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