Line #39 Main/DarkShepherd


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4	->''"You have two options. You can wait until I leave, and then murder Abigail. But then I'll come back. I'll slay every lice-ridden peasant, anything that moves and can't climb a tree. Or, you can lead honorable lives; clear your conscience and start again, like humans. The choice is yours."''
5	-->-- '''Geralt of Rivia''',Witcher, to an entire village of crooks, ''VideoGame/TheWitcher''
6
7	Good's version of temptation. When moral argument falls on deaf ears, a GoodShepherd might have a Dark Shepherd moment, herding the sheep along the path of righteousness with the stabby end of the crook.
8
9	If the baddie has been remonstrated in some morally sound way, once they're around the corner, [[WhatYouAreInTheDark safe and alone]], [[IgnoredEpiphany they may suffer doubt]]... or perhaps he was only ''acting'' remorseful to escape, with no intention of repentance. Whether out of habit or malice, the villain is poised to forget the moral lesson and do the exact same thing that got him in trouble. At which point, the Dark Shepherd steps in.
10
11	The Good Shepherd is optimistic in his heavenly intentions and arguments, but the Dark Shepherd focuses on the evil in people. The Dark Shepherd is a spiritual DrillSergeantNasty who resorts to threats and fear in the sheep's moment of doubt or descent, to scare the sheep away from the edge of the cliff.
12
13	The Dark Shepherd can be evil. His point is that you shouldn't be. While his GoodCounterpart has integrity, the Dark Shepherd has low expectations. Out of sympathy or disgust, he sees the sheep as egocentric, thoughtlessly driven by pleasure or pain, incapable of learning, or perhaps just too addicted to bad behavior, too weak to make the right decision like a hero.
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15	If the sheep won't do the right things for the right reasons, the Dark Shepherd encourages an alternative.
16
17	A Dark Shepherd moment can become a lasting transformation when a good character is made weak by a lapse of faith, resorting to evil methods (intimidation, insult, injury) to achieve an end. The underlying assumption can be dark: Good deeds aren't intrinsically satisfying enough. However, the Dark Shepherd may remain good and faithful if the motivation behind his action is merciful: Good is hard to understand and choose at first, so in the meantime...
18
19	{{Heaven}} is the carrot; {{Hell}} is the stick; the Dark Shepherd wields the latter.
20
21	(Watch for common markers such as surprising the sheep alone with their conscience and giving incentive that a more moral character Good Shepherd is unable to give with integrity.)
22
23	A form of GoodIsNotNice. Through the lens of GoodCopBadCop, the Dark Shepherd closes the sieve. However, usually aware of the somewhat shameful nature of his persuasion, the Dark Shepherd's work is often private, behind the back of any Good Shepherd that may put a stop to it. See GentleTouchVsFirmHand where the GoodShepherd is the former and the Dark Shepherd is the latter.
24
25	Compare KnightTemplar and HobbesWasRight. Not to be confused with DarkMessiah.
26
27	----
28	!!Examples:
29
30	[[foldercontrol]]
31
32	[[folder:Comic Books]]
33	* In ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'', the title character foils a store robbery. When the robber is tied up, the shopkeeper picks up his shotgun and threatens him with it. The Batman still has a code, though.
34	-->'''Batman''': Pull the trigger... and I'll be back for you.
35	[[/folder]]
36
37	[[folder:Fan Fiction]]
38	* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has this as Doctor Strange's mode of operation when he's in a particularly bad mood and/or his usual manipulations won't cut it, terrorising entire pantheons of gods (with the aid of [[spoiler: the Tesseract]]) into behaving and following his line.
39	* ''FanFic/ShatteredReflection'', a ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' fanfic: Having a seriously DarkAndTroubledPast involving [[EtTuBrute being betrayed]] by her own version of the Shepherds, Rose has absolutely no faith in their ability to make moral and rational decisions when she visits the timeline that the story takes place in, and thus defaults to this whenever trying to get them to do something.
40	[[/folder]]
41
42	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
43	* The twins and Il Duce of ''Film/TheBoondockSaints'' have a Dark Shepherd final speech, unique in that they are warning the unidentified stray sheep via P.A.
44	* Paul "Pious" Schäfer from the movie ''Film/TheColony2016''. He rules his commune, ''Colonia Dignidad'' (Dignity Colony) with an iron fist, and keeps men and women separate because he believes that [[SexIsEvil the love between a man and a woman is wicked and sinful,]] but [[PedophilePriest the (physical) love between man and child is saintly.]] Although the story itself is fiction, [[TruthInTelevision Schäfer did run his commune in the isolated foothills of the Chilean Andes,]] and he died in prison after being sentenced for sexually abusing children.
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:Literature]]
48	* The grim hermit Michael of Macedonia in the ''Literature/BelisariusSeries'' is both a GoodShepherd and this trope, who later helps raise up an AlternateHistory version of the Knights Hospitalier.
49	* In the original short story version of ''Literature/ChildrenOfTheCorn'', Burt describes "He Who Walks Behind The Rows" in these terms after reading the nightmarish texts he finds in Gatlin's church, which largely consists of original writing and the Bible with most of the New Testament cut out. "A shepherd who had sacrificed his lambs instead of protecting them". According to WordOfGod, He Who Walks Behind The Rows is actually an incarnation of [[spoiler:Randall Flagg]].
