Line #23 FauxAffablyEvil/Literature


1	%%%
2	%%
3	%%This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks!
4	%%
5	%%%
6
7	----
8
9	* ''Literature/TheAbles'': [[BigBad Finch]] seems like a nice old man. By the climax, the mask has completely fallen away, and he shows himself to be the foaming-at-the-mouth psychopath that he is, before trying to nuke Freepoint.
10	* In ''Literature/AcrossTheUniverseBethRevis'', this fits Luther. He hides the joy he takes in inciting unrest among the already unhappy population of ''Godspeed'' and love of rape with a pleasant public demeanor. One rather creepy scene has Amy (who Luther had been stalking and trying to rape) bump into him in public. She's in disguise and he doesn't recognize her, so he nicely asks her if she'd like to come see a protest being set up. The instant he figures out who she is, he begins to act terrifyingly predator-like around her.
11	* ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfAminaAlSirafi'': The villain, a vicious EvilSorcerer, can act charming and persuasive when it's the easiest way to get what he wants. When it isn't, the MaskOfSanity comes off and he starts torturing people to death.
12	* ''Literature/AfterDarkMySweet'': Uncle Bud is a friendly, charismatic old man who is very good at ingratiating himself with people and making himself look like a friend. It's all a facade, and whenever things don't go his way Bud quickly reveals how cruel and short-tempered he really is.
13	* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'': [[BigBad Visser Three]] likes to present himself as a reasonable, charismatic leader. In truth, he's a complete psychopath, who given the slightest provocation will savagely murder the person he's talking to. As the series goes on, and he loses more and more ground against the Animorphs, his ability to put on a MaskOfSanity steadily degrades.
14	* ''Literature/BazilBroketail'':
15	** The Padmasan rulers take this trope and run with it. Although they are ObviouslyEvil -- engaging in war crimes, widely practising slavery and treating common people (especially women) like dirt -- they will act polite, pretend to be your friends and offer you riches and power if only they think you can be useful. They don't mean any of it, though, and see you only as a pawn. [[spoiler:When Bazil is imprisoned in Tummuz Orgmeen, the Doom ruling the city has him brought before it, then claims he is its friend, offers him wealth and honors and promises to make him a general in its army. Naturally, Bazil tells it to shove off. In book four, when Relkin is captured and interrogated by [[BigBad Heruta]] himself, the latter tries to sway him to his side by acting friendly towards him and offering to make him king of Marneri. Relkin sees through his lies right away, but decides to pretend he swallowed them]].
16	** There are very good reasons why Waakzaam is known ([[IHaveManyNames among other things]]) as the Deceiver. When he thinks that using brute force in conquest of a new world is not a feasible option, he will come to its inhabitants with a wide smile and smooth talk, offering them his friendship and pretending to have the best intentions (usually by promising to make their world great and glorious again). In reality, he sows dissent between them, setting them against each other until they basically destroy themselves. Once they are too weak to defend themselves, he drops the act completely and slaughters the remaining opposition. He already managed to conquer many worlds that way (like the Eleem home world of Orthond, which is visited in ''The Wizard and the Floating City'' side story), [[spoiler:but when he tries it against Ryetelth and Argonath empire, it fortunately fails]].
17	** Thrembode can be charming when he wants to, but it's only superficial. That is how he managed to get into princess Besita's good graces.
18	** Gadjung's really poor at that -- though it's probable he [[{{Troll}} doesn't really care]]. Even after using his magic to manipulate the weather -- so that the Argonathi fleet is drawn to his island -- and using his magic to mind-control the sailors, he still has the gall to openly lie (via his emissary) that it was Argonathi dragons and soldiers who attacked him unprovoked and that he is actually their friend.
19	* ''Literature/BloodMeridian'': [[BigBad Judge Holden]] is a pleasant and extremely learned man who never fails to entertain his comrades. His comrades are a mercenary army that does ethnic cleansing (specifically of Indians) for hire, and even among this band of murderous psychopaths, the judge's atrocities eclipse them all; he is a mass murderer and a pedophile motivated by nothing but [[ForTheEvulz the infliction of pain]], and he's probably a HumanoidAbomination to boot.
20	%%* Sarafine from ''Literature/TheCasterChronicles'', despite her words to Lena, never actually meant half of what she was saying.
21	* ''Literature/CatChaser'':
22	** Jiggs Scully is a friendly, jovial guy, but his casual racism and ruthlessness offsets it. He even casually jokes with George while threatening to kill him.
