History Main / WickedPretentious

* In''ComicBook/{{Starman}}'', Simon Culp is a violent racketeer, cultist and murderer, delighting in taking his revenge on society, which has ostracized him for his proclivities and dwarfism. He makes it a point to dress immaculately and very much prefers to limit himself to talking in French, especially since he feels his own native Cockney makes him look vulgar.

** Stanley, who attempts to put on an air of a charming, trustworthy salesman type, but is actually a sleazy ConMan who will commit murder for a quick buck and spends much of his time in the company of male prostitutes.

* ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryFreakShow'' has Dandy Mott, a wealthy heir who attempts to present himself as a cultured gentleman to the people he's trying to charm, but it's all an act. It takes remarkably little resistance from the other party to make him lose his cool and cause his real personality, that of a murderous [[PsychopathicManchild childish sociopath]] who [[SpoiledBrat throws temper tantrums the instant things stop going his way]], to show through.

* ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryFreakShow'' has Dandy Mott, a wealthy heir who attempts to present himself as a cultured gentleman to the people he's trying to charm, but it's all an act. It takes remarkably little resistance from the other party to make him lose his cool and cause his real personality, that of a murderous [[PsychopathicManchild childish sociopath]] who [[SpoiledBrat throws temper tantrums the instant things stop going his way]], show through.

* ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryFreakShow'' has Dandy Mott, a wealthy heir who attempts to present himself as a cultured gentleman to the people he's trying to charm, but it's all an act. It takes remarkably little resistance from the other party to make him lose his cool and cause his real personality, that of a murderous [[PsychopathicManchild childish sociopath]] who [[SpoiledBrat throws temper tantrums the instant things stop going his way]].

* ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryFreakShow'' has Dandy Mott, a wealthy heir who attempts to present himself as a cultured gentleman to the people he's trying to charm, but it's all an act. It takes remarkably little resistance from the other party to make him lose his cool and cause his real personality, that of a [[PsychopathicManchild childish sociopath]] who [[SpoiledBrat throws temper tantrums the instant things stop going his way]].

* ''Film/{{Django Unchained}}'''s antagonist Calvin Candie. He thinks he is charming, intelligent and cultured; he is actually cruel, petty, stupid and disgusting. The greatest challenge facing Schulz and Django is flattering and playing along with him without revealing their disgust.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': Tywin Lannister makes a big deal about maintaining regal composure in public, but he can stray into hypocrisy sometimes, like when he arranges for [[spoiler: his enemies to be killed over dinner, something that's the epitome of bad taste in Westeros; plus, despite calling it unfitting, he's apparently been seeing whores secretly for some time.]]

Compare and contrast with WickedCultured, of course, and with LowerClassLout; NouveauRiche characters who are outright evil are usually this trope, but nothing's stopping old money from also fitting it. See also DelusionsOfEloquence, DelusionsOfLocalGrandeur, InferioritySuperiorityComplex.

* ''Film/JamesBond'' villains get this treatment a lot. The average Bond villain is NouveauRiche, vulgarly showy with his wealth, adorns himself with attractive female assistants a fraction of his age, has notable deformities that he calls attention to by trying to hide, and one or two of them even cheat at "gentlemen's" games.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': Genesis Rhapsodos has this as a defining feature of his personality. To quote a description of him from his TV Tropes character entry: "WickedCultured: More like Wicked Pretentious, but he still qualifies. He's one of the world's leading scholars on LOVELESS and is implied to have published writings about his theories to its meaning."

* In the ''VideoGame/ArkhamAsylum'' games, everything about Penguin is an inversion of the classic gentleman, from the beer bottle monocle to the guttural East End accent.

* The Penguin from ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' is from an upper class family but is also a brutal gangster. Several stories show that he just doesn't fit in among Gotham's social elite despite his best attempts. This ''is'' DependingOnTheWriter though as sometimes he is shown as genuinely WickedCultured and sometimes even moro refined (if also more murderous) than the elite he hobbles with.

