History Main / UtopiaJustifiesTHeMeans

* The aptly-named ''Series/Utopia'' is a ConspiracyThriller detailing a clandestine plot to sterilise 90% of the UK and, eventually, the world in order to avert societal breakdown, war, famine and genocide.

** Later clarified in ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'', that [[spoiler: the threat Revan was trying to unite the galaxy against was the ''True'' Sith Empire, who had been biding their time and consolidating their power in the Unknown Regions. The Emperor leading them is so evil and powerful, everything Revan was doing suddenly was actually very, ''very'' [[WellIntentionedExtremist justified]]]].

** Ditto Darth Traya/[[spoiler:Kreia (if that's even a spoiler)]] in the sequel. She wants to [[spoiler:destroy the Force]] so everyone can have free will, but [[spoiler:to do that, she tries to destroy a planet and make the entire galaxy feel its pain]]. She also uses this to justify the whole revenge spree thing.

* In most incarnations of The Conversion Bereau: You get to live in happy, peaceful [[MarySuetopia Equestria]], get magic, and come under the rule of a truly kind and benevolent monarch. The price: The potion that does it erases your human nature, and pretty much brainwashes you into being such a good citizen, and if you choose not to, then, well... There's a barrier around Equestria that's constantly advancing, and giving the humans less and less space, and within a few years, Celestia will release a barrage of magic that would heal the planet, but kill all humans. The ponies also fully believe in TheRightOfTheSuperiorSpecies, and some will forcibly ponify you, and very few will actually see the genocide being committed as a bad thing. In the stories that sympathize with the ponies, any human resisting the loss of their free will, their home, and all things that are precious to them, will be portrayed as being in the wrong.

** Actually, that statement may be unironically accurate, considering that [[spoiler: the souls of the recently dead were included in Instrumentality]], nothing they did in EoE technically harmed anyone in any way that kept them from their utopia. Though it was vague, so everything they did before then may still fit.
*** The deaths leading up to [[spoiler: [[AssimilationPlot Instrumentality]]]] fall under this. Examples of this include: [[spoiler: [[TooCoolToLive Kaji]], an army or two against the Angels, Tokyo-2 via Jet Alone (if [[SpannerInTheWorks Akagi]] hadn't intervened), and over 50% of the world's population in Second Impact?]]

->''"I'll give you that. Killing off [[DyingLikeAnimals five billion people]] did ''wonders'' for most of our social problems."''
-->-- '''Dave''', ''Machinima/CivilProtection'', on [[AlienInvasion The Combine's]] invasion of Earth.

%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!

* The plot of ''Literature/DarknessAtNoon'' centers around Rubashov, a veteran Communist reflecting on all the people he's betrayed and horrible things he's done in the name of building a {{Utopia}}, while contrasting it with the reality of the CrapsackWorld he's actually helped to create. Ivanov has also grown disillusioned with the idea that the Revolution will pave the way to a socialist Utopia, but Gletkin believes that there will be one in a hundred years or so if desperate measures are taken now. Rubashov remains unconvinced, and awaits his execution with the thought that "one cannot build Paradise with concrete."

Curiously, the first example of a Utopia in recorded literature -- Creator/{{Plato}}'s ''Literature/{{Republic}}'' -- is an example of this trope (possibly) played absolutely straight and ''not'' as means for the opposite {{Aesop}}. Plato argues that the establishment and survival of the perfect state requires autocratic rule by [[EmperorScientist philosopher-kings]] bred from a system of [[TheSocialDarwinist eugenics]] and there should be a "[[TheMinistryOFTruth noble lie]]" that the citizens must be taught to induce them to love the state unconditionally.

* Ra's al Ghul and the Order of St. Dumas in the various ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' series.

!!Examples:

The first and most admirable trope in the unholy trinity of villainous objectives, Utopia Justifies the Means is where the goal of the BigBad is the creation of a {{Utopia}} in the long run, a better world for everyone as a whole (or at least "better" in the villain's eyes), no matter what the cost.

The first and most admirable trope in the unholy trinity of villainous objectives, Utopia Justifies the Means is where the goal of the BigBad is the creation of a {{Utopia}} in the long run, a better world for everyone as a whole (or at least "better" in the villain's eyes).

* The BigBad of ''VideoGame/ArTonelico'', Mir, is after a utopia in which Reyvateils, [[RobotGirl artificially-created]] [[MagicMusic magical song maidens]], will live free from slavery and mistreatment. In order to achieve this, she seeks to [[KillAllHumans destroy all humans]], having [[HumansAreBastards pegged them pretty firmly as irredeemable monsters]] [[spoiler: due to her own traumatic history as a {{Tykebomb}}. The fact that she names this utopia "Reyvateilia" goes some way towards exemplifying the fact that she's just a terrified, idealistic child inside]].

* Subverted in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'': the actions of Celestial Being result in the formation of a OneWorldOrder, just as they'd hoped... [[spoiler:but the Earth Sphere Federation turns out to be just as violent and oppressive as its predecessors.]]

-->-- '''Dave''', ''CivilProtection'', on [[AlienInvasion The Combine's]] invasion of Earth.

When it comes to different kinds of extremists, a TotalitarianUtilitarian is far more likely to think that UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans, while a PrinciplesZealot is more likely to believe that Utopia Justifies Nothing.

Curiously, the first example of a Utopia in recorded literature -- {{Plato}}'s ''Literature/{{Republic}}'' -- is an example of this trope (possibly) played absolutely straight and ''not'' as means for the opposite {{Aesop}}. Plato argues that the establishment and survival of the perfect state requires autocratic rule by [[EmperorScientist philosopher-kings]] bred from a system of [[SocialDarwinist eugenics]] and there should be a "[[TheMinistryOFTruth noble lie]]" that the citizens must be taught to induce them to love the state unconditionally.

* Kaede Kunikida, Momiji's twin sister, from ''BlueSeed''. Okay, [[GreenAesop returning the Japan to its natural -- green and unpolluted -- state]] sounds like a good idea. Getting rid of wars and hatred is even better. The way to achieve these goals? Turning people into plants. Thankfully, Momiji manages to convince Kaede that hope still exists in this world, and that it's something worth sacrificing one's life for.
* InAWorld where [[{{Antihero}} protagonists]] and [[{{Antivillain}} antagonists]] alike are {{well intentioned|Extremist}}, and the stakes are national or global-scale, ''Anime/CodeGeass'' [[BlackAndGreyMorality is all about this]] [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans trope]]. Ultimately, each sought a noble cause and decided that it was worth the lives and deaths of many.
** First and foremost: the lying, backstabbing, mass murdering, [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters terrorist]] [[ManipulativeBastard bastard]] himself: [[DarkMessiah Lelouch]] [[NecessarilyEvil vi]] [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation Britannia]], the protagonist and "hero" of our story. His ultimate aim [[spoiler:(at first)]] is to create a 'kinder world' for [[KnightTemplarBigBrother his]] [[IllGirl little]] [[MoralityPet sister]] by toppling the {{Social Darwinist}}ic Britannian [[TheEmpire Empire]] that [[TakeOverTheWorld wages wars for conquest]] as a matter of course.

** Third, fourth and fifth: [[spoiler:[[BigBad Emperor]] [[ThePatriarch Charles]], [[OlderThanTheyLook V.V.]], and [[HiddenDepths Marianne]]]] turn out to have been working toward [[spoiler:an AssimilationPlot]], which is [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans this trope]] all by itself, though there is so [[BigScrewedUpFamily much more besides to justify]]...

** Seventh: [[spoiler:[[SincerityMode Nunnally vi]] [[TheIngenue Britannia]],]] who decided to save the world [[spoiler:from tyrants and nuclear annihilation while bringing about world peace at the same time.]] We're not told much before Lelouch [[IncrediblyLamePun takes the matter out of her hands]], but the plan was to [[spoiler:provide a [[SilentScapegoat focus for the world's hatred]] that even sworn enemies would unite against. The focus in question was an OminousFloatingCastle full of nukes.]]

* ''ErgoProxy'': in the beginning, it's the oppression of the [=AutoReivs=], Vincent, and the people who live outside the dome. In the end, it's The Proxy Project: [[spoiler:The Creators' plan to have the Proxies clean up Earth's atmosphere, kill the "humans" left on Earth, and destroy the domes, while they die in Earth's cleaned up atmosphere so The Creators can have a healthy Earth all to themselves.]]
* Raoh in ''FistOfTheNorthStar'' goes by this trope, so much so that he and Kenshiro stop fighting when it looks like both of them will die, acknowledging that the world is better off if either of them live than both of them die. This doesn't stop them from fighting to the death later, though.

* The Z-Master from ''GaoGaiGar'' wanted to save people from the despair and sadness of reality by mechanizing the universe, eliminating negative emotion (and every other emotion at the same time).
* The Ultimate Gundam from ''GGundam'' wanted to kill all of humanity. It's ultimate goal? [[spoiler:Fixing the damage caused to the Earth by all the Gundam Fights,]] which, incidentally, was caused by humans.
** Also, in ''GundamSeedDestiny'', Gilbert Durandal's plan was to create a society completely ruled by genetic determinism, where everyone would be forced to the endeavors for which he/she was genetically apt at. And if someone has to be sacrificed and some countries have to be destroyed with a WaveMotionGun...well, it's sad but necessary to create a world without war and without pain. Fan opinions remain [[InternetBackdraft divided]] on whether he was in the right or not.

