History EvenEvilHasStandards / ComicBooks

* While ComicBook/DoctorDoom attempted to use it to his advantage and ComicBook/{{Apocalypse}}'s solution to the crisis involved him attempting to [[WouldHurtAChild murder]] [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Reed and Sue Richards' son, Franklin]] both were horrified by ComicBook/{{Onslaught}}'s actions and wanton destruction (and in fact, in addition to ridding himself of a potential rival, Apocalypse's attempt to kill Franklin was also done to try to end the conflict).

** In ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'' Robotnik's right hand man Grimer thinks Robotnik is going too far by trying to destroy Mobius. The second time Robotnik tries to destroy Mobius Grimer quits working for him.

* ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'':
** If you're a Grandmaster of the [[BlackCloak Dark Legion]], expect to face off against this trope eventually; former OmnicidalManiac Dimitri has a ''lot'' of these, ever since his depowerment, most notably his balking at reviving his previous SuperpoweredEvilSide Enerjak, even though it would've restored him to health (even going so far as to warn his enemy Knuckles of Enerjak's return); and his usurper and current Grandmaster Lien-Da, who has no problems with performing {{Klingon Promotion}}s and {{Mind Control}}ling the Legion as a way of gaining status, or torturing a former ally to ''death'' with a smile on her face, turns on her ally Shadow in the ''Mobius: X Years Later'' storyline, after it's revealed he's going to destroy the world with an EldritchAbomination.
** In ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide'', Dr. Wily is shown to be bothered when he finds out that the Roboticized Masters, which Dr. Eggman helped to create using an altered [[UnwillingRoboticisation roboticization]] process on Sonic's friends, have no real personality (which Eggman, having a history with [[AIIsACrapshoot betrayal by his more intelligent creations]], considers a feature rather than a bug). Wily's willing to let this slide for the sake of their partnership, though the final straw for him is [[spoiler:Eggman's attempt to kill Dr. Light; Wily had only ever wanted to best and humiliate Light, not kill him. The revelation that the [[CosmicRetcon Super Genesis Wave]] could potentially destroy both their worlds doesn't sit well with Wily either, while Eggman assures him that they could rebuild their worlds however they wanted, making any damage irrelevant.]]
** Upon his FaceHeelTurn, Geoffrey St. John admits in issue 235 that while he isn't always trustworthy, he does respect his adversaries. He even admits that what happened to Sally and Antoine isn't what he wanted and sympathizes with Sonic over what happened with Sally. He's horrified to learn in Universe 43 that Naugus plans MassHypnosis over the Acorn Council, an equivalent of roboticization. He believes that some lines need to be crossed to make things change, but Naugus' plan just goes too far.

* In ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'' Robotnik's right hand man Grimer thinks Robotnik is going too far by trying to destroy Mobius. The second time Robotnik tries to destroy Mobius Grimer quits working for him.

* Pictured in the main page: In ''ComicBook/BatmanAndCaptainAmerica'', ComicBook/TheJoker abruptly ends a partnership with Comicbook/RedSkull when his Nazi affiliation comes out. Red Skull [[EvilCannotComprehendGood simply wonders why he is so surprised when he thinks that the Joker would make a great Nazi]]. [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness The Joker is]] ''[[OOCIsSeriousBusiness VISIBLY NOT]]'' [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness happy about this, proclaiming that while he may be a criminal lunatic, he's an]] ''[[OOCIsSeriousBusiness American]]'' [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness criminal lunatic!]] Yes, folks, even an equal-opportunity murderer like ''the Joker'' despises the Nazis![[note]]The Joker had originally thought that Red Skull was just dressing up as a Nazi as a sort of theme, which he approved of because it sounded like great trolling.[[/note]]

** The Joker's [[spoiler:murder of Sarah Essen-Gordon, Commissioner Gordon's wife,]] in ''ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand'' is this by the Joker's own standards. After he [[spoiler:shoots her]], he walks away from the scene frowning, without a single word. If the Joker himself doesn't think something is funny, it's seriously wrong. This is why seeing the Joker ''stop'' laughing in his cell at Arkham was one of the creepiest harbingers of [[spoiler:the ascendancy of Anton Arcane and his fellow escapees from Hell in ''ComicBook/SwampThing'']].

