Line #62 Main/ThenLetMeBeEvil


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3	%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Take care to put your example in its proper place in accordance with Administrivia/HowToAlphabetizeThings!
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7	[[quoteright:338:[[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/action362.png]]]]
8	[[caption-width-right:338: You're a [[{{Superdickery}} dick]], [[ADickInName Grayson]].]]
9
10	->''"Thou call'dst me dog before thou hadst a cause;\
11	But, since I am a dog, beware my fangs."''
12	-->-- '''Shylock''', ''Theatre/TheMerchantOfVenice''
13
14	%%Quote changed per thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1327331003042025100&page=121
15	%%Do not change or remove without discussing it there first.
16
17	Sometimes the supposed [[NiceJobBreakingItHero "forces of good"]] in a story treat an "evil" character [[DesignatedVillain badly enough, for long enough]], that the "evil" character just gives up trying to show the heroes that they are not evil and becomes a villain for real. Prolonged exposure to the cynical side of the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism has conditioned this character to accept the fact that HumansAreTheRealMonsters, and if they want to get anywhere in life, they have to [[FaceHeelTurn be every bit as dirty and cruel as they are]].
18
19	The villain normally gets to this point by being rejected by the resident morality enforcers and treated to {{demonization}} and assumptive behavior. Whether it is due to being of a different nationality, hailing from a ([[FantasticRacism stereotypically]]) AlwaysChaoticEvil species in somewhat more justified cases, [[VillainBallMagnet having bad things happen wherever they go]], or [[OnceDoneNeverForgotten having had a few evil moments in the past]], they just ''cannot'' get a break; even if they try to do good deeds, it will only lead to being [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished horrifically punished]] for them at worst and having them be disregarded or treated as insincere attempts at fostering goodwill at best. As they see it, their reputation is so tarnished that there is absolutely no way of changing anyone's mind that they are not a monster. So what is the use of [[HaveYouTriedNotBeingAMonster trying to be anything other than the monster which they are already seen as]]?
20
21	In some cases, a [[BewareTheNiceOnes genuinely innocent person]] being repeatedly [[FrameUp framed up]] for [[ArrestedForHeroism committing things they never did]] into a stage where they have no chance to redeem themselves might as well [[SelfFulfillingProphecy become exactly what they are being framed as]] and [[TheDogBitesBack repay their favors onto everyone]].
22
23	Once this trope has been declared, unlike a lot of AmbiguouslyEvil characters, the new villains won't be redeemed in spite of their sympathetic traits — this is largely because it took a lot of work to turn them evil in the first place. Interestingly, in spite of all this, they don't look for excuses to [[KickTheDog kick puppies]] — [[NobleDemon they still have morals]], they just exercise a (much) more cynical variant of TheGoldenRule. That is not to say that they won't do terrible things — indeed, a MoralEventHorizon may follow. The difference is that while they may wind up doing something truly heinous or, at the very least, becoming horribly callous and ruthless, they won't go around engaging in wanton acts of needless cruelty ForTheEvulz. However, they tend to be '''good''' at being their chosen brand of evil, often to the [[GoneHorriblyRight regret of those that forced them into the trope]].
24
25	The trope can be played to be more or less convincing for the audience depending on what point the writer wants to make. You can have the statement come across like a cheap FreudianExcuse such that it feels just like the villain is [[NeverMyFault not truly owning up to their own part in their villainy]]. You could have it come across as a genuine explanation, but still not an excuse; either their actions were too far beyond the pale, or it is a case of "too little, too late". And then again, it could be used as a genuine exposure of mistakes society has made, or even an outright [[WhatTheHellHero exposure and commentary of the other characters' hypocrisy]].
26
27	This trope is often a perfect point for the audience to begin RootingForTheEmpire; after all, if the character's ascended to the status of a main antagonist because of them being subjected to prolonged (perceived or actual) {{Jerkass}}ery, then what's the harm in wishing they might finally get a chance to succeed in their new role?
