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| 9 | * ''VideoGame/AbyssCrossing'': |
| 10 | ** Siro proves to be a JerkassGod, [[spoiler:since she's willing to endanger the multiverse in order to test mortalkind's ability to overcome their vices and to satisfy her lust for combat. However, she's genuinely respectful of the party for overcoming her trials and when she's defeated, she restores the worlds to normal, offers to help Rinne return to her home world, and asks the party to challenge her sister, Kuro.]] |
| 11 | ** Similarly, Kuro is in on Siro's plans, but is hospitable to the party [[spoiler:if they visit her in the Unexplored Labyrinth. Just like her sister, she congratulates the party for holding their own against her.]] |
| 12 | * Alexander from ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent''. He's a gentleman who talks reasonably with Daniel, but he is also a deceitful and manipulative. He lied to Daniel that he knows how he can stop the shadow that's chasing him, and tricks him into torturing and killing innocent people to harvest their vitae, and he plans to use the vitae to get back to his own world and leave Daniel to be devoured by the shadow. |
| 13 | * Drakath in the ''Creator/ArtixEntertainment'' games. Sure, he was a bandit in ''VideoGame/DragonFable'' and gratituded into the Champion of Chaos in ''VideoGame/AdventureQuestWorlds'', and sided with the Sinister Seven as a Darkness Dragon in the original ''VideoGame/AdventureQuest'', but admit it, even he isn't that cruel and depraved. [[EvenEvilHasStandards He reacts with outrage at Sepulchure with "...Master? What have you done?!" once he turns his baby dragon into a Dracolich]] in ''VideoGame/DragonFable'', and he helps the AQW hero defeat Ledgermayne because he knows Ledgermayne simply needed to learn the hard way that nobody disobeys him and gives his thanks to him/her afterward. He is also shown to be polite, as shown when speaking with Master (the main villain of the Skyguard storyline). |
| 14 | ** Chaos Shogun Kitsune treats his fellow Yokai with deep respect and tells them not to worry when the hero is coming to Yokai Island without heeding his warning and tells them that they have a guest to prepare for. Even when he wants to claim the island for all Yokai by stealing the Hanzamune Sword and using it to free the O-dokuro, he's rarely if ever pointlessly cruel. |
| 15 | ** Chaos Lord Wolfwing isn't really that evil, he's just a lonely guy who wants to build his own clan of Werepyres so he won't have to feel so alone. Even if he's willing to cause Chaos and Chaorruption to do so. |
| 16 | ** Zahart, despite being willing to have his Djinn Tibicenas, the eighth Lord of Chaos, do away with others just to remove them from his search for the Heart of the Sphinx, is nice enough to answer the hero's question about what uncovered the ancient city that the Sandsea oasis community is just part of. When Zhoom interferes with his attempt to dispose of the hero after that, Zahart is even nice enough to give in to Zhoom's demands for him to release his friend, and orders Tibi to release him/her. Later, he is facing away from his slave while ordering Tibi to [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness do away with him after receiving the Heart of the Sphinx]], possibly because it's suggested that even he can't stand watching brutal murders (the killing was so brutal that it was censored anyway). |
| 17 | ** Master, while planning to use the Skyguard to create enough mayhem to become a Chaos Lord himself, treats his minions with deep respect when he's not being called by his real name (since having that happen to him usually leaves him having his Dreamweaver make them relive their worst nightmares with her powers). He tells the Dreamweaver to give the recruit she casted her spell on plenty of time to realize how foolish his words were. |
| 18 | *** The Dreamweaver is also quite affable, acting polite especially while disguised as Granny V or [[spoiler:Invidia]]. |
| 19 | ** A lot of Artix Entertainment villains are either this trope or full-blown [[AntiVillain Anti-Villains]], especially the minor/holiday villains. Guffer, from ''VideoGame/DragonFable'', also known as the Savage Outworlder, comes to mind. |
| 20 | ** The most affable one would be the leader of the Evil faction in ''VideoGame/AdventureQuestWorlds'', Gravelyn. The daughter of Sepulchure, she serves as the authority for the Heroes of Evil. Despite this, she is understanding of a need for an alliance and has a friendship with you, the Hero, regardless of you being Good or Evil. She's also the most down-to-earth. |
| 21 | * The ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' series contains two heads of a ThievesGuild who seem to be AffablyEvil, though it could [[FauxAffablyEvil be an act]]. |
| 22 | ** In ''Baldur's Gate'', Alatos "Ravenscar" Thuibuld, the head of the Thieves' Guild in the city of Baldur's Gate, invites your characters to his guild and offers them employment in stealing some particular {{McGuffin}}s. He acts politely, but by the time you are talking to him, he makes it clear refusing is no longer an option after you have been there and seen him and the other members. It also turns out that [[spoiler: the client who "ordered" this burglary was intent on disposing of the people hired to do it, and Thuibuld lets you and him nuke it out between yourselves, without particularly caring who wins but acting nice afterwards too.]] |
| 23 | ** Narlen Darkwalk is one of the senior thieves in the same Thieves' Guild and is a boisterous and friendly soul for a professional catburglar (who is also implied to do assassinations on demand). If you take up his challenge and joins him for two thieveries, you are in good with him, and most of the rest of the guild - [[spoiler:if you do Alatos' quest after finishing Narlen's, the client won't even get the chance to attack you as Narlen will assassinate him first, and then tell Alatos that he can either apologize to you for setting you up with a TreacherousQuestGiver or have a guildwide mutiny on his hands. Alatos wisely chooses the former.]] |
| 24 | ** In ''Baldur's Gate'', Baeloth Barrityl AKA Baeloth the Entertainer is often this way, but mostly when he's in the player's party. (He's debatably the evil-aligned recruitable party member who makes players - and, to some degree, characters as well - *want* to have him around because he's so *entertaining*.) When he's in charge of the Black Pits, he's more of a schemer, but he's still Baeloth the *Entertainer* for good reason! |
| 25 | ** In ''[[VideoGame/BaldursGateII Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn]]'', Aran Linvail, the Shadowmaster of Athkatla, offers to make a deal with your party to get you ahead int he plot. He sounds very amiable and reasonable (even though piles on extra demands after you've already paid), and he might not even appear particularly evil if not for the reminder of the torture going on at the other end of his base. However ruthless he really is, one may assume he's still the lesser evil compared to your other option at this point, Bodhi. |
| 26 | ** The evil party member Korgan Bloodaxe from the second game is also a classic example of this trope, being a brutish and psychopathic BoisterousBruiser who is nonetheless completely genuine when he's being boisterous and friendly. While Korgan may not have that ''big'' of a 'good side', and repeatedly threatens horrible violence on non-party members (and encourages CHARNAME to follow up on his threats), he actually has a good side, [[EvenEvilHasStandards some clear standards that makes him more likeable]] (he won't harm children and hates slavery, preferring to kill the slavers and take their stuff instead) a lot of HiddenDepths, and gets along swimmingly with most party configurations. The only one he is MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers with is [[ShrinkingViolet Aerie]], and unlike most good/evil conflicts in the game theirs is nonviolent (she will simply leave after he keeps taunting her) and can also be solved if you somehow make it to ''Throne of Bhaal'' with both of them, allowing you to keep both of them. |
| 27 | ** In [=BG2=]'s Enhanced Edition, Hexxat is this as well. She may be a [[invoked]]NeutralEvil thief [[spoiler:and vampire with few compunctions about killing people for food]], but she remains very polite towards the other party members, even sincerely apologizing for making them feel uncomfortable. |
| 28 | ** ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'' introduces Raphael, a devil of fearsome power. Raphael fancies himself a savior for the poor and downtrodden, bringing them to his "House of Hope", offering lavish feasts, and willing to help them in any way -- all he asks for is [[DealWithTheDevil your soul]], in return. To that end, he is willing to help you and your companions with your mind flayer brain worm problem, and should you decline, he will be disappointed, but will encourage you to try and find your own way to a cure...if for no other reason than the fact that you'll eventually come knocking on his door when you find yourself with no other recourse but to accept his help and his terms. [[spoiler:It gets subverted by the third act if you actively start opposing him, making it clear he's FauxAffablyEvil and only pretends to be friendly while he thinks he has the upper hand.]] |
| 29 | * ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'': |
| 30 | ** Dr. Ned (who is not Dr. Zed), from the DLC offers you brownies before remembering that he's trying to kill you for discovering his evil plan. |
| 31 | ** Similarly, General Knoxx from another DLC falls under this. He believes to be the OnlySaneMan in his group and actually apologizes over having to kill you. |
| 32 | ** There is also Mr. Shank. Despite having [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast a really scary name]] and having an army of cannibal escaped convicts, he's actually a pretty nice guy. Really, he's only trying to kill you in self-defense. He watches you on security cameras while talking about how one of his henchmen [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial who he is not in love with or anything]] makes great chilli-cheese fries. [[spoiler: When you kill him, the person who contracted you to kill him starts getting all teary-eyed remembering the good times they had together]]. |
| 33 | ** From ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands2}}'' and ''VideoGame/BorderlandsThePreSequel'', we have Nisha Kadam, who is an NPC in the former game and a playable character in the latter. Sure, she falls in love with [[{{Jerkass}} Handsome]] [[BigBad Jack]] and becomes his girlfriend, is incredibly rude and surly to most people, has no problem murdering puppies and hangs people for the most ridiculous reasons, but she's polite to you and Brick, [[NervesOfSteel isn't mad at all]] when you declare war on the whole town, compliments your fighting skills, considers you a WorthyOpponent and, for a character who's a sadistic trigger-happy psychopath, forms a strong friendship with [[NiceGirl Janey Springs]], of all people. |
| 34 | ** PirateGirl Captain Scarlett from ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' DLC has killed children (although she considers bragging about it to be distasteful) and has a case of ChronicBackstabbingDisorder, but she is also friendly, awkward, and a GracefulLoser who holds no ill will over her defeat. |
| 35 | * ''VideoGame/BuckshotRoulette'': The demonic entity playing against you is nothing but polite, even as you repeatedly shoot it in the face. All it wants is to play a fair game with you that just so happens to be deadly. The dealer is even nice enough to handcuff itself if you choose to use the handcuffs on it. |
| 36 | * Graham Jones from ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaAriaOfSorrow'' is the first person in Dracula's castle to treat Soma kindly, and even offers to answer some questions for him (unlike [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Arikado]]). When Yoko tells Soma that Graham is Dracula's heir, Soma refuses to believe her because Graham was so friendly to him, but later Graham himself cheerfully confirms it. [[spoiler: Then Graham learns that ''Soma'' might actually be Dracula's heir, and [[FauxAffablyEvil his whole attitude changes]].]] |
| 37 | * [[spoiler:The Boss]] from ''VideoGame/{{Catherine}}''. [[spoiler:He kindly serves you drinks, gives you advice, and even grants you a wish if you defeat him.]] Rather nice all around. |
| 38 | ** [[spoiler:Trisha/Ishtar to the extreme. She creates this elaborate and deadly game, but is kind and acts as your host on the adventure.]] |
| 39 | *** [[spoiler: She had [[SecretTestOfCharacter another motive]] as the key reason]]. |
