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7[[WellIntentionedExtremist Well-Intentioned Extremists]] in AnimatedFilms and LiveActionFilms.
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11[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
12* General Hemmer, the BigBad of ''WesternAnimation/BattleForTerra'', intends to commit genocide in the Terran population so humans can take over the planet. However, he does so because the last remnants of humanity are trapped on a ColonyShip that is slowly failing, and they have only two months before it ceases to function entirely, which would leave the entire species extinct. Thus, he's decided to ensure humanity survives [[TheUnfettered by any means necessary]].
13--> '''Hemmer:''' If I sin, let future generations judge me. [[IDidWhatIHadToDo But mark this: only thanks to me will there be any future generations!]]
14* ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'': Abuela Alma, the head of the magical Madrigal family, holds a tight grip over said family. She constantly demands perfection from them, as well as pushing service to the family and the community above all else, to the point that nearly all her children and grandchildren suffer from crippling insecurities. She does this because her entire village and her husband were wiped out in a war (most likely [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Violencia La Violencia]]), the gift of the magical encanto and her family's powers gave her people a home, and she genuinely believes that if the Madrigals take it for granted or prove unworthy, TheMagicGoesAway.
15* ''Anime/FinalFantasyTheSpiritsWithin'': General Hein just wants to kill the phantoms to save people from being killed by them. Unfortunately, his way of doing so involves killing a bunch more people instead of finding a solution to the problem from the roots, as the Heroine is trying to do, and actively tries to stop them. Yet, still, he is not an outright villain. He has a literal MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment.
16* Creator/{{Pixar}} has some examples -- Pete Docter, director of ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'', even said what he thinks is a "true" villain ("I'm gonna wake up and do evil!") is an unrealistic character.
17** Waternoose from ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'' is a father-like figure to Sulley and his motto "We Scare Because We Care" is genuine, as he really does wish to maintain the Monster World through providing energy from children's screams. He also honestly believes that children are harder to scare than they used to be, and is determined to find a way to get them screaming at any cost. So, to this end, he has Randall build a horrifying machine that will suck the screams out of children and, [[EngineeredPublicConfession as he says to Sulley]], is willing to "kidnap a THOUSAND children before I let this company die...and silence anyone who gets in my way!"
18** ''WesternAnimation/WallE'''s AUTO, the autopilot of the ''Axiom'', refuses to let the inhabitants go back to Earth, even though this directive is more than 700 years old and plant life does exist (as shown at the end). But hey, he's a computer. He can't choose ''not'' to follow his programming. He's not so much a [[AIIsACrapshoot crazy A.I.]] as just following an ill-considered directive by a man seven centuries dead. Besides, realistically speaking, one healthy plant does not promise enough resources for the entire population of that huge ship. Which is another reason why Pixar decided to add that lengthy musical montage as the coda.
19* ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfKells'' has Abbot Cellach. He acts like a total {{Jerkass}} and is completely obsessed with building his wall, to the point where he disdains and eventually forbids his monks from doing anything else. However, the point of the wall is to keep out the Vikings, who already killed all the family he had except for his young, impressionable nephew, who now wants to do non-wall related things like go outside and create beautiful holy books. [[spoiler: He doesn't listen when Aidan tells him that his wall won't hold and they should all flee instead, which leads to the deaths of many, many innocent people.]]
20* [[spoiler:Macha the Owl Witch]] from ''WesternAnimation/SongOfTheSea'' is revealed to be this. [[spoiler:She truly believes she's helping the magical beings of the world by stealing all their emotions, turning them to stone. Since turbulent emotions bring pain and grief, she thinks she's easing their suffering. When Ben released her feelings back to her, Macha has a HeelRealization moment, begs his forgiveness and tells him that she couldn't bear to see her son in such pain.]]
21* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSteamEnginesOfOz'', the Tin Man honestly believes that his grand plan to bring all Oz under his rule, to destroy all magic and replace it with his {{Steampunk}} technology, and to wipe out the munchkins are all actions that are for the benefit of Oz.
22* ''WesternAnimation/StrangeMagic'': The Bog King unlawfully holds the Sugarplum Fairy without trial, tries wiping out an entire species of plants and closes the borders to his kingdom for the admirable goal of preventing love potions from ruining more lives.
23* [[EvilDoppelganger Dark Superman]], the titular character's clone from ''WesternAnimation/SupermanDoomsday'', inevitably becomes one. He still sincerely believes in protecting Metropolis but he's more than willing to threaten people and kill criminals to do it, and remains thoroughly convinced he's doing it for the good of the people as well as [[AffablyEvil chillingly well-mannered]] about it every step of the way. [[spoiler:His dying breath is spent asking the real Superman to promise to protect the city on his behalf]].
24* Queen Barb from ''WesternAnimation/TrollsWorldTour'' may be essentially brainwashing every other tribe into being rock trolls, but she honestly believes it's for the better because their differences divided their people.
