Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Main / NecessarilyEvil

Go To

1-> ''"When I hit bottom, I was crushing man's skull like sparrow's egg between my thighs... and I think, why you have to be so bad, Zangief? Why can't you be more like good guy? Then I have moment of clarity... if Zangief is good guy, who will crush man's skull like sparrow's eggs between thighs? And I say, 'Zangief, you are bad guy! But this does not mean you are ''bad'' guy.'"''
2-->-- '''[[Franchise/StreetFighter Zangief]]''', ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph''
3
4A villain may believe that the Ends ([[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans involving a Utopia]] or the survival of the species) justify the Means, but either [[EvilVirtues has in no way lost his conscience]], or otherwise had a HeelRealization during his deluded time. He knows full well that what he's doing is evil and that heroes may try to bring him to justice for his crimes. He may in fact be ''counting'' on it, [[KarmicNod feeling it to be a just punishment for]] [[DirtyBusiness what he feels he must do]]. He may bear the heroes no ill will, and may instead commend them for trying to stop him.
5
6Oftentimes, in the event that [[TheExtremistWasRight he succeeds in his goal]], he will [[NoPlaceForMeThere flat-out refuse]] to take part in his newfound paradise: the things that he did to create it are inexcusable in the new society.
7
8This is the [[SlidingScaleOfAntiVillains more]] AntiVillain version of the WellIntentionedExtremist. Likewise, the KnightTemplar often sees themself as this. They will regularly ShootTheDog and carry out a ZeroApprovalGambit. A Necessarily Evil villain is, by definition, AWARE that what they're doing is wrong. Otherwise you have a TautologicalTemplar.
9
10He [[IDidWhatIHadToDo does what he has to do]], because he knows that something far worse will happen if he ''doesn't.'' He knows he must pay the price for his deeds, but not before his goals are accomplished. WhatASenselessWasteOfHumanLife... In some cases, [[ShootTheShaggyDog said actions may be unnecessary towards that goal]], and there may be [[TakeAThirdOption a better option]], but the character is either too far gone in [[MoralEventHorizon morality or sanity]] to see the light. If they realize that the suffering they caused wasn't as necessary as they had assumed, they could very well conclude that what they did was NotQuiteTheRightThing and [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone regret it for the rest of their life.]]
11
12This trope inspires a tremendous amount of ValuesDissonance in RealLife. Some believe firmly that certain immoral actions can be "necessary", and others believe that thinking of evil acts as "necessary" encourages amoral behavior and creates considerable unnecessary suffering.
13
14The polar opposite of the SociopathicHero. See also IDidWhatIHadToDo and TokenEvilTeammate. For mundane examples, see CruelToBeKind.
15
16[[noreallife]]
17----
18!!Examples
19
20[[foldercontrol]]
21
22[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
23* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' thrives on people doing horrible deeds in the hopes of good outcomes.
24** [[spoiler: Bertolt Hoover]] confesses to knowing his actions can never be forgiven and expresses remorse, but states he ''can't'' accept a LastSecondChance because his mission has to be done. Since he's a TykeBomb clearly afraid of failing his superiors, how true this actually turns out to be is questionable.
25** Djel Sanes claims that all the torturing and murdering done by the SecretPolice is necessary, to [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans uphold the peace]] within the Walls.
26** The military commanders Erwin Smith and Dot Pixis are well aware their actions make them {{general ripper}}s but believe they need to sacrifice that many soldiers for the sake of humanity's survival.
27** [[spoiler:[[TheHero Eren Yeager]] himself takes up this role once Marley decides to declare war on Paradis Island, realizing that the FantasticRacism in the whole world is so deeply ingrained, there's no way for his people and loved ones to be free and safe unless everyone outside the walls get exterminated]].
28* ''Manga/BattleAngelAlita: Last Order'': In the backstory, this attitude is essentially responsible for the state of the world. [[spoiler:Arthur, the leader of humanity AfterTheEnd establishes a totalitarian dictatorship with the goal of ensuring that the catastrophe that nearly left humanity extinct doesn't happen again, mobilizing all of Earth's remaining resources to achieve spaceflight and colonize the stars.]] He recognizes this as evil, and potentially the wrong decision, and leaves behind a means to end the undying dictatorship he created.
29* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
30** Hundreds of years before the start of the series, the Shinigami enacted a [[ThePurge purge]] in order to eradicate the Quincies, who threatened the balance between the Human World and Soul Society by [[CessationOfExistence destroying]] Hollows instead of allowing them to be purified. Even Uryu concedes that [[TheExtremistWasRight they did the right thing]].
31** When the Vandenreich (a faction formed of Quincies that both survived the war with Soul Society 1,000 years ago and the subsequent purge) begin slaughtering Hollows en masse in modern times, Mayuri [[BalancingDeathsBooks rectifies the escalating imbalance]] by [[spoiler:having the 12th Division slaughter 28,000 Rukongai citizens, forcing them to reincarnate in the Human World. Yamamoto takes umbrage with this because Mayuri did not ask for permission first, even if he did agree that the extreme circumstances would've gotten him said permission quickly; Mayuri retorts that it would've taken too long and that he needed to act fast]].
32** [[CurbStompBattle The war with the Vandenreich escalates so quickly and leaves Soul Society at such an overwhelming disadvantage]] that [[YouAreInCommandNow Kyoraku]] exerts his authority to perform questionable measures in order to even the odds. Such measures include [[spoiler:[[GodzillaThreshold unlocking Kenpachi Zaraki's true potential]] and releasing [[PredecessorVillain Aizen]] from prison to [[EvilVersusOblivion help them]]]].
33** [[spoiler:It is strongly implied in ''Literature/BleachCantFearYourOwnWorld'' that the [[PraetorianGuard Royal Guard]] was grooming Ichigo to replace the Soul King as the [[CosmicKeystone linchpin holding the three realms together]], should the Soul King be killed by Yhwach. The same novel reveals that [[FateWorseThanDeath this is]] ''[[FateWorseThanDeath not]]'' [[FateWorseThanDeath a desirable fate]]; not even for Yhwach, whose corpse ends up becoming the new linchpin.]]
34** It is eventually revealed that Captains killed in battle cannot break down into Reishi and reintegrate with the soil and atmosphere of Soul Society by any means; since they cannot be allowed to linger for fear of breaking the balance, a special ritual is performed to [[spoiler:[[DraggedOffToHell cast them into Hell]]]].
35* ''Manga/BusoRenkin'': Captain Bravo descends into this when he accepts the order to kill Kazuki before he completely Victorizes (A process they did not know could be arrested or reversed at the time). He even freely admits that this is a war crime that he will have to answer for once the war is over.
36-->'''Captain Bravo''': I am going to terminate Kazuki and then defeat Victor. I will do my duty as Captain Bravo, the Warrior Chief. And then, as Mamoru Sakimori, I will pay for what I have done... by ending my own life.
37* ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'': An AntiMagicalFaction known as the "Church of Necessary Evil", or Necessarius, for short, practices magic of its own, seeing it as a necessary evil to defeat sorcery. Also, they do a crapton of bad shit, like wipe this one girl's memory. Repeatedly. To prevent her from becoming a goddess. And this whole situation was intentionally created... by them. In order to create an anti-magic weapon.
38* ''Manga/ChainsawMan'': The {{Yakuza}} espouse this ideal, that they are necessary to keep the balance of power in Japan. They're perfectly willing to help Public Safety, even giving Makima information to punish some of their own rogue men, but balk at the idea of ratting out other gangs. As the boss explains, that would cause a gang war, creating a power vacuum that would leave space for the much worse foreign gangs to move in. Makima reveals a bag full of [[FingerInTheMail eyes surgically removed]] from [[IHaveYourWife the loved ones of everyone in the room]], then calmly deconstructs their worldview. She's getting what she wants out of them, and she really doesn't give the slightest care what they think about her or themselves.
39-->'''Makima:''' I'm aware of the concept of a "necessary evil." I understand it's a convenient justification for your misdeeds. But society doesn't need your cheap excuses. If you were a ''true'' necessary evil, you'd be kept on a much shorter leash, with the hand of the state firmly in control.
40* ''Anime/CodeGeass'':
41** [[Characters/CodeGeassLelouchLamperouge Lelouch Lamperouge]], TheProtagonist, openly admits that he's doing reprehensible things in pursuit of noble goals (bringing down TheEmpire and making the world a better place for his MoralityPet sister). This is pointed out in an early second season episode where he engages in a short BreakThemByTalking to HonorBeforeReason Guilford about the best way to confront an overwhelming evil. [[spoiler:In the end he has himself killed to create world peace; whilst he never explains (to the viewer) exactly why he did it, the implication is that it was [[NoPlaceForMeThere as redemption for the sins he committed]] during the course of the series.]]
42--->'''Lelouch''': What do you do when there is an evil you cannot defeat by just means? Do you stain your hands with evil to destroy evil? Or do you remain steadfastly just and righteous even if it means surrendering to evil? [...] In my case, I commit evil to destroy the greater evil!
43** In the latter parts of the series [[spoiler:after [[Characters/CodeGeassSuzakuKururugi Suzaku Kururugi]] has his HeelRealization moment he attempts to kill his [[TheEmperor benefactor]] for the last year, and then helps his best, and probably only, friend in the world, become evil dictator of the world, then kill him. And having done that, [[ThatManIsDead he must sacrifice his identity as Suzaku]] and [[BecomingTheMask live as Zero for the rest of his life]].]]
44* ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'': Amber is leading a sort of LaResistance against TheSyndicate, having learned that [[spoiler:they're planning to kill off every single Contractor by destroying the Gate]]. Unfortunately, the only permanent solution for that is to [[spoiler:have BK-201 seal the area around the Gate, which would wipe Japan off the map]]. [[LackOfEmpathy Being a Contractor]], she has no qualms about it, but when presented with [[TakeAThirdOption another option]], is willing to [[spoiler:RetGone {{her|oicSacrifice}}self]] to make it work.
45* ''Manga/DeathNote'': [[Characters/DeathNoteLightYagami Light Yagami]] starts out this way, determined to sacrifice himself for the greater good. However, [[ThisIsYourBrainOnEvil less than a week later]] he's {{squee}}ing over his [[AGodAmI promotion to Godhood]]. It doesn't keep him from occasionally toying with the concept of himself as selfless and self-sacrificing though, and in his climactic MotiveRant, he claims that his ascent to Godhood and becoming Kira was a purely selfless and altruistic act on his part.
46-->'''Light''': [[VillainHasAPoint This world is rotten,]] and those who are making it [[SerialKillerKiller rot deserve to die.]] Someone has to do it, so why not me? Even if it means sacrificing my own mind and soul, it's worth it. Because the world can't go on like this.
47* ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'': How [[Characters/DragonBallZamasu Zamasu]] initially justifies his plans of [[FinalSolution mortal genocide]] and every heinous act he commits, up to and including [[{{Gotterdammerung}} slaughtering the other gods as well]]; yes, what he's doing is evil, but as far as he's concerned, his actions are necessary to bring about a greater good. Eventually, he spirals and [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist it becomes clear]] that his actions aren't about justice and order, but about ridding TheMultiverse of everything he sees wrong and imperfect... which is basically everyone and everything [[HolierThanThou but himself]].
48* ''Manga/ExcelSaga'': Dr. Kabapu claims to be this by seeking to destroy all Overtechnology left behind by the Solarian civilization in order to avoid the EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt repeating itself. However, it conveniently puts him in a position of power in Fukuoka City and sets him against his age-old nemesis Lord Il Palazzo, so it's less than clear whether his words, or Il Palazzo's for that matter, can be trusted.
49* ''Literature/FateZero'': Kiritsugu Emiya lives by this trope, although he is an extreme AntiHero rather than a villain. After his failure to kill one person [[spoiler:his first crush, turning into a vampire]] destroyed the entire population of his home, he was willing to kill one person [[spoiler:his father, continuing experiments that create vampires]] to ensure the destruction wouldn't spread. He lives by a harsh code of utilitarian ethics -- killing the few to save the many. His ultimate goal is world peace, and he is willing to do anything to achieve it. He has a breakdown at the very end of the series when [[spoiler:his attempt to destroy the Grail causes far more destruction and death]], realizing that everything he did was pointless -- not "necessarily" evil at all, just evil. He barely avoids falling into despair [[spoiler:by rescuing and raising the lone survivor of the disaster: Shirou, the hero of ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight''.]]
50-->''"Even if I am to carry "all the evils of this world", it won't matter. If that can save the world, then I'd gladly accept it."''
51* ''Manga/FutureDiary'': This is how Yukiteru views [[spoiler:himself, once he decides to actively take part in the Survival Game. Prior to that, the only people he killed were in direct self-defense. As he begins killing in order to win the game, he justifies it by saying that once he's become the new god, he can resurrect everyone he's killed and give them happy lives. Cruelly enough, he finds out far too late that even God can't bring back the souls of dead people. He doesn't take this news well.]]
52* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'':
53** In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'', Treize Kushrenada and Milliardo Peacecraft start a war to show humanity just how senseless war really is. Treize actually goes so far as to commit to memory the names of ''every single one of his deceased pawns'', to show that he doesn't take their sacrifices lightly.
54*** In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWingEndlessWaltz'' meanwhile, the Preventers are essentially seen as this. Relena and her supporters in the Earth Sphere Unified Nation know that even in a world without war, there would still be battles. And thus view the need for an armed military force both to keep potential hotspots from escalating into another conflict and keep the more military-minded members of her own government pleased.
55** Another example is the side of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'''s Celestial Being represented by the Ptolemaios crew. They are fully aware of the hypocritical and outright contradictory nature of their mission statement to end war ''through'' war, with some even admitting that they make for excellent terrorists. However, it turns out that the Ptolemaois crew is [[spoiler:played for exactly the same reason; they themselves are rendered a hypocritical foe by the very same organization for whom they supposedly work]]. It works out, somehow.
56** The ECOAS special forces (aka, the "Manhunter" unit) in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn'' are this. Compared to their Londo Bell counterparts, they have no qualms doing shady wetwork or questionable actions in getting the job done. But what stops them from turning out just like the Titans is that they are all well-meaning professionals to a man who are ''utterly'' aware that what they're doing is dubious at best, but nonetheless accept the necessity.
57* The Iscariot Organization in ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}''. Their BadassCreed is them chanting how they will follow the disciple Judas in following God's {{plan}} through the means of sin and betrayal, and that they will march into hell to do battle with its demons when they die.
58* In ''Literature/IzureShinwaNoRagnarok'', the organization, Eucharista, had to create a battlefield for the warring gods and provide them with suitable human hosts in order to limit their destruction to a tiny island.
59* This is the attitude that the protagonists of ''Anime/KnightHunters'' take toward their work as [[ProfessionalKiller assassins]]. They kill criminals who are above the law in order to help protect the innocence of normal people, while acknowledging that they themselves are also criminals and murderers, and expecting to be punished for it someday. Even their voice actors, one of whom is the creator of the series, do not expect their characters to meet good ends.
60* Okiura from ''Manga/{{Kobato}}'' is pretty clearly evil. He's with the {{yakuza}}, and using threats and underhanded tactics to force his own ex-wife Sayaka to shut down the preschool she's taught at all her life to collect on a debt she inherited from her father the former owner. ''[[WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged That's Disney evil.]]'' It's later revealed that he's afraid that the yakuza will hurt Sayaka, and has been working from the inside to buy her as much time and safety as possible. He doesn't have the authority to call off the others, and he knows if she sells the building, she'll be safe. And better he shatter her dreams than the yakuza shatter her limbs. He does his best to appear cold and villainous in an attempt to push her into selling, and accepts that while he might be saving her life, Sayaka will probably never love him again.
61* Paul von Oberstein from ''Literature/LegendOfTheGalacticHeroes'' is a Necessarily Evil [[TheStrategist strategist]] who seeks to overthrow the DecadentCourt of TheEmpire (which he belongs to), at any cost. At one point, he allows two million people to die in an atomic attack he was forewarned about, simply because having it happen would discredit the nobles and help Reinhard take control of the empire. He is fully aware that he must be Reinhard's PsychoSupporter and in many ways plays the 'lightning rod', letting the negative public opinion focus on himself instead of Reinhard.
62* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''
63** Itachi murdered his entire clan save for his brother Sasuke and lived out the rest of his life as a traitor hated by everyone in order to prevent a war. He planned to die by [[spoiler:Sasuke's]] hand since the beginning.
64** Danzo considers himself this and is a deconstruction, claiming the ninja world must unite, and there's no time to do it morally. Some of his actions such as [[spoiler: helping Hanzo out with Akatsuki]] as well as his approach to matters led to making problems much worse, most notably [[spoiler: leading Kabuto to the beginning of his criminal career. Not to mention the fact that his actions drove Nagato into becoming Pain, who would level Konoha to the ground and kill over half the village's population in one fell swoop (granted, he revived them all but still, the people have to rebuild the village from scratch).]]
65** Nagato, Tobi, and Madara also considered themselves this to varying extents, all of them being [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well-Intentioned Extremists]] who lean ''very'' heavily on the extreme side. [[spoiler:All of them were manipulated, directly or indirectly, by Zetsu on behalf of the ''true' BigBad, Kaguya.]]
66* Marder from ''Anime/PanzerWorldGalient'' gladly wears the "evil overlord" hat, for the sake of [[spoiler:going back to his home planet and use chaos and destruction to wake up his compatriots from their [[FalseUtopia extremely dull, boring and lifeless utopia]]]].
67* ''Anime/SailorMoon'': Sailors Uranus and Neptune consider their actions necessary but not worthy of forgiveness. [[spoiler:They are revealed to have pure hearts midway through.]]
68* ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' does this with [[spoiler:both major villains. The Anti-Spiral, the main villain of the second arc and the GreaterScopeVillain of the first, oppresses civilizations across the galaxy and prevents them from growing. This is because, if left unchecked, these civilizations will harness Spiral Energy to grow without limit, thus creating a premature heat death of the universe known as the Spiral Nemesis. Lordgenome, the first arc's main villain, used to fight on behalf of humanity's growth, but after he learned about the Spiral Nemesis he aligned himself with the Anti-Spiral, oppressing Earth and forcing humanity underground. Under the Anti-Spiral's rule, if at least a million humans live on Earth then the moon will fall and destroy the planet; Lordgenome uses his Beastman army to stifle the human population, oppressing them to prevent this destruction.]]
69[[/folder]]
70
71[[folder:Comic Books]]
72* ''ComicBook/AndThenEmilyWasGone'': Bonnie Shaw takes the child of whoever makes a deal with him. [[spoiler: He tells Hellinger that]] if he doesn't, the whole universe will collapse.
73* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': This is [[ComicBook/RedHood Jason Todd]]'s original characterization and goal post-resurrection - he believes there is no way to stop crime legally, so he aims to ''control'' all the crime in Gotham instead and quell the worst the city has to offer on threat of death. Batman essentially counters that instead of saving Gotham by controlling crime, he's making things worse and driving the city into a gang war and, naturally, a fight ensued. Afterwards, DependingOnTheWriter, he either kept this characterization or descended into more insane revenge schemes (until the New 52 happened and he went back to being a hero).
74* ''ComicBook/CableAndDeadpool'': ComicBook/{{Cable}} endeavors to unite the world against a devastating enemy -- himself. The idea being, with his powers spiraling out of control and becoming a threat, everyone would team up and [[DeathSeeker kill him]], and then feel guilt for doing so, as his public plan is to establish an island utopia. Later in the same book, he aids the revival of Apocalypse so the decimated mutant race would have an enemy to unite against.
75* ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'': ComicBook/{{Galactus}}, the Franchise/MarvelUniverse [[PlanetEater eater of worlds]] [[GodzillaThreshold is needed]] for the survival of the universe... but only because if he dies, than something even worse will take his place. And unlike Galactus, it won't just drain some planets of life after giving its inhabitants a heads-up that their world's about to be eaten, it would just ''destroy everything in the universe''. His role as a necessary evil became a very big problem (well, bigger than usual) when he ended up being teleported into the Ultimate Universe. The Ultimate version of Galactus is a HiveMind being that isn't required like mainstream Galactus is, but mainstream Galactus was so trained to his job of eating planets, that he refused to listen to reason and set about trying to eat Ultimate Earth and other inhabited planets... after [[OhCrap taking control of the Ultimate Galactus and making himself even more powerful]]!
76* ''ComicBook/GhostRider'': ComicBook/{{Mephisto}} often comes across as this. {{Hell}} is a necessary part of the universe. It inevitably corrupts any good person who tries to rule it, the exception being Noble Kale, who was the result of a centuries long gambit by Uri-El to get rid of Mephisto for good. Any attempts at reform fail, even [[SatanIsGood Kale ruling hell benevolently]] got him kicked back to Earth by demons that ''wanted'' Mephisto back. And any other hell lord besides Mephisto tends to be worse. So for better or worse heroes will sometimes work with Mephisto to restore him to his throne since someone has to do the job as Lord of Evil and keep worse hell lords in check.
77* ''ComicBook/NewAvengers'': The reason ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} is recruited by ComicBook/IronMan and ComicBook/CaptainAmerica to join the New Avengers is that he would be able (and willing) to kill if necessary, whereas the rest of the team wouldn't.
78* ''ComicBook/NickFury'': Nick Fury, [[Creator/MarvelComics Marvel's]] resident SpyMaster is often a jerkass who performs morally questionable, but necessary actions due to the [[GreyAndGrayMorality grey world]] he lives in. This was eventually deconstructed in ''ComicBook/OriginalSin'', where [[spoiler:Dum Dum Dugan (or rather the android programmed to believe he was Dum Dum Dugan because Fury wanted a MoralityPet and promptly disregarded it -- ItMakesSenseInContext)]] [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech tells Fury off]] on the fact that he has gone so deep with the whole "I am the man who makes the hard choices" mentality that he has completely forgot about keeping the damned world safe, [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope and instead turned it into a reason to become]]] a monstrous ControlFreak.
79** {{Ultimate|Universe}} [[ComicBook/TheUltimates Nick Fury]] is this even ''more so''.
80* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': This is precisely why ComicBook/TheKingpin is still in business and also the reason why no one has made any serious attempts to get rid of him for good. If someone ever actually did kill him or ruin him so thoroughly that he had no hope of ever rebuilding his empire, the resulting power vacuum would lead to an innumerable amount of low-level crime lords fancying themselves the next Kingpin going to war with one another over his spot, and the carnage that would result would be far greater than Fisk could ever dream of causing himself. Or for that matter, ''would'' dream of causing, because [[PragmaticVillainy that kind of mass carnage would hurt his profit margins]]. He knows this, ComicBook/SpiderMan and ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} know this... hell, just about everyone who could remove him from power knows this, and they sure as hell aren't about to disregard it. Hell, even ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'' won't take a run at the Kingpin, which says a lot. It's not that Frank doesn't want Fisk dead, he just knows that he's already got his hands full and taking down Fisk is going to increase his workload exponentially.
81* ''ComicBook/SuicideSquad'': This is Amanda Waller's original characterization. One storyline had the Suicide Squad being forced into disbanding. Amanda's response: hijack three of the prisoners who made up the Squad, offer them their freedom in exchange for their cooperation, brutally massacre the gang of thugs who had set in motion the disbanding (and who were preparing to release a flood of zombifying drugs onto the streets)... and then turn herself in to face trial. Going further, she refused to use her knowledge of American espionage to get a better deal, reasoning that they'd dig her out if they ever needed her again. She ended up spending a year in prison.
82* ''ComicBook/VForVendetta'': The ending features this trope, [[spoiler:though it's the protagonist who realizes that he can't live in the utopia he's spent the entire book trying to birth.]]
83* ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'': [[spoiler:Ozymandias]] constructs himself as Necessarily Evil in his final conversation with Dr. Manhattan, [[spoiler:justifying murdering millions of people with his success in preventing further escalation of the Cold War and claiming 'he has made himself to feel every death']]. He is never brought to justice for his acts and the comic does not judge either way, leaving the readers to make up their own minds on the subject. [[spoiler:A throwaway comment that references the [[TwoForOneShow Black Freighter comic]] implies that, ultimately, he has availed nothing.]]
84** ''ComicBook/DoomsdayClock'' still shows [[spoiler:Ozymandias doing whatever it takes to achieve his goals, after his so-called 'achievement' in maintaining world peace has completely shattered in his own world when Rorschach's journal has been publicised to the public, and leading the whole world into WorldWarIII thanks to his antic. This time however is that he must seek Dr. Manhattan and bring him back to their world as a way to fix this, but when the latter refused, he resorted to having a plan to save ''both DC and Watchmen'' Universes, which so far involves shattering the public's faith in the metahuman community, and [[CurbStompBattle falsely framing Dr.Manhattan for his actions in Moscow and sending a majority of DC superheroes there just to be incapacitated by him]].]]
85* ''ComicBook/XMen'':
86** ComicBook/{{Magneto}}, who over time has oscillated between hero and villain a few times, is perhaps written most convincingly this way. A classic example occurs in ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen'' #275 (written by Creator/ChrisClaremont). Confronting a Russian colonel trying to kill him to avenge the death of his son (who died when Magneto sank a nuclear submarine 125 issues earlier), he admits he considers himself damned as well. And later he insists on killing world-threatening supervillainess Zaladane even though this means that he will now have to part ways with Rogue, with whom he had just started sharing romantic feelings. (See the Quotes sub-page).
87** Creator/ChrisClaremont [[WriterOnBoard also insists]] that everything ComicBook/{{Mystique}} did before Irene's death was [[OmniscientMoralityLicense to prevent prophesied worse evil from taking place if she didn't]].
88* ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan'': Alter, after dealing with internal discord in Israel thanks to [[DepopulationBomb an abrupt end]] to their conflict with Palestine, concludes an outside enemy is necessary to distract them and engineers a conflict with America. [[spoiler:This is later revealed to be a cover for her real plan to [[DeathSeeker be killed by Yorick]].]]
89[[/folder]]
90
91[[folder:Fan Works]]
92* ''Fanfic/AllForLuz'': Luz sees having All For One as her EvilMentor as this. He's trapped inside her head as she inherited his Quirk from the MassSuperEmpoweringEvent with no way to kick him out and he has over a century's worth of knowledge and experience in using Quirks, as no one else in her world knows much bout them much less an expert on them and often invokes VillainHasAPoint to assist her. [[CorruptTheCutie However, he also acts as a corrupting influence on Luz over time.]]
93* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'': Doctor Strange is an incredibly ruthless ManipulativeBastard, a schemer [[MagnificentBastard without equal]], who uses his time travelling and [[{{Seers}} incredibly powerful precognitive]] abilities to arrange the entire plot of the series - with one or two notable exceptions, when someone manages to impede his powers. This involves making heroes and villains alike dance on his puppet-strings, even when they know that they're there because he's got them so thoroughly wrapped up, and a ''lot'' of blood on his hands - there's no end to the horrible things that he has done and has allowed to happen. Not only does this not make him particularly popular, he sadly observes that for all his good intentions and attempts at kindness, [[HeWhoFightsMonsters he is no longer all that different from most of the enemies he fights]]. The main mitigating factors are that he never ''wanted'' to be what he is (that happened largely because of a deal with [[spoiler: the Time Stone]] - which could be a DealWithTheDevil or BargainWithHeaven, depending on how you look at it), he's doing all of this to defeat [[OmnicidalManiac Thanos]], and that he's deadly determined that ''no one'' should turn out like him.
94* ''Fanfic/CodePrime'': Optimus admits he doesn't want to fight Megatron and would gladly be willing to end the war between the Autobots and Decepticons peacefully, but so long as Megatron remains a power-hungry tyrant, that will never happen. Suzaku takes issue to this, due to believing that all violence is pointless.
95* Thunderhide in ''Fanfic/EquestriaAHistoryRevealed'' fully understands that he is walking in the path of evil in [[spoiler: joining Luna in the Equestrian Civil War]], but sees it as necessary [[WellIntentionedExtremist to accomplish his aims of political change]]. However, he chooses not to [[PragmaticVillainy fully go off the deep end]], treats his occupied cities well, and surrenders once he realizes the war is over. He even presents his point of view in [[spoiler: the Trial at Fillydelphia]], to explain how a pony of his esteemed position would choose to fall so low.
96* Black Rose's motive as the BigBad of Visiden Visidane's ''Upheaval: Reckoning''. Her plan is to play an "Evilâ„¢" mortal trying to take over Equestria and the Eternal Herd[[labelnote:*]](inspirations include [[Myth/NorseMythology Asgard]])[[/labelnote]] only to be stopped by the Elements Of Harmony, thus utterly dispelling any misgivings the Eternal Herd has about mortal ponies, allowing them to join forces with Equestria against a larger threat instead of trying to destroy both sides on the assumption they're one and the same. And if the Mane 6 fail, then after they are "slowly and painfully" destroyed, she'll play the tyrant to create a scenario that will force the Elements to realize their true potential and ultimately defeat her, allowing Equestria to be ready at last.
97* While Captain Jarvis in ''Fanfic/TheReturn'' sees himself as evil for what he does, really he is just Necessarily Evil, this doesn't really reassure him. A lot of what [[NGOSuperPower Willard International Consulting]] does could fall under this trope due to existing in a GreyAndGrayMorality series.
98* In the Finale of Uplifted: Arrival,[[spoiler: the quarians and the Wehrmacht provisional government reluctantly come to terms that they cannot spend the next few decades hunting down and killing the fleeing Nazis. So instead they make a deal with the highest ranking Nazi they permit to escape justice: They will be free to run so long as they make themselves useful to their bottom line. The Third World suffers for it.]]
99* In ''Only the Good Die Young'', an angelic [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Xander]] is ResurrectedForAJob to do this. The Sailor Senshi's plan to save humanity (by killing off anyone evil) will eventually doom it so Xander has to play the villain and stop them.
100* More sympathetic portrayals of Clu in ''Film/TronLegacy'' fanfics will point out that the system really ''was'' falling apart under the strain of the Isos and Flynn's gross incompetence as a deity in the ''Betrayal'' comic, and that the Admin Program was given an impossible directive, which drove him somewhat insane.
101* In the ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'' fan comic from Website/DeviantArt, "[[https://fuyuflowga.deviantart.com/gallery/64893285/Cagney-is-a-Carnation Cagney Is a Carnation]]" by [[https://fuyuflowga.deviantart.com/ fuyuflowga]], Cagney Carnation has lost everyone he cared for, and his friends have shunned him for signing his Soul Contract that [[{{Satan}} the Devil]] has offered him in his attempt to save his adopted flower children, and he feels so unloved. When Cagney discovers that the sibling protagonists Cuphead and Mugman are being forced to do the Devil's bidding by taking the Soul Contracts from other inhabitants who have lost but don't want to work for him, the flower makes sure that the brothers won't have to go through the same fate he's been through. Although he wants to hand over his Soul Contract, he can't do it easily for fear that the boys will be denounced as the Devil's lackeys, so he instead has to fight them in a battle to the death, [[DeathEqualsRedemption knowing that his death means that he'll be free from servitude to the Devil]]. He even goes so far as to [[ShootTheDog murder]] [[WouldHurtAChild Mugman]] in his effort to spur Cuphead to retaliate and destroy Cagney for the contract. (Both Mugman and Cagney get better after a hard battle.) [[spoiler:In the end, Elder Kettle and Cagney commend the boys for [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu having beaten the Devil]] and destroying the Soul Contracts (the flower moreso commending them for their battle for his contract), then cook up lunch and explain the situation afterwards. In an EarnYourHappyEnding moment, Cagney gets his friends and the flower children back, in which he has finally found love and his will to live again.]]
102* In ''Fanfic/KimiNoNaIowa'', the abyssals are under no illusions whatsoever that their vision of a better humanity free of the threat of Japan will be one built on genocide and much bloodshed in general and that they are no heroes.
103* ''Fanfic/TarkinsFist'': The attitude taken by the more introspective Earthlings towards the more draconian efforts they are willing to resort to to win the Empire-Earth war. They know that, before the war, the brutal suppression of food riots, ruthless crackdowns on protestors, and blatant abuses of power by the central government would never have been acceptable. But with the global economy gutted, global civilization crumbling on the edge of the abyss, and the Empire threatening to reduce them to eternal serfdom, any method of extricating themselves from the bleak situation they find themselves in is preferable to defeat.
104[[/folder]]
105
106[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
107* In ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'', this is how Joy views Anger, Fear and Disgust. While she considers herself the most important emotion and feels that things are going well when she makes up the majority of Riley's day, she understands and respects that Anger, Fear and Disgust, while "negative" emotions, exist to protect Riley from the various dangers in her life. The driving source of conflict in the movie is that nobody has any idea what Sadness is for other than making Riley miserable, causing Joy to do everything she can to marginalize her and limit her involvement in Riley's life, with disastrous results.
108* In ''WesternAnimation/OrionAndTheDark'', Light is this. He is the film's main antagonist since he [[spoiler:unintentionally wipes Dark from existence by coming too close to him]], but Light's movement around the world is as necessary as Dark's. It's not clear if he physically can't stop moving, or is worried about the consequences if he does.
109* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Rango}}'', the inhabitants of Dirt are threatened frequently by a large hawk with a metal beak. However, no one bothers to harm it, as the hawk is also keeping Rattlesnake Jake out of town, as even he’s scared by it. Rango ends up taking the hawk down, unaware of the status quo it was keeping, which allows Jake to start planning to head back into town.
110* Literal example in ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph''; a video game only works when there's a 'bad guy' to defeat. When Ralph, the 'bad guy' of his game, isn't there, the game is declared out of order.
111[[/folder]]
112
113[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
114* ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'': Thanos perceives himself as this. After watching an OverpopulationCrisis destroy his world, he’s firmly convinced that the resources of the universe are finite and that the only way to stave off similar disasters is to use the Infinity Stones to wipe out half of all life, giving the other half a chance to survive. He takes no pleasure in it, but he believes it must be done. [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist Cut through all the flowery speeches however]], and it becomes clear his ''real'' motive is to prove to the universe and ''himself'' that he was right about how to save Titan; that all the death and tragedy he’s suffered or inflicted weren’t all for nothing. Come ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', a version of Thanos from an alternate timeline (one that hasn't had the chance to undergo CharacterDevelopment) sees that the Avengers are attempting to undo his work and decides that since the universe is going to be ungrateful, then he will simply [[ApocalypseHow unmake the universe]] and remake it from scratch so that no one can remember what they've lost and only remember "what they've been given", thus creating a [[ItsAllAboutMe grateful universe]].
115* The [[spoiler:Controllers and Director]] in ''Film/TheCabinInTheWoods'', [[spoiler:who have to peform rituals involving killing teenagers with monsters to prevent the end of the world. The Controllers have become desensitized enough to run bets and enjoy some of the "entertainment" the ritual provides, though a little bit of their basic human decency still slips through, and tell their new recruit that even his training isn't enough to prepare him for the real thing. The Director is extremely, painfully aware of how evil their actions are, and regrets them deeply, but will do everything possible to see them fulfilled.]]
116* The main theme of ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' was Batman - and his perception in the eyes of Gotham City - becoming this. He hoped that Harvey Dent, Gotham's 'White Knight', would make him obsolete so no further evil of any sort would exist within Gotham.
117* Bane [[InvokedTrope invokes the trope]] in ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', but could ultimately be a subversion. Despite his claim, [[spoiler: he and Talia never had any intention of sparing Gotham, and even whether or not they agreed with Ra's al Ghul's assessment that destroying the city would make the world a better place is left ambiguous. Their true motivation was revenge on Batman.]] The League of Shadows as a whole certainly counts, though.
118-->'''Bane''': I'm ''necessary'' evil.
119* In ''Film/KingdomOfHeaven'', Reynald de Châtillon remarks in a strangely somber and reflective mood for a man who otherwise seems to delight in slaughter and atrocity:
120--> "I am what I am. Someone has to be."
121* In ''Film/LordOfWar'', Yuri labels himself as such at the end of the film because [[spoiler:he's sometimes a middleman supplying weapons to conflicts on the White House's request that the politicians can't be seen to get involved in themselves. He's let go from custody and exits the movie a free man with [[PyrrhicVictory gun running the only thing left in his life]].]]
122* The death squad in ''Film/MagnumForce''. They kill known criminals with summary executions because to them, courts do not work. The screenwriter went to the extra effort of having the squad cause numerous collateral deaths in the process because otherwise it would have been much harder to get the audience to root against them.
123* ''Film/TheMidnightMeatTrain'': Mahogany [[spoiler:and the conspiracy]] isn't butchering people on the subway for the fun of it. [[spoiler:They're necessary human sacrifices to protect the rest of the city from the evil gods that dwell below.]]
124* ''Film/Pitch2009'': Belial implies that the [[TheCorrupter corrupting]] work of demons plays a part in God's plan.
125-->'''Belial:''' We all do His work, Jim. You'll learn that over time.
126* The Red Queen is this in ''Film/ResidentEvil2002'', going to any lengths to prevent a T-virus outbreak.
127* ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'': Jigsaw knows that torture isn't a good thing, but he believes it's necessary to teach people to value their own lives and better themselves. That is, if they survive.
128* [[NoNameGiven 'The Operative']] from ''Film/Serenity2005'' is a textbook example. He describes himself as a "monster" and says that there is no room for him in the better world he is helping to create.
129* [[spoiler: Mr. Glass]] in ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}'' has spent his entire life being Necessarily Evil and looking for someone to counterbalance ''him'' so that his world will make sense.
130* ''Film/VampireInBrooklyn'': Eddie Murphy's vampiric antagonist kills and then impersonates an Evangelical preacher, then finds events contriving to force him into making an impromptu sermon. Given his own evil and selfish intentions, it's little surprise when he chooses the concept of Necessary Evil as his topic and sets about convincing his congregation not to be so hard on the bad guys as, without Evil for comparison, no one would know what Good was.
131[[/folder]]
132
133[[folder:Literature]]
134* ''Literature/ArcOfAScythe'': The Scythedom, an elite group who bring permanent death in a world where permanent death is otherwise eradicated. There are two justifications for its existence, a) the idea that life has no meaning without death and b) the fact that humanity would overpopulate to extinction without it, because every attempt at space colonization had failed. [[spoiler: They only failed because Scythe Goddard sabotaged them]].
