Tropescilloscope: I Did What I Had to Do

An after-the-fact justification for morally questionable but necessary actions. (read more at tvtropes.org)

More Tropes The Alcoholic Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! Sir Swears-a-Lot The Un-Favourite aka: The Un Favorite Black Dude Dies First Based on a True Story No-Sell Enemy Mine Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping Bad Boss Make It Look Like an Accident Not So Stoic Creative Closing Credits Offscreen Teleportation Punny Name Translation Convention Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! Bloodier and Gorier Armor-Piercing Question Action Genre Darker and Edgier Vomit Discretion Shot Roaring Rampage of Revenge Foil Those Two Guys No Celebrities Were Harmed Toilet Humour aka: Toilet Humor Hell Is That Noise Break the Haughty Country Matters I Need a Freaking Drink Ambiguous Disorder Wrong Genre Savvy Instant Death Bullet Creator Cameo Improbable Aiming Skills Adapted Out Jerk Jock For the Evulz Karmic Death Index of Film Westerns As the Good Book Says... Karma Houdini Public Domain Feature Films Ripped from the Headlines 20 Minutes into the Future '80s Hair Mind Screw Badass Boast Rewatch Bonus Yandere The Ace Film Noir Index Rated M for Manly Left the Background Music On Evil Plan Actually Pretty Funny Ominous Latin Chanting Captain Obvious Artistic License – History Gainax Ending Heroic BSoD Black and Gray Morality Kill It with Fire Brick Joke Not So Different Same Language Dub Chewing the Scenery Epic Movie The Remake Destination Defenestration Femme Fatale Madness Mantra Heroes Want Redheads Auto Erotica Red Oni, Blue Oni Hollywood Law And the Adventure Continues Adaptation Name Change Meet Cute Shower Scene The Faceless Smoking Is Cool Air-Vent Passageway Heel Realization Manic Pixie Dream Girl Grievous Bottley Harm Department of Redundancy Department Freudian Excuse Amoral Attorney Ms. Fanservice Heroic Sacrifice Stealth Hi/Bye Expy World of Ham Retirony Not So Above It All Boom, Headshot! Wham Line Due to the Dead Revenge The Sociopath Screw the Rules, I Have Money! My Beloved Smother Pyrrhic Victory Batman Gambit Slashed Throat I Want My Beloved to Be Happy Combat Pragmatist Ambiguously Gay Foregone Conclusion Cassandra Truth Bland-Name Product Shoot the Shaggy Dog Dull Surprise Lock and Load Montage Determinator Pre-Asskicking One-Liner Chekhov's Gunman Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday Roger Ebert: Great Movies List Exactly What It Says on the Tin Humans Are Bastards Annoying Younger Sibling Heel–Face Turn After the End Asshole Victim Arch-Enemy Artistic License – Physics Mama Bear Sexy Discretion Shot Ragtag Bunch of Misfits "The Reason You Suck" Speech The Dog Bites Back Big Brother Instinct Whole Plot Reference Psycho for Hire Broken Aesop Cat Scare NO INDOOR VOICE Race Lift Ass Shove Noodle Incident Pay Evil unto Evil Determinator aka: The Determinator Author Appeal I Just Shot Marvin in the Face Bolivian Army Ending Meaningful Echo Death of a Child The Reveal Psychological Thriller Straight Gay All for Nothing Chekhov's Gun Sports Stories The X of Y The Chessmaster Historical In-Joke Spared by the Adaptation Scenery Gorn Dirty Coward Disney Death Bavarian Fire Drill The Place Your Cheating Heart She Cleans Up Nicely Fantasy Films Suddenly SHOUTING! Word of God Expository Hairstyle Change Handicapped Badass Eyepatch of Power Only Known by Their Nickname The '70s The '90s Pragmatic Villainy The Mafia The Cavalry La Résistance Fun with Acronyms Rich Bitch No OSHA Compliance Sole Survivor Chiaroscuro Only One Name Man on Fire Animal