History Main / UnderlingWithAnFInPR

* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'': Other than [[BigBad Bradford Buzzard]], every single member of FOWL is a bit ''too'' proud of being a CardCarryingVillain, to the point that when Bradford started recruiting people for his NebulousEvilOrganization! they refused to be part of it unless he added "Fiendish" to the acronym.
- ->[''Bradford gets ready to escape the [=McDuck=] family with a helicopter, but he stops and notices that the copter has the FOWL emblem painted on the side where everybody can see it (revealing to the family for the first time who they are dealing with). He immediately does a FacePalm.'']\\

* In ''VideoGame/Yakuza0'', while Kuze and his underlings are attempting to [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique interrogate Tachibana]] as to Makoto's whereabouts, Kuze realizes that [[MadeOfIron Tachibana is too tough a nut to crack with torture]] and orders his right-hand man Yoneda to stop so that they can try something else, figuring that they won't be able to get any information out of Tachibana if he's too dead to talk. Yoneda, however, [[StupidEvil is too stupid to think of something else]], [[{{Sadist}} too violent and sadistic to try]] and has grown too insubordinate after [[HumiliationConga Kuze's failures throughout the game.]] When Tachibana subtly taunts Yoneda over this, Yoneda snaps and smashes his face with a [[DropTheHammer sledgehammer]], which gets Tachibana killed not long after and [[YouHaveFailedMe Yoneda immediately after.]] [[FromBadToWorse Oh, and Kiryu arrives right after this]] and [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge mops the floor with Kuze after he sees the state Tachibana is in.]]

---> '''Sam Crow''': That fucking kid is ruinin' us.

Can be played for CringeComedy. Often seen in conjunction with InstantlyProvenWrong (where the underling inadvertently contradicts his boss), NumberTwoForBrains or OverzealousUnderling (where this is a result of the character's idiocy/overenthusiasm), PoisonousFriend (who will do dirty deeds behind their friend's back in order to support their cause), and LiarRevealed (where the underling's indifference to the need-to-know policy reveals his boss' machinations). The more intelligent villains may point out that AtLeastIAdmitIt when told off for not using code. LeaveNoWitnesses may ensue, depending on how many people heard the incriminating words.

* ''Literature/SoulMusic'': Ridcully and Stibbons are trying to study the "music with rocks in" phenomenon, which they do by trapping the music in a box. Unfortunately, Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler (the biggest and least successful conman on the Disc) sees them, and Stibbons starts explaining what they're doing "[[NerdsAreInnocent with the undirected excitement of the true discoverer and idiot]]", despite Ridcully [[BeQuietNudge stomping repeatedly on his foot]]. Sure enough, Dibbler is next seen trying to replicate the wizards' experiment, but since he's using a crappy GarageBand instead of the actual rock players the results are disappointing.

An underling or ally (usually for a VillainWithGoodPublicity, HeroWithBadPublicity or other SlaveToPR) who does not get that his boss' orders are meant to be carried out with secrecy and subtlety, that the pretense that the boss is good/reformed/[[WellIntentionedExtremist having good goals]] needs to be upheld in front of witnesses, or that just because the underling is a CardCarryingVillain doesn't mean [[AffablyEvil the boss is]]. Often prone to StupidEvil, EuphemismBuster and IdioticPartnerConfession. Very likely to be the cause of a BeleagueredBoss.

Ainz dutifully casts Dark Young, a spell that eliminates three quarters of the opposing army by first instakilling 70,000 soldiers and uses their deaths as fuel to summon five {{Eldritch Abomination}}s that stomp on the soldiers who didn't flee in time.\\

* [[IronLady Lady Une]], the fierce NumberTwo of Treize Khushrenada in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' causes a PR nightmare early in the series when she openly broadcasts a message [[NukeEm threatening to nuke the colonies]] that [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized the Gundam pilots represent]] if they don't back down. Treize is less than impressed by both her tactics and the heavy handed way she carried them out and rebukes her for it, forcing her to undergo some character evolution.

