History Main / BaddieFlattery

Subtrope of VillainRespect. Contrast to AffablyEvil, where the villain is not necessarily trying to annoy or flatter the hero, but rather that's genuinely what they're like to most people and OpponentInstruction. See also YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame when the flattery actually manages to rile up the hero. It may be used in a ArsonMurderAndAdmiration kind of way, though true examples of that are between villains.

-->'''Witch Hazel:''' I warn you, dearie, I'm going to worm all your ugly secrets out of you. Tell me. Who undoes your hair?\\

* In the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short ''WesternAnimation/BroomStickBunny'', WesternAnimation/BugsBunny, who's trick-or-treating in a hideous witch costume, knocks on Witch Hazel's door. Mistaking Bugs for a witch uglier than she is, she invites him in and compliments him on his hair.

** In stark contrast to his FauxAffablyEvil {{Dragon}} Ghirahim, Demise in ''Videogame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' praises Link and Groose's courage and strength. He remarks that they are very different from the cowardly humans of the past who hid behind their goddess Hylia. He's the single most affable villain in any game regardless of translation, but lets his malice slip once being defeated. [[spoiler:Literally; malice becomes a physical substance that can infest and corrupt the land and architecture of Hyrule and is implied to be how monsters are created. In particular, it leads to the birth of Ganondorf.]]

* One of the common traits of most ''Film/JamesBond'' villains. Bond parodies such as ''Series/GetSmart'', ''Film/AustinPowers'' and ''{{Isidoro}}'' also have villains acting in such a way.

* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'': A NobleDemon black ops operative, Erde, compliments Akira for the maneuver that let Akira deliver the blast that kills him, just before apologizing to the two men he led to their deaths as his LastWords.

* ''LightNovel/TheUnexploredSummonBloodSign'', the White Queen remarks on how compact and economical Kyousuke's "fairy spring"/portal was, compared to her minions' more wasteful version of the same. One of the reasons she antagonizes him specifically is because watching him achieve the impossible amuses her.

* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': In this ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' fanfiction, in a way [[MultipleHeadCase all three of Ghidorah's heads]] at varying points -- the [[spoiler:regenerated]] Ichi/Eldest Brother, the shed skin clone [=MaNi=]/Elder Brother, and San's EvilDoppelganger San-2/Youngest Brother -- compliment Monster X (specifically the [[TwoBeingsOneBody Vivienne Graham half]]) on how ferocious and beautiful a creature she's grown into and on her brutaality, since a StartOfDarkness is just what Ghidorah wants of Vivienne.

* In the ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'' official {{novelization}}, Apex Cybernetics CEO [[Characters/MonsterVerseHumans Walter Simmons]] says he's a huge fan of Bernie's Mad Truth podcasts (which by the way are very anti-Apex), revealing that Bernie's chemtrail conspiracy theories ironically gave Simmons new product ideas.

* From ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'':

* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCarribeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl'': When Will Turner first crosses swords with Jack Sparrow, Jack comments, "You know what you're doing, I'll give you that. Excellent form. But how's your footwork?"

* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCarribeanCurseOfTheBlackPearl'': When Will Turner first crosses swords with Jack Sparrow, Jack comments, "You know what you're doing, I'll give you that. Excellent form. But how's your footwork?"

[[quoteright:195:[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2dd7dc446d90061aa2fe27eb640f417e.png]]]]

[[quoteright:180:[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2dd7dc446d90061aa2fe27eb640f417e.png]]]]

->''"And by the way... I like your dress."''-

** When Luffy faces off against all three [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking admirals]] in Marineford, Admiral Akainu says: "If nothing else, I praise your tenacity."

* Ghazan in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' is genuinely impressed with Bolin when he [[spoiler:learns how to lavabend]], commenting that he's a lot more powerful that he originally thought and that maybe in another life he could have helped him master it.

* In the French version of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'', this was a distinctive trait of Agahnim, and, to a lesser extent, Ganon. No other title has ever displayed a villain that polite.