135%%* It's what a lot of the kids do in ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}''. It causes them problems.
136* ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'': In ''Shards of Honor'', Emperor Ezar sets up a massive interplanetary war and gets several thousand people killed, all to [[spoiler:[[OffingTheOffspring assassinate his son]], a deranged sadist, and discredit his cronies, a batch of expansionist warmongers, thus averting the ascension of a madman to the throne and subsequent civil war]].
137* Creator/OrsonScottCard likes this one:
138** The VillainProtagonist of ''Literature/APlanetCalledTreason'' [[spoiler:wipes out a subspecies because its [[MasterOfIllusion illusion powers]] are too dangerous to leave in existence, but he knows full well that those he's killing [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch include innocents who don't abuse their powers]]]]. Towards the end, only his [[IDidWhatIHadToDo certainty that it was necessary]] is keeping him sane.
139** Card also invokes it in ''Literature/TheWorthingSaga'' with Abner Doon, who engineers the fall of TheEmpire, believing it has caused humanity to stagnate. He is compared to a gardener and humanity to a tree that must be pruned. Said pruning involves a galaxy-wide universal rebellion that almost certainly cost millions if not billions of lives, but [[GreatOffscreenWar all that happens]] [[AMillionIsAStatistic offscreen]].
140** This also turns up in ''Literature/EndersGame'', as Colonel Graff knows that [[TrainingFromHell the tactics he's using to shape Wiggin into a commander]] will probably have long-lasting psychological effects on the kid, ascribing to "They can punish me after it's done" mentality. [[spoiler: They don't. The war crimes tribunal eventually agrees that it must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Ender could have saved the world with less extreme training, and Graff is exonerated.]]
141*** The entire point of training a commander like Ender is revealed to be an example: [[spoiler: he's not being trained to defend Earth if/when the Formics/Buggers return for a third time, he's being trained to command the Human invasion and war of extermination against the Formic/Bugger colonies and homeworld]]. The military views it as this trope all along, and the rest of humanity by and large agree when the truth comes to light afterwards. Ender himself takes exception to the necessity of it and, writing under an anonymous pseudonym, reveals the true depth of the tragedy due to misunderstanding between these species. As a result, [[spoiler: he is remembered as the greatest war criminal and mass murderer in all of human history, with his very name being considered a profanity thousands of years later]].
142%%* Creator/AlanDeanFoster's ''The Man Who Used the Universe''.
143* By some readings, Paul Atreides and Leto Atreides II in the ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'' series, who both [[OmniscientMoralityLicense see the future]]. [[Literature/GodEmperorOfDune Leto II especially fits]] the trope: [[spoiler:he [[FusionDance merges with an alien species]], becomes God of [[PathOfInspiration his own theocracy]], crushes rebellions before they happen, and manipulates the genome for millennia]] in order to [[spoiler:avert [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt human extinction]]. Even his closest advisors repeatedly [[ThanatosGambit try to kill him and their eventual success is part of his plan]]]]. Sometimes, AllLovingHero has to be a MagnificentBastard to save you despite yourself.
144* The Wolves/Inhibitors of the ''Literature/RevelationSpaceSeries'' wipe out intelligent life any time they discover it spreading beyond its original planet. (Even they, a kind of MechanicalLifeforms, are only intermittently sentient when necessary to reach their goals.) It eventually turns out they are trying to keep intelligence from being wiped out forever when our galaxy collides with the Andromeda galaxy several ''billion'' years in the future.
145* A small-scale version is the killer in ''The Victorian Hangman'', [[spoiler:the executioner for New York, unemployed after NY switched to the electric chair. He traveled west and continued his practice of eliminating criminals. After executing an adulterer, a thief, and a card cheat, he realized he was the only criminal left in the area.]]
146* From the [[Franchise/Warhammer40000ExpandedUniverse Black Library]]:
147** In ''Literature/GauntsGhosts: The Guns of Tanith'' one of the Ghosts' less savory members kills an old man to keep word of their secret mission getting to the Blood Pact. Subverted by the thoughts of Hlaine Larkin in the same squad thinking 'There was quite enough unnecessary evil in the fething galaxy without deliberately adding to it'.
148** The ''Literature/HorusHeresy'' novels provide us with one person who joined the Heresy not because he believed the Emperor had betrayed them, but because he knew it was side with Horus and save everyone except humanity, or side with the Emperor and screw over the entire galaxy and everyone in it: [[spoiler: Alpharius]]. The Drop Site Massacre, and all other events of the Heresy, were being done in order to break the back of Chaos. %% Do not argue on the main page%%
149** In ''Literature/DarkAngels: Angels of Darkness'', Brother-Chaplain Boreas delivers a very short speech regarding the value of human life in the grim darkness of the 41st millenium.
150--->"'Oh, I agree that battle and sacrifice result in death,' Boreas replied with a grimace. 'I understand that we live in a brutal universe, and that amongst the unnumbered souls of the Imperium, a few million deaths are immeasurably minute. The Dark Angels have purged worlds that are beyond all attempts at redemption, and we have done it with joy for we know what we do is for the security of the future. Truly it is said a moment of laxity spawns a lifetime of heresy.'"
151* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
152** Lord Vetinari strengthened the power of the guilds in Ankh-Mopork such as the Assassins' Guild and legalised others including the Thieves' Guild, thereby formally organizing the city's criminals. The guilds own monopolies on those crimes: as long as they ensure that all thefts and murders are committed by licensed members and adhere to certain standards (like avoiding bystander fatalities and robbing any one citizen only once a year), they are permitted an annual crime quota and enforcement authority. Why does Vetinari expect criminals to abide by this agreement? Half self preservation, half simply ''knowing where they live'' since they do openly do business. In later books, the Thieves are mostly in the insurance business (offering a pre-emptive payment option in lieu of annual robbery) and the Assassins are more a snobby boarding school and gentlemen's club than a bunch of cutthroats. But they will still act with extreme prejudice to defend their lucrative monopolies.
153** Prof. John [[XtremeKoolLetterz Hix]] -- of the Department of Necroman... sorry, ''[[InsistentTerminology Post-Mortem Communications]]'' -- serves a Necessarily Evil function for Unseen University. UU has to have an ''official'' evil ([[PokeThePoodle but not too evil]]) necromancer on the staff in order to extend their monopoly on magic to include necromancy and other black magic... and with it the authority to fireball all freelancers. The post of Official Post-Mortem Communicator carries a lot of authority and respect on the University Council, as Hix is also tasked with determining when it is appropriate to use small amounts of black magic in the service of the greater good. His duties also involve [[BrutalHonesty saying impolite things that still need to be said]] and performing slightly evil deeds for the greater good (like knocking another wizard out to free them from possession).
154** In ''Literature/TheLastHero'', the [[OldSoldier Silver]] [[BarbarianHero Horde]] encounter the CardCarryingVillain Evil Harry Dread, who's on good terms with them and as an evil overlord, has ContractualGenreBlindness. He recognizes there needs to be a villain in the story for the heroes to fight, and happily fills the role for the Silver Horde, since only they and he actually care about the hero's code anymore. And since the villain always escapes to cause trouble in the next story, he's always able to survive.
155* This is an AlternativeCharacterInterpretation of [[Literature/TheBible Judas Iscariot]] in ''The Gospel of Judas'', a Gnostic text dating back to the fourth century. In it, Judas is depicted as following Jesus's instructions when he turned him over to Pontius Pilate, in order to set in motion the events that lead up to Jesus's resurrection (though only according to the National Geographic translation, not to serious scholars).
156* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': [[spoiler:Snape carried this role in the latter half of the series as Dumbledore's mole in Voldemort's inner circle. He had to do Death Eater things such as kill Dumbledore himself to prove himself and maintain his cover. Dumbledore planned for that to happen because he believed it necessary.]]
157-->'''Dumbledore:''' Severus... please!
158* Jacen Solo in the post-''Literature/NewJediOrder'' era ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'', prior to JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope. He convinced himself that he could [[spoiler:become a Sith]] yet still work for the good of the galaxy. It didn't work out that way.
159* An inspirational tale that did the rounds about two captives who were being tortured into renouncing their faith. One night, the first man admits that if the tortures continue the next day, he will have no choice but to surrender. His friend spends the night mulling over whether to kill the first man so that the first man's immortal soul might remain saved -- while he himself will be damned to hell for the murder - but at last realizes that it would be wrong. His choice was right, because the first man mercifully dies on his own in the morning before the torturers come.
160* ''[[Creator/CliffordSimak Skirmish]]'' forces all of humanity into this position by way of InstantAIJustAddWater. Rather than revert to savagery, people must violently quell a RobotWar.
161* ''Literature/{{Daemon}}'': [[spoiler:Sobol's plans for [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans a new society]] require him to tear down the one that currently exists, ultimately causing global economic and social chaos. In the end, it appears that his actions are justified.]]
162* Varys in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' claims himself to be this: "Why is it always the innocents who suffer most, when you High Lords play your Game of Thrones?" However, he is perhaps the most gifted intriguer and spy in the Seven Kingdoms, so his own motivations are incredibly clouded.
163* Ebenezar [=McCoy=] of ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' taught Harry about how magic is suppose to be about protecting life and respect for the laws of magic. [[spoiler:Ebenezar is the Blackstaff, the only wizard on the White Council who has permission to break the seven Laws of magic, ranging from mind control to mass murder, when the "rules" are being used against the council and to prevent even worse disasters.]]
164** And it later turns out that the purpose of the Winter Court of the Fae is [[spoiler: to protect our universe from the Outsiders, and the Summer Court protects mortals from Winter.]]
165** This is shaping up to be a theme in ''The Dresden Files''. Marcone is a NobleDemon [[TheDon Don]] acknowledged by everyone, including himself, to be the LesserOfTwoEvils, but he's still a drug-dealing, pimping murderer. He's just a drug-dealing, pimping murderer who is also a FriendToAllChildren and minimizes the harm done to innocent bystanders. If anybody is going to be running the Chicago Outfit, it's best that it be someone [[VetinariJobSecurity like him]].
166* ''Literature/TheSagaOfDarrenShan'': In the sixth book, ''The Vampire Prince'', [[spoiler:Kurda Smahlt and his plan turn out to be this]].
167* In ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'', [[spoiler:King Taravangian]] sees himself this way. When called on it by his [[TheDragon Dragon]] Szeth, he fully admits that he's a monster, but that he's "the monster who will save this world".
168* ''Literature/ForeverGate'': Leader of the Users attempts to convince Hoodwink the gols are this trope. In a nushell this is his argument: The gols do nasty things but without them our civilization would crumble.
169* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'': President Coriolanus Snow's conversation with Katniss at the beginning of Catching Fire indicates that he sees himself and the Capitol as this.
170* ''Literature/TheRiddleMasterTrilogy'': [[spoiler:Deth is very much this. He will do whatever it takes to make sure that Morgon is capable of taking up the land-rule when he dies, including consigning him to a year of MindRape in Erlenstar Mountain.]]
171* ''Literature/{{Neogicia}}'': Nox Lucans, the PsychoSidekick to one of the setting's rulers, considers a lot of his actions to be this, as they have been called evil by allies that have been hurt by them.
172* The villains of ''Literature/EachLittleUniverse'' certainly want to claim that the harm they cause is necessary, in service of restoring the natural order that if left unbalanced could destroy the entire cosmos, but [[spoiler:Orion]] in particular occasionally [[BeneathTheMask lets the mask slip and openly enjoys inflicting pain]].
173* ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'': If O'Brien is correct, the Brotherhood has no choice but to commit the most heinous of acts to defeat The Party.
174* ''Literature/VillainsByNecessity'': The book title lampshades that these villains have taken on the task of saving the world, so their being evil (aside from neutral Kaylana) is a necessity. Indeed, evil itself turns out to be. None but Valerie is more than just mildly evil either. [[spoiler:Blackmail's even revealed to be a {{paladin}} who realizes their quest is needed.]]
175* ''Literature/{{Pact}}'': most Practicioners hate diabolists, because diabolists deal in things like devils, demons, and other variations of the most malevolent Others. One diabolist in the series wrote a book on the ethics (such as they are) of the profession, and makes an argument that diabolists are Necessarily Evil, because ''someone'' has to bind demons and devils, and things would be a lot worse if these beings were free to do whatever they wanted. He is self-aware enough to acknowledge that most diabolists don't get into the practice for selfless reasons, and this argument of his is liable to fall on deaf ears.
176* ''{{Literature/Worm}}'' has "Doing the wrong things for the right reasons" as its tagline, and so explores this trope a fair bit:
177** Taylor, the protagonist, is certainly the most clear cut example. [[spoiler:Initially [[TheInfiltration purely a mole]] among her [[TrueCompanions villainous friends]], she comes to view villainy as the best way to achieve her goals. [[TheFettered Entirely selfless goals]].]]
178** Cauldron as a whole claims this. [[spoiler:They have performed decades of horrific human experimentation, kidnapping, brainwashing, enslaving, murder, manipulation of world government figures, and consorting with criminals of all kinds. Their leadership did this because they have a future-seer on their staff who tells them that if they don't do these things, for the purpose of building up a huge population of superpowered parahumans across multiple worlds, humanity will most likely (90%+ chance) cease to exist within a few years. While their future-seer is among the most powerful to exist, they are not omniscient, and many characters insist that Cauldron's crimes aren't justified even in the face of almost certain multiversal extinction.]]
179[[/folder]]
180
181[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
182* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': How most people see Varys (i.e. he's a dishonorable traitor, but his treachery serves a purpose), and even how he views himself from time to time. Compare his allegiance to Westeros as a whole to Petyr Balish's "[[ManipulativeBastard Chaos is a ladder]]" speech.
183* This is how Chief of Police Unser views his [[DealWithTheDevil arrangement]] with the eponymous bike gang of ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy''. He allows them a more or less free hand in and around Charming and they keep drugs and other gangs out.
184* From ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'':
185-->'''Tigh:''' Which side are we on? We're on the side of the demons, Chief. We're evil men in the gardens of paradise, sent by the forces of death to spread devastation and destruction wherever we go.
186* ''Series/UFO1970'': Although the nature of the aliens is a mystery, their [[HumanResources harvesting of human organs]] indicates they come from a DyingRace. Commander Straker suggests they view humanity not with malice but with callousness ("much as we view our food animals"). Straker later encounters a man with telepathic powers who is being controlled by the aliens. In the middle of their conversation, he suddenly blurts out: "We mean no harm to the peoples of Earth. Why do you attack us? We're fighting for existence... you must understand!"
187* ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'s'' Captain Jack Harkness, when he's not TheAce, a LovableRogue, or a ChivalrousPervert, pretty much bases his entire character around being this. The best (worst?) examples are the episodes "Small Worlds" and "End of Days", and of course, the miniseries ''Children of Earth''.
188* The Company from ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' in Volume One.
189* ''Series/BabylonFive'':
190** The Shadows regard themselves as agents of evolution and the genocidal wars they wage on the galaxy as an effective form of natural selection and development drive for the Younger Races. The problem is that there never was a need for such accelerated development, and Shadows only enforce it to prove that it works.
191** William Edgars, who plans to [[spoiler:use an artificial plague to institute a FinalSolution on human telepaths]], finds it to be a monstrous idea but the most expedient solution to what he considers an otherwise unsolvable problem.
192* Queen Mab from ''Series/Merlin1998'' tries to pass herself off as this, but the other characters don't believe her, mostly due to her complete and utter amorality in the face of the pain caused by her actions. As emphasized in the novelizations, Merlin is also "necessarily magical" as he uses the magic of the Old Ways to create a society free of the Old Ways, and gradually becomes less and less welcome in the new society when the now predominantly Christian kingdom gets less tolerant of a wizard of the Old Ways.
193* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
194** The show included lampshading the overlap between this and ShootTheDog in the season 5 finale when [[spoiler:Giles explains why he is about to kill Ben (Glory's relatively innocent human host), because Buffy won't and shouldn't have to]].
195--->''"She's a hero, you see. She's not like us."\
196"... Us?"''
197** Everything Twilight does is to distract and hold back all the forces planning to attack the Slayer Organization.
198* In season 6 of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', [[spoiler: Castiel]] becomes this after Michael has been locked up with Lucifer, and the only remaining archangel wants to break open the cage so Lucy and Mike can finish up their big fight, or even worse, become the new God. Faced with the prospect of death, or going along with these plans, [[spoiler: Castiel]] was forced to TakeAThirdOption that had him trying to handle the [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope slippery slope without jumping.]]
199* [[spoiler: Allison Taylor]] does this in the final season of ''Series/TwentyFour'' by protecting the true masterminds behind the terrorist attacks earlier in the day and allowing them to go unpunished for the actions ''even after'' learning they were behind it all in a desperate attempt to secure a peace treaty between the United States, Russia, and another country.
200* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'':
201** [[Characters/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineGulDukat Gul Dukat]] believes his actions during the Cardassian occupation were this, and forms a major guilt complex over it.
202** Winn Adami believes many of her more extreme actions are this, when they're not completely justified and necessary.
203** Section 31 (which may or may not exist) are this to the Federation. They do all the horrific, underhanded things Federation ideals forbid but are necessary to its survival. If it exists, it may have been deliberately set up by the Federation at its founding to be this. Or it may not. The details are a little vague.
204** Given that they served on the most important location on the frontlines of the most brutal and destructive war in Alpha Quadrant history, pretty much the entire senior Command crew of [=DS9=] had a moment or two of this. But none more than Sisko, who in "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS06E19InThePaleMoonlight In the Pale Moonlight]]" takes decidedly non-Starfleet-like actions in secret that bring the Romulans into the war on the side of the Federation. [[spoiler:Ultimately, Sisko is unable or unwilling to go far enough to succeed in his plot to trick the Romulans into joining the Federation/Klingon alliance. Fortunately, he's enlisted the aid of Elim Garak, who ''is'' both able and willing to succeed at the task no matter how evil the means.]]
205--->''"But the most damning thing of all... I think I can live with it. And if I had to do it all over again, I would. Garak was right about one thing; a guilty conscience is a small price to pay for the safety of the Alpha Quadrant. So I will learn to live with it. Because I can live with it. I ''can'' live with it..."''
206* Malcolm Merlyn from The CW's ''{{Series/Arrow}}'' orchestrated The Undertaking, an endeavor shared between him and several of his colleagues, during the first season. Its purpose? To obliterate the crime-infested area of Starling City known as the Glades. His line of reasoning for this is to avenge his late wife Rebecca, who was murdered by a Glades resident. He also firmly believed that the city could somehow be reformed through this one act of [[PayEvilUntoEvil eliminating the majority of, if not the entirety of the criminal element]]. And like most other examples on this page, [[WellIntentionedExtremist he is genuine in his concern for the city]].
207** Because ''what else were you expecting'', Malcolm becomes the necessary evil for Oliver when [[spoiler: the latter needs to solve his League of Assassins problem fast. His friends are not pleased, and the necessity of working with Malcolm quickly comes into question.]]
208* Dante from ''Series/The100'' sees himself as irrevocably tainted by [[HumanResources the forced harvesting of the 100's bone marrow]], but supports it anyway when he sees no other option for his people's survival.
209-->'''Dante:''' After what I've done, they can be free, I can't. Deliverance comes at a cost; I bear it so they don't have to.
210** Clarke comes to see herself this way [[spoiler:after she slaughters everyone in Mount Weather to save her own people]].
211* In ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'', Takatora Kureshima (Kamen Rider Zangetsu) believes that the invasion of [[AlienKudzu Helheim]] can't be stopped, and the best they can do is to save [=1/7th=] of humanity's population via [[TheArk Project Ark]]. He certainly doesn't like the fact that most of humanity will have to die, but he prefers it to ''all'' of humanity dying. However, it's later subverted by the fact that the sacrifice isn't necessary at all; Takatora's inner circle was lying to him because they ''wanted'' to [[TheSocialDarwinist eliminate the "useless" portion of humanity]], and once he finds out about [[TakeAThirdOption another option that could potentially save everyone]], he gladly abandons Project Ark in favor of it.
212* The Doctor from ''Series/DoctorWho'' had to destroy his own planet to protect the universe -- he harbours a lot of guilt about it but believes that it was the best option he could have taken. Later, it turns out that [[spoiler:his future selves managed to prevent it happening, but he still spends hundreds of years believing he did it]].
213** The Doctor actually has to take this kind of action a lot -- one instance is the 'eruption' of Vesuvius, which was actually the Doctor and Donna stopping the Pyroviles from destroying Earth in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E2TheFiresOfPompeii The Fires of Pompeii]]".
214** The Doctor is generally a pacifist and avoids war whenever possible, but throughout his life he has fought in more than a millennium of conflict -- the Time War, which lasted about 400 years, and the Siege of Trenzalore, which lasted 900. He did so in both cases to protect innocent civilians, but is remorseful about the deeds he was forced to do.
215* In ''Series/YouMeAndTheApocalypse'', General Gaines will do whatever it takes to ensure the survival of humanity first, his family second: deception, abductions, murder, treason - nothing is off the table. He will sacrifice his marriage, too. In the end he is trapped with a dozen innocents, an impulsive psycho, the BigBad and an armed mook. More necessary evil awaits.
216* ''Series/TheHandmaidsTale'': Lawrence may be a part of Gilead's top government, but he doesn't seem to think too highly of them. [[spoiler:He also shows June that he has to pick-and-choose who survives and who dies in Gilead.]] He eventually says that he's [[IAmAMonster well aware of the horrific acts that he's guilty of]], but saw no other way to save the human race through pushing up birth rates by brutal means.
217* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'': The Chief of Medicine has the job to keep the Sacred Heart hospital a thriving business or else they can't help anyone. This means the Chief has to make hard decisions that favors the hospital over individual patients. Chief of Medicine Dr. Kelso combines this with ZeroApprovalGambit, so that the staff have all a scapegoat to hate on while they're focusing on their patients. Dr. Cox, who has fought for his patients against Dr. Kelso for several years, eventually takes over as the new Chief of Medicine, and he realizes that he has to do the same things that Kelso was doing because the Sacred Heart has really been tight on money all the time. And with the board possibly watching over him, Dr. Cox can't commit the same fraud of treating uninsured patients anymore.
218[[/folder]]
219
220[[folder:Music]]
221* Music/{{Laibach}}'s Abuse and Confession suggests that Judas Iscariot was the UrExample: [[MessianicArchetype Jesus]] [[BecauseDestinySaysSo had to be betrayed by him]], so he chose a kiss as the sign to show how he really felt. He is quite bitter about it.
222* Music/TheResidents' "Judas Saves" plays with the same idea, except that instead of becoming embittered, Judas is, [[LyricalDissonance judging by the music]], [[KnightTemplar filled with psychotic joy]].
223* Music/{{Joji}}'s song has an extremely [[BittersweetEnding bittersweet]] version of this in the music video for "Sanctuary"; after [[VictoryIsBoring Joji and his entire space crew become depressed after finally defeating his]] ArchEnemy, his partner [[FaceHeelTurn sees fit to become their new enemy]] (even [[EyeScream sacrificing his eye to fit the look]]) just to give his friends something to live for again.
224[[/folder]]
225
226[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
227* In certain versions of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', it's actually allowed for a Lawful Good Paladin to commit an outright evil act like slaughtering an innocent civilian or destroying a village, without losing their powers, so long as it is ''for the greater good in the long term''. And they apologize to their deity either before or after committing said evil act... And the icing on the cake: Both 3.5 and 5.0 actually have special rules that '''''encourage''''' Paladins to commit this kind of evil acts! In 3.5, there's the EvilCounterpart known as a Blackguard. In 5.0, there's special Archetype for a Paladin who breaks his sacred Oath, aptly named Oathbreaker, which comes with its own unique features. 4.0, on the other hand, simply ignores alignments for all purposes other than the already limited Roleplaying side of the game. At least 2.0 was consequent about this. You play a Paladin, you ''play Lawful Good or you permanently lose your powers''! The Blackguard and Oathbreaker are so effective that some players are willing to pick the Paladin Class, behave nicely until they can get the Blackguard Prestige Class, and then commit the necessarily evil acts required to lose their Lawful Good alignment just so they can become Blackguards or break their Oath enough times to become an Oathbreaker.
228** The Blood War, the eternal conflict between devils and demons, acts as this. The forces of evil are actually much more powerful than their current influence suggests, but luckily they hate each other more than they hate the universe in general, so they fight. The forces of Good encourage the conflict to continue, because as long as the demons harry the devils, devils won't be able to impose their tyranny on the non-lower planes, and as long as the devils stalemate the demons, demons won't spill out into the multiverse and destroy it all.
229** 5e clarifies that this is the reason Abbathor, the Dwarven god of greed, is tolerated as the TokenEvilTeammate of the pantheon. As disreputable and annoying as he is, he also encourages change and improvement- something dwarves, who are somewhat inclined to stagnation, need.
230* This is how the factions in ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' that aren't just in it ForTheEvulz operate. How valid their claims are is up for debate and heavily DependingOnTheWriter, but it's generally agreed that for a species to survive in the CrapsackWorld that the game takes place in, moral compromises are going to be required. The Imperium is infamously xenophobic and makes the extermination of all non-humans policy, but the number of alien species that ''aren't'' equally hostile can be counted on one hand (though the Imperium exterminated them too). They ruthlessly execute anyone who shows the slightest hint of descent, but the LegionsOfHell that make up Chaos are so good at corrupting and influencing mortals that they don't even ''know'' they've been corrupted until it's too late. They force whole worlds into slave labor to produce warships and weaponry, but every one of those ships and weapons is ''desperately'' needed to defend a hundred other planets. Whether humanity could survive ''without'' resorting to such barbaric methods is up for debate[[note]]There ''are'' examples of human civilizations that managed it on a small scale and were wiped out by the early Imperium for their "crimes" but it's debatable if any of these could've survived long term once threats like the Necrons and the Tyranids arrived[[/note]], but the Emperor certainly didn't think so, and he wasn't the sort to brook dissenting opinions.