* ''ComicBook/{{Tintin}}'': In ''Recap/TintinTheRedSeaSharks'', Captain Haddock finds himself in charge of a cargo ship full of black Muslims. When the villains' buyer (who think Haddock is substituting for the usual captain) comes aboard and starts examining the passenger's muscles and teeth, Haddock angrily tells him the man isn't a slave, and the buyer rebukes Haddock for using the "s" word instead of "coke"[[note]]a type of coal and the slavers' codeword throughout the book, in the same way "ebony" (a dark-colored wood) was the euphemism for African slaves in the 19th century[[/note]] in front of witnesses. [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil Haddock goes ballistic]], bellowing insults at the fleeing slaver even after he's out of hearing range.

* ''Film/{{Cannonball}}'': One of the side-plots of the film is about a DirtyCop named Terry cheating his way to victory by flying his Ford Bronco from California to New York, picking up his lover on the way and spending some time to make the lie realistic having sex on a motel. Unfortunately for Terry, said lover is a complete airhead that casually blurts out the scheme when Terry cannot find the champagne to celebrate their arrival to the finish line ("I think we left it on the plane!"), [[DisqualificationInducedVictory getting them disqualified]]. The last we see of her is her doing a happy "oops!" face in response to Terry's annoyance as they are swarmed by reporters and race officials.

** Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane, the Lannister's PsychoForHire, never really cares about his actions on the Lannisters' reputation ([[TheDreaded if anything, that's what he's there for]]). But during his duel with Oberyn Martell, he gleefully confesses that he was the one who killed Elia Martell's children, raped her, and smashed her head in (as he smashes in Oberyn's head), which would not have done the Lannisters any favors if Oberyn hadn't pulled a MutualKill.
* In ''Series/LukeCage2016'', the entire conflict of the first season is kicked off when Cottonmouth’s right-hand man, Tone, disobeys his orders and shoots up Pops’ barber shop in a clumsy effort to kill a target who’s hiding there, despite the fact that said barber shop is supposed to be neutral ground. This earns Cottonmouth’s gang the ire of both Luke Cage and the entire Harlem community, and things generally go massively downhill from there. Even worse, Pops was a close personal friend of Cottonmouth (which is why he respected this rule -- Tone knew this all perfectly well and still considered that it made Cottonmouth look weak) and ends up dying in the shootout, while the actual target gets away, making the whole thing pointless. [[YouHaveFailedMe No points for guessing what Cottonmouth does to Tone after hearing about all this]].

* ''VideoGame/MegaManX4'': The leader of the Repliforce, called General, announced their intent of exiling into space to give themselves a new home, supposedly without violence. As Repliforce is supposed to be an army that answers to the government to deal with Maverick threats[[note]]and that, prior to this, they were accused for being responsible for [[ColonyDrop the Sky Lagoon incident]][[/note]], this is met with much suspicion, with the Maverick Hunters (our heroes' group, who, until this point, was Repliforce's ally) declaring the whole Repliforce to be Maverick. Then several elite Repliforce members are dispatched to defend themselves from the Hunters... and two of them, Jet Stingray and Storm Owl, would go on to terrorize cities to distract their attention, basically making their "vow of non violence" moot and justifying their Maverick branding.

* In WebVideo/SovietWomble's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3pU0VqEFVs Random Arma Bullshittery Part 9]], Womble tries to lead the resistance (known as the Badgers or [[FunWithAcronyms Moltos Independence Liberation Front]] to everyone but him) to [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeVilified be morally upstanding and focus on liberating the island of Altis from Russian troops]]; however, the rest of the ZF [[note]] Zero Fucks [[/note]] clan constantly undermine him and his hearts and minds initiative by shooting civilians and one another (in the former case this was because of bugs, the latter because someone went AFK in real life), killing dogs, and then [[FromBadToWorse executing Russian soldiers who have clearly surrendered and even]] ''[[SuicideAttack using suicide bombers]]''. The former leads Womble to believe that the group have crossed the MoralEventHorizon and eventually, the combined antics of everyone else leads him to declare ThenLetMeBeEvil and say "fuck it" from a PR standpoint. [[spoiler:When the resistance is eventually wiped out, it turns out that Altis and its citizens decide that the Russian occupation is [[BetterTheDevilYouKnow the lesser of two evils]], while the rest of the world condemns them as terrorists.]]

