History AffablyEvil / LiveActionTV

** ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier sees the return of [[spoiler: Baron Zemo, who not only retains his polite and likeable persona from the movie, but he actively aids Sam and Bucky in their conquest to defeat the Flag Smashers. He also makes (relative) peace with Bucky and apologizes for his actions.]]

* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse: With the MCU's recent expansion onto the small screen and many of Netflix's series being confirmed as canon in the MCU (though they were heavily implied to have been so regardless), some villains (politely) decided to accompany it.

* ''Series/AgentCarter'''s Dr Ivenchko [[spoiler: hypnotises an SSR agent into killing himself, but gives him commands to have a drink at his favourite bar first. There's no reason for this, except it's better for the guy to be happy and relaxed when he dies than otherwise.]]
* ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'': Wilson Fisk aka the Kingpin. He's polite, intelligent, respectful, articulate and has sincere love for [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes his girlfriend Vanessa]] and mother. He's also a violent and ruthless crime lord with a BerserkButton you ''do not'' [[UnstoppableRage want to touch]] who will [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans stop at nothing to make Hell's Kitchen a better place for everyone.]] Even as the series goes on and he becomes more cynical and cruel, he never loses his demeanour of a gentlemanly businessman, even towards [[ArchEnemy Matt Murdock himself.]]

* ''Series/AgentCarter'''s Dr Ivenchko [[spoiler: hypnotises an SSR agent into killing himself, but gives him commands to have a drink at his favourite bar first. There's no reason for this, except it's better for the guy to be happy and relaxed when he dies than otherwise.]]

* ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'': Wilson Fisk aka the Kingpin. He's polite, intelligent, respectful, articulate and has sincere love for [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes his girlfriend Vanessa]] and mother. He's also a violent and ruthless crime lord with a BerserkButton you ''do not'' [[UnstoppableRage want to touch]] who will [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans stop at nothing to make Hell's Kitchen a better place for everyone.]] Even as the series goes on and he becomes more cynical and cruel, he never loses his demeanour of a gentlemanly businessman, even towards [[ArchEnemy Matt Murdock himself.]]

* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse: With the MCU's recent expansion onto the small screen, some villains (politely) decided to accompany it.

** In ''Series/Loki2021'' the [[Characters/MCULoki titular character]] is his usual conniving but charming and fun self [[spoiler: or at least his variants are, yes ''[[MesACrowd all]]'' of them. With significant CharacterDevelopment, the main Loki comes to the same HeelRealization as his original self did and has committed a full-on HeelFaceTurn.]] The true villain of the show [[spoiler: He Who Remains, is a manipulative, nigh-omniscient and unscrupulous individual [[GreaterScopeVillain who planned and pulled the strings of virtually everything that happens,]] but he's also a WellIntentionedExtremist who is unfappably polite and courteous towards Loki and Sylvie.]]

* ''Series/{{Daredevil}}'': Wilson Fisk aka the Kingpin. He's polite, intelligent, respectful, articulate and has sincere love for [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes his girlfriend Vanessa]] and mother. He's also a violent and ruthless crime lord with a BerserkButton you ''do not'' [[UnstoppableRage want to touch]] who will [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans stop at nothing to make Hell's Kitchen a better place for everyone.]] Even as the series goes on and he becomes more cynical and cruel, he never loses his demeanour of a gentlemanly businessman, even towards [[ArchEnemy Matt Murdock himself.]]

* Many of the characters in Series/{{OnceUponATime}} qualify. Though special mention must go to Captain Hook, who's essentially the main character for a time and even pulls a HeelFaceTurn because LoveRedeems. Then there's Rumpelstiltskin, the Dark One himself. Sure, he's a cruel, ruthless and double-crossing schemer, the keeper of all things dangerous and certainly the last person you should trust, but he's charming as hell, [[LaughablyEvil tons of fun to watch,]] can be surprisingly sociable and does [[EvenEvilHasStandards have his own odd sense of morality.]]

