'''Basic Trope''': Doing bad things to bad people is okay.
* '''Straight''': [[TheBigBad Emperor Evulz]] [[NoHoldsBarredBeatDown viciously beats up]] [[TheHero Bob's]] [[HeterosexualLifePartners best friend]] [[TheLancer Charlie]], so Bob decides to beat up [[TheDragon Evulz's right-hand man General Dracone]].
* '''Exaggerated''':
** Emperor Evulz kills Bob's friends and family, so Bob kills every one of Evulz's servants. Thus, he is celebrated as the most virtuous hero.
** Emperor Evulz kills Bob's friends and family, so Bob kidnaps Evulz's daughter, [[ForcedToWatch ties Evulz up]], and [[RevengeByProxy kills her in front of Evulz]].
** Emperor Evulz knocks Bob over at the movie theater, so Bob knocks emperor Evulz over [[DisproportionateRetribution at the Grand Canyon.]]
** Emperor Evulz is a space pirate who attacks Bob. Bob takes revenge by [[OrbitalBombardment destroying Evulz's home planet]] whose sole crime is being the place Evulz was born.
* '''Downplayed''':
** Emperor Evulz called Bob a "BigStupidDoodooHead", so Bob calls Emperor Evulz a "pants-wetting scaredy-cat".
** [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Executive Evulz]] avoided punishment when his factory poisoned Bob's family, so Bob gets revenge by [[JusticeByOtherLegalMeans becoming an attorney and backing frivolous lawsuits against Evulz's company]].
** Doing mean things to mean people is somewhat okay.
* '''Justified''':
** Bob wanted to see how Evulz would feel if someone did the same evil things he did.
** Bob wants to [[MakeAnExampleOfThem set an example]] for anyone who wishes to commit the same magnitude of evildoing.
** Evulz is only vulnerable in a state of extreme emotional and physical pain.
** Evulz [[EvilCannotComprehendGood is literally unable to understand anything that doesn't involve violence or cruelty in some form]], so Bob attacks Dracone to make him understand in his own language.
* '''Inverted''':
** Emperor Evulz attacks everyone indiscriminately because no one attends his birthday party. But Bob, the sole individual who actually gets punched in the face by Evulz, [[AssholeVictim happens to be an obnoxious asshole, so nobody minds what Evulz did anyway]].
** Doing good things to good people is ''not'' okay!
** NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished
** TheFarmerAndTheViper
** TurnTheOtherCheek
** Emperor Evulz kills Bob simply because he's good.
* '''Subverted''':
** Emperor Evulz has done evil to Bob, but while Bob is tempted to take revenge, he decides to TurnTheOtherCheek.
** Evulz does evil to Bob, so Bob does evil to Evulz. [[WhatTheHellHero This is portrayed as a bad thing.]]
** When Evulz's daughter is brutally killed by Bob, Bob has a "MyGodWhatHaveIDone" moment when [[MirrorCharacter Evulz]] [[NotSoDifferentRemark calls him out]].
** Bob shoots one of Evulz's associates after Evulz had his friend Charlie killed, only it turns out Bob was just trying to rob someone to supply his drug habit, [[MoralLuck and the fact they were evil was pure dumb luck]].
* '''Double Subverted''':
** ...minutes later, Bob intentionally causes Evulz to get burned alive which is [[KarmicDeath something he has done to innocents]].
** It’s portrayed as a bad thing because [[MisplacedRetribution Bob assaulted General Dracone who had nothing to do with the situation.]] If Bob assaulted Emperor Evulz, it would be portrayed as okay.
** ...except Evulz's daughter was an AssholeVictim as evil as Evulz, Bob has to kill them both so he can stop their atrocities.
** Bob only made it look like a random robbery in hopes that Evulz and his minions won't realize he's on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge.
* '''Parodied''': Evulz has committed the heinous crime of [[EvilIsPetty stealing a pencil from Bob's friends]], so Bob decides to get even by [[PokeThePoodle stealing Dracone's pencil]].
