[[OrderOfTheStick http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1177814070_s.jpg]]
[[caption-width:250:[-The HeroicSociopath in his natural environs.-] ]]

->'''Sam:''' Max, where should I put this [bomb] so it doesn't hurt anyone we know or care about?\\
'''Max:''' Out the window, Sam! There's nobody but strangers out there.\\
''(BOOM!)''\\
'''Sam:''' I hope there was nobody on that bus.\\
'''Max:''' Nobody we know, at least.
-->-- ''{{Sam and Max}} Hit the Road''

Normally even the most brooding and {{Badass}} AntiHero can be counted on to PetTheDog sooner or later, or to be revealed as a JerkWithAHeartOfGold. The HeroicSociopath is different. A heroic sociopath is an obviously villainous character given copious amounts of {{badass}} and let loose on the world, with the RuleOfFunny thrown into the mix. Unlike the AntiHero, a HeroicSociopath isn't ineffectual or angsty - he loves what he does for a living. And unlike the UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist, he seldom if ever suffers any wacky hijinks. Instead, he ''causes'' wacky hijinks. Lots of it. And the audience loves him for it. In fact, the more horrible his actions, [[CrossesTheLineTwice the more they will seem like mere wacky fun]].

A HeroicSociopath could (and would) execute people, swindle old ladies, [[DestructiveSaviour detonate buildings]] and [[KickTheDog punt puppies into traffic]], [[DevilInPlainSight all in broad daylight with a hundred witnesses present]], and still avoid arrest by talking the police out of it. The KarmaHoudini is a natural part of their being -- he's literally too badass to suffer any backlash for his horribleness, usually both inside the show and from the audience. Being [[RefugeInAudacity cranked up to the top and played for laughs]] as he is, the HeroicSociopath is so evil and invincible that the audience cheers for him. At the same time, he serves as a wistful fantasy for the audience. Anyone who has wanted to give the boss what they deserve can wish they were like the HeroicSociopath, or had a HeroicSociopath ally to sic on said boss, while knowing that's not the case.

The HeroicSociopath remains one of the "good" guys -- something of a protagonist version of the PsychoForHire. While a monster, he's ''[[TokenEvilTeammate our]]'' monster, and the bad guys better run when he goes after them. Sometimes the heroes have protection from the HeroicSociopath's hijinks -- it might be a RestrainingBolt, or the fact that the heroes combined can stand up to him. Failing that, [[MoralityPet they may be in some way endearing to him]]. Or possibly the HeroicSociopath just finds the heroes amusing enough to leave them (mostly) alone. Other times, they don't have that luxury and are stuck with an "ally" as disrupting to them as to their enemies. As various examples that the PsychoForHire page shares with this one may testify, it is all too possible for a character to sit on the fence.

Compare/contrast with the TheAce (which is a hero taken to the same ludicrous degree), The {{Humphrey}}, The NietzscheWannabe, and The PsychopathicManchild. The HeroicSociopath is usually a VillainProtagonist, but not all Villain Protagonists are Heroic Sociopaths.

Not to be confused with VigilanteMan.
----
!!Examples

%%Do not remove the folders, they are the standard.
[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* Alucard from ''{{Hellsing}}''. Seriously, the guy likes to let his enemies attack him... only to regenerate and tear them apart with his guns and bare hands, usually while laughing and taunting them. For good measure, he, at times, destroys some of his opponents' limbs before killing them.
* Kuroudo Akabane from ''{{Getbackers}}'' seems to switch from HeroicSociopath to PsychoForHire constantly.
* Revy of ''BlackLagoon'', who is [[BottleFairy a great gal to drink with]], but who enjoys getting into gunfights and killing people, and is often seen sporting a SlasherSmile. She sometimes has to be restrained from killing noncombatants among her enemies in the middle of one of her killing sprees (like in the Neo-Nazi arc of the first season) as the "Whitman Fever" tends to take hold of her.
** Other characters in ''BlackLagoon'' also qualify, such as the killer maid Roberta and the Russian mob queen Balalaika.
*** When all three of the women are in the same place at the same time, none of the men, including battle-hardened mercenaries, are willing to get too close.
*** Smart men.
**** Indeed
* Mugen from ''SamuraiChamploo'' could be seen as an example in the same light as Revy in that he is a violent, nihilistic, over-the-top BadAss with a penchant for taking relish in murdering anybody who crosses him, be it friend or foe.
** He's definitely much saner than Revy though.
* Kenpachi Zaraki from ''{{Bleach}}'' is a combination of this trope and a BloodKnight.
** [[MadScientist Mayuri Kurotsuchi]] is one as well, though he's less of a "good guy" and more of a "[[TokenEvilTeammate guy who happens to be on our side]]". To his credit, he doesn't seem to entertain any ideas of defecting to Aizen.
* Mayo Mitama from ''SayonaraZetsubouSensei'', who, amongst other things, assaults people with bats, violates puppies for a hobby and detonates the main character's house - ''while he's inside it'' - and always gets away with it. She can be found standing over her victims in plain sight with condemning evidence in her hands - and everyone will assume she's innocent because anyone ''looking'' that ObviouslyEvil [[DarkIsNotEvil obviously cannot be]]. [[MeaningfulName Her name]], incidentally, means "exactly as she appears".
** Kitsu Chiri, who started out as an extreme Control- and NeatFreak, has slowly [[CharacterDerailment derailed]] (I would say 'developed', but that would imply ''SayonaraZetsubouSensei'' ''had'' CharacterDevelopment, which it doesn't) into the HeroicSociopath role, becoming more and more openly sociopathic as the series goes on. By the time of ''Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei'' Chiri is revealed to hide a large assortment of melee weapons ([[HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi including Rena's cleaver]]) behind the blackboard, her favourite game as a child was playing 'meat doll' (which involved covering your friends in raw meat, tying them up with string and leaving them in the open sun for three days until the raptors had eaten all the meat), her upper jaw has nails instead of teeth in them, and she has tried to split the Earth in two. When Chiri tries to pull a 'surprise' on Itoshiki by demolishing one wall of the classroom and runs over half the desks ([[AndZoidberg and Ushiro]]) with a road roller, everyone points out that this kind of behaviour ''isn't'' very surprising coming from her.
* ''[[{{BludgeoningAngelDokuro-chan}} Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan]]'' has the main character Dokuro-chan being an adorable angel with the power of resurrection, whose intent is to protect the male protagonist Sakura...[[GrotesqueCute when she's not manipulating, torturing, or killing him]] in a [[RefugeInAudacity hilariously over the top]] manner.
* Kogarashi from ''KamenNoMaidGuy'' is a seven-foot musclebound monster of a ''[[{{meido}} maid]]'' (and a male one, at that) with a permanent SlasherSmile, more wacky superpowers than you can shake a stick at (including 37 senses), an extremely perverted and sadistic streak and with absolutely no respect whatsoever for his erstwhile 'master' - the only way his master keeps him under control is by frequent beatings in the skull with a nail bat, which is only effective for a few minutes at a time.
* ''{{Tsukihime}}'': It could be argued that Shiki Tohno's amoral sociopathic killer split personality, Shiki Nanaya, is this... After all, he ''does'' eliminate the opposition with frightening efficiency, although he also takes pleasure in attacking (and in the women's cases, violating) anything non-human, whether it be innocent bystanders, allies, or [[spoiler:his adopted sister, Akiha.]]
* Xellos from ''{{Slayers}}'' may count. You don't get more murderous than wanting to end existence. The trick is, he's pretty relaxed most of the time. But when Slayers TRY came around, he actually [[spoiler:offers Lina in an effort to get the seasons big bad to join the monster race. In the ensuing fight, Xellos tortures Valgaav with a horrible laugh on his face. Gaav eventually turns the tables and escapes. Lina finds out that he offered her, and responds by... bonking him on the head, saying that she knew something like this could happen. Xellos continues to be more or less on the side of the heroes.]]
** Not to mention that whoever he sides with during a season, be it heroes or villains, he'll stab them in the back at least once before everything is over. And no matter how well the good guys do, it's always Xellos who gains the most, in the end.
** Lina is pretty out there too. She tends to either kill you and take your stuff or threaten to kill and take your stuff. Try to count how many bandits she smokes in the first ten mins of the first episode of the first season.
* Youichi Hiruma of ''{{Eyeshield 21}}''. He'll bluff, lie, fire weapons at whim, blackmail friend and foes, and yet no one is more reliable than him to be the captain and quarterback of Devilbats. His team has complete (and slightly fear-tinged) confidence in him.
* Saeko Busujima from ''HighSchoolOfTheDead'': under her calm HeirToTheDojo exterior is a sadist who only recently publicly acknowledged the delight she gets in being so much stronger and deadlier then most people. She was arrested as a young girl for being "overly enthusiastic" in her self-defense against a would-be molester and now barely hesitates to slaughter zombie children.
** The main character assures her that her skills are vital and welcomed... although this troper dosen't know why he had to ''grope her chest'' at the same time.
*** Either a deathwish (one that he could brag about) or he was going for the shock value of it.
* Barry the Chopper from the ''FullmetalAlchemist'' manga. Not so much in the anime, where's just a ButtMonkey and a PsychoForHire.
** Greed has some of this too. On one hand he proudly claims to want everything - money power, women - and doesn't mind being an amoral JerkAss, but on the other he isn't unnecessarily cruel, and treats his comrades, and even prisoners with respect.
* Main Character Jokyuu of ''Aiki'' counts as one of these as well, being a violent, womanizing, alienating son of a shepherd, yet he's such a Badass that he indeed sets the comic tone for the series.
-->'''Jokyuu:''' Friends is what you call someone who likes to be someone else's minion isn't it? I don't need such things as friends! I mean, I don't have any friends to begin with.
::All in the presence of the rest of the cast, all female, who proceed to get freaking pissed, but everybody's crazy in this manga.
* Claire Stanfield in ''{{Baccano}}!''; assassin by trade and a gleefully homicidal solipsist who believes the entire world is a figment of his imagination. He's usually inclined to help and protect the people he likes and sees as innocent... on the other hand, he has no qualms about killing anyone who offends his warped sense of justice, usually in [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill spectacularly gruesome fashions]].
** Ladd Russo also may qualify, though to what extent he counts as "heroic" is even more questionable than it is with Claire.
* Hayato Jin from ''NewGetterRobo'', who harbors homicidal tendencies and tends to put on a profoundly creepy SlasherSmile. He gets better, though, as the challenges of being a member of the Getter Team even him out.
* Sagara Sōsuke from ''FullMetalPanic'' qualifies to a certain extent -- ''especially'' in ''Fumoffu''. He keeps detonating buildings, attacking people who he deems "suspicious" (read: everyone that is not Kaname), and waves guns around and at people -- yet he's ''[[KarmaHoudini never]]'' [[KarmaHoudini caught by the police]]. However, this is [[{{Flanderization}} taken to new heights]] with the ''Full Metal Panic: Overload!'' manga, where he ''embodies'' this trope. In one chapter, he's shown having no problems killing a little girl's father, because [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor she told him she'd rather her father not exist]] (and seeing that he owed her, he decided to "help" her...).
* The scary Ryo Mashiba of ''HajimeNoIppo'' fits this trope wonderfully. While he isn't really evil, he's also named "The Executioner" for his penchant of completely ruining his opponents and a real misanthrope. He also does have a certain amount of bloodlust and would cheat if it really matters (Though, "slightly" cheating if the cheater is desperate is somewhat accepted by the characters, surprisingly). However, he does have a slightly softer side for his sister Kumi, who is the reason he boxes at all, even though he isn't overwhelmingly friendly to her. Ryuhei Sawamura could fit too, if you erase the "Heroic" and replace it with "Bastard". Quite frankly, in his fight with Sawamura [[http://media.onemanga.com/mangas/00000016/00000693/04.jpg his bad side]] [[http://media.onemanga.com/mangas/00000016/00000697/03.jpg explodes]].
* ''{{Akagi}}''. In fact, he has quite a lot of traits of actual [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisocial_personality_disorder antisocial personality disorder]], such as: Failure to conform to social norms, deceitfulness, reckless disregard for safety of self and no fear nor really any emotions.
* Victory Leo in ''TransformersVictory'' spends several episodes as a psychotic killing machine who would gladly let a member of his {{nakama}} die by steam if it means he gets to kill more Decepticons. The fact that ''[[TheStarscream Leozack]] ''[[WhatTheHellHero calls him on this]] says a lot.
* Possibly Yami from the early ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh}}!'' manga.
* Adam Blade from ''{{NEEDLESS}}''. A [[SuperpowerLottery horrendously overpowered]], [[{{Jerkass}} rude]] and inconsiderate needless with a [[{{Lolicon}} penchant for little girls]] and [[IdiotHero the intelligence of a brick]], Blade is nonetheless one of the series' 'good guys'.
* Akane Mishima's {{Kampfer}} [[SplitPersonality form]]. She's a protagonist, but a completely [[AxCrazy Gun Crazy]] maniac who wouldn't [[MurderIsTheBestSolution hesitate to kill her opponents]].
* Ryougi Shiki, the main character of ''KaraNoKyoukai'', whose "Kuu" side of her {{Kuudere}} personality would be her BloodKnight tendencies. Hell, even after first using her [[EvilEye eyes]] and [[spoiler: killing a lich by throwing it into a power generator, then slashing it to death with her fingers]], her only question to Touko (in response to a job request) before passing out is "Can I kill people?".
* Sebastian from ''{{Kuroshitsuji}}''. We see him doing daily chores and caring for his young master Ciel, even bathing and buttoning up the child's shirts for him. In the same instant he can turn and murder someone if commanded to do so by Ciel and he has absolutely no remorse for his actions. Then again, he is a demon [[SoYeah so...]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comics]]
* Dogbert, ''{{Dilbert}}''. A great deal of what Scott Adams wishes he could say or do ends up in Dogbert's actions.
** Specifically, the part he can't say "[[WordOfGod for fear of retribution]]".
* Lobo of the {{DCU}}, as expected of an over-the-top parody of the NinetiesAntiHero, especially in series where he's teamed up with actual heroes, like ''52'' and ''L.E.G.I.O.N.''
** Quite possibly the worst thing Lobo's ever done was abducting, raping and impregnating (then presumably abandoning) a teenage girl as shown in the "Lobo: Infanticide" mini. This is played for laughs.
*** Or there's the reason why he is "Lobo, the ''last'' Czarnian". He killed his entire species by massproducing and releasing a genetically engineered killer [[MixAndMatchCritters scorpion-hornet-thing]] with a venom that paralyzes the victim but keeps them fully aware as it kills them in a most excruciatingly painful way? He eradicated all sentient life on his own home planet just because he wanted to be unique.
* The title character of Jhonen Vasquez's ''JohnnyTheHomicidalManiac''; at least when he's not being full of {{wangst}}.
-->'''Johnny:''' On a crowded street, I could drain a flower vendor of all his blood, and not get caught! People would scream and vomit, and yet, somehow, I would walk away unscathed. I could do that!... Oh, wait... I ''did'' do that!
* Nite-Wing (differs from Nitewing) from the comic series ''Nightwing'' personifies this trope.
* The slightly cracked, catchphrase spouting, ever-shameless {{Deadpool}}, who [[strike: practically]] ''completely'' defines this trope! He's also AxeCrazy, loves to make people go WhatTheHellHero, is DangerouslyGenreSavvy, and is the TropeCodifier of a few other tropes.
** Note, however, that it seems to [[DependingOnTheWriter depend on the writer]]. Sometimes he's this with a very large helping of CrazyAwesome, while at other times (particularly in the newer issues) he becomes a NobleDemon who would NeverHurtAnInnocent(see the page quote!). As noble as someone who is insane can be anyway.
*** Considering that he's an absolute fruitcake, there is absolutely nothing preventing both those interpretations from being true, depending not so much upon the writer as on the state of Deadpool's brain-pan.
* Marv from ''SinCity'', while having heroic intentions and an [[{{Determinator}} unbelievably strong resolve towards doing what he feels is right]] is a borderline psychopath who does not hesitate to torture or kill anybody who crosses him or his sense of justice in the most graphic and creative way that he can think of and shows no remorse for his actions (in fact, he actually revels in his bloodshed).
** Another more [[TheStoic stoic]] example of a HeroicSociopath is deadly little Miho. She does not speak, and she wears no expression on her face when she goes into action other than a deadly calm. But she's one of the rare heroic examples of the PsychoForHire because it's pretty obvious that she loves killing, and will often toy with her victims before finishing them off. True to the trope, the girls of Old Town mainly use her when they need killing done, but she does things to people that can make even the more hardened of their number go "Yeesh!"
* Depending on who's writing him at the time, Comicbook/{{Batman}}. Especially in the pages of the AlternateUniverse ''[[FrankMiller All-Star Batman & Robin]]'' (which spawned the ever-popular "[[MemeticMutation I'm the goddamn Batman!]]").
* One of the {{trope maker}}s of this trope is Rorschach from ''{{Watchmen}}'', who took the AntiHero concept and ran it to the point of {{deconstruction}} and beyond. When measuring him against the general consensus of this trope, however, he is a non-example to all but the most rabid of MisaimedFandom.
