Misused: Affably Evil and Faux Affably Evil

The tropes are similar, yes, but I don't think that calls for a merge. I mean, Misplaced Wildlife and Misplaced Vegetation are similar, but no one's proposing they should be merged into a single trope.

Let's look at why the tropes are similar. They are similar because they both suggest a sort of "inappropriate affability". In the case of Affably Evil, it was inappropriate for the villainous character to seem so otherwise friendly and social, causing a sort of cognitive dissonance as to how they could so easily engage in villainous atrocities while also maintaining an outward attitude that totally belies their overall actions.

In the case of Politely Evil, their affability was inappropriate because it's just totally off — the character can be cordial one minute and completely evil the next. It doesn't cause cognitive dissonance or make one wonder if they're being insincere, it's just plain creepy and enhances their seeming evilness. They've got a sociopathic sociality. It's not faked in any way, the mannerisms, genuine or not, enhance their villainy.

We have plenty of similar tropes that are kept separate due to minor differences. Let's take Nominal Hero and Sociopathic Hero as examples. Sociopathic Hero is a character who is on the side of good, but does not behave in a heroic manner. The Nominal Hero is someone who is on the side of good, but doesn't have noble motivations. They're very similar (a hero who does not behave in a manner befitting a hero), yet they're still separate tropes.

Politely Evil and Affably Evil do say the same overall thing (a villain who does not behave in a manner befitting a villain), but in different ways. The Affably Evil villain, despite commiting villainous atrocities, is actually quite a pleasant person. The Politely Evil villain is a villain whose mannerisms enhance their villainy. Maybe they're The Spock, maybe they're Wicked Cultured or maybe they're just crazy. Whatever it is, it's just plain creepy and enhances their seeming evilness. It's not faked in any way, the mannerisms, genuine or not, enhance their villainy.

With Faux Affably Evil, it's different. Unlike Affably Evil (in which it's sincere) and Poitely Evil (in which sincerity is debatable), it's either faked or mocking. A Faux Affably Evil villain adopts a polite and friendly persona either to either manipulate others or mock their enemies. They're not "evil guys who behave in a polite manner", they're "evil guys who fake a friendly and polite persona".

Whilst the difference between the three tropes is small, it's still noticeable. Tropes can be similar, whilst still separate. If we lumped every similar trope under the same banner, we'd only have, what, four tropes?

just plain creepy and enhances their seeming evilness.

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Once again... that's a subjective criterion, which people will argue/debate.

Link to TRS threads in project mode here.

And also not mutually exclusive. The same villain could fall under one trope in one scene and the other trope in a different scene.

Rhymes with "Protracted."

Merge then? :D

MAX POWER KILL JEEEEEEEEWWWWW

I think my problem with Faux Affably Evil as a name is that they're not pretending to be Affably Evil. They're pretending to be Not Evil At All. So the name doesn't make sense.

Rhymes with "Protracted."

This bothers me as well. There's a big difference between someone evil pretending to not be evil at all by being polite, and someone who doesn't pretend they're evil, but is still polite. Getting rid of that distinction (which should be easy to tell) doesn't seem to be like a good idea.

It's one thing to say that it's YMMV to tell if someone's faking how polite they are. It's another thing to say that the difference between someone faking they're not evil, and someone who's polite and evil a the same time is YMMV.

We have Card-Carrying Villain for characters that freely admit they are evil. Everyone else is... everyone else. If they aren't carrying a card that says, "I'm evil", then how do you prove they're pretending not to be?

Link to TRS threads in project mode here.

I am in agreement that Faux Affably Evil needs to be renamed to something that better implies what the trope is about. How about something like Faux Nice Guy?

edited 14th Jan '15 7:14:50 AM by Nathanoraptor

@troacctid: I think you nailed it there. The difference between pretending to be Affably Evil and actually being it is very hazy, but on the other hand there's a big difference between being nice to pretend you're a good guy, and to be nice despite not hiding the fact that you're a bad guy.

Of course, this means that hte same character can be doing both things depending on whom he's talking to (Nucky Thompson in Boardwalk Empire can pretend to be a good guy, for example when campaigning for votes, but he can also be nice to people who know as a bootlegger and crime boss). But that's also true for the old definition.

edited 14th Jan '15 7:26:57 AM by GnomeTitan

I believe I should reiterate the difference between the three tropes, since it has been seemingly ignored by most users.

Affably Evil and Politely Evil are very similar and have the same basic point(a villain who does not behave in a manner befitting a villain), but in different ways. The Affably Evil villain, despite committing villainous atrocities, is actually quite a pleasant person. An example of this is the Corrupt Corporate Executive who is actually quite pleasant, friendly and an all-round Benevolent Boss for someone who freely says Screw the Rules, I Have Money!, makes deals with terrorists and commits other villainous atrocities.

The Politely Evil villain, on the other hand, is a villain whose mannerisms enhance their villainy. Maybe they're The Spock, maybe they're Wicked Cultured or maybe they're just crazy. Whatever it is, it's just plain creepy and enhances their seeming evilness. It's not faked in any way, the mannerisms, genuine or not, enhance their villainy. An example of this is the evil A.I having a polite discussion with an imprisoned hero about their differing philosophies. Throughout this discussion, he always refers to the hero formally and is never insulting or rude. The A.I is speaking in a polite, courteous manner because he is The Spock, not because of any sense of pleasantness. This politeness, which is completely inappropriate for the situation they're in, is somehow much more disturbing than if he was going ""Mwahaha, soon I will rule!"

With Faux Affably Evil, it's different. Unlike Affably Evil (in which it's sincere) and Politely Evil (in which sincerity is debatable), it's either faked or mocking. A Faux Affably Evil villain adopts a polite and friendly persona either to either manipulate others or mock their enemies. They're not "evil guys who behave in a polite manner", they're "evil guys who fake a friendly and polite persona". A Torture Technician who talks in a soothing tone, like a dentist treating a child, whilst performing Cold-Blooded Torture is Faux Affably Evil.

However, I think I speak for most people when I say I would rather suspend this discussion for now and concentrate on renaming Faux Affably Evil to a name that both separates the trope from Affably Evil and conveys the description well (a villain that affects a pleasant and friendly persona in order to either mock their enemies or manipulate them). After that we can discuss potential misuse.

edited 18th Jan '15 8:58:44 AM by Nathanoraptor

This discussion is running in circles, and the crowner failed. I'll shut it down.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman