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