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So the character descends upon the settlement, burns their buildings, kills the inhabitants, takes their money and resources, and leaves, pleased that now he'll be able to buy that shiny new whatever he was wanting.
 
Is this the new [[Big Bad]]? No! It's the Hero! ...oh wait, did I forget to mention that it was a settlement of bandits? Right. [[Laser -Guided Karma|So it's okay then.]]
 
Welcome to a special kind of morality where [[Moral Myopia|otherwise evil actions are considered okay]] because [[Asshole Victim|the victims deserved it]]. Of course, this can be [[Family -Unfriendly Aesop|played straight]], [[What the Hell, Hero?|subverted]], [[He Who Fights Monsters|deconstructed]], or [[Black and Gray Morality|left disquietingly gray]] depending on the author. Occasionally shares space with [[Evil Versus Evil]]... it's the Evil who ''only'' does this one that's supposed to be rooted for as opposed to the Evil that does this to innocents. This one's very common with [[Revenge]] stories in general, since revenge at its core is essentially Paying Evil Unto Evil.
 
Expect an extra heavy [[Villain Ball]] complete with [[Kick the Dog|kicking]] dogs by the [[Asshole Victim]] if the author especially wants you to know it's okay. Also the plot often tries to justify this as "people whom the law let get away." Expect [[What the Hell, Hero?]] when [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]]. The villain may also call out a [[Not So Different]] speech at the [[Sociopathic Hero|"hero"]] as a final insult.
 
Sometimes this is done ''retroactively.'' If the hero does something incredibly horrible to someone, it will ''then'' be revealed that this person was really evil all along.
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See also [[Vigilante Man]], [[Always Chaotic Evil]], [[Just Like Robin Hood]], [[He Who Fights Monsters]], [[Serial Killer Killer]] and [[Wife Basher Basher]]
{{examples|Examples:}}
 
== Anime and Manga ==
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* [[Lupin III (Anime)|Lupin III]] lives and breathes this.
* Alucard in ''[[Hellsing (Manga)|Hellsing]]'' is a perfect example (especially in the manga/OVA). He's a complete monster, and he acknowledges it, even reveling in it; sometimes he actively prolongs someone's death, just for the fun of it. However, Integra frequently tells him to destroy anything in his way, even though she knows his methods. Admittedly, fewer people would have qualms about doing horrible things to Nazis. {{spoiler|Or Enrico Maxwell and his Iscariot agents.}}
* ''[[Ranma One Half½ (Manga)|Ranma One Half]]'' is full of [[Jerkass]] characters, so there's rarely a shortage of [[Asshole Victim|asshole victims]]. One particular instance occurs after Ranma has mastered the Hiryuu Shoten-Ha, which he's trying to use against Happousai. Mousse, Kuno, Principal Kuno and Gosunkugi all charge into the battle to take on Ranma as well; nice guy that he is, Ranma hesitates to use his new attack out of concern they'll all be caught in the massive blast. ''Then'' Ranma remembers how the same four characters had earlier viciously ganged up on him when he was too weak to defend himself. He promptly launches the attack.
* Nami from ''[[One Piece (Manga)|One Piece]]'', although not evil, stole from other pirates to pay off the ones who'd taken over her town and inducted her into their crew. She did not at this point consider herself a pirate, as that would have been giving in.
* In ''[[Code Geass (Anime)|Code Geass]]'', [[Well -Intentioned Extremist|Lelouch]] turns a terrorist group into rebels with good publicity by convincing them to attack anyone who abuses power and harms the innocent, as opposed to simply attacking the government and letting Britannian casualties fall where they would, as they had in the past. This is important in episode 8 where his group debuts as the Black Knights, as their opponent is a member of another Japanese resistance group who was killing Britannian civilians just to prove that Japan was still alive and fighting.
** Lelouch has an infamous line in the second series: "I commit evil to fight the greater evil!" which more or less sums it up. However, he ''is'' willing to commit [[Hypocrite|hypocrisy]] on this regard if it will serve the interest of his goal.