* UrbanLegend holds that when the French president Félix Faure went OutWithABang, the priest brought in to administer the last rites asked the police officer at the door "Le président a t-il toujours sa connaissance?" (meaning "is the president still conscious?", but can also be interpreted as "is the president's [[UnusualEuphemism acquaintance]] still there?"). To which the officer replied "Oh no, your reverence, she already went out the back door!"

* ''Webcomic/CaptainSNES'': Robo is prone to sing his mistress' praises in unexpected ways, such as informing people of how foresighted she is by bringing lots of extra kleenexes when going to meet Crono ([[FakeBoobs kept in her bra where she won't lose them]]).

* The killers in ''[[Creator/JohnSandford Shadow Prey]'' target businessmen and politicians who are prejudiced against Native Americans and hope to inspire other oppressed Native Americans to take the initiative. In the final act, their two leaders are exasperated when their hot-headed main enforcer and son ([[MamasBabyPapasMaybe they both slept with his mother around the time he was conceived and helped raise him together]]) keeps deciding MurderIsTheBestSolution for dealing with people who aren't on their list of targets. His actions make the group as a whole look more bloodthirsty and hypocritical than it is, something they never fully shake off.

* ''Film/{{Cannoball}}'': One of the side-plots of the film is about a DirtyCop named Terry cheating his way to victory by flying his Ford Bronco from California to New York, picking up his lover on the way and spending some time to make the lie realistic having sex on a motel. Unfortunately for Terry, said lover is a complete airhead that casually blurts out the scheme when Terry cannot find the champagne to celebrate their arrival to the finish line ("I think we left it on the plane!"), [[DisqualificationInducedVictory getting them disqualified]]. The last we see of her is her doing a happy "oops!" face in response to Terry's annoyance as they are swarmed by reporters and race officials.

* In ''Film/LethalWeapon2'' and ''Film/LethalWeapon3'', the first act involves underlings of the BigBad in each movie doing something foolish that catches the LAPD's attention (in ''2'', a traffic stop leads to the LAPD discovering a trunk of Kruggerand currency; in ''3'', underlings attempt and fail an armored truck robbery). As both main villains are operating as [[VillainWithGoodPublicity villains with respectable standing]] -- Arjen Rudd as a South African diplomat, Jack Travis as a land developer -- neither are pleased and immediately off said underlings for the trouble.

** Ainz's underlings in general have great difficulty in being even remotely friendly towards humans (as all of them are heteromorphic species, "no humans allowed" being one of the basic rules of the guild), which goes against Ainz's dream of peace and cooperation between the many races of the new world. And while he no longer has the means to directly change their personalities, he's also loath to order them to act nice, because they aren't responsible for the personalities their creators gave them (and as some of their creators were going through an edgelord phase, quite a few of those personalities have serious issues).

* [[IronLady Lady Une]], the fierce NumberTwo of [[OverarchingVillain Treize Khushrenada]] in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' causes a PR nightmare early in the series when she openly broadcasts a message [[NukeEm threatening to nuke the colonies]] that [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized the Gundam pilots represent]] if they don't back down. Treize is less than impressed by both her tactics and the heavy handed way she carried them out and rebukes her for it, forcing her to undergo some character evolution.

'''Sgt. Dunder: Yeah, and then we followed you.\\

* ''WesternAnimation/Talespin'': "The Idol Rich"

* ''Literature/TrickyBusiness'': The BigBadWannabe's BrainlessBeauty secretary (hired on the basis of her bra size) is ordered to inform the MediaScrum outside that he's not here. She does this by announcing "He says he's not here!"

