Even Evil Has Standards/Anime and Manga

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"Revy: Wow, this is surprising. You shot your own subordinates. Despicable to the end."
 * In Black Cat, Train Heartnet, a professional assassin who has killed plenty of people, will NOT kill women or children. Once he was going to kill his target and then he noticed that his intended victim was holding a young child, and he hesitated and couldn't pull the trigger, which led to him getting shot. Considering he reforms later on in the series, this, is probably what caused him to give it up.
 * In Detective Conan, although the mysterious and beautiful criminal Vermouth has killed many people, she will not kill the protagonist, or his love interest. This probably has to do with the fact that they saved her life a year ago. Things get really interesting when Ran sneaks in the trunk of "Action Girl" Jodie's car and tries to stop Vermouth. Her mook immediately starts shooting and Vermouth yells at him and tells him to stop shooting. As Ran protects Haibara, (whom Vermouth hates), Vermouth shoots around her, and tries to get her to release Haibara.
 * Among the first things Legato Bluesummers does in Trigun is wipe out a group of slave traders. While he is an Omnicidal Maniac, he then goes up to their "merchandise" and tells them to make the most of their lives (because they're going to be short if he has any say in it).
 * This has a lot to do with Legato's undisclosed-in-the-anime past. He was a former Sex Slave, so although he hates humanity in general, he hates slave traders most of all.
 * In Pokémon, although they're not evil, Jessie and James are Team Rocket agents - kidnapping Pokémon is part of their MO. They do not believe in trainers hurting Pokémon, however, and this is why they (and Meowth) were appalled by Paul's method of training.
 * "Team Rocket may be rotten cheaters, but we're not in the business of destroying children's dreams!"
 * This also shows in how they treat their own Pokemon with a great deal of care. They also have been shown to be disgusted by more brutal Pokemon Poachers and trainers and haven't been shown being brutal or overly mean to their captives, unlike some other more evil Team Rocket members shown in the series.
 * Also, when Team Rocket, or at least Meowth, learned about Giovanni planning to have the cloned Pokémon experimented on with a high chance of a mortality rate if Mewtwo doesn't submit to him, they were legitimately horrified. On that note, Domino may have agreed to allow Giovanni recapture Mewtwo and spearheaded the operation, but when Giovanni was perfectly willing to keep Mewtwo tortured and even willing to have him die quite painfully from the torture, she felt he crossed the line right there (Kick the Dog can only go so far until all Pragmatic Villainy is lost, after all).
 * In "The Stun Spore Detour" after Misty helped James and Meowth heal Jessie's paralysis from the Vileplume's fumes, the female team rocket member still wanted to try and capture Ash's pokemon thinking he and his friends would still be weak from trying to recover from their own wounds. James and Meowth refused to help, Meowth even looking physically sickened by Jessie's coldness, and when she got knocked out by her own pokemon, they chastised her for being ungrateful.
 * Slayers Next. Gaav concentrates all his resources on trying to kill Lina, because he believes his archenemy Hellmaster Fibrizo will use her to destroy him. However when confronting Lina he still gives her the chance to fight back; and even when she casts the Ragna Blade and Gaav knows the spell could kill him, he still gives her the chance to attack first and doesn't try to pull any dirty tricks..
 * Omnipresent throughout Mobile Suit Gundam. Even many Mooks draw the line at killing women or children, and Ramba Ral dies as a result of such morality. The most obvious use is in the case of Gihren Zabi, an individual so vile that many of his mass-murdering allies find him disturbing. His father, who's previously ordered several billion civilian deaths through chemical, nuclear, biological and other weapons, compares the man to Hitler unfavorably. And his sister, who's spent her time establishing her uberbitch credentials, hates him so much that
 * Also, in Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam the Titans are a brutal elite force that fights the AEUG and commits lots of atrocities while at it, but many of its members are repulsed when it comes to gassing entire colonies.
 * In Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, OZ leader and Magnificent Bastard Treize Khushrenada was vehemently opposed to the Romefeller Foundation's Mobile Doll System, feeling that they would make humans unnecessary for battle. As a result, he resigned as Chairman of Romefeller, and OZ soldiers loyal to Treize split off to form the Treize Faction.
