View source for Family Values Villain

{{trope}}
{{quote|'''Faith:''' Thanks, sugar daddy!
'''The Mayor:''' Now, Faith, I don't find that sort of thing amusing. I'm a family man. Now, let's kill your little friend.
|''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', "Dopplegangland"}}

Some villains [[Even Evil Has Standards|have standards]]. They might have no problem gunning cops down in cold blood, but [[Wouldn't Hurt a Child|they aren't going to do anything to children]]. Or they might be willing to blow up a city for [[Knight Templar|a holy cause]], but not for [[Greed|money]]. Somewhere they have to draw the line - because, if that line doesn't exist, [[What Is Evil?|good and evil cease to have any meaning at all]].

And for a handful of villains, that line is, "Anything [[The Brady Bunch|the Brady kids]] learned [[An Aesop]] about." Yes, these are bad guys who believe in good old fashioned family values. Being a kingpin in the international drug trade might be fine, but giving alcohol to minors, most certainly not! It's their duty as a loyal citizen to show respect and admiration for the local police, but nothing says they can't do that ''and'' bribe the cops into murdering their enemies. [[Sex Is Evil and I Am Horny|And, of course]], sexual intercourse outside of marriage is strictly prohibited ... unless it's [[Rape Tropes|non-consensual]], then they can just go wild.

Not all examples of this trope are as self-contradictory as the ones above, though. In some cases, promoting family values may be the ''reason'' the villain is doing all these horrible things, making them a [[Knight Templar]]. And in other cases, the family (wo)man routine might simply be an act, designed to ensure that they remain a [[Villain with Good Publicity]].

But then again, some just don't seem to see anything odd about speaking an arcane ritual to [[The Legions of Hell|summon horrific demons into the mortal plane]], then lecture some kids about saying "[[Gosh Dang It to Heck|darn]]" instead of "damn." <ref>Granted, it could be because they know a thing or two about damnation firsthand and are insulted to hear those young whippersnappers refer to it so triflingly...</ref>

Needless to say, the trope carries its own dose of [[Unfortunate Implications]], especially in a society that is still learning to accept non traditional gender roles and relationships. When used badly, it could lead to the conclusion that [[Hitler Ate Sugar|supporting family values is a bad thing]]. Unless that is [[Author Tract|the author's actual intention]].

Compare [[Straight Edge Evil]] and [[Evil Virtues]]. Contrast with [[Moral Dissonance]] or [[Values Dissonance]], where an ostensibly family-friendly character can ''unintentionally'' appear villainous to some.

{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* Claude "Torch" Weaver, one of the [[Carnival of Killers]] in ''[[Black Lagoon]]'' is a religious man who won't touch alcohol and is pretty much the only person in the entire cast who never swears. He's also a completely insane [[Pyromaniac]].

== [[Comic Books]] ==
* In contrast to his mostly depraved and foul-mouthed supervillain colleagues, the Doll-Master in ''[[Wanted (Comic Book)|Wanted]]'' is very much a Family Values Villain. He's always polite and well-spoken and never swears, and to his family, maintains the image of a normal and wholesome suburban father. Granted, his wife interprets his absences for villainous activities as signs of adultery, and he actually did cheat on her in an expedition to another dimension, but his wholesome persona is pretty much genuine. Shame that he's a ruthless criminal who kills without remorse.
* While their styles of parenting range from hands off to strict/abusive, the supervillain parents in ''[[Runaways (comics)|Runaways]]'' [[Villains Out Shopping|maintain normal upper middle class lives when not involved in villainy]] and have typical expectations of their children being successful and want to make the world a better place for them, and believe they are doing what is best for them... by letting the Gibborim destroy and remake it so their kids can live in paradise. The series is practically the poster child for [[Even Evil Has Loved Ones]] / [[Evil Parents Want Good Kids]].

== [[Film]] ==
* A popular trope in gangster movies like [[The Godfather]] and Goodfellas. The people involved are murderous assholes of the highest order, but they have a code, and nothing is more important than family. 

== [[Literature]] ==
* In ''[[Under the Dome]]'' Second Selectman Big Jim Rennie is a born again Christian who has refused to swear or drink since his conversion, and believes highly in family unity. That doesn't stop him from being a [[Complete Monster]] who plots a hostile takeover of the town, fills the police force with rape-happy [[Mooks]], sets up the largest meth lab in the country, and kills members of his family. It's for "the good of the town," afterall.
* [[Harry Potter/Characters|Dolores Umbridge]] of the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' novels seems to be this type of person. No lying, no swearing, and so on. Of course, it's okay for ''her'' to lie and so forth [[Moral Myopia|because then it's for the greater good]].

