History Main / MinionWithAnFInEvil

* The Koopa Kids from the ''VideoGame/MarioParty'' games do this from time to time. One would take coins from players, but occasionally would ''give'' coins instead, then realize his mistake and leave anyway.
* Johnny Sasaki in ''VideoGame/{{Metal Gear Solid 2|SonsOfLiberty}}'' and his identically named and voiced grandfather in ''VideoGame/{{Metal Gear Solid 3|SnakeEater}}''. While just incompetent in 1, he progressed to the point of making friendly conversation with the people he's on patrol for in ''2'', and his grandfather even shows family pictures to the people he's guarding. Oddly enough, becomes a major character and TookALevelInBadass in ''4''.

* E-102 Gamma of ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' was for the most part an emotionless droid just trying to follow his master Dr Eggman's orders. Then he meets up with [[MoralityPet a little pink hedgehog and her pet bird]]. We'll leave it at that.
* Bianca of ''Franchise/SpyroTheDragon'' spends most of [[VideoGame/SpyroYearOfTheDragon her first appearance]] acting as [[BigBad the Sorceress']] meek and clumsy underling, badly attempting to intimidate Spyro out of taking back their stolen colony of dragon eggs (which gradually breaks down into her practically begging him to go back so he spares himself her abusive master's wrath). She eventually pulls a HeelFaceTurn after finding out the Sorceress' plans for the eggs were far less [[WellIntentionedExtremist well intentioned]] than she expected (as well as gaining a crush on Spyro's ally, Hunter).
* Hien from ''VideoGame/{{Strider}}''. Other than the fact he revived the Grandmaster and is on his side is pretty bad at being evil.

* ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'': [[HerrDoktor Dr. Arnim Zola]], in spite of being a competent inventor and scientist, is otherwise portrayed as an inept coward who is constantly [[NervousWreck on edge]] due to the fact that he works for a [[AxCrazy maniac]] like [[BigBad Red Skull]]. [[spoiler:Subverted in the sequel, when it's revealed that in Red Skull's absence, Zola rebuilt Hydra from within SHIELD and came up with an equally terrible albeit more [[PragmaticVillain pragmatic]] plan to TakeOverTheWorld.]]

** In his first appearance in ''Comicbook/SpiderMan'', Overdrive tried to get Spidey's autograph ''while they were fighting''. ''Superior Foes'' eventually reveals he's a HeroicWannabe who became a villain with the full intention of pulling a HeelFaceTurn at the dramatically appropriate moment.

** This has become Bobo the Bear's schtick post-''Series/MuppetsTonight''. He's a F-grade minion to [[TheMenInBlack K. Edgar Singer]] in ''Film/MuppetsFromSpace''; to [[OverreactingAirportSecurity Officer Frank Meany]] in ''Film/AMuppetsChristmasLettersToSanta''; and to [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Tex Richman]] in ''Film/TheMuppets''.

* ''Videogame/{{Deltarune}}'':

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''WEBANIMATION/EverythingIsBroken'': Evil Pinkie Pie orders LG Creepybloom to capture Flippy when they break into his house. LG Creepybloom finds a cleaver on a tool holder but instead of using it to harm Flippy, she adjusts it on the holder. She also puts a spider on Flippy's shoulder to scare him, which obviously doesn't work.

* In the final case of the ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' trilogy, [[spoiler: Pearl Fey]] receives instructions to help with a murder and is so innocent as to misinterpret them as instructions to throw gravy onto a portrait. The same case also involves [[spoiler: Iris, who is absolutely committed to helping protect both a heinous villain and a SympatheticMurderer and following any instructions from them regarding how to help them avoid being caught]].

* Iggy and Spike from ''Film/SuperMarioBros'' are this due to their bumbling stupidity. Needless to say when they get an intelligence boost from [[BigBad Koopa's]] machine, they very quickly pull [[MookFaceTurn Mook-Face Turns]].

* Skunk in ''Dadnapped''. He's not really bad; he's just trying to succeed in his writing career.

* Paul Dooley's incompetent and inarticulate Claude Elsinore in ''Film/StrangeBrew''.

* ''Series/GoodOmens2019'': While Crowley has done a fair amount of petty evil and tempting in his role as a demon he also made an agreement with his angelic counterpart Aziraphale that sees them not doing their jobs regularly for several thousand years, liked Jesus christ, goes out of his way to rescue Aziraphale on several occasions and is disturbed and upset by the idea of killing kids. His immeadiate reaction upon learning the anti-chirst has been born is calling Aziraphale in a panic. The other demons end up [[spoiler:trying to execute him]] and label him a traitor to hell.

* ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'': Edd (Double D) can sometimes be one when Eddy has him go along with a scheme.

* [[BrainlessBeauty Lindsay]] and [[NotGoodWithPeople Beth]] to [[AlphaBitch Heather]] in ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama Island''. Eventually, both [[BackstabbingTheAlphaBitch betray]] Heather ''epically''.

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'':

No, he doesn't kick himself by accident when trying to KickTheDog. He's a henchman to a CardCarryingVillain who can't quite wrap his mind around card-carrying villainy. As such, they often get confused and do "good" things like saying please or thank you or [[HelpfulMook being kind to the heroes in some way]] by mistake -- and get yelled at for it by their superior if caught. In short, the [[TitleDrop Minion with an F in Evil]] is somebody who works as a {{Mook|s}} or [[MiniBoss other]] [[QuirkyMinibossSquad villainous]] [[GoldfishPoopGang subordinate]], but is far too sweet, polite, or empathetic to really hack it as a bad guy. They ''try'', but they never really manage to come off as genuinely evil, leading the audience to sympathize with them. Their motivation for being evil is usually presented more sympathetically, too; they may have been ForcedIntoEvil, or misled into it by a more-capable authority figure who they trusted. Well-done examples will have a valid excuse as to why an otherwise sweet-natured character is furthering Lord Von Bloodstone's plans for [[TakeOverTheWorld conquering the planet]]. A certain degree of naivety and/or innocence is generally presumed in these cases for a [[SuperGullible naive]] [[ExtremeDoormat character]] or a KindheartedSimpleton, and sometimes demonstrated for the audience's benefit.

This character type tends to be predicated on the assumption that RousseauWasRight; theoretically, this so-called "villain" either hasn't properly learned how to be bad, or simply doesn't have it ''in them'' to be bad. These minions usually stumbled into their current position by mistake, or [[TheCorrupter the machinations of another character]]. It is not just a matter of intelligence; the minion is not goonish, but actually very sweet and gentle. This trope is usually PlayedForLaughs, and most commonly seen in children's shows. Written right, they can be just as funny - or even more funny - in adult-aimed media. They often get a MookFaceTurn at the end of the series, or earlier if their boss is particularly mean with a MistreatmentInducedBetrayal. They may also get a TheDogBitesBack moment to go along with it. Even in more mature works, the Minion with an F in Evil will usually get a much softer ending compared to their one-time teammates. In [[DarkerAndEdgier really mature or gritty works]], the writer may choose to MakeAnExampleOfThem, showing what true innocence will get you in this setting.

