Even Evil Has Standards/Western Animation

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Total Drama Island:
    • Chris is legendary for being a sadistic asshole, but when Heather reads Gwen's diary aloud on national television, even he is genuinely disgusted with her, to the point where he actually refrains from mocking the guy who's been eliminated simply because Heather deserves it more.
      • In Total Drama: Pahkitew Island, he immediately eliminates Scarlett for attempting to murder the other campers.
    • Also Duncan, who is a lot less jerkish when compared to Heather.

Heather: Like you're such a team player, all you do is go around scaring the crap out of everyone.
Duncan: At least I'm straight with people.

  • This changes in World Tour when she is compared with Alejandro. As she puts it:

Heather: Even I'm not that ruthless!

  • And Alejandro when compared with season 3 Chris.

Alejandro: You are pure evil!

  • Futurama
    • In one episode, Hermes gets cybernetic implants from a Back-Alley Doctor who deals in Organ Theft and uses unorthodox methods. Satisfied with the results, Hermes hires the guy again and again until the only part of him that is still human is his brain, and he eventually even wants that replaced. However, that is a line the crook will not cross. Unfortunately, Professor Farnsworth will cross it.
    • In the OVA The Beast with a Billion Backs, Bender makes a deal with the Robot Devil in exchange for his "firstborn son". As the Robot Devil cackles wickedly over the torturous dilemma he thinks he's wrought, Bender immediately says, "Be right back!", reunites with his robot son in a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming, which stops immediately when Bender brings his son back and punts him through the plate glass of the Robot Devil's office into a lava pit below. In a surprised tone the Robot Devil replies, "Wow, that was pretty brutal even by my standards."

Bender: No backsies!

  • In an episode of Codename: Kids Next Door, the Delightful Children from Down the Lane team up with Sector V and turn on against their "Father" after he made a plan for children to eat broccoli because even they despised broccoli.
    • In another episode, Sector V battles against a giant white asparragus in a sea of asparagus. At the end of the episode Captain Stickybeard fires his bubblegum cannons at it. He then states that him and the KND are still enemies, but he'd rather team up than let children eat vegetables.
  • In Lilo and Stitch, Jumba is about to snipe Stitch at the local kennel when Pleakly points out that Lilo, who just bought Stitch as a pet, is part of the mosquito food chain. He might not care about the mosquito part, but Jumba is not pleased at the implications.

Jumba: Using that little girl for a shield! THIS IS LOW EVEN FOR YOU!!!
[Stitch moons him in response.]

  • In the COPS episode "The Case of the Lowest Crime", Big Boss rejects a distribution agreement from Addictum, a drug dealer. He throws him out, and lectures his cronies about how the amount of hell they'd catch if he catches them doing drugs. He goes further than this when him and his gang assists the titular cops into an uneasy truce for the sake of bringing Addictum to justice, after his nephew accidentally becomes poisoned by the drugs in a shipment heist gone wrong.

Big Boss: Shaddap! In my time, I've committed many crimes. I wanna make money in the worst way. But drugs is where I draw the line, creep! DRUGS KILL! Buttons!
Buttons: Yes, Sir
Big Boss: Take this piece of human scum and throw it out!
Buttons: Yes, Sir.
Big Boss: Oh, and Buttons?
Buttons: Yes, Sir.
Big Boss: See that he lands in something as filthy as he is!
Buttons: Yes, Sir.
Addictum: Hey, take it easy!
[Buttons leaves, dragging Addictum behind him like a sack of potatoes]
Big Boss: And just for the record, don't let me catch any of you lamebrains messing with drugs!
Berzerko: Aw c'mon Uncle! I may be a lamebrain, but I ain't stupid!
Big Boss: Good. Now, let's get back to getting money the old fashioned way - by stealing it!