Motifs Curb-Stomp Battle Bond Villain Stupidity The Starscream Awesome, but Impractical Driven to Suicide Despair Event Horizon Kill 'em All Alliterative Name Bunny-Ears Lawyer Posthumous Character In Medias Res It Will Never Catch On Manipulative Bastard From Bad to Worse Affably Evil Missing Mom The Alleged Car Dumb Blonde Arc Words Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer Kids Are Cruel Artistic License – Geography Offscreen Moment of Awesome Fatal Flaw What Happened to the Mouse? The '50s Christmas Movies Index Russian Films All Men Are Perverts Daylight Horror Take a Third Option Disproportionate Retribution Not Using the "Z" Word Domestic Abuse Red Shirt Improvised Weapon Scenery Porn Accidental Misnaming Shipper on Deck Adaptation Expansion Deliberately Monochrome Be Careful What You Wish For You Have Failed Me Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism Love at First Sight Kick the Son of a Bitch Rape as Drama Monumental Damage Slasher Movie Taking the Bullet Decoy Protagonist Irony "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue Unwitting Instigator of Doom Badass Normal Badass Bookworm Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? Dark and Troubled Past Character Development German Films Together in Death Dark Reprise Aside Glance Aluminum Christmas Trees Serial Killer Overprotective Dad Bloodless Carnage "Well Done, Son!" Guy My Greatest Failure It Can Think Bald of Evil Shout-Out Spell My Name with an "S" Adorkable The Bad Guy Wins Trailers Always Spoil Pre-Mortem One-Liner Wicked Cultured Artistic License – Law It's Personal Didn't Think This Through Evil Brit Product Placement Papa Wolf The Mole Flipping the Bird Damsel in Distress Greater-Scope Villain Playing Gertrude And I Must Scream Villain Song Names to Run Away from Really Fast Defiant to the End Brother–Sister Incest Getting Crap Past the Radar Central Theme Artistic License – Biology Adaptation Distillation Parental Abandonment Well-Intentioned Extremist Death by Sex Motor Mouth Body Horror Almost Kiss Morality Pet Pretty Little Headshots Camera Abuse Book-Ends Obviously Evil Those Wacky Nazis Very Loosely Based on a True Story Recycled IN SPACE! Neck Lift Red Herring Put on a Bus The Musical Diabolus ex Machina Camp Gay More Dakka Does This Remind You of Anything? Extreme Doormat He Knows Too Much Drill Sergeant Nasty Screw the Money, I Have Rules! Ungrateful Bastard One-Word Title Serious Business The Stoner Red Eyes, Take Warning Redshirt Army Chekhov's Skill Canon Foreigner Curse Cut Short The '80s Back from the Dead No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Anachronism Stew Never My Fault Cloudcuckoolander Apocalypse How Did Not Get the Girl Music Stories Chase Scene Sanity Slippage Our Vampires Are Different Tranquil Fury Deus ex Machina Too Dumb to Live True Companions The Film of the Book Bait-and-Switch Super Strength The '60s Mighty Whitey Death by Irony All There in the Script Sinister Minister Bitch in Sheep's Clothing As Long as It Sounds Foreign Superhero Celebrity Paradox The Atoner The Quiet One The Brute Hair-Trigger Temper Maybe Ever After Bilingual Bonus Male Frontal Nudity Big "NO!" Credits Gag Bar Brawl The Smart Guy Not Even Bothering with the Accent Pimped-Out Dress Only a Flesh Wound Blood from the Mouth Screw This, I'm Outta Here! Captain Ersatz Mood Whiplash War Is Hell Lampshade Hanging Artistic License – Military Stepford Smiler Woman Scorned Villain Opening Scene Jump Scare Ironic Echo Rule of Funny Big Damn Heroes Not What It Looks Like Gilligan Cut Film Noir Dwindling Party Informed Ability Never Trust a