Line #52 Main/FairPlayVillain


1	-> '''Señor Senior, Junior:''' Did we not leave Kim Possible on a conveyor belt to her doom?\
2	'''Señor Senior, Senior:''' Yes. A proper villain always leaves his foe when he's about to expire.\
3	'''Señor Senior, Junior:''' Why?\
4	'''Señor Senior, Senior:''' Well, it would be bad form just to loll about, waiting for it.
5	-->-- ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible''
6
7	A Fair Play Villain is a villain who, when the hero is at their mercy, gives the hero a way to survive. If he traps the hero in his Dungeon of Fear, he'll deliberately leave a possibility of escape. If he throws the hero into the Arena of Doom, he'll promise to let the hero go if he emerges victorious and, unlike most villains, [[IGaveMyWord he probably will.]] In both cases, he has the hero in his power... but crushing him wouldn't be ''sporting.''
8
9	This kind of villainy bears an outward resemblance to BondVillainStupidity, but has nothing to do with obliviousness on the part of the villain. The Fair Play Villain simply values 'fairness' (in a villainous sense) more than he does victory. He's not lying or deceiving the hero, he's genuinely giving Team Good a chance to win. He doesn't necessarily ''want'' to be beaten, and his idea of 'a sporting chance' may involve extreme hazards to the hero, but ultimately he is giving the hero an opportunity to defeat him.
10
11	Obviously, Fair Play Villainy is not (usually) based on pragmatism. The villain may be AffablyEvil or a KnightTemplar who regards giving the hero a chance as 'ethical'. Perhaps the villain just wants to see how skilled the hero ''really'' is, or give him the option of getting himself out alive ''or'' rescuing somebody else. The villain may have NighInvulnerability and believes VictoryIsBoring, so that the hero's victory becomes a SelfImposedChallenge. Or the villain may be a NobleDemon who really does want to ''earn'' his victory. It may be a way of rationalizing away guilt on the [[InsaneTrollLogic grounds]] that if the hero dies it's his own fault for failing to escape. Or, more rarely, it's a [[SlaveToPR PR or reputation]] thing.
12
13	Of course, one man's "fair" may be another man's CruelMercy -- particularly if the villain has a [[DeliberateValuesDissonance rather skewed definition of ethics]].
14
15	Examples in fiction are ''usually'' male, but this is not a 'male only' trope. Compare WhyDontYouJustShootHim, the logical question that this trope answers. May overlap with LetsFightLikeGentlemen, JustToyingWithThem, HuntingTheMostDangerousGame, HonorBeforeReason, OpponentInstruction, and MercyLead. See also the SpiritedCompetitor and WorthyOpponent. Can be related to the SadisticChoice. Contrast the NoNonsenseNemesis, who goes for the kill in the most efficient method possible, honor be damned.
16	----
17	!!Examples
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19	[[foldercontrol]]
20
21	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
22	* ''Manga/YuGiOh'':
23	** This is enforced on most of the {{Big Bad}}s by the rules of magic in the setting. The only way to properly transfer ownership of a Millenium item is to defeat its owner in a duel, so as much as they might wish they could just steal the Millenium Puzzle from Yugi, they'd just end up with a useless piece of jewelry for their trouble - and, as many lesser villains find out, someone who breaks the rules of a Shadow Game ends up having to endure a curse inflicted by a Penalty Game. On the other hand, this doesn't stop them from doing anything that's not explicitly forbidden - and Shadow Games don't consider using the powers of Millenium Items to be cheating, even if they create an extremely unfair situation, as with Dark Bakura's rigged dice, Pegasus's mind reading, or Dark Marik making the game extremely physically taxing and painful to play.
24	** Rishid/Odion is probably the straightest example - he doesn't even bother with the cruelties or supernatural torture of his fellows, and relies solely on his skill and power. This is what tips off the protagonists that he's not really Marik.
25	* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
26	** [[AntiVillain Grimmjow]] toward Ichigo. After [[spoiler: killing Loly and Menoly]] and saving Orihime, he drags her to where Ulquiorra's [[LeftForDead left Ichigo for dead]] and demands she heal him so they can have a proper battle. He even turns on Ulquiorra when the latter appears and demands to know why he's having Ichigo revived. In truth, Grimmjow [[spoiler: was doing it more for the sake of his own pride, rather than fair play. He wanted Ichigo at his best before crushing him, to pay him back for scarring him.]]
27	** Then there's [[spoiler: Ginjo]], who deliberately placed a flaw in his own plan to give Ichigo a chance to thwart it. In his case, he did so in the opinion that allowing a small risk of failure was more fun.
28	* Dragon's Dream in ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean'' was a [[FightingSpirit Stand]] that was based around the principles of feng shui, and as such held no real loyalty to its User and prided itself on its neutrality. During combat, it would give both sides hints on how to proceed, [[PowerIncontinence much to its User Kenzou's annoyance]].
29	** ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Stardust Crusaders]] has D'Arby, whose power allows him to take the soul of his opponent if they bet it in a game and then lose said game. He never forces the heroes to play his games, and he takes the time to explain some aspects of his power that would give him a massive advantage if he kept them hidden (mainly the fact that [[NotCheatingUnlessYouGetCaught players are allowed to cheat as long as they don't get caught doing so]]).
