Wicked Cultured: Difference between revisions

{{quote|"''I can't believe what that clown is doing to [[Pagliacci|Leoncavallo]]! [[Even Evil Has Standards|And they call]] '''[[Even Evil Has Standards|me]]''' [[Even Evil Has Standards|a murderer]]!''"|'''Sideshow Bob''', ''[[The Simpsons (Animationanimation)|The Simpsons]]''}}

It's not that [[Evil Is Cool]]. Rather, this is more like "Evil is Intellectual." Evil is smart, wicked, sarcastic with a biting sense of humor. Evil is smooth and eloquent, if not outright suave. Evil [[Man of Wealth and Taste|dresses well]], has a [[Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness|polysyllabic lexicon]], quotes [[Shakespeare]], sips [[A Glass of Chianti|fine wine]], listens to Beethoven and Brahms, and in general is shown to be cultured if not necessarily civilized. This can apply to any villain, [[Anti -Villain]], or associated character types.

May overlap with [[Dumb Is Good]], but it doesn't have to. The hero of the story can easily be a more rugged intellectual, or he reads/writes poetry, which is almost never perceived as an "evil" form of culture. Closely related to the [[Magnificent Bastard]], whose sheer tactical and strategic brilliance often sets him inside the trappings of [['''Wicked Cultured]]'''. May overlap with [[Faux Affably Evil]] when the villain combines charming manners with vicious behavior.

When [[Aristocrats Are Evil]], they almost always follow this trope; when enough of them do, you get [[Deadly Decadent Court]]. They are likely to practice [[Brains and Bondage]] without any trace of [[Safe, Sane, and Consensual]].

Compare the less sinister [[Villains Out Shopping]], [[Villainous Fashion Sense]], [[Evil Is Stylish]], and [[Man of Wealth and Taste]]. The exact opposite of this is a [[Gentleman and Aa Scholar]] (unless he is [[Affably Evil]]).

* In between various [[Kick the Dog|dog-kicking acts]] (and occasionally [[Moral Event Horizon|burning them]]) and sending his [[Ax Crazy]] minions after the heroes, Dio Brando of ''[[Jo JosJoJo's Bizarre Adventure (Manga)|Jojo's Bizarre Adventure]]'' enjoys literature, music, and classic art.

* ''[[Monster (Animemanga)|Monster]]'': Johan Liebert, [[Complete Monster|the title character]], is always perfectly dressed, well-spoken, blends in perfectly with high society and is a smart intellectual.

* Creed from ''[[Black Cat (Mangamanga)|Black Cat]]'' is definitely shown to be one of the more "cultured" characters in the series. He appears to be the only character in the series that bothers taking a bath (which is filled with rose petals, no less), dresses in sleek, black leather, drinks [[A Glass of Chianti]] (with a rose in it), speaks in a much more formal manner, plays the organ well, is skilled with large scale oil painting, carving gold statues, etc.

* [[Umineko no Naku Koro Nini]]: "Madame, your [[Evil Laugh|laugh]] lacks elegance."

* Crocodile from ''[[One Piece]]''. Drinks wine while the Straw Hats are imprisoned (in addition to a [[No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine]] scene with Vivi), names his criminal organization after Renaissance architecture, and dresses in a fashion akin to a mafia ringleader.

* ''[[Black Butler (Manga)|Black Butler]]'s'' Sebastian Michaelis is the perfect butler: he can cook the finest cuisine from any country, perform beautifully on the violin, and recite quotes from virtually any body of literature. Oh, by the way, he's a demon.

* Solf J. Kimblee of ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' has got this down pat. Immaculate white suit? Check. Nice, calming voice? Check. An interest in the alchemical arts, as well as a seeming passion for music? Chack. [[Blood Knight|Oh, and did we forget to mention that he's a psychopath]] [[Mad Bomber|who has made it his life's work to blow up anything and everything for the heck of it?]] [[Why Am I Ticking?|And he can turn people into living bombs?]]

* Izaya Orihara from ''[[Durarara!!]]'' [[Fur and Loathing|wears fur-lined coats]], speaks Russian, reads [[Oscar Wilde]] and throws around psychology terms like "misattribution of arousal". He's also Japan's biggest [[Troll]].

