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Villain with Good Publicity (view source)

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{{quote|''"Your powerful GDI forces have been emasculated, and you yourself are a killer of children... Of course it's not true, but the world only believes what the media tells them to believe... and I tell the media what to believe. It's really quite simple."''|'''[[Dark Messiah|Kane]]''', ''[[Command and Conquer]]''}}
 
{{quote|''"Villains who [[Dastardly Whiplash|twirl their mustaches]] are easy to spot. Those who clothe themselves in good deeds are well-camouflaged."''|'''[[The Captain|Captain]] [[Bald of Awesome|Jean-Luc]] [[Patrick Stewart|Picard]]''', ''[[Star Trek: theThe Next Generation (TV)|Star Trek the Next Generation]]'' }}
 
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This villain's favored weapon is the [[Propaganda Machine]].
 
If you need to take down a Villain With Good Publicity, send in a [[Cowboy Cop]], [[Knight in Sour Armor]], or perhaps organize an [[Engineered Public Confession]] to out them as a [[Straw Hypocrite]]. The [[Ideal Hero]] and other [[Lawful Good|idealistic heroes]], by contrast, have no idea how to deal with these guys. Either way, any hero attempting to take one of these guys on can end up as a [[Hero Withwith Bad Publicity]].
 
Contrast with most [[Evil Overlord|Evil Overlords]], who make no attempt to hide their villainy, and the [[Ancient Conspiracy]], which hides its entire existence. The exact opposite is a villain who has a [[Zero-Percent Approval Rating]], and a more extreme version is the [[Devil in Plain Sight]] (whom no one cares about one way or the other). Can be a form of [[No Hero to His Valet]].
 
Related to [[Hidden Evil]]. [[Anti-Villain|May or may not]] ''[[No Delays for Thethe Wicked|deserve]]'' his reputation as a good guy. If so, expect the setting to lean towards the "cynical" end of the [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]]. May use [[Too Funny to Be Evil]] as an [[Affably Evil|affable]] PR tactic. Villains who win over the [[Misaimed Fandom|fans]] are [[Draco in Leather Pants]].
 
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* There are a few of these in all factions of the Earth-Jovian war in ''[[Martian Successor Nadesico]]''.
* After a time jump, the main character of ''[[Guyver]]'' wakes up to find that the villainous organization Chronos has taken over the world...and the Guyver is a villain.
* Light in ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]'', as Kira, gradually gains more and more public support. In spite of being a mass murdering vigilante, he is admired by many for reducing crime rates through fear and power as if he were some deity smiting the wicked (which happens to be [[A God Am I|exactly how he sees himself]]). During the [[Time Skip]], entire ''nations'' announce that they endorse Kira. You know he's doing a good job when even [[Misaimed Fandom|much of the show's audience]] [[Kick the Dog|requires a particularly despicable moment]] from him mid-series to [[Draco in Leather Pants|*realize* he's a bad guy]].
** Well, Light is a [[Villain Protagonist]], combined with the fact that up until that point, he'd never gotten much worse than [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]], this may be somewhat understandable. It was at that point that he'd truly [[Jumped Off the Slippery Slope]] into [[Lawful Stupid]] (it's implied that at some point down the line, he would start killing people just for being lazy). Although, before this, Kira was practically an urban legend, so he would gain support from a bigger audience.
* Sir Crocodile from ''[[One Piece]]''. Suave, amiable casino-owner by day, devious mastermind by night.
** Also: the World Government.
* The homunculus Wrath in ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (Mangamanga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' is {{spoiler|Fuhrer King Bradley, the leader of all Amestris, as revealed in a [[Wham! Episode]] during his battle with Greed}}. The difference between the persona he puts on that the people believe and who he is underneath it all is both vast and ''amazing'', kind of like the {{spoiler|Aizen}} example below. {{spoiler|Think if Aizen was in ''control'' of Soul Society.}} But the real kicker is that {{spoiler|his true nature is known to the entire military high command, who are knowingly collaborating with the enigmatic "[[Big Bad|Father]]" and his homonculi, and can be found discussing, among other things, possible "[[Arc Words|human sacrifices]]"}}.
** {{spoiler|Pride is posing as the Fuhrer's son and pretends to view Edward as his role model}}.
** There's also Father Cornello, who convinces everyone that he's a holy man when he's really a fraud out for power. Edward exposes him using an [[Engineered Public Confession]], but even after this, once the Elrics leave the city, Envy uses his shapeshifting powers to impersonate Cornello, successfully regaining enough followers to plunge the city into civil war, a perfect pretext for Amestrian military intervention. [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]].
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* "Friend" from ''[[Twentieth Century Boys]]''. Imagine if the [[Church of Happyology]] expanded into a ''political party'' and took over Japan {{spoiler|and effectively made it into North Korea}}.
** Not just that - Imagine the person responsible for killing '''billions''' of people with a killer virus being religiously praised as world leader.
* ''[[Sayonara, Zetsubou Sensei-sensei]]'' gives us Mayo Mitama, a villain with "bad bad" publicity. In that she looks evil and does evil things, but, since people are afraid of judging by appearances, they always assume she didn't do them. Her name in Japanese, Mitama Mayo, translates to "Exactly what she looks like".
* ''[[Bleach]]'' has {{spoiler|Aizen}}, who is not only trusted, but appears to be loved by many, if not most, in Soul Society. This guy has been sneakily plotting for over a century, and apparently arranged things so that everyone who discovered his evil plan was banished from Soul Society before they could reveal him.
* ''[[Haruhi Suzumiya]]'' gives us an arguably milder version of this in the form of [[Cute Psycho|Asakura Ryoko]], who is a beloved class representative that cares about everyone and is very sweet and personable. She was also sweet and personable when she tried to turn Kyon into meaty chunks to get Haruhi to react. Despite this, everyone in the class - except Kyon - is saddened by her sudden "move" to Canada. This also applies to the AU, where she's still just as popular, and hating her just cements Kyon's assumed insanity to the rest of his classmates.
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* From ''[[The Slayers]]'', {{spoiler|Rezo the Red Priest. Upheld far and wide as a powerful do-gooder of nearly messianic proportions, even by his own underlings, nearly every undertaking of his is actually a cover for experiments to cure his blindness}}, most of which involve scores of unwitting [[Innocent Bystanders]]. Some indications in-story point to the possibility that he's a [[Fallen Hero]] who long ago fully lived up to his reputation, only resorting to such extreme measures after [[Sealed Inside a Person Shaped Can|centuries of unknowing influence from a dead god since birth]].
* [[Yaiba|Onimaru]] is a demon lord who conquered the whole of Japan by brainwashing the ministers and destroying those who rebelled against him with a huge [[Wave Motion Gun]] from Mount Fuji. Yet the Japanese people seen around aren't too troubled by that.
* Gaining his good publicity precisely because of his villainy, [[Ghost in Thethe Shell|The Laughing Man]] has become a self-propelled pop culture phenomenon in Japan in 2030.
* [[Gunnm|Vice Chairman Aga Mbadi]] acquired an enormous capital in public approval as Captain Mbadi, [[The Cape|Protector of Justice]], during the Terraforming Wars two centuries back, and still gets interest from it. Subverted in that not only doesn't he try to ''hide'' [[Utopia Justifies the Means|his agenda]], the whole Solar System ''[[Moral Myopia|happily supports]]'' it. While the heroes ''do'' enjoy popular support, they get it mostly [[Fan of the Underdog|for being]] [[Lovable Rogue|Lovable Rogues]], and displaying insane [[Blood Sport|sporting feats]], not for their ideas, which most of the population find [[Values Dissonance|downright weird]].
* A mild example, but {{spoiler|Manami}} from ''[[Life (Mangamanga)|Life]]'' is one of the most popular girls in school but also becomes an antagonist.
 