* Thoroughly deconstructed in ''[[Monster (Anime)|Monster]]'', although it is played straight in the first couple of episodes when Tenma, in a fit of rage, declares that his superiors should die. [[I Wished You Were Dead|They indeed do so]], whereupon the trope is deconstructed since it is the audience, not the characters, who wholeheartedly [[And There Was Much Rejoicing|approve]] of the act.
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* Every time [[X Men|Magneto]] clashes with anti-mutant hate groups.
* So according to [[Wikipedia]] when [[The Flash|Bart Allen]] {{spoiler|recently ended his tenure as the Flash by dying}}, Wally West {{spoiler|reappeared and took down Bart's nemesis}} Inertia. The punishment? {{spoiler|[[And I Must Scream|Wally froze Inertia in time, but left his mind running. Then he stuck him on display in the Flash Museum forcing Inertia to forever STARE at statues of Bart.]]}} How is that NOT cruel and unusual?
** Wally later had an ''internal'' [[What the Hell, Hero?]] moment, when he thought about what he'd done.
* Marv of ''[[Sin City]]'' inflicts on various criminals horrible torture which would maybe even make [[Twenty Four|Jack Bauer]] sick. He's kind of like [[Dexter]] in being a pretty messed up person himself.
* Rorschach from ''[[Watchmen (Comic Book)|Watchmen]]'' has this as his MO, although he ranks sex along with murder on the scale of morality, and proceeds to break a guy's fingers just for calling attention to the fact that he is, uh, hygienically challenged.
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{{quote| '''Rei''': Asuka is my friend and if you touch her... ''(psychotic grin)'' I touch you. 'Kay?}}
* In the fanfic ARSENAL, the three troubleshooters hired by Gendo to retake control of Nerv are punished for the horrific actions they performed (the least of which being murdering dozens of civilians evacuating Tokyo-3 on the eve of an Angel attack) in horrifying ways. Quite a few fans were disquieted by their punishments, considering them too brutal.
* Rose Potter has this philosophy in ''[[The Girl Who Lived (Fanfic)|The Girl Who Lived]]'', only she applies it to characters who [[What Do You Mean ItsIt's Not Heinous?|don't really even do anything that evil]]. [[Jerk Sue|Or anyone who happens to annoy her.]] Okay, she's basically just evil herself, [[Dissimile|but she fits this trope otherwise]].
* In ''[[Invader Zim the Series (Fanfic)|Invader Zim the Series]]'', most of the villains end up [[Heel Face Turn|switching sides]] or simply being defeated. However, the Irken Zoburg - a [[Complete Monster]] [[Mad Scientist]] with a long, ''long'' list of [[Kick the Dog]] moments - is dealt a [[Fate Worse Than Death]]: {{spoiler|he's crucified to a rocket and launched into orbit, where his pressurized armor will insure he [[And I Must Scream|stays alive long enough to starve to death]]}}. This would be considered a [[Moral Event Horizon]] for the protagonist responsible, except that Zoburg's last act prior to this was to torture said protagonist's little brother to death (purely [[For the Evulz]]), so he's excused for taking his revenge.
* ''[[Ponies Make War (Fanfic)|Ponies Make War]]'': Twilight Sparkle's brutal execution of [[The Dragon|General Esteem]] borders on the [[Moral Event Horizon]], but considering that the latter willingly sold out the entire world to [[Big Bad|Titan]], {{spoiler|is the one who turned Twilight into [[Super -Powered Evil Side|Nihilus]], and just confessed to killing and ''eating'' Spike<ref> though this turns out to be a final spiteful lie</ref>,}} it was probably still better than he deserved.
 
 
== Film ==
* A common perception of Wydell's actions towards the [[Villain Protagonist|Villain Protagonists]] of ''[[The Devils Rejects]]''. Yes, what Wydell did was to embrace [[He Who Fights Monsters]] to [[Anvilicious]] extremes, but, on the other hand, the people he was [[Cold -Blooded Torture|horrificially abusing and butchering]] were [[Complete Monster|Complete Monsters]] with a years, if not decades, long history of torture, rape and serial killing.