** Antylamon, the last of the 12 Devas in ''Anime/DigimonTamers''. While the other Devas would usually attack humans on sight, [[WouldntHurtAChild Antylamon doesn't attack or threaten Suzie, the first human she meets, at all.]] Suzie even makes her do a HeelFaceTurn, as she not only defends Suzie from Makuramon, but becomes her partner.
* Android 16, in ''Manga/DragonBallZ''. He was created for the sole purpose of destroying Goku, and refuses to fight anyone but him. He also takes an interest in birds and squirrels, and loves the world so much that the only character in the series he does try to kill is [[BigBad Cell]]. Probably a ShoutOut to Android 8 from the original series (note the math), who was ordered to attack Goku but refused because he actually had a conscience and instead did a complete HeelFaceTurn. The only difference between them essentially is that 16 has that compulsion.

* [=DojiDevil=], a one-shot character in the HotSpringsEpisode of ''LightNovel/KyouranKazokuNikki'', always on cleaning duty as punishment. She was trying to find whoever was fated to die at the springs (it ended up being a SelfFulfillingProphecy) so she could steal a soul and gain recognition, but was so touched by them that she spent most of her time cheering them on and trying to help them. She finally sets up a plan to kill them all so the family won't be separated but regrets this almost immediately.

* Shia in ''Manga/PitaTen'' is the epitome of this trope; as a demon she's not only supposed to do evil, she ''has'' to do evil, but she always seems to wind up baking cookies for everybody, or cleaning up the apartment she shares with Misha ([[HeroWithAnFInGood an angel almost as bad at doing good as she is at doing evil]]), or just in general being polite, soft-spoken and helpful, much to the exasperation of her demon-adviser in cat form, Nyaa. In the manga it's revealed that the reason why demons ''have'' to be evil is because [[spoiler: it nourishes them, and Shia's inability to be evil eventually makes her body too weak to even go on living. Nyaa admits after she has passed away that she may have been a far more successful demon than he realized by making everyone love her and then dying, leaving everyone heartbroken]].

* All of Florsheim's evil minions in ''Manga/TentaiSenshiSunred''. To put it in perspective, their most fiendish and evil-tempered minion is probably [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter Usacon]], who came up on the brilliant idea of tormenting our hero [[PokeThePoodle by turning off the water to his apartment and then removing all the tasty soft drinks from the vending machine closest to it]] (they ''bought'' the soft drinks legally... They're not monsters after all. Well, OK, they ''are'' monsters. But not very ''evil'' monsters). They all work for a HarmlessVillain anyway.

** ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'': Kronk couldn't be much nicer. The guy is only a villain by virtue of working for the BigBad. When he makes a HeelFaceTurn, it's believable because it's not like he had all that far to turn in the first place. When Yzma infiltrates Pacha's house by saying they're distant relatives, it seems Kronk actually ''believes'' this. He plays games with the kids, has a blast, and doesn't leave without urging Chicha to not wait until the next family reunion for a get together.

** Killer from ''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven'' doesn't seem to enjoy working under Carface, and doesn't really seem to have anything against Charlie or Itchy. Also shown when he gleefully greets Charlie near the end and seems to show reluctance to Carface's plan to kill Charlie in the beginning such as when he faints after recalling it.

** Hopper's brother Molt in ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife''. While Hopper is malicious, cunning and depraved, Molt is... not.

* In ''Film/JesseJamesMeetsFrankensteinsDaughter'', Maria's brother Rudolph is far to softhearted to be a MadScientist, and Maria eventually discovers that he has been sabotaging her experiments.

** Gretchen isn't all that malicious either, just desperately insecure and hungry for attention, which makes her extremely prone to gossip and over dramatize things ("Pusher? Like a ''drug pusher''?"). Makes more sense if you consider that in the original script she was described as ugly.

* From ''Film/{{Tombstone}}'': Sherman [=McMasters=], Texas Jack Vermillion, and Turkey Creek Jack Johnson don't mind robbin' and stealin', but don't like messin' with the women for the evulz. Also Deputy Billy Breckinridge thinks there has to be some law.

* ''Literature/{{Blindfold}}'': Kareem Sondheim is largely dawn into the BigBad's plot out of personal loyalty rather than malice or ambition, argues against committing any murders, doesn't seem to quite understand or agree with his associates endgame, [[spoiler: and eventually commits a HeelFaceTurn]].

* PlayedForDrama with Draco Malfoy from ''Literature/HarryPotter''. For the first five books, he is a {{jerkass}} who never gets closer than RedHerring to being a real villain. When he is finally given an important job by the bad guys in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince Half-Blood Prince]]'', it quickly becomes clear that he can't do real evil; he tries to kill Dumbledore indirectly but all of his attempts fail. When he finally has a golden opportunity to kill him on the spot, he can't go through with it, and only disarms him. The only reason he tries to go through with it is fear of what Voldemort would do to him and his family. [[spoiler:Oh, and Dumbledore is perfectly aware of what he is up to the whole time, but didn't approach him for fear of Voldemort catching on through Legilimency.]] Also in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Deathly Hallows]]'', when the trio are caught and brought to Malfoy Manor, and Draco is asked to take a look at them to see if they've got the real Harry Potter, he clearly knows it's them, and is clearly reluctant to identify them, since he knows that doing so will ensure that Voldemort will come and kill them.

* Episode 24 of ''Series/Akumaizer3'' has MonsterOfTheWeek Noppelar. He's sent to dig up a water vein near a village as part of a plan to flood the surface, but ends up spending more time playing with his son and helping the villagers fix their water shortage instead. By the end of the episode, the titular heroes are able to persuade him to [[HeelFaceTurn turn over a new leaf]] and he and his son become semi-recurring allies thereafter.

* Chompiras is this to Botija in every sketch of ''Los caquitos'' of Series/{{Chespirito}}, both are criminals but Chompiras is too dumb and to dimwitted, especially compared to Botija who has a normal intelligence and is much more astute and mischievous. Of course they eventually made a HeelFaceTurn, but their relationship was clearly based in the classic bad villain/dumb sidekick dynamic. Before Botija, Peterete had the same role.

* ''Series/AFrenchVillage'': Alban was essentially roped into joining the Milice, the Vichy French StateSec, to avoid his forced labor in Germany. He obeyed his godfather's order to murder two children, but loathes himself for it. Alban only did this because he was taught to obey him from childhood.
* In ''Series/{{Hardball}}'', Lance is a complete failure as AlphaBitch Tiff's evil minion: being unfailingly polite, helpful and supportive to archenemy Mikey.

* ''Series/KikaiSentaiZenkaiger'': Stacy's determination and formidable fighting skills actually make him a serious threat, especially towards [[TheHero Kaito]]/[[ArchEnemy Zenkaiser]], whom he relentlessly pursuits. Unfortunately, he looks like a lanky goth kid jocks would steal lunch money from in high school, absolutely must act [[{{Chuunibyou}} dramatic]] and is simply not capable of the cruelty expected from an enforcer for the [[TheEmpire Tozitendo]] dynasty. Not even reality itself takes him seriously and nothing ever goes his way, not even the attempts to act [[IJustWantToBeLoved tough]] and [[HiddenHeartOfGold cool]].
* ''Series/KingdomAdventure'': Depending on the episode, [[VileVillainLaughableLackey Napps and Gorf]] might qualify: in some episodes they have no problem feeding [[WouldHurtAChild children]] to [[FedToTheBeast Gulp]]. In other episodes, they get childishly weepy when told to go out and kill an eagle. Possibly justified by the fact that they know the eagle in question works for [[{{God}} The Emperor]], but have no such knowledge about the kids.

* Rusty the Tow Truck in the preschool series ''Series/TheBigGarage''. In fact, [[OncePerEpisode in every single episode]], he always joins the cast for the final song of the episode, and leaves the garage just before the credits roll.