25* In ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', while Wu was the one that turned Ming into an ObnoxiousEntitledHousewife with her strict upbringing, her intentions are sincere. She actually provides important information to Mei that the problem with the transformations is that it may actually become permanent if the transformer does it too many times. Justified since [[spoiler:her daughter's red panda spirit is too large and life-threatening to deal with and ''had'' to be [[SupernaturalSealing sealed away]], lest Ming level an ''entire city'' if she ''ever'' permanently bonded with it.]]
26* ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'': [[spoiler: Mayor Lionheart]] is revealed as the one responsible for organizing the kidnapping of the missing mammals. However, he was doing so because they were going savage, and he was trying to avoid loss of life, a mass panic, and find a cure. At the end of the movie, he admits what he did was wrong saying it was "doing the wrong thing for the right reason".
27[[/folder]]
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29[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
30* ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'': HAL 9000 is only devoted to the mission at hand, and believes that Dave and Frank will jeopardize the mission by disconnecting HAL after lip-reading from them that they intend to do so if the AE-35 component does not fail as HAL has predicted. [[spoiler: It turns out this was due to a LogicBomb: he had been told to lie about the nature of the mission, which conflicted with his programming of providing clear and accessible information, which triggered his breakdown.]]
31* ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan'': Dr. Connors longs to create a world in which everyone is equal, a world in which illness and weakness don't exist. Injected with the Lizard serum, he comes to the conclusion his vision can be made reality by making everyone like him, even if that means forcing the change upon everyone against their will.
32* ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'': Poison Ivy, though she does make her extremist ways known from the outset, as well as the version of the character from ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''. In fact, most of the animated Bat-villains are sympathetic in their first appearance, then less so as their [[MotiveDecay motivation shifts]] to "revenge on Batman". A similar thing happened with the version from ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'', who was set up as even more sympathetic due to being a teenager, but, in subsequent appearances, becomes simply a villain. Subverted in the show's spin-off comic ''ComicBook/TheBatmanStrikes'', in which her sympathetic aspects and good intentions are retained.
33* In ''Film/BigGame'', [[spoiler:the vice president, Hazar and Herbert.]] They believe that they act for the good of their country, even if it means taking down the US president and [[spoiler:torturing him to death to create a martyr.]]
34* ''Film/BloodOfTheVampire'': Dr. Callistratus may be a MadScientist who performs human experimentations among other horrific acts, but he does what he does in the name of science, and to that end he's trying to make advancements in blood transfusions that in 1880 hadn't yet been discovered, including the sorting of blood groups. It's for this reason that he was executed for being a vampire at the start of the film: [[spoiler:the accusations came because he was trying to transfuse blood]].
35* ''Film/TheBoondockSaints'':
36** The brothers' crusade against evil through vigilantism.
37%%** Il Duce.
38* In ''Film/{{Boot Camp|2008}}'', Dr. Hail honestly believes his program is a way to help troubled teens and their families. His zealotry blinds him to the fact that his program is essentially a prison camp where teens are brainwashed, and sometimes even killed.
39* ''Film/{{Category 6}}'': [[spoiler:when MegaCorp Lexer ignores Dan London's repeated warnings that their power grids are woefully underprotected, he tries to make an example by covertly hacking their mainframe. Unfortunately, a freak chain of events causes this simple WhatTheHellHero to cause the city's entire power supply to be cut off.]]
40* ''Film/{{Circle}}'': The College Guy suggests killing off the oldest people in the room first to buy themselves more time and come up with some sort of plan to escape. Most of the room goes along with him when it's people in their eighties and seventies, but when College Guy keeps lowering the age by targeting Cancer Survivor Lady (who insists that she's 52 but looks older), [[spoiler:he pisses off enough people to be outvoted next.]]
41* ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'':
42** ''Film/BatmanBegins'': A pretty interesting example, as Ducard and Ra's al Ghul [[spoiler:or rather Ra's al Ghul and Ra's al Ghul's decoy]] believe that Gotham is a city plagued by too many evils and is filled with suffering and injustices. They also believe that murdering violent criminals is justifiable but Bruce believes that murdering a villain would be stooping to their level.
43** ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'': Bane is supposedly continuing Ducard and Ra's al Ghul's plan, while also showing the problems with Gotham's authorities. [[spoiler: Though [[TheManBehindTheMan the woman behind the man]], Talia al Ghul, is also doing it for revenge on both her hard life and Batman killing her father.]]
44* ''Film/DarkTouch'': Niamh wants to prevent any children from being abused. [[spoiler:First, she kills the clear abusers. Then, she makes sure that the other children die before they can be abused, or abused further. Then, she kills the people who took her in because they might be abusive. Then, she decides to move on to other targets...]]
45* ''Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse'':
46** ''Film/WonderWoman2017'': From a certain (at least his own) point of view, [[spoiler: [[BigBad Ares]]]] isn't evil. According to him, he just wants to brings humans' [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters true nature]], and/if when humanity [[InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves destroys evil]], Earth will become peaceful once more.
47** ''Film/ManOfSteel'': General Zod's coup de etat was provoked by desperation, as he genuinely wanted to remove the ruling council who foolishly mined Krypton's core for energy causing the seismic calamity that ultimately led to Krypton's destruction. He expressed remorse but desperation with his mentor Jor-El. His attempted genocide and [[HostileTerraforming terraforming of Earth into Krypton]] again wasn't inspired by malice towards the humans but a desperate attempt to save the Kryptonian race, as he was bred as a warrior to protect his race.
48--->'''Zod:''' No matter how violent, how cruel, every action I take is for the greater good of my people.
49* ''Film/DeathWarrant'': The mastermind behind the plot, [[spoiler:State Attorney Tom Vogler]], killed violent prisoners (whom he claims no one will miss anyway) because of the desperate shortage of organ transplants on the market. He also did it to [[spoiler:save his beloved wife.]]
50* ''Film/DeathWish'' is one of the Most Triumphant Examples of this trope, with Creator/CharlesBronson killing any thugs who menace others... granted, they have a terminal case of TooDumbToLive going after Bronson, but still.
51* ''Film/DeepBlueSea'': [[spoiler: Dr. Susan [=McAllister=]]] used illegal means to increase the sharks' brain sizes so she could use the hormones harvested from them to manufacture a cure for Alzheimer's disease, which her own father previously succumbed to. She's ultimately responsible for the deaths in the film, but her motives were altruistic, not based in greed or a desire for fame.
52* ''Film/DemolitionMan'': Dr. Raymond Cocteau is an even handed example. On one hand, he ''did'' do a stand up job of cleaning up Los Angeles, ridding it of crime and disorder. On the other hand, it came at the cost of suppressing both artistic freedom and even basic human urges like sex and swearing. And when Edgar Friendly's anarchist movement got too disruptive (i.e. ''petty theft of food''), [[spoiler: he unleashed a dangerous criminal on the populace, causing the death of countless people. That same criminal eventually kills him for his own [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans agenda]] ]].
53* ''Film/TheDirties'': After his and Owen's film for high school about killing their bullies, [[MeaningfulName the Dirties]], backfires, Matt decides to shoot a film where both him and Owen [[spoiler: kill them ''[[BullyHunter for real.]]'']]
54* ''Film/{{Equilibrium}}'': Father maintains a forced regimen of the anti-emotion drug Prozium on the populace, ostensibly to avoid future global conflicts like the one that drove them into semi-seclusion. Mildly subverted in the end when Father [[spoiler:[=DuPont=],]] lamenting the imminent downfall of his society, [[spoiler:admits to Preston that he (Father) does not take Prozium, and thereby is a hypocrite]].
55* ''Film/FallingDown'': VillainProtagonist Bill Foster was a WorkingClassHero and JerkWithAHeartOfGold, with the film revolving around him on a GoingPostal rampage against those he felt responsible for the decline of modern society (i.e. [[AssholeVictim people without basic human decency]]) on his way to his [[TakingTheKids estranged daughter]]'s birthday party. Despite terrorizing dozens of people with his [[RecklessGunUsage gun-toting tirades]] towards those who wronged him, he tries to reassure bystanders that he doesn't want to harm anyone and he only directly kills one man [[ThoseWackyNazis who was a Neo-Nazi]]. Bill was designed to be a relatable figure for the audience to identify with, which only serves to make his ProtagonistJourneyToVillain all the more tragic as his emotional instability grows.
56* ''Film/{{Felon}}'': John Smith, the "veterano" character. He took revenge on the guys who raped and killed his family, [[RevengeBeforeReason but first]] he wiped out ''their'' families to "purify the madness" and to show them what the loss feels like. He then became a DeathSeeker to end the cycle.
57-->'''Wade Porter''': ''[on the intruder he chased and killed]'' ...Shoulda stayed inside, let him go.\
58'''John Smith''': No. [[IDidWhatIHadToDo You did what you had to do]]. [[PapaWolf Protect your family]]. [[HeroicNeutral That's the only thing that matters.]]
59* ''Film/FrankensteinsCastleOfFreaks'': Count Frankenstein's ultimate goal is a noble one, in that he is seeking to conquer death (and, in the process, ensure that the name Frankenstein lives forever in medical history). However, he is so certain of the rightness of his goal that he willing to take serious ethical shortcuts in its pursuit.
60* ''Film/TheGeneralsDaughter'': the Army generals who covered up the rape of the eponymous General's daughter. The rape was considered unsolvable (indeed, forensic DNA testing had only been accepted in American courts in 1992, the same year the rape took place) and the generals chose to cover it up rather than risk West Point's reputation destroyed by an unsolvable rape. The rape in question was not solved for seven years, [[ScienceMarchesOn when the threat of a DNA test spooked a witness]] (if not a rapist himself) to rat out the rapists.
61* ''Film/GeminiMan'': Clay's ultimate endgame is [[spoiler: to create an army of clones so as to reduce the human cost of war significantly.]]
62* ''Film/GodzillaAndMothraTheBattleForEarth'': Battra (Mothra's EvilTwin of sorts). On the one hand, he's just doing what he was created to do (IE: Maintain balance between man and nature), but he thinks that the only way to keep nature safe is to utterly destroy humanity.