28
29	At that last point, you might start wondering who the villain really is, and the trope enters into DesignatedVillain, VillainProtagonist, and HeroAntagonist areas. You might have fun arguing with people over the authorial intent. There are also quite a few non-evil examples on this page, whose cynicism and bitterness makes them adopt a harsh exterior to hide the kindness that they were never rewarded for.
30
31	Also useful when an adaptation wants to keep an originally unambiguously evil character evil, but not ''quite'' as evil; for example, to try to clear up any UnfortunateImplications of the previous characterization. This trope can provide a backstory that makes the character a bit more sympathetic/understandable, while allowing them to maintain their well-established villainy (and/or retain their beloved [[EvilIsHammy Evil Ham]]).
32
33	Compare DrivenToVillainy when a traumatic event causes one to become evil. Related to HeelRealization, InternalizedCategorism, HeWhoFightsMonsters, ReformedButRejected, HeelFaceDoorSlam, CycleOfRevenge, TrappedInVillainy, NotHelpingYourCase, InterruptedCooldownHug, FullyEmbracedFiend, WhosLaughingNow, WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds, GoneHorriblyRight, MonsterFacade, and BigBadSlippage. Contrast YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre and BecomingTheMask (when a character pretends to be a good guy and gets treated like a good guy long enough that they actually '''become''' a good guy).
34
35	See also SelfFulfillingProphecy, CreateYourOwnVillain, and NatureVersusNurture.
36
37	'''SPOILER WARNING: due to the nature of this trope, spoilers abound. [[{{Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned}} You Have Been Warned!]]'''
38	----
39	!!Examples:
40	[[index]]
41	* ThenLetMeBeEvil/AnimeAndManga
42	* ThenLetMeBeEvil/ComicBooks
43	* ThenLetMeBeEvil/FanWorks
44	* [[ThenLetMeBeEvil/AnimatedFilms Films - Animated]]
45	* [[ThenLetMeBeEvil/LiveActionFilms Films - Live-Action]]
46	* ThenLetMeBeEvil/{{Literature}}
47	* ThenLetMeBeEvil/LiveActionTV
48	* ThenLetMeBeEvil/TabletopGames
49	* ThenLetMeBeEvil/VideoGames
50	* ThenLetMeBeEvil/WesternAnimation
51	[[/index]]
52
53	[[foldercontrol]]
54
55	[[folder:Music]]
56	* Music/AliceCooper's "No More Mr. Nice Guy":
57	-->I used to be such a sweet, sweet thing / Till they got hold of me.
58	* This is the ending of Music/{{Tripod}}'s song "Suicide Bomber"--the falsely accused bomber is awaiting release after [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil repeated torture]], and is already planning to blow up a bus.
59	* Happens in Music/AdamWarrock's song "Sad Ultron". All the newest incarnation of Hank Pym's Ultron wants is to hang out and be accepted, but because all previous versions of him went all KnightTemplar and evil, everyone assumes he'll do the same -- thanks to being shunned and hated, he turns evil on principle.
60	-->"Sorry y'all, I tried to be a nice dude, fuckin' human intelligence made me wanna fight too/And that's ironic, isn't it? The fact that human indifference made a robot turn evil and villainous/Fuck it, I'm engaging a plan to kill Hank Pym/ Ask me if I'm one of those nice robots, I'm not him."
61	** Averted the one time this actually happened in the ''comics''; in the 1980s ''ComicBook/WestCoastAvengers'' run, Ultron Mark 12 did in fact reform and managed to win his initially suspicious "father" Henry Pym over without too much trouble. It didn't last because [[RedemptionEqualsDeath the still-existing earlier Ultron model didn't share "Mark"'s sentiments]].
62	* From Killer Mike's "That's life", where he gives his views on many of the current issues of the day and authority's failure to handle them
63	-->Ask em am I a bad guy? "Ya Goddamn right!" I done seen how ya do a [[NWordPrivileges nigga]] when he doing right.
64	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wA5NmQESx8 "Down With The Sickness"]] by {{Music/Disturbed}}, especially the child abuse segment which is about "mother society beating down on the freaks."
65	* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ppr5_QTWc24&list=FLM2CFpnQLwo2DUJ6zebbNmA&index=63 Meet The Monster]]" by Music/FiveFingerDeathPunch.