* The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimmermann_Telegram Zimmermann Telegram]] was a secret German proposal to ally with Mexico during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, promising to return the 1838 borders in exchange for Mexico declaring war on the US (preventing them from sending supplies to Europe). As the US could not say how they got the telegram without revealing that the British had cracked German codes, the telegram was accused of being a British FalseFlagOperation... until Arthur Zimmermann (the man who'd written the telegram in the first place) helpfully told everyone that it was very much real. The US quickly went to war with Germany, who'd started sinking American ships, while Mexico made no attempt at [[MexicoCalledTheyWantTexasBack reconquering its former territories]] (being in [[UsefulNotes/TheMexicanRevolution the middle of a civil war]] at the time).

* ''Film/ThePatriot'': Colonel Tavington, the field commander of the British dragoons, adopts extremely harsh policies towards the Americans, having wounded enemy soldiers gunned down and setting fire to the homes of non-combatants who sheltered them. General Cornwallis berates Tavington for his savagery, calling it unbecoming of AnOfficerAndAGentleman and reminding him of the King's wishes that there will be a reconciliation with the colonists (their fellow countrymen) after the rebellion is put down. He later rightfully points out that [[CreateYourOwnHero Tavington's cruelty has directly motivated men like Benjamin Martin to take up arms]].

* ''Manga/Overlord2012'':

* ''WebVideo/UltraFastPony:'' In "Batshy Crazy", Apple Bloom accidentally spoils Applejack's attempt to say she wasn't trying to kill Fluttershy.
-->'''Twilight:''' And since Fluttershy is our friend, we're going to help her out of this problem, instead of just killing her.\\
'''Applejack:''' Well, of course, Twilight! I wouldn't dream of doing it any other way.\\
'''Apple Bloom:''' Hey, Applejack! I found your shotgun that you said you wanted to murder Fluttershy with, just like you specifically told me!

* ''WebVideo/JoueurDuGrenier'': During the "Project Hospital" LP, the government-sent accountant is giving an interview assuring that [[IncompetenceInc everything is going fine]]. The head of medicine staggers onscreen, still clutching his (emptied) whiskey bottle to confirm it, why it's been a whole 20 minutes since the last patient died! The consultant shoves him away, says to ignore him because he's always drunk, and asks if they could not use that last sentence.

An underling or ally (usually for a VillainWithGoodPublicity, HeroWithBadPublicity or other SlaveToPR) who does not get that his boss' orders are meant to be carried out with secrecy and subtlety, that the pretense that the boss is good/reformed/[[WellIntentionedExtremist having good goals]] needs to be upheld in front of witnesses, or that just because the underling is CardCarryingEvil doesn't mean [[AffablyEvil the boss is]]. Often prone to StupidEvil, EuphemismBuster and IdioticPartnerConfession. Very likely to be the cause of a BeleagueredBoss.

-->YOU STOLE PAINKILLERS FROM A FUCKING CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL!!! On what was supposed to be a PR opportunity!

* In one issue of ''ComicBook/DamageControl'', an employee of the Latverian embassy has been embezzling and making up the difference by refusing to pay the bills for outside contractors. This was a {{Retcon}} of the memetic comic where SelfDemonstrating/DoctorDoom skips the country to [[EvilIsPetty avoid paying Luke Cage $200]].

Jircniv's reputation takes a dive as it's widely believed he knew what would happen and made a DealWithTheDevil, meaning other nations view with with suspicion and not a little horror. Ainz, of course, is completely unaware of the implications: the reason he used such a flashy and overkill spell was to attract the attention of any other people TrappedInAnotherWorld like himself, he could just as easily have won the battle with the 500 Death Knights he'd brought along.

Compare FromTheMouthsOfBabes and InnocentlyInsensitive for characters who can use age as an excuse.