*** Then totally flipped around after the retool; not only did he lose any similarity to the deformed Burton version, he reinvented himself as a fence and nightclub owner. Not only was he now a lot more WickedCultured, but he lost interest in avenging himself on high society. Although, in his words:

* The Penguin from ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' is from an upper class family but is also a brutal gangster. Several stories show that he just doesn't fit in among Gotham's social elite despite his best attempts.

* ''Literature/TheHoundOfTheDUrbervilles'' makes [[Literature/SherlockHolmes Colonel Moran]] out to be a strange inversion. Despite being raised in a good family and famed for his distinguished military career, he just doesn't give a damn about his reputation and is quite happy living as a thug and a murderer who only feels at peace when his life is in danger.

--> ''Film/AFishCalledWanda''

* ''Film/AFishCalledWanda'': Otto is a violent thug who thinks reading Nietzsche makes him much more intelligent and cultured than he really is. Best illustrated by the page quote.

-->Wanda: But you think you're an intellectual, don't you, ape?
-->Otto: Apes don't read philosophy.
-->Wanda: Yes they do, Otto. They just don't understand it.
---> ''AFishCalledWanda''

* ''AnAmericanTail'': Warren T. Rat pretends to be quite cultured, quoting Shakespeare and playing the violin...neither of which he's able to do correctly.
* ''TheGreatMouseDetective'' has Professor Padraic Rattigan, a Moriarty {{Expy}} who tries to pass himself off as a [[ManOfWealthAndTaste Mouse of Wealth and Taste]], but his BerserkButton, coupled with his VillainousBreakdown, only serve to show the audience how classless he really is.

* ''AFishCalledWanda'': Otto is a violent thug who thinks reading Nietzsche makes him much more intelligent and cultured than he really is. Best illustrated by the page quote.

* The titular thief Albert Spica from ''TheCookTheThiefHisWifeAndHerLover'' is a mafia boss that has taken control of the La Hollandais restaurant were he dines every day with his wife and crew. He fancies himself an intellectual and elite, ordering French food (while mispronouncing the words), musing about philosophy and shaming his group for using improper utensils. In reality, he is a gross, abusive, heartless man. He tortures and kills people he believes have crossed him (regardless of whether they actually did it or if it warranted the punishment), publicly brutalizes his wife and various patrons at the restaurant, harasses Michael for reading while at the dinner table, and this is just what we see on screen. He is so bad, that both the kitchen staff and his own men turn on him by the end of the film.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': Tywin Lannister makes a big deal about maintaining regal composure in public, but he can stray into hypocrisy sometimes, like when he arranged for [[spoiler: his enemies to be killed over dinner, something that's the epitome of bad taste in Westeros; plus, despite calling it unfitting, he's apparently been seeing whores secretly for some time.]]

* Patrick Bateman, the yuppie serial killer from ''AmericanPsycho'' makes a pretense at being an aficionado of fine food, clothing, and music. Close inspection will reveal that he's only interested in these things because they're popular fads, and actually has little understanding of any of the subjects.
* Chrysler Peavy in ''MortalEngines'' is a pirate leader who began having delusions of being a respectable mayor after seizing control of the suburb Tunbridge Wheels and now plans to turn it into the world's first respectable pirate suburb... a task which he utterly fails at since none of his crew share any of his ambitions, and he himself is still a ruthless pirate at heart.
* ''TheHoundOfTheDUrbervilles'' makes [[Literature/SherlockHolmes Colonel Moran]] out to be a strange inversion. Despite being raised in a good family and famed for his distinguished military career, he just doesn't give a damn about his reputation and is quite happy living as a thug and a murderer who only feels at peace when his life is in danger.

* ''FinalFantasyVII'': Genesis Rhapsodos has this as a defining feature of his personality. To quote a description of him from his TV Tropes character entry: "WickedCultured: More like Wicked Pretentious, but he still qualifies. He's one of the world's leading scholars on LOVELESS and is implied to have published writings about his theories to its meaning."
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