* In ''[[Dead Mans Shoes]]'', the [[Anti -Hero]] Richard comes back to his town to take bloody revenge on the people who bullied his brother when they were younger, [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge|killing them brutally one by one.]] The film is interspersed with disturbing flashbacks showing what they did, any of which could explain the extent of Richard's fury, culminating in the most horrific: {{spoiler|they drive him out into the country, literally torture him and abandon him with a rope around his neck that he uses to hang himself. The brother, who had appeared as a character throughout the film, was [[Dead All Along]].}} However, whilst the bullies were indeed monstrous, we're not entirely expected to agree with Richard's actions - and in the final scene, Richard acknowledges that the things he's done have been terrible.
* In ''[[Dogville]]'', a woman on the run from the mob is reluctantly accepted in a small Colorado town. In exchange, she agrees to work for them. As a search visits town, however, they force her to do more chores within the same time, for less pay. The townspeople then start treating her like a slave, raping and abusing her. Unfortunately for them, {{spoiler|she turns out to be the daughter of a mob boss - and the townspeople have lost all chance of her forgiveness...}}
* ''[[The Boondock Saints]]'' believe in this. It's arguable whether their actions and success are a result of divine intervention or just plain dumb luck - but either way, you ''do not mess'' with the MacManus brothers.
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* In [[Tom Clancy]]'s ''Without Remorse'', John Kelly is an ex-Navy SEAL who falls for an ex-prostitute/drug mule and rehabilitates her, only to see her raped and murdered by her former pimp. He spends the next year hunting down and brutally executing the entire drug ring, working his way up the chain one pusher/pimp at a time. This comes to the attention of the CIA, who are simultaneously recruiting him for a Vietnam rescue mission; when they find out what he did, they arrange for his "Kelly" identity to die in an apparent suicide, and they give him a new identity as "John Clark". Much later in the series, the President of the United States pardons him.
* The later ''[[Sword of Truth]]'' books feature, among other things, the hero leading a charge ''through'' peace protesters with, essentially, this justification (said protesters, it should be noted, were guarding an army of [[Complete Monster|complete monsters]], but Richard could have made an ''effort'' to [[Take a Third Option]]), and sending his army to attack cities and other settlements that are supporting the Imperial Order, basically a strategy of total war. The justification given is that it would be impossible to beat the Order in a straight up fight, since they're outnumbered 100 to 1. Richard notably orders his troops '''''not''''' to kill civilians if it can be avoided, but that they should still make them afraid of the D'Haran troops.
* In ''[[Harry Potter (Franchise)/Harry Potter and Thethe Deathly Hallows|Harry Potter]]'', Imperius and Cruciatus curses. When they're first introduced, it's stated that using these curses wins the caster a one-way ticket to Azkaban, and Barty Crouch is portrayed in a bad light for authorizing the Aurors to use the spells ''in exactly the same way the heroes eventually do''. It's just a ''little'' disconcerting to see, for example, McGonagall tossing around Imperius because she couldn't be bothered picking up two wands herself. The use is seen as somewhat morally ambiguous, and it functions as a slow buildup - with Harry having used two of the three "Unforgivable Curses" by the climax of the book, it's reasonable to expect he'd use the last one, the Killing Curse, to finish off Voldemort. {{spoiler|He doesn't. Voldemort dies as a result of his own actions.}}
** Gryffindors also take the opportunity to pay evil unto the oft-deserving Slytherins, James and Sirius bully the racist and dark-magic-obsessed Snape, and Hagrid and Fred and George punish Harry's bullying cousin Dudley with jinxes, although Arthur Weasley doesn't find his sons' behavior funny. Also, Sirius treats Kreacher quite nastily, an odd case as Kreacher is one of the most unlikeable victims in the series, but also served as one of the examples where the good perpetrator was seriously criticized for his bad actions, because Sirius is in a position of authority over Kreacher (Kreacher, as a house elf, is magically impelled to obey him).
*** Sirius' behavior is explained, but not justified, as the fact that Kreacher isn't just a complete asshole of a servant; he's also a reminder of Sirius' unhappy upbringing, and the fact that he's also a supporter of the backwards, bigoted values that upbringing taught makes him doubly so.
