History Main / BaitAndSwitchTyrant

* Lane Pryce of ''Series/MadMen'' comes in at the beginning of Season 3 as the hated representative of Sterling Cooper's new British overlords, Putnam, Powell, and Lowe. PPL's vision for Sterling Cooper clashes at times with that of Roger Sterling and Don Draper, and in any case Pryce is responsible for making painful cutbacks and changes. He is naturally not very popular at first. By the end of Season 3, he's realized that he'll be sidelined by PPL (who are selling Sterling Cooper to advertising MegaCorp [=McCann=] Erickson[[note]][[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCann_Erickson real firm]], by the way[[/note]]) and joins Sterling, Cooper, and Draper in starting an entirely new agency: Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce.
** Pryce is extremely competent in managing the firm's finances and curbing the excesses of the executives. Since the other partners are staunch capitalists they quickly appreciate how much money he is saving them. When business gets bad he is the one who keeps the firm afloat and everyone realizes this. When [[spoiler:Lane's personal financial troubles (involving [[IntimidatingRevenueService the Inland Revenue]]) drive him to embezzlement and then [[DrivenToSuicide suicide]], both the characters and the fans were sincerely saddened.]]

* ''Film/{{Croc}}'': Evelyn is seen sternly taking note of some violations while inspecting Jack's farm, and shrugs of his claims of sabotage by the Konsong's. During her briefing, however, she does not recommend shutting the farm down, stating that the violations were minor, easily fixed ones. This causes the Konsong's (who have a vested interest in closing Jack's farm) to get her fired.

Note this only applies to characters who redeem themselves while in power. If their redemption occurs once they are no longer in power, it's BreakTheHaughty. Compare DependingOnTheWriter.

* In ''LightNovel/Overlord2012'', [[OurLichesAreDifferent Ainz]] quickly proves to be this after he takes over the city of E-Rantel and founds his [[TheNecrocracy Sorcerer Kingdom.]] Virtually everyone, from his new subjects to every other nation in the New World, expects the Undead King to demand massive sacrifices in his name for some evil ritual or another, or launch a genocidal campaign against any who do not submit to his rule. Instead, they are visibly surprised when he brings stability and peace: everyone has enough food to eat, jobs are readily available or created, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking the undead handle all the paperwork]] and [[EqualOpportunityEvil all races are able to coexist as equals.]] His neighbors still take issue with a country ruled by an undead, of course, but are hardly in a position to remove [[PhysicalGod Ainz]] from power.

** {{Inverted|Trope}} by Sergey Taboritsky (at least in earlier builds) and Igor Shafarevich of Komi. Taboritsky is initially an eccentric monarchist whose ideology is classified as Despotism (a catch-all category for generally non-ideological dictatorships), while Shafarevich is a mathematician turned conservative politician whose ideology is classified as Conservative Democracy. They seem like the most moderate leaders in Komi's right-wing Passionaryy assembly in terms of ideological classifications, especially with the alternatives, Lev Gumilyov's Eurasian State (a highly stratified, anti-modernist regime that wants to [[DaysOfFuturePast revive traditional "Eurasian" culture and paganism]]) and Ivan Serov's National Soviet Republic (a {{Commie Nazi|s}} regime), both being more ObviouslyEvil. Once they actually cement their power and set out to reunify Russia, however, they both reveal themselves to be tyrants. Shafarevich's support for democracy was all a sham, as his [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny Russian Free Republic]] is actually a theocratic nationalist dictatorship with only a thin veneer of democracy. He's still preferable, however, to Taboritsky, who [[BewareTheSillyOnes quickly turns out]] to be more [[TheCaligula horrifically insane]] than any of his contenders as he adopts a version of the [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans Burgundian System]] built around a cult venerating a long-deceased heir to the Romanov line, marking him as the most radical and vile politician in Komi (and indeed all Russia) by a considerable margin. However, in later versions of the mod Taboritsky starts out already as a Clerical Fascist, showing from the get-go that [[SchmuckBait he's up to no good]].