23	** Andres is quite formal, but it barely masks how much of a vicious killer he is.
24	* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'': The White Witch, Jadis, demonstrates a personality like this in both ''Literature/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'' and ''Literature/TheMagiciansNephew''. In the former, she ensnares Edmund with food and drink and promises of power. She is far subtler in the latter, however, with words so honeyed you could hardly believe so "fierce" a person had said them. Her affability and feigned concern for Digory's mother nearly succeeds in persuading him to disobey Aslan, but her genuine lack of concern for anyone that isn't useful to her trashes the whole thing.
25	* Alex, the VillainProtagonist of ''Literature/AClockworkOrange'', is a WickedCultured young sociopath who'd gladly mug your grandfather or rape your wife but wouldn't dream of being impolite... that is, with the exception of [[ColdBloodedTorture certain situations]]. Regardless, he's more than happy to make pleasant conversation while he beats the elderly into near-death or [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rapes ten-year-olds]], assuming [[TheDogBitesBack the dog doesn't try to bite back]].
26	-->'''[[TheSociopath Alex]]:''' ''[rips a crystallography book out of mug victim's hands]'' Excellent, really first-class. But what is this here? What is this filthy [[ConLang slovo]]? I blush to look at this word. You disappoint me, [[VerbalTic brother]], you do really.\
27	'''Victim:''' But-- but-- but...
28	** The word in question, by the way, is implied to be “cleavage”.
29	* ''Literature/ACourtOfThornsAndRoses'': Amarantha can be quite charming when she wants to be, with even Feyre noting that if she hadn't known better she'd be taken in by her, and she often comes off as politely-spoken and genial when interacting with Feyre. It's made obvious that she's just toying with her and she feels nothing but malice towards her.
30	* ''Literature/DavidCopperfield'': Uriah Heep may well be literature's most triumphant example of this trope. Even as he openly hints his scheming to the main character, he constantly put on a fawning, "'umble" air.
31	* Greg Stillson in ''Literature/TheDeadZone'' is great at appearing to be a nice enough, if a bit goofy, guy in public, but he has a very nasty side that he tries to keep under a mask of civility -- although he [[AxCrazy doesn't always succeed]].
32	* In ''Literature/TheDeathGateCycle'', [[MagnificentBastard Sang-drax]] treats [[AntiHero Haplo]] like an old friend, and it's made clear he does it just to mess with him rather than out of any feelings of genuine affection. He's also shown to be capable of sounding positively ''cheery'' when describing the FateWorseThanDeath [[TheHeartless his people]] have planned for ''the whole universe''. Genuinely thwart his plans, though, and he gets ''very'' nasty very quickly.
33	* UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper in Alex Grecian's ''The Devil's Workshop'', who thinks that he's doing his victims a kind of ''favor,'' and sometimes expresses concerns about their comfort or state of mind.
34	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
35	** In ''Literature/CarpeJugulum'', the vampire Count de Magpyr actually ''thinks'' he's being AffablyEvil, or AboveGoodAndEvil, or not evil at all. He's just being "reasonable" while dominating, destroying and enslaving others, and acts with apparent politeness. His mind-controlling powers can make people actually believe he ''is'' that nice, even when he's talking about blood-sucking arrangements. His family is similar, except for Lacrimosa, who's a sadistic [[ImmortalImmaturity teenager]] with no patience for being "nice".
36	** Carcer in ''Literature/NightWatchDiscworld'' is an unrepentant serial killer who will gleefully deny all responsibility for his crimes with a charismatic grin, and then casually stab you between the ribs before you can argue.
37	** Mr. Teatime can be this way. Especially in the [[Creator/{{Sky}} Sky One]] ''Literature/{{Hogfather}}'' TV film.
38	* In Bram's Stoker ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'' and [[DerivativeWorks/{{Dracula}} most of its adaptations]], the Count gives a polite and inviting first impression, if somewhat unsettling. The guest usually dismisses the last part under cultural/foreign differences.
39	-->'''Dracula:''' Welcome to my house! Enter freely and of your own will. Go safely and leave something of the happiness you bring.
40	* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', high king Jakoven. Acts all nice while reminding people that he knows where their family lives, and how terrible it was if anything happened to them.