66	* One [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC_V3zYjEdM English dub]] of ''[[Franchise/EvilliciousChronicles Servant of Evil]]'' has a variation:
67	-->''They say you are a lady of vice and disdain, then I am evil as well, with the same blood in my veins.''
68	* Music/{{Eminem}} has explored this topic in many of songs, but it becomes a primary element in the sequel to his hit song "Stan", appropriately enough, titled "Bad Guy". The final verse really drives the trope home, with Stan's younger brother, Matthew, mocking the rapper, as the young man takes vengeance on Eminem, for driving Stan to suicide.
69	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfuWXRZe9yA "Behind Blue Eyes"]] by Music/{{The Who}}. Townshend wrote it as a VillainSong for an abandoned concept album, telling the story of Jimbo, "forced into a position of being a villain whereas he felt he was a good guy."
70	* Music/LilNasX invokes this in the music video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6swmTBVI83k Montero (Call Me By Your Name)]]." After a lifetime of being told queer people were going to Hell, he films a music video where he rejects Heaven, slides down to Hell on a stripper pole, gives the devil a lapdance, then kills him [[KlingonPromotion and takes his crown]].
71	* In the iconic (and often misunderstood) Music/BlackSabbath song "Iron Man", a hero from an apocalyptic future is sent back in time to save the world, but the process turns his body to metal. When he arrives in the past, humanity panics, thinking him some kind of alien monster. He eventually snaps and [[StableTimeLoop becomes the one who destroyed the world in the first place]].
72	* In the Music/ElvisCostello song "Miss [=MacBeth=]", an old woman is mocked and tormented by the young children of the neighborhood, who call her a witch. She eventually decides to become one, and engages in [[EyeOfNewt arcane rituals]] to visit pain and suffering on the children.
73	[[/folder]]
74
75	[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
76	* La Parka Jr was antagonized by [[Wrestling/LaParka the original]], for being an imposter, to the point L.A. Park joined [[LegionOfDoom La Sociedad]]. Cibernético and Los Bizarros antagonized La Parka Jr. for "betraying" Wrestling/{{AAA}}, even after he returned, almost as much as they did La Sociedad, who were actively trying to make a mess of AAA. After their mutual elimination from Copa Antonio Peña at the 2011 ''Héroes Inmortales'', La Parka Jr. officially joined La Sociedad.
77	* After Drew Blood was [[LoserLeavesTown kicked out]] of Wrestling/{{CZW}} by Devon Moore, he decided that if he was going to successfully get revenge on the resident scumbag of the company, he was going to have to become the devil. He later recruited Rory Mondo to his cause, who had similar feelings about Moore's TagTeam partner Danny Havoc and Matt Tremont, whom he convinced had been abandoned by The Nation Of Intoxication and "[[YouBastard the marks]]". Ron Matthis meanwhile agreed to join "The Forgotten Ones" in their "Devilry" [[PunchClockVillain so long as it got him on shows]].
78	* Wrestling/KevinSteen was on board with Wrestling/JimmyJacobs and Steve Corino's efforts to reform him at first, but after Wrestling/RingOfHonor security kicked him out of the building upon his return to explain this, he joined the House of Truth in attacking Corino. This led Wrestling/JimCornette to proclaim that Steen would never have another match in ROH again, and ''that'' led Steen to convince Jacobs and Corino that GoodIsDumb and kickstarted SCUM (Suffering Chaos Ugliness Mayhem) and their effort to destroy the company and eventually the wrestling industry (Wrestling/{{Chikara}} was to be next on their hit list, and Jacobs almost did take it down with [[LegionOfDoom The Flood]]).
79	* One possible interpretation of Wrestling/MuhammadHassan. It seemed that the original intention of the character was as a face due to being constantly MistakenForTerrorist after 9/11-- but audiences kept treating him as a heel, and the character became exactly the sort of stereotype that it was originally meant to campaign against.
80	[[/folder]]
81
82	[[folder:Theater]]
83	* In ''Theatre/BatBoyTheMusical'', "Apology to a Cow" ends with this.