30	* ''Manga/AliceInBorderland'':
31	** The games in the series vary wildly in how fair they are to the players. Many are very straight forward in what the gist of the game is, many others give the players the basics but deliberately leave unsaid various loopholes that can be exploited, and some are outright sadistic, such as the game taking place at the baseball stadium. The game is to survive and escape the baseball stadium after a massive geyser of water explodes from the center of the stadium. However, the game gave zero warning about the geyser and indeed most of the people involved are killed instantly, only the girl who was elsewhere due to needing to use the bathroom survived long enough to escape.
32	** This also applies in the final arc to [[spoiler:the face card citizens. Each one leads a game, but they vary pretty wildly in how fair they are. The King of Diamonds and the King of Clubs both play their games 100% fair and square, on the other hand the Jack of Hearts outright cheats to attempt to win his game (he has a prosthetic eye that he can remove that tells him info he needs that normally the players would have to rely on each other to get). In the middle you have the King of Spades (who has access to a blimp that can ferry him around and access to whatever guns he needs in a ''Literature/TheMostDangerousGame'' style game involving the whole city and every player in it) and the Queen of Hearts (who secretly drugs the protagonist's drink in order to mentally break him). Neither of their actions are technically cheating within the premise of their games, but they certainly stack the odds in their favor.]]
33	* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'':
34	** At one point during [[BadassNormal Rock Lee]] and Kimimaro's fight, Lee needed to take his medicine on schedule asking Kimimaro if he could take the quick moment to drink it. Kimimaro simply stands there allowing Lee to drink his medicine before they continue their fight (though [[DrunkenMaster Lee]] is fighting much differently than before).
35	** [[DarkMessiah Nagato]], the leader of the Atasuki, during his hunt for Naruto, asks the residents of Konoha for Naruto's location. If they comply, he spares them. If they don't, he kills them.
36	** On a minor level, [[BloodKnight Kisame]] allows Sasuke to go after Itachi knowing the former wants to fight his brother for the final time and doesn't allow Sasuke's teammates to follow as he knows both Uchiha brothers want their bout to be one-on-one.
37	** A ''lot'' of the characters that have been brought back to life using Endo Tensai are this (considering they are forced to fight for [[BigBad Madara]] and [[TheDragon Kabuto]]). The best example is Gengetsu Hōzuki, the second Mizukage, who goes out of his way to point out to his opponents how his [[MasterOfIllusion jutsu]] works ''and'' how to specifically counter it and defeat him. It was just too bad for him that said opponents were a squad full of ''extremely'' incompetent ninjas.
38	* ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'':
39	** The main villain Kayaba Akihiko traps ten thousand players in a virtual reality video game, and promises to let them out when they defeat the 100th floor boss. The game is fairly balanced which starts to show this, but the real point comes when [[spoiler: [[TheHero Kirito]] defeats the final boss (Kayaba, it turns out) on the 75th floor.]] Kayaba keeps his word and lets everyone out.
40	** Subverted by [[spoiler: Heathcliff, his alter ego,]] who has an exceptionally powerful unique skill that even people in-universe consider broken. He also [[spoiler: is immortal after taking a certain amount of damage and explicitly cheats during his first duel with Kirito.]] The ''game'' may have been fair, but his place in it sure as hell wasn't. Double-subverted [[spoiler:during his second and final duel with Kirito]], however, as [[spoiler:he intentionally turns off his [[GameMaster admin privileges]] to give Kirito a fighting chance of winning and freeing everyone. Kayaba/Heathcliff always intended to give the players a fair chance of beating the game once his own role as FinalBoss was exposed, he was just rigging the game before that point to make sure he wouldn't be killed by somebody who ''didn't'' yet know he was the final boss. Since as Heathcliff he was ''helping'' the trapped players clear the floors up to 75 (and was intending to do so up through the 99th floor before revealing himself) rather than impeding their progress, Kayaba considered that to still be sufficiently fair]].
41	* In ''Manga/TheSevenDeadlySins'' tournament arc hosted by two ancient demons, those who made it through their maze of death were divided into teams of two at random. When not enough passed to make an equal 16 team bracket, they just made golems of themselves to fill the open spots, instead of just killing them until the numbers fit an 8-team bracket setup.
42	* ''Manga/FoodWars'': Subverted, in the case of Azami. Azami makes sure to be scrupulously straight in all his dealings with the heroes, but has no problem ignoring or encouraging his underlings to play dirty in whatever ways they can think up, provided it can't be traced back to him.
43	* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack'':
44	** Played straight by Char Aznable when he [[spoiler: intentionally leaks the mysterious but powerful Psycoframe technology to Anaheim Electronics to give his lifelong rival, Amuro Ray, a fighting chance. Unfortunately for Char, the [[SuperPrototype ν Gundam]] is simply too much for him and his Sazabi to handle, and he gets quite literally beaten out of the mobile suit.]]
45	** It gets better: during one of the ''Gihren's Greed'' games, Amuro is successfully captured by [[TheDragon Gyunei]] and his Jagd Doga, and Char looks utterly dejected by it, as if his glorious final battle had just been stolen from him.