* Proist, the eventual [[Big Bad]] of the 2005 ''[[Gaiking (Anime)|Gaiking]]'' series. She has a thing for Antonin Dvorak's New World Symphony—spoken of its 2nd movement: “While the culture of the Earth is barbaric, this song by that composer Dvorak is magnificent.” When things get serious, she acknowledges that this movement is no longer adequately suited to the moment, and starts up the more dramatic 4th movement. Her personal [[Eldritch Abomination]] is even named after the composer himself. Also, she arranges meetings with rebellious subordinates during teatime, and coolly responds to having a reckless (and unexpected) guest draw a sword on her by asking him how many sugars he wants in his tea.

* Invoked by Yahiro Saiga of ''[[Special A]]''. He's not actually [[Jerkass Facade|that]] [[Zero -Approval Gambit|bad]], but with his love of opera, fine clothing and dining he certainly looks like an example.

** The Fiddler, as well, was a classically trained violinist and musical virtuoso who sometimes claimed he was [[Doing It for Thethe Art]].

** Let's not forget the Shade. A Victorian era gentleman who has stopped aging thanks to his darkness superpowers, he is droll, well-dressed, cultivates roses, and enjoys fine art and food. Though he basically only did crime because he was [[Who Wants to Live Forever?|Bored With Immortality]], and eventually did a [[Heel Face Turn]].

* In many ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes (Comic Bookcomics)|Legion of Super-Heroes]]'' continuities, Brainiac 5's unfathomable intelligence causes him to start out as an [[Insufferable Genius]], then slowly becoming more and more sinister.

** The Penguin character was [[Deconstructed Trope|deconstructed]] in ''[[Batman Returns (Film)|Batman Returns]]'', where he's revealed to be the grotesquely inbred sire of a wealthy family who dumped him in the river and left him for dead when he was still a baby. Although obviously intelligent and certainly no stranger to fine clothes, this version of the Penguin is quite vulgar, with thuggish manners and distasteful sexual appetites. The character is also portrayed in this manner in the ''Arkham City'' video game.

* Magneto in ''[[Ultimate X -Men]]''. Despite his disdain for humanity, he has his minions steal all of the greatest works of art that they can before he begins a scheme intended to wipe out the entire human race, reasoning that humanity's only worthwhile creations (to paraphrase his terminology) deserve better than to be destroyed with their makers.

** Wine lovers note that his "nice Chianti" is a surprisingly rustic choice for such a sophisticate.

*** Attentive film goers and wine lovers also note that he mentions "a nice Chianti", complete with a mispronunciation of the name, right around the time he is mocking Agent Starling's rustic roots. Hannibal may be such a sophisticate that drinking a Chianti might be on par with "being a coal miner" and "smelling of a lamp" and thus saying he drank one facetiously.

* The ''[[X-Men (Filmfilm)|X-Men]]'' films:

* ''[[The Godfather (Film)|The Godfather]].''

* Hans Gruber in ''[[Die Hard (Film)|Die Hard]]''. ''Classical education'', dontcha know.

* Roman Castevet in ''[[RosemarysRosemary's Baby]]''.

* Alex of ''[[A Clockwork Orange (Filmfilm)|A Clockwork Orange]]'' - the only thing he loves more than rape and "the old ultra-violence" is Beethoven's music.

* Sigfried in the ''[[Get Smart (Filmfilm)|Get Smart]]'' movie fits this very well (whereas the original in the TV show was [[Affably Evil]]). He is essentially [[The Mean Brit]] as a Bond villain and is paradoxically, calm and cultured while being [[Chaotic Evil]]. This is particularly apparent at the end when he is in his car listening to and conducting the same music being played by an orchestra in which he has placed a bomb which will kill the president and everyone else inside.

* Rotti Largo from ''[[Repo the Genetic Opera|Repo! The Genetic Opera]]'' has a love for Italian culture, dressing in suits from Milan and even hosting his own opera.

{{quote| '''Amazing:''' Well, we've always been each other's greatest nemesises... nemesisi... nemesi... what's the plural on that?<br />

* ''[[Star Wars]]''

** His master Palpatine/Darth Sidious has shades of this as well -- Ianwell—Ian McDiarmid, who played him, has said that Palpatine's only redeeming feature is that he is a patron of the arts, particularly weird alien operas.

* ''[[Scanners (Film)|Scanners]]'': Darryl Revok has a really nice apartment with some modern art here and there.

* Many, ''many'' ''[[James Bond (Filmfilm)|James Bond]]'' villains have taste and class, often used to contrast against the somewhat less (though still quite) cultured secret agent:

** [[Dr. No (Film)|Dr. No]] spent one million dollars on an underground fish tank, and even [[Historical in In-Joke|stole]] [http[wikipedia://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._No_ No (film)#Filming |Goya's portrait of Wellington]].