 * Bleach: A case can be made for Mayuri Kurotsuchi. When he's first introduced, he's a Complete Monster with a horrifically sadistic personality, who delights in torturing his victims for research - something to which Uryu Ishida's grandfather fell victim. However, he remains loyal to Soul Society after hearing of Aizen's betrayal, and never considered defecting to his side. Of course,
 * Ulquiorra calls Nnoitra "disgusting" for toying with the idea of sexually harassing or potentially raping Orihime.
 * Specifically, suggesting that Ulquiorra should do it himself. Ulquiorra's response ranges from "how vulgar" to "you degenerate scum." Unfortunately, Nnoitra is more than happy to try taking his own advice when Ulquiorra isn't around.
 * In the OAV Riding Bean, Bean Bandit is a professional wheelman with a soft spot for kids. In Gunsmith Cats, nothing's changed. In one volume, Rally sees Bean, after delivering a package of drugs, stuff a drug dealer down a manhole for trying to sell drugs to kids. Rally challenges him to a race on the condition that if she wins, he'll give up doing drug-related jobs period. They pretty much finish in a draw, but evidently the Bean Bandit was so eager to give up dope-running that he concedes defeat.
 * Priscilla in Claymore. While she's ready to kill and eat men, women and boys, she doesn't kill girls.  No wonder she has issues.
 * Comedic Sociopathy is pretty much the norm in Ranma 1/2. Yet even Nabiki, heartless enough to sell photos of Ranma's female side to hornball men as a supplement to her pocket money, and who went so far as to whore him out during her stint as his fiancée, is disgusted when Genma reveals he regularly stole food from the juvenile Ranma. Akane Tendo, who has no qualms about beating her fiancé senseless when they fight, is horrified at the extents Shampoo is willing to go to in order to try and drive away her Stalker With a Crush, Mousse. And even Genma, perhaps the one of the purest Jerkasses in the series, is disgusted by the antics of Panty Thief and Lovable Sex Maniac Happosai.
 * Phoenix King Saffron, a spoiled brat who mistreats his subjects and thinks nothing of kidnapping, killing, or blackmailing, tries to incinerate Ranma with one of his fireballs. Ranma tosses Akane's doll-like body as a decoy, since it absorbs heat. Saffron is aghast and declares Ranma to be a wretched coward.
 * Ranma himself, who has been known to exploit his feminine side for free food, belittle his fiancée for her lack of feminine skills, and prance around nude in his girl form, using his lack of feminine modesty to distract opponents... has stated that he believes that the lowest of the low are men who come home drunk and beat their wives.
 * In Yu-Gi-Oh, when Pegasus notices Bandit Keith pulling cards from his wristband during his duel with Jounouchi, he waits for Jounouchi to win, then calls Keith out both on his cheating during the duel, and stealing Jounouchi's entry card to try and get him disqualified. Pegasus then has his security guards haul Keith away and congratulates Jounouchi on winning in spite of Keith's dirty tactics.
 * In the third season, Noah intervenes to stop Ooka from cheating with his duel with Jounouchi, irritated since he wants his cronies to best Seto and his friends fair and square. If it weren't for Jounouchi convincing him to let the duel continue, Noah was set to stop the duel since by all accounts Jounouchi would have won by then if Ooka hadn't cheated.
 * Though he does end up cheating himself when he duels.
 * And in season four, Raphael refuses to allow any of his monsters to remain in the graveyard, even sacrificing his own life points to return them. This is sympathetically explained
 * The German anti-robot KKK-expy in Pluto is nonetheless appalled by the murder of robot children, even though they don't look remotely human (or even cuddly).
 * The younger Toguro brother in Yu Yu Hakusho, while having sold his soul and became a contract killer, obeys a strict code of honor, almost never killing people unless it's specifically part of his current job, and displaying great dislike for those who commit dishonorable acts. When the Complete Monster older Toguro brother plays mind games during his fight with Kuwabara, the younger Toguro demands that his brother stop, and is pretty visibly pissed off. Also, when his same brother attempts to interrupt his one-on-one fight with Yusuke, little brother finally gets fed up with his elder and . Toguro also killed the entire tournament committee because they tried to tip the scales of the Urameshi/Masho round in Team Masho's favor using their executive power. Seriously, do not act dishonorably in front of the younger Toguro.