== Comic Books ==
* Hush is busy [[Magic Plastic Surgery|impersonating Bruce Wayne]] when ''[[Gotham City Sirens]]'' rolls around, and he has managed to lure [[Villainous Harlequin|Harley Quinn]] to a secluded spot on the roof of a skyscraper, prepared to act horrified and shocked when she [[Suspiciously Specific Denial|completely falls off of her own volition, not in any way pushed by anybody standing near her]], when the entire affair is interrupted by an attack of [[Red Herring|The Joker]]'s [[Mook|mooks]]. Now, he has the option of gunning down Harley (And Poison Ivy and Catwoman) in the back as they flee and claiming self-defense, or gunning down the attacking zeppelin and becoming an even bigger hero and celebrity to Gotham. He starts gunning the blimp.
** While we're at it, the [[Batman: theThe Animated Series|animated version]] of Selina Kyle is an outspoken animal rights activist, and when she was found not guilty at her trial, the assembled press and citizenry cheered her.
* The ''[[Ghost Rider (Comic Book)|Ghost Rider]]'' villain Deathwatch, as his alter ego Stephan Lords, was a benevolent and generous businessman. He blamed Ghost Rider for the destruction of a homeless shelter that he built underneath one of his office buildings and the deaths of the people inside it--when Deathwatch himself had been planning to use them as a food source to fuel his hunger for the pain of others.
* In their first run-in with Brother Blood, the villain manipulated the [[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]] into attacking church members in full view of TV cameras. He then played it off as a terrorist attack by costumed vigilantes, and staged his own fake death to put the blame on the Titans. (His priestesses explained that he would rise from the dead, as he had done several times before.) The ploy went a long way to legitimize the Church of Blood within America, and made it difficult for the Teen Titans to act against him. Considering that his name is Brother Blood, he has a Satanic wardrobe, and his church is decorated to look like a cross between Hell and Transylvania, how anyone would not see that this is clearly a mustache-twirling villain of the first order is anyone's guess.
** Because he's ''really'' good at the whole "charismatic cult leader" thing. Even Dick Grayson himself joined the Church of Blood at one point!
* [[Batman|The Penguin]] of [[DC Comics]], as mayor of Gotham City (in the comic series that spun-off from ''[[Batman: theThe Animated Series]]''), has been known to crack down on "vigilantism" (read: Batman). Also sometimes depicts himself as a "reformed legitimate businessman" while actually a crime boss attempting to take over half of Gotham, though nowadays he seems to truly be reformed (it won't last, it never does).
* Likewise, [[Lex Luthor]] got himself elected president and proceeded to cause problems for the ''Justice League''. Well before that, he was a classic Teflon-coated [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]], on which absolutely nothing illegal could ever be pinned, no matter how involved he was.
** Although Lex is [[Genre Savvy]] enough to realize that he's living in a world where "it wasn't me, it was a version of my [[Mind Control|Mind Controlled]] [[Cloning Blues|clone]] from an [[Alternate Universe]] who had me tied up" is a credible legal defense, and has thus kept himself out of jail, the public has recently stopped buying his collective bullshit. Lex has rapidly plummeted into [[Zero-Percent Approval Rating]], lost his corporation, and is well on the way to becoming a pure [[Mad Scientist]] again.
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*** Except it WASN'T him who launched the attack, and the Avengers have been played for fools.
* {{spoiler|Ozymandias}} from ''[[Watchmen]]''. He is {{spoiler|a public hero and has his own product line, including action figures}}.
* Around the time of ''[[Civil War (Comic Book)|Civil War]]'', the [[Thunderbolts]] were [[Retool|ReTooled]] from villains in disguise [[Becoming the Mask]] into a [[Boxed Crook]] team led by "ex-" [[Spider -Man]] nemesis [[Norman Osborn]], aka the Green Goblin. They quickly gained public support for hunting down rogue heroes that wouldn't register with the government. In ''[[Secret Invasion]]'' and throughout the ''[[Dark Reign]]'' period, he got promoted to the head of ''all'' government superheroes. A large part of the reason he got away with this is because he positioned himself in the media as [[The Atoner]], and he also pointed out that [[Legacy Character|he wasn't the only Green Goblin]]. He eventually lost his position when he had a major breakdown caught on camera, showing that he hadn't been able to put the Goblin ''that'' far behind him.
** ''Dark Reign'' also shows the disadvantages of this trope. The ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'', ''[[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]]'', [[Iron Man]], and Hercules all used Osborn's [[Slave to PR|need to maintain good publicity against him]]. You just know Osborn wishes he could simply pumpkin bomb them like in the good old days.
* The Spacemen in ''[[Untold Tales of Spider Man]]'' are beloved astronaut heroes...to hear them tell it, at least. The fact of the matter is that they're ruthless criminals, but their publicity is ''so'' good, that ''J. Jonah Jameson likes them''.
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** It's impressive that he likes them because he's typically characterized as disliking superheroes as a rule. The fact that the Spacemen are allegedly astronauts like JJJ's son, who he considers a real hero, is also probably a factor.
* [[Hardware (Comic Book)|Edwin Alva]] from [[Milestone Comics]] is the leader of an international criminal organization, but is viewed by the public as a wealthy and influential philanthropist.
* Harmony Kendall, who now stars in "Harmony Bites", and other vampires like her in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]] Season Eight''. Capitalizing on the fact that vampires don't have to kill their victims, and people who are partially drained tend to get a rush out of it, they portray themselves sympathetically while making the Slayers [[Hero Withwith Bad Publicity|look like]] genocidal nuts.
** Though, in a tie-in online comic, it's hinted that [[Stephen Colbert]] isn't fooled.
* The Riddler of [[Batman|Gotham]] fame has ascended to the high ranks of Gotham society because of his cunning manipulation of the media, and savored the role as Gotham's new "darling detective". Despite his numerous counts of larceny, complete disregard for human life, and the occasional murders of past days, his well-trained media circuits embrace him for his Sherlock Holmes-like method of deduction and flamboyant sense of personal theatrics. Outwitting the Gotham populace had never been so easy.
* Cobra from ''[[G.I. Joe]]''. In the Marvel series, they got their own country via diplomacy. In the IDW series, they got a rare burst of good publicity by handing out emergency supplies. They killed the Guardsmen who had them, and Cobra did cause the emergency in the first place...
* A major theme in ''[[Sin City]]'' is that nearly all of the main villains are public figures that are beloved by the media and citizens. This is mostly seen in the Roark family, a family of crimebosses that hold religious and political offices and have had a tight grip over the city for over a century now.
* Omar Ben Salaad in the [[Tintin (Comic Book)]] book ''The Crab With the Golden Claws''. He's a well-respected trader who uses his reputation as a cover for an opium smuggling ring.
* Recently in the ''[[Archie Comics Sonic the Hedgehog|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' comics, this status was bestowed on long-time villain [[Evil Sorcerer|Ixis Naugus]]. Due to a combination of the public's mistrust of NICOLE following her previous [[Brainwashed and Crazy|brainwashing]] by the Iron Queen {{spoiler|(fueled by Naugus' own [[Hate Plague]] magic)}} and Naugus' own actions to defend New Mobotropolis from both Eggman and the Battle Bird Armada, his support amongst the citizens reaches the point that they {{spoiler|gladly appoint him their king}}.
 