* ''ComicBook/XMenBlue'': In Mojo's issue, when he sees a little girl about to be run over by a man who is texting whilst driving, he instinctively leaps in and saves her by stopping the car with his SuperStrength. He also verbally chews the driver out for not paying attention whilst driving. Before that, he is offended by the one racist old man who insults Glob for being a mutant.

* In ''ComicBook/SupermanVsTheAmazingSpiderMan'', Lex Luthor and Doctor Octopus join forces to create a worldwide hurricane, to blackmail the planet for ten billion dollars. Eventually, however, Luthor reveals that no matter whether they get paid or not, he's going to let the storm run rampant and wipe out humanity to pay them back for laughing at him. [[EvilVersusOblivion This is too much for Doc Ock]], and he smashes the machine generating the hurricane.

** [[WebVideo/ImAMarvelAndImADC He's the Joker. He invited himself.]]

** The Joker himself demonstrated this during the ComicBook/EmperorJoker storyline in the {{Franchise/Superman}} series. Given ultimate power, Joker kills Franchise/{{Batman}} in horrific ways after resurrecting him every night, kills everyone associated closely with Batman (Robin, Nightwing, Huntress), ''eats'' [[ImAHumanitarian all the billion-plus people in China]], plans on destroying the entire universe... but when a twisted Jimmy Olsen offers to help the boss by killing Superman (at the time turned into a regular dog), Joker is not pleased.
-->'''Joker''': Sorry, kid. Try as I might, I just can't find anything funny in killing a dumb animal... *[[CrossesTheLineTwice Jimmy gets beaten to death by brightly-colored robots wielding giant rubber chickens]]*

* Lobo. For all of the OmnicidalManiac that he may be (just remember what he did to his homeworld), he will ALWAYS stick to his word. ALWAYS. However, Lobo often only keeps the letter of his word, not the spirit, doing ''exactly'' what he promised and nothing more... and God help you if you harm his beloved space dolphins. He was kicked out of Hell and granted immortality so he wouldn't come back. For obvious reasons, Heaven didn't want him either. In fact, he's been rejected by every afterlife there is, including the Nordic afterlife, in which the einherjar fight all day, every day, then feast and party all night, every night, because he's too violent for them to tolerate.

* In Geoff Johns's mid-2000's run of ''ComicBook/TheFlash'', Captain Cold violently beats his fellow [[RoguesGallery Rogue]] Mirror Master for using cocaine. Justified in that he wants to run an efficient ship, and drugged-up partners aren't very conducive to that.
** Captain Cold has a record of this: during ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis'', he was noted to have sent flowers to the funeral of the murdered wife of superhero ComicBook/ElongatedMan. He's generally been portrayed as viciously mercenary, but strictly professional. It's never--well, rarely--personal.
*** He and the Rogues also [[IncrediblyLamePun stop cold]] during the middle of a robbery when they find out about it. This is partly because they knew that superheroes would be on the rampage after Sue's death, but it was also out of respect for one of their foes.

-->'''Trickster''': The Rogues never let Kadabra play our little reindeer games. We told each other he was so pompous and throwing his education in our faces. Truth was, he scared the hell out of us. We were a little crazy but jeez, Kadabra was just insane.

*** In the same event, Captain Cold ends up in an EnemyMine situation where he has to team up with Lex Luthor, Bizarro, Black Adam, and Black Manta. He is visibly disturbed when Black Manta implies that he wants to make sure the members of the Crime Syndicate suffer as much as possible before they die.
-->'''Black Manta''': Your gun will make them ''numb''. I don't want them to ''be'' numb.
-->'''Captain Cold''': You have issues.

-->'''Captain Cold''': Rule one of The Rogues: ''Never kill a speedster.''

