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1[[foldercontrol]]
2
3[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
4->''"Weakness is a sin."''
5-->-- '''Yuichirou Kanzaki''' and '''Supremacy Black Dragon, Aurageyser Damned''', ''Anime/CardfightVanguard''
6
7->''"Might makes right. What a great time to be alive. The strong can claim whatever they desire as their own."''
8-->-- '''Shin''', ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar''
9
10->''"Might makes right and might alone! Without strength, we have nothing! If I don't win, then all my effort, all I've struggled to achieve, all of it will have been pointless! I'll lose everything, just like I did before... and I absolutely refuse to go through that again!"''
11-->-- '''Jiren''', ''Anime/DragonBallSuper''
12
13->''"[[JustAKid Brats like you sure know how to pass the blame]]. It's no good. [[NothingPersonal I don't really hold a grudge against 'em about my eye]]. I killed 'em, just like I wanted to. And they tried to stop me. We all did our best and had to deal with the results. What's bad is when you can't put your money where your mouth is... like your dear mommy and daddy!"''
14-->-- '''Muscular''', ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia''
15
16->''"Pirates are evil!? The Marines are righteous?! Ha! These terms have always changed throughout the course of history! Kids who have never seen peace and kids who have never seen war will always grow up with different values! Therefore, those who stand at the top determine what's wrong and what's right! Justice will prevail, you say!? Damn right it will! And that's because whoever wins this war becomes justice!"''
17-->-- '''Doflamingo''', ''Manga/OnePiece''
18[[/folder]]
19
20[[folder:Comic Books]]
21->'''Mace Windu:''' The Yinchorri believe that if they're strong enough to take something and hold on to it, it is, by rights, theirs.\
22'''Oppo Rancisis:''' "Might makes right". A short-sighted philosophy, [[BreakTheHaughty and one that is often recanted upon meeting a more powerful adversary]].
23-->-- ''[[ComicBook/StarWarsRepublic Jedi Council: Acts of War]]''
24
25->''"Nancy, [[{{Revenge}} the road you're on]] ends the one in charge being the strongest one there is. And that's [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk the Hulk]]. And if you ask me, I think there are better ways to live than on some sort of 'ComicBook/PlanetHulk' where a furious rage monster decides everything. [[DefiedTrope Might doesn't make right, Nancy. Might just makes you better at punching.]] I know you'll make the right decision."''
26-->-- '''Squirrel Girl''', ''ComicBook/TheUnbeatableSquirrelGirl''
27[[/folder]]
28
29[[folder:Fan Works]]
30->''"You may be big, mean, and don't care about hurting people, but that ''doesn't'' give you the right to do whatever you please! Nobody has that right! We're all stuck living together in this world, and if you want to try and make it a 'dog eat dog' world then you're gonna find there's plenty of dogs around bigger and meaner than ''you'', buster! If you really care about Posey, then you're gonna stop pushing her around ''this instant'' and be a good and loyal dog for her. Otherwise I'm going to have to teach you a very ''harsh'' lesson you don't want to experience."''
31-->-- '''Fluttershy''' to Kyoki telling him what a terrible idea that is, ''Fanfic/EquestriaGirlsFriendshipSouls''
32[[/folder]]
33
34[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
35->''There is a principle of nature\
36That most every creature knows\
37It's called survival of the fittest\
38And this is how it goes:\
39The animal that wins has got to\
40Claw and bite and kick and punch\
41The animal that doesn't winds up someone else's lunch!''
42-->-- '''[[CutSong Biggering]]''', ''WesternAnimation/TheLorax2012''
43
44->''"This is a world where the strong rule, and you are the strongest of all of us. Remember when we were small, Somishka? How I used to save you from those bullies? Now you must save all of us."''
45-->-- '''Svetlana''', ''WesternAnimation/SupermanRedSon''
46
47->''"Rule number one. He who has the power, makes the rules. Obvious."''
