Affably Evil/Anime and Manga: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

** Sakurazuka Seishiro is a friendly, charming, and generally mild-mannered veterinarian...when he isn't killing people on government contract with his dark onmyoujutsu and feeding their souls to a demonic cherry tree.

** Also from ''[[X 1999]]'' is Fuuma Monou, perfectly willing to indulge in "innocent enjoyments" when not busy reducing Tokyo into rubble bit by bit.

* Headon from ''[[Tower of God]]''. He withholds information, {{spoiler|plots against the Tower and the ruling system}} and thus brings pain into Baam's life, but he sincerely welcomes Baam and anyone with enough balls to climb the Tower with a smile.

* A couple of the antagonists in ''[[Saiyuki]]'' fit this. Homura may want to completely destroy and recreate heaven and earth, but he's genial and charismatic, and would rather Goku joined him than have to take him and his abilities by force. Ditto Hazel, only switch 'and recreate heaven and earth' with 'youkai' and 'Goku' with 'Sanzo.'

** [[wikipedia:Patlabor 2: The Movie|Patlabor 2]]: One of the people behind the terrorist attacks, {{spoiler|Shigeki Arakawa}}, refuses to [[Engineered Public Confession|confess]] anything. {{spoiler|Shigeki Arakawa}} is also [[Affably Evil]]. He went to Kiichi Goto when Yukihito Tsuge decided to alter the plan and start a limited war that would topple the Japanese government. {{spoiler|Shigeki Arakawa’s}} original plan was a harsh political protest that used limited and controlled violence. Goto also agrees with {{spoiler|Arakawa’s}} observations on the reality of peace, war, and political leaders exploit chaos instead of using a measured response.

** Father, the [[Big Bad]], briefly becomes an Affably Evil [[Cloudcuckoolander]] when he absorbs Greed into himself. As soon as he creates a new Greed, though, he turns back into his irredeemable self.

** Majin Buu as well. So [[Psychopathic Manchild|cheerful and childlike]] that he doesn't seem to bear ill will towards anyone: he's just trying to have some fun; in fact, the moment it's pointed out to him that, you know, killing people by the millions isn't a nice thing to do, he (genuinely) promises to stop. At least at first...then his ''truly'' evil side takes over and he becomes an [[Ax Crazy]] [[Omnicidal Maniac]] who is a legitimate threat to the ''universe at large.''

** There's also the robot worker in "The Return of Cooler".

** Also, Freeza's henchman, Zarbon, who is hinted to be a prince in the game Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag Team.

** Goku's father, Bardock, falls into this trope. He has a surprisingly relaxed personality for a Saiya-jin, and he visibly gets on well with his teammates, going as far to avenge them when Frieza's henchmen kill them. Oh, and he commits mass genocide for a living.

** Admiral Kizaru is incredibly polite, as when he asked a pirate ''who shot a bullet at him, as it was passing through his head'', where his subordinate was. When they replied by running away, he saw no choice but to kick an entire mangrove tree down in a light-based explosion. [[Light Is Not Good]], indeed.

** {{spoiler|Kaku}} of CP9 is equally polite and very honest. Before his identity as a villain was revealed, many fans speculated that he would be the shipwright to join the crew.

** Friendly [[Punch Clock Villain]] Mr. Two Bon Clay was a total asshole when acting as an enemy, cheerfully exploiting Sanji's weaknesses while mocking him about them and so on. Still one of the nicest entries under [[Villainous Crossdresser]], even before his [[Heel Face Turn]]. He is also completely bananas.

* Fin Kruder of ''[[Rental Magica]]'' is so affably evil that Itsuki and Honami eventually comment about how, though he can terrify them, they don't really hate him, despite what he puts them through. Either that, or he's well-meaning, but just ''[[Be Careful What You Wish For|that]]'' [[The Fair Folk|crazy]]. It's hard to tell in his case.

* A recurring theme with the villain Sunshine in the ''[[Kinnikuman]]'' series. At first portrayed as just a standard member of his [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]], in a later arc, Sunshine is genuinely moved by the displays of [[Power of Friendship|friendship]] between two of the heroes, because it turns out he feels the same way about his own [[True Companions|friends]]. He even goes so far as to declare "Friendship exists even amongst demons!" at one point.

** Isely acts incredibly nice too. He helps people out on the road, offers them shelter from the cold, teaches them how to defend themselves, and [[Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick|orders his massive demon army to kill every living thing they see]]. Wonderful sort of guy.

* Kazutaka Muraki from ''[[Yami no Matsuei]]'' is a polite doctor who approaches people in the most sympathetic manner when he is not {{spoiler|raping, cursing, and killing 13 year old boys, or conducting human experiments to bring his dead brother to life so that he may be the one to kill him}}.