* When Harry Biscuit becomes Mr Gently Benevolent's evil minion in ''Radio/BleakExpectations'', he does things like insult someone's tie. When Pippa Bin follows him to the dark side, Mr Benevolent has to keep explaining that "bad" might be a synonym for "evil", but there is a difference between doing something evilly, and doing it ''badly''.
-->''Washing up badly is not the same as washing up evilly, it is merely unhygienic. Washing up '''evilly''' involves crying children, smashed plates and at least two dead dogs.''

* ''VideoGame/BoxxyQuestTheGatheringStorm'': In the prequel, Cornelia is this. She was created by the BigBad to be a remorseless LivingWeapon, and she briefly serves as his [[TheDragon Dragon]]. But she’s very naïve and friendly, and it’s clear that she was never cut out for evil, since she defects to the heroes’ side almost immediately as soon they offer her the chance. By the time the sequel rolls around, everyone has pretty much forgotten that she was ever supposed to be evil in the first place.
* Balrog from ''VideoGame/CaveStory'' is only a villain because the Demon Crown compels him to obey the BigBad. When nobody's looking, he's cheerful, helpful and [[spoiler:saves Quote and Curly Brace from the {{Load Bearing|Boss}} BonusBoss Ballos]].

* Bianca of ''Franchise/SpyroTheDragon'' spends most of [[VideoGame/SpyroYearOfTheDragon her first appearance]] acting as [[BigBad the Sorceress']] meek and clumsy underling, badly attempting to intimidate Spyro out of taking back their stolen colony of dragon eggs (which gradually breaks down into her practically begging him to go back so he spares himself her abusive master's wrath). She eventually pulls a HeelFaceTurn after finding our the Sorceress' plans for the eggs were far less [[WellIntentionedExtremist well intentioned]] than she expected (as well as gaining a crush on Spyro's ally, Hunter).

** Papyrus. He's trying desperately to capture a human in order to join the royal guard. However, his puzzles are almost all painfully easy (he even goes as far to solve an early one ''for'' you), and if you ask him for advice for the one puzzle with anything resembling real difficulty, he'll just tell you where the switch is. [[spoiler: If you flirt with him during his fight, he spends the whole battle thinking about his date. After the fight, you can go on the date with him immediately by backtracking a single screen, presumably less than five minutes after he was just fighting you. On the LeaveNoSurvivors path, he immediately spares you, and if you kill him anyway, he dies ''still'' believing that you were a big softie who just needed a hug.]]

* ''VideoGame/XanderTheMonsterMorpher'': Mr. Seeheel works for the big bad and attacks Xander before most bossfights. However, he heals Xander before and after each fight and genuinely cares for Xander's well-being.
* Ichiban Kasuga of ''Videogame/YakuzaLikeADragon'' is, to put it quite frankly, a pretty bad yakuza; he'll go out of his way to not shake down store owners for protection money, and beats up other criminals who ''did'' scam people before returning the money to the other criminals' victims (instead of following orders and bringing the money back to headquarters). His immediate superior, family captain and book keeper Jo Sawashiro, hates Ichiban for being far too soft to cut it in the criminal underworld, though Ichiban's Patriarch Masumi Arakawa has a soft spot for [[AffectionateNickname Ichi]] and will turn a blind eye to his antics.

** Most notably with Garland, who can't seem to grasp that [[AffablyEvil offering the goodguys cupcakes]] is not proper behavior for a wannabe EvilOverlord. It's so bad that his captive, Princess Sara, has to ''help'' him be evil.

* Inferno of ''Webcomic/APTComic''. A henchmen of [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog Eggman]], and loyal unlike, say, Shadow. But he's not exactly doing anything worse than making pouty faces.

* Jurinjo from ''Webcomic/EmergencyExit'' is amazing at this trope. He helps [[CloudCuckooLander Eddie]] buy groceries, delays reporting back from a mission until he eats ice cream and sees a dancing monkey, shows the heroes the location of a PlotCoupon, has doubts about continuing to work for the villain, doesn't want to attack an opponent who seems to be less well armed then he is, is upset when another villain attacks one of the heroes , offers to heal the hero and has to be reminded that villains usually asks for payment, and actually holds up his end of the deal and seems to be making friends with one of the heroes.

** Among the Underlings, the [[TheGoomba Imps]] qualify. Though they're dangerous to low-level players, they become more like mischievous pests once their threat has passed. John is able to guilt trip them into leaving when they mess up his house, another cowers with him in fear of an incoming Ogre, most of them back away from Dave when they see the [[PerversePuppet bizarre puppets]] he's creating, and by the three year TimeSkip, they've taken to chilling with John and Jade when they watch movies.

** The Monster in the Darkness, who manages to spend most of an epic battle scene having a tea party, and constantly fails to grasp the main plan of the villains. He even gets friendly with a captured paladin, which causes one to wonder if he's even ''trying'' to be evil. It's made clear that he ''should'' be incredibly dangerous, on account of his massive strength and durability, along with vague but powerful other abilities, but his personality renders him (in the words of [[TheDragon Redcloak]]) "about as scary as musty styrofoam." [[spoiler:He later saves said paladin (named O-chul) and Vaarsuvius from death via ingested meteors. He teleports them away and Xykon doesn't even realize it was The Monster in the Darkness who did it.]]

** The green devil girl brought in to [[spoiler: replace Fuschia after she bailed on Satan]] is a perky, kindhearted CuteClumsyGirl who is bothered by the torture and screaming of the eternally damned. She works for Satan, but doesn't seem to have a clue what the mission statement is.

** Played with in an odd way. Caboose has to pretend to be evil in order to be useful in a fight. He does this by imagining kittens with spikes on them, and declaring a hatred for babies. Nonetheless, he utterly destroys the mooks he was fighting.
** Omega, the Evil AI of the Blood Gulch Chronicles, got ''two''. First, Doc, whom he possessed for most of the Chronicles. Doc is a pacifist, and often punctuates Omega's maniacal scheming with cheerful comments. And then there was Lopez, the Red's Hispanic robot. Lopez was reduced to a head for the latter half of the Chronicles, and often acts as the straight man for Omega's CartoonishSupervillainy. When asked to build a robot army, Lopez purposely built troops that couldn't go any faster than a walking pace (because he was asked for a "day of victory" and ensured that they would win [[ExactWords in exactly 24 hours]]), and tricked Omega into insulting himself in Spanish.
* Heartbreaker and Jello of The Masterminds, in the Literature/WhateleyUniverse. They seem a lot more interested on protecting their friends than in actual villainy.

* Toady in ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGummiBears'', he's clearly very loyal to his boss the Duke Igthorn and to his kind the ogres, albeit all the abuse and bullying he constantly suffers from them, but other than that is not evil and in several episodes he willingly helps the Gummi Bears (though mostly secretly in order to avoid punishment). He is also much more intelligent than the other ogres (he knows how to read for example) and [[ObfuscatingStupidity maybe than Igthorn]].

* Basil in ''WesternAnimation/{{Babar}}'', although he never questions his boss Lord Rataxes’s actions, he tend to soften them if he can. He even returns Isabelle's (Babar’s baby daughter) doll once Rataxes took it in an episode when he could ask for anything he wanted in Celesteville due to some obscure oath.