 
== Fanfiction ==
* {{spoiler|Vaticus Finch}} in [[The Tainted Grimoire (Fanfic)|The Tainted Grimoire]] until the end of the St. Galleria arc.
 
 
== Film ==
* The villains in the first two ''[[The Naked Gun (Film)|Naked Gun]]'' films.
* Chancellor Palpatine in ''[[Star Wars]]''.
** In the prequel trilogy, he is handed power and, for most of his reign, enjoys popular support from the galaxy. It helps that the heroes don't know he's actually the villain - or that if the series is watched in numerical order, the audience isn't supposed to know, either.
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* Simon Skinner in ''[[Hot Fuzz]]''. In the eyes of almost everyone in Sandford, he can't be evil, because he's a pillar of the community and he runs the local supermarket. Partially subverted when Angel finally publicly accuses him of several murders, only to be proved wrong by a flawless alibi. Which is not a fake.
** That said, {{spoiler|ALL the Sandford "pillars" turn out to be involved in the murders, including Skinner, although his alibi was real and he wasn't the one who dirtied his hands.}}
* Max Shreck in ''[[Batman Returns (Film)|Batman Returns]]'' and, later, the Penguin during his mayoral bid, although he was soon brought down by an [[Engineered Public Confession]].
** This spawns a great piece of dialog. Penguin: "Odd as it may seem, Max, you and I have something in common: We're both perceived as monsters. But, somehow, you're a well-respected monster, and I am, to date, not." Shreck: "Frankly, I feel that's a bum rap."
* The villain in ''[[Minority Report]]'', who is brought down by an [[Engineered Public Confession]].
* In Dudley Doright, Alfred Molina's character lampshades this when invading the village of the Kumquats. A mook informs him they've taken the village as he storms through a gaggle of reporters in the style of Patton. Molina, as Whiplash, orders the mook to "Torch the place, burn everything." As the mook rushes off, Molina stops him and says "Wait, that's bad publicity. Have the photographers take pictures of the boys straightening up the place." As the mook rushes off this time Molina breaks the fourth wall by telling the camera to learn from history or repeat it.
* In ''L.A. Confidential'', {{spoiler|Captain Dudley Smith}} is definitely this. He's brought down by a [[Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?|good old-fashioned shotgun]], however.
* ''[[Repo the Genetic Opera|Repo! The Genetic Opera]]'' has the Largo family, who are mostly known for curing the organ failure epidemic and hosting the titular Genetic Opera, a very popular televised event--and who tend to send the Repo Men out after people who bad mouth them anyway.
** And how convenient was it that Gene Co suddenly showed up to cure all these people dying of mysterious organ failures? Can anyone prove they didn't ''cause'' the epidemic?
* Hank Quinlan from ''[[Touch of Evil]]'', who's become a very well-respected policeman through careful evidence tampering. In the end, it even turns out {{spoiler|that the person he was trying to frame in the film was guilty, giving him the epitaph, "He was a great detective, but a lousy cop."}}
* [[James Bond (Filmfilm)|James Bond]] gets this all the time, to the point where M has pre-emptively sent Bond to investigate some supposedly well-known industrialist/multimillionaire/what have you.
** Dominic Greene in ''[[Quantum of Solace (Film)|Quantum of Solace]]'', who's an environmental philanthropist in public, but a greedy schemer in private. Director Mark Forster deliberately avoided make-up or any [[Red Right Hand|overt villain characteristics]], to symbolise the hidden "evils in society".
* General Mandible from the [[Dream WorksDreamWorks]] film ''[[Antz (Animation)|Antz]]'' falls into this perfectly. He {{spoiler|sends all of the troops who are more loyal to the queen than to him off to battle the termites,}} an enemy he knows can't be beaten. People cheer him for it as they leave.
* J.P Valkinheiser in ''[[Nothing but Trouble]]''.
* A character in ''[[End of Days (Film)|End of Days]]'' insists that God is actually this.
{{quote| '''The Man''': Let me tell you something about Him. He is the biggest underachiever of all time. He just has a good publicist, that's all. Something good happens, "It's His will." Something bad happens, "He moves in mysterious ways."}}
* ''[[Seven Days in May]]''. General James Mattoon Scott, the most popular, charismatic general in the United States. Oh, he just happens to be plotting to take over the country, at the end of the week.
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* In ''Duel'', the murderous trucker helps a bus full of kids and exchanges a friendly toot with passing trains. Everyone except the protagonist has every reason to believe he's just a friendly ordinary truck driver.
* {{spoiler|Miles Axlerod}} from [[Cars|''Cars 2'']], but that was before his identity went public.
* Mike Morris in ''[[The Ides of March (Film)|The Ides of March]]''. Decorated war hero, popular Pennsylvania governor, and the favorite for the Democratic Presidential ticket. {{spoiler|And unfaithful husband who has an affair with a much-younger intern, leading to her to become pregnant with his child and be [[Driven to Suicide]].}}
* Augustus Steranko in ''[[If Looks Could Kill]]''. Despite the fact his personal emblem is a scary-looking scorpion and he has a private army of machine gun toting goons for no reason he could possibly justify and generally acts like a jerk to people in public, Steranko has somehow convinced British Intelligence that he is "an ally and a friend."
* * Zigzagged in [[Casino]]; Sam Rohstein, a bookie associated with the Mafia is assigned to Las Vegas where he obtains entrepreneurial reputation, awards and social recognition. After a while things go sour and he gets surrounded by great media controversy regarding his license problems and his connection with a well-known mobster. As a reaction, Sam starts his own talk-show to make a stand and defend himself and his image. He gets called on it by his mob associates as his flamboyant crusade draws unwanted attention.
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** Also, Dolores Umbridge, who, as a distinguished and high-ranking Ministry official, is able to get most people to overlook her child abuse and [[Fantastic Racism]].
* In Dostoyevsky's ''The Possessed'', both Stavrogin and Petr Stepanovic are highly regarded by the whole town, with the exception of a handful of characters who are either despised by everybody (Satov, Stepan Trofimovic) or too insane/lunatic to care (Kirillov). Petr Stepanovic actually pulls this off on two levels, as he is admired both in the high society he frequents and in his secret terrorist group.
* Noboru Wataya in ''[[The Wind -Up Bird Chronicle]]''.
* In ''[[Animorphs (Literature)|Animorphs]]'', the Yeerks can take control of any human. As a result, they choose highly respected members of the community, such as Jake's universally loved brother and the school principal. Their front organization for recruiting new voluntary hosts, the Sharing, pretends to be a Boy Scout/Girl Scout kind of thing that anyone can join. All-American nuclear families, outcasts, rejects...
* The unstable homicidal sheriff who is the [[Villain Protagonist]] of ''The Killer Inside Me''.
* Marisi, in the ''[[Magic: theThe Gathering]]'' novel Alara Unbroken. He is credited by the Wild Nacatl with founding their society, but he turned them and the Cloud Nacatl against each other as part of Nicol Bolas' plan to create chaos on Alara.
* In the ''[[Wild Cards]]'' books, Puppetman is a sadist who mind-controls people and uses them to torture and kill others for his own pleasure. He's also a well-respected candidate for President of the United States.
* In ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'', everyone who isn't a thought-criminal worships Big Brother, though he is never seen except on propaganda posters and telescreens.
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* Duke Roger in the ''Song Of The Lioness'' books by [[Tamora Pierce]] (or in the first 2, anyway). Subversion in that it's only the people at court who believe he's a good guy, except for the heroine and another character. People outside the court who are aware of him don't trust him. (The people at court are most of the main characters.) It turns out that his good publicity is a mix of charisma and magical tricks - not quite full-on brainwashing, but similar.
* In [[Un Lun Dun]], there are two; {{spoiler|Brokkenbroll}} in the abcity and {{spoiler|Minister Rawley}} in the real world.
* Subverted in ''[[Malevil]]''. Fulbert is a [[Sinister Minister]] with a flock, but doesn't have the zealots and fanatics one would expect an evil priest to command. He had their loyalty once, and convinced them to accept his rule and entrusted all the food and weapons to his care. Since then, he's been a [[Orcus Onon His Throne|lazy yet cruel tyrant]]. They would rebel against him, but have no force to do so, and besieging his fortified manor would end with ''him'' starving ''them'' out.
* In the first ''[[Warrior Cats]]'' series, Tigerclaw. He's a highly respected senior warrior, and, by the end of the first book, becomes deputy (second-in-command) of the Clan (and therefore next in line as leader). However, he murdered a previous deputy in order to try and claim the position, which only the young hero Fireheart and his two best friends know. Tigerclaw is such a respected cat in the Clan that nobody suspects him of treachery - even the leader rejected the idea when Fireheart told her his suspicions. Being deputy, Tigerclaw can assign Fireheart punishments in order to keep an eye on him, or order him to perform a life-threatening task, or suggest to the leader that Fireheart should be driven out of the Clan.
* ''Sisterhood'' series by [[Fern Michaels]]: Okay, let's see. The three rapists in ''[[Weekend Warriors]]'', who have apparently raped "lots and lots and lots" of women, and almost no one suspects a thing! Senator Webster in ''Payback'', who sure knows how to use the Public Relations machine. Hollywood actor Michael Lyons in ''Free Fall'', who is adored by the public, but is a sexual deviant and [[Complete Monster]] in private. Lawyer Baron Bell in ''Deadly Deals'', who seems to be such a lovable guy around kids, but actually sells babies! Good thing the Vigilantes have ways to take down such villains!
* The Eric Frank Russell short story "Displaced Person" implies that God Himself may be an example of this trope.
* The Four Horsemen of ''[[The Witch Watch (Literature)|The Witch Watch]]'' are this and use it to good advantage.
* Godfrey Ablewhite in [[Wilkie Collins]]' ''[[The Moonstone]]'' is a handsome philanthropist and [[Romantic False Lead]] who's absolutely adored by charities and female characters everywhere. Then he turns out to be {{spoiler|a lying womanizer who's been embezzling from aforementioned charities, and a henchman of the mysterious main villain of the tale.}}
 