 * Granted, elder Toguro was practically spitting on Genkai's name, . It's possible he was still very bitter about the whole incident.
 * During the Urameshi/Masho round, Kurama passed out while standing after the second consecutive victory. Due to the aforementioned committee, he was forced to fight the third round while unconcious against Bakken. it went about as well as you think it would. The fight was in such bad taste, even the sadistic announcer tried to stop the fight numerous times just because Kurama wasn't conscious to "enjoy" the beating, too.
 * Granted, Koto's sadisim was a result of the dub.
 * In Black Lagoon, you can throw a stone anywhere in Roanapur and you'll find that whoever it hits or lands near will have more standards than Chaka. Even the Neo-Nazis had more class than him.

"Sanji: These are the agents of justice...?
 * In Transformers Armada, when Starscream defects to the Autobots, Hot Shot points out that Sideways has already betrayed them. Starscream gets angry that they would compare him to that bastard.
 * In One Piece, Rob Lucci is an Arrogant Kung Fu Guy, Psycho for Hire whose idea of a hostage rescue is "massacre everyone so they don't have to live with the shame." However, he is visibly disgusted when his far weaker boss Spandam beats Nico Robin while she is tied up, helpless, and unable to use her powers to fight back.
 * He also sneers at him when asked about why he didn't do anything about Chimney following them and finding the way to the gate, later telling Luffy how to get there as well. Whether that's because he dislikes Spandam or he simply doesn't wish to kill children is up to your interpretation, though.
 * While it makes sense that Lucci wouldn't be interested in killing a defenseless child, he refrained from stopping Chimney because he wanted Luffy to find him so they could fight. It's obvious that he dislikes Spandam either way, though.
 * Eustace Kidd is a sociopath with a HUGE body count on his head, killing people For the Evulz or for being weaker than him(although he says he kills people who look down on him or insult him). But sure as hell he will NEVER run slavery rings! Kidd's reasoning is basically At Least I Admit It. Sure, he's done his share of killing and pillaging--but taking into account that he's a pirate, it's to be expected. The Marines and World Government, on the other hand, espouse "Justice" while allowing slave rings to operate unchecked, making them hypocrites on top of being evil.
 * Chief Jailer Shiryuu's bloody rampages across Impel Down have made Magellan, Impel Down's chief warden, very displeased, particularly as he had no damn reason for killing off prisoners, and he was forced to imprison him in Level Six as he was far too dangerous to be ignored.
 * Blackbeard is quickly becoming the Big Bad of One Piece, having killed a crewmate for a Devil Fruit, handing in his former commander Ace and thus causing the Whitebeard War that lead to the end of the Great Age of Piracy and the beginning of the lawless hell that is the New Age, recruited crewmembers by having the residents of The Alcatraz rip each other to shreds and taking whoever was left, but even he listened to Koby's speech for them to stop fighting.
 * Helmeppo has no morals about lying to prisoners, bullying townspeople, or throwing kids over the fence. Killing kids is another story and he's genuinely shocked when his father kills off an officer for disobeying a kid-slaying order. Probably why he gets a genuine Heel Face Turn when he is pressganged into the Marines.
 * While Luffy is far from evil, he can be pretty chaotic as a pirate and pretty much does what he wants. During the Impel Down arc, he was willing to ally with several potentially dangerous criminals and former enemies in his quest to save Ace. However, he draws the line at freeing Crocodile, as even Luffy can't overlook what he's done..
 * Arlong is a racist who crossed the Moral Event Horizon by killing Nami's stepmother, and treated Nami like crap for years. But he treats his own men like family and called Luffy a coward when the latter used his True Companions as a shield. Also in his backstory, Arlong was appalled by  . Ironically, he lost those standards as time passed while
 * It was surprising when it was revealed that  It was lampshaded that even   couldn't face his previous ally without some sympathy.
 * When Sanji and Franky witness an example of You Have Failed Me from Rob Lucci, their reactions are this;

Franky: They're more evil than we are."