* Shecky the Jester in ''WesternAnimation/TheBiskitts'', as his name implies, he’s a Jester and only helps the main villain King Max because he’s the king (and Shecky is the only other person in the kingdom, by-the-way).
* Sillycone, Clandestino's robot butler in ''WesternAnimation/TheBluffers'', he has no malice at all and even call Clandestino on his bad behavior sometimes, but nevertheless is very faithful to his master. Also Glum, Clandestino’s guardian dog, he clearly sympathizes with the Bluffers but he’s still loyal to his owner.

* The [[DumbMuscle Fixed Ideas]] from ''WesternAnimation/CyberSix'' are simply too stupid to be evil. They'll do whatever horrible thing they're ordered to do, but when they're not following orders they basically act like toddlers. They're so easily distracted by card-tricks and cats that it's actually hard not to pity them when the titular cyber beats the ever loving crap out of them.

** Soren gets a mission of [[BigBad Viren]] to kill the two princes and is at first willing to carry them out. In addition to other, little malice, he has more of a D in evil. However, he never becomes a real villain, but remains in the field of anti-hero or anti-villain. In the middle of the third season he [[HeelFaceTurn returns to the side of the good]].

* Little Evil from ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1992'' episode "A Little Evil" is the young son of recurring villain Manta. While he wants to make his father proud and be as evil as he is, he just doesn't have it in him, and prefers to make art. In the end, he ends up saving Ariel from his father's brain sponge, and then he and Ariel both save his father. If the series had continued, it seems likely that Manta would've had a HeelFaceTurn because of his son.

* Lurky, Murky's flunky, from ''WesternAnimation/RainbowBrite''. He likes color (the very thing his boss hates), and is generally goofy and nice.

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' features a squad of [[AdorableEvilMinions Rubies]] the Crystal Gems end up playing baseball against. Not only does it never occur to them to ''cheat'' (or just ignore the game altogether, since the stakes are definitely not in the Rubies' favor) and continue on with their mission unmolested, they...[[TheDitz aren't particularly bright]], with their leader [[spoiler:missing the Crystal Gem's own Ruby adding herself to the squad]] because she forgot to count ''herself'' during roll call, not actually bothering to figure out the difference between humans and [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation Gems]] before going to Earth, barely show any aggression except for Eyeball and Army, and when they finally figure out their opponents are Gems [[spoiler:are entirely willing to leave well enough alone when put on a SnipeHunt for their actual objective.]] Then they return and completely buy "Jasper's" explanation for why she should stay on Earth to "watch" the Crystal Gems, despite it being extremely obvious that "Jasper" is actually a shapeshifted Amethyst. [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope However]], Eyeball turns out to be AxCrazy when separated from the group, and Navy apparently-independently comes up with a plan to humiliate the Crystal Gems mean-spirited enough to earn her an A+ in evil.]]

*** 21 subverted this in season 4 [[spoiler: after witnessing 24's murder/accidental death]] when he [[spoiler: TookALevelInBadass by completely whipping his body and self-discipline into shape and becoming "General 21", a highly trained, merciless supersoldier. However he still does not fare very well in the evil department, as he completely fails to torture Hank and Dean and openly admits to them that he cannot tap into his inner hatred the way the Monarch can]].

** Papyrus. He's trying desperately to capture a human in order to join the royal guard. However, his puzzles are almost all painfully easy (he even goes as far to solve an early one ''for'' you), and if you ask him for advice for the one puzzle with anything resembling real difficulty, he'll just tell you where the switch is. [[spoiler: If you flirt with him during his fight, he spends the whole battle thinking about his date. After the fight, you can go on the date with him immediately by backtracking a single screen, presumably less than five minutes after he was just fighting you. On the KillEmAll path, he immediately spares you, and if you kill him anyway, he dies ''still'' believing that you were a big softie who just needed a hug.]]

-->-- '''Dr. Evil''' (to his son Scott), ''Film/AustinPowers The Spy Who Shagged Me''

* Jama-P in ''Manga/WeddingPeach'' takes this [[HeelFaceTurn to its logical extreme]]. He becomes a {{Sidekick}} to the good guys.

* Shia in ''Manga/PitaTen'' is the epitome of this trope; as a demon she's not only supposed to do evil, she ''has'' to do evil, but she always seems to wind up baking cookies for everybody, or cleaning up the apartment she shares with Misha ([[HeroWithAnFInGood an angel almost as bad at doing good as she is at doing evil]]), or just in general being polite, soft-spoken and helpful, much to the exasperation of her demon-adviser in cat form, Nyaa. In the manga it's revealed that the reason why demons ''have'' to be evil is because [[spoiler: it nourishes them, and Shia's inability to be evil eventually makes her body too weak to even go on living. Nyaa admits after she has passed away that she may have been a far more successful demon than he realized by making everyone love her and then dying, leaving everyone heartbroken]].
* [=DojiDevil=], a one-shot character in the HotSpringsEpisode of ''LightNovel/KyouranKazokuNikki'', always on cleaning duty as punishment. She was trying to find whoever was fated to die at the springs (it ended up being a SelfFulfillingProphecy) so she could steal a soul and gain recognition, but was so touched by them that she spent most of her time cheering them on and trying to help them. She finally sets up a plan to kill them all so the family won't be separated but regrets this almost immediately.
* ''Anime/MegaManNTWarrior'': [=BubbleMan=] started out fairly intimidating, but [[VillainDecay became this]] from his second appearance onward, where he attempted to harness ThePowerOfFriendship to defeat Lan and pals by... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin making new friends]]. Following this, [=BubbleMan=] was [[CharacterizationMarchesOn recharacterized]] as the Darkloids' ObliviouslyEvil TokenGoodTeammate who the audience [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain still wants to see succeed in some small way]].
* Shiyu Kusanagi in the ''Manga/{{X 1999}}'' manga, CD Drama and TV series. What is a GentleGiant who goes out of his way to help other people (including his enemies!) doing in the humanity-destroying Dragons of the Earth group? Eventually this mismatch results in [[spoiler:him switching sides]] in both the anime and manga.

* In ''Manga/{{Ratman}}'', the minions of Jackal, who wear spooky skeleton outfits, in the first chapter forget they were supposed to kidnap Shuto. So they instead played with and fed stray kittens.
* Antylamon, the last of the 12 Devas in ''Anime/DigimonTamers''. While the other Devas would usually attack humans on sight, [[WouldntHurtAChild Antylamon doesn't attack or threaten Suzie, the first human she meets, at all.]] Suzie even makes her do a HeelFaceTurn, as she not only defends Suzie from Makuramon, but becomes her partner.
** ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'' has Pumpkinmon and Gotsumon, who are more enchanted with the city of Shibuya than the prospect of doing anything truly evil. [[spoiler: [[KilledOffForReal It doesn't end well for them]] [[TearJerker when Vamdemon finds out]].]]
* Anzam from ''Manga/OreGaAkumaDeAitsuGaYomeDe'' is a demon who is incapable of lying, cheating, or stealing human souls. When he finally winds up in a contract with a human girl, she asks him to be her husband... And is a pretty good one, too.
* Android 16, in ''Manga/DragonBallZ''. He was created for the sole purpose of destroying Goku, and refuses to fight anyone but him. He also takes an interest in birds and squirrels, and loves the world so much that the only character in the series he does try to kill is [[BigBad Cell]]. Probably a ShoutOut to Android 8 from the original series (note the math), who was ordered to attack Goku but refused because he actually had a conscience and instead did a complete HeelFaceTurn. The only difference between them essentially is that 16 has that compulsion.

* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'':
** [[TheMillstone Italy]] can sometimes be this to [[ThoseWackyNazis Germany]] in the World War II arc, though somewhat subverted in that Germany himself isn't really evil either.
** [[TheStoic Japan]] has his moments of this as well, mostly due to JapanesePoliteness.
** All of the Soviets (excluding [[{{Yandere}} Belarus]]) are this to [[TragicVillain Russia]] to some degree, especially [[TheChewToy Lithuania]] and [[GagBoobs Ukraine]], both of whom are rather friendly and nice.
* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', among the members of the Espada, the ten most powerful members of [[BigBad Aizen's]] Arrancar army, the one who holds the title of 1st is [[AnimalMotifs Coyote Starrk]]... who is a [[BrilliantButLazy lazy bum]] of a person who needs to be kicked around by his Fraccion [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain Lilynette]], would rather [[MartialPacifist pretend to fight]] his opponent, and even [[ApologeticAttacker apologizes]] to the protagonists several times before doing something that opposes them. The only thing that makes him really a villain is that he [[UndyingLoyalty chose to side with Aizen]] out of gratitude for a past action.
* [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Karen]] from ''Manga/MyMonsterSecret'' is a FallenAngel, yet the extent of her "fall" seems to be that she lost her halo (which the JerkAss [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demon]] principal Akane stole to [[MundaneUtility use as a light bulb]]). However, she'll repeatedly insist that she's as evil as can be while she commits such heinous acts as giving people free amusement park tickets, forcing them to say "thank you", and enslaving a flock of crows to work as her servants...with 8-hour shifts, weekends off, and 2 meals a day. The only thing she does that even comes close to villainous is supporting Akane in her {{Troll}}ish antics, and even then she's still more of a TricksterMentor. On top of all that, she's a ShipperOnDeck for the main couple Asahi and Youko, having done the same [[GenerationXerox a generation before]] for Youko's parents; it's rather telling that the Asahi and Youko's usual reaction to her "evil" deeds is to [[PhraseCatcher think "She's an angel!"]] while crying tears of happiness.
* In ''Anime/MiniMoniTheMovieOkashiNaDaiboken'' the four fairy children are pretty bad at being evil, especially the yellow one, who loves sweets and enjoys slacking off. They turn good at the end, with added points of becoming human.
* ''Manga/GreatTeacherOnizuka'': [[TheDitz Tomoko]] is briefly this, when [[AlphaBitch Miyabi]] tries to get her to frame Onizuka and get him fired, but she messes it all up and her "[[WithFriendsLikeThese friends]]" kick her out of their clique.

* It may never be known what insane reason Priscilla Lyons had to join a bunch of cold-blooded killers who murdered super-villains like the Scourges of the Underworld, but she flunked the "evil test" when given her first mark, that of ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'s old enemy the Matador. She simply couldn't bring herself to pull the trigger. (And the fact that Matador was no longer a villain, living in poverty in Los Angeles, helping his sister take care of her children no doubt helped her decide.) In fact, this is what brought the organization down, due to their strict ResignationsNotAccepted policy; Priscilla knew they'd be after her; prior to this, every would-be defector (or failure, or even members who were in danger of being caught) had been killed by the others before they could spill any of the group's secrets. But she was smarter than the others, and quickly called ComicBook/TheAvengers hotline, and got in contact with the [[Characters/CaptainAmericaHeroes U.S. Agent]], and as a result, they both brought the entire organization down.

* Averell Dalton from ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke''. He's the youngest brother of the infamous Dalton gang (the second one, consisting of the cousins of the RealLife Daltons), but is both fundamentally nicer than his brothers as well as incredibly stupid. Unlike his CardCarryingVillain brothers Joe, William and Jack, Averell is far more interested in food, being a BigEater ExtremeOmnivore, and briefly became a successful chef when the brothers split up to try and make it on their own, while the other three continued the criminal path. Early albums featuring the Daltons tried to establish him as TheBrute of the brothers, but this was quickly dropped, and Averell became much more of a ManChild who mainly commits crimes because that's what his brothers do. If left to his own devices, he likely wouldn't be a criminal at all.

* Even on [[ComicBook/NewGods Apokolips]], these can be found: Auralie of the Female Furies, despite being raised in [[OrphanageofFear Granny Goodness’ Happiness Home]], wants only to bring beauty and joy. This leads her to a horrible end.

* Whitey, the large albino rat from ''WesternAnimation/FlushedAway'', who comes across more as a GentleGiant than anything.
* Seems to be common in Creator/{{Pixar}} films:
** Dug in ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'' before his HeelFaceTurn
** Hopper's brother Molt in ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife''. While Hopper is malicious, cunning and depraved, Molt is... not.
---> '''Hopper:''' ''(to Molt)'' I swear, if I hadn't promised ''mother'', on her ''death-bed'' that I wouldn't kill you, I would ''kill'' you!
* Ironically, the Minions themselves - as in, from ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe'' - are like this, along being AdorableEvilMinions. In [[WesternAnimation/{{Minions}} their own movie]], they manage to save the day - [[AccidentalHero by accident.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks'': Sonata Dusk, while she is happy to use her siren song to control people, seems to be more interested in food than world domination, unlike her fellow sirens, and too [[TheDitz ditzy]] to be seriously malevolent.
* Creator/{{Disney}} examples:
** ''WesternAnimation/AliceInWonderland'' the King of Hearts is not nearly as bad as his wife, the Queen, and he even tries as much as possible to keep her calm.
** ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'': Governor Ratcliffe is a greedy, scheming brute. His valet, Wiggins, is a polite, cheerful fool.
--->'''Ratcliffe:''' We shall give them a proper English greeting!\\
'''Wiggins:''' [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Oooh, gift baskets!]]\\
'''Ratcliffe:''' And he came so highly recommended.
*** Percy, Ratcliffe's pug dog is a similar case; he even stays with Pocahontas at the end.
** Dijon the thief in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTalesTheMovieTreasureOfTheLostLamp'', reluctant servant of BigBad evil sorcerer Merlok, but not evil himself, more like a comedic relief character.
** ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'': Kronk couldn't be much nicer. The guy is only a villain by virtue of working for the BigBad. When he makes a HeelFaceTurn, it's believable because it's not like he had all that far to turn in the first place. When Yzma infiltrates Pacha's house by saying they're distant relatives, it seems Kronk actually ''believes'' this. He plays games with the kids, has a blast, and doesn't leave without urging Chicha to not wait until the next family reunion for a get together.

* The children's book ''Literature/WhichWitch'' features Belladonna, who tries her hardest to be an evil, hag-faced black witch like all the rest. Unfortunately her natural tendency is that of a PuritySue-level white witch that makes all the other witches feel sick.

