History AffablyEvil / Literature

* ''LightNovel/IveBeenKillingSlimesForThreeHundredYearsAndMaxedOutMyLevel'': The King of the Demons, Pecora, is polite, gentle, and kind towards allies and equals, like Azusa. [[SheIsTheKing She]] is ''also'' mischievous, cunning, and outright ''evil,'' like the time she had Azusa unknowingly ''enslave'' Flatorte (the leader of the Blue Dragons) by asking Azusa to pet her horns--an act the dragons consider to be a sign of complete and utter surrender and subservience to another.

* Creator/JamesEllroy's LA Quartet: Dudley Smith is a pleasant, charming, back-slapping LAPD detective with a kind
word for everyone. He's also a CorruptCop and ManipulativeBastard engaged in an epic, decades-long struggle to seize control of the organized crime in Los Angeles. He's also very committed to his affability - he doesn't drop the wide smile and polite demeanor even when he's murdering folks.

* Keppler 22b in ''EndgameTrilogy'' is willing to let countless people die and suffer, all for the sake of Endgame, yet despite that, he still maintains a gentle, polite look. He congratulates the players and calmly explains the game's rules.

* ''{{Literature/Lolita}}'' gives us main character, pedophile, and ''deeply'' unreliable narrator Humbert Humbert. His charm and cultured European aloofness hide a coldly manipulative and selfish personality. He's so good at lying to the reader (and himself) that it's chillingly easy to forget that he frequently and poetically describes the various ways he sexually abuses his twelve-year-old stepdaughter and keeps her under his control. Still, he does have some genuine affability in him as shown when he concludes he's "too nice" to kill his wife.

* ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'': Luigi Vampa, who is perfectly polite to his prisoners in the one evening they have for their ransoms to arrive. The titular Count also cultivates this image toward Albert and Franz. Benedetto is remarkably likable and charming for someone who has committed nearly every crime on the books before the age of 21.

* ''Literature/TheToughGuideToFantasyland'': Bad kings will generally be very polite (until of course they show their true colors on their generous offers to the heroes being refused). In fact, the more polite toward the heroes a king is, the more likely they're bad. The more polite in general the worse kings turn out to be.

** The White Court is labeled as the most dangerous of the three vampire courts because many of them act like this. The rest are FauxAffablyEvil, but are still quite skilled at being friendly and nonthreatening up until they rape you to death or kill you through sheer terror. In particular, Lara Raith is shown to be a genuinely civil and affable woman who tries to limit bloodshed and talk out her issues with others, before resorting to cat's paws to kill her competition in inordinately elegant manners. In ''Turn Coat'', Lara hangs a great big lampshade on this. "A monster. A habitually neat, polite, civil, and efficient monster" as she's feeding wounded employees to her kin. One of the creepiest scenes in the whole series.

* ''Literature/TheVillainsSeries'':Victor Vale is calm, methodical and polite to everyone around him and genuinely cares about his loved ones but he has a very devious mind and is TheUnfettered when it comes to getting revenge.

* ''Literature/ParaisoStreet'': ThoseTwoBadGuys Henshaw and Pagonia are this, due to BlueAndOrangeMorality, and are often polite and sympathetic to the people they kill. Henshaw, the more violent of the two, only breaks out her mean persona when confronted by genuine threats.

* ''Literature/TreasureIsland'': "Long" John Silver is a lot brighter than his fellow pirates, wise enough to plan for his old age instead of spending the loot the minute he gets it as most of them do, and is visibly courageous when faced with impending death. He has a sense of honour, too: when he suspects Abraham Gray, the pirate who repented and rejoined the Squire's party, of telling tales, Captain Smollett's angry denial that Gray told or was asked anything is enough for Silver to consider the matter settled on the spot. But he's not a mere AntiVillain - he schemes, lies, betrays and murders without remorse. Don't think he's soft just because he WouldNotHurtAChild.

* ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'': It can be rather disconcerting how O'Brien manages to be friendly while torturing Winston. [[FridgeBrilliance The Party preaches the virtues of double-think]], so it kind of makes sense.

''{{Literature/Unwind}}: Divan Umarov. He's a Parts Pirate who has children and teenagers unwound so he can sell their body parts on the black market, but he's extremely affable toward his victims, treating them like guests, standing by them as they are unwound acting as a father figure to them, letting them pick what music they would like to listen to as they are unwound, and generally trying to make the whole process as "nice" and painless as possible. He also invokes EvenEvilHasStandards as he refuses to have anything to do with the Dah Zhe because he finds their methods (ranging from unwinding without anesthesia over the course of days to horrific experimentation) brutal and barbaric.

* ''{{Literature/Discworld}}'''s ''Literature/CarpeJugulum'': The [[ClassicalMovieVampire old Count Magpyr]] has excellent manners, keeps vampire-slaying props around his creepy old castle to give his prey a sporting chance, and holds no grudges over the actions of past vampire hunters - even the ones who did succeed in staking or decapitating him.

** The woman from ''Chicken Chicken'' who [[DisproportionateRetribution turns the protaganists into chickens]] [[SpaceWhaleAesop for running off after bumping into her without apologizing]].

* ''{{Literature/Lolita}}'' gives us main character, pedophile, and ''deeply'' unreliable narrator Humbert Humbert. His charm and cultured European aloofness hide a coldly manipulative and selfish personality. He's so good at lying to the reader (and himself) that it's chillingly easy to forget that he frequently and poetically describes the various ways he sexually abuses his twelve-year-old stepdaughter and keeps her under his control.

* "Literature/TheMostDangerousGame": General Zaroff forces protagonist Rainsford to participate in a hunting trip in which Rainsford is the prey after wining and dining him, giving him a night's stay in his lavish island mansion, and complimenting him on his book. (More so in the movie than in the book.)

* ''Literature/TheArtsOfDarkAndLight'': Patrice and Blaise, the two [[StateSec Savondir wizards]] who accompany the northern expedition. Despite working for what amounts to TheEmpire's secret police, they come across more as friendly young academics than commissars, and are generally pretty nice to POV character [[PoliticallyActivePrincess Fjotra]] when they interact--though they're also still pretty open about Savondir intending to annex her father's kingdom once the werewolf crisis has been dealt with.

* Creator/JacquelineCarey's ''Literature/KushielsLegacy'': the main villainess, [[spoiler:Melisande Shahrizai]], is evil through and through, but she is always smiling, calm, and collected. Not even engaging in Maniacal Laughter when it might be appropriate. She's intelligent, charming, very pleasant company, and will even give you a fabulous farewell party before killing you off.