| 40 | * ''VideoGame/ClamMan'': PlayedForLaughs. Clam Man is confronted by some gangsters who try to threaten him to stop investigating the conspiracy, but they're very polite about it. Clam Man even {{lampshade|hanging}}s this: |
| 41 | --> '''Clam Man:''' You guys are really wholesome for a bunch of mobsters. |
| 42 | * [[DarkMessiah Kane]] of ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'', the resident BigBad MagnificentBastard, is a strikingly erudite, educated, and charismatic leader who seems to somewhat genuinely care for his followers. Even when confronting his hated enemies of GDI, he always shows them a little smile and offers a few words of respect, even while mercilessly taunting their powerlessness or promising [[ToThePain to gut them like the swines they are.]] |
| 43 | * Hilariously, ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings'' somewhat encourages the player to be this. The game gives several bonuses for virtuous traits such as kindness and humility, but having these traits does nothing to stop you from conquering land through political manipulation and brutal conquest. Even if you can justify it with {{Realpolitik}}, the traits-modelling system itself will also occasionally cough up a soft-spoken and charitable young king whose favourite pastimes are raping women and putting severed heads on the end of pikes. |
| 44 | * ''{{VideoGame/Cyberpunk 2077}}'': |
| 45 | ** Gottfrid and Fredrik Persson are a father-and-son team, a TrueCraftsman trying to teach his earnest but DumbassTeenageSon how to run the FamilyBusiness... which happens to be editing snuff films. |
| 46 | ** Goro Takemura is a charming, honorable, endearingly dorky man who can become a genuine friend to V. He is also a corporate assassin and bodyguard, and fanatically loyal to the point of obsession to a man who is pretty much everything wrong with every aspect of the setting incarnate. |
| 47 | * ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'': |
| 48 | ** Chaos Lord Eliphas the Inheritor is a very suave, witty, and charismatic villain. Widely considered one of the most popular characters in the series. |
| 49 | ** ''Dawn of War 2'': |
| 50 | *** In the new expansion pack, ''Retribution'', the Great Unclean One is decidedly gregarious, laughing and chortling... as he infects anything he touches and cleaves everything in two with his giant, blunt, filth-encrusted blade. But he loves you! And he just wants you to feel Nurgle's love! |
| 51 | *** Ulkair, the BigBad of the earlier ''Chaos Rising'' is simply an unusually powerful Great Unclean One, so it's not too surprising he fits this trope. He seems to genuinely ''enjoy'' fighting the Blood Ravens in a jovial way even as he chides them about how it's useless to resist him, and takes his defeat in good humor -- after all, in the long run, they're doomed either way, so why should his losing matter? |
| 52 | * Abraxis from ''VideoGame/DarkSidersIII'' is really polite for being a demon and he stiles himself as dealing in class while others deal with trash. He is also one of the few demons who speak the truth without any twist. Fury will even point out that he has a silver tongue. Should she decide to spare him, Abraxis shows gratitude and states that she is welcome within his fortress anytime. Still, he won't back down from a fight. |
| 53 | * Queen from ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'' is a personified computer who plays games with the heroes, gives them their own rooms in her mansion for free, is worried for their health, and is generally a fun person to be around. She also has enslaved multiple people and will not hesitate to use violence if she deems it necessary. |
| 54 | * Patches from ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'' and ''VideoGame/DarkSouls''. The guy tries to murder you, possibly twice (in each game), is directly responsible for killing two other characters, but is pretty amusing and chatty, and ultimately decides to give up on corpse-robbing and [[HeelFaceTurn become a merchant]]. |
| 55 | * [[spoiler: Monika]] in ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'' is an interesting example [[spoiler: in that she's a {{Yandere}} (one with MediumAwareness, at that,) which is an odd character trait for the archetype. Despite corrupting the game and ultimately [[MindRape Mind Raping]] and deleting every other girl in the game, and bits of her poetry showing a disturbing-yet-pitiful look into her psyche, her calm, polite NiceGirl personality never visibly falters. Even when the player finally deletes her character data to defeat her, her VillainousBreakdown is more of a despairing HeelRealization.]] |
| 56 | * The Dragon in ''VideoGame/DragonsDogma.'' He is more well-mannered in his speech than you'd expect from a fire-breathing, world-ending dragon, even moreso than most of the other characters in the game. He'll even offer the Arisen a choice of just giving him one measly sacrifice in exchange for him leaving Gransys temporarily and as a bonus, immortality. |
| 57 | * ''VideoGame/DyztopiaPostHumanRPG'': |
| 58 | ** Robun is an especially twisted example. Unlike Clyde, his politeness is genuine, he respects Akira for performing smaller jobs for the community, and he does seem to genuinely miss his old friends. However, he still rationalizes his sacrifice of his friends as being for the good of Zeta. In Chapter 3, [[spoiler:if a party member kills Clyde right when the latter is about to mind wipe Robun, Robun thanks the party and states this is the first time anyone showed him such kindness]]. This is deconstructed because everyone is unnerved by his excessive flattery and inappropriate cheer when celebrating the fall of non-human civilization, to the point where even Akira finds him creepy. Additionally, his seeming humility is extremely self-deprecating both because of his ostracization and because [[spoiler:he believes all non-humans like [[BoomerangBigot himself]] are inherently worthless, showing how twisted his affability really is]]. |
| 59 | ** Asterisk's affability varies depending on who he's talking to and if they've done anything to interfere [[spoiler:with his cycle. Most of the time, he shows nothing but disdain towards the angels for opposing his goals, but is genuinely friendly towards Akira and admits to sympathizing with the latter more than with Zazz. However, if Runi kills Gemini, Asterisk becomes more passive-aggressive towards the party in his Secret Area room. Regardless, Asterisk still has a sense of fair play by never initiating battles with the party and is willing to postpone the resurrection of humanity out of respect for Akira]]. |
| 60 | * ''VideoGame/EldenRing'' has a good few of these. |
| 61 | ** Sage Gowry is a pleasant merchant who loves his adopted daughter Millicent. He's also a worshipper by the Scarlet Rot and wants it to overtake her fully so she can transform into a Scarlet Valkyrie. |
| 62 | ** Sorceress Sellen was exiled from Raya Lucaria Academy for some very amoral magic experiments which are heavily implied to involve turning other sorcerers into Schools of Graven Mages (giant floating ball of masks), but when you meet her, she's polite, happy to teach you things, and very grateful to you for helping her, and at the end of her quest, she'll tell you that you'll always have a place as her student if the 'Elden Lord' thing doesn't work out. [[spoiler: Which makes the end of her quest, where she is transformed into a School Of Graven Mages herself, such a PlayerPunch despite arguably being LaserGuidedKarma.]] |
| 63 | ** Most members of the Volcano Manor are quite nice, if you ignore the MurderInc and ApocalypseCult bits. Tanith is a loving adoptive mother to Rya, [[RecurringElement Patches is Patches]], and Bernahl is a friendly sort who sells you Ashes of War and makes sure you know what you're getting into if you decide to join up. |
| 64 | ** Shabriri is an absolutely bugnuts OmnicidalManiac who [[spoiler:possessed the corpse of your dead friend Yura]] in order to talk to you, but he's quite nice and soft-spoken to you, offering you a way to save [[spoiler: Melina]] from having to make a HeroicSacrifice. And he is ''not'' lying; following his instructions will indeed lead to [[spoiler: Melina]] surviving to credits. [[spoiler: Of course, failing to de-Frenzied Flame yourself (a difficult process that requires completing a long sidequest and fighting a {{Superboss}}) will lead to a DownerEnding where you burn the world, but if you didn't expect that from the guy who laughs maniacally and yells "May chaos take the world!", you probably deserve what you've got coming.]] |
| 65 | ** Hyetta is a sweet girl who just wants to be a Finger Maiden and kindly thanks you for your help with her quests. And with your help, she does indeed become a Finger Maiden. [[spoiler:For the ''Three'' Fingers, the envoy of the Frenzied Flame, and fully gives herself over to its doctrint that life is a mistake that needs to be corrected]]. |
| 66 | * ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'': |
| 67 | ** While not [[BlueAndOrangeMorality inherently "evil"]], a number of the series' [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Princes]] are downright affable and polite despite their episodes of malevolence. To note: |
| 68 | *** Hermaeus Mora, the Daedric Prince of [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow Knowledge]], takes an extreme EldritchAbomination appearance and has committed unspeakable acts in his pursuit of knowledge. Despite this, Mora's preferred method of seducing mortal servants is to bribe them with gifts of power and knowledge. He also tends to give them absolute freedom, trusting that the lure of the gifts he offers will keep them in his service. A great example is his behavior toward the [[PlayerCharacter Dragonborn]] in ''Skyrim'''s ''Dragonborn'' DLC. He offers gifts including the powerful enhancements of his Black Books and he even offers some of the most potent Words of Power there are, such as the final word of Bend Will. He's also unfailingly polite and even offers free unlimited {{Skill Point Reset}}s after completing his quest. |
| 69 | *** Hircine, the Daedric Prince of [[EgomaniacHunter the Hunt]], is known to take mortals involuntarily to his Hunting Grounds, where they are hunted by all manner of dangerous beasts. However, he's always very polite to those who summon him, as well as to his opponents when he judges them [[WorthyOpponent worthy]], and he watches over [[OurWerebeastsAreDifferent his followers]] much more than the average Prince. He rewards those who survive his hunts well, and even enjoys it when the [[TheHunterBecomesTheHunted tables are turned on the hunter]], because what better expression of his sphere is there than that? |
| 70 | *** Peryite, the Daedric Prince of [[{{Plaguemaster}} Pestilence]] and Tasks. Despite being referred to as one of the most "loathsome" Princes, as well as his association with [[MysticalPlague pestilence and plagues]], he has been consistently polite to the player character in all of his appearances. His quest in ''Oblivion'' is easily one of the least morally suspect Daedric quests, as it involves ''saving'' the lives of his followers. |
| 71 | *** Sanguine, the Daedric Prince of of [[FunPersonified Debauchery]] and [[TheHedonist Hedonism]]. Though he is associated with the darker natures of man and tries to tempt mortals with various vices, he tends to be quite pleasant during his dealings with mortals. |
| 72 | *** Sheogorath, the Daedric Prince of [[MadGod Madness]], is another. His sphere also includes creativity and music, and he almost always has a smile on his face. He's quite polite to those who serve him well, acting somewhere in between a GreatGazoo and a MadHatter when he's being more benevolent. However, he can snap in an instant to become [[ColonyDrop planet-hurlingly]] AxeCrazy, at which point ''no one is safe'' around him. |
| 73 | ** Throughout the series, the ThievesGuild dabbles in this territory and is how they prefer to be presented. Whether they play it straight depends on how individual members act. It's important to remember that, despite their niceties and usual friendliness, the Guild is a group of professional thieves who steal for a living. |
| 74 | ** In the spin-off ActionAdventure game ''Redguard'', the infamous Sload {{Necromancer}} N'Gasta is quite polite to [[PlayerCharacter Cyrus]] during their conversations. He is also an infamous necromancer who has set up a "soul snare" to [[YourSoulIsMine trap the souls]] of the islands inhabitants...and [[LackOfEmpathy feels nothing]] for those affected by his necromantic experiments. He even compares the souls he has captured to "gold coins in a pouch". |
| 75 | ** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'': |