== [[Live-Action TV]] ==
* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' villain Mayor Richard Wilkins III is really the pinnacle of this trope. He's made deals with dozens of different demons, founded a town specifically so he could lure in people to be killed by monsters, orders numerous thefts and murders (including against newborn infants), and his master plan is to become a giant demon that will devour everyone in sight. But he still believes in setting a good example for the children, is disgusted by "immoral liaisons" at the local motel, and his last words to his vampire army before the final battle are, "And boys? Let's watch the swearing." 
** Really, what makes the Mayor interesting is that there's never really ''any'' hint that his personality is the mask—it remains consistent throughout, except for a brief, understandable [[Villainous Breakdown]] after Buffy puts his [[Morality Pet]] [[Like a Son to Me|Faith]] into a coma. Unlike many examples of this trope he's not really a [[Knight Templar]] ''or'' a hypocrite—he's just [[Affably Evil|a generally nice guy whose chief ambition]], incongruously, is [[Scaled Up|turning into a gigantic demon snake]]. 
** In one episode he celebrates an evil scheme well done with a hearty "Gosh I'm feeling chipper! ''Who's for a root beer!?''" 
** When he realizes his plan's gone awry {{spoiler|after ascending to demonhood and finding himself face-to-face with a room full of high explosive, his last words}} and only response is, "Well, gosh."
* ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' Gul Dukat is this.
* René Benoit in ''[[NCIS]]''.
* Gustavo "Gus" Fring in ''[[Breaking Bad]]'' is this to a T. Since nobody save for a select few even knows that he's the biggest meth kingpin in the Southwest, it allows him to put on a perfect [[Villain with Good Publicity]] act.
* [[The Addams Family]] aren't really villains (though they do enjoy torture, and allude to lots of rather nasty things) they are just [[Dark Is Not Evil|dark and ''weird'' (and kooky and spooky...)]], but they are very big on family values in almost all media in which they have appeared (values like family, friends, love, mayhem, manslaughter...)
* In the Japanese series ''[[Kamen Rider Double]]'', this was the Nazca Dopant's redeeming quality. He was perfectly willing to sell self-destructive and addicting superpowers to greedy and corrupt adults, but was horrified to find them being given to children as test subjects! Despite being [[The Dragon]] at the time, he teams up with [[The Hero|Double]] to save the children. However, {{spoiler|''[[Redemption Equals Death]]'' his own wife, who remains evil throughout the whole series, kills him.}}
* While there is some serious variability in how good they are at it, most of the mobsters in ''[[The Sopranos]]'' at least attempt to do this.
* In ''[[The Straits]]'', Harry is fine with drug-dealing and creative murder, but draws the line at arranged marriage for his daughter, and dealing in sex-slaves.
* In the first season of ''[[Leverage]]'', a gang boss is very angry when he learns one of his men took a job beating up a priest. He gets the guy to give the heroes the information they want before saying this man's path to atonement is about to begin.

== [[Western Animation]] ==
* The "Red Hood" from ''[[Batman: Under the Red Hood]]'', upon taking over the local drug trade, informs the mobsters that they are NOT to sell their wares to kids... or he'll kill them.
* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' had this in Hank Scorpio, a power-mad super villain... [[Pet the Dog|who wanted to make sure all his employees and their families lived safe, comfortable lives]].

== [[Real Life]] ==
* Mob boss "Diamond Jim" Colosimo had no problems running prostitution rings and illegal gambling in Chicago, but when Prohibition went into effect he refused to have anything to do with bootlegging. (Within five months Colosimo was shot to death and his second-in-command Johnny Torrio had moved into alcohol smuggling, but that would be [[The Starscream|another trope]].)
* A lot of mob bosses are like this. Little Italy in New York used to be one of the safest neighborhoods in the city, because people knew what would happen to anyone dumb enough to knock down a little old lady and steal her purse. A particularly noteworthy example would be Joseph Profaci, the namesake of the Profaci crime family, who once allegedly had a man strangled to death with a rosary for stealing a chalice from Profaci's church.
* [[wikipedia:La Familia Michoacana|La Familia Michoacana]] could be the best [[Real Life]] example. One of the most brutal drug cartels, obsessed with control of the Mexican state of Michoacán, fond of [[Off with His Head|beheadings]], and headed by "El Mas Loco" ("The Craziest One" or "The Maddest One"), they forbid their members from doing drugs themselves and heavily promote (their atypical version of) Christianity. [[Abhorrent Admirer|El Mas Loco is also a fan]] of John Eldredge from Focus on the Family.
* Mob hitman [[wikipedia:Richard Kuklinski|Richard "Iceman" Kuklinski]], who claimed to have committed more than 250 murders over the course of his criminal career, hated working on holidays such as Christmas and Thanksgiving because he felt it was important to spend them with his family.

{{reflist}}
[[Category:Evil Tropes]]
[[Category:Villains]]
[[Category:Family Values Villain]]