* '''Zig Zagged''': Sometimes doing bad things to bad people is okay and other times it isn't.
* '''Averted''': Doing bad things to bad people is never encouraged.
* '''Enforced''': "Let's teach kids that it's okay to do evil things to evil people!"
* '''Lampshaded''':
** "Now you know what it's like to have your friends beaten, Evulz!"
** [[WhatTheHellHero "How could you do that to Evulz?]] [[NoSympathyForGrudgeholders You're just]] [[NotSoDifferentRemark as bad as he is]]!"
* '''Invoked''':
** "Go ahead, Bob! Get even with me if it makes you feel any better!"
** Evulz kidnaps Bob and takes him to his lair. Bob finds himself utterly speechless when Evulz then says, "You know what you think I deserve? [[StrikeMeDownWithAllOfYourHatred Do it. Give it to me. I deserve it.]]" Bob initially suspects this to be an attempt to bring him down to Evulz's level, [[SuicideByCop but this turns out not to be the case]].
* '''Exploited''':
** Evulz sees this mentality in Bob and starts attacking others more frequently to slowly goad Bob [[HeWhoFightsMonsters into a violent killer whom no one would later protect.]]
** Bob is a SociopathicHero who's looking for an excuse to kill someone, but to avoid making himself appear as evil, he decides to go after the villains.
* '''Defied''': "I'm not going to lower myself into getting even with Evulz. [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim That would be following his example]]."
* '''Discussed''': "How could Bob do such a thing like that to an evil person like Evulz?"
* '''Conversed''': "Gosh, [[RonTheDeathEater the fans have]] [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic such a problem with Bob attacking]] [[DracoInLeatherPants Evulz]]. [[BrokenBase I've would've done the same thing if I was Bob.]]"
* '''Implied''': Evulz kills Charlie, so [[TranquilFury Bob]] then sighs, grabs a {{shotgun|s are just better}}, before [[StealthHiBye heading off into the shadows]]. We are not shown on ''[[NothingIsScarier what]]'' Bob did to Evulz, but if you [[FreezeFrameBonus pause]] during the scene where Bob gets his funeral clothes to mourn over Charlie’s death, you can see [[AssholeVictim Evulz]]’s EvilOverlord helmet but now with cracks, blood stains on it, and a huge hole dented in it, in Bob’s closet. Bonus points for the fact that Evulz is never spoken of again in the series at all.
* '''Deconstructed''':
** Bob realizes that getting even with Evulz isn't enough to satisfy him, so he decides to [[DisproportionateRetribution maim and torture him ten times worse than what Evulz has done]]. [[HeWhoFightsMonsters He becomes considerably more sadistic than Evulz has ever been.]]
** Bob has successfully exacted his revenge on Evulz, but [[VengeanceFeelsEmpty it doesn't give him the satisfaction he hoped for.]]
** Despite the crimes committed by Evulz, Bob ends up scaring away his loved ones because he's a monster, and brings the law down on him since he still committed a crime.
** Bob ''knows'' this isn't a lawful thing to do, but [[TragicVillain does it anyway because he's desperate for Evulz to get SOME kind of payback.]]
** CycleOfRevenge
** RevengeIsNotJustice
* '''Reconstructed''':
** Bob learns not to go overboard in revenge and gives the villain the appropriate punishment that matches their crime. Or if he shuns revenge, Bob comes up with a method in punishing villains: [[CruelMercy sparing them in the cruelest and most ironic way possible.]]
** [[IgnoredEpiphany He eventually ignores the feeling]] and comes to the conclusion that {{revenge|issweet}} was WorthIt.
** [[AntiHero Bob]] decides that doing it for revenge ''is'' wrong. [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty Making sure karma catches up with Emperor Evulz and his minions, however...]]
----
Back to PayEvilUntoEvil
----
%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:
%%
%%*
%%* '''Plotted A Good Waste''': ???
%%* '''Played For Laughs''': ???
%%* '''Played For Drama''': ???