History Main / MinionWithAnFInEvil

* ''VideoGame/SonicSuperstars'': Has Trip the Sungazer, who was ForcedIntoEvil by Eggman and Fang. The issue is, she's too clumsy to be helpful to Eggman and Fang, not helped by her shy demeanor and actually being a genuninely nice girl- not helped by the fact that she gets no respect from Eggman or Fang. [[spoiler:Is it any wonder that she eventually [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal switched]] [[HeelFaceTurn sides]] when she'd had enough, aiding Sonic and co. instead?]]

* ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'' has [[MasterOfIllusion Shadowheart]], Cleric of [[DarkIsEvil Shar]], Faerun's goddess of [[GodOfEvil sorrow, entropy, and loss]], who wants to [[OmnicidalManiac annihilate everything that isn't herself or her father]]...and Shadowheart seems to have processed ''none'' of that, seeing Shar as [[TheSacredDarkness the goddess of exiles and protection]], while she herself is [[AffablyEvil kind, charitable, and good with kids]]. Of the three {{Token Evil Teammate}}s, Shadowheart is the most likely person a good-natured character can win the approval of, simply by doing heroic things.

* ComicBook/TheSuperiorFoesOfSpiderMan were a whole superteam full of these, although Overdrive takes the cake, with his man-crush on ComicBook/LukeCage. When Cage and ComicBook/IronFist beat up the team and get them arrested, he vehemently defends their actions.

** 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.

* 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.

* Ty Lee in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' is loyal to ''Azula'' of all people, but she’s also one of the sweetest and most cheerful characters to the point it’s easy to forget she’s a [[CoDragons co-dragon]] someone who is AxCrazy and [[TheSociopath sociopathic]].

* Ty Lee in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' is among the sweetest girls in the series who just happens to be loyal to ''Azula'' of all people.

* ''VideoGame/BaldursGate3'' has [[MasterOfIllusion Shadowheart]], Cleric of [[DarkOfEvil Shar]], Faerun's goddess of [[GodOfEvil sorrow, entropy, and loss]], who wants to [[OmnicidalManiac annihilate everything that isn't herself or her father]]...and Shadowheart seems to have processed ''none'' of that, seeing Shar as [[TheSacredDarkness the goddess of exiles and protection]], while she herself is [[AffablyEvil kind, charitable, and good with kids]]. Of the three {{Token Evil Teammate}}s, Shadowheart is the most likely person a good-natured character can win the approval of, simply by doing heroic things.

* Smithers from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' actually is a bit kindhearted even though he is Mr. Burns' "minion."

* {{Webcomic/Metacarpolis}}: Max was one until he got laid off. Now he's wondering what to do with his life.

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'': Governor Ratcliffe is a greedy, scheming brute.
His valet, Wiggins, is a polite, cheerful fool.

** ''WesternAnimation/PeterPan'': Smee fits this trope to a T. While he ''does'' attempt to convince Hook to return to the "good ol' days" of pirating outside of Neverland, it's more-so that he personally has no grudge against Peter, and while technically a villain, is too stupid to accomplish any effective villainy.

** ''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.

Contrast HarmlessVillain, WorthyOpponent, PunchClockVillain, ReluctantMonster, and ObliviouslyEvil. See also BumblingHenchmenDuo, SurroundedByIdiots, TokenGoodTeammate, PokeThePoodle, WhiteSheep, MercifulMinion, GoodAllAlong, PeerPressuredBully, and VileVillainLaughableLackey. Compare and contrast HeroWithAnFInGood and UnderlingWithAnFInPR. Frequently hold back a truly terrifying boss due to ConservationOfCompetence. Often makes up a SmartJerkAndNiceMoron pair with his boss, who heaps abuse on him for his good tendencies.

* [=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.

* [[BrainlessBeauty Lindsay]] and [[NotGoodWithPeople Beth]] to [[AlphaBitch Heather]] in ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama Island''. Eventually, both [[BackstabbingTheAlphaBitch betray]] Heather ''epically''. Izzy could also count since she technically joined Heather's alliance briefly, though she's far too crazy and distracted to contribute to Heather's schemes other than helping with an extra vote against the current target.

* 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.]]

[[folder:Theater]]

* ''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.
* ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'':
** 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 in 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.

* 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]].
* Igor in ''WesternAnimation/AttackOfTheKillerTomatoes'', Dr. Gangreen’s assistant, is dumb and naïve and just wants to be a news reporter.

* On ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', [[TheEeyore the Weeper]] nearly managed to destroy a city once, but couldn't when he realized how many innocent lives that would actually take. After thirty years in jail for the attempt, he gets out and [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]] helps him [[TookALevelInBadass Take a Level in Badass]]. (This is a stark contrast to his comics counterpart, where his MO was "inflict a CruelAndUnusualDeath on anyone he felt was happier than him, but then "mourn" for them.")

