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