History Main / PoliteVillainsRudeHeroes

* ''Anime/{{Scryed}}'' [[ZigzaggingTrope plays with]] this one. At first you have the angry, loud-mouthed Kazuma opposing the calm, controlled Ryuhou. [[spoiler:After Ryuhou's HeelFaceTurn]], the main villain is Kyoji Mujo, who is FauxAffablyEvil at first, and then becomes full-blown AxCrazy.

** Benjamin King, the leader of the Vice Kings in the first game. A ScaryBlackMan bent on controlling the entire city, but he comes across as pretty reasonable provided you don't annoy him. At the end of his arc, he even agrees to step down and give the PlayerCharacter the keys to his penthouse before he leaves, and he's trying to put his criminal life behind him. By the time of the fourth game, he succeeds, and ends up becoming the President's Chief of Staff. His {{Dragon}}s, Warren Williams and Big Tony Green, are a lot less pleasant to the Saints, largely because Warren's an AngryBlackManStereotype and the Saint Tony spends most of his time interacting with is the afore-mentioned Johnny Gat.

See also SoftSpokenSadist. UglyHeroGoodLookingVillain is this applied to looks. A WickedCultured villain may view rudeness as beneath him.

* ''Fanfic/TheStoryOfApolloDaphneAndLucaAnItalianTragedy'': [[spoiler: After his DharacterDevelopment and while still quite antagonistic, [[BigJerkOnCampus Vincenzo]] is quite gallant, well-mannered and courteous, while his love rival [[{{Keet}} Alberto]] is snarky, confrontational and quite abrasive.]]

* ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'': Jigsaw, his disciples and their copycats are generally AffablyEvil criminals (be it genuine or [[FauxAffablyEvil faux]]) who normally refrain from behaving rudely and/or cursing unless they're angered or provoked. Their victims and the law enforcement officers/agents after them, on the other hand, are often impolite and [[SirSwearsALot prone to swearing a lot]], even though they range from {{Nice Guy}}s to {{Jerkass}}es.

Done poorly, the ''audience'' may dislike the heroes more than the villains if the heroes come across as unlikeable resulting in JerksAreWorseThanVillains, where the audience hates the heroes for being jerks more than the villain.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}''. Everyone who works at ISIS, especially Archer, has strong {{Jerkass}} tendencies, with the only exception being the TokenEvilTeammate Krieger. KGB agents and other villains tend to be very polite to the heroes, even if they're trying to kill them.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective'': Basil is a GoodIsNotNice heroic mouse and Ratigan is a FauxAffablyEvil villainous rat.

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}''. Everyone who works at ISIS, especially Archer, has strong {{Jerkass}} tendencies, with the only exception being the TokenEvilTeammate Krieger. KGB agents and other villains will tend to be very polite to the heroes even as they're trying to kill them.

[[folder:Film -- Animation]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Coco}}'': Before and after the TheReveal that he is the BigBad, [[spoiler:Ernesto]] is smooth, charming, and well-dressed in contrast to Hector, who is the mischievous, snarky, and roguish {{Deuteragonist}} of the film.
* ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'': Even after TheReveal that he is the BigBad, [[spoiler:Hans]] is still smooth, charming, and well-dressed in contrast to Kristoff, who is the snarky, impolite and sometimes insensitive {{Deuteragonist}} of the film.

* Downplayed in ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba''. Akaza, the Upper Rank 3 demon(i.e. the third strongest demon under [[BigBad Muzan Kibutsuji's]] command) is an AffablyEvil sort who takes an interest in Flame Hashira Kyojuro Rengoku and wants the latter to become a demon so they can fight each other for eternity, but looks down on the weak. While Rengoku is usually a NiceGuy, he bluntly refuses Akaza's invitation and has nothing but contempt for him.

* In ''Literature/{{Twilight}} New Moon'', when Edward, Alice, and Bella are brought before the Volturi, Aro is very pleasant and is perfectly willing to let them off as long as the Cullens agree to have Bella be turned into a vampire to preserve their secrecy. Edward reacts rather rudely, repeatedly making thinly-veiled accusations of Aro being corrupt.

* In ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts'', the hero Yuri is a rough brawler; before he's given a name, he's even referred to as "Rude Hero". His main antagonist is a dapper English Gentleman with a top hat who begins battle with a polite bow. This continues in ''Covenant'', although the villains are ''much'' more rude... with the exception of [[spoiler:Kato]] who Yuri respects and genuinely resents having to fight.

-->-- ''Literature/SmallFavor'', ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''

* ''Manga/InuYasha'':

* ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'' ''Progressive'' has Kirito and Morte. Kirito's generally a NiceGuy, but he can be somewhat brusque and rude toward his enemies or people who try his patience. Morte's a FauxAffablyEvil PungeonMaster who jokes around and uses polite speech on Kirito, while threatening to sabotage Kirito's efforts to complete the quest, and planning to kill Kirito during their duel.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBadGuys'': Before their HeelFaceTurn, the titular Bad Guys are smooth, charming, and polite in contrast to police chief Misty Luggins who is the hot tempered, loud, impolite, and roughish HeroAntagonist of the film.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'': Even after TheReveal that he is the BigBad, [[spoiler:Hans]] is still smooth, charming, and well-dressed in contrast to Kristoff, who is the snarky, impolite and sometimes insensitive {{Deuteragonist}} of the film.

** In ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaChroniclesOfSorrow Aria of Sorrow]]'', a perfect contrast exists between the snooty and closemouthed Arikado and the helpful and friendly Graham. That said, Graham's façade starts cracking around the time he [[spoiler:stabs and almost kills Yoko]], and it completely breaks during the pre-fight dialogue with Soma.

** Benjamin King, the leader of the Vice Kings in the first game. A ScaryBlackMan bent on controlling the entire city, but he comes across as pretty reasonable provided you don't annoy him. At the end of his arc, he even agrees to step down and give the PlayerCharacter the keys to his penthouse before he leaves, and he's trying to put his criminal life behind him. By the time of the fourth game, he succeeds, and ends up becoming the President's Chief of Staff. His {{Dragon}}s, Warren Williams and Big Tony Green, are a lot less pleasant to the Saints, largely because Warren's an AngryBlackMan, and the Saint Tony spends most of his time interacting with is the afore-mentioned Johnny Gat.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBadGuys'': Before their HeelFaceTurn, the titular Bad Guys are smooth, charming, and polite in contrast to police chief Misty Luggins who is the hot tempered, loud, impolite, and roughish HeroAntagonist of the film

This is what extremists sees themselves as the hero, while seeing anybody they disagree with as the villain.

** This seems to define Edge and Rubicant in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV''.

This is what TheExtremist sees themselves as the hero, while seeing anybody they disagree with as the villain.

This is what the political extremist sees themselves as the hero, while seeing anybody they disagree with as the villain.

* ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'' [[ZigZaggingTrope zigzags]] this one a bit, although that shouldn't surprise anyone given [[Creator/StudioGainax the show's creators]]. The angels are always contemptuous toward the demons, but said demons alternate -- sometimes mid-conversation -- between subverting this trope, acting respectful, and (extremely rarely) genuinely ''being'' respectful toward the angels. It should be noted that in this setting, Heaven emphasizes freedom while Hell is a tyrannical dictatorship, so LawfulEvil vs ChaoticGood (given our [[NominalHero heroines]], really more ChaoticNeutral) is in full effect.