    • (Apparently Big Boss had forgotten that his goons nearly killed Bulletproof -- a well-known police detective—in the pilot episode, and he was disappointed Bulletproof survived.) It becomes Fridge Brilliance when you realize that Big Boss's thugs attacked Bulletproof because he kept getting in their way... but killing your customers (as could happen with drugs) is bad for business.
  • A rather ridiculous one is Cobra's opposition to selling drugs in G.I. Joe. Since Cobra is a terrorist group, it would be expected in real life that narcotics were a major source of revenue. (The writers at least make an attempt at justifying the GI Joe/Cobra temporary alliance against a drug lord; a high-level Cobra officer has a personal grudge against said drug lord, and he gets Cobra Commander's support by explaining that they would be able to steal a large amount of money from the defeated drug lord's headquarters.)
    • Well, giving people drugs has a certain risk to it, and Freebase Freddie kind of screwed up everything for Cobra all by himself...
    • The recent comic book revival actually made said drug lord to actually be a member of Cobra, in charge of their drug-running operations. It's a lot more plausible than the cartoon, obviously (especially considering that comics!Cobra is much more ruthless and competent).
    • A more lighthearted example, Zanzibar, the self-titled Dreadnok Pirate. His profile claims he dabbled in river piracy, stock fraud and smuggling before being taken in by the villains, failing at them because they were "too much like real work". Regardless, his selfishness, knack for stealing from comrades, and awful hygiene make even his teammates hate him. And they suspect that his eyepatch is simply for show. Zartan only keeps him on retainer to keep an eye on him
  • The Simpsons:
    • Though not so much evil as a doormat to an evil character (though some may argue that is an implicit evil). Smithers refuses to help Mr. Burns in his plan to block sunlight from reaching Springfield. He later states that Burns had "crossed the line between everyday corporate villainy and cartoon supervillainy."

Burns: Imagine it, Smithers. Electric lights and heaters running all day long.
Smithers: But sir! Every plant and tree will die! Owls will deafen us with incessant hooting! The town's sundial will be useless! I don't want any part of this project, it's unconscionably fiendish.
Burns: I will not tolerate this insubordination! There has been a shocking decline in the quantity and quality of your toadying, Waylon, and you will fall into line, NOW!
Smithers: No Monty, I won't. Not until you step back from the brink of insanity.
Burns: I will do no such thing. You're fired.

  • Smithers does something similar earlier on: He deliberately goes behind Mr. Burns' back to help Bart and Lisa Simpson get Sideshow Bob ousted from the Mayor's office in a similar fashion to Deep Throat during the Watergate Scandal. His reasons imply that he simply could not support Sideshow Bob's political leaning due to it conflicting with the gay lifestyle (considering what he himself is implied to be, it really isn't that surprising).
    • Odd, since we later learn that Bob is more tolerant of homosexuality and experimented in college.
  • Burns himself seems to despise the Amoral Attorneys he employs as a legal team, as evidenced by how he yells at them in "Brother Can You Spare Two Dimes":

Burns: Now before we begin, let me make one thing clear for you. I want your legal advice. I even pay for it. But to me you're all vipers! You live on personal injuries, you live on divorces, you live on pain and misery! I— (calms down) Oh, but I'm rambling. Would anyone like some coffee?
Blue Haired Lawyer: Yes, I would like some coffee.
Burns: Want it black, don't you? Black like your heart? It's so hard for me to listen to you, I hate you all so much! (pauses again) I'm sorry, it's my problem, I'll deal with it.