* ''{{Sam and Max}}: Freelance Police'', in most of their media appearances, are a HeroicSociopath duo. The dynamic being that Max is ''much'' more sociopathic than Sam, who is mostly of the "apathetic towards anyone I don't personally know" variety. Sam basically keeps Max from blowing up the world by being several times larger than him. Also, did we mention that Max is the President of the United States, following the decapitation of the robot that the previous president turned out to be?
** But remember, everything Max does, is just because Sam "Can't think of a reason not to."
* Atom Girl, formerly known as [[LittleBigMan "Shrinking Violet"]] of the most recent retooling of the ''{{Legion of Superheroes}}''. She likes to play [[BodyCountCompetition count the bodies]] and her introduction she gleefully grew out of a bad guy's body causing him to burst.
* In the DC Elseworld ''RedSon'', Lex Luthor shoots his colleagues simply for being familiar with his work, callously informs his wife that they shall only meet once a year until he kills Superman, electrocutes people who he beats at chess, shrinks the entire city of Stalingrad until it's small enough to fit in a bottle, and still comes out the hero by stopping Superman.
** The irony is that once he does defeat Superman, he goes on to cure all diseases, eliminate poverty and famine as well as engineer a lasting world peace. CutLexLuthorACheck indeed.
* DonaldDuck in [[http://www.superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=795:donald-duck-homicidal-maniac&catid=30:frames-and-panels-index&Itemid=34 this strip]], at least.
* More than a few of GarthEnnis' protagonists arguably belong here, especially most of ''The Boys''.
* Pretty much every member of ''TheAuthority'' (possibly save Jenny Sparks) - ''especially'' Midnighter.
* Venom is portrayed as such in ''Spirits of Venom''. Johnny Blaze can't get to Spider-Man but he thinks nothing will stop Venom from reaching Spider-Man if he's freed.
* Scud from ''Scud the Disposable Assassin'' enjoys screaming absurdities at his enemies and uses ridiculous tactics to dispatch foes in extremely violent ways. All of his assassination fees go towards maintaining the life-support for the psychopathic Jeff Monster, simply so he can stay alive.
* The Space Marine from the ''{{Doom}}'' comic. He may be batshit insane and enjoying his job way too much, but he ''is'' fighting demons from hell and is a terran space marine, which means he's on our side!
* Maxx from ''The Maxx''. At one point he kills an enemy's hostage himself.
* Raphael from ''TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles''.
** [[AdaptationDecay Completely changed in the 1987 cartoon]], where he was just highly sarcastic as opposed to highly temperamental.
** Thankfully, the 1990 movie, 2003 series and 2007 CGI movie all keep this aspect of his character.
*** The 2003 series and 2007 movie especially. One of the lines from an episode of the 2003 series;
---->'''Donatello:''' EVERYTHING makes you mad.\\
'''Raphael:''' Not everything... ''(pauses to think)'' Alright, everything!
*** And in the 2007 movie, he fights and almost kills Leonardo in anger.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* From ''{{WALL-E}}'' -- Yes, ''WALL-E'' --, we have the psychotic ''massage robot'' HAN-S.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]
* Herbert West from ''Re-Animator''. He re-animates dead bodies that turn into Romero-like zombies. He kills his best friend's father-in-law. His creations kill his best friend's friend. Yet you still [[JustForPun rot]] for him.
* Martin Q. Blank from ''GrossePointeBlank'' is an unusual example: recognizing his urge to kill, he takes himself far away from his sweetheart. When she next sees him ten years later, he rationalizes his trade as an assassin (though he [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold refuses jobs against charity organizations he likes]]); but he's seeing a therapist.
* A good portion of protagonists from QuentinTarantino films, such as Vincent Vega and Jules Winfield from ''PulpFiction'' and Beatrix Kiddo from ''KillBill Vol. 1/2'' could qualify as this trope. And then there's ''InglouriousBasterds'', which is ''based'' around the trope.
* Mickey and Mallory in ''NaturalBornKillers'' are gleefully psychotic mass murderers that not only perform a KarmaHoudini, but actually gain extensive popularity ''because'' of their crimes.
* Michel Poiccard, in ''À bout de souffle''.
* Arguably, Travis Bickle in ''TaxiDriver'' could be seen as a combination of TheEveryman and a HeroicSociopath.
* Catherine Tramell from ''BasicInstinct 1/2'' is the archetypical female example of this trope.
* Riddick from ''Pitch Black'' and ''The Chronicles of Riddick''.
* Frederick "Junior" Frenger in ''Miami Blues''.
* Sweeney Todd from ''SweeneyTodd''.
** And Mrs. Lovett too, while we're at it.
* Hayley Stark in ''HardCandy''.
* Tony Camonte from ''Scarface: The Shame of the Nation'' and Tony Montana from ''{{Scarface}}''. Ironically, Montana's behaviour gets even worse after he's recovered from his cocaine addiction in ''Scarface: The World Is Yours'': he's not willing to kill civilians, but he is more than willing to run over pedestrians with screams of "Oh look! Look at his fucking shoes! Oh, his fucking shoes came off!"
* Tommy [=DeVito=] from the film ''{{Goodfellas}}'', along with being possibly ''the'' most iconic [[ThePesci Pesci]] in fiction, is also a HeroicSociopath, along with his associate and mentor, Jimmy Conway. The fact that these guys are, if anything, ''toned down'' versions of their real life counterparts makes it pretty damn scary.
** What ''possible'' reason do you have for thinking either of these career criminals are in any way "heroic"? The only thing I can think of is that they happen to be on the protagonists side, but that doesn't count since he's a VillanousProtagonist if ever there was one (and Conway tries to kill him anyway).
* The title special forces in ''Tropa De Elite''. When the cops use a pair of pistols, a skull and a knife as their ''official'' insignia, you know that they're not fooling around. Standard interrogation procedure starts with a beating, continues with asphyxiation and finishes with a bullet to the head.
* {{Godzilla}}, much of the time.
* Chev Chelios from the ''{{Crank}}'' films, who may indeed suffer some hijinks but causes the majority of them -- among other things, he [[spoiler:steals a motorcycle from a cop then taunts him by doing donuts in the middle of an intersection, while wearing nothing but a hospital gown and his socks and shoes, after injecting himself with five times the recommended dose of Epinephrine (adrenaline).]]
* Billy the Kid in the film ''YoungGuns''. He relishes the violence spawned by the death of his mentor.
* ''The entire student body'' of ''St. Trinians''.
* Staff Sgt. Sykes in ''Jarhead''.
** Actually, every character in the movie turns into this, mostly out of boredom.
* All of the ''InglouriousBasterds'', but especially the Bear Jew, especially in the way [[spoiler:he makes his brutal murder of a Nazi sergeant with a ''[[BatterUp baseball bat]]'' utterly hilarious by pretending he's "Teddy fucking Williams".]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* Karsa Orlong from Steven Erikson's ''{{Malazan Book of the Fallen}}'' embodies this trope in the beginning of his career, where he goes on rampages through towns, slaying all the men and raping the women. Later he develops into a more heroic character.
** Only to revert in ''The Bonehunters'' where he openly talks of returning home to lead his people on a campaign to wipe humanity out and pretty much responds to everything and everyone with "Displease me and die".
* Patrick Bateman from ''AmericanPsycho'' could be seen as an example in that for all of the truly horrific, evil, and sadistic things that he does in the book, he faces no consequences (physically anyway).
** In all fairness, that's more to do with the total moral vacuum that is the society he lives in. In any case, Bateman is so screwed up that we can't be sure that anything he supposedly did happened outside his head.
* Yulia Latynina's sci-fi political thriller ''Insider'' gives us Kissur White Falcon, imperial favourite, former prime minister, supreme tactician and feudal overlord of the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Aloms]]. He is also a reckless madman that spends most of the book either committing or threatening to commit acts of over the top violence. In the first chapter, for instance, he drives around recklessly at night, slams his car into the first other car he finds and mugs the recently arrived protagonist. ''Twice''. Just for fun. He befriends the protagonist out of respect for him actually fighting back on the next day. It gets better and better through the novel. In the words of another character, "If [Kissur] sees a house that is on fire, he'll rush inside to save the baby; if he sees a house that ''isn't'' on fire, he'll set fire to it."
* One of the most sociopathic of all; the title character of Kit Marlowe's ''Tamburlaine The Great'' is a genocidal maniac who wavers between being NightmareFuel and a MagnificentBastard.