Trailer Costume Porn Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds Demoted to Extra Sadistic Choice Needs Wiki Magic Love Blood Knight Obfuscating Stupidity Scare Chord A Father to His Men Crucified Hero Shot Eiffel Tower Effect Dirty Cop Action Survivor Italian Films Redemption Equals Death Have a Gay Old Time Empathic Environment Composite Character Covers Always Lie Colour-Coded for Your Convenience aka: Color Coded For Your Convenience Alpha Bitch Took a Level in Jerkass Totally Radical Advertised Extra I'm a Humanitarian Even Evil Has Loved Ones Corrupt Corporate Executive Mad Scientist Jerkass Demonic Possession Impaled with Extreme Prejudice Vampire Fiction Psychopathic Manchild One Steve Limit Blackmail Drugs Are Bad Actor Allusion Hollywood Darkness The Casanova For Want of a Nail Adaptational Badass Villain Ball Breaking the Fourth Wall Cool Shades BFG Bloody Hilarious Guns Akimbo Documentary Men Are the Expendable Gender Adult Fear Coming-of-Age Story Fake Shemp Unspoken Plan Guarantee Homage The Dreaded Everyone Has Standards Friend to All Children Spanner in the Works N-Word Privileges Self-Deprecation Sequel Hook Beauty Is Never Tarnished Made of Explodium Beard of Evil Works Set in World War II Jerkass Has a Point Scary Black Man As Himself Funny Background Event Ugly Guy, Hot Wife Properly Paranoid Cowboy Cop Cool Old Lady Adults Are Useless Protagonist Title Anachronic Order He Who Fights Monsters Ghost Fiction Fire-Forged Friends Fate Worse than Death Unresolved Sexual Tension Immune to Bullets Military and Warfare Films Would Hurt a Child Dropped a Bridge on Him Kick the Dog Only in It for the Money Stylistic Suck Faux Affably Evil Flashback Off-into-the-Distance Ending Naïve Newcomer Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! The Oner Poor Communication Kills The Un-Reveal Ship Tease Would Hit a Girl Mythology Gag The Ditz Cool Guns Affectionate Parody Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other Belligerent Sexual Tension Science Fiction Films Adaptational Heroism Unusual Euphemism Closed Circle Honor Before Reason How We Got Here Stealth Pun Disguised in Drag Fantastic Racism Novelization Peek-a-Boo Corpse O.O.C. Is Serious Business Implacable Man Undying Loyalty Evil Is Hammy Mexican Standoff Setting Update May–December Romance Refuge in Audacity A God Am I Really Gets Around Gratuitous English Stock Footage Anti-Hero Slasher Smile Blonde, Brunette, Redhead Fainting It's All About Me Retcon Cool Car Deal with the Devil Sealed Evil in a Can Double-Meaning Title The Dragon Show Within a Show Genre Throwback Downer Ending The Great Depression Reality Has No Subtitles Darkest Hour Agony of the Feet Ax-Crazy Villainous Breakdown Cain and Abel Attempted Rape Exact Words Double Entendre Big Fancy House Bare Your Midriff Dirty Old Man Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil Real Life Writes the Plot Drives Like Crazy Hidden Depths Running Gag Gorn Gold Digger Hero Antagonist Leave the Camera Running Interrupted Suicide Wretched Hive Bullying a Dragon Crazy-Prepared Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass Break the Cutie Eye Scream Worthy Opponent Knife Nut Mistaken for Gay Disappeared Dad Bittersweet Ending Older Than They Look Every Car Is a Pinto Nice Hat Face Death with Dignity The Cameo Bury Your Gays Tap on the Head Evil Is Petty Four-Temperament Ensemble A.I. Is a Crapshoot Romantic False Lead Villain with Good Publicity The Chick Re-Cut Television Movie Index Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" Dressing as the Enemy Depraved Bisexual Bottomless Magazines