-->'''Cheetah''': Did you think I would work with a ''rapist'' without there being consequences?!?
-->'''Dr. Light''': But... you're... you're a murderer...
-->'''Cheetah''' [raising her claws to eviscerate him]: Do as I say, not as I do.
* In the late [[UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks Bronze Age]] story "The Einstein Connection" by Creator/ElliotSMaggin (a writer who had a definite soft spot for the original MadScientist ComicBook/LexLuthor), we learn that one of the few people the brilliant Luthor unabashedly considers a personal hero is UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein. While fleeing Franchise/{{Superman}} at one point, he passes a body of water and sees somebody drowning. Though grumbling about it, he dives in and rescues the person, even though it costs him his escape, because he just ''can't'' bring himself to act like an S.O.B. on Einstein's birthday.

* ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} seems to fall under this. Despite being one of the most evil beings in existence, he does keep his word, such as letting Batman and Supergirl go during the Supergirl arc of ''ComicBook/SupermanBatman'' when Bats threatened to destroy his planet. That said, [[spoiler:it didn't stop him from coming down to Earth to royally fuck up Superman, who was not part of the deal]]. There's also the whole deal with trading sons as a peace treaty. He'll find a loophole, but he usually doesn't betray his deals or promises. Then there was the fact that he threw the villain Sleez, who would later go on to try and make a porn movie with an unwilling Big Barda and Superman, out of Apokolips for being such a creep. (Note that he kicked Sleez out of Apokolips while he was still called Prince Uxas, before he truly ruled the place. If he ''had'', it's doubtful he would have let the creep live.)
** In an old ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueInternational'' issue, he allowed the League to leave Apokalips unharmed after he gave his word that they wouldn't be killed. He may be a monster, but at least he honors his promises!

-->'''Mercenary:''' Well, we may as well get started-\\

** In the ''Deadpool vs Carnage'' arc after he finds the bodies of a couple and their children whom Carnage had taken hostage and murdered, he mentions that while he and Carnage are both crazy he would never do something like that.
*** Basically, hurting kids is one of the very few lines that Deadpool won't cross, and is one of the quickest ways to legitimately anger him.

* In the retelling of "Literature/SleepingBeauty" featured in ''ComicBook/CastleWaiting'', {{Satan}} himself proves to have standards. Disgusted with the evil witch being willing to {{curse}} an [[ChildrenAreInnocent innocent baby]] then subvert the attempts to get around her curse, he disguises himself as the Opinicus (a griffin-like creature) and carries her off to Hell personally. The demon Leeds complains that he loses more friends that way.

** Interestingly, in ''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightReturns'', the Joker had no qualms having a Neo-Nazi woman who wore swastika pasties on her boobs and butt work for him. Then again, said story ''was'' written before most of the examples where he was shown to hate nazis were.

* T.O. Morrow also gets a twisted version of this during ''ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsJLA'', as he informed the League about where a deactivate Amazo was just to shut Professor Ivo up--with the twisted part being he didn't want to help the League too much, so he'd lied and told them they made more time than they did so they'd fight Amazo.

** In Creator/GrantMorrison's ''[[Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica JLA]]'', Luthor physically struck the Joker after the villain openly mocked a group of innocent children who had accidentally been killed during the Injustice Gang's attack on the Justice League. At the end of the story, Lex used the Rock of Ages to resurrect the dead children, with the justification that he could no longer be charged for any crimes if his victims were restored to life. Superman didn't buy this for a second, and told Lex that he knew he did it because he felt bad over the children's deaths, proving that deep down, there is ''some'' good in him.

* Way back in ComicBook/RomSpaceknight, the Skrulls turn out to have limits, too. They pull a BigDamnVillains and save a town from the Dire Wraiths because they hate Dire Wraiths more than anything else in the universe (yes, even the Kree.)

