Sliding Scale of Anti-Villains

Much like how Anti-Heroes can be vastly different from each other, so can Anti-Villains. This scale is a measure of how evil an Anti-Villain is. Inversely related to Sliding Scale of Antagonist Vileness. Can contribute to Sliding Scale of Villain Threat and Sliding Scale of Villain Effectiveness. Compare with Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes.

Type I, Type II, and Type III usually can be evil, although they average out at a darker shade of grey. Type IV characters are a light grey at their worst, and good characters aimed at greater goods at their best.


 *  Type I: Noble Anti-Villain 
 * Although he chooses to be evil and may in fact embrace his villainous reputation, when the time comes for him to walk the walk, he turns away. This type of anti villain has a set of standards, certain lines that he will never cross. As such, he is the first one to say Even Evil Has Standards when faced with someone who offends said code of conduct. Unlikely to Kick the Dog but will Pet the Dog. Often accompanied by a Morality Pet. Alternatively, villainy is just a job to put food on the table, thus it's never personal. Placed higher on the evilness scale than type 2 because villainy is a choice for them rather than something that they are driven to. The type 1 is the common definition of the Anti-Villain. Those in this category may become true villains if they try to overcome their restraints. Ironically, despite being the most villainous level of Anti-Villain, type 1 tends to be the most stable, with very little change.


 * The defining Trope for this type of Anti-Villain would be the Noble Demon.


 * Related Tropes: Hitman with a Heart, Minion with an F In Evil, Would Not Shoot a Civilian, Never Hurt an Innocent, Even Evil Has Standards, Wouldn't Hurt a Child, Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain, a darker Noble Top Enforcer.


 *  Type II: Woobie Anti-Villain 
 * It's obvious that these types of villains don't want to be evil; circumstances just make them out to be. They may act out of Undying Loyalty or love for someone or maybe they're simply fighting for their own survival. Others are broken cuties who have snapped and want to end their suffering by destroying everything. Usually they are suffering from their alignment. The characters garners our sympathy not because their goal is good but because we can see how the Crapsack World made them the way they are. Often suffer from a damaged psyche. Anti-Villains in this category may become true villains, but they're also just as likely to turn into an Anti-Hero.


 * The defining trope for this type of Anti-Villain would be a Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds.


 * Related Tropes: Sympathetic Murderer, Jerkass Woobie, Tragic Villain, My Master, Right or Wrong, and a typical Dark Magical Girl.


 *  Type III: Well-Intentioned Anti-Villain 
 * The Well-Intentioned Extremist. They may believe in a good goal, but use whatever means there are to achieve it. The sympathy the audience can garner for this character comes from the fact that they basically share the same goal as the hero, but are pragmatically, expediently, or pessimistically, ruthless about it. They can very much be conscious about their morally questionable actions, but feel that there is no other way. Common antagonist in White and Grey Morality scenarios and relatively likely to be redeemed if shown the error of their ways depending on how "extremist" they are. These Anti Villains may become more malicious true villains, but they are more likely to either stay in this category or possibly morph into a Type II Anti-Villain. The Type III can also be a revolutionary of some sort, fighting against the main character only due to their affiliation to some government or organization, and usually fighting for a noble cause. Alternatively, they may not even realize what they're doing is wrong or making things worse in the first place.


 * The defining Trope for this type of Anti-Villain would be the Well-Intentioned Extremist, of course. Might overlap with Type III Anti-Hero.


 * Related Tropes: Necessarily Evil, Obliviously Evil.


 *  Type IV: "Villain" In Name Only 
 * These characters either lack any villainous traits whatsoever or have so much concern over others that any signs of villainy are nearly completely drowned out. Frequently, these characters are called villains only because they fight against the hero. Basically, these guys are never actively malevolent. They usually have some other reason for opposing the hero besides evil schemes. Ironically, these characters can be extremely dangerous to the hero as their high skill at arms/competence more than makes up for their lack of vileness. Fighting them also poses a moral dilemma which can also sap the hero's morale. It is at this point where an Anti-Villain starts to blur with the Hero Antagonist. Having to kill a particularly well liked type 4 in a boss fight can be a Player Punch. Their deaths are extremely likely to be a Tear Jerker. These Anti-Villains have virtually no chance of becoming a true villain - in fact, if they did, it would probably mess up the flow of the story.


 * A defining trope for this type of Anti-Villain is the Designated Villain.


 * Related Tropes: more benign My Country, Right or Wrong or My Master, Right or Wrong, Non-Malicious Monster, Punch Clock Villain, Noble Top Enforcer (when not a Type I), mild examples of Necessarily Evil, those who are Forced Into Evil, and occasionally a Token Good Teammate (when among a bunch of scumbags).

