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