* Creator/WilkieCollins's ''Literature/TheWomanInWhite'': The Victorian-era Count Fosco is polite, jocular, podgy, and harmless-looking. He's also the arch-villain and an early example of this trope.
* Creator/BernardCornwell's ''Literature/Starbuck Chronicles'': Belvedere Delaney is a cultured and charming spy for the Northern States against the Confederacy (explicitly ''not'' because he thinks they're right, but because he believes they'll win). He is probably (in story) responsible for more deaths than anyone else (he caused the Battle of Antietam). He also caused the capture and torture of the protagonist on spying charges (he was innocent and was eventually released), and caused the abduction (and forced abortion) of Starbuck's love interest, although they are both unaware of his role and regard him as a friend.

* ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'': Professor Moriarty, mastermind behind virtually every criminal activity in the whole of London. But he also behaved in a relatively curious fashion in "Literature/TheFinalProblem", when he and Sherlock Holmes faced off. He was tracking Holmes and Watson up the mountain in Switzerland and could have attacked at any time; instead, he sent a fake messenger to lure Watson away from the place, as he had no intention of killing the doctor. He also, when he finally did confront Holmes, was polite enough to give him the time to write a farewell message for Watson to find when he came back. Upon learning that Holmes was on the verge of putting him away, his first response was to go to Holmes' lodgings and politely ask the detective to withdraw, as it'd be quite a shame to have to kill him to preserve his empire. This is continued in Moriarty's second appearance in the (much underrated) novel "Literature/TheValleyOfFear", where an Inspector who meets him describes him as "a very respectable, learned, and talented sort of man", and states that "When he put his hand on my shoulder as we were parting, it was like a father's blessing before you go out into the cold, cruel world." Holmes couldn't help but chuckle at the irony.

* Creator/AlbertCamus's ''Literature/TheFall'' is dedicated to exploring this trope through the person of its narrator, Clamence, who is incredibly selfish, manipulative, and dangerous, but endlessly pleasant and civilized all the while.

* Creator/CoryDoctorow's ''Literature/ForTheWin'' contains a tale of a sweatshop manager who would take the poor workers out to theatres, buy them stuff, be their bestest friend - but always find some (seemingly sincere) excuse to avoid paying their wages. One day, he vanished with all the takings, never having paid a single rupee.

** In ''[[Literature/HungoverAndHandcuffed Hungover and Handcuffed]]'' there's Matamoros, a world class assassin who's unfailingly polite and friendly, and even buys the main character a sushi dinner to kill time while she tries to figure out a way to stop him.

* Creator/SMStirling's ''Literature/TheDraka'': In ''Drakon'', Gwendolyn Ingolffsen is the eponymous villainess, and is quite nice and friendly for a member of a genetically-engineered master race who is attempting to reduce the whole human race of the parallel Earth she find herself stranded on to eternal slavery and degradation. She sees it as merely a necessary "taming" of "ferals". There are hints in the story (and others in the series) that she's actually quite mellow for a member of her species. In fact, all Draka are like this. As long as you accept that they're superior to you in every way and do what you're ordered to do, they'll treat you like a favourite pet. Cross them, though, and you'll end up with a four foot spike up you, as they point out to you how it didn't have to be like this, if only you'd obeyed without question. The ones who aren't like this end up in the Security Directorate. They'll stake a few of you at random just to show what you can expect.

* Literature/TortallUniverse's ''Literature/TheImmortals'': Emperor Ozorne varies between this trope and FauxAffablyEvil, depending. He does genuinely love his birds, and really is glad that Daine could help them. For every other character, he's only ''playing'' nice.

----

* ''Literature/NightfallSeries'': Prince Vladimir has destroyed human civilization and isn’t above ColdBloodedTorture or killing children to further his goals. At the same time, he’s very polite to his enemies and even gives Myra writing tips.

* ''Literature/TwoSerpentsRise'':
** Temoc was the HighPriest of a religion which practiced HumanSacrifice and under the new regime is a notorious wanted terrorist. He's also a loving father who cares about Caleb's well-being (including asking about his love life) despite their differences in "politics". At one point, Temoc breaks into Caleb's apartment for a clandestine meeting and takes the time to make his son's bed and straighten up the place. Not to mention, he [[WellIntentionedExtremist thinks he's doing the right thing]] and [[GrayAndGreyMorality kind of has a point]].
** The King in Red is a terrifying deicidal sorcerer turned lich... and a great boss who looks out for his employees and citizens.
* Many of the villians from ''Literature/MistressOfTheArtOfDeath'' are this, most notably [[spoiler:Jacques]] and [[spoiler:Locusta]].

* The classic here is "Long" John Silver of ''Literature/TreasureIsland''. He is a lot brighter than his fellow pirates, wise enough to plan for his old age instead of spending the loot the minute he gets it as most of them do, and is visibly courageous when faced with impending death. He has a sense of honour, too: when he suspects Abraham Gray, the pirate who repented and rejoined the Squire's party, of telling tales, Captain Smollett's angry denial that Gray told or was asked anything is enough for Silver to consider the matter settled on the spot. But he's not a mere AntiVillain - he schemes, lies, betrays and murders without remorse. Don't think he's soft just because he WouldNotHurtAChild.
* Aornis Hades, villain of the second ''Literature/ThursdayNext'' book, ''Lost in a Good Book'', meets Thursday a few times and sees no reason why her plans to destroy Thursday's mind and everything she holds dear doesn't mean they can't be friends.
* ''{{Literature/Lolita}}'' gives us main character, pedophile, and ''deeply'' unreliable narrator Humbert Humbert. His charm and cultured European aloofness hide a coldly manipulative and selfish personality. He's so good at lying to the reader (and himself) that it's chillingly easy to forget that he frequently and poetically describes the various ways he sexually abuses his twelve-year-old stepdaughter and keeps her under his control.

* ''Literature/KingdomRattus'': Lord Bloodford is extremely violent, half-crazy, and has a complete monster for a king, but still tries to hold himself to a higher standard. He actively disapproves of King Marrow's actions and plans for Marrow-Vinjia, but goes along because he feels he has no choice.
* General Zaroff of "Literature/TheMostDangerousGame" forces protagonist Rainsford to participate in a hunting trip in which Rainsford is the prey after wining and dining him, giving him a night's stay in his lavish island mansion, and complimenting him on his book. (More so in the movie than in the book. In both cases, while he does start off as genuinely AffablyEvil, he quickly slides into FauxAffablyEvil._
* ''{{Literature/Dexter}}'' can be quite kind and considerate, devoting much time to gaining his girlfriend's children's trust and doing his best to keep his sister and coworkers at least not displeased with him. This sometimes puts a dent in his [[SerialKiller recreational activities]], although his [[WouldntHurtAChild protective response to children]] can lead to his selection of "quality time" targets.
* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', [[spoiler: Kariarn]] is this. He seems to operate under the assumption that being nice will get him what he wants much more easily than being nasty - he executes an underling for ''not'' being affably evil, but nasty evil, thus making himself unpopular with the people he was intended to rule over one day. The reasoning being that one can't be hated by ''all'' the people and still survive. That's also why the villain intends to make a deal with the hero - conveniently, the hero is the rightful heir to a strategically useful piece of land, where the population is too stubborn to accept any foreign ruler. [[spoiler: His plan is to attack the land, have the rightful heir pretend to defeat him, and walk away with a grateful ally whom he just helped get his castle back - the hero is currently deemed unfit to rule, and has been replaced by his uncle.]]

