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)

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