 
== Live Action TV ==
* On ''[[Homicide: Life On the Street]]'', the only recurring villain was Luther Mahoney, a college-educated drug kingpin whose front was a self-proclaimed "community activist" who ran a number of community centers and charities in the slums. No matter what the detectives tried to pin on him, he always walked away unscathed and with his reputation intact, causing one detective to remark that he would likely someday be elected Mayor. {{spoiler|Eventually, one of the detectives killed him in a questionable shooting, leading to many, many more problems than were solved.}}
* Wolfram and Hart of ''[[Angel]]'': they ''are'' their crack legal team.
** Later, in the same series, Jasmine took this trope to the logical extreme with good publicity through [[Brainwashed|mass brainwashing]].
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** The Alliance is a very good example of this. Most of them think they are being no worse then Kipling-style Imperialists who conquer the unwilling but also build hospitals, ship medicine to the Rim, and try to establish Rule of Law. Which comes in hard for River and Simon who don't just face exile but the respect with which well-engineered hypocrisy can cover injustice. And it comes especially hard for the inhabitants of places like Miranda...
* Pick a perp, any perp, on ''[[Law and Order Special Victims Unit]]''.
* In season 5 of ''[[Twenty Four|24]]'', {{spoiler|President Logan turns out to be the [[Big Bad]].}}
* The conspiracy in the Earth government of ''[[Babylon Five|Babylon 5]]'' stays in power largely by controlling all the media and spinning everything in their favor.
** Morgan Clark's Regime in ''[[Babylon Five|Babylon 5]]'' fits this to a tee. His goverment engages in practially every single Trope in the description, including capturing Sheridan and attempting an [[Engineered Public Confession]] as a major story arc. Tellingly, during a meeting with a Earth Force Major who reports martial law has been declared and troops are deployed in all Earth's major cities, he notes that martial law has been (officially) met with widespread public ''approval!'' And things have never been more calm. Sheridan replies, "Yeah, but it's the peace of the gun". Sheridan then proceeds to use his own guns quite effectively.
** The Psi Corps tries to be this, but a lot of people mistrust them on principle, without even knowing their true villainy. Those Psi Cops don't exactly radiate friendliness.
{{quote| ''"We're everywhere, for your convenience."''}}
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*** Davros also returns to this in his Sixth Doctor appearance in "Revelation of the Daleks," where he's credited for helping solve universal hunger. You know, until it was revealed his food was {{spoiler|[[I'm a Humanitarian|Made of people]]}}. Whoops.
** The Daleks could count as a group of Villains With Good Publicity in "Victory of the Daleks". The Doctor knows what they really are, but they have even Winston Churchill convinced that they are nothing but loyal robots who will fight for England. And [[Crowning Moment of Funny|serve them tea.]]
* In the Sci-Fi Channel's ''[[Flash Gordon (TV series)|Flash Gordon]]'' series, Ming of Mongo goes to great lengths to present himself to his subjects as "The Benevolent Father" (but can never quite live down his old nickname "Ming the Merciless").
** He can grant a smuggler's sick daughter extra water rations while ordering his execution in the same breath.
* Sheriff Lucas Buck of ''[[American Gothic]]''. Nowhere is this more obvious than in one episode where he is strolling down the hallway of the town hospital: on every side of him, men tip their hats and women hand him flowers, little old men and women thank him for the charity work that has enabled them to afford their medicines, children smile and wave, and so on. No one in Trinity could possibly believe good ol' boy Buck could have a mean bone in his body, let alone be Evil Incarnate. Gail finds herself working (unsuccessfully) against this mindset when investigating Buck and his connection to her parents' deaths; Dr. Crower is unable to convince anyone the sheriff is pure evil, hence making it easy to lock him up as crazy; and Caleb, [[What an Idiot!|who knows right off the bat that something isn't right about the fellow]], ends up being taken in by his charisma and accepting him as his true father who's been wrongfully maligned and only wants to help raise him right.
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** Over the course of the series, the heros visit multiple alternate realities in which Kinsey became President. None of them ended well.
** [[Magnificent Bastard|Ba'al]] becomes this for an episode, when it's revealed that he's secretly on Earth and has become a CEO of a major corporation.
** The [[Ascend to Aa Higher Plane of Existence|Ori]], at least to billions of followers.
* Stockwell from season 3 of [[Queer As Folk|Queer as Folk]]. He was chief constable and ran for mayor. The general masses loved him, especially since he promised to make Pittsburgh "family friendly" if he was elected. Never mind that in order to do so, he practically persecuted the gay population of the city. He {{spoiler|put in place a nifty little cover up when one of the police officers he employed murdered a young gay prostitute.}}
* Molly Hardy, in ''[[The Adventures of Shirley Holmes (TV)|The Adventures of Shirley Holmes]]''. Up to the very end, she's got everybody convinced that she's a model student. She was popular, Student President, and winner of several art and academic awards. Only Shirley and Bo see her sociopathic side, initially.
* In order to avoid spoiling anything, suffice it to say [[Veronica Mars]] has several of these, although some turn out to be red herrings and not true villains at all.
* Morgana of ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'' is currently one of these - despite her repeated attempts to murder Uther and take over Camelot, she remains blissfully unaware of her treachery - one episode ended with {{spoiler|Morgana being praised for foiling her own plot}}.
* Lionel and [[Lex Luthor]] in ''[[Smallville]]''. Everyone knows they're a little crooked, but no one realises how much, and there's no concrete evidence. In Season 10, Gordon Godfrey is one as well.
* Alderman Gibbons in ''Chicago Code'' is an obvious one of these, as he manipulates the public, and is able to come out smelling like a rose despite the crap he's involved in.
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* Marcus van Sciver in ''[[Blade the Series]]'' is one of the most well-known figures in Detroit. He's a big patron of the arts and a major proponent of the cultural revival of the city. The fact that he only shows his face at night doesn't faze anyone in the least. He's also a vicious [[Our Vampires Are Different|bloodsucker]] who kills on a whim and {{spoiler|wants to bring down the vampire aristocracy}}. [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|He's also]] [[Evil Brit|British]].
* In the TV adaptation of the ''[[Raffles]]'' stories, Raffles explains that his pursuit of fame as a cricketer is motivated by a desire to be this. As he sees it, by making himself a public figure who is automatically linked in peoples' minds to one thing, he's guaranteed that no one could ever suspect him of being a professional thief. He also voices a theory, based on this premise, that [[Jack the Ripper]] was probably a well-known MP whose moral speeches were reported in all the papers along with his crimes.
* Regina Mills of ''[[Once Upon a Time]]'', mayor of Storybrooke and secretly the [[God Save Us From the Queen|evil queen]] of the "[[Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (Literaturenovel)|Snow White]]" [[Fairy Tale]]. Some people know she's controlling, a few consider her a [[Rich Bitch]] or a [[Mean Boss]], but she gets away with murder because the town [[Refuge in Audacity|just can't imagine]] she'd ever sink to the depths that she actually spends most of her life in.
 
