History Main / NobleBigot

The noble bigot prides himself on doing the right thing, making sure that those in need are taken care of, yet in the same instance has no qualms with labeling those different from himself with [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain unreasonably prejudiced]] terms or backhanded compliments. Although the noble bigot basically wallows in his own {{jerkass}} nature, he's on the side of good as well. Other characters either are constantly revolted by his nature, or brush it off as it just being in his nature, in the hope that others will get used to it. It may or may not prove to be PretendPrejudice.

*** Not to rub anything in, but his belief that white people tended to be smarter than black people was technically correct: blacks, having been slaves, had been denied even the rudiments of education. It is this issue - education - that casts Lincoln's viewpoint (assuming it really was his own) into a somewhat [[FairForItsDay fairer light]]. The slavery controversy was raging at the same time that some ''white'' men were still being denied voting rights due to what was believed to be their shiftless and ignorant nature. ThomasJefferson, one of the most liberal-minded of the Founders, even made clear that he wished all adult white males to be enfranchised ''if'' they were properly educated. Similarly, even the most progressive of Northern politicians insisted that Negroes had to be educated before they could be granted the right to vote.

* Daryl Dixon from ''[[Series/TheWalkingDead]]''. While he still harbors the same racist tendencies as his older brother Merle, at the end of the day, he's still an effective and capable survivor who's a crackshot with both a crossbow and rifle, and he pitches in to help the rest of the survivors as much as he can. Wisecracks about "Chinamen" aside.

[[AllInTheFamily http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/BillSacra-ArchieBunker_6033.jpg]]
[[caption-width:290:It's not your fault, it's just that "youse people" don't know no better.]]

* Logan Echolls from VeronicaMars is something of a racist, and very much a classist. He ''really'' hates poor people. And yet, we root for him, and we cheer when he falls in love with Veronica and they become a couple

* Rorschach from ''{{Watchmen}}''. He DoesNotLikeWomen and is homophobic (both apparently the result of the abuses of his childhood that makes him recoil from any expression of sexuality), but he does try to do the right thing a lot of the time (albeit from his own f-ed up perspective). Similarly, earlier heroes [[TheCape Captain Metropolis]] and Hooded Justice, both seriously racist. (Not homophobic, though - in fact, they might have been a couple.)

* Sam Vimes from ''{{Discworld}}'' is an equal-opportunity racist. He thinks dwarves are irritating little bastards, trolls are irritating ''big'' bastards, werewolves are violent bastards, and humans are just... well, [[HumansAreBastards bastards]]. This doesn't stop him from being a LawfulGood KnightInSourArmor who consistently helps anyone in need, [[PretendPrejudice no matter their species]]. He still really hates vampires, though.
** Vimes racism against vampires is mostly due to class solidarity, in that almost all VampiresAreRich on the Discworld and Vimes has nothing but contempt for the vast majority of people who are born rich. (His wife is an obvious exception.)

* The ''TeenTitans'' episode "Trog" featured Val-Yor, an intergalactic space hero who enlists the Titan's help to defeat an otherworldly menace. Unfortunately, his people are extremely prejudiced against Starfire's people, and he repeatedly uses the slur "Troq" (meaning "nothing") when speaking to her. This prejudice appears to be the extent of his negative character, however.

* Believe it or not, Hawkeye Pierce from the original novel ''[[{{MASH}} M*A*S*H]]'' was very much a Noble Bigot With a Medical License (and even moreso in the sequels). It's even conjectured that Richard Hooker wrote ''M*A*S*H Mania'' primarily as an attempt to "rescue" the character from Alan Alda's portrayal and have the last say.

* Walt Kowalski from the film ''GranTorino'', even toward the end of the movie after learning his lesson about racism, still referred a particular Asian girl as "Yum Yum."

*** He actually does try to "apologize" once he realizes that the Titans don't share his prejudices and are rather offended on Starfire's behalf; they're incredibly backhanded, and the closest he gets to acknowledging Starfire's value as a person is by claiming she "must be one of the good [Tamaranians]". Yeah, he's really learned a lesson here.

* In the United States, the easiest targets would be the Founding Fathers, many of whom owned slaves. "All men are created equal?"

**** In his own words, "I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, or to intermarry with white people, and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the two races which I believe will forever forbid the two from living together on terms of social and political equality."
***** Mind you, on the other side, there have been plenty of Black Separatists who would agree with this.
***** A number of his papers that were published posthumously suggest that those were not his beliefs, but he had to work within the political reality of the time, and was one of the most cunning politicians of his era.

