Faux Affably Evil is a term referring to villains who, at a glance, are similar to those who are the Affably Evil type, but with a lack of sincerity to their affable and sympathetic nature. Such villains are rarely, if ever wrathful or patronizing in front of the heroes, but they do not actually show any empathy towards others; as such, they are sounding polite but not acting it which causes their villainy to stand out more rather than less.

In some works, Faux Affable villains break the Fourth Wall and reveal their true nature to the audience, while pretending to be nice in front of the protagonists. Arrogant villains who give a sarcastic apology to their foes also fall under this category. However, the characters of the story and audience alike might not be aware of the Faux Affable's true colors until they reveal them. However, the characters of the story and audience alike might not be aware of the Faux Affably Evil villain's true colors until they reveal them. They could appear very much as a friend or ally before betraying the heroes. These kinds of villains are commonly regarded as surprise villains who can even have the audience fooled by their "friendly" attitudes.

Despite their lack of sincerity, some of these villains can actually be remorseful due to the fact that sometimes the hero can reach them in heart (usually done with Pure Goods). They also can be either insecure, redeemable or both (e.g. Nightmare Sans). In fact, some Faux Affably Evil villains can even be heroic in some cases (e.g. SMG3).

On the other hand, many of them can be CM, since they can use "flattery" and "elegant" demeanor to get whatever they want and achieve their goals; Nekrozoth and Maestro are very good examples of this.

Note: just because a villain is extremely evil, doesn't mean they will automatically fall under this category if they're violent and hostile to everyone without even bothering to feign affability (e.g Sark, Morbus, Turbo Mecha Sonic, HABIT, Clone Cop and The Tortured One), instead, they should go under Equally Hostile.

• However this rule doesn't apply to villains who are hostile to everyone if they are superficially nice to at least one person and/or feign it whilst possessing another character (e.g. Nightmare Medic, Entity 01, Cell).
• Also, if a villain is truly affable only to the people he/she cares about, but is not genuinely polite to anyone else (e.g. Bowser and Armin Arlert), then they still fall under this category.

Note: for more information about the trope itself, go here.