History Main / ThenLetMeBeEvil

%%This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks!

-->'''Tiger:''' A good deed by a supervillain, that's rich. \\

* Occurs to Sandra years after she's transformed into a demon at the start of ''WebComic/ZebraGirl''. Frustrated at the downsides of her new body[[labelnote:Examples]]Acidic blood, elongated claws that cut through almost anything she touches, having to stay incognito and forgo her social life[[/labelnote]] and waiting for an incredibly unlikely cure, she decides to throw it all to the wind and embrace it. She gets banished to another realm by her friends for her troubles, and thus far it appears that she's learnt her lesson.

Also useful when an adaptation wants to keep an originally unambiguously evil character evil, but not ''quite'' as evil; for example, to try to clear up any UnfortunateImplications of the previous characterization. This trope can provide a backstory that makes the character a bit more sympathetic/understandable, while leaving plenty of room for genuine villainy (or for preserving some beloved [[EvilIsHammy Evil Ham]]).

* The ''WebOriginal/ElfslayerChronicles'' involves a ''Franchise/DungeonsAndDragons'' player who gets fed up with his {{Jerkass}} DM and her [[AuthorFilibuster constant tirades]] about how [[CantArgueWithElves elves are super-duper awesome and wonderful]], while [[HumansAreBastards humans are evil, bigoted monsters]]. Sick of listening to it, he decides that if humans are supposed to be AlwaysChaoticEvil, why would his character be an [[TokenHeroicOrc exception]]? So, rather than play along with the DM's glorified morality play, [[OffTheRails he murders the prince he was supposed to save]] and [[FrameUp frames the guy's elvish lover for it]]. The DM can't complain; [[HoistByHisOwnPetard she's the one who insisted that humans are all intolerant monsters]].

[[caption-width-right:338: You're a [[{{Superdickery}} dick,]] [[ADickInName Grayson.]]]]

Sometimes the supposed [[NiceJobBreakingItHero "forces of good"]] in a story treat an "evil" character [[DesignatedVillain badly enough, for long enough]], that the "evil" character just gives up trying to show the heroes that they are not evil and becomes a villain for real. Prolonged exposure to the cynical side of the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism has conditioned this character to accept the fact that HumansAreTheRealMonsters, and if they want to get anywhere in life, they have to [[FaceHeelTurn be every bit as dirty and cruel as they are.]]

* Happens in Music/AdamWarrock's song, "Sad Ultron"-- All the newest incarnation of Hank Pym's Ultron wants is to hang out and be accepted, but because all previous versions of him went all KnightTemplar and evil, everyone assumes he'll do the same- thanks to being shunned and hated, he turns evil on principle.

** Averted the one time this actually happened in the ''comics''; in the 1980s ''[[ComicBook/TheAvengers West Cost Avengers]]'' run, Ultron Mark 12 did in fact reform and managed to win his initially suspicious "father" Henry Pym over without too much trouble. It didn't last because [[RedemptionEqualsDeath the still-existing earlier Ultron model didn't share "Mark"'s sentiments]].

* In the iconic (and often misunderstood) Music/BlackSabbath song ''Iron Man'', a hero from an apocalyptic future is sent back in time to save the world. But the process turns his body to metal. When he arrives in the past, humanity panics thinking him some kind of alien monster. [[BootstrapParadox He eventually snaps and becomes the one who destroyed the world in the first place.]]

** Some mutants became villains for revenge, while others complain that they were given no choice and still others are obviously just using this as an excuse. It's played out front and center with the "Bad Seeds", a [[Characters/WhateleyUniverseSchoolClubsAndCliques long-established]] school clique composed of the children of supervillains who are banded together mostly out of self-preservation because everyone else seems to assume evil is [[VillainousLineage in their blood.]] At least one "heroic" character (the "future heroes" clique essentially being a stand-in for the "Jocks" cliques found in normal high schools) recognizes this trope is in action and is trying to convince her fellow "Capes" to stop persecuting the Bad Seeds, with limited success so far.

[[caption-width-right:338: [[ADickInName Dick Grayson]] is a [[{{Superdickery}} dick.]]]]

** General James Ironwood has made it clear that he will use whatever means necessary to defeat Salem. [[spoiler:When Team RWBY calls out his decision to raise Atlas out of Salem's reach, he calmly says he's aware that he is essentially damning Mantle to her wrath as he goes through a FaceHeelTurn. He later tells Oscar that he is done letting others' opinions hold him back from doing what he thinks is right. The boy warns him that he'd become as dangerous as Salem herself like that; the general simply nods to himself but doesn't deny it. By the events of the next volume, Ironwood has murdered councilman Sleet after he questioned why he declared martial law, tortured Arthur Watts so he could force him to help get Penny back, planned to use a bomb to destroy Mantle of the heroes didn't give up Penny, and murdered [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Jacques Schnee]] by vaporizing his body.]]

* Redcloak of ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' has this trait in his more sympathetic moments, most of which are in the prequel book ''Recap/StartOfDarkness''. As a member of the AlwaysChaoticEvil goblin race, if a "good" character murders him, any other goblins, or even any baby goblins for any reason, this is not treated as an "evil" act, even though the whole reason goblins are evil in the first place is supposedly because they murder without provocation. His example is particularly notable, as at one point he has a HeelRealization -- about the way he mistreats other goblins. He never seriously considers the idea that he's giving humans any less than they deserve.