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* In the third book of the ''[[Inheritance Cycle]]'', the main character Eragon does some pretty heinous things. He wipes out what is apparently the last of a dying race, [[Mind Rape|Mind Rapes]] a [[Jerkass]] from his hometown who stabbed his friends and family in the back (literally with one guy) and mercilessly slaughters a group of conscripted soldiers who were [[Just Following Orders]]. His feelings on each of the separate matters… vary.
** He feels no guilt at all for wiping out the Ra’zac, seeing them as nothing more than a race of [[Complete Monster|Complete Monsters]]. Which is not ''quite'' true. They’re undoubtedly evil, but that’s at least partially due to [[Blue and Orange Morality]]. The last ones death showed that it was at least capable of feeling sadness, but it showed no remorse for all the people it and its family had killed over the years.
** His feelings on [[Mind Rape|Mind Raping]] the [[Jerkass]] are… not a shining example of morality. The dude was an [[Asshole Victim]] and [[Knight Templar Parent]] who chose to betray his peers (and murder one of them) when his daughter didn’t obey him. But he pretty much [[Rewarded As a Traitor Deserves|got what he had coming to him]] [[Cold -Blooded Torture|at the hands of the Ra’zac]]. Eragon feels no guilt at all for piling the [[Mind Rape]] on top of the torture, starvation, and [[Eye Scream|blinding]] he had already suffered.
*** However, he gave said [[Jerkass]] a chance improve his life and remove the [[Mind Rape]], if he can genuinely change.
** On the other hand Eragon ''does'' feel guilty for slaughtering the conscripted soldiers. Not enough to spare their lives, but he honestly regrets having to kill them. From his perspective, it’s somewhere between [[Shoot the Dog]] and [[I Did What I Had to Do]], since the conscripts are magically bound to report his presence.
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** The [[Big Bad]] [[Kick the Dog|Kicking The Dog]]
** [[Hijacked By Ganon|The Big Bad being killed by a Bigger Bad]]
** The Big Bad being killed by an [[Anti -Hero]] ([[Blood Knight|usually a badger]])
** The heroes killing [[Reptiles Are Abhorrent|a snake]]
* In ''[[The Saint]]'' stories by Leslie Charteris, the title character targeted criminals and other evil characters for justice, including sometimes killing them.
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* In the [[Dale Brown]] novel ''Wings of Fire'', Chris Wohl's killing of {{spoiler|Pavel Kazakov, two stabs to the diaphragm that fill his lungs with blood, followed by a stab-and-slash to the throat}}, is vicious by any objective standard, but considering the evil scum he was doing it to...
** In ''Executive Intent'', after Somali pirates attack a Chinese vessel, the Chinese [[Disproportionate Retribution|carry out a massive aerial and amphibious assault and takeover]]. [[Acceptable Targets|But nobody likes Somali pirates so that's okay.]] One character even compares it to a [[Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work]] moment, noting that the Chinese had spared the rest of the world doing what everyone had secretly wanted but couldn't bring themselves to do.
* In ''[[Rainbow Six (Literature)|Rainbow Six]]'', one of the Basque separatists {{spoiler|kills a [[Littlest Cancer Patient]] on live TV.}} Homer initially isn't allowed to take the shot because of fears that [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|the plan will be screwed up]]; when he does get to take it, he goes for a liver-shot that will make the separatist die slowly and painfully. Ding gives him a perfunctory dressing-down afterwards, but no one is ''really'' complaining.
* Maybe not evil ''per se'', but Extirpon's means of dealing with the scumbags he battles is pretty extreme, being a [[Reality Warper]] and all. Probably the best example of him crossing a line is when he slits a child rapist's throat and then makes a large container appear out of nowhere in the apartment. He promptly locks his victim in the container, then floods it to drown him. Turns out, the victim was the same guy that had [[Stuffed Into the Fridge|drowned and later decapitated one of Extirpon's past lovers]]. This is ''after'' forcing the [[Mooks]] to cough up [[Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?|green mambas]], which bite and kill them.
