History FauxAffablyEvil / LiveActionTV

* ''Franchise/{{Arrowverse}}'':
** ''Series/{{Arrow}}'':
*** Edward Fyers initially appears to be benevolent, offering Oliver some much-needed refreshment after his traumatic crash. When it turns out that Oliver is lying as to Yao Fei's location, however, he hands him over to Deathstroke for a brutal interrogation.
*** [[spoiler:Slade Wilson]], by the time of his return in the present day. When he meets Oliver Queen's family, he acts incredibly polite and gentlemanly. Once he catches Oliver's sister Thea alone, the mask comes off and he reveals himself to be a psychopath who wants to ruin Oliver's life via his loved ones.
** ''Series/TheFlash2014'': [[spoiler: Eobard Thawne as Harrison Wells]] comes off as a genuinely kindly, almost fatherly sort of guy who cares about Barry and his friends. However, when his true identity is revealed, he shows that he is completely willing to murder the people he cares about in order to ensure his plans are successful. He never quite loses the friendly mannerisms, but his actions speak louder than his words.

* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'':
** ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'':
*** Raina. She manipulates, kidnaps, and tortures while never saying a single harsh word. The most egregious example is when she purposefully leaves Debbie to her death and says "I wish you all the best" as the elevator doors close between them.
*** The BigBad of the first season, The Clairvoyant, is eventually revealed to be this. He maintains the chummy attitude he'd previously been using in a civilian disguise, even after his true identity is revealed. Even when TheDragon is experiencing a VillainousBSOD, he kept laughing and joking, not caring about what was happening. His charm and affability are only a charade though, and there's no one he won't sacrifice to further his goals.
*** Daniel Whitehall. While he's a high-ranking member of Comicbook/{{HYDRA}} (and a former [[ThoseWackyNazis SS officer]], to boot), Whitehall comes across as well-spoken, polite, even charming at times. He's also an insane TortureTechnician that even other members of HYDRA are terrified of.
** ''Series/JessicaJones2015'': Creator/DavidTennant's natural charm and likability are used to great effect in his performance as the [[MindRape mind-controlling Kilgrave]], who can be funny and put up a charming front when he wants to, yet he consistently remains arguably the single most disturbing villain in the entire Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse.
** ''Series/WandaVision'': Agatha Harkness a.k.a Agnes acts like a friendly neighbor to Wanda, but that's just to manipulate her and control her actions around Westview. Even while [[PensieveFlashback forcing Wanda to relive her most traumatic memories]], [[TermsOfEndangerment she still calls her cute nicknames like "Buttercup".]]

** Jaime Lannister, who spends most of the time smiling, making self-deprecating jokes, and retaining his dignity in bad situations, and the remainder of it ruthlessly killing anyone, from children to his own distant cousins, who 'was in my way'. As the series progresses (and particularly in the books), Jaime is given more CharacterDevelopment and becomes more of an overgrown jock who has never really properly grown up, but who is slavishly loyal to those few people he does love, namely Cersei and Tyrion. As the series progresses, his affability seems more and more to do with his hurt ego, and his attempt to injure Bran was more of a last-ditch attempt to protect his sister/lover, who would have been killed along with her children if their affair had been caught by the king. He's still not heroic, but he's not a card-carrying villain, either.
** A much clearer example is Littlefinger. Soft-spoken, charming, and polite, and openly admits he's untrustworthy, a combination he uses to further his schemes and lull his targets. He has all that SnarkToSnarkCombat with Varys, and [[spoiler: he gives Ros to Joffery [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice to have fun with.]]]] He also quickly betrays those he offers to help, like Ned Stark.
** Ramsay Snow often comes across as friendly and playful, even gentlemanly around Walda and Locke, but it's clear that there isn't a single atom of genuine affability in the performance -- especially when he is rather playful and jocular while torturing [[spoiler:Theon Greyjoy]] and playing his hunting games, much like a cat playing with its prey.

** Tywin Lannister has shades of this in his negotiations with Olenna. He puts on a polite facade but it's not enough to hide his fury over how the Tyrells tried to marry Sansa behind his back (from his perspective).
** Cersei can pretend, and at rare moments her beauty and charm allow her to come across as decent. It's what fools Sansa for so long.
** In the first season, Joffrey at least makes an effort to appear a charming noble, but once the crown is on he doesn't care to pretend anymore. When he does start to pretend, it's an indication he's about to do something horrible. For instance, when speaking politely to Ser Dontos, he tells him to have as much wine as he likes -- because he plans to drown him in it.
** Euron is all smile and wit whilst murdering everyone in his way.

* ''Series/MidsomerMurders'': In "[[Recap/MidsomerMurdersS1E0 The Killings at Badger's Drift]]", Iris Rainbird acts incredibly sweet and jolly... especially when she is blackmailing her victims.

* ''Moses Jones'': Matthias Mutukula from this BBC miniseries, who is an African warlord-in-exile. Usually polite and well-spoken, especially towards people he needs something from, but it only takes one wrong word for his pleasantries to become laced with threats. Threats he has no qualms about carrying out, such as having a restaurateur's teeth smashed in with a claw-hammer after the police speak with her. Then there's all the standard African Warlord atrocities he committed back when he was in power.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': Gunter Luzte from "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS3E74DeathsHeadRevisited Deaths-Head Revisited]]" was a vicious Nazi commander who nevertheless acted with the joviality of a summer camp counselor toward his victims.

*** Gul Dukat is a straight example. Because of their different values, most Cardassians are AffablyEvil. However, Gul Dukat lacks the selflessness of most Cardassians. Whereas most Cardassians do what they do for the greater benefit of Cardassia, Dukat only cares about himself, taking his narcissism to hallucinatory and AxCrazy levels towards the end.

* ''Series/TheSopranos'': Tony Soprano Zigzags between this and AffablyEvil. He can be genuinely friendly and does make an effort to look out for those he cares about, but he gradually loses any real redeeming qualities. He will often act friendly to those he is just about to do something horrible to, like Jackie Jr and Phil Leotardo, just to taunt them. This is mostly relegated to people who piss him off, but Tony clearly gets a kick out of it.

** [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans Russell Edgington]]. While more of a TrueNeutral in the book series, he starts out as very AffablyEvil in the series...up until his lover is killed and he progresses into insanity. Combined with his 3000 years of age, his mental instability makes him the most dangerous thing in the entire series.

* ''Series/TheFollowing'': Joe Carroll often acts like a doddering former literature professor/author who's affable, a loving father figure to his family, and enjoys tweaking main character Ryan Hardy with teasing barbs. The reason why he's no longer a literature professor is that he was revealed to be a serial killer, his "family" is a literal death-worshiping cult of fellow serial killers, and Ryan Hardy is a former FBI agent whose life he's trying to make a living hell. Every second he acts AffablyEvil is all the creepier of how much the show emphasizes how bad he is.