84	-->'''[[spoiler:Bat Boy:]]''' ''"I don't want to harm you, I only want to [[ChewingTheScenery KILL!]]\
85	You shall have your monster, I shall drink my fill!\
86	At last I am embracing my bloody destiny!\
87	Dear [[spoiler:Mom and Dad]], this place will be\
88	The last thing that you ever see!\
89	Revenge will be a home for me!"''
90	* In ''Theatre/LesMiserables'', Valjean briefly does this after society doesn't give him a fair chance for being on parole. This prompts him to decide to become a thief. Fortunately, the first person he chooses to rob is a very kind and forgiving bishop who covers for the theft and insists that Valjean pay him back by becoming a good man.
91	* Shakespeare loved this trope:
92	** Perhaps most famously, Shylock of ''Theatre/TheMerchantOfVenice'' is often interpreted as this and provides the page quote. The play establishes early on that Antonio, TheProtagonist, is at the very least verbally abusive of Shylock due to Shylock's Jewish faith. When Shylock sees the opportunity to get revenge on Antonio and do it legally, he jumps at the opportunity, even though he knows it is villainous: As he states at the end of his famous "[[DidYouThinkICantFeel Hath not a Jew eyes?]]" speech, "The villainy you teach me, I will execute." Whether Shylock is intended to be this or an AntiVillain JerkassWoobie, and whether the play is truly anti-semitic or FairForItsDay, is left up to modern scholars and audiences to decide — Shakespeare certainly isn't around to tell us.
93	** Don John, the DesignatedVillain of ''Theatre/MuchAdoAboutNothing''. He protests his state thusly:
94	--->"I had rather be a canker in a hedge than a rose in his grace, and it better fits my blood to be disdained of all than to fashion a carriage to rob love from any: in this, though I cannot be said to be a flattering honest man, it must not be denied but I am a plain-dealing villain. I am trusted with a muzzle and enfranchised with a clog; therefore I have decreed not to sing in my cage. If I had my mouth, I would bite; if I had my liberty, I would do my liking: in the meantime let me be that I am and seek not to alter me."
95	** Similarly, the bastard son Edmund in ''Theatre/KingLear'' laments that he is categorized as base and lowly since he is "illegitimate." Since he is going to be treated unfairly regardless of how well-behaved he is, he resorts to evil to try and increase his standing.
96	** ''Theatre/RichardIII'' has the titular VillainProtagonist give his motivations in Act 1, Scene 1:
97	--->"And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover,\
98	To entertain these fair well-spoken days,\
99	I am determined to prove a villain\
100	And hate the idle pleasures of these days."
101	** Aaron the Moor in ''Theatre/TitusAndronicus'' is not only happy to live up to the Roman's wicked expectations of him, in the end he finds he repents only the meager ''good'' he may have done.
102	** Averted, however, by Iago and Caliban (of Theatre/{{Othello}} and Theatre/TheTempest respectively), who make comments to the effect that they're just born to be evil.
103	* Similarly to "No Good Deed", ''Theatre/ShrekTheMusical'' has "Build a Wall".
104	-->'''Shrek:''' ''I'm gonna be what they want\
105	I'm gonna be what they say\
106	Hey world, I'll do it your way!\
107	You're looking for a monster, it's your lucky day\
108	I'll be what you want!''
109	* The titular song from ''Theatre/{{Twisted}}'' quite fittingly ''twists'' this trope. After listening to the other ''villains'' from Scheherazade's stories, and learning that things weren't as black and white as he was led to believe, Ja'far realizes that he is destined to play the villain in his own story as well, and willingly will do so, if it means saving the Princess, the Magic Kingdom, and everything he loves from a war with Prince Achmed and Pikzar, even if they all will hate him and remember him as evil.
110	* Elphaba of ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}'', after having every good deed that she's ever done [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished blow up in her face]], declares this near the end of her BSODSong "No Good Deed."
