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