History Main / VillainsBlendInBetter

*** But even they come unstuck next to Henry Starling (the real villain) who is a 20th-century native, the CEO of a major tech company (on a par with Microsoft or Apple) who has become extremely proficient with 27th century technology and manages to out-manoeuvre them at pretty much every turn.

* The main character in ''Literature/EverybodyLovesLargeChests'' [[{{EvolutionPowerUp}} evolves]] into a species of monster named dopplegangers who are [[{{ShapeShifting}} shapeshifters]] that are adept at disguise and infiltrating the societies of the [[{{FiveRaces}} ''Enlightened'']].

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E1NewEarth "New Earth"]]: Subverted when Lady Cassandra [[GrandTheftMe possesses Rose's body]], then promptly gives herself away via behaviour that makes it painfully clear that "Rose" has never spent a day in the twenty-first century.

*** Inverted in the episode "Mirror, Mirror", in which our heroes manage to bite their tongues and play evil in the brutal Terran Empire, while their alternates were unable to suppress instincts gained from a lifetime of {{Klingon Promotion}}s and {{Realpolitik}}. As a result, Mr. Spock, preeminent SmartGuy that he is, instantly realized what is going on and has them hauled to the brig. Spock himself [[LampshadeHanging points this out]], saying something to the effect of "It is easier for a civilized man to appear barbaric than for a barbarian to appear civilized." Though this also could be attributed to Roddenberry's insistence on the Federation being a {{Utopia}} - the alternates would have had far less trouble blending in on Deep Space Nine or Voyager.

When there's an explicit [[JustifiedTrope justification]], it's that evil is universal. Particularly, when the heroes are from some distant planet or time, and the new world into which they are thrust is ''our'' world, the justification is that [[HumansAreBastards we live in a corrupt and evil world]] where being a ruthless psychotic murdering villain is actually an advantage to getting ahead in life, whereas being good and pure-of-heart is a massive hindrance.

As a corollary, it will generally be easier for the villains to convince the locals that they're friendly than it will be for the heroes to convince them that they're not evil. Even if the evilness of the villains is [[RedRightHand writ large enough]] to be detectable from space ([[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast via]] {{Namedar}}). This mostly seems to result from the hero's stubborn refusal to shut the hell up about how great it was back in their world and to refuse to take on any native culture. They will wear the same outfit they had when they came in and constantly complain about the local food. This isn't helped by the fact that the hero will usually insist on going around shouting at people near-hysterically about how they're from the past/another planet/what-have-you and how utterly evil the villain is, [[YouHaveToBelieveMe in a fashion that only makes them come across like a complete psycho]]. The villain on the other hand will immediately trade in his duds for local wear and tuck into the native cuisine with gusto. He will never mention that he is from another world and be immediately accepted.

* In the Literature/{{Discworld}} novel ''Discworld/NightWatch'', the hero Samuel Vimes and the sociopath Carcer are both thrown into the past. Carcer assimilates more quickly, and gets a job in the local gestapo... but Vimes catches up rather spectacularly.

In many cases it's an example of VillainsActHeroesReact; villains are much better at patient planning than ([[GuileHero most]]) heroes, and put lots of points into blending in with society -- otherwise, [[FridgeLogic how would they have amassed power behind the scenes anyway]]? The hero often puts all his points into fighting the villain rather than adapting to the circumstances. If the hero ''gets'' to the villain, he wins, but the villain's best defense is having nobody take up arms against him to begin with, and then delaying the hero as much as possible. Both hero and villain make pretty reasonable bets. A side effect of this is that a sudden change of scene often permits the villain to call upon TheLopsidedArmOfTheLaw to get the hero ArrestedForHeroism.

A heroic inversion of this trope is possible, but much rarer -- see LikeADuckTakesToWater.

[[folder:Comicbooks]]
* In the ComicBooks, ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' had a bit of trouble fitting into the future at first, but his archenemy, The ComicBook/RedSkull, apparently hit the ground running as soon as he was revived. The difference is that Red Skull actually went into suspended animation by choice (sort of), while Cap fell in the water in 1945 and woke up in... [[ComicBookTime the present day]].