 
== Music ==
* In ''[[The Protomen (Music)|The Protomen]]'', Dr. Wily is very much this. The people follow his every word, even trying to lynch Dr. Light when he tells them to.
* The Chad Mitchell Trio has a song making fun of the KKK that has the line, "Yep since we got a lawyer and a Public Relations man, we're your Friendly Liberal Neighborhood Ku Klux Klan."
* [[They Might Be Giants]]' song "Kiss Me, Son of God" is a [[Villain Song]] from the perspective of one
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== Radio ==
* Dr. Blackgaard on ''[[Adventures in Odyssey (Radio)|Adventures in Odyssey]]'' -- he preferred to let his [[Mooks]] like Richard Maxwell take the fall for everything.
 
 
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* Desus, one of the signature characters of ''[[Exalted]]'', is one of the most famous and well-liked of the First Age Solars, and has no real enemies. Even those who oppose his faction are convinced of his nobility and good intentions. As for his true character...Well, the fact that he has no fewer than four paragraphs all to himself on the [[Complete Monster]] page really speaks for itself.
** To boil it down, he ''repeatedly'' beat his wife, Lilith, until she miscarried, and then brainwashed her into believing that it was ''all her fault''. And that's how he treats the woman he (in his own sick way) ''loves''. You don't even want to know what he does to people he's ''not'' attached to...And let's not even think about what he does to people that he actually ''dislikes''.
* Inverted in ''[[Genius: The Transgression (Tabletop Game)|Genius: The Transgression]]''. One of the benefits of having a high [[Karma Meter]] is that people naturally see you as a trustworthy authority figure and have a very hard time believing you're up to anything evil. That said;
** Some [[The Heartless|Clockstoppers]] have the ability to brainwash normal people into [[Evil Luddite|Evil Luddites]] and gain good publicity that way
** Since obligaton measures how much of a connection a genius has with humanity, it's perfectly possibly for an evil genius to have high obligation by abusing this trope (an example NPC does so by keeping his hands clean). You don't have to be mad to be evil, after all.
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== Theater ==
* In [[The Musical]] ''[[Wicked (Theatretheatre)|Wicked]]'', the Wizard of Oz himself is this. He also succeeds in making [[Wicked Witch|Elphaba]] out to be the villain with [[Zero-Percent Approval Rating]].
* [[Othello|"Honest"]] [[Smug Snake|Iago.]]
 