* PlayedForDrama with Draco Malfoy from ''Literature/HarryPotter''. For the first five books, he is a {{jerkass}} who never gets closer than RedHerring to being a real villain. When he is finally given an important job by the bad guys in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince Half-Blood Prince]]'', it quickly becomes clear that he can't do real evil; he tries to kill Dumbledore indirectly but all of his attempts fail. When he finally has a golden opportunity to kill him on the spot, he can't go through with it, and only disarms him. The only reason he tries to go through with it is fear of what Voldemort would do to him and his family. [[spoiler:Oh, and Dumbledore is perfectly aware of what he is up to the whole time, but didn't approach him for fear of Voldemort catching on through Legilimency.]] Also in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Deathly Hallows]]'', when the trio are caught and brought to Malfoy Manor, and Draco is asked to take a look at them to see if they've got the real Harry Potter, he clearly knows it's them, and is clearly reluctant to identify them, since he knows that doing so will ensure that Voldemort will come and kill them.
* A variation of this theme occurs in the satire ''Literature/TheScrewtapeLetters'', with the apprentice devil Wormwood. He ''wants'' to be an evil tempter of mortals, but he's ''really'' bad at it. He keeps making mistakes, getting both him and his uncle (the veteran tempter Screwtape) in trouble, and [[EpicFail failing miserably]] in the end, with the implication that Screwtape will eat him.
* In the ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' novels, many of the StateSec [[ThePoliticalOfficer Citizen Commissioners]] appointed to watch over the Havenite military officers are portrayed as being reasonably lenient when enforcing the Committee of Public Safety's decrees. The Havenite officers fall even deeper into this trope, thus having the StateSec officers babysitting them to begin with.

* In Jeramey Kraatz's ''Literature/TheCloakSociety'', Alex on his first mission first fails to open the bank vault (which, as later development show, may mean he didn't ''want'' to) and then, more definitively, saves a superhero's life from a teammate's attack.
* ''Literature/HomageToCatalonia'': Near the end of the book, Orwell is in a hotel room with his wife when Nationalist soldiers enter the room and start searching through his belongings. His notes are saved because the men are too polite to search a woman. They also cut the shake-down short to take a nap. Orwell comments that the Nationalists weren't all that great at Fascism because the Spanish people were too friendly and easygoing to do it convincingly. He then ominously comments that the results might be very different if the ideology was tried elsewhere.
* In ''Literature/NineGoblins'', the [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent goblins]]. Nessilka has to remind them they are supposed to be fierce all the time. It turns out that goblins are actually nonconfrontational by default.
* ''Literature/{{Blindfold}}'': Kareem Sondheim is largely dawn into the BigBad's plot out of personal loyalty rather than malice or ambition, argues against committing any murders, doesn't seem to quite understand or agree with his associates endgame, [[spoiler: and eventually commits a HeelFaceTurn]].
* [[PunnyName S.Q.]] [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness Pedalian]] in ''Literature/TheMysteriousBenedictSociety'' and his sequels. He's a kind and somewhat dim young man who serves BigBad Ledroptha Curtain out of misplaced admiration and a conviction that he's the good guy.

* Garry and Grahame in ''Series/MaidMarianAndHerMerryMen''. They're inept to the point Marian and co quite like them when they're not pursuing them on Nottingham's orders.
* The guards in ''Series/RobinHood'', meanwhile, turn out to have a C- In Evil. They won't obey orders to strike down unarmed peasants during a sit-in, but as soon as it turns into a proper fight they're right back in the game, even though it's still mostly a proper fight with unarmed peasants.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** Post-vamping, BrainlessBeauty Harmony wanders into this trope a lot. Most famously when she deeply apologizes for not noticing a "No Smoking" sign. She wants to be evil, but like [[TheDitz everything else]], she's just really bad at it.
--->'''Buffy:''' Harmony, when you tried to be head cheerleader, you were bad. When you tried to chair the homecoming committee, you were ''really'' bad. But when you try to ''be'' bad? '''''[[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech You suck]]'''''.
** Jonathan was never as evil as the other two of the Evil Trio, he joined them because... well, because what supernerd has not dreamed about becoming an EvilOverlord and being the arch-nemesis of the beautiful Slayer? He is constantly objecting to their more needlessly cruel ideas and distracts them when they begin to get sidetracked into random violence, and, since Buffy had helped him and saved his ass on more than one occasion, he is not particularly willing to kill or hurt her. When Katrina explains that brainwashing a person for sex is rape, he is visibly disturbed, and when Andrew and Warren are happy that they have managed to get away with murder, he stares blankly forward and numbly mumbles agreement. At the end of their career, when he sees what power has revealed about Warren's true character, he actually turns on the Trio and tells Buffy how to defeat Warren. In Season 7, he makes a complete turn and comes back to Sunnydale, having let go of the anger and depression that sprang from his youth, and hopes to redeem himself by helping Buffy stop the First Evil, even if nobody cares about him or what he has become. Unfortunately, Andrew has a few things to say about that.
* Chompiras is this to Botija in every sketch of ''Los caquitos'' of Series/{{Chespirito}}, both are criminals but Chompiras is too dumb and to dimwitted, especially compared to Botija who has a normal intelligence and is much more astute and mischievous. Of course they eventually made a HeelFaceTurn, but their relationship was clearly based in the classic bad villain/dumb sidekick dynamic. Before Botija, Peterete had the same role.
* ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'': Despite Joy's best efforts, Darnell is too much of a NiceGuy to shore up the household budget with petty theft like Earl used to. He tries to snatch a little old lady's purse and run away, but he barely makes it ten steps before he starts feeling guilty and goes back to return it and apologize. She is so charmed by his guilty-puppy-dog look that she offers him a candy bar. Even when Joy is plotting against or yelling at Earl, Darnell and Earl always exchange a friendly hello.
* ''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard'': Deputies Enos and Cletus are more friendly with the Dukes than their bosses.
* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'': The sidekicks of Dr. Forrester (TV's Frank) and Pearl (Professor Bobo and Brain Guy) are just silly lackeys who are browbeaten into servitude.
* In ''Series/PowerRangersInSpace'', there was Waspicable, a bee-like MonsterOfTheWeek working for Astronema who could not be evil no matter how much he tried. He was a depressed creature, who thought that his reluctance to do evil made him a bad monster. When he had Cassie dead to rights, aiming a laser gun at her point-blank, he instead chose to shoot a Quantron behind her. Cassie actually felt bad later about hurting his feelings. His ultimate fate is unknown, but more than likely his kind heart spared him from being destroyed by [[WorldHealingWave Zordon's energy wave]] in "Countdown to Destruction".
* In the 1985 TV movie ''Series/FamilyTies Vacation'', the Keaton family goes to England and unknowingly gets possession of important microfilm sought by a sinister foreign spy. The spy's less sinister henchman helps out the Keatons in the end because they're "such nice people".
* Many of the German soldiers in the {{Britcom}} ''Series/AlloAllo'', but especially kindhearted Lt. Hubert Gruber, as typified by his disastrous attempts at interrogation. It also helps that he was practically sobbing the whole time, as he conducted the firing squad to execute René. And slapping someone in the chest with a pair of gloves in order to intimidate them has never looked so ineffectual as when he once did it to René.
* Played straight on ''Series/Roots1977''. A poor white man is hoping to be [[PunchClockVillain hired as an overseer]] on a slave plantation. A couple of the slaves teach him how to sound and act right for the role (they find it hilarious when he actually says "please" to a slave). Their reasoning is, an overseer who has to ''remember'' to be brutal is much better than one who does it naturally.
* Robbie Rotten from ''Series/LazyTown'' [[HarmlessVillain isn't particularly threatening]], but in "Robbie's Dream Team" he hires a trio of actors to serve as his henchmen, and they turn out to be even more incompetent villains than he is.
* Manservant Hecubus from the "Pit of Ultimate Darkness" sketches from ''Series/KidsInTheHall''. He likes to pull pranks on his master Simon Milligan such as making Simon think his hypnotism worked by faking multiple personalities or switching Simon's zombie dust with talcum powder. Simon, being the ineffectual CardCarryingVillain that he is(if you could even call him a villain) is a little slow on the uptake.
* In ''Series/{{Hardball}}'', Lance is a complete failure as AlphaBitch Tiff's evil minion: being unfailingly polite, helpful and supportive to archenemy Mikey.
* ''Series/AFrenchVillage'': Alban was essentially roped into joining the Milice, the Vichy French StateSec, to avoid his forced labor in Germany. He obeyed his godfather's order to murder two children, but loathes himself for it. Alban only did this because he was taught to obey him from childhood.
* ''Series/KingdomAdventure'': Depending on the episode, [[VileVillainLaughableLackey Napps and Gorf]] might qualify: in some episodes they have no problem feeding [[WouldHurtAChild children]] to [[FedToTheBeast Gulp]]. In other episodes, they get childishly weepy when told to go out and kill an eagle. Possibly justified by the fact that they know the eagle in question works for [[{{God}} The Emperor]], but have no such knowledge about the kids.
* ''Series/KikaiSentaiZenkaiger'': Stacy's determination and formidable fighting skills actually make him a serious threat, especially towards [[TheHero Kaito]]/[[ArchEnemy Zenkaiser]], whom he relentlessly pursuits. Unfortunately, he looks like a lanky goth kid jocks would steal lunch money from in high school, absolutely must act [[{{Chuunibyou}} dramatic]] and is simply not capable of the cruelty expected from an enforcer for the [[TheEmpire Tozitendo]] dynasty. Not even reality itself takes him seriously and nothing ever goes his way, not even the attempts to act [[IJustWantToBeLoved tough]] and [[HiddenHeartOfGold cool]].