* The ultimate goal of the Claw in ''GunXSword'' is the "Time of Happiness", where he will use Saudade to [[spoiler:overwrite the minds of all living creatures with copies of his own; with all of humanity in utter agreement,]] war and strife will vanish. The process will kill him, but as he's dying of a terminal disease anyway, he sees it as a HeroicSacrifice.
* {{Jormungand}}'s namesake plan, initiated by the main character. A feasible, unbelievable, genocidal plan that would "separate humans from war".

* SEARRS in ''{{Mai-HiME}}'' was willing to level down Fuka Academy and kill all the [=HiME=] to [[spoiler:win the [=HiME=] carnival and]] achieve the "Golden Millennium". All right, it's one lousy school, who cares about that? (And Alyssa was "Valkyrie No. 143" and the only success in what was presumably a long series of PeopleJars. What happened to her failed predecessors is left to the viewers' imagination.)
* The villains of ''MobileSuitGundamAGE'', [[spoiler:Vagan]], can have their motivation summed up as this. [[spoiler:They seek to seize Earth for themselves and turn it into an Eden]]...by massacring the current Earth Federation.
* Subverted in Anime/MobileSuitGundam00: the actions of Celestial Being result in the formation of a OneWorldOrder, just as they'd hoped... [[spoiler:but the Earth Sphere Federation turns out to be just as violent and oppressive as its predecessors.]]

* Subverted in ''OnePiece'', where Sir Crocodile stages a massive coup against the throne of Alabasta to seemingly create a utopia for him and Baroque Works; however, the only reason he wants anything to do with the sand kingdom is because of [[WeaponOfMassDestruction a massive battleship called Pluton with the power to wipe out an island]], so he can establish the greatest military force the world has ever known, which could even rival [[TheGovernment the World Government]].
* In the Yellow arc of the ''PokemonSpecial'' manga, Lance wants to KillAllHumans to create the perfect world for Pokemon.
* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' has [[spoiler:Kyubey]], who states that its goal is to prolong the lifespan of the universe by [[spoiler:collecting the thermodynamic energy-defying power of emotions from humans. And by humans, it means young girls in their early to mid-teens (who are generally, as a group, the most dramatic little wellsprings of emotion the human race has to offer).]] This process collects excess energy, which is somehow contributed toward the entire universe in order to stave off its eventual heat death, allowing more time for different alien races to meet one another among the stars. (Actual thermodynamics theory makes this goal seem very poorly thought out, but then again, this is a show about [[MagicalGirl Magical Girls]] so we weren't expecting a whole lot of realism anyway.)

* In ''SaintBeast'', Zeus intends for heaven to have no sin and he wants to be worshipped by humans and angels alike, so he uses murder and assassination to achieve this ideal.
* Knives, the BigBad of ''{{Trigun}}'', might as well be the textbook example of this. His motto in the anime was "kill the spiders to save the butterflies". Oh, and all human beings are spiders; only he and his brother count as butterflies. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in his vociferations of [[PunctuatedForEmphasis "WE WILL HAVE. OUR. EDEN!"]].

* The Dragons in ''{{X1999}}''.

* We are TheAuthority. ''Behave.''
* Ra's al Ghul and the Order of St. Dumas in the various ''{{Batman}}'' series.
* The MythArc of Joe Kelly's ''{{Deadpool}}'' run involved the main character -- a ScrewySquirrel AntiHero -- finding out that he was the "Mithras", prophesised to protect a being called "[[MessianicArchetype The Messiah]]", who would bring peace and prosperity to the world, from "Tiamat", who would destroy it. However, when said Messiah showed up, it turned out to be a being that froze everyone in the world in blissful mindlessness. Deadpool had to decide whether or not to fulfill his destiny and prevent all suffering at the price of free will. In the end, he decided to ScrewDestiny and destroy the Messiah himself.
* In TheNineties, TheDefenders were cursed to come together to save the world when it needed saving, even though they didn't want to. So, naturally, they decided to TakeOverTheWorld and run it ''right'' so it wouldn't ''need'' saving.
* Some comics suggest (and, in at least one case, demonstrate) that allowing DoctorDoom to conquer the Earth will result in a utopia. Doom's a despot and a tyrant at the best of times, and another consequence of Dr. Doom taking over the Earth is the complete eradication of any kind of free will and immediate and total subservience to Doom's wishes, so this may not be as great as it seems.
* In ''{{Fables}}'', the animals of the Farm overthrow the human administration in order to govern the farm themselves, the way that will be 'right' for them. Right in the middle and egging them on is Goldilocks. She doesn't care about how right or wrong the animals' grievances might be; what she sees is that by assisting, she'll be in a position to grab power, lots of it.

* The RealityWarper Alfie O'Meagan from ''NthManTheUltimateNinja'' uses this to justify his actions -- which include stomping on a battalion of soldiers, casually tormenting or killing anyone who opposes him, and unleashing a mutagenic virus on the planet.

* A prime candidate for this trope: {{Magneto}} from the ''ComicBook/{{X-Men}}'' comics, [[WesternAnimation/{{X-men}} animated series]], and [[Film/{{X-Men}} movies]], who is sometimes willing to kill all "normals" to create a utopia for the mutants.

* In DCComics's ''ZeroHour'', ex-Comicbook/GreenLantern Hal Jordan (embarking upon his DorkAge) tried to remake all of space ''and time'' to his liking.

* In the ''VideoGame/MassEffect'' fanfic story ''The Council Era'', the defining motivation of the VillainProtagonist Tyrin Lieph to bring the galaxy closer to total sanctity and peace, but he also believes that the ends ultimately justify the means, resulting in many controversial actions on his part, notwithstanding the utter genocide of the dezban race, because he perceives them as a threat to the Citadel.
* Executing the falsely accused, genocide of the Seireitei,bloody war with the Gotei, raids into the human world, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking kidnapping]] [[TheStationsOfTheCanon Orihime]]. All nessisary to acheive a better world in Fanfic/{{Downfall}}. And [[spoiler: Unohana]] just might be right, too.
* Red Eye of FalloutEquestria believes ponies destroyed themselves in the apocalypse because they were [[HobbesWasRight cruel, venal and selfish]], and that they have failed to build a new world because they are still cruel, venal and selfish. As a result he seeks to enslave the entire adult population of the wasteland and work them to death in his factories in order to build a new world for their children, recruiting a vast hoard of brutal raiders ([[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness who he will most likely all have killed at some point]]) to do so.

* An unfortunately common portrayal of Sailors Uranus, Neptune and Pluto in a lot of SailorMoon Fanfiction often makes them out as this in their motivations.

* In ''FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'', Sephiroth claims that his new goal is to [[spoiler: use the thoughts of those who died from geostigma to take control of the lifestream and send the planet on a journey through space to find a new planet,]] where he'll build a "bright and shining future". This gets streamlined in the videogame sequel ''Dirge of Cerberus'', in which the main villain [[spoiler:wishes to go off into space with the lifestream itself to rule over a restarted world.]]

* The setting of the movie ''{{Equilibrium}}'' is a utopian future society created by suppressing all human emotion and anything that may stir it up -- through propaganda, chemicals, and GunKata-practicing {{badass longcoat}}s. This removes all hate, jealousy, and anger but also removes humanity's capacity for art and creativity. It all crumbles when [[spoiler:one of the highest-ranking members of the Emotion Police stops taking his drugs and becomes disillusioned.]]

* The goal of the [[spoiler:Neighbourhood Watch Alliance]] in ''HotFuzz'' is UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans on a small scale, in their quest to [[spoiler:win the Best Village Award]] at ''all'' costs. For the greater good.

* Darryl Revok of ''Film/{{Scanners}}'' thinks that a scanner-run government would be the coolest thing ever. Reportedly, some of the characterization for {{Magneto}} was based on this.

* In ''Film/SherlockHolmes,'' Blackwood's ultimate goal is to sieze control of the British Empire and rule it through fear. [[spoiler:Lord Coward,]] one of the politicians who supports his coup, claims that Blackwood will be a strong shepard for the weak masses.

* ''Film/TheVillage'' is ostensibly a period drama about a primitive town's struggle with dark magical forces. [[spoiler:In actuality, the town is on a modern nature preserve.]] Its adult inhabitants have fled there to set up a simple way of life which they hope will be free from senseless violence. Like most Utopian experiments, this one fails miserably (at least in principle) when [[spoiler:one of the town's children tries to murder another in a fit of jealousy. One could reasonably argue that the fear-based "conditioning" the children were put through was more traumatizing to them than growing up in a modern society would have been.]]
** [[spoiler:Also, most of the children, instead of being killed by criminals, end up dying of disease or lack of medical care.]]

* The island "where everything ends up" in the final book in '' ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' has the leader, Ishmael, hiding many important documents from the islanders in the arboretum. He "doesn't force anyone to do anything", yet everyone agrees. Like ''Literature/BraveNewWorld'', the island's citizens' judgment constantly diminishes because they are always drinking cordial. Ish justifies this by insisting that there's "nothing wrong with sheltering people from the terrible dangers", and points out that the Baudelaire parents did the same thing.

* In David Wingrove's ''ChungKuo'', this is a common view among both defenders and rebels in the City, although it was not all-pervasive.
* Perennial mantra of the Special Circumstances division of ''TheCulture'': according to them, they're making other civilizations better (ie, more Culture-like), and [[ElephantInTheLivingRoom you can ignore]] the assassinations, revolutions, and [[AMillionIsAStatistic occasional bloody wars]] they cause to do it because they can statistically prove that [[WasItReallyWorthIt it's all worth it]]. To [[LudicrousPrecision three decimal places, if you'd like]].