50	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
51	** At the end of ''Literature/UnseenAcademicals'' [[spoiler: Andy Shanks is jumped in an alleyway by Pepe, who basically says that Mr. Nutt forgave him and that's lovely, but someone ought to leave him with a reminder not to do it again.]]
52	** The same book also mentions what happened to Mightily Oats from ''Literature/CarpeJugulum'': He now preaches throughout {{Uberwald}}, bringing Forgiveness to where it is needed. [[spoiler:'Forgiveness' is the [[ICallHerVera name of the axe he killed the Count von Magpyr with]] in ''Carpe Jugulum''.]]
53	** In ''Literature/{{Hogfather}}'' Death shames the Good King Wensenclas expy by exposing his charity as simply trying to make himself feel good, without caring what the peasant wants. It's down to Albert to take the king aside afterwards and explain that if he thinks of taking this out on the peasant later "well, that's the sort of mistake a man should treasure, on account of it being the last mistake he'll ever make."
54	* Harry Dresden of ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' has elements of this in how he treats his apprentice Molly, combined with ScareEmStraight. In an earlier moment, Cassius, who is host to a dangerous demon, fakes a HeelFaceTurn and the Knights have to leave him alone as he has given up the demon, even though it's blatantly obvious he did this to not be harmed and he's indulging in EvilGloating over what happened to one of their comrades. As he still has crucial information to his boss' evil plan, Harry gives a candidate for the page quote.
55	--> Fortunately for you, [Michael and Sanya] are good men. Unfortunately for you... ''produces baseball bat'' I'm ''not''.
56	* In ''Literature/TheMentalState'', Zack threatens to use his influence to undo some of the improvements he has made to the prison in order to control the other inmates. He also recruits Charlie, a celibate lolicon, to his side so that he can threaten rebellious inmates who have children.
57	[[/folder]]
58
59	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
60	* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'':
61	** River Tam clarifies Jayne's situation ("Also, I can kill you with my brain.") when she suspects that Simon's eloquent trust speech may not be effective. An example of an arguable good-neutral character borrowing the crook for a moment.
62	** Shepherd Book from ''Firefly'' is a Good Shepherd with Dark Shepherd moments, as when he warns Mal that taking advantage of a naive and innocent [[ConArtist (-seeming)]] young woman will get him sent to a "special hell" in "Our Mrs. Reynolds". Also, while he [[ThouShaltNotKill won't kill]], the Good Book is a mite fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps.
63	* ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'': Pediatrician Emu Hojo sees and believes in the best in everyone and is the GoodShepherd to a T, but the CrapsackWorld he lives in and the other Doctor riders' lack of interest in much else but beating each other with their respetive emotional baggage taught him that sometimes people need negative encouragement to be better instead.
64	** The breaking point was when when he needed the other riders' help to save a patient, but they refused to even think about working in a team with him and more importantly, with each other. He despaired for an alternate solution and ended up pulling on the ego of each of them to make them cooperate ''against'' him to fit into the plan.
65	[[/folder]]
66
67	[[folder:Oral Tradition]]
68	* A common joke whose basic skeleton is that an atheist challenges God to knock him down if He exists. Some audience member comes up and shoves the guy, stating: "God was busy, so He sent me." The words alone are Good Shepherd; the threat implied by the violence is Dark Shepherd.
69	[[/folder]]
70
71	[[folder:Politics]]
72	* Russian Stalinists think UsefulNotes/JosefStalin was this, and the purpose of his cruelty was [[ScareEmStraight scare any and all crooks, mobsters, corrupt bureaucrats and conspirators straight]]. Since UsefulNotes/TheNewRussia is particularly full of mobsters and corrupt bureaucrats, they desperately want someone to do this again.
73	* UsefulNotes/MaoZedong and [[UsefulNotes/{{Cambodia}} Pol Pot]] were both ruthless leaders who were determined to create a "proletarian paradise", and had no problems in disposing millions of people they considered enemies or of no use to them.
74	[[/folder]]
75
76	[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
77	* While working for independent promotions Pro Wrestling Xtreme and Pro Wrestling Syndicate, Wrestling/NewJack would preach to younger wrestlers about the dangers and draw backs of GarbageWrestling, and it is hard to think of anyone who would know better than New Jack. He'd also preach on the virtues of conventional wrestling, and go on to teach both hands on, by proving he could out wrestle them conventionally and force them on the right path with garbage wrestling.[[/folder]]
78
79	[[folder:Religion]]
80	* The prophets who were sent by {{God}}, especially those of the [[Literature/TheBible Old Testament]], have often preach sermons which deals with warnings of punishments to humanity if they don't repent, making this OlderThanFeudalism.
81	** UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} also counts. For someone who preaches about love and {{forgiveness}}, He also (in a rather gentle manner, mind you) warns people of eternal damnation in Hell if they don't repent of their sins and accept Him as Lord and Savior. [[BerserkButton And there was this one time when he lost His temper with merchants and moneylenders doing their business on Temple grounds...]]