* ''Sisterhood'' series by [[Fern Michaels]]: Overuse of this trope is a major cause in losing all sympathy for the Sisterhood. ''Vendetta'' has the Sisterhood capture the Chinese ambassador's son who drunkenly killed Barbara Rutledge and her unborn child in a hit and run, and was not punished due to [[Diplomatic Impunity]]. They punish him for this, by ''skinning him alive'', and then shrugging it off afterward! He was a creep and not a nice guy, but he simply did not deserve ''that'' level of punishment! The author actually tries to justify all this by saying that the law is unable to punish criminals, and seriously expect you to cheer on the Vigilantes when they inflict terrible punishments on their targets! It's too bad you find yourself feeling sorry for their targets instead of the protagonists themselves!
* In [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s ''[[The Number of the Beast]]'', the Burroughs' discover an [[Alternate History]] United States who's justice system is based on "[[The Bible|An Eye for an Eye]]". Someone who's careless driving caused another person to lose a leg has his leg removed and has to wait the exact time his victim did before medical help will proceed to help him. Murderers are killed, arsonists are burned to death and it is suggested that rapists are raped (somehow).
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** While Mr Chapel of ''[[Vengeance Unlimited (TV)|Vengeance Unlimited]]'' doesn't kill, he can completely ruin the life of some of his "victims", including two that he had branded as insane.
** Chapel often doesn't go out of his way to get people killed, it's a result of the show's formula. If people survived his scams it would quickly get around that he's not who he says he is. There are also times when he really is trying to make sure they die, though.
* In ''[[Smallville]]'', Davis Bloome was more or less forced into this; he has a choice between killing a couple criminals every so often and doing nothing (which allows his [[Super -Powered Evil Side]] to take over and massacre a bunch of innocents).
* Happens a few times in ''[[Farscape (TV)|Farscape]]'', though they're usually forced into it by the bad guys. One example: In order to save D'Argo's son (and 9,999 other slaves), our heroes plan to rob a bank, justifying their actions by saying it's a "shadow depository", ie, where bad guys hide the stuff they steal.
* ''[[Sledge Hammer]]'' is a [[Cowboy Cop]] who doesn't hesitate to use the violent criminal scum's own violent criminal methods against them... to the consternation of Captain Trunk.
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** Sisko is particularly prone to this. The episode "In the Pale Moonlight" shows that Sisko is reluctantly willing to engage in bribery, extortion, and to work with Garak--a man who committed at least four murders during the episode (though Sisko does not know that Garak planned the murders)--to bring an early end to the Dominion War.
** Speaking of Garak, he once tried to commit genocide on the Founders' home world by gaining access to ''Defiant's'' weapons systems. Had he succeeded, he may have averted the war altogether.
* [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]: Few mourned, and many cheered, when [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds|Dark Willow]] flayed [[Complete Monster|Warren Mears]] alive. Those that refrained from cheering did so not out of sympathy for Warren, but concern for Willow.
* ''Buffy'' [[Spin -Off]] ''[[Angel]]'' had a terrific example in Season 2. After coming across his archenemies from Wolfram & Hart being held hostage by Darla and Dru, Angel stands contemplative for a moment. Wolfram & Hart is an evil organisation with absolutely no qualms about murdering innocent people. Rather than save them, Angel locks the door and lets the vamps go to work. The formerly unflappable Holland Manners is terrified and begs, "People are going to die," to which Angel responds, "[[Ironic Echo|And yet somehow I just can't seem to care]]." Whilst harrowing in a sense, it doesn't stop seeing them get their karma from being wholly satisfying.
 
 
== Music ==
* Played with in the [[ACDC (Music)|ACDC]] song ''Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap''. The suggested recipients of the titular deeds are a lecherous teacher, an adulterous husband, [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|and a nagging wife]].
* The [[Insane Clown Posse (Music)|Insane Clown Posse]] has a song called ''To Catch A Predator'' wherein the protagonist talks about his exploits in baiting pedophiles into coming down to his house, wherein he mutilates them and chains them up in his basement. The chorus sums up his motives nicely: "[[Necessarily Evil|I'm probably gonna burn for this]]/Ain't no lesson to learn from this/There's nothing I'ma earn/[[For the Evulz|But it sure is fun]]".
 
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== Religion - The Bible ==
* [[The Bible|The Book of Joshua]] tells how the Israelites conquered the land of Canaan and killed or enslaved the native peoples. It was justified by them evidently worshipping pagan gods, practicing child sacrifice and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|being sexually immoral]].