* ''Series/LondonsBurning'': Station Officer Nick Georgiadis, who takes over from the well-loved Station Officer Sidney Tate, initially comes off as a hardass and doesn't endear himself to Blue Watch. But while his leadership style is rather different and more stand-offish, he proves himself to be a ReasonableAuthorityFigure [[NotSoAboveItAll with a well-hidden sense of humour]] and a good leader; when a rescue plan involves desperate improvisation that violates several Brigade safety rules and involves great personal risk, he insists on undertaking it himself.

* In ''LightNovel/Overlord2012'', [[OurLichesAreDifferent Ainz]] quickly proves to be this after he takes over the city of E-Rantel and founds his [[TheNecrocracy Sorcerer Kingdom.]] Virtually everyone, from his new subjects to every other nation in the New World, expects the Undead King to demand massive sacrifices in his name for some evil ritual or another, or launch a genocidal campaign against any who do not submit to his rule. Instead, they are visibly surprised when he brings stability and peace: everyone has enough food to eat, jobs are readily available or created, and all races are able to coexist as equals. His neighbors still take issue with a country ruled by an undead, of course, but are hardly in a position to remove [[PhysicalGod Ainz]] from power.

** {{Inverted|Trope}} by Sergey Taboritsky and Igor Shafarevich of Komi. Taboritsky is initially an eccentric monarchist whose ideology is classified as Despotism (a catch-all category for generally non-ideological dictatorships), while Shafarevich is a mathematician turned conservative politician whose ideology is classified as Conservative Democracy. They seem like the most moderate leaders in Komi's right-wing Passionaryy assembly in terms of ideological classifications, especially with the alternatives, Lev Gumilyov's Eurasian State (a highly stratified, anti-modernist regime that wants to [[DaysOfFuturePast revive traditional "Eurasian" culture and paganism]]) and Ivan Serov's National Soviet Republic (a {{Commie Nazi|s}} regime), both being more ObviouslyEvil. Once they actually cement their power and set out to reunify Russia, however, they both reveal themselves to be tyrants. Shafarevich's support for democracy was all a sham, as his [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny Russian Free Republic]] is actually a theocratic nationalist dictatorship with only a thin veneer of democracy. He's still preferable, however, to Taboritsky, who [[BewareTheSillyOnes quickly turns out]] to be more [[TheCaligula horrifically insane]] than any of his contenders as he adopts a version of the [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans Burgundian System]] built around a cult venerating a long-deceased heir to the Romanov line, marking him as the most radical and vile politician in Komi (and indeed all Russia) by a considerable margin.

* In the ''Film/StarshipTroopers'' movie, Lt. Raschak has a reputation for being a "real nutbuster" among troops outside his unit, but Raschak's Roughnecks are fiercely loyal to their commander. He comes across as stern and demanding, not hesitant to [[MercyKill shoot one of his own troopers]] to save the poor ape from [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath being eaten alive by a nest of bugs]], and says he'd expect anyone in his unit to do the same for him. But then we see that he understands the importance of soldier morale by ordering his troops have a party while they're in a safe zone, and even allowing Rico and Dizzy to finish up their [[DoubleEntendre R&R]] in the tent.

--> '''Potter''': "When I was on Guam, I had a still. One night it blew up! [leans close to the boys] That's how I got my Purple Heart."

--> '''Ecklie''': "I'll have our public information officer contact his counterpart at the station. We'll also call Judge Anderson and get a warrant for the memory card, any copies, and the name of their source."
--> '''Catherine''': ''(surprised)'' "Thank you, Conrad."
--> '''Ecklie''': "It's my job."

* ''Series/{{Chernobyl}}'': Boris Scherbina is introduced as your standard Soviet ObstructiveBureaucrat dismissing Legasov (the scientist telling him the core exploded), but when Legasov is quickly vindicated on all points and he realizes that Bryukhanov and Fomin are lying to him, he immediately becomes a BadassBureaucrat with the superpower of making the Soviet state actually ''do'' things instead of sticking their heads in the sand.

* In ''LightNovel/Overlord2012'', [[OurLichesAreDifferent Ainz]] quickly proves to be this after he takes over the city of E-Rantel and founds his Sorcerer Kingdom. Virtually everyone, from his new subjects to every other nation in the New World, expects the Undead King to demand massive sacrifices in his name for some evil ritual or another, or launch a genocidal campaign against any who do not submit to his rule. Instead, they are visibly surprised when he brings stability and peace: everyone has enough food to eat, jobs are readily available or created, and all races are able to coexist as equals.

