History WellIntentionedExtremist / Literature

** Force Three is a terroris groups dedicated to helping the environment [[spoiler:though this turns out to be just be a cover]]).
* Help Earth in the CHERUB books is a similar eco terroist group.

* [[AntiVillain Matthew]] [[NecessarilyEvil Sobol]] from ''{{Daemon}}'' spent his [[IDidWhatIHadToDo last days preparing]], but his plans didn't actually go into operation until after [[MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning his death]] from cancer. [[TheExtremistWasRight And it appears to have worked]], although he knew he would [[AlasPoorVillain not survive to know if it had]].

** Force Three is a terroris groups dedicated to helping the environment[[spoiler:this turns out to be just be a cover]]).

* Help Earth in the CHERUB books and Force Three in ''Literature/AlexRider'' (although [[spoiler:this turns out to be just be a cover]]) are both terrorist groups dedicated to helping the environment.
** A straighter example from the ''Literature/AlexRider'' series is Damian Cray; his plan is [[spoiler: to hit various places with missiles, killing thousands of innocent people...in order to destroy the drugs fields]]. His rationale being that he will kill thousands to save millions.

* In ''TheDresdenFiles'', Martin will do anything to destroy the Red Court. He frst appears for the purpose of interfering in a duel that may lead to a cessation of hostilities between the Court and the White Council, because they're the most powerful weapon available pointed at the Court, and he's determined that they fire. [[spoiler:In ''Changes'', he betrays the Order of St. Giles to gain the Red King's trust, hands Harry's daughter to the Court, and gets Susan to [[ThanatosGambit kill him]] in revenge so that Harry will be forced to kill her and thus obliterate the Court. [[TheExtremistWasRight It worked]].]]

* In PoulAnderson's "A World Called Maanerek", Korul Wanen is so loyal to the Cadre that he is pleased that he was dumped, with no memory, on a planet to see what would happen, despite the risk to his life.

** ''[[HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets Chamber of Secrets]]'' had Dobby performing magic in Harry's house, blocking the entrance to Plaform 9 3/4, and enchanting a Bludger to go specifically after Harry. All to keep him out of Hogwarts, so [[spoiler: Riddle's memory]] couldn't harm him.

* Literature/TrapponDraconica: This is Gothon's opinion of himself: lives lost in his conquest will be offset by lives saved afterward. Ben tells him that another guy in Earth History tried the same thing and is remembered as 'one of the biggest bastards in history'.

* In the [[Literature/HonorHarrington Honorverse]], Rob S. Pierre and (to a much-lesser extent) Oscar Saint-Just, both of whom pretty much embraced tyranny in order to keep Haven from collapsing under the strain of a losing war that their predecessors had started, but that they could not themselves end. One of the filksongs from the [=CDs=] puts it perfectly:

* [[spoiler:Tam Lin]] in ''Literature/HouseOfTheScorpion'' attempted to assassinate the prime minister of an unknown country, presumably the [[spoiler:United Kingdoms, judging by his accent and appearance]], but ends up taking out twenty young children on a school bus who were too close to the blast. He never forgives himself and later commits suicide by drinking wine that only he knew was poisoned.

** His ancestor, Old Stoneface ''was'' this trope. Of course, he lived in a time when a WellIntentionedExtremist was sorely needed. In case anybody wonders, he was modelled after Oliver Cromwell. Plus, his birth name was 'Suffer-not-Injustice' Vimes. It seems that he lived up to it.

* The [[StrawmanPolitical Cavazan Empire]], aka the "Saints", in the ''PrinceRoger'' series by Creator/JohnRingo and DavidWeber fit this trope. Hardcore deep-ecologists who keep the majority of their populations penned up in cities operating at low tech levels to avoid "despoiling Nature", who carefully ration ''everything'', including medical care, to "control pollution" (read: control ''population''), and who want to force the rest of the Galaxy to live the same way. To facilitate this, they are willing to conduct generations-long terrorism/subversion campaigns against all their neighbors. And, of course, their (hereditary) leaders live much safer and more comfortable lives than the common "Citizens" of their polity.

* The Birds of Prey from ''ThePrincess99'' commit brutal murders against wizards through the entire book. But then you consider that they are trying to give Nons (non-magical people) civil rights in a world that pretty much considers them lower than animals. Of course, this doesn't excuse what they did to [[spoiler:Axel]].

* [[StarWarsExpandedUniverse Grand Admiral]] [[TheThrawnTrilogy Thrawn]] really just wants to protect the galaxy (and his people in particular) from all threats. The problem is that he's an [[TheEmpire imperial]] trying to crush the New Republic, and he's not afraid to do some truly villainous things to achieve his goals, like oppressing and enslaving an entire race, or attempting to kidnap a pregnant Leia so that she and her unborn twins can get {{mind rape}}d by an insane dark Jedi. He's more [[PragmaticVillainy pragmatically ruthless than outright evil]], and as we find out more about him, he gets more and more [[ALighterShadeOfGrey morally ambiguous]], but by the end of his career, he ''definitely'' isn't a good guy.