46	* ''Manga/TheLegendOfZeldaAkiraHimekawa'': Subverted in the adaptation of ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]''. Majora’s Mask gives Link the Fierce Deity Mask for an even match, but it flies into a VillainousBreakdown when it starts to actually lose the fight, or as it calls it, “game.”
47	* ''Anime/AmagiBrilliantPark'': Interestingly, in the anime at least, while Takaya's presented as the bad guy Seiya has to battle against, he's never seen doing anything antagonistic towards them in achieving their goals to hit 500k visitors. You would think he'd hire some thugs to harass people attempting to visit the park, which Moffle and Isuzu would have to deal with, or at least discourage people from going with bad reviews and a bribed reporter sent to criticize the park's shortcomings.
48	[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder:Comic Books]]
51	* ''ComicBook/TheAvengers:'' Kang the Conqueror zigzags this one. He will bring his full military might to bear on his enemies, but refuses to use time travel to skip out of a losing battle and patch himself up, or just go back in time to kill the Avengers with a nuke. Mainly because he's after the challenge.
52	* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'':
53	** The Joker takes an almost perverse pleasure in seeing his plans be foiled by the Batman. This helps justify why he continues to give Batman a way out instead of just executing him when the opportunity arises.
54	** This is the modus operandi of Two-Face, who believes that chance (specifically, a coin toss) is the only fair thing in the world and will flip a coin to make any major decisions. How "fair" this is can become skewed, such as flipping a coin to decide whether or not he should honor an agreement when the other party already held up their end of the bargain or doing multiple coin flips for every petty little thing.
55	** Some versions of the Riddler are quite fair about riddles and death traps. If his victim (usually Batman) escapes his death traps or solves his riddles, the Riddler will usually hold up his end of a deal or accept the result, even if he is [[PsychopathicManchild rather whiny about it]]. In Riddler's mind, he's [[InsufferableGenius the smartest man in the entire world]], and he won't lower himself to "baser instincts" because that would mean he isn't as smart as his victim. Of course, the Riddler has also been known to cheat like hell, so this should be taken with a grain of salt.
56	** [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor Sometimes anti-heroine/sometimes villainess]] Lady Shiva is a BloodKnight martial artist who is constantly seeking a WorthyOpponent [[DeathSeeker to defeat and kill her in hand-to-hand combat]]. During one battle against ComicBook/RichardDragon, Richard had technically defeated her and was ready to deliver a killing blow when one of Shiva's minions interrupted the fight to save her life. An angry Shiva killed the minion for interfering and restarted the fight with Richard. However, this time, she won. On a different occasion, Lady Shiva battled against ComicBook/{{Batgirl\|2000}} (later revealed to be her own daughter, Cassandra Cain) and "killed" her by stopping her heart for a length of time and then reviving her. Batgirl, as a former [[ChildSoldiers child assassin]] who became TheAtoner, was a DeathSeeker just like Shiva, which is something Shiva didn't find particularly sporting, so she killed and resurrected her enemy just to give Batgirl a taste of death that would ease her guilty conscience. It worked, and Batgirl went on to win their duel.
57	* The ''Franchise/MarvelUniverse'' has Arcade, whose M.O. is trapping heroes (usually ComicBook/SpiderMan or the ComicBook/XMen) in [[AmusementParkOfDoom carnival-themed death traps]] and getting his kicks on seeing them try to escape. He claims that his Murderworlds are designed so that the heroes all have a chance to escape -- a small chance (which may well depend on realizing that Arcade ''can't'' actually be trusted and [[TakeAThirdOption thinking outside the box]] rather than falling for the "obvious" challenge), but a chance nonetheless. It may also be Arcade's own way of justifying his continuous failures to kill any superheroes.
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59
60	[[folder:Fan Fiction]]
61
62	* ''Fanfic/FateRevelationOnline'': Even more than canon; Kayaba's game is ''shockingly'' fair, with a reasonable attempt made to have something fun for everyone. Even the criminal players and [[spoiler:the ''dead'' players]] get their own content patched in. Probably has something to do with how he [[ToUnmasqueTheWorld wants to teach everyone magic and break the masquerade]]; it's in his best interest to keep everyone engaged. He also doesn't punish Illya for contacting the outside, admitting that [[LoopholeAbuse he hadn't actually made a rule that she wasn't allowed to do that]].
63	* ''Fanfic/TheLegendOfSpyroANewDawn'': [[TragicVillain Deadlock]] makes sure that Spyro and Cynder have a fair chance of saving the dragon eggs she has captured to [[TargetedHumanSacrifice sacrifice]] because [[StartOfDarkness years ago]] she was denied that same chance and can't bring herself to force it on anyone else.
64	* ''Fanfic/PriceForPower'': [[BigBad Tenkai]] confronts the Flower Division with an entire army of demons, though the demons are only meant to ensure that they don't escape and he intends to fight them himself because, even though he wants to destroy Tokyo, he wants to give Sakura and co. a fair chance to stop him... [[CurbStompBattle only to shrug off all of their attacks and wipe the floor with every single one of them]].