** Rather like his RealLife inspiration, really...
* Kage from the ''Last Chancers'' series of ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novels ended up in the Penal Legions for assaulting ''and killing'' a fellow trooper, and since then [[SerialKiller he's racked up quite a string of others]] while attempting to escape from various prison worlds. The only reason he can even remotely considered a hero is that the enemies he fights against [[CrapsackWorld are much worse]] and usually [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt trying to wipe out humanity]].
** By the way the only reason why he's still in the Chancers (you're pardon after you compete the mission) is because he wants to see Colonel Schaeffer die.
* Jeremy X, the head of ''[[HonorHarrington Honorverse's]]'' Audubon Ballroom, an organisation aiming to eradicate all [[CloningBlues genetic slavery]] in the Galaxy. A joke-cracking, pistol-wielding psychopathic assassin clearly inspired by The Joker, he is, nevertheless, the good guy in the story, frequently allying with the protagonists, even with his organisation labeled as ''terrorist'' in most nations.
* [[BeastFable Reynard The Fox]] from the medieval stories is a vicious [[TricksterArchetype trickster]] that will doublecross anyone, and has been shown to try to attack and kill several other characters without remorse. His list of crimes: tricking his uncle's wife to sleep with him, killed a hare and tricked a drunken ram-priest to claim he did it, sold out his few friends to keep from getting hanged, openly macked the king's wife, feigned being a pilgrim to take money, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking made off with his uncle's cache of fish]]. [[OlderThanTheyThink This makes our dear Fox-friend... well, you know]].
** In fact, Reynard is in the long line of {{Heroic Sociopaths}} in medieval stories. ''The Canterbury Tales'' for example, has one of these in the majority of their tales.
*** [[OlderthanFeudalism Older than that.]] Loki in Norse mythology and Coyote/Trickster in Native American mythology, for two. Coyote racked up many of the same offenses as Reynard and then some.
* PeterPan. He's only ''slightly'' less uncaring towards others [[NotSoDifferent as his nemesis Captain Hook]] and comes across better mostly because his sociopathy is a result of being a perpetual child, whereas Hook really has no excuse.
* Dolokhov in the last part of ''WarAndPeace''; he is still an amoral bastard, but, ironically, his charisma and courage have made him something of a hero of the Russian resistance against Napoleon.
* Efnisien of the {{Mabinogion}}. Where to begin? When he is mistaken for a servant by the King of Ireland's squire he mutilated said kings horses. When Irish nobles intended to ambush peace talks by hiding in sacks he went to each one and asked the servants (who where in on it) "What is in this sack?" and, when receiving the answer "Flour" he found the head of the hidden noble and crushed it like an egg. He then threw his own young nephew into a fire so that he would die and prevent the peace treaty going through.
* Carnival of the ''DeepgateCodex'' series is about as AxCrazy as AxCrazy gets (and has a [[ThePesci horrendous temper]]), but she's just [[MoeMoe so damn cute]] that her insanity winds up being part of her appeal.
* [[TheActsOfCaine Caine of Garthan Hold]] skirts the line of this. Well, maybe dances on it. Okay, he does a full soft-shoe number up and down with Broadway routines and a full stage orchestra in the background.
* Meursault in ''TheStranger'', if you go for the AlternateCharacterInterpretation.
* Kyp Durron in the [[StarWarsExpandedUniverse Jedi Academy Trilogy]]. Though he isn't really played as a "hero", he's seen as one by [[WellIntentionedExtremist certain factions]] of the New Republic.
** Likewise, one of the recent novels brings up the idea that the heroic Rebels are not to be messed with, seeing as that they've all killed hundreds if not ''thousands'' of people during their careers.
* Philip Lombard in Agatha Christie's [[Literature/AndThenThereWereNone And Then There Were None]] fits this trope like a glove, happy to admit he abandoned 21 natives to die while also teaming up with the guests to catch the murderer. In a partial subversion, he isn't that much of a sociopath when compared to [[spoiler: the actual murderer, or Vera Claythorne in [[{{Yandere}} Yandere]] mode.]]
* Loren D. Estleman's series detective Peter Macklin solves crimes, but he's also an unapologetic CareerKiller. {{Dexter}} Morgan is a killer who only kills bad people. Macklin kills bad people too, but they may be no worse than the ones paying his salary.
* Mike "Ghost" Harmon, from the PaladinOfShadows series. Katya's not exactly a sweetheart, either, though she's more the latter part of "HeroicSociopath" than the former.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* Dexter Morgan, a serial killer who preys on other killers, in the TV series ''{{Dexter}}'' (2006-2008+), which is an adaptation of the novel ''Darkly Dreaming Dexter'' by Jeff Lindsay. Two follow-up novels, ''Dearly Devoted Dexter'' and ''Dexter in the Dark'', were not used in the series. ''Dexter in the Dark'' was not used because it introduced supernatural aspects to the story and they wanted to steer clear of the SciFiGhetto.
** And because [[DisContinuity there was no third book]].
* Jez in ''PeepShow'' has burned and eaten the dog of a woman he was trying to have sex with, poisoned his best friend because he was ruining a party, helped his other best friend relapse into crack addiction because he was getting in the way of pulling a woman and many more dubious things besides. In fact, he's more sociopath than hero...
* ''{{Oz}}'' has quite a few characters that could qualify, with the outstanding examples being DepravedBisexual Chris Keller and MagnificentBastard Ryan O'Reily.
* Jim Profit from the show ''{{Profit}}''.
* Francis Urquhart in ''{{House of Cards}}'', ''To Play the King'', and ''The Final Cut''.
* Detective Vic Mackey of ''TheShield''. Kills a fellow cop in cold blood in the very first episode and pins it on a drug lord (also freshly killed by him).
* [[AlmightyJanitor The Janitor]] from ''{{Scrubs}}'' approaches this on occasion.
* Barney Stinson from ''HowIMetYourMother'' is a milder version of this trope. He seduces women and plays pranks on his friends with MagnificentBastard style deviousness. When any of the other main characters act even half as callously as Barney, they learn a lesson about it by the end of the episode. In contrast, the only lesson Barney ever learns is "I'm awesome!"
* ''TheColbertReport'' once did a segment that more or less showed ''a repo man'' as one: he jokes that his job is more or less stealing the cars of people that are in debt, and is pretty damn happy about it.
* ''Chappelle's Show'' features a skit involving him and Wayne Brady, who, contrary to his public image, is portrayed as a violent, homicidal, and seriously disturbed psychopath (spoofing the film ''Training Day'') who murders a number of people during the skit and forces Chappelle to smoke PCP. At the end, the hilariously frightened Chappelle is shot in the leg by Brady for the in-show joke, "Wayne Brady makes Brian Gumble look like Malcolm X" and Brady drives off while laughing maniacally.
* ''My Name is Earl'' character Joy, to some extent, though she does suffer negative repercussions for her sociopathic actions more than once.
** She becomes slightly less sociopathic as the show goes on. Slightly
* Stuart Jones, one of the two leads in the UK version of ''Queer as Folk''. He's much more of a bastard than a hero really, but every now and then he does something so outrageous and awesome you can't completely hate him.
* Spike in ''{{Buffy the Vampire Slayer}}'', from his chipping in season 4, through to his soul quest in season 6.
* Tony Soprano from ''TheSopranos'' is ''literally'' the HeroicSociopath, in that he is diagnosed by multiple psychiatrists (including his own, Dr. Melfi) in-universe as a sociopath.
* Arguably the ''entire'' SAMCRO biker club except Jax (either AntiHero or AntiVillain depending on your milage) and Opie (TheWoobie), especially Tig, whom even the other members consider disturbed in ''Sons of Anarchy''
* Jayne Cobb from {{Firefly}}. Although, he is taken to task for his actions in one episode.
* Though he's more of a CowboyCop in ''LifeOnMars'', Gene Hunt has shown sociopathic tendencies a few times. Locking a suspect in a meat freezer, the way he gives new meaning to the term "interrogation". He really crosses the line into HeroicSociopath in ''AshesToAshes'', though, especially that stunt with the pool table and a naked suspect.
* [[SingleMindedTwins Gem]] [[CreepyTwins and]] [[HalfIdenticalTwins Gemma]] of PowerRangersRPM love explosions. A lot. As one character cliches it, they shoot first and ask questions later. When called out on it, they decide to
-->'''Gem:''' Shoot first\\
'''Gemma:''' and\\
'''Gem:''' ask questions\\
'''Gemma:''' never!
** ''How'' bad are they? They ''proudly'' described shooting first and asking questions later as their MO ''before'' being called on it. Their catch phrase is "[[StuffBlowingUp It's boom time]]!" They once planned to bomb an enemy factory with ''human slaves still inside'' but were talked out of it when it turned out Dillon's long-lost sister might be one. Far be it from us to question Dr. K (she might use her violin on us, after all!) but how sure are we that setting those two loose with a Megazord was a good plan? They're ''psychotically'' cheerful throughout it all, too.
