Devil in Plain Sight: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

Someone who is so obviously up to no good that the one character who seems ''aware'' of it is shocked [[Only Sane Man|no one else seems to notice]]. Everyone else, especially those with a tendency to be [[Horrible Judge of Character|Horrible Judges Of Character]], may just consider them a little quirky and wonder what the observant character's problem is.

 

See [[Hidden in Plain Sight]] for when a [[MacGuffin]] does this.

{{examples|page=Devils in Plain Sight}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* Hiruma from ''[[Eyeshield 21]]'' plays with this trope; he's a conniving, scheming, trigger-happy [[Magnificent Bastard]] and doesn't care who knows it (his name can even be read as "[[Meaningful Name|devil in broad daylight]]"). Also, he avoids repercussions for his actions not by avoiding or sucking up to authority figures, but by ''[[blackmail]]ing'' them.

** And he ''looks'' pretty devilish, to boot.

** Slightly adverted as, once they know he's evil, they only keep him around because he's so strong and regularly helps them out, when it overlaps with his goals/ is bored.

** Also the fact [[Story-Breaker Power|he's so strong there isn't much they can do about him,]] short of risking blowing up the universe. That it's Xelloss' eventual goal and Lina can do it may be part of the reason he likes hanging with her.

** No-one ever trusted him to begin with, and indeed Xellos never seemed to actually try to be trustworthy either, introducing himself as "Xellos, the mysterious priest." As the characters note, "Who introduces THEMSELVES as 'the mysterious priest'?" It's just that being a rather more literal devil in plain sight never occurred to anyone but Gourry.

* Nobody in ''[[Mai-Otome]]'' except for Chie seems to suspect anything of #2 Coral Tomoe, even though the latter's sarcastic tone of voice (and occasional smirk, even in front of the teachers) is often blatantly obvious.

'''Marik''': Wahahaha! Destroy you all!

'''Joey''': ''[thinking]'' Man, if I could only put my finger on it... }}

* ''[[Gankutsuou]]'': Let's see, the Count has long, sharp nails, pointed ears, fangs, his picture doesn't develop if he's photographed, has moments of cruel and disturbing behavior, oh yeah, and he's blue. Only one character ever calls attention to his odd features, and [[Horrible Judge of Character|Albert]] can't understand why his friends could possibly suggest that the Count is evil.

** Of course in [[The Count of Monte Cristo]], people calling the Count a vampire is a continuously running joke. Even though he isn't blue.

* An odd example: Mephisto Pheles of ''[[Blue Exorcist]]'' seems to be playing with this. It's difficult to tell at this point, but his first entrance drew immediate suspicion. He [[Villainous Fashion Sense|dressed extravagantly]], [[Man in White|wore all white]], had [[Large Ham|dramatic mannerisms]], and his looks made it obvious that he was a demon of some sort. Heck, even his [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|name]] [[Louis Cypher|is an obvious pun on that of a famous demon]]. But then this was subverted as it turned out that {{spoiler|a lot of people have demon blood in the series, and some of them are exorcists.}} Then it turns out that he may be {{spoiler|another one of Satan's sons - possibly his eldest, actually. Then again, the main character is also a son of Satan. So, Mephisto could still go either way at this point.}} He plays loads of "tricks" on his students, such as {{spoiler|letting high-level demons on campus to challenge the potential exorcists (particularly [[Anti-Anti-Christ|Rin]])}} [[Trickster Mentor|which, he implies, is for the purpose of making them all stronger.]] But then he may have...[[Wild Mass Guessing|some other reasons.]] The fandom suspicion only mounts the more "tricks" he plays, but there's still too much evidence to support the idea that he may {{spoiler|genuinely want to bring peace to Assiah and Gehenna.}} He was in fact friends with Rin's adoptive [[Badass Preacher|father]], and was {{spoiler|responsible for sealing Rin's demon soul inside the demon sword when Rin was born.}} Really, he is pretty much the most mysterious character in the series at this point. It's highly possible that he is a Devil in Plain Sight but he may very well be a subversion of the trope. The fandom will have to wait and see.

