Affably Evil / The DCU

The DCU

Affably Evil in this franchise.

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Comic Books

Comic Books

• Batman:
  • Villain Ra's al Ghul has not only tried to be civil towards "the Detective", but has repeatedly offered Batman the chance to join his organization, and offered the hand of his beautiful (and mutually attracted) daughter, Talia al Ghul.
    • A number of Ra's loyal League of Assassins members are also rather easy to get along with when they're not trying to kill you. This is especially true of Zedmore Washington, Prudence Wood, and Owens, which is probably why he sent them to try and convince Tim Drake to join forces with the League.
  • The Penguin usually falls into this category.
  • Not affable in the same way as most, but Harley Quinn is known for being so bubbly and cheerful that she's near impossible to dislike (at least, initially), despite being a murdering psychopath at worst and a good hearted but remorseless criminal at best. This is, in part, due to having an almost innocent, childlike personality, (except when she doesn't), but she's lovable enough that Poison Ivy likes her, and one of the reasons The Joker keeps trying to kill her is that he has feelings for her but doesn't like that fact. Again, except when he doesn't.
  • The unnamed one-off character featured in "An Innocent Guy", in the Batman: Black and White anthology series, is a polite young man who has a happy family and attends church every Sunday — and decides he needs to do one absolutely heinous thing in his life to prove to himself that he's really a good person. He settles on assassinating Batman, after deciding that kidnapping a little girl and chaining her up to die alone in a rat-infested sewer wouldn't be bad enough.
  • In The Batman Adventures, the Perfesser and especially the aptly named Mr. Nice (who might as well be the poster boy for this trope if not because it's debatable whether he's 'evil' in the slightest) count as this. Teammate Mastermind is more of an insufferable Smug Snake but still not a particularly vicious person either.
• Hellblazer: Rise and Fall: Lucifer may be a Troll with a bad temper, but he's also a civil devil and is perfectly willing to cooperate with John Constantine, especially considering he came to him for help. He even apologizes for setting his flat on fire.
  Chas: For the Prince of Darkness... yer not a bad sort.
  Lucifer: Thank you, Chas.
• Superman:
  • Many Lex Luthor incarnations come off as this, but modern ones tend to make this trait just a façade.
  • In H'el on Earth, H'el is rather nice to fellow Kryptonian, Supergirl, who also wants to return to her old life on Krypton. He later convinces her to join him in his quest to resurrect Krypton, but manipulates her to estrange her from Superman. H'el was also friendly to Superman, initially. When they first meet, H'el hugs Superman and even calls him his "little brother". Superman was already suspicious, but H'el threatening to snap Superboy's neck caused the two to become enemies. Ultimately he snaps and ends up as Faux Affably Evil, at best.
• Wonder Woman: Ares has a history of respecting Diana's fighting abilities and even going out of his way to aid her since she is his granddaughter, with the only continuity where this doesn't apply being Wonder Woman (2006). This doesn't mean he'll hold back against her in a fight or refrain from killing her in one, even if he'd be upset if she died; they're diametrically different and he'd never disrespect one of his children or grandchildren enough to hold back against them while they are actively fighting even if he's currently the one lending them shelter like he did for Harmonia in Wonder Woman (1987).
• The Flash has The Rogues, a group of criminals who might as well be his closest friends when they're not actively doing crimes. They intentionally keep to low-profile crime and avoid killing unnecessarily, and they keep the worse scum off their turf. (They have very little love for villains like Grodd and Reverse-Flash, who won't stick to their standards.) When he was presumed dead, they genuinely mourned him (and rejoiced when he returned), and on some occasions have invited him to their weddings.