* Scumspawn in the BBC Radio 4 comedy series ''Radio/OldHarrysGame''. He is a demon, one of Satan's chief minions, and much is made of his disgusting physical appearance. He also donates to donkey sanctuaries, is a supporter of Friends of the Earth, is often exceedingly kind to the damned, and has a chaste but touching love for his master.

* The Koopa Kids from the ''VideoGame/MarioParty'' games do this from time to time. One would take coins from players, but occasionally would ''give'' coins instead, then realize his mistake and leave anyway.
* Balrog from ''VideoGame/CaveStory'' is only a villain because the Demon Crown compels him to obey the BigBad. When nobody's looking, he's cheerful, helpful and [[spoiler:saves Quote and Curly Brace from the {{Load Bearing|Boss}} BonusBoss Ballos]].

* In the final case of the ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' trilogy, [[spoiler: Pearl Fey]] receives instructions to help with a murder and is so innocent as to misinterpret them as instructions to throw gravy onto a portrait. The same case also involves [[spoiler: Iris, who is absolutely committed to helping protect both a heinous villain and a SympatheticMurderer and following any instructions from them regarding how to help them avoid being caught]].

* ''VideoGame/MugenSouls'': In her backstory, Altis failed so hard at being a demon that she was reincarnated into an Angel. In game, all of her attempts at mischief backfire into being ultimately helpful to those she was trying to ruin.
* Visas Marr from ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'' is the Sith apprentice of a nihilistic OmnicidalManiac, who believes life is inherently unworthy and should all die... But she is also an ExtremeDoormat, a worldview fundamentally opposed to that of [[TheSocialDarwinist the Sith]]. This does not cause her to abandon her old worldview the moment the main character defeats her, but it means she's completely unable to act on it because she [[DefeatMeansFriendship immediately switches her blind loyalty to you]].

* ''Videogame/{{Deltarune}}'':
** Lancer ''really'' wants to be evil like his EvilOverlord of a father, but he just doesn't have the attitude or the approach for it. His schemes are far too silly and prone to PokeThePoodle, he's generally weird, he's actually too kind and cheery to be as mean as he wants to be, and the ''moment'' actual conflict with the protagonists begins, he can't go through and gets depressed at the very thought of harming them.
** Rouxls Kaard has a more proper attitude to villainy, but it's just not enough to make up for the fact he ''absolutely sucks'' at his role of stopping the protagonists. He's only appointed as Duke of Puzzles because everyone else was press-ganged or jailed; in practice, he's hopelessly bad at puzzlecrafting, with the hardest he throws at the heroes being solvable in two moves. He also sells useful items under the idea the funds he gets will finance his efforts to crush his enemies (which never work). The closest he comes to being threatening in Chapter 1 is siccing an enemy the heroes have already faced on their now-bigger group, and the moment that doesn't work, he immediately switches to the heroes' side and claims he was testing them all along. It takes until Chapter 2 for him to properly fight the heroes, but it's in the form of him challenging them to a game of Houses.
* ''VideoGame/BoxxyQuestTheGatheringStorm'': In the prequel, Cornelia is this. She was created by the BigBad to be a remorseless LivingWeapon, and she briefly serves as his [[TheDragon Dragon]]. But she’s very naïve and friendly, and it’s clear that she was never cut out for evil, since she defects to the heroes’ side almost immediately as soon they offer her the chance. By the time the sequel rolls around, everyone has pretty much forgotten that she was ever supposed to be evil in the first place.
* ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'': Veigar, the Tiny Master of Evil, is a yordle who was tortured into evil and insanity. Following the defeat of his master Mordekaiser, Veigar has attempted to make a name for himself... By defeating much more evil warlords and clearing the lands of roaming evil wildlife, thus improving the lives of the people around him.

* In ''VideoGame/EpiphanyCity'', Mischief tries to impede Lily's progress but is only really good at evading Superb Man. [[spoiler:This makes him feel useless to his father.]]

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'':
** The Monster in the Darkness, who manages to spend most of an epic battle scene having a tea party, and constantly fails to grasp the main plan of the villains. He even gets friendly with a captured paladin, which causes one to wonder if he's even ''trying'' to be evil. It's made clear that he ''should'' be incredibly dangerous, on account of his massive strength and durability, along with vague but powerful other abilities, but his personality renders him (in the words of [[TheDragon Redcloak]]) "about as scary as musty styrofoam." [[spoiler:He later saves said paladin (named O-chul) and Vaarsuvius from death via ingested meteors. He teleports them away and Xykon doesn't even realize it was The Monster in the Darkness who did it.]]
** Lampshaded by the imp Qarr when Therkla saves the heroes because she has a crush on Elan.
--->'''Qarr:''' No wonder you people need us to tell you how to be Evil, you'd just screw it up on your own.

* The minion in [[http://www.superstupor.com/sust04072008.shtml this]] ''Webcomic/SuperStupor'' comic; not so much an F in Evil as U for "Ungraded".

* During the "That Which Redeems" story arc from ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'', the Dimension of Pain demons start turning people in the Dimension of Lame into demons as well. However, as one demon puts it, "When you start with wussie mortals you get wussie demons."
* [[{{Buttmonkey}} Neeg,]] one of the aliens from ''A Game of Fools,'' who is terrified at the very sight of humans and is repeatedly abused (and, it's implied, much worse) by his DepravedBisexual superior Gloog eventually ends up betraying him and [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal helping the heroes]]. Ironically, he then comes to closest out of any of the aliens to actually killing the main characters, but that was more due to his own cowardice than any actual malice. Much later on, a journey to the Earth's surface to rescue Gloog from the main characters instead results in him being forced into helping and then being beaten senseless by a senile old woman.

