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Better the Devil You Know: Difference between revisions
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Related to [[We Want Our Jerk Back]], [[Friendly Enemy]], and [[Worthy Opponent]]. [[Bread and Circuses]] or [[Villain With Good Publicity]] may also invoke this trope if removing the [[Big Bad]] will cause public backlash, or the heroes may fear an [[Evil Power Vacuum]].
{{examples
== Anime and Manga ==
* ''[[Gurren Lagann]]'' invokes this to an extent after the seven-year [[Time Skip]]: the tyrannical Lordgenome has been deposed, but his cryptic prediction upon his death comes to nightmarish reality as the [[Scary Dogmatic Aliens|Anti-Spiral]] invade and prove to be a far more powerful and terrifying threat than Lordgenome ever was. Lordgenome may have oppressed humankind, [[Well
* Arguably, this is the World Government's feelings toward Whitebeard from ''[[One Piece (Manga)|One Piece]]''. Sure he's a badass pirate, one of the strongest in the world, but when he's killed, the general populace is screwed over. {{spoiler|This is confirmed to be true, as many of the islands which were under his protection became instant hellholes in the space of a few days, making the New World even ''more'' chaotic than before. In addition, the one who killed him, Blackbeard, has since ceased hiding in the shadows, and decided to let everyone know he's the real deal. Not to mention Whitebeard's [[Famous Last Words]] ''actually'' exacerbating the pirate problem by giving them a reason to persevere. New Age of Pirates, indeed}}.
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** The episode where they try to sabotage the meeting between Apophis and his nephew Heru'ur, both of whom are powerful System Lords, they accidentally cause Apophis to kill Heru'ur and absorb his armies and fleets. In retrospect, an alliance between the two would've been a much more preferrable, as each would constantly try to off the other, due to their [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder]].
* Invoked word-for-word in ''[[The Thick of It]]'' by Stewart Pearson, when Cal "The Fucker" Richards descends on the Opposition. Also implied when {{spoiler|Malcolm Tucker}} is forced out by {{spoiler|Steve Fleming}}.
* ''[[
* On ''[[Jack of All Trades (TV)|Jack of All Trades]]'', Jack and Emilia often wind up helping Governor Croque to keep his job, mostly because his likely replacement would be much more competent.
* Inverted during the Dominion War on ''[[Star Trek Deep Space Nine]]''. While the station is occupied by Cardassian and Dominion troops, Kira and Odo try to play [[Big Bad Duumvirate|Gul Dukat and Weyoun]], commanders of the two factions, against each other. Kira explicitly notes they're better off trusting the devil they ''don't'' know -- because the one they do know is [[Complete Monster|Gul Dukat]].
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