Films

Films

• Batman & Robin: Despite being considered the worst Batman film, one of the few redeeming qualities is that its version of Mr. Freeze is a fairly three-dimensional villain. His crimes are committed only so he can fund his research into finding a cure for his terminally-ill wife, as opposed to being violent for the sake of violence like the last handful of antagonists. He comes close to a Heel–Face Turn at the end by helping Batman cure the dying Alfred. He does get some occasional Kick the Dog moments, such as executing a henchman for walking into his office when he wanted some privacy.
• Captain Boomerang from Batman: Assault on Arkham might be a callous murderous jerk, but he's also clearly a ton of fun to be around when he's "off the clock". After gearing up at the Iceburg Lounge he's seen having a pint with some of Penguin's minions, all of whom are laughing hysterically and toasting one another. It's this and Deadshot's Consummate Professional nature that makes them mortal enemies over the course of the movie.
• Batman: Under the Red Hood: Ra's al Ghul, who states that he never resorts to violence or killing unless it's for a "greater cause" and is deeply remorseful that his hiring of the Joker was ultimately what led to Jason's murder; his attempt to fix things via Lazarus Pit resurrection is what sets off the main plot. Even when Batman broke into his lair and almost laid the smack down on him, he called his guards off saying that he will be 'entertaining a guest', and the next scene was Ra's and Batman sitting down for a drink while Ra's tells his story.
• DC Extended Universe
  • Wonder Woman (2017): Ares also is Brutally Honest with Diana and tells her the truth about the world while beating her to a pulp. He actually doesn't want to fight her, not because he thinks she can beat him, but because he believes he is right. He even lets her get her sword back.
• DC Showcase: Green Arrow: Merlyn (courtesy of Malcolm McDowell) is nothing short of polite, calmly accepting Green Arrow's challenge to an honorable Archer's Duel, despite the fact that he's trying to put an arrow into Perdita's heart.
• The LEGO Batman Movie: Pretty much all of the Rogues Gallery, since they nearly all fall under Harmless Villain, and even Joker himself considering that the major conflicts come from Batman's emotional hang-ups and his inability to work with others. Also, the Eye of Sauron is pretty cordial, especially when he dives into Gotham from the Phantom Zone, wishes them a 'good afternoon', and proceeds to drown the streets with lava.
• Superman Film Series: Lex Luthor is played like this in the original Superman films, especially by Gene Hackman; at least, he can be a smooth talker and affords Superman respect as a Worthy Opponent. Yet he's willing to sink California to the bottom of the sea for profit.
• Superman: Red Son: Superman is still the same big blue boy scout he is in the comics, he just is focused on an incredibly bad set of values.

Live-Action TV

Live-Action TV

• Arrow:
  • Malcolm Merlyn/the Dark Archer is very friendly and charming towards Oliver, and has well-meaning if horrifically misguided aims to save the city.
  • Deadshot is a Cold Sniper, but not without a sense of humour, honor and politeness. He even tries giving Diggle closure over the death of his brother.
  • "The Dodger" is rather polite, given what he does to his henchmen. Rather than kill them, as most would, he only knocks them out.
• Gotham: Carmine Falcone and Butch Gilzean are both terribly friendly, mild-mannered gangsters.
• Smallville: Lionel Luthor has no interest in hurting people pointlessly. As long as you're not in his way (and aren't related to him), you're in no danger. The same can be said of his daughter Tess Mercer, who eventually took over LuthorCorp; the same can not be said for his son Lex, or his Alternate Universe counterpart, Earth-2 Lionel, who are both classic examples of Bitch in Sheep's Clothing.
• Wonder Woman:
  • In "The New Original Wonder Woman", Ashley Norman played by Red Buttons, was cheerful, funny, and amiable whether he was hosting Wonder Woman's theater show, trying to steal her money, or reporting to his Nazi bosses.
  • In "The Queen and the Thief", Evan Robley played by David Hedison, is the classic charming rogue. After trying to steal the crown jewels — what he stole were fakes — he joins forces with Wonder Woman to foil Ambassador Orrick's evil scheme
  • In "Spaced Out", Kimball played by René Auberjonois, steals the lenses, hogties a guest star at the Convention, and escapes Wonder Woman by threatening to throw a large flowerpot on a group of innocent civilians — all with a smile, and joke, and a laugh. He even teams up with Wonder Woman to foil Simon Rohan's plans, but makes his escape once again in the confusion.

Web Animation

• DC Super Hero Girls: Killer Moth is polite to others, be they hero, villain or civilian. Also, his dorky voice makes him sound less intimidating.

Web Comics

• Batman: Wayne Family Adventures: A flashback to Pamela Isley (Poison Ivy) villain days in "Lesson Learned" shows her giving Batman a moment to scold a young Dick Grayson for acting up (and also the time to get him out of one of her man-eating plants - twice).