** And, far later, his ''Robots''/''Empire''/''{{Foundation}}'' series arguably ended up proposing no less than ''three'' possible means towards utopia - the First and Second Foundations, devoted to taking over the world through [[spoiler:sheer technological superiority and manipulation vs. telepathy and prescient mathematics]] (both of which are intended to lead to a lasting and peaceful new Galactic Empire), and "Gaia", a proposal that would [[spoiler:involve stripping many lifeforms, including humanity, of much of their individuality and rebelliousness]]. A book is devoted to figuring out which of the three is the most desirable, but while the rather interesting choice of [[spoiler:Gaia is somewhat teasingly ominous, seen as a necessary evil almost, despite having a logical reason behind it]], we'll never actually ''really'' know how it was officially intended to work out for humanity, as Dr. Asimov [[WordOfGod couldn't himself decide]], and instead spent his last years writing two prequels detailing the life of Hari Seldon.

* ''{{Fahrenheit 451}}'' is a classic example, where a ''utopia'' is created by [[spoiler:banning books, funerals, weddings, and anything that causes an emotional reaction]].

* In Lois Lowry's ''TheGiver'', the titular character and Jonas, his apprentice, often discuss whether their peaceful and happy lives ordained by the Community is worth the loss of choice, family, sexuality, color, and [[spoiler:music]], and if it's worth the "release" [[spoiler:(that is, execution) of anyone who transgresses against the rules, even accidentally, and any extra babies that would disrupt the population count.]]
* In the {{backstory}} of Zilpha Keatley Snyder's ''{{Green-Sky Trilogy}}'', the pair of scientists who fled Earth with a boatload of war orphans to form the [[SpaceAmish peaceful]] new world of Green-Sky have a falling out as their charges start coming of age. Neshom argues that the "Kindar" should learn about the horrors they came from. Wissen argues that the only way to prevent the tragedy they fled is to never let the Kindar know of such things and to all but banish the concepts leading to violence from society. Neshom ends up dead, and his followers banished underground. It's implied that Wissen murdered his colleague.
* HarrisonBergeron uses this. Egalitarianism is enforced by handicapping the more intelligent, athletic, or beautiful members of society down to the level of the lowest common endowment. And if you still happen to be able to destroy your handicaps...you'll be shot dead.

* In [[HisDarkMaterials Northern Lights/The Golden Compass]], [[spoiler:Lord Asriel is willing to kill Lyra's best friend in order to make a portal and gather an army to fight the Authority.]]

* In Stephenie Meyer's ''TheHost'', the aliens who come to Earth make it a lovely, peaceful land of curiosity and intelligence . . . by taking over the bodies of all the humans and effectively killing them. A point is made in the story that the younger a human is the easier it is to take them over, which means anyone who didn't have the age/willpower to fight back had their minds and individuality destroyed so silver worms could hijack their bodies.

* Nicolae Carpathia's goal of a peaceful united world under one government in the LeftBehind book series requires using police state methods to achieve. It's also the basis for everything that God does in the book series itself.
* The One Ring in ''TheLordOfTheRings'' offers everyone who comes near it a vision of a world bowing to them as a great and mighty lord. The hobbits are able to resist its effects solely [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway due to their humility]]. Admittedly, if you were smaller than even your average ''dwarf'', you would probably find it hard to see yourself as some kind of Evil Overlord as well.
* The villains in the DeanKoontz novel ''Night Chills'' come up with an effective method of mind control through SubliminalAdvertising and seek to make the world perfectly ordered, but their agent quickly succumbs to PowerPerversionPotential when testing its effects on a small town.
* On the other hand, it's completely inverted in ''[[Literature/NineteenEightyFour 1984]]'': Winston thinks that the Party's original aim was to make a utopia where everyone is equal and happy, and it just happened to have GoneHorriblyWrong, but [[spoiler:O'Brian]] corrects him and explains that creating a utopia was never the intention: [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans they're just doing it for the power and suffering]].
* The short story "[[Literature/TheOnesWhoWalkAwayFromOmelas The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas]]" describes a utopian city that requires [[spoiler:a young child to be in absolute suffering]] [[InherentInTheSystem to function properly]].

* The villains of ''RainbowSix'' want to wipe out large portions of humanity with an engineered virus so that the planet can be saved.

* The ''Franchise/StarTrek'' novel "Captain's Glory" by WilliamShatner and Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens {{lampshades}} all the "perfect societies" Kirk and Spock had visited over the years. Kirk says, "Spock, how many times did we visit a planet where the leaders said they had created the perfect society? And all we had to do to achieve perfection was to not ask any questions."
* In the ''SwordOfTruth'' series, Emperor Jagang believes that conquering the entire world and killing everyone with magic will sever the connection the [[{{God}} Creator]] and [[{{Satan}} Keeper]] have with it, allowing mankind alone to advance into a new golden age. He also believes that [[RedScare everyone should be exactly equal and all who have any special talents should be punished for it]].
* In ScottWesterfeld's ''{{Uglies}}'' series, everyone is beautiful and happy. There's no war and NoPoverty. [[spoiler:The surgery that makes everyone pretty also gives them brain lesions eliminating anger and sadness, but also creativity and independence.]]
* Both the sort-of [[DesignatedVillain Designated villains]] and the utterly [[DesignatedHero Designated Heroes]] in the ''Literature/UndergroundZealot'' series are quite happy about mass slaughter of non-combatants of their opposite number to achieve their goals. The main difference between the two is that the evil atheists actually have succeeded in building their utopia (as long as you're also an atheist, which about 95% of the population seems to be) and are trying to keep it that way, while the good Christians are working to overthrow it with their own utopia.

* In ''WatershipDown'', the rabbit protagonists are invited to join a pleasant warren, with abundant food readily available from a nearby garden that is never guarded. The natives of this Lapine utopia have seemingly evolved beyond merely struggling for survival, and have delved into art and poetry, as would be expected from a culture of peace and prosperity. But [[WaifProphet gentle mystic]] Fiver gets bad vibes and won't enter the warren, and the others discover almost too late that [[spoiler:the farmer provides the garden to fatten up the rabbits and make them less wary, and he "harvests" them whenever he wants something for his stewpot]]. Rather than leave such bounty, the inhabitants have developed a social code that never asks ''where'' someone is -- [[spoiler: because they just might be strangling to death in a snare]].
* Emhyr var Emreis, Emperor of Nilfgaard, one of the main antagonists ([[AntiVillain sort]] [[NobleDemon of]]) in Andrzej Sapkowski's ''TheWitcher'' cycle, [[TheReveal reveals]] at the culmination of the last book that, according to an ancient prophecy, he and he alone may save the world from a slow, freezing death by [[spoiler:[[IncestIsRelative having a child with his likewise-prophesied daughter]] (who also happens to be one of the main character's and the titular Witcher Geralt's adopted daughter, more or less). The son of that child will come to rule the entire world - and save it from destruction. Aside from incest, the plan also involved killing witnesses and starting the medieval fantasy version of WorldWarII, but all that was quite secondary. Geralt]] replied that a world that has to be saved in such a way isn't worth saving and, eventually, [[spoiler:shamed Emhyr into abandoning the plan and letting his daughter go. It is all but outright stated that, in doing so, he [[NiceJobBreakingItHero irrevocably doomed the world]], though it still has three thousand years to go.]]

* UrsulaKLeGuin examines this issue in at least two of her stories. Both ''TheLatheOfHeaven'' and ''The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas'' examine the costs and pitfalls of possible utopias.
** To a certain extent, so does the [[GenerationShips generation ship]] story ''Paradises Lost''.

* Jasmine in ''Series/{{Angel}}'' used her [[ThePowersThatBe godhood]] to [[GambitRoulette engineer her return]] to Earth as a beatific, mind-numbingly beautiful goddess. Though she unified all who saw her (or heard her voice) and ended conflict, that much power required "volunteers" to be eaten by draining their [[HumanResources life force]] on a daily basis. If successful, she would have essentially made everyone into peaceful, Jasmine-loving zombies, destroying all evil in the world (except herself), and also have eaten thousands of people per year. Not only that, but she was shown to be a very vain being, quite possibly more concerned with being worshiped than with helping people. We also get to see the last world Jasmine visited. It's...not a very nice place, and she abandoned it once she grew bored of it.

* In season 3 of ''KyleXY'', the upper echelons of the Latnok Society appear to be like this.

* The third season of ''TheWire'' features a notable example that's both wholly realistic and morally ambiguous enough that it could be considered justified. When faced with a skyrocketing murder rate in Baltimore in the months before a mayoral election, a police major named Howard "Bunny" Colvin is tasked with bringing down the number of murders due to drug-related crimes, and essentially given ''carte blanche'' to lower the murder rate and save the mayor's public safety record. His answer? He goes behind his superiors' backs and designates a small area of the city as a "free zone" where drug dealers can peddle their product under police supervision without punishment. The plan succeeds in drastically improving public safety, but it relies on police looking the other way while heroin addicts buy drugs in broad daylight, as well as ''brutally'' punishing dealers who refuse to move (we see police macing handcuffed dealers, stealing their shoes at gunpoint, and even driving them off in paddy wagons and leaving them stranded in the woods). [[spoiler: In the end, Colvin's superiors find out about it, and he's demoted and forced to retire in disgrace]].

