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Then Let Me Be Evil (view source)

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Sometimes the "forces of good" in a story treat an "evil" character badly enough, for long enough, that the "evil" character just says "Screw it. You think I'm evil? [[Title Drop|Then let me be evil.]]" Prolonged exposure to the cynical side of the [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]] has conditioned this character to accept the fact that [[Humans Are Bastards]], and if he wants to get anywhere in the world, he has to be every bit as dirty and cruel as they are.
 
The villain normally gets to this point by being rejected by the resident morality enforcers and treated to assumptive behaviour. Whether it's due to being of a different nationality, hailing from a [[Fantastic Racism|stereotypically]] [[Always ChaoticExclusively Evil]] [[My Species Doth Protest Too Much|species]], or having had a few evil moments in the past, they just ''cannot'' get a break; even if they try to do good deeds, it will only lead to being [[No Good Deed Goes Unpunished|horrifically punished]] for them. The point is, there is absolutely no way they can change anyone's mind that they're not a [[Complete Monster]], so why bother?
 
Once this trope has been declared, unlike a lot of [[Ambiguously Evil]] characters, they won't be redeemed in spite of their sympathetic traits -- thistraits—this is largely because it took a lot of work to turn him evil in the first place. Interestingly, in spite of all this, he doesn't look for excuses to [[Kick the Dog|kick puppies]] -- he—he still has morals, he just exercises a (much) more cynical variant of [[The Golden Rule]].
 
The trope can be played to be more or less convincing for the audience depending on what point the writer wants to make. You can have the statement come across like a cheap [[Freudian Excuse]] such that it feels just like the villain is not truly owning up to their own part in their villainy. You could have it come across as a genuine explanation, but still not an excuse. And then again, it could be used as a genuine exposure of mistakes the hero has made, or even an outright [[What the Hell, Hero?|exposure and commentary of the other characters' hypocrisy]].
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**** {{spoiler|Yashamaru might just not be that good with poisons. Or maybe, whether he meant it or not, he never hated Gaara so much that he would resort to that, since ninja or no assassinating your ''nephew'' by poison is pretty low, and at least that way Gaara had a fighting chance. Or, more likely, maybe poison wouldn't be effective for some reason (decent chance it might have caused Gaara to accidently [[Sealed Evil in a Can|set the Shukaku demon free]]; few poisons are instantaneous, and merely falling asleep would be enough to release it). So no, not bad writing.}}
**** {{spoiler|Also he wanted to test him to see if ,after that,he could contain his hatred,which would prove that he was of no danger of releasing the Shukaku demon.By ordering,or allowing him to use poison he would blow his son's last chance of proving him wrong by containing his hatred.}}
* As a child Lucy from ''[[Elfen Lied]]'' is [[Humans Are Bastards|bullied / persecuted mercilessly]] for being a [[Always ChaoticExclusively Evil|Diclonius]], a [[Bullying a Dragon|horned]], [[Mugging the Monster|superpowered]] girl who may one day destroy the human race... [[Self-Fulfilling Prophecy|Yeah. Nice going there.]]
* Played with by Lelouch of ''[[Code Geass]]'', especially towards the end after things pretty much entirely go south for him. He pretty much says this after {{spoiler|the death of Euphemia.}}
** Pretty much his entire mindset when he begins his scheming. He is willing to commit evil if it means taking out greater evil in so doing. Ultimately, he plays it to the hilt {{spoiler|and allows himself to become the most despised person in the world...so that the world would focus all their hatred on him...so that his death would remove that hatred and provide a chance for the world to rebuild more positively.}}
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* This is one of the motivations behind the Plutonian's [[Face Heel Turn]] in ''[[Irredeemable]]''. In his mind, [[Beware the Superman|if the world is just going to fear him like a giant ticking bomb]] after all that he's done for them, then why not give them what they expect?
* Loki from [[The Mighty Thor]] fits, Depending on the Writer. Of course, it's almost always more that Loki THOUGHT that the Asgardians didn't trust him and that he was [[The Unfavorite]] compared to Thor (combined in some continuities with the reveal that he's a Frost Giant, an [[Always ChaoticExclusively Evil]] race) that caused his [[Start of Darkness]], not that he was actually disliked/hated. Thor, years later after fighting as the hero to his villain, still cares enough about him to get him reincarnated after Loki engineered the near fall of Asgard {{spoiler|and helped save it in a last-ditch [[Heroic Sacrifice]]. [[Enemy Mine]] has been a recurring thing for Loki when the threat gets too great for a long, long time}}.
** Also, there might have been a bit of [[Because Destiny Says So]], since according to some writers the Ragnarok cycle, while it existed, contained the prophecies of the Norns that wrote the fates of the Asgardians and those around them. Loki might have been dealing with the knowledge that it said he'd be evil.
*** The seriousness with which the mythological factors are treated in the Mighty Thor materials varies a lot, but it's always going to be...''off'' when it comes to Thor-and-Loki because it requires them to be a [[Cain and Abel|set of good and evil brothers]], which is categorically wrong in every particular way. Although Thor does seem to have been considered the safest of the Aesir to petition.
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* In the Mexican comic [[Memin]] (about a poor Black boy) a story had some bullies convince him that Black people never go to Heaven, no matter how good they are (claiming that the fact there are no pictures of Black angels proves it). Memin is so angry that he swears that if he's going to Hell, he'll rule it by being the most evil kid in the world! (of course, being a preteen his idea of evil acts are things like disrespecting his mother.) His friends hatch a plan to reform him by painting one of the angels in a Church (with the clergy's permission) Black and then show it to him. It worked.
* During a visit to Hell, [[Knightfall|Bane]] of the ''[[Secret Six]]'' discovered that despite being a [[Noble Demon]] (at least what he thought was one) he was still damned. He figures that since he's beyond redemption anyway, he might as well stop trying to be a half-assed antihero and embraces villainy. First order of business? Settle the score with [[Batman]] once and for all.
* While it never actually happens, Spider-Man comics have repeatedly teased the reader with the possiblity of Spider-Man becoming a menace due to the [[All of the Other Reindeer]] mentality of the world around him. In the ''[[Ultimate Spider-Man]]'' comics, [[Nick Fury]] was particularly worried that all of the tragedy and bad publicity in Peter's life would drive him to villainy -- andvillainy—and given the combination of Peter's intelligence, determination, and superpowers, that would be a very bad thing.
 
== Fanfiction ==
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== Literature ==
 
* The Outcast of ''[[Redwall]]'' has elements of this. A foundling infant from one of the [[Always ChaoticExclusively Evil]] vermin races is raised in the Abbey and grows to be quite the troublemaker as a child. Even so, he is treated with little more than suspicion and [[Fantastic Racism|prejudice]] by most of the local populace, and rarely, if ever, given the benefit of the doubt, even for his motivations ([[No Good Deed Goes Unpunished|backfired attempts to do good are still punished without consideration]]). Ultimately, the message boils down to him still being responsible for making his own immoral choices; but he at least got more sympathy than any other vermin character when one considers what a slim "chance" the Redwallers ever gave him.
** Not to mention that his surrogate mother, who never gave up on him, ultimately decides he was entirely evil all along after he dies saving her life (his only real successful good action). Depriving him of even [[Redemption Equals Death]].
* ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn''. It's not quite as simple as that - Huck isn't ''fed up'' with being treated as wicked, but has a low opinion of himself, even though later has been encouraged by the widow etc. to believe he has the potential to be a 'good boy' and live within the rules and be taken care of. But in the end he faces the moral quandary of being 'good' or keeping faith with Jim, and finds himself unable to countenance the former if it is exclusive of the latter. He believes he's 'bad' because he's [[To Be Lawful or Good|defying the rules and will be punished]] , because he's coping with higher morality on an emotional level but completely lacks the vocabulary to deal with it mentally. Mostly he accepts that there's not going to be a reward actually worth the trouble for anything he does, so may as well [Chaotic Good|do whatever he feels right] or [Chaotic Neutral|whatever suits his needs at the moment].
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* "Michael" from ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'' was a Wraith who the protagonists forcibly converted into an amnesiac human. His introductory episode has the characters mistreating him for no clear reason, before he realizes that he's a [[Tomato in the Mirror]] and breaks out to return to his people... but they won't accept him either, since he's still partly human. He desperately returns to the protagonists and offers valuable aid, just begging them that they don't brainwash him again. They brainwash him again. When he recovers again, he's fed up of saying [[What the Hell, Hero?]], and he snaps completely and becomes an [[Evilutionary Biologist]].
* Adam Wilson from ''The Young and the Restless'' has ended up invoking this trope. It's hard to escape the fact that, before he came to Genoa City, Adam was relatively moral and well-adjusted. It was only after prolonged exposure to the chronic backstabbing and underhanded business dealings of the city that he started his horrific revenge plan -- andplan—and even at the end of that, he lapses into a [[My God, What Have I Done?]] moment and tries to reform. Then even ''this'' is completely undercut when the Newmans and Abbotts confront him in the cabin and treat him like a [[Complete Monster]], even though they don't have any idea what he did -- notdid—not to mention how hollow their moral superiority sounds, considering all the crimes ''they've'' committed in the past, which Adam and later DA Owen Pomerantz call them out on.
* When Ashur of [[Spartacus: Blood and Sand]] gets berated at for his slimy [[Manipulative Bastard]] behaviour, he pulls this line of defense, pointing out that everybody treated him like pig feed and that nearly every git move he pulled benefited his master, doctore, and the ludus, so screw the gladiators and their honour.
* [[Deep Space Nine]] featured an episode in the second-to-last season where Gul Dukat tries to convince Sisko (and himself) that they really were friends all along and that he has always been misunderstood as merely an [[Anti-Hero]], not a true villain. Eventually, with some subtle goading from Sisko to drop his facade, Dukat realizes that he has always been a villain and decides to embrace his role by destroying Bajor and everything Sisko cares about.
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== Music ==
 
* This is the ending of [[Tripod]]'s song "Suicide Bomber"--the—the falsely accused bomber is awaiting release after [[Being Tortured Makes You Evil|repeated torture]], and is already planning to blow up a bus.
* Happens in [[Adam Warrock]]'s song, "Sad Ultron"-- All—All the newest incarnation of Hank Pym's Ultron wants is to hang out and be accepted, but because all previous versions of him went all [[Knight Templar]] and evil, everyone assumes he'll do the same- thanks to being shunned and hated, he turns evil on principle.
{{quote|"Sorry y'all, I tried to be a nice dude, fuckin' human intelligence made me wanna fight too/And that's ironic, isn't it? The fact that human indifference made a robot turn evil and villainous/Fuck it, I'm engaging a plan to kill Hank Pym/ Ask me if I'm one of those nice robots, I'm not him."}}
 
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== Theatre ==
 
* A former page quote was provided by Shylock from ''[[The Merchant of Venice]]'', whose bizarrely sympathetic portrayal has been a recurring fixture in literary studies. As a Jew, he has spent his life being mocked, struck, and spat upon, and then the Christian Antonio (a specific habitual beard-spitter) comes and needs his help as a moneylender, a job he gets hated for. He actually helps, since he says that it may improve things for him. Then his daughter runs off with one of Antonio's friends and takes all his money with her, and the guy flips and pursues his chance to extract a pound of flesh. In the end, Portia comes in and provides an impassioned plea for mercy from him, and when that doesn't work, finds the [[Pound of Flesh Twist]]. Shylock then gets forcibly converted, which was [[Fair for Its Day]]. Certainly he says, effectively, [[Then Let Me Be Evil]], but the level of criticism it was meant to be at the time is up for argument, as is what that ending was meant to signify.
** Shakespeare loved this trope, as seen in Don John, the [[Designated Villain]] of ''[[Much Ado About Nothing]]''. He protests his state thusly:
{{quote|"I had rather be a canker in a hedge than a rose in his grace, and it better fits my blood to be disdained of all than to fashion a carriage to rob love from any: in this, though I cannot be said to be a flattering honest man, it must not be denied but I am a plain-dealing villain. I am trusted with a muzzle and enfranchised with a clog; therefore I have decreed not to sing in my cage. If I had my mouth, I would bite; if I had my liberty, I would do my liking: in the meantime let me be that I am and seek not to alter me."}}
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* In ''[[Skies of Arcadia]]'', [[The Dragon|Ramirez]]'s backstory involves a play on this trope. He came to Arcadia as a naive idealist with some lessons to learn from the school of hard knocks, but found one guy who seemed alright as a role-model/mentor. Sadly, he ended up getting played for a fool and humiliated when the guy turned out to be a dirtbag. So, he went on a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] and gave up on his nice ideals. Basically, he was convinced that [[Humans Are Bastards]] was a universal truth and decided he might as well join them.
* In ''[[City of Heroes]]'', Leonard "[http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Frostfire Frostfire]" Calhoun ([[Unfortunate Names|Yes, that is his real name]]) is [[All There in the Manual|explicitly stated]] to have "succumbed to a 'if you're going to treat me like a villain' mentality" after a botched attempt at vigilanteism. For this reason, [[An Ice Person|Frost]][[Playing with Fire|fire]] is one of the more sympathetic villains in the game, even delivering a crude [[Motive Rant]] when confronted. {{spoiler|He even eventually tries to [[The Atoner|redeem himself]].}}
* In ''[[Icewind Dale]]'' ''2'', the twin [[Big Bad|Big Bads]]s Isair and Madae were treated as embodiments of evil their entire lives because they were cambions -- halfcambions—half devil, half elf. After a lifetime of this treatment, with a cruel prank involving cakes baked with holy water as the final straw, they decided they might as well act like embodiments of evil. Iselore the [[Big Good]] remembers that he warned their foster mother (the only person who ever loved them) that "they are forged in evil and only evil can come from them" and sadly wonders if he helped make it true.
* In ''[[Dragon Age II]]'', almost all of Kirkwall distrusts the qunari and their leader, the Arishok, due to the qunari's reputation for being heathen conquerors. While the Arishok is [[Knight Templar|by no means]] a nice guy, he and the rest of the qunari just want to mind their own business and leave Kirkwall as soon as possible. However, after years of unprovoked attacks by those who expect him to act against them, the Arishok finally has enough and tries to conquer Kirkwall.
** This also sums up why so many Circle mages turn to [[Blood Magic]]; they spend their whole lives effectively at the mercy of the templars, who tell them that the abilities they were born with are sinful and hold the threat of [[Fate Worse Than Death|being made Tranquil]] over their heads, so what do they have to lose by dealing with demons? {{spoiler|First Enchanter Orsino does this in the endgame - even if you sided with him.}}
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== Webcomics ==
 
