Baddie Flattery

""And by the way... I like your dress.""

- The Master, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, to Buffy, while killing her

A villain who seems glad to see you, comments on your nice outfit, and how you're better at heroism lately than you used to be. They may even salute your proficiency in battle. The disturbing thing is they don't seem sarcastic about it at all.

This creepy politeness is usually just a tactic to throw off the hero and show off how the villain is a looney. Terms of Endangerment are often involved. Occasionally the villain is genuinely attracted to the hero.

The Lovable Traitor is prone to doing this.

Contrast to Affably Evil, while the villain is not necessarily trying to annoy or flatter the hero, but rather that's genuinely what they're like. See also Your Approval Fills Me With Shame.

Anime and Manga

 * Doctor Muraki of Yami no Matsuei does this mostly to jerk Tsuzuki's chain.
 * Freeza from Dragon Ball Z was not only very polite and formal (calling even his renegade henchman who has killed just about every member of his fleet "Mr. Vegeta"), but couple this with his voice (which, in Japan, used mostly female modifiers and gender articles as well as the voice of a male seiyuu VERY famous for mad and evil roles, and was voiced by a female in North America and by a quite deep baritone male in Latin America) makes him a very creepy villain indeed.
 * Joker from Read or Die was always polite and formal, never losing his cool once even when he was held hostage. Then again, he had so many proverbial cards up his sleeve that his confidence was legitimate.
 * One Piece
 * Foxy the Silver Fox complimented Luffy's new afro-headed look.
 * Also Blackbeard to Luffy  He encourages Luffy after a humiliating beating by some bullying pirates, understanding his motives and his dreams. Later
 * Claymore has the character Priscilla who is unfailingly polite and apologetic even when things are not even really her fault. That is until
 * Ichimaru Gin from Bleach and his treatment of "Hinamori-chan", whom he taunts gently yet sarcastically to make her (and others) believe he's a criminal and a traitor. . He even takes time to talk to Rukia in her way to be executed and give her the hope that she might have her life spared... and then practically say he was kidding, dashing her last bits of hope
 * Jail Scaglietti during the last episodes of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Striker S, who, when faced with defeat at the hands of a very angry Fate on Super Mode, breathlessly called Fate and her powers as magnificent. Fate responded by smacking him into the wall hard using the side of her BFS.

Comic Books
"Joker: I see one of our stars approaching the red carpet! And he's in black, always chic. But here come the fashion disasters. I?m surprised their mummies let them out of the house looking like that."
 * The Joker occasionally does this to Batman.

""Where does he get those wonderful toys?""
 * This was one of the most memorable traits of the Jack Nicholson Joker.


 * Lex Luthor in most media. Funnily enough, rarely to Superman himself. He hates Big Blue.
 * Rotorstorm's "Wreckers, combine!" joke from Transformers Last Stand of the Wreckers got a laugh out of Overlord, a 'bot so evil and powerful he makes grizzled veterans go "Oh Crap". Then

Film

 * Star Wars: "Impressive. Most impressive. Obi-Wan has taught you well." Fatherly pride.
 * In the original screenplay of Kill Bill, excised character Yukie Yubari comments on how pretty The Bride is and asks her if she thinks the same of Yukie... then she pulls out the uzi. In the definitive screenplay, Gogo Yubari compliments The Bride on her fame as she goes down the stairs, meteor hammer in hand.
 * One of the common traits of most James Bond villains. Bond parodies such as Get Smart, Austin Powers and Isidoro also have villains acting in such a way.

Video Games
""Impressive! You're every bit the Hunter I was!""
 * Goenitz from The King of Fighters '96 uses a quite formal speech when addressing people and even had a "pet name" for the hero (Kusanagi-sinner-san). Also, one of his winning poses involves him bowing politely at the screen as if he was a performer being cheered on for an encore by his fans.
 * In the French version of The Legend of Zelda a Link To T He Past, this was a distinctive trait of Agahnim, and, to a lesser extent, Ganon. No other title has ever displayed a villain that polite.
 * Salazar in Resident Evil 4 is rude and snarky for most of his screentime, until you finally impress him enough to start saying things like "I fear I have not paid my respects to your impressive and stubborn will. Mr. Kennedy: WELCOME!"
 * In Mega Man X, Sigma comments on X's fighting potential repeatedly throughout the final battles.

