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Despotism Justifies the Means: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power. Not wealth or luxury or long life or happiness: only power, pure power. What pure power means you will understand presently. We are different from all the oligarchies of the past, in that we know what we are doing. All the others, even those who resembled ourselves, were cowards and hypocrites. The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives. They pretended, perhaps they even believed, that they had seized power unwillingly and for a limited time, and that just round the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal. We are not like that. We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power."''|'''{{spoiler|O'Brien}}''', ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four (Literature)|Nineteen Eighty
Some villains commit horrific atrocities to [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|bring about]] [[Utopia Justifies the Means|a better world]], usually with the architect taking over to ensure paradise is brought about smoothly.
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For cases when the created Dystopia really is their endgame, more than power, see [[Dystopia Justifies the Means]]. For cases in which the despotism has positive side effects, see [[Pragmatic Villainy]].
{{examples|Examples of villains who seek power for its own sake include:}}▼
▲{{examples|Examples of villains who seek power for its own sake include:}}
== Anime
* Freeza of ''[[Dragon Ball]] Z'' only cares about staying in power as "The Strongest Being in the Universe" and will commit the genocide of entire races who threaten his power. That's why he seeks out immortality, so he can stay that way forever.
* ''[[Death Note]]'': Light wants more to be the [[A God Am I|God of the New World]] than he wants to [[Utopia Justifies the Means|make the world a better place]].
* [[Complete Monster|Madara]] [[Magnificent Bastard|Uchiha]], one of the [[Big Bad]]s of ''[[Naruto]]'', will occasionally try to say that his [[
* In ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', Father decides that his final evil master plan to {{spoiler|bring a god and his power into his body}} is a fine trade for {{spoiler|the 50 million+ souls of Amestris civilians.}}<ref>Basically the equivalent of killing off all Canadians and Australians or Californians and New Yorkers and then some (as of 2009).</ref>
* In ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'', Gihren Zabi fully believes this. He's a [[Social Darwinist]] and [[Adolf Hitler]]-wannabe, but his own personal power comes first and foremost. His sister, Kycilia, is more ideological than he is, but given her [[The Starscream|treacherous nature]] and desire for power, it's likely that she too subscribes to this.
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