Even Evil Has Standards/Comic Books

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Because even when you're psychotic, you still have to protect the American way.

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Examples of Even Evil Has Standards/Comic Books include:
  • The Hutts in Star Wars Legacy undergo this after Vul Isen callously slaughters refugees fleeing the genocide of Dac (which incidentally, he carried out). The Hutts might be corrupt, but killing innocent refugees is apparently the line they cannot tolerate. (If nothing else, that means less prospective slaves or customers for illicit or smuggled goods.) Of course, given that the nephew of a high ranking Hutt died for sheltering them, revenge is partially responsible.
  • This trope explains it all, and made life difficult for the Marvel Universe Nazi villain Red Skull, as the other villains he has teamed with, notably Magneto, have ultimately attempted to kill him. Magneto even left him Buried Alive. Given that Magneto is Jewish (or possibly Roma, depending on which sources you believe) and a Holocaust survivor (in all sources), though, this isn't entirely unexpected...
    • Pictured in the main page and here: In a Batman / Captain America crossover book, The Joker abruptly ends a partnership with Red Skull when his affiliation comes out. Red Skull simply wonders why he is so surprised when he thinks that the Joker would make a great Nazi. The Joker is not too happy at this, proclaiming "I may be a criminal lunatic, but I'm an American criminal lunatic!" Yes, folks, even an equal-opportunity murderer like the Joker despises the Nazis! It makes even more sense when you realize that the Nazis systematically killed anyone with any mental illness, and the Joker is a self-proclaimed "agent of chaos". He's very random in his killing, does anything he can to get a laugh, and is just generally insane. The Nazis are complete opposites. They're a dead serious organization which sticks their noses down on those with mental illnesses and who have a very systematic and bureaucratic method of killing, not to mention no sense of humor. They represent everything the Joker is against, so this becomes twice as funny after you've read a short story in one of the Batman prose collections, where the Joker falls in love/lust/something with a female Nazi, and to get on her good side, eagerly helps the Reich with its war plans. Though it turns out to be all All Just a Dream, brought on during one of his shock therapy treatments at Arkham Asylum.
      • Still, The Joker is the incarnation of Depending on the Writer, and that was one of the tamer versions. Some other versions probably wouldn't have given a damn, if they'd even partner with anyone else at all.
      • Also, The Joker does go mano a mano with the Red Skull, though "it ends in a draw": In their fight inside a bomber, the releases on the nuke they are fighting on are released. This causes the bomber's doors to open and dump Skull, Joker and the nuke over the ocean...where the next two pages show a mushroom cloud. Keep in mind, though, they're using the "Golden Age" Joker, where he would have these scruples in World War II.
    • Doctor Doom is a Roma, Kingpin is an all-American capitalism... let's face it, being a Nazi tends to make most non-Complete Monster Marvel villains enemies by default.
      • The Red Skull is a monster even by Nazi standards, and that's basically the whole point of him (according to the backstory account of Hitler more or less taking him on as a protege on what amounts to a bet that he could make him into the ultimate Nazi). How totally monstrous the Skull became is illustrated by what he ultimately did to his mentor: Imprisoned in an inescapable, formless, empty void. By pure trickery. (The fact Hitler wasn't nearly as good a strategist as he thought he was, in real life or comics, probably helped.)
      • Though recently, Doom had no problem giving Red Skull one of his time machines, though that's probably because he got something out of it. The two of them do little more than very rare business encounters. And they've fought on the Moon.
    • Red Skull is such a Complete Monster that fellow Nazi Baron Heinric Zemo hated him. Oddly, his son Helmut Zemo had no problem working with Skull.
    • The Original Baron Zemo didn't hate the Skull because he was evil. He hated the Skull because he was a rival for power.
  • This became a subplot in Final Crisis with Lex Luthor and Dr. Sivana. Originally in league with Libra, both quickly started covertly planning against Libra when they realized the true extent of Darkseid and Libra's plans. Lex decided he rather liked life (as opposed to anti-life) and Sivana said watching his own daughter submit to the Anti-Life Equation was the last straw. Libra's statement that leading the rearguard would grant Lex first line in what was implied to be a rape train on Supergirl probably helped to push Lex to find his moral fortitude as well.
  • The Joker himself has run into problems thanks to this trope. Whenever a new Society of Super Villains comes together, The Joker is often excluded. Partly because he is not much of a team player and considered far too "unprofessional", and partly because all the other villains are flat fucking terrified of him. Summed up best by this quote:

The Trickster: Good going, Neron. Pick a guy no one wants to be in the room with. When villains want to scare each other, they tell Joker stories.

