Tropescilloscope: Villain with Good Publicity

A villain who's popular with the general public. (read more at tvtropes.org)

Film Frequency (%) Film Frequency (#)

More Tropes The Dragon As the Good Book Says... Extreme Doormat Posthumous Character Insistent Terminology Mr. Fanservice Your Head A-Splode Knight Templar Bloodier and Gorier Genre Throwback The Bully "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue Contrived Coincidence The '70s Totally Radical Television Movie Index A Father to His Men One-Man Army Guile Hero Christmas Movies Index Credits Gag Badass Longcoat The Remake Tagline Anyone Can Die Exact Words Smoking Is Cool Retirony As Himself Redemption Equals Death Age Lift Early-Bird Cameo Market-Based Title Broken Pedestal Genre Savvy N-Word Privileges Book-Ends Awesome, but Impractical Mythology Gag Back from the Dead The Great Depression Wounded Gazelle Gambit Yandere Determinator Bowdlerise Police Brutality Gorn Punny Name Sassy Black Woman Even Evil Has Loved Ones Fake Shemp Word of God Same Language Dub Jerkass Cool Old Lady Almost Kiss Actually Pretty Funny Villain Opening Scene Evil-Detecting Dog Training Montage Skewed Priorities Darkest Hour Reality Is Unrealistic Death of a Child Leave the Camera Running Unwitting Instigator of Doom The Power of Love Early Installment Weirdness Index of Film Westerns Call-Forward Becoming the Mask Crazy-Prepared Stock Footage Getting Crap Past the Radar Parental Substitute Children Are Innocent Impaled with Extreme Prejudice Eldritch Abomination Light Is Not Good Sequel Hook Destination Defenestration Distracted by the Sexy What the Hell, Hero? Car Fu Re-Cut Maybe Ever After Gone Horribly Right Fourth Date Marriage Our Zombies Are Different Deliberate Values Dissonance Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other Stealth Pun Dirty Coward Well-Intentioned Extremist Villain Protagonist Leaning on the Fourth Wall Chewing the Scenery French Films Freeze-Frame Bonus Evil Brit Corpsing Heel–Face Turn Music Stories Noodle Incident Evil Sounds Deep Five-Man Band All There in the Script Show Within a Show Narrator Morality Pet Setting Update The Film of the Book Death by Irony May–December Romance Abhorrent Admirer Death Glare Laughing Mad Stepford Smiler Creative Closing Credits Would Hurt a Child Get Out! Accidental Misnaming Action Survivor Genre Shift Does Not Like Shoes Ambiguous Ending Eureka Moment Breaking the Fourth Wall Pay Evil unto Evil Batman Gambit Mighty Whitey Spiritual Successor Male Gaze Greater-Scope Villain folderlabel Ghost Fiction Line-of-Sight Name And I Must Scream Animated Credits Opening Bar Brawl Armor-Piercing Question Bland-Name Product Hooker with a Heart of Gold Motor Mouth Funny Background Event Adult Fear Reality Ensues Face Death with Dignity Say My Name Improbable Weapon User The Stinger Department of Redundancy Department Creator Cameo Didn't Think This Through Slasher Smile You Killed My Father You Have Got to Be Kidding Me! Twist Ending Hero of Another Story Adaptational Attractiveness Nice Hat Wretched Hive Storming the Castle Parental Incest Anguished Declaration of Love Big Fancy House Bond Villain Stupidity Silent Movie Rape as Drama Creepy Child Grey and Gray Morality Every Car Is a Pinto Intrepid Reporter The Load Based on a True Story Villain Song Documentary Adaptation Dye-Job Ironic Echo Bring My Brown Pants Disappeared Dad Colour-Coded for Your Convenience aka: Color Coded For Your Convenience Only Known by Their Nickname Bunny-Ears Lawyer Accidental Murder Daylight Horror Sole Survivor Cassandra Truth Malevolent Masked Men Humans Are Bastards