 
== Video Games ==
* Tatsuzou Sudou from ''[[Persona 2]] Eternal Punishment'' is QUITE effective at hiding evidence of anything that might darken his good name, as evidenced by the hordes of [[Dirty Cop|Dirty Cops]] and [[The Triads and Thethe Tongs]] he has on speed dial.
* The Crey Corporation in ''[[City of Heroes]]'' is meant to represent this, but is a jarring stretch of [[Willing Suspension of Disbelief]] in the process. There are a TON of missions involving Crey conspiracies, several stories that show deep levels of corruption within the company, and hundreds of Crey operatives (wearing outfits with the distinctive Crey logo, nonetheless) in several very public areas that [[Everything Trying to Kill You|take pot shots at every last hero to pass by]] while often strongarming civilians. One randomly generated mission even has them attacking a bank to get "frozen assets". One would think that with a rap sheet like this, Crey would have been destroyed with utter impunity as priority number one, but they're still mentioned as having products in nearly every home and a respectable face. It's practically a whole organization [[Clark Kenting]] it up.
** That's mainly an attempt to have the plot advance as you level up. High-level arcs involve Crey as nothing but the rogue remnants of their security forces after their [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] faced trial for about a million charges.
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* {{spoiler|The Cruxis and the Tethe'allan side of the Church of Martel}} in ''Tales of Symphonia''.
* Several villains in the ''[[Ace Attorney]]'' series work this way.
** Most notably amidst them is {{spoiler|''Justice For All'''s last villain and arguable [[Big Bad]], Matt Engarde}}. Rather than dirtying his own hands, {{spoiler|he hired [[Psycho for Hire]] [[Affably Evil|Shelly De Killer]] to kill his rival actor, and then had De Killer force a lawyer to save his ass through taking his loved ones hostage, and tried to frame his manager for it}}. Even if he's not the only [[Villain Withwith Good Publicity]], he's the most notable in the series, {{spoiler|especially since we only have a confirmation that he's a villain ''midway'' through the case}}.
** Then, over in ''[[Ace Attorney Investigations|Investigations]]'', {{spoiler|we have sweet old Quercus Alba, kind ambassador and decorated war hero. And murderous head of a smuggling ring.}}
* Possibly your character, in the game ''[[Overlord]]''; as the game's base assumption is that your character is evil, rather than choosing between being good or evil, your moral choice is whether to be an [[Ax Crazy]] maniac who slaughters all in your path...or a Villain With Good Publicity who uses the respect and gratitude of the people to further your own evil ends.
** In ''[[Overlord: Dark Legend]]'', the above Overlord's predecessor, Lord Gromgard, has amazing publicity. His incompetent relatives have driven the kingdom to ruin, and the people are just so glad to finally have someone who knows what they're doing and can finally restore prosperity that they treat the whole "evil overlord" thing as little more than an amusing quirk.
** You can also be a Villain With Good Publicity in ''[[Overlord II]]'', but this time, it comes by mind controlling the populace into loving you, rather than genuinely earning their respect -- you cruelly use them as tools, pawns, cannon fodder, and meat shields, but they have no choice but to be worshipful servants.
* Tony Montana in ''[[Scarface the World Is Yours (Video Game)|Scarface the World Is Yours]]'', despite his drug-dealing, becomes respected enough that he can talk citizens into surrendering their cars and cool off "heat" from gangs and the police with a snappy one-liner.
* Saren Arterius, at least briefly, under the cover of being a SPECTRE in ''[[Mass Effect]]'' .
** Nassana Dantius would also qualify.
** In the Lair of the Shadowbroker expansion, an option comes up to try and discredit the Blue Suns mercenaries. The results report failure due to the Blue Suns launching a killer counter-PR campaign.
* Bob Page in ''[[Deus Ex (Video Game)|Deus Ex]]'' is considered by the general populace as a benevolent philanthropist. The game's opening cutscene [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|reveals him to be otherwise]], controlling the population while operating behind an [[Ancient Conspiracy]].
** Walton Simons, too. "Some people are just good, you know? Good to the bone."
* Umbrella had good publicity in ''[[Resident Evil]]'' until it was involved in Raccoon's destruction. Not only does the US government tear up all contracts with the company, their public stocks take a nosedive.
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* King Tejara in [[Myst|D'ni]] history.
* For the first half of ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]: [[Ocarina of Time]]'', Ganondorf is one of the king's top aides and is well trusted by all but Zelda and Link, who know the evil man that Ganondorf is, but won't be taken seriously, part of the reason being that they're just kids and Zelda knows because of a dream. We all know how that turns out. {{spoiler|Considering that Zelda's plan of action ends up giving Ganondorf the Triforce of Power, a holy relic which makes him effectively immortal and insanely powerful, first half!Ganondorf is very, very preferable.}}
* Dr. Wily in ''[[Mega Man 9 (Video Game)|Mega Man 9]]''. Failed several times and people still believing he can change.
** Serpent and Master Albert from ''[[Mega Man ZX (Video Game)|Mega Man ZX]]'' and ''Advent'', respectively.
** Subverted with Dr. Weil of ''[[Mega Man Zero (Video Game)|Mega Man Zero]]''. He made a [[Gambit Roulette|very intricate plan]] to make [[Hero Withwith Bad Publicity|Zero and the Resistance look very bad]], which, in turn, made ''him'' the hero. However, no sooner had this been established, did he turn on the people of [[The Empire|Neo Arcadia]], and they were able to finally see what sort of [[Complete Monster|monster]] he really was...
* {{spoiler|Ghaleon}} from ''[[Lunar Silver Star Story Complete|Lunar]]'' milks this trope for all it's worth, managing to turn the [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|heroes]] into his patsies [[Batman Gambit|through their altruism]].
* {{spoiler|Dusknoir}} from ''[[Pokémon Mystery Dungeon]] 2'' has elements of this at first.
** Blake Hall from ''[[Pokémon Ranger]]: Shadows of Almia'' is the president of Altru Inc., the largest corporation in Almia. He is highly popular among the citizens of Almia because he claims to have invented an efficient alternative to fossil fuels, but {{spoiler|he murdered his father who didn't want to use the Dark Crystal}}, and {{spoiler|his 'efficient energy source' involves using the Dark Crystal to make every Pokemon in the region his mindless slave}}.
* In ''[[Escape Fromfrom Monkey Island]]'', Charles L. Charles {{spoiler|([[Big Bad]] Lechuck's alter ego)}} becomes one of these after winning the gubernatorial vote with his "Good Times, Free Grog" policy, which the local pirates cannot possibly resist.
* Chairman Drek from ''[[Ratchet and& Clank 2002 (Videovideo Gamegame)|Ratchet & Clank]]'' is this, as well as a [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]]. He's also the man who gives good PR to the otherwise useless superhero Captain Qwark. Qwark then does a [[Face Heel Turn]] through the course of the game and, in [[Ratchet and Clank Going Commando|the second game]], tries to manufacture heroic publicity for himself by causing the protopet disaster. [[Ratchet and Clank Up Your Arsenal|The third game]] is then spent [[Heel Face Turn|with much time under his command]], believing he's going to turn on you before he fakes a [[Heroic Sacrifice]], only to finally do some actual heroics at the end of the third game.
* The Order of Zugzwang, the main villains of ''[[Dragon Quest V]]'', use propoganda and servants to give the rest of the world the impression that they're a benevolent religious order that seeks to protect the world, when they actually seek to bring their ruler into the world so he can rule. By the third generation, they have human followers from around the world, and it's hard to go anywhere without hearing something about them.
* Almost all games in the ''[[Final Fantasy (Franchise)|Final Fantasy]]'' series since VII use this as part of the main story:
** In [[Final Fantasy VII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VII]], we have Shinra, who actively hides its atrocities and provides the planet with much needed electricity. (Plus, [[La Résistance]] has a tendency to induce civilian casualties in its activities.)
** Edea in ''[[Final Fantasy VIII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VIII]]'' is welcomed with cheers when she gives her speech at Deling City. They seem to be even happier when {{spoiler|she kills off corrupt [[President Evil|President Deling]].}}
** {{spoiler|The leaders of the Yevon clergy}} from ''[[Final Fantasy X (Video Game)|Final Fantasy X]]'', especially {{spoiler|[[Omnicidal Maniac]] Seymour}}.
** Cocoon of ''[[Final Fantasy XIII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy XIII]]'' keeps the majority of its human citizens safe, so who cares if a few "undesirables" get exiled to Pulse?
** In ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics (Video Game)|Final Fantasy Tactics]]'', the true manipulators hide behind the shadows, using political and religious leaders as well as local legends to their advantage. The true hero gets written out of history as a heretic (though accounts of what really happened survivees).
* The characters of ''[[Xenosaga (Video Game)|Xenosaga]]'' don't actually know Wilhelm is the [[Big Bad]] until quite late in the third episode. Even to the player, his nature is ambiguous.
* [[Starcraft II (Video Game)|Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty]] has Emperor Arcturus Mengsk. By the game's start, he's got most of the Dominion eating out of his hand, despite the fact that he's a [[Complete Monster|complete monster]] who was willing to let the Zerg eat everyone alive just a few years ago just to get into power. Then, [[Starcraft II (Video Game)/Awesome|Media Blitz]] happens, and his approval rating plummets to 14% at the highest.
* The ''[[Warcraft (Video Game)|Warcraft]]'' series has a few like this. Queen Azshara of the night elves was responsible for the first demon invasion in ''[[The War of the Ancients]]'', but her people loved her so much that until the very end they all believed that she was only a victim of her [[Deadly Decadent Court]]. Arcbishop Benedictus is the secret leader of the [[Eldritch Abomination|Old Gods]] worshipping Twilight's Hammer cult and tries to stop the players from saving the world at the end of ''[[World of Warcraft (Video Game)|World of Warcraft]] Cataclysm'', but nobody believes the players who slayed him. Finally, Kargath Bladefist is one of the most revered orcs of the Horde, with many locations named after him. When players have to kill him, the players are told to remember the hero he was in the past and not what he became because of demon corruption. Except he never was a hero; as revealed in ''[[Rise of the Horde]]'', he was a member of the Shadow Council who sold his people to the demons for personnal power. A rare case where ''nobody, not even most players'' discovered his true nature.
* [[Nelly Cootalot|Baron Widebeard]] manages to keep Saul Island and the Barony of Meeth under control, thanks to his major publicity stunts, enough entertainment and hospitality for a small island, and {{spoiler|stealing gold from the Leprechauns and forcing the [[Ridiculously Cute Critter|spoonbeaks]] into slavery.}}
* The Iron Throne merchant's guild in the first ''[[BaldursBaldur's Gate]]''.
** The sequel has the corrupt Harper Galvarey, who is seen as a veritable saint by his Harper kin, despite being an [[Obviously Evil]] [[Smug Snake]].
* In ''[[Blaz Blue]]'', the [[Ax Crazy]] Jin Kisaragi is seen as a hero for ending the Ikaruga civil war.
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** Sephiran/{{spoiler|Lehran}}, as his real persona was revered as a Saint and beloved Prime Minister of Begnion, and his real identity was all the more beloved as one of the heroes that had defeated the ancient Goddess of Chaos. His PR is so good that we don't realize there's something not quite right until ''well into the 2nd game''.
** The Goddess Ashera herself, reverently worshiped as a benevolent deity by all peoples on Tellius, she was quite willing to kill them all. Most of the villains of Radiant Dawn are an example of [[Light Is Not Good]], which explains why so many are so respected.
* {{spoiler|General Shepherd}} in ''[[Modern Warfare]] 2''. {{spoiler|He deliberately instigates a US-Russian war because he thinks America's become weak and pathetic, and he wants to make it a military power again. Even after Soap and Price successfully kill him, the public still thinks Shepherd is a war hero, and they are [[Hero Withwith Bad Publicity|international terrorists.]]}}
* In ''[[Professor Layton and Thethe Unwound Future]]'', {{spoiler|the Prime Minister}} is the victim of the evil deeds of evil scientists for the whole game, up until the [[The Reveal]], at which point it is shown that he is the unknown instigator of the whole plot due to his greed and want for power. He {{spoiler|ran a dangerous scientific experiment to please investors, with fatal results; then swept the deaths under the rug and used the money he received to fund a political campaign. Both major antagonists want revenge for the loved ones they lost in the incident.}} He is the only unrepentant character in the original trilogy, and perhaps in the whole series, and yet he has never been shown paying the consequences.
* In ''[[Saints Row]]: The Third'', the Third Street Saints operate a massive media empire that has since made the members celebrities in the eyes of Stillwater. This includes taking the time to give autographs in the middle of a bank robbery to having cops you're in the middle of fighting ask you to autograph your weapons before putting them down.
 