231* This trope is the title of a TabletopGame/SavageWorlds book that allows [=PCs=] to play supervillains in world where aliens had [[TwilightOfTheSupers successfully killed off all the superheroes]].
232* In ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' the Sidereals deliberately ended a golden age, caused the deaths of millions of innocents, plunged Creation into medieval squalor, threatened and murdered some of the gods themselves to go along with the new order, and spent the next millennium tracking down and murdering the innocent reincarnations of the world's greatest heroes. It was the only surefire way to save Creation from being utterly destroyed.
233[[/folder]]
234
235[[folder:Theater]]
236* In ''Theatre/JesusChristSuperstar'' Judas considers his betrayal of Jesus to be this in order to keep his movement from getting out of hand and destroying the Jewish people. To a lesser extent this is also true of Caiaphas although there's also a large amount of self interest mixed in in his case.
237* The big twist at the end of ''Theatre/{{Urinetown}}'' is that the EvilOverlord Cladwell was right the whole time and the revolution that overthrows him makes everything so much more awful than it was under his [[HobbesWasRight draconian rule]].
238* Ulysses is played like this toward the end of Jon English's ''Theatre/{{Paris}}''. He was like this to an extent in the original ''Literature/TheIliad'', but it's made explicit that the wooden horse was a case of this in the musical.
239[[/folder]]
240
241[[folder:Video Games]]
242* ''VideoGame/FableIII'':
243** [[spoiler: Logan]] views his actions as these in order to [[spoiler: fund an army and prepare Albion to deal with an EldritchAbomination called the Crawler.]]
244** ''You'' have to be this to get the bad-karma ending, otherwise known as the one that [[spoiler: doesn't involve everybody you know and love dying.]] Unless you feel like playing the Lute for ten hours or going into real estate. ''Have I mentioned you're the king/queen?''
245* In ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'', [[spoiler: the [[DiscOneFinalBoss Disc One]] [[ClimaxBoss Climax Boss]] [[NobleDemon Magus]]]] turns out to be this. [[spoiler: [[DefeatMeansFriendship After you defeat him]] (but not immediately), he can join your party and become the TokenEvilTeammate.]]
246* Kessler, the BigBad of ''VideoGame/InFamous'', [[spoiler:is TheProtagonist Cole [=McGrath's=] future self. In the future he was the world's most powerful conduit, [[Memes/AvatarTheLastAirbender but when the world needed him most, he vanished,]] following which the world got blown to hell by the real villain. Feeling guilty for not stopping it, he uses his powers to travel back in time in order to accelerate the development of the Ray Sphere, which gave him his powers, and to shape his past self into the kind of person who would be capable of saving the world by killing the only woman he ever loved and destroying half the city. The sequel reveals that this backfired, though, since the villain ''also'' got his powers from the Ray Sphere. Woops.]]
247* [[spoiler:Ammon Jerro]] in ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2''. Not only does he deal with [[spoiler:devils, and other deadly creatures of the lower planes]] in order to get what he needs done. True, he's trying to save all of the sword coast. But at the same time [[spoiler:he kills his granddaughter, and several other people whom are really not all that bad. They just happen to get in his way]]. Though he ''does'' have a VillainousBreakdown when he realizes who [[spoiler: Shandra]] was, and spends the rest of the game trying to atone for what he's done.
248* For the most part the ''VideoGame/{{Overlord}}''s are this to the world. They seem to save the world (so they can take it over) from the other (worse) evils and {{Fallen Hero}}es. [[spoiler:Rose]] states that the BalanceOfGoodAndEvil will mean that during the times when LightIsNotGood and becomes too powerful, Darkness is required to triumph.
249* According to [[AllThereInTheManual the manual]], Gill from ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII''. Like all ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' canon, it's... complicated.
250* Bian Zoldark and Maier Branstein in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars Original Generation''. When they realized that the government was preparing to surrender to the coming alien invaders, they launched an attempt to TakeOverTheWorld, in order to give mankind the means to fight back against the invaders, remove those who wanted to collaborate, and finally, ensure that the heroes were strong enough to spearhead the counterattack. Tragically, a lot of their minions had different plans. Most of which involve 'kill the heroes, take their place'. Which may have been Bian and Maier's back-up plan.
251* Seraph Lamington in ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea|HourOfDarkness}}'' allowed Vulcanus to run amok, and later justly but "excessively" punished Flonne for a relatively minor sin by turning her into a flower. He was however willing to, and counting on, being defeated by the protagonist. [[spoiler: It is revealed in the good ending that he was plotting with the ghost of the Netherworld's ruler to use a BatmanGambit and force Laharl to [[LoveRedeems grow up and become kinder]], so they will unite both kingdoms. In the good ending, Laharl spares the Seraph's life, and he returns Flonne to life as a fallen angel (with cute bat wings and red trim), which was part of his plan all along assuming Laharl passed the SecretTestOfCharacter - Not that that matters anymore, now that she's his right hand angel now.]]
252** Valvatorez, the protagonist of ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 4|A Promise Unforgotten}}'', is a strange sort of PunchClockVillain who sees his job of being an evil, human-terrorizing tyrant as a very important public service - If ''he'' isn't going to ScareEmStraight, who will?
253* ''VideoGame/KnightBewitched'': Although Uno kills villains who are immune to the law, he admits that he can't consider himself a good person because murder is still murder.
254* ''VideoGame/WildArms2'' has [[spoiler:Irving Vold Valeria, who formed both the heroes and the villains as a two-tiered plan to gather information as well as global resources in order to stop a [[NegativeSpaceWedgie sentient]] [[AnotherDimension dimension]] from swallowing their world. The villains could use whatever tactics they wanted; and the heroes would be able to get the combined support of the world's governments who wanted them to stop the villains.]]
255* In ''VideoGame/SuikodenII'', Jowy seems at first to be simply a FaceHeelTurn or a RivalTurnedEvil, when he betrays the city of Muse to the Highlands, assassinates the Mayor, and opens the gates to the invaders. It turns out, however, that he only did it because he knew that the only way to stop the [[PsychoForHire monstrous]] [[BloodKnight Luca Blight]], was from the inside - and so, he sold out Muse in order to gain Luca's trust, so that he could later betray him, bringing about his death at the hands of the hero. However, by the time Luca dies, Jowy has already married Luca's sister, and he thus becomes the ruler of Highland... and thus, he is responsible for the nation, and feels compelled to win the war. At the very end of the game, he is gambling on TheHero killing him, so that he can use his life-force to seal the Beast Rune that Luca unleashed earlier... whether it actually ends that way, however, depends on [[MultipleEndings a few things]]...
256* In ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'', you are required to ally yourself with either Team Aqua or Team Magma (depending on which game you are playing) in order to oppose the other Team. This does ''not'' mean that the Team you are allied with isn't evil, however; they are simply not ''currently'' involved in any world-threatening plans while the Team you are opposing is clearly doing something worse. This was changed to the opposing Team beating their rivals to the punch within the remakes.
257* Claudia Wolfe from ''VideoGame/SilentHill3''. She acts cruel and evil to the protagonist and orders the murder of her father...but Heather eventually finds her diary, which is filled with entries about how much she's sorry for having to put Heather through all this, and only feels she must do it to bring the birth of paradise for Heather and everyone--[[NoPlaceForMeThere everyone, that is, except Claudia herself.]] She believes in Hell, by the way. She believes that she deserves to go to Hell for committing the necessary evil to save everyone ''else'', meaning she absolutely ''embodies'' this Trope. Heather stops whatever the result would have been, but Claudia's intentions are definitely {{well intentioned|Extremist}} and self aware.
258* One [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation possible interpretation]] in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' is that Revan waged war against the Republic in order to toughen them up and force them to become more militaristic to prepare them for future conflict that Revan alone foresaw. The [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords second game]] has the other theory that it was to prevent societal collapse, or that it was all part of [[ThePlan a plan]] to prepare for another enemy, which Revan left after the previous war to find. This is supported by Kreia's question about Revan's "fall" in KOTOR 2: "Did Revan truly fall? [[IDidWhatIHadToDo Or did he do what was necessary]] to prepare the Republic?" It is implied through the game's plot that the enemy Revan "prepared" the galaxy for were the True Sith, featured as the [[TheEmpire main baddies]] in ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic''.
259** Kreia herself is a walking example of this. No one is going to call her warm or friendly, and she detests pity, mercy, or compassion. But she also detests needless cruelty or brutality just as much. Her whole endgame? ''Break the Force itself'' to put an end to the constant religious war between the two primary Force-wielding schools. She believes the Exile is proof of her theory that living beings can live independently of The Force.
260** If you're going to bring the ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'' into this, the original ''[[Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy Heir to the Empire]]'' trilogy portrayed Grand Admiral Thrawn as a ruthless warlord but a competent and at times even caring commander. The later books set him up as someone attempting to prepare the galaxy for invasion, which came with the Yuuzhan Vong.
261* [[spoiler:Trias the Betrayer]] from ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' is a FallenAngel who betrayed his kin and made a [[DealWithTheDevil compact with the lower planes]]. He actively works towards shifting the balance of the planes towards evil in return for the command over an army of devils should he succeed. [[spoiler:Trias]] plans to use this army to attack the gates of heaven themselves. While he's expecting both this army and himself to be defeated, his hope is that such an act would be enough to rouse the celestials of the upper planes to take a more hands-on approach in the war against evil instead of doing what he saw as being AchillesInHisTent while evil was allowed to run rampant.
262** This is why the Practical Incarnation is the "Practical" Incarnation and not the "Evil" Incarnation. He did some absolutely ''horrific'' things over the course of his existence, most infamously [[spoiler:convincing Deionarra that he loved her, solely to betray and kill her in such a way that her ghost could be useful to him later]]. But in the end, every horrible thing he did, ''every'' horrible thing, was a necessary stepping stone for his future incarnation, the Nameless One, to complete his journey and finally end his immortality. He never did anything needlessly terrible... it's just that ''everything'' he did was [[ItsAllAboutMe to his benefit first and usually only]].
263* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'':
264** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'':
265*** [[spoiler:Sephiran]] acts affable to the end, [[spoiler:and loyal to one of the heroes even while he is fighting the others]]. Can't be talked out of fighting the heroes, yet is happy upon defeat.
266*** The following pattern is pretty common in ''Fire Emblem'', especially in the endgame of ''Radiant Dawn'':
267----> "I can't allow you to pass!" [grueling battle] "Thank you for killing me, please move onward!"
268** Several side materials for ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'' depict Arvis of Velthomer as one. The guy wants to create a utopia free of prejudice and racism, so he joins force with the Loptous clan, which he loathes, to take down fellow lords and unite Grannvale into a single country. Naturally, this does ''not'' work, and he becomes heavily guilty as he grows OlderAndWiser and realises [[EvilIsNotAToy his plan has backfired horribly.]]
269** In part two of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', [[spoiler:Edelgard]] views their actions of declaring war on the Church of Seiros as necessary to change the continent of Fodlan. They also view working with [[spoiler:"those that silther in the dark"]] as necessary to ensure their victory against the Church as well, and once they’re done with them, [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness they intent to get rid of them next]].
270* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', Seymour Guado fancied himself as this and committed his innumerable sins because he genuinely felt that the [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds world would be better off in the peace of death]].
271--> "''I will destroy Spira; I will ''save it''."
272* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'':
273** [[AristocratsAreEvil Duke Druksmald Goltanna]] seems to [[PretextForWar justify himself for prolonging the war]] because he thinks it's [[ForTheGreaterGood for the good of the people]], [[BlatantLies when in fact it's the main reason for their suffering]]. When [[OnlySaneMan Cidolfus Orlandeau]] complains about his attitude, he threatens his life [[WithUsOrAgainstUs considering disagreeing to the plan]] as an act of [[TreacherousAdvisor treason]].
274** [[spoiler: [[TheChessmaster Delita]]]] and Wiegraf may arguably fit for this trope too, [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation depending on your definition of "evil"]].
275* Everyone in ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'': [[spoiler:The Tasen invade Earth because they're being hunted to extinction by the Komato and think that Earth would be a nice place to hide. The Komato general justifies his campaign by saying that the [[ScaryDogmaticAliens folks back home]] will settle for nothing less than [[OmnicidalManiac total annihilation]]]]. Iji [[ShutUpHannibal calls bullshit]] on both counts. And if you play in the standard action adventure style, they'll retort with a NotSoDifferentRemark.
276* ''VideoGame/TalesOfLegendia'''s Stingle is a PunchClockVillain. [[spoiler: He does it support his ill daughter.]]