65	* ''Fanfic/MonstrousCompendiumOnline'': Subverted; unlike in canon, Kayaba's death game is only fair because he has no choice in the matter. Since it's a curse being cast on twenty thousand people, it takes a ''lot'' of power, and he has to use every loophole and allow for multiple {{Curse Escape Clause}}s to make it possible. Even programming himself in as the final boss was never intended to actually mean anything, since the curse was supposed to take effect before that actually happened. [[spoiler:When Kirito outs Heathcliff as Kayaba, Kayaba tries to just leave--but Kirito managed to activate the boss sequence, trapping everyone including Kayaba until the battle is over. Kayaba then transforms into his true form of an ancient red dragon, but Kirito unleashes the contingency spell they had been building for weeks to force him back into a human form for a sword duel]].
66	* ''Fanfic/TheMountainAndTheWolf'': The Wolf holds most of the Westerosi forces in contempt, and so tries to help them resist his invasion like making sure the Golden Company's elephants are available to fight for them, not giving battle until they have sufficient numbers to survive a first attack, and even gifting them tons of mammoth meat to make sure they won't starve when reinforcements arrive. He also (in his own way) tries to toughen them up by planting Chaos cults in surrounding villages, hoping that by repeatedly battling Chaos fanatics the Westeros forces will become better fighters.
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68	[[/folder]]
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70	[[folder:Film -- Live Action]]
71	* ''Franchise/{{Saw}}''
72	** The vital part of Jigsaw's games is that all his victims have a chance to prove their desire to live and free themselves from his traps. This usually involves self-mutilation and/or psychological torture, to the point that the few people who do survive are never the same. But at least the chance is technically there.
73	** Subverted in ''Film/SawIII'': Amanda's traps are designed without any actual chance of escape, which Jigsaw acknowledges as proof that Amanda is too unstable to carry on his legacy. [[spoiler:The entire plot is also a SecretTestOfCharacter where Amanda has the chance to survive, but she fails.]]
74	* The titular aliens from ''Franchise/{{Predator}}'' are a ProudWarriorRaceGuy species who will occasionally and intentionally handicap themselves by removing their advanced plasma weaponry and camouflage when fighting technologically-outmatched races, particularly if they deem them [[WorthyOpponent worthy]]. That said, they're still [[SuperStrength incredibly strong]] and have dangerous wrist-blades, but it's a much more even fight than laser-death from afar. They also have an absolutely-strict code of honor to not hunt unarmed foes.
75	* ''Franchise/{{Highlander}}'':
76	** ''Film/{{Highlander}}'': For as monstrously evil as the Kurgan is, he also follows the rules of the Game with absolute devotion and refuses to ever dishonor himself by cheating in combat, because of both a personal code of honor and a belief that he's strong enough that he doesn't ''need'' to engage in such tactics, which he perceives as an admission of weakness. He refuses to ''ever'' break the Holy Ground rule, to the point of putting himself in danger by walking into a church unarmed when he knows he's meeting an enemy, and will only attack his targets when they're alone in accordance with the one-on-one rule.
77	** ''Film/HighlanderIIITheSorcerer'': Subverted. In Connor's final duel with Kane, he loses his sword. Kane offers it back, claiming he can't fight an unarmed man. He immediately retracts the offer, since life isn't fair anyway.
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80	[[folder:Literature]]
81	* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'': When the Drode, on behalf of his master Crayak, has trapped the Animorphs in a seemingly inescapable situation, he teasingly tells them that he ''did'' deliberately ensure they would have a possible way out, but whether or not they find it is their problem. (They do.) Played with in that Crayak did this not out of any sense of honor or fairness, but simply because it's a rule imposed on him by his CosmicChessGame with the [[BigGood Ellimist]]; he'd just as soon do away with it and kill all the heroes if doing so wouldn't lead to his and his foe's MutuallyAssuredDestruction.
82	* ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'': Cruelly subverted in ''The Opal Deception''. [[BigBad Opal Koboi]] straps a time bomb to [[spoiler:Commander Root]] that will explode if Holly gets too close, preventing her from disarming or removing it. She tells Holly, however, that the bomb has a "sweet spot" - if she shoots it in just the right place, it'll disable it. Holly - who, it should be stressed, is a crack shot - shoots but apparently misses, and [[spoiler:Root]] is blown up right in front of her. Later on, Koboi taunts Holly by admitting the sweet spot didn't actually exist; by lying about it, she'd given Holly false hope ''and'' successfully framed her for [[spoiler:Root]]'s death.
83	* ''Literature/TheArtOfWarSunTzu'': Sun Tzu stresses that when the enemy army is cornered you should always give them room to retreat, because enemies with no way out will fight more fiercely and cause you additional losses.
84	* ''{{Literature/Discworld}}'':
85	** ''Literature/CarpeJugulum'' introduces the old Count Magpyr, the traditionalist vampire who litters his castle with weapons that can be used to take him down - instructions and diagrams included! After all, taking a stake through the heart is one thing; looking like Swiss cheese because the average peasant can't find your heart is quite another. For him, this is also PragmaticVillainy: if he can be overthrown by anybody with a lot of guts and a little luck, the villagers will generally be satisfied with 'killing' him (something a vampire can eventually recover from) rather than being so horrified that they'll take extreme measures to make sure he's DeaderThanDead.
