History Main / GoodNeedsEvil

* ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 3|AbsenceOfJustice}}''. [[spoiler: The entire plot of the game was [[ThePlan planned out]] by the Super Hero Aurum, the greatest hero of mankind, in order to raise Mao into being the Strongest Overlord... because, having defeated the PREVIOUS Strongest Overlord, Mao's father, he found himself bereft of a purpose. At the very end, he gives a whole speech about how the one thing a hero truly NEEDS, is a VILLAIN. Without an evil to fight, a hero is just a man - unimportant and soon forgotten. Because of that, Aurum spent 200 years disguised as a demon, raising Mao to be evil and powerful, and pushing him towards genocidal anger against humanity - just so he'd be able to swoop in in the last second and stop him. In the 'Bad' ending, he actually succeeds on the first part, and Mao invades and attacks the human world - but when Aurum tries to stop him, he unwittingly pushes Mao's BerserkButton by killing off his childhood friend, Raspberyl, sending Mao into a SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum.]] So really, it might be considered an ''inversion'' of this trope, though matching nicely with the current name...

* The ancient philosophers Heraclitus and (following him) Chrysippus claimed that good without evil is ''logically'' impossible: "There can be nothing more inept than the people who suppose that good could have existed without the existence of evil. Good and evil being antithetical, both must needs subsist in opposition."[[note]]As quoted by Bertrand Russell in ''The History of Western Philosophy'', p. 257[[/note]]

* This ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'' [[http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=2093 strip]], spoofing MarsNeedsWomen.

* Some of the ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' books have a darker take on this. The god of good in this setting is a WellIntentionedExtremist with impossibly high standards, and he'd like to see all villains redeemed ([[TheEvilsOfFreeWill through brainwashing if necessary]]), or else [[AllCrimesAreEqual slain]]. If he actually beat the forces of evil, he'd become [[NotSoDifferent just as bad]]. In a nutshell, good needs evil to have something to fight against. If no outside targets are forthcoming, some of the good becomes evil to fight against itself.

You'd be lost without me!"''

* This is a major part of [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0763.html Tarquin's argument]] as to why his XanatosSpeedGambit is guaranteed to work in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''.

* This is a major part of [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0763.html Tarquin's argument]] as to why his XanatosSpeedChess is guaranteed to work in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''.

While not a strictly "bad/evil" worldview, it is especially common to villains. Yeah, their job is thankless and unpopular - but they press on, casting the shadows by which the path of truth is shaped.

When presented as a problem in-series, some cases will bring up its inversion, Evil Needs Good, to balance it out; a world full of nothing but crime and heresy doesn't mean much if there's no reason or means to stop it (and just might [[DarknessInducedAudienceApathy turn a potential audience off]] from its bleakness). No point to RapePillageAndBurn a village, after all, if there's nobody around to build it back up.

* Predation is such an important factor in driving evolution (for both predators and prey) that it is believed that life most likely would have stagnated very early on had it never evolved.

* Predation is such an important factor in driving evolution (for both predators and prey) that it is believed that life most likely would have stagnated very early on had it not ever evolved.

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'': In the Justice Lords' universe, this is what sparked Superman's FaceHeelTurn. Lex Luthor [[HeroicHeelizationSpeech accused]] Superman of only ever letting him live because he enjoyed being a hero and needed a villain to fight against, hence why he kept letting him live and did little to stop him from coming back to cause problems again. Superman calmly admits he's right and he ''did'' like being a hero... before frying Lex with heat vision, deciding those days are over if this is where it leads.

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' All-Might gives a speech about this trope to Deku. He talks about how Justice wouldn't exist without any wrongs to right. However, unlike most examples, he's giving the speech to encourage Deku to fight until the day comes that Justice is no longer needed.

* This is a pervasive theme in ''Disney/WreckItRalph''. Felix may be the celebrated hero of his game (and Ralph is the villain who's looked down on even behind the scenes), but without Ralph to do his part, he's just a guy with a hammer and nothing to use it on. Worse, without Ralph, his game gets flagged as broken and scheduled to be disconnected.

* Concerning the doctrine of hell, there are Christians who believe that Jesus' sacrifice on the cross would be deemed all for nothing and there would be no need for a savior if there is no hell to save them from.

* Lord Vetinari explains it to Captain Vimes at the end of ''Discworld/GuardsGuards'' this way:

* ''TwistedMetalIII'': Officers Jamie and Buzz Roberts, the drivers of Outlaw, wants a world clean and free of crime. If their wish is granted, they'll promptly find themselves unemployed because nobody needs police anymore.

[[folder:Webcomics]]

-->-- Music/MiracleOfSound, "[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity Joker's Song]]"

* Some of the ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' books have a darker take on this. The god of good in this setting is a WellIntentionedExtremist with impossibly high standards, and he'd like to see all villains redeemed ([[TheEvilsOfFreeWill through brainwashing if necessary]]), or else [[AllCrimesAreEqual slain]]. If he actually beat the forces of evil, he'd become [[NotSoDifferent just as bad]].
** In a nutshell, good needs evil to have something to fight against. If no outside targets are forthcoming, some of the good becomes evil to fight against itself.

** The ancient philosophers Heraclitus and (following him) Chrysippus claim that good without evil is ''logically'' impossible: "There can be nothing more inept than the people who suppose that good could have existed without the existence of evil. Good and evil being antithetical, both must needs subsist in opposition." [[note]] As quoted by Bertrand Russell in ''The History of Western Philosophy'', p. 257[[/note]]

See also BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil, which is usually more supernatural. Compare and contrast AsLongAsThereIsEvil and InherentInTheSystem.