* In stark contrast to his Dragon, Demise in ''Videogame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' praises Link and Groose's courage and strength. He remarks that they are very different from the cowardly humans of the past who hid behind their goddess Hylia.

* From ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood'' there's a bit of this in the style of ArsonMurderAndAdmiration, after Prince John learns of the latest hit that his subjects have come up with against him and that both the Sheriff of Nottingham and Sir Hiss have somehow managed to learn the lyrics (and that the former had been singing it on his tax collecting sprees as of late): "They'll be singing a different tune! Double the taxes! ''Triple'' the taxes! ''SQUEEZE EVERY LAST DROP'' out of those insolent... ''musical'' peasants." Note that he sounded slightly amused when he got to the word "musical".

* Gin Ichimaru from ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' and his treatment of "Hinamori-chan", whom he taunts gently yet sarcastically to make her (and others) believe he's a criminal and a traitor. [[spoiler:Turns out he * was* a betrayer, but not quite as the others imagined]]. He even takes time to talk to Rukia in her way to be executed and give her the hope that she ''might'' have her life spared... and then practically say he was kidding, dashing her last bits of hope [[spoiler: before Ichigo fight his way in the execution fields [[BigDamnHeroes and *does* save her]]]].

* In ''Anime/KillLaKill'', when Ryuko and Senketsu first encounter [[BigBad Ragyo Kiryuin]], she comments on how she didn’t expect Senketsu to be so beautiful (note that Senketsu is an article of living clothing, and Ragyo is both the head of a fashion empire and worshipper of beings like Senketsu). She later adopts a similar attitude to Ryuko [[spoiler:upon realising that she is her daughter, and a human infused with Life Fibers]], often commenting that what she's doing is beneath her [[spoiler:and that it's a pity to have to kill somebody who has such a thorough merging with Life Fibers.]]

* In ''Anime/KillLaKill'', when Ryuko and Senketsu first encounter [[BigBad Ragyo Kiryuin]], she comments on how she didn’t expect Senketsu to be so beautiful (note that Senketsu is an article of living clothing, and Ragyo is both the head of a fashion empire and worshipper of beings like Senketsu). She later adopts a similar attitude to Ryuko [[spoiler:upon realising that she is her daughter, and a human infused with Life Fibers]], often commenting that what she's doing is beneath her [[spoiler:and that it's a pity to have to kill somebody who has such a thorough merging with Life Fibers]].
* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'': A NobleDemon black ops operative, Erde, compliments Akira for the maneuver that let Akira deliver the blast that kills him, just before apologizing to the two men he lead to their deaths as his LastWords.

* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': In this ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'', in a way [[MultipleHeadCase all three of Ghidorah's heads]] at varying points -- the [[spoiler:regenerated]] Ichi/Eldest Brother, the shed skin clone [=MaNi=]/Elder Brother, and San's EvilDoppelganger San-2/Youngest Brother -- compliment Monster X (specifically the [[TwoBeingsOneBody Vivienne Graham half]]) on how ferocious and beautiful a creature she's grown into and on her brutaality, since a StartOfDarkness is just what Ghidorah wants of Vivienne.

-->"You sly dog! You got me monologuing! You know, you really ''are'' Mr. Incredible!"\\
"Hiding from my seeker using the ''bones of another super''?! I can't believe it, man, I'm ''still'' [[TheKnightsWhoSaySquee geekin' out]]! Ahhh."

* ''LightNovel/TheUnexploredSummonBloodSign'', the White Queen remarks on how compact and economical Kyousuke's "fairy spring"/portal was, compared to her minions' more wasteful version of the same. One of the reasons she antagonizes him specifically is because watching him achieve the impossible amuses her.

* Taken to a disturbing extent in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' with Control Freak in "For Real". When questioning the replacement Titans where the originals were, the satirical nerdy villain went into a lengthy montage describing the characteristics of (and dressing as) each and every Titan.
-->'''Aqualad''': You sound more like a fanboy than a nemesis.
** He later went fanboy crazy over the Titans East, so much so that he ''couldn't resist'' teleporting himself in front of them after they just survived all his "tests" and attempts to blow up the city.