* The song "Bloody Revolutions" by Crass criticizes this attitude, as part of a deconstruction of armed revolutions:"That's the kind of self-deception [[NaziGermany that killed ten million Jews]], just [[InsaneTrollLogic the same false logic]] that all powermongers use."
* Ska band FiveIronFrenzy mocked this attitude in their song "My Evil Plan to Save the World."
* In the storyline {{Mothy}}'s ''Evillious Chronicles'' songs, the [[{{AntropomorphicPersonification}} awakened]] [[{{ArtefactOfDoom}} Sin Vessels]] believe that if all the Vessels are gathered and awoken, utopia will be created. To achieve their goal, they're perfectly willing to kill anybody that interferes (or accidentally stumbles near their hideout, for that matter). It's also implied that the "utopia" they'd create would result in the EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.

* ''BattleTech'' gives us both the Crusader faction of the Clans, who want to conquer the Inner Sphere their ancestors left behind to recreate the golden age of the Star League -- with themselves as the overlords, never mind the fact that their warrior culture has diverged wildly from even their rose-colored view of the past -- and (pre-schism) [=ComStar=], an ostensibly neutral, pseudo-religious organization hoarding technological knowledge, also has an eye towards one day creating an utopia under their benevolent rule...''after'' watching and, if necessarily, helping the Successor States, whose interstellar communications they're incidentally in charge of, bomb each other back into the Stone Age, that is.

* This was what Yawgmoth in ''MagicTheGathering'' thought he was doing when he created Phyrexia. The net result was [[BodyHorror much]], ''[[AssimilationPlot much]]'' worse. Or, [[FromACertainPointOfView if you are a Phyrexian]], it was a success.

* ''{{Planescape}}'' has the Harmonium faction. All factions qualify to some degree, but the Harmonium are the most clear-cut ones: they seek to create Harmony...by bashing the heads of anyone who disagrees. The standard tactics (brainwashing, executions, etc.) are used. Their plans tend to backfire spectacularly, like their idea of sticking anyone not Lawful or Good enough into re-education camps...that caused the entire layer of a plane to slide into the LawfulNeutral plane of Mechanus...

*** And the biggest irony is that the vision of a [[strike:grim]]dark future Horus saw? [[SelfFulfillingProphecy That was more or less the future that]] ''[[SelfFulfillingProphecy he caused]]'' [[SelfFulfillingProphecy by rebelling]]. Oops.

* In ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura, the BigBad [[spoiler: Kerghan, first of the necromancers]], in a variation of this trope, has found definitve proof that the afterlife is eternal bliss, whereas life is pain and misery. He then concludes that everyone would be much happier there and would gladly die if they had seen what he's seen. Because of this he plans to kill every living thing in Arcanum, after which he will kill himself so everyone can enjoy the afterlife for the rest of eternity. One of your party members, who you, potentially, brought back from the dead, can even confirm that [[spoiler: Kerghan]]'s description of the afterlife is indeed accurate, but he still thinks that life is worth living.
* The BigBad of ''ArTonelico'', Mir, is after a utopia in which Reyvateils, [[RobotGirl artificially-created]] [[MagicMusic magical song maidens]], will live free from slavery and mistreatment. In order to achieve this, she seeks to [[KillAllHumans destroy all humans]], having [[HumansAreBastards pegged them pretty firmly as irredeemable monsters]] [[spoiler: due to her own traumatic history as a {{Tykebomb}}. The fact that she names this utopia "Reyvateilia" goes some way towards exemplifying the fact that she's just a terrified, idealistic child inside]].
** In the sequel, [[spoiler:she's still at it.]] Oh, and this time, [[spoiler:she's one of your party members. Eeveryone in your party is a WellIntentionedExtremist at best.]]
* TheKnightsTemplar in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI'' and "VideoGame/AssassinsCreedlll" plan to [[spoiler:control the world using LostTechnology from [[{{Precursors}} Those Who Came Before]]. Vidic, lamenting how people in [[TheCrusades 1191]] are no different in manner from the people of [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture 2012]], says that the world needs a sense of order, [[TheEvilsOfFreeWill even if it means giving up freedom]].]]

* One of Lord Recluse's right hand men in ''CityOfVillains'', Scirocco, falls under this in a lategame arc.

* Sakaki of ''[[DotHack .hack//G.U]]'' tried using AIDA to make a world where everyone would get along.

* ''GuildWars: Beyond'' includes the ''Winds of Change'' storyline where the Ministry of Purity sets out to cleanse Cantha of Shiro's plague. As it progresses, they expand their focus to include the Am Fah and then the Jade Brotherhood. When you learn the Ministry is using a manifest of every Brotherhood member to hunt them down, you realize how far the Ministry is willing to go.
* The bonus material for ''{{Halo 3}}'' describe the Flood as a theoretical utopia, where, if everybody joined the Flood, there would be no more violence, war, poverty, hatred, etc. Unfortunately, the means by which it does this is by assimilating all life and rendering them into [[ZombieApocalypse zombie-like creatures]].
* Darth Revan in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' -- it's revealed in the second game that they became a Sith Lord at least partly for the best interests of justice and order in the galaxy. Then again, this seems to be a common self-justification and/or recruiting gimmick among Sith Lords. Revan is simply one of the very few who actually ''tried''.
** Actually, Kreia mentions in the sequel that Revan [[spoiler:was attempting to unify and solidify the galaxy to prepare for a colossal war with an extra-galactic, outside the Force threat, which just reeks powerfully of [[NewJediOrder the Yuuzhan Vong]].]]

* BigBad Noir in ''LaPucelle'' is sympathetic for much of the game, seeking to create his "Utopia" where [[FantasticRacism half-demons]] such as himself can be accepted. However, when you find out what his "Utopia" [[OmnicidalManiac actually consists of]], [[YoureInsane there is only one appropriate response remaining]].
* In the MassEffect series, this is the motivation behind at least a couple characters. The Illusive Man wants to control the Reapers to realize his ideal vision for the galaxy. According to [[spoiler: the Catalyst]], this is the reason why the Reapers exist in the first place: [[spoiler: they prevent advanced organic life from creating synthetics that will ultimately wipe out ''all'' life in the galaxy; the Reapers cycle of destruction continues until someone (Shepard) is able to bring synthetic and organic life together into one unified form, creating true peace and the next stage of evolution]].

* ''ModernWarfare 2'': [[spoiler:Shepard]] instigates a war between Russia and the United States (and possibly WorldWarIII) in order to usher in a new era of [[spoiler:American supremacy and patriotism.]]
* In ''{{Persona 2}}: Eternal Punishment'', Philemon may be the ultimate incarnation of all benevolence in humanity and the mortal enemy of Nyarlathotep, the embodiment of all evil, but he's still a major dick and creates a terrible mess of everything, leading to many deaths, innocent and guilty alike, the creation of an IllGirl, and the creation of a new, clean, parallel timeline just to one-up Nyarlathotep in their contest to see who's the strongest. And then [[EarthShatteringKaboom Earth blows up]]. Then he takes the limelight, gloats about how he's won against Nyarlathotep, and [[SarcasmMode graciously]] offers to hit the ResetButton. There's a reason why [[CallingTheOldManOut decking him]] upon hearing of what he has done is very much an option.

* This turns out to be the main villain's motivation in the first ''ShadowHearts''. Notably, he actually only decided to take extreme measures ''after'' his less extreme attempt failed catastrophically, leading to him being tried and imprisoned as a heretic several centuries prior to the game.
* The premise of the Messian Church in the ''ShinMegamiTensei'' series, [[spoiler: and of their [[GodIsEvil patron deity Himself]]]]. It only becomes more prominent as the series goes on, from ''Shin Megami Tensei'' to ''SMT II'' to ''SMT: Nocturne.''
** This is also the goal of the Gaian Cult, but it's much less visible by comparison because of the Law alignment's {{Flanderization}} since SMT II. On top of this, the Chaos faction [[ChaoticStupid has physical strength as its governmental structure]], so the Utopia part ''very quickly'' becomes exclusive to [[FromACertainPointOfView their(or the player's) point of view.]]
* Claudia Wolf in ''SilentHill3'' is a member of the Silent Hill cult that wishes to birth their god into the mortal world so it may bring paradise. Since she believes that a god that is born through suffering would be more likely to be benevolent than one that isn't, Claudia makes Heather suffer by [[spoiler:murdering her father, Harry Mason.]] But although Claudia desperately wishes for paradise due to her abusive childhood, [[SubvertedTrope she's aware that her actions]] [[NoPlaceForMeThere will deny her a place in the utopia she's seeking to create]].
* Count Bleck from ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' would fit this trope perfectly if it didn't turn out that [[spoiler:he was just a NietzscheWannabe instead, just wanting to destroy everything without recreating it and LYING about it by telling his minions that he was going to recreate the universe as a utopia.]] Dimentio from the same game, on the other hand, fits this perfectly, even [[spoiler:betraying Count Bleck to destroy the world and remake it himself when he finds out that Bleck is lying.]]

** This is a common theme in the ''TalesSeries'' games. This pops up again in ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'', in which the BigBad seeks to kill everyone on the planet and replace them with clones in an attempt to ScrewDestiny. It makes sense in context. The whole world was living a predetermined existence, consulting a prophecy even for things such as what to eat for dinner.

* The BigBad in the online Flash series ''BrokenSaints'' tricks the US government and military into creating the instruments which they think will allow them to set up ''their'' version of Utopia. Instead, said instruments will actually trigger the GovernmentConspiracy's own destruction and set up the ''BigBad's'' version of Utopia (the heroes somehow manage to [[BigDamnHeroes step in at the last minute]], stop both factions, and use the living EmpathicWeapon the BigBad created to set up ''their own'' version of Utopia).