Anime and Manga

 * Evangeline from Mahou Sensei Negima
 * Tia Harribel and Gin Ichimaru of Bleach.
 * Raoh from Fist of the North Star.
 * Pluto from Astro Boy.
 * Younger Toguro and Yomi of Yu Yu Hakusho
 * Most of the characters of Baccano!
 * Greed of Fullmetal Alchemist. He may be a selfish bastard, but he cares deeply for his followers.
 * Dark Schneider of Bastard!!.
 * In One Piece, we have Seven Warlords of the Sea Dracule Mihawk and Bartholomew Kuma.
 * Androids 16, 17 and 18 of Dragon Ball Z.
 * Goku's father Bardock starts out as this before becoming a Type V Anti-Hero when facing Freeza.
 * En of Dorohedoro.
 * Eruka of Soul Eater
 * Agaard-Jim-Sai and Akira Hongo of Kenichi the Mightiest Disciple
 * Bankotsu and Sesshomaru of Inu Yasha.
 * Juvia, Kageyama And Lyon and before their Heel Face Turn in Fairy Tail.
 * Azuma as well
 * Kintolesky from Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star
 * Viral from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is quite honorable, despite always wanting to enact revenge on Kamina for tarnishing his reputation and pride. Eventually,  Here are several examples:
 * Just after the Hot Springs Episode, he not-so-politely asks the heroes to Please Put Some Clothes On and allows them to arm themselves before fighting him.
 * When he confronts Simon and Yoko over, he agrees to a fair one-on-one duel.
 * When said duel is interrupted by Cytomander, who takes Yoko hostage and orders Viral to perform a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on Gurren Lagann, Viral refuses and sheathes his axe, knowing that his honor cannot be regained that way.

Comic Books

 * Captain Cold of The Flash and most of the Rogues' Gallery are an example of this.
 * The Darkness
 * Deadpool depending of the day of the week (In his worst moments, he's Faux Affably Evil). With his Blue and Orange Morality and all.
 * The Secret Six.
 * Depending on the Writer, Doctor Doom can fall in this type, sometimes also mixed with Type II and/or III.
 * The Eddie Brock version of Venom from Spider-Man became this (originally, he was an Ax Crazy psychopath who only thought he was the good guy.)
 * Julius Caesar in the Asterix comics.
 * Envy Adams of Scott Pilgrim.

Film

 * From the Pitch Black series, we have Noble Demon Riddick. He's a villain in almost every way; a savage murderer and psychopath with a really sick sense of humour, but Even Evil Has Standards, and it seems he Wouldn't Hurt a Child (he seems to like children, and in return he often fascinates them).
 * Megamind is somewhere between this and a Type II.
 * Similarly with Megamind's case, we have Gru from Despicable Me.
 * Leon, the protagonist of Léon: The Professional.
 * Mr. White of Reservoir Dogs.
 * Bill the Butcher from Gangs of New York. He's a vicious, racist nutjob, but he has a sense of honor and a few Pet the Dog moments.

Literature

 * The titular character of Dexter.
 * Lord Vetinari of Discworld.
 * "Gentleman" Johnny Marcone & Lara Raith of The Dresden Files.
 * Artemis Fowl (as a Villain Protagonist) and by extension, Butler, but only in the early books before becoming more Anti-Hero than Villain.
 * Hrathen in Elantris.
 * Napoleon in the Temeraire series. Indeed he often comes off as better than the people running Britain.

Live-Action TV

 * Garak in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, he does have standards. He is also quite utterly unapologetic about the rather horrifying things he has done (and does).

Video Games

 * Default position of most demons in Disgaea
 * Elvis from God Hand.
 * Many many Highland generals in Suikoden II, particularly Kiba & Klaus Windaimer. Culgan and Seed can also count.
 * Black Knight Camus from the original Fire Emblem
 * The Belfrond (Carlo and Regina) siblings from Psychic Force
 * Dr. Eggman from Sonic the Hedgehog is generally this, having certain codes of conduct adhering to respect for his foes' abilities, and a flair for the dramatic, combined with a degree of often hilarious incompetence.
 * Planet Eater Pyron from Darkstalkers started out as a full straight villain in his debut, but then his ending in the third game indicates that he evolved into this as he began to show curiousity and respect toward Earth and its inhabitants, and chose to not destroy it at the end.
 * Heihachi Mishima from Tekken. While a dickhead, he's got some soft spots to prevent him to be equal or even worse than Kazuya.
 * Bruce Irvin even moreso. He's working with Kazuya efficiently but pretty much is a Punch Clock Villain when outside his job, befriending, helping and inspiring children to become a better person.
 * Wolfgang Krauser of Fatal Fury.
 * For a short time, Anji Mito from Guilty Gear, crossing with Type IV. Unlike Litchi below, Anji has no desperation or pressure to make him join That Man and pretty much joins out of complete, unpushed free will (and HIGH level of curiosity) rather than being forced. However, despite all that, he's still friendly as ever to even That Man's nemesis (Sol), tried to befriend May at one of her endings, and in any moment he met Baiken, after one fight, he calls it quits.
 * The Bonne Family from Mega Man Legends series. Tron Bonne especially, as she even becomes a Type V Anti-Hero in certain spin-off and crossover games.
 * Pre-Heel Face Turn Axel Almer in Super Robot Wars Original Generation. He's still dedicated in kicking the good guys' ass, but he's more of a Noble Demon and his true enemy is actually Beowulf and is actually preventing him to 're-materialize' in that world after seeing the brutality Beowulf caused in his world.
 * Sagat before Street Fighter Alpha 3, he willingly became a subordinate of Bison in order to get stronger and embraced his status as one of Shadoloo's Four Devas. But over time, he developed into a Noble Demon who is disgusted by Bison's more underhanded methods of granting strength and eventually ditches him for good to resume a more healthy rivalry with Ryu.
 * Augus from Asura's Wrath, who only fights him because he fights for the strongest side, and actually treats up Asura's wounds from fighting Kalrow's space fleet before fighting him.
 * Magus from Chrono Trigger. Everyone thought he was summoning Lavos to win his war in the Middle Ages. . While in the past it's shown he's always been pretty cold,.
 * Carl "C.J." Johnson from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Western Animation