* In ''Chu- Bra!!'', Tsukamoto-sensei finally is shown in this light. She ''does'' appreciate underwear, she just wasn't comfortable with the idea of such young girls showing their underwear in public. Given the characters' ages, it is quite justified.

** When Captain Edward Jellico is given command of the Enterprise while Picard and some of the senior staff are sent on a Black Op. This starts out looking like a TyrantTakesTheHelm plot when he immediately starts to change everyone's duty roster until they can barely see straight, tells Troi to put on a uniform instead of parading around in her [[{{Fanservice}} lavender bunny suit]] [[note]] To the absolute DELIGHT of the actress, if not the character, especially since that innovation turned out to be permanent[[/note]], tells off Riker when he tries to question one of his orders, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking demands that someone "get rid of the damned fish" in Picard's office]]. But Jellico then goes on to prove himself to be a very effective officer when he sees through several layers of Cardassian deception, tricks the Cardassian fleet into a minefield, and gets Picard out of a prison camp in exchange for letting the fleet go.

* Speaker of the House Glenallen Walken on ''Series/TheWestWing'', who temporarily became Acting President when [[spoiler:Bartlet's daughter Zoey was kidnapped]], is one of these; although a conservative Republican whom the Democratic staffers of the West Wing feared was going to take over and force a Republican agenda through whilst he had the chance, Walken had no intention of exploiting Bartlet's personal tragedy for political gain (for sound political reasons as well as the obvious humane one, being well aware of how it could backfire and make him seem callous). He also proved to be a competent and effective Commander-in-Chief (which, ironically, also made the Democrats wary of him, since people might not want him to leave) and, despite his political differences with Bartlet and the staff, a reasonably amiable and gracious man.
** His only real beef with the existing White House staff comes when he suggests naming a new Vice President. They go berserk (in a well-mannered fashion), saying that he's only a stand-in and has no right to make that kind of decision. They're afraid that if he tries to push it through, such a candidate would be confirmed by the Republican-controlled Congress and the rest of Bartlet's term would have an opposing V.P. who'd be even worse to work with than [[TheStarscream John Hoynes]]. In response, Walken asks, rather reasonably, what would happen if ''he'' died in office? He's a very large man; what if he had a heart attack while eating his chocolate-covered steak? It would be a Constitutional crisis, which he wants to prevent by continuing with business as usual and assuming that Bartlet's sabbatical will be fairly long-term. In the end, after reviewing the hardcore conservative list of possible V.P.s that Republican congressional leaders prepared for him, Walken backs down on the idea, not wanting to go through with the very scheme that the White House is accusing him of perpetuating.

* Assistant Director Skinner on ''Series/TheXFiles''.

* Sam Donovan on ''Series/SportsNight''. As the new ratings consultant, he arrives suddenly and makes changes to the show while seeming to have no respect for the producers and on-air talent. But he quickly proves that his no-nonsense tactics are about making the show better, not abusing his own power. Then, when he succeeds, the network execs offer him [[CoolOldGuy Isaac]] [[BaldBlackLeaderGuy Jaffe's]] job and he not only turns them down flat but warns in no uncertain terms never to disrespect Isaac again.

** Albert Speer in Germany is another inversion. Compared to the doctrinaire conservative Martin Bormann, the reactionary [[BloodKnight warmonger]] Hermann Göring, and the fanatical SS chief UsefulNotes/ReinhardHeydrich, Speer is seemingly the most benevolent of the four candidates to succeed UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, a reformer who realizes that the Nazi system is both morally bankrupt and falling apart at the seams and has built a coalition of liberal dissidents, disaffected students, and moderate NSDAP bureaucrats. However, anybody who knows the first thing about the real-life Speer, specifically how he whitewashed his reputation after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII in order to portray himself as an apolitical technocrat who knew nothing of the Nazis' worst excesses (in truth, he exploited slave labor in [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust the concentration camps]] to achieve the Nazis' "production miracle"), can probably figure out that Speer's opposition to Nazism is hollow. [[spoiler:When he takes power, he only "reforms" Nazi Germany in the sense of fixing the most self-defeating elements of its economic and colonial systems and applying only thin, surface-level changes to its politics and culture that leave the authoritarianism of the system mostly intact, in a manner comparable to the real-life Deng Xiaoping's leadership of China. Genuine reform only comes if he gets [[PuppetKing sidelined]] by a clique of liberal advisors called the "Gang of Four" who actually ''do'' start dismantling Nazism and transitioning the Reich into a democratic state, against his wishes. Some have described his path as the worst one for Germany, Europe, and the world, as while Bormann condemns the Reich to a slow death by stagnation and both Göring and Heydrich cause it to go down in flames, Speer can build a Reich whose more sustainable "thousand-year Reich" probably will actually last a thousand years and stands a good chance of ''[[TheBadGuyWins winning]]'' the Cold War.]]