* In ''DominicDeegan'', Celesto Morgan -- a seer who has become the Champion of Chaos -- fiercely believes in this. Having been on the rough end of humanity a bit too often, he believes that [[http://www.dominic-deegan.com/view.php?date=2005-03-09 "When an infection is too deep... amputation is the only solution."]]
* The most recent arc in ''{{Fans}}'' is definitely going into that territory as [[spoiler: a group of mystics called the Order of the Dragon plan to overthrow the world's governments in a "bloodless coup" by murdering the Aleph, the personification of the very first written language, thus destroying the concept of the written word itself. When Donna, arguably the least evil of this group of [[KnightTemplar Knights Templar]], is informed that roughly 6.5 billion people will die as a result of their actions, her response is "Some will survive." To make matters worse, they recruited [[DepravedBisexual Keith Feddyg]], who's motivated by his own needs, which involve inflicting as much pain as possible on as many people as possible. Oh, and revenge against Ally. The remaining members range from vengeful psychopaths to pathetic losers. Whatta way to run Utopia!]]

* The Varn Gene Mage from ''{{Terinu}}'' wants to restore the Varn Dominion. All that involves is the capture of the titular character and the persuasion of all the races that the Dominion had once enslaved to join up again. By force, if necessary.

* ''DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog'':

* ''JusticeLeague'''s AlternateUniverse equivalents, the Justice Lords, did this to their world, taking over and imposing a metahuman-run utopia/dystopia. Most of the ends seem well worth the means, especially [[spoiler:violating LexLuthor's JokerImmunity and lobotomizing {{omnicidal maniac}}s]], but the group quickly [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope leaped off the slippery slope]] by getting rid of the right to vote or speak freely while arresting individuals for threatening to not pay for food. On the other hand, their world has no rape, murder, arson, or even ''litter.'' Unusually, this is one of the more even-handed examples, with both "Utopia" and "the means to it" being shown in fair measure. Fans of the show were left to wonder if, in a world where every prison's a CardboardPrison, the Justice Lords might have had a point, and the Batmen even debate on it in the middle of the episode.

*** The very same episode also featured ''another'' version of this at the very beginning. Lex Luthor--who was the President at the time in the alternate universe--apparently did ''something'' that he justified with the belief that UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans. The episode never tells us what he specifically did, but whatever it was, apparently it backfired horribly and was about to start World War III before Superman [[spoiler: kills President Luthor]]. When Superman walks into the Oval Office he exposits "Even this wasn't enough for you, Lex. You had to have it all. Now we're on the brink of a war that could destroy the whole planet." Lex--who appears to still be in a state of shock about his mysterious plans backfiring--ignores Superman and babbles to himself "Could have been so perfect! Paradise!" Then the conversation spirals out of control, and the scenario described in the above two paragraphs comes into fruition.
* Amon in ''TheLegendOfKorra'' believes that bending is a source of pain and misery in the world, and is abused to no end. Ridding the world of it would bring equality to the world and the human race. Not such a bad idea, except that his plans of firebombing arenas full of thousands of people and taking away bending against the will of the benders are more than a little sick.

[[/folder]]

Heroes and the audience will be faced with the philosophical conundrum that maybe TheExtremistWasRight and the world is in truth a CrapsackWorld that needs a total renovation like what the villain says, but is the renovation worth sacrificing billions? In more morally ambiguous situations, the "means" might not be catastrophically destructive, all it takes is a [[DealWithTheDevil "small", inconsequential sacrifice]] for the Greater Good of Humanity. Say, selling forsaken little girls to alien slavers in exchange for technological advancements for mankind as a whole, or the daily ritual slaughter of criminals to appease the gods and ensure prosperity, or the ever popular TheSingularity LotusEaterMachine AssimilationPlot where suffering does not exist. If his ideals guarantee the happiness, survival, civilization and/or progress of the human race, isn't it worth it? The Heroes may decide that total demolition is not the answer, and it's better to make the most out of what you have while allowing humanity to decide for himself.

* The plot of ''Literature/DarknessAtNoon'' centers around Rubashov, a veteran Communist reflecting on all the people he's betrayed and horrible things he's done in the name of building a {{Utopia}}, while contrasting it with the reality of the CrapsackWorld he's actually helped to create. Awaiting his execution, he comes to the conclusion that "one cannot build Paradise with concrete."

* In ''Literature/DarknessAtNoon'', though both Rubashov and Ivanov have grown disillusioned with the idea that the Revolution will pave the way to a socialist Utopia, Gletkin believes that there will be one in a hundred years or so if desperate measures are taken now.

* In ''Literature/DarknessAtNoon'', though both Rubashov and Ivanov have grown disillusioned with the idea that the Revolution will pave the way to a socialist Utopia, Gletkin believes that, if desperate measures are taken, there will be one in a hundred years or so.

* In the later seasons of ''{{The 4400}}'', the faction led by Jordan Collier has a plan to inject every human being on Earth with promycin, the drug that has a 50/50 chance of giving a person a supernatural ability or killing them. Collier's goal is to create a new paradise of super-humans, despite the fact that this also means roughly 50% of the world's population will die. The future humans who sent back the original 4400 (with all the death and chaos many of them led to) and did everything in their power to keep Collier around and, presumably, devise his plan, also apply given their stated goal of saving the world, no matter the bastardy things they have to do to achieve it. According to them, the alternative is worse than 50% dead, but it depends whether you believe them or not.

* Amon in ''TheLegendOfKorra'' believes that bending is a source of pain and misery in the world, and is abused to no end. Ridding the world of it would bring equality to the world and the human race.

* Subverted in ''VForVendetta''. V has no expectations of creating a Utopia, just to destroy the fascist regime, allowing the people to decide for themselves how the country will be run from then on.

* Raoh in ''FistOfTheNorthStar'' goes by this trope, so much so that he and Kenshiro stop fighting when it looks like both of them will die, acknowledging that the world is better off if either of them live than both of them die. This doesn't stop them from fighting to the death later, though.
** Raoh is a special case though, as he is actually kinda liked by the people for the fact that he conquers, but doesn't destroy. The fact that he actually loves and protects subjects loyal to him [[PapaWolf like a father would his children]] really helps.
*** Case in point: at one point, Raoh comes across his men massacring helpless villagers. He has them all line up and kneel before him...and then ''[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome crushes them all beneath the hooves of his monster horse]]''.
** Shin outright states that he plans to achieve utopia through slave labor and murderous henchmen.

* ''ErgoProxy'': in the beginning, it's the oppression of the [=AutoReivs=], Vincent, and the people who live outside the dome. In the end, it's The Proxy Project: [[spoiler:The Creators' plan to have the Proxies clean up Earth's atmosphere, kill the "humans" left on Earth, and destroy the domes, while they die in Earth's cleaned up atmosphere so The Creators can have a healthy Earth all to themselves.]]
* In the Yellow arc of the ''PokemonSpecial'' manga, Lance wants to KillAllHumans to create the perfect world for Pokemon.
* Subverted in Anime/MobileSuitGundam00: the actions of Celestial Being result in the formation of a OneWorldOrder, just as they'd hoped... [[spoiler:but the Earth Sphere Federation turns out to be just as violent and oppressive as its predecessors.]]
* In ''SaintBeast'', Zeus intends for heaven to have no sin and he wants to be worshipped by humans and angels alike, so he uses murder and assassination to achieve this ideal.
* The villains of ''MobileSuitGundamAGE'', [[spoiler:Vagan]], can have their motivation summed up as this. [[spoiler:They seek to seize Earth for themselves and turn it into an Eden]]...by massacring the current Earth Federation.
* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' has [[spoiler:Kyubey]], who states that its goal is to prolong the lifespan of the universe by [[spoiler:collecting the thermodynamic energy-defying power of emotions from humans. And by humans, it means young girls in their early to mid-teens (who are generally, as a group, the most dramatic little wellsprings of emotion the human race has to offer).]] This process collects excess energy, which is somehow contributed toward the entire universe in order to stave off its eventual heat death, allowing more time for different alien races to meet one another among the stars. (Actual thermodynamics theory makes this goal seem very poorly thought out, but then again, this is a show about [[MagicalGirl Magical Girls]] so we weren't expecting a whole lot of realism anyway.)
** How does it do this, you ask? It [[spoiler:fools girls into making a contract and becoming magical girls, ripping their souls out to place them into a Soul Gem for easy keeping. Kyubey actively encourages vulnerable girls to make stupid wishes they'll regret later, and once they're magical girls he continues to manipulate them into making choices that pull them further and further into despair, until their Soul Gems corrupt under the weight of all the grief and the magical girl becomes a [[EldritchAbomination Witch]]. Once another magical girl comes along, defeats the Witch and transfers her Soul Gem's corruption to it, he "disposes" of the Grief Seed, harvesting the concentrated despair inside and converting it into energy. Naturally, negative emotions are the most energy-efficient.]]

* In DCComics's ''ZeroHour'', ex-Comicbook/GreenLantern Hal Jordan (embarking upon his DorkAge) tried to remake all of space ''and time'' to his liking.