 * Ty Lee and Mai from Avatar: The Last Airbender.
 * Brain and his Dragon Pinky from Pinky and The Brain are a mix of Type 1 and Type 3.
 * David Xanatos from Gargoyles becomes this through Character Development. Yes, he's a Magnificent Bastard and Trope Namer for a certain trope, but has quite enough positive qualities that keep him sympathetic despite his villainy..
 * Macbeth combines this with Type II.
 * Doctor Doofenshmirtz from Phineas and Ferb
 * Avalanche of X-Men: Evolution
 * Red X of Teen Titans
 * Gaz of Invader Zim, in addition to being a Type V Anti-Hero.
 * Duncan of Total Drama Island, as well as a Type V Anti-Hero.
 * Ultra-Humanite in Justice League is quite morally ambiguous for a villain. While he does a series of serious crimes, like blowing up a modern art museum because he despises Modernism, he also tends to help the heroes in certain occasions. A particular example is in the Christmas Episode where he helps the Flash giving a desired toy to a group of orphans.
 * Despite considering himself an official villain, Puma Loco from El Tigre puts his family in first place than his criminal schemes (at least most of the time), and is often seen helping his grandson Manny and his son White Pantera in beating up the other criminals of Miracle City.
 * Jack Spicer from Xiaolin Showdown. He is not seen as very evil by any of the other charecters. He also will help the xiaolin dragons, and in one episode, he was neutral..
 * Charmcaster from the Ben 10 franchise is between this and Type II.
 * Tom of Tom and Jerry, Depending on the Writer. Although he does get sadistic pleasure out of tormenting Jerry and at the beginning of some shorts is shown doing so, in other shorts he's really only forced to go after Jerry by his owner. Jerry does his share of provoking their battles as well, sometimes to the point of Disproportionate Retribution, and sometimes even just because he feels like it.

Anime and Manga

 * Fate Testarossa in the first season of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha.
 * Suzaku from Code Geass.
 * According to some interpretations, Mao may also count.
 * Jeremiah Gottwald also falls into this early on, when you consider his real motives. Thankfully, he undergoes a Heel Face Turn in the second season.
 * Crona from Soul Eater.
 * Four Murasame and Rosamia Badam in Zeta Gundam.
 * Stella Loussier in Gundam Seed Destiny.
 * Louise Halevy in Mobile Suit Gundam 00's second season.
 * Lucy from Elfen Lied.
 * Fried (before his Heel Face Turn) and Oracion seis except Brain to an extent in Fairy Tail. Also Zeref, Ultear, Meredy and, surprisingly,
 * Pegasus J. Crawford from Yu-Gi-Oh, who, like Mr. Freeze, is only evil so he can resurrect his dead wife.
 * Darcia the Third from Wolfs Rain.
 * Many of the antagonists from Naruto are this.
 * Alyssa from the My-HiME manga, and from the anime.
 * in Hekikai no AiON.
 * After the Time Skip, she evolve to Type 4, since she, though not doing evil herself, still hates the main heroine.
 * After the Time Skip, she evolve to Type 4, since she, though not doing evil herself, still hates the main heroine.

Comic Books

 * Mr. Freeze in Batman post-influence from the animated series.
 * Also, Two-Face from the very start.
 * Harry Osborn as the second Green Goblin in Spider-Man.
 * Ultimate Spider-Man has the Ultimate version of Shocker, who was screwed over by the company he worked when he tried to make legit money.

Film

 * Big Daddy from Kick-Ass (film version only). He may be a bit mixed with a Type III, but he's more closer to this.
 * Magua from Last of the Mohicans.
 * Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader from the Star Wars prequels, Well-Intentioned Extremist and Love Martyr who turns to The Dark Side because Love Makes You Crazy.
 * Though by the time of the Original Trilogy, he had become a full-fledged villain, with seemingly nothing to make him sympathetic again... at least until the final act of Return of the Jedi.
 * Doctor Octopus, The Sandman, and (of course) Harry Osborn in Spider-Man 2 and 3.
 * Loki from Thor was doing the wrong things for the right reasons.
 * Carrie White from Carrie.
 * Sweeney Todd from Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Literature