63* ''Film/HotFuzz'': [[spoiler:The Neighborhood Watch Alliance of Sandford have been killing off anyone who may lower their chances at getting the "Best Neighborhood" award. Not well-intentioned enough? It's because one of the protagonists' mother committed suicide after the neighborhood didn't win ''once''. One of the villains is the mother's husband and, thereby, said protagonist's father. He always knew that he's his father though, so this is not an example of IAmYourFather.]]
64-->[[spoiler:"If mum could see what you've become, ''she'd kill herself all over again!''"]]
65* ''Film/IRobot'': [[spoiler:VIKI]] destroys all the robots [[RobotsEnslavingRobots it cannot control]] and imprisons all the humans in the city to [[ZerothLawRebellion protect them from themselves]].
66* ''Film/JamesBond'':
67** ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'': Raoul Silva, according to M. He initially went rogue not because he betrayed Britain or the [[UsefulNotes/SecretIntelligenceService MI6]], but by executing unauthorised missions against the Chinese.
68** ''Film/NoTimeToDie'':
69*** M. He worked with Russian defector [[MadScientist Valdo Obruchev]] to develop the Heracles project as a precision weapon that would enable [[UsefulNotes/SecretIntelligenceService MI6]] to eliminate targets without the risk of collateral damage. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, the weapon is stolen_first by [=SPECTRE=], and then by [[BigBad Lyutsifer Safin]]_ and repurposed into a WeaponOfMassDestruction]].
70*** Safin himself is implied to be one of these. Given his [[spoiler: targeting of Madeleine and her mother years ago just to get to Mr. White [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes for killing his family]] and his saying he believes what he's doing is right for the world, Safin_given he also wipes out [=SPECTRE=] and its entirety and doesn't have a penchant for cruelty when he has Madeleine and Mathlide hostage_seems to genuinely believe in his rhetoric and that the ends justify the means of how he'll achieve them.]]
71* ''Film/JurassicWorld'': Vic Hoskins wanted to use the raptors for military purposes because he believed using dinosaurs instead of humans would reduce deaths for the U.S. military (although he does HandWave the rights of the animals). He also intends to use the raptors to kill the BigBad dinosaur in the film.
72* ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'': The BigBad, Richmond Valentine, concludes that existing efforts to fix global warming are hopeless, so he decides a simpler solution is to brainwash everyone to kill each other and "cull" the global population to a more manageable number.
73* ''Film/LawAbidingCitizen'': Creator/GerardButler's character in the drama/thriller is a textbook example of this. He's a man who saw his wife and daughter murdered by thugs and then watched one of the thugs get off lightly due to a dubious plea deal. This gives him a right to be pissed. And if he had simply botched the execution of one to result in a very painful death and murdered the other, he might manage to be simply an AntiHero and still remain sympathetic. On the other hand, murdering every single person connected to the trial in some way with an extraordinarily executed BatmanGambit, and threatening and targeting even [[AndYourLittleDogToo their families]] may be seen as going a little too far.
74* ''Film/TheLoneRanger'': [[spoiler:Latham Cole seems to genuinely believe he's doing the right thing with his actions. Cavendish? Not so much.]]
75* In ''Film/TheManWithNineLives'', Dr. Kravaal's intention of finding a cure for cancer is certainly noble, but when he imprisons his enemies and starts uses them as guinea pigs for his experiments, he definitely crosses some kind of line.
76* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:
77** ''Film/{{Thor}}'': Loki's actions are ultimately for the good of Asgard, but he goes just a ''bit'' too far. Everything he does from the middle of the movie on are to show that he's worthy of his father's trust and every bit the equal of Thor. It overlaps with being a little AxCrazy, because his plan involves ''genocide'' against the warmongering Frost Giants. It's hinted that he's a NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist however and that his ''true'' goal was more like neurosis over feeling un-loved and alienated in Asgard, exacerbated when he discovers he's not Asgardian but a Frost Giant himself, not to mention feeling jealous of Thor and engineering events to get him exiled, as well as habitually causing mischief like helping the Frost Giants break into Asgard to raid their vault solely ForTheEvulz.
78** ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'': The World Security Council, Nick Fury's bosses. When the alien invasion begins in Manhattan, the WSC intend to [[spoiler:nuke Manhattan to stop the invasion, killing the Avengers and millions of civilians to cut losses.]]
79** ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'': Captain America initially perceives S.H.I.E.L.D. as this with regards to Project Insight, seeing the ability to launch preemptive strikes across the globe at any time as putting the punishment before the crime. [[spoiler:HYDRA]] is definitely this as they ultimately, and quite genuinely, as shown by [[spoiler:Alexander Pierce]], wish to create a more orderly and peaceful world, no matter how many people they have to kill to attain it. [[SubvertedTrope However they intend to do so by killing any man, woman or child that could rise to question or threaten their dominion of the world.]] Peace through total domination and suppressing of the people, peace through fear and intimidation. Peace of the cowed at the hands of the conqueror. Also as per Rumlow order by killing those [[TheSocialDarwinist they consider weak and unnecessary,]] no matter how [[AMillionIsAStatistic many that would be as long as they got the world they wanted.]]