 
== Web Comics ==
* In ''[[The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|Order of the Stick]]'', Lord Kobuta is of the opinion that he is one of these, and after being captured for his crimes, fully intends to exploit it at the trial. [[Vigilante Execution|Vaarsuvius, however, has other ideas.]]
** Thog as the reigning champion gladiator is one of these in the Empire of Blood. To the heroes and General Tarquin, he's a mass murdering psychopathic [[Adult Child]] with no regard for his victims. He is so [[Badass]] and entertaining in the arena that the citizenry don't care and love him anyway. He is so popular that Tarquin can't just have him quietly assassinated in the night.
* In ''[[8-Bit Theater (Webcomic)|Eight Bit Theater]]'', the Light Warriors intend to become this after {{spoiler|White Mage defeats Chaos by hogging all the credit. However, White Mage instead makes their [[Harmless Villain]] [[Evil Counterpart|Counterparts]], the Dark Warriors, this instead.}}
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== Web Original ==
* [[Dr. HorriblesHorrible's Sing -Along Blog|Captain]] [[Nathan Fillion|Hammer]] takes this to the logical extreme: everyone thinks he's a hero. To the titular [[Anti-Villain]], however, he is most definitely the bad guy.
* Michelle Clore from ''[[Kate Modern]]'', a world-famous [[Reclusive Artist]] who also happens to be the ruthless evil mastermind behind everything that goes wrong on the show. Similarly, Rupert Van Helden is the author of various books that provide inspiration to Hymn of Oners everywhere, but is actually a lying, {{spoiler|[[Domestic Abuse|wife beating]]}} hypocrite.
* [[The Spoony Experiment]] Review of ''[[Final Fantasy VIII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VIII]]'' has [[Mad Scientist]] character Dr. Insano become president, parodying Edea becoming an ambassador despite being [[Obviously Evil]], as well as Lex Luthor's presidency.
** Also, Fu Manchu is his vice president.
* ''[[Doctor Steel]]'' - arguably [[Harmless Villain|not really a villain]], but he [[I'm Not a Doctor But I Play One Onon TV|plays one on the web]]. Dr. Steel is a master of propaganda, with recruitment posters, web videos, catchy music, and viral marketing through his growing fanbase army.
* ''[[Ink City]]'': [[Aeon Flux|Trevor]] isn't very popular with those who know what he's up to; however, he frequently makes a good impression on new arrivals. Steps have been taken to combat this, with warnings about his true nature added to the Sign and [[Regular Show|Rigby]] [[Engineered Public Confession|broadcasting a recording of one of Trevor's many kidnapping attempts]].
* [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|Celestia did used to be a good mare.]] This, combined with the whole [[Physical God|raising the sun thing,]] [[Equestria Chronicles|makes it hard to rebel against her.]]
 