Historical-Domain Character Wham Shot Knight Templar French Films No Name Given Continuity Nod Brutal Honesty Soft Glass Heterosexual Life-Partners Rasputinian Death The Ghost Happily Married Eureka Moment Eldritch Abomination Freeze-Frame Bonus Our Zombies Are Different Manchild Sequel Escalation Blatant Lies Recap / RiffTrax aka: Riff Trax Movies Beware the Nice Ones You Have Got to Be Kidding Me! Random Events Plot The Hero Dies Only Sane Man Berserk Button What the Hell, Hero? Spiteful Spit Silent Movie Police are Useless Adaptational Attractiveness Award-Bait Song Bowdlerise Spiritual Successor Room Full of Crazy Extremely Short Timespan "Awesome McCool" Name Action Girl Made of Iron Training Montage Laughing Mad Becoming the Mask Up to Eleven Bring My Brown Pants Race Against the Clock Small Name, Big Ego Not Quite Dead Taking You with Me Punctuated! For! Emphasis! The Lost Lenore Epic Fail Nice Guy Distracted by the Sexy Biopic Cluster F-Bomb Chuck Cunningham Syndrome Plucky Comic Relief Mooks Does Not Like Shoes Easily Forgiven Unusually Uninteresting Sight Pragmatic Adaptation Dramedy Suspiciously Similar Substitute Let's Get Dangerous! Malevolent Masked Men Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality There Is No Kill Like Overkill She's Got Legs No Antagonist Off with His Head! Stalker with a Crush Rule of Symbolism Hoist by His Own Petard Mr. Fanservice Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie Final Girl Anyone Can Die In Name Only Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique Idiot Ball Shirtless Scene Pun aka: Incredibly Lame Pun I Have Your Wife Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome Famous Last Words This Is Gonna Suck Leaning on the Fourth Wall Australian Movies Vacation Films Sassy Black Woman Children Are Innocent Black Comedy Dramatic Irony Vitriolic Best Buds Wounded Gazelle Gambit A Minor Kidroduction Bi the Way Hate Sink Corpsing One-Man Army Last-Name Basis Alas, Poor Villain Retired Badass Action Prologue Rousing Speech An Axe to Grind Catapult Nightmare The Lancer Dissonant Serenity Even Evil Has Standards Accidental Murder Evil-Detecting Dog Arranged Marriage Badass Grandpa Hero of Another Story Paper-Thin Disguise Insult Backfire Plot Hole Cold-Blooded Torture Gory Discretion Shot An Aesop Police Brutality From Nobody to Nightmare B-Movie Failed a Spot Check Big Bad Framing Device Faking the Dead Fiery Redhead Took a Level in Badass Bond One-Liner Hope Spot timeperiod Reasonable Authority Figure Badass Longcoat Married to the Job Evil Counterpart I Did What I Had to Do Facial Horror Parental Neglect Girl-on-Girl Is Hot Dual Wielding Dramatic Gun Cock Five-Man Band Grey and Gray Morality Love Triangle A Date with Rosie Palms Thriller Car Fu Killed Mid-Sentence Calling the Old Man Out Early Installment Weirdness All There in the Manual Intrepid Reporter Evil Sounds Deep Black Comedy Rape Death Glare Those Two Bad Guys Authority Equals Asskicking Dark Is Not Evil Meaningful Background Event The Big Guy Call-Forward Good Is Not Nice Fanservice Extra Card-Carrying Villain Fat Bastard The Stoic Laser-Guided Karma Tempting Fate Important Haircut Never Found the Body Logo Joke My God, What Have I Done? Overly Long Gag Truth in Television Gender Flip Bound and Gagged Obstructive Bureaucrat Foreshadowing Abusive Parents Outrun the Fireball Smug Snake Intergenerational Friendship Red Right Hand Title Drop Dark Action Girl All Just a Dream Film Series Kubrick Stare Animated Credits Opening Get Out! Horror Comedy What You Are in the Dark Storming the Castle Jerk with a Heart of Gold Frame-Up Jitter Cam