    • He's the Joker. He invited himself.
    • On the other hand, Lex Luthor generally makes it a point to invite the Joker to his super-villain team-ups. Granted, he does this for the pragmatic reason that as uncontrollable as the Joker is, it's still better to have him going hog-wild on the heroes than on your super-villain team-up because he thinks you snubbed him. The wrap-up of Infinite Crisis makes this a plot point.
    • The Joker himself demonstrated this during the Emperor Joker storyline in the Superman series. Given ultimate power, Joker kills Batman in horrific ways after resurrecting him every night, kills everyone associated closely with Batman (Robin, Nightwing, Huntress), eats all the billion-plus people in China, plans on destroying the entire universe... but when a twisted Jimmy Olsen offers to help the boss by killing Superman (at the time turned into a regular dog), Joker is not pleased.

Joker: Sorry, kid. Try as I might, I just can't find anything funny in killing a dumb animal... *Jimmy gets beaten to death by robots wielding giant rubber chickens*

    • In the Last Laugh storyline, The Joker is in prison and he is invited to join the Aryan gang. He declines, stating "I may be evil, but you guys are just plain mean."
    • Being the Joker, he tends to avoid committing crimes that have no sense of humor. Yes, the Joker can deal with some really sick comedy, but it has to generate, or at least try to generate some laugh. And if not targeting your funny bones, it should be artistic and/or have a point. Trying to drive a man insane to prove a point. Joker says yes. Electrocuting joy buzzer? Hilarity. Stealing a kid's college money. Sorry, but that's not funny.
  • Lobo. For all of the Omnicidal Maniac that he may be (just remember what he did to his homeworld), he will ALWAYS stick to his word. ALWAYS.
    • And God help you if you harm his beloved space dolphins.
  • In the last chapter of the The Monster Society of Evil as Mister Mind is being tried, his lawyer, who he knows to be a slick Amoral Attorney, hears of Mister Mind's crimes and tells Mister Mind he hopes he gets the electric chair.
  • Arkham Asylum: Living Hell has the Joker talking down to a scam-artist corporate executive who got himself judged "Not guilty by reason of insanity." Granted, he's usually crazily giggling and "playing" with cultural values, and bashing executives sounds right up his alley... except he and the plot are completely serious about this. As far as can be told, the issue here is that Warren White is just an asshole. More specifically he says "I've killed people, but I didn't steal their kid's college funds."
    • Hilariously, the Joker isn't the only one who does this in the story. Everyone the scam artist meets in Arkham calls him the "worst man I've ever met". The asylum director, Humpty Dumpty, the Joker, and even demons from hell. And Humpty is Warren's friend.
    • Oddly enough, White doesn't suffer from this after he truly goes insane and ends up looking like a sharkman after an encounter with Mr. Freeze. The other villains love him and are happy to take advantage of the services he offers unaware, of course, that he made a Deal with the Devil that will let him torture them in Hell after they all eventually die.
  • Batman villain Firefly, a professional arsonist, was working side-by-side with Killer Moth for a short while before Moth realized just how batshit crazy Firefly was (one of the things mentioned was his supposedly seeing visions in the flames, for starters) and cut things short because he genuinely feared for his life. He's probably one of a very few members of Batman's rogues gallery besides Mister J who scares the living fuck out of his fellow villains.
  • Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, a mass murderer who repeatedly kills scores of people for 'offenses' such as chewing in an annoying manner or using the word 'wacky', not to mention having a several floors deep Torture Cellar, becomes extremely disgusted upon learning that his own antics has inspired an Ascended Fanboy serial killer... Who also turns out to be a rapist, which is the one line Johnny himself will not cross. Johnny mentions that this limitation gives him no absolution. It might be because some of the things he does to his victims are just as bad as rape, and also because his aversion to rape isn't so much a standard as it is a natural result of his hatred of physical contact and giving in to bodily desires.
    • He also seems to be protective of his neighbor Squee, in his own warped way, especially when he rips apart the pedophile who's taken Squee out behind the mall.