[[folder:Fanfic]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* ''Disney/LiloAndStitch''. While Stitch causes havoc around the island attempting to overcome his programmed genetics, his MadScientist creator and a hapless government agent, who are both aliens with non-human body shapes and numbers of eyes, get along just fine [[PaperThinDisguise Strangely Effectively Disguised]] as tourists.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

** After "900 years of phonebox travel", the Doctor is about the most conspicuous person in the universe, but he is faced countless times by aliens who have no trouble hiding in plain sight in positions of power on Earth, such as the Slitheen, who manage to take over parliament, and one of whom later becomes mayor of Cardiff, or [[spoiler: the Master, who manages to get himself elected Prime Minister in about two years]]. In the Doctor's case, it's usually because he can rarely be bothered making attempts to blend into his surroundings in the first place.
** Inverted in "Enemy of the World", in which the Doctor is much, ''much'' better at ImpersonatingTheEvilTwin than Salamander is at pretending to be the Doctor.
** Inverted in "The Time Monster" (featuring the Pertwee Doctor). The Master materialises his TARDIS in Atlantis, convinced he'll easily dupe these primitives into thinking he's a god, but the wise old king sees through his charlatan's tricks and laughs off an attempt to hypnotise him. To add insult to injury, as the Master is being led off by the guards he runs right into the Doctor and Jo Grant whom he last saw in his inescapable DeathTrap. The king gives these two a better reception.
** Similarly, in "The Mysterious Planet", Sabalom Glitz is convinced that with a few explosives and a machine gun, he'll easily impress the backwards locals on Ravalox that he's the guy who should be in charge and thus be able to dismantle a valuable technological gizmo they believe to be a sacred totem. Unfortunately, he didn't count on their queen being more savvy than her primitive lifestyles would suggest, or the fact that many other con-artists have had the same idea as he did and approached her giving multiple reasons why ''they'' should be allowed to dismantle the totem as well. He's soon captured and thrown in a dungeon, much to his bewilderment. However, ironically this still works to impede the Doctor; when he goes before the queen with the ''real'' reason that he needs to dismantle the totem (it's about to explode and rip a hole in the universe), the queen's so sick of hearing [[CryingWolf all these false stories]] that she locks the ''Doctor'' up as well.
** Subverted in an episode where Lady Cassandra [[GrandTheftMe possesses Rose's body]], then promptly gives herself away via behavior that makes it painfully clear that "Rose" has never spent a day in the twenty-first century.

* ''ReadAllAboutIt'': On Trialveron, the three human characters stick out like a sore thumb, due to having, well, more than one personality trait apiece. Conversely, however, Trialveron's tyrannical ruler, Duneedon, has no trouble getting himself elected mayor back on Earth (under the pseudonym "Don Eden").

* A plot arc of ''Series/StargateSG1'' had [[MagnificentBastard Ba'al]] living on Earth, undetected, and fairly successful. "Fairly successful" meaning ''running a major corporation''. Of course, the good guys rarely try to pretend they're locals while space-travelling, and Vala-with-amnesia did alright on her own for a while.

** In an inversion, one episode has Daniel [[GrandTheftMe switch bodies]] with a dying alien. While the guy isn't necessarily evil, he is the antagonist of the episode, and his attempts to blend in with modern American society amounts to him all but running down the street and screaming "I'm a normal Earth native just like all of you!"

* Justified in ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'' with the vampires [[spoiler: released from beneath the church]], most of whom start fitting in pretty fast. However, they are seen being instructed in using modern technology, and some of them are too interested in feeding to bother learning much. And of course, the ability to mind control your way through most problems would help.
* In ''Series/{{Angel}}'' Holtz took to the 21st century pretty well for someone transplanted from the 18th century, at times seeming better adapted than Angel, who actually lived through the intervening period. It probably helped that he quickly gathered a group of modern people who could help him deal with the things he didn't understand (cars, styrofoam) by using the same, fairly timeless motivations - desire for revenge over vampires killing those close to them. Also, the demon who resurrected Holtz taught him a few basics of the modern world.
* Inverted by the final season of ''Series/{{Smallville}}'': [[MagnificentBastard Lionel Luthor's]] nicer counterpart from [[AlternateUniverse Earth-2]] is transported to the main universe and easily settles in, despite the fact that on Earth-1, Lionel Luthor's been ''dead'' for three years. He claims his cover story is that he faked his death, which is pretty believable for Earth-1 Lionel and he has Earth-1 Lionel's journal to fill in the details.