* Subverted in ''VForVendetta''. V has no expectations of creating a Utopia, just to destroy the fascist regime, allowing the people to decide for themselves how the country will be run from then on.
* The ''SquadronSupreme'' limited series was based on this trope. The heroes decide to use their powers to bring about utopia, and disregard minor inconveniences like civil rights and individual freedoms along the way.
* The RealityWarper Alfie O'Meagan from ''NthManTheUltimateNinja'' uses this to justify his actions -- which include stomping on a battalion of soldiers, casually tormenting or killing anyone who opposes him, and unleashing a mutagenic virus on the planet.
* In TheNineties, TheDefenders were cursed to come together to save the world when it needed saving, even though they didn't want to. So, naturally, they decided to TakeOverTheWorld and run it ''right'' so it wouldn't ''need'' saving.
* In ''{{Fables}}'', the animals of the Farm overthrow the human administration in order to govern the farm themselves, the way that will be 'right' for them. Right in the middle and egging them on is Goldilocks. She doesn't care about how right or wrong the animals' grievances might be; what she sees is that by assisting, she'll be in a position to grab power, lots of it.

* In the ''VideoGame/MassEffect'' fanfic story ''The Council Era'', the defining motivation of the VillainProtagonist Tyrin Lieph to bring the galaxy closer to total sanctity and peace, but he also believes that the ends ultimately justify the means, resulting in many controversial actions on his part, notwithstanding the utter genocide of the dezban race, because he perceives them as a threat to the Citadel.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' crossover fanfiction 'The Fandom Wars', the world has fallen into universal war over what were trivial 'fandoms' before the Rifts opened. The My Little Pony faction originally intended to stay out of the fighting and act only to aid refugees, but poor communication between the dimensions allowed a small group of extremists to manipulate Equestria into winning the war.
* In ''Fanfic/WithStringsAttached'', [[spoiler: Brox and Grunnel]] are perfectly willing to betray and enslave the four (whom [[spoiler: Grunnel]] had befriended) in order to bring about the return of the skahs utopia, i.e., lots of monsters for the skahs to fight. All skahs would love this, and it really ''would'' result in skahs utopia. But the four strenuously object to the idea of creating monsters only to kill them, and they're ''not at all'' happy about being forced to provide part of the means to achieve this utopia.

* Hugo Drax, a Film/JamesBond villain in ''Film/{{Moonraker}}''.

* Darryl Revok of ''Film/{{Scanners}}'' thinks that a scanner-run government would be the coolest thing ever. Reportedly, some of the characterization for {{Magneto}} was based on this.
-->''"We'll create an empire so brilliant, so glorious, it'll be the envy of the world."''

* This is the crux of [[Film/FightClub Project Mayhem]].
* More or less the idea in ''Film/{{Dogtooth}}'' (''Kynodontas''): the parents isolate their three children from the outside world and give them a bizarrely warped idea of society and language in order to protect them from the evils of the world, except their life inside the house is disturbing and occasionally violent anyway, so it's not a very [[BrokenAesop good plan.]]
* Franco Maccalusso in the ''Film/{{Apocalypse}}'' film series claims that he is responsible for getting rid of those who were CaughtUpInTheRapture because they were obstacles to the world achieving world peace. He later uses an AssimilationPlot consisting of the Day of Wonders virtual reality program to force the people of the world to either accept the MarkOfTheBeast or die.
* In ''Film/SherlockHolmes,'' Blackwood's ultimate goal is to sieze control of the British Empire and rule it through fear. [[spoiler:Lord Coward,]] one of the politicians who supports his coup, claims that Blackwood will be a strong shepard for the weak masses.
* The first Chinese emperor in the Wuxia movie ''Film/{{Hero}}'' uses this as a motive to conquer China. One of the few movies where it is arguably shown as justified.
* In ''Film/TheAvengers'', [[BigBad Loki]] states his plans to [[TakeOverTheWorld rule]] [[FantasticRacism these petty humans]] and thereby alleviate war and suffering.
* In ''Film/TRONLegacy'', CLU's goal is ridding the real world of its "imperfections," and ordering the genocide of the ISO programs was him just getting started.
* Livia from ''Series/IClaudius'' murders her way through the show's cast, and in a candid moment with Claudius freely admits that she was a terrible criminal. She fully expects to suffer for her sins in the afterlife. Despite this, she considers it all worth it in the name of staving off another round of civil war.

* Both the sort-of [[DesignatedVillain Designated villains]] and the utterly [[DesignatedHero Designated Heroes]] in the ''Literature/UndergroundZealot'' series are quite happy about mass slaughter of non-combatants of their opposite number to achieve their goals. The main difference between the two is that the evil atheists actually have succeeded in building their utopia (as long as you're also an atheist, which about 95% of the population seems to be) and are trying to keep it that way, while the good Christians are working to overthrow it with their own utopia.
* The final book of cult teen series ''SpyHigh'' is a great example of this. The BigBad in question is [[spoiler: Jonathan Deveraux, the deceased founder of the Spy School whose personality has been uploaded onto a computer. Throughout the series, he [[AIisacrapshoot gradually loses access to the "human" parts of his computerised psyche]]]]. As a result, he [[spoiler: uses his vast resources to infiltrate computer systems all around the world, slipping nanomachines into everyday products. When activated, these nanomachines will turn people into emotionless zombies with no hatred or anger whatsoever]]. Using the pseudonym "The Deliverer", he [[spoiler: activates it at a UN summit, turning all the UN ambassadors into zombies, and then turns ''the entire United Kingdom'' for much the same effect. Needless to say, this causes global panic.]]
-->'''Lori:''' He's going to establish Utopia, a perfect - no, ''the'' perfect society.
* In David Wingrove's ''ChungKuo'', this is a common view among both defenders and rebels in the City, although it was not all-pervasive.

* The villains in the DeanKoontz novel ''Night Chills'' come up with an effective method of mind control through SubliminalAdvertising and seek to make the world perfectly ordered, but their agent quickly succumbs to PowerPerversionPotential when testing its effects on a small town.
* In the young adult novel ''Literature/RunningOutOfTime'', an Old West settlement is dying of a plague. One girl must brave the unknown to save the town. [[spoiler:It turns out that her entire town is a tourist attraction, set up by idealists who disliked the modern world. Unfortunately, for the children born into the town, the few people who still believe in the town's original purpose force everyone to stay, and prohibit the parents from telling their kids, who begin dying like flies from diphtheria.]] Oh, and the plague is [[spoiler:Phase One of an evil scheme to breed a super race of children by exposing them to various diseases. The kids just have to survive them all.]]

* On the other hand, it's completely inverted in ''[[Literature/NineteenEightyFour 1984]]'': Winston thinks that the Party's original aim was to make a utopia where everyone is equal and happy, and it just happened to have GoneHorriblyWrong, but [[spoiler:O'Brian]] corrects him and explains that creating a utopia was never the intention: [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans they're just doing it for the power and suffering]].

* UrsulaKLeGuin examines this issue in at least two of her stories. Both ''TheLatheOfHeaven'' and ''The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas'' examine the costs and pitfalls of possible utopias.
** To a certain extent, so does the [[GenerationShips generation ship]] story ''Paradises Lost''.

* In [[HisDarkMaterials Northern Lights/The Golden Compass]], [[spoiler:Lord Asriel is willing to kill Lyra's best friend in order to make a portal and gather an army to fight the Authority.]]
** The closest he comes to reconsidering is when Lyra shows up and he thinks that fate has sent him [[spoiler: his own child]] in answer to his summons.
* Played completely straight in ''The Spellsong Cycle'' by L.E. Modesitt Jr. The main character, who's canonically NeutralGood, accumulates a five-digit body count by the end of the first book, because she's determined to fix the CrapsackWorld she's [[TrappedInAnotherWorld trapped in]]. Interestingly, she isn't aiming for utopia proper--she's trying to recreate the American democratic system, which is utopian compared to the society she's dealing with.
* Damian Cray from the ''Literature/AlexRider'' series thinks that most of the problems in the world are caused by drugs. [[spoiler:So he kills a few people who get in his way, a person who just badmouths him, steals AirForceOne, and tries to launch nukes at major drug-running countries.]]
* In ''Heaven'' by Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen, the religion of Cosmic Unity was born from the idea that since interplanetary warfare would be so destructive, all planets and people must join together in harmony. Since such warfare must obviously be avoided at all costs, everyone who doesn't agree with the idea of joining the church is subject to being attacked and utterly annihilated by them. The virtual Heaven they offer their members is also questionable, though, in that case this, trope is subverted in that [[spoiler: as soon as its custodians encounter a single being that doesn't want to live in it after experiencing it, which they imagined impossible, they begin to dismantle the system.]]
* In the {{backstory}} of Zilpha Keatley Snyder's ''{{Green-Sky Trilogy}}'', the pair of scientists who fled Earth with a boatload of war orphans to form the [[SpaceAmish peaceful]] new world of Green-Sky have a falling out as their charges start coming of age. Neshom argues that the "Kindar" should learn about the horrors they came from. Wissen argues that the only way to prevent the tragedy they fled is to never let the Kindar know of such things and to all but banish the concepts leading to violence from society. Neshom ends up dead, and his followers banished underground. It's implied that Wissen murdered his colleague.
* Tom Cairstens' motivation for collaborating with Gwendolyn Ingolfssen in ''Drakon'' might be described as ''Ecotopia Justifies the Means.'' If her plan succeeds, there will be no more extinctions (except, technically, that of the human race.)
* In StephenHunt's ''Jakelian'' novels, there once was a Utopia called Camlantis that faded into legend after being overthrown by barbarian hordes. Abraham Quest and [[MadScientist Robur]] seek to rediscover and re-establish this Utopia, [[spoiler: and to make sure that it doesn't fall again by wiping out every other nation, human or otherwise, on Earth]].