"Zabuza: This is bullshit, I don't want to fight for someone who would stoop this low."
 * The G-5 Marines are sick bastards who like to torture captured pirates just for fun. But when they encounter, they got scared and called   "insane" and "a creep".
 * Later, Smoker and Tashigi are discussing cases of . Tashigi thinks that someone in G-5 was involved in those cases, and tried to cover up for them by sending fake reports to the headquarters. When Smoker pointed out that this is what Tashigi meant, the G-5 Marines got pissed as soon as they heard that, saying that even though they are army rejects, they still have their pride as Marines.
 * Perhaps the biggest One Piece example of this trope (to this point) is the World Government's attitude toward WMD. Apparently, the same organization that invented the Buster Call and is responsible for multiple forms of genocide and other atrocities is somehow appauled at the usage of, such that they've deemed it illegal and attempted to imprison one of the leading researchers on it (and of it, considering his Devil Fruit), albeit after the latter created an "accident" at a research facility. This troper finds that rather strange; one would think the usage of said WMD would be more efficient in decimating a population than bombarding it and the island its on with cannon balls.
 * Trafalgar Law has a pretty nasty reputation as a pirate, but when Caesar Clown told him that he, even he was disgusted. There's also the as-of-yet unexplained friendliness (or something close to it) that he shows to Luffy.
 * In Lupin III, Lupin maybe a thief but he's a Gentleman Thief, and he reminds anyone who asks that the people from whom he steals are people who can take the loss, and that there are worse people than he in this world. He also shows a chivalrous streak that compels him to help those less fortunate than he is (especially attractive women). Furthermore, Lupin often takes it upon himself and his gang to stop criminals engaged in more violent crimes and leave them for the Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist (Inspector Zenigata) to arrest.
 * Anti-Hero Fukunaga of Liar Game, despite perfectly willing to deceive and lie to others to benefit herself/himself, snapped on a teammate during the Musical Chair Game when he suggested that Nao should be the one to be degraded to the Gaya group (where she would have no chance in advancing to the next round), declaring that they shouldn't put that kind of pressure on Nao who isn't even the room at the moment. So naturally Akagi lampshades this.
 * Oddly enough, comes off as this in the manga of Fullmetal Alchemist. He's perfectly willing to let  kill Ed so long as he does it in a sufficiently dignified and awesome way.  comes to Ed's aid simply because he can't stand the idea of someone supposedly innately superior trying to save themselves by clinging desperately to an inferior's body and verbally bitch-smacks  before leaving the planet for good. Kimbley has a strict code by which he lives and judges others. This code has nothing to do with morality, but rather being true to one's convictions. To him, the lowest of the low are hypocrites.
 * Greed is a Noble Demon, and his Wouldn't Hit a Girl attitude probably fits this, since he always exhibits it.
 * In G-Spot Express, Katsu beats up a gang of rapists when he sees them attacking Yumi (whom he just happened to have molested in the past himself). However, he also allows Ginji's crew to rape Sayaka after she arrests a friend of theirs.
 * In Umineko no Naku Koro Ni, the sadistic Beatrice takes young Maria Ushiromiya under her wing, because she's utterly disgusted by her mother's Rosa's abuse of her. This action is the downplayed variant of the trope, however, not stopping her from killing every other member of Maria's family in horrible, horrible ways - including the people in it who are actually nice to her. Beatrice also really dislikes a witch that is worse than she is, and in the games she tells that to her very face.
 * D Gray Man:  used an Exposition Beam to show another character     Even the local villainous Creepy Child Road, who delights in Mind Raping people, seems to be upset by it.
 * Towards the end of the Live Action Adaptation of Death Note, Misa Amane, previously an amoral mass-murderer at worst and a Psychopathic Manchild at best, is genuinely shocked and even starts to cry when Light . Which is justified, since it comes from
 * In the manga and anime, during Light's first meeting with Ryuk, the latter is stunned by how many names Light has written into the Death Note in just five days. Protip: if your murderous rampage gives a god of death pause, you might want to scale back a little. Then again, this could also be understood as him being impressed, since he also tells Light that most gods of death are shirking their duties and that Light himself would make a pretty epic Shinigami. Double-subversion comes during the clip showing . A montage of Light's killing spree is briefly interspersed with a single clip that strongly implies Ryuk was very strongly considering writing Light's name in his own Note. An interpretation being, even Ryuk is surprised by the absolute craziness Light generates.