48-->-- '''Manchester Black''', ''WesternAnimation/SupermanVsTheElite''
49[[/folder]]
50
51[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
52->''"Today I saw a soldier kill a man and I learnt something. In this world, we can do anything if we have guns!"''
53-->-- '''Paul''', ''Film/BulletInTheHead''
54
55->'''Darth Vader:''' Calrissian, take the princess and the Wookiee to my ship.\
56'''Lando Calrissian:''' You said they'd be left at the city under my supervision.\
57'''Darth Vader:''' [[MovingTheGoalposts I am altering the deal]]. Pray I don't alter it any further.
58-->-- ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''
59
60->''"We have been forced into a conflict, for we are called to meet the challenge of a principle, which, if it were to prevail, would be fatal to any civilized order in the world. Such a principle, stripped of all disguise, is surely the mere primitive doctrine that 'might is right'."''
61-->-- '''King George VI''', ''Film/TheKingsSpeech''
62
63->'''Yusuf:''' She bears no mark.\
64'''Sinbad:''' Nonsense! All ships bear identity! It's the law of the sea!\
65'''Yusuf:''' Law? What law is stronger than strength?
66-->-- ''Film/SinbadTheSailor''
67
68[[/folder]]
69
70[[folder:Literature]]
71->''"The first requirement of being a hero isn't being right. It's being strong. That's why the hero always wins."''
72-->-- '''Araragi Koyomi''', ''Literature/{{Bakemonogatari}}''
73
74->(T)hey have a right to do anything we can't stop them from doing.
75-->-- ''Literature/CatchTwentyTwo''
76
77->''"Might is the answer; I forgot the question."''
78-->-- '''Eighinn Stossuhl''', ''Literature/{{Eclipse}}''
79
80->There is only power. Power is of the individual mind but the mind's power is not enough. Power of the body decides everything in the end and only might is right.
81-->-- ''Literature/TheOnceAndFutureKing''
82
83->"Listen, then," [Thrasymachus] said; "I proclaim that justice is nothing else than the interest of the stronger."
84-->-- ''Literature/TheRepublic''
85
86->''"The strong get what they deserve. So do the weak."''
87-->-- '''Gary Gitmoe''', ''[[Literature/TomSwift Tom Swift: Mind Games]]''
88[[/folder]]
89
90[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
91->''"Forgive me, Khaleesi, but your ancestor Aegon the Conqueror didn't seize six of the kingdoms because they were his right. He had no right to them. He seized them because he could."''
92-->-- '''Ser Jorah Mormont''', ''Series/GameOfThrones''
93
94->If there are gods, they do not help, and justice belongs to the strong; but know that all things done before the naked stars are remembered.
95-->-- '''Klingon''' proverb, ''Franchise/StarTrek''
96
97->'''Baldur:''' [[OneTrueFaith You think you own the planet]]. What gives you the ''right?''\
98''[Baldur charges at Lucifer, who rams a hand through his chest and out his back]''\
99'''Lucifer:''' No one gives us the right. We take it.
100-->-- ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', "[[Recap/SupernaturalS05E19HammerOfTheGods Hammer of the Gods]]"
101[[/folder]]
102
103[[folder:Music]]
104->''The Viking promise I have made\
105Sets fire in my bones.\
106The world is cold, the world is hard\
107The weak man falls and groans.\
108I have come to rid this wretched land\
109Of lesser men than I.\
110For the gods above demand it.\
111They say that they must die!''
112-->-- '''Music/ClamaviDeProfundis''', ''Music/{{Chieftain}}'', "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxIPEnZpJdo Strong]]"
113
114->''Gold is for the mistress -- silver for the maid --\
115Copper for the craftsman cunning at his trade.\
116"Good!" cried the Baron, sitting in his hall\
117"But iron, cold iron, is the master of them all."\
118So he made rebellion 'gainst the King, his liege,\
119Camped before his citadel and summoned it to siege.\
120"Nay," said the cannoneer on the castle wall\
121"But iron, cold iron, shall be master of you all!"\
122Woe for the Baron and his knights so strong,\
123When the cruel cannon-balls laid them all along\
124He was taken prisoner, he was cast in thrall,\
125And iron, cold iron, was the master over all.''