"You flaw. At least I'm under the delusion of doing something productive."

  • Hunter Rose, protagonist of the early Grendel stories by Matt Wagner, was a sadistic, sociopathic crime-lord/hired assassin, who made a point of suppressing all underage prostitution within New York. In his first ever appearance he cheerfully guts the head of the largest child prostitution ring in the city, commenting "I no like dat."
    • Also, he will not kill in front of a child, even if it leaves witnesses to one of his crimes.
  • In Geoff Johns's mid-2000's run of The Flash, Captain Cold violently beats his fellow Rogue Mirror Master for using cocaine. Justified in that he wants to run an efficient ship, and drugged-up partners aren't very conducive to that.
    • Captain Cold has a record of this: during Identity Crisis, he was noted to have sent flowers to the funeral of the murdered wife of superhero Elongated Man. He's generally been portrayed as viciously mercenary, but strictly professional. It's never--well, rarely--personal.
      • He and the Rogues also stop cold during the middle of a robbery when they find out about it. This is partly because they knew that superheroes would be on the rampage after Sue's death, but it was also out of respect for one of their foes.
    • Cold also mentions breaking Axel (Trickster II's) ribs and docking his take after he caught the kid tying bombs to dogs and homeless people to make snuff films. Axel's a bit of a psychopath, Len tries to keep him... straight... ish.
    • Mirror Master himself, despite being a merc/assassin (and apparently an on-again off-again cokehead), will not kill children.
    • Most of the Rogues have some line they won't cross; Gorilla Grodd, Kadabra and the Reverse-Flashes are the exceptions. It's mentioned several times that the other rogues do not consider these homicidal maniacs part of the team.
    • It's one reason the Rogues keep to themselves. When Libra was recruiting other supervillains to join his team, the Rogues turned him down. They just steal stuff--mass murdering of superheroes and civilians isn't their game. (Though this may have to do with Pragmatic Villainy.)
    • In Blackest Night, when the Rogues discover that Captain Boomerang Jr. has been "feeding" people to his Black Lantern dad--including, apparently, women and children--in a desperate attempt to restore him to life, the Rogues kill him (by tossing him to the tender mercies of his own father) after Captain Cold directly declares "The Rogues don't kill women or children."
    • In one Silver Age story the Trickster breaks into a hobby store and weaponizes three of the toys in stock to use in robberies, but goes to the trouble of going in the next day and buying them (instead of just walking off with them while he was there) because he's "not a mean man." Subverted in the same story, combined with Hypocritical Humor, when he comments that, not being a mean man, he wouldn't normally endanger civilians -- but it's worth it to distract the Flash, who will save them all anyway.
    • In another Silver Age story, Captain Cold is offended that Heat Wave served his sentence and was released on parole instead of breaking out -- "If there's one thing I hate more than a straight man, it's a crook that pretends to go straight!" To take revenge, he plans to trick him into killing Barry Allen, because Heat Wave will be demoralized and easy to capture once he realizes he murdered an innocent.
  • Set up to be Lampshaded, when Luthor decides on members for his new Injustice Gang. Cheetah objects to recruiting Doctor Light because he was a rapist, but Luthor dismisses this reasoning, stating that "if we want to limit our membership to people of good character...". Later, Cheetah has Dr. Light at her mercy, and evokes this trope... sorta:

Cheetah: Did you think I would work with a rapist without there being consequences?!?
Dr. Light: But... you're... you're a murderer...
Cheetah [raising her claws to eviscerate him]: Do as I say, not as I do.