** By the end of the series the Andalite military in general seems to be this, since they are convinced that the Yeerks have won Earth and [[spoiler:are basically planning to do the same thing again]].

** Either way, Stannis is a WellIntentionedExtremist in a different kind of way. [[TheFettered He's fanatically devoted to his own unique notion of justice]]: to him, all good deeds must be rewarded, and all evil ones punished, even if they're committed by the same person. One person comments that if CompleteMonster Vargo Hoat had been on Stannis' side, Stannis would've given him a lordship for his assistance right before hanging him for his crimes. He's also unflinchingly stubborn, to a point that even he admits that it's a fault of his. These traits lead him to launch a war (and ally himself with Melisandre despite his many misgivings about her) for the throne of Westeros, ''even though he doesn't even want to be king and admits that he wouldn't be well-suited for the task'', simply because he knows that it's rightfully his. In his eyes, it'd be selfish and unjust if he didn't try to win the crown.

** One of the series' antagonists, Zhaspahr Clyntahn, is especially dangerous because he's a CompleteMonster [[BelievingTheirOwnLies who has himself convinced]] that he's merely this.

* Prince Kieran in ''{{Salamander}}'' is an Anti Villain variant. [[spoiler: Also unusual because he switched to the heroes' side when extremism became no longer necessary.]]

* James White's {{ UnderKill }} is set in a future world where there are a lot of well-intentioned terrorists.

* Literary example of a TragicHero who takes his mission much too far: Creator/AlexandreDumas' character Edmond Dantes, in ''TheCountOfMonteCristo''. The self-styled Count, having escaped prison after many years of undeserved confinement, devotes himself obsessively to taking revenge on those enemies who framed him and ruined his life. For most of the book, Edmond is able to ignore the fact that the grand machinations of his vengeance are heaping danger and grief on numerous {{Innocent Bystander}}s as well as the guilty.

** Word of God is Mesa is this. They have a very good point that Transhumanism is the best solution to many issues, and that Beowulf is horribly conservative due to cleaning up the Final War's biowar. The problem is they went into hiding for so long that they lost touch with reality and think they have to convince the galaxy with force that they are right.
* In Micah E. F. Martin's TheCanticle, Jonathan Servitor is an inquisitor tasked with rooting out heretics and the undead in the last city on Earth. Given, there are high stakes, but Jonathan is nothing short of brutal in his pursuit of justice.

* [[spoiler:Tam Lin]] in ''Literature/{{House of the Scorpion}}'' attempted to assassinate the prime minister of an unknown country, presumably the [[spoiler:United Kingdoms, judging by his accent and appearance]], but ends up taking out twenty young children on a school bus who were too close to the blast. He never forgives himself and later commits suicide by drinking wine that only he knew was poisoned.

* Captain Vimes from ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' spends much of his time trying not to become this.

* In TerryPratchett's ''OnlyYouCanSaveMankind'', the Gunnery Officer of the Scree-Wee cares about honor more than life and attempts to force the final battle into being fought despite the fact that it could easily be avoided. On the other side, Johnny has to spend a long time persuading Kirsty to try to talk to the aliens instead of simply shooting them all.

* [[spoiler:Kurda Smahlt]] of ''{{The Saga of Darren Shan}}'' does this when [[spoiler:he plans to use the night of his investiture as the night of the Vampaneze invasion and take-over of Vampire Mountain, all in order to bring the two warring clans together, even killing one of his best friends in the process. He is found out and stopped, though. If Darren hadn't found out about the plan, however, chances are that the whole War of the Scars would've been averted]].

* Clemael, one of the protagonists of ''{{Hand of Mercy}}''. The plan to undo all the evil in the world isn't bad, exactly, but Clem isn't bothered that this will destroy all of linear time.

* The Birds of Prey from ''{{The Princess 99}}'' commit brutal murders against wizards through the entire book. But then you consider that they are trying to give Nons (non-magical people) civil rights in a world that pretty much considers them lower than animals. Of course, this doesn't excuse what they did to [[spoiler:Axel]].
* TheBible frequently portrays God this way in the Tanakh[=/=]Old Testament, where, by divine sanction, direct intervention, or post hoc justification by his followers, thousands of people are brutally killed for angering God. Considering that God is often believed to be all-knowing and all-powerful, one would think that he could devise a better solution for dealing with sin than to resort to bloodshed. This would especially be true if one believes God to be all-loving, just, and merciful. Historically speaking, though, the Israelites were never a major military force, and more powerful civilizations were frequently conquering and enslaving them, so many of the violent sentiments expressed in the Tanakh may have amounted to nothing more than wishful thinking.