126-->-- '''Creator/RudyardKipling''', "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fu2eC0dFf_w Cold Iron]]"
127[[/folder]]
128
129[[folder:Mythology and Religion]]
130->Let us oppress the righteous poor;\
131let us neither spare the widow\
132nor revere the aged for hair grown white with time.\
133But let our strength be our norm of righteousness;\
134for weakness proves itself useless.
135-->-- ''Literature/TheBible'', '''Wisdom 2:10-11''' ([[WordOfDante from the Apocrypha]])
136[[/folder]]
137
138[[folder:Poetry]]
139->Gold is for the mistress -- silver for the maid --\
140Copper for the craftsman cunning at his trade.\
141"Good!" said the Baron, sitting in his hall,\
142"But Iron -- Cold Iron -- is master of them all."
143-->-- '''Creator/RudyardKipling''', ''Cold Iron''
144[[/folder]]
145
146[[folder:Theatre]]
147->''"Force should be right; or rather, right and wrong,\
148Between whose endless jar justice resides,\
149Should lose their names, and so should justice too."''
150-->-- '''Ulysseus''', ''Theatre/TroilusAndCressida''
151[[/folder]]
152
153[[folder:Video Games]]
154->''"Ideas don't determine who's right. Power determines who's right. And I have the power... so I'm right."''
155-->-- '''Jonathan Irons''', ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyAdvancedWarfare''
156
157->''Imagine three great nations under three great queens. The first queen writes a great book of law and her rule is just. The second queen builds a high tower and her people climb it to see the stars. The third queen raises an army and conquers everything.\
158The future belongs to one of these queens. Her rule is harshest and her people are unhappy. But she rules.\
159This explains everything, understand? This is why the universe is the way it is, and not some other way. Existence is a game that everything plays, and some strategies are winners: the ability to exist, to shape existence, to remake it so that your descendants -- molecules or stars or people or ideas -- will flourish, and others will find no ground to grow.\
160And as the universe ticks on towards the close, the great players will face each other. In the next round there will be three queens and all of them will have armies, and now it will be a battle of swords -- until one discovers the cannon, or the plague, or the killing word.''
161-->-- '''Toland the Shattered''', ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}'', "[[AllThereInTheManual Grimoire: The Darkness]]", explaining the logic of [[EldritchAbomination the Darkness]]
162
163->''Of [[EvilOverlord Oryx]], that [[AdmiringTheAbomination admirable monarch]], I have only a little to say. Why? Because He is all in the action, fellow traveler, His philosophy is all on display. He has twinned himself so closely to the power He admires. He has become many-placed, many-formed, sending out emissaries of himself to ask after the truth.\
164In each act of His power Oryx seeks to incarnate the self-sustaining, immortal suzerainty that He worships. [[EldritchAbomination The power that He uses]] to [[DemonicPossession wash his Taken clean and etch them into useful shapes]].\
165Oryx inhabits a world where power is truth. To win is to be noble, and to be real. [[FightingAShadow When He departs from that world, out into the material universe, He is lessened]].\
166The echoes of Oryx go forth to ask a question: [[WorthyOpponent are you the truth]]?''
167-->-- '''Toland the Shattered''', ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}'', "[[AllThereInTheManual Grimoire: Echoes of Oryx]]"
168
169->''"Might controls everything, and without strength you cannot protect anything, let alone yourself."''
170-->-- '''Vergil''', ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening''
171
172->If you steal from another [of House] Telvanni, but still live, then clearly you deserve whatever you stole. Murdering your opponents by magic or treachery is the traditional way of settling disputes. If you win, then clearly your argument has more merit.