** Auric [[Goldfinger (Film)|Goldfinger]] likes his things golden. Even his [[Squick|women.]] And his [[Unfortunate Implications|servants.]]

** Ernst Stavro Blofeld (''[[From Russia With Love (Film)|From Russia Withwith Love]]'', ''[[You Only Live Twice (Film)|You Only Live Twice]]'', ''[[On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Film)|On Her Majesty's Secret Service]]'', ''[[Diamonds Are Forever (Film)|Diamonds Are Forever]]'') likes living with class and style. One of his demands in the third is to be given the title of Comte de Bleuchamps, for no reason other than the prestige.

*** ''[[Diamonds Are Forever (Film)|Diamonds Are Forever]]'' Blofeld is especially deep into this trope, being a [[Deadpan Snarker|snarkalicious]], [[Affably Evil]] [[Large Ham]].

** Karl Stromberg from ''[[The Spy Who Loved Me (Film)|The Spy Who Loved Me]]'' and Hugo Drax from ''[[Moonraker (Film)|Moonraker]]'' don't skimp on the decor, as we can see from the latter's [http[wikipedia://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vaux-le-Vicomte_PanoramaVicomte Panorama.jpg |fancy villa]].

** Kamal Khan (''[[Octopussy (Film)|Octopussy]]'') as the [[Meaningful Name]] implies, is a Prince and owns a Monsoon Palace.

** ''[[The Living Daylights (Film)|The Living Daylights]]'': Brad Whitaker is egoistical enough to decorate his place with statues of himself dressed as great conquerors, while General Koskov enjoys classical music. [[The Dragon]] (Necros) though, likes cheesy pop music, so much for him.

** Francisco Scaramanga, [[The Man With the Golden Gun (Film)|The Man Withwith the Golden Gun]]. He was rich, played by [[Christopher Lee]] (see Count Dooku) which already makes him suave and dangerous, and he even had an eco-friendly [[Evil Lair]]... located in the Phang Nga Bay.

** The higher-ups of [[Quantum of Solace (Film)|Quantum]] [[At the Opera Tonight|love]] their ''[[Tosca]]''.

* To a degree, Khan from ''[[Star Trek: the Original Series (TV)|Star Trek theThe Original Series]]'', both in "Space Seed" and ''[[Star Trek II: theThe Wrath of Khan (Film)|Star Trek II the Wrath of Khan]]''. In ''Star Trek II'', however, he turns out to also have an [[Ax Crazy]] side.

* Klytus from the 1980 ''[[Flash Gordon (Filmfilm)|Flash Gordon]]'' manages this by speaking in the arch, refined tones of Peter Wyngarde, and holding a hankerchief to his face during an execution.

* Agent Stansfield in ''Leon''/''[[Léon: The Professional]]'' has a love of classical music and hard drugs.

{{quote| '''Stansfield:''' You're a Mozart fan. I love him too. I looooove Mozart! He was Austrian, you know. But for this kind of work, ''(imitates playing the piano)'' he's a little bit light. So I tend to go for the heavier guys. Check out Brahms. He's good too. ''(proceeds to slaughter the family)''}}

{{quote| ''"A heathen, [[Insult Backfire|conceivably]], but not - I hope - an unenlightened one.}}

* In ''[[SWAT]]'', the tipoff to the identity of [[The Mole]] is that, while the other officers take their leisure playing with their children or drinking beer and watching TV, he spends it drinking ''champagne'' in a restaurant with a ''[http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/:Sommelier |sommelier]]''.

{{quote| '''Cobb:''' You take it away, to show them what they had.}}

* Moriarty in ''[[Sherlock Holmes (Filmfilm)|Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows]]'' is portrayed as a fan of opera, listening to a phonograph of Schubert [[Soundtrack Dissonance|whilst torturing Holmes with a meat hook]]. Similarly, His [[The Dragon|Dragon]], Moran, regrets not having the chance to see [[Don Giovanni]] in Paris.

* Most Forsaken in the ''[[Wheel of Time]]'' books fit this trope perfectly. Not surprising, given that they are from a much more civilized time where they were among the highest ranked scholars and wizards in the world.

* Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil from ''[[Dangerous Liaisons (Literature)|Les Liaisons Dangereuses]]''. She's obviously the most cultured, clever and deepest character of the book (Valmont also counts, but he's her villain sidekick). Her choice to pursue a career in evilness was heavily influenced by the philosophers she read. She would probably protect intellectuals and free speech if she wasn't too occupied ruining other persons' lives.