277%%* Aribeth in ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'' (sort of).
278* Wallachia in ''VideoGame/MeltyBlood''. Turns out he was trying to prevent the end of the world, but every solution he came up with just made things worse. He became a Dead Apostle in order to get the power to hopefully avert it.
279** Speaking of the {{Franchise/Nasuverse}}, we have Emiya Kiritsugu, from ''Literature/FateZero'' and ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'', who is more than willing to shoulder all the evils in the world in order to save everyone. [[spoiler: He did shoulder all the evils in the world, but didn't completely save people from them.]]
280** ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' introduces the Evils of Humanity, also known as the Beast class Servants. While all of them are [[BeastOfTheApocalypse Beasts of the Apocalypse]] and [[EmbodimentOfVice manifestations of the evils of mankind]], the Seventh Lostbelt indicates that they are actually needed for the Human Order to function. [[spoiler:The inhabitants of the Lostbelt, sapient dinosaurs known as Deinos, are explicitly shown to lack any of the evils the Beasts represent. This makes them perfected being, but also leaves them ''completely stagnant'', as they have no need to grow as people. This is why, despite their similarities to Fairy Britain, their Lostbelt has not transformed into a Lostworld - they just exist contentedly with no higher aspirations]].
281* Yuan in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' may be this or a WellIntentionedExtremist. It doesn't show him acting guilty for what he does, but then again, he doesn't show much emotion at all and the storyline doesn't focus on him enough to give him a chance.
282* Being a fairly nuanced RPG, ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' allows you to behave like this in any number of situations, justifying a great deal of evil as necessary to destroy the darkspawn.
283** [[WellIntentionedExtremist Loghain]] definitely feels this way about [[EtTuBrute what]] [[GeneralRipper he's]] [[TheUriahGambit done]] by the end of the game. Doesn't change the fact that he's [[VillainousBreakdown a wee bit unhinged at this point...]] [[spoiler:Though if you recruit him, he becomes TheAtoner.]]
284** In [[VideoGame/DragonAgeII the sequel]], [[spoiler:Anders]] stands out among a city of [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well-Intentioned Extremists]] as one of the few who acknowledges that the actions taken to reach [[spoiler:his]] goals are inexcusable. [[spoiler:He]] doesn't [[spoiler:blow up the Chantry]] because [[spoiler:he]] thinks it's the right thing to do... but because things have gotten so hopeless and [[spoiler:the stalemate between the templars and the mages has remained deadlocked]] for so long that [[spoiler:he]] sees no other option.
285** [[spoiler:Meredith]] verges on this a few times as well, though it swings back and forth between this and KnightTemplar given the SanitySlippage means one moment [[spoiler:she]]'s insisting [[spoiler:the templars]] are entirely in the right, and the next [[spoiler:she]] seems more regretful and willing to acknowledge some of [[spoiler:her methods for controlling the mages]] are inhumane. Sometimes within the span of a few seconds.
286** The Mages' Circle is guilty of this as well; they actually ''are'' harboring Blood Mages and Abominations, firstly because the evidence of their existence would be all the Templars need to oppress them further or outright purge them, and secondly because if the Templars decide to do that anyway the Circle will need all the power they can get on their side. Their necessary evil comes to the same logical conclusion at the same time as the Templars'.
287** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', Cassandra states after her personal quest that she always saw the [[BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood Rite of Tranquility]] as a necessary evil. However, learning the real history of the Rite, the conditions of the Circles, and the beginnings of the Mage-Templar war, have left her questioning just how necessary it was.
288** Her partner Leliana very much subscribes to this trope: kill a traitor? You'd be hard pressed to talk her out of it. Cut out the tongues of slanderers? This and threatening The Inquisitor's family is her stock in trade. Kidnapping the children of The Inquisition's enemies? A valid tactic. Using an assassin's remains to scare off threats? This is actually one of her prouder funny moments. She hates herself for these actions but firmly rooted in DirtyBusiness unless you take action.
289* ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'':
290** Duke is the poster boy for this trope. His Entelexeia friend Elucifur was betrayed and killed by humans [[HumansAreBastards right after Elucifur helped them win the Great War]]. When the [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Adephagos]] eventually showed up, his solution for it was to destroy it using the energy absorbed from the life force of humans, including himself, effectively wiping humanity off the face of the planet but saving every other life form. [[spoiler:Unusually for the final boss, the party manages to talk him out of it at the end of battle and he ends up helping them.]]
291** ''TheHero himself'' [[DeadpanSnarker Yuri]] [[BadassNormal Lowell]] views [[spoiler: his acts of vigilante killing of some reprehensible people]] as this. He comes around before the climax against the BigBad after seeing just how far this could take him. [[spoiler: This is half the reason he's able to convince Duke to trust in them and talk him out of destroying the world; he's able to empathize with his viewpoint.]]
292* Master Mattias in ''VideoGame/LuminousArc2'', who seems to continue his reign of terror of killing people to fuel Rega the demon sword with their souls, after being released from being sealed by [[TheDragon Fatima]] and Josie. [[spoiler:He's actually preparing to stop the Beast Fiends at their source and sealed ''them'' away, plus the souls inside Rega will be released after it's used for the plan.]]
293* In ''VideoGame/RockmanAndForteMiraiKaraNoChosensha'', R-Shadow reveals to Mega Man that the reason he's come from the future to destroy him was to stop the problems that Wily has caused at its roots by destroying all of the robots of the past.
294* In ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'', [[spoiler:[[TheAtoner Sagacious Zu]]]] claims that he viewed the actions of the Lotus Assassins -- killing political opponents and terrorizing the citizens of the Empire -- as necessary to preserve the authority of the Emperor and the stability of the Empire. [[spoiler:When they started targeting women and children purely as punitive action against their husbands/fathers, however, it got too much for him.]]
295* ''VideoGame/MetalGear'':
296** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'': Solidus Snake knows his and Dead Cell's actions are wrong and likely being manipulated by outside forces, but it's what he feels must be done to free America from the Patriots. Ironically, this makes the player character an agent of the GreaterScopeVillain.
297** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'': In order to save the world, The Joy had to be perceived as a traitor and die by Naked Snake's hands. Needless to say, this caused some nasty emotional trauma to him, and differences in interpretation of her will ultimately made things worse for the next half-century.
298* Act 3 of the ''VideoGame/FreeSpace2'' [[GameMod mod]] ''[[VideoGame/BluePlanet War in Heaven]]'' has the [[StateSec Fedayeen]] faction. They view themselves as monsters and psychopaths who have no place in their relatively peaceful society, and are expected to carry out atrocities without hesitation, while still recognizing that they are atrocities. They use any means at their disposal to secure the survival of the United Earth Federation, because their defeat will (supposedly) signal the extinction of the human race, and maintain there's no room for morality when the stakes are that high. [[spoiler: Judging from what we've seen in the story so far, [[TheExtremistWasRight they may have a point.]]]]
299* Many of the Renegade decisions in the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' games can come across like this.
300** Saren Arterius, TheDragon of ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', believes his terrible actions such as [[spoiler: attacking a defenseless colony, researching living weapons, and betraying the Council]] are absolutely necessary for the future of the galaxy. [[ThatOneBoss Tela Vasir]], a Spectre in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', provides this justification for her ruthless actions such as [[spoiler:bombing an office building with many civilians inside]]. She combines this with NotSoDifferentRemark and ShutUpKirk if a Paragon Shepard - who is working with the terrorists of Cerberus - calls her out on it.
301** In ''Mass Effect 3'', Paragon Shepard appears to view working with Cerberus in ''Mass Effect 2'' as a necessary evil: (s)he hates what they stand for and what they do, but they were literally the only people in the galaxy who were actually ''listening'' about the Reaper threat and taking it seriously. During the events of ''Mass Effect 2'', (s)he had nowhere else to turn when things needed to get done, [[TheChessmaster in large part because the Illusive Man drove away anyone else who might have helped Shepard]].
302** [[OmniDisciplinaryScientist Mordin Solus]] was one of scientists in charge of the project to "update" the [[DepopulationBomb genophage]] biological weapon to keep the fertility rate for [[ProudWarriorRace krogan]] extremely low. He justifies this as a choice between "genophage or genocide", reasoning that if the krogan can replenish their population, they will once again try to conquer new worlds and go to war with the rest of the galaxy. [[TheFederation The Council races]] would probably win, but if a second krogan war happened the krogan would probably be wiped out entirely.
303*** A paragon Shepard [[spoiler:can help convince Mordin to have a change of heart, as he is genuinely moved by the suffering of krogan desperate to have children and carry on their culture. Depending on other choices, he might also have confidence in the new generation of krogan leaders to be less warlike. In Mass Effect 3, he can even wind up giving his life in a HeroicSacrifice to cure the genophage and save the krogan]].
304** From a certain point of view, [[spoiler:[[MechanicalAbomination the Reapers]] themselves are this. They wipe out technologically advanced species on a regular schedule so that they don't wind up creating an even more dangerous form of synthetic life that completely extinguishes organic life in the galaxy for good. The memories of the destroyed civilizations are preserved and younger races are allowed to take their place in time]].
305* The titular ''VideoGame/{{Kamui}}'' fighters are considered this since they use the inhumane BrainUploading technology, but they where necessary due to the ZODIAC's laying waste to the earth at the time.
306* [[spoiler:Balthazar]] in ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIIThroneOfBhaal''. He is one of the Five, a group of Bhaalspawn convinced by the BigBad to exterminate their siblings, ostensibly in exchange for a chance to serve as the lieutenants of Bhaal, the dead god of murder, when he is resurrected by the deaths of enough of his children. When you confront him it turns out he has other plans - he intends to eliminate the other members of the Five and as many Bhaalspawn he can find, the BigBad (who is the only one who can resurrect Bhaal), and then kill himself, ensuring that Bhaal's chance to return dies with him. The player has no choice but to fight him, and he verbally regrets the player character death as a "necessity."
307* The plot of ''VideoGame/ShadowHeartsCovenant'' expands on the motivation of the [[VideoGame/ShadowHearts1 first game]]'s antagonist, turning him from a WellIntentionedExtremist into something more like this trope. It turns out [[spoiler:Albert Simon was desperately trying to stop UsefulNotes/{{Rasputin|TheMadMonk}} and the secret society Sapientes Gladio from potentially destroying humanity in their bid to take over Europe through occult means]].
308* In the ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' short story ''In the Shadow of the Sun'' ([[http://us.battle.net/wow/en/game/lore/leader-story/lorthemar-theron/1 available for reading on the official website]]), Lor'themar Theron admits to being this in his personal journal.
309* The BigBad of ''VideoGame/ShadowrunReturns: [[ExpansionPack Dragonfall]]'' is willing to [[spoiler:loose an insane dragon upon Berlin, infected with a magical virus that will spread across the globe and cause a worldwide draconic genocide]] because of the threat they cause. [[spoiler:He seems to deeply regret his own actions but claims they are necessary to save metahumanity from inevitable subjugation by dragonkind]].
310* The true BigBad of ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' believes that the Score is harmful to humanity and wants it gone. [[spoiler:To this end he wants to destroy the entire world and replace all of it with a perfect replica, due to replicas being ImmuneToFate.]] At least one member of the QuirkyMinibossSquad wants the same thing and follows the BigBad because of it. [[{{Irony}} Ironically]] his actions as the BigBad forces the main party to save the world from the Score.
311* Blackwatch from ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}'' may be a small army of sociopaths, but their brutal tactics are necessary to prevent TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. [[InformedAttribute Or so we're told]]; in practice they aren't any better than the Marines at achieving their goals without the protagonist's help, and they mostly just make things worse by constantly interfering with said protagonist's efforts to help them. The second game drops the pretense and makes it clear that putting an unaccountable gang of [[BloodKnight blood knights]] and [[MadScientist mad scientists]] in charge of things isn't going to save the day.
312* In ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'', [[KingOfThieves Gangplank, the Saltwater Scourge]], was retroactively seen as this to [[NotSoSafeHarbor the pirate city of Bilgewater]]. While Gangplank is a cruel monster, ''everyone'' in Bilgewater was afraid of him so his presence kept the extremes in line. As soon as word spread that he was "[[NeverFoundTheBody dead]]" after he was killed, the entire city was thrown into chaos. His "killer", [[PirateGirl Miss Fortune]], had to lament the fact that even though [[RevengeBeforeReason her vendetta against him was paid, she also really screwed up the power dynamics and stability in Bilgewater]], and the only way it could be resolved is by taking control of the ruthless power vacuum left behind, [[HeWhoFightsMonsters putting her on a road to being just as cutthroat and dangerous as he was]].
313* [[spoiler:Dracula/Gabriel Belmont]] in ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow2 Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2]]'' believes himself to be this; on top of feeling like he had no choice to become evil in the first place, he considers himself a necessary evil in that, due to his overwhelming power and presence, his existence keeps greater evils at bay.
