Protagonist-Centered Morality: Difference between revisions
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* [[Depending on the Writer]], this can be a problem in regard to the ''[[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]]'' antagonist Venom—he wants to kill Spider-Man, but generally protects civilians, and may or may not be portrayed as a villain. A good look at his origin might discourage any sympathetic feelings for Venom: he wants to kill Spider-Man because Spidey brought a [[Serial Killer]] to justice. Eddie had originally published a newspaper article, fingering an innocent person as the killer. Spider-Man proved otherwise so Eddie lost his job. Yep, that's his motivation. Part of it, the other 'half' of Venom (i.e, the actual alien, not the human) wants to kill Spidey because he was [[Yandere|ditched]] which is, admittedly, not any better. Anyway, that is the point. Venom wants to do a very evil thing for a very petty reason, yet he still protects people. Some writers focus on the latter when Venom gets his stories, thus fitting the trope. Hell, in Venom's earliest appearances he didn't even care about civilians and was just a raving psychopath. It took a little while for him to find even the most basic morality.
** Really more of an inversion, since Venom is more of an [[Anti-Hero]] to most and only a pure villain to Spider-Man personally, thus he gets considered a super villain.
*** Except as Spidey himself points out in one issue while pondering his various foes, "Venom says that he only wants to kill me, and everyone else is safe. The dead bodies he's left in his wake say otherwise." Venom ''does'' kill and hurt others in the course of his vendetta, he's just very good at making excuses for it to himself when he does.
* In Bill Willingham's ''[[Fables]]'', a main source of tension is the Fabletown Charter's 'General Amnesty' to signatory Fables. Basically, it doesn't matter what [[The Brothers Grimm (creator)|horrible]]... ''[[Nightmare Fuel|horrible]]'' things a Fable did before signing, they are all forgiven as a means to allow Fables who have done wrong to live there without fear of reprisal. This is especially useful considering many Fables shared the same stories and did 'not nice' things to each other. This becomes interesting (and commented on several times) because characters like [[Anti-Hero|Bigby]], [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|Bluebeard]], and [[The Chessmaster|Frau Totenkinder]], who are essentially known mass murderers, are employed, accommodated, and at times respected because they work for the greater good of the small community of Fables. Of course, it helps they ''did'' give up their mass murdering ways when they came to the new world... mostly. {{spoiler|Bluebeard didn't give up the mindset, which cost him his life after murdering an innocent, and Frau Totenkinder has some kind of appalling (by Fable standards) means to keep her magic strong}}.
** Totenkinder's method of keeping her magic is implied to be {{spoiler|operating a series of abortion clinics}}, and thus entirely legal (if, to some, rather unsavory).
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