173-->-- ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind''
174
175->''"No matter what circumstances my opponent has, all I'll think is 'I see, there’s that opinion too.' Then, if I cleanly cut my opponent down, I'm in the right. The fight's over with that. On the other hand, if I fall without defeating them, then I was in the wrong. And there, my fight will end."''
176-->-- '''UsefulNotes/MiyamotoMusashi''', ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder: Cosmos in the Lostbelt''
177
178->''"I've been thinking about how we've got our own ideas about justice...and so does the Kingdom/Empire. And what's coming, it's not just a battle between us and them. It's our ideals that are fighting. Whoever wins will say they were right and the other side was wrong. And I get it. That's how it goes... But nobody's willing to talk or compromise, so we'll fight to the death to prove the other guy's wrong."''
179-->-- '''Sylvain''', ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses''
180
181->''"Vae victis!"[[labelnote:Translation]]"Woe to the vanquished!"[[/labelnote]]''
182-->-- '''Kain''', ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain''
183
184->''"Power is strength. Strength is everything!"''
185-->-- '''Mashtooth''', ''VideoGame/TheLegendaryStarfy''
186
187->''"Might makes right, don't you fuck with me. You know what? Fuck this war, I just want you dead."''
188-->-- '''Senator Armstrong''', ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance''
189
190->''"'''I have a dream!''' That one day every person in this nation will control their own destiny. A land of the truly free, dammit. A nation of ''action'', not words, ruled by ''strength'', not committee! Where the law changes to suit the individual, not the other way around. Where power and justice are back where they belong: in the hands of the people! Where every man is free to think -- to act -- for himself! Fuck all these limp-dick lawyers and chickenshit bureaucrats. Fuck this 24-hour Internet spew of trivia and celebrity bullshit! ''Fuck American pride! Fuck the media!'' '''''FUCK ALL OF IT!''''' America is diseased. Rotten to the core. There's no saving it -- we need to pull it out by the roots. Wipe the slate clean. '''''BURN IT DOWN!''''' And from the ashes a new America will be born. Evolved, but untamed! The weak will be purged and the strongest will thrive -- free to live as they see fit, they'll make America ''great again!'' ...In my new America, people will die and kill for what they BELIEVE! Not for money. Not for oil! Not for what they're told is right. Every man will be free to fight his own wars!"''
191-->-- '''[[spoiler:Senator Steven Armstrong]]''', ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance''
192
193->''"Hadar... sen olmen."[[labelnote:Translation]]"Power... is everything."[[/labelnote]]''
194-->-- '''Raven Beak''', ''VideoGame/MetroidDread''
195
196->''"In this world, the strong take while the weak quake!"''
197-->-- '''Makk the pirate''', ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler''
198
199->''"The only thing that can defeat power is more power. That is the one constant in this universe."''
200-->-- '''Albert Wesker''', ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilTheUmbrellaChronicles''
201
202->''"Only power yields victory. Only strength can rule. Only fools think otherwise."''
203-->-- '''Dong Zhuo''', ''VideoGame/TotalWarThreeKingdoms''
204[[/folder]]
205
206[[folder:Webcomics]]
207->It is said the greatest warrior-kings may sublime violence and forget all they learn about the sword. This is true. But the only true path to kingship lies through regicide.
208-->-- '''Meti's Sword Manual''', ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons''
209
210->''"So say I. This is the'' '''''Law of Kings,''''' ''Either make it your'' '''''own''''' -- ''or'' '''''know your place.'''''
211-->-- '''Solomon David''', ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons''
212
213->''"If you don't want to get bossed around or mocked by the people around you... you just need to become stronger."'
214-->-- '''Garou''', ''Webcomic/OnePunchMan''
215
216->'''Toahdfrohg Captain:''' You have ''no right'' to pass judgment on me!\
217'''Petey:''' Per your own actions, you appear to believe might ''makes'' right.\
218'''Toahdfrohg Captain:''' I don't like where this is going.\
219'''Petey:''' Oh, good. I was hoping you wouldn't.