*** It should be noted that they don't do it for the lulz. They feel that defending the city from one attack at a time is doomed to failure and the path to victory is taking the fight to the enemy and hitting with everything they've got. The fact that blowing the crap out of whoever and whatever happens to be in their path is hella fun is... just a fringe benefit.
* {{House}} seems to weave in and out of this at will. A good example is manipulation of a heart transplant patients husband and aiding a sick gunman who is holding everyone hostage for a diagnosis. Basically House lacks empathy, needs constant stimuli and does not conform to rules. No way does this guy not a classic trope.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* Would Murdoc Niccals of {{Gorillaz}} count? He's a Satanist, total JerkAss, greedy, money-loving, filthy (he's ''green'') drunken bastard who started his band just so he could get rich and famous. He even got his vocalist, 2D, into the band by bullying him after he struck him with his car. ''Twice.'' He got his drummer, Russel, into the band by kidnapping him. He beats up 2D on a regular basis just because he feels like it, slept with 2D's girlfriend, among other nasty atrocities. The only reasons the other members of the band stay is because 2D is an idiot who somehow looks up to Murdoc and wants to make him happy, Russel has nowhere else to go really because of the ghosts and demons possessing him (plus he adores music, so why not stay?), and Noodle was mailed to them, so it's pretty much all she's got. Anybody else would drop Murdoc's sorry ass within five minutes of joining the band. But you'd be hard-pressed not to love ol' Mudsy.
* Insane Clown Posse. Just being AxCrazy [[MonsterClown Monster Clowns]] would be enough, but their sixth album The Wraith reveals that they're actually messengers from {{God}} sent to cleanse the wicked from the Earth to make way for [[CircusofFear The Dark Carnival]]. Their ways of doing this are... creative, to say the least. Twiztid also qualify.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Kratos from the ''{{God of War}}'' games is very, very much a HeroicSociopath. To quote [[ZeroPunctuation Yahtzee]] again: "It's as if after the first time they animated a sequence where Kratos bites a minotaur's face off, they decided they couldn't possibly make him anything ''other'' than a brutal psychotic, so they just rolled with it."
* Travis Touchdown, from ''NoMoreHeroes'', is the ''embodiment'' of the Heroic Sociopath. Then again, everyone in that game who isn't one of these is (A), a MagnificentBastard or (B), an AxeCrazy PsychoForHire (*cough*Bad Girl*cough*), so the main reason he hasn't got his comeuppance yet is probably because the cops are trying to get ''everyone else''. The fact that one of them is actually a member of the UAA probably doesn't hurt, either.
* Bioware are really fond of this trope and add at least one per game: ''BaldursGate'' has Xzar, the sequel has Korgan Bloodaxe, ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' has HK-47, ''JadeEmpire'' Black Whirlwind, ''MassEffect'' has Wrex (although he's a mild example since his comedy is mostly from snarking) while ''DragonAge'' has Shale.
* Gig from ''{{Soul Nomad and the World Eaters}}'', a former [[TheGrimReaper master of death]] who is bound to the main character and forced to assist him in cleaning up some of his minions (giant, world-destroying golems) from a world [[OmnicidalManiac he once all but destroyed]]; all the while [[DeadpanSnarker verbally abusing just about everyone the character interacts with]], attempting to [[DemonicPossession possess the main character]], and showing you visions from his former life that show just what an ''[[PsychoForHire atrocious]]'' being he used to be - something he's still immensely proud of.
** Unfortunately for Gig (and fortunately for everybody else), he's [[TheImp stuck as a near-powerless passenger in the lead's head]] in the main storyline. This only serves to play up his sociopathy.
* [[ColdSniper Sev]] from ''StarWars: RepublicCommando'' fits this trope perfectly. The squad's slightly unhinged sniper makes a point of brutalizing enemies any chance he can get and is, ahem, ruthlessly efficient.
** Actually, the rest of the squad save for the resident straight man are subject to this. Fixer's the only commando who doesn't make cheery commentary as he kills his way to victory.
* Zetta, self-proclaimed "{{badass}} freaking overlord" from ''MakaiKingdom'' - for all of five minutes before his own sheer badassness (not to mention his colossal stupidity) causes him to wreck his own life and renders him a SmugSnake - all of the attitude, none of the actual badass.
* The Silencer, of the ''{{Crusader}}'' series of games, happily kills soldiers, techs, scientists, laborers, secretaries, men and women, robots and children (or would, if there were any children in game), and is not once reprimanded by his superiors in LaResistance. Maybe they don't want to upset him, considering he's mostly on a vengeance kick, supporting their cause only indirectly.
** In the Captain's defense, any heroic sociopathy on his part would be 100% the player's doing. Most of the civilians you do encounter in the game are either minding their own business, cringing in fear whenever a firefight breaks out, or even exposing themselves as {{Evil Minions}} and thus legitimate targets when they head for the nearest alarm switch. And in an early mission in ''Crusader: No Remorse'', if you fail to accomplish the objective and head straight back to the Resistance Base anyways you will face a considerable chewing out from Colonel Ely- although this troper restarted the game to get the job done properly instead of sitting through to see if this resulted in a Game Over or not.
* The main characters of any ''GrandTheftAuto'' game could be seen as an example.
** Nico from the fourth game seems to be an attempt to break away from this, making him more a ShellShockedSenior.
** Probably the straightest example of a HeroicSociopath in a ''Grand Theft Auto'' game is Catalina from ''Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'' (in ''Grand Theft Auto III'', she is simply a FemmeFetale). Catalina is an extremely violent and dangerous psychopath (basically, imagine an even ''more'' AxeCrazy version of Revy from BlackLagoon) who forces the main character to accompany her in heists and mass murder while tormenting him all the way, at one point putting him through an extreme off-screen BSDM session.
*** How could Catalina be called "heroic"? Even at her friendliest?
* Ultima's "Avatar" began his existence as the epitome of goodness and virtue. Ultima 8, however, turned him into the most fucked up, heroic sociopath ever: he killed the Gods, caused an apocalypse, murdered numerous innocent men and left Pagan as it was being destroyed.
** In his defense, Pagan was pretty F'ed up to begin with, and the Titans weren't exactly all puppies and rainbows. Lithos wouldn't stop causing earthquakes until he was basically made the god of death, Pyros and Hydros had to be imprisoned before their reign of destruction stopped, and although Stratos put on a benevolent face the whole time, she still became supremely pissed at the Avatar when he tried to leave the world.
** Well, ''Ultima VII'' also let the Avatar become a HeroicSociopath, because of all the VideoGameCrueltyPotential in that game.
* Warboss Gorgutz of the ''{{Dawn of War}}'' games is a massive semi-mechanized Ork defined by his obsession of getting heads for his "Pointy Stikk" (since he'd look stupid with someone's foot on it) and fighting anything worth fighting while still having a brutal wit. This is probably why he is the main recurring character of the games, having [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Crowning Moments of Awesometacular]] within each ExpansionPack he appears in.
* Caim from ''{{Drakengard}}''. His personality is basically summed up in the phrase "mute, bloodthirsty nutcase".
* Dan Smith from ''{{Killer 7}}'' exemplifies this trope (of course, his mentor was [[PsychoForHire Curtis]] [[CompleteMonster Blackburn]] so this is to be expected).
* Kain from the ''Legacy of Kain'' series is what happens when you mix this trope with a MagnificentBastard. He takes a disturbing amount of glee from slicing up and feeding on prisoners chained to walls, for instance.
* Princess Sapphire Rhodonite from ''{{Disgaea}} 3''. There's some irony to be had in the fact that she's one of the few in characters the game that's ''not'' a demon.
* Thanks to the KarmaMeter, your character could be like this in the ''{{Fable}}'' games. An NPC example would be Reaver, the Hero of Skill from ''Fable II''. He's a smug and egotistical pirate who is seen trying three times to immortalize his likeness in art, only to shoot the artist for some slight error in their work, and tricks you into [[spoiler: sacrificing your youth (or that of an NPC, if you're playing an evil character) to the Shadow Court in order to prolong his life.]]
** Of those artists that are killed, the first two maybe, ''maybe'' deserved it for screwing up the work. The third? [[spoiler: It's everyone's favorite photography dude, Barnum, who happily takes the picture and promises to deliver it in three months when it's "developified". Which, according to Reaver, is too long and a ''murderable offense'']].
* In the ''SaintsRow'' series, Johnny Gat. When ''gangsters'' call you a gun-toting maniac, you may have to calm down a little. The man's favorite pastime is violence. Preferably against police. His solution to -any- problem is walk in the front door and start killing people... and somehow, he comes off as a complete and total [[{{BadAss}} badass]] instead of a bloodthirsty psychotic.