  • Also, in the episode "Homer Simpson in: Kidney Trouble", Homer tells a ship of lost souls how he abandoned his father to die after refusing to give him a kidney, which makes everyone angry and disgusted at him, including a Frenchman who stole his accordion (actually a concertina) from a blind monkey.
  • Despite his history of armed robbery and burglary, Snake drew the line at a telemarketing scam. "I don't like bothering people at home!"
  • Nelson constantly shows shades of this, in one case beating up Bart for wasting Mrs. Krabappel's time in class. He also avoids punching kids in the face on school picture day.
  • In one of the "Treehouse of Horror" episodes (specifically the one that parodies It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown) is shown to have little to no tolerance for racism, as he tries to save the student body from a rampaging Great Pumpkin (long story short, he got angered when he learns that they kill Pumpkins to make stuff like pumpkin pie or jack-o'-lanterns) by holding a yellow pumpkin hostage. The Great Pumpkin scoffs that killing a yellow pumpkin would be a waste of time as he hates them. Nelson calls the Grand Pumpkin a racist and adds "I would rather die than hate!" before getting killed.
  • Don Vittorio, Fat Tony's boss, refuses to kill Krusty because, "To murder a funny man of such genius would be a crime."
  • Despite being Satan in a 10 year old body, Bart has been on both sides of this trope.
  • To start, would never steal money from a church collection plate (though his girlfriend for the episode, Jessica, doesn't mind).
  • In "Principal Charming", Bart uses a powdered herbicide from chemistry class to spell his name on the school's field, which enrages his equally-delinquent best friends, who think he has gone too far. On the other hand, Bart himself is increasingly unnerved when he sees how bad Jessica Lovejoy is, stating that she's turning him into a criminal when all he wants to be is a "petty thug".
  • And in the season three episode where Bart becomes a hall monitor, he finds out that his sister Lisa stole the teacher's editions of the books.[1] He snaps Lisa out of her bad behavior by telling her that she'll be expelled for what she's done.
  • The reason that Bart cut the head off the Jebediah Springfield statue was because of peer pressure from Jimbo, Dolph, and Kearney. When news hits that the statue has been decapitated, the bullies say they want to find the punk who did it and beat him to a pulp. Bart brings up the fact that the bullies said that it would be cool to see someone deface the statue, but the bullies counter that what they said was just idle talk while staring at the clouds.
    • Even after being transformed into a man-eating blob in another "Treehouse of Horror" segment, Homer is averse to eating teenagers. He only does so after the teenagers tempt fate. It’s not surprising that he chose to bite off Ned’s head though, considering he chose to shoot Ned with a shotgun in another despite not knowing that he was a zombie. (Though ironically, in yet another Treehouse of Horror segment, he was horrified when a Homer clone decapitated Ned).
  • Batman: The Animated Series:
    • In "Showdown", the genocidal eco-terrorist Ra's al Ghul purposely punishes his second-in-command Arkady Duvall by leaving him for the authorities due to his cruel and presumptuous treatment of their henchmen. Arkady treats them like slaves; Ra's, ever the progressive, pays them a fair wage and is aiming to strike a blow at the corrupt anti-union forces running the railroads. Work ethics and civility are among the things on Ra's top ten list of "virtues to uphold when I become king of the world". It goes even further at the end of the episode, when it is revealed that Arkady Duvall is Ra's' own son and that Ra's went out of his way to rescue an aged-beyond-his-years Arkady from a third-rate rest-home because "What father can ever forget his son?"
      • It should be noted that this is, perhaps, more generous than the comics version of the Demon's Head, who in one story arc was revealed to have allowed one of his own, semi-immortal daughters (Talia's elder sister, his daughter by a German Jew some decades before the first World War) to rot in a concentration camp - where, among other horrors, she had acid poured into her womb to sterilize her. Not only did he not do anything in the slightest to help her, he actually had the gall to appear before her while she was starving in the camp and tell her he refused to help her, that she was a "necessary sacrifice", when she begged him to save her and his grandchildren by her.
    • Harley Quinn is perfectly fine with the Joker blowing up Gotham, but she's unwilling to let her "friends" from Arkham (other criminals and psychos), and even more importantly her pet hyenas, die in the process.
    • In one episode, Rupert Thorne invites a rival mob boss to "negotiations" in a plot to kill him. The mobster in question comes to the meeting because his son had gone missing shortly before he received the invitation. When the rival boss asks Thorne what he did to his son and what he wants in exchange for his son's release, a bewildered Thorne says, "What? I don't target family!" It turns out that Thorne had nothing to do with the rival boss' son's disappearance... but Thorne proceeds to try to go through with his plan to leave the missing young man fatherless.
    • Racketeer and mobster Tony Zucco from the episode was the type who ran "protection services" (as in, extortion), and when the owners of Harley's Circus refused to comply, he decided to create an accident to persuade them. This led to the deaths of Dick Greyson's parents, and when Tony's uncle - Arnold Stromwell, who was himself a notorious mobster involved in extoriion schemes - found out, he was disgusted, giving Tony a thrashing and then disowning him.
  • In Pinky and The Brain, Brain (who has been shown to be willing to go to any length to take over the world), develops a plan to take over the world by selling cigarettes to children. He would have succeeded... except he was unwilling to go through with it.
  • Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law has the Duplicator (voiced by Lewis Black) getting revenge on Birdman by getting him jury duty. When Birdman has only a $3 food voucher and chimichangas cost $27.90. The Duplicator starts rubbing it in his face until he realizes how bullshit that kind of price is, breaking into one of Black's trademark rants. He then makes a bunch of copies of Birdman's voucher.

Duplicator: There! Now you owe him $8.10!

Doctor Drakken: News flash, Shego. I'm a BAD man.

  • However, in another episode Drakken says to a group of lazy henchmen, "To clone any of you would be a crime against humanity that even I am incapable of." Of course, he was talking more about cloning lazy henchmen, not cloning itself. He's tried numerous times to get Shego to allow him to clone her; she turns him down with the threat of violence should he ever try, and once quit her job because of this.
  • Played for Laughs in the Halloween Episode: Drakken, Shego, and Duff Killigan are quite shocked and disappointed when they learn that Kim lied to her parents and Ron—they acted as if she had personally offended them. Duff Killigan even grumbled that Kim "would have to do a lot to regain my trust!" Though that was more to do with the fact that Kim of all people would do that, not that lying was wrong per se.
  • Drakken labels his mind-control shampoo with an honest description of its effects ("Lather, Rinse, Obey") because "I'm a supervillain, not a corporate shyster." Damn truth-in-advertising laws!
  • Eric Cartman from South Park has proven to be among the lowest of the low and one of the most manipulative conniving sociopaths on TV... but gets enraged when Butters (accidentally) shoots men in the dick and goes on a tirade about how it's wrong. ("It's WRAA-AUNG!") In "Major Boobage", it also turns out he isn't a fan of hurting cats.
    • In the episode "The Coon", when Cartman (as raccoon-themed superhero The Coon) gets Professor Chaos (Butters' supervillain persona) to blow up a hospital to lure out rival hero Mysterion, Professor Chaos laments on how he finds blowing up hospitals mean and reprehensible. Of course, as a villain Professor Chaos is more prone to poking poodles than kicking dogs.
    • In the episode where Mr. Hankey first appears:

Cartman: Screw you guys, I'm going home. Talking poo is where I draw the line.

