Tropescilloscope: Pragmatic Villainy

A bad guy keeping standards not for any moral reason, but because it's in their best interest. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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