111	-->'''Elphaba''' ''Alright enough so be it\
112	So be it then\
113	Let all Oz be Agreed\
114	I'm [[TitleDrop Wicked]] through and through\
115	Since I cannot succeed Fiyero saving you\
116	I promise No Good Deed will I attempt to do again\
117	Ever Again\
118	No Good Deed\
119	Will I Do\
120	AGAIN!!!!!!!''
121	[[/folder]]
122
123	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
124	* ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'': A downplayed example happens with [[spoiler: Phoenix Wright]]; after 7 years of being disbarred because he was tricked into presenting forged evidence, he eventually decided to ''actually'' use forged evidence get the person responsible [[FramingTheGuiltyParty convicted of a murder that they'd committed]].
125	* ''VisualNovel/DiesIrae'' has Anna Maria Schwägelin, who ended up on the wrong end of a literal WitchHunt in the late 18th century, making her TheScapegoat for all the ills to befall her village. She was imprisoned until [[BadSamaritan Mercurius]] appeared and offered her a way out, and she leapt at the chance to accept his dark gifts and take revenge on her village, leaving not a single survivor. She then changed her name to Rusalka and spent the next 150 years honing her powers into being a bonafide witch.
126	* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'':
127	** In life, the gods subject Caster [[spoiler:aka Medea]] to a continuous cycle of betrayal, forcing her to love a man she doesn't know, and that same man eventually casts her aside to marry someone else. They make her a scapegoat for the evils of others, and it is a grand irony that, once she strikes back at the world, the title she receives is "The Witch of Betrayal".
128	** For Rider, the Goddess Athena became jealous of her and her sisters for being perfect goddesses, so she cursed her alone by turning everyone's love for her into hate. Rider spends her days protecting her sisters and killing the men who come for them, gradually losing her heart and eventually turning into [[spoiler:the monster Gorgon]].
129	* This is how [[HeroWithAnFInGood Kageaki Mintao]] from ''VisualNovel/FullMetalDaemonMuramasa'' finally resolves his GuiltComplex and inner self-hatred is by accepting his status as villain and becoming a DarkMessiah who promotes peace through destruction. Notably, this isn't society viewing Kageaki as evil, it's him viewing himself as evil and deciding to not be ashamed of it.
130	[[/folder]]
131
132	[[folder:Web Animation]]
133	* The very conception of the weird, boundary-pushing, memetically terrifying Haachama persona of WebAnimation/{{hololive}}'s Akai Haato was born from this conclusion vis-a-vis [=YouTube=]. As told in her appearance on Kiara Takanashi's [=HoloTalk=], her original mainstay of ASMR streams were quite tame but [=YouTube=]'s A.I. algorithm flagged them anyway and demonitized them, resulting in her getting no income from any of her streams for many months. In a case of CreateYourOwnVillain, she decided that if even that was going to be demonitized then there was no point in holding fast to the traditional cutsey and pure ideal of an idol; thus, she went full-throttle at going in the other direction and the [[CordonBleughChef spider-eating]], NSFW-fanart-reviewing, no-way-in-hell-seiso Haachama was born.
134	* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'':
135	** This was the explanation given for the [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters White Fang]] wearing Grimm masks; "Humanity chose to make monsters of us, so we chose to don the faces of monsters."
136	** [[spoiler: General James Ironwood]] has made it clear that he will use whatever means necessary to defeat Salem. [[spoiler:When he decides that means leaving an entire city to die, something the other characters aren't willing to allow]], he declares he's done letting other people's opinions hold him back from "saving" Remnant, and will embrace being the evil dictator if that's what it takes.
137	* ''WebAnimation/TheresAManInTheWoods'' (link [[http://vimeo.com/93052696 here]]) is about some sort of school administrator being fired after a child makes up a lie about there being a serial killer in the woods to get all the honeysuckle to himself, and the parents undergoing a [[ThinkOfTheChildren moral panic]] and getting him fired for not properly dealing with the nonexistent serial killer in the woods. [[spoiler:In the end, the man who has been telling the story is revealed to have gone into the woods in order to murder the child who originally made up the rumor while he is all alone, eating the honeysuckle where none of the other kids dare to go.]]
