Because I'm Good At It: Difference between revisions

* [[Elektra (Filmfilm)|Elektra]] gives this as the reason for being an assassin when [[MacGuffin Girl|Abby]] asks.

* [[Raymond E. Feist]]'s ''[[The Riftwar Cycle|Riftwar Cycle]]'' describes [[Loveable Rogue|Jimmy the Hand]] thus:

* ''[[Honor Harrington (Literature)|Honor Harrington]]'': Honor does what she does because she's "better at it than most other people" (almost direct quote from the book). Given as what she does is lead fleets into battle, and almost always wins, it might count. It's clear that she doesn't like it, just that she's very capable. She might not like the idea of killing hundreds of people on both sides in her actions, but even she admits at times that she enjoys the thrill of battle, especially if her target is [[Complete Monster|someone]] [[It's Personal|who]] [[Moral Event Horizon|deserves it]]. Her own husband calls thinks of her as the Handmaiden of Death.

* In [[Dorothy L. Sayers]]' ''[[Lord Peter Wimsey|Gaudy Night]]'', Harriet Vane discusses how she continued to write murder mysteries after being tried and acquitted for murder; she says that anyone with feeling would rather scrub floors, but it happens that she would scrub floors very badly and writes mysteries very well.

* In ''[[The Godfather (Film)|The Godfather Returns]]'', the [[Interquel]] to ''[[The Godfather (Film)|The Godfather]]'', Vito Corleone is suggested as following this trope. During a flashback history lesson, the book discusses Vito's early days as Don. While his children were still growing up, Vito used his Genco Olive Oil delivery trucks to deliver alcohol during Prohibition, amongst other things. As Prohibition came to an end, Sonny and Fredo had joined "the family business".<br /><br />Even so, he had amassed millions of dollars: A staggering amount of money in the 20's and 30's that would let him and his family live in comfort for the rest of their days. Instead, he tried to form an alliance with Maranzano, the kingpin of New York. Maranzano refused, beginning the Castellammarese War that ended up Vito as the undisputed head of New York's underworld. Vito had made his fortune without stepping on anyone's toes and had sworn that his children wouldn't have to follow in his footsteps.<br /><br />With such a fortune and his own wits, there were any number of legal businesses and ventures he could have undertaken. However, the book suggests that once Sonny and Fredo were part of his business, he had to continue on the path he's chosen. Not only because he was so good at it, but because his two oldest sons were not good at anything else. Left on their own, with no supervision or protection, no real skills or education, and a criminal mindset, Vito felt they would both be dead within a year.<br /><br />This is also why Michael stays with gangstering later books. He keeps insisting he's somewhat ashamed of the family history and keeps wanting to go legit and "they're always pulling him back in", but the fact is he's really good as a ruthless criminal mastermind.

* In the ''[[Discworld (Literature)|Discworld]]'' novel, ''[[Discworld (Literature)/The Light Fantastic|The Light Fantastic]]'', there's a master architect. Every time he makes something, the person who hired him to do it maims him in an attempt to make sure nobody ever makes anything better. He doesn't get a less dangerous job because he's good at it.

* ''[[Law and Order: Criminal Intent]]'': One episode featured a handwriting expert who used his skills for nefarious purposes, "because I'm brilliant at what I do!". The expert was played by one [[Stephen Colbert]].

* In the ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'' serial ''City of Death'', [[Not So Different|the Fourth Doctor and Professor Kerensky debate the ethics of messing with time]], and the Doctor replies, "Well, I'm a professional; I know what I'm doing." Then again, the Time Lords ''are'' professional time-travelers who make sure that the timeline doesn't get too screwed-up.

** [[Pirate Girl|Isabela]] in [[Dragon Age II|the sequel]] gives this as an excuse for her continued career as a pirate (other than simply [[Chaotic Neutral|enjoying the freedom that comes with it]]), though other characters have pointed out that her skills could easily be put to use doing something else, and unlike [[Distaff Counterpart|Zevran]], she ''chose'' to become a pirate and there's no one threatening to hunt her down if she quits ( {{spoiler|Castillion comes close, but he really only cares about the tome she stole, not what she does with her life afterwords}}). One could make the case that this actually makes her come off as much more selfish, given how easily she can ignore the people her actions hurt. {{spoiler|The Qunari Incident perfectly demonstrates what happens when this tendency reaches its zenith, leaving ''several hundred people dead'' because of her, yet it also marks the point where she starts to go through a bit of [[Character Development]]. Provided she [[You Lose At Zero Trust|has a good enough relationship]] with [[The Hero|Hawke]] and doesn't [[So Long and Thanks For All Thethe Gear|run off]] first.}}

* ''[[Xiaolin Showdown (Animation)|Xiaolin Showdown]]'': Subverted when Jack Spicer quits being evil only to turn back again when he is afraid he'll actually be ''worse'' at being good than he was at being bad.