Basic Trope: Evil character does something that endears them to the audience, only to reveal their true nature later on.
- Straight: Among Emperor Evulz' ranks is Lady Scarlett, a Friendly Enemy who treats Lorelai as a Worthy Opponent, and always tries to fight her on equal terms, with no tricks nor underhanded tactics. However, she later reveals her true nature as a battle-crazed Blood Knight who loves seeing Lorelai battle and will do ANYTHING to bait her into another fight... including crossing the Moral Event Horizon.
- Exaggerated:
- Scarlett's introduction involves her discovering a small group of refugees from The Empire's latest conquest. She playfully mocks their initial fright, soothing them with casual jokes and clear concern for their safety, offering supplies and traveling tips. Later on, she attacks the very town she sent them towards — as she reveals upon finding them, she only let them go in the first place so she could savor their shock at her betrayal.
- The first time we see Scarlett, she's working as the main caretaker in an Orphanage of Love for children that lost their parents to Emperor Evulz' war. She seems extremely loving and caring, and she even goes on her way to risk her life in order to protect them. And then it's revealed to be a cruel facade, as the "orphanage" is just a front for an illegal research facility, where she personally conducts cruel experiments on said children, who all have been brain-washed to ignore their dire situation. And all those times she risked herself to protect them? She was just securing her "investment".Scarlett: "Children are cheap, expendable, useless... The technology inside some of them is not."
- Downplayed:
- Lady Scarlett first seems like a cruel Blood Knight who only targets those she deems strong enough to kill. But then its revealed she will attack helpless people too.
- Lady Scarlett has a bad reputation. but seems to be the embodiment of Incorruptible Pure Pureness. While the purity is genuine, she does turn out to be somewhat of an Anti-Hero with a darker side.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing
- Lady Scarlett is a Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist
- Yank the Dog's Chain
- Justified:
- Scarlett is in a position where it pays to be a Villain with Good Publicity.
- Scarlett would be locked up/deserted by her allies/double-crossed at the first opportunity if she showed outright how evil she is. Nonetheless, she still enjoys her sadistic actions all too much to want to give them up if not needed.
- Alternately, Scarlett has to keep up her image or else her allies will kill her for "going soft". Scarlett hates doing this but it's for her own survival.
- Inverted:
- Vladimir looks like a really unpleasant guy at first with his contemptuous demeanor and shady actions. However, he turns out to be one of the most heroic people Lorelai has met. So in other words: Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
- The audience is led to believe Vladimer is an evil, disgusting man who trained Scarlett to become the murderous nut she is... Only for it to be revealed that Scarlett was a Deceptive Disciple and/or A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil. Vladimir is actually a really pleasant guy who stops his important charity work to give the heroes some tea and cookies.
- Scarlett is shown to be an amoral mercenary Cold Sniper, seeking only for self-preservation and quick buck, shooting enemies down without hesitation or remorse... except, when targeting an enemy in a crowd of passers-by, she'd rather let the mark go than harm an innocent. And she can (and will) patch up a wounded victim if they are subdued non-lethally — which she often tries to go for, unless specifically ordered to kill the mark. And beneath the icy cover she hides an amicable, warm personality. Oh, and she took that job up because she needs to feed her family, care for her ill parents, and save up for her own business — and a spec-ops marksman/markswoman happened to be the best-paid among available positions.
- Scarlett is initially presented as being purely evil with no redeeming qualities. She goes on to display more nuance during her subsequent appearances and - while she stays a villain - show that she's still capable of things like love, empathy and kindness to her loved ones.
- Scarlett is set up to be like this based on audience expectations, she turns out to be the nicest person out ofthe entire cast of characters, even more so than any of the heroes.
- Scarlett is on the receiving end of this trope. She's a genuinely Affably Evil Punch-Clock Villain who trusts the heroes who turn into Designated Heroes when they not only reject Scarlett so brutally they make her cry but make her life a living hell all to hurt Evulz. They insist it's a case of Shoot the Dog (when it's really more like Shoot the Shaggy Dog for poor Scarlett), but Scarlett ends up at best crossing the Despair Event Horizon at worst Deader than Dead, and worst of all, Evulz doesn't care. And neither do the "heroes", which come across as a Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist organization.
- Subverted: Scarlett really is a decent person despite working for The Empire.
- Double Subverted: ...Only that's all just an act to lure people off-guard.
- Parodied: Scarlett is a clacking Dastardly Whiplash that lures children to her gingerbread house to cook them in a stew; and yet, the heroes think she's just a nice lady that likes to give food and shelter to unfortunate children. Even her Evil Laugh is rationalized as her being just an extremely happy person who happens to have a quirky manner of laughing.
- Zig Zagged: Despite the lengths she'll go to get a good fight out of Lorelai, she genuinely does respect her as a Worthy Opponent, has a few legitimate Pet the Dog moments, and has her own (warped, complex, and somewhat contradictory and hard to grasp) Code of Honor.
- Averted: Scarlett is just as noble as she lets on.
- Enforced: The author starts Scarlett's Character Development by showing her heroic side, but executives insist on sticking to the status quo.
- Lampshaded: Scarlett is a Cloudcuckoolander, and upon committing her crossing, she appears to look directly at the audience while asking "What did you expect?"
- Invoked: Emperor Evulz coaches Scarlett to act friendly and use her charm to lure people off their guard.
- Exploited: Scarlett always makes sure to make a good first impression so that she can remain a Villain with Good Publicity. No one who ever sees what's Beneath the Mask ever lives to tell.
- Defied:
- Vladimir makes it clear he knows what kind of a person Scarlett is really like and that her charming face doesn't work on him.
- The only virtue that Scarlett has is integrity — she makes no attempt to hide what she is and resists attempts to even partially conceal her intentions.
- Scarlett is a genuinely nice person who refuses to partake in this trope no matter how tempting, no matter the gain.
- Discussed: "Never, ever, let your guard down around Scarlett, especially when she gets nicer and friendlier. You may be sure it's just an act to sneak up to you closer and bite you at the worst moment."
- Conversed: "Have you ever noticed there's one villain they're setting you up to really like that turns out to be complete scum? It's probably gonna be Scarlett."
- Deconstructed: Lorelai becomes distrusting of everyone after seeing how bad Scarlett is, and develops a case of Black-and-White Insanity where she thinks everyone working on the villains' side, no matter how seemingly sympathetic, must be secretly a Complete Monster.
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