138	[[/folder]]
139
140	[[folder:Webcomics]]
141	* [[http://brawlinthefamily.keenspot.com/comic/258-bananaretrieval/ This scenario]] from ''Webcomic/BrawlInTheFamily'' follows up from the [[http://brawlinthefamily.keenspot.com/comic/257-bananahoarde/ previous one,]] in an attempt to answer why [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry King K. Rool]] has such a problem with DK.
142	* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', Gil tells Othar that "If being like you is the alternative, I'll gladly take evil" before knocking him off of a dirigible. Gil prefers the lighter and softer approach, but lives in a world and time where that is seen as weakness, and has to be hard-hitting and ruthless just to keep up. Othar thinks he's being a WellIntentionedExtremist by going around killing Sparks to "save the world" from their bouts of madness and plans to end his campaign with his own suicide — but Sparks are ''born'', including to non-Spark parents, and Othar is either oblivious to or a hypocrite about that fact.
143	* In ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob,'' Molly the Monster briefly [[https://bobadventures.thecomicseries.com/comics/72/ considers this, early on:]]
144	-->'''Molly:''' "F-Freak?" He shot at me just for what I look like? Yeah? W-Well, if they want a monster, maybe I'll just give them one! Like Shelley's Frankenstein Monster, if I cannot give love to the world, then I will give it ''wrath!'' I'll... I'll... Aw, who am I kidding? I haven't got any wrath! Oh Dr. Poule, what am I going to do? ''Sob!''
145	* Redcloak of ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' has this trait in his more sympathetic moments, most of which are in the prequel book ''[[Recap/TheOrderOfTheStickStartOfDarkness Start of Darkness]]''. As a member of the AlwaysChaoticEvil goblin race, if a "good" character murders him, any other goblins, or even any baby goblins for any reason, this is not treated as an "evil" act, even though the whole reason goblins are evil in the first place is supposedly because they murder without provocation. His example is particularly notable, as at one point he has a HeelRealization -- about the way he mistreats other goblins. He never seriously considers the idea that he's giving humans any less than they deserve.
146	* ''WebComic/JoeVsElanSchool'': A downplayed RealLife example. Right after returning from the titular JuvenileHell, Joe finds no sympathy or comfort from his parents or law enforcement, so he starts smoking weed and drinking, because why not. Barely a year out of Elan and Joe has taken up chain smoking, alcohol, drugs, and tattoos as coping mechanisms to deal with the social stigmas and PTSD he's enduring. Effectively, the abuse, indifference, and lack of sympathy has caused Joe to fully embrace self-destructive vices; Joe's narration even points out that a year earlier, he ''never'' would have imagined himself going down this path. Furthermore, Joe notices his story is hardly unique, as he kept in touch with other people who went through Elan, and observed that the vast majority of them fell into drug and alcohol abuse as way to cope with the massive traumas the place had inflicted upon them. And, it's important to note, Elan sold itself and its abusive methods to both parents and state governments, as a surefire way to discourage the unfortunate teenagers who were sent there from bad habits like drinking and smoking weed.
147	* ''[[http://piecomic.tumblr.com/post/154519447657/tbt Pie Comic]]'' features an orca whale complaining that being unfairly labeled "killer whale" is what sets them off in the first place.
148	* In ''WebComic/{{Spinnerette}}'', Dr. Universe says this to justify his status as a CardCarryingVillain. He does not consider himself evil, but rather an {{Ubermensch}} with his own moral code (that he adopted after reading Creator/AynRand). He acts with integrity, but his definitions of right and wrong do not always align with the rest of the world's. If this makes him evil in eyes of the ignorant masses, he will wear that label with pride.
149	-->'''Tiger:''' A good deed by a supervillain, that's rich.\
150	'''Dr. Universe:''' Ask the average joe today who the villains are, and he'll name the banker! The scientist! The entrepreneur! Ask him who his heroes are, and he'll name an actor or a pop star! If that is the [[EnragedByIdiocy standard of the day]], then I absolutely am a supervillain!