41	* ''Literature/TheDreamQuestOfUnknownKadath'': Nyarlathotep, the crawling chaos, is an EldritchAbomination, but he welcomes Randolph Carter politely, explains why Carter hasn't been able to reach his marvelous sunset city, and gives him the means to fix the situation. Only later does Carter realize that Nyarlathotep has lied to him and engineered his doom just ForTheEvulz.
42	* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''
43	** [[TheChessmaster Nicodemus]] is a 2000-year-old human who made a pact with a FallenAngel to essentially inflict as much misery and pain on the world as he could; in his own words, he believes in Armageddon as less of an event and more of a ''mindset'', one that he wants to share with the world. He is also incredibly polite and friendly and civil, even while he's got you tied up and offering you a choice between recruiting you for his organization or getting your throat cut. The affable demeanor hides a genocidal monster and doesn't waver even when he's getting ready to unleash a deadly plague across a country or while his minions are kidnapping and torturing a twelve-year-old girl.
44	** Even more so Duke Ortega of the Red Court. Nicodemus is polite whenever he has no reason not to be, generous when it costs him nothing, and appreciates the "[[MadArtist artistry]]" of a classical painter and a serial killer on equal terms. Ortega is a pure barbarian who has spent his unlife carefully learning to pretend to have ethics, manners, and reasons for his actions beyond the basic infliction or avoidance of pain for those times the fiction proves useful.
45	** [[SuccubiAndIncubi Lord Raith]] is polite and well-mannered and can put up a friendly and charming facade when he wants to. In reality though, he's a horrific AbusiveParent who rapes his daughters into submission to break their wills and will callously murder his own sons just to keep his power for [[ItsAllAboutMe himself]].
46	** Virtually ''everyone'' in the Winter Court who's not too savage to have a conversation with has this going on. They'll be polite and courteous one second and then show they're vicious and hedonistic sociopaths the next.
47	* The titular Doctor in ''Literature/DrFranklinsIsland'' is smoothly urbane and smiles a lot. He's never more than mildly exasperated at his {{Defiant Captive}}s or his colleague with the inconsistent conscience, but said captives are always aware that he doesn't actually think of them as ''people'' and will quite happily vivisect them.
48	* ''Literature/DustDevils'': Adam Price can be charming and polite and pretend to be a rather affable actor. That's just a front he puts on, as he's a deranged maniac who enjoys killing and mutilating.
49	* ''Literature/TheFirstLaw'': [[spoiler:Bayaz]] seems to be a friendly and somewhat curmudgeonly old man with high expectations and a sharp tongue. Ultimately it's revealed that he's a thoroughly evil chessmaster who pursues power at any cost. All of his casual, grandfatherly posturing is just a false veneer over a cruel and merciless will.
50	* In ''Literature/{{Fool}}'', a PerspectiveFlip retelling of ''Theatre/KingLear'', Edmund starts the play as a fairly open JerkAss, but partway through he has an offscreen epiphany that his attempts to be a ManipulativeBastard [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]] would probably be more successful if most people weren't repulsed by him and his company, leading to the page quote where he discusses this trope with the book's protagonist.
51	* ''{{Literature/Goosebumps}}'': Vanessa from ''Literature/ChickenChicken'' is a witch obsessed with manners, and punishes children who show her poor manners, but inflicts horrific DisproportionateRetribution and is needlessly cruel to the children she punishes, outright laughing at and mocking them ([[{{Hypocrite}} despite her obsession with manners and this cruel behavior showing ''her'' as being very rude herself]]), only restoring them to normal when they first write her an apology note for making her drop her groceries by accident and not apologizing after doing so initially, and then a ''thank you note'' [[WantsAPrizeForBasicDecency for "teaching them manners"]]. She ''does'' offer them sodas after everything is said and done...but than she casts another spell to turn them into pigs just because the boy burped without apologizing and the girl laughed instead of reprimanding him.
52	* ''Literature/GhostRoads'': Bobby Cross is a fairly charming individual who speaks in a fairly calm and polite voice but none of that is genuine. Bobby underneath that is a sadist and sociopath who murders so he can selfishly live forever.
53	* ''Literature/{{Harahpin}}'' gives us Korganest, who is pretty polite when he converses with his victims, which makes it all the more terrifying when he suddenly raises his weapon and strikes.
54	* In ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
55	** Voldemort exhibits this trait a few times, mostly in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire Goblet of Fire]]'' when he makes some [[{{Pun}} terrible "hand" puns]] to Wormtail during [[AnArmAndALeg a related task]]. From what the reader sees of his younger days, he was even more of this trope before his sanity was completely gone.
