Basic Trope: A genuinely evil character is a genuinely Nice Guy.
- Straight: Emperor Evulz is looking to dominate the world, but he is actually a very nice, pleasant person to hang out with and may cut you in, as long as you don't get in his way.
- Exaggerated:
- Emperor Evulz is a frenemy who always wants to hang out with Captain Bob Justice after they're done fighting for the day.
- Emperor Evulz is so nice, that he donates blood, plays with young children, and hosts a birthday party for the hero, while preparing to conquer the entire universe.
- Noble Demon
- Evulz does villainous acts while politely apologizing for them.
- Downplayed:
- Harry is a regular bank robber, but he appears to be nice to a lot of people.
- Harry is a morally dubious Lovable Rogue.
- Harry is a reserved person who is polite to his enemies and people he doesn't know, but is more friendly and expressive when among his allies and people he likes.
- Emperor Evulz isn't necessarily a Nice Guy, but definitely isn't rude or a Jerkass
- Emperor Evulz is a Jerkass towards his enemies, but is affable to people he considers his allies.
- Justified:
- Emperor Evulz is an Anti-Villain, likely of the Noble Demon variety.
- Evulz genuinely believes himself the hero and wants to conquer the world so he can solve all its problems as a benevolent dictator, and so this is how he acts.
- Evulz is a Sinister Minister, Evil Chancellor, or other person in a trusted position; even if his niceness is an act, he wouldn't be where he is without it.
- The villain is the Evil Twin of a hero that is not nice, but known to be somewhat of a jerk.
- Evulz is so nice that no one believes he's doing anything villainous, in spite of blatant evidence to the contrary. This was part of his plan all along.
- Evulz engages in Pragmatic Villainy, as he thinks that being wantonly cruel and mean is Stupid Evil.
- Evil is not mean. Mean is not evil.
- Evulz is a villain with a laid-back personality who doesn't do much to stop the heroes and even hands them a glass of Champagne when they enter his dungeon.
- Evulz wants to be/already is a Villain with Good Publicity. He decides that the only known way to do so is to be nice.
- Evulz believes that just because he is evil doesn't mean that can be used as an excuse to be mean or petty to show it.
- Evulz believes he is a hero and behaves very much accordingly.
- Evulz has a crush on Captain Bob Justice and acts polite to him in hopes Bob will fall for him.
- Evulz happens to be a Token Good Teammate in a group of mean and vicious villains.
- Evulz is just doing a job and outside his job is a perfectly normal fellow.
- Inverted:
- Evulz is an unscrupulous, revolting scumbag.
- The Jerkass is, in fact, firmly allied with The Hero and the cause of good.
- The Hero is a Nice Guy.
- Bob may be nice and heroic, but he is not a coward, particularly towards evildoers.
- Subverted:
- Faux Affably Evil
- Evulz is a complete Jerkass who happened to be in a good mood that day.
- The polite Harry is shown doing very suspicious things, but it turns out he was good after all. He was just caught at all the wrong moments.
- Evulz is not even evil in the first place, just his intention is contrast to the heroes.
- Evulz Took a Level in Jerkass and became more meaner as time went on...
- Good All Along
- Evulz has the aesthetic and mannerisms of a devilish yet well-mannered villain, but he's a straightforward good guy.
- Double Subverted:
- But the Faux Affably Evil act was also an act to restore his cred as an evildoer. He's actually a pretty nice guy.
- Turns out Evulz's behavior when he isn't doing evil deeds and manipulating others isn't very different from his fake nice behavior.
- Evulz Becomes the Mask and starts being genuinely nice.
- Evulz decides that being nasty to everyone all the time is too much effort and leaves him lonely, so he starts being more friendly to his minions and foes. This terrifies them even more, as they're waiting for the other shoe to drop.
- It turns out that the suspiciousness was Foreshadowing of his sheer lack of concern for collateral damage when pursuing what's right.
- ...but then Evulz Took a Level in Kindness after his Jerkass Realization and reverted back to his original self.
- Actually not good all along. He was faking it.
- Parodied:
- Evulz is so friendly that he's hardly a real threat at all.
- Go-Karting with Bowser
- Evulz is politely asked to stop and leave the city alone by Hiro, he does.
- Zig Zagged:
- Emperor Evulz looks like a polite person. It's an act. But it isn't. Wait, yes it is. Can he make up his mind already?
- Depending on who the villain is dealing with, the affability is either sincere or a cruel façade.
- As long as you are not one of his enemies, someone who had wronged him before, or simply getting in his way, he is shown to be likable and friendly to everyone else.
- Averted:
- Emperor Evulz is rude, plain and simple.
- Harry is a nice guy with strictly moral standing, despite being an outlaw.
- Enforced:
- The author is trying to deliver An Aesop that evil comes in all shapes and sizes.
- "Villains are often mean and nasty. Let's create one who's your average everyday Nice Guy."
- Emperor Evulz is made a Villanous Foil towards Captain Bob Justice by the creators.
- "Just because someone is evil and a villain doesn't mean they can't be polite."
- Evulz is nice, but consistently evil, while Bob is mean, but consistently good.
- Lampshaded:
- "For a villain, he acts a lot like a normal person."
- "I may be your enemy, but that doesn't excuse being uncivil."
- Invoked: Evulz tries to become a nicer, more polite person, in order to improve people's opinions of him, even if they do see his goals as "evil".
- Exploited: After his conversations with The Hero, Evulz realizes that he knows everything about him now and can use it against him.
- Defied:
- "I will not serve dinner for my prisoners! I'm evil, damn it, and I'm going to be a dick!"
- Emperor Evulz ponders being nice for a change... and promptly rejects the idea, laughing evilly all the while, in favor of scaring people into submission as usual.
- Discussed:Alice: All right, time to go confront Emperor Evulz! Even though he's evil, I'm sure he won't mind if we drop by and have a chat.Bob: Alice! He's not some friendly movie villain, he's evil.
- Conversed: "It's weird how, in some movies, the villain is a totally normal guy except for his evil plots. Kinda makes you paranoid, right? Anyone could be evil..."
- Implied:Alice: You escaped! It wasn't too scary, was it?
Bob: I've definitely had worse captors. - Deconstructed:
- Emperor Evulz is so affable that he actually wins several times thanks to his ability to get along with others, while the Jerkass Anti-Hero drives away any possible allies he may have had.
- Empress Evulz is an outgoing, charismatic, friendly and socially adept person. This is the reason WHY she became evil; everyone likes her so much that they enable her evil actions. Her victims forgive her too easily, the authorities let her off lightly, none of her peers criticize or censure her, her minions never disobey her orders, any objective reporting of her evil actions gets ignored or dismissed as Malicious Slander, and she is basically untouchable.
- Evulz's affable tendencies leads to him easily getting arrested or his plans foiled.
- Even if Evulz retains a pleasant tone, people are still going to hate him for his crimes. His likability will soon vanish.
- Reconstructed:
- Evulz is only temporarily immune to consequences, as their villainy comes to light before the Point of No Return.
- Evulz has the option of obtaining redemption due to being able to get along with the heroes.
- Played For Laughs: The villain's cheerful blabbing allows the heroes to make an escape, leaving him talking to himself.
- Played For Drama: The villain really is a nice person, but he's not the villain because he wants to be.
You're most welcome to head back to Affably Evil any time you like. I even left cookies there for you. But, just so we are clear, I won't take "no" for an answer.