* {{spoiler|Kumiko-san}} from ''[[Kamisama Kazoku]]'' plays this trope LITERALLY. Only Tenko gets to see {{spoiler|her}} true face, and her stories are so outrageous that no-one believes her - least of all Kazoku.

* ''I Luv Halloween''. A black comedy of the darkest kind. About a group of amoral trick-or-treaters who want their Halloween candy even in the midst of an alien invasion and zombie apocalypse. One of the characters is Devil-lad, a hooded young boy wearing a devil's mask who patiently goes along with the group's crazy hijinks. The other trick-or-treaters note he smells like sulfur. Proven in the second volume, when he nonchalantly rises from a crater after being in the middle of a nuclear explosion. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxDZ7DQmYwA&feature=related

* As most [[Muggles]] in the [[Marvel Universe]] are [[Too Dumb to Live]], none of [[Villain with Good Publicity|Norman Osborn]]'s previous actions prevent him from doing whatever he wants.

* Dr. Doom makes frequent attempts to take over the world that would be considered acts of war by real world standards, and most governments in the world just ignore him. No wonder he feels he better suited to rule the world.

** This may count as [[Fridge Brilliance]] though: maybe world leaders have gotten the clue that all Doom wants is to keep having his little tiff with Reed Richards, so they just lay low and let the [[Fantastic Four]] deal with him to avoid getting targeted and devastated by Doom rather than just battered a bit in the crossfire.

* Rhoda Penmark in ''Bad Seed'' personifies this trope.

* ''[[American Psycho]]'': Patrick Bateman—despite the fact that he [[Sarcastic Confession|directly tells his friends]] that he is a sadistic serial killer.

* ''[[There Will Be Blood]]'': The main character is clearly one of these, complete with the [[Meaningful Name]] of Daniel Plainview. How much better his enemies the Sundays are is up to debate. At least {{spoiler|until the bodies begin piling up.}}

* ''[[Hot Fuzz]]'': Simon Skinner, owner of the local supermarket. He often behaves extraordinarily creepy around Sergeant Nick Angel, having a bit of a [[Psychotic Smirk]], making puns about killing and showing up around the murder scenes. The fact that the murders committed lead Angel to believe that Skinner is responsible in order to get more land for his supermarket doesn't help either (though [[Red Herring|that wasn't the true nature]]. {{spoiler|Turns out Angel's only part right.}})

* Jan Rosencrantz in ''[[Vagrant Story]]''. Everyone knows he's a traitor and an all-round bastard. It's just that no one ''cares''. He turns out to be more powerful and ambitious than the characters had anticipated.

** And many times more ruthless.

* ''[[Shin Megami Tensei]]'' gave us [[Louis Cypher]]. We all know about that one, though.

** Ironically though, even if you do realize that, he's actually a pretty nice guy personality wise, and in some games he has a really strong claim to being considered a good guy anyway, especially compared to just how [[Eviler Than Thou]] his competition can be.

* ''[[Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep]]'': Master Xehanort might as well be carrying a neon sign reading "I am evil, nyahahaha". Nobody, other than Yen Sid, seems to notice, not even the guy who ''fought him once before in a battle of light against darkness''.

* In ''World of Warcraft'', Onyxia posed as Lady Katrana Prestor in order to give the very young king Anduin Wrynn bad advice that kept Stormwind weak.

 

== Web Comics ==

 

* Miho in ''[[Megatokyo]]'' fits this trope, at least if you ask Largo.

** And now Sparklelord.

* Manaus from ''[[Rumors of War]]'', and we're not even sure if he's ''done ''anything! But with a name that sounds like [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|menace]], a [[In the Hood|dark hood and cloak]], and a [[Kubrick Stare]], who wouldn't think he was up to something!