56	** [[TyrantTakesTheHelm Dolores Umbridge]] is worse at this than Voldemort, and possibly more hated to boot. She makes Hogwarts into a dictatorship in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'', but her office is decorated with gambolling pictures of kittens, and she wears knitted sweaters and bows in her hair. This is magnified by the fact that while Voldemort does his terrible deeds towards an end with some sort of magnificence, and was prepared to embrace his pure-blood enemies as allies if they turned, Umbridge merely gets off on her ability to make people suffer.
57	** Lucius Malfoy is also an example. His ''tone'' is almost always even and coolly polite, but his ''words'' tend to range from mildly to extremely insulting to whoever he's talking to.
58	* ''Literature/TheHateUGive'': [[spoiler:The drug lord King, though at first seeming AffablyEvil, is slowly revealed to be this. Sure, he can be polite, amiable, and even charming at times, but as his true colors become apparent, we see that he's rotten to his core. By the story's end, he's attempted to murder a child and all but placed a target on the back of our (sixteen-year-old) protagonist for "snitching" on him. Luckily, he's stopped and gets arrested.]]
59	* In Exile's Duology (Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar), Lord Orthallen straddles this, most vividly seen (or not, rather) when he was acting as [[spoiler:Selenay's confidant]].
60	* President Snow of ''Literature/TheHungerGames''. He speaks to Katniss in a polite manner while threatening to have her and her loved ones killed if she makes a mistake.
61	* The Literature/InDeath series: A number of the murderers in the series are very much this. Sure, they will act like they're so nice and polite, but that is just an act. A number of them are TheSociopath, which might explain it.
62	* ''Literature/JaineAustenMysteries'': In "Nightmare on Elf Street", [[spoiler:Barnaby King seems like a great guy, complimenting Jaine, being great with the kids in Santa Land, and even running a charity that helps less fortunate kids get toys.]] In reality, [[spoiler:[[FakeCharity it's a scam that's only lining his pockets]], and he is more than willing to commit murder to protect that secret.]]
63	* [[TheFairFolk The Gentleman With the Thistledown Hair]], from ''Literature/JonathanStrangeAndMrNorrell''. The scene where he's so happily, ''enthusiastically'' telling [[spoiler:Steven Black]] how many people he's had to kill in order to try and [[spoiler:restore his true name to him]] makes him seem like a big, friendly, amoral murder-puppy.
64	* ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'': Mr.15 speaks in a friendly and polite tone to everyone, even to captives that he plans to experiment on or people he's moments away from killing.
65	* ''Literature/KingsOfTheWyld'': Kallorek "the Orc," Saga's old bookie, acts like a friendly and eccentric landowner. But he reacts violently to any insult, real or imagined, casually breaks his word on both major and minor deals, and has a monopoly on all booking west of the Heartwyld that lets him take fully ''half'' of anything any mercenary bands make.
66	%%%%* If they're not AffablyEvil, most Creator/DeanKoontz antagonists will be this.
67	* Nicolae Carpathia, TheAntichrist from ''Literature/LeftBehind'', initially seems to be the humblest, most empathetic Son of Satan you'd ever meet, and comes across as a WellIntentionedExtremist at worst. However, this is all entirely an act; in truth he's a completely self-centered sociopath and a two-dimensional thug. The movie version of Nicolae actually appears to be more genuinely AffablyEvil, although still a ruthless megalomaniac.
68	* ''Literature/LegacyOfTheDragokin'': Man in Shadow is casual and affable at all times, even when threatening to rape the person he's talking to. By the way, said person was ''already'' a victim of rape and he might have known this.
69	* ''Literature/TheLordOfBembibre'': The evil Count of Lemos is unfailingly polite and soft-spoken, even when he is torturing his victims. At one point, Beatriz notes his politeness rings hollow and artificial precisely because it is so meticulously calculated and carefully calibrated.
70	* ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'':
71	** Shadowthone can be rather friendly, when he's not yelling in exasperation or giving deadpan sarcastic commentary, though the patina is thin and he can go from calm and threatening to shrieking mad in seconds.
72	** Clip tries for this during the events of ''Literature/ReapersGale'' while travelling with Silchas Ruin's group, chatting affably about non-consequential things, affecting politeness and pretending not to notice the stealth insults he throws around. At the same time, Clip does not even try to hide that he's an assassin and drops the act as soon as there's no one he can rile up with it anymore.
