Inconsistently Heinous villains who do not wish to be evil, but are evil due to circumstances and therefore are not evil by choice. They will NEVER reject a chance at redemption (when they find one) and are the least motivated at being evil out of all Inconsistently Heinous villains. Due to this, they are also never Fake Tragic because they always have a reasonable turn to villainy.

Examples of Villains by Proxy include the following:

• Pawns who were manipulated or forced into doing evil against their better judgment (e.g. Shadow the Hedgehog, Joseph Korso, Circus Baby and Dr. Thomas Light).
• Anti-Villainous extremists who legitimately despise being a villain but are compelled to take on the role under the belief their actions are in service of the greater good (e.g. Asgore Dreemurr, Princess Bubblegum, Mesmeroth, Eren Yeager, AUTO and the Gorg Commander).
• Dimwits whose ineptitude prevents them from understanding the sheer gravitas of their actions, even if they are acutely aware that they are harmful to some degree (e.g. The Collector, Patrick Star, Beavis and Butt-Head, the Blob and Mr. Incredible).
• Otherwise benevolent individuals who are only evil due to being corrupted by an external force (e.g. Dr. Two-Brains, Arthur, Queen Sectonia, the Akumatized villains and Malvina Monroe).
• Mentally unwell scapegoats who’ve been left traumatized due to horrific events in their lives that have forced them into villainy out of sheer obligation (e.g. Carrie White, Leatherface, Black Noir and the Mad Pierrot).
• Amoral entities who, regardless if they have intelligence or not, are driven purely by feral or animalistic instinct rather than malice (e.g. Jean Jacket, Charles, the Source of all Living Matter, Lamu, the Golden Goose and SCP-096).
• Villains with some combination of the aforementioned factors (e.g. Light Hope, Cassandra, Mario, Sarah Henderson, Flesh-Eater, Agent 47 and Amanda the Adventurer).

Not to be confused with Unintentionally Heinous Villainous Benchmarks. They didn't even try to be heinous and had an accident. Villains in THIS category do their own intentionally heinous acts, but deep down, they wish they could be better. They're still evil, but are super insecure and remorseful about it, and tragic too.