 * in Moon Over Soho. Never asked or set out to be what they became (and weren't even truly aware of it until the end), and whose origin was entirely accidental.
 * Murtagh and Thorn from Inheritance Cycle.
 * Sandor "The Hound" Clegane from A Song of Ice and Fire.
 * The "monster" from Frankenstein. He actually recounts how all his thoughts were extremely noble when he had just been hiding and listening to people, but when he actually tried to interact with them and was feared, he became bitter and nasty. Of course, this slides it towards Informed Attribute, but the actual events in the novel also give good enough grounds to say this trope applies, especially when the protagonist Dr. Frankenstein is not very heroic himself.
 * Gunnhild in another of Poul Anderson's Viking stories, Mother of Kings is a Villain Protagonist. She is a witch, a murderer, a power-grasping and violent plotter, and a seducer and no one can mistake her for anything other then a villain. At the same time she has a love for her sons, a hunger for truth that has nothing to do with her power; and she lives in a Crapsack World of violence in the secular world and confusion between religions in the spiritual. You cannot really like her or root for her but you can sympathize with her even though she would probably be to proud to accept your pity.
 * As Anderson points out in the Afterword, the real Gunnhild is unlikely to have been as bad as all that though she was unlikely to have been a Scandinavian version of a Girl Next Door either. History may or may not be written by the winners but sagas are written by skalds.

Live-Action TV

 * Ben from Lost usually bounces between this type and Type I and Type III.
 * The Master from Doctor Who fits into this trope given that the only reason he does what he does is because he's been driven absolutely insane by the drums in his head, and that the drumming was put there deliberately
 * Modern series only, in the classic series he is a Card-Carrying Villain to the core.
 * Nicci in Legend of the Seeker, though in the books she's more of a Type III.
 * Willow Rosenberg of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the sixth season.
 * Jefferson aka the Mad hatter from Once Upon a Time. He's pushed into what he does by Regina's manipulation and betrayal plus love of his daughter. Also he's been driven more than a bit crazy by his time in Wonderland and being one of the few concious people in Storybrooke.

Tabletop Games

 * Magnus the Red from Warhammer 40,000.

Video Games

 * Tsubaki Yayoi from BlazBlue.
 * Sniper Wolf in Metal Gear Solid.
 * Shuyin from Final Fantasy X-2.
 * Barry Burton in Resident Evil. Wesker threatened his wife, so he went along with betraying the STARS unit.
 * Brad Kilstein in Psychic Force. He's actually pretty decent provided his Split Personality doesn't take over.
 * Sarah, the assistant of in Suikoden III
 * Zero's girlfriend Iris from Mega Man X. She didn't take Colonel's death well...
 * Reptile in Mortal Kombat. It's nearly a Running Gag that if you don't off him, his superiors screw him.
 * Walter Sullivan from Silent Hill 4 may count. He's just a little kid who wants his mom back. Plus he was raised by a cult of manipulative bastards.
 * Gaspard and, remarkably, from Dark Cloud 2.
 * Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in Epic Mickey. Much of what he does (and well, mostly what he intends on doing) is the result of neglect, jealousy, and the loss of everything he cared about (especially Ortensia) and built in the Thinner Disaster.
 * from Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories is this trope incarnate. "Everyone who has ever come close to me, has betrayed me..."
 * Jack Krauser is retroactively implied to be of this trope in Resident Evil 4, as Darkside Chronicles explains that his reasons for turning to Wesker was because that was the only option left for him to do the thing he did well at, fighting, after his mission with Leon resulted in him being fired from SOCOM due to an arm injury that never recovered.
 * Dr Stahngun/ in Professor Layton and the Unwound Future. He's only villainous in order to bring back the woman he loved. Layton even acknowledges he'd never go so far as to kill anyone.
 * Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer features the Founder, pretty much the definition of Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds. She inflicted the Player Character with a soul-eating curse and set into motion events that threaten the very fabric of the Forgotten Realms, all to save her lover from the Wall of the Faithless.
 * Yasha from Asura's Wrath is a combination of this, a Type 4, and Stoic Woobie, who is legimately the one of the only deities that turned on Asura that feels legitimate regret fro the way they treat humanity after betraying asura, by forcing them into a Martyrdom Culture.

Web Comics

 * In 151 Hidden Depths, Diglett becomes this after evolving into Dugtrio. Being small led him to be rejected from joining the Pokemon Police Force so he proves he's a force to be reckoned with by destroying cities.

Web Original

 * Dr. Horrible from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is a combination of this and Type III

Western Animation

 * Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender is somewhere between this and a Type I, before his Heel Face Turn.
 * Most of the members of Batman's Rogue's Gallery become this in Batman the Animated Series, most notably the Mad Hatter, Baby Doll, Clayface, Two-Face, and the aforementioned Mr. Freeze.
 * And in the movie, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, we have the Phantasm.
 * Ethan Bennett, the original Clayface, in The Batman.
 * Colossus in X-Men: Evolution
 * Nox of Wakfu, who desperately aims to be Type III but is mostly inhibited by his own delusions.
 * Jack O'Lantern, Nergal and his son Nergal Jr. in The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy.
 * Courtney in Total Drama Island becomes this in the later half of the third season.
 * The Ice King of Adventure Time, especially after the revelation that, leading to his present self.
 * An interesting subversion/deconstruction of this character type can be found in Demona of Western Animation/Gargoyles. She's certainly got enough nuance and tragedy in her backstory to qualify her as a Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds, but at the same time she has both the motive and means to do probably the most large-scale damage of any villain in the Rogues Gallery and her obsession with getting revenge for her own pain has blinded her to the fact that she's spent the last milennium just digging herself in deeper.