** Light Yagami's girlfriend, Misa Amane, is this trope played straight. While Light is a [[Knight Templar|deeply unpleasant person]] [[Beneath the Mask|beneath his]] [[Stepford Smiler]], Misa is a genuinely sweet, if somewhat [[The Ditz|ditzy]], individual. That said, she is also seemingly [[Psychopathic Manchild|unable to comprehend the fact that murder is fundamentally different from any other mundane activity.]]

** Not to mention the shinigami - Ryuk loves video games and apples and considers Light his roommate, Rem is actually a genuinely nice person to anyone who's won her affection, and Sidoh seems like an ordinary guy. No, they don't give much of a damn for human life, but seeing as they have to kill humans to stay alive themselves, it's somewhat justified.

** Treize Kushrenada, a genuinely gentlemanly [[Magnificent Bastard]], in ''[[Gundam Wing]]''.

* Takehiko Inoue's ''[[Vagabond]]'' has the Yoshioka clan, who seem to be one big happy group of [[True Companions]] who just have a penchant for cutting down or maiming those who besmirch the name of Yoshioka (and in the case of clan head Seijurou, {{spoiler|ambushing those who could be an actual threat to them}}). The clan heads Seijurou, Denshichirou, and their right-hand man, Ueda Ryouhei, all get arguably sympathetic backstories, and they genuinely care about their followers and vice versa. Finally, when the first duel between Denshichirou and [[Miyamoto Musashi]] is interrupted by {{spoiler|a fire breaking out and eventually consuming the dojo}}, Denshichirou tells Musashi to improve and then face him again in a year. (Unfortunately, Musashi ends up making far better use of that year than he does, leading him to {{spoiler|cut down both brothers Seijurou and Denshichirou, one after the other, in their respective duels}}.) Heck, after Ryouhei decides to have Musashi ambushed rather than let him leave Kyoto, during the ambush, one of the minor henchmen of the Yoshioka actually gets a flashback scene where Denshichirou is giving the henchman's younger self a good luck eel, since his wife was going to give birth soon! (Unfortunately, {{spoiler|what was supposed to be a seventy-on-one killing ends up with him, Ryouhei, and the rest of the seventy swordsmen of the Yoshioka school ''all'' being slaughtered by a single-katana-wielding Musashi}}.)

** Dio Brando--at least, when his bloodlust for the Joestar family isn't in effect. His greatest weapon isn't his [[Our Vampires Are Different|vampiric abilities]], or even his ability to [[Time Stands Still|stop time]]. His biggest weapon is his pure charisma. This trait is emphasized in Pucci's flashbacks, which are through the eyes of a man who only knows of Dio's charm and charisma, and not his crossing of the [[Moral Event Horizon]].

** Dio's affable evilness is debatable, as it can be argued that he was only charming Pucci and playing with his emotions so he would make a more effective servant. He is definitely [[Faux Affably Evil]], though.

** {{spoiler|Claire Stanfield}} is another great example; he's perfectly friendly, charming, and polite to people who he isn't currently trying to turn into [[Ax Crazy|bloody messes of gore]].

** ... And their families. [[And Your Little Dog, Too|And their little dogs too]].

*** Hell, basically every major character in Black Lagoon is either this or [[The Woobie|a woobie]]

* ''[[Omamori Himari]]'': Shuten Douji. In his first introduction to the main characters, he has a casual conversation with them...while putting everyone else in sight to sleep, and fighting the heroes with the intent to eat them.

* ''[[Naruto]]'' has Akatsuki member Kisame Hoshigaki, an affable and genteel [[Everything Is Even Worse With Sharks|sharkman]] who will ''rip your fucking face off''...but there's no reason to be rude about it. He's also arguably the Akatsuki's [[Only Sane Man]].

* Miss Reiko Aya is a sweet, ditzy, [[Yamato Nadeshiko|''very'' well-mannered]] [[White-Haired Pretty Girl]] who works as a music producer. She's also [[Sailor Moon|Sailor Aluminium Siren]], [[Dark Action Girl]], and a member of [[Quirky Miniboss Squad|the Sailor Anima Mates]] under the leadership of [[Tragic Hero|Sailor]] [[The Dragon|Galaxia]].

* Some villains in ''[[Gun X Sword]]'' are like this.

** Xellos is so calm, friendly, cheerful, polite, and oftentimes funny that it's sometimes hard to believe that he's part of a race that's literally [[Always Chaotic Evil]] -- his kind [[Emotion Eater|feeds on the people's anger and suffering]]. But instead of hunting down and slowly killing humans, Xellos just tricks them and plays embarrassing or painful pranks while otherwise remaining so nice and helpful that his regular victims sometimes groan when he appears, but never tell him to get lost. This guy once wiped out a flock of dragons with but a gesture, and we see him shaken like a doll by some mortal he thoroughly frustrated...and smiling. He even ''saved'' some humans.

