Some things are Obviously Evil. This index is for those things that aren't. Be they cute, innocent-looking animals, small children, or just have good publicity, evil in the world often hides under an array of disguises and facades. This is a list of these various nondescript places where evil beings often lurk. These tropes are the opposite of Index with a Heart of Gold and Quirky Good.
Closely related to Evil All Along and Subverted Innocence. See also Evil Only By Association, where tropes that aren't evil by definition are normally associated with villains anyway because they have Obviously Evil qualities.
- Bad Santa
- Beauty Is Bad: A bad person who's conventionally beautiful.
- Big Bad Friend: When your Old Friend really isn't your friend.
- Cats Are Mean
- Children
- Creepy Child: A child displays unsettling behavior.
- Enfant Terrible: A child isn't just creepy, but outright evil.
- Fetus Terrible: Sometimes the malice begins before the person is even born.
- The Church
- Corrupt Church: Good church turned bad.
- Nun Too Holy: A character who looks and is treated like a nun (or a priestess, shrine maiden, etc), but acts nothing like you'd expect.
- Nuns Are Spooky
- Path of Inspiration: A seemingly benevolent religion specifically founded to manipulate people for some nefarious purpose.
- Pedophile Priest
- Sinister Minister
- Creepy Crossdresser: When a bad guy dresses like the opposite gender.
- Creepy Mascot Suit
- Cunning Like a Fox
- Deceptively Cute Critter: An animal pretends to be sweet and innocent to manipulate human characters.
- Deranged Park Ranger
- Designated Hero: Obviously Evil to the audience, yet not to the author.
- Designated Villain: Obviously Evil to the author, yet not to the audience.
- Devil in Disguise: The Devil (or his minions) is hiding in among the living.
- Devil in Plain Sight: Obviously Evil to the audience, yet no one within the story notices.
- Doctors
- Deadly Doctor: A doctor who uses their medical knowledge offensively.
- Depraved Dentist
- Dr. Jerk
- Mad Doctor: An Ax-Crazy "medical doctor".
- Psycho Psychologist
- Dogs
- Mister Muffykins: Malicious little yappy dog.
- Psycho Poodle
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: The mastermind is the one you least expect, even when it doesn't make sense.
- Evil Authority Figures
- Amoral Attorney (If he tries to hide it.)
- The Caligula
- Corrupt Politician
- Dirty Cop
- Killer Cop
- Rabid Cop: A cop who regularly commits unwarranted violence against suspects.
- Evil Chancellor
- Evil Mentor: A character who mentors The Hero for their own evil purposes or to corrupt them.
- The Evil Prince: An ambitious prince(ss) usurps the throne by killing whoever is in the line of succession before them.
- Evil Teacher
- Fake King: A good ruler is secretly replaced by an evil lookalike who then abuses their position.
- Firefighter Arsonist
- God Save Us from the Queen!
- President Evil
- Sensei for Scoundrels: A master of evil martial arts.
- Treacherous Advisor: The hero's mentor turns out to be a villain.
- Villainous Princess
- Evil In The Market:
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: The person in charge of the company is evil
- Predatory Business
- Ponzi
- Shady Real Estate Agent
- Snake Oil Salesman: A salesman who claims his products can do a lot more than they actually can.
- Evil Hero: A villainous character who has a traditionally heroic job or the title of "hero".
- Evil in the Family:
- Evil Old Folks: Old people who are villains.
- Wise Old Folk Façade: The seemingly helpful elder is secretly villainous.
- Fallen Angel
- Fallen Cupid
- Divinely Appearing Demons: An inhabitant of Hell is superficially similar to an inhabitant of Heaven.
- Falsely Reformed Villain: A villain pretends to be a Reformed Criminal, but is really up to something.
- Feathered Fiend (Birds)
- A Form You Are Comfortable With: A naturally disturbing-looking being uses a normal-looking form to communicate.
- Friends and Teammates:
- False Friend: Someone you thought was your friend actually wasn't.
- Nominal Hero: Someone who advances a heroic cause, with neutral at best motives.
- Token Evil Teammate
- Sixth Ranger Traitor: New character joins established team, then betrays them.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: The Loser Archetype.
- God Is Evil
- Innocent-Looking
- Affably Evil: Evil that's polite and respectful, in a way.
- A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Evil that pretends to be nice or harmless towards others
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing
- Jerkass at Your Discretion: When this evil is only shown to certain characters when others aren't around.
- Nothing Nice About Sugar and Spice: When the Girly Girl is actually villainous.
- Nice Character, Mean Actor
- Depraved Kids' Show Host: This person hosts a kids' show, they can't be that bad, now can th—Good heavens, they're worse than what I thought were scurrilous rumors!
- Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: Evil people that look physically nice.
- The Fake Cutie: A mature adult who acts like a cute kid for sympathy points.
- Faux Affably Evil: Evil using a superficial veneer of amicability.
- Fluffy the Terrible: Harmless name, terrifying creature.
- Hair-Raising Hare
- Happy Fun Ball: Mundane items.
- Killer Rabbit: A small but deadly creature which looks cute and harmless.
- Super-Fun Happy Thing of Doom: Nice name for a not-nice thing.
- Tom the Dark Lord: A villain with an ordinary name.
- Uncanny Valley Girl
- Who's Laughing Now?
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: The person seems like a typical Jerkass, but is even worse.
- The Killer in Me
- Light
- Enlightened Antagonist: The bad guy is an enlightened being or entity.
- Light Is Not Good
- Knight Templar
- Pure Is Not Good
- Love
- Love Makes You Crazy
- Love Makes You Evil
- Yandere: Loving on the outside, psychotic on the inside.
- A Mischief of Mice
- The Mole: Evil within the ranks of good.
- Monster Clown
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: When the Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain really isn't.
- Not the First Victim: Some of this killer's victims went undiscovered.
- Obscene OB-GYN: A gynecologist or urologist who takes advantage of their patients.
- Obvious Villain, Secret Villain: When there's a character who is Hidden Evil alongside one that is Obviously Evil
- Retired Monster: Retired from villainy for now.
- Screwball Squirrel
- Sexy Villains, Chaste Heroes: Antagonists are subject to fanservice while the heroes are portrayed more modestly.
- Social Deduction Game: There's an evil faction or player hidden amongst the players.
- They Look Just Like Everyone Else!
- Toys
- Creepy Doll
- Creepy Dollhouse
- Demonic Dummy
- Perverse Puppet
- Scary Jack-in-the-Box
- Sealed Evil in a Teddy Bear: When the toy contains an evil force.
- Greenwashed Villainy: A villain presents themselves to the public as ecofriendly while covering up the harm their actions are doing to the environment.
- Unintentionally Unsympathetic: When the author sympathizes with a character, but the audience doesn't.
- The Vamp: An irredeemably evil and completely exploitative seductress.
- Villain with Good Publicity: This character have a positive reputation, but is not a good guy
- Villain Protagonist: The Protagonist is not always a good guy.