* Many of the characters in Series/{{OnceUponATime} qualify. Though special mention must go to Captain Hook, who's essentially the main character for a time and even pulls a HeelFaceTurn because LoveRedeems. Then there's Rumpelstiltskin, the Dark One himself. Sure, he's a cruel, ruthless and double-crossing schemer, the keeper of all things dangerous and certainly the last person you should trust, but he's charming as hell, [[LaughablyEvil tons of fun to watch,]] can be surprisingly sociable and does [[EvenEvilHasStandards have his own odd sense of morality.]]

* ''Series/{{Daredevil}}'': Wilson Fisk aka the Kingpin. He's polite, intelligent respectful, articulate and has sincere love for [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes his girlfriend Vanessa]] and mother. He's also a violent and ruthless crime lord with a BerserkButton you ''do not'' [[UnstoppableRage want to touch]] who will [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans stop at nothing to make Hell's Kitchen a better place for everyone.]] Even as the series goes on and he becomes more cynical and cruel, he never loses his demeanour of a gentlemanly businessman, even towards [[ArchEnemy Matt Murdock himself.]]

* ''Series/{{Daredevil}'': Wilson Fisk aka the Kingpin. He's polite, intelligent respectful, articulate and has sincere love for [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes his girlfriend [[spoilers: later wife]] Vanessa]] and mother. He's also a violent and ruthless crime lord with a BerserkButton you ''do not'' [[UnstoppableRage want to touch]] who will [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans stop at nothing to make Hell's Kitchen a better place for everyone.]] Even as the series goes on and he becomes more cynical and cruel, he never loses his demeanour of a gentlemanly businessman, even towards [[ArchEnemy Matt Murdock himself.]]

* Adlai Niska on ''{{Series/Firefly}}''. Polite, well mannered and almost charming aside from his habit of torturing people to death when their reputation “not so solid” with him.

** Sayid (before his HeelFaceTurn) and Ryan O'Reilly. Ryan O'Reilly in particular, since his entire "Iago" gimmick requires him being able to charm the pants off of anyone to further his schemes.
%%** Schillinger can be this at times, though how much is a façade is hard to determine. Keller is also pretty charming a lot of the time.

* In an episode of ''Series/HouseMD'', the team is called on to treat a dictator from an [[Bulungi unnamed African country]]. Cameron insists that he's a brutal tyrant, but he turns out to be charming, personable and complimentary. Chase, in particular, seems very impressed by him, right up until he hears him ordering ethnic cleansing of one of his country's minorities. [[spoiler: This revelation leads Chase to fake lab results that result in the dictator's death.]]

*** In fact, The Mayor was so polite and well-mannered, his FamousLastWords before being blown sky-high?

** ''Series/PowerRangersNinjaStorm'': Lothor. Although he tends to be more comic-relief and EvilIsDumb, he's probably ''the'' most lovable villain ever, mainly because of his character and the way his actor portrays him. The fact that he has two even more evil nieces (again, EvilIsDumb) he has to look after only makes him even more affable.

** Malcolm Merlyn/[[spoiler:the Dark Archer]] is one of the most friendly and charming towards Oliver, and has well-meaning if horrifically misguided aims to save the city.

* ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'': Doug Judy, the Pontiac Bandit. He's a manipulative liar and an unrepentant master criminal, but he's also extremely charming and likable, and [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas genuinely love his mom]].

* ''Series/ChildrenOfTheStones'': Rafael Hendrick , played by the very urbane Iain Cuthbertson, is polite, cultured, friendly, and brainwashes the villagers of Milbury into becoming "Happy Ones".

** Mayor Richard Wilkins III, who provides the page image. Actor Harry Groener, who portrayed him, claims to have based him in part on Ted Bundy: charming, able to talk you into anything, will kill you without blinking. Wilkins is friendly, mannerly, and is implied to be an upstanding, hard-working and (debateably) honest politician (Joss Whedon has admitted that Wilkins was intentionally portrayed as an efficient civil servant who authentically cared for his community, other than the entire "kill a bunch of high school students to fuel his ascension into demonhood" thing). He also provides well-meant (and, frankly, accurate) [[MayflyDecemberRomance relationship advice]] to Buffy and Angel, inspired by his own marriage a century ago where she aged and died while he was immortal, and the exchange makes it obvious he did love her. He also genuinely cared for Faith, and while he was TheCorrupter to her, Faith was already corrupted by the time she sided with him. By contrast she has fond memories of him into the rest of the series, seeing him as the only friend she's had who didn't try to manipulate or use her. And this was ''after'' her HeelFaceTurn. His status as basically a good guy -- absent the "destroy the world" parts -- was repeatedly lampshaded during the show, most brutally when they defeated him: the Mayor was destroyed because Buffy manipulated his finest quality -- his paternal love for Faith. For all his evil, it was his sliver of goodness that did him in.