*** To be fair, support for eugenics was widespread across the political spectrum during the first half of the 20th century. To a lot of people, it was a noble, scientific way of improving the lot of the whole human race rather than just casting moral blame on "subnormals" and "defectives."
**** Considering his enemy was ''AdolfHitler'', anyone opposing him is a saint by comparison.
***** Unless they were JosephStalin.
****** YourMileageMayVary.
**** He also said "I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes." When the British government gassed Kurds in Iraq. DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/BillSacra-ArchieBunker_6033.jpg

The noble bigot prides himself on doing the right thing, making sure that those in need are taken care of, yet in the same instance has no qualms with labeling those different from himself with [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain unreasonably prejudiced]] terms or backhanded compliments. Although the noble bigot basically wallows in his own JerkAss nature, he's on the side of good as well. Other characters either are constantly revolted by his nature, or brush it off as it just being in his nature, in the hope that others will get used to it. It may or may not prove to be PretendPrejudice.

*** Not to rub anything in, but his belief that white people tended to be smarter than black people was technically correct: blacks, having been slaves, had been denied even the rudiments of education. It is this issue - education - that casts Lincoln's viewpoint (assuming it really was his own) into a somewhat [[FairForItsDay fairer light]]. The slavery controversy was raging at the same time that some ''white'' men were still being denied voting rights due to what was believed to be their shiftless and ignorant nature. Thomas Jefferson, one of the most liberal-minded of the Founders, even made clear that he wished all adult white males to be enfranchised ''if'' they were properly educated. Similarly, even the most progressive of Northern politicians insisted that Negroes had to be educated before they could be granted the right to vote.
** WinstonChurchill was for a time a supporter of Eugenics, but considered one of the great heroes of all time by many in America and Europe.
*** To be fair, support for Eugenics was widespread across the political spectrum during the first half of the twentieth century. To a lot of people, it was a noble, scientific way of improving the lot of the whole human race rather than just casting moral blame on "subnormals" and "defectives."

----)

* Believe it or not, Hawkeye Pierce from the original novel ''[[{{MASH}} M* A* S* H]]'' was very much a Noble Bigot With a Medical License (and even moreso in the sequels). It's even conjectured that Richard Hooker wrote ''M* A* S* H Mania'' primarily as an attempt to "rescue" the character from Alan Alda's portrayal and have the last say.

*** Considering his enemy was ''AdolfHitler'', anyone opposing him is a saint by comparison.
*** Unless they were JosephStalin.
**** YourMileageMayVary.

* Walt Kowalski from the film ''GranTorino''.

**** I memorised the quote a while back. "I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, or to intermarry with white people, and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the two races which I believe will forever forbid the two from living together on terms of social and political equality."

** I think his friendship with Frederick Douglass helped to change his views.

****** "All men are created equal" isn't really an example. The decline of "man" as a term for humanity as a whole has only really started to decline in the last century, although by 1776 it had started to become a matter of joke.

*** Don't ask some Russians...

This trope has its roots in the eighteenth-century Enlightenment, when the great minds of the day condemned ''religious'' bigotry but viewed ''racial'' bigotry has acceptable and even logical. The attitude went mainstream during the Victorian era and then became steadily degraded as it percolated down through the less educated classes. More modern anthropological discoveries during the early twentieth century did much to [[DiscreditedTrope discredit scientific racism]], and then [[WorldWarII the Holocaust]] [[DeadHorseTrope killed it off for good as a topic of serious discussion]]. In fiction, however, it is alive and well.

This trope has its roots in the eighteenth-century Enlightenment, when the great minds of the day condemned ''religious'' bigotry but viewed ''racial'' bigotry has acceptable and even logical. The attitude went mainstream during the Victorian era and then became steadily degraded as it percolated down through the less educated classes. More modern anthropological discoveries during the early twentieth century did much to [[DiscreditedTrope discredit this attitude]], and then [[WorldWarII the Holocaust]] [[DeadHorseTrope killed it off for good as a topic of serious discussion]]. In fiction, however, it is alive and well.

* Most of the heores in ''FullmetalAlchemist'' are at least slightly racist towards the Ishbalans. [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist It's much more prominant in the first anime though.]]

* Rorschach from ''{{Watchmen}}''. He DoesNotLikeWomen and is homophobic, but he actually does the right thing a lot of the time. Similarly, earlier heros [[TheCape Captain Metropolis]] and Hooded Justice, both seriously racist. (Not homophopic, though - in fact, they might have been a couple.)
** Rorschach is not a bigot so much as his abused childhood heavily influencing his eventual belief in all [[strike:human]] sexuality being completely disgusting.
**"Does the right thing" is highly debatable considering author intention and whole point of the comic.

* BulldogDrummond comes off as one during his appearance in ''LeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'', especially towards the end. [[ValuesDissonance True to his origins]], he's not too keen on Jews and other minorities, but he still manages to look pretty decent compared to his overtly cruel, conniving and mysogynistic fellow agent "[[JamesBond Jimmy]]". Drummond even pulls something of a HeelFaceTurn towards the end. [[spoiler:Sadly, RedemptionEqualsDeath]].

* Archie Bunker from ''[[{{All In The Family}} All In The Family]]''. (Based on an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alf_Garnett ignoble bigot]].)