""I see a new clarity in your eyes. It looks like you might actually be able to face me."
 * He's especially obsessive about this in the Maverick Hunter X PSP remake:

"Impressive, X! Looks like you really do have the potential I had seen in you!"

"Magnificent X! And to think you've been classified as a B-class Hunter!"

"I should've known you could do it, X...""

": Have you ever paused to consider our reason for making l'Cie of men? We fal'Cie are crafted for a single purpose, and granted finite power to that end. With men it is not so. Men, dream, aspire, and through indomitable force of will achieve the impossible. Your power is beyond measure. We take l'Cie that we might wield such strength. Through you, we obtain freedom from our bondage."
 * In Final Fantasy XIII  delivers a pretty epic example by outright praising the strength of humanity.


 * In Wild Arms 3, Big Bad Seigfried respects and envy Maya's power, which, he says, surpasses Demon's. However, that doesn't stop him from using her powers against her, and he obliterates her later on when she tries to solo him. But in the end, Maya got the last laugh.
 * In Dragon Age: Origins, if the Warden chooses to duel Loghain to decide the fate of Ferelden, the old general will comment that "a man is made by the quality of his enemies," which was a saying of his old friend Maric. He then wonders if that's more of a compliment to him or to you.
 * In Dragon Age II, if Hawke proves him/herself to be upright and respectful in his/her dealings with the Arishok, the Arishok will address him/her as "Basalit-an" -- meaning he thinks of Hawke as a person rather than a thing which is standard operating procedure when dealing with anyone outside of the Qun -- and then condemn the nobles as "bas" (things). He respects Hawke enough to offer to settle things with a duel.

Web Original

 * Kaz Valnor from The Gungan Council managed to bed Bethany Kismet with the nicest of words... until he revealed he was a Sith.

Western Animation
"Aqualad: You sound more like a fanboy than a nemesis."
 * In Batfink, Curly the Cannonball was excessively worshipful of Batfink, apparently due to Batfink being his hero before he turned into a two-bit villain.
 * Taken to a disturbing extent in Teen Titans with Control Freak in "For Real". When questioning the replacement Titans where the originals were, the satirical nerdy villain went into a lengthy montage describing the characteristics of (and dressing as) each and every Titan.

""You sly dog! You got me monologuing! You know, you really are Mr. Incredible!"
 * He later went fanboy crazy over the Titans East, so much so that he couldn't resist teleporting himself in front of them after they just survived all his "tests" and attempts to blow up the city.
 * Daemon in Re Boot is genuinenly nice and polite, because of the sheer fact that crashing the entire net is what she is programmed to do and she sees no evil in it...in fact, she even thinks it's a good thing!
 * Danny Phantom: Vlad Plasmius often used this tactic in conjunction with Not So Different.
 * From The Incredibles:

"Hiding from my seeker using the bones of another super?! I can't believe it, man, I'm still geekin' out! Ahhh.""

"Jade: Nice catch.
 * The Argentinian dub changed the storyline so it takes place in Argentina in a parallel Earth. There, Syndrome had the personality of a sterotypical Argentinian TV host (such as Marley or Marcelo Tinelli).
 * Shego is known for doing this to Kim Possible (when she's not being condescending), and has a number of pet names for her.
 * A version appears in Jackie Chan Adventures: Jade is in a toppling tree, which falls towards the (Dark-Warriored!) Ratso, who catches it. This ensues:

Ratso: Thanks. Hey-!

Jade(jumps off tree and runs): Nyah-nyah."

"Darkseid: I'm glad growing up with Highfather hasn't made you soft or weak. You make an old man proud. But I won't let you or anyone else stand in my way."
 * In The DCAU, Darkseid always compliments his son Orion whenever they cross paths. In "Apokolips Now!" Darkseid expresses his fatherly pride in Orion's savagery and power. During their brief fight in "Twilight", Darkseid has this to say:


 * Then he breaks his son's spine with a crushing bearhug and leaves him to die on the exploding asteroid with a pithy "spare the rod".