73	* ''Literature/TheManWithTheTerribleEyes'': The Supervisor is very good at affecting a calm, warm persona even when he's about to conduct horrific experiments on the Man while he's awake and conscious and then healing him and erasing his memory so he can keep doing it. Over the course of the story, the Man gradually realizes that it's just an act and that the Supervisor checking up on his health and saying that he thinks of him like a son has absolutely no bearing on what mind-bendingly awful things he'll do to him if given the chance.
74	* ''Literature/{{Matilda}}'': Agatha Trunchbull. At one point, she gathers the entire school in the gymnasium and orders Bruce to the podium, blaming him that he pilfered the cake that belonged to her. He outs himself by saying that his mother's cake is better, to which she politely replies that he can't know for sure until he tries some more and has him eat a huge piece of the cake, and after he's done, she asks if he liked it. After he admits he did, she brings out the rest of the cake (18 inches in width) and orders him to eat it in front of the entire school, planning to punish him for eating some of her cake by forcing him to eat the rest until he gets extremely sick. When he manages to do so thanks to the cheers of the other children and doesn't get sick at all, she smashes the plate over his head and gives the entire school 5 hours of detention.
75	* ''Literature/TheMentalState'' features a psychopath calling himself Saif Dhu Hadin. Typical of psychopaths, he worms his way into the confidences of others by promising to help them get what they want. Only when they try to leave or think for themselves does he reveal how barbaric his punishments can be. His initial tactic is to amputate his victims' fingers. This is followed by threatening the lives of their families. He even pays for one of his informants' daughter's medical bills just so that he can threaten to cut her off and leave her to die unless his accomplice obeys him.
76	* General Zaroff from ''Literature/TheMostDangerousGame'' actually starts off as genuinely AffablyEvil, but he quickly slides into FauxAffablyEvil. When the protagonist Rainsford arrives at his home, he lets him dine with him, complements him on his book, shows respect for a fellow big game hunter, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and reveals he has turned to hunting humans]]. He forces Rainsford to be his next prey, and still acts polite the whole time.
77	* [[spoiler:O'Brien]] in ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour''. He talks to [[spoiler:Winston]] in a calm tone while torturing him.
78	* ''Literature/OctoberDaye'':
79	** [[spoiler:Evening Winterrose]] serves as a recurring villain in the series and can keep up a decent facade of being polite but it's just an act to hide a petty monster.
80	** Treasa Riordan is friendly and charming but it's clear that it's just a thin veneer that attempts to conceal an ambitious sociopath.
81	** King Rhys can be charming and charismatic but that's just a sham. In truth he's a sadistic creep and deeply prejudiced individual with a distinct LackOfEmpathy for others.
82	* Gloriosa, from ''Literature/OurLadyOfTheNile'', actively uses her image as a harmless, model high-school girl and activist to get what she wants (which usually involves people getting hurt).
83	* In the ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'' series, Ferahgo the Assassin is this. As the narration puts it, he "smiles a lot, but he never jokes".
84	* ''Literature/TheRippleSystem'': Well, calling him "evil" might be a stretch, but Tyrann is a selfish prick who is conquering the entire game world using his army of zealous followers, and making ''Ned'' look the like the one with an unfair advantage. He manages to keep up a smile most of the time, but Ned can see under it that he is ''very'' annoyed whenever Ned survives and ruins Tyrann's most recent plans.
85	* In ''Literature/RiverOfTeeth'', Travers is a sleek and well-spoken man who is always impeccably dressed and exceedingly polite, even when he is cutting someone's ear off or throwing them to the feral hippos for the act of cheating at cards or burning down someone's ranch because they refused his offer. He is also not above threatening someone in public, he will simply be very polite while doing it.
86	* Roderick Whittle, aka UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper, from Creator/RichardLaymon's ''Literature/{{Savage}}'', has this as a MaskOfSanity.
87	* ''Literature/ScaryStoriesToTellInTheDark'': Samuel Blunt of ''Wonderful Sausage'' is described as a "fat and jolly butcher". Said "fat and jolly butcher" kills people and grinds them into sausage to serve to his customers. There is nothing ''truly'' jolly about him.