  • In the late Bronze Age story "The Einstein Connection" by Elliot S! Maggin (a writer who had a definite soft spot for the original Mad Scientist Lex), we learn that one of the few people the brilliant Luthor unabashedly considers a personal hero is Albert Einstein. While fleeing Superman at one point, he passes a body of water and sees somebody drowning. Though grumbling about it, he dives in and rescues the person, even though it costs him his escape, because he just can't bring himself to act like an S.O.B. on Einstein's birthday.
  • In the final Ms. Tree stories, when the title character is heavily pregnant, there are multiple attempts to kill her. The current head of the Muerta crime family, who now considers the detective family because of her son's strong relationship with his niece, confronts the man who commissioned the attempts and tells him that had he known that Tree was the target he would never have agreed to it. However, what really sets him off is Tree's current state; he roars, "You tried to kill a pregnant woman, have you no shame?!" and immediately orders his goons to kill him.
  • In the retelling of Sleeping Beauty featured in the comic Castle Waiting, Satan himself proves to have standards. Disgusted with the evil witch being willing to Curse an innocent baby then subvert the attempts to get around her curse, he disguises himself as the Opinicus (a griffin-like creature) and carries her off to Hell personally. The demon Leeds complains that he loses more friends that way.
  • In many cases, there are Decepticons in Transformers who are despicable even by Decepticon standards and roundly viewed with abhorrence by their comrades. Like the cannibal Skullcruncher, who devours downed enemies solely for symbolism (as he can't get nutrients from eating other Cybertronians and doesn't care for the taste, though he's occasionally been said to be able to regenerate faster doing it), or the especially cruel and bullying Motormaster.
    • Heck, there's at least one Autobot who goes above and beyond Decepticon standards. Repugnus is... special like that... Repugnant.
    • Sunstreaker, who was actually diagnosed as a sociopath in one profile. Or Blaze Master who laughs as he burns Decepticons alive. Or Arcee who in the IDW books is a mass murdering torturer who likes to slowly kill her enemies. Or Fortress Maximus in the IDW material who's very clearly a sadistic fascist. As the series has evolved Grey and Grey Morality has definitely emerged.
    • In the final issue of IDW's All Hail Megatron limited series, Thundercracker spoils Megatron's plan to nuke New York City because he felt that the Curb Stomp Battle of the Decepticons against the humans was beneath the Decepticons' standards.
    • Megatron could arguably be at his most evil (and most good, for that matter) in the IDW comics, but when Thunderwing showed him his method of creating Pretender shells, which consisted of using living Transformer tissue, it was so horrific that even he rejected it and called Thunderwing mad. (He also fought alongside Optimus Prime against Thunderwing, when the scientist's self-experimentation resulted in him becoming a completely insane engine of destruction.) In addition, Razorclaw was ordered by Megatron to destroy Cybertron to stop Thunderwing; Razorclaw disliked the idea enough to put in a killswitch on the device that would disarm it if they could stop Thunderwing within a certain amount of time.
    • Aside from Swoop and Sludge, the Dinobots are also often portrayed as being Jerkasses (Snarl), bullies (Grimlock), or out-and-out sadists (Slag), and even the shy Swoop and amiably dim Sludge cross into these areas at times... but while some treatments have them considering it, they haven't ever actually joined the Decepticons.
    • In Last Standofthe Wreckers, Snare eventually rebels against Overlord's insane reign over Garrus-9 after being forced to recycle a dead Autobot and watch the execution of Rotorstorm. Keep in mind, Snare was part of Stalker's torture team only a short while before.
  • While not quite evil, Sistah Spooky pushed aside her severe dislike of Empowered to warn her of an upcoming Humiliation Conga. Even she didn't like seeing what had happened before happen again, even to Empowered.
  • An interesting example from Incredible Hercules. Hera, currently running the Olympus Corp, has a plan. A big plan. As of the writing of this entry, we don't entirely know what it is. What we do know, though, is that Norman "Green Goblin" Osborn, one of the ultimate dog kickers in Marvel as a whole, is downright aghast when he finds out what it is! If the man who is turning the world into his own personal oyster, and taking numerous baddies along for the ride, sees something as going too far, then that should be ringing a multitude of alarms.
    • Turns out it was the destruction of this universe in favour of one of Hera's own creation. No wonder even Norman couldn't stomach that.
  • Secret Six, a comic about a team of supervillain mercenaries, gets quite a lot of play out of the fact that, while they're all evil, the main characters all have different standards. In one issue Deadshot shoots an escaping slave in the back.

Deadshot: She ran, I shot. I don't know what you want from me.
Bane: Murdering slaves? Have you no scruples at all, mercenary?