| 76 | *** Dagoth Ur, BigBad and deranged PhysicalGod, is one. When you confront him, he politely explains why his plan to spread blight disease and create a giant magical killer robot are really in the best interests of his people. He answers every question you put to him (whether he's telling the truth, lying or mistaken is up to the player). Finally, he offers you the opportunity to buff yourself up before you start to fight him. Though the last part is largely because [[spoiler:he needs Wraithguard (the gauntlet you need to hold the weapons required to thwart him) to bring his plan into action.]] And if you approach him without the items needed, he'll politely point out you have come unprepared and that you can not win as you are, suggesting you return when ready to face him. |
| 77 | ** Dagoth Endus, one of Dagoth Ur's highest-ranking goons, will exchange a pleasant conversation with you and offer you some [[GargleBlaster fine vintage brandy]] before offering to let you strike first. |
| 78 | ** Dagoth Gares, something of a DiscOneFinalBoss [[spoiler:who inflicts you with Corprus]], is likewise quite pleasant with you and will offer explanations and information about Dagoth Ur and the Sixth House. |
| 79 | *** [[EvilSorcerer Gavis Velas]] in the ''Tribunal'' expansion is perfectly cordial with you when you confront him during a quest, even claiming he would have liked to have [[NoMrBondIExpectYouToDine a nice meal and a drink]] with you before your duel. |
| 80 | ** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'': |
| 81 | *** Lucien Lachance. |
| 82 | *** Most, if not all, of the Dark Brotherhood are likable people (save for maybe M'raaj-Dar), if you can get past the fact that they're all murderers. |
| 83 | ** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'': |
| 84 | *** Even more true for the Dark Brotherhood. In a few centuries of isolation, they have lost most of their [[ReligionOfEvil dark and dreadful mystique]], and apart from a really special sense of humour, they often look much more like an endearing RagtagBunchOfMisfits than cold-blooded assassins. The first time you meet the team, they are actually ''laughing'' together and joking on their last missions. The character design is really impressive -- they are assassins and killers and are very obvious about it, they have a morbid sense of humour, and yet they are passionate and full of life (well, except for [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Babette]]) people you can't help liking and feeling loyal to. |
| 85 | *** Elenwen, the [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Thalmor]] ambassador to Skyrim. In the quest that features her most prominently, Diplomatic Immunity, she exchanges pleasantries with you, and seems genuinely concerned with the well-being of everybody at her party. And then a few minutes later, you find her [[TortureCellar "Interrogation Room"]]. |
| 86 | *** The Thieves Guild, once you get past a somewhat (and understandable, given their occupation) frosty reception, are by and large friendly with you. Even characters who were once rather brusque with you when you entered Riften who are or were members, such as Sapphire and Maul are much nicer to you once you join the guild. That said, they are still thieves and criminals, who in addition to fleecing half of Skyrim of their valuables are also actively engaged in extortion rackets against local businessmen and heavily involved (if somewhat reluctantly and fearfully) with Maven Black-Briar, a local corrupt businesswoman who is [[SmugSnake as far from this trope]] [[CorruptCorporateExecutive as it gets.]] |
| 87 | *** Valerica, to contrast to her FauxAffablyEvil ex-husband Harkon and her FriendlyNeighbourHoodVampire daughter Serana. Despite a frosty initial first meeting (particularly if you went the Dawnguard route), she's relatively cordial to the Dragonborn and was even the biggest detractor to Harkon's plans for centuries. That said, she's still a vampire, cultist of Molag-Bal (one of the very evilest of the Daedric Lords), expected her daughter to "[[RapeAsBackstory submit]]" to him to become a daughter of Coldharbor, and locked Serana in a ruin for centuries without checking to see if she was okay with it first. Even her opposition to Harkon's plans have little to do with them being evil and more to do with them being short-sighted and bound to cause the end of the world. |
| 88 | *** Ulfric Stormcloak can come off this way to Imperial-aligned players. When you deliver Balgruuf's axe, he praises your bravery. You are then free to ask him questions about his backstory, and he responds candidly. The end of his boss fight also proves that he respects you. |
| 89 | * ''Emily Enough'' has the titular VillainProtagonist; a [[EnfantTerrible little girl who slaughtered her family and servants]], but is perfectly polite to the staff and inmates at her mental institute and genuinely helps them out. |
| 90 | * ''VideoGame/FallenLondon'': The Quiet Deviless is an amoral being from literal Hell, who shares the rapacious thirst for the souls of mortals all her kin have. She is also a shy, quiet, {{Moe}} girl who dotes on her pet bat and loves reading cheesy love poetry. |
| 91 | * ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'': |
| 92 | ** President John Henry Eden from ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' has a kind voice broadcast across the wasteland on Enclave radio; it will lift your spirits as you traverse the wasteland hearing about how the Enclave will come and begin to transform America back the way it was before the nukes fell (unless you played the other ''Fallout'' games). He is similarly polite and gracious when you meet him in person. What he doesn't mention is that [[spoiler: not only is he a ZAX supercomputer, his bold new vision requires killing off ''everyone'']]. |
| 93 | ** President Richardson of ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}'' is very similar in character, greeting the player in a friendly manner ("I am the president of the United States, and you are...?") and then going on to explain his plan of [[spoiler: genociding the entire continent with a virus he intends to release]]. He's also so gullible that you almost feel bad for him [[spoiler: when you have to kill him to get his security card.]] If you pick the right conversation paths, he admits that he really doesn't like what he's going to do and derives no pleasure from it, but he's come to accept that it is ultimately the right thing to do (to him, anyway). |
| 94 | ** The player can easily become this trope if played evil while still picking the friendly speech options. |
| 95 | ** And Alister Tenpenny for that matter. He wasn't "cool", but he was polite and kind. |
| 96 | *** Tenpenny specifically asked Burke to evacuate Megaton before blowing it up. Burke... didn't really bother, but Tenpenny doesn't know that. Tenpenny's only truly negative point is being a ghoul hater... and to be perfectly fair to him, the ghouls in the tower's vicinity gave him very little reason to be polite to them. Other than that he's largely just not terribly bright, despite being the boss. Keep in mind, that Tenpenny only wanted to blow up Megaton because it was "an eyesore" from his balcony view of the wasteland (let that sink in). And for fun he would snipe at any living thing in his view from the balcony. Whether it be Ghouls, mutants or random people. He is one of only nine [=NPCs=] in the game to have "Very Evil Karma" |
| 97 | ** The add-ons to the game have their fair share of affably evil characters too. The Pitt gave us Ashur (assuming you see him as evil after certain reveals towards the end of the DLC), while Point Lookout gave us [[spoiler:Tobar]]. |
| 98 | ** Another great Fallout example would be [[spoiler:[[http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Andale the citizens of Andale]]]]. |
| 99 | ** In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', this includes most senior Legion members (particularly Legate Lanius) and Benny. Dead Money introduces Dean Domino, who can be pretty friendly as long as the Courier doesn't bruise his ego. Old World Blues gives us Doctor Mobius, though [[spoiler:it's revealed he's not truly evil, and that the Think Tank are the real BigBad of the story]]. |
| 100 | ** ''VideoGame/Fallout4'': "Father", the Director of [[MadScientistLaboratory The Institute]], is directly responsible for the mass epidemic of KillAndReplace androids throughout post-apocalypse Boston, and has been suppressing information about the darker side of the futuristic city, including rogue scientists and disastrously failed experiments. Other than that, he's a friendly college dean who just wants to ensure a better future for the best and brightest of mankind [[spoiler:and spend his last month living with his family, his robot clone included]]. If that involves killing a bunch of KnightTemplar fanatics and some short-sighted slave liberators who don't actually care about real humans, that's not much on his conscience. The only time he ever shows malice is if your actions kill any of his loyal scientists. |
| 101 | * Pagan Min, the BigBad of ''VideoGame/FarCry4'' is the AxCrazy tyrannical leader of the fictional nation of Kyrat, and moves between "friendly" and "batshit insane" like a switchblade stuck on flick. In the prologue, he meets Ajay and viciously stabs a guard to death in the neck. Evil. He then turns around, hands the horrified Ajay his knife -- which is still dripping with blood, wraps an arm around him and takes a selfie with him. Affable. He then carts Ajay and a random [[LaResistance Golden Path]] accomplice off to his palace... to sit Ajay and the accomplice down and treat them to a nice meal. Affable. He then catches the Golden Path guy trying to get help, stabs the poor sod in the back with a fork, and orders his [[TheDragon Dragon]] to take him downstairs and torture him. Evil. He turns around and politely tells Ajay to finish up his meal. Affable. When Ajay escapes with Golden Path agents and kills severals of his goons, Min gives Ajay a phone call apologising for the poor quality of his crab rangu. Affable. He then tries to make it up to Ajay by telling him that he's had the chef executed and will issue the same orders for the chef's family. Evil. Get the picture yet? |
| 102 | ** He even plans to keep his word. If you wait in the dining area for 15 minutes after he leaves, he comes back and takes you to where you are going to place your mom's ashes. And if you do play through the whole game normally, even after you have brought down his entire empire, he is willing to forgive you for it, takes you to inter your mother's ashes, then takes a helicopter out of the country. Doesn't even try to back stab you. |
| 103 | ** That said, Pagan's affability is only genuine when interacting with Ajay or his [[TheDragon Dragon]], [[TortureTechnician Paul Harmon]]. With everyone else, he's FauxAffablyEvil. A large part of the conflict stems from Ajay's inability to tell when Pagan's being genuinely friendly and when he's not, so he has no reason to believe he's any safer from Pagan's anger than anyone else. |
| 104 | * [[spoiler: Jeremy]] from ''VideoGame/FatalHearts'' is polite, charming, studious, a diligent worker in both his mundane job and his more esoteric activities, interested in the environment and the welfare of others, and an all-around gentleman. Unless he thinks you're too stupid to live. In which case, he kills you. |
| 105 | * Kirei Kotomine of ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' is a perfectly polite fellow who [[WillNotTellALie never lies to you]] or avoids answering questions. He lets his enemies come right up to his base of operations and helps you out in the third scenario, where it's revealed that [[DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife he tried very hard his entire life to be a decent person]]. Unfortunately, he failed, so now he wants to destroy the world mostly ForTheEvulz. [[spoiler:Okay, it's not that simple. It's really more because he wants to [[RageAgainstTheHeavens ask God]] why someone like him, a person [[EvilFeelsGood only able to take pleasure in the suffering of others]] but still [[BeingEvilSucks plagued with a conscience]], was allowed to be born.]] |
| 106 | ** A common behavior for "evil" Servants based on villains or monsters in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', if their cruel acts or personalities aren't downplayed entirely. |
| 107 | * ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' likes this trope, in between its OmnicidalManiac villains. |
| 108 | ** ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV FFIV's]]'' Rubicante is quite polite and articulate for an Archfiend. He restores the HP of the party before battling them, he's outraged when he learns of his MadScientist subordinate Dr. Lugae's cruel experiments on humans, and his first appearance has him easily defeating {{ninja}} prince, Edge, where Rubicante praises his current abilities and potential, and encourages him to [[TimeToUnlockMoreTruePotential train and become stronger and then return for a rematch]]. |