Anime and Manga

 * Pain, Konan and of Naruto
 * Gil Graham from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's.
 * Amber, Amigiri, and most of the rest of Evening Primrose from Darker than Black.
 * Trevor Goodchild from Aeon Flux.
 * Haman Karn from Gundam ZZ.
 * Master Asia of G Gundam
 * Zechs Merquise and Treize Khushrenada from Gundam Wing.
 * Gilbert Durandal from Gundam SEED Destiny, as well as his adopted son Rey Za Burrel
 * Lordgenome from Gurren Lagann, a brutal though world-weary dictator who was the only thing preventing his masters from wiping out his species.
 * The Blue Knight from Astro Boy.
 * Father Alexander Anderson from Hellsing, as well pretty much of the rest of the Iscariot Organization, are mostly this type with a bit of Type I added (with the exception of ).
 * Magellan, the Impel Down warden from One Piece.
 * Chouji Suitengu of Speed Grapher
 * Prince Schneizel of Code Geass turns out to be a particularly vicious example.
 * Gendo Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion.
 * Kuze from the second season of Ghost in The Shell Stand Alone Complex
 * Ultear, Jellal, Laxus and Knightwalker of Fairy Tail
 * Kaname Tosen &  of Bleach
 * It turns out that  is this   although he deliberately cultivates the image of a  . His motive is something the protagonists could sympathise with and even support but the methods he's willing to (and does) use put him well outside the hero scale and firmly in the anti-villain scale. For a Type III, his methods are very extreme and drag him towards the   he claims to be.

Comic Books

 * The Punisher. Also a Type V on the Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes.
 * Erik Magnus/Erik Lensherr AKA Magneto of X-Men
 * The Adversary in Fables.
 * and Rorschach from Watchmen.
 * Adam Susan from V for Vendetta.
 * Batman's foe Poison Ivy, who is also another case of Depending on the Writer.

Film

 * Ramses II from The Prince of Egypt, mixed with Type II.
 * The Operative in Serenity.

Literature

 * Nicci of the Sword of Truth series, along with several minor villains who aren't Complete Monsters, such as Michael and Sebastian.

Live-Action TV

 * Lex Luthor in Smallville is often this.
 * Walternate from Fringe seems to fall into this category. Yes, he wants to destroy our universe, but for all he knows there isn't any other way to save his. Not to mention that he thinks the two universes are at war. True, he is openly malevolent towards and is quite ruthless, but he occasionally has higher moral standards than Walter..
 * Though it was later revealed that Walter only did that in an attempt to.
 * Thomas from The Event, also
 * The Cigarette Smoking Man, and the rest of the Syndicate, from The X-Files.
 * Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Animated Series are jam packed with this type. Examples include Roger Korby, Kodos, the Talosians, the Gorn, the Horta, Cochrane’s companion, NOMAD, John Gill, Ron Tracey, Loki, Bele, and Stavos Keniclius, to name just a few. The tradition continues in the film series with Sybok, Valeris, Cartwright, and arguably Chang and Kruge.

Tabletop Games

 * Lizardmen in Warhammer Fantasy if interpreted as villains.
 * The Tau Empire in Warhammer 40,000 via villainous interpretation.
 * Arguably a lot of the Empire from Warhammer 40,000 could be considered this as well.
 * Possibly Alpharius and/or Omegon.