* Headmaster Maximilian Nero of [[HIVEH.I.V.E. Series|H.I.V.E.]] fits this, believing that evil should always be intelligent in its design and stylish in its execution.

* ''[[Left Behind]]'' seemed to be aiming for this with Nicholae Carpathia.

** Vetinari, periodically. In particular, his hobby of reading the ''[[Discworld]]'' equivalent of classical music, because actual instruments are just too unrefined.

*** Though, really, he's an ascetic more than anything. Sure, he's well read and educated, but he dresses simply, subsists on bread and water, has no known vices (apart from an uncompromising attitude toward mimes -- performingmimes—performing in the city is punishable by the scorpion pit -- butpit—but most don't begrudge him that), takes no advantage of the perks and trapping of his office, spends essentially all his time making sure the city doesn't fall apart and planning [[Xanatos Gambit|Xanatos Gambits]]s around the city's Guilds and international politics. Also, he's not so much evil as deeply pragmatic (although there is, admittedly, not much of a difference sometimes.)

** Odd subversion in ''[[Discworld (Literature)/The Truth|The Truth]]'': Mr Tulip has a [[Hidden Depths|deep interest in art]], and is able to discuss it at length. [[Genius Ditz|Apart from that]], he's [[Dumb Muscle]] who'll [[Beat Bag|use anything as a drug]], and has a vocabulary reliant on the word "----ing". [[Those Two Bad Guys|His partner]] Mr Pin is the smart one, but ''doesn't'' have the interest in culture.

** Let us not forget the Dragon King of Arms in ''[[Feet of Clay (novel)|Feet of Clay]]''. A vampire over five hundred years old, he was in charge of Ankh-Morpork's heraldry.

** Also Lord Hong of ''[[Interesting Times]]'', who not only lives in a [[Deadly Decadent Court]], but has mastered all the Orientalist arts of his culture. Nobody concentrates!

* Yawgmoth from ''The Thran'' is a scientist and a physician, has a wide knowledge and learns very quickly. He's going to become the most dreaded [[Big Bad]] in [[Magic: theThe Gathering]] history.

* In William King's ''[[Warhammer 4000040,000]]'' [[Space Wolf]] novel ''Wolfblade'', when Torin fills Ragnor in on the ambitions and [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder|conflicts]] of the Naviagator Houses, he observes of one particularly ambitious and ruthless one:

{{quote| ''a great patron of the arts -- all the great lords are.''}}

* Captain Hook of ''[[Peter Pan]]'' is generally portrayed as cultured, and often something of an [[Anti -Villain]]. Peter, by contrast, is a feral tyrant, ruling by whim but setting strict rules for the Lost Boys. (In some adaptations this is taken farther: Peter is incapable of learning or memory, and murders the Lost Boys if they don't follow his rules.)

** In Disney's otherwise very loosely adapted version, he speaks pleasantly to Wendy while switching to a prettier gold (with ruby ring!) hook to play the piano -- lookingpiano—looking quite dashing in a villainous way.

* In [[Graham McNeill]]'s ''[[Warhammer 4000040,000]]'' [[Horus Heresy]] novel ''Fulgrim'', the Emperor's Children, already artistically inclined, and their remembrancers, take a turn for the decadent after visiting a [[Religion of Evil|xenos temple]]. Only those who did not visit it seem to notice.

* O'Brien from George Orwell's ''[[Nineteen Eighty -Four|1984]]''.

* ''[[Star Wars Expanded Universe]]''

** example: [[The Thrawn Trilogy|Grand Admiral Thrawn]]. The guy collects art. Then he studies it, [[Awesomeness By Analysis|learns the loopholes in the creators' culture]], [[Magnificent Bastard|uses them to steer them into the exact position he wants them]], and systematically [[Curb Stomp Battle|beats them]] until they surrender. The one time he was unable to gain insight through a culture's art, he was forced to utterly destroy them, although he still looks at their art and believes that he's finally starting to understand (this species, tellingly, was the Khaleesh - the most well-known of which is General Grievous). He's even able to acknowledge the artistry in {{spoiler|his own assassination}}. Thrawn's [[Affably Evil|Affably Imperial]], of course, and in some depictions he's [[Officer and Aa Gentleman|not strictly a bad guy]], and always [[Pragmatic Villainy|pragmatic]].