* The anonymous bunny in the ''[[Ruby Gloom]]'' episode "Bad Hare Day".

* A bunch of mind-bendingly cute animals from an episode of the ''[[Powerpuff Girls]]''. Although it's not as if anybody didn't notice that they ''robbed banks'', but rather that everybody (sans the Girls) was mesmerised by their prettiness and fuzzyness and was willing to give away everything they demanded, that is money, gems and the city key of Townsville.

** Inverted in that Timmy's parents are the only ones who ''don't'' notice that Vicky is a [[Complete Monster]]. They eventually do find out she's evil, but it gets [[Reset Button]]ed because it's [[Status Quo Is God|that kind of show]].

{{quote|'''Dad:''' Now Chip Skylark's hit song "Icky Vicky" finally makes sense!

* The Golden Eagle Twins in ''[[El Tigre the Adventures of Manny Rivera]]''. Two twins who take advantage of their superhero fame to scam the locals into getting whatever they want. Only Manny and Frida are aware of this.

* Cartman from ''[[South Park]].'' In many ways, this trope is averted: after all, most of the characters know just how horrible he is. That said, Stan and Kyle oftentimes get punished right alongside him, despite being [[Only Sane Man|generally good kids]] who are usually trying to ''stop'' whatever evil scheme he has going. This becomes especially painful (not to mention a [[Downer Ending]]) in "Toilet Paper," in which they're given much harsher punishments despite being genuinely apologetic—unlike Cartman, who only apologized [[With Friends Like These...|so they would get most of the blame.]]

* ''[[G.I. Joe: Renegades]]'': The newest incarnation of Cobra has the ruthless terrorist organization posing as a benevolent corporation providing essentials such as defense technology, pharmaceuticals, retail outlets, and apple pie. Their corporate logo not only bares a casual resemblance to the classic "hooded cobra" symbol of the original, it also closely resembles the Greek letter "''Omega''". Add to that, the CEO "Adam Decobray" has never been seen in public, and even putting on his best nice-guy voice in video conferences, he ''still'' sounds like the creepiest, most sinister man that ever lived (as opposed the to [[Nightmare Fuel]] it really is) thanks to Charlie Adler's fiendishly subtle acting.

* On ''[[Total Drama]],'' [[Alpha Bitch|Heather]] in the first season; most of the characters actually figure this out pretty quickly, but [[Contractual Genre Blindness|somehow keep falling for her schemes anyway]]. Season three's [[Villain Sue|Alejandro]] is a more [[Egregious]] example—he lasts until nearly the end of the season before Cody and Sierra, the last "good" contestants, figure him out, while everyone else (save Heather, [[Genre Savvy|Noah]] and [[Jerkass|Duncan]]) somehow ignore the fact that [[Love Makes You Dumb|every girl he hits on (at least one of whom was spoken for) would be immediately eliminated]], or question how he had [[Keeping Secrets Sucks|Tyler]] reveal [[Your Cheating Heart|Duncan and Gwen's affair]] in order to win a challenge.

{{quote|"We are Siamese if you please/We are Siamese if you don't please" as they try to knock of vases and get in the crib... }}

* In ''[[Thundercats 2011|ThunderCats (2011)]]'', [[Catfolk]] Grune is an [[Ambition Is Evil|ambitious]] and rapidly rising military man who quite blatantly drops conversational hints to his friend and fellow soldier Panthro that he hopes to become [[The Usurper]] of Thundera:

'''Grune''': No, I'm planning on becoming ''king''. }}

** Panthro [[Horrible Judge of Character|writes this off]] as hyperbole, up until Grune, frustrated that he can't amass the necessary powerbase, [[Turncoat|turns his coat]] and allies with a legendary [[Sorcerous Overlord]] to destroy Thundera outright.

[[Category:Invisibility Index]]

[[Category:Villains]]

[[Category:Diabolical Plots]]