* In the Anniversary (and final) episode of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'', Mojo Jojo finally manages to TakeOverTheWorld, and immediately makes it a better place... [[VictoryIsBoring only to leave out of boredom]].

** In the Bible stories episode, David (Bart) kills Goliath II (Nelson) but his triumph is short lived when it turns out the people really liked Goliath, who built schools and roads. David is arrested.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' episode "The Coach", Coach Russo appeared to be a DrillSergeantNasty, exhausting everyone in class, possibly making up her accomplishments and overly favoring [[TheBully Jamie]]. However, halfway into the episode she stops Jamie from bullying Gumball and manages to ''make her apologize'', to everyone's astonishment. After that point, she's treated as a regular gym coach and not a tyrannical EvilTeacher.

* In the Anniversary (and final) episode of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'', Mojo Jojo finally manages to TakeOverTheWorld, and immediately makes it a better place... [[VictoryIsBoring only to leave out of boredom]].

** In the United States, it's possible to play a George Wallace Presidency this way. He gets elected on a segregationist platform supported by reactionaries in the DeepSouth, and while it's possible to play him as exactly the racist he ran as, the player can choose not to take action to repeal the Civil Rights Act while also passing significant welfare reforms. Doing this can surprise many liberals, and even Wallace himself, whose views on race start to soften as a result. Unfortunately, his segregationist supporters will ''also'' be surprised by this turn of events, [[DeconstructedTrope and doing nothing to oppose civil rights can cause them to turn against him and radicalize, rallying around the outright Nazi]] [[OppressiveStatesOfAmerica Francis]][[PresidentEvil Parker]] [[DayOfTheJackboot Yockey]].

** In the United States, it's possible to play a George Wallace Presidency this way. He gets elected on a segregationist platform supported by reactionaries in the DeepSouth, and while it's possible to play him as exactly the racist he ran as, the player can choose not to take action to repeal the Civil Rights Act while also passing significant welfare reforms. Doing this can surprise many liberals, and even Wallace himself, whose views on race start to soften as a result. Unfortunately, his segregationist supporters will ''also'' be surprised by this turn of events, [[DeconstructedTrope and doing nothing to oppose civil rights can cause them to turn against him and radicalize, rallying around the outright Nazi]][[OppressiveStatesOfAmerica Francis Parker Yockey]].

** In the United States, it's possible to play a George Wallace Presidency this way. He gets elected on a segregationist platform supported by reactionaries in the DeepSouth, and while it's possible to play him as exactly the racist he ran as, the player can choose not to take action to repeal the Civil Rights Act while also passing significant welfare reforms. Doing this can surprise many liberals, and even Wallace himself, whose views on race start to soften as a result. Unfortunately, his segregationist supporters will ''also'' be surprised by this turn of events, and doing nothing to oppose civil rights can cause them to turn against him and radicalize, rallying around the outright Nazi [[OppressiveStatesOfAmerica Francis Parker Yockey]].