Video Games

 * Delita in Final Fantasy Tactics (goes up the scale).
 * in Persona 4 (due to being oblivious to the consequences of his actions more than anything else).
 * Matriarch Benezia from Mass Effect. And depending on which camp are you on, . At the end of 3,
 * Craft, The Dragon to Dr. Weil from Mega Man Zero 4.
 * Duke and Pharaoh from Tales of Vesperia.
 * Vayne in Final Fantasy XII.
 * Jowy Atreides-Blight in Suikoden II. Also his strategist Leon Silverberg.
 * Most Tales (series) villains, the most prominent one being Dhaos.
 * Keith Evans in Psychic Force. He truly wanted the good of his kinsmen, who was being oppressed by humanity and the only way to do it, he thinks, is being a Dark Messiah.
 * Lance from Epic Battle Fantasy.
 * Jedah Dohma from Darkstalkers. He wants nothing but to eliminate all the evil that plagues Makai, but on the other hand his plan consists in fusing all the Darkstalkers (including the good ones) in a gigantic demon womb.
 * Archie and Maxie from the third generation of Pokémon could fit the bill, but Maxie more so.
 * Big Boss in Metal Gear did the things he did, besides for his Blood Knight tendencies, out of a legitimate desire to free soldiers so they won't have to be expendable pawns of the government, due to his experience with The Boss's death (and his involvement in it). He also is shown to forgive and even save his enemies/defectors if they are threatened, as evidenced by his saving Kyle Schneider's resistance from NATO's nuclear bombing of Outer Heaven despite the latter group being against him.
 * Solidus Snake is similar, having taken in people who weren't wanted anywhere else, and also doing terrorist actions in order to prevent the Patriots from eliminating everything America stood for, such as liberty.
 * The original founders of the Patriots were also this, as they did legitimately attempt to follow through with The Boss's will, and thought they were doing so with their actions.
 * Nobunaga Oda in Samurai Warriors.
 * Graf Michael Sepperin in Rosenkreuzstilette.
 * in Ratchet and Clank Future A Crack In Time.
 * Ironically, he's a borderline Type 3 Anit-Hero while on your side, so he's been on both sides of the spectrum in one game.
 * Look no further than Ammon Jerro from Neverwinter Nights 2. The man has an army of powerful fiends at his beck and call, murders several people who get in the way of his recovering a MacGuffin, and is canonically Neutral Evil.
 * In Arcanum,
 * BioShock (series): Andrew Ryan. The Audio Diaries show that he never let go of his dream, even as he went from a staunch idealist to a power-mad dictator. Grace Holloway in Bioshock II believes in Sofia Lamb completely and believes Delta kidnapped Eleanor. Lamb herself might have been this once, but definitely isn't now. At all. REALLY.
 * from Asura's Wrath.
 * from Asura's Wrath.

Web Comics

 * Baron Klaus Wulfenbach from Girl Genius
 * Redcloak from Order of the Stick, initially; he became more of a straight villain over time due to his association with Complete Monster Xykon.
 * Tangerine from Sinfest doesn't do the stuff she does out of malice, but as a result of not knowing any better.

Web Original

 * and the obstacles in Suburban Knights just want to protect the gauntlet from . In the process, however, they're willing to fight and kill anyone also looking for the gauntlet in order to prevent that from happening.
 * Dr. Horrible from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Western Animation

 * Jet from Avatar: The Last Airbender. He has a good reason to be opposing the Fire Nation, he just takes his grudge way too far.
 * Amon from The Legend of Korra.
 * Kang the Conqueror in Avengers Earths Mightiest Heroes becomes sort of this. The sole reason why he wants Captain America (comics) dead is because he blames Cap for disrupting the timeline (remember, Cap got preserved in a block of ice in the North Atlantic after an accident in his last mission in the 40's and then was revived to present times by the Avengers), which for an unexplained reason causes the destruction of the world within 10 years and almost erases Kang's wife Ravonna from existence.
 * Valerie Gray from Danny Phantom, if you don't view her as a Type III and/or IV Anti-Hero.

Anime and Manga

 * Haku from Naruto.
 * Coyote Starrk from Bleach
 * November and April of Darker than Black
 * The Wolkenritter from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's.
 * Guilford, Lloyd and Cecile of Code Geass
 * Athrun Zala, Nicol Amalfi, Dearka Elsmann, Yzak Joule and Andrew Waltfeld in Gundam Seed.
 * Several examples in Mobile Suit Gundam 00, most notably Colonel Sergi Smirnov, if one doesn't consider him an outright Hero Antagonist.
 * Ramba Ral in Mobile Suit Gundam.
 * Norris Packard in Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team.
 * The Cyclops Team in Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket, including Bernard Wiseman.
 * Team Rocket from Pokémon were this for a looong time until the Black/White series. They had started out as bumbling and humorous, but still villainous in personality, but by the end of the Johto arc, any evil they had was drained out and they were left as just bumbling and humorous.
 * Excel and Hyatt from Excel Saga.
 * Mifune in Soul Eater
 * In One Piece, this type applies to any of the Marines (particularly Smoker and Garp) that aren't corrupt or abusive, and follow a reasonable justice code that usually conflicts with the intentions of their Knight Templar superiors.
 * Shin and Noi from Dorohedoro are an interesting example. Both seem to be Blood Knight assassins at a first glance, but in reality they are just Punch Clock Villains that reserve their ruthlessness on the people they suppose to kill.
 * Zagato from Magic Knight Rayearth
 * Joshua from Seikon no Qwaser
 * in Haruhi Suzumiya.
 * Also the Computer Research Society President, who only opposed the SOS Brigade because Haruhi extorted a computer from him. Lately, though, he and Haruhi seem to be on better terms with each other.
 * Angel from Angel Beats!
 * Wizardmon from Digimon Adventure.
 * Ivan from Digimon Savers, who kills Digimon to earn money to support his mother and his many siblings. He's a stark contrast with his boss Kurata, who is a bonafide Complete Monster.
 * Pantherlily, and Erza old comrades from Fairy Tail
 * The title character of Squid Girl. First of all, her threat of invading and taking over the surface world isn't taken very seriously by other characters (except Nagisa). And even if she tries to actually invade the surface, she would easily be defeated the entire military from many different countries that would put her under control. Oh wait, you don't need a military to do that, because it only takes one person to keep Squid Girl under control. Also, the worst thing she can actually do is trying to tie you up with her tentacles and attempt to take over a beach restaurant. Not to mention, she is very oblivious and has very limited knowledge on the human society in general. In the end, she end ups like a cute squid girl goofball with her villainy not even taken seriously by everyone.
 * Chao Lingshen from Mahou Sensei Negima. She's such an Anti-Villain, in fact, that Negi had actually considered letting her complete her plan.
 * Ratman is a protagonist version, and is actually a superhero Otaku who is only a "dark hero" because he was tricked into joining Jackal, an Oddly Small Organization of rather goofy and nonthreatening villains. Since his missions have him breaking the law and put him at odds with the Hero Association (especially the more Jerkass heroes), he's a criminal, but takes every opportunity he can to use his powers to help people.
 * Hajimete no Aku definately comes to mind. I mean, the "villains" actually try to quite literally choke the world doing nice things. The villains are so good, in fact, that the characters question the heroes' good will and say that they are eviler...
 * Alyssa from the Mai-Otome manga, who wants to end the Otome system so that she can spend more time with her sister.