 * There's also . His Evil Laugh scares Shinigami.
 * In the anime Light looks quite irritated when a second Kira appears and uses his name to kill innocent newscasters and police officers for "no good reason." (Of coures it's only justified when HE does it.)
 * Despite all Light will do for his plans to succeed, he can't bring himself to write his sister's name in the Death Note. Though, that might have been partly motivated by how his plans would turn out if he did kill her.
 * Light is initially dismayed when 's killing spree extends to , but later thinks to himself only that it's "too early to be making statements like that," suggesting he may agree. Explicit in the manga when he actually toys with this very idea early on in the story.
 * Rem has no qualms with Misa murdering innocent people, as well as murder being committed for her sake, but is repulsed by  greedy and obsessive nature.
 * Could be argued of Stein to Medusa in Soul Eater, given their fight was on the basis of pitching two violent anarchists against one another to see what happened. Stein is clearly attracted to Medusa's point of view (amongst other things) and claims that only fear of a higher authority (i.e Lord Death) holds him back. But when Medusa claims she is the mother of the child she's been experimenting on - Crona - and that she would gladly sacrifice 'them' if necessary, Stein is visibly angered by her. However, later chapers make an attempt to make Stein appear more humane and not simply the 'hedonistic sadist' Spirit pegs him as during the fight, so the 'evil' is debateable.
 * Kiyotsugu Gowa from Gasaraki is a Mad Scientist, but he's appalled when he finds out that  He also refuses to use a Psycho Serum on test pilots, so another Mad Scientist does it instead.
 * In Holyland, most gangsters don't respect Combat By Champion and gang up on the victor if he's not the one on their side. Thus, it stands out when the gangsters gathered to watch  refused to gang up on the former and even when the latter was beaten, some of them, including , did not want to lynch the victor.
 * In Naruto, more than one villain is repulsed by another's actions. In example, when, we see that   is repulsed by said strategies and is
 * Well in his case it's clearly Moral Dissonance since he has no problem.
 * Earlier on, Zabuza Momochi expresses his disgust with Gato for double crossing him (and ), and is extremely pissed off because

""I'm going to have to live with the thought of killing Tails forever!"."
 * In School Days, girls like Otome and her Girl Posse throw themselves at the feet of Makoto and backstab each other to have sex with him. Yet when they learn that, they all abandon him for that.
 * The main villain, Dr. Eggman, from Sonic X who once tried to blow up a city of completely innocent people, can't stand torturing victims as shown when he witnesses Black Narcissus torturing Chris and Cosmo and he says, "I'm not above evil myself but torturing people is just plain wrong."
 * He also in one episode alerts his arch-nemesis, Sonic, that the Metarex are planning to kill him and his friends stating that "if anyone is to get revenge on that hedgehog it's going to be me! And through less brutal means!"
 * There is also another example. When Sonic is apparently stuck on earth while his friends are in their world, Tails, an 8 year old, takes on Eggman's new space carrier in his plane. Eggman orders his Hench-robots to fire a homing missile which homes in on the plane. When the missile is near to hitting Eggman says to call it back (he only sent it towards the plane to scare Tails) however is told that there is no "call back" button. Eggman is horrified at the thought that he has basically killed a child. Tails however is saved in the end.
 * There is also another example. When Sonic is apparently stuck on earth while his friends are in their world, Tails, an 8 year old, takes on Eggman's new space carrier in his plane. Eggman orders his Hench-robots to fire a homing missile which homes in on the plane. When the missile is near to hitting Eggman says to call it back (he only sent it towards the plane to scare Tails) however is told that there is no "call back" button. Eggman is horrified at the thought that he has basically killed a child. Tails however is saved in the end.


