Even Evil Has Standards/Live-Action TV: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
* The Drazens in ''[[24]]'' agree to spare Kim Bauer's life in exchange for Jack surrendering himself to them after originally planning to kill them both.
* In ''[[Bull]]'' : ''The Good One'' there is a subversion. One of the son's (Brendon) of a family of Irish mobsters, murders a judge who was about to try his father and than forces (as in with a pistol) his brother, Conor to be his getaway driver.Jason Bull's legal team tries to convince to testify the truth, which was that Conor had never taken part in the family business, planned to be a doctor and was guilty of no more than learning the only good thing about his kin. That is he never was [[Honor Before Reason|willing to testify against them even when on trial for his life]]. Brendon however, aside from being a an obscenly evil character that only a brother could love, was a [[Dirty Coward|nasty little coward]] and he turns States and ''lies'' about Conor, saying he was the inspiration for the murder of all things. Of course this is doubly subverted because Brendon pays the [[Laser-Guided Karma|traditional price]] and gets stabbed by a hitter who by chance was in the same prison. Bull in an interesting twist actually suspects the mother, who had given up on Brendon and just wanted Conor free of the life and might have been willing to [[Knight Templar Parent|go to extremes.]]
* In [[Drrt|D!rt]], main character Lucy Spiller has a reputation of being evil incarnate. However, she holds journalistic integrity above all else; she's only interested in the truth, not gossip (no matter how big it may be), and she always protects her sources.
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'' deconstructs this trope in the episode "Boom Town", which features the return of the Slitheen, aliens who had previously appeared in "Aliens of London" and "World War III." This time the only surviving character from those episodes has had herself installed as mayor of Cardiff and is planning to destroy the city to get herself home. However, when she is about to kill a reporter who is getting too close to the truth, she stops when she learns that the intended victim is pregnant. It leads to this exchange between her and the Doctor:
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'''The Doctor:''' "You let one of them go, but that's nothing new. Every now and then a little victim is spared because she smiled, 'cause he's got freckles, 'cause they begged...and that's how you live with yourself. That's how you slaughter millions, because once in a while, on a whim, if the wind's in the right direction, you ''happen'' to be kind." }}
** Played straight in "Journey's End", where {{spoiler|a ''Dalek''}} actually pulls a [[Heel Face Turn]]. {{spoiler|Said Dalek, Dalek Caan, had been exposed to the time vortex and was witness to literally every act the Daleks have and ever would commit. This perspective made him decide that it was time for ''all'' Daleks to die. Note that Caan was actually one of the more "conservative" (read: stubbornly genocidal) members of the Skaro Cult and initially had no hesitation in destroying an entire species}}.
** In the novelisation of "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S25/E01 Remembrance of the Daleks|Remembrance of the Daleks]]", it's explained that the Daleks, [[Omnicidal Maniac
* [[Double the Fist]]. "Eating babies is Unaustralian!"
* In ''[[Dexter]]'', [[Serial Killer]] for Justice Dexter Morgan has a strict code he adheres to driving him to kill only people who have somehow escaped justice. When he confronts a [[Serial Killer]] of children, Dexter states his revulsion for his crimes with the claim, "I have standards."
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** Lindsey decided that he "wanted out" of Wolfram & Hart when they tried to get him to defend a woman for killing three blind children and their teacher. And again later when he discovered that they kept people in storage for spare parts. Of couse, when Lindsey stands up to the firm and comes out on top, the firm ''rewards'' his guts and cleverness. They know they'd be far better with him on their side.
*** With him, it was probably similar to the Doctor Who example above.
* [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]:
** In
** Another example of Spike being appalled by Angelus' actions, albeit about a much ''much'' lesser crime, is the ''[[Angel]]'' episode "Destiny". William the Bloody (the future Spike), newly vamped, confides in Angelus about how he is completely in love with Drusilla, and he even considers her his "destiny". Angelus then goes and sleeps with Drusilla, just to piss William off. William is shocked and appalled by both Angelus and Drusilla, who taunt him and tell him that being a vampire means [[Even Evil Has Standards]] basically goes out the window. Judging by the above example, he never learned this.
** Vampires and demons are supposed to give the mortals a break on Halloween. Spike treats those who violates this rule with disdain.
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*** Faith doesn't really count, because it wasn't so much that she ''enjoyed'' killing, so much than she was digging herself deeper and deeper after the first kill. After the initial shock of killing a man, she tried to hide, then bury, then conceal her guilt by pinning the blame on Buffy because she was afraid of going to prison. Even when she joined the Mayor, she was only rationalising her murders with the fact that "Boss wants you dead" because she valued the Mayor's approval so much, shutting off her empathy. It's not until she {{spoiler|switched bodies with Buffy and found herself [[Becoming the Mask]]}} that she finally started to really recognise that she'd been wrong and tried hard to repent for her actions.