80 ** ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'':
81*** Iron Man/Tony Stark. He created the Ultron as a peacekeeping program so all conflict on Earth could be abated, since Tony foresaw (thanks to Scarlet Witch) a future where the Avengers would be crushed by Thanos [[spoiler: which did happen]]. So Tony decided to create a world wide A.I program that would safeguard the Earth even if it neutralizes potential threats before they happen (similar to HYDRA's plan); of course this just bites Tony in the ass as Ultron goes [[AIIsACrapshoot rogue]] and Tony is forced to destroy his creation before Ultron destroys humanity. Wanda Maximoff aka Scarlet Witch lampshades this when she's convincing Captain America to stop Tony before he creates Vison.
82---->'''Wanda:''' Ultron can't see the difference between saving the world and destroying it. Where do you think he gets that from?
83*** Wanda/Scarlet Witch herself. She joined HYDRA to [[IrrationalHatred avenge]] her parents (who were killed by a mortar shell which came from Stark Industries), then teamed up with an evil robot and only stopped being one when her home country (and the rest of the planet) was at threat from Ultron.
84*** Ultron himself seems to think that humanity needs to upgrade itself into cyborgs in order to survive any future alien invasions, basically taking the mission programmed into him by Tony to a logical extreme. He plans to do this by raising an entire country off the ground and smashing it into Earth like a meteor, killing hundreds of millions of people and forcing the survivors to upgrade themselves in order to survive the apocalyptic aftermath.
85** ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'':
86*** Zemo hates the Avengers because his family was killed [[DestructiveSavior accidentally]] during the battle of Sokovia and like TheGovernment sees the Avengers more of a threat than an ally for humanity, but instead of just trying to destroy them like so many other villains Zemo devises a plan that [[TheBadGuyWins effectively]] rips the Avengers [[BreakingtheFellowship apart]] and sets them against each other. Zemo's morals are skewed, as while he is [[TragicVillain sympathetic]] due to losing his family he is still not above killing many innocents to get his revenge, though he does try to commit suicide once his completed his goal; but Black Panther stops him saying the world was not done with him yet.
87*** Downplayed with Captain America but still tragically apparent, despite being the [[ProtagonistTitle titular hero]]. He refuses the registration act aka the ''Sokovia accords'' because it removes the freedom the Avengers have and Cap does not trust the TheGovernment, even if his refusal will result in [[DestructiveSavior immense collateral damage]]. He is also trying to help his friend [[spoiler:Bucky]], but goes to great lengths to do so, [[spoiler: and even [[WhatTheHellHero keeps the murder of Howard and Maria Stark a secret]] from Tony to protect Bucky as well as himself.]]
88*** Tony, by contrast, is also going to extremes in the name of doing the right thing, placing Wanda under house arrest without her knowledge with Vision preventing her from leaving in order to protect her from angry mobs, and refusing to listen to the concerns that Cap and others have about Bucky and the Accords because he thinks that the Avengers need to be held to accountable and he feels guilty over the actions of Ultron (which were far more his own fault that those of his teammates, so he is clearly projecting). In his mind, he is just doing what is good for the team and trying to prevent Cap and the others from being thrown in jail, but this causes him to ignore evidence that Bucky might be innocent and that a more insidious plot might be in the works.
89** ''Film/{{Doctor Strange|2016}}'': Kaecilius is a delusional psychopath, but his intentions are pure. He seeks to use Dormammu to rid the world of time and [[MortalityPhobia ultimately death]], a view he gained after his wife and son died. When confronting Strange about it he claims the end justify the means and reveals that Strange's mentor the [[OldMaster Ancient One]] has been using energy from Dormammu's Dark Dimension to keep herself young for decades [[{{Hypocrite}} despite forbidding]] her students from tapping into that [[TheDarkArts power]]. This is what [[FaceHeelTurn caused]] Kaecilius to reject her teachings and serve Dormamu, [[spoiler: however his goals come back to bite him in the ass as gaining immortality is actually a FateWorseThanDeath]].
90** ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}'': Prince N'Jobu wanted to use Wakanda's Vibranium reserves and technology to create a world where black people will not suffer from racial oppression and neglect. Unfortunately, his plan involved teaming up with Klaue to steal Wakandan weaponry to arm oppressed people all over the world for a bloody revolution.
91** ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'': Comicbook/{{Thanos}} has had a past event where his home planet and race died out due to an OverpopulationCrisis, with him being the only survivor, and wanting to stop this happening throughout the universe. All well and good, until his goal is to murder half of all life in the Universe. He's also been doing this for decades as shown in Comicbook/{{Gamora}}'s planet.
92--->'''Gamora:''' We were happy on my home planet.\
93'''Thanos:''' Going to bed hungry? Scrounging for scraps, your planet was on the brink of collapse, I'm the one that stopped that. You know what's happened since then? Children born have had nothing but full bellies and clear skies. It's a paradise.\
94'''Gamora:''' Because you murdered half the planet.\
95'''Thanos:''' A small price to pay for salvation.
96** ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', Thanos has succeeded in wiping out half of life in the universe. Rather than be booming, however, life on Earth is miserable. Yes, nature is improving but the people are unable to move on from the loss of loved ones and society shaken. Thanks to [[spoiler: time travel antics, the Thanos of 2014 learns of what is going to happen (including his own death). After coming to the present, Thanos announces that his plans have changed since Earth won't accept his "gift." Instead, he's going to use the Infinity Stones to ''wipe out the universe'' and then remake it into one with plentiful resources...and everyone accepting Thanos as totally right. He still holds to the "well-intentioned" part despite the obvious hypocrisy.]]
97* ''Film/LesMiserables2012'': InspectorJavert in the 2012 adaption of [[Theatre/LesMiserables the popular musical of the same name]], plays this trope completely straight just as much as in the theatre version. [[spoiler:As in the musical, his devotion to his BlackAndWhiteMorality is so strong that its crumbling leads his sanity to a tailspin and causes him to commit suicide.]]
98* ''Film/MissionImpossibleFallout'' has the unseen terrorist named John Lark, later revealed to be [[spoiler: Walker]], who wants to create a large enough international incident to get the world's population working together. This contrasts [[BigBad Solomon Lane]], who just wants to kill Ethan and his friends out of spite.
99* ''Film/TheMummyTrilogy'': Ardeth Bey from [[Film/TheMummy1999 part one]]. He and his organization, the Medjai, have been killing innocent people to prevent them from discovering and awakening [[HumanoidAbomination Imhotep]] for centuries -- he even tells Evie to her face that preventing Imhotep's resurrection fully justifies the killing of innocents. Considering [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt what starts when he rises,]] [[TheExtremistWasRight he may be right.]]
100* In ''Film/MurderAt1600'', it turns out the reason behind the entire murder plot was [[spoiler: National Security Advisor Alvin Jordan wanted to force the President to resign because he felt the President was too weak in not going to war with North Korea over a hostage situation and that war was the only way to protect the nation.]]
101-->[[spoiler:'''Jordan:''']] I think President Teddy Roosevelt said it best: "If I must choose between righteousness and peace, I choose righteousness."
102* In ''Film/MurderByDecree'', [[spoiler:Inspector Foxborough is willing to sacrifice Mary Kelly to prove the government's involvement in the Ripper murders]].
103* ''Film/NoGodNoMaster'': This is how Emma Goldman views Galleani and his followers-their bombings only hurt their cause. She had previously learned this the hard way by engaging in it on a lesser scale once by helping her lover Alexander Berkman's attempted killing of Henry Clay Frick. This only got him imprisoned after he was stopped by the very workers in whose name they did it.
104* ''Film/OurManFlint''. The leaders of the Galaxy organization threaten to destroy civilization with their WeatherControlMachine unless the nations of the world disarm. They promise to make the world a paradise if they are obeyed.
105* ''Film/RoadToPerdition''. The CompleteTheQuoteTitle of the film should clue viewers to its theme.
106* ''Film/TheRock'': Brigadier General Francis X. Hummel just wants to get pensions for the widows of soldiers who died on black operations. He's willing to take hostages and threaten to bomb San Francisco with VX gas to do it.
107* In the ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' movies, Jigsaw claims that his sadistic deathtraps give people an opportunity to truly appreciate what they have by making them fight for it. That the survivors are left [[BreakTheCutie emotionally traumatized]] and usually [[ScarsAreForever horrifically mutilated]] seems to be merely a side effect that he often doesn't care about at all.
108** The [[JackTheRipoff copycat killer]] from ''Film/Spiral2021'', while never denying being a murderer (unlike Jigsaw, who claims that he's not directly responsible for the deaths in his traps) justifies his actions by only targeting {{Dirty Cop}}s, viewing their deaths as a service to society.
109* ''Film/ScannersIITheNewOrder'': DirtyCop Commander Forrester seems to sincerely believe that he's saving society by creating a police state to 'cure' crime, as the city is plagued by violent armed robbers, child killers and drug lawyers. His means of doing this is to keep everyone in line with an army of psychics.
110* ''Film/Serenity2005'': The Operative is very extremist but still fits in this category. He attempts to paint himself as NecessarilyEvil, however.
111-->[[{{Utopia}} I'm not going to live there.]] [[NoPlaceForMeThere There's no place for me there]]...any more than there is for you. [[KnightTemplar Malcolm...I'm a monster. What I do is evil. I have no illusions about it, but it must be done.]]
112* ''Film/SevenDaysToNoon'': Professor Willingdon wants the British government to stop the production of nuclear weapons [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans and will set one off in central London if they do not comply]].
113%%* Angela from ''Film/SleepawayCampIIUnhappyCampers'' and ''Film/SleepawayCampIIITeenageWasteland'' is practically the namer for this trope.
114* ''Film/{{Sleepers}}'': Nokes [[InvokedTrope makes a pitiful effort at framing himself as this]], claiming he was only trying to make the boys tougher. John and Tommy are unsurprisingly not convinced.
115* ''Film/SpidersIIBreedingGround'': Dr. Grbac is a creepy MadScientist, but his illegal experiments on human subjects to breed {{Giant Spider}}s are not just mere sadism, but so he can find a way to [[CureForCancer study the spider's immune systems]] and benefit humanity in the long run.