* In ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'', the pirate Stickybeard had a henchman named Dumb John Silver. (Give you one guess [[MeaningfulName how he got that name]].) Of course, maybe he wasn't ''too'' dumb... He was smart enough to quit after Stickybeard insulted him for not being evil enough.

* Glutz in ''WesternAnimation/GreenEggsAndHam2019,'' a literal [[CardCarryingVillain card-carrying]] member of the BAD GUYS, who remains cheerful and upbeat at all times, attempts to throw a party to celebrate her mentor's OneLastJob, and indulges in a Green Eggs and Ham MegaMealChallenge, whilst nominally keeping on task to capture the missing Chickeraffe. [[spoiler: Subverted with TheReveal that "BADGUYS" is a [[FunWithAcronyms poorly-chosen job title]]. She's actually an animal control agent.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse2002'', Kobra Khan has about a "C" in evil, it seems, at least compared to the other Snake-Men. He's okay with fighting the heroes and other races in general, and is perfectly okay with the plans of enslaving the other races of Eternia that King Hsss pursues, but having spent most of his life away from his species has made him ''very'' reluctant to do some of the things they are ''most'' notorious for, like feed on sapient beings. (A few of the others try to push him towards those ends, calling this reluctance a sign of being "soft", but he's ''very'' nervous whenever the opportunity comes up.)
* GIR from ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim''. The one time he became a competent villain he nearly killed Zim.

* 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.

* The Horde seems to accumulate these in ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'', meaning that the ones who ''are'' legitimately awful - [[AbusiveParents Shadow Weaver]], say - tend to stand out.
** Scorpia ''is'' legitimately physically powerful, pretty ruthless, and very dangerous in hand-to-pincer combat...but she turns into [[IgnoredEnamoredUnderling a lovestruck idiot]] whenever Catra is involved, at one point breaking off in the middle of a fight with Seahawk in order for them to share a bonding moment about their similar romantic woes.
** Kyle isn't so much a Minion With An F In Evil as he is a [[ButtMonkey Minion With An F In Everything]], but trying to make friends with an imprisoned Bow is pretty up there.

* Smithers from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' actually is a bit kind-hearted even though he is Mr. Burns' "minion."

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'': Colonel Yularen, Anakin and Ahsoka's ReasonableAuthorityFigure from [[WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars back in the Clone Wars]], reappears in season three. He loyally and proudly serves TheEmpire now, but is about as far from evil as you can get; he's the same laidback NiceGuy he was back then, just with new bosses, and [[ObliviouslyEvil he's been misled]] to believe that the Empire is just a normal government being forced to take extraordinary measures to deal with a terroristic insurrection. The most he's guilty of is being [[WideEyedIdealist naive and overly trusting.]]
* ''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.]]
--> '''Amethyst''': Wow... Rubies are ''dumb''.
** In general, a lot of Homeworld Gems are like this, as many of them aren't actually evil, just [[PunchClockVillain normal people doing a job they were forced into]]. Peridot is just a techie who was sent to check on a previous science team's experiments and [[spoiler:does a fairly quick HeelFaceTurn when given reason to]], Topaz is a [[NiceGuy Nice Girl]] who hates fighting and only does her job out of completely justified fear, the Amethyst Squad are a bunch of friendly [[BoisterousBruiser Boisterous Bruisers]] who don't hesitate at all to help out the Crystal Gems, and Holly Blue Agate is more of a [[DirtyCoward pathetic]] and [[{{Jerkass}} rude]] middle manager than a threat.

* In the "Fallen Angel" episode of ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'', there was Angel, a young girl from Casey's neighborhood who he tried to be a BigBrotherMentor to, wanted to join the Purple Dragons because she thought EvilIsCool, despite Casey's attempts to talk her out of it. She changed her mind quickly when his attempts led to him being captured by the Dragons, who obviously intended to kill him as the finale to their violent initiation rites. Fortunately, Casey told her where to get help. (Of course, Angel may never have even qualified as a "minion" in the first place, seeing as she bolted in the middle of what was supposed to be her initiation.)

** 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.

* 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]].

Contrast HarmlessVillain, WorthyOpponent, PunchClockVillain, ReluctantMonster, and ObliviouslyEvil. See also BumblingHenchmenDuo, SurroundedByIdiots, TokenGoodTeammate, PokeThePoodle, WhiteSheep, MercifulMinion, GoodAllAlong, PeerPressuredBully, and VileVillainLaughableLackey. Compare and contrast with HeroWithAnFInGood and UnderlingWithAnFInPR. Frequently hold back a truly terrifying boss due to ConservationOfCompetence. Often makes up a SmartJerkAndNiceMoron pair with his boss, who heaps abuse on him for his good tendencies.

%%** Max could also be considered this.