  • Watchmen: The Comedian, known for beating and attempting to rape the first Silk Spectre and shooting a pregnant woman who was carrying his child (in the stomach), is horrified when he discovers Ozymandias' plans. Since Comedian was at best a sociopath who, by his own words, saw life as one big Nihilistic joke, another interpretation is that what terrified and upset Comedian was less the lives lost, but more the possibility that Ozymandius' plan would succeed and create a world that he would have no place in.
  • In Witch Girls Tales, Card-Carrying Villain Princess Lucinda tends to make statements along the lines of this trope when justifying her Noble Demon tendencies. Well, either that, or turn the person who dares to doubt her evil into a frog.
  • Before Parker Robbins become The Hood, he was a thief, liar and supervillain fan who seduced and knocked up a gorgeous girl, and was cheating on her with a Russian prostitute. His cousin, John King, is an alcoholic who never worked a single legal job in his life. But when an agent of terrorist organization HYDRA offered them a job, they told him about how much they hate terrorists, beat him and stole his shoes.
    • Would have stolen the suit but John pissed on him.
  • From War of Kings: Vulcan is a Complete Monster and a Galactic Conqueror, but even he found Black Bolt's Assimilation Plot a terrible thing.
  • In Legion of Super-Heroes: Legion of Three Worlds, when Superboy Prime frees all of the villains held captive on the prison planet, a temporary truce is called and all internal politics are abolished until the Legion is dealt with. However, the vast majority of the inmates make it very clear that once this is all over, they're coming for fellow prisoner Earth-Man and his Justice League of Earth, a gang of Terran supremacists who are essentially the 31st century version of the Aryan Nation.
  • In X-Force (the team that later became X-Statix), while the team isn't evil they're certainly amoral. However, when they see the patently insane and violent (even by their standards) Corkscrew making his way through team tryouts like a pro, it's decided that the only option is to have Doop take him out back and murder him with a logging axe.
  • In Sonic the Hedgehog, if you're a Grandmaster of the Dark Legion, expect to face off against this trope eventually; former Omnicidal Maniac Dimitri has a lot of these, ever since his depowerment, most notably his balking at reviving his previous Super-Powered Evil Side Enerjak, even though it would've restored him to health (even going so far as to warn his enemy Knuckles of Enerjak's return); and his usurper and current Grandmaster Lien-Da, who has no problems with performing Klingon Promotions and Mind Controlling the Legion as a way of gaining status, or torturing a former ally to death with a smile on her face, turns on her ally Shadow in the Mobius: X Years Later storyline, after it's revealed he's going to destroy the world with an Eldritch Abomination.
  • Wonder Woman foe Dr. T.O. Morrow eventually turns against his own creation Genocide and works to help the Amazons defeat it, because he's of Polish ancestry and doesn't want anything to do with a creature who is the personification of genocide.
  • In the twelfth ever issue of Daredevil, Matt Murdock happens to be on the very cruise ship boarded by fearsome pirate the Plunderer. After changing into his Daredevil costume and pounding the Plunderer's goons, he makes a break for the man himself. But the Plunderer's taken hostages and threatens to toss them overboard into the shark-infested waters unless Daredevil surrenders. Not willing to risk their lives, DD relents, and one of the Plunderer's crewmen suggests tossing him overboard instead. The Plunderer is positively outraged at the very suggestion: "Silence, you scurvy toad! I have given my word!" For his part, Daredevil is impressed.
    • One Daredevil graphic novel has a mob boss refusing to let the Mafia make money from rackets such as drugdealing and child prostitution; the mob may be criminals, but they aren't animals. Unfortunately for him, his consilgiere is Wilson Fisk, better known as the Kingpin, who snaps his neck and takes over. It's implied that Fisk was actually privately encouraging the guy to take a stand on this issue, just so he could have an excuse for his murderous coup.
    • Kingpin has been the subject of flip-flops of epic proportions: either he thinks drug dealing is rock bottom, or he's single-handedly keeping about half the world's drug barons in business.
  • In an early issue of Matt Fraction's Invincible Iron Man, Ezekiel Stane murders a bunch of tobacco executives after explaining to them that, even if he makes of weapons for terrorists and psychos, is disgusted by how they make their money.

Ezekiel: I might deal with murderers, but you guys -- you guys are addicting kids and murdering them yourselves.

    • Though given what Ezekiel gets up to in that story arc, it's pretty obvious he's kind of a hypocrite, even if he did mean that seriously.
  • In the Fantastic Four Unlimited from July 1995, the villain Maelstrom is willing to destroy the universe... but not his own son.

