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