%% This list is alphabetized. Please insert examples in the correct positions.

** Sheridan's torturer in season 4 is a middle-aged accountant who just happened to be delivering large electrical shocks and doses of agonizing, vomit-inducing poison, instead of doing tax returns. Somehow, his WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou attitude and philosophical digressions on the nature of truth managed to be creepier than he could ever have been as a frothing sadist.

** Holden Webster from "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E7ConversationsWithDeadPeople Conversations With Dead People]]", a rather cheerful newbie vamp who turns out to be an old classmate of Buffy's (and stops mid-fight when he realises it, greeting Buffy with all the surprised pleasure of an old classmate). He uses his psych major skills to rather accurately and - occasional, obligated murder attempt aside - professionally analyse Buffy and help her deal with her issues. His approach is best summed up in his line, delivered in a patient, friendly standard psychiatrist voice: "Buffy, I'm here to kill you, not judge you."

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E6TheVampiresOfVenice Rosanna Calvierri]], the last Sister of the Water from Saturnyne, who is perfectly charming, nice, and has a genuinely pleasant chat with the Doctor. Her ambitions aren't even particularly evil - yes, she wants to sink Venice, but she's only doing it because her species was forced between the cracks in reality and all the females died (which is why she's converting female humans into the Saturnyne), and she wants somewhere for them to live, and can't leave. She's still evil (converting unsuspecting human young women into 'sexy fish vampires', and feeding one partially converted young woman who tried to escape to all the males), but you can sympathise with her.

** Even more than both Scorpius and Kaarvok is EvilSorcerer, RealityWarper, and EmotionEater, Maldis. In both his appearances, he always seems so friendly and conversational even while guiding his victims into his death traps - and [[LargeHam clearly having the time of his life.]]

** Linderman is Affably Evil combined with WellIntentionedExtremist. Particularly in his initial appearance, where he reveals that he likes cooking, as it relaxes him. When [[spoiler:Nathan draws a gun on him]], he says firmly, "Now you can't have any of my pot pie." In one season 3 episode, he is shown to deeply care about Angela, hating the [[MindRape mental abuse]] that Arthur has put on her all throughout their marriage. It's hard to believe that a guy who almost cried when trying to convince her to let him restore her memory would be the same guy who tried to blow up New York City and get Nathan into the White House to further his global ambitions.

** In all 8 Seasons, throughout the entire series, some of the most dangerous criminals Adrian Monk puts behind bars are shown as civilized people in both middle-class and high-class society. Prime examples include Dr, Lancaster who runs an asylum, Derek Philby the Scientist, a seemingly blind woman who claims that Willie Nelson committed murder, Steve Wagner the astronaut, Monk's phony friend Hal Tucker, Real estate agent Linda Fusco, who became Capt. Stottlemeyer's girlfriend, Patrick Kloster the Chessmaster, and Karl Torini the Magician. In comparison with Adrian Monk's phobias and compulsions, usually the general public, as well as Capt. Stottlemeyer and the San Fransisco Police Department can't even see the connections Monk sees, and are prone to dismissing Monk whenever he accuses these criminals, which conveniently allows them to almost get away with their evil schemes.

-->''"Between you and me, I was glad [[spoiler: he killed himself]]. He's not a very good person: he had a gambling problem, he drank too much - most notably, he was weak. His instincts left a lot to be desired - oh, I despise people like that! In fact, I felt that the world was a little better off, knowing he wasn't in it anymore. I believe even his family will benefit from this, in the long run."''