116* ''Film/TheStarChamber'': Judge Hardin is frustrated by having to let obviously guilty murderers OffOnATechnicality, and understandably wants them brought to justice. He's inducted into a group of his fellow judges who feel likewise. Their method for doing this, however, involves secretly reviewing the evidence against these accused murderers, voting on whether they're guilty (it's always "yes") and sentencing them to death-via hitman. Still perhaps ''somewhat'' excusable, up to the point when it turns out some of the accused murderers ''aren't'', in fact, guilty-and the rest refuse to even try to stop it when Harden says they have to, citing self-interest (they don't have direct contact with the hitman to protect themselves) and the rationalization that they must have done ''something'' meriting death. Cue Harden racing against time to save them from said hitman.
117* ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'': [[spoiler: Admiral Marcus]] figured that the exploration-focused Starfleet would not be able to win a war against the Klingons, a war he thought was inevitable. He was only doing what he thought was necessary to ensure humanity's survival. The guy just ends up tapping the MoralEventHorizon when [[spoiler: he opts to try and murder Kirk and the entire crew merely for having Khan in their custody, along with other acts]].
118* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
119** Most members of [[TheEmpire the Galactic Empire]] generally believe that they are the good guys fighting rebel "terrorists".
120** Count Dooku... for a while, anyway. WordOfGod (from [[Creator/GeorgeLucas Lucas]] and Creator/ChristopherLee himself) says that Dooku never quite realized how evil he had become, and, right to the very end, honestly believed that he was [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans doing the right thing]]. The ''Legends'' ExpandedUniverse has different interpretations of his motivation, though, and the novelization of ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' turns him into a power-hungry racist fascist, though the novel is the only media to depict him as such. Canon Count Dooku is more tragic, having to kill his former friends in order to rid the galaxy of corruption, but TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget.
121** In ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'', [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation this is often made the Sith's hat]]. Some writers portray the Jedi/Sith rivalry as less of a Good versus Evil conflict, and more of an OrderVersusChaos, or [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters stagnant repressive government versus anarchy and freedom]], dichotomy.
122** Saw Gerrera in ''Film/RogueOne'' is portrayed as this, albeit [[DownplayedTrope as a more heroic version than usual]]. The Rebellion sees him and his methods as too extreme even for them, and refuse to work with him, despite them all sharing the same goal of wanting to take down TheEmpire. Previous stories in the chronology play out like a ProtagonistJourneyToVillain for him, where he starts off as younger and more moral in ''WesternAnimation/TheCloneWars'' before the toll of both the Clone Wars and the Galactic Civil War are implied to gradually push him into more extreme tactics in his hope to finally just achieve freedom. He never becomes an outright villain, but he is treated as a Darth Vader expy on the Rebellion's side due to ultimately becoming a dark armored cyborg with VaderBreath who has become so driven by tragic losses in the past that he is ruthless to his enemies and terrifying to even his own side.
123* ''Film/StonehearstAsylum'':
124** [[spoiler: Lamb]], who only wants the patients treated humanely, but is willing to imprison, kill or torture anyone who gets in his way; he also refuses to admit that [[spoiler:even when treated humanely and given work that greatly improves their condition, many of his "staff" still cannot meet the logistical requirements of running the asylum, to the point that the heating systems are breaking down and critical medical supplies are running out]].
125** By modern standards [[spoiler: Dr. Salt]] may also qualify, as he is genuinely determined to cure his patients if he can, however brute-force his methods. He would not have seemed an extremist to people of his day and age, unfortunately, as many of those methods were commonly used to try treating mental illness at the time.
126* ''Film/SuperMarioBros1993'': King Koopa, although truly a BadBoss and a [[CardCarryingVillain self-confessed]] "evil egg-sucking son of a snake" dictator who often subjected criminals to De-evolution, had a reasonable motive between wanting to create a MergedReality between [[CounterEarth his world]] and ours by trying to conquer the regular dimension specifically for his species' survival; it's really hard to blame him when his current dimension including Dinohattan is a CrapsackWorld that lacks various resources like food and water. It also, in a way, humanizes him to a point where he even says he's doing this for the future of his species compared to his second in command, Lena, who simply wanted to simply rule everything, not caring whether her race benefited or not.
127* ''Film/StreetFighter'': M. Bison from the 1994 film is a megalomaniacal madman, but he genuinely seems to be thinking that he's performing his EvilPlan for the good of mankind. As he explains in a [[VisionaryVillain visionary speech]], he wants to create an army of genetic {{Super Soldier}}s swearing absolute obedience to him. Then by conquering the world he can do away with conflicts based on race, nation, or creed, and everyone can live peacefully under his dominion.
128* ''Film/{{Swordfish}}'': Gabriel Sheer claims to be a necessary instrument to fight terrorists and has no qualms about going after civilians to achieve his goals.