 
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* Vlad Masters/Plasmius in ''[[Danny Phantom]]''. Prior to becoming a reasonably respected mayor in [[City of Adventure|Amity Park]] (to secretly torment Danny), he was already a well-known billionaire celebrity.
* Magnacat in ''[[Monster Allergy]]''.
* Darius Dunn in ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003 (Animation)|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fast Forward]]''.
** Oroku Saki himself during a previous season (3) of the Turtles revamp. By singlehandedly funding the rebuilding of New York City after an alien invasion, he was hailed as a hero and humanitarian. While this troper can't recall any time this directly affected the Turtles' efforts against him (being ninjas ''and'' mutant freaks, they have to work in secrecy anyway), it was still irritating. And the public was never the wiser, even constructing a library in his honor {{spoiler|when he was finally defeated by the Turtles.}}
* Porter C. Powell in ''[[Transformers Animated]]'' is quickly becoming one of these. Not only did he exploit Sari's lack of a birth certificate to make himself the legitimate CEO of Sumdac Systems (then again, she's only eight), but he also made expert use of legal loopholes to justify his hiring of mad scientist Henry "Headmaster" Masterson. So far, only Sari and the Autobots suspect him of anything underhanded, while the rest of Detroit is none the wiser.
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** Seriously, who would even ''suspect'' that to be the case?
* In [[Avatar: The Last Airbender]], it's made clear thatt citizens of the Fire Nation are fundamentally good people who happen to be lead by evil people, and they all genuinely believe that Ozai and his family are wise, just leaders trying to share the Fire Nation's glory with tne rest of the world. The fact that Ozai is an absolute ruler with total control over the school system and the media make it pretty easy for him to achieve this, it's at the point where he doesn't even need to worry (or at least, not care) about spinning a genocide, since his people already accepted one as necessary a century ago.
** In the sequel ''[[The Legend of Korra (Animation)|The Legend of Korra]]'', {{spoiler|the Equalists' [[Evil Genius]] Hiroshi Sato}} kept up this act for ''twelve years'' {{spoiler|after the death of his wife at the hands of a firebending gang left him with a hatred for all benders}}. He gives up the act in the same episode it's revealed to be an act {{spoiler|with [[The Reveal]] of his latest invention: [[Mini-Mecha]] capable of curbstomping all but the most skilled benders.}}
* Wilson "Kingpin" Fisk in the 1990s ''[[Spider-Man: theThe Animated Series]]''. He's a well-respected member of the community. Peter Parker doesn't even know he's a criminal mastermind until late in the season, and, at one point, saves him from an attack by the Green Goblin during a groundbreaking ceremony.
** Speaking of the Goblin, Norman Osborn is also a [[Villain Withwith Good Publicity]] in all versions: [[Muggles]] don't know about his criminal activity as a businessman ''or'' as the Green Goblin. In this particular series, the other crime lords are the same: even ''Spidey'' thought Silvermane was a nice old man.
* In ''[[The Spectacular Spider-Man]]'', L. Thompson Lincoln, AKA Tombstone, is the Big Man and also a [[Composite Character]] with Kingpin. He shares Kingpin's ability to trash Spider-Man in hand-to-hand much more easily than any of Spidey's more tricked-out foes, but also possesses an equal or even greater good publicity, as everyone thinks of him as a beloved philanthropist. Especially impressive, since he's [[Obviously Evil]] looking, being a [[Scary Black Man]] [[Evil Albino|albino]] with [[Fangs Are Evil|sharpened teeth]].
* [[Metalocalypse]]: Dethklok doesn't count since they aren't the series villains. Their manager, however...
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* Parodied with Montgomery Burns of ''[[The Simpsons]]''. Despite being a textbook [[Card-Carrying Villain]], he often strives--and ''always'' fails--to portray himself either as a sensitive, kindly soul (his autobiography is titled ''Will There Ever Be a Rainbow?'') or as a benevolent super-being (in his film festival entry, he portrays himself as both E.T. and Jesus). Furthermore, when he loses his plant (and in one case, his entire fortune as well) and Springfielders are free to openly hate and mock him, Burns is genuinely shocked that they feel that way.
* Apparently taking a cue from Lex Luthor, the [[Creepy Child|Delightful Children]] in ''[[Kids Next Door]]'' briefly became student council president in one episode.
* Arguably, Jafar in ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]''; he's obviously an [[Evil Chancellor]] but, even after doing some questionable things, the sultan keeps him around. There's no word from the populace about him, though, so his good reputation may ''be'' strictly limited to the sultan. Him having a [[Mind Control Device]] on hand doesn't hurt either.
* ''[[Looney Tunes]]'': ''Fresh Airedale'', a 1945 [[Chuck Jones]] cartoon, concerns a "loyal, trustworthy" dog named Shep who gobbles up his master's steak, invites a burglar to ransack the house when the master's away at work, and attempts to kill the nation's "# 1 dog" after reading about him in the paper. A cat repeatedly foils the dog's schemes, but ends up taking the blame for them.
* Although he did get a six month jail sentence at the end of the pilot for receiving stolen property, [[Magnificent Bastard|David Xanatos]] from ''[[Gargoyles (Animation)|Gargoyles]]'' is still viewed as a billionaire industrialist and member of high society, and his many misdeeds are never revealed to the public.
* For almost all of ''[[Beauty and The Beast (Disney)|Beauty and Thethe Beast]]'', Gaston is seen as the perfect hero and the greatest guy in the town. Somehow, everyone manages to ignore the fact that he was stalking, harassing, and blackmailing Belle, and then tried to wrongfully commit her father, just so he could get the perfect trophy wife.
** They did know, as seen during Gaston's song, but [[They Just Didn't Care|they just ignored it.]] Probably a case of [[Values Dissonance]]; his treatment of women probably wasn't anything unusual for that (admittedly ambiguous) time period.
* Dr. Paradigm of ''[[Street Sharks]]'' certainly counts. He manages to convince the entire city that the sharks and their father are the real bad guys, essentially ensuring that they blame everything wrong on ''them''. On the other hand, that's the only plan of his that actually works.
* On ''[[Mickey, Donald, Goofy: theThe Three Musketeers]]'', Pete is seen as a respected captain of the guards until the end of the movie.
* Setting aside what [[Divided States of America|anybody actually thought of President Bush]], this could be considered somewhat inverted in the ''[[South Park]]'' episode ''Mystery of the Urinal Deuce''. All throughout the episode, the President and the White House are made out to be evil people who caused the 9-11 attacks, a conspiracy perpetrated by ''themselves''. Then, at the end, we find out that none of this is true, and the reason they perpetrated the hoax was so that people would think the government had everything under control.
* An episode of ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'' had Heloise unwillingly becoming one of these.
* Cobra Industries in ''[[G.I. Joe: Renegades]]''.
* Within the [[DCAU]], there's Lex Luthor (during his [[Superman: theThe Animated Series]] days and in the Cadmus Arc of [[Justice League Unlimited]]), naturally enough, but we also have [[Vandal Savage]] (during the ''[[Justice League]]'' episode "Maid of Honor") and [[Batman Beyond|Derek Powers]] (until he unintentionally publicly exposed his radioactive condition).
* The Brotherhood in [[X -Men: Evolution]] episode ''No Good Deed''. The only ones to realize they're up to no good are the X-Men (who they frame for violently using their powers) and Edward Kelly (who doesn't know they're up to no good, but assumes they are because they're mutants).
** Edward Kelly himself is one to some extent. To many, he's a noble principal who wants to help his students, and to the [[Muggle|Muggles]], he is legitimately a good principal, he's just such a massive racist against mutants that he tries to encourage fellow mutant hater Duncan to team up ''with the Brotherhood'' just so they can ''pick a fight with Cyclops and get him, and him only, expelled simply for being a good mutant''.
 
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* [[The Economist]] has some advice on how to achieve this [http://www.economist.com/node/18330435?story_id=18330435 here].
* [[Malcolm X]] described this phenomenon in one sentence: "If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the oppressed and loving the people doing the oppressing."
** Elija Muhammed himself was a [[Villain Withwith Good Publicity]] within the Nation of Islam.
* Al Capone made the first soup kitchen.
* This tends to happen with celebrities, particularly athletes, who are accused of crimes, particularly rape/sexual assault. The public can't divorce the person from their image of what the person does and stands for, so they refuse to believe they could do anything wrong.
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