Romantic Comedy Eagleland The Faceless Male Frontal Nudity Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds Adaptation Name Change No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Final Girl Immune to Bullets Film Series Berserk Button Fate Worse than Death Historical Villain Upgrade Bloody Hilarious Abusive Parents Hong Kong Films Roaring Rampage of Revenge Sexy Discretion Shot Really Gets Around Composite Character No Antagonist Works Set in World War II Knife Nut Henpecked Husband Brutal Honesty Lampshade Hanging Rule of Funny The Mafia True Companions Wicked Cultured Fire-Forged Friends Sealed Evil in a Can Real Life Dying Moment of Awesome Author Avatar Drowning My Sorrows Fingore Gender Flip Unresolved Sexual Tension Star-Crossed Lovers Unusually Uninteresting Sight Air-Vent Passageway Shout-Out Heel Realization You Have Outlived Your Usefulness Informed Ability Gold Digger Dumb Blonde Freudian Excuse Playing Gertrude Break the Haughty Sanity Slippage Historical-Domain Character Fatal Flaw Adaptation Distillation Race Lift Irony Shower Scene Made of Explodium Ascended Extra Did Not Get the Girl He Who Fights Monsters Red Oni, Blue Oni Bond One-Liner Funny Foreigner Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping Time Skip Evil Is Petty Intergenerational Friendship Foreshadowing Heroes Want Redheads Here We Go Again! It's Personal Kick the Son of a Bitch Your Cheating Heart Refuge in Audacity Soft Glass Bittersweet Ending The Smart Guy Anachronic Order In Name Only Award-Bait Song Easily Forgiven Cluster F-Bomb Fiery Redhead Auto Erotica Slashed Throat Alpha Bitch An Arm and a Leg Black Best Friend Dramatic Irony Central Theme The '50s Toplessness from the Back Fantastic Racism Epic Movie Authority Equals Asskicking Dark Reprise Hate Sink Improbable Aiming Skills Shoot the Shaggy Dog Hidden Depths Big-Bad Ensemble Curb-Stomp Battle Woman Scorned Names to Run Away from Really Fast Men Are the Expendable Gender Cat Scare Stuff Blowing Up Comically Missing the Point Antagonist Title World of Ham Ambiguously Gay The Big Guy Throwing Your Sword Always Works Fan Disservice Naïve Newcomer Animal Motifs Does This Remind You of Anything? Pretty in Mink Parental Neglect Establishing Character Moment Failed a Spot Check Mama Bear Developing Doomed Characters Dropped a Bridge on Him Fantasy Films Reality Has No Subtitles Crazy Jealous Guy Evil Counterpart She Cleans Up Nicely Captain Obvious Break the Cutie Serious Business Those Two Guys The Lost Lenore Soundtrack Dissonance Fish out of Water Thriller Beware the Nice Ones The Ghost Mundane Made Awesome Badass Boast Cool Guns Black Comedy Rape Alas, Poor Villain Spared by the Adaptation Face–Heel Turn Tempting Fate Monumental Damage Sci-Fi Horror Slap-Slap-Kiss Broken Bird Action Genre Important Haircut The Alcoholic Hair-Trigger Temper The Casanova It Can Think My God, What Have I Done? Gratuitous English How We Got Here '80s Hair Leitmotif timeperiod Never Found the Body Extremely Short Timespan Film Noir The Vamp Call-Back Big "NO!" Crucified Hero Shot Screw the Rules, I Have Money! Loophole Abuse Hollywood Darkness Bury Your Gays Green-Eyed Monster Cool Old Guy Not So Different Shut Up, Hannibal! Bald of Evil Kick the Dog Hell Is That Noise Took a Level in Badass Expy Scenery Gorn Those Two Bad Guys Karmic Death Fun with Acronyms Daddy's Girl All for Nothing The Ditz Tranquil Fury A Date with Rosie Palms Ship Tease Running Gag Revenge Mooks Four-Temperament Ensemble Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil Facial Horror Would Hit a Girl Eye Scream Poor Communication Kills Not Using