History FauxAffablyEvil / Literature

* One of the goals of the author of ''LightNovel/TheUnexploredSummonBloodSign'' was to show how a character can be ''dere'' but not necessarily kind.

** Both Cersei and Joffrey can turn the charm on to be very polite and civil at official functions when they really want to. However, [[TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask Mother Dearest]] is rather better at long-terming it than her [[PrinceCharmless Bonny Baby Boy]] is; just see how much longer it took Sansa to work out that she was almost as rotten. Yet, both are cruel, vindictive [[RoyalBrat Brats]] with impulse control issues and massive, easily bruised egos. [[MamasBoy He very much learned it from her]].

* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'': Aro, head of the Volturi, puts forth a very charming persona to hide how power-hungry and ruthless he is.

** [[HornyDevils Lord Raith]] is polite and well-mannered and can put up a friendly and charming facade when he wants to. In reality though, he's a horrific AbusiveParent who rapes his daughters into submission to break their wills and will callously murder his own sons just to keep his power for [[ItsAllAboutMe himself]].

* ''Literature/BlueBeard'': The title character seems like a charming young gentleman... than we discover he is a SerialKiller.

* ''Literature/LittleRedRidingHood'': The wolf is a classic example. He acts very friendly toward Red, but only to eat her. The moral of the story is to not trust strangers even if they seem nice, as the wolf proves that it could easily be a façade.
* In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', Saruman is shown to be highly friendly and charismatic when speaking to people, to the point that [[CompellingVoice his voice is described as magical]]. Even after he has killed many of their countrymen, he's able to leave many of the Rohirrim on the fence when they come to parley with him. However, [[ShutUpHannibal when Théoden bluntly tells Saruman that he deserves death for what he's done]], Saruman immediately snaps, and his honeyed words give way to utter contempt, shouting crude insults at Théoden and besmirching the same lands and house he was complimenting just a few moments ago.

** Sauron, more in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' than in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', where he's mostly offscreen. Over and over again; the charming snake in the ear of anyone who listens. This is one of his most defining traits and that's why he is known The Deceiver. That is, until he loses that power or shows his real nature...

* In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', Saruman is shown to be highly friendly and charismatic when speaking to people, to the point that [[CompellingVoice his voice is described as magical]]. Even after he has killed many of their countrymen, he's able to leave many of the Rohirrim on the fence when they come to parley with him. However, [[ShutUpHannibal when Théoden bluntly tells Saruman that he deserves death for what he's done]], Saruman immediately snaps, and his honeyed words give way to utter contempt.

* In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', Saruman is shown to be highly friendly and charismatic when speaking to people, to the point that [[CompellingVoice his voice is described as magical]]. Even after he has killed many of their countrymen, he's able to leave many of the Rohirrim on the fence when they come to parley with him. However, [[ShutUpHannibal when Theóden bluntly tells Saruman that his crimes are beyond forgiving]], Saruman immediately snaps, and his honeyed words give way to utter contempt.

* ''Literature/TheScrewtapeLetters'': The demon Screwtape speaks like a supernatural version of an archetypal ObstructiveBureaucrat, always superficially polite, but in the most unpleasant and condescending manner possible.

%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks!

%% * Sarafine from ''Literature/TheCasterChronicles'', despite her words to Lena, never actually meant half of what she was saying.

** [[spoiler:Evening Winterrose]] serves as the series' OverarchingVillain and can keep up a decent facade of being polite but it's just an act to hide a petty monster.

--> "Here is [[BigBad your soul mate]]. [[SharingABody I hope you like him]]."

** The old Flenser in ''Literature/AFireUponTheDeep'', besides being a ConsummateLiar, was the sort of guy who becomes ''more'' friendly when he's about to put you through [[EvilutionaryBiologist the experiments that]] [[ColdBloodedTorture earned him his name]].

* ''{{Literature/Goosebumps}}'': Vanessa from ''Chicken Chicken'' is a witch obsessed with manners, and punishes children who show her poor manners, but inflicts horrific DisproportionateRetribution and is needlessly cruel to the children she punishes, outright laughing at and mocking them ([[{{Hypocrite}} despite her obsession with manners and this cruel behavior showing ''her'' as being very rude herself]]), only restoring them to normal when they first write her an apology note for making her drop her groceries by accident and not apologizing after doing so initially, and then a ''thank you note'' [[WantsAPrizeForBasicDecency for "teaching them manners"]]. She ''does'' offer them sodas after everything is said and done...but than she casts another spell to turn them into pigs just because the boy burped without apologizing and the girl laughed instead of reprimanding him.