** [[Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy Grand Admiral Thrawn]] is almost terrifying because of this combined with his tactical genius. He's such an Affably Evil MagnificentBastard that he reached the second-highest formal rank in the xenophobic Imperial Fleet despite being visibly alien. His troops revere him, and his enemies respect him. A single line in the novel ''Dark Force Rising'', when a pregnant Leia despairs that he's going to succeed in his attempts to kidnap her, is what really makes his charming demeanor creepy.

%%* Rupert of Hentzau from ''Literature/ThePrisonerOfZenda''.
* Professor Moriarty, archnemesis of ''Literature/SherlockHolmes''. Yes, he was the mastermind behind virtually every criminal activity in the whole of London. But he also behaved in a relatively curious fashion in "The Final Problem", when he and Holmes faced off. He was tracking Holmes and Watson up the mountain in Switzerland and could have attacked at any time; instead, he sent a fake messenger to lure Watson away from the place, as he had no intention of killing the doctor. He also, when he finally did confront Holmes, was polite enough to give him the time to write a farewell message for Watson to find when he came back. Upon learning that Holmes was on the verge of putting him away, his first response was to go to Holmes' lodgings and politely ask the detective to withdraw, as it'd be quite a shame to have to kill him to preserve his empire. This is continued in Moriarty's second appearance in the (much underrated) novel "The Valley of Fear", where an Inspector who meets him describes him as "a very respectable, learned, and talented sort of man", and states that "When he put his hand on my shoulder as we were parting, it was like a father's blessing before you go out into the cold, cruel world." Holmes couldn't help but chuckle at the irony.
%%* Devi from ''Literature/TheNameOfTheWind'' is a polite, pleasant wizardess with an interest in literature. She is also a [[AllDevouringBlackHoleLoanSharks loan shark]] who collects the blood of her clients in order to perform unpleasant [[FunctionalMagic sympathy magic]] on them if they are delinquent in their payments.
* From the ''{{Literature/Necroscope}}'' series:
** Max Batu is a jolly, almost monk-like figure; he is polite, genuinely friendly, and the last person in the world to be suspected of murder. However, Max earns a living as a psychic assassin with the power of the [[MagicalEyes Evil Eye]], putting his victims through the most agonising pain of their lives before their deaths. On no account call the man a liar.
** Faethor Ferenczy shows particular Affably Evil traits: despite spending most of his existence as an EvilOverlord and PsychoForHire, slaughtering and raping countless thousands of people, out of all the vampires in the ''{{Literature/Necroscope}}'' series, he appears to be the only one that could be remotely described as charismatic, in both life and death. Most notably, however, [[GracefulLoser Faethor accepts his death and the sentence of eternal isolation from the rest of the dead]] where other vampires chose to bemoan their fate for the rest of existence.
* Clemael, the (self-employed) Angel of Mercy and protagonist of ''Literature/HandOfMercy'', is unrepentantly Fallen. But that doesn't stop him from being polite, concerned, and surprisingly tolerant of Helen's quirks, for ''most'' of the book.
* From Jacqueline Carey's ''Literature/KushielsLegacy'': the main villainess, [[spoiler:Melisande Shahrizai]], is evil through and through, but she is always smiling, calm, and collected. Not even engaging in Maniacal Laughter when it might be appropriate. She's intelligent, charming, very pleasant company, and will even give you a fabulous farewell party before killing you off.
* From ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
** Subverted with Dolores Umbridge who tries to look like this, but she [[TastesLikeDiabetes goes too far in the opposite direction]], which just serves to make her all the more disturbing and she fails even at being FauxAffablyEvil much of the time.
* ''Literature/WarriorCats'' has [[ManipulativeBastard Sol]], who, although a bit self-centred, is seen as nice and polite by most cats who meet him...Until he starts playing mind games and manipulating them ''[[ForTheEvulz for fun]]''.
%%* [[spoiler: Angel, Islington]] from ''{{Literature/Neverwhere}}''.

* George Wickham in ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice''. He is described as quite charming and "amiable", which causes both Elizabeth ''and'' Lydia to fall for him. It is only when Elizabeth finds out the truth from Darcy, [[spoiler: that Wickham tried to seduce and then elope with his sister Georgiana in order to get access to Darcy's fortune without having to do a day's work]], that his true character comes out. And then, Wickham [[spoiler: runs off with Lydia]], nearly ruining the Bennet family until [[spoiler: Darcy pays him to marry her]].
* The insanely smart, educated, and incredibly cultured radio deejay, Jean-Loup Verdier, in ''I kill'', with his highpowered knowledge of music, a voice that melts your socks, and a personality to woo women AND men. Switch off air and he's still cultured, highly intelligent, and oh ''so grammatically polite'', but he kills and skins the faces off people to make his dead brother beautiful again. Still very polite, though.
* Yefim, the Mordovian gang enforcer in the ''Dennis Lehane'' novel ''Moonlight Mile'', is quite friendly and jovial. Even when he's threatening Patrick Kenzie's wife and daughter.
* Creator/CoryDoctorow's ''Literature/ForTheWin'' contains a tale of a sweatshop manager who would take the poor workers out to theatres, buy them stuff, be their bestest friend - but always find some (seemingly sincere) excuse to avoid paying their wages. One day, he vanished with all the takings, never having paid a single rupee.
* ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'': It can be rather disconcerting how O'Brien manages to be friendly while torturing Winston. [[FridgeBrilliance The Party preaches the virtues of double-think]], so it kind of makes sense.
* ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'':
** The necromancer Bauchelain, who can calmly explain to the woman he's just raped why he should not have raped his manservant instead.
** Errastas is intentionally easy on the eyes and rather friendly as the queen's consort and hobby diplomat at court, when he's not backstabbing people or trying for [[spoiler: the destruction of all existance]].
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** Crell Moset from the ''Literature/StarTrekNovelVerse'', though in his case, it's a crippling need to be liked. He genuinely wants the subjects of his invasive medical experiments to appreciate him. He's not really cruel in the usual sense, he's just lacking in empathy, and believes [[ForScience his science takes priority]]. Not only does he take steps to try and make his victims feel at ease - including singing pleasant songs - but the closest he gets to threatening is childish pique when people won't let him perform his experiments. In the ''Literature/StarTrekVoyagerRelaunch'', as part of a ContinuityNod to ''Literature/StarTrekTheBattleOfBetazed'', he seems to genuinely think that the Betazoids were selfish in the extreme for taking back their planet and disrupting his earlier work there.
** The Overlord of the Redeemers in ''Literature/StarTrekNewFrontier''. His entirely self-serving moral code allows him to justify anything he wishes, as it's all "the Will of Xant", to which he, humble as he is, is a mere servant. Affably Evil definitely applies, as, true to his self-image, he's pleasant, soft spoken, and comes across as entirely reasonable in his conversations with others. He's quite friendly, really, for a genocidal warlord.