** Johhny has, on more than one occasion, thrown away a carefully plotted (and ''safe'') plan, and exchanged it for some sort of bullet storm. (Check the games Crowning Levels Of Awesome for specifics.)
** This troper hasn't played the first game, but in the sequel your character (who speaks now!) is just as much of a HS as Johnny is. Sometimes when standing prone, he or she even comments, among other things "Killing people is its own reward."
*** The female Spaniard claims "I have the4 biggest balls in Stillwater. Yeah you heard me right," making her a combination of HeroicSociopath, BadassSpaniard, CrazyAwesome, CrowningMomentofFunny and possibly DementedCrossdresser.
*** That's just plain sociopathic.
* [[VillainousHarlequin Malcolm the Jester]] from ''{{The Legend of Kyrandia}}'' definitely belongs in this trope. Ever since he was a baby, he was always deeper under the influence of his [[GoodAngelBadAngel bad conscience Gunther, rather than his good conscience Stewart]]. After Gunther trapped Stewart under a rock, Malcolm's acts of violence and mischief escalated from starting fires, to turning everyone in Kyrandia to stone, until he got turned to stone himself. In the third game, ''Malcolm's Revenge'', he breaks free from his statue prison and has to prove that he didn't really murder the King. Along the way, he'll pull pranks, destroy businesses, overthrow a few tribes, hypnotize squirrels, convince a band of pirates to take over Kyrandia, and escape from jail several times.
* Sumio Mondo from ''[[FlowerSunAndRain Flower, Sun, and Rain]]'' is a private investigator and ladies man who was stuck with a mission while on vacation, and generally tries to complete the jobs given to him. [[spoiler:Except he also [[XanatosGambit masterminded]] a plan to manipulate his two childhood friends into killing themselves in order to destroy an entire town responsible for the murder of another childhood friend, and his own mutilation.]]
* Like the Sumio Mondo example above, Tetsugorō Kusabi from ''TheSilverCase'' is a family man, a trusted member of the Ward 24 police force, and Sumio Kodai's best friend. [[spoiler:Until he gets too close to uncovering the truth behind the Silver Case and catches someone improperly using a killphrase on him. Then he slaughters his entire team (except for Sumio, who was in prison already for the aforementioned genocide), and bands together with rookie cop Akira to take down the leader of the city.]]
* In ''{{Valkyria Chronicles}}'', one of the recruitable characters, Jane Turner, has a single interest in life -- killing as many Imperial soldiers as she can. This is made all too clear by her many in-game quotes, and, just if anyone didn't happen to get the picture, she has a Potential named "Sadist", and what she says upon its activation ''does not help''.
-->'''Jane:''' Mmm... scream for me.
* Considering how many times the players end up saving the world either indirectly or out of self-preservation in ''CityOfVillains'', one can argue that all of the player character villains end up being this from time to time.
** Especially when they team up with hero players during the Lady Grey Task Force or Imperious Task Force.
* Ram, the Evil Twin of ''Total Overdose: A Gunslinger's Tale in Mexico'', sprung out of jail by the Good Twin, a DEA agent, to take his place undercover after an 'accident'. Ram takes on Tommy's missions at his own pace, doing as much collateral and explosive damage as possible, to the extent that the mob he infiltrates call him 'El Gringo Loco'. And because of connections with the DEA and Mexican police, he can carjack, assault, shoot whoever, whenever without cops even looking his direction.
* Jack in ''MadWorld'' doesn't have any pretentions of morality... but on the other hand, he doesn't kill ''anyone'' [[BlackAndGreyMorality who doesn't deserve it]]. Cept maybe the aliens.
** "I don't help people. I kill them."
** The whole game can be seen as an AlwaysABiggerFish scenario. What does the government do about a "sport" run by homicidal psychopaths ''for'' homicidal psychopaths? Send in an even bigger homicidal psychopath. With a [[ChainsawGood chainsaw attached to his arm]].
** The [[CombatCommentator commentators]] aren't much better, one is a former contestant in the [[BloodSport Death Watch]], the other is a wife-beating TooKinkyToTorture {{Jerkass}} who's probably voicing this gig because he's too wanted to get work anywhere else.
* Cole McGrath from ''{{inFAMOUS}}'' can be this, either while being outrightly evil, or by performing good actions and then gleefully slaughtering the citizenry inbetween, since killing innocents doesn't do nearly enough karma damage to make you any weaker if you regularly top it up with good karma missions.
* Taken a bit literally in ''{{Prototype}}''. It's mentioned ''in-game'' that AntiHero protagonist Alex Mercer is a sociopath (The exact phrasing being something along the line of his having a "psychopathic disregard for others" with a "classic narcissistic personality."). Goes a long way towards justifying the particularly excessive VideoGameCrueltyPotential.
* Practically everyone in ''TeamFortress2'' is either this to varying degrees, save maybe the Spy, who is more of a MagnificentBastard.
* ''{{Touhou}}''. Depending on your [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation take on the characters]], everyone is, potentially. {{Blood knight}}s like Yuka deserve special mention, but even characters like the supposed heroine Reimu will CurbStompBattle a character like Tokiko who was just shopping for books when Reimu came by. And [[http://touhou.wikia.com/wiki/Lotus_Land_Story:_Reimu%27s_Scenario#Stage_1 that's]] ''[[{{Canon}} CANON]]'' Reimu. FanFic Reimu can go all the way down to CompleteMonster levels of psychosis.
* ''{{World of Warcraft}}'''s Knights of the Ebon Blade. An EnemyCivilWar resulted from them being thrown into a hopeless battle at the end of their indoctrination by the [[BigBad Lich King]], as they didn't seem terribly amused about being torn apart by the undead Scourge, being allowed to retain their sentience in undeath and then getting immediately betrayed again. They forge an alliance with the Argent Crusade in the subsequent assault on Northrend, but that's where the similarities end - by the time the player begins to access Icecrown quests, where the Crusade and Ebon Blade are explicitly working side by side, their quest objectives and NPC chatter begin to implicitly collide. While the Crusade does everything within its power to retain their humility and honor against an opponent that has none (blessing the disabled bodies of future undead converts such that their souls will be able to find peace, for example), the Ebon Blade makes no such concessions in all of their attempts to smash, subvert, cripple or otherwise subject torture to the Scourge that destroyed their lives.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* Belkar Bitterleaf from ''{{The Order of the Stick}}'', pictured above, is a hot-headed, impulsive, and homicidal ChaoticEvil halfling ranger/barbarian. In spite of being somewhat a [[ButtMonkey wacky hijinks victim]], he is probably the most dead-on example of this trope of all, recent [[RestrainingBolt mark of justice]] story arc notwithstanding ([[spoiler:and he eventually defeated it]]). So popular is the character that in Alignment discussions, [[DracoInLeatherPants some fans continue to argue in favour of him being Chaotic Neutral or otherwise not-Evil, despite the wealth of evidence to the contrary]], up to and including WordOfGod, and [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0489.html a strip]] that revealed his evilness can only be described in terms of [[ThoseWackyNazis kilonazis]] and, were it not for party leader Roy Greenhilt holding him back, Belkar would have wound up nearly twice as evil as "a hypothetical offspring of Cruella [=DeVille=] and Sauron."
* Richard from ''{{Looking for Group}}'' is an undead warlock spellcaster of immense power who likes to slaughter innocent peasants and "eat babies" as well as having {{Cloudcuckoolander}} tendencies. His catchphrase is a variation on a line spoken in this comic: "You all saw it! That orphanage attacked me!" with the burning building in the background. He is (as mentioned before) undead, meaning he can take normally fatal injuries (such as being impaled through the stomach or getting an axe in the forehead) and joke about it, and is capable of destroying pretty much anything with his ice and fire spells (at the cost of needing to rest after exerting himself). His "partner" is the somewhat naive elf Cale'Anon Vatay, who wishes to be good and noble even though present-time elves are feared as brutal and callous after having wiped out the last remaining nation of their noble kindred in the past. Richard's excuse for travelling with the other characters is that he simply "likes killing things" and gets bored easily. Richard treats Cale like an amusing pet, but he "respects his [Cale's] willingness to kill" whenever Cale is confronted with obvious Bad Guys.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcbazH6aE2g&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Elfgcomic%2Ecom%2Fvideo%2FfcbazH6aE2g&feature=player_embedded This]] really says all there is to say about Richard.
** It's been said that if they changed LFG's title to "Richard Fucks Shit Up," and was all about Richard and his nonsense, readership would double. I'd still read it.