* Most/many of [[Anne Rice|Anne Rice's vampires]] are this. Lestat, at least in the ''Interview with the Vampire'' film, twice puts blood in a glass and offers it to Louis, Armand loves his sparkly rings, Claudia is a well-read, impeccably dressed child who plays Mozart and Liszt. Marius takes this to slightly [[Squick|squickysquick]]y levels, being a wealthy painter in Renaissance Venice who just happens to keep a sort of harem of pubescent boys. Gabrielle, while spending most of her immortality wandering around in jungles, was a marquise and the only literate member of her provincial noble pre-Revolutionary French noble family.

* Not only is [[Villain Protagonist]] [[Artemis Fowl (Literature)|Artemis Fowl]] a [[Teen Genius]] [[Chessmaster]], he's also a fan of fine cuisine, high literature and so on. He also writes music and has designed numerous famous buildings.

* Several characters from ''[[The Count of Monte Cristo]]'', starting with the Count himself, who has impeccable taste and if not an outright villain, is a ruthless [[Well -Intentioned Extremist]]. There's also the bandit leader, Luigi Vampa, who is a polite, nice guy who reads Caesar's ''Commentaries'' for fun. He's also a strong believer in punctuality, and if a ransom is not paid on time, he will calmly stab the kidnappee to death or shoot them in the head. And there's also Benedetto, a young career criminal who has no trouble posing as a cultured aristocrat.

* Parodied in ''[[The HitchhikersHitchhiker's Guide to Thethe Galaxy]]'' with the Vogons, who love writing poetry. And then reading it to their captives as a form of excruciating torture.

* Alex from ''[[A Clockwork Orange (Literaturenovel)|A Clockwork Orange]]''.

* The [[AIA.I. Is a Crapshoot|robot]] Erasmus in ''[[Dune|Legends of Dune]]'' believes himself to be cultured, while at the same time performing inhumane experiments on his human [[We Will Use Manual Labor in Thethe Future|slaves]]. Only one human has the guts to tell him that his music sucks and his attempts to be civil are not fooling anyone. While he initially enjoys these arguments, he eventually gets fed up and [[Kick the Dog|throws her baby]] from a high balcony.

* In the [[Gentleman Bastard Sequence]] series, Capa Barsavi of Camorr was once a literature professor...and one of his former students is a pirate captain, who loves to discuss classical literature when he can find someone who shares his interest.

* [[Nightrunner|Lynn Flewelling]] apparently is ''in love'' with them.. "Nightrunners" gives us first Lord Mardus. Gentleman, with high intellect and large interests, which are just as broad as the ones of one main character. Extraordinarily well mannered. Polite even to the prisoner he plans to bloodily sacrifice. Really, if you didn't know {{spoiler|he aspires becoming the Avatar of a God of Destruction}} you'd really like him. Later Ulan (who starts out not really a villian but extremely pragmatic. And sadly if the main characters achieved their goal his clan would suffer, [[Nothing Personal|so]] {{spoiler|Later it turns out that not only HE is responsible for the mess of Seregil's life, he also doesn't hesitate supporting rather nasty experiments just to prolong his life.}} ... and then we met Yakobin. Nice fellow. Has a good taste of tea. And dislikes beatin up his sleves more than neccessary - actually he is REALLY civilized and intelligent. Oh, have I mentioned he is an {{spoiler|alchemist who creates [[Creepy Child|child-like clones of you]] to brew some medicine of them and kills them when they wont fit your expectiations? Just to make you suffer the whole creation process once again?}}. The ''Tamír'' triad again gives us Nyrin. Court wizard. Soft spoken. Well mannered. Handsome. Apparently a good lover if you happen to be his mistress. Oh... and aspiring ruling from the shadows. And more or less directly responsible for countless assassinations of female members of the royal blood line.

* [[Flashman]] villain John Charity Spring was on the Oxford don career path before getting booted out and seeking an alternate career in the slave trade. Spring is a brilliant classical scholar who constantly throws [[Gratuitous Latin]] tags into his conversation, but he's also a psychopath with a [[Hair -Trigger Temper]]. While there isn't a [[Good Is Dumb]] contrast (since Flashman is a [[Villain Protagonist]]), there is a contrast in intellect, since Flashman is [[Book Dumb]] and while he's an [[Omniglot]] when it comes to learning to speak living languages, he could never pick up Ancient Greek and Latin.