the "Z" Word Woman in White "The Reason You Suck" Speech Unspoken Plan Guarantee Manchild Lighter and Softer Bad Boss Exactly What It Says on the Tin Obstructive Bureaucrat Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass Adapted Out Horror Comedy Eiffel Tower Effect Rewatch Bonus Bi the Way Trailers Always Spoil The Oner Plucky Comic Relief Pet the Dog Insult Backfire Shown Their Work The Un-Reveal Hollywood Law Stealth Hi/Bye The Lancer Dramatic Gun Cock Chekhov's Skill Broken Aesop Recap / RiffTrax aka: Riff Trax Movies Retcon The Sociopath Chekhov's Gun Pun aka: Incredibly Lame Pun Idiot Ball Action Prologue Ass Shove Crapsack World Badass Normal Foregone Conclusion Straight Gay Interrupted Suicide Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking Small Name, Big Ego Rule of Three Cool Car Cruel and Unusual Death From Nobody to Nightmare Big Brother Instinct Too Dumb to Live Amoral Attorney War Is Hell The End... Or Is It? Jerk with a Heart of Gold Adaptational Heroism Zombie Stories Blood Knight Handicapped Badass Villain Ball Punch-Clock Villain Dogged Nice Guy Unreliable Narrator Take That! Screw This, I'm Outta Here! Badass Grandpa Jerk Jock Ungrateful Bastard Oh, Crap! One Steve Limit Loads and Loads of Characters Ambiguous Disorder Older Than They Look The Stoner Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy Reckless Gun Usage Ragtag Bunch of Misfits Author Appeal Domestic Abuse The Mole Empathic Environment Homage Fanservice Closed Circle Wham Shot An Aesop Ax-Crazy Recycled IN SPACE! Pyrrhic Victory Coming-of-Age Story Gilligan Cut Put on a Bus Reasonable Authority Figure Mystery and Detective Films Better to Die than Be Killed Super Strength Drugs Are Bad Grievous Bottley Harm Screw the Money, I Have Rules! Heroic BSoD Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? Foil Big Bad Duumvirate "Well Done, Son!" Guy Taking You with Me Properly Paranoid Downer Ending Kill It with Fire Non-Indicative Name Brother–Sister Incest Plot Hole The Chessmaster No Celebrities Were Harmed All Just a Dream Rule of Cool Blood from the Mouth Taking the Bullet Suspiciously Similar Substitute Big Bad Due to the Dead Victoria's Secret Compartment The Place Beauty Is Never Tarnished Bavarian Fire Drill Bottomless Magazines Artistic License – Geography Missing Mom Dark Is Not Evil My Greatest Failure Mind Screw Shell-Shocked Veteran Translation Convention No OSHA Compliance Obviously Evil Romantic False Lead More Dakka Demonic Possession Riddle for the Ages Rated M for Manly Country Matters Product Placement Meet Cute Groin Attack Canadian Movies Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism Pre-Asskicking One-Liner Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality Beard of Evil Red Shirt A God Am I Self-Deprecation Film Noir Index Happily Married Celebrity Paradox Cloudcuckoolander Military and Warfare Films One-Word Title The Hero Dark Action Girl Video Credits Improvised Weapon Moment Killer Meaningful Background Event Australian Movies Be Careful What You Wish For In Medias Res B-Movie Martial Arts Movie Dwindling Party Bound and Gagged The Starscream Hypocritical Humor Catapult Nightmare Disguised in Drag Redshirt Army The Ace I Just Shot Marvin in the Face She's Got Legs Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! Psychological Thriller Disproportionate Retribution Peek-a-Boo Corpse Affably Evil Depraved Bisexual Those Wacky Nazis Flashback Wham Line Mexican Standoff Deus ex Machina The Musical Continuity Nod Amusing Injuries Mercy Kill Corrupt Corporate Executive Red Right Hand Despair Event Horizon Stalker