Basic Trope: A villainous character who is respected by their constituents.
- Straight: Alice tries to convince people that C.C. Executive is really a bad guy. However, since he has an army of spin doctors at his disposal, he's able to quash those rumors before they even get started.
- Exaggerated:
- C.C. literally owns every media outlet in Troperville, as well as the army and police force. Anything remotely bad about him doesn't even get said.
- No one thinks anything bad about C.C not even Alice herself, the same person who is trying to convince people that he's a bad guy.
- Downplayed:
- C.C.'s actions have been a little questionable, so while there's some suspicion, he's still respected enough to not warrant any action.
- C.C. is a serial embezzler but he is also an incredibly good administrator ensuring that Troperville prospers even with him skimming off the top. Even Alice, a principles zealot is left with paralyzing indecision whether to report his embezzling.
- C.C isn’t villainous but rather a jerk.
- Justified:
- C.C. is very charismatic and is a skilled public speaker. Alice...isn't.
- Alternatively, C.C. is kind towards his subjects. Towards Alice...not so much.
- C.C does many good things in public, in private however...
- Even people who do obviously despicable things would still have supporters who excuse their actions.
- C.C. is part of an Evil Versus Evil conflict where every member of the Big Bad Ensemble besides him is a Hate Sink, so it is easy for the spin doctors to convince the public that he needs their support because he comes off as heroic in comparison to his competition.
- C.C. never did anything remotely evil before his private Face–Heel Turn thus there is nothing to give him bad publicity yet.
- Despite his several controversies, C.C. still has No Such Thing as Bad Publicity in general.
- Inverted: Hero with Bad Publicity.
- Subverted:
- Alice initially suspects C.C, but when she investigates him he comes out clean.
- No one liked C.C; they were all scared to speak out against him.
- Double Subverted:
- C.C. only pretended to be planning something to get Alice to investigate him, and make it look like she was harassing him. Once Alice has became thoroughly discredited, C.C. begins his real plan.
- While people are afraid of C.C, they see him as an intimidating yet benevolent figure.
- Parodied:
- C.C. regularly kicks puppies and steals candy from babies in broad daylight. No one calls him out on this.
- No matter how much C.C. Wants to Be Hated and tries hard to make himself Obviously Evil, people still continue to love him. C.C. is just as dismayed about this as Alice.
- C.C. openly admits that he's evil to the public, but the people still adore him and they treat him like a hero.
- C.C. is such a Slave to PR that he can't get caught doing anything villainous, so despite being a Card-Carrying Villain, he never does anything evil.
- Zig Zagged:
- At first it seems like everyone likes C.C. but then Alice discovers that there are actually a lot of people who know how bad C.C. is but the C.C. then publicly revealed what horrible things they were doing but gave a very reasonable explanation for why they did it which convinces all the people that they aren't that bad.
- C.C Executive seems to be shady, but it turns out he’s actually innocent all along… It turns out he’s a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing, but then it’s because he’s a rough diamond who hides his jerkassery in public in order to maintain his publicity. But that’s what he claims. In reality, he’s a diabolical villain. But that’s because C.C is a Well-Intentioned Extremist. Just kidding! He’s actually a straight-up villain! However C.C does a Heel–Face Turn! Actually, he’s a Falsely Reformed Villain. No wait, he’s Ambiguously Evil, so is C.C actually a villain? As it turns out, yup. Wait, maybe not! Nah, he’s evil! Or is he- KABOOOOOOOOOOOM!
- Averted:
- The approval rating of a figure is roughly in line with the villainy of his actions.
- There are no villains.
- Enforced:
- "This is the 2010s now, so we need charismatic, well-liked villains to go against the heroes!"
- "We want Bob to be Alice's enemy but sympathetic, make him believe C.C.'s claims that Alice is a public menace".
- Lampshaded: "I know he's evil, but he's just so charming!"
- Invoked:
- C. C. Co decides to spend large amounts of money on improving their image.
- Photo Op with the Dog
- Exploited: PR specialists charge high prices to make evil people look good.
- Defied:
- People see through his charisma.
- PR specialists refuse to help evil people appear good.
- Discussed:
- "You're a monster." "I know, that's why I have a PR department."
- When Alice is informing the public of a hidden threat, she reminds them of C.C. and how he was once seen a good person.
- Conversed: "C.C. is so Obviously Evil, his spin doctors must cost a fortune."
- Implied: Alice says C.C. is a bad person, but no one agrees.
- Deconstructed:
- C.C. risks his publicity because he keeps committing crimes that are so blatant, even his lawyers barely come up with a plausible alibi, And keeping his publicity and running an empire takes it toll. When enough stories about his overt evilness come out, people aren't able to look past it anymore and finally give him the punishment he deserves.
- C.C., for all his discretion, is caught committing a felony by "Report Siht", who proceeds to blackmail him with hard evidence of his misdeeds, having made copies. One of the downsides to having a good reputation is that it can be ruined if the subject is not careful, so C.C. pays Report off with "go away" money.
- Reconstructed: C.C. is able to hide is misdeeds by maintaining a smokescreen of public good deeds, not doing them when it's not necessary, and framing corporate rivals who are not savory people themselves.
- Of course, this happens to him so often that people normally look past it because most of his crimes are either minor or unsuccessful. Alice only keeps an eye on him just in case he gets lucky.
- Because of how good Report is at his job, C.C also pays him with that money to find evidence they can blackmail his competitors with, allowing both of them to earn even more.
- Played For Laughs: C.C is an Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain in-universe, with even Alice pitying his failed attempts at crime.
- Played For Drama:
- C.C. never pays for his monstrous crimes.
- The general public actually knows what C.C. does. They cheer him on because of superficial qualities (e.g. he's attractive) or thinks he does what he has to do, and that's "cool".
- Because of the good publicity C.C has, Alice ends up ruining her own image when trying to stop him from committing any heinous acts. Eventually, Alice’s attempts to stop C.C amount to absolutely nothing at all, and the city Alice lives in is shown to becoming a worse and worse place as time goes on.
Back to Villain with Good Publicity.