* Vlad the Impaler in ''[[Count and Countess (Literature)|Count and Countess]]''. Cruel, sadistic, and ruthless in his quest to "free Christendom," he is nevertheless learned in the history of past civilizations and can refer back to Scripture off the top of his head. And he likes traditional Romanian dance.

* ''[[The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel]]'' has Machiavelli. Well-dressed, well-spoken in an absurd amount of languages, esteemed art collector...and [[Magnificent Bastard]] immortal in service to an evil god.

* Jim Moriarty from BBC's ''[[Sherlock]]''. He's never shown in anything less than a suit, except when {{spoiler|he's Jim from IT, Richard Brook or just undercover}}, and he speaks very well, when he's not talking in sing-song. He's very contrasting, and the first impression the viewer gets is that he's silly. This is very quickly shown to be wrong, as his mood swings can be genuinely scary.

* Jonathan from [[Advance Wars: Eternal War]] fits this trope perfectly.

* ''[[Farscape (TV)|Farscape]]'': Scorpius, though he wasn't particularly attractive (not to a human audience, anyway). Quite apart from his [[Affably Evil|well-cultivated manners]] and sideline interest in growing crystherium flowers, his time spent travelling the galaxy has given him an in-depth knowledge of many, many cultures; he's even managed to learn the complex and [[Translator Microbes|translator microbe]]-immune language of the Scarrans and the Diagnosans.

* Bester in ''[[Babylon Five|Babylon 5]]'' seems to fit this too.

* Used and also subverted by members of the Conspiracy on ''[[The X -Files]]'':

* On ''[[The IT Crowd (TV)|The IT Crowd]]'', the German cannibal plays the cello beautifully.

* Although Santos from the Argentinian series ''[[Los Simuladores]]'' is not evil, he is incredibly calm and cultured, and runs a shady business of pulling [[Batman Gambit|Batman]] and [[Xanatos Gambit|Xanatos Gambits]]s with information gathered via "unorthodox" methods.

** Subverted with Spike, a punkish Mockney yob <s>with a strong resemblance to</s> [[Historical in In-Joke|who inspired]] Billy Idol. Then [[Double Subversion|double-subverted]] when we meet him pre-vampire...as a [[Stylistic Suck|"bloody awful" would-be poet]] of [[British Accents|implicitly upper middle-class origin]].

** Played straight with most of the Wolfram and Hart villains. They're normally a bunch of attractive, human (although occasionally soulless) lawyers who play golf, (sometimes with the devil) go to fancy parties (and {{spoiler|[[What the Hell, Hero?|get butchered]]}}) and drink wine. They're usually played as a contrast with the rougher, lower-class heroes. In fact, when Lindsey {{spoiler|leaves W&H}}, he immediately goes back to his roots in a poor, Southern family.

{{quote| '''McNulty''': "Who the fuck was I chasing?"}}

* Half of the killers on ''[[Columbo (TV)|Columbo]]'', which is why they all underestimate the rumpled, blue-collar detective.

{{quote| '''Albie''': Ya treat us like ''scum'' we start actin' like ''scum''.}}

* Colonel Montoya from ''[[Queen of Swords (TV)|Queen of Swords]]''.

* System Lord Ba'al from ''[[Stargate SG -1]]''. Part of his ascendancy to [[Magnificent Bastard|Magnificent Bastardry]]ry was that he wasn't just a [[Large Ham]]; he could also churn out charm by the bucket and became almost an expert on human high culture. In one of the DVD movies, he forgoes the "[[Kneel Before Zod]]" speech and actually invites himself to lunch with the President in the ''Rose Garden at the White House''! What a guy!

* In an episode of ''[[Star Trek: the Next Generation (TV)|Star Trek theThe Next Generation]]'', several characters are trapped in a malfunctioning holodeck, surrounded by holographic gangsters from [[The Captain|Picard]]'s noir holonovel. The man in charge of gangsters is well-dressed and well-spoken. Crusher gets sick of it and asks why he insists on treating them well before shooting them. He replies that without civility, we may as well be animals.

{{quote| '''Evil Genius:''' Alas, I ''abhor'' informality.}}

* Some of the villains on ''[[Alias (TV series)|Alias]]'' fall into this category. [[Evil Brit|Sark]] is fond of Chateau Pétrus (one of the world's rarest and most expensive wines). Also, in one episode, the protagonists drug a bad guy's Cristal at a performance of the London Philharmonic (he goes there on the third Saturday of every month).

* Xavier St. Cloud in '[[Highlander (TV series)|Highlander]]''. And Consone.