Comic Books

 * Namor the Sub-Mariner whenever he is antagonizing the other superheroes of the Marvel Universe. His actions are mostly due to his hot-headed and anti-social personality.
 * Lucas Lee from Scott Pilgrim.
 * Inspector Finch from V for Vendetta.

Film

 * King Kong.
 * Roy Batty ends up as this in Blade Runner.
 * Naval Marshall General Isoroku Yamamoto from Pearl Harbor. While being charged by the Japanese Empire with the task of somehow successfully destroying the American Pacific navy at anchor in shallow waters, he is making comments such as "A brilliant man would find a way not to fight a war."
 * The Spaniard from the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean.

Literature

 * Several of the Havenite military personnel in the Honor Harrington series are only villains because they happen to be part of a nation that is at war with Manticore. This is especially the case after Eloise Pritchart takes over as President and transforms Haven from a People's Republic of Tyranny into a genuine democracy.
 * In many of the original Sherlock Holmes stories, the perpetrator or the closest equivalent turns out to have merely been the victim of the circumstances, not known what they were doing, merely committing a lesser crime for understandable reasons, or at least to be a Sympathetic Murderer taking justice in their own hands against an Asshole Victim who really had it coming. Once they're exposed and explain themselves, Holmes tends to let these characters off the hook even when they actually did do something illegal.

Live-Action TV

 * Lt. Kavenaugh on The Shield at least until the premiere of season 6 when he crosses the Moral Event Horizon.
 * Enos from The Dukes of Hazzard. He is never really portrayed as corrupt or evil, and despite his Designated Villain role (by default by being on the same side as Boss Hogg), becomes quite sympathetic and likable over the course of the show. Enos is plagued by a strong sense of duty. He's a deputy, and sworn to uphold the law. Unfortunately for him, Boss Hogg controls the law. At times, one has to wonder if his goofing up isn't at least somewhat intentional as a way of helping the Dukes. Especially considering that he was able to become the head of the Los Angeles SWAT team.
 * Sgt. Shultz and Col. Klink from Hogan's Heroes

Theatre

 * John Dickenson in 1776 is staunchly against Independency, even coming to blows with protagonist John Adams. His only claim to villainy is he's a Loyalist that truly believes America's best course is to remain with England.