220-->-- ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary''
221
222->''"[Tessa] just uses her flashier powers as an excuse to boss us around! ''[...]'' It would be one thing if she was ''just'' the strongest, but it’s obvious, right!? She thinks she's actually more important than us!"''
223-->-- '''Sally Fintan''', ''Webcomic/SleeplessDomain''
224
225->'''Professor Gurwara:''' [[http://strongfemaleprotagonist.com/issue-6/page-117-2/ We stand now in Brooklyn.]] [[Music/BeastieBoys This region's greatest philosophers]] once carefully observed that you must '''fight''' for your right, among other things, to party. And yet still others of your countrymen would remark that our deepest rights are inalienable, endowed by our Creator. Does this seem to pose a contradiction? Are our rights inalienable, or in fact, extremely alienable?\
226'''Alison:''' So what are you getting at here? It's starting to sound pretty damn cynical, like you're circling around just saying "Might Makes Right."\
227'''Gurwara:''' ...Would that be so incorrect?\
228'''Alison:''' No! No, no, no! I reject that '''fundamentally'''. I cannot make [[AppealToForce what I did]] okay by just saying "well, I'm strong, so it's fine."\
229'''Gurwara:''' Of course not! That is '''not''' what I said! Look around you! What does this world know of justice or freedom? It knows claw and fang. It knows want and need. It knows power. We may balance our stories on its back, but the world gave you the only authority it truly understands when it made you strong. You wish to call me a cynic because I see that the rights of the fish have always ended at the jaws of the shark? Very well. Might Makes Right is not an endorsement. It is the tired admission of an old man.
230-->-- ''Webcomic/StrongFemaleProtagonist''
231
232->''"The value and merit of all things is defined by how far we are willing to go to obtain them, and how far we are willing to go to defend them. Morality is no different. If it is not defended, it has no value. Without 'might,' there can be no 'right.' There's no need to demonize it."''
233-->-- '''King Law Wight''', ''Webcomic/{{Suppression}}''
234[[/folder]]
235
236[[folder:Web Videos]]
237->''"[[spoiler:Armstrong]] calls for a society built on nothing but personal strength. If you are strong enough to rule the world, then you should do it. If you're strong enough to fight and defeat your boss in mortal combat, then you should have his job. If you're strong enough to carry a woman off the street and drag her into your dungeon, then that's your new wife, baby! His vision would obviously make for a terrifying world, but I suspect that [[DracoInLeatherPants a lot of people would find it at least somewhat appealing]]. A lot of people would hear this and think to themselves, 'Well, that works for me, [[OriginalPositionFallacy because I am strong]]! I am strong enough to do whatever I want if society would just get out of my way!'\
238\
239[[spoiler:Armstrong]] talks about purging the weak, but that's a truly insane statement. Because to 'purge the weak', you would have to purge literally everyone. The fact is, everyone is weak sometimes. Everyone has weaknesses. That's the reason we build families and communities. So that whatever your weakness is, someone with a compatible strength can cover for you, and vice-versa. In an ideal community, everyone works to their strengths and no one is destroyed by their weaknesses. But a lot of people [[InferioritySuperiorityComplex either can't or won't recognize their own weaknesses]], and so they would find [[spoiler:Armstrong]]'s worldview very appealing."''
240-->-- '''[[https://youtu.be/-avJIDU_I1Y FatBrett]]''' on the BigBad of ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance''
241[[/folder]]
242
243[[folder:Western Animation]]
244->''"Here on our planet, back in the old days, back in the ''real'' old days, it was just every man for hisself. Scrooblin' and scrat-scroblin' for the good stuff, the greenest valleys, and scrat-scroblin'. And the strongest, meanest men got the best stuff. They got the green valleys and were like, 'The rest of you, y'all scrats get sand!' And ''that's'' when they made the laws, you see. Once the strong guys got it how they liked it, they said, 'This is fair now, this is the law.' Once they were winning, they changed the rules up."''