**** On top of that, Faith only went to work for the Mayor because of Wesley's actions (trying to ship her back to England for punishment of what was an understandable accident, right when she was most vulnerable). That betrayal drove her to the Mayor, who she felt she could trust.
** Principal Synder made Buffy's life a living hell the three years he held the position, such as framing her for murder, covering up the numerous supernatural-related killings of students, and attempted to use a [[Uriah Gambit]] on her and the other Scoobies more than once. However, despite being the Mayor's henchman in all but name, he would ''not'' approve of the Mayor's plan to sacrifice infants in order to summon a demon called Lurconis, and aided the Slayer in preventing it.
* In ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'', Anubis was once expelled for committing "crimes unspeakable even for a Goa'uld". What these are [[Noodle Incident|is never mentioned]], but considering that Goa'uld [[Evil Overlord|System Lords]] are quite capable of torturing even their own kind to death only to resurrect them and start over again (and again. and again. and again. and again...), this says quite a lot.
* ''[[Malcolm in the Middle]]'' episode "Evacuation", where, even in school gym where the neighborhood is staying (because Hal's couch accidentally tipped over a train carrying radioactive waste), Malcolm is still grounded, despite not being at home. When Malcolm has had enough and sarcastically asks Lois if she's going to spank him, she puts Malcolm over her knee and... [[What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?|lightly taps him on the butt.]] EVERYONE IN THE GYM reacts with silent shock as if it's the worst thing ever and Lois is banished outside along with Hal, Reese and Dewey, [[Earn Your Happy Ending|while Malcolm finally gets peace.]] Though Reese was banished for setting up a black market, Hal for causing the problem, and Dewey and been telling people his family was dead to get sympathy (and toys).
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** In the Season 4 episode Pink Champagne on Ice a Women who is planning to rob a casino kills her accomplice, finding him too evil as he laughs about killing the room-mate of the girl he kidnapped as a hostage. The Women, Trish, is prepared to kill the hostage and two people who can recognise her despite them giving her the money. She says she would have felt terrible about it though.
* While Raymond "Red" Reddington, from NBC’s ''The Blacklist'', maybe a former government agent prior to [[Face Heel Turn| his life as a wanted fugitive]], he [[Atoner| turns his life around]] by [[Heel Face Turn| helping the FBI]] catch up other fugitives who evaded… hence the title of the show. Red still harbors his criminal ways, but animal cruelty is one form of crime he seems to be disgusted with.
* The Claimers from ''[[The Walking Dead (TV series)|The Walking Dead]]'' forbid lying among their group, even though they engage in activity that a person who has decided "every man for himself" would commit, such as murder. God help you if you're a member of the group but decide to lie anyway. They also decide that whatever they find they keep for themselves to prevent fighting over something valuable. (For example, one Claimer strangles another so that he can have a bed for himself...which incidentally prevents Rick from being discovered by them.)
* One well known - and controversial - ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' sketch was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=167&v=z0NgUhEs1R4&feature=emb_title| "World's Most Evil Invention"]], which was all about this. The [[Card-Carrying Villain]]s at the convention are all mortified at the idea of a robot that molests children. Of course, this turns even darker when the sketch is revealed to be a parody of a White Castle commercial, with the slogan "We Serve Anyone".
* In the episode ''Bad Day to Be a Hero'' from [[Magnum P.I. (2018 series)|the reboot of ''Magnum, P.I.'']] a friend of Magnum's was hosting an underground poker game which was robbed. Unfortunately one of the players was a notorious lone shark. Much of the episode features repaying his money. Then in curiosity about the motive's of the robbers said loan shark is asked about whether an associate of his is shady. The reply is indeed so, "Word on the street is he's a slave trader".
* Hilariously [[Played for Laughs]] in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmeADBKm8_c this short] from ''[[Studio C]]'', which is similar to the ''SNL'' sketch mentioned about, but more whimsical. [[The Silence of the Lambs|Hannibal Lector]] throws a dinner party and invites several other movie villains - [[Die Hard|Hans Gruber]], [[Psycho|Norman Bates]], [[The Ring|Samara]], and… Neil Miller. The first four villains think Miller (whose “crime”, as fans of ''[[The Santa Clause]]'' know, is telling children Santa doesn’t exist) is far too evil for their company.
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