* Most of the Lannisters from ''[[Game of Thrones (TV)|Game of Thrones]]'' fall somewhere between this and [[Faux Affably Evil]]. This being a world with a [[Deadly Decadent Court]], it's not surprising.

* [[Triple H]], during his early years in [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]]. He'll still lapse into it a bit on occasion, such as when he recently quoted H. P. Lovecraft.

* Ultimecia of ''[[Final Fantasy VIII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VIII]]'' has a definite sense of luxury and style, even if her fashion sense is a bit odd. Her castle has a large chandelier, a pipe organ, an impressive wine cellar, and an art gallery with pieces she either collected or painted herself.

* Kuja of ''[[Final Fantasy IX (Video Game)|Final Fantasy IX]],'' as evidenced by his ridiculously luxurious desert mansion decorated with pristine statuary and wall-to-wall stained-glass windows.

* Similarly Wilhelm of ''[[Xenosaga (Video Game)|Xenosaga]]''.

* [[Command and& Conquer|Kane.]]

* Mad artist Sander Cohen of ''[[BioBioShock Shock(series)]]'' covers dead bodies (and sometimes [[Not Quite Dead|living Splicers]]) in plaster and poses them as statues, chains poor Fitzpatrick to a piano rigged with dynamite and makes him play until he blows up, sends you on a quest to kill his fellow artists and take pictures of their corpses to add to his latest masterpiece, and in one spontaneous fit of rage sics multiple waves of Splicers on you to Tchaikovsky's "Waltz of the Flowers".

* Played with in ''[[Super Robot Wars Original Generation]] 2''. Archibald Grims, [[Smug Snake]] and [[Card -Carrying Villain|card-carrying]] [[For the Evulz|terrorist without a cause]], invites his most cultured subordinate for a spot of tea. He takes this time to explain that he doesn't actually ''like'' tea, but he likes to drink red tea [[Don't Explain the Joke|because it kind of looks like blood]]. Meanwhile, his subordinate notices that he's using a teabag, so he can't even get the "cultured" part right.

* The Spy from ''[[Team Fortress 2 (Video Game)|Team Fortress 2]]'' initially appears this way, especially in his Meet the Spy video. It kind of falls apart in-game, though, when he winds up shouting insults like a 12 year old and laughing until he snorts.

** Between bouts of administering "accidental" not-medicine and blowing up hearts [[For Science!]], Medic's a violinist.

* Ganondorf. One particular example would be in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time]]'', wherein he is playing the organ while awaiting Link's arrival at the castle {{spoiler|to rescue Princess Zelda}}.

* ''[[Mass Effect (Video Game)|Mass Effect]]'':

** [[Well -Intentioned Extremist|The Illusive Man]] of ''[[Mass Effect 2 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 2]]'', drinks well, dresses well, is infallibly polite even in the face of setbacks, and [[Hey, ItsIt's That Voice!|in a past life was]] [[Martin Sheen|President of]] [[The West Wing|the United States]].

** Donovan Hock from the "Kasumi's Stolen Memories" DLC is also an example, being a ruthless criminal who owns several rare sculptures, including the Lady Liberty's head and Michelangelo's David. Hock even shouts a [[Big No]] if Shepard [[Shut UP, Hannibal|shoots one of his precious sculptures]].

* [[Batman: Arkham City]]: Subverted with this version of The Penguin - he's [[Jabba Table Manners|a thoroughly coarse]] [[Fat Bastard|and unpleasant]] [[The Bully|individual]], [[Small Name, Big Ego|even if he'd like to think otherwise]].

* Also subverted with Chatterbox, the [[Monster Clown|clown-faced Soho mob boss]] in the videogame version of ''[[The Warriors (Videovideo Gamegame)|The Warriors]]''. He fancies himself a [[Mad Artist|great artist]] (so much so that he ''kills'' anyone besides himself who tries to create anything resembling art in his neighborhood) - but he's [[Fat Bastard|grotesquely fat]], [[Cluster F -Bomb|foul-mouthed]], [[Bad Boss|cruel to his own men]], and on the whole obnoxious and buffoonish.

* Relius Clover in ''[[Blaz BlueBlazBlue]]'' while being an utterly ruthless [[Complete Monster]], conducts himself with extreme suave style, dresses very well, his hobby is watching opera shows, and the things he dislikes are just 'disorganized book shelves'. He doesn't use crude language while showing off just how deprived evil he is, as opposed to [[Troll|Hazama]].