| 109 | ** ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyV FFV's]]'' Gilgamesh was an over-the-top goon whose respect for the heroes' fighting talents after they'd beaten him a few times grew into actual affection to the point that he [[spoiler: sacrificed himself (with a strangely amusing FinalSpeech)]] to protect them from one of the BigBad's meaner minions. He also has a [[EnsembleDarkhorse devoted fanbase]], probably explaining his many, ''many'' reappearances. |
| 110 | ** ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI FFVI's]]'' Ultros arguably qualifies. He engages in TooFunnyToBeEvil (if unintentionally via his ''attempts'' to be a competent villain -- but only ever earns himself QuirkyMinibossSquad status, if that), and during your third fight against him, he even gets guilt-tripped into letting [[ChildMage Relm]] paint him by [[MamaBear Terra]] (but he ''does'' continue pummeling you until you use the Sketch ability). He feels so guilty, he even permits the use of Relm's pet name for him ("Uncle Ulty") very briefly. |
| 111 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'''s Vayne Solidor is cultured, polite, affable to the public, and an extremely talented speaker. One entire scene centers around him getting so fed up with a merchant refusing to drop "Lord" from his title, he invites him to dinner at the palace! Arguably, Vayne isn't so much ''evil'' (though he does have his moments) as a Machiavellian statesman, ruthless in his pursuit of personal power and glory. |
| 112 | * ''Franchise/FireEmblem'': |
| 113 | ** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'' has Caellach, a mercenary who becomes one of the six generals of TheEmpire. His [[AmbitionIsEvil greatest ambition]] is to become a King, and he's also ThatOneBoss, since he has an item that negates critical hits. If you fight him with a certain character, the two reflect on their past together, and invites him to switch sides. |
| 114 | ** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'' sees [[spoiler:Sephiran, who is introduced and interacts with the protagonists as an almost saint-like figure in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'', a devoted servant of [[LightIsNotGood the Goddess Ashera]], until it is revealed that [[BigBad he is the mastermind behind the plot to awaken Ashera and wipe out all life with her divine wrath]], having lost faith in the world after the Serenes Massacre. Also, he's [[Really700YearsOld over 1,000 years old.]]]] |
| 115 | ** Also from the Tellius series: The Black Knight |
| 116 | * Anji Mito from ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' may be the EnigmaticMinion of That Man, but he is shown to remain as jovial and laid-back as he was before his FaceHeelTurn. He gets along well with his fellow Japanese (like May) and even [[spoiler:acts as the KnowledgeBroker]] to Baiken, even though her goals of killing That Man are at odds with his. Nothing about his personality has changed, he just happens to work for the BigBad. [[spoiler:Eventually subverted by the time of ''Xrd'' because the villain he was working for was actually GoodAllAlong the whole time.]] |
| 117 | * ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'': |
| 118 | ** Salvatore Leone, at least when he is in a good mood. [[AxCrazy Incredibly averted when he is angered.]] |
| 119 | ** Mike Toreno from ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' -- who, it turns out, is a fairly nice and friendly guy, who just happens to be the scariest person you'll ever meet. It helps that he has the best line of dialog in the entire game: |
| 120 | -->'''Torino:''' I wanted to see what you were made of.\ |
| 121 | '''CJ:''' ''(Angrily)'' What it look like I'm made of? Pudding?\ |
| 122 | '''Torino:''' ''(Calmly)'' No. Anger, and hate. That's why I like you. |
| 123 | ** And then there is CJ himself, who will have no problem shooting or running over unarmed civilians, assassinate people who never did a bad thing to him and generally steal, maim and kill. However, most of it is because he is given no other alternative to keep his family -- blood and otherwise -- from being harmed and is genuinely nice and polite (outside of [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential whatever the player makes him do]]) to the people around him. Compare this to [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity Tommy]] who alienates and belittles his inner circle and [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII Claude]] who [[spoiler: repays the women who save his life by killing the brother of one and then (possibly) shooting and killing the other for ''talking too much'']]. |
| 124 | ** Johnny Klebitz from ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIVTheLostAndDamned''. He was genuinely looking out for every one of his fellow Lost MC Members, even the ones he didn't like. He also acted friendly, and supportive, among his companions, even in tough situations. |
| 125 | ** Trevor Philips from ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV''. Despite his AxCrazy behavior and wicked actions, there are moments when Trevor can be quite charming, kind, entertaining, pleasant, and funny, as long as you don't anger him. Also, depending on how you play with him, he can range from being a complete {{jerkass}} to a criminal with certain shining moments who willingly engages in acts of vigilantism, even admitting on some occasions that he never liked bullies. Furthermore, in ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoOnline GTA Online]]'', he's pretty casual with you. |
| 126 | * [[spoiler: Grimmald]] from ''VideoGame/{{Guenevere}}'' is a perfect gentleman, steps in to protect Morgana from [[spoiler: Meligaunt]], and tries to see to Guen's comfort and even make a deal with her to ensure peace in the future. Doesn't stop him from [[spoiler: kidnapping and imprisoning her and trying to get her killed later]], but hey, pobody's nerfect. |
| 127 | * The purple Hewdraw Head from ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'' is a GracefulLoser, respectfully complimenting Pit right as it's about to die. |
| 128 | -->'''Hewdraw:''' Look how far you've come, Pit. I'm proud of you. ''[dies]''\ |
| 129 | '''Pit:''' Huh. [[LampshadeHanging You don't usually meet such nice bosses.]] |
| 130 | * ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'': |
| 131 | ** Luxord is a textbook example. Though it really doesn't show until ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2 358/2]]''. |
| 132 | ** Xigbar, while he can be a lot more of a jerk, also qualifies, as does ([[AlternateCharacterInterpretation possibly]]) Demyx. |
| 133 | ** TheMaster of Masters was a jovial TeamDad, but a NecessarilyEvil WellIntentionedExtremist who [[ManipulativeBastard manipulated his apprentices]] into [[GreaterScopeVillain starting the first Keyblade War]] [[spoiler:and did it ''again'' with [[TheManBehindTheMan Xehanort]]]]. |
| 134 | * Minor villain, but the carnivorous plants in ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVIIThePrincelessBride''. They are incredibly polite to both Rosella and Valanice, and even give Rosella advice on how to get through the Wood of the Were-Folk. The only thing that makes them evil is, well, they are trying to eat Rosella and Valanice, and make no illusions about it. |
| 135 | * King Dedede, of the ''VideoGame/{{Kirby}}'' games, is almost always the villain through being possessed, or a misunderstanding (on Kirby's part!). Examples of this include ''VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards'' and ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl''. [[spoiler:King [=Dedede=] saves a few characters' lives, and then ''[[TheGlomp hugs]]'' Kirby when he finds out that he's OK.]] |
| 136 | ** There's also [[spoiler:[[BigBad Magolor]]]] from ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand''. He is very friendly, funny and charming towards Kirby and his friends to the point where you often forget that [[spoiler:he's using the four heroes to beat up a [[OurDragonsAreDifferent four-headed guardian dragon]] [[ArtifactOfPower wearing a powerful]] but [[ArtifactOfDoom corrupting]] [[CrownOfPower crown]] into giving said crown to him and allow him to go and take over the universe. Even when he reveals his [[EvilAllAlong true colors]], he says that he genuinely appreciated their help in fixing the Lor Starcutter.]] |
| 137 | ** Susie from ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot''. She's polite and charming when speaking to Kirby, and [[GracefulLoser generally takes her losses well]] and always politely greets them the next time they meet. That said, her reappearance as a Dream Friend in ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'' goes in a [[FauxAffablyEvil different direction]]. |
| 138 | * Uthar Wynn and Yuthura Ban, headmasters of the Sith Academy in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' are well-spoken, polite, and don't seem to be powered by the constant combination of anger, malice, and batshit crazy as most of the Sith you'll encounter. Uthar will gladly acknowledge a job well done, and congratulate you on your progress. Yuthura is quite patient and erudite when explaining the Sith Code, doing more to explain the Sith in six minutes than Lucas bothered with in six movies. Still, they ''are'' Sith, and are pleased when you kill off one of your fellow students or aid them in a double cross [[spoiler: you ''can'' double-cross both of them by playing them off one another]]. Uthar's "final test" for a student is to have them kill an acquaintance in cold blood, for no other purpose than to prove their superiority. Depending on the PlayerCharacter, the situation can end [[spoiler: with one of them dead and the other returning to run the academy, both of them dead, or Uthar dead and Yuthura walking away from the Sith]]. |
| 139 | ** Also a possible playstyle for a dark-sided PC in both games, although this requires knowing when to drop the act for the sake of dark side points. |
| 140 | ** On a related note, since [[spoiler: the PC is actually an amnesiac Revan]], [[PredecessorVillain Darth Revan]] also is implied to have fit this trope. According to both Jedi and Sith, he was [[MagneticHero extremely charismatic]] and [[VisionaryVillain persuasive]], and more prone to [[PragmaticVillainy measured uses of both force and diplomacy]] than most Dark Lords of the Sith, who are usually too [[DrunkOnTheDarkSide drunk on the dark side]] to let go of the [[VillainBall villain ball]]. He also seems to have had [[LaughablyEvil a good]], [[BlackHumor if dark]], sense of humor, if [[KillerRobot HK-47's]] comments about [[{{Troll}} his maker's]] [[ComedicSociopathy interactions]] with [[TheDragon Malak]] are any indication. |
| 141 | * In ''VideoGame/KultHereticKingdoms'', crime boss Gozen is unfailingly civil to the protagonist even if she has come to kill him, and if she rejects his offer to switch sides, he thanks her politely for hearing him out before they fight. |
| 142 | * ''Franchise/LeagueOfLegends'': |
| 143 | ** Bel'Veth is an alien monstrosity of the Void that unambiguously wants to assimilate Runeterra into an unholy Lavender Sea at some point, but she knows that the primordial Watchers stand in her way and that she needs all the help she can get, [[PragmaticVillainy so it's best to stay on everyone's good side]]. As scary as she is, she's also fairly polite, and anything that can be directly construed as a threat is more along the lines of BrutalHonesty than malicious taunts. |
| 144 | ** Dr. Mundo is a dim-witted and incredibly dangerous brute that's killed people in a misguided attempt at playing doctor. A lot of this is chalked up to him being ObliviouslyEvil though, and he's a genuinely friendly and well-meaning individual otherwise. |
| 145 | ** Gatekeeper Galio, a variant of the heroic Galio who's a demon of hell, passes judgement on the souls of the damned before sending them to Hell,. He sounds oddly friendly about it though. |
| 146 | ---> ''(taunting an enemy Sejuani)"Matricide? My my, well done, Circle Nine!"'' |
| 147 | ** Karthus wants to wish death upon the living, but prefers to do it quickly and without much pain and sees death not as painful suffering, but as peaceful bliss and clarity--indeed, what he likes most about undeath is permanently being in the liminal moment of clarity on death's threshold. He despises the likes of Thresh and Elise sadistically regularly torment the dead, Elise to stay alive and Thresh ForTheEvulz. |
| 148 | --->''"You all die, why not choose how?"'' |