with a Crush Not So Stoic Italian Films Betty and Veronica Blackmail Fainting Once More, with Clarity! Laser-Guided Karma Gory Discretion Shot Body Horror No-Sell Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold Driven to Suicide Sports Stories Spiteful Spit Token Minority O.O.C. Is Serious Business Let's Get Dangerous! Ugly Guy, Hot Wife Asshole Victim Casting Gag Shirtless Scene You Have Failed Me Anti-Villain Villainous Breakdown Artistic License – Biology Vitriolic Best Buds Needs Wiki Magic Love Defiant to the End Deadpan Snarker Anachronism Stew No Ending Science Fiction Films Fanservice Extra Character Development Instant Death Bullet German Films Dutch Angle Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome Made of Iron Honor Before Reason Psychopathic Manchild Paper-Thin Disguise Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! Madness Mantra Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! Lock and Load Montage Kill 'em All Kubrick Stare Faking the Dead Evil Laugh Overly Long Gag After the End Only in It for the Money Parental Abandonment No Name Given And Starring Biopic Bolivian Army Ending Artistic License – Military Flipping the Bird Heterosexual Life-Partners Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique Take a Third Option A.I. Is a Crapshoot Offscreen Moment of Awesome Sacrificial Lion What You Are in the Dark Captain Ersatz Bilingual Bonus Ms. Fanservice Suspiciously Specific Denial Mugging the Monster Death Seeker Belligerent Sexual Tension Femme Fatale Diabolus ex Machina Girl-on-Girl Is Hot Affectionate Parody Worthy Opponent Sequel Escalation Hoist by His Own Petard Offscreen Teleportation Hero Antagonist Last-Name Basis Adorkable Demoted to Extra Naked People Are Funny NO INDOOR VOICE Artistic License – Law In the Back Dual Wielding Mad Scientist Adults Are Useless Good Is Not Nice Historical In-Joke Curse Cut Short Off with His Head! Blonde, Brunette, Redhead Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? Darker and Edgier As You Know Neck Lift Punctuated! For! Emphasis! Evil Is Hammy Adaptational Badass Evil Cannot Comprehend Good Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane Guns Akimbo Only One Name Scare Chord Public Domain Feature Films Jerkass Has a Point The Dreaded Artistic License – Gun Safety Make It Look Like an Accident Adaptation Expansion Insane Troll Logic I Have Your Wife Nothing Is Scarier Sir Swears-a-Lot Manly Tears Damsel in Distress Boom, Headshot! Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday Protagonist Title Dirty Cop As Long as It Sounds Foreign Toilet Humour aka: Toilet Humor Double-Meaning Title Have a Gay Old Time MacGuffin For Want of a Nail Rasputinian Death 20 Minutes into the Future Love Triangle The Cameo Unusual Euphemism Catch-Phrase Took a Level in Jerkass The Atoner Danny Peary Cult Movies List Big Applesauce Real Life Writes the Plot Costume Porn Dark and Troubled Past Spell My Name with an "S" Horror Films Truth in Television Badass in a Nice Suit All Girls Want Bad Boys Killed Mid-Sentence Advertised Extra British Films I'm a Humanitarian Humiliation Conga Vacation Films Bloodless Carnage Papa Wolf Tap on the Head Retired Badass Undying Loyalty Major Injury Underreaction Pre-Mortem One-Liner Room Full of Crazy Our Vampires Are Different Bullying a Dragon Pragmatic Villainy Black Comedy Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas Bait-and-Switch Attempted Rape It's All About Me Only Sane Man Camera Abuse La Résistance Obfuscating Stupidity Artistic License – Physics Cain and Abel Off-into-the-Distance Ending Double Entendre Even