* In ''Literature/AcrossTheUniverse'', this fits Luther. He hides the joy he takes in inciting unrest among the already unhappy population of ''Godspeed'' and love of rape with a pleasant public demeanor. One rather creepy scene has Amy (who Luther had been stalking and trying to rape) bump into him in public. She's in disguise and he doesn't recognize her, so he nicely asks her if she'd like to come see a protest being set up. The instant he figures out who she is, he begins to act terrifyingly predator-like around her.

* ''{{Literature/Goosebumps}}'': Vanessa from ''Chicken Chicken'' is a witch obsessed with manners, and punishes children who show her poor manners, but inflicts horrific DisproportionateRetribution and is needlessly cruel to the children she punishes, outright laughing at and mocking them ([[{{Hypocrite}} despite her obsession with manners and this cruel behavior showing ''her'' as being very rude herself]]), only restoring them to normal when they first write her an apology note for making her drop her groceries by accident and not apologizing after doing so initially, and then a ''thank you note'' [[WantsAPrizeForBasicDecency for "teaching them manners"]]. She ''does'' offer them sodas after everything is said and done...but than she casts another spell to turn them into pigs just because the boy burped without apologizing and the girl lauhed instead of reprimanding him.

* High-end villains in the Literature/ZonesOfThought series tend to be this.

* Literature/TolkiensLegendarium:

* ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'': In the original book, Erik explains how he pulled the PracticalJoke on Carlotta with his {{Ventriloquism}} and then he casually uses it to prank Raoul and the Daroga in the TortureCellar.

** [[TheChessmaster Nicodemus]] is a 2000 year-old human who made a pact with a FallenAngel to essentially inflict as much misery and pain on the world as he could; in his own words, he believes in Armageddon as less of an event and more of a ''mindset'', one that he wants to share with the world. He is also incredibly polite and friendly and civil, even while he's got you tied up and offering you a choice between recruiting you for his organization or getting your throat cut. The affable demeanor hides a genocidal monster and doesn't waver even when he's getting ready to unleash a deadly plague across a country or while his minions are kidnapping and torturing a twelve-year-old girl.

* ''Literature/TheHateUGive'': [[spoiler:The drug lord King, though at first seeming AffablyEvil, is slowly revealed to be this. Sure, he can be polite, amiable, and even charming at times, but as his true colors become apparent, we see that he's rotten to his core. By the story's end, he's attempted to murder a child and all but placed a target on the back of our (sixteen year old) protagonist for "snitching" on him. Luckily, he's stopped and gets arrested.]]

* ''Literature/TheManWithTheTerribleEyes'': The Supervisor is very good at affecting a calm, warm persona even when he's about to conduct horrific experiments on the Man while he's awake and conscious and then healing him and erasing his memory so he can keep doing it. Over the course of the story, the Man gradually realizes that it's just an act, and that the Supervisor checking up on his health and saying that he thinks of him like a son has absolutely no bearing on what mind-bendingly awful things he'll do to him if given the chance.

** [[spoiler:Evening Winterrose]] serves as the series' OverarchingVillain and can keep up a decent facade of being polite but its just an act to hide a petty monster.
** Treasa Riordan is friendly and charming but its clear that is just a thin veneer that attempts to conceal an ambitious sociopath.
** King Rhys can be charming and charismatic but thats just a sham. In truth hes a sadistic creep and deeply prejudiced individual with a distinct LackOfEmpathy for others.

** Roose Bolton is always polite and soft-spoken, and has a rather amusingly dry sense of humor when in company -- to the point that most nobles who don't know him that well assume he's the AffablyEvil man he appears to be. [[WhatYouAreInTheDark Smallfolk learn better very quickly]]. He's a cold-blooded sadist who can casually threaten to cut off a child servant's tongue for talking too much, who can calmly discuss tortures or rapes he's performed, and who allows his son to rape and torture as much as ''he'' wants, as well. [[PragmaticVillainy Just so long as it doesn't interfere with his plans]].

** Smaug, in ''Literature/TheHobbit''. Intelligent, articulate, wickedly charismatic, and a polite conversationalist. He has a fondness for riddle-games, and actually enjoys himself during conversation with Bilbo (initially). He's charismatic to the point that Bilbo is sorely tempted to take off the Ring and reveal himself, and even manages to make Bilbo doubt the intentions of Thorin. However it's also a ''very'' bad idea to piss him off, as Smaug proves downright ''terrifying'' when angered.

* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'': Aro, head of the Volturi, puts forth a very charming persona to hide how power hungry and ruthless he is.

** In ''Discworld/CarpeJugulum'', the vampire Count de Magpyr actually ''thinks'' he's being AffablyEvil, or AboveGoodAndEvil, or not evil at all. He's just being "reasonable" while dominating, destroying and enslaving others, and acts with apparent politeness. His mind-controlling powers can make people actually believe he ''is'' that nice, even when he's talking about blood-sucking arrangements. His family is similar, except for Lacrimosa, who's a sadistic [[ImmortalImmaturity teenager]] with no patience for being "nice".
** Carcer in ''Discworld/NightWatch'' is an unrepentant serial killer who will gleefully deny all responsibility for his crimes with a charismatic grin, and then casually stab you between the ribs before you can argue.
** Mr. Teatime can be this way. Especially in the Creator/SkyOne ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}'' TV film.

* [[Literature/DavidCopperfield Uriah Heep]] may well be literature's most triumphant example of this trope. Even as he openly hints his scheming to the main character, he constantly put on a fawning, "'umble" air.

* ''Literature/TalesOfKolmar'': Berys clearly enjoys himself when doing various terrible things, and at those times is usually rather cheerful and upbeat.
--> "Here is [[BigBad your soul mate]]. [[SharingABody I hope you like him]]."

** Tomas Nau in ''A Deepness in the Sky'' fooled everyone, including remnants of the faction which he backstabbed and almost wiped out in cold blood, for decades with his nice guy act.
** The old Flenser in ''A Fire Upon the Deep'', besides being a ConsummateLiar, was the sort of guy who becomes ''more'' friendly when he's about to put you through [[EvilutionaryBiologist the experiments that]] [[ColdBloodedTorture earned him his name]].
* [[spoiler:O'Brien]] in ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour''. He talks to [[spoiler:Winston]] in a calm tone while torturing him.
%%%%* If they're not AffablyEvil, most Creator/DeanKoontz antagonists will be this.
* Creator/JRRTolkien:
** Sauron, more in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' than in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', where he's mostly offscreen. Over and over again; the charming snake in the ear of anyone who listens. This is one of his most defining traits and that's why he is known The Deceiver. That is, until he loses that power or shows his real nature...
** Smaug, in ''Literature/TheHobbit''. Intelligent, articulate, wickedly charismatic, and a polite conversationalist. He has a fondness for riddle-games, and actually enjoys himself during conversation with Bilbo (initially). He's charismatic to the point that Bilbo is sorely tempted to take off the Ring and reveal himself, and even manages to make Bilbo doubt the intentions of Thorin. However it's also a ''very'' bad idea to piss him off, as Smaug proves downright ''terrifying'' when angered.
* Gloriosa, from Literature/OurLadyOfTheNile actively uses her image as a harmless, model high-school girl and activist to get what she wants (which usually involves people getting hurt).
* In ''Literature/RiverOfTeeth'', Travers is a sleek and well-spoken man who is always impeccably dressed and exceedingly polite, even when he is cutting someone's ear off or throwing them to the feral hippos for the act of cheating at cards or burning down someone's ranch because they refused his offer. He is also not above threatening someone in public, he will simply be very polite while doing it.
* ''Literature/TheManWithTheTerribleEyes'': The Supervisor is very good at affecting a calm, warm persona even when he's about to conduct horrific experiments on the Man while he's awake and conscious and then healing him and erasing his memory so he can keep doing it. Over the course of the story, the Man gradually realizes that it's just an act, and that the Supervisor checking up on his health and saying that he thinks of him like a son has absolutely no bearing on what mind-bendingly awful things he'll do to him if given the chance.
* ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'': Mr.15 speaks in a friendly and polite tone to everyone, even to captives that he plans to experiment on or people he's moments away from killing.
* ''Literature/WingsOfFire'' has Darkstalker, who can be paternal and considerate towards people...when he's on top. The instant anyone threatens his plans for global conquest or [=IceWing=] genocide, he will brainwash them into absolute compliance.
* One of the goals of the author of ''LightNovel/TheUnexploredSummonBloodSign'' was to show how a character can be ''dere'' but not necessarily kind.