Maelstrom: But-- I'll NOT slay my own offspring!
Antman: I can't believe this! Maelstrom-- going paternal on us!?

  • Parodied in Runaways with Chase's mom, who reacts with horror at the suggestion that she get an abortion, saying it would make her a monster... while standing in front of the human sacrifice she is about to make in order to bring about the end of the world.
  • Spider-Man examples:
    • In an issue of Marvel Adventures Spider-Man, the Grey Gargoyle is commissioned by a wealthy client to steal the Venus De Milo, once he returns with the stolen statue, the client has one more job for him; to petrify a kidnapped super model so he can chop off her arms and put them on the statue. The Gargoyle responds by apologizing to the young lady for what she's been put through then petrifying his former client before he leaves.
    • Jonathan Caesar was a Yandere obsessed with Mary Jane, who was willing to commit murder to have her and ruin her life to break her spirit. However, he was disgusted by a mercenary he hired who killed animals for fun, calling him a "barbarian".
    • During the X-Men crossover Inferno, Jason Macendale (aka the Hobgoblin) tries to sell his soul to the demonic N'Astirh in exchange for increased power. N'Astith responds by laughing in Macendale's face, telling him that his soul is so warped and disgusting that not even a demon would want to buy it.
    • In the one shot issue brought out to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11 Doctor Doom, Kingpin and Magneto turn up to help with the rescue effort at the World Trade Centre along with all the heroes, and superheroes. This drew criticism, because some of the villains featured have been shown to do worse or as bad as that. Heck, one of them was Juggernaut, who's actually attacked the WTC himself in the past.
    • For a very long time, Spider-Man villain the Lizard was unable to harm Billy Connors, the son of his human alter ego. At some point, this was no longer the case, and the Lizard devoured Billy - much to Connors's horror.
  • In Garfield His 9 Lives the Incredibly Huge Galactic War Fleet claims to have no hearts. However, they do "appreciate a tidy ship," and so give Garfield two extra minutes to get his spaceship cleaned up before they atomize him.
  • Dr. Doom once hired Typhoid Mary to steal the Power Pack's alien technology, but called it off when she decided the best way to do it was by assassinating their father. After the way he tragically lost his parents, he couldn't stand the thought of the Pack being orphaned the way he was. Which makes it odd that he's willing to do it to Franklin and Valeria. But then, that's RICHAAAARRRRRDSSSSS!
    • Doom also has no tolerance for racism. In the mini-series Emperor Doom, when he finally succeeds in taking over the world, one of the first things he does is end apartheid in South Africa.
  • In the original Alien vs. Predator comic miniseries that kicked the crossover off, the clan leader kills one of the younger hunters when he sees a child's skull in the other's trophy bag. That is part of the Predators' code--only those who can defend themselves, otherwise it's not sporting.
  • In one issue of Simpsons Comics, Mr. Burns tricks Homer into starring in a deadly gameshow. While Homer struggles to get through a maze full of traps, Burns sits in a control room pondering what to throw at him. We're shown some very dangerous and downright cruel things... but he draws the line at making Homer listen to James Cameron's infamous Oscar acceptance speech on a continuous loop, as he's "still a human being".
  • Deadpool has standards, despite being a Comedic Sociopath, and certifiably insane (he has TWO voices in his head, and has regular hallucinations). He's a mercenary, not a monster, and there are more than a few people who sicken even him.
    • He is also not above giving What the Hell, Hero? moments when other people crosses the lines even he wouldn't, like in Uncanny X-Force, where he gives one of these to entire team about the fact they let Fantomex kill Kid Apocalypse.
  • In Darkwing Duck, Steelbeak isn't pulling a Heel Face Turn, but unleashing Duckthulu? Even he has his limits. Only not really.
  • In the Wolverine story The Adamantium Men, Wolverine and his rival combatant (part of a twelve-man mercenary team, employed by Blackguard and made to emulate Wolverine with laser claws and nanite healing factors) are busy fighting in the streets of San Francisco. The two have by this point fought all the way to street level and are about to deliver what might be the deathblow, when they see a schoolbus full of young children. To spare them from harm (and the trauma of their very violent combat) they retract their claws and let the bus pass, then choose to move in case another one passes. To clarify, the rival was dishonourably discharged for unknown reasons.