* A post-UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} Young Adult fiction book called ''After...'' features a (presumably) government attempt to quell potentially AxCrazy kids that gets increasingly out of hand. "Grief councilors" who tell the protagonist to throw a game to the victimized school (at the last minute, he decides not to) and [[UnPerson "suspend"]] a student for wearing a red ribbon (the shooters wore red, see) that was ''honoring her brother who died of AIDS'' gives way to [[BigBrother spy cameras in school TVs and hypnotic emails]] that [[AdultsAreUseless render most of the parents blind to what's going on]]. It's only when the first school's entire student body suddenly disappears and rumors of detention camps in the desert where the young prisoners are being killed for attempting to escape start filtering back does the protagonist and his family decide to get out of town.[[hottip:*:Mind, this is a ''very'' sympathetic remembering of the plot. When I read it, it was so over-the-top that I thought the villains were some kind of cult or rogue operatives who ''needed'' a compound full of kids for something. If I recall correctly, it's never stated exactly who the villains are working for.]]

** By the end of the series the Andalite military in general seems to be this, since they are convinced that the Yeerks have won Earth and [[spoiler:are basically planning to do the same thing again]].

* The [[StrawmanPolitical Cavazan Empire]], aka the "Saints", in the ''PrinceRoger'' series by JohnRingo and DavidWeber fit this trope. Hardcore deep-ecologists who keep the majority of their populations penned up in cities operating at low tech levels to avoid "despoiling Nature", who carefully ration ''everything'', including medical care, to "control pollution" (read: control ''population''), and who want to force the rest of the Galaxy to live the same way. To facilitate this, they are willing to conduct generations-long terrorism/subversion campaigns against all their neighbors. And, of course, their (hereditary) leaders live much safer and more comfortable lives than the common "Citizens" of their polity.

* Literary example of a TragicHero who takes his mission much too far: AlexandreDumas' character Edmond Dantes, in ''TheCountOfMonteCristo''. The self-styled Count, having escaped prison after many years of undeserved confinement, devotes himself obsessively to taking revenge on those enemies who framed him and ruined his life. For most of the book, Edmond is able to ignore the fact that the grand machinations of his vengeance are heaping danger and grief on numerous {{Innocent Bystander}}s as well as the guilty.

* Jacen Solo's reasons behind his turn to the Dark Side of the Force was because of this trope as well as a PapaWolf: He saw into the future and saw his daughter, Allana, standing next to Darth Krayt, who was sitting on the Throne of Balance, and became such as a desperate measure to ensure that future did not come to pass, certainly not Allana being aligned with Krayt at least.

** Dumbledore can still be considered to be one, given his acceptance of Harry's home life in order to teach him humility and prevent him from growing up with his fame. Even after that, his XanatosGambit with the Elder Wand relied on some pretty extreme measures to pull off, despite it going wrong from the start.

* Arguably, the protagonist in RobertHeinlein's ''JOB: A Comedy of Justice''. Not because of anything he does in the story (he's actually a really nice guy), but because of his BackStory; he comes from an AlternateUniverse where America is ruled under extremely conservative Protestantism, and finds absolutely nothing wrong with that. Among the things he talks about having contributed to are making abortion a capital offense and preventing the science of astronomy. Similar to a [[StrawmanPolitical Strawman Conservative]], but not actually meant to represent anyone in the real world. [[spoiler:Up until he's assumed into Heaven and finds out that [[GodIsEvil God doesn't really care]], of course.]]

* A post-{{Columbine}} Young Adult fiction book called ''After...'' features a (presumably) government attempt to quell potentially AxCrazy kids that gets increasingly out of hand. "Grief councilors" who tell the protagonist to throw a game to the victimized school (at the last minute, he decides not to) and [[UnPerson "suspend"]] a student for wearing a red ribbon (the shooters wore red, see) that was ''honoring her brother who died of AIDS'' gives way to [[BigBrother spy cameras in school TVs and hypnotic emails]] that [[AdultsAreUseless render most of the parents blind to what's going on]]. It's only when the first school's entire student body suddenly disappears and rumors of detention camps in the desert where the young prisoners are being killed for attempting to escape start filtering back does the protagonist and his family decide to get out of town.[[hottip:*:Mind, this is a ''very'' sympathetic remembering of the plot. When I read it, it was so over-the-top that I thought the villains were some kind of cult or rogue operatives who ''needed'' a compound full of kids for something. If I recall correctly, it's never stated exactly who the villains are working for.]]

** One of the series' antagonists, Zhaspahr Clyntahn, is especially dangerous because he's a CompleteMonster [[BelievingTheirOwnLies who has himself convinced]] that he's merely this.