* Belvedere Delaney from Bernard Cornwell's ''Starbuck Chronicles'' is a cultured and charming spy for the Northern States against the Confederacy (explicitly ''not'' because he thinks they're right, but because he believes they'll win). He is probably (in story) responsible for more deaths than anyone else (he caused the Battle of Antietam). He also caused the capture and torture of the protagonist on spying charges (he was innocent and was eventually released), and caused the abduction (and forced abortion) of Starbuck's love interest, although they are both unaware of his role and regard him as a friend.
%%* Chichikov, VillainProtagonist of ''Literature/DeadSouls''.
%%* ''{{Literature/Krabat}}'': The miller
* ''{{Literature/Discworld}}'''s ''Literature/CarpeJugulum'': The [[ClassicalMovieVampire old Count Magpyr]] has excellent manners, keeps vampire-slaying props around his creepy old castle to give his prey a sporting chance, and holds no grudges over the actions of past vampire hunters - even the ones who did succeed in staking or decapitating him.
* ''Literature/InDeath'': The murderer in ''Portrait In Death'' is this. He truly believes that he is doing mankind a great service by killing young innocent people. In fact, he truly seems like a NiceGuy, if you ignore the murdering part.
* ''Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'' deconstructs this trope with TheCaptain Nemo, who is a WickedCultured, [[NiceGuy extremely polite person]] that prefers to put the protagonists in {{Gilded Cage}}s, rather than destroy them. He really is a good, noble human being [[MoralEventHorizon who cruelly destroy his enemies]] in his fight against TheEmpire. How can a truly good man do those terrible things? [[VillainousBreakdown Because he is slowly but surely losing his sanity through the novel, and in the end he becomes a]] DeathSeeker. [[AnAesop The whole point of the novel is to show that]] [[ScienceIsBad a submarine like the Nautilus could be used as a ]] WeaponOfMassDestruction, and any human, no matter how good and noble, will discover that WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity.
* ''{{Literature/Gone}}'': Caine is a perfectly pleasant, polite person, until you imply that he ''doesn't'' deserve to rule the world.
* Lorthas, the BigBad of the ''Literature/BoundarysFall'' series, exhibits this trope, always ready with a smile, a polite word, and often enough with a bottle of wine to share. He does have dungeons, but when he finds out how TheDragon is treating the prisoners there, orders conditions improved.
* The Leucrotta in ''Literature/TheOrphansTales'' is actually a fairly nice guy, if you don't try to fight him. Even then, he'd mostly kill you because that's his role in the story, not because he actually dislikes you.
* From the ''{{Literature/Goosebumps}}'' series:
** In ''Welcome to Dead House'', the antagonists are friendly with the main characters except that they have to invite them over, especially Karen Somerset, who says she wants to be a nice person but everyone needs fresh blood to survive. Same with the TV version of Karen, who would actually be an AffablyEvil AntiVillain since she actually seemed reluctant to engage in the "feeding" that [[ImAHumanitarian everyone in the town had to do to survive]], repeatedly saying she wanted to be friends with Amanda and Josh.
** The creatures from ''The Beast Of The East'' just see it as an elaborate game and outside of that are quite friendly.
** Many of the antagonists from the ''Literature/GiveYourselfGoosebumps'' series are this.
** Della from ''The Curse Of Camp Cold Lake'' half the time was a normal kid outside of being a bloodthirsty ghost.
** The plant clone father from ''Stay Out Of The Basement'' (more in the book than in the TV adaption) tried to be a good father even though he was ultimately out to turn everyone into plant clones, even comforting the kids when they worried about things.
** The woman from ''Chicken Chicken'' who [[DisproportionateRetribution turns the protaganists into chickens]] [[SpaceWhaleAesop for running off after bumping into her without apologizing]].
%%** The kids from ''Ghost Beach''.
* The character of Satan/No. 44 in Mark Twain's ''Literature/TheMysteriousStranger''. He's such a nice young man. Good people love him and all the villainous characters loathe him. Too bad he's just [[CosmicPlaything using everyone for a bout of fun, tormenting and creating for his own amusement.]] Well, probably. Let's not get into [[MindScrew the ending,]] shall we?
* Detective (ret.) Leonard "Sugar" Brimley in Robert Ferrigno's ''Scavenger Hunt'' could be your favorite uncle, much more interested in fishing than killing people, which he does nonetheless although he seems to genuinely regret in all but one case, [[AssholeVictim who was a director of underage porn movies]], so even the hero doesn't really see him as much of a loss
* [[spoiler: Mayor Oculon, the crawling eye mayor of Hollywood]] in ''Literature/CityOfDevils'' seems like a pretty friendly guy until you interfere with his horrifying schemes.
* The Mann, Levinn, and Lewis Firm of occult lawyers in ''{{Literature/Pact}}''. They are rather cordial to Blake and Ms. Lewis in particular was rather informative in teaching Blake how to deal with some threats. Even the driver they have on-staff admits to liking him as well because he's not as bad as the usual practitioners they deal with, but ultimately their goal is to put a foothold on the world for a devil to emerge.
* ''Literature/PleaseDontTellMyParentsImASupervillain'': Many of the villains are friendly to the main characters, especially Lucyfar and the Bull.
* ''Literature/TheSummerIsEndedAndWeAreNotYetSaved'': [[spoiler: Tony is always smiling and genuinely friendly to everyone, except that he's murdering them.]]
* ''{{Literature/Thinner}}'': The mafioso is pretty friendly, if primarily towards Halleck for saving his ass in court. He's extremely vicious towards anyone whom he considers an enemy and goes on a rampage against the Gypsies [[AFriendInNeed to protect his friend and return the favor]].
* ''Literature/JamesBond'':
** ''Literature/DeathIsForever'': James Bond is surprised to find out that the supposedly monstrous Wolfgang "Poison Dwarf" Weisen is a pleasant, smooth-talking man who wouldn't be out of place in a Christmas movie. While he talks nice, he is still an insane fanatic communist who seeks to destabilise Europe.
** ''{{Literature/Thunderball}}'': One of the ground rules of the Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terror, Revenge and Extortion is that their chairman believes that spending breath on polite greetings is not only inefficient -- and he highly prizes efficiency -- but ''hypocritical'' if they're already locked in to getting ahead through evil.

