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