88	* ''Literature/TheScrewtapeLetters'': The demon Screwtape speaks like a supernatural version of an archetypal ObstructiveBureaucrat, always superficially polite, but in the most unpleasant and condescending manner possible. And, like most demons, while his preferred prey is humans, he is openly perfectly happy to eat his colleagues, including his own nephew, should they fail in their tasks.
89	* The Supreme Custodian in ''Literature/SeptimusHeap'' has mannerisms and charisma, but readily throws people he dislikes into jail and is otherwise a pretty nasty person.
90	* The Literature/SisterhoodSeries by Creator/FernMichaels: Henry "Hank" Jellicoe, despite having elements of AffablyEvil, might actually be this. ''Cross Roads'' reveals that he is at least a HeManWomanHater and at most a StrawMisogynist. He treated his wife Louise like she was just a servant and didn't care if she overheard his conversations on the illegal dealings he made. She managed to escape him, and he has never been able to find her. He very much wants to kill her for having the nerve to leave him years and years ago!
91	* Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire:
92	** Roose Bolton is always polite and soft-spoken and has a rather amusingly dry sense of humor when in company -- to the point that most nobles who don't know him that well assume he's the AffablyEvil man he appears to be. [[WhatYouAreInTheDark Smallfolk learn better very quickly]]. He's a cold-blooded sadist who can casually threaten to cut off a child servant's tongue for talking too much, who can calmly discuss tortures or rapes he's performed, and who allows his son to rape and torture as much as ''he'' wants, as well. [[PragmaticVillainy Just so long as it doesn't interfere with his plans]].
93	** Speaking of Ramsay Bolton... He can really turn the charm on when he wants to, in a rather folksy kind of way. However, unlike his dad, he can't sustain it for more than an evening, tops. His inner monster is all too easily brought to the surface for all to see at even a hint of [[ForTheEvulz potential fun]].
94	** Littlefinger sits uneasily between this and AffablyEvil. He always has a joking, flippant attitude even around people he's about to backstab (which is [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder anybody]]), and that does seem to be genuine to the extent that he acts the same way around those he (probably) isn't plotting against (at that moment). What makes him more Faux Affably Evil is that he seems to lack genuine emotion and empathy toward others; even when he's actively helping somebody, there's always at least the selfish reason of wanting to have them around for his own sake or for any future benefits that might come his way, rather than even the tiniest concern for their longer-term well-being. As all to often, the "help" he gives is as much of a means to eventually undermine them as it is a ploy to get his claws into them just to use them.
95	** Both Cersei and Joffrey can turn the charm on to be very polite and civil at official functions when they really want to. However, [[TheHighQueen Mother Dearest]] is rather better at long-terming it than her [[PrinceCharmless Bonny Baby Boy]] is; just see how much longer it took Sansa to work out that she was almost as rotten. Yet, both are cruel, vindictive [[RoyalBrat Brats]] with impulse control issues and massive, easily bruised egos. [[MamasBoy He very much learned it from her]].
96	* Natali Stretesky of ''Literature/ASpecterTale'' (and its sequels). She is charming, considerate, a gracious host, and innocuous enough to get normal men to date her. But she will not hesitate to end you if she finds (or invents) some reason to.
97	* Franchise/StarWarsLegends:
98	** During ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear'' the BigBad, in his first appearance outside of {{Villain Opening Scene}}s, is condescending, looks at an infected girl like she's a piece of meat, and does some quite heartless things. But for the most part he also radiates mocking friendliness, praises the resourcefulness of the heroes--even though that admiration turns to rage whenever they thwart him--and exits the book with an "Excuse me once again."
99	** In ''Literature/StarWarsKenobi'', Jabba the Hutt and his thugs. Jabba himself is an unseen presence in the story, but he maintains a townhouse in Mos Eisley to give the impression of a benevolent interest in city affairs. His accountant Mosep Binneed meets Orrin there and puts on an air of paternal concern as they go over Orrin's swelling debt and he makes thinly veiled threats of torture and death if it's not paid off.
100	* ''Literature/TalesOfKolmar'': Berys clearly enjoys himself when doing various terrible things, and at those times is usually rather cheerful and upbeat.
101	-->'''Berys:''' "Here is [[BigBad your soul mate]]. [[SharingABody I hope you like him]]."