* ''Literature/ThePosterChildren'': Marshal Underwood is technically a vigilante more than a villain, but his general portrayal as charming and dorky and able to get along with most people (until he needs to break their face) is difficult to connect with the guy who [[spoiler:beat up his little brother at a party. Especially without knowing that that Mal has a HealingFactor. As Mal himself thought, intent makes a difference to the pain caused to someone]].
* ''Literature/InvisibleLine'': Zenith by all means appears to be a perfectly nice guy who just happens to be allied with the villains.
*
''Traitor General'', a part of the ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'' series, has Desolane, the lifewarden whose duty is to protect [[spoiler: General Sturm]] from danger while he is undergoing the process of unlocking his memory. Although Desolane is a servant of Chaos, brutal and remorseless in combat, he proves to be remarkably gentle and polite towards the Imperial renegade, and even develops a certain feeling of sympathy to him.

* ''Literature/RevancheCycle'':
** Lodovico Marchetti is willing to orchestrate the slaughter of thousands to achieve his goals, but he's never consciously cruel, and tries very hard to present himself as a gentleman patriot.
** Owl, Shrike and Worm are remarkably pleasant and even affectionate, when they're not committing home invasions or torturing people to death.
* ''Literature/StarTrekTheEugenicsWars'' features both Khan and his mother, Sarina Kaur. Both are polite, well spoken, willing to debate fairly on matters they see as important and are totally ruthless.
* ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'': According to Madame Giry, the Phantom is always a polite patron and [[NiceToTheWaiter a generous tipper]]. Christine obviously expects to be raped several times during her abductions, but it turns out that the Phantom [[EvenEvilHasStandards respects her privacy and honour]]. He apparently "prefer[s] to forget" the things he did working for the Shah-in-Shah, though they [[EvilHasABadSenseOfHumour made the little sultana laugh.]] But all he really wanted was [[IJustWantToBeNormal to have a normal life]]. In the end, when Christine agrees to be with him [[YouAreWorthHell if he spares Raoul]], he is so moved that he lets her go anyway.
* Crowley is described by the ''Dramatis Personae'' of ''Literature/GoodOmens'' as "An Angel Who Did Not So Much Fall As Saunter Vaguely Downwards". Unlike the other demons, he doesn't want to bring about the Apocalypse, as he has grown attached to humans over the millennia, even though [[EvenEvilHasStandards some of the atrocities they've committed with no help from any demon have horrified even him]]. He's also unusual among demons for never trying too hard to corrupt any one particular soul; he prefers [[PokeThePoodle large-scale acts of minor annoyance]] in the hopes that one of the many people affected will be corrupted. One chapter has him replace the paintball guns in a paintball game with ''actual'' guns-but carefully arranging everything so that no one will die, because it "[w]ouldn't be fun otherwise." It's a major plot point that he and the angel Aziraphale have more in common with each other than they do with others on their own side.

* ''Literature/DreambloodDuology'': Eninket, the Prince of Gujaareh, is cultured, charismatic, well-spoken, companionable and cherishes his family, but that doesn't stop him from trying to take over the world, from having people killed who stand in his way or from using them in horrible ways.
* In the post-apocalyptic setting of ''{{Literature/Victoria}}'', nearly all of the Northern Confederation's enemies are [[EvilIsPetty bad-mannered, petty and spiteful]] as well as repulsively and irredeemably evil. About the only exception is, surprisingly enough, the main representative of the ''Nazi'' faction, Hauptsturmfuehrer Halsing, who impresses everyone with his courteousness, sobriety and manners (if not his politics).
* ''Literature/KingsOfTheWyld'': Jain and her Silk Arrows, bandits who rob Gabe and Clay outside of Cloverdale, and then the rest of the band a few weeks later. The first time, they steal everything except for Clay's shield (Jain says that ''Blackheart'' is too important to take from him), and the second time they steal about twenty pounds of gold jewelry, but make the band breakfast first. With all the money, they decide to give up on thievery and become a mercenary band.
-->'''Matrick:''' What a nice bunch of girls.\\
'''Gabe:''' They certainly were.\\
'''Moog:''' I mean, they made us breakfast and everything.\\
'''Clay:''' Y'all are fucking crazy.
* ''{{Literature/Below}}'': Gareth St. James is utterly ruthless, but he can be a nice guy when he wants to be. Finally seeing the [[DungeonCrawling underground ruins]] firsthand, his lifelong dream, makes him jovial and effervescent. Just don't cross him.
* ''Literature/DanceoftheButterfly'': Denman Malkuth is intelligent, charming, polite, well-dressed, and highly manipulative.
* ''Literature/ClockpunkAndTheVitalizer'': The Vitalizer comes across as pleasant and accommodating (if not a tad flirtatious), despite being in the middle of holding the protagonist hostage.
* ''Franchise/EvilliousChronicles'':
** [[ImAHumanitarian Banica Conchita]] may be a cannibal with little concern for human life who plans to [[ApocalypseHow devour the entire world]], but nobody could accuse her of being impolite.
** Gatt Coloumb is a member of a criminal organization where he is responsible for assassinations and the disposal of evidence. As such, he has murdered many people in cold blood, but he is also quite polite and even kind to some of his fellow members, treating Lemy amiably and giving Yuzette a chance to escape when ordered to kill her. He also [[WellIntentionedExtremist genuinely believes that everything he does is necessary to "correct the world".]]
** [[GreenEyedMonster Kayo Sudou]] murdered a family of four, including a woman she considered her personal friend, in order to sate her envy [[spoiler: and her desire for revenge against the man who killed her family]]. Aside from that, she is well- liked in her neighborhood for her cheerful and hard- working attitude, and doesn't hold any ill will towards [[spoiler: Kokutan- douji]] when he executes her for her crimes.
** Although she [[HangingJudge sentences anyone who enters her theatre to death]], the Master of the Court is otherwise a fairly polite and pleasant young girl, trying to befriend the beings inside the Vessels and even developing a crush on Bruno. Gammon comments that there is no malice in her- she is simply emulating the behavior of her beloved father.
* ''Literature/JohannesCabal'': Zarenyia the [[HornyDevils succubine]] devil cheerfully admits that she kills people for [[BloodKnight fun]] and [[LifeDrinker sustenance]], but is cheerful and eager to make friends. She quickly becomes a trusted ally to Johannes and to his later compatriots.

* Creator/JamesEllroy's LA Quartet: Dudley Smith is a pleasant, charming, back-slapping LAPD detective with a kind word for everyone. He's also a CorruptCop and ManipulativeBastard engaged in an epic, decades-long struggle to seize control of the organized crime in Los Angeles. He's also very committed to his affability - he doesn't drop the wide smile and polite demeanor even when he's murdering folks.

* ''Literature/TheHellequinChronicles'' has Mark O'Hara, a classic LondonGangster.

* ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'': The Giants are actually rather charming in their own twisted ways.

* ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'': Jarlaxle, of R.A. Salvatore's ''Literature/TheLegendOfDrizzt'' novels. He won't hesitate to kill innocents, [[OnlyInItForTheMoney works for the highest bidder]], doesn't seem to be inclined to turn down any sort of job, uses slave labour consisting of "lesser races", and once had a guy's face set on fire as a method of coercion. He manipulated events to start a war over the port of Luskan. After the fighting was over, with tons of citizens dead and the city partially destroyed, he made sure that food was scarce by preventing the flow of supplies into the city, and starved the people of Luskan until they were ready to rebel against the new establishment and install Jarlaxle's associate as the new ruler.\\
\\
But he's almost always in a good mood (even when his life is in danger), is a clever DeadpanSnarker on those occasions when the situation doesn't visibly amuse him, has joined forces with Drizzt and his friends on more than one occasion, and and has saved Drizzt's life seemingly out of the goodness of his heart at least twice. Search this wiki for [=CMOA=]s and [=CMOF=]s associated with Jarlaxle. There are quite a few, because a lot of fans consider Jarlaxle both awesome and funny.\\
\\
In other words, he's a mercenary-minded adventurer, but of the "[[MagnificentBastard sneaky bastard]]" type, rather than the "BloodKnight" type. Also, Luskan wasn't an innocent halflings' glade. It's (among other things) a major pirate nest with Arcane Brotherhood and Kraken Society jostling [[ManBehindTheMan behind the High Captains' "throne"]]. These behaved halfway decently only due to being bullied by Waterdhavian "superior firepower".
* Cory Doctorow's ''Literature/ForTheWin'' contains a tale of a sweatshop manager who would take the poor workers out to theatres, buy them stuff, be their bestest friend - but always find some (seemingly sincere) excuse to avoid paying their wages. One day, he vanished with all the takings, never having paid a single rupee.

* Emperor Ozorne of ''Literature/TheImmortals'' varies between this trope and FauxAffablyEvil, depending. He does genuinely love his birds, and really is glad that Daine could help them. For every other character, he's only ''playing'' nice.

* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'': Effie Trinket is very cheerful and friendly, even though her job is, you know, to choose kids to send to their deaths.

* The Daemon from ''Literature/TheHeartsWeSold'' is a downplayed example. He's cold, condescending, and impersonal, but he's also polite, he keeps his word, and he never tries to screw anyone over in his deals. He also has a few PetTheDog moments that hint he cares about the heartless troop a little more than he lets on. [[spoiler:Ultimately a subversion, as he's not truly evil -- he's no hero, but his intentions are basically good.]]

* Khayon, the VillainProtagonist of ''Literature/BlackLegion''. He admits he took part in multiple genocides, he works for Chaos and at one point, he flat out {{Mind Rape}}s a man, but with how serene and gentle he is as a narrator, you can't help but like him. Bah, he's far nicer than many loyalists.

* Baron Dreadgreave from Yahtzee Croshaw's Mogworld.
* Don Vito Corleone from ''Literature/TheGodfather''. Along with the politeness and generosity that carried over to his film incarnation, it's also established that he really does prefer to negotiate, spending ''hours'' trying to resolve disagreements between other crime lords [[TheStoic without reacting to any insults or jokes made at his expense.]] Plus, he's shown to be [[EvenEvilHasStandards utterly revolted]] when he discovers that the film studio executive Jack Woltz spends his afternoons molesting young girls - to the point that it became one of the reasons for the decapitation of Woltz's horse, Khartoum, thus giving us one of cinema's most iconic scenes.
* All the Giants ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'' are actually rather charming in their own twisted ways.

* [[spoiler:The Count Fosco]] of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's book {{Literature/Brimstone}} is a direct reference to Count Fosco of ''The Woman in White'', and acts this way through the entire book.

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'':
** The White Court is labeled as the most dangerous of the three vampire courts because many of them act like this. The rest are FauxAffablyEvil, but are still quite skilled at being friendly and nonthreatening up until they rape you to death or kill you through sheer terror. In particular, Lara Raith is shown to be a genuinely civil and affable woman who tries to limit bloodshed and talk out her issues with others, before resorting to cat's paws to kill her competition in inordinately elegant manners. In ''Turn Coat'', Lara hangs a great big lampshade on this. "A monster. A habitually neat, polite, civil, and efficient monster" as she's feeding wounded employees to her kin. One of the creepiest scenes in the whole series.
** Marcone's THE mob boss, responsible for much of the drug and sex trade in Chicago, along with various crimes that come along with it, but he does have a highly developed sense of honor, particularly when it comes to keeping kids safe, and tends to end up on the same side as Harry more often than not. The heroes reluctantly admit that a united Chicago criminal underworld in Marcone's control is notably less dangerous for participants, bystanders, and the city at large. He also goes to significant lengths to protect Chicago from Formor incursion and other supernatural threats. Harry and company still think he's scum, but know well there's worse humans out there.
--> He's the devil we know.
** [[spoiler: Aurora, the Summer Lady]]: kind, caring, friendly, and helpful to a rather angry Harry Dresden, right until she goes batshit insane. Played with: later books reveal that [[spoiler: she was BrainwashedAndCrazy as the result of possession by an [[EldritchAbomination Outsider]].]]

* From ''{{Literature/Animorphs}}'':
** Visser One deliberately invokes this trope, going for a ReasonableAuthorityFigure vibe as opposed to Visser Three's megalomaniacal tyranny. Keep in mind, though, this is reasonable by ''Yeerk standards'' -- in other words, she'll still kill her underlings at the drop of a hat, she'll just maybe save them from their dying hosts if she's in the mood.
** Joe Bob Fenestre from ''The Warning'' comes off as mild-mannered and polite for someone who's secretly a SerialKiller and Yeerk cannibal.
** In one of the prequel books, Visser Three himself seemed to fit this when he was younger/in his earlier host body, prior to becoming an EvilOverlord.

%%* Nyarlathotep in ''Literature/TheDreamQuestOfUnknownKadath''.

* Literature/ArtemisFowl, [[spoiler: at least, in the beginning. Later, he makes a HeelFaceTurn and becomes an AntiHero.]]

* Mrs. Maudsley in ''Literature/TheGoBetween'' is kind enough to Leo even if she doesn't understand him. But her determination to see her daughter married into the aristocracy causes an awful lot of damage.

* ''Literature/TheFirstLaw'': Nicomo Cosca, famed soldier of fortune, is a witty and often quite charming man whose smile radiates good humor and good intentions. He's also a [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder chronic backstabber]] and thoroughly debauched miscreant who will do almost anything to finance his next bender. Impressively he manages to be quite honest about his lack of morals while still being a colossal hypocrite.

