History PetTheDog / WesternAnimation

** The above example is a bit of a stretch, since GIR wasn't crying because he realized he'd done wrong, but rather because he missed the cupcake he had just eaten. But still, Zim ''thought'' he was being nice.
** The trope becomes mind-numbingly literal since GIR's Earth disguise is as a dog. There are other good moments like this: Zim promised the moon to GIR once he takes over Earth, genuinly cares about his safety against the zombies (candy-starved children) and when GIR actually does something right he stops to think to himself.
-->'''Zim:''' Maybe that little robot isn't such a bad evil minion after all.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' where cats are banned from the town (Kids are getting high off their urine), Cartman has to hide his cat in the attic. Then he ends up hiding one cat he finds in his backyard. Though each time he says no more, he finds himself harboring every cat in the town, in a blatant holocaust reference. When it's all over and Kyle asks Cartman if he sees in similarities between this and some other part of history, Cartman is clueless.
** In any other episode where Cartman seems to be doing this trope, he is '''''NOT''''' to be trusted. The creators seem rather fond of making him look like he's become a decent person, only to suddenly reveal he's playing his friends for chumps, even though they ''know'' not to trust him. The cat example was frankly ''[[MetaTwist bizarre]]'' for playing this trope straight.
*** Cartman has shown genuine love for his mother and gets very upset when Stans grandfather disrespects her.

** Another to add is any time that Bart and/or Homer get together in a [[CrowningMomentOfHeartWarming heartwarming family moment]].

** Azula is also remarkably non-lethal most of the time and usually puts her defeated enemies in jail wile you expect a pure villain like her to kill them off.

* In the ''{{The Spectacular Spider-Man}}'' episode "First Steps", two kids poke fun at a little girl's sand castle. Sandman uses his power to turn the area around them into a huge Disney-esque castle, chasing the boys away. The little girl thanks "Mr. Sandman". He smiles and tells her to go home as its getting cold. The episode is Pet the Dog from beginning to end.

* If the show has a ChristmasEpisode, it will often feature the villain in Pet the Dog mode (e.g. [[WesternAnimation/KimPossible Dr. Drakken]], [[WesternAnimation/{{He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe}} Skeletor]], and [[JusticeLeague Ultra-Humanite]]).

* In the ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' episode "Operation: B.U.T.T.", Numbuh One quits the team for no apparent reason, and Numbuh Four is so upset, he yells at Numbuh Three, inadvertently making her cry. In the next scene, however, he's trying to cheer her up with her stuffed animals - meaning this is ''really'' big, because he's usually finds her stuffed toys sickeningly sweet. (He doesn't do a very good job cheering her up, but fortunately, ''everyone'' cheers up when they find out just ''why'' Numbuh One quit. (The Delightful Children had taken a photograph of his bare butt and were blackmailing him; they really couldn't help but laugh.)

--> '''Checkers:''' Arf!\\
--> '''Nixon:''' SHUT UP DAMN IT!

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'': Miss Finster is prone to this, usually with Spinelli. She also pulls this trope at the end of ''RecessSchoolsOut'', after finding out that Miss Grotke's a martial arts expert and finds a newfound respect for her. This is especially heartwarming when in previous seasons, Miss Finster's shown not to like her too much.

* As bad of a parent Pete on ''WesternAnimation/GoofTroop'' is to his son PJ, in the episode "Puppy Love," he did many ''nice'' things for him without an ulterior motive such as giving him dating advice, renting a limousine and offering to be the chauffeur, taking some (of Peg's) earrings for him to give to his date, and preventing Max from stealing his date... too bad all of those things made PJ's life ''harder'', but in contrast to how their relationship usually plays out, it was completely by accident.

* The Monarch in ''TheVentureBrothers'', tears up moments before he was to be declared man and wife with Dr. Girlfriend. The Phantom Limb interupts the wedding with copters which prompts the Monarch to scream "OHHHH, DICK MOVE!"

** Subverted ''horribly'' in ''ReturnOfTheJoker''. The Joker and Harley look like they're setting up for one when they tell Batman and Batgirl that they've given up their lawless ways and just want to settle down and start a family. Then [[MindRape we]] [[StrappedToAnOperatingTable find]] who "Joker Junior" is to be played by...

** Subverted ''horribly'' in ''ReturnOfTheJoker''. The Joker and Harley look like they're setting up for one when they tell Batman and Batgirl that they've given up their lawless ways and just want to settle down and start a family. [[NightmareFuel Then]] [[MindRape we]] [[StrappedToAnOperatingTable find]] who "Joker Junior" is to be played by...

* Stewie Griffin, in the early seasons of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', was a diabolical and downright sociopathic baby who, after petting the dog a few times, had his character changed completely by the fourth and fifth season. But who are we kidding? It's [[RuleOfFunny all]] [[NegativeContinuity just]] [[DeadBabyComedy for]] [[GagSeries laughs.]]

* ''{{Recess}}'': Miss Finster is prone to this, usually with Spinelli. She also pulls this trope at the end of ''RecessSchoolsOut'', after finding out that Miss Grotke's a martial arts expert and finds a newfound respect for her. This is especially heartwarming when in previous seasons, Miss Finster's shown not to like her too much.
* Almost every character in {{Archer}} is an unsympathetic/borderline [[ComedicSociopathy sociopathic]] JerkAss, but they've each gotten at least one moment each.

* Sandi is probably the closest ''{{Daria}}'' has to an antagonist, aside from Ms. Li. There are a few episodes where Sandi appears to hold genuine disdain for Quinn (and in one case, even ''just sits back and smiles'' after sabotaging Quinn's play.) However, at the same time, you can view her CharacterDevelopment as she starts to mature. It's probably most prevalent in the episode where she gains weight, and even though she manipulates Quinn into taking a sabbatical from the Fashion Club, is moved to tears when Quinn instead respects her wishes and uses the time to help Sandi get back into shape and out of her depression. Another episode, where a stalker is giving Quinn free goods in the hotel, Sandi is the only one who smells a rat. It's easy to interpret this as her trying to deny Quinn from having a cute boyfriend, but it's also just as easy to interpret this as genuine concern for Quinn.
** Even earlier than that, in the paintball episode, Sandi chews the Fashion club out for not wearing the safety goggles.
* The Gross sisters in ''TheProudFamily'' are really flat out bullies who [[KarmaHoudini get away with extorting lunch money and sabotaging their fellow students]]. However, in the episode where Penny throws a party at the same time Lacieniga throws one, the Gross Sisters are one of the few people to arrive...and they actually act legitimately nice to Penny, her family, and the other few party goers.

* Rampage from ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' is generally depicted as nothing short of a monster, a sadist, and a walking nightmare...except in the episode "Transmutate", in which he finds a kindred spirit in the episode's freakish, disfigured, and pitiful title character. He even goes so far as to be moved to sorrow by its death. This is both an example and a rather dark subversion: showing this sliver of tenderness causes further signs of his depravity to stand out all the more.