* Set up to be {{Lampshaded}}, when Luthor decides on members for his new Injustice Gang. Cheetah objects to recruiting Doctor Light because he was a rapist, but Luthor dismisses this reasoning, stating that "if we want to limit our membership to people of good ''character''...". Later, Cheetah has Dr. Light at her mercy, and evokes this trope... sorta:

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' foe Dr. T.O. Morrow eventually turns against his own creation Genocide and works to help the Amazons defeat it, [[spoiler:[[ItsPersonal because he's of Polish ancestry]]]] and doesn't want anything to do with a creature who is the personification of genocide.

-->'''Phil''': I would probably be good at any job involving sin.
-->'''Dogbert''': Marketing?
-->'''Phil''': I ''have'' a soul... it's just a small one.

** In ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide'', Dr. Wily is shown to be bothered when he finds out that the Roboticizied Masters, which Dr. Eggman helped make via Sonic's friends and an altered roboticization process, have no real personality. The final straw for Wily is [[spoiler:Eggman's attempt to kill Dr. Light. The revelation that the [[CosmicRetcon Super Genesis Wave]] could potentially destroy both their worlds didn't sit well with him either, Eggman assured him that they can rebuild their worlds however they want, making the damage irrelevant.]]

* ComicBook/TheJoker himself has run into problems thanks to this trope. Whenever a new Society of Super Villains comes together, The Joker is often excluded. Partly because [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder he is not much of a team player and considered far too "unprofessional"]], and partly because all the other villains are ''[[TheDreaded flat fucking terrified]]'' of him. Summed up best by this quote from ''ComicBook/UnderworldUnleashed'':

[[folder: Intercompany crossovers]]

[[folder: DC Comics]]

[[folder: Others]]

* This trope explains it all, and made life difficult for the Franchise/MarvelUniverse ''Nazi'' villain ComicBook/RedSkull, as the other villains he has teamed with, notably ComicBook/{{Magneto}}, have ultimately attempted to kill him. At one point [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome he even left him]] BuriedAlive. Of course, being a Holocaust survivor who lost family to the camps, Magneto has [[ItsPersonal a significant personal score to settle.]] This also goes for ComicBook/DoctorDoom, being of Roma descent, though they've managed some very occasional TeethClenchedTeamwork when Doom thinks there's something big in it for him. The Kingpin also refuses to do business with Red Skull, because like most old-school Mob bosses he's a patriot at heart, not to mention a devoted capitalist.

* While not a villain, ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} generally has very little regard for human life and might as well be the TropeNamer for ComedicSociopathy. Despite this, he ''flips out'' after Fantomex kills a child who could've potentially become a villain, and makes sure to give him a WhatTheHellHero speech after the mission is over. He even goes on to form a close bond with a clone of the murdered child, leading to a few PetTheDog scenes and [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Crowning Moments Of Heartwarming]].

-->'''Mercenary:''' Well, we may as well get started-
-->'''Deadpool:''' Sit down.
-->'''Mercenary:''' What?
-->'''Deadpool:''' The man just bought a drink. We let him finish it. ''Now sit down.''

* ''ComicBook/{{Djinn}}'': Murati is an manipulative and ruthless sultan who has no problem ordering the death of any woman in his [[RoyalHarem seraglio]] once he grows bored with them. Having said that, he is disturbed when he discovers that his previous favoritea's little daughter was murdered alongside her mother. When a British lady becomes one of his harem girls, he assures the outraged diplomats that he is not an brute that forced her into it, that she went along of her own free will and she is free to leave whenever she wants to. When he steps down from power (partly because he doesn't have much to live), he frees the women in his harem.

* In ''[[ComicBook/TheUltimates All New Ultimates]]'', villainous gang leader Diamondback doses teen hero Bombshell with a drug to make her helpless and compliant, and then specifically tells her mooks not to try anything on her. [[TooDumbToLive One of them suggests having some 'fun' with her anyway]] and she beats him unconscious.

* In Creator/PeterDavid's "Countdown" story arc in ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'', the villainous Leader, who once gamma-bombed a town of 5,000 people just to see how many would survive (answer: five), states that he can't bring himself to kill his own brother.