History Main / FauxAffablyEvil

* "Mr. Tinkertrain" by Music/Ozzy Osbourne is about a pedophile luring a victim. The very first line in the song is "Would you like some sweeties little girl?/Come a little closer."

* "When You're Evil" has a mustache-twirling villain waxing poetic about all the joys of being evil ranging from being the pebble in your shoe to having the devil tip his hat to him.

** Former Chief Prosecutor Blaise Debeste acts silly, cries crocodile tears upon seeing his juniors work hard, and jokes about "bullying" his fellow prosecutors, [[spoiler:but he rivals Ga'ran,von Karma and Galvin as one of most corrupt lawyers in the series by using his connections to cover up the assassination of the real President Huang, among other things. He's also not above intimidating and demeaning his son to prevent the latter from testifying against him.]]

** April May in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' who acts cutesy to make the judge sympathize with her. After Phoenix exposes her lies, she has a VillainousBreakdown and becomes more aggressive.
** April May's boss, Redd White, also qualifies. Mr. White passes himself off as a quirky and jolly, if egotistical, businessman. His penchant for unusual and sometimes wrongly used vocabulary is also played for laughs. Once Phoenix questions him too much though, his true colours are shown and he's revealed to be a vile blackmailer and murderer who enjoys lording his connections over his enemies.
** Another example would be [[spoiler:Morgan Fey, who acts like a supportive relative of Maya and a kind mother to Pearl. In reality, she's jealous of Maya's side of the family and sees Pearl as a tool in her SiblingRivalry with Misty Fey]].
** And then there are the main antagonists of the third and fourth games, [[spoiler:Dahlia Hawthorne]] and [[spoiler:Kristoph Gavin]] respectively. Both polite and seeming like genuinely nice people; both are also sociopaths.
** The killer of the first case, Frank Sawhit, acts nice and friendly during his testimony. In ''Investigations 2'', he acts like he's a fully reformed prisoner, but he's actually an accomplice to the real killer and he still has a habit of angrily throwing his toupee at those who question him too much.

** There's also [[spoiler:Aristotle Means]] from ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies Dual Destinies]]'', who remains perfectly polite even when accused of the murder. [[spoiler: That is, until Athena [[FelonyMisdemeanor insults his "ends justifies the means" philosophy]], upon which he [[BerserkButton completley drops the feigned niceness]] and becomes, well [[{{Pun}} just plain mean.]]]] It's nicely foreshadowed earlier, when [[spoiler:after Athena insists on defending Juniper in his place]], he [[SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids gives an outwardly polite but highly condescending dismissal of her ideals]].

Contrast with GoodIsNotNice, which is a good character that just isn't polite. Not to be confused with WickedCultured, where a cultured façade hides unpleasant behavior. This trope is also one of the defining traits of a [[TheSociopath sociopath]].

Do not confuse with LaughablyEvil, which is a villain who is funny rather than polite. While many Faux Affably Evil villains are also LaughablyEvil, many other villains are one but not the other. Compare and contrast AffablyEvil (whose niceness is sincere) and this Trope's [[OppositeTropes opposite]], NobleDemon (whose demeanor is evil in contrast to their actions). ForTheEvulz is a common motivation, though using this trope as a form of ObfuscatingStupidity is also possible. Also see its (possibly) [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] counterpart BitchInSheepsClothing, where a {{Jerkass}} at the best of times, is hiding behind a NiceGuy facade in order to trick people and doesn't necessarily keep it after showing his real face, and StepfordSmiler, when a miserable and/or mentally unstable person is hiding behind a cheery and sweet facade. May also overlap with BanteringBaddieBuddies, SoftSpokenSadist, SugaryMalice, WiseOldFolkFacade. This trope may also be a fan of ConfoundThemWithKindness.

[[caption-width-right:325:Gentlemen in body. Demon in soul.]]

* In ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'', Catbert, Evil Director of Human Resources, was hired precisely because he possesses this quality. The caption of the page image is a quote from the strip in which he was hired.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[Gentlemen in body. Demon in soul.]]

[[quoteright:300:[[ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dt961.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:300:"I needed someone who acts like a friend but secretly delights in the misery of all people."]]

* "When You're Evil" has a mustache-twirling villain waxing poetic about all the joys of being evil ranging from being a the pebble in your shoe to having the devil tip his hat to him.

* Another Sondheim example would be most of the main characters from ''Theatre/IntoTheWoods''. Based on characters from classic fairytales, they're generally friendly, bright, and optimistic... and in acquiring what they most dearly wished for, they ruin (and end) many lives, often including their own. The Witch eventually calls them out on it: 'You're so ''nice''. You're not good, you're not bad, you're just ''nice'''. This is especially true of The Wolf. It's even lampshaded by Little Red Riding Hood's song later: "Nice is not the same as good!"

* Music/TheRollingStones' "Sympathy for the Devil" has the literal devil introducing himself as a man of wealth and taste before going into a laundry list of terrible thing's he's done. All while being very polite and demanding the listener do the same or else.

* {{The Rolling Stones|Band}}' "Sympathy for the Devil" has the literal devil introducing himself as a man of wealth and taste before going into a laundry list of terrible thing's he's done. All while being very polite and demanding the listener do the same or else.

* [[Wrestling/LayCool Michelle McCool]], who was so good at this trope that she called to mind the UncannyValley.