** It should be noted that sexual immorality and child sacrifice were HOW they were worshiping their gods, so the three charges are really one and the same.
** Later, this punishment was applied to the Israelites themselves for the very same crimes.
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* In the Scroll of Esther, Haman plotted to have all of the Jews in the kingdom killed. Instead, he and his sons (who were never mentioned as having been part of the plot) were [[Hoist By His Own Petard|hung on the gallows he had built for the Jews]].
* Averted in the Book of Jonah; Jonah actually gets rather upset that God forgave the people of Nineveh. God explains that, unlike the people of Sodom and Gormorrah, the Ninevites took the warning seriously and repented sincerely, so He wasn't about to go killing a bunch of innocents along with the guilty when there wasn't any need.
* In Chapter 34 of Genesis, Jacob's only daughter Dinah was violated by a [[Stalker With a Crush|Shechemite prince.]] Simon and Levi, her [[Knight Templar Big Brother|brothers]], sat down with their father when the prince and his father came by offering a lavish bride-price. They lied and said they'd only agree to the marriage if the Shechemite men agreed to be circumcised like them, which they did. When the men were incapacitated after the surgery, Jacob's sons (without his knowledge) went into the Shechemite village and [[Disproportionate Retribution|slaughtered every male they could find]] before bringing Dinah home (along with everyone and everything else they managed to plunder). Jacob [[What the Hell, Hero?|called them out]] on this, fearing for his tribe's safety. Their [[Rape and Revenge|justification]] was "Should we have let him use her for a whore?"
* This was the idea behind "Eye for an eye" , if someone killed a relative, raped your daughter, [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|or stole your cattle]], you were allowed to kill them, castrate them, or take back what they stole and more.
 
 
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* Aribeth's actions in [[Neverwinter Nights]] are more of [[Black and Grey Morality|pay evil unto very questionable]], but the idea is there.
* ''[[Tales of Vesperia]]'' - This is the source of all of [[Vigilante Man|Yuri's]] various instances of [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]]. Also, all the people he kills were [[Complete Monster|Complete Monsters]] to begin with, and probably deserved worse.
** Also subject to a bit of [[What the Hell, Hero?]].
* In some games with a [[Karma Meter]] (''[[Fable (Video Game)|Fable]]'' immediately comes to mind), killing [[Mook|Mooks]] gives Good points. Even unprovoked killings.
** You can kill bandits while they're asleep and it's considered "Good", but killing their leader is "Evil".
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** In ''[[Fallout New Vegas (Video Game)|Fallout New Vegas]]'', Vulpes Inculta butchers the town of Nipton for being a [[Wretched Hive]] filled with bastards willing to sell each other out after the citizens failed a [[Secret Test of Character]] he put on.
*** In fact Vulpes is so much a beliver of this trope wend you tell him his acts are unforgiveable he outright tells you to kill him if you truely think he's evil.
*** In Fallout: New Vegas's DLC ''Honest Hearts'', this is {{spoiler|[[The Atoner|Joshua Graham's]]}} plan for dealing with the invading White Legs tribe in Zion. Towards the people of New Canaan and the tribes they help, he's a man trying to atone for his past sins and prove that he is no longer {{spoiler|the Malpais Legate}}. To the White Legs, he might as well still be, as evidenced by his general [[Kill 'Em All]] policy, executing them on their knees, and stabbing their heads on pikes as examples.
* Happened in ''[[Saints Row]] 2'', although it's not so much as pay evil onto evil as [[Grey and Gray Morality|pay evil onto greyness.]] Maero gets his revenge for {{spoiler|unintentionally getting tattooed with nuclear acid set up by the main character by torturing Carlos and having the player [[Mercy Kill]] him.}} The main character gets him back by {{spoiler|kidnapping his girlfriend, Jessica, stuffing her into the trunk of a car, and using it as fodder in a monster truck rally that Maero is in, with Jessica still in the trunk. She doesn't survive.}}
** Additionally, near the end of the storyline dealing with the Ronin, {{spoiler|Johnny Gat}} takes revenge for the murder of {{spoiler|his girlfriend, Aisha,}} by {{spoiler|beating, humiliating, and locking her murderer in the coffin and burying him alive}}. This game ''loves'' this trope. It's like playing as [[Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|Belkar]].
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* ''[[Lightning Warrior Raidy]]'' features an erotic version of this with the boss battles in both games. Raidy always encounters level bosses in the middle of sexually tormenting a kidnapped NPC in a variety of ways; if she loses the ensuing boss battle, the game over sequence features the boss subjecting Raidy to this treatment, but if Raidy wins, she gives them a taste of their own medicine.
* In ''[[Might and Magic]] 2'' characters who entered certain valleys could discover peaceful goblin villages. They could then choose to attack them and slaughter them all, likely leaving any surviving children who hid from your murderous rampage orphans who will vow vengeance upon humanity for your actions; but since they're monsters and you're heroes it's okay!
* Alec Mason in ''[[Red Faction]] Guerrilla'' spends most of the game causing property damage in the hundreds of millions, bombing industrial centers and troop barracks, and breaking many, many people in half through sledgehammer-induced blunt force trauma. There's no disguising the fact that he's functionally a terrorist...except that he's facing off the oppressive, thuggish, and violent EDF, who harass and abuse workers, shoot miners with little provocation, who finally pushed the [[Refused the Call|initially reluctant]] Alec to join the Red Faction after an EDF gunship [[ItsIt's Personal|killed his younger brother.]] The entire game really boils down to a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] led by Alec Mason against the EDF to avenge Daniel.
* Many sidequests in ''[[The Godfather (Video Game)|The Godfather]] 2'' involve you dealing injury to the person or property of those who have done injustice against the quest-givers.
 
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== Web Original ==
* In ''[[Survival of the Fittest (Roleplay)|Survival of the Fittest]]'', [[Well -Intentioned Extremist]] Lenny Priestly kills {{spoiler|Viki Valentine}} and runs off into the woods, leaving Gabe McCallum and Steve Digaetano to mourn her. Next time they meet, Gabe shoots down {{spoiler|Lenny's sister, Elizabeth Priestly}} in a fit of rage, despite Steve's best efforts. Now that Lenny's been rid of his [[Morality Chain]] and decided to go on a suicidal [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]], it's clear that [[What the Hell, Hero?|Gabe has pretty much fucked up here.]]
* [[Word of God]] says this is the background for the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUEFxSOVd6A brutal pilot] of [[Cause of Death]], but the first episode only alludes to the slob {{spoiler|doing ''something'' to the girl in the picture}}, but whatever he did, we don't find out, since {{spoiler|he's murdered fast.}}
* This is the rationale everyone has for setting {{spoiler|Dr. Insano}} on [[The Nostalgia Critic (Web Video)|The Nostalgia Critic]] in ''[[Kickassia (Web Video)|Kickassia]]''. Notably, [[The Spoony Experiment (Web Video)|Spoony]] and [[Atop the Fourth Wall (Web Video)|Linkara]] disagreed. Spoony because he {{spoiler|[[Jekyll and Hyde|WAS]] Insano}}, and Linkara...well:
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** It's hard to believe that Bulk and Skull ''were'' bullies after all the humiliation given to them constantly for about the five original seasons of ''[[Power Rangers]]''. The good guys never used their powers explicitly other than dodge attacks, but they did laugh at them a lot in the freeze shot that ended episodes.
*** They were pretty bad in the first season (Both in the sense of not being nice, but also just not good at being bullies), but later on they got better.
** ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' sometimes got a [[What the Hell, Hero?]] or [[Not So Different]] speech for messing with the bullies in his school with his ghost powers. This rarely lasted more than an episode.
*** The first of these amounting to a B-plot aesop about judging people. The [[Monster of the Week|ghost of the week]] showed up while Danny was getting his revenge on the Jock/Bully Dash, and jumps to the conclusion that ''Danny'' is the bully, irresponsibly using his powers to torment an undeserving victim. Ghost proceeds to expel Danny to a Ghost Zone area with the main plot being Danny trying to escape, while the B-plot had Possesed!Danny subtly using his powers to help and befriend Dash, who didn't act so terrible while this was going on.