| 149 | ** Kayn and Rhaast are a power hungry BloodKnight and his demonic parasite that wants to consume him. Yet they're both disarmingly cordial towards others and aren't really in it for sadism or cruelty. It's especially pronounced when Rhaast takes over Kayn's body and sounds like an excitable {{Manchild}} even when butchering enemies. |
| 150 | ** Pyke is a bloodthirsty murderer who lurks around Bilgewater killing sea captains, but as long as you're not (yet) on his list, or better yet, helping him execute somebody who is, he isn't above cracking a scathing joke or musing about the depths to those around. |
| 151 | * Xabraluz the Demon King in ''VideoGame/LordsOfXulima'' is surprisingly friendly when approached in his home. He mentions right away that he has no quarrel with ''you'' specifically, invites you to share a drink (of blood) with him and is willing to give away a powerful artifact if you can prove to him that you killed his enemies. |
| 152 | * Helena Blake, a crime lord in ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', may qualify. She's polite, friendly, and charming in her dealings with you. In fact, if Paragon Shepard convinces her to disband her organisation, she shows up again in the second game, having genuinely reformed and became a ''charity worker''. |
| 153 | ** The same goes for Aria T'Loak in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', her mild god complex aside, she is entirely reasonable and rather friendly. She's also a ruthless crimeboss running a stationwide society built on slavery and murder. |
| 154 | ** This might be a possibility in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' with the Illusive Man. He runs a pro-human organization, Cerberus, that committed awful acts that includes the assassination of one of the candidates of a political party, running live human experiments, turning a helpless little girl into a biotic killing-machine, signing off further plans to wire autistic individuals into machines to control geth, all the while silencing anyone who knew too much about them. Despite all that, he's very polite to Commander Shepard when they first met and he uses his charm to have the Spectre join their cause. He also [[spoiler: saves your life]], at the cost of ''billions'' of credits and nearly two years of hard work, for no other reason than that he believes your story about the Reapers and wants to help you save the galaxy. [[spoiler: Or so he ''claims''.]] Near the end of ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', Shepard discover secret Cerberus files where the Illusive Man freely admits that he was simply exploiting this trope to get Shepard to go along with his plans. But then again, he genuinely did consider Shepard to be indispensable in fighting the Reapers, and in fact [[VillainRespect holds Shepard in high regard even after turning against him/her]]. |
| 155 | * ''VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo'' briefly has this with an unnamed GiantMook who says, after Neo asks him for a key, "Please ? You may be an idiot, but I can't fault your manners." |
| 156 | * Vladamir Lem from ''VideoGame/MaxPayne''. Starts as Max's ally in the first game, but by the second, he fills the role of the BigBad. Never loses his suave demeanor or his cordial disposition: "Max! Dearest of all friends..." |
| 157 | -->'''Vladimir Lem:''' ''(answering machine)'' I'm coming to kill you, old man. You really know how to piss me off, you know...Would it have killed you to say "thank you" for once in your life? To say "Vlad, my son...can I call you my son because I sure do love you like one." "Vlad my son, you are a true prodigy. Everything you touch turns to gold." Oh...wait, it '''is''' going to kill you! I'm done doing your dirty work for you. You should be proud. I have learned all you've taught me. I'm coming to show you.\ |
| 158 | ...\ |
| 159 | '''Vladimir Lem:''' What the fuck is wrong with you, Max? Why don't you just die? You hate life, you're miserable all the time, afraid to enjoy yourself even a little! Face it, you might as well be dead already. Do yourself a favor, give up! |
| 160 | * [[QuirkyMinibossSquad The Bonne Family]] from ''Videogame/MegaManLegends'' want treasure and are willing to do just about anything to get it, but they're all actually quite likeable and good-hearted when the chips are down. [[spoiler:When they find out near the end that [[BigBad Mega Man Juno's]] plan is to eradicate all life on the island, they drop everything to help put a stop to it.]] |
| 161 | * Many of the villains in ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' have a lot of innocent blood on their hands, but many of them are surprisingly nice people if they encounter Snake in a situation where nobody would gain anything by fighting. Sniper Wolf, Vulcan Raven, [[spoiler:Grey Fox]], Fortune, Olga, The Boss, Ocelot (in MGS and [=MGS3=]), Zero, and Big Boss murdered dozens of people and took part in large scale terrorism. But you wouldn't suspect that when you meet them at any place where they are not trying to shoot you. But then, you meet people like Psycho Mantis, Vamp, and Volgin, and realize that some people just need to die. |
| 162 | ** The hack-and-slash offshoot ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'' presents [[spoiler:Senator Armstrong]], an amiable politician who speaks fondly of his [[CoolOldGuy college football days, his service in the U.S. navy]] and how he's perfectly fine with Raiden joining his cause. This is only further amplified by [[spoiler:Armstrong]] believing in the same general ideals as the protagonist Raiden, albeit with less concern for casualties. |
| 163 | ** Though probably not intentional, most of the members of Desperado are also likable. They're obviously homicidal psychopaths, but they also show heaps of personality and [[SmugSmiler never hide how much they enjoy their job.]] |
| 164 | * Tor Anwyn, the Warlock promoter of ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic VII''. We know he is evil because of the ''other'' persons and things associated with the Path of Dark in that game, and because the [[VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic Heroes]] game put the Warlocks as evil since Heroes I. He's always polite, even when asked to promote a Light-aligned party -- where other such promoters are inclined to disparage you as a do-gooder, not cruel enough, or not cold-hearted enough for the job, he reacts by ''apologizing'' and explaining that the way of the Warlock requires you to be on the Path of Dark, so he's simply not able to oblige. He's not exactly harmless, though: what all that means is that he trains other evil folks into becoming more powerful. |
| 165 | * ''VideoGame/{{Inscryption}}'' has the host of the game, known as [[spoiler:Leshy]]. He traps the souls of countless animals, humans, and his own rivals, and his games force the player character to do some rather horrible things (such as gouging out their own eye for a quick heal). However, he seemingly has no greater goal in mind than to give the player (distinct from the player character) an exciting time, and is outright angered at the idea that his actions would be interpreted as anything but in good fun. Whenever he isn't in KillerGameMaster mode, he comes across as friendly, genial, and kind, suggesting that a lot of his cruelty is just to give the game a good atmosphere. [[spoiler:His final actions end up being a no-stakes card game where he deliberately deactivates the life counters of both players so they can enjoy the game as long as possible before the world ends.]] |
| 166 | * ''VideoGame/{{Manafinder}}'': Illia is a renegade goddess who wants to force humanity to abandon manastones, since she believes their dependence on this resource makes them weak. However, she's genuinely polite when she tries to convince Lambda of her cause and accepts full responsibility for everyone her followers killed. She also acknowledges that her siblings have good intentions in providing manastones and magic to humans, even if she disagrees with them. She shows sympathy towards her followers for all the struggles they had to endure and believes her ideology will help them. |
| 167 | * ''VideoGame/MilyaBroken'': For a reality-destroying entity who has killed multiple innocent girls, the BigBad [[spoiler:Milya]] is very friendly when personally talking to you near the end, engaging you in philosophical conversations and not antagonizing you. |
| 168 | * ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'': Shang Tsung is depicted as this in the Krypt mode, welcoming the player to his island and inviting them to take what they wish..."''[[ImpliedDeathThreat within reason]]''". |
| 169 | * In ''Videogame/MugenSouls'', Belleria can be seen as one. While she is [[spoiler:the God of Destruction]] and does oppose Chou-Chou, she is pretty polite and relatively friendly to her rival. [[spoiler:So much so, she can go through a HeelFaceTurn and become a party member if you achieve the true ending.]] |
| 170 | * CFW Brave from ''VideoGame/{{Neptunia}}'', especially compared to his comrades. Before he is shown on-screen, he is even described as "more chivalrous than evil," and when he finds Nepgear and Uni in Endless Zone, he offers to let them go before attacking them. |
| 171 | * The villains of ''VideoGame/NightTrap'', who are a nice family who donate to charity and have friends over. They eat the friends, and the charity they donate to is zombie vampires... |
| 172 | * Zero, the BigBad of ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors''. While he is the obvious evil guy throughout most of the game, Zero is never impolite to the players and [[FairPlayVillain always plays fair with them]]. Revealed in the ending to be [[spoiler: Akane/June, the literally most innocent-seeming character]]. |
| 173 | * ''VideoGame/NotForBroadcast'' has the co-Prime Ministers of Advance, Julia Salisbury and Peter Clements, who appear jovial and personable even as they institute [[WeWillHaveEuthanasiaInTheFuture "Transition Centres" to kill off the country's elderly]], place stricter limitations on the press to preserve their image, and antagonize their neighbors. [[spoiler:Peter's personality, at the very least, [[ALighterShadeOfBlack is genuine]], and [[EvenEvilHasStandards even he balks when he learns of Advance's nuclear attacks on its neighbors]], which Julia orchestrated. Julia's personality, on the other hand, is [[FauxAffablyEvil a carefully constructed facade]]. It is also telling that, after Peter's death (the result of Julia arranging his assassination when he threatened to ruin her reputation over the nuclear attacks), the government practically careens headlong into a full-blown dictatorship.]] |
| 174 | * ''Videogame/OneNightAtFlumptys'' has Flumpty himself, who provides you with a phone call politely stating how he is a dimension-hopping EldritchAbomination who had kidnapped you, and is now going to come in the room which you're in to kill you. The sequel also has Flumpty being the only one who gives you a second to turn your light switch off. |
| 175 | * ''VideoGame/Onimusha2SamuraisDestiny'' gives us [[LargeHam Gogandantess!]] Greatest Swordsman of all the Demons! While the other Genma seem perfectly happy with eating children and destroying the mortal realm, Gogandantess' only goal through the whole game is to prove that he is indeed the greatest swordsdemon around by beating UsefulNotes/YagyuJubei. He acts with chivalry and honor, at one point saving the life of Oyu and -- aside from an impenetrable magical shield -- faces Jubei on equal footing, one-on-one. This conduct earns Jubei's respect and [[spoiler: he even honors Gogandantess' last request; to tell Gogandantess that he is, in fact the Greatest Swordsman of all the Demons]]. |
| 176 | * Gnarl in ''VideoGame/{{Overlord}}'' always acts in a calm, polite manner, something that simply doesn't cross the minds of most of your other minions. Even after [[spoiler:siding with the original Overlord, and betraying you at the end of the first game]], he still refrains from berating the player, and, instead, compliments you on doing a good job. |
| 177 | * Sigma in ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' was a kindly yet eccentric astrophysicist who was [[MadScientist driven mad]] and given GravityMaster powers by a FreakLabAccident. He was then forcibly recruited by the NebulousEvilOrganization Talon and happily helps them as a result of his mental state [[ObliviouslyEvil blinding him to their intentions]]. Unlike the other Talon agents he's very cordial with his allies as he outright praises Mei's work as "brilliant", and shares fond memories of being on the moon with Winston. |
| 178 | * Jorji Costava from ''VideoGame/PapersPlease.'' Pleasant, polite, enthusiastic, gregarious, generous, honest, [[spoiler: a drug dealer and a smuggler]]. Not precisely "good" per se, but unfailingly chipper and nice to you even when you turn him away or call the guards to arrest him. |