86	** ''Literature/TheLastHero'': Evil Harry Dread is the only Dark Lord remaining who practices the Silver Horde's brand of villainy- [[ContractualGenreBlindness he always makes sure the jailer has the keys in an obvious location, his minions are all stupid, and he always has an escape tunnel handy for his inevitable defeat]]. This in turn means the heroes don't try to kill him as hard as they could, since both sides understand it's part of the schtick.
87	* The Duke of Ch'in in ''Literature/BridgeOfBirds'' has elaborate mazes and death traps that always give the heroes just enough of a chance to escape. Master Li eventually figures out that this is because the Duke is like a child who protects himself with things straight out of fairy tales and believes it just wouldn't be as much fun if his victims had no chance of winning.
88	* The Bene Tleilax are first introduced in ''Dune Messiah'' in the ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' series, and it is noted that they consider it unsporting not to give victims of their plots one chance to save themselves. However, they are repeatedly shown to have an extremely idiosyncratic definition of what a "chance" is.
89	* ''Literature/IDidNOTGiveThatSpiderSuperhumanIntelligence'': Goodnight encourages this as much as possible, refusing to fight villains when they are not actively committing crimes, and even defending them from other heroes. She doesn't get very far until Spider steps in and starts enforcing it. Violently.
90	* Alphonse Wheeler was a bank robber from the world of ''Literature/DanShambleZombiePI''. Arising as a ghost after his death in prison, he grew frustrated with his immaterial state, and committed another robbery to try to re-capture the thrill of being a GentlemanThief. When even that proved disappointing, Wheeler allowed himself to be incarcerated again ... then broke out of jail ''without'' using his ghostly powers, just to prove he could do so without "cheating".
91	* In ''Literature/TheQContinuum'', Q claims this is the difference between him and the BigBad 0. Q always offered the people he "tested" a chance to win. 0 on the other hand is a sadistic SoreLoser who went so far as to [[spoiler:trigger a supernova]] to wipe out a civilization that had beaten all of his "tests".
92	* Played straight in the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' novel ''Literature/HowMuchForJustThePlanet''. A villain with an obsession with old Earth cinema ties up Uhura and a Klingon communications officer in a DeathTrap triggered by the end of a movie he starts on the screen. When the Klingon notes there there ''has'' to be a way out of this, the villain replies.
93	--> "Of course there is. But you don't have until Continued Next Week."
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96
97	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
98	* ''Series/CobraKai'': By the end of season 4, Tory has becomes this. Her motivations have, due to some character development and help from Amanda, changed from wanting to be able to hurt the world in revenge for her life being shit, to wanting to show the world that she can match it on an equal footing and win. She is genuinely horrified at the thought of harming Sam and deeply hurt by the revelation that [[spoiler: Silver bribed the ref at the All-Valley.]]
99	* ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'''s Parado has a rather [[BlueAndOrangeMorality complicated]] worldview when it comes to this. He'll give [[TheHero Emu]] a new Gashat for seemingly no reason other than to power him up to his level, but he's also fine with taking on opponents whose level is far below his own. At the same time, if a [[MonsterOfTheWeek Bugster]] gets destroyed in a fight and the odds were fair Parado will take no issue with it. His goal is pretty much just to have a fair fight with Emu and he'll even seemingly violate his own code in order to make Emu fight him seriously.
100	* In ''Series/SquidGame'', the central tenet of the DeadlyGame is that everyone has the same chance at survival, even if the challenges demand sacrifices.
101	** Part of the contract is the players can forfeit any winnings and leave the game by majority vote. When the players all vote to leave in episode two, [[TheDragon the Front Man]] lets them leave no questions asked, just as he promised. While most of the players do come back, fourteen of them stay gone. While the Front Man tells the guards to keep an eye on those fourteen, there is no indication that he tries to drag them back or punish them in any way.
102	** Later on, when the Front Man discovers that [[spoiler:some of his staff had bribed one of the players, a doctor, with foreknowledge of coming games in exchange for aiding in their organ-harvesting side hustle, the Front Man has the mastermind behind the side-hustle and the doctor executed, stating that he could care less about selling organs on the black market, but could not abide how they manipulated the game in the doctor's favor.]]
103	** One of the games requires players to pair up, but with an uneven number of players, that meant there would be one odd player out. [[spoiler:That player ends up skipping the game, sparing them from being killed when they wouldn't be able to play.]]
104	** Zig-zagged with the fifth game. [[spoiler:The window bridge game is a game of luck which gives later players a ''massive'' advantage while for earlier players it is mathematically infeasible to win. But since the players aren't told the significance of the order of players, their choice of position is a calculated risk on their part. The trope is played straight as it is "fair" in the sense that players are only disadvantaged by their own choices or their own hesitation. It's then subverted in the game itself, as the designers failed to account for one of the participants being able to tell the glass panels apart and eliminate the luck element, so the Front Man [[NoFairCheating cheats back]] to eliminate his advantage.]]