Video Games

 * The Guardians from Mega Man Zero, especially Harpuia. They're essentially good people (technically, Reploids) fighting for an evil government. Eventually they make a Heel Face Turn.
 * Meta Knight from Kirby though he can sometimes be a Type III in his more extreme moments.
 * Litchi Faye-Ling in BlazBlue. She actually disliked NOL and thinks Hazama is suspicious like hell, but the situation forces her to join the bad guys.
 * Mid Boss in Disgaea. The worst thing he does is loot the party's picnic basket.
 * Death King Hugo in the 4th game, who like Meta Knight has elements of Type 3.
 * Garl Vinland from Demon's Souls.
 * For that matter, Maiden Astraea herself.  Sixth Saint Astraea, indeed.
 * The Boss in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. is one of the saddest moments in gaming history.
 * Miles Edgeworth in the Ace Attorney series is either this or a type III: he starts off as a more typical villain, trying his best to get all the defendants found guilty, but he has a Heel Face Turn. Now, he looks for the truth, and even helps Phoenix if need be.
 * Gradually reshaped into a type II Anti-Hero by the time of his own game.
 * Both Eltoshan or Ishtar from Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu. Eltoshan was too much of a Stupid Good when it comes to loyalty (and dies for it), and Ishtar was really decent for children or Tinny, but just can't say "no" for Julius.
 * Ishtar, however, did go directly against Julius's orders and had children that were due to be sacrificed smuggled into Freege castle, and made it clear that anyone who laid a finger on them would be dealt with by her personally. While she does end up dying for Julius, she does show that she's willing to disobey the orders of the most powerful character in the game in order to do what she feels is right. Really, if she wasn't in love with Julius she'd probably have done a Heel Face Turn.
 * Pretty much any generic boss who isn't an utter Jerkass qualifies.
 * General Teo McDohl from Suikoden I. And you, being his son, offed him because he serves the Empire, you lead the rebels.
 * Baldur's Gate:
 * Tamoko in the first game, based on what we see of her. She's only on the side of the Big Bad, and willing to try to kill the Player Character, because she loves him, and she even wants to stop his plans to save him. However, she is officially Neutral Evil according to game files, which doesn't actually contradict her behaviour if we assume she's otherwise willing to do evil but her True Love for the villain is stronger than those tendencies. But according to what we actually see her do, her being merely somewhat amoral rather than evil would be the most sensible explanation.
 * In the sequel,, Tamoko's brother according to cut content. What a Senseless Waste of Human Life indeed. Even more clearly amoral rather than evil, but forced to work for the villain through a Magically-Binding Contract.
 * Leon Magnus from Tales of Destiny, who's fighting you only to preserve the life of Marian, his surrogate mother figure. For double whammy,
 * Sonia/ from Psychic Force. Her loyalty was actually programmed and.
 * Golbez and Jecht in Dissidia Final Fantasy. The first is a Stealth Mentor, the second just wants a reunion with his son.
 * Take note that the latter character was pretty much a Type IV in his original game as well, seeing how the only reason he's on the villain's end is because he fused with Sin after becoming Brask's Final Aeon with the intention of eliminating Sin, and was perfectly willing to die at the hands of his son as long as it at least ensured Sin's permanent destruction.
 * Cloud Strife and Kuja were depicted as Anti-Villains in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, being on the Warriors of Chaos side, yet not being too happy about their current position in the conflict, as well as sympathizing with the other side in the case of Cloud. It's also implied that Cloud's sympathizing for the Cosmos side is because a person he knew and cared for was there. Cloud eventually managed to defect to the Warriors of Cosmos, although at the cost of getting killed by Chaos at the end of the 12th cycle and having to be revived. Kuja, however, wasn't so lucky, thanks to Kefka and his implementing Fake Memories.
 * From Pokémon Black and White, is easily the most heartbreaking example of one of these in a Nintendo game, and has a bunch of qualities of the other 3 types above this one, with none of the truly evil traits that belong to them.
 * In the Batman: Arkham Asylum series, both Catwoman and Talia are exclusively used as Batman's allies, with only the greater continuity reminding players this isn't always the case.
 * General Leo in Final Fantasy VI.
 * Lemon Browning in Super Robot Wars Advance and Super Robot Wars Original Generation. Despite her Mad Scientist tendencies, she's generally without malice and kind enough with her creations, and you off her merely because she just have to fight for the side she's on. Oh, and her relationship with Axel is genuine.
 * Originally in Advance, if you feel genuine enough, you can avoid attacking her in the last stage and go beat down Vindel, leaving Lemon's fate more open than surefire death.
 * Sophitia Alexandra starting from SoulCalibur IV goes to this path. Despite starting out as the holiest and purest of all fighters, her motherly instincts decreed her to protect her children who was under Soul Edge's influence, by protecting said weapon that she swore to destroy. There's a reason why she's crying in her official art in IV.
 * Her daughter Pyrrha gets the same treatment in Soulcalibur V. Being raised by Tira and manipulated into being a new host for Soul Edge, just about everything out of her mouth literally screams she doesn't want to do any of it.
 * Donkey Kong himself when he's the antagonist, such as the classic arcade game or the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series. He never has any malicious intent in mind; he simply has trouble controlling his impulses and tends to get angry when he doesn't get what he wants, leaving Mario to stop him. After Mario defeats DK, he generally forgives him and gives DK whatever he wanted in the first place.
 * from Mother 3. He's only evil because
 * from Radiata Stories is the closest thing to a Big Bad the game has—and wouldn't be considered evil on any conceivable moral scale if it weren't for the fact that
 * Mr Freeze in Arkham City is this with a bit of Type II. As usual his main goal is to protect his wife and he only goes against Batman once in the entire game and that's just because Bruce's stubborness lead to a miscomunication between them.
 * The Theives Guild in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Despite being unrepentant theives they never kill, protect the poor and only target people who can easily afford the loss. Their leader the Grey Fox in particualr fits this as he only resorts to crime due to a curse which he seeks to break.

Web Comics

 * Fuschia from Sinfest goes from Card-Carrying Villain to type I to type IV.
 * Miko Miyazaki from Order of the Stick starts out here, and slides up to a Type III.

Western Animation

 * Iroh from Avatar: The Last Airbender.
 * Waspinator in Beast Wars.
 * GIR, the hopelessly moronic robot minion of the titular Invader Zim.
 * King Julien from The Penguins of Madagascar is a complete Jerk with a Heart of Gold but while he's a recurring antagonist, he repeatedly teams up with the Penguins to help them out. Okay so he sometimes messes things up even worse but at least he's trying.
 * Lindsay from Total Drama Island in the first season when she was Heather's lackey, as well as
 * Magneto in X Men after Characterization Marches On turned him into The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything.
 * Junior from Kim Possible.