** Hell, I'd start buying merchandise.
** It may explain both Richard's callousness and his popularity that of the group, he seems to be the only one who knows he's playing a game... and anyone who's ever played a video game knows that no sympathy needs to be wasted on NPCs, and the only thing to do is to amuse yourself with them.
*** It's highly debatable (barring {{Word of God}} this troper may be unaware of) whether LFG is meant to depict a game world or a "real" fictional world. The only in-comic evidence for the former is Cale's "I just rolled this character, hello world"-ish appearance in the first few frames of the first page.
* Bun-Bun, the lop-eared switch-blade-wielding rabbit of ''SluggyFreelance''. His plans usually fall through, often due to Kiki's screwups, but he almost never suffers any consequences... usually because no-one's brave enough to try punishing him.
* ''WalkyVerse'' Abductee Mike Warner, who especially enjoys Halloween: in different years, he's tried to sacrifice Joyce's dog in a Black Mass, dressed up as Saddam Hussein (and putting a fake beard on the same dog he tried kill, calling him 'Osama bin Doggie'), dressed again as the recently deceased head of the GovernmentConspiracy they worked for, and given out candy with razor blades in it. And that's what he does for fun; he's even worse the rest of the year. He crosses the line so many times that it has become blurred beyond all recognition.
* Fuzzy from ''{{Sam and Fuzzy}}''. A borderline heroic sociopath who lapses between true sociopathy and TheImp depending on the seriousness of the story arc (the less important the strip is, the more he gets away with).
** Recently it's come to light that Fuzzy merely took someone's advice about acting in a certain way. Couple this with his apparent [[spoiler: amnesia]] and there's no telling what behaviors of his are genuine, and what aren't, as even Sam himself has noted.
* The title character of ''SchlockMercenary'', as well as most of his commanding officers. And quite a few of his enlisted men too.
** Schlock has been known to refer to his "random act of violence fix for the day".
* ''GirlGenius''': Bangladesh Dupree. Although technically more of a PsychoForHire because she works for the antagonist Baron Wulfenbach, Dupree crosses the line over into this trope: The extremely over-the-top acts she inflicts upon the remaining cast with a cheer on her face while cracking jokes about it are played as much for laughs as for horror, and Wulfenbach is both a viewpoint character and an AntiVillain (and one may wonder how she plans to kill someone [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070718 with a block of cheese]]...).
** Well, it probably depends on [[IncrediblyLamePun how "sharp" the cheese was]]...
** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limburger_cheese Limburger]].
** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casu_marzu Casu marzu]]. It is illegal in Sardinia.
*** And in demand ''only'' in Sardinia.
** As a point of interest, the mythological queen Medb in the irish Ulster Cycle was killed by a flung piece of cheese.
** An even clearer example is Castle Heterodyne, a sadistic and sentient building loyal to the Heterodyne family. It gleefully inflicts gruesome acts of violence at anyone nearby at Agatha's command... And occasionally after interpreting an otherwise innocent comment from Agatha as a command... Or simply because Agatha isn't around to tell it not to. Because it thinks it's ''fun''.
*** ''GirlGenius'': even the buildings can be psychopaths.
** Then there are the Jaegers. Their loyalty to House Heterodyne comes first, and (for most of them) their loyalty to the baron comes second, but their third biggest motivation is sheer bloodlust. They are self-proclaimed "killing machines" who regard the evil Heterodynes as "the fun ones". They always charge into battle with great enthusiasm and laugh at the grisly deaths of their enemies. Nevertheless, so long as Lady Heterodyne is on the side of light, so are they, and most effective at it.
* [[FanNickname Black Hat Guy]] from ''{{xkcd}}''. [[http://xkcd.com/496/ And he's proud of this]].
** And his female rival-turned-girlfriend, who has no nickname. [[http://xkcd.com/481/ Not a typical malware author...]]
* "Red" from ''No Rest for the Wicked''. She carries around an ax, enjoys causing fear in the people around her, smells death, and her cloak is dyed in blood. Her partner is Princess November, a young naive girl who bruises easily. A very mild form, but still qualifies.
* Psycho Mantis from ''{{The Last Days of Foxhound}}'' is very much a HeroicSociopath. The webcomic also gives an excellent insight into the differences between the HeroicSociopath (Mantis) and the MagnificentBastard (Ocelot) - anyone who tangles with the latter on an intellectual level is going ''down'', but it is hard to engage in intellectual battle when your opponent just sets you on fire with his mind instead.
* Most of the characters from ''{{Charby the Vampirate}}'' fit this trope given how little they value human life (though the titular character eventually decides to stop killing people for the sake of his frienship with resident {{Badass Longcoat}} demon hunter Vic, the other characters continue to maim, [[http://www.drunkduck.com/Charby_the_Vampirate/index.php?p=27595 kill]], [[http://www.drunkduck.com/Charby_the_Vampirate/index.php?p=26072 slaughter]] and [[http://www.drunkduck.com/Charby_the_Vampirate/index.php?p=22707 eat]] whomever the want, whenever they feel like it).
* Mal of ''HeadTrip''. Her antics include: arson, assault with a deadly weapon, breaking and entering, holding Fox executives at knife point until they agree to give JossWhedon full artistic control over all future projects, abducting and threating with torture a writer for lost, giving Jack Thompson a KarmicDeath and murdering ''SailorMoon''. She is likely not joking when she says that Ebert of Ebert and Roper has a restraining order on her. She even has her own demon assigned on a permanent basis to follow her around holding a handbasket.
* [[http://thecobradays.net/view.php?date=2006-01-18 The Fear]], [[http://thecobradays.net/view.php?date=2006-02-08 The Pain]], and [[http://thecobradays.net/view.php?date=2006-02-20 The Fury]] from TheCobraDays. When they're not fighting agents of the Axis powers, they spend a lot of their time violently bickering with each other or picking on [[TheWoobie The Sorrow.]]
* Rocky from ''LackadaisyCats'', while being a fairly well-meaning guy overall, has very little grasp of what's socially acceptable and scares most "normal" cats he talks to. When carrying out rumrunning duties, he is completely unaverse to revenge and forcibly putting other "establishments" out of business... and he does. Oh, and he's a pyromaniac. Yet, his childlike enthusiasm, general clumsiness and ineptitude, and lyrical ability make him pretty endearing to the reader.
** Calvin (a.k.a. "Freckle") is probably a HeroicSociopath in training. A quiet, shy fella, he undergoes a complete and psychotic personality change any time he gets his paws on a gun. The end result can involve a lot of bodies (and horror on his part, once he comes back to himself). The story as it stands seems to suggest that he will put this particular "talent" to use, and then his "training" will probably be complete as far as this trope goes.
* Drew from ''MacHall'', a foul-mouthed, utterly cynical Comp Sci major who loves tormenting freshmen and is grandmaster of humorous DisproportionateRetribution. [[http://machall.com/view.php?date=2001-11-29 Like so]].
* The light warriors from ''[=~8-Bit Theater~=]''. Black Mage in particular exemplifies the archetype, in spite of being the comic's major ChewToy on top of it.
** As Fighter himself once [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2005/05/10/episode-551-so-close-and-yet-so-far/ said]]...
--->'''Fighter:''' Oh, we usually murder our way to the top and claim victory whilst astride a pile of mangled bodies.\\
'''Garland:''' I see...\\
'''Fighter:''' But we're heroes so it's okay when '''''we''''' do that.
* Aram from ''MenInHats'', the prototype of Black Hat Guy.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Simon, the ''{{Bastard Operator from Hell}}'', whose sole purpose is to act out all the malevolent revenge fantasies of the readership.
* The majority of the staff from the SCPFoundation would seem to be examples of this trope. [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/duke-till-dawn For instance...]]
* Jobe Wilkins, Crown Prince of Karedonia, and brilliant bio-deviser, in the WhateleyUniverse. He invented a new vaccine for dysentery. How? By experimenting on prisoners. Live, human prisoners of his father's less-than-humane government. And he doesn't see anything wrong with that. "If the ends don't justify the means, you're working on the wrong problem."
* Many [=~Let's Play~=] sessions wind up turning video game protagnists into these, partly to keep it more as an OC. For instance, take Misty of ''[[http://lparchive.org/LetsPlay/Pokemon%20Emerald/ Pokémon Emerald]]''. In her spare time, she apparently enjoys beating things and watching her Pokémon eat smaller ones, and has killed (and eaten) several of her ''own'' Pokémon simply because they annoyed her.
* ''PurePwnage'''s FPS_Doug gives off this vibe sometimes, particularly in the [[BoomHeadshot "BOOM HEADSHOT!"]] segment from episode 5.