    • Again, in "Imaginationland" Jason Voorhees says he doesn't want to ever meet kid who created Christmas Critters, who originates from Cartman's short Christmas story. That's right, Cartman is so screwed up that even a zombie serial killer is disgusted at what comes up from his mind.
    • And yet again, in the episode "Miss Teacher Bangs A Boy", where Cartman tries to stop the statutory rape implied by the title ...because the affair was partially held in the school hallways. Because Cartman was the hall monitor that week, kissing in the halls is strictly against school rules, and even teachers have to RESPECT HIS AUTHORITAH!
    • Satan does this often. In addition to hating his Jerkass boyfriend Saddam Hussein, he also despises rich, spoiled 16 year old girls (he fears that he might become one, but one of his minions tells him "you're not that bad") and thinks that someone dressing up as Steve Irwin with a sting ray through their chest at his Halloween party is offensive.[2]
      • One draft of the film includes a subplot in which Kenny and Saddam make a bet involving Smacky S'mores. When Saddam attempts to cheat his way out of the bargain after Kenny lives up, Satan calls Saddam out on it before betraying him.
  • Parodied in Foster's TV movie, Good Wilt Hunting, when Wilt is in prison there are groups of stereotypical prisoners who rattle off their misdeeds. When the last one says that after he got in an argument with his wife, he took away the dog he gave her, one of the others remarks "That's just evil."
    • It's done again moments later in the same episode when Wilt admits to doing something worse, when the other inmates don't believe him he tells his sad story. He says that he broke his little boy's dream, which makes all the other inmates react like it's the worst thing ever.
      • Considering that imaginary friends are created by their owners to help them, it is.
  • Katz is known to be the cruelest and most sadistic villain in Courage the Cowardly Dog , but even he has limits, calling the Weremole an "unrefined beast".
  • The Guild of Calamitous Intent from The Venture Brothers is separated from other supervillain organizations by its strict code of ethics. Forbidden actions include committing rape, attacking on holy ground, attacking police officers, and violating truces.
    • Brock Samson himself has called out Dr. Venture when the latter manipulates the emotionally abused Sally Impossible for his own selfish goals, stating that it's pretty cold for even someone as amoral as Rusty.
    • Rusty himself has a moment of his own when he refuses to use his cloning technology to bring back Hitler.
    • Another practice the Guild frowns upon is unauthorized "arching", which led to the third-season-opening crucible of The Monarch by the Guild's top officials, since he'd been arching Rusty Venture for years prior to actually joining the Guild and getting his arching license; as a part of his Guild-approved duoship with Dr. Girlfriend, he promises to give up arching Rusty, legally or otherwise. A promise which lasts until about the end of the season, natch.
    • The Monarch also has standards. Although he's willing to kill his own henchmen at the drop of a hat, he is rather shocked to learn how neglectful Venture is of his sons, and actually treats them better than their father when he captures them, on the occasions he's not trying to kill them along with their father.
  • In Beast Wars, the Predacon's Tripredacus Council officially condemns Megatron as a rogue and sends two agents to stop him (one as a spy in his ranks, the other as an assassin). While officially, this is because the Council believes the Predacons need to wait for the opportune moment and build up their resources before striking, and Megatron's actions threaten that, their over-concern about his survival seems to hint they know about his attempts to Set Wrong What Once Went Right, and consider it too drastic and dangerous a plan even for them.
    • This gets retconned away when it's revealed they intended all along to destroy the entire Ark and cause an even greater alteration of the timeline. Of course Megatron then tries that plan himself at the end for no clear reason...
      • At first Megatron only wanted to assassinate Optimus Prime so the Autobots would lose the Great War. The Tripredacus Council and Tarantulas wanted to destroy the entire Ark because they're descended from the soldiers of Unicron: Cyclonus, Scourge and the Sweeps from Generation 1. As to why Megatron tried to destroy the Ark in the series finale, it might have been that carrying G1 Megatron's spark made him insane.
      • Another possibility is that, since Megatron is carrying G1 Megatron's spark, destroying the entire Ark and all Autobots and Decepticons board would work, because while all the sparks aboard would be destroyed, he could later return G1 Megatron's spark to it's original body. G1 Megatron would be badly damaged, but given some time to repair his body, he'd be the only survivor on the Ark and could conquer the Earth and win the Great War even without his fellow Decepticons.
        • Since The soldiers of Unicron were created from the remains of Decepticons at a specific time and place, this means that the Tripredacus Council is perfectly willing to engage in a suicide attack. They will cease to exist if their plan is enacted--they don't care because they are functioning purely as agents of Unicron and his resurrection. Just in case anyone has any questions.
    • In sequel series Beast Machines, Megatron is working towards genocide and Thrust is fine with that. What really angers Thrust is Stryka, Obsidian and Jetstorm ( though Jetstorm was forcibly reformatted) turning traitor.
  • Captain Skyhook, arch-nemesis of The Space Kiddettes, will stop at nothing to get their treasure map... but won't actually hurt them, because they're only children. Static, his right-hand man, has no such reservations, but Skyhook is always quick to admonish him for suggesting violence.
  • In Bravestarr, the villain Tex Hex's main sidekick/AlienScrappy Scuzz smoked a cigar and was a walking Aesop for the evils of smoking, constantly coughing and suffering from his own habit. The other villains frequently expressed disgust at this habit, with lines like "I may be evil, but even I'm not stupid enough to smoke!"
  • In the Ed, Edd n Eddy movie, the kids from the cul-de-sac see how Eddy's brother always treated him (as well as learning that his attitude was always an attempt to get his brother's respect). Even the Kanker sisters show disgust over Eddy's brother's abuse.
    • Even Kevin (who always called the Eds "dorks") is disgusted.
      • Not just Kevin, Sarah, who regularly beats up Eddy herself, is also appalled over Eddy's beating.
  • The Saturday TV Funhouse parody of The Smurfs and The Anna Nicole Show has Gargamel expressing disgust at Smurfette's Reality TV show.