* The villain Silverthorn in ''Series/TheGirlFromTomorrow'' traveled from the year 2500 to 1990 and fit in better than Alana, who lived in the year 3000. Justified in that Silverthorn was older and Alana just a teenager and that Silverthorn had access to technology from the year 3000 that he used to his advantage, but it was also due to the fact that Silverthorn lived in post-apocalyptia and the selfish instincts he developed there aided his rise up the corporate ladder in 1990, whereas in 3000 the world was most of the way into being rebuilt into a utopia.
* In ''Series/OnceUponATime'', Regina (the Evil Queen from "Literature/SnowWhite") casts a curse which brings all of the fairytale characters to our world. They all adjust because the curse gives them new memories, but Regina herself is not subject to the curse's effects. She still manages to adjust quite quickly. Cora manages to adjust to Wonderland and [[spoiler: goes on to become the Queen of Hearts]].

[[folder:Web Original]]
* In ''WebComic/DemonThesis'' TheDragon and EvilCounterpart Deveneur [[spoiler:comes from the era of the UsefulNotes/SevenYearsWar (or French and Indian War) and has been kept in a sort of magical stasis until awakening in the current day. This apparently doesn't stop him from using email or catching a ride on an airplane]].

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls1'' uses the version justified by VillainsActHerosReact: Sunset Shimmer has been in the human world for years, while Twilight just got there.

** In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', the Founders of the Dominion, changelings all, can flawlessly impersonate people, allowing them to act as TheMole in various Alpha/Beta Quadrant governments. Odo, the TokenHeroicOrc, can't even get a humanoid face completely right. {{Justified}} in that by changeling standards Odo is barely a teenager. The Founders have centuries more experience.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'', Demona had a much easier time handling human society even before she gained the ability to turn into a human in the daytime than her fellow Gargoyles. Then again, unlike them, she was actually awake during the past one thousand years.

** And similarly, Cobra managed to pull this one on ''GIJoe'', despite Cobra being a well-known international terrorist organization, and GI Joe being the US Army.

*** Played straight in the episode "Turnabout Intruder", in which the "bad guy" Janice adapted very quickly to being Captain Kirk, and Kirk was quickly dismissed as hysterical. This was done for a purpose, though, to highlight {{VillainHasAPoint}} in Janice's initial complaint that women were not allowed equal opportunity because they were already considered weak. [[spoiler: The episode then unwittingly lampshaded the point by making her increasingly emotionally unstable as the crew's skepticism progressed.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' has an interesting take on this: the title character, while he's been able to disguise himself as an Earthling, only succeeds because most of the people around him are too stupid or self-absorbed to notice him. His efforts at fitting in actually seem rather pathetic when you compare him to the more evil (and competent) Invader Tak, who manages, within a short time of arriving on Earth, to install herself as the heiress to a multi-million dollar weenie corporation.
** Made even more interesting when you compare him to Dib, who is ''from'' Earth. The kids think Zim is weird, but they think Dib is completely insane... basically because he realizes that Zim ''is'' an alien. (He didn't figure out Tak, though.)
* Both played straight and subverted in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' -- when Luthor and Flash trade minds in a FreakyFridayFlip plot, the majority of the Legion of Doom, despite Flash's rather poor acting skills, never catch on and merely presume Luthor has gone brain damaged. Luthor, meanwhile, is instantly exposed by Doctor Fate, who was in Flash's mind at the time, and spends the rest of the episode on the run from the rest of the Watchtower's inhabitants -- unfortunately for them, Luthor is quick to adapt to his new-found superpower and uses it in [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique ways that the normal Flash refuses to]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' cartoon, Starfire's villainous sister Blackfire is well-adapted to Earth cultures, and even has a normal pattern of speech compared to her more awkward sister.

