Tropescilloscope: I Did What I Had to Do

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

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