** {{spoiler|Kristoph Gavin}} from [[Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney]]

* In ''[[Vampire: The Requiem]]'', most Invictus vampires are presented this way, as are the Ordo Dracul and Clan Mekhet; of course, just how evil they are depends on the individual and one's point of view. In the [[Vampire: The Masquerade (Tabletop Game)|previous edition]], Clans Ventrue and Toreador were even ''more'' cultured, and the classier Lasombra and Tzmisice really reveled in the ''Wicked'' Cultured part.

* Doc Scratch of ''[[Homestuck (Webcomic)|Homestuck]]'' is perpetually dressed in a white tuxedo, lives in an art deco apartment in a mansion, speaks with perfect grammar and near-unflappable politeness, enjoys playing pranks and board games with children, and is an excellent host to his guests. {{spoiler|He just so happens to also be [[The Dragon]] to an [[Eldritch Abomination]], with the stated objective of bringing about the end of his universe so that his master may feed on reality's corpse.}}

* Both Dr. Diabolik and his daughter Jadis, in the [[Whateley Universe]]. Jadis Diabolik is only a high school sophomore, and already feared throughout [[Super -Hero School|Whateley Academy]]. She quotes Shakespeare and Yeats, and knows who is the finest butcher in all of New York City. However, do not make her mad at you.

* In [[Tales of MU]], Embries and The Man both qualify. The former has a gloriously-decorated office and snazzy attire, a [[Incredibly Lame Pun|silver tongue]], and a tea set of which he is very fond. He is also an ancient dragon with a [[I Am a Humanitarian|taste for human flesh]]. The Man is a demon who [[Powered Byby a Forsaken Child|devours the hearts of virgins]] monthly to sustain himself and impregnated and abandoned the main character's mother twice. He wears a snazzy pinstriped suit and waxes philosophic (sometimes in High Draconic) when speaking with his daughter, however, and like Embries is a master of seduction.

* [[Gargoyles (Animation)|David Xanatos]].

* The Ultra-Humanite in ''[[Justice League (Animationanimation)|Justice League]]'' donates money to public television, enjoys classical music, and once reprogrammed a childrens' toy to tell them the story of the Nutcracker. He's also a [[Mad Scientist]] albino gorilla.

* In [[The Simpsons|]], Sideshow Bob]] and his brother Cecil Terwilliger. Not surprising, as the voice actors<ref>Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce respectively</ref> portrayed the cultured (but not wicked) Crane brothers on ''[[Frasier]]''.

{{quote| '''Cecil:''' Perhaps a glass of Bordeaux? I have the '82 Chateau Latour and a rather indifferent Rauson-Segla.<br />

'''Bob:''' I've been in prison, Cecil. I'll be happy just as long as it doesn't taste like orange drink fermented under a radiator.<br />

* All things considered, ''[[Beast Wars (Animation)|Beast Wars]]'' Megatron certainly fits the bill. From his aristocratic accent to his quoting Earth literature, one doesn't doubt that if it had been possible for him to sip a nice chilled glass of red, BW Megatron would have been. Perhaps while doing the [[Slouch of Villainy]] in his command-chair or soaking in his energon hot tub.

* Many Disney villains, including [[Aladdin (Disney film)|Jafar]], [[The Lion King|Scar]], [[Sleeping Beauty|Maleficent]], [[Peter Pan (Disney film)|Captain Hook]] and [[Cinderella (Disney film)|Lady Tremaine]].

** And, of course, the elegantly cultured [[The Jungle Book (Disney film)|Shere]] [[Tale Spin (Animation)|Khan]].

** Also the [[Anthropomorphic Personification]] of this trope [[The Great Mouse Detective|Professor Ratigan]], which actually enhances his villainy, as it's all a cover for his feral and untamed -- " {{spoiler|rat}}" -- nature—nature.

* Monkey from ''[[DextersDexter's Laboratory]]'' faced a villain (a super-smart ape) who was very cultured. He did a [[Heel Face Turn]] when Monkey convinced him to embrace his primate instincts.

* Megabyte from ''[[Re BootReBoot]]'', no question. HisHe's voicevoiced isby [[Tony Jay]], after all.

* [[Playing Withwith a Trope|Played with]] in ''[[Exo Squad]]''. Phaeton is highly articulate and literate enough to have a quote from Dante inscribed the entrance to his bunker. On the other hand, he is NOT a fan of art, which he (quite passionately) declares to be "a useless Terran pastime".

* ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]'': The Delightful Children From Down The Lane, some of the time.

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