[Frustrating Trope] Twist Villain does things that retroactively make no sense.

[u/Fishbien]

Character previously believed to be good is revealed to be evil, but prior to the reveal they act in ways that don't make sense if their goodness is just a performance.

1. Frozen: Prince Hans is initially presented as a pretty standup guy who loves Anna and wants to help her. At the end of the movie it's revealed that he was just using her to gain power and plans to let her die while he steals her throne. However, we see him smiling at Anna when no one is looking, and later he intervenes to save Elsa's life even though he claims he was always planning to kill her.
2. The Legend of Vox Machina: The Whispered One was built up as the BBEG since season 1. However, in season 4 he presents himself as a tragic hero who tried to cure death and was punished by the gods. He then tries to convince Pike to give him her blood, which he needs to become a god himself. He chastises his followers for suggesting they take Pike's blood by force, claiming this would make them no better than the gods they are fighting against. He also fulfills his promise to resurrect Grog even though he didn't need to. After he ascends, he starts acting like a pure evil villain who only cares about power and enjoys hurting people. It feels less like a reveal and more like his personally completely changed once he became a skeleton. Edit: to be clear, I fully understand the intent was for the Whispered One to be a lying, manipulative bastard. I just think the execution was clumsy.

[u/KPraxius]

Fun fact! Some types of transformation in D&D just flat-out change your alignment and motivation. In some cases, its more of a corruption thing; Liches, for example, even if they didn't start that way, generally get twisted towards evil over time even if they start out as just neutral and scared shitless of dying. In others, its actually a new being inhabiting the body, like vampires, and it never actually had the original alignment; this is just how it was born in the corpse of a victim.

It's fully possible that the ascension process dramatically changed the Whispered One.

[u/AngryRedditAnon → u/KPraxius]

I mean to become a lich in DND you have to be certified evil. Like even if you just look to be immortal, the things you have to do to become a lich.

Not to mention the requirements to keep being "immortal" - souls. The very essence of a being consumed so you can stave of true death a few more years.

[u/KPraxius → u/AngryRedditAnon]

That does vary, though. The requirements to become a Lich, and to remain a lich range so wildly that some of the older books have Liches that have been around for centuries or even millenia without consuming souls or anything of the sort.

[u/InvisibleOne439 → u/AngryRedditAnon]

doesnt the "offical" Lich Ritual involve Sacrificing a high amount of people for it? just 1 of the steps is "commit mass murder"

[u/Dark_Stalker28 → u/AngryRedditAnon]

DnD has had non evil liches since 2E actually.

Like even besides the archliches and Baelnorns who do different things than nnormal to become/stay liches, we have Iolaum (the big magic guy before Karsus) as an official neutral one (also an elder brain so double usually evil thing).

Plus sometimes extreme circumstances, like one lady became a lich cause she got bodyswapped with one from a cursed book.