%% * Ridley from ''Literature/TheCasterChronicles''.
* [[spoiler:Victor Dashkov]] from ''Literature/VampireAcademy'' is a kind older man who is hiding a psychotic streak and a willingness to do whatever it takes to get what he wants.
* Marshal Underwood of ''Literature/ThePosterChildren'' is technically a vigilante more than a villain, but his general portrayal as charming and dorky and able to get along with most people (until he needs to break their face) is difficult to connect with the guy who [[spoiler:beat up his little brother at a party. Especially without knowing that that Mal has a HealingFactor. As Mal himself thought, intent makes a difference to the pain caused to someone.]]
* Avery in the ''Literature/AhrimanTrilogy'' really does seem to be a sweet, caring older woman... who happens to want to summon an EldritchAbomination to earth.
* Zenith in ''Literature/InvisibleLine'' by all means appears to be a perfectly nice guy who just happens to be allied with the villains.
* ''Traitor General'', a part of the ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'' series, has Desolane, the lifewarden whose duty is to protect [[spoiler: General Sturm]] from danger while he is undergoing the process of unlocking his memory. Although Desolane is a servant of Chaos, brutal and remorseless in combat, he proves to be remarkably gentle and polite towards the Imperial renegade, and even develops a certain feeling of sympathy to him.

* The dreaded Captain Steele in ''Literature/AlexAndTheIronicGentleman'' is, at first, quite kind to Alex and welcomes her onto the pirate ship Ironic Gentleman.

* ''{{Literature/Allegiant}}'': David's polite and NiceGuy tendencies are genuine, and he really does care for Tris, especially since she is the daughter of his crush, Natalie. [[spoiler:Which just makes his complete 180 degrees opposite characterization in the second part of the novel all the more shocking, since, even with all the fiasco that is attempting to wipe the memories of his subjects and ''killing Tris'', he is just a hard-working man with a misguided agenda]].
* Raguel in ''Literature/TheDinosaurLords'' is pleasant, kind and actually kind of fun to be around. Of course, he's also [[spoiler:the one to create the situation that ultimately leads to Falk taking over the Palace of the Fireflies, and he intends to wipe out Providence.]]
* ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'': Luigi Vampa, who is perfectly polite to his prisoners in the one evening they have for their ransoms to arrive. The titular Count also cultivates this image toward Albert and Franz. Benedetto is remarkably likable and charming for someone who has committed nearly every crime on the books before the age of 21.

* Camus's ''Literature/TheFall'' is dedicated to exploring this trope through the person of its narrator, Clamence, who is incredibly selfish, manipulative, and dangerous, but endlessly pleasant and civilized all the while.
* ''{{Literature/Atharon}}'': There are many such villains in this series, but the one that stands up the most is Valiria, Manser who kills (and worse) multiple people over the course of the story and is one of the POV characters. She cares about her (current) apprentice, though.

* ''Literature/TheBlackCompany'':
** The titular Black Company may be a mercenary company usually hired by despots and tyrants, but they're just doing their job, and they're such a big happy family you can't help but love them.
** [[spoiler:The Lady in particular might be the ruler of a dictatorship and literally an evil sorceress, but not only does she treat the people who work for her well. It's well known that the "good" rebels are just as willing to backstab each other for power as her people are, and you find out she's literally trying to hold on to power so that she can keep her husband a much more powerful evil than she is, trapped in his grave.]]

* ''Literature/TheElderEmpire'': Kelarac, the Keeper of Souls, takes the form of a pleasant man who is willing to negotiate plainly for what he wants. He even conducts these deals in a dreamspace that looks like a pleasant sitting room. But he is still one of the [[EldritchAbomination Great Elders]], an alien intelligence who enslaved humanity for longer than recorded memory. His domain is the sea, and the sea is a terrifying place on this world.

* ''Literature/{{Brennus}}'': The Dark, King of Supervillains and Father of Metahumanity. Despite being, ya know, the first supervillain in history is a pretty friendly guy, family man, and full on BenevolentBoss. In the story proper he's rarely seen doing any actual crimes - altough given the fact that he runs an organization which controls 60% of metahuman crime, and approves or rejects all the other villains evil schemes, he probably doesn't ''need'' to - and routinely helps the heroes defeat S-Class threats, or sends his underlings to. Macian claims that when he was a hero, he was better than many modern heroes.

* There's a bunch of these in the Mina Davis books.
** In ''[[Literature/HungoverAndHandcuffed Hungover and Handcuffed]]'' there's Matamoros, a world class assassin who's unfailingly polite and friendly, and even buys the main character a sushi dinner to kill time while she tries to figure out a way to stop him.
** In ''[[Literature/AssholeYakuzaBoyfriend Asshole Yakuza Boyfriend]]'', Matsunaga and Pointe are both extremely friendly, reasonably, and polite career criminals who are at least somewhat complicit in the illegal sex trade.

* Count Fosco, the polite, jocular, podgy, and harmless-looking arch-villain from Creator/WilkieCollins' Victorian sensation novel, ''Literature/TheWomanInWhite'', is an early example of this trope.

* ''Literature/{{Lolita}}'' gives us main character, pedophile, and ''deeply'' unreliable narrator Humbert Humbert. His charm and cultured European aloofness hide a coldly manipulative and selfish personality. He's so good at lying to the reader (and himself) that it's chillingly easy to forget that he frequently and poetically describes the various ways he sexually abuses his twelve-year-old stepdaughter and keeps her under his control.
* Tom Ripley from ''The Talented Mr. Ripley'' and [[Literature/{{Ripliad}} other novels]], while a MagnificentBastard and SociopathicHero (in one book he tricks someone who snubbed him at a party into thinking he was terminally ill and manipulates him into committing assassinations for a mobster), is generally a friendly and cultured guy liked by most who meet him.
* Shalhadar of ''[[Literature/SpaceMarineBattles Malodrax]]'' is well-spoken, admirer of arts and a curious creature who treats Lysander as his equal, despite being a Daemon Prince of Slaanesh. Arguably, all Slaaneshi daemons qualify.
* Gwendolyn Ingolffsen, the eponymous villainess of S. M. Stirling's ''[[Literature/TheDraka Drakon]]'', is quite nice and friendly for a member of a genetically-engineered master race who is attempting to reduce the whole human race of the parallel Earth she find herself stranded on to eternal slavery and degradation. She sees it as merely a necessary "taming" of "ferals". There are hints in the story (and others in the series) that she's actually quite mellow for a member of her species. In fact, all Draka are like this. As long as you accept that they're superior to you in every way and do what you're ordered to do, they'll treat you like a favourite pet. Cross them, though, and you'll end up with a four foot spike up you, as they point out to you how it didn't have to be like this, if only you'd obeyed without question. The ones who aren't like this end up in the Security Directorate. They'll stake a few of you at random just to show what you can expect.
* Lord Bloodford, of ''Kingdom Rattus''. He's extremely violent, half-crazy, and has a complete monster for a king, but still tries to hold himself to a higher standard. He actively disapproves of King Marrow's actions and plans for Marrow-Vinjia, but goes along because he feels he has no choice.

* ''Literature/{{Dexter}}'' can be quite kind and considerate, devoting much time to gaining his girlfriend's children's trust and doing his best to keep his sister and coworkers at least not displeased with him. This sometimes puts a dent in his [[SerialKiller recreational activities]], although his [[WouldntHurtAChild protective response to children]] can lead to his selection of "quality time" targets.