* On ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', Katara uses this logic to defend her theft of a Waterbending scroll: "Stealing is wrong... [[Spoof Aesop|unless it's from pirates]]." She conveniently forgets this two seasons later when she chides Toph for her gambling schemes, and Toph replies, "Hey, I only cheated because ''he'' was cheating. I cheated a cheater. What's wrong with that?" The kids '''''never''''' learn any [[Aesop]] contradicting this.
Line 365:
'''Hama''': It doesn't matter whether you want it. The power exists. They tried to WIPE US OUT, Katara. This is war and you have to use whatever weapons are available to you. }}
** Regarding The Southern Raiders, Katara hunts down Yon Rha initially intending to kill him. She does not do so, but ''only'' because she decides he is a detestable, pathetic piece of work who is [[Not Worth Killing]].
* Matrix, from the third and fourth seasons of ''[[Re Boot]]'', tends towards this. Immediately after his age-up, he was a Type IV [[Anti -Hero]] who believed that all viruses should be eradicated. Later in the season, he cooled down a bit, even {{spoiler|sparing Megabyte's life at the end.}}
* In ''[[The Fairly Odd Parents]]'', Timmy eventually wishes Vicky was young enough for him to be her babysitter so he could get his revenge, doing the exact same kind of things she did to him to her. Now if Vicky had actually been the same person she was as an adult, it'd have been well deserved...but it feels awful because she's at an age where she wasn't evil and is just a poor five year old girl. This further backfires when Vicky gets Cosmo and Wanda due to how bad Timmy made her feel and uses them to take her own revenge on him. Ultimately, Timmy learns his [[Aesop]] and decides, before returning her to normal, [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|giving her a great day.]]
* ''[[The Simpsons]]'' seems considerably fond of this trope. ''22 Short Films About Springfield'' ends with a grown man Nelson made fun of pulling down Nelson's pants, ordering him to walk down the street with his pants down, telling everyone on the street that now is their chance to make fun of Nelson, and everyone in town pointing and laughing at him at the same time. [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|And then Bart and Milhouse pour ketchup and mustard on Nelson's face.]]
* Very much the subject of [[Batman Under the Red Hood]]. The villain, Red Hood, {{spoiler|who is actually Jason Todd, the 2nd Robin}} is trying to prove to Batman that his [[Thou Shalt Not Kill|code against killing]] is inadequate and he can be a better crime-fighter by just murdering criminals.
 
 
== Real Life ==
* As referenced in the page quote, [[Prison Rape]] is often considered more acceptable, in the eyes of guards, fellow prisoners, and the general public alike, when done to rapists, ESPECIALLY [[Would Hurt a Child|those who rape children]]. In practice, however, [[False Rape Accusation|not everyone in jail for rape is actually guilty anyway]]. So often times a consequence of this approach is that more non-rapists get raped. [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|Oops.]]
* Typically evil things such as murder or theft can be instead lawful or, in rare cases, morally obligated. Lethal force in self-defense or the defense of others is the most obvious.
** The initiation of war is a crime against peace under a number of statutes, most notably the [[United Nations]] charter, and was used against the Axis powers at the end of [[World War II]]. Anyone carrying out an aggressive war of conquest is thus a criminal. Unfortunately, while such acts are crimes, and are in theory punishable by the ICC under the Rome Statute, the ICC can't actually prosecute such cases because [[Screw the Rules, I Make Them|none of the U.N. member states have as yet agreed upon a definition of crimes of aggression in legal terms]]. Thus, the only warfare technically legal in the present day are wars carried out to impede the commission of crimes.
* The original meaning of "outlaw" was a status inflicted on criminals (by means of a "Writ of Outlawry"), which allowed anybody to do whatever they wanted to them, as they were "no longer protected by law." Expect this argument to be brought up in any debate on the treatment/interrogation of "enemy combatants."
* On that note Pirates were dubbed ''Hostis humani generis'' (enemy of mankind). Of course, nations were happy to hire "Privateers" who were essentially pirates that would only prey on ships belonging to nations you didn't like, so having one ally in mankind did have its advantages.
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