Stuff Blowing Up No Ending Crapsack World Groin Attack Early-Bird Cameo Cat Fight Large Ham Lighter and Softer Artistic License – Gun Safety Death Seeker Daddy's Girl Cool Old Guy Sacrificial Lion You Killed My Father Meaningful Name Mugging the Monster The Smurfette Principle Catch-Phrase Imagine Spot Nothing Is Scarier Big Eater Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking "Shaggy Dog" Story Tagline Match Cut Dying Moment of Awesome Age Lift Big Applesauce Fingore Narrator Humiliation Conga Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? Butt-Monkey Evil Cannot Comprehend Good Line-of-Sight Name Antagonist Title Badass in a Nice Suit Hypocritical Humor Green-Eyed Monster Danny Peary Cult Movies List Moment Killer Developing Doomed Characters Japanese Films Loads and Loads of Characters Creepy Child Fatal Family Photo Rule of Cool Gone Horribly Right Betty and Veronica Anti-Villain Star-Crossed Lovers Shown Their Work Soundtrack Dissonance Anguished Declaration of Love Insane Troll Logic Punch-Clock Villain An Arm and a Leg Reality Ensues Ambiguous Ending The Bully In the Back Cruel and Unusual Death Funny Foreigner Loophole Abuse Reckless Gun Usage Babies Ever After Leitmotif Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy Real Life As You Know Visual Pun folderlabel Market-Based Title Canadian Movies Token Minority Villain Protagonist Hypocrite Conspicuous CG Throwing Your Sword Always Works Mercy Kill Precision F-Strike Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene Big Bad Duumvirate Unreliable Narrator Oh, Crap! Historical Hero Upgrade Pet the Dog Dutch Angle Evil vs. Evil The Hero Call-Back Pretty in Mink Mystery and Detective Films Better to Die than Be Killed Half the Man He Used to Be Contrived Coincidence Dies Wide Open The End... Or Is It? Video Credits Face–Heel Turn Naked People Are Funny Improbable Weapon User Adaptation Dye-Job Take That! Politically Incorrect Villain Toplessness from the Back Guile Hero Shell-Shocked Veteran Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas Zombie Stories Defrosting Ice Queen Fan Disservice And Starring Black Best Friend Mundane Made Awesome Drowning My Sorrows Romantic Comedy Here We Go Again! Twist Ending Slap-Slap-Kiss Dogged Nice Guy Deconstruction Skewed Priorities Say My Name Comically Missing the Point Henpecked Husband Parental Substitute Vomit Indiscretion Shot Martial Arts Movie Your Head A-Splode Sci-Fi Horror Bad "Bad Acting" Hong Kong Films Broken Bird Fourth Date Marriage Deadpan Snarker Suspiciously Specific Denial Non-Indicative Name Abhorrent Admirer Broken Pedestal No-Holds-Barred Beatdown Disney Villain Death All Girls Want Bad Boys The Load Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold British Films Insistent Terminology Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane Male Gaze Author Avatar Eagleland Victoria's Secret Compartment Rule of Three Manly Tears Crazy Jealous Guy Casting Gag Light Is Not Good Shut Up, Hannibal! Historical Villain Upgrade Ascended Extra Horror Films Fanservice Genre Savvy Earn Your Happy Ending Amusing Injuries Death by Adaptation The Power of Love Parental Incest Neck Snap Once More, with Clarity! You Have Outlived Your Usefulness Major Injury Underreaction The Vamp Brainless Beauty Riddle for the Ages Time Skip Deliberate Values Dissonance Big-Bad Ensemble The Stinger Mr. Exposition Hooker with a Heart of Gold Adaptational Villainy Animal Title Index Genre Shift The Voiceless Establishing Character Moment Fish out of Water Woman in White MacGuffin Evil Laugh Reality Is Unrealistic Beta Couple Silence Is Golden