* Perennial mantra of the Special Circumstances division of ''TheCulture'': according to them, they're making other civilizations better (ie, more Culture-like), and [[ElephantInTheLivingRoom you can ignore]] the assassinations, revolutions, and [[AMillionIsAStatistic occasional bloody wars]] they cause to do it because they can statistically prove that [[WasItReallyWorthIt it's all worth it]]. To [[LudicrousPrecision three decimal places, if you'd like]].
* This is the motivation of almost every villainous character in Literature/WarOfTheDreaming--except the BigBad, who wants a straight-up VillainWorld.
* In Daniel Suarez' Literature/{{Daemon}}, [[spoiler:it is revealed that this is [[NecessarilyEvil Matthew Sobol]]'s goal in writing the Daemon. His plans are to tear down the society that currently exists, ultimately causing global economic and social chaos and forcing the issue on those who didn't join his efforts willingly. In the end, however, it appears that his actions are justified. While not a Utopia, the beginning of what appears to be a truly better society is formed.]]
** [[spoiler:To be fair, Sobel and his Daemon didn't cause the economic and social chaos, he just saw it coming and used the Daemon to prepare people for it. Well, the Daemon might have contributed slightly with the whole corn thing.]]
* Attempted by [[Literature/HarryPotter Gellert Grindelwald]]. Gellert believed that Muggles, left to their own devices, were too dangerous and needed to be guided or outright controlled by the wiser magical people. His use of dark magic and the atrocities he committed, even his apparent affiliation with ''Hitler'', were all dismissed with one phrase: "For the greater good".
** Some fanfic writers attribute a more [[TheChessmaster cunning and under-handed]] version of this to Dumbledore, with him either planning to sacrifice Harry "for the greater good" or molding him into the perfect leader to create the future Dumbledore had planned out. Considering revelations in the seventh book, it's not a difficult leap in reasoning.
* In a short story by Philip Jose Farmer called ''Seventy Years of Decpop'', a MadScientist releases [[TheVirus a virus that renders a large portion of the Earth's population sterile]]. The story is told from the point of view of a baby food salesman who realizes that he's going to be out of a job soon, since most people won't be able to conceive children. This story was written in TheSeventies when overpopulation was a big concern, [[TheExtremistWasRight and the plot actually seems to succeed]]. With less people, quality of life improves, racial-oriented housing (upscale Whites versus ghetto Blacks) disappears, individualized teaching spreads in the schools, the Native American tribes start getting all their land back, and pollution decreases while more natural areas are preserved and enlarged. Fertile people become highly sought after and are put in a position of unprecedented influence (even shown in a situation where one woman who's fertile is a lesbian and agrees to artificial insemination ONLY if she's allowed to legally wed her same-sex partner DECADES before this can be done in the real world). It's not perfect, because HumansAreBastards, but it seems as close as we'll ever come to a utopia. The man responsible is never seen at all, so no one even knows if he himself survived, but he gradually is declared a WellIntentionedExtremist.
* The villains of ''RainbowSix'' want to wipe out large portions of humanity with an engineered virus so that the planet can be saved.
* Nicolae Carpathia's goal of a peaceful united world under one government in the LeftBehind book series requires using police state methods to achieve. It's also the basis for everything that God does in the book series itself.
* The ultimate goal of the Mesan Alignment in ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' is the ultimate perfection of the human species - although they still plan on having a vast slave underclass (they are the bad guys, after all).
* In Poul Anderson's "A World Called Maanerek", the Hegemony wants to reunite all mankind. Even Sonna thinks it noble until she realizes they don't want to ally with her people but exterminate them so they won't interfere.
* In the short story [[http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=1559220 "Join Our Gang"]] the Sirian Combine is ''going'' to have a peaceful and economically flourishing galaxy -and if your planet doesn't agree to play nice and sign up, they'll use their incredible knowledge of biological and genetic engineering to ''make'' you agree. [[spoiler:''One'' of the things they do is increase birthrate in animals. They did this to, among others, ''rats'' on Earth, and two generations later borrowed the great white shark to bring another planet to heel.]]
* The short story "[[Literature/TheOnesWhoWalkAwayFromOmelas The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas]]" describes a utopian city that requires [[spoiler:a young child to be in absolute suffering]] [[InherentInTheSystem to function properly]].

* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''
** In the backstory of "The Return of the Archons" and "The Apple", mind control/brainwashing was used to make the population docile and happy.
** ''I, Mudd": a group of androids decided to conquer the galaxy and impose peace on everyone by force.
*** They were simply applying Asimov's Zeroth Law of Robotics. One of the first applications shown.
** ''What Are Little Girls Made Of": an android decided to KillAndReplace all humans with androids in order to eliminate negative emotions like jealousy, greed, and hate. It would also get rid of positive emotions like love and tenderness.
** Also, consider the concept of genetic augmentation. The scientific breakthroughs that would make humanity stronger, faster, and smarter also bred egomaniacs like Khan Noonien Singh. This so traumatized the Earth that genetic engineering was banned into the 24th century.

* In ''Series/{{Farscape}}'', the Nebari are ruled by a force known as "The Establishment", who advocate a rigid system of order where the individual sacrifices his freedom and conforms for the greater good. Those who refuse are mentally modified into happy slaves, blissfully serving the order. Oh, and they also have a lovely plan to make the entire universe this way.
** They also claim not to have warships. They have transport ships, which have enough firepower to take out a legendary Peacekeeper command carrier which was thought to be indestructible.
* The third season of ''TheWire'' features a notable example that's both wholly realistic and morally ambiguous enough that it could be considered justified. When faced with a skyrocketing murder rate in Baltimore in the months before a mayoral election, a police major named Howard "Bunny" Colvin is tasked with bringing down the number of murders due to drug-related crimes, and essentially given ''carte blanche'' to lower the murder rate and save the mayor's public safety record. His answer? He goes behind his superiors' backs and designates a small area of the city as a "free zone" where drug dealers can peddle their product under police supervision without punishment. The plan succeeds in drastically improving public safety, but it relies on police looking the other way while heroin addicts buy drugs in broad daylight, as well as ''brutally'' punishing dealers who refuse to move (we see police macing handcuffed dealers, stealing their shoes at gunpoint, and even driving them off in paddy wagons and leaving them stranded in the woods). [[spoiler: In the end, Colvin's superiors find out about it, and he's demoted and forced to retire in disgrace]].
* ''Series/{{Scandal}}'':
** [[spoiler: Cyrus's speech to defend himself is full of this, which makes him either a ManipulativeBastard, either ObliviouslyEvil in acts]].
** [[spoiler: Billy Chambers has his girlfriend sleep with the president and follows it up with blackmail and murder so the 'right' person can become president]].

* The song "Bloody Revolutions" by Crass criticizes this attitude, as part of a deconstruction of armed revolutions:"That's the kind of self-deception [[NaziGermany that killed ten million Jews]], just [[InsaneTrollLogic the same false logic]] that all powermongers use."

* In ''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension'', some parts of the Technocracy fill this role. The individual Technocrats are generally no better or worse than other mages, and often work towards what they see as a better, brighter future. If that requires crushing anything in their path, stifling dissension, and purging the world of wonder and the supernatural...Well, you can't make an omelette without breaking a few heads.
** Cynically speaking, the Traditions could be the same. They had control once. It was called the Dark Ages.
*** You can even make the argument that the Traditions were far worse than the Technocracy. The Technocracy's main goal is to have all magic be repeatable and safe for the Masses to use (ie, science and technology), rather than limiting its use to a few tyrants wielding godlike power. Sure, they need to exterminate reality warpers who decide that the Dark Age realities should take precedence over what the Masses have decided they want through their collective consciousness, but at least they keep the horrors from beyond at bay, sometimes to great sacrifice of their own. They even took out the Ravnos Antediluvian, with significant cost to themselves, with neutron bombs when all the other groups failed (though they did weaken it enough for the Technocracy to do so).
* The Jammers from ''TabletopGame/FengShui'', that madcap band of BombThrowingAnarchists, ManiacMonkeys, and {{Mad Bomber}}s, are doing it all for the sake of the dream of their leader, Battlechimp Potemkin. The Battlechimp's dream is a world without chi, a world where humanity can finally be free to make their own decisions without being influenced by whoever has the most feng shui at his or her command. In order to do this, Potemkin wants every Feng Shui site in all the major junctures and the Netherworld blown sky high, no matter what form the site takes or how many innocent people will be killed in the process, or, indeed, what the long term consequences will be if he should actually succeed in destroying the world's chi.
** Ironically, the world of 2056 - where Potemkin and the Jammers have their roots - is itself an example of this trope. WellIntentionedExtremist Johann Bonengel, the "Buropresident," originally entered politics with the dream of creating a world free of "war, ethnic crimes, and personal violence." He achieved these things by creating a worldwide police state whose citizens have few rights and all dissent is ruthlessly suppressed.
* This was what Yawgmoth in ''MagicTheGathering'' thought he was doing when he created Phyrexia. The net result was [[BodyHorror much]], ''[[AssimilationPlot much]]'' worse. Or, [[FromACertainPointOfView if you are a Phyrexian]], it was a success.
** Among the five Praetors, Elesh Norn and Jin-Gitaxias are those who endorse this concept most, but taking two different paths: Elesh Norn sees Utopia realized in [[PrinciplesZealot principles]], Jin-Gitaxias in [[TotalitarianUtilitarian the Great Synthesis]]. However, the two get along well.

