This is a type of villain who (while they fight on the side of evil) still has at least some honorable traits. As such, they usually treat their foes and minions with respect and demonstrate some extent of mercy or fair play regardless of the outcome. They usually do not resort cheating to win, they may avoid fighting people that are weaker, they may suppress their own power and they may keep their end of a bargain that they promise to keep if they lose or if the hero does something they ask. However, some of these villains have their own version of honor that would clash with others'.

Numerous times, these traits often result in the villain redeeming themselves. Many Honorable characters have a common theme of finding a "worthy opponent" and thus want the hero they fight to be strong or get stronger.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Pure Evil villains can NEVER qualify as they are never presented in a positive way. The "honor" they show is only due to their good manners and not out of genuine respect. That said, there are examples of Pure Evil villains who used to be honorable before shedding their nobler traits overtime. If so they should go under the Faux Affably Evil, Sophisticated, Neutral Evil, Lawful Evil, Deal Makers and/or Enforcer categories instead (e.g. Demise, Joker, Emperor Palpatine, Dio Brando, Frieza, Judge Claude Frollo, Drago Bludvist, King Boo, Andross, Griffith, Muscular, Shang Tsung, Utrom Shredder, Syndrome, Micah Bell and Koba), the same applies to villains whose "honor" they show is only out of their own self-serving and pragmatic needs and not out of genuine respect, even if they are not Pure Evil (e.g. Kars, Ercole Visconti and Lord Shen).

• However, some of them can still be psychopaths if their code of honor is based on personal values rather than empathy (e.g. Solf J. Kimblee, Hisoka Morow, Rattlesnake Jake, Cad Bane, SCP-076-2, Beverly Hofstadter, General Grievous (Legends), Jack Welker, Cyrus Grissom, J, Hopper, Vincent, Bill Sykes, Iraq, Victor Zsasz (Gotham), William Birkin, Henry Stickmin, Jordi Chin, David 8 and Joe).

Chaotic Evil characters can be honorable as the very core of Chaotic Evil is a love of chaos, as such it is possible for them to have some vague respect for the personal freedom of others to be chaotic. Neutral Evil characters are the most unlikely to have honor (though not impossible), however, rare exceptions can exist for both alignments if villains from said alignments have some sort of honor code they are not willing to break (e.g. Hades, Fliqpy, Eren Yeager, Trevor Philips, and Two-Face). Lawful Evil and Lawful Neutral are by far the alignments most associated with honor (even if it is often for pragmatic reasons). Chaotic Neutrals, on the other hand, are shown to follow their own personal code without a care for others and are shown to be selfish. However, some may genuinely care for others and can have a sense of honor as well, though it may also be for pragmatic reasons much like a Lawful Evil character and a Lawful Neutral character. Also, Opportunists are unlikely to count as Honorable as they would value alliances or a fixed plan over opportunistic thinking, However, rare exceptions can exist if they have a code of honor outside of their opportunistic zone (e.g. Ada Wong, Gellert Grindelwald, Deathstroke, and Amos Slade).