105	[[/folder]]
106
107	[[folder:Video Games]]
108	* ''VideoGame/BuckshotRoulette'': The demon that you decide to play RussianRoulette with is completely honest and fair about the terms of the game, its rules and its consequences. It doesn't cheat, gives you all the information you need to make your decisions and will [[MagicalDefibrillator resuscitate you]] when you inevitably get shot before the final round so you can keep playing. It even makes you sign a general release of liability before allowing you to play, so you know what you are getting into.
109	* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'':
110	** Luxord teleports Sora's allies away to fight him as a DuelBoss, making the battle a TimedMission where they have to attack each other to deplete a time gauge.
111	** In the same series, [[WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}} Hades]] mostly tries to defeat Hercules by sticking to the tournament format of the Coliseum and pitting him against powerful opponents. The second game shows he's grown tired of this though, and during his VillainousBreakdown decides he's had enough playing by the rules and promptly cheats.
112	* ''VideoGame/TombRaider2013'': During the CoDragons' ExtremeMeleeRevenge on Lara for her murder of their brother, [[BigBad Mathias]] steps in and stops them from killing her outright.
113	* Akuma of ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' fame is a BloodKnight who seeks someone with the raw skills to defeat him. He will openly mock any character that obtains power by artificial methods (Seth and Bison) or that utilizes weaponry (Vega and Crimson Viper). By contrast, he rejects any opponent too weak to pose a challenge.
114	* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', Rubicante is a NobleDemon who heals your party before the battle, even [[LampshadeHanging announcing]] that he wants a fair fight. He does it again when the Four Fiends [[BossRush all come at you at once]], and gives your party a final farewell before he dies.
115	* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
116	** [[DuelsDecideEverything Everything is settled by a battle between trainers]]. Adult villains far older and stronger will concede the day to a small child once you knock out their Pokémon. Even if they do win, they wait for you to heal up at the Pokémon Center and let you try as many times as you need before you defeat them.
117	** Notably subverted by [[spoiler: Ghetsis, who simply attempts to kill the player character of ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'' with icicles before being interrupted by N - and later, after being soundly defeated by the player character of ''VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon'', threatens to harm another protagonist if the player refuses to drop their Pokéballs.]]
118	* In ''VideoGame/JediKnightJediAcademy'', Jaden Korr is captured in one mission and given the chance to fight his/her way out, because the captor [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame wants the chance to hunt a Jedi.]] However once Jaden starts looking like they'll genuinely escape the captor throws the rules out of the window and goes all out.
119	* ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters:'' Kusanagi, [[ShadowArchetype dark magical doppelganger]] of series protagonist Kyo, will chastise anyone who fights with weapons against him (such as Whip, Chang, Mai etc); in a game where most combatants are barehanded.
120	-->'''[[Creator/MitsuoIwata Kusanagi]]''': "[[Manga/{{Akira}} Temee! Sude de shoubu shiagare!]]" ("You [bastard]! Fight me with your bare hands!")
121	* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
122	** During the various boss fights with Ganondorf, whenever he knocks Link down after an attack, he always waits for Link to get back up before continuing the fight.
123	** Then there's [[spoiler: Demise]], the final boss of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword''. He's so fascinated and impressed that Link is not only unafraid of him, but [[StaringDownCthulhu willing to fight him directly]], that he agrees to a final duel with Link before he moves on to the Triforce. He even waits for Link to get prepared and come to him.
124	* ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny:'' Barbatos Goetia has a variant where he ''[[NoFairCheating enforces]]'' fair play. If you try using consumable items during a battle against him, he'll shout "NO ITEMS EVER!" and then performs a powerful, unavoidable attack (depending on what you used).
125	* In ''VideoGame/Persona5 Royal'', the TrueFinalBoss is [[spoiler:the school counselor, Takuto Maruki, who the player has bonded with throughout the entire game]]. Since he's become an all-powerful RealityWarper, he could just snap his fingers and either brainwash you into becoming his slaves or wink you out of existence. However, since [[spoiler:he's a WellIntentionedExtremist who genuinely cares about the protagonists]], he chooses not to because he wants to give you a chance to accept his ideology of your own free will.
126	* In the ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarIV'' drama CD, ''Sealed Memories'', upon finding out that Nei has only one claw available to her, NM-2011 discards her second claw before attacking her sister. She [[BloodKnight wants a fair fight to prove her superior strength]].
127	* ''VideoGame/PunkySkunk'': Commander Chew engages you in competitions in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th boss fights with him.
128	* ''VideoGame/TheJackboxPartyPack'':
129	** The host of the ''Trivia Murder Party'' games, from ''Party Packs 3'' & ''6'', is actually quite sporting about giving his victims a chance to survive. None of his survival minigames are unwinnable (although a few like the [[LuckBasedMission Loser Wheel]] are heavily skewed in favor of death), and he always adheres to his rules regarding how his victims survive or die, letting them put their survival in their hands. Even his forcing the players to repeatedly spin the Loser Wheel after Question 9 has rationale behind it, as the host is doing it more for the sake of speeding the game along rather than out of malice or spite. The only time he [[EvilIsPetty acts out of pettiness]] is if every player answers the questions correctly twice in a row (three times in a row for single player), as he gets annoyed and forces them to play a minigame to "teach them a lesson." Just hope that the minigame he doesn't pick is the Loser Wheel if you're in a Single Player game...