** Meanwhile, Discord, a different villain who has been trapped in the form of a [[TakenForGranite statue]] for even longer than Luna was on the moon, has no trouble with modern speech patterns at all. However, when he first breaks out, he seems to know a lot about the main cast, implying that he either was [[AndIMustScream aware of his surroundings while he was locked into his statue]] or is capable of {{telepathy}}, either of which could explain that. (He affirms the former in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E11KeepCalmAndFlutterOn Keep Calm and Flutter On]]", though [[{{Troll}} being who he is]] it's possible that he's lying.)
** Finally, Queen Chrysalis kidnaps and impersonates Princess Cadance on the eve of her wedding. Chrysalis puts very little effort into staying in character, yet Twilight Sparkle is the only one who suspects something is wrong. Everyone else just blamed the odd behavior on pre-marital stress.

When there's an explicit [[JustifiedTrope justification]], it's that evil is universal. Particularly, when the heroes are from some distant planet or time, and the new world into which they are thrust is ''our'' world, the justification is that we live in a corrupt and evil world where being a ruthless psychotic murdering villain is actually an advantage to getting ahead in life, whereas being good and pure-of-heart is a massive hindrance.

More subtly, it can be used on the PlanetOfHats to remind us that ''[[HumansAreSpecial our]]'' [[HumansAreSpecial moral values are superior]]: the hero doesn't fit in because he has a hard time dealing with whatever character flaw everyone in this new world possesses, or can't just sit back and go with the flow on a world where everyone [[KickTheDog kicks puppies]], listens to [[TheNewRockAndRoll that newfangled rock-and-roll]] and women dress in [[{{Stripperiffic}} navel-revealing slut-wear]].

As a corollary, it will generally be easier for the villains to convince the locals that they're friendly than it will be for the heroes to convince them that they're not evil. Even if the evilness of the villains is [[RedRightHand writ large enough]] to be detectable from space ([[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast via]] {{Namedar}}). This mostly seems to result from the hero's stubborn refusal to shut the hell up about how great it was back in their world and to refuse to take on any native culture. They will wear the same outfit they had when they came in and constantly complain about the local food. This isn't helped by the fact that the hero will usually insist on going around shouting at people near-hysterically about how they're from the past and how utterly evil the villain is, [[YouHaveToBelieveMe in a fashion that only makes them come across like a complete psycho]]. The villain on the other hand will immediately trade in his duds for local wear and tuck into the native cuisine with gusto. He will never mention that he is from another world and be immediately accepted.

* Unlike most Gods, Ares from the ''WonderWoman'' comics is adjusted to the modern world, often wearing casual clothing, knowing how to use computers, operate machinery, and able to pass as an ordinary person.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' cartoon, Starfire's villainous sister Blackfire is well-adapted to Earth cultures, and even has a normal pattern of speech compared to her more awkward sister. However due to her flirtatious nature and how they gain speech through kissing [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar suggests]] she ReallyGetsAround.

* ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'': Jimmy gets on fairly well in [[AHellOfATime Miseryville]], but is still every now and then confused by the town's [[{{Cloudcuckooland}} bizarre customs]] and [[ToonPhysics nonsensical laws of physics]]. His homicidally insane StalkerWithACrush and the only other human being[[AmbiguouslyHuman(we think)]] in the town, Heloise, on the other hand, never shows ''any'' behavioural signs of being originally from Earth. It gets to the point that in one episode, when Jimmy questions how a bird can talk, Heloise sarcastically asks "Remind me where you're from again?"

* ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'': Jimmy gets on fairly well in Miseryville, but is still every now and then confused by the town's [[{{Cloudcuckooland}} bizarre customs]] and [[ToonPhysics nonsensical laws of physics]]. His homicidally insane StalkerWithACrush and the only other Earthling in the town, Heloise, on the other hand, never shows ''any'' behavioural signs of being originally from Earth. It gets to the point that in one episode, when Jimmy questions how a bird can talk, Heloise sarcastically asks "Remind me where you're from again?"

* In ''Film/{{Thor}}'', Loki has an easier time getting around 21st century Midgard than his brother, but [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that Thor had been BroughtDownToNormal while Loki could use his magic to hide from humans. It was also hinted that this wasn't the first time Loki visited Midgard since he knew enough about American fashion to don some nice suits whenever he visited.

** Before Ba'al, the Goa'uld Seth managed to survive on Earth since the rebellions in ancient Egypt. He's kept a comparatively low profile, founding a string of cults throughout history dedicated to worshiping him and moving on whenever local authorities get too close.