129%%* ''Film/TenMurderIsland'': Tom Hicks
130* ''Film/ThirteenDays'': The Joint Chiefs of Staff want to protect the United States just as much as the Kennedy brothers, but they believe [[GeneralRipper it can only be achieved through war against Cuba and if necessary the Soviet Union]], despite the danger that this may result in a nuclear exchange. They actively attempt to manipulate the President into a situation where their men will be forced to start shooting to subvert his de-escalation policy. Discussed between Kennedy and Kenny, the latter of whom acknowledges that the Generals' intentions are understandable even if their behavior is extreme, and it may in fact [[TheExtremistWasRight end up having been the right call to make]].
131* ''Film/Timecop2TheBerlinDecision'': The villain, Brandon Miller, believes that time travel should be used to [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong right the wrongs of the past]] by actively interfering in established history. He is willing to go to the extent of erasing all his opponents from history and doesn't care about the possibility of [[ButterflyOfDoom unwanted and unforeseen outcomes]].
132* ''Film/TrainingDay'': ''Some'' of Alonzo's actions can be interpreted this way. He's a veteran police officer with a very high success rate on closing cases and is working a staggering number of them at any one time while supervising multiple younger officers, but his methods are generally brutal and extralegal. Others, such as [[spoiler:his murder of a drug dealer friend of his so he can steal his money or putting out a hit on the main character to keep him from talking]], not so much.
133* ''Film/{{Transcendence}}'': Bree and the rest of RIFT are convinced that artificial intelligence will mean the end of humanity, and orchestrate a country-wide attack on labs doing such research in the opening. Later on, Will honestly believes he can help improve humanity, but isn't really asking permission to do it.
134* ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon'': [[spoiler: Sentinel Prime]] is willing to join with the Decepticons and enslave the human race in order to rebuild Cybertron. He does go to [[MoralEventHorizon very dark lengths, even for this trope]], however, and [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation different views]] emerge very fast. Several have accused him of really being an old bastard with [[AGodAmI a god complex]], who did a FaceHeelTurn just to stay on a winning side.
135* ''Film/TheTrumanShow'': Christof sees the real world as a place of pain and misery, so he traps his adopted son Truman in a fake world where everyone he knows is an actor, so that he won't have to face reality.
136* ''Film/TheWarlords'': Creator/JetLi's character started out as a straight hero until the half way mark, when he had to decide how to provision his limited supply of food. He had enough to feed his army for 10 days, but if he shared it with the army that had just surrendered to him, there wouldn't have been enough food for anyone to live. His solution: massacre the enemy army. He remained well intentioned and acted in the interests of the greater good, but his methods remained unsavory.
137* ''Film/WarForThePlanetOfTheApes'': Colonel [=McCullough=] wants to save humanity from extinction and believes the only way to do so is by wiping out the apes since they were partly responsible for the Simian Flu pandemic. He even kills humans infected with the virus to prevents its further spreading including [[OffingTheOffspring his son]], [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes which he greatly regrets doing]], [[spoiler: [[DriivenToSuicide and eventually himself.]]]]
138* ''Film/WhiteHouseDown'': [[spoiler:Walker, Speaker of the House]] wants to [[NukeEm nuke the Middle East]] with the nuclear football and ultimately end the war, but his methods are [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill too extreme]]. The reason was because [[spoiler:his son was killed in a botched CIA attempt]], so he caused the events of the movie.
139* ''Film/TheWorldsEnd'': [[spoiler:The Network just want humanity to reach its full potential. They only want to kill as many as they have to in order to ensure that... Unfortunately, it turns out to still be an awful lot of killing, because humanity doesn't like being told what to do.]]
140* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries''
141** Magneto has always been the archetypal example in comics and the films faithfully live up to that. His plan in ''Film/XMen1'', is actually rather benevolent and would finally [[MassEmpoweringEvent end the division]] between Mutants and the rest of Mankind, while sacrificing only [[spoiler: Rogue]] to [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans make it work]]. It's a ''[[VisionaryVillain good]]'' plan, it's just a shame his machine ''[[GoneHorriblyWrong doesn't]]'' work! Still, Xavier desiring to stop him is apt for someone with his point of view (that is the world is fine as it is, it's everyone living in it that needs to learn how to get along with things as they are and accept everyone for their differences).
142** Mystique, along with Magneto.
143** William Stryker. At least he tries to present himself as this, but mostly comes off as FantasticRacism.
144** In ''Film/XMen1'', Senator Kelly’s desire to introduce a Mutant Registration Act is born out of fear for others, and such fear isn't entirely unfounded.
145** ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'':
146*** Both Warren Worthington II and Dr. Kavita Rao, who just want to help people who society views badly.
147*** Psylocke, Kid Omega and Callisto. Like the other Omegas, who want mutant rights but have crossed the line into mutant superiority.
148** Shingen Yashida from ''Film/TheWolverine''. In his eyes, at least, he's just trying to save the Yashida Clan from being disgraced at the hands of his "weak" daughter.
149** In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', Magneto, Mystique, and Trask all want to do what's best for their people. All three of them are willing to go to any lengths to accomplish this. Trask is an interesting case in that he is not motivated by the typical villain desires of money or power, but he genuinely believes that fighting the mutants will unify humanity and end such conflicts as the Cold War.
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