Not So Well Intentioned Extremist / Comic Books

---

• Aquaman's Arch-Enemy Black Manta claimed in the 1970s that he was antagonizing him in order to give black people a place to be free of prejudice in Atlantis, when in reality he was only doing it to serve himself.
• Avatar: The Last Airbender – Imbalance: Liling starts out organizing her revolution because she sees the technological efficiency replacing bending's importance as an existential threat against benders, politics eventually siding with the non-benders at their expense. Over time however, it becomes more and more clear that she is operating on a Super Supremacist, Might Makes Right mentality that seeks to drive out the non-benders in Cranefish Town all-together.
• The Avengers:
  • Ultron thinks that he's doing the planet Earth a favor by killing all humans as he believes they would eventually destroy the world. In reality, he's motivated by his oedipal hatred for his creator and can't fathom to seek a compromise.
  • In The Kang Dynasty, Kang the Conqueror claims his invasion of Earth is to prevent any number of Bad Futures he's seen coming, but his true motivation is to conquer Earth.
  • During the events of Dark Reign and Siege, Norman Osborn insists he's protecting everyone from any number of threats the real heroes were incapable of stopping, and not a maniac who dresses up as a goblin and goes around throwing bombs shaped like pumpkins at people. Never mind that Siege happens because he starts a fight with the Asgardians for no reason.
• Batman: The Victim Syndicate is an organization that believes Batman does more harm than good due to the collateral damage in battles between the Dark Knight and members of his Rogues Gallery. Over time, however, it becomes clear that this belief is just a self-serving justification for revenge against the Caped Crusader, and that they don't care about Gotham's people enough to not kill them by the thousands. It doesn't help their case that, with the exception of Mudface, none of them ever think of going after the villains who disfigured them in the first place.
• Birthright: Mastema wants to allow the unstable barriers between Earth and Terrenos to destroy both worlds so that she can create an new better one. Her reasoning is that it's the better alternative than allowing Lore to invade Earth revealed and turn it into an irreversible hell hole like Terrenos. But when she is given a choice that would save both worlds, she refuses it and persists in her goal, proving it to be nothing more of a product of her egomania.
• Dungeon: The Early Years: Chambon convinces the wizard population that the city should be under their control because they are the most fit to rule (if you can't turn kings into philosophers, then make philosophers kings). However, the professor Chambon is just a power-hungry despot who impregnated multiple women from all the spheres both for his own pleasure and so he can use the children to massacre their parents and use the chaos to take over; one of the parents is also his most idealistic follower. He also has no problem leaving his followers get massacred while he tries escaping.
• Darkstalkers: Morrigan justifies draining human souls by saying she's taking them from lives of suffering and disappointment by putting their souls in state of bliss. Outside of expressing disappointment of not finding love, Jack didn't complain much about his life. None of her victims could be described as depressed or willing to accept death so soon, meaning it's just a flimsy excuse to take their lives. She is in general an amoral monster who commits several evil actions and kills people even if she doesn't want their souls.
• Fantastic Four: