Vigilante Man: Difference between revisions
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{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* Light Yagami, the [[Villain Protagonist]] of ''[[Death Note]]''. Death is the only punishment he ''can'' dish out. Early on, he states that he's going to create a world filled with only good-hearted people he approves of. He's simply going to ''start'' with the criminals...
* Lelouch in ''[[Code Geass]]'', in creating the terrorist group the Black Knights, is trying to overthrow Brittania's racist, [[Social Darwinist]] regime, so as to create his sister Nunnally's longed-for "beautiful world."
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* {{spoiler|Jellal}} becomes this in ''[[Fairy Tail]]'', forming a small independent guild that hunts down dark guilds, something the Council doesn't allow of the guilds in it's jurisdiction, as it counts as illegal warring between guilds.
* In [[Ghost in the Shell]], Section 9 is frequently doing some work "off the record". But [[Crapsack World|unlike most other law enforcement agencies]], they don't do it for their own gain.
== Comic Books ==
* V from ''[[V for Vendetta]]''. While throughout the series he's seen as more of a... vengeful terrorist, he does show some (although few) signs that he started out as one of these and simply got tired of not making progress.
** From a certain point of view, he still is one of these. If you operate on the idea that a government is essentially a single entity with its own will and identity, then he was simply killing the most heinous criminal of them all.
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* [[Depending on the Writer|Depending on the story]], Paperinik (Donald Duck's superhero alter ego in some Italian stories) may have this as his reason to hunt down criminals: Duckburg has a serious criminality problem (seriously, how is that the Beagle Boys manage to get free in a lawful way?!), and an unstoppable sadistic superhero going to extreme lengths to humiliate and beat you up after catching you in the act or getting proof and a confession ([[Justified Trope|justifying]] the fact his victims are always guilty: he makes sure, and those times he was wrong he found out before beating up the supposed criminal) tend to keep the problem manageable. In those stories he's also a wanted criminal due various spectacular thefts he committed at the start of his career to punish Donald's bullies (the very first being the money-filled bed Scrooge was sleeping on: the sacks of money were ''too easy'' for him), but most of the police doesn't want to arrest him due a combination him catching an insane amount of criminals and leaving them on their step and mercilessly humiliating the ones who actually try and arrest him (one memorable occasion had him fooling two cops into breaking into the bedroom of the chief of the police. [[Hilarity Ensued]]).
== Fan
* Douglas Sangnoir, the dimension-hopping paramilitary superhuman at the the center of the ''[[Drunkard's Walk]]'' fanfic cycle, is an officer of the law in his home timeline, not a vigilante, but he knows people who "vig", and has discussed both the occupation and taking it up himself in the various worlds he's visited.
== Film ==
* The ''[[Death Wish]]'' movies. Paul Kersey becomes a vigilante after his wife is murdered and his daughter is sexually assaulted by muggers. Also an [[Unbuilt Trope]] as the film pioneered the urban vigilante concept, but it also showed how dangerous it would be.
* Preacher in the movie ''[[Pale Rider]]''.
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* The Michael Caine movie ''[[Harry Brown]]''.
* Jigsaw, Amanda and Hoffman in ''[[Saw]]'' are a twisted, ''twisted'' version of this.
* Vigilantism is attacked in ''[[
* In ''[[Pyrokinesis]]'', the protagonist is a rare female example, killing criminals with the titular [[Playing with Fire|psychic power]]. She manages to stay a good guy despite fighting against the police, because {{spoiler|the chief of police is also the head of the snuff ring she's been targeting.}}
* In ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (film)|TMNT]]'', Raphael becomes the Nightwatcher while Leonardo is in South America. TMNT being a kids' movie, Raph doesn't kill anybody, but he doles out some major beatings to all criminals he comes across.
* The Hobo in ''[[Hobo with a Shotgun]].''
* In ''[[Murders Among Us]]'', Hans Mertens {{spoiler|almost becomes this, but instead decides not to kill Bruckner at the insistence of Suzanne}}.
* Seemingly deconstructed in ''[[Law Abiding Citizen]]'', with Clyde Shelton [[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope]]. On the other hand, it also seems to portray the criminal justice system as ineffectual.
== Literature ==
* {{spoiler|Justice Wargrave}} from ''[[And Then There Were None]]''. {{spoiler|Although he lacks the charisma and [[Badass]]ery of a typical Vigilante Man, the idea is the same: kill people who have escaped legal justice.}}
* Mack Bolan, the protagonist of ''[[The Executioner]]'' series of novels, started out as this. The series eventually had him join the government, in a black ops organization. He did have a [[Heroic BSOD|moral dilemma breakdown]] during one mission in China however, when he was forced to strangle a 14 year old girl to death because she was a gun-toting fanatic. From that novel
* In ''[[w:The Veteran
* The success of ''[[The Executioner]]'' series spawned a number of [[Follow the Leader|knock-off novel series]] all with essentially the same plot (organised crime kills the protagonist's family causing him to become a one-man army on a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]). These series included:
** ''The Assassin''
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* [[Tom Clancy]] dipped into this genre with ''Without Remorse'', which probably owes some inspiration to [[The Punisher]]. Desconstructed in that the protagonist himself is a little worried by his own lack of guilt over some [[Cold-Blooded Torture|pretty]] [[Nightmare Fuel|unpleasant]] methods of questioning, even on an unrepentant [[Complete Monster]].
* The Bluejay, also known as {{spoiler|Mortimer Folchart}} in ''[[The Inkworld Trilogy]]'' shows shades of this, particularly in the third book.
* Vigilante man? Try vigilante
* In Ian [[Mc Ewan]]'s novella 'Black Dogs' the narrator becomes a Good Vigilante Man after he sees a man in a restaurant ''smack his kid across the face so hard the kid's chair is knocked over backwards and cracks on the floor.'' The narrator challenges the man to "fight someone his own size" and then manages to break the guy's nose and knock him out with a few punches. He is called off by a waitress and stops him just before he becomes [[He Who Fights Monsters]] and kicks the guy to death. This moment provides a contrast from the [[Grey and Gray Morality]] of the rest of the book.
* ''[[Nuklear Age]]'' presents The Civil Defender, a crazed vigilante hell-bent on eliminating all crime, no matter how small. Complete with machine gun and futuristic body armor, the Civil Defender took up being a vigilante when his sandwich was stolen, and gives out tickets written on notebook paper when he's sane enough to have his finger off the trigger of his machine gun. He has repeatedly given out tickets for littering because of the pile of other tickets he personally threw to the ground.
* ''Sisterhood'' series by [[Fern Michaels]]: This series is about Vigilante Women! They obey a [[Thou Shalt Not Kill]] code, give villains a [[Fate Worse Than Death]], and they are usually careful to [[Never Hurt an Innocent]]. The book ''Free Fall'' had them being arrested by the police, but that's okay, because the judge, prosecuting attorney, and defense attorney are secretly on their side, as well as them being considered heroes by a lot of people! Later on, you have a group of Vigilante Men made up of Jack Emery, Harry Wong, Bert Navarro, Ted Robinson, and Joe Espinosa!
* [[Jack London]]'s ''The Assassination Bureau, Ltd.'' was a vigilante organization -- it might '''seem''' to be [[Murder, Inc.]], requesting payment for killings, but always demanded proof that the intended target was someone who'd gotten away with evil actions. When the founder and leader was persuaded that the Bureau was itself harming the advance of civilization<ref>The assassinations functioned as a "safety valve," letting off societal pressure, and thus humanity as a whole wasn't forced to reform laws and customs to bring evildoers to better justice.</ref>, he ordered the Bureau's other members, all of them his friends and fellow [[The Philosopher|philosophers]], to hunt '''him''' down and kill him if they could.
== Live Action TV ==
* Dexter Morgan from ''[[Dexter]]'' sometimes sees himself as a vigilante for killing murderers, and in one episode fantasizes about being a superhero who is applauded by the public and in another, has a brief daydream where he acts as a [[Batman]] style vigilante [[Superhero]] but quickly dismisses it as ridiculous. In his darker moments, however, he admits that he's just a monster with a little more self-control.
* The TV series ''[[The Shield]]'' is about a cop who is a Vigilante Man. Interestingly, the series constantly shows that Mackey's vigilantism is a bad thing, always for his own self-interest, and never in the interests of justice. ''Then'', it goes on to show his [[Cowboy Cop]] side, where he bends or outright breaks the law to serve the greater good (a criminal will go free, but the young girl he kidnapped will be saved from being raped and murdered). Notably, the series never specifically casts judgment on Mackey's karma directly, leaving it to the viewer to decide whether he has overall good karma or bad.
** It is not so simple. Mackey's vigilantism is not portrayed as inherently bad thing. The problem is that Mackey and the Strike Team are at the same time [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|vigilantes]], [[Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right|pragmatic policemen]] and [[Dirty Cop|crooked cops]]. They do not only eliminate criminals, but also steal evidence, incite turf wars that endanger innocents, deal drugs for their own monetary gain and even [[Leave No Witnesses|physically eliminate witnesses]], including a {{spoiler|a fellow policeman, in the first episode, no less}}.
*
* Mr. Chapel in ''[[Vengeance Unlimited]]'' is the rare [[Technical Pacifist]] Vigilante Man. Because sometimes making them [[Fate Worse Than Death|wish they were dead]] is better than actually killing them.
* Disgruntled cop Manny Lopez in the ''[[MacGyver]]'' episode "Tough Boys" decided to use his Marine skills to train a bunch of kids to become the titular Tough Boys and crack down on drug dealers after snapping from the trauma of having a crack addicted daughter that went missing without a trace leaving him with his drug-addled baby granddaughter. Predictably, the episode ends with Mac having to save the Tough Boys from being nearly killed in a shoot-out and preventing Lopez from blowing himself up along with a major drug dealer.
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* ''[[Person of Interest]]''. It's significant that the mysterious Mr Finch recruited a former CIA assassin to do his [[We Help the Helpless]] work rather than a private detective.
* Russian 2009 series ''Меч'' (The Sword) presents a group of vigilantes hunting both criminals and corrupt officials who help criminals evade justice. Interestingly, the group consists predominantly of former or active civil servants (ex-detective who resigned after being proposed a bribe by his own superior, ex-cop sentenced for murder of a rapist, young traffic police officer, retired FSB agent and state prosecutor).
== Music ==
* The [[Abney Park]] song "Victorian Vigilante" is about one of these.
* Woody Guthrie's "Vigilante Man" (quoted at the top of the page) is actually about how American workers would be attacked and beaten by the people of the towns they passed through during The Depression.
== Tabletop Games ==
* The ''[[New World of Darkness]]'' sourcebook ''Slasher'', which is all about serial killers who rise above the cut, has an entire [[Splat|Undertaking]] dedicated to this—the Avenger. They get the ability to take on multiple foes at once without being overwhelmed, but have to actively make the effort to break from their pursuit.
* ''[[Champions|Dark Champions]]'' contains rules for several modern-day action genres, but defaults to vigilantes taking down criminals. This shouldn't be surprising, as the original 4th edition book was inspired by Steve Long's personal PC the Harbinger of Justice, who is this trope cranked to max.
==
* Oasis from ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' took on this role when she lived in Podunkton, killing pretty much the entire mafia establishment in town, as well as any miscellaneous crooks who pass through. She seems to do this largely out of boredom. However, since she had previously been an [[Ax Crazy]] assassin who'd [[Yandere|kill anyone who came between her and Torg]], this vigilante justice is actually a sign of Oasis becoming ''less'' violent.
* In ''[[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja]]'', the titular Dr. McNinja is [[Captain Obvious|a doctor and a ninja.]] Who desperately wants to be Batman.
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== Web Original ==
* ''[[Less Than Three Comics
▲* ''[[Less Than Three Comics|LessThanThree Comics']]'' Shadow attacks crooks in the street, and uses fear to scare them straight. It's worked pretty well so far.
== Video Games ==
* Yuri Lowell of ''[[Tales of Vesperia]]''. He grew up in the slums of [[the Empire]] which rules most of the world with his friend Flynn Scifo and joined the Imperial Knights with him. After growing disgusted with the government's weakness and [[Aristocrats Are Evil|the cruelty of the nobles]], he left Flynn to try and reform the Empire from within while he seeks to give the commoners the justice that the current system denies them. Later on, he joins up with [[The Alliance|the Guild Union]] in the hope of eliminating injustice from the world completely. He is rather [[Genre Savvy]]; knowing that his actions are unlawful and [[He Who Fights Monsters|may bring him closer to what he hates]], he is willing to break the law anyway if it serves the greater good.
** There is also a sidequest involving a Vigilante Man who has less scruples than Yuri.
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* Frost Ace has become this in ''[[Strange Journey]]''. It's almost like he's trying to become a [[Henshin Hero]] version of [[Batman]].
* The title character of ''[[Anaksha Female Assassin]]'' is a vigilante assassin who has taken it upon herself to clean up the streets of Santa Lina, one scumbag at a time.
* To a degree, Yun and Yang from the ''[[Street Fighter]]'' series, as the twins strive to protect their beloved Hong Kong from all kinds of peril and use their martial arts to do so. Specially emphatized in ''[[Street Fighter Alpha]] III'', where Yun chases after Fei-Long when he and Yang take rumors about him being in the drug trade at face value. {{spoiler|The real culprit is Bison.}}
== Real Life ==
* Bernie Goetz was labeled the "Subway Vigilante" after he [[Mugging the Monster|gunned down four men he claimed were mugging him.]] The incident sparked a national debate on vigilantism, though his actions do not fit into the classic mold of a vigilante.
* Jack Ruby, who killed Lee Harvey Oswald to avenge his assassination of [[John F. Kennedy]]. On live television. He himself was arrested. The [[Who Shot JFK?|various conspiracy theories]] surrounding the assassination have meant that Ruby, naturally, has come under a lot of scrutiny, with many theorizing that he killed Oswald not to avenge the widow Kennedy and her family but to [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness|silence him on behalf of]] [[Conspiracy Theory|the true perpetrators of the event.]]
* [[Serial Killer]] [https://web.archive.org/web/20140611194159/http://www.truecrimereport.com/2009/10/serial_killer_vigilante_willia.php William Inmon] was a self-proclaimed vigilante. His arguments for this are unconvincing.
* Mainstream press such as the [[BBC]] have labelled Northern Irish internet activist [[Jim Browning]] a "vigilante" for his actions against [[Tech Support Scammer]]s, but Browning himself argued against being called as such, contending that while his methods of intervention are legally grey at best due to lack of legal authority to conduct network intrusions, his hacks versus scam call centres are done in a civil and professional manner. The most that Jim does as far as hacking goes is to infiltrate their networks and gather as much evidence as he can with respect to privacy and security, and intervene in a lawful manner if needed.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:All the Tropes Superhero Team]]
[[Category:Crime and Punishment Tropes]]
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