* Redcloak of ''[[Order of the Stick]]'' has this trait in his more sympathetic moments, most of which are in the prequel book ''Start of Darkness''. As a member of the [[Always ChaoticExclusively Evil]] goblin race, if a "good" character murders him, any other goblins, or even any baby goblins for any reason, this is not treated as an "evil" act, even though the whole reason goblins are evil in the first place is supposedly because they murder without provocation. His example is particularly notable, as at one point he has a [[Heel Realization]] -- about—about the way he mistreats other goblins. He never seriously considers the idea that he's giving humans any less than they deserve.
* [http://www.brawlinthefamily.com/?p=1412 This scenario] from ''[[Brawl in the Family]]'' follows up from the [http://www.brawlinthefamily.com/?p=1406 previous one,] in [[Fridge Logic|an attempt to answer why]] [[Donkey Kong Country|King K. Rool]] has such a problem with DK.
* In ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]],'' Molly the Monster briefly [http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/d/20061014.html considers this, early on:]
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* Many of the forms of ritual killing and mutilation practiced by "savages" at various points in history started out as slanders but eventually became real practices for the people in question- the Germanic "blood eagle" is only attested to in Viking sources a few times, well after the idea entered the popular body of myth surrounding the bloodthirsty, pagan northmen.
* Almost the exact words spoken by Bartholomew "Black Bart" Roberts when he was first press-ganged into joining a pirate crew. "If a pirate I must be, then best to be a commander than a common man." Sure enough, he was elected captain of the same ship that shanghaied him six weeks later.
* The Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas, Nevada is a restaurant version of this. You say hamburgers and french fries are unhealthy? Well, how about their special Quadruple Bypass Burger? It's got 4 half-pound beef patties, eight slices of American cheese, a whole tomato, and half an onion, all served on a lard-coated bun. At 8,000 calories, it'll fill you right up! The best part? People who weigh over 350  lbs. eat for free!
* To some extent, Benedict Arnold. He started out as a very capable American commander during the American Revolution. However, he had made himself powerful enemies (many of whom were in Congress) due to his arrogant manner during the war, and it all ended when they managed to convince the Congress and the upper brass that he would not deserve or need any of the promotions or additional wages for his military service. He was not acknowledged for his role in any early American successes in the war, including Saratoga, which was the battle that convinced France to enter the war on behalf of the Americans and was won almost entirely by Arnold; at the time this was the highest insult to an officer. It came to a head when he was military governor of Philadelphia, he was forced out on trumped-up charges of corruptions and officially reprimanded for it. What he didn't know and was not informed of is that if General Washington had not done so Pennsylvania would have withdrawn their support from the Continental Army. To evade dishonorable consequences, he even attempted to resign, which Washington did not allow. This caused him to feel unappreciated and offered to betray the Americans in return for a hefty sum of money and a generalship in the British army. The rest is history.
* Just about any small time offender convicted of a crime and incarcerated can exhibit this. Psychologists think it's because they get branded with the "criminal" label, causing them to begin seeing themselves as a criminal, and because criminals commit crimes... You can see where this is going.
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