Western Animation

Western Animation

• Ragdoll from The Batman is this, being not much more than a cat burglar with a really unsettling ability to contort his shape. Like Catwoman he has no interest at all in harming people and he comes off as a rather friendly and fun-loving person. When the laughable Killer Moth shows up to join Team Penguin, Ragdoll is the one who actually urges the rest to give the kid a chance (albeit also mocking him in the process).
• A decent number of the villains in Beware the Batman are this. Special mention goes to Professor Pyg and Mr. Toad who in this series seem to be Well Intentioned Extremists claiming they want to protect the environment, they also show that they do care about one another and show a decent amount of respect for Batman as an adversary.
• DC Animated Universe
  • Batman: The Animated Series had Grant Walker from the episode Deep Freeze, who was a rather friendly and pleasant old man who had spent his life building theme parks and whose followers and henchmen all seemed to get along with. His plan, however, is to gain the same powers as Mr. Freeze (which he does) and freeze first Gotham and ultimately the entire world to drive the entire human race to extinction, save for his tiny select group of followers.
    • Harley Quinn is in crime just for fun and for her strange love toward The Joker; she even has her own episodes struggling for rehabilitation. Other versions in other media show a darker and more violent personality.
    • Wesker the Ventriloquist is another example, of course his problem is his Split Personality of the violent evil Scarface (his Ventriloquist's dummy).
  • Batman Beyond has Richard Armacost, the Agrichem executive who planned the cerestone heist in the episode "Big Time". He was extremely patient and civil with Charlie when he didn't really have to be and had considerable people skills with which to keep Charlie and Karros from trying to kill each other.
  • Of the many, many villains who appeared in Justice League, Ultra-Humanite probably fits this trope best. An Evil Genius who transplanted his incredible intellect into the body of an albino gorilla to gain the strength to match his smarts, he's a Wicked Cultured individual whose crimes are largely attacks on institutions, not human beings. For instance, in the show's Christmas Episode, he chooses to attack a publicly-funded museum of modern art, disparaging the sculpture as he blows it up with a laser gun. He's still evil, mind, as he's happy to cause millions of dollars' worth of property damage and eagerly joined Lex Luthor's Legion of Doom, but at the very least he's good-natured about it and doesn't go out of his way to hurt people. In the aforementioned Christmas episode, he attacks the museum on a day it's closed (suggesting that he deliberately wanted to avoid harming civilians) and even declares a truce with the Flash in the spirit of the season, offering to help him deliver a wanted toy to the hero's orphan friends and modifying it so it tells the story of The Nutcracker in a soothing voice.
  • Superman: The Animated Series
    • Lex Luthor, who hides his villainy beneath a thin veneer of courtesy and suave sophistication.
    • Edward Lytener, who even when making declarations of absolute hatred and murderous intent is always so briskly, cheerfully polite. This continues after he becomes Luminus.
• DC Super Hero Girls 2019: Harley Quinn's a very supportive friend to Barbara, even if she's a dangerous supervillain much of the time.
• Harley Quinn (2019) has several of the 'nicer' supervillains be of this kind.
  • Ivy, despite being a snarky self-proclaimed misanthrope who hates 99.99% of humanity, is nice and supportive to people actually in her in-group, and will go through hell and high water for Harley.
  • King Shark is a friendly, loyal and easy-going computer hacker. Also, a 2,700 pound Shark Man who can casually eat people's heads whole. His voice actor described him as "a great guy in everything but ethics".
  • To the degree that he even counts as a 'villain', Clayface is a thoroughly Nice Guy who seems to be into crime mostly for the excitement and the ability to take on method acting.
  • Riddler and Calendar Man are helpful and supportive towards Harley during her time in prison despite tearing the place apart during their escape, and the Riddler pays back Ivy by sticking Harley in a fake deathtrap so she'll realize the Joker doesn't care about her.
  • Season 2 introduces Mister Freeze who's shown to dispatch his opponents with ruthless efficiency and is willing to perform medical experiments on humans for the sake of finding a cure for his wife. However, he's also a loving and devoted husband to Nora and he's a surprisingly personable host as he treats Harley and her crew to a fancy dinner (though not without first freezing them to their chairs to prevent them from trying anything). It's later revealed that he's also a Politically Correct Villain who froze Harley as a means of placating the other members of the Injustice League who wanted her dead.
• Justice League Action: If it weren't for the fact that they were trying to cause a nuclear meltdown that would result in a statewide disaster, the Nuclear Family would be just like any other pleasant sitcom family. Dad is rather fond of Firestorm and gives him the Affectionate Nickname "Sparky", due to the fact that like them he was created by a nuclear explosion.
• Teen Titans (2003)
  • It's downplayed to Affably Morally Ambiguous. Red X's pretty friendly and polite while kicking your ass.
  • Yes, Jinx s a professional villainess but she can also be so friendly that she eventually does a Heel–Face Turn.
  • Billy Numerous's more of a thrill-seeking thief than an all-out villain. Also, he's not above complimenting the Titans when they create duplicates of themselves.
• Teen Titans Go!: Almost all of the recurring villains are this. They regularly hang out with the heroes, and one of them, Jinx is best friends with Raven and Starfire. Rose is also friends with Raven. Although they're most like Vitriolic Best Buds, because they beat each other up a lot too.
• In Young Justice (2010), Black Manta uses an assassination mission to teach his son a lesson about honesty.
  • As is the robotic duplicate of T.O. Morrow. In his debut episode, he takes the defeat of his creation Mister Twister in stride, and even jokes to his assistant Brom that it was a good idea he convinced Brom not to pilot it himself.
  • Icicle Jr sincerely congratulates Superboy on his engagement, even while trying to kill him.