious. She wants to take Billy in as her child against his wishes for shallow and self-serving reasons and treats him with CondescendingCompassion, but the worse she does is have her lawyer exploit a legal loophole to take Billy under her care if he remains mute, forcing Anabelle to use her [[SelflessWish Christmas wish to Santa to restore Billy's voice]].

* John D. Rockerduck from ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse is Scrooge McDuck's main business rival, but while he often uses underhanded tactics, in some stories he competes entirely fairly (or at least, doesn't cheat any more than McDuck himself does), but is still unsympathetic due to his smug attitude. In the only story which his original creator Creator/CarlBarks ever used him, all he did was enter a boat into an upcoming race to prove his gasoline was better than McDuck's.