Gargamel: Eugh, what a mess. Why don't they get her some help?!
Gargamel: What sleazebag greenlit this show?!

  • In Turtles Forever 1987 Krang and Shredder, Karai, and Hun turn on 2003 Shredder after it's revealed that he plans THE DESTRUCTION! OF! REALITY! ITSELF!
  • Despite his obsession with FAIRY GODPARENTS!!!, Mr. Crocker finds the idea of keeping a fairy baby (IE: Poof) from his/her parents to be too cruel.
  • Darkwing Duck: When the first incarnation of Negaduck - Darkwing's evil side split from him and then galvanized into an energy being - tries to destroy all of St. Canard, Megavolt helps the good Darkwing stop him because "there won't be anything left to rob!"
    • Another episode has plant-villain Bushroot help stop an invasion of alien plants because he's an Earth mutant plant-duck. (Possibly a deliberate homage to the Joker/Red Skull moment.)
  • Shere Khan in Tale Spin is more Chaotic Neutral than anything; still, when he discovers a town he owns is using slave labor to mine a rare ore ("Citizen Khan"), he insists it was done without his consent. "I desire only money and power. Unpresentable employees provide me with neither."
    • Another example, from a different episode ("Louie's Last Stand"), but equally fitting the trope. One of his employees forges his name on an official letter that gives him complete control over Khan's personal military. Why? To get Louie off of his island before his lease expires so he can take control of it for Shere Khan. Needless to say, Khan is not impressed with him (but he is impressed with how Baloo, Louie, and Kit were able to defeat his highly-trained soldiers). Said employee is swiftly fired after Khan arrives on the scene.
  • Riley Freeman from The Boondocks is a rude, wannabe gangsta, and never listen to his grandfather nor his older brother. But in "Smokin With Cigarettes" he was downright disturbed and horrified on what a horrible sociopath Lamilton Taeshawn is, especially when he literally Shoot the Dog on Ms. Von Heusen's dog.
    • Also, when Uncle Ruckus asked the sexually depraved inmates that they were going to rape the children. The inmates responded with a disgusted "Hell no! What do we look like, priests?
    • Colonel Stinkmeaner who is the embodiment of Chaotic Evil said that "He may be in hell, but at least he's not in jail."
  • In SpongeBob SquarePants, Mr. Krabs' greed is so bad, that even Plankton is shown to be disgusted by it. Quoted by him, "And I thought I was evil."
    • On a related note, Squidward, although not evil, is a notorious Jerkass who hates SpongeBob with a passion. Even so, he was absolutely disgusted when Mr. Krabs sold SpongeBob's soul to the Flying Dutchman for pocket change.
    • Another Squidward example happens in an episode where he and SpongeBob go on a pizza delivery. After the customer refused to accept the pizza, SpongeBob goes into a depression. Squidward, who usually enjoy seeing SpongeBob's misery, actually feels sorry for him, goes up to the customer, and slams the pizza into his face.
    • Speaking of the Flying Dutchman, he himself was surprised that Mr. Krabs was not only eager to sell his soul and took the whole ordeal lightly. But he also sold his soul several times to other ghosts, monsters, and even to SpongeBob (he was a bit short on pay day).
  • In the Batman the Brave And The Bold episode "Chill Of The Night", Lewis Moxton admitted on his death-bed that, despite acting on orders to kill Thomas Wayne, Joe Chill went too far in shooting Wayne's wife Martha. As he put it:

