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