151	* In ''Webcomic/StarImpact'', [[StarterVillain Urchin]] was once a rough-around-the-edges rookie [[UsedToBeASweetKid who genuinely enjoyed boxing]]. [[https://www.starimpactcomic.com/comic/chapter-1-page-52-55 However]], audiences grew to despise him for his {{Heel}}[=-=]like attire, unapproachable RapidFireFisticuffs offense, and his [[PowersViaWeapon glove]] [[EveryoneHasASpecialMove power]] being SpikesOfDoom that makes it ''doubly'' hard to approach him, and before long, each victory of his was booed. He quit soon after, contenting himself to [[KickTheDog beating up any rookies that wandered into his alley]] as a twisted revenge against the League that cast him out.
152	* Occurs to Sandra years after she's transformed into a demon at the start of ''Webcomic/ZebraGirl''. Frustrated at the downsides of her new body[[labelnote:Examples]]Acidic blood, elongated claws that cut through almost anything she touches, having to stay incognito and forgo her social life[[/labelnote]] and waiting for an incredibly unlikely cure, she decides to throw it all to the wind and embrace it. She gets banished to another realm by her friends for her troubles, and thus far it appears that she's learnt her lesson.
153	[[/folder]]
154
155	[[folder:Web Original]]
156	* In ''WebVideo/BelkinusNecrohunt'', [[spoiler:Luc Badeaux]] argues this as the reason why so many Necromancers, including recurring antagonist Bloodstride, join the Spine of Death, which is basically a terrorist organization - their whole life, everyone around them treated something that makes them special as a sign of evil, and they had to hide their abilities or be labeled villains. A lot of them decided to stop trying to prove otherwise.
157	* Happens to Sombra from ''Blog/AskKingSombra''. He's managed to get some {{character development}}, and is ''almost'' ready to apologize to the Crystal Empire — and then some guards sent out to meet him mistreat and spit on him, convincing him that being evil was the only thing he could do that would actually ''work out''.
158	* ''WebVideo/CarmillaTheSeries''
159	-->'''Mattie:''' You know, since I've arrived, I've been gracious. I've been reasonable. I've been civilized. But all you idiots do are accuse me of murder after petty murder. As if I would bother with one or two... or twenty. I'm going to carve a red swath through your army. I'm going to drink this nation dry. I am death on dark wings. You want to blame me for carnage? I'll show you carnage.
160	* In ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog'', the titular VillainProtagonist was supposedly driven to supervillainy by the smug JerkJock attitude that his heroic archnemesis, Captain Hammer, takes toward anyone "nerdy" or "unpopular". Being both of those things, he was persecuted until he gave up on using his intelligence for good and adopted the Dr. Horrible MadScientist persona. Even then he's an IneffectualSympatheticVillain until one too many humiliations from Captain Hammer triggers a NotSoHarmlessVillain breakout. It doesn't help that he's not exactly getting good publicity because even when he was trying to be explicitly heroic, he was a HeroWithAnFInGood. He still wants to do long-term good, even as a villain, but he's not that great at it. His plan seems to be, "1. Take over the world. 2. Everything wrong with the world magically fixes itself because I'm in charge." Even then, he was something of a WellIntentionedExtremist who thought that he can fix the world by ruling. [[spoiler:However, when his MoralityChain Penny dies in the end, he had nothing keeping him from becoming a true supervillain.]]
161	* In ''WebVideo/DragonAgeRedemption'', this is the Saarebas' justification for his actions. The Qun teaches that all mages are inherently evil and must be kept in chains. So, after breaking free, the Saarebas did exactly what he felt was expected of him -- do as much damage as possible.
162	* The ''Literature/ElfslayerChronicles'' involves a ''Franchise/DungeonsAndDragons'' player who gets fed up with his {{Jerkass}} DM and her [[AuthorFilibuster constant tirades]] about how [[CantArgueWithElves elves are super-duper awesome and wonderful]], while [[HumansAreBastards humans are evil, bigoted monsters]]. Sick of listening to it, he decides that if humans are supposed to be AlwaysChaoticEvil, why would his character be an [[TokenHeroicOrc exception]]? So, rather than play along with the DM's glorified morality play, [[OffTheRails he murders the prince he was supposed to save]] and [[FrameUp frames the guy's elvish lover for it]]. The DM can't complain; [[HoistByHisOwnPetard she's the one who insisted that humans are all intolerant monsters]].