Evil Has Standards Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer No-Holds-Barred Beatdown Serial Killer Shipper on Deck Sadistic Choice Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie Silence Is Golden Famous Last Words Manic Pixie Dream Girl Dies Wide Open Mr. Exposition Chuck Cunningham Syndrome Stylistic Suck The '80s Cowboy Cop Jitter Cam Roger Ebert: Great Movies List Evil Plan For the Evulz Frame-Up Adaptational Villainy Pimped-Out Dress Russian Films Meaningful Echo Death by Adaptation Rousing Speech BFG Karma Houdini Earn Your Happy Ending Decoy Protagonist Ominous Latin Chanting Red Eyes, Take Warning An Axe to Grind Canon Foreigner Imagine Spot Babies Ever After Big Eater Dull Surprise Not Even Bothering with the Accent Random Events Plot Title Drop Only a Flesh Wound Action Girl Everyone Has Standards Butt-Monkey Vomit Indiscretion Shot The Reveal He Knows Too Much "Awesome McCool" Name Suddenly SHOUTING! Dramedy The Brute And the Adventure Continues Police are Useless Covers Always Lie Novelization Villain with Good Publicity Cold-Blooded Torture The Cavalry Annoying Younger Sibling Disney Villain Death Deliberately Monochrome This Is Gonna Suck Deconstruction Large Ham Arch-Enemy Arc Words Manipulative Bastard Actor Allusion Up to Eleven Alliterative Name Visual Pun Psycho for Hire Cat Fight Agony of the Feet All Men Are Perverts The Smurfette Principle Left the Background Music On Logo Joke Beta Couple Defrosting Ice Queen Conspicuous CG Friend to All Children Black and Gray Morality The Chick The Quiet One Politically Incorrect Villain Bad "Bad Acting" The Bad Guy Wins Mistaken for Gay Scary Black Man Fat Bastard Scenery Porn Drill Sergeant Nasty Enemy Mine Love at First Sight Hypocrite Superhero Hope Spot It Will Never Catch On Jump Scare Neck Snap The '60s Not Quite Dead Disney Death Kids Are Cruel Epic Fail The Alleged Car Gainax Ending Chase Scene Pretty Little Headshots Dressing as the Enemy The X of Y Heroic Sacrifice Faux Affably Evil Animal Title Index Pragmatic Adaptation Dirty Old Man Vampire Fiction I Need a Freaking Drink Nice Guy Very Loosely Based on a True Story Big Damn Heroes Blatant Lies Never Trust a Trailer Ripped from the Headlines Married to the Job Smug Snake The Dog Bites Back Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" Eyepatch of Power Evil vs. Evil The '90s Badass Bookworm Fatal Family Photo The Hero Dies Arranged Marriage Spanner in the Works There Is No Kill Like Overkill Card-Carrying Villain Expository Hairstyle Change Outrun the Fireball Dissonant Serenity Man on Fire Not What It Looks Like Chiaroscuro Sinister Minister Never My Fault Chekhov's Gunman Aside Glance Cool Shades My Beloved Smother The Voiceless The Un-Favourite aka: The Un Favorite Black Dude Dies First Drives Like Crazy Framing Device Bare Your Midriff The Stoic Not So Above It All Anti-Hero A Minor Kidroduction Apocalypse How Determinator aka: The Determinator Rule of Symbolism I Did What I Had to Do I Want My Beloved to Be Happy Race Against the Clock Brick Joke Death by Sex Camp Gay Japanese Films "Shaggy Dog" Story Aluminum Christmas Trees Slasher Movie Overprotective Dad Match Cut Mood Whiplash Together in Death Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene Red Herring Whole Plot Reference What Happened to the Mouse? Half the Man He Used to Be Artistic License – History Calling the Old Man Out All There in the Manual Brainless Beauty Implacable Man Rich Bitch Deal with the Devil Wrong Genre Savvy Combat Pragmatist From Bad to Worse Precision F-Strike Historical Hero Upgrade Vomit Discretion Shot Meaningful Name