Villains who are genuinely polite and friendly in spite of being villains. They will frequently both speak and act in an extremely polite and thoughtful manner even to the heroes they face (though some of them may be two-sided about it and might occasionally provoke or insult them during a fight, though that is a rare sight for them) and their friendly and considerate nature often comes as a surprise to both those heroes and possibly also the viewer. That said, they are still capable of losing their temper and will sometimes (temporarily) shed their polite nature if faced with defeat. Only true Affably Evil villains will regain (and retain) their polite nature after facing their defeat and will more likely than not, respect the hero even more.

Since politeness is a redeeming trait, it is not uncommon for affably evil villains to be redeemed, or at least have the potential for redemption.

To be genuinely Affably Evil, the following criteria must be met:

1. The affable nature is not an obvious façade that the villain is only maintaining to manipulate others. Affably Evil villains really ARE that nice or at the very least, have good manners. Some Affably Evil villains are so nice that they would be good if not for their evil deeds and act like normal people when not on the clock.
2. There is a difference between Affably Evil and Faux Affably Evil villains. The latter is a villain who usually sounds or pretends to be polite but a close observation reveals their willingness to throw the hero in front of a bus without a second thought (e.g. Commander Rourke, Ego, Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear, Scar, Joker, Ernesto de la Cruz, Doma, Mysterio, Judge Claude Frollo, Frank Underwood, Dawn Bellwether and Frederick Gideon). For a villain to be Affably Evil, they must not be that heedless to the lives and well-being of others, and their niceness can redeem them. Android 16, Ty Lee, Volt Luster, Soon and Gabby Gabby are examples. That said, it is possible for an Affably Evil villain to become Faux Affably Evil overtime and vice versa. Good examples of Affably Evil villains turning Faux Affable are RPK-16, Bill Williamson, Stinky Pete, Dutch van der Linde, Count Dooku, Darth Vader, Jimmy Conway, Tony Soprano and Walter White. Good examples of the opposite are Vegeta, Endeavor, Thanos, Magolor, Damien Darhk, Negan, Edward Nygma and Dr. Nefarious.
3. Affably Evil villains have lines they would never cross. A Faux Affably Evil villain could easily act polite, but still blow up planets or kill children as a lifestyle (e.g. Emperor Palpatine, Sebastian Shaw, Lord Cutler Beckett, Johan Liebert, Goku Black, Syndrome, Aku, Micah Bell and Judge Holden. However, it is quite possible for a genocidal villain, a Harbinger for Rebirth, a cataclysmic or even a Chaotic Evil villain to be Affably Evil only if they have such standards and/or lines they are not willing to cross or if they do have good intentions (e.g. Thanos, Count Bleck, Bowser, Raul Menendez, Joker, Accelerator, Professor Gerald Robotnik, Eren Yeager and Dodge).

They are the opposite of Heroic Jerks who are heroes that are genuinely rude and mean in spite of being heroes.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Pure Evil villains can NEVER qualify, because these villains are not genuinely polite or friendly to anyone, as this counts as a redeeming quality and would present the villain in a positive way, whereas Pure Evil villains are always selfish, hateful, uncaring, hostile and irredeemable. However, a Pure Evil villain can be (and is very often) Faux Affably Evil. Similarly, Pure Evil villains can also be Sophisticated and/or Friend of a Hero if they were once true friends of the hero in the past. That said, there are several examples of Pure Evil villains who used to be genuinely polite before becoming worse over time.

• Due to their affable nature, it is nearly impossible for a genuinely Affably Evil villain to be a psychopath. If an Affably Evil villain does have psychopathic traits, they should be listed under paranoid and/or mentally ill instead (e.g. Nagito Komaeda, Akihiko Kayaba, Esdeath, Todd Alquist, Dexter Morgan, Bullseye, Hannibal Lecter, and Rick Sanchez). The only exceptions are villains who narrowly manage to be not diabolical despite their ruthless nature (e.g. Hisoka Morow, Tommy DeVito, Solf J. Kimblee, Mai Mashiro, SCP-076-2, Tom Ripley, Sakyo and Alice Morgan).