Even Evil Has Standards: Difference between revisions
sentence about truth in television, without any explicit example
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{{trope}}
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{{quote|''"This is messed up. [[Card-Carrying Villain|I'm all for being evil,]] but this is just overkill."''|'''Bowser,''' ''[[Paper Mario (franchise)|Paper Mario]]''}}
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The common uses are a killer or villain who spares a certain target, most often [[Children Are Innocent|children]], a villain who [[Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil|refrains from sexually-based offenses]], or a murderer-rapist who [[Wouldn't Hurt a Child]], or [[Suspiciously Specific Denial|a villain who might murder, extort, run protection rackets, run prostitutes, and so on, but doesn't deal in drugs]] (we're looking at you, [[James Bond|Valentin]] [[Brutal Honesty|Zukovsky]]). Therefore, it is [[Fighting for Survival|fine]] for our hero to [[Enemy Mine|work with them.]] Especially against the "real" villain, who, naturally, ''does'' [[Acceptable Target|do those most heinous of things]] because, [[As You Know]], [[Drugs Are Bad|Drugs are]] the [[Sarcasm Mode|only]] thing that make you a [[Complete Monster]].
The trope title is frequently spouted by the [[Noble Demon]], in order to justify his evil self-identification.
[[I Gave My Word]] is another common variant, which may let the heroes agree to [[Combat by Champion]]. Some villains may maintain their standards through use of a <s>Heroic</s> [[Heroic Vow|Villainous Vow]].
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Compare and contrast [[Pragmatic Villainy]], when the villain's refusal to partake in the abhorrent act is far more selfish (or in the case of a group of villains against a single one, group-beneficial); [[Even Mooks Have Loved Ones]], where minions defect to protect a loved one from their boss; [[Evil Is Stylish]] for cases where it's not what is done but rather ''how'' it's done that the villain has standards for; and [[Family Values Villain]] for where the standards are very . . . old fashioned. Often the deal with many [[Lawful Evil]] villains, but sometimes not. Can occasionally be the cause of a [[Break the Badass]] moment, when the [[Badass]] in question is the bad guy.
A [[Sub-Trope]] of [[Everyone Has Standards]].
[[Truth In Television]] - whatever atrocities some dictators, mob bosses, serial killers, child molestors etc. have committed, so far we don't know any human being who [[Complete Monster|really has had no standards or redeeming qualities at all]]. (But mind that their standards can be [[Blue and Orange Morality|pretty weird and incomprehensible to outsiders]], especially if [[Utopia Justifies The Means]] is involved.)
Can even involve [[Conscience Makes You Go Back]]. See also [[Evil Virtues]] and [[Villainous Valour]], for good traits and virtues that villains commonly practice. The inversion of this trope is [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] and [[Utopia Justifies the Means]], when it turns out that ''goodness'' is willingly crossing the [[Moral Event Horizon]]. '''[[No Real Life Examples, Please]]''', [[Godwin's Law]] notwithstanding. ▼
{{examples}}▼
▲Can even involve [[Conscience Makes You Go Back]]. See also [[Evil Virtues]] and [[Villainous Valour]], for good traits and virtues that villains commonly practice. The inversion of this trope is [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] and [[Utopia Justifies the Means]], when it turns out that ''goodness'' is willingly crossing the [[Moral Event Horizon]]. '''[[No Real Life Examples, Please]]''', [[Godwin's Law]] notwithstanding.
{{noreallife|calling real-life people "evil" [[Rule of Cautious Editing Judgment|is an ''extremely'' bad idea, even if those people are Adolf Hitler or Benito Mussolini.]]}}
▲{{examples on subpages}}
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Evil Tropes]]
[[Category:Heel Face Index]]▼
[[Category:Villains]]
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