"Sure Wayne had it coming, but I ain't no monster....Left that kid without a ma. Felt kinda bad about that."

First criminal: I've robbed 50 banks and 60 gas stations.
Second criminal: Well, I robbed 70 banks, see, and 90 gas stations. And I stole the Klopman Diamond. What are you in for?
Wade: Uh, I tore a tag off a pillow.
(the criminals run for the bars and scream for help)

  • Invader Zim: Dib uses this to negotiate with Mortos Der Soulstealer.

Dib: I just know he's up to something evil!
Mortos: Mortos like evil...
Dib: No, this is bad evil.
Mortos: Oh.

    • Also Subverted Trope whenever someone else (like Tak) tries to destroy the world and Zim stops them. It's not that he's opposed to their methods, it's that he doesn't want them stealing his job.
  • In Recess, Randall Weemes was a snitch who rats on his fellow students for Mrs. Finster, sometimes even doing something elaborate so he'd have an excuse to snitch (such as when he framed the entire school with a food fight that he instigated). However, the one group he isn't willing to snitch on are higher authority figures such as King Bob, which made him tell off the Ashleys brothers when they did actually manage to do so after recruiting them. This is also implied in the movie, when, after one of Phillium Benedict's followers tried to pin the blame on Benedict for everything to get out of punishment, and stating that he himself was only following orders and desperately bargaining that he'll "offer evidence for the state trial", Randall remarks in disgust "Jeez, what a squealer."
    • While certainly not evil, Hustler Kid makes all sorts of shady deals and is general unsympathetic unless paid to be. In the episode "Hustler's Apprentice", however, he makes it clear that he will not sell forged hall passes or anything else that could land someone in serious trouble.
  • Animaniacs:
    • Subverted in this clip from the episode "H.M.S. Yakko":

Captain Mel: Though I be a pirate swine / I still have to draw the line / And so I will not push ye overboard!
Pirates: What, never?
Captain Mel: No, never!
Pirates: What, never?
Captain Mel: (pushes them overboard) Hardly ever!