    • It gets a bit confusing when you remember that at the very start of the issue the team were shown killing three children. Admittedly the rival may not have actually been there.
  • In Batman Incorporated, one member of the blue-collar crime gang Joe Average and the Average Joes gets very annoyed when it's suggested they have a conection to the similar French group Les Stereotypes, who run a child-slavery ring.
  • In the first crossover between Spider-Man and Superman, Lex Luthor and Doctor Octopus join forces to create a worldwide hurricane, to blackmail the planet for ten billion dollars. Eventually, however, Luthor reveals that no matter whether they get paid or not, he's going to let the storm run rampant and wipe out humanity to pay them back for laughing at him. This is too much for Octopus, and he smashes the machine generating the hurricane.
  • Using Wasp as a living bomb was apparently too much for even Norman Osborn and Bullseye. When the whole force of Marvel's heroes charged the Skrulls in vengeful rage, they joined in, looking just as pissed for what just happened as the good guys.
  • IDW's Transformers series, at least initially. The Autobots and Decepticons are out to destroy each other. But they both adhere to the Code of Interplanetary Conflict, which lists rules that the war must follow.
  • In the Italian Disney stories about Paperinik the Devilish Avenger (Donald Duck's vigilante secret identity), Paperinik has committed his fair share of crimes (his first story sees him stealing Scrooge's mattress while he's sleeping on it, and he beated up and humiliated other characters and the police many times, even throwing Gladstone down of the wall of a castle before the whole population of Duckburg), but he always drew the line at gratuitous crimes and actually profiting from them (at worst he forces people who stole from him as Donald to pay him back more money than they stole from him), resulting in him capturing and handing to the police about half of Duckburg's criminal population.
  • In Peter David's "Countdown" story arc in The Incredible Hulk, the villainous Leader, who once gamma-bombed a town of 5,000 people just to see how many would survive (answer: five), states that he can't bring himself to kill his own brother.
  • Darkseid from DC Comics seems to fall under this. Despite being one of the most evil beings in existence, he does keep his word, such as letting Batman and Supergirl go during the Supergirl arc of Superman/Batman when Bats threatened to destroy his planet. That said, it didn't stop him from coming down to Earth to royally fuck up Superman, who was not part of the deal. There's also the whole deal with trading sons as a peace treaty. He'll find a loophole, but he usually doesn't betray his deals or promises.
  • Knights of the Dinner Table Illustrated: Knuckles captured a member of the cult that tortured Thorina. Knowing that Knuckles intended to kill him, and knowing also the Untouchable Trio's notorious reputation for greed and selfishness, the cultist tried to persuade Knuckles to join his cult instead, offering lavish rewards. Knuckles mentally pictured himself torturing Thorina, and then promptly killed the cultist, saying, "Sorry, bud, but even I've got standards."
  • Yet another one pertaining to Luthor: in Superman: The Black Ring, when Larfleeze discovers what Luthor truly wants, he is horrified, saying that even he doesn't want that. Larfleeze is the embodiment of Greed, up to this point, he had never known something he didn't want to have, but Luthor's goal repulses even him.
  • From Underworld Unleashed; Neron makes Faustian Pacts with dozens of villains, but some villains he makes the offers to refuse them, including Poison Ivy, the Scarecrow, the Riddler, and the Prankster. The Fiddler claims he figured out Neron was the Devil right away and wants no part of it, while the Shade rudely tells him to "go peddle his wares elsewhere." Spellbinder refuses, and unfortunately, his girlfriend accepts, kills Spellbinder and takes his place as the new Spellbinder. Neron has one here too; when Vandal Savage learns of the deals, he wants in and offers his soul; Neron doesn't want it claiming it is "black and tasteless"
  • In the short-lived Penthouse Comix series Young Captain Adventure, the villain Doomblood (a Corrupt Corporate Executive in his "civilian" identity and something of a pervert in both) opens fire on Captain Adventure and Hericane while the two are, uhm, intimate, done on the advice of his Amoral Attorney:

Lawyer: Don't worry, D.B., everything's strictly according to the code. They've clear violated certain public standards of decency and under the relevant New York City zoning regs - 436-67A&B as well as the anti-hate crime and bias laws. You were clearly authorized to use deadly force to protect your airspace.
Doomblood: Well that's just peachy. And they call me evil.

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