245-->-- '''Jake''', ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime''
246
247->''"Weaponry! It's the way to get it done!\
248Weaponry! It's effective and it's fun!\
249If you want to make 'em fall on bended knee at your command,\
250Bow their heads and swear that you're the leader of the land,\
251State your wishes in a language they will understand,\
252With weaponry! That's the plan!\
253If power's on your shopping list,\
254Then use the elbow and the fist!\
255Pummel 'em until they get the gist!\
256Just make an example of\
257Representative sample of\
258And most of them will not be missed!\
259You can beat 'em up by any means,\
260Or blow 'em all to smithereens!\
261A favorite of this sentient machine!\
262Never mind the fatatlities\
263When there's municipalities,\
264To crush a set of\
265With the threat of\
266Weaponry! Will inspire Dr. D,\
267Weaponry! To have confidence in me!\
268If I'm gonna be a conqueror [[WellDoneSonGuy and win my father's love]],\
269I'll take it to the people with the eagle, not the dove!\
270If there's one thing that obedience is symptomatic of,\
271It's W-E-A-P-O-N-R-Y\
272Weaponry! From above!"''
273-->-- '''Norm''', ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb''
274
275->''"Who deserves what is irrelevant. What matters is [[PunctuatedForEmphasis who. Has. Power]]."''
276-->-- '''Grand Admiral Thrawn''', ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels''
277
278->'''Ahsoka:''' I am here to bring you to justice.\
279'''Maul:''' ''Justice'' is merely the construct of the current power base.
280-->-- ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars''
281[[/folder]]
282
283[[folder:Real Life]]
284->''But now, instead of discussion and argument, brute force rises up to the rescue of discomfited error, and crushes truth and right into the dust. "[[TropeNamers Might makes right]]," and hoary folly totters on in her mad career escorted by armies and navies.''
285-->-- '''Adin Ballou'''
286
287->''Treason doth never prosper. What's the reason?\
288For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.''
289-->-- '''John Harington'''
290
291->''"Fuck your parliament and your constitution. America is an elephant. Cyprus is a flea. Greece is a flea. If these two fleas continue itching the elephant, they may just get whacked good."''
292-->-- '''President UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson''' to the Greek ambassador
293
294->''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_power_grows_out_of_the_barrel_of_a_gun "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun."]]''
295-->-- '''UsefulNotes/MaoZedong'''
296
297->''"UsefulNotes/ThePope disapproves? How many divisions does he have?"''
298-->-- '''UsefulNotes/JosefStalin'''
299
300->''You know as well as we that right, as this world goes, is only in question between equals in power; for the strong do as they will, and the weak suffer what they must.''
301-->-- '''"The Melian Dialogue"''', Thucydides' ''History of UsefulNotes/ThePeloponnesianWar''
302
303->''Enough might makes what is right irrelevant.''
304-->-- Many
305
306->''Jus est in armis.[[labelnote:Translation]]The law is in weapons.[[/labelnote]]''
307-->-- '''Creator/{{Seneca}} the Younger'''
308
309->''Auctoritas non veritas facit legem.[[labelnote:Translation]]Authority, not truth, makes law.[[/labelnote]]''
310-->-- '''Thomas Hobbes''', ''Literature/{{Leviathan|ThomasHobbes}}''
311
312->''"A man with a gun can control a hundred without one."''
313-->-- '''UsefulNotes/VladimirLenin'''
314
315->"Justice is subject to dispute; might is easily recognised and is not disputed. So we cannot give might to justice, because might has gainsaid justice, and has declared that it is she herself who is just. And thus being unable to make what is just strong, we have made what is strong just."
316-->--'"Pascal"'
317[[/folder]]
318

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