Family Values Villain: Difference between revisions

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{{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"}}
|''[[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]].
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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.
 
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{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
 
== [[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]].
 
== [[ComicsComic 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 (Franchise)/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 assassinationsmurders (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 liasonsliaisons" 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--itmask—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--hehypocrite—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 amokawry {{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|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 torturingtorture, and allude to lots of rather nasty things) they are just [[Dark Is Not Evil|dark and WEIRD''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.
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== [[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]] ==