* [[CoxAndCombesWashington George Washington]], albeit heavy on the sociopath and light on the heroic part.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Gaz from ''InvaderZim''.
* Mandy, ''{{The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy}}''. The show sometimes subverted it by having Mandy do everything right, but fail because of [[SurroundedByIdiots the idiots around her]], or bad luck. For a little girl, though, her achievements are quite impressive.
** She did once erase every living thing from existence except herself but, probably because the crapsack world the show is set in is so surreal, it didn't last.
* Cartman on ''SouthPark'' is sometimes portrayed this way, particularly in the episode "Scott Tenorman Must Die", where he got his own back on a school bully by arranging for the bully's parents to be murdered, then grinding up their corpses into chili, feeding the chili to the character, and bragging about it publicly with no negative repercussions.
** And then ''giddily licks the tears off of his face''.
* Captain Hero from ''DrawnTogether'' is a superhero, but has almost no regard for human life whatsoever (although he may simply be too stupid to know what he's doing). An example of his sociopathy is throwing an entire planet (which happens to be his ''home planet'') and everything living on it into a star to prove he's "heroic".
** Don't forget his clever use of human shields.
*** Captain Hero One! Billions of Innocent Zeblonians... um... dead. Oh. I uh... (Slinks away)
** Ling Ling, the [[{{Pokemon}} Pikachu]] spoof from the same show is intitially portrayed as this as well; a murderous sociopath who wants to kill and destroy everyone he encounters in hilariously brutal manners, but later becomes a frequent ChewToy/ ButtMonkey (given [[SadistShow the nature of the show]], this could apply to anybody, though).
* In ''TheBoondocks'', Ed Wuncler III and Gin Rummy are two sociopathic veteran soldiers who constantly drink, curse, and rob stores yet get away with their idiotic plans due to Wuncler's extremely rich father having the police on his payroll.
** Riley is a sociopath-in-training. Naturally he gets away with anything his gurus do, but he could incite a riot and get a mere slap across the crown for cursing too much.
* Brock Samson from ''TheVentureBrothers'' is an amoral scientist's bodyguard who's main priority (at least in the beginning) is to brutally murder his enemies while having sex with as many women as possible. His college football career (and scholarship) ended when he accidentally killed another player, so he joined the army. He wound up as a government agent with his own license to kill, which he's been known to take advantage of if a bartender makes fun of his long hair. He's basically a Swedish James Bond with an UnstoppableRage and a huge knife.
* Korgoth from ''{{Korgoth of Barbaria}}'' is basically a combination of ConanTheBarbarian and Brock Samson. He is an apathetic and anti-social {{badass}} with an insatiable appetite for sex and violence in the most graphic degree. In just the first fight of the pilot episode, he tears off a man's arm and beats him to death with it, chops a man in half down the middle with an axe, and tears off another man's skin, douses him with alcohol, and lights him on fire. ''For laughs''.
* Each member of Dethklok in ''{{Metalocalypse}}'' is a HeroicSociopath, brutally killing and maiming people ''even live on stage'' with no consequences whatsoever. In fact, it seems that because of this nature they are ridiculously powerful and wealthy; ranking as the 12th most powerful nation in the world, despite only being a band.
** It should be noted that very rarely is Dethklok the ''direct'' cause of the violence around them, and even when they are, it's not always intentional. Not that they necessarily care about a few thousand casualties, of course. Until it starts to affect their record sales.
* Flippy from ''HappyTreeFriends'', the cuddly teddy bear [[ShellShockedSenior vietnam war veteran]] who is capable of going on atrocious (not to mention [[CrossesTheLineTwice hilariously]] [[BloodyHilarious violent]]) rampages on the drop of a hat due to flashbacks.
* Stewie Griffin from ''FamilyGuy'' starts out as a diabolical HeroicSociopath before his arguable CharacterDerailment (he still has his moments, but it's more general ComedicSociopathy).
** This troper has always seem him as getting WORSE as the series has gone on. He's killed at least three people (two of them other infants) that this troper knows about, with zero remorse. It's just that, given the fact that everyone in Quahog is either an idiot or self-centered jackass, no one cares.
* And from {{Seth McFarlene}}'s ''other'' show, Stan Smith from ''AmericanDad''. While presented as genrally a caring husband and father, he's not above torturing and killing innocents (which he appears to enjoy}, and ''brainwashing his own children'' for what he sees as the Greater Good.
** Roger also tends to delve into this trope now and again. A few examples of this are his willingness to destroy the earth after being insulted by stan (this backfires big time), his willingness to kill a baby, him raping a tree when he thinks someone is out to get him (turns out its Rogers alter-ego) and him killing Steve's double after Steve rights a story mocking him.
* To a certain degree, [[{{Futurama}} Bender]].
-->"I came here with a simple dream... a dream of killing all humans. And this is how it must end? Who's the real 7 billion ton robot monster here? Not I... Not I..."
* Muzzle from ''RoadRovers'' has to be physically restrained for the majority of the series. However, when faced with a large amount of cannon fodder henchmen, the rest of the Rovers will declare, "Let's Muzzle 'em!" and release said psychopathic dog from his straitjacket. After thoroughly trouncing the villains, Muzzle becomes quite docile, usually due to the aftereffects of ''eating'' most of the villains (or at least their clothing).
* Killface (real name Evelyn) from ''FriskyDingo''. His goal for much of the series is to use his [[WeaponOfMassDestruction Annihilatrix]] to propel Earth into the sun for no apparent reason, and he kills and mains people at the drop of the hat. In the pilot episode he kills a man and uses the corpse to stage an impromptu ventriloquist act (oblivious to how appalingly lame his jokes are). [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr7n6tQhB-w Watch some choice moments.]]
*** And yet he's still more sympathetic than Xander Crews. Proving, forever, that it's better to be a sociopath than a douchebag.
* The title character in ''{{Assy McGee}}'' may very well qualify, being a ultra-violent and remorseless parody of 70's/80's cops (though, he is clinically depressed) that makes [[TwentyFour Jack Bauer]] look tame by comparison.
* Slappy of ''{{Animaniacs}}'' qualifies as one, because unlike a typical ScrewySquirrel she is ''[[GenreSavvy fully aware]]'' that [[DesignatedHero she's not that good]], her enemies [[DesignatedVillain aren't that bad]], and she [[DisproportionateRetribution pays them back way worse than they deserve]].
* Chris, the host from ''TotalDramaIsland'', is a mild case of this trope. He's never gone on any killer rampages or anything, but the constantly dangerous (and sometimes life-threatening) challenges he sets the contestants on mostly for his own amusement, makes him one of these. On several occasions he makes references to how interns have been killed testing out the challenges, and it's hard to tell if he's joking or not...
** Chris is (as well as the show's writer, background designer, director, and executive producer) the show's ''assassin'' tasked with killing anybody who tries to escape/enter the island. Meaning, he may actually ''have'' gone on killer rampages.
** Chef Hatchet is similar as well.
** Who could forget Izzy, who not only looks back at the time she BLEW UP A MOUNTIES' CAMP with cheer, but enjoys being hunted down by them?
--->'''Izzy:''' You'll never get me alive! AHAHAHAHAHA!!
* The title character of the show ''Kevin Spencer'' is an example. He is a chain-smoking, alcoholic, sociopathic juvenille delinquent who responds to the moronic people around with violence, usually just for the thrill of it.
* ''The Brak Show'' features Zorak Jones, an [[LeaveItToBeaver Eddie Haskell-esque]] character who is also a sadistic, sociopathic, morally bankrupt misanthrope. He is basically what you get when you mix [[AquaTeenHungerForce Master Shake]] and [[SouthPark Cartman]]. Luckily though, [[TheChewToy he often gets killed horrifically]] during each episode, which might make him somewhat of a subversion.
* Xavier from the aburdist show ''Xavier: Renegade Angel'' borders on this at times.
* [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation Arguably,]] the eponymous protagonist of ''Ardy Lightfoot'' could count as this in the original Japanese version. Not only does he ignore the tied-up villagers in the forest stage without lifting a fuzzy finger to help them, but in the obligatory WombLevel he happens upon the ''digested remains'' of the previous stage's boss (a foxgirl ninja who is never even linked to the game's actual villains; her name doesn't even appear in the opening credits, arguably making the rest of them [[KarmaHoudini Karma Houdinis]] on a massive scale!) lying right next to the MineralMacguffin she stole, and what does he do? He grabs the jewel, launches into his victory dance and the stage continues as if nothing else happened.
* Heloise from ''JimmyTwoShoes'' is this. She works for Misery Inc. as [[MadScientist top inventor]] to make hazardous products and she also like to destroy things for fun. However, she likes to hangs out with Jimmy due to her crush on him.
[[/folder]]

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