Noble Demon/Comic Books

Examples of Noble Demons in Comic Books include:

This is the common characterization for Thanos of the Marvel Universe, post-The Infinity Gauntlet, although it can be argued that he already exhibited signs of this trope even at his most villainous points.
Hellblazer's succubus Chantinelle (Ellie) is less noble than extraordinarily unlucky. Having tried to seduce an angel and succeeded, she fell in love with him and bore his child, leading to his demise at the hands of other angels and her exile from Hell. John Constantine notes that she's not a bad sort considering what she actually is, to which she replies, "I don't think so, John...I think I'm just polite."
Subverted in Marvel's Doctor Doom, who acts like he has a sense of honor, but will do anything to achieve his goals, up to and including sacrificing a woman who loved him to a demon.
- Or played straight, Depending on the Writer. Doom tends to blame the worst things he's done on malfunctioning Doombots, but whether he's being honest about such comments is always up for debate. If there is one thing worse than his ego, it is his pride.
- A very pissed-off Sue Richards once gave Doom a "The Reason You Suck" Speech in which she called him out on his so-called nobility, basically saying that despite all the trappings, Doom is still just a spoiled brat who's wasted his entire life making a hyperbole out of his juvenile grudge against her husband.
Neil Gaiman often writes to this trope. Denizens from Hell can often be bargained with (after all, being a demon is all about lying, backstabbing, betrayal, and personal gain) or reasoned with, and frequently have a code of honor by which they will abide, to the extent of helping out a protagonist. Lucifer in the earlier Sandman arcs is particularly representative of this trope. Representatives of Heaven, on the other hand, absolutely cannot be reasoned with. They are to do what they are to do, no matter the consequences, because He has commanded it be done, and most of the time, they are arrogant, self-righteous, condescending bastards.
- We don't know that all Heavenly entities are bastards. The only angels we see who haven't yet fallen are Remiel and Duma. While Remiel is indeed a total Lawful Stupid jackass, Duma simply goes along with him and seems to have a clear sense of right and wrong, and the flexibility to go with it. Even Remiel, in Lucifer, realizes that it's not enough to enforce the word of God, and rules Hell with Duma, rehabilitating its inhabitants. So, really, it might just have been Remiel personally and nothing to do with angels as a whole being bastards.
Lex Nova, a one off character from the 30 Days of Night comic, Bloodsucker Tales, fits this trope to a T. A completely batshit insane vampire who thinks he's a private eye and narrates his life out loud, Nova saves the town of Juarez from the various villains and only feeds on goats.
Princess Lucinda from the reboot of Witch Girls Tales, so much. She has quite a sadistic side and a reputation as an evil princess...but for all her loudly-proclaimed villainy, she almost always seems to end up on the side of good, despite her rather Nightmare Fuel-rific methods—even by the standards of the setting, which is loaded with Body Horror transformations and remarkably casual murder. It's actually Lampshaded in one side comic, where it's noticed that unicorns will approach her, despite supposedly being amazing judges of character that never approach anyone evil. When someone suggests that this means she's just acting evil, she turns them into a frog for it.
In IDW's Transformers Generation 1 comics, Thundercracker has some elements of this, expressing his distaste for the way his fellow Decepticons murder helpless humans because "the Decepticons are forged through combat, not slaughter". And though he doesn't defect, he eventually disobeys them outright to save humans and Autobots alike from a nuclear bomb, a means of victory he finds dishonorable.
The Secret Six sometimes fall into this, though it's usually more a case of punishing the evil (with torture) than saving the good. One of the best examples is Deadshot's revenge mission to a North Korean political prison.
The Sandman, a member of Spider-Man's rogue gallery, is often portrayed as rather heroic despite being a villain. He has a moral code and is not above teaming up with Spider-Man if the situation requires it.
This could be said of The Flash's rogues' gallery because they have a code of "ethics" that they live by and consider themselves above killing women and children.

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