| 179 | * ''VideoGame/PathfinderKingmaker'': Regongar is canonically Chaotic Evil, but if you aren't actively opposing him and don't condone slavery, he's pretty personable, always up for a drink and a laugh, and a completely shameless flirt. |
| 180 | * ''VideoGame/Persona3'': Nyx wants to bring about the apocalypse, but isn't malicious about it, it's just what she does and genuinely thinks people want. Nyx Avatar even lets itself be defeated to give the protagonists some catharsis before the Fall. |
| 181 | * ''VideoGame/Persona5'': In the ''Royal'' UpdatedReRelease, the villain of the third semester is probably the nicest antagonist in a Persona game, and his villainous plot is to use his newfound godly powers so that no one has to suffer and involves things like resurrecting dead loved ones and granting people's wishes, [[BenevolentGenie no twisting of meaning or strings attached]]. The Phantom Thieves only fight [[spoiler: Takuto Maruki]] because they're also inadvertently retconning people's CharacterDevelopment, and they remain friendly after [[spoiler: Maruki's defeat]]. |
| 182 | * ''VideoGame/Persona5Strikers'': Akira Konoe is initially made out to be a BitchInSheepsClothing, but it later turns out that he's genuinely as nice as he looks and honestly thinks he's doing the right thing. Yes, he associates with [[CorruptPolitician Jyun Owada]], but he hates the guy just as much as everyone else and is planning on betraying Owada [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness the instant he's no longer needed]] just on general principle. |
| 183 | * ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'': |
| 184 | ** Shelly de Killer from ''Justice For All'' appears to be a rather intelligent and likable man who just so happens to [[ProfessionalKiller brutally murder people for a living.]] |
| 185 | ** Within five minutes of meeting you, [[spoiler:Police Chief Damon Gant]] has probably [[TheNicknamer given you an affectionate nickname]], laughed uproariously at something funny you said, and extolled to you the many virtues of swimming. Oh, and he [[spoiler: framed a child for a murder he committed so that he could use her apparent guilt to manipulate her sister, the Chief Prosecutor, essentially giving him complete control over both the police ''and'' the prosecutor's office. All the while, he claims good intentions, as that way the criminals would be caught and prosecuted with much more efficiency.]] But other than that, he's a nice guy. In-game dialogue states that if you're short on cash, he's the man to ask to borrow from. |
| 186 | ** ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth'': [[spoiler: Ernest Amano]] is a pretty friendly and conciliatory person who happens to be [[spoiler: a CorruptCorporateExecutive whose business group is in cahoots with an international smuggling ring. He even tries to get his guilty-as-sin son acquitted for murder, but drops the idea when charged with obstruction of justice.]] |
| 187 | * In ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternityIIDeadfire'', most of the gods are {{Jerkass God}}s. The exceptions are Berath, the stoic but basically sane [[DarkIsNotEvil god of death]], the HeroAntagonist Eothas, and Rymrgand, who fits this. Rymrgand is the [[EvilIsDeathlyCold literally and figuratively ice-cold]] god of entropy and natural disasters, but he's relatively tolerant of a defiant Watcher. (At least, when he isn't considering snuffing the Watcher's soul out.) In situations where other gods would throw a temper tantrum, Rymrgand [[DeadpanSnarker snarks back]] and [[ActuallyPrettyFunny sometimes even admits the Watcher's barbs against him are funny]]. In ''Beast of Winter'', he will even spare and graciously congratulate a Watcher who is entirely at his mercy [[spoiler:if the Watcher proves to be enough of a WorthyOpponent to struggle well against Rymrgand's avatar]]. However, there are limits; Rymrgand can and will cause an instant NonStandardGameOver if [[DoNotTauntCthulhu pushed too far]]. |
| 188 | * ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}: |
| 189 | ** ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver:'' Petrel is a MasterOfDisguise, but his disguises never work. He also compliments your battle prowess, and gives you the key you need to advance while telling you what a nice guy he is. |
| 190 | ** ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'': |
| 191 | *** Archie is quite civil to the player, and between the two different versions he's slightly more politely-spoken than Maxie is. In the remakes this is even more apparent, with Archie constantly calling the player affectionate nicknames and generally acting fond of them. |
| 192 | *** Though not so much as Archie, Maxie is still rather courteous overall and this especially shows after his HeelFaceTurn. He becomes more of a genuine (if aloof) friend to the player character, even giving them the Cameruptite to defeat Zinnia. |
| 193 | ** Despite being a creepy, emotionally-impaired, [[LonersAreFreaks asocial]] StrawNihilist who wants to destroy the universe, Cyrus of ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' is pretty friendly to the player character. He praises your skill and compassion (though he considers the latter a backhanded compliment), makes small talk about philosophy and science and your ongoing attempts to thwart him, and outright gives you the Master Ball, just because he thinks you'll get more use out of it. |
| 194 | ** ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'': Barring Ghetsis, none of the Seven Sages are particularly cruel or spiteful despite their actions or station. Even Zinzolin remains relatively honorable post-TimeSkip. |
| 195 | ** ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'': Colress is more concerned about bringing out the strengths of Pokémon rather than Team Plasma's plan. He's pretty friendly in a genuine way, and he also helps you out quite a few times, even when it might be not in his best interest to do so. |
| 196 | ** ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'': |
| 197 | *** When you encounter Lysandre, he is very polite and even calls you over the Holo Caster to congratulate you on mastering Mega Evolution. He once gives you a rambling and somewhat sinister speech about the past and humanity, then thanks the player for listening and gives them a King's Rock. Of course, Lysandre is still Team Flare's boss. |
| 198 | *** Xerosic continually acts friendly and cheerful, even giving you several compliments when you defeat him. However, he's evil and going along with Team Flare's plan. |
| 199 | ** ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'': The members of Team Skull are all actually pretty personable, speaking casually and showing a great deal of inter-team brotherhood, even in regards to their Pokémon. Admin Plumeria cares for the grunts and therefore becomes pissed off when you beat them down]][[spoiler:, and they all became a would-be family when their boss Guzma pulled them together. And as for [[PunchClockVillain Gladion]], while he's pretty aloof most of the time, [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold he treats his Pokémon]] [[BenevolentBoss with great care and respect]], allowing them all to evolve into forms only achievable through high friendship, and he flips out upon learning of his sister Lillie's kidnapping]]. |
| 200 | ** ''VideoGame/PokemonRangerGuardianSigns'': |
| 201 | *** Blue Eyes and Red Eyes are surprisingly nice and honorable for being admins of a group which steals Pokémon with force. Blue Eyes cares a lot for her subordinates and [[TakingTheBullet it]] [[HeroicSacrifice shows]]. Red Eyes truly respects the player and once he's defeated a second time, he leaves the Pokémon Pinchers for good. After that, he'll help the player a couple of times. |
| 202 | *** Hocus might as well be the nicest member of the Societea. Yes, he wants to conquer the world like the other members, but he genuinely liked performing tricks for kids. He just thinks there's no turning back for him. Plus, he's generally nice to Ben and Summer and is a GracefulLoser. In the Italian version, he even leaves saying that he hopes to see them again one day. |
| 203 | ** ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers'': Grovyle's mission is to steal the Time Gears, causing the [[TimeCrash planet's paralysis]] in order to escape the law. Despite this goal, however, he is nothing but cordial and [[ApologeticAttacker apologetic]] to his victims. The reason for his kindness is revealed to be because [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope he's not really evil;]] the real reason he's stealing the Time Gears is because time is already falling apart, and the gears are needed to repair time.]] |
| 204 | * ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'': |
| 205 | ** [=GLaDOS=] attempts to put you at ease and encourage you, [[spoiler:right up until the moment that it needs you to die. It even thanks you while it does it.]] |
| 206 | ** [[spoiler: Wheatley from the sequel after his betrayal. Even when you're within 20 feet of his lair, he reveals a mashing device, and '''politely asks''' Chell if she wants to kill herself rather than have him do it. That, and how could you possibly be horribly evil when Stephen Merchant is your voice actor??]] |
| 207 | ---> [[spoiler: '''Wheatley:''' Think of it not as a death trap, but as a death option!]] |
| 208 | ** Aperture Science's main [[MechaMooks goons]] are laser-guided, talking Sentry Turrets with gentle, childish demeanors. Supplementary material says they were originally created to protect children; their dialogue in combat evokes a warped game of peek-a-boo. |
| 209 | * Lucifon (a.k.a. {{Satan}}) of ''VideoGame/PrincessMaker2'' appears less a sinister AnthropomorphicPersonification of evil and more a guy you can have a (rather corrupting) drink with. It's arguable that he's just doing his job, though he takes a certain pride if he can get your daughter to take his place at the end of the game. |
| 210 | * Edgar Barrett from ''VideoGame/PsiOpsTheMindgateConspiracy'' was Nick Scryer's mentor and best friend before [[FaceHeelTurn joining The Movement]], and still retains some of his old warmth and humour. As such, he treats his own boss battle as little more than an extremely lethal game, shouting happily [[LargeHam "JUST LIKE THE GOOD OLD DAYS, HUH, NICK?"]] while telekinetically hurling fuel tankers at him. |
| 211 | * The ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'' series has a few examples: |
| 212 | ** Baba Yaga may want to eat the Hero, but darned if she isn't so ''polite'' about it. She also has a rather darkly amusing sense of humor, and even gets along quite well with Erasmus (although she cheats at cards). This is especially the case in ''VideoGame/QuestForGloryIV'', where despite being quite angry with the Hero for humiliating her in the first game, she can still be placated, and will actually help him out on a couple occasions (so long as you remember to bring her a snack ''other'' than yourself). In fact it's impossible to win the game without her help. |
| 213 | *** Bonehead, the animated skull who acts as her gatekeeper, as well. He's actually quite friendly with the Hero, and will readily chat with him about the goings on in Spielberg (''VideoGame/QuestForGloryI'') and Mordavia (''IV''). |
| 214 | ** Katrina, the BigBad of ''Quest for Glory IV''. Despite being, well, a vampire, the Dark Master, and attempting to unleash an EldritchAbomination into the world. The one time her polite front towards the Hero cracks it can be argued is actually ''justified'' from her perspective: The Hero had just rescued the girl she loved as a daughter and returned her to her rightful family. Katrina thought she was actually ''helping'' her, because she misguidedly believed that her parents were cruel to her and didn't love her. Her Goon guards are genuinely loyal because she treats them well, she likely saved Boris's life by giving him a job as the Castle's gatekeeper, and leaves the townspeople alone as she considers them her loyal subjects and she their benevolent ruler. And that whole unleashing an Eldritch Abomination thing? She's not even trying to take over or destroy the world. She just wants to bring about eternal night because she's afraid of her vulnerability during the day. The only person she's ever unquestionably cruel to is Ad Avis, and ''he's'' a misogynistic, power-hungry, disloyal JerkAss who wants nothing more than to murder her and take her place. In other words, he completely deserves it. |