102	* ''Literature/TolkiensLegendarium'':
103	** In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', Saruman is shown to be highly friendly and charismatic when speaking to people, to the point that [[CompellingVoice his voice is described as magical]]. Even after he has killed many of their countrymen, he's able to leave many of the Rohirrim on the fence when they come to parley with him. However, [[ShutUpHannibal when Théoden bluntly tells Saruman that he deserves death for what he's done]], Saruman immediately snaps, and his honeyed words give way to utter contempt, shouting crude insults at Théoden and besmirching the same lands and house he was complimenting just a few moments ago.
104	** Sauron, more in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' than in ''The Lord of the Rings'', where he's mostly offscreen. Over and over again; the charming snake in the ear of anyone who listens. This is one of his most defining traits and that's why he is known The Deceiver. That is, until he loses that power or shows his real nature...
105	** Smaug, in ''Literature/TheHobbit''. Intelligent, articulate, wickedly charismatic, and a polite conversationalist. He has a fondness for riddle-games and actually enjoys himself during conversation with Bilbo (initially). He's charismatic to the point that Bilbo is sorely tempted to take off the Ring and reveal himself and even manages to make Bilbo doubt the intentions of Thorin. However it's also a ''very'' bad idea to piss him off, as Smaug proves downright ''terrifying'' when angered.
106	* ''Literature/TortallUniverse''
107	** The BigBad of the ''Literature/SongOfTheLioness'' quartet, Duke Roger. He plays up the WhatsUpKingDude angle by telling the pages to be informal with him and acts like a CoolUncle to Jon... while plotting to kill him so Roger is first in line for the throne again. George calls him Alanna and Jon's "smilin' friend" and Alanna is suspicious of him for being ''too'' friendly.
108	** Ozorne in ''[[Literature/TheImmortals Emperor Mage]]'' plays nice for much of the book, being very civilized and sometimes personable around the delegation from Tortall. While this is [[AffablyEvil genuine around Daine]] because she helped his treasured birds, but every other character, even her monkey friend Zek? His true colors are without any warmth at all. Hints of this trope show in the next book, but they stop by the end.
109	** Dolsa from the ''Provost's Dog'' series will gladly and civilly explain that she murdered dozens of people, tortured others, and is intent on murdering the king and queen all because the Crown had the gall to tax and license mages. Oh, and she'll brainwash anyone in her vicinity to think she is the most wonderful person ever because she thinks she is.
110	* ''Literature/TheToughGuideToFantasyland'': Bad kings will generally be very polite (until of course they show their true colors on their generous offers to the heroes being refused). In fact, the more polite toward the heroes a king is, the more likely they're bad. The more polite in general the worse kings turn out to be.
111	* ''Literature/TheTwilightSaga'': Aro, head of the Volturi, puts forth a very charming persona to hide how power-hungry and ruthless he is.
112	* One of the goals of the author of ''Literature/TheUnexploredSummonBloodSign'' was to show how a character can be ''dere'' but not necessarily kind.
113	* ''Literature/VanityFair'' has this in [[DastardlyWhiplash Sir Pitt Crawley]] of whom the narrator comments ''"he was fond of drink, of swearing, of joking with the farmers' daughters: he was never known to give away a shilling or to do a good action, but was of a pleasant, sly, laughing mood, and would cut his joke and drink his glass with a tenant and sell him up the next day; or have his laugh with the poacher he was transporting with equal good humour."'' Notably, the narrator explicitly comments that if the character was slightly more honest, he would be a very successful scoundrel, but instead, is simply too crooked to prosper.
114	* ''Literature/WingsOfFire'' has Darkstalker, who can be paternal and considerate towards people...when he's on top. The instant anyone threatens his plans for global conquest or [=IceWing=] genocide, he will brainwash them into absolute compliance.
115	* The witches in ''Literature/TheWitches''. Overlapped with BitchInSheepsClothing, they present themselves in a very ladylike fashion and disguised themselves as presentable in order to lure children. Of course the entirety of the species is hideous from inside out, [[ChildHater hates children]], and is overall morally repulsive.
116	* High-end villains in the ''Literature/ZonesOfThought'' series tend to be this.
117	** Tomas Nau in ''Literature/ADeepnessInTheSky'' fooled everyone, including remnants of the faction which he backstabbed and almost wiped out in cold blood, for decades with his nice guy act.
118	** The old Flenser in ''Literature/AFireUponTheDeep'', besides being a ConsummateLiar, was the sort of guy who becomes ''more'' friendly when he's about to put you through [[EvilutionaryBiologist the experiments]] that [[ColdBloodedTorture earned him his name]].

Context FauxAffablyEvil / Literature