I Did What I Had to Do: Difference between revisions

Sometimes good people have to do bad things because if they don't, worse things will happen. At its heart, this is a post-facto justification for [[Necessarily Evil|morally questionable]] [[Shoot the Dog|actions]] presented to those who would question the necessity or ''right''ness of said actions. Perhaps [[The Hero]] has [[Save the Villain|saved the villain]], or [[Hostage for McGuffin|surrendered the macguffin to save a hostage]], or abandoned innocents/friends to their fate [[Sadistic Choice|to save others]]. Or the [[Noble Demon]] has saved [[The Hero]] while [[I Was Just Passing Through|just passing through]]. Or the [[Anti-Hero]] has [[Shoot the Dog|shot the dog]]. Their comrades are baffled, stunned, and angered. They ask ''"[[What Were You Thinking?]]"'', and exclaim ''"[[What the Hell, Hero?]]"''

 

 

The character may later be somewhat humanized by showing that he regards it as [[Dirty Business]], or giving him [[Bad Dreams]], or [[Drowning My Sorrows]], but he may not, and other shows of guilt, grief, or weakness are very unlikely. (Nastier sorts may express such sentiment only [[It's All About Me|in the context of self-pity]]: their grief is that they were the ones who had to do such horrible things, or that no one else understands why it was necessary.)

*** All of which he does to save {{spoiler|his daughter}}.

*** Frankly, {{spoiler|killing the old one was hardly that unspeakable: Lloyd Slate was a [[Complete Monster]], and his life was almost verbatim described as a [[Fate Worse Than Death]] at that point.}}

* In [[Ben Counter]]'s ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'' novel ''[[Soul Drinkers|Chapter War]]'', the Inquisitor Thaddeus lied to get aboard a Howling Griffons' ship. When they came to a head, and they try to imprison him, he kills one to escape. He once "would have never accepted the death of a good Imperial servant as a necessary evil. But he was much wiser now."

* This is a major theme in the ''[[Wheel of Time]] '' with the three male main characters forced to act progressively more brutal as their responsibility grows and the situation worsens. Includes such gems as using friends like pawns, executing friends, torture by way of dismemberment, allowing bad guys to enslave hundreds of women in order to secure a temporary military alliance, creating an army of superpowered men who will eventually go insane, and purposely destroying your own humanity in order to be up for the job of saving the world.

* Livia in [[I, Claudius]] killed off nearly her entire family, but claims it was all in the name of avoiding another bloody civil war like the one between Antony and Augustus.

* Walter and Skyler White: {{spoiler|[[Breaking Bad|"It's over. We're safe." "… Was this you? What happened?" "I won."]]}}

 

 

 

== Theatre ==

 

 

{{quote|''' {{spoiler|Mordin}}:''' Had to be me. Someone else might have gotten it wrong.}}

** When confronting a batarian who accuses Shepard of terrorism because of his/her destruction of the Bahak system, Shepard admits that s/he felt (and still feels) great guilt about it but still claims that it needed to be done.

* Faldio from ''[[Valkyria Chronicles]]'' justifies his {{spoiler|shooting of Alicia to activate her Valkyria powers}} as needed to save Gallia. Unlike most examples of this trope, he felt guilty after he had a chance to think about his actions {{spoiler|which led to his his [[Heroic Sacrifice]] at the Marmota}}.

* [[Metal Gear Solid|The Boss.]] Arguably others might count as well.