Noble Demon/Western Animation
Examples of Noble Demons in Western Animation include:
- Cyclonus in Transformers Generation 1 occasionally had elements of this. Sixshot in Transformers Headmasters suddenly became one towards the end of the series so he could do a Heel Face Turn.
- In Transformers Armada, Starscream falls into this category, leaving the usual betrayal duties to the likes of Thrust and Sideways.
- Megatron also did this, although mostly towards Optimus Prime. On one occasion, he had a beaten, Heroic BSOD Hot Shot in his territory, who was the only one who knew that Sideways had turned to the Decepticons—and instead just shoved him back through the space bridge and sent him home.
- Sky-Byte combines this with Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain; he becomes such a failure at being evil, that the good guys think he's pulled a Heel Face Turn.
- Transformers Prime: Breakdown shows shades of this when Bulkhead saves him from the terrorist group MECH. Starscream and a load of mooks arrive, and Starscream orders Breakdown to turn on him. Breakdown does, but is hesistant and needs prompting from his leader to actually do it.
- Dreadwing has joined him in this. Much like Dinobot, he has a code of honor you wouldn't expect from a Decepticon.
- Megatron also did this, although mostly towards Optimus Prime. On one occasion, he had a beaten, Heroic BSOD Hot Shot in his territory, who was the only one who knew that Sideways had turned to the Decepticons—and instead just shoved him back through the space bridge and sent him home.
- Alvin from the Sabrina the Animated Series episode "Planet of the Dogs". He starts off as a normal dog, but when Sabrina neglects him, he gains the ability to speak from the spooky jar and becomes the leader of a gang of mistreated dogs. Also, he kidnaps Sabrina's family but never puts them in mortal danger.
- David Xanatos of Gargoyles has had his moments where he tried to appear more callous than he really is, usually where his feelings for Fox are concerned:
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Owen: You've never looked more heroic. |
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- Brain from Pinky and The Brain is a Well-Intentioned Extremist Evil Genius, but if the push comes to shove, he'll choose the Power of Friendship over taking over the world.
- Specifically, he did take over the world in one of the Christmas episodes thanks to toy bears that hypnotized people. When he realized how badly he had alienated Pinky and crossed a line he shouldn't have, his only order was for everyone to just have a happy Christmas and be with people they cared about.
- Another episode had Pinky sell his soul to Satan to give Brain world domination. Brain eventually decided that if he couldn't rule with Pinky by his side, he wouldn't rule at all.
- Prince Zuko in the first two seasons of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Multiple times he has a clear opportunity to coerce Aang by threatening either bystanders or captured prisoners, but he never does. During their first fight, he clearly sees that Aang will surrender instantly to protect innocent bystanders, but never exploits this. When he has Katara prisoner, he tries to bargain with her and appeal to her better nature rather than threaten or coerce her, and he forces pirates to help him capture Aang rather than use Katara as bait. Likewise, when he has Katara and Sokka prisoner, he still insists on fighting Aang one on one rather than try to use them.
- Duncan from Total Drama Island.
- Captain Skyhook from The Space Kidettes is a pathological Noble Demon. His evil minion, Static, enthusiastically suggests all sorts of gruesome villainy to be done to the Kidettes, only to be chastised by Skyhook, who replies that "They're just itsy bitsy, teeny weeny little kids!", and promptly bashes Static's helmet in.
- Gene from Iron Man: Armored Adventures. Despite technically being the Big Bad, he puts himself and his (cough) business at considerable risk to save a girl when The Hero could not (she's not a Love Interest, not a MacGuffin, not an Action Girl that could be useful to him, just a friend).
- Carmen Sandiego from Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?. Sure, she'll steal priceless works of art, monuments, archeological digs, etc. but she won't harm anyone. In fact, if Zach and Ivy are in trouble, she'll rescue them. To her, its just a game to play and she only chose it because catching bad guys as an ACME agent was too easy for her. One episode shows she's better than the alternative, after Sara Bellum becomes The Starscream.
- The Netflix series has her cross over to Lovable Rogue Anti-Hero stealing mostly from other crooks.
- The Monarch from The Venture Brothers has shown on several occasions that he does not hate Dr. Venture (and his family) as much as he claims to.
- Red X from Teen Titans, so very, very much. He's a talented thief using powered suit that he stole from Robin to commit crimes, and he outright tells Robin that he likes being a criminal. On the other hand, whenever Red X shows up, he inevitably ends up doing something good in spite of himself, up to and including making enemies out of nine other supervillains to ensure Robin wins a race.
- Slade had his moment too. Sure he was just getting his mortal form back from Trigon, but he did save the world from utter destruction. Which makes sense- Slade wants to rule the world, not destroy it.
- Silver from Treasure Planet. He's a pirate, and he burns down the Benbow inn and commits unknown other crimes, including conspiracy and mutiny. He's afraid as being seen as going soft, but he honestly cares for Jim, and when it comes down to a choice between his dream of untold riches and saving the boy's life, he saves the boy. Still doesn't stop him running away to escape being imprisoned.
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