** Johnny Johnson, in a fifth-season story arc, exemplifies this trope. A rival businessman who takes over Mr. James' corporate empire (after hatching a secret plot to have the tycoon imprisoned for the infamous real-life "D.B. Cooper" skyjacking) succeeds in temporarily duping everybody at the station in to believing that his motives are good (even going so far as seducing Lisa, one of the main female characters), with the exception of Dave, the news director. When Dave calls Johnny on his evilness, he flat-out admits it, and says that he would be willing to give it up if Lisa were to marry him. Dave balks, to which Johnny replies, "I happen to have a talent for evil - doesn't mean I like it."

* ''Series/{{Revolution}}'': Major Tom Neville is the only militia person to be this. This is in contrast to the fact that just about everyone else in the Monroe Republic is a blood-thirsty FauxAffablyEvil sociopathic killer. Be warned though that he can do villainous stuff, and he does not like it when people are rude to him. In [[Recap/RevolutionS1E8TiesThatBind episode 8]], he and his wife Julia didn't hesitate to throw their friends the Fabers under the bus to save their son Jason. After the Nevilles leave the Monroe Republic in [[Recap/RevolutionS1E13TheSongRemainsTheSame episode 13]], Tom Neville seems to drop the "affable" part in [[Recap/RevolutionS1E16TheLoveBoat episode 16]] in favor of being a Jerkass and and a trash talker.

** The [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Cardassians]] tend to act this way when not obviously evil. This is especially true of Elim Garak and Gul Dukat. The former has pleasant chats with Bashir during which he often chastises the doctor for trusting him and praises him when he doesn't. [[AntiHero Garak isn't so much evil as a pragmatic former spy who believes the ends justify the means.]] Gul Dukat, on the other hand, is a charming fellow who has many PetTheDog moments, at times seeming like a Nazi with a heart of gold; however, his acts of villainy are malevolent and [[CardCarryingVillain supervillainy]]. His heart may well be gold: cold and metallic. Then, there is the example of Picard's torturer, Gul Madred, who has some father-daughter time at the office and only really gets angry when the human proves so darn uncooperative. It would seem that Cardassian society does not condemn many acts we (and the Federation) might consider morally reprehensible, but also has many virtues we would find admirable--concern for children and the family foremost among them. Affably Evil almost seems to be the Cardassian [[PlanetOfHats hat]].

* ''Series/VeronicaMars'': Clyde Pickett from season 4 is a former bank robber who became Dick Casablancas Sr.'s [[TheFixer fixer]] after they did time together in Chino Prison. He quickly becomes friends with Keith, despite him being a prime suspect in the bombings. [[spoiler:It turns out he did pay Weevil's gang to commit petty crimes to drive down real estate prices, but he wasn't behind the bombings. Still, he and Keith part on reasonably amicable terms.]]

* ''Series/TheWildWildWest'': Count Manzeppi qualifies in spades. A charming, friendly, amiable magician who'll kill you as soon as look at you - perversely, ''making him angry'' is his BerserkButton.

** Wee-Bey Brice, TheBrute of the Barksdale organization. The best muscle the West Side of Baltimore has ever seen, and a trusted confidant for the Barksdale leadership. He's also a really nice and genuinely funny guy when he's not killing people, has a soft spot for his aquariums full of exotic fish, and truly loves and cares about his son Namond--to the point that Wee-Bey ''threatens'' his wife when she stands in the way of [[spoiler:Bunny Colvin taking custody of Namond after it becomes clear that Namond is not built for the street]].

** In "The Queen and the Thief", Evan Robley played by Creator/DavidHedison, is the classic charming rogue. After trying to steal the crown jewels - [[spoiler:what he stole were fakes]] - he joins forces with Wonder Woman to foil [[BigBad Ambassador Orrick's]] evil scheme
** In "Spaced Out", Kimball played by Creator/ReneAuberjonois, steals the [[MacGuffin lenses]], hogties a guest star at the Convention, and escapes Wonder Woman by threatening to throw a large flowerpot on a group of innocent civilians - all with a smile, and joke, and a laugh. He even teams up with Wonder Woman to foil [[BigBad Simon Rohan's]] plans, [[spoiler:but makes his escape once again in the confusion]]

--> '''Bones''': Columbus shot a man in the head, hung him from a pole, gutted him and set him on fire. And Columbus is our father.

* In ''Series/{{Bones}}'', Max before his forced retirement. He was a robber and killed several people but he was still likable as a person and the murders were usually to protect his family.