 * Eggman seems to have a soft spot for characters such as Chris or Tails perhaps because they're the smart, logically inclined inventors of the group and thus maybe they remind him of himself. When Tails has to kill Cosmo in the third season finale, Eggman is the one who talks him through it and reassures him that he knows how difficult it is, but it's this or the end of the universe. While he accepts that it's necessary, he doesn't celebrate killing a child, nor does he celebrate the fact that one of his arch-nemesis's friends is the one who has to do it.
 * As shown in the season one finale, where his robot is going insane and literally beating poor Sonic to death. Chris (who was Eggman's prisoner at the time) is crying for him to stop. Eggman tries to get his robot to stop.
 * In the light novel of To Aru Majutsu no Index, Accelerator quotes this quite often when fighting other evil people, then goes to show them "what being a true villain is all about" usually ending with a swift death.
 * Ironic because Accelerator himself has moments of this trope, especially when Last Order is around.
 * In Dragonball, Piccolo decides to aid Goku in fighting Raditz because he wants to Take Over the World as opposed to Raditz' plan to Kill'Em All. This and his time with Gohan are the impetus for his Heel Face Turn.
 * Alucard may be an Ax Crazy Combat Sadomasochist, but he knows when someone goes to far. He scolded two teenage vampires for being so weak... and killing women and children when there's no need to feed before offing these teenagers. And the Major starting a war on England just because he liked war... even Alucard thought he was a lunatic! Sure he killed a bunch of human police officers when they stormed into the hotel he was staying in, but at least he did it for an actual reason!
 * And becoming a monster for the sake of defeating him? He... doesn't approve of that either.
 * Enishi from Rurouni Kenshin already made himself worthy of the title "Complete Monster" when, but it's been implied that he doesn't kill young women. Not that Enishi might not want to kill them, but because he psychologically can't kill young women because of the nature of  . This was why
 * Can also be seen in Complete Monster Gein, who is extremely disliked by his own companions.
 * Invoked by Makoto Shishio, who roped Anji Yukyuzan into the Juppongatana with the promise of letting him decide about the life and death of his enemies since he knew Anji was still very lawful and honor-bound. Predictably, when Anji sees Usui attempt to stab an indefense Misao In the Back, he invokes this trope and stops Usui with his bare hands.
 * Akira Hongo, the "God Fist" of the antagonist YAMI group, proves to be an interesting case of this trope. At one point, while he's confronting Kenichi and Miu about the death of his disciple Shou Kanou in the earlier D of D Tournament arc, Ryozanpakou masters Shigure and Apachai attack him. However, he effortlessly puts them off without actually fighting back, because Apachai is still injured from his earlier fight with his rival Agaard (a fellow YAMI member) and because Shigure is a woman.
 * Speaking of Kanou, a flashback near the end of the D of D arc reveals that, for all his cool-mannered exterior, Hongo really did care about his disciple. In the present day, Hongo was greatly displeased upon first learning that Kanou was dead.
 * Much later, Hongo did not take it well when other fellow YAMI member Silcardo Jenazad in order to fulfill his bigger objective of.
 * And most recently, Hongo has called out Jenazad.
 * THE iDOLM@STER - The Jupiter boys are not pleased when they discover that their boss keeps crossing the Moral Event Horizon seemingly without a care in the world.
 * Izaya Orihara from Durarara might be a supreme Jerkass and a Troll but he won't hit women and won't kill people. At least not personally. And there is one person that he won't troll:
 * The Emperor from Code Geass is a man who allows his people to brutalize, slaughter and abuse anyone in capture areas, simply because they aren't Britannian. He's not a nice man and most of the world hates him for very good reasons. That said, he will not stand for lying. . This does make him a bit of a hypocrite, as Lelouch points out..
 * Cornelia is a Lady of War, and had her share of war crimes against enemy's population. But if your plan involves nuking your own population, she'll never side with you. Notice that Cornelia hasn't done anything evil since… at least the declaration at the school festival.
 * Kanon was shocked when Schneizel reveals he has no intention of rescuing Nunnally, since he was using her as a bait to kill Lelouch.
 * A comedic example in the sound dramas of Mai Hi ME. Nagi may be a Manipulative Bastard who is working for the evil Obsidian Lord, but he reminds the viewers not to drink before they're 20, unlike Mai, Natsuki, Mikoto, Nao, Chie and Aoi.