130	** Played With in ''[=TMP2=]'': while he mostly follows the rules (and indeed, even makes things easier for the players in some circumstances), he throws this trope completely out of the window if the Father's Hat is in play, as [[DaddyIssues he hates his father so much]] that he will repeatedly send him to the Killing Floor even if the player wearing the hat gets the question right. [[spoiler:And if a player wearing the hat escapes the Final Round, he will pursue the player all the way to the hospital and force them to answer one final question since he hates his father so much he is willing to break his own rules.]]
131	** And sometimes, he even lampshades when he's being fair. For example, in Pegs:
132	--->'''The Host:''' Yup. I knew it. I knew it. I should've made them all death zones.
133	* Major Ocelot in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' wants a [[FairPlayVillain fair fight]] very much unlike our hero Snake [[CombatPragmatist who will do whatever it takes]] and ''very'' much unlike [[ManipulativeBastard himself in later games]]. One effective way to fight him is to shoot down hornet nests so said hornets will swarm him and drive him out from behind cover, and he'll call you out for it!
134	--> '''Ocelot:''' You ''coward!!!''
135	* In ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'', Dante's primary rival, [[CainAndAbel his own brother]] Vergil, is obsessed with power and always wants to prove himself as superior to Dante, and partly because of this, he doesn't like to fight dirty. His fights in the series have always been a straightforward swordfight with no stage gimmicks or traps [[spoiler:including when he's [[BrainwashedAndCrazy Nelo Angelo]]. In [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry5 the fifth game]], after Vergil regains his true form, Dante, who just beats Vergil's evil half Urizen, tries to settle the score then and there, but Vergil rebuffs him, saying that beating a weakened Dante will be a meaningless victory, before leaving to give Dante time to recover.]]
136	* While he's [[AntiHero not always a villain]], Meta Knight in the ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' series will almost always provide Kirby with a blade in order to have a proper swordfight, [[HonorBeforeReason even if he's in a near-death situation]]. If he ''doesn't'' provide a sword, it's a tip-off that [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness something's not right]]. Masked Dedede apes this behavior in ''[[VideoGame/KirbySuperStar Kirby Super Star Ultra]]''[='s=] "Revenge of the King" mode, providing Kirby with a hammer before their cage match.
137	* This is one of the few positive traits of Gruntilda in ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'' and its sequels. She's selfish, greedy, spiteful and cruel...but she gives the bear and bird ample opportunities to beat her, is willing to wait an ''incredibly long time'' to let them arrive there, and abides by the rules of the game show she sets up, to the point of handing over Tooty without a fight when Banjo wins. In ''VideoGame/BanjoTooie'' she'll even hand over free resources like red feathers or fire eggs if you get lucky when visiting her fortune-telling tent. Also, during the final fight with her in the Hag 1, if Banjo answers her surprise quiz questions correctly, she will abide by her promise to fire off slower spells which are much easier to dodge.
138	* The Black Knight of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' challenges Greil and Ike to duels. While he could beat them with his invincible armor, it wouldn't prove that he was stronger than them. The only reason he kills Greil despite this is because Greil refused his offer of a weapon that ''could'' hurt him. While Ike has a weapon capable of piercing his armor by their duel, he ran into him before then and refused to pursue him. Unless of course, [[ViolationOfCommonSense you decided to fight him anyways]], avoiding the games advice to just head to the goal.
139	* ''VideoGame/SpiderManPS4'': One of J. Jonah Jameson's podcasts about the Maggia discusses the trope, and ultimately defies it; the Maggia may have made an appearance of honor, but their code was ultimately only in place as long as it didn't inconvenience them and they were just as brutal as any other gang.
140	* ''VideoGame/PunchOut'': Mr. Sandman is notable in that he plays almost perfectly by the standard rules of boxing, with none of the gimmicks the other boxers use. This is particularly notable in the Wii version, where the ''only'' violations he commits are fighting outside his weight class and arguably breaking the dress code. He simply straight-up ''boxes'', and he's ''damned'' good at it.
141	[[/folder]]
142
143	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
144	* Miles Edgeworth morphs into this over the course of the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' series. While still a prosecutor, and therefore an antagonist to the defense attorney heroes, he's much more willing to hear out the defense if they pick up on something that he missed. This is especially true with Phoenix Wright, as the two are the legal equivalent of BashBrothers in their court system, and Edgeworth considers Phoenix [[WorthyOpponent both his greatest rival and his closest ally]] in getting the guilty convicted.