* From the ''Literature/{{Necroscope}}'' series:

** Faethor Ferenczy shows particular Affably Evil traits: despite spending most of his existence as an EvilOverlord and PsychoForHire, slaughtering and raping countless thousands of people, out of all the vampires in the ''Literature/{{Necroscope}}'' series, he appears to be the only one that could be remotely described as charismatic, in both life and death. Most notably, however, [[GracefulLoser Faethor accepts his death and the sentence of eternal isolation from the rest of the dead]] where other vampires chose to bemoan their fate for the rest of existence.

* From ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'':

* [[spoiler: Abraham Quest]] in Creator/StephenHunt's ''The Kingdom Beyond the Waves'', so much so that for much of the book you're not sure if he's good or bad [[spoiler: until he decides to destroy every sentient being on the planet who isn't a follower of his]].
%%* [[spoiler: Angel, Islington]] from ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}''.

%%* Napoleon in Naomi Novik's ''Literature/{{Temeraire}}'' series.
* In Creator/RobertEHoward's ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'' story "Literature/RoguesInTheHouse", Nabonidus courteously draws Murillo aside, to give him the box with the ear in it.
* In Creator/LordDunsany's ''Literature/TheCharwomansShadow'', the EvilSorcerer is perfectly polite to the hero, even if he omits that, by asking for his shadow, he is effectively asking for his soul. He's even polite when describing how great magicians have high honor in {{Hell}}.

* Captain Shannon from ''[[Creator/BenElton The First Casualty]]'' is the personification of what the corruption war can do to the human soul. He is convicted that his merits in combat and the horrors he experienced first-hand pardon him for every atrocity he commits, like raping indiscriminately or [[spoiler:murdering a WarriorPoet who got disillusioned with the war and was about to come out with it]]. He maintains a nonchalant and amicable demeanour most of the time, and apparently is sincerely devoted to the cause of victory and is concerned with the morals of his comrades in arms, at that.
* O'Brien from ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour''. Rather disconcerting, given how he manages to do this while torturing Winston. [[FridgeBrilliance The Party preaches the virtues of double-think]], so it kind of makes sense.

%%* The miller in ''Literature/{{Krabat}}''.
* The [[ClassicalMovieVampire old Count Magpyr]] in ''Discworld/CarpeJugulum'' has excellent manners, keeps vampire-slaying props around his creepy old castle to give his prey a sporting chance, and holds no grudges over the actions of past vampire hunters - even the ones who did succeed in staking or decapitating him.

* ''Literature/{{Gone}}'': Caine is a perfectly pleasant, polite person, until you imply that he ''doesn't'' deserve to rule the world.

* From the ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' series:

* In Creator/DorothyGilman's ''Literature/TheClairvoyantCountess'', Mr. Faber-Jones is stunned, after [[spoiler:Zoehfeld]]'s arrest, that so charming a man could be a [[spoiler:murderer and spy.]]

* ''Literature/{{Thinner}}'': The mafioso is pretty friendly, if primarily towards Halleck for saving his ass in court. He's extremely vicious towards anyone whom he considers an enemy and goes on a rampage against the Gypsies [[AFriendInNeed to protect his friend and return the favor]].
* After hearing much bad things about him, Literature/JamesBond in ''Literature/DeathIsForever'' is surprised to find out that the supposedly monstrous Wolfgang "Poison Dwarf" Weisen is a pleasant, smooth-talking man who wouldn't be out of place in a Christmas movie. While he talks nice, he is still an insane fanatic communist who seeks to destabilise Europe.
** Commented on in the Ian Fleming-era novel of ''Thunderball'', where one of the ground rules of the Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terror, Revenge and Extortion is that their chairman believes that spending breath on polite greetings is not only inefficient -- and he highly prizes efficiency -- but ''hypocritical'' if they're already locked in to getting ahead through evil.

* David from ''Literature/{{Allegiant}}''. His polite and NiceGuy tendencies are genuine, and he really does care for Tris, especially since she is the daughter of his crush, Natalie. [[spoiler:Which just makes his complete 180 degrees opposite characterization in the second part of the novel all the more shocking, since, even with all the fiasco that is attempting to wipe the memories of his subjects and ''killing Tris'', he is just a hard-working man with a misguided agenda]].

* In the post-apocalyptic setting of ''Literature/{{Victoria}}'', nearly all of the Northern Confederation's enemies are [[EvilIsPetty bad-mannered, petty and spiteful]] as well as repulsively and irredeemably evil. About the only exception is, surprisingly enough, the main representative of the ''Nazi'' faction, Hauptsturmfuehrer Halsing, who impresses everyone with his courteousness, sobriety and manners (if not his politics).

* There are many such villains in ''Literature/{{Atharon}}'' series, but the one that stands up the most is Valiria, Manser who kills (and worse) multiple people over the course of the story and is one of the POV characters. She cares about her (current) apprentice, though.

* Gareth St. James in ''Literature/{{Below}}'' is utterly ruthless, but he can be a nice guy when he wants to be. Finally seeing the [[DungeonCrawling underground ruins]] firsthand, his lifelong dream, makes him jovial and effervescent. Just don't cross him.
* Denman Malkuth from ''Literature/DanceoftheButterfly''. Intelligent, charming, polite, well-dressed, and highly manipulative.
* Pretty much all of the main characters from ''Literature/TheBlackCompany''. The Black Company may be a mercenary company usually hired by despots and tyrants, but they're just doing their job, and they're such a big happy family you can't help but love them.

* TabletopGame/{{Warhammer40000}}'s Literature/HorusHeresy:
** Lorgar, but DependingOnTheAuthor. When written by Creator/AaronDembskiBowden, Lorgar is pleasant, thoughtful, and compassionate; he genuinely comes off as being a good person despite being TheCorrupter and the SatanicArchetype. He also knows exactly what he's falling into by throwing his lot in with the [[GodOfEvil Chaos Gods]], and, behind his commander [[TheHeavy Erebus]], was the chief orchestrator of the Horus Heresy, a civil war that permanently changed the Imperium of Man and the galaxy for the worse. He also isn't very discouraging of the multiple MoralEventHorizon crossings of Erebus and his other commander [[EvilOldFolks Kor Phaeron]] unless they do more harm than good. Although, Lorgar does regret that those two falling in with Chaos so completely that they aren't in control of their own fates any more.

* Dudley Smith of Creator/JamesEllroy's LA Quartet is a pleasant, charming, back-slapping LAPD detective with a kind word for everyone. He's also a CorruptCop and ManipulativeBastard engaged in an epic, decades-long struggle to seize control of the organized crime in Los Angeles. He's also very committed to his affability - he doesn't drop the wide smile and polite demeanor even when he's murdering folks.
* Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/TheDarkTower2004'': Some of the Devar-Toi guards, especially Trampas, are pretty nice and seem like good guys. It's easy to forget that their job is to essentially ''destroy the universe''.