163	* Cao Cao in ''Fanfic/FarceOfTheThreeKingdoms,'' who usually avoids doing anything that's bad PR until he gets frustrated that people continuously work against him on the grounds that he's the villain. Granted, he wasn't a ''nice'' guy before, just more [[PragmaticVillainy pragmatic]] than overtly cruel. Then again, most characters including the heroes are arguably worse than him in terms of evil deed tallies.
164	* In ''WebVideo/HalfLifeButTheAIIsSelfAware'', during his MotiveRant at the climax, [[MadGod Benrey]] claims this was his motivation for turning evil. As with everything else he says, it's probably not true.
165	-->'''Benrey:''' I didn't have a big plan. I was 'sposed to be nice, but you forced me to be BAAAAAAAD, so I gonna be baaaaaaaaad.
166	* The ''Website/SCPFoundation'' has a weird example best described as "Then Let Me Be Euclid" in [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1337 SCP-1337]]. Here's what happened:
167	** 1337 was a Safe-class[[note]]that is, not requiring any special containment procedures, not actually "safe"[[/note]] SCP that manifested as a little girl. She would appear on a specific road [1337-Alpha] on every month's 19th, hail down a car, request a ride home, direct them to a cemetery [1337-Beta], leave behind her sweatshirt [1337-Gamma], and make the kind driver want to take that sweatshirt to her home [1337-Delta], where her parents would receive it. The Foundation had developed a system to stay aware of her properties; an agent drives down Alpha, picks her up, takes her to Beta, retrieves Gamma, and takes it to Delta, where her parents have been made E-class agents.
168	** Dr. L______ defied orders, killed the E-class agents, and burned 1337-Delta to the ground, [[InsaneTrollLogic expecting a promotion]].
169	** 1337 now manifests as a little girl [[BodyHorror covered in ritual torture scars]]; 1337-Alpha is now a range of back roads; and 1337 will now warp into a vehicle with a lone driver and [[BodyHorror kill them the same way she was killed]].[[note]][[KarmicDeath Her first victim was Dr. L______.]][[/note]]
170	* Appears in the BackStory of several characters in the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'':
171	** Some mutants became villains for revenge, while others complain that they were given no choice and still others are obviously just using this as an excuse. It's played out front and center with the "Bad Seeds", a [[Characters/WhateleyUniverseSchoolClubsAndCliques long-established]] school clique composed of the children of supervillains who are banded together mostly out of self-preservation because everyone else seems to assume evil is [[VillainousLineage in their blood]]. At least one "heroic" character (the "future heroes" clique essentially being a stand-in for the "Jocks" cliques found in normal high schools) recognizes this trope is in action and is trying to convince her fellow "Capes" to stop persecuting the Bad Seeds, with limited success so far.
172	** One could argue that the ''most heroic'' character in the whole series is Jadis Diabolik, because she tries so hard to avoid being sucked into evil even though most people presume she's going to become a supervillain like her father. This is thrown into even sharper contrast when comparing her to 'heroes' such as Bravo, Gryphon, and Iron Mike, or even some of the other protagonists such as Team Kimba (some of whom [[ThouShaltNotKill have a lot of blood on their hands]], unlike her).
173	* In ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', Taylor constantly worries about her perception in the eyes of the superheroes and her acquaintances, but ultimately embraces her villain identity. She realizes that her villain team contains the only real friends she has, and has been thoroughly unimpressed with [[JerkAss every superhero]] she's met. That said even while acting fully as a villain, most of her [[EvilVersusEvil fights are still against other villains]], sometimes just vying for territory, but often times with genuinely heroic goals on Taylor's part. By the end of the series [[spoiler: her motivations are still largely good (mostly centered around literally saving the world), but her methods and actions [[SlowlySlippingIntoEvil get progressively more violent and ruthless in the process]]]].
174	[[/folder]]
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Context Main / ThenLetMeBeEvil