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