* In ''{{Persona 2}}: Eternal Punishment'', Philemon may be the ultimate incarnation of all benevolence in humanity and the mortal enemy of Nyarlathotep, the embodiment of all evil, but he's still a major dick and creates a terrible mess of everything, leading to many deaths, innocent and guilty alike, the creation of an IllGirl, and the creation of a new, clean, parallel timeline just to one-up Nyarlathotep in their contest to see who's the strongest. And then [[EarthShatteringKaboom Earth blows up]]. Then he takes the limelight, gloats about how he's won against Nyarlathotep, and [[SarcasmMode graciously]] offers to hit the ResetButton. There's a reason why [[CallingTheOldManOut decking him]] upon hearing of what he has done is very much an option.

* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', there is a scene where a rebellious citizen, delivering some inflammatory speeches in Silvermoon, is mind controlled by the authorities into saying something very different. The same city always has a "harassed citizen" by the main gate, arrested and kneeling down. Arcane (robot) guardians of the city proclaim "Happiness is mandatory" once in a while.
** It should be noted that the "Utopia" in this instance is less an actual utopia and more a stable society that isn't on the brink of total collapse. Lor'themar [[NecessarilyEvil is aware of the moral ramifications of his actions]] and [[IDidWhatIHadToDo accepts them without question.]]
** The Thunder King and his closest companions believed that the true glory of his empire was uniting all the people of Pandaria and giving them all a role to play. The fact that their slaves suffered was merely due to their weakness as beings of flesh and blood, and so unavoidable.

* The goal of the Order of the Sword in ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry 4'' is to [[spoiler:use the denizens of the Demon World to destroy the Human World so that they can bring about Sanctus' version of Utopia]].
* Darth Revan in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' -- it's revealed in the second game that they became a Sith Lord at least partly for the best interests of justice and order in the galaxy. Then again, this seems to be a common self-justification and/or recruiting gimmick among Sith Lords. Revan is simply one of the very few who actually ''tried''.
** Actually, Kreia mentions in the sequel that Revan [[spoiler:was attempting to unify and solidify the galaxy to prepare for a colossal war with an extra-galactic, outside the Force threat, which just reeks powerfully of [[NewJediOrder the Yuuzhan Vong]].]]
** Ditto Darth Traya/[[spoiler:Kreia (if that's even a spoiler)]] in the sequel. She wants to [[spoiler:destroy the Force]] so everyone can have free will, but [[spoiler:to do that, she tries to destroy a planet and make the entire galaxy feel its pain]]. She also uses this to justify the whole revenge spree thing.
*** This is to say nothing of the fact that her goal of [[spoiler:destroying the Force entirely]] could very well kill all life in the galaxy. People have been made deaf to the Force in canon but it flows through all life, even those who aren't Force Sensitive. [[spoiler:Removing it destroys one of the cosmologically necessary build blocks for life itself!]]

* The nation of [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII Galbadia]] is taking over other nations in order to spread its prosperity...until Sorceress Edea scooches in and says [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt "You're all fucked."]]
* ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' has Cyrus, who's convinced that we are all screwing up the world beyond repair and the only way to form a better world is to simply destroy and rebuild it all. And, this being a Pokemon character and plot, you get three guesses as to what he's going to manipulate into doing it.
** His goal was expanded in ''Platinum'' to specifically creating a world without spirit, which, by looking through Pokemon mythology, would amount to no willpower, wisdom, or emotion.
* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' features [[PresidentEvil John Henry Eden]], who wants to nobly rebuild America to its status pre-nuclear apocalypse. To do this, he plans on [[spoiler:introducing a horrifically virulent bioweapon into the water, leading to the death of anyone who has mutations of any sort.]] Given that it's a nuclear wasteland, that means he's effectively planning on [[spoiler:killing everyone except his own troops.]]
** So far, all of [[VideoGame/{{Fallout}} the series]]' main antagonists have shared this philosophy. ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}'' introduced the Enclave, whose mission statement is outlined above. [[spoiler:By the Enclave's standards, all Wastelanders are mutants.]] In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 1}}'', we have [[spoiler:TheMaster]], whose (not unjustified) belief that HumansAreTheRealMonsters brings about the only logical conclusion: [[spoiler:the Unity. If all humans achieve perfection as Super Mutants, there would be no more wars. These would be the very rare, very intelligent Super Mutants, by the way.]]
** There's also Caesar of Caesar's Legion in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas''. He plans to rebuild the world on ancient values, limit the influence of technology so his citizens won't be "corrupted", [[TheEmpire destroy tribal affiliations so there won't be any more wars, and unite everyone under his banner]]. Women have no rights and most people conquered just end up as slaves. Even with all this, Legion controlled territory is implied to be among the most stable in the West, specifically Arizona. Crime is stamped out quickly. Trade is well protected. And it faces none of ineffectual bureaucracy of the NCR. It just so happens that this stability comes through extremely draconian and vicious measures.
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'', we have [[spoiler:Kam'lanaut and Eald'narche]], who are attempting to manipulate the crystal line to reform the five mothercrystals into the one crystal it used to be and restore the world to the Paradise it once was. Sounds nice right? [[spoiler:Until you realize that splitting the crystal was what made life in the world possible and remaking Paradise would kill all life on the planet.]]
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'', to wrest the reins of History from the [[spoiler:[[JerkassGods manipulative]] [[LawfulEvil Occuria]]]] and back into the hands of Man is [[spoiler:Vayne]]'s goal, with support from a [[spoiler:WellIntentionedExtremist MadScientist]] and their [[spoiler:[[TheChessmaster divine mentor]]]]. Naturally, the Man to lead Ivalice's new History can be none other than the new Dynast-King, [[spoiler:Vayne]] himself.
** There is also a minor instance of this in [[spoiler:Vossler]], to whom the freedom of his homeland (even as a puppet state under Archadian rule) is so far above any other concern, he's willing to [[spoiler:[[BodyguardBetrayal sell out his own Princess]]]] for it.
* TheKnightsTemplar in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI'' and "VideoGame/AssassinsCreedlll" plan to [[spoiler:control the world using LostTechnology from [[{{Precursors}} Those Who Came Before]]. Vidic, lamenting how people in [[TheCrusades 1191]] are no different in manner from the people of [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture 2012]], says that the world needs a sense of order, [[TheEvilsOfFreeWill even if it means giving up freedom]].]]
** To a degree, this is the belief of the Assassins as well. They kill those who would suppress free will in order to obtain utopia, so that the world can reach utopia on its own terms.
* ''ModernWarfare 2'': [[spoiler:Shepard]] instigates a war between Russia and the United States (and possibly WorldWarIII) in order to usher in a new era of [[spoiler:American supremacy and patriotism.]]
* In ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura, the BigBad [[spoiler: Kerghan, first of the necromancers]], in a variation of this trope, has found definitve proof that the afterlife is eternal bliss, whereas life is pain and misery. He then concludes that everyone would be much happier there and would gladly die if they had seen what he's seen. Because of this he plans to kill every living thing in Arcanum, after which he will kill himself so everyone can enjoy the afterlife for the rest of eternity. One of your party members, who you, potentially, brought back from the dead, can even confirm that [[spoiler: Kerghan]]'s description of the afterlife is indeed accurate, but he still thinks that life is worth living.
* In the MassEffect series, this is the motivation behind at least a couple characters. The Illusive Man wants to control the Reapers to realize his ideal vision for the galaxy. According to [[spoiler: the Catalyst]], this is the reason why the Reapers exist in the first place: [[spoiler: they prevent advanced organic life from creating synthetics that will ultimately wipe out ''all'' life in the galaxy; the Reapers cycle of destruction continues until someone (Shepard) is able to bring synthetic and organic life together into one unified form, creating true peace and the next stage of evolution]].
* ''GuildWars: Beyond'' includes the ''Winds of Change'' storyline where the Ministry of Purity sets out to cleanse Cantha of Shiro's plague. As it progresses, they expand their focus to include the Am Fah and then the Jade Brotherhood. When you learn the Ministry is using a manifest of every Brotherhood member to hunt them down, you realize how far the Ministry is willing to go.

[[/folder]]

----

* The Yehtzig Pirate League in ''StationeryVoyagers'' believes that they can create a "perfect" universe...''sort of''...if they can make God implode and then seat the Demon Lord Lorkush on the throne. This would, in their minds, put Lorkush in charge of Heaven and the current Pirate Lord in charge of Physicalia as the ruling god. Consto wants to put Mezzlewradd on that throne (both are just disguises worn by the [[{{Satan}} Vile Chameleon]]). To achieve these ends, they want to conquer the universe and [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly wipe out all Minshans]]. For Astrabolo, however, DespotismJustifiesTheMeans.
** And both Astrabolo and Consto claim to be [[EvenEvilHasStandards better than the Drismabons]], who want to implode God and [[DivideByZero negate all reality]], purely ForTheEvulz.
* In the young adult novel ''Literature/RunningOutOfTime'', an Old West settlement is dying of a plague. One girl must brave the unknown to save the town. [[spoiler:It turns out that her entire town is a tourist attraction, set up by idealists who disliked the modern world. Unfortunately, for the children born into the town, the few people who still believe in the town's original purpose force everyone to stay, and prohibit the parents from telling their kids, who begin dying like flies from diphtheria.]]
** [[spoiler:The diphtheria is Phase One of an evil scheme to breed a super race of children by exposing them to various diseases. The kids just have to survive them all.]]