145	* Monokuma from ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'', and by extension The Mastermind behind him. He also follows the rules of the DeadlyGame by remaining an [[VillainsNeverLie honest]] and impartial (if not a little sadistic) judge, for the most part. This is for both ideological and [[PragmaticVillainy pragmatic]] reasons; for one thing, nobody would bother to play his game if they thought he'd cheat ([[spoiler:which is indeed what happens when he cheats by faking Sakura's suicide note in the first game]]), and for another, [[spoiler:it wouldn't be interesting [[TrumanShowPlot for the audience]] if the game was obviously rigged. While the Masterminds have different motives, Junko wanting to prove a point about despair (which would only work if the students turned on each other) and Tsumugi wanting to run an ImmoralRealityShow, in either case their point is best served if they interfere only minimally. Indeed, when Monokuma starts breaking the rules in the first game, it's pointed out as a sign that he's ''losing'' and getting desperate.]] This is to the point that if a student can make a fair case that he judged a trial unfairly, he'll hold a retrial with whatever new evidence they found.
146	* ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors'':
147	** [[BigBad Zero]] has kidnapped all of the participants to play a DeadlyGame; but then plays the game ''completely fair'', giving them rules to trust in, even helping them through sticking points, and arranging that all of them get a clear opportunity to escape and live. It goes so far that a significant mystery in the game, and cause of confusion to the characters, is - ''why anyone would do that''. [[spoiler:It’s because Akane only wants to save her past self and doesn’t want anyone but [[AssholeVictim her four murderers]] to die]].
148	** This continues in the sequel, ''VisualNovel/VirtuesLastReward'', though Zero III has a ''different'' reason for playing the game scrupulously fair. [[spoiler:Mainly, to get Sigma and Phi to awaken and hone their timeline-jumping abilities and go back in time to save the world]].
149	* ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'':
150	** The human culprit [[spoiler:Sayo "Yasu" Yasuda]] challenges the family to solve the epitaph in order to stop their murders, and in the scenarios where someone does, they follow through. The witch culprit Beatrice is said to not play fair, but she does follow the same rule about the epitaph [[spoiler:and ensures that all of her magical murders are solvable without involving magic to give Battler a fair chance at denying her]].
151	** In a sense, the factor that Beatrice brought in the factor of Red Truth can apply to this as well, since it can be used to help find the true culprit as much as it cuts down theories presented to her. Blue Truth is later presented so that she can be harmed. [[spoiler: Then we include the fact that the Knox Decalogue applies to all of her stories, and that it's explicitly said by Virgilia in red, as well as in Sayo's confession that she wants someone to figure her out to stop her own madness. Beatrice was playing fair all along, though her twistings of the truth and metaphors would make her out as a StealthMentor.]]
152	[[/folder]]
153
154	[[folder:Web Animation]]
155	* Subverted with Zora Salazar in ''WebAnimation/EpithetErased''. Zora, who won the SuperpowerLottery with a hugely overpowered Epithet, laments that since NoChallengeEqualsNoSatisfaction, having incredible TimeMaster powers has actually made her less happy, and hungers for a fair fight...so Percy puts on PowerNullifier cuffs and challenges her to a no-powers confrontation, with the winner taking both the Arsene Amulet and Ramsey Murdoch (Ramsey, for his part, is less than thrilled to be part of the prize pool). Zora accepts...[[{{Hypocrite}} but, when she stops using her Epithet, that means it stops affecting the dozens of time-frozen bullets she set up ahead of time]], so while GunsAreWorthless (or at least nearly so) in ''Epithet Erased'', Percy and Ramsey still need to endure a ridiculous volley of bullets before they can "fight fair" against the character with the highest stats seen so far in the story. [[spoiler:Then, when Zora starts actually being beaten, she loses her temper and starts using her Epithet in violation of the rules, only calming down and admitting that she broke the rules when Percy and Ramsey actually manage to take her out. Even then, she calls it a draw and leaves rather than actually accepting defeat.]]
156	[[/folder]]
157
158	[[folder:Western Animation]]
159	* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'': Señor Senior Sr. became a supervillain not for evil purposes, but because he's a [[RichBoredom bored, retired billionaire who needed a fun hobby to pass the time]], and Ron happened to mention that his mansion looked like a supervillain lair. As such, he deliberately adheres to ContractualGenreBlindness and plays things absolutely fair in his confrontations with Kim. His son Señor Senior Jr. isn't any more evil than him and would much rather be partying than plotting villainous schemes (Sr. forces him to tag along as a father-son bonding activity), but he is far more {{pragmatic\|Villainy}} and usually asks WhyDontYouJustShootHim, only to be chastised by his father because that sort of thing isn't what "proper" villains do.
160	* ''WesternAnimation/WhereOnEarthIsCarmenSandiego'': Carmen Sandiego is into crime less for the wealth and power and more for the thrill and challenge. As such, she has a pronounced sense of fair play both because she respects skilled opponents and because actively harming them would spoil the fun, and she will give Zach and Ivy a chance to thwart her by leaving complex clues for them to solve.
161	* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'': Reconstructed with the Weeper. He's seen as a HarmlessVillain by most people because EvenEvilHasStandards, but when Batman goes KnightTemplar and spreads SinisterSurveillance all over Gotham, Weeper sees a child trying to steal a candy bar recoil in horror at the sight of the Batsignal in the sky, and is so incensed by this breach of the 'rules' that he decides to stop Batman.
162	-->'''The Weeper:''' [[LetsGetDangerous That's not fair.]]
163	[[/folder]]

Context Main / FairPlayVillain