* Fuchsia from ''WebComic/{{Sinfest}}'' gradually became this [[LoveRedeems after crushing on Criminy]]. Now, instead of tormenting the souls of the damned, she reads them stories and sings comforting songs to them.
** Lil' E is Devil's [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2002-08-16 "true believer"]] and LoonyFan, but of SevenDeadlySins he got any skill [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2002-09-26 only in Sloth]], otherwise his attempts to be [[CardCarryingVillain E-e-evil]] end up [[PokeThePoodle less than impressive]], hilarious or even adorable. He consistently [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2004-04-09 fails at evil]]. Oh, and he also dabbles in BlackMagic -- [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2008-05-30 put a hex]] on Slick and [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2008-08-18 summoned]] the savage demon {{hellhound}} with his "Black Magic [[ParodiesForDummies for Dummies]]".
** The green devil girl brought in to [[spoiler: replace Fuschia after she bailed on Satan]] is a perky, kindhearted CuteClumsyGirl who is bothered by the torture and screaming of the eternally damned. She works for Satan, but doesn't seem to have a clue what the mission statement is.
* Wilson and especially Pickett, Notfunny Cartoons' resident [[MadScientist mad scientists]]. Examples include the Killbot 5000, who works as a kindergartener because he couldn't bring himself to hurt a soul, or the genetically engineered werewolves, which would be fine if they didn't keep on coddling rather than killing. At one point, Wilson accuses Pickett of not being serious about this whole "evil science" thing. Pickett quickly pulls out a remote with a big red button, saying he's not sure anymore what it does, but if he recalls correctly, it should be something very bad. So Wilson presses it. A split second later, the phone rings. When they pick it up, the response is "Something very good just happened. Thank you."
* ''Webcomic/EvilDiva'': The title character. Even when the school sends home a letter to alert her parents to how good she is acting, she can't help herself but help a kitten caught in a tree.
* Dr Virginia Lee in ''Webcomic/SkinHorse'', the GovernmentConspiracy's resident MadScientist ... except she's actually a MotherlyScientist who isn't at all mad and [[https://web.archive.org/web/20100106145146/http://www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/skinhorse/series.php?view=archive&chapter=35741 can't even manage]] an EvilLaugh. The [[https://web.archive.org/web/20100807181952/http://www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/skinhorse/character.php?character_ID=2596 cast page]] says the trick is to never let her actually think about what she's doing.
* Richard from ''Webcomic/LookingForGroup'' got hauled in front of a court of his (evil) peers because he'd become a minion to protagonist Cale. Eventually he got bored and, shall we say, opted out of the proceedings.
* Inferno of ''Webcomic/APTComic''. A henchmen of [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog Eggman]], and loyal unlike, say, Shadow. But he's not exactly doing anything worse than making pouty faces.

* Many of [[QuirkyMiniBossSquad the Disaster Masters]] in ''WebComic/CucumberQuest'' are this, coming off more like punks and losers than serious threats. There's a reason for this; [[spoiler:their father/boss, the Nightmare Knight, is a ''BigBad'' With An F In Evil. His powers are [[BadPowersGoodPeople drawn from fear and despair]], but he's a NiceGuy who doesn't really want to hurt anyone. [[MonsterFacade He's just terrified of being seen as weak]], as he believes that [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes the Disaster Masters]] will die if his powers fail. The Masters are largely [[HarmlessVillain Harmless Villains]] because Nightmare Knight doesn't want them to actually hurt people, just scare them]].
* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', when his brothers are having climactic combat showdowns with the protagonists, Guineas engages Ellen... [[http://egscomics.com/comic/2004-04-05 in a thumb war]] (and loses!) They go on to play [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2004-04-12 rock-paper-scissors]] before Ellen is distracted by an actual threat. It's apparent that none of the brothers are really into the whole evil thing, but Guineas appears to put the least effort into even acting like it.

* Heartbreaker and Jello of The Masterminds, in the Literature/WhateleyUniverse. They seem a lot more interested on protecting their friends than in actual villainy.

* Odion Ishtar from ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries''. Despite being TheDragon and impersonating [[BigBad Marik Ishtar]], he summons such horrible monstrosities as the Easter Bunny and Gummi Bears during his duel with Joey.
** One member of Marik's Evil Council is none other than '''[[Creator/DanGreen DAN GREEN]]''', who gets sent to steal Yugi's Millennium Puzzle. When he confronts Yugi, however, he forgets what the mission was and simply asks for some change so he can use the laundromat.

** Omega, the Evil AI of the Blood Gulch Chronicles, got ''two''. First, Doc, whom he possessed for most of the Chronicles. Doc is a pacifist, and often punctuates Omega's maniacal scheming with cheerful comments. And then there was Lopez, the Red's Hispanic robot. Lopez was reduced to a head for the latter half of the Chronicles, and often acts as the straight man for Omega's CartoonishSupervillainy. When asked to build a robot army, Lopez purposely built troops that couldn't go any faster than a walking pace, and tricked Omega into insulting himself in Spanish.

* ''Series/KikaiSentaiZenkaiger'': Stacy's determination and ([[FeetOfClay mostly]]) cool head together with formidable fighting skills actually make him a serious threat, especially towards [[TheHero Kaito]]/[[ArchEnemy Zenkaiser]], whom he relentlessly pursuits. Unfortunately, he looks like a lanky goth kid jocks would steal lunch money from in high school and absolutely must act [[{{Chuunibyou}} dramatic]], so noone takes him seriously. It also doesn't help that he failed to keep the Zenkaigers from knowing he has a HiddenHeartOfGold and desperately craves affection.

** Kronk is this to Yzma in ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove''; he's a lovable oaf who is more interested in cooking than being a henchman.
--->'''Yzma:''' A few drops of ''this'', and he'll be dead before dessert!\\
'''Kronk:''' Which is a shame, cuz it's gonna be delicious!

* ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'': Kronk couldn't be much nicer. The guy is only a villain by virtue of working for the BigBad. When he makes a HeelFaceTurn, it's believable because it's not like he had all that far to turn in the first place. When Yzma infiltrates Pacha's house by saying they're distant relatives, it seems Kronk actually ''believes'' this. He plays games with the kids, has a blast, and doesn't leave without urging Chicha to not wait until the next family reunion for a get together.

** Wingnut, Grizzle's robot minion from ''[[Franchise/CareBears Oopsy Does It]]''. Eventually, he stands up to his master, as the movie was one big MistreatmentInducedBetrayal.

** Jonathan was never as evil as the other two of the Evil Trio, he joined them because... well, because what supernerd has not dreamed about becoming an EvilOverlord and being the arch-nemesis of the beautiful Slayer? He is constantly objecting to their more needlessly cruel ideas and distracts them when they begin to get sidetracked into random violence, and, since Buffy had helped him and saved his ass on more than one occasion, he is not particularly willing to kill or hurt her. When Katrina explains that brainwashing a person for sex is rape, he is visibly disturbed, and when Andrew and Warren are happy that they have managed to get away with murder, he stares blankly forward and numbly mumbles agreement. At the end of their career, when he sees what power has revealed about Warren's true character, he actually turns on the Trio and tells Buffy how to defeat Warren. In Season 7, he makes a complete turn and comes back to Sunnydale, having let go of the anger and depression that sprang from his youth, and hopes to redeem himself by helping Buffy stop the First, even if nobody cares about him or what he has become. Unfortunately, Andrew has a few things to say about that.