82	-->And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, "Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade." [Jn 2:13-16]
83	[[/folder]]
84
85	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
86	* The [[ReligionOfEvil inverse-Catholic]] (with [[EqualOpportunityEvil inverse-Anglican, Baptist, Jewish and Muslim]] sects) covenant of the Lancea Sanctum from ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'' doctrinally claim this is their relationship with humanity. [[ReligiousVampire Sanctified vampires]] "[[ScareEmStraight scare humans straight]]" into the arms of God by acting as the predators that they are.
87	** This is carried over from ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'', where the followers of the [[PathOfInspiration Path of Night]], mostly [[CorruptChurch Lasombra]], considered themselves dark angels of God's wrath. Their goal was to [[ScareEmStraight terrify sinners and force repentance]], with a [[NobleDemon strict policy]] of [[ThouShaltNotKill never killing their victims]].
88	* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':
89	** Before the Emperor found him, the primarch Konrad Kurze was a TerrorHero enforcing law and order from the sewers of his home planet by ruthlessly butchering any criminals he found (which gave him the moniker of "the Night Haunter"). After he left the planet the populace quickly returned to their ways, something Kurze gets called out on later.
90	-->It was never the only way. Just the easiest.
91	[[/folder]]
92
93	[[folder:Video Games]]
94	* If the player chooses Renegade options in the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' trilogy, the protagonist, Shepard, will act like this. (Taking Paragon options makes them a GoodShepherd, and both courses of action have pros and cons.) Either way, Shepard ends up saving the galaxy.
95	* In ''VideoGame/TheWitcher'', Geralt of Rivia has seen too much to believe that monsters are always defined by their species. If anyone commits horrible crimes for reasons that are exceptionally stupid, he can threaten to consider them monsters and kill them because he really, really wants to kill bad people. Most are pretty stupid, but a few consider throwing down their arms and going home.
96	* [[SinisterMinister Prophet]] Zachary Hale Comstock from ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'' counts. He convinced everyone in [[FloatingContinent Columbia]] that God told him to build the city as a haven for the chosen people: [[WhiteAngloSaxonProtestant non-Irish white people]] who believe his message that the lesser races are only meant to be used as [[MadeASlave free labor for the chosen few,]] and that a "false shepherd" with [[MarkOfTheBeast an evil mark (AD),]] "will lead [[TheChosenOne the Lamb]] astray."
97	[[/folder]]
98
99	[[folder:Web Comics]]
100	* [[WellIntentionedExtremist Baron Wulfenbach's]] modus operandum in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius''; since [[RoyallyScrewedUp the aristocracy]] can't be relied on to develop a decent society, he'll civilize Europa with an iron fist. The main law of his empire is thus: "Don't make me come over there." His son Gil is struck with an epiphany of this, after beating down a thug persistently strong-arming him into returning to his father against Gil's protests.
101	[[/folder]]
102
103	[[folder:Western Animation ]]
104	* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' is full of classic Dark Shepherd, usually used on civilians who are corrupt but not yet evil. The [[Characters/DCAUBatman Batman]] doesn't claim to be good, he doesn't act good, but he wants everyone to be good. Most common Dark Shepherd scenario: vanishing, leaving a potential villain with food for thought, [[NothingIsScarier but not a scratch on him yet]].
105	* [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Sister Butch]] of ''WesternAnimation/JohnCallahansQuads''. Her only motivation (read: ''only motivation'') for doing anything in life is her faith, and you'd better believe she'll do anything from ''threaten people with eternal damnation for not donating enough to a charity'' to breaking and entry to [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome taking on Satan in a wrestling arena]] for that purpose.
106	* A Book 3 episode of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' has [[spoiler: [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderKatara Katara]]]] become this when [[spoiler:Zuko joins the group]]. She basically threatens to kill him if she even thinks he's about to go back to his old ways.
107	** The Book 1 Finale, "Siege of the North," has Iroh deliver one to Zhao [[spoiler:when the latter threatens to kill the koi fish avatar of the Moon Spirit.]] He makes good on his promise after Zhao [[spoiler:kills it.]]
108	--> '''Iroh''': Whatever you do to that [[spoiler:spirit]], I will unleash on you tenfold!
109	** Unalaq from SequelSeries ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' wants to unify the Water Tribes whether they want it or not. That, and he also sets up Tonraq to be banished from the North by destroying the spirit forest so that he could be chieftain instead.
110	* ''WesternAnimation/LittlestPetShop2012'' has a villainous example: Fisher Biskit considers his AlphaBitch twin daughters Whittany and Brittany to be absolutely rotten people. Due to that, he repeatedly creates [[SecretTest tasks and trials]] in a constant effort to get them to behave more respectfully towards other people and appreciate their kindness. [[StatusQuoIsGod It invariably fails]], causing the opinions of his daughters to sink further each time. This example doubles as HiddenDepths, as he is depicted as a CorruptCorporateExecutive most of the time, but he is shown to truly understand compassion, honesty, and generosity, repaying it when done to him and hoping that someday, his daughters will do the same.
111	[[/folder]]

Context Main / DarkShepherd