** Red Priest Rezo is polite, well-mannered, and spends a lot of his time traveling from village to village, performing miracles as one of the world's best healers. He would also stop at literally nothing to heal his eyes {{spoiler|which have a fragment of the Lord of Darkness sealed in them}}, even disfiguring his own great-grandson as an experiment and putting the lives of thousands at risk.

** November 11 can be a smug bastard and has a [[Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor|warped sense of humor]], but is kind and protective of his partners, and brings a sort of amusing style to his [[Professional Killer|job]]. Equally friendly and likable is his [[Bottle Fairy]] partner, April.

** Amber, the seeming [[Big Bad]] of the first season, is a [[Magnificent Bitch]] in the body of a [[Deliberately Cute Child]] and does some pretty ruthless things while being quite cheerful and [[Moe]]

* The Hakushuu Dinosaurs as a whole, a football team in ''[[Eyeshield 21]]''. While you can't really be "evil" in football, they try their damndest, using [[Unnecessary Roughness|very dirty tactics]].

** Marco, the quarterback, is a polite guy, drinks soda, offers under-the-table deals to other teams for the best of everyone, sends flowers to the enemy before a game, and [[Love Makes You Evil|is fighting for the love of his life]], the team manager, Maria. However, he doesn't care if he's crushing other people's dreams. Or bones. Of all the team members, Marco best personifies this trope: [[Nice Guy]] off the field, but on the field, he uses tactics that would [[Godwin's Law|put SS stormtroopers to shame]], relying on Gaou and Kisiragi to injure the other teams' players.

** And King Evil himself, [[The Juggernaut|Gaou]]. He respects the rules and other players, and is pretty harmless off the field (unless you pick a fight deliberately). On the field, he turns his strength [[Up to Eleven]] and deliberately tries to smash everyone in his way.

* Giovanni from ''[[Pokémon Special]]''. Sure, he's the leader of a criminal organization that steals Pokemon and performs horrible experiments on them, but he has never resorted to dirty tricks when it comes to battling. When he fights Red, he's courteous, praising him and giving him pointers while beating the snot out of him. Hell, he even earnestly offered to fight at a disadvantage. This makes him a damn good villain because it shows he is where he is because ''he's just that '''strong'''''. {{spoiler|Oh yeah, and he really loves his son}}. This may show why he has a slew of ''extremely'' loyal [[Elite Mook|Elite Mooks]] that refuse to take orders from anyone else claiming to be the new head of Team Rocket. In the HGSS arc, {{spoiler|Carr claims to be the new leader of Team Rocket just to have his ass knocked off his seat, with the Four Generals saying that only Giovanni is fit to rule them.}}

* Warrior King Guitar from ''[[Violinist of Hameln]]'' (the manga version, not the anime) is a heartless, thoroughly egotistical, mass-murdering monster, as befits a mazoku general, but his cheery, somewhat goofy demeanor, and fake humility make this less apparent than his colleagues. Well, until he starts torturing people while remaining as upbeat and polite as ever.

* Mister Wiseman from ''[[Until Death Do Us Part]]'' is very courteous towards his enemies. He's also a college professor and criminologist when he's not plotting against people.

** And even she swoops in to save Ange in the last chapter and gives her some advice because of her pride as a "detective" (which is also why she accepted a {{spoiler|possible fatal challenge from Beatrice}}). Then again, there are more [[Face Heel Turn|FaceHeelTurns]], [[Heel Face Turn|HeelFaceTurns]], [[Jerkass Facade|JerkassFacades]], and personality twists and turns in this game than you can shake a stick at.

* Fortis of Huckebein from ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha|Magical Record Lyrical Nanoha Force]]'', who is quite the cheerful, charming, and polite fellow, even when he's talking about the atrocities the Huckebein commit while trying to convince Tohma to join their criminal group.

* In ''[[ROD the TV]]'', {{spoiler|Joker is a perfect example of this. He is, for the most part, polite, well educated, and very civil. Except for the part about wanting to brainwash the entire planet and how he will manipulate anyone to reach his goal, he would be a rather nice person. He is even willing to have his personality obliterated for the sake of his ideal}}.

* Sebastian Michaelis in ''[[Black Butler|Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler]]'', although less so in the anime than in the manga.

* [[Kirby Right Back At Ya]]'s Customer Service/NME Salesman is so polite and funny at times that it's easy to forget that he wants Kirby dead, like Nightmare.

* Old [[Super Robot Genre]] shows usually has a villain like these. The most standout example are [[Getter Robo]] and [[Great Mazinger]], whose their motif for what they do in the show can be simply put as "They are not human." Otherwise, they are just as honorable and heroic as the heroes.