| 215 | ** And ''again'' from ''Quest for Glory IV'', the Rusalka. Sure, she's an undead monster lurking in the nearby lake who will drown any man who approaches her, but she doesn't ''want'' to. She's really a sweet, kind woman who was cursed to an eternity of luring men to their deaths, and if the Hero manages to befriend her she'll actually ''tell you to stay away'' from her so she doesn't kill you, too. The Paladin can even free her from her curse and let her rest in peace by avenging her murder. |
| 216 | ** Signor Ferrari of ''VideoGame/QuestForGloryII'' and ''VideoGame/QuestForGloryV''. It's much more evident in ''V'' where you actually ''do'' have to deal with him (he's more an ExpositionFairy in ''II'' and doesn't play a real role in the plot). ''Especially'' if you're a Thief. He's unfailingly polite and addresses you like a friend, but he ''will'' work against you and can even force a Thief to abdicate the throne if he's not handled the right way. |
| 217 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Robopon}} 2'', Dr. Zeke finds Cody washed up on the beach and saves him, taking him to his house until he wakes up. |
| 218 | * [[BigBad Graf Michael]] [[RebelLeader Sepperin]] from ''{{VideoGame/Rosenkreuzstilette}}'' is truly a nobleman at heart... and a WellIntentionedExtremist at that. He organized the coup against TheEmpire and is even willing to become the Devil himself to protect his daughter Iris, and he doesn't underestimate Tia's willingness to protect those she loves without letting anyone be sacrificed, nor does he underestimate her well-enough knowledge that there's no sense in fighting for the Empire. And after his defeat, he tells her that she can find Karl in his prison and is even willing to let her know that Karl himself made an attempt on Iris' life. [[spoiler:Too bad [[ManBehindTheMan Iris]] was just [[UnwittingPawn using]] him.]] |
| 219 | * Charnel, the [[GodOfEvil God of Strife, Slaughter and Death]], in ''VideoGame/{{Sacrifice}}''. Not only is he GenreSavvy about his status as the Bad Guy of the universe, but he's also completely open and honest about it. Charnel will at times support you even when you are opposing him, as a particularly inspiring bit of butchery (even if directed against him) is good to him, and his generally polite and blasé demeanour appears completely genuine. The only thing that gets his goat is the actual BigBad, Marduk, [[EvilVersusOblivion because he's trying to destroy a world so full of strife slaughter and death]] and Charnel can't have that. |
| 220 | * Shiranui Gen-An gets this treatment in the ''VideoGame/SamuraiShodown'' series. He boasts of becoming the King of Evil. Yet at the end of the day, he's just a disfigured oni-like creature with a glove inspired by Freddy Krueger, a loving wife, and kids he even brings to work. See his ending in ''Samurai Shodown VI'' (American numbering). |
| 221 | * ''{{VideoGame/Scrutinized}}'': Tanner is a SerialKiller, but if you can survive against him long enough, he will become impressed by your determination to survive against him and continue your work and begin to respect you, eventually helping you out. |
| 222 | * ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts'': |
| 223 | ** [[spoiler:Albert Simon]], the primary villain of the first game, has the appearance of an elderly British gentleman and often acts the part when he's not brutally slaughtering anyone in his way. When beaten, he acknowledges that you're better, and heals you up. When you [[spoiler: finally defeat him, his biggest regret is that he didn't get a chance to show you the new world he was going to create. Not in a spiteful "look upon my works ye mighty" way: he really thought he was creating a paradise, and wanted the heroes to be able to enjoy it with him.]] |
| 224 | ** The sequel's big bad, [[spoiler: Kato, fits this trope, too. He considers Yuri his friend, and tells him so, ''even after Yuri fatally wounds him in battle.'']] |
| 225 | * Racter in ''VideoGame/ShadowrunReturns: Hong Kong'' is on TheSociopath spectrum, and by his own admission has a LackOfEmpathy and doesn't comprehend things like 'friendship' on an emotional level. He is also, because of this, a TokenEvilTeammate who doesn't shy away from violent or immoral quest outcomes. Personality-wise, however, Racter is detached but nothing but polite to a PlayerCharacter who continues to engage him in good-faith debate without judging him, and later claims that when he calls you 'my friend' he is being as genuine as he is able to. [[spoiler:It also helps that some experimental cyberware has allowed him to supress some of the other common aspects of sociopathy, namely the 'poor impulse control' and 'need for domination/deceit' parts, and views the player character as an equal -- or so he claims, anyway.]] |
| 226 | * In ''VideoGame/SunlessSkies'', the High Sequencer is the high priest of a cruel and angry EldritchAbomination. He's also a GoodShepherd who is one of the very few people in Albion genuinely trying to help the horribly oppressed working class, although he's so breathtakingly out-of-touch that he doesn't do a great job of it. |
| 227 | * Darksol in ''VideoGame/ShiningSoul'' is ever so polite, In fact most of the bosses are, but Darksol takes it one step further by going on about how darkness is like art and all you can do is admire the beauty. |
| 228 | * ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'': Interestingly played with [[{{Satan}} Lucifer]]. He's usually very polite and friendly in his many, ''many'' appearances, often in contrast to the more [[EntitledBastard demanding]] angels he opposes. That said, he's also a ManipulativeBastard, and almost everything he says and does is to convince the main character (who is always a [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom Swiss Messenger]] with regards to humanity's fate) that [[SatanIsGood he's the good guy]] and that Chaos is the right path. Whether he's [[FauxAffablyEvil solely out]] [[BitchInSheepsClothing to exploit humanity]] or whether he [[ObliviouslyEvil thinks Chaos]] [[BlueAndOrangeMorality really is the mutually beneficial path for humans and demons]] ([[CosmicHorrorStory it isn't]]) is up to the individual fan to decide. Worth noting is that he ''does'' passes up many ([[KickTheDog but not all]]) opportunities to drop the friendly act when he no longer needs to keep it up. Furthering this, he is also accepting if humanity follows the neutral path. This occurs in the third game, where he lets the protagonist keep the demonic powers he gave them so as to preserve their choice. |
| 229 | * ''VideoGame/Splatoon2: Octo Expansion'' has C.Q. Cumber, a hardworking employee of the Kamabo Corporation. He'll detonate the [[ExplosiveLeash ink bomb strapped to your back]] if you fail, but gives monetary rewards if you succeed and is generally a kind individual who wishes you luck before each test. Whether or not he's actually aware [[spoiler: of the true nature of Kamabo Co.]] is up in the air. |
| 230 | * Specimen 6 from ''VideoGame/SpookysJumpScareMansion'' comes off as this despite not saying a word. Despite the horrific manner in which he kills the player, he genuinely believes he’s doing them a favor by taking away their free will and making them his. |
| 231 | * ''VideoGame/StarControl'' |
| 232 | ** The Ur-Quan Kzer-za, while the [[PresidentEvil rulers of a brutal slave empire]] spanning a quarter of a galaxy, are actually pretty nice guys when you talk to them. They do any of the following: [[NonStandardGameOver fully accept surrender]] and mention that your crew will be treated well and taken back to Earth, acknowledge your status as a WorthyOpponent, mention that they are [[WellIntentionedExtremist protecting their thralls]] from [[OmnicidalManiac much]], much [[PlanetLooters worse]] [[TheEndofTheWorldAsWeKnowIt things]] [[EarthShatteringKaboom in the galaxy]], and entreat you to go home should you win against them, as the more of their ships you destroy, the less likely they are to win their current war with their OmnicidalManiac kin. They also give the races willing to fight for them an absurd amount of autonomy, [[spoiler:find a new (and very nice) homeworld for the defeated race]], avoid wasting resources whenever possible, accept the wishes of the races they've beaten, and generally conduct themselves with honor whenever possible. All of these things, quite naturally, aid in their downfall. Moreover, it's an established fact that they ''never'' insult foes. [[spoiler:And this fact can be exploited by [[PlayerCharacter PCs]] too.]] |
| 233 | ** The Kzer-Za let you go unmolested for warning them about the [[spoiler: Neo-Dnyarri]]. This does allow you to go right back to opposing them, but it does make sense even from a less affable perspective: [[spoiler: the Dnyarri are the reason the modern Ur-Quan are the way they are, and the Ur-Quan remember ''very'' well. ''Anything'' you do, the entire Doctrinal War between the Kzer-Za and the Kohr-Ah, is small fry compared to the possible return of the Dnyarri]]. |
| 234 | ** The Kohr-Ah themselves are also relatively nice for a bunch of {{Omnicidal Maniac}}s. They make no attempt to hide their intentions, but they are just as polite as their Kzer-Za bretheren, and when speaking to them, you get a sense that they don't really hold any malice towards those they kill. When they attack, they also allow their victims a chance to perform any "last rites" that are traditional when one is about to die. They also believe in reincarnation, and one way they justify their genocide is their belief that everyone they kill will eventually be reborn as a Kohr-Ah. |
| 235 | * The various {{Mega Corp}}s in ''VideoGame/StarCrawlers'' at least [[SlaveToPR have to put up a friendly face]], though some of them, such as Agrigen or Chimera Biopharma, are genuinely nice and friendly folks. The former loves everyone and promotes peace and serenity, while still peddling food bars that contain incredibly addictive ingredients. The latter are polite and businesslike, but they'll also lie through their teeth about whether they ''actually'' delivered their medicines, and they'll let entire planets die of plague if they don't pay for their medication. |
| 236 | * [=JojaMart=], the MegaCorp of ''VideoGame/StardewValley'', is a PredatoryBusiness that is going to drive the mom-and-pop stores out of business in the name of profit. But, the corporation never does or says anything that can really be construed as evil, taking great care to not do anything to outright antagonize the locals of Pelican Town. Their representative Morris is just trying to do his job and maximize profits for his company, even if he is kind of a dick about luring people away from Pierre's shop. Then again, Morris can also save the player if they collapse in the mines, and expresses hope that the player will join [=JojaMart=] without ever forcing the player to do so. |
| 237 | * ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' series: |
| 238 | ** [[VideoGame/StreetFighterIII Gill]] puts more emphasis on the "affable" part; despite the extreme methods of his organization and the fact that he's unquestionably an antagonist, he's very pleasant to talk to, with ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'' even showing via his quotes how affable he really is by giving genuine advice to most of the characters (all while reprimanding the truly villainous ones like M. Bison). He also [[BenevolentBoss treats his lackeys with respect]] and actually [[WellIntentionedExtremist has genuinely good intentions despite his draconian methods]] which he [[LampshadeHanging points out]] in a quote. In addition, he's totally against the [[DespotismJustifiesTheMeans selfish intentions]] of his younger brother [[SatanicArchetype Urien]], who [[TheStarscream plans to overthrow him]] in order to plunge the world into darkness [[ForTheEvulz for the sake of power]]. |
| 239 | --->"My methods may seem harsh in contrast to my true intentions." |
| 240 | ** Seth is somewhere between this and FauxAffablyEvil. While in part he is a vicious man with a massive inferiority complex, with an overwhelming desire to take control of the world, he is also seemingly very pleasant to talk with, kind to his subordinates, has an (albeit dry) sense of humor, admits to actually rather enjoy fighting (not in a BloodKnight way), and compliments those he deems worthy of battling him. |
| 241 | * ''VideoGame/TheSuffering'': |
| 242 | ** Dr. Killjoy. He's modeled after Vincent Price, so he's naturally the most charismatic individual in the two games; in fact, he's so urbane you might just forget that he's a mass-murdering MadDoctor with a fetish for [[ProjectedMan film projectors]] and blood. Plus, being a psychiatrist, he genuinely wants to help cure the main character -- it's just that his methods are just a tad...[[WellIntentionedExtremist unorthodox.]] |