314* Colonel Zarpedon and her Lost Legion, the obvious antagonists for most of ''VideoGame/BorderlandsThePreSequel'', use "[killing] thousands to save millions" as a slogan. They've got a point, too, although they don't try very hard to make anyone understand it.
315* ''VideoGame/SenranKagura'': In ''Estival Versus'', when Miyabi and Homura are discussing what it means to be evil to them, Miyabi's answer boils down to being evil so that good has something to strive being stronger than, so that when true evil emerges, they are strong enough to face it.
316* In ''VideoGame/HorizonZeroDawn'', the main villain was originally intended to be this; [[spoiler:GAIA, the AI responsible for reseeding Earth's biosphere after a RobotWar, was, by her very nature, dedicated to the preservation of life above all else. However, since a biosphere is extremely delicate, the slightest issue would make it unusable. If that happened, HADES would step in to do what GAIA couldn't; Wipe the slate clean.]] The reason they become the villain is simply that they were put into action when it wasn't necessary.
317** A recording of General Aaron Herres admits that Operation Enduring Victory, the fight to stop the Faro robots until Project Zero Dawn can provide the weapon it needs to stop them and win [[spoiler:was a lie. He and the other leaders knew extinction of life on Earth was inevitable, and so they knowingly threw people into a hopeless battle, mobilizing them with false propaganda and promises of victory just to buy time with their lives so Zero Dawn could be completed for recreating the biosphere and humanity after extinction.]].
318* Jin Kazama in ''VideoGame/Tekken6'' purposefully started World War 3 to awaken an ancient Egyptian demon that is only summoned when humanity is in grave danger in order to defeat it and destroy it once and for all in hopes of ridding himself of the Evil Gene that turns him into a demon.
319[[/folder]]
320
321[[folder:Web Animation]]
322* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'':
323** Blake's EvilFormerFriend Ilia Amitola makes it clear she hates hurting people and isn't a fan of the [[FantasticTerrorists extreme methods]] the [[AntiHumanAlliance White Fang]] use to further their cause, but feels it's necessary because they've tried everything else and humans either actively hate Faunus or [[AccompliceByInaction stand back]] and let the hate happen. She ultimately decides otherwise and pulls a HeelFaceTurn when Blake asks her what [[MoralityChainBeyondTheGrave her parents]] would think of what she's doing.
324--->'''Ilia''': There's no such thing as innocent! There's no right thing to do! Only what's best for us! There's the humans that still hate the Faunus, and there's the others who stand by and let the hate happen! But you know what snuffs out hate? Fear. I don't like hurting people. But I'll tell you this... it's gotten us results.
325** Ironwood deconstructs the trope. By his own admission, ''any'' act, no matter how unethical or immoral, is necessary if it helps fight [[BigBad Salem]]. However, Ironwood arrogantly and stubbornly believes that only ''he'' knows what the "Greater Good" is. His refusal to consider any other alternatives, combined with his callous disregard for anyone he deems unimportant, results in his policies harming the people he should be protecting while enabling Salem's DivideAndConquer methods. [[spoiler:By the end of Volume 7, he has become [[HeWhoFightsMonsters no better than Salem]], perfectly willing to let half his kingdom die so he can put the other half under martial law to safeguard the Relics, violently lashing out at anyone who disagrees with him]].
326[[/folder]]
327
328[[folder:Webcomics]]
329* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'':
330** Othar Tryggvassen, GentlemanAdventurer! is convinced that all [[MadScientist Sparks]] are a menace to the world and seeks to eliminate all of them, ending with himself. [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040922 Read his rant.]]
331** Also in the same comic, Klaus Wulfenbach took over Europe and rules it with an iron fist to prevent Sparks from running wild and terrorizing the populace with pointless wars; it is implied (and later proven) that his rule is the only thing keeping all of Europa from looking like a post-1918 Western Front with a twist of GaslampFantasy.
332* In the ''Webcomic/ThogInfinitron'', the aliens that gave Thog his powers [[http://www.drunkduck.com/Thog_Infinitron/index.php?p=415148 finally realize their mistake]], and decide [[spoiler:they must destroy Thog to hide their mistake, even though they admire him.]])
333* ''Webcomic/EerieCuties'': Tia Darkness is [[EnfantTerrible a pint-sized demoness]] who [[EmotionEater feeds on misery]] [[http://www.eeriecuties.com/strips-ec/i_am_eating_here and discord.]] The inverse, is that displays of kindness, friendship, and happiness, [[http://www.eeriecuties.com/strips-ec/aura_of_innocence can cause her to become physically ill.]] In extreme cases, it threatens to [[spoiler:[[http://www.eeriecuties.com/strips-ec/so_much_more_to_do make her fade out of existence]]]]. Meaning, in all likelihood, she has no choice but to sow discord in order to ''sustain'' her existence.
334* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'':
335** Abraham views his oath to kill the spawn of the Dewitchery Diamond this way. To his credit, the Dewitchery Diamond ''usually'' spawns highly dangerous beasts or monsters. In this case though, [[spoiler:he has a crisis of conscience when he realizes that what the Diamond spawned this time was an innocent young girl... but ultimately decides that because he swore that oath, he ''must'' go through with it. Nanase eventually snaps him out of this by pointing out that he swore that oath with the intention of protecting innocent people: Ellen '''''is''''' an innocent person, so while killing her might fulfill the letter of his oath, it would violate the spirit of it. Abraham concedes the point and backs off.]]
336** Arthur, head of TheMenInBlack who uphold TheMasquerade about magic, describes himself and his job like this. He believes in freedom for all, but also believes that some information should be hidden because it's just too dangerous for the general public to know about. He also strongly objects to the idea that his actions should ever be considered "good" in the grand scheme of things: Necessarily Evil is still ''evil'', and to call it anything else is a trap that will lead to even greater evil.
337* This is how Vriska sees herself in ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}''. She justifies her constant abuse and even sacrificing her teammates as being "for the greater good". Sometimes it seems she actually is right, but most of the time her "helpfulness" is ambiguous at best.
338[[/folder]]
339
340[[folder:Web Original]]
341* ''Roleplay/DinoAttackRPG'':
342** This is how General Evil initially viewed himself, explaining why George Ogel agreed to be called "General Evil" while serving under his brother. Despite genuinely believing that his beliefs were correct and ultimately for the greater good, he was aware that his morals would be considered "evil" by the general populace. These beliefs faded away after the incident which left his body scarred, after which [[ItsPersonal it became personal]].
343** Dr. Rex most likely knew that dooming his own species to extinction would be an act considered "evil", but in his delusions [[spoiler:created by the Darkitect's manipulations]], he believed that this was for the greater good of the universe.
344* The Website/SCPFoundation is a single giant example of [[ShootTheDog dog shooting,]] [[IDidWhatIHadToDo doing what's necessary]], and [[ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow protecting you from things you don't need to know about.]] The Ethics Committee makes sure that every evil that they do is necessary. Any scientists who KickTheDog without a good reason (and no, ForScience is not a good reason) are punished appropriately (read: killed).
345** [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-231 SCP-231]] is contained by Procedure 110-Montauk, which is never described in detail, but the details we are told about[[note]]Like the fact that all non-D-class staff have to be rotated out every two months for psychological counseling, and are permitted to subject themselves to LaserGuidedAmnesia after they've completed their assignment with SCP-231[[/note]] make it clear that what they are doing is subjecting an innocent young woman to a horrifically traumatizing procedure (which ''has'' to be traumatizing or else it won't work, so they have to keep wiping her memory of it every time she starts becoming desensitized to it), because if they don't, she will give birth to something undisclosed which poses a serious threat to everyone in the surrounding area and possibly ''life as we know it''. [[spoiler:An EasterEgg hidden on the page questions how necessary this evil actually is]].
346** [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-1427 SCP-1427]] is a steele that attempts to inflict severe mental damage to the nearest roughly-20,000 humans who aren't already under its effects. Humans with authoritative-submissive tendencies will still be targeted, but will not suffer the effects. To maximize its containment, it's been placed in UsefulNotes/NorthKorea, a dictatorship of 25 million citizens, and the Foundation has agents in United Nations Security Council member-states that make sure that it remains a so-called [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny "Democratic People's Republic"]] of Korea. This trope actually gets discussed in an addendum by two dissenting members of the Ethics Committee, who deem this containment procedure an unnecessary evil and explain that the Foundation has almost enough D-class personnel to prop up a self-contained dictatorship to house SCP-1427 in so that the people of North Korea can get on with having actual human rights already.
347* She-Beast of the Literature/WhateleyUniverse describes the international supervillain Dr. Diabolik like this, including talking about the thousands of people who have died in his efforts to advance the human race. She may be giving him more credit than he deserves though, since she is his daughter.
348** Now that we have seen him attack the entire city of Cincinnati, we know the truth. She didn't give him enough credit.
349* Several of the students in the experiment feel this way in ''Literature/{{Pyrrhic}}'', as they are being forced to kill each other, so justifiably they can murder others to save themselves. [[spoiler:[=DeQuan=]]] feels this way about plotting with Ryan to kill [[spoiler:Joshua because of [[MercyKill what he did to Chase]]]].
350* In [[WebVideo/MyLittlePonyTheMentallyAdvancedSeries Rainbow Dash Presents: Captain Hook The Biker Gorilla]] (a parody of ''Fanfic/RainbowFactory''), Surprise is completely aware killing the foals is wrong and even admits staying up wondering what [[{{Hell}} Pony Hell]] looks like and what her parents would think of her if they knew. But she sees what they are doing as necessary too and spends the episode trying to convince her new manager, [[TokenGoodTeammate Rainbow Dash]], this. [[spoiler:It's later revealed that it wasn't necessary after all.]]
351* ''WebVideo/HellsingUltimateAbridged'': [[BadassPreacher Anderson]] and his posse give a BadassCreed about how they are a necessary evil in episode 5.
352-->'''Anderson''': Who are we?\
353'''Iscariotis Soldiers''': The necessary evil!\
354'''Anderson''': And why are we necessary?\
355'''Iscariotis Soldiers''': To purge the world of evil worse than man!\
356'''Anderson''': And why are we God's chosen few, ordained to undertake this unholy task?\
357'''Iscariotis Soldiers''': Because no one else will!\
358'''Anderson''': ''([[AssKickingPose brandishes bayonets]])'' [[BloodKnight And because it's fucking fun]]! [[PutTheLaughterInSlaughter AHAHAHAHAHHAHAA]][[ReligiousBruiser AAAAAAAAAAMEEEEN!]]
359[[/folder]]
360
361[[folder:Western Animation]]
362* The Shame Wizard from ''WesternAnimation/BigMouth'' is the embodiment of shame and is always there to spread guilt amongst the main cast and all the other students in their grade. However, as he rightly points out in his song, without shame, things would devolve into a chaotic mess. Andrew himself also realizes that shame helps everyone reflect on their wrongdoings and gives them the chance to learn from it.
363* ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'': [[Characters/TheDragonPrinceViren Lord Viren]] belives that sometimes a problem requires a "creative solution". If it works, then why care about the details?
364* In the beginning of the WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker short ''Ration Bored'', Woody himself flat out admits that he is a necessary evil. Given the context under which he said that, he could have meant it as a joke.
365* In the Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse:
366** Amanda Waller saw Cadmus as a check as against the Justice League falling from grace.
367** The [[KnightTemplar Justice Lords]]. They see themselves as being able to accomplish what the Justice League cannot.
368* Wonder Man in ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes''; the ''only'' reason he is acting as a member of the [[LegionOfDoom Masters of Evil]] is because their BlackMagicianGirl, the Enchantress, is the one casting the spell that allows him to stay alive, meaning he can only stay alive if he does what they say. Other than that, he has absolutely no interest in being a supervillain.
369** As it turns out, [[spoiler:this was all a lie on The Enchantress' part. After The Masters of Evil broke up, there was nothing keeping him alive, except himself.]]
370** [[ConquerorFromTheFuture Kang the Conqueror]] seems to be an example of this. He came to the past to prevent an intergalactic war from destroying the Earth. Unfortunately, saving the Earth entailed taking it over and killing Captain America.
371* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFlightOfDragons'', this is stated to be the divine purpose of Ommadon, the Red Wizard of Fire and Darkness; his evil gives his benevolent brothers something to oppose and define themselves against, and without him they would be weak, flickering, purposeless beings.
372** If one is inclined to [[VillainHasAPoint sympathize with Ommadon for being outraged over science striving to destroy the magical world]], then his plan to destroy and discredit science to preserve the world of magic can be viewed as this.
373* Dr. Zoidberg's view on his people's brutal conquest and enslavement of Earth in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' after the Earthicans attempt to punish him for eating their flag on "Freedom Day." He felt this would teach them to actually value their freedom over mindless conformity. Fortunately he has a HeelRealization when the Decapodian Occupation Force [[RunningGag killed his lawyer Old Man Waterfall.]], who had been the only man to actually defend his right to eat the flag.
374[[/folder]]

Top