** Albert Speer in Germany is another inversion. Compared to the doctrinaire conservative Martin Bormann, the reactionary [[BloodKnight warmonger]] Hermann Göring, and the fanatical SS chief UsefulNotes/ReinhardHeydrich, Speer is seemingly the most benevolent of the four candidates to succeed UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, a reformer who realizes that the Nazi system is both morally bankrupt and falling apart at the seams and has built a coalition of liberal dissidents, disaffected students, and moderate NSDAP bureaucrats. However, anybody who knows the first thing about the real-life Speer, specifically how he whitewashed his reputation after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII in order to portray himself as an apolitical technocrat who knew nothing of the Nazis' worst excesses (in truth, he exploited slave labor in [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust the concentration camps]] to achieve the Nazis' "production miracle"), can probably figure out that Speer's opposition to Nazism is hollow. [[spoiler:When he takes power, he only "reforms" Nazi Germany in the sense of fixing the most self-defeating elements of its economic and colonial systems and applying only thin, surface-level changes to its politics and culture that leave the authoritarianism of the system mostly intact, in a manner comparable to the real-life Deng Xiaoping's leadership of China. Genuine reform only comes if he gets [[PuppetKing sidelined]] by a clique of liberal advisors called the "Gang of Four" who actually ''do'' start dismantling Nazism and transitioning the Reich into a democratic state. Some have described his path as the worst one for Germany, Europe, and the world, as while Bormann condemns the Reich to a slow death by stagnation and both Göring and Heydrich cause it to go down in flames, Speer can build a Reich whose more sustainable "thousand-year Reich" probably will actually last a thousand years and stands a good chance of ''[[TheBadGuyWins winning]]'' the Cold War.]]

** Albert Speer in Germany is another inversion. Compared to the doctrinaire conservative Martin Bormann, the reactionary [[BloodKnight warmonger]] Hermann Göring, and the fanatical SS chief UsefulNotes/ReinhardHeydrich, Speer is seemingly the most benevolent of the four candidates to succeed UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, a reformer who realizes that the Nazi system is both morally bankrupt and falling apart at the seams and has built a coalition of liberal dissidents, disaffected students, and moderate NSDAP bureaucrats. However, anybody who knows the first thing about the real-life Speer, specifically how he whitewashed his reputation after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII in order to portray himself as an apolitical technocrat who knew nothing of the Nazis' worst excesses (in truth, he exploited slave labor in [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust the concentration camps]] to achieve the Nazis' "production miracle"), can probably figure out that Speer's opposition to Nazism is hollow. [[spoiler:When he takes power, he only "reforms" Nazi Germany in the sense of fixing the most self-defeating elements of its economic and colonial systems and applying only thin, surface-level changes to its politics and culture that leave the authoritarianism of the system mostly intact, in a manner comparable to the real-life Deng Xiaoping's leadership of China. Genuine reform only comes if he gets sidelined by a clique of liberal advisors called the "Gang of Four" who actually do start dismantling Nazism. Some have described his path as the worst one for Germany, Europe, and the world, as while Bormann condemns the Reich to a slow death by stagnation while both Göring and Heydrich cause it to go down in flames, Speer can build a Reich whose more sustainable "thousand-year Reich" probably will actually last a thousand years and stands a good chance of ''[[TheBadGuyWins winning]]'' the Cold War.]]

** Albert Speer in Germany is another inversion. Compared to the doctrinaire conservative Martin Bormann, the reactionary [[BloodKnight warmonger]] Hermann Göring, and the fanatical SS chief UsefulNotes/ReinhardHeydrich, Speer is seemingly the most benevolent of the four candidates to succeed UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, a reformer who realizes that the Nazi system is both morally bankrupt and falling apart at the seams and has built a coalition of liberal dissidents, disaffected students, and moderate NSDAP bureaucrats. However, anybody who knows the first thing about the real-life Speer, specifically how he whitewashed his reputation after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII in order to portray himself as an apolitical technocrat who knew nothing of the Nazis' worst excesses (in truth, he exploited slave labor in [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust the concentration camps]] to achieve the Nazis' "production miracle"), can probably figure out that Speer's opposition to Nazism is hollow. [[spoiler:When he takes power, he only "reforms" Nazi Germany in the sense of fixing the most self-defeating elements of its economic and colonial systems, while doing nothing to liberalize its politics or culture, in a manner comparable to the real-life Deng Xiaoping's leadership of China. Genuine reform only comes if he gets sidelined by a clique of liberal advisors called the "Gang of Four" who actually do start dismantling Nazism. Some have described his path as the worst one for Germany, Europe, and the world, as while Bormann condemns the Reich to a slow death by stagnation while both Göring and Heydrich cause it to go down in flames, Speer can build a Reich whose more sustainable fascist system probably will actually last a thousand years and stands a good chance of ''winning'' the Cold War.]]