| 243 | ** Blackmore was a particularly affable character in his own right: in all of his dealings with Torque, he treats him like a somewhat misguided little brother -- [[spoiler: appropriate, considering that Blackmore is a SplitPersonality of Torque]] -- and continually tries to convince him to [[WeCanRuleTogether join his gang]] rather than kill him. And then, there was the way he called Torque "my little one". |
| 244 | * ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'': |
| 245 | ** While not initially, Bowser has evolved into this over time. He begins showing shades of this in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'', where he wants to kidnap Peach so his son can have a mother figure during their family vacation, and becomes this all out in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'' planning for his big perfect wedding with Princess Peach, complete with a classy tuxedo and while he is still out to destroy Mario, he genuinely compliments his clothing if he wears ones that Bowser particularly likes. |
| 246 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'': Count Bleck uses polite language and never punishes his minions physically. He's also trying to destroy the multiverse. |
| 247 | ** Recurring ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' series villain Fawful fits this trope to a T, being a goofy megalomaniac who tends to act as something of a [[TheGadfly gadfly]] towards everyone around him. This is especially the case in ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory'', which features Fawful spending the entire game more or less dicking around with the protagonists and acting more as a class clown-type figure than a legitimate threat -- even when he ends up [[spoiler:conquering the Mushroom Kingdom and recrafting it in his own image]]. |
| 248 | * ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'': |
| 249 | ** ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' has a lot of these, since nearly every antagonist is a WellIntentionedExtremist to some degree. The BigBad [[spoiler:Van Grants]] in particular: while he has a fair few KickTheDog moments when [[spoiler:he first shows his true colors]], outside of this he is polite toward the protagonists, and offers genuine praise to Luke and Tear when they become strong enough to pose a serious threat to his plans. He simply wants to ScrewDestiny so people will no longer have to rely on [[BecauseDestinySaysSo The Score]]. [[spoiler:He was also a very kind and devoted elder brother to Tear, and after his betrayal Luke still sees him as more of a father figure than his actual father.]] |
| 250 | ** ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia'' has Alvin, who has an even worse case of ChronicBackstabbingDisorder than most of the other [[RecurringElement traitors in the "Tales of" series]]. Despite this, his friendliness to the party is usually genuine and he's only working for Exodus [[spoiler:to take care of his sick mother. After he nearly kills Leia and has a HeelRealization, he slowly tries to redeem himself.]] |
| 251 | * ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'': |
| 252 | ** The Sniper slips into this, given his credo about his line of work: "Be polite, be efficient; have a plan to kill everyone you meet." That being an old US Marines BadassCreed. |
| 253 | ** The Engineer is a much more obvious example: he's described as an "amiable, soft-spoken good ol' boy", and generally behaves as such, but, at the same time, doesn't have any concerns about killing people based on the dominant colour in their wardrobe. |
| 254 | ** The RED Spy, specifically. He is a cold-blooded killer, and hot-blooded lover. Of the BLU Scout's Mom. |
| 255 | ** You'd think that The Medic was one, but no. Healing is just a side-effect that pays the bills for his evil experiments. |
| 256 | *** The Meet the Medic video mixes it up a bit, changing the Medic from FauxAffablyEvil to AffablyEvil With Great Emphasis On "Evil". While operating on The Heavy, they share some pretty friendly banter. It's quite clear, however, that he has no problem endangering The Heavy's life with his experiments. After all, he claims that the sound of The Heavy's heart exploding is simply, "The sound of progress!" |
| 257 | * In ''VideoGame/ThetaVsPi7'' King Pi comes across this way, acknowledging that he thinks of Theta more as a friend than an enemy. Even during combat he constantly smiles. [[spoiler: In the end, it’s unclear if he was really just affable all along.]] |
| 258 | * ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'' -- A certain vampire victim turned vampire herself is an example. She is a nice, sweet girl, who honestly loves and cares for the main hero. She just happens to require sucking blood to live, is beginning to get a perverse enjoyment of it, and happens to sometimes get the sudden urge to go "fufufufu". She's rather pitiable, and Shiki agrees. [[spoiler: It's Satsuki, if you hadn't guessed, and he pities her so much that he grants her the only peace he can...a quick death.]] |
| 259 | %%* Dr. Warumon from ''VideoGame/{{Twinbee}}'', an {{Expy}} of [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Eggman]], is a laughable example of this. |
| 260 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Tyranny}}'', there's a few notable examples, given [[VillainWorld the amount of evil to go around]]: |
| 261 | ** The PlayerCharacter, the Fatebinder, is a VillainProtagonist working for an EvilOverlord, but they don't have to be ''rude'' about it. |
| 262 | ** Most of the player's TrueCompanions (save a TokenGoodTeammate, [[CharacterDevelopment possibly two]]) are likeable sorts, as CRPG party members tend to be. They're also willing, ruthless agents of the EvilOverlord Kyros. |
| 263 | ** Bleden Mark, Kyros' executioner and assassin, loves his job. He loves killing people, and he loves killing people ''slowly'' even more. But if he hasn't been sent to kill you, and you're able to keep up with him in SnarkToSnarkCombat, he's a charming, jovial guy who may agree to lend you a powerful artifact for literally no other reason than that you were [[RefugeInAudacity bold enough to just ask him politely]]. |
| 264 | ** The Disfavored are described by the villagers of Lethian's Crossing as this if left in charge of it; they may impose harsh taxes and absolute curfews on the ones they conquer, but they are always remarkably polite and civil long as their clearly-stated rules are followed properly. |
| 265 | ** The Disfavoured general, Graven Ashe, also qualifies. When not close to The Voices of Nerat (who intentionally and repeatedly pushes his BerserkButton to goad him) Ashe is generally polite, honourable and honest (if very brusque and extremely prideful) and protects you if you get the Voices of Nerat on your bad side in chapter 1. He genuinely comes to appreciate a Disfavoured-allied Fatebinder and openly asks for your perspective on his campaigns ([[ButThouMust even if you're never going to change his mind]]) -- campaigns that usually involve genocide and slavery of the local Tiersmen and Beastmen, who Ashe views as subhuman at best. In fact, it's quite arguable that the Chorus are ''in the right'', since they want to assimilate the Tiers into Kyros' empire, whereas the Disfavored seem to be ok with genocide and slavery on a scale that would impress the Nazis... but the Voices of Nerat is a [[ForTheEvulz brutally unhinged psychopath]], and Graven Ashe is an [[AFatherToHisMen honorable, fatherly figure]]. |
| 266 | * ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' holds two examples: [[KillerRobot Mettaton]] and [[RankScalesWithAsskicking King Asgore]]: |
| 267 | ** Mettaton is first and foremost an entertainer, showing no real malice towards you despite having every intention of killing you, and instead treats you like an honored guest on his show. [[spoiler:Even after he reveals that everything was an act and he intends on killing you for real, he still doesn't harbor any ill feelings toward you.]] Though this is all a [[spoiler:subversion, as he doesn't want to kill humans (and actually adores them), but he wants to stop a massive war between them and monsters using your soul]]. |
| 268 | ** Asgore Dreemurr is the King of Monsters. Early in the game, it is made very clear that Asgore intends to kill you and take your soul, then destroy all humanity. But as you travel through the game, other monsters share their opinions of Asgore: they describe him as TheGoodKing, a benevolent father figure, a big softy. No one really says anything bad about him. As you ominously approach a confrontation, you may wonder about this conflicting information: can this FinalBoss who intends to kill you really be the same kind person you have heard about? [[spoiler:Yes he can. Leading up to the fight, Asgore is gentle, deferential, even {{apologetic|Attacker}}. It is plain to see he does not want to kill you -- but that will not stop him, just as it did not stop him from slaying six children before you. In addition to genuine affability, Asgore is a TragicVillain and AntiVillain.]] |
| 269 | * Montfort from ''VideoGame/VisionsAndVoices''. He just wanted to be an awesome mayor! |
| 270 | * ''VideoGame/WelcomeToTheGame'': The Kidnapper's translated dialogue when he finds you is "Good evening", and in ''{{VideoGame/Scrutinized}}'', one of his lines translates to [[NothingPersonal "It's just business"]]. He also invokes EvenEvilHasStandards against pedophiles. |
| 271 | * In ''VisualNovel/WhenTheNightComes'', [[spoiler:Harry Addington]] remains agreeable and composed for most of the game (well, as composed as someone who [[spoiler: just lost his husband]] can be), and only loses his composure at the very end. |
| 272 | * The primary antagonist in ''{{VideoGame/WitchHunterIzana}}'', the vampire Verand is polite and personable. She even spends most of the game constructing roadblocks for you to keep you from killing yourself by fruitlessly attacking her thousand strong army of the dead. She's also unleashed a transformative curse that transforms everyone afflicted by it into a SlaveMook that adores her and is ruthless in spreading it. |
| 273 | * The Reapers from ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'' tend to be rather normal people, essentially (aside from the Officers, most of whom are sadistic and/or certifiably insane), who are just doing their job -- which happens to be permanently erasing the souls of the dead from existence to prevent themselves from meeting the same fate. Kariya, for example, is rather friendly, and 777 lives a double-life as a popular rock star thanks to the Reapers' ability to exist on the living and dead planes. |
| 274 | * ''VideoGame/TheWorldIsYourWeapon'': Demon Lord Dolhabach is surprisingly polite to Weaco and treats her as a WorthyOpponent for traversing the Demonic Castle. If Weaco's inventory is full upon defeating him, he'll mail the prize for defeating him to the weapon shop, free of charge. [[spoiler:He reveals that he actually has benevolent intentions by having himself and monsters act as a common enemy for humanity, and asks Weaco to ensure humanity doesn't become complacent after his defeat.]] |
| 275 | * Drakuru in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''. [[spoiler: Turns out, he was using you all along, which isn't a big surprise. He accomplishes his goals and is transformed by the Lich King himself. What is a surprise, however, is that he immediately asks for your forgiveness for the deception and [[WeCanRuleTogether invites you to be his right-hand man]], both out of gratitude and to make up for tricking you, and because the Lich King apparently has some interest in you personally. The story continues in later quests, ultimately ending in you betraying and killing him. His "gratitude" would have involved you ultimately being turned into his right-hand ''ghoul'', the lowest rank of the Scourge, while he would be living it up as a Death Knight. It is worth noting, however, that despite being (disguised as) a ghoul, Drakuru didn't treat you as such. Ghouls are footmen at best, but you'd have been an officer, far above the cannon fodder and privy to Drakuru's most guarded secrets. The guy really believed he was doing you a favor. It could also be that the ghoul graphics used for your character just represent generic undead-ness.]] |
| 276 | ** Arguably, any likable warlock falls into this category, including {{player character}}s. |
| 277 | ** Nexus-Prince Shaffar, the final boss in the Mana Tombs, also comes across as this. As you barge into his operation, his reaction is to say that he was not expecting company and, somewhat apologetically, that he is preoccupied, but promises to tend to you..."personally", all the while using a tone as though he's about to break out the champagne and offer you a drink. |
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