  • Played straight (in a rather bizarre way) in the famous "Potty Emergency" episode, which starts with the Warner siblings watching a science fiction movie in a theater called Brain Eaters where an alien is chasing an attractive heroine for rather obvious reasons. Wakko excuses himself to use the men's room, leading to the situation that the episode is the Trope Namer for; at the climax of the episode, he returns to the theater, where the movie has reached a scene where the alien has captured his victim; Wakko leaps inside the movie screen, letting the victim escape, making the alien angry, but managing to find a room and use the toilet. As Wakko leaves the room, the brain-eating alien remarks, "That was disgusting! He didn't even wash his hands!"
  • In Wild Kratts, Donita may be perfectly fine with freezing animals in suspended animation to use in her fashions, but she is less than impressed by Zach's theft of the Arctic Pearl.
  • In Justice League The Flash ends up in a Christmas truce with the Ultra-Humanite, a supervillain, in donating toys to orphans. When the Humanite offers to repair and 'improve' a gift he accidentally broke, the Flash suspciously asks if this means it's going to blow up when activated. The Humanite's only response is "Flash... It is Christmas".
    • To be clear, he not only fixed it, but programmed the normally obnoxious toy to tell Christmas stories in his voice.
  • Surprisingly enough, The Red Guy (you know, Satan) in Cow and Chicken. In the episode "Cow Fly," he generally feels sorry for Cow after she lost her friend (a fly to be exact) and offers a wiener to her as a replacement.
    • The Red Guy is more Chaotic Neutral than Evil, since he has a completely different motivation in every episode.
  • Family Guy,
    • Stewie Griffin gets subjected to this in later series. In a particular episode, he is shown to be disgusted by Brian's racial comment. This being Stewie who tried to kill his mother, and take over the world, this comes as a shock.
    • Stewie also finds Penelope, a girl who is basically violent as he is, to be a bad influence on him with her constant mass murder sprees and crossing the line when she requested that Stewie kill his best friend, Brian.
    • Speaking of Brian, Quagmire the guy who will have sex with almost Anything That Moves, and is a heavily implied sex offender, gave a "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Brian for being a pompous ass who dates bimbos,[3] hits on his best friend's wife, thinks he's better than everyone because he's atheist, doesn't follow through on his liberal agenda, doesn't care for his long-lost son, and is, in reality, a boring, pseudo-intellectual drunk. Another episode ("Stewie Loves Lois") had Quagmire questioning his mental stability as he's dragging a dead hooker back to his house. And in, "Quagmire's Dad," he beats the shit out of Brian for sleeping with his male-to-female transsexual father.
        • Quagmire and rest of the characters were also appalled at Quagmire's sister's abusive boyfriend.
        • That that "rest" included Peter (who's not below throwing his unconscious infant son under the car) and Lois (who frequently rapes her husband). And she's the one who called him a monster.
    • There's also that one episode where a Corrupt Corporate Executive who was bribing Lois reacts with a look of horror when he sees newly reinstated Mayor Adam West shoot a man who suggests another election.
    • Parodied in "Cool Hand Peter." When in a Southern prison, Joe suggets they escape by him screaming for help when he falls from his wheelchair, citing that a Southern cop usually tries to ignore it. When he attempts it, two officers struggle to look away from Joe's.
    • Their neighbor Herbert is a pervert, pedophile, and Dirty Old Man, but when he recognizes another senior citizen as a former Nazi he remembers from World War II (and nobody believes him) he confronts the former Nazi and beats the crud out of him. Well, as best a feeble old man like himself can beat the crud out of someone, but it still counts.
  • In El Tigre, villainy isn't a matter of moral alignment, but a sub-culture of its own, so this trope comes up now and then. Puma Loco, a Card-Carrying Villain if ever there was one, draws the line at harming family member.
    • More Played for Laughs but in one episode, all of the super villains present were horrified when El Tigre gave Dr. Chipotle Sr. a wet willy.
  • Not so much evil as just criminals, but the Brotherhood show that they're not willing to let Apocalypse Turn the world into mutants, knowing that most wouldn't survive the change.
    • Avalanche, too, showed that while he may be violent and prone to aggression, he's unwilling to allow an entire town to be blown up or ignore an old lady's cry for help.
  • Metalocalypse: Even Dethklok, the darkest, most brutal & metal band on the face of the planet, is absolutely horrified at the sight of malnourished supermodels being stripped of their skin.

Nathan Explosion: Oh, my god, what a horri- you're fired, by the way!

    • A simple ring of the Dethbell probably would've sufficed.
  • Adventure Time: The Ice King is perfectly fine with kidnapping princesses and forcing them into marriage. Despite that, even he knows it would be creepy to abduct a now 13-year old Princess Bubblegum.
    • Recently revisited when the Ice King unwittingly hires a deadly hitman to literally 'hit' Finn and Jake. Once he discovers his error, he is horrified at the prospect of murdering his own nemesis.
  • Eric Raymond from Jem may be a Corrupt Corporate Executive, but he draws the line on hurting people, and in one extreme incident, helped stop an assasination attempt.
  • In The Mysterious Cities of Gold, Marinche suggests poisoning a city's water supply to get at the city's gold. The doctor, who is working with her, responds to this with a flat "What?!" and only mixes the poison saying how he hates doing that. From this, it's very easy to assume that he's only doing this because he fears Marinche.
  • While not all of the ghosts in Danny Phantom are evil per say, they still aren't on the best of terms with the protagonist. Even so, they all uphold their traditional Christmas truce and gang up on the one ghost who breaks it by cursing Danny.
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender: The reason Zuko's as much of an uptight Jerkass as he is - his father maimed him for speaking out against intentionally sending lines of inexperienced troops to die simply to wear down the enemy's defenses for their more experienced forces.
    • Subverted with Azulon, when he responds with extreme disapproval to Ozai's selfish and callous request to make him his successor for Fire Lord instead of Iroh, immediately after- and because- Iroh lost his only son. Azulon then says he wants Ozai to feel the same thing, and expresses his desire for Zuko's death.
  • Although it might be the case of showing off than moral standards, but in the Sequel Series The Legend of Korra, Amon doesn't take benders' powers away without giving a chance to defend themselves.
  • While Pinkie Pie in My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic isn't evil, she is a prankster and loves pulling one over on her friends. However, she absolutely will not prank the sensitive Shrinking Violet Fluttershy, acknowledging that even her softest prank could potentially hurt the shy pony's feelings.
    • Discord in "Return of Harmony", too. Yeah, he does any number of atrocious evil things, but he draws the line at turning people into stone
      • For the record, this seems to be more for style reasons than any kind of moral concern. Statues lack entertainment value, after all.
  • In Sonic Sat AM Dr. Robotnik sounded surprised that Antoine Depardieu seemingly betrayed his friends in order to give him the Power Ring. He even asks him why he betrayed them. Though, given his title as a Complete Monster, he might've just been suspicious.
  • The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
    • Mandy is all in favor of revenge and dreams of ruling the world as a dystopian dictator. Yet she will not condone cheating.
    • Skarr shows signs of this in "Company Halt", the Fully-Absorbed Finale the series' sister show Evil Con Carne:

Skarr: I'd do anything to get rid of that kid...
Boskov: (Says something unintelligible in bear-language.)
Skarr: Well, anything but that. I can't believe you even suggested that, you sicko!

  • American Dad
    • While not really evil per se, both Stan and Hayley are fanatical in their political views. They are either self-righteous fanatics at best and hypocrites at their worst. But Stan is appalled when it's revealed that Francine's biological parents left her at the airport because their flight didn't allow children (even Klaus—who lived in Germany during its Nazi regime—is disgusted that a couple would just abandon their baby and not feel any remorse) and Hayley herself was shocked when the group of environmentalists she joined were planning to blow up a mall (with Hayley backing out because she doesn't want to kill innocent people just to further her cause).
    • Stan also got another one with Jeff's Father. While it is true that Stan despises Jeff through and through, but even he is shocked that his own father not only openly mocks him all the time but also plans to FRAME him for drug smuggling, and GET the reward money from him.
    • Roger, however, is unmistakably evil. He's an alien with a multiple personality, and all his personalities are scum. However, his Ricky Spanish persona is such scum that all of Roger's other personas despise him.
  • In Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Master Shake is usually a childish and selfish bastard who usually torments Meatwad, even going as far as microwaving his cat alive. Still, even he has to say something when he finds out that Frylock was making chemical filled balloons to use on children at birthday parties.
  • Pinocchio: "Honest John" Foulfellow and Gideon, a fox and cat respectively, are two con men who have no problems with swindling young children or selling them to equally unscrupulous gypsy entertainers. But then along comes the Coachman, who wants them to trick Pinocchio into visiting a little place named Pleasure Island, and suddenly they're clearly not as enthusiastic about swindling him anymore.
  • In the 2019 Harley Quinn series, Dr. Psycho is kicked out of the Legion of Doom - as Lex Luthor announces publicly - after using the C-word twice on live television. A later episode shows that Darkseid himself finds that word offensive.
  • Villain Protagonist Rick Sanchez from Rick and Morty is a diabolical mastermind who has committed crimes up to and including genocide, but has some limits:
    • He views rapists (of both genders) and pedophiles as complete and total scum. Also, despite being a Dirty Old Man, he draws the line at doing it with his own grandchildren, and is disgusted when a dream fantasy version of Summer (in someone else's dream) suggests a "three-generational sandwich".
    • In one third season episode, he and Morty are fighting their way out of an alien city, and actually having fun firing on the loathsome Face Hugger aliens while laying waste to buildings. But when they see what looks like an alien version of the Twin Towers, they fly around, then comment how dirty they feel for even considering it.
    • He also refuses to invent technology that prevents random effects from happening, because as he put it, if he does so, said random effects would become far more likely. Making it more likely he'd have to prevent them, meaning they'd be even more likely to occur, meaning he'd... Well, it makes sense why he won't do so.
    • Finally, he is not willing to alter time, although he is okay with someone else doing it, such as when he told Uncle Slow Joe to make time move slower in order to complete the task he was doing.
  • In the Star Trek: Lower Decks episode "The Inner Flight", the Klingon captain Ma’ah seizes back control of his ship from his mutinous second-in-command by tearing the traitor's throat out with his teeth. Even the other members of the Klingon crew who were the victim's accomplices seem disturbed by this.
  • In one episode of Winx Club, Stormy - out of boredom - tells the brainwashed students in the Cloud Tower cafeteria to mix their potatoes and gelatin before eating it. Then Lord Valtor returns from his errand and doesn't approve of such petty shenanigans; after Stormy talks back to him on top of it, he uses the Oppositus Power magic he just stole to flip her personality, making her pleasant and obedient, and then makes her eat the potato-gelatin mixture.
  1. ↑ Lisa was angry and depressed over being a home maker instead of a jazz musician and began acting like a bad kid.
  2. ↑ Come on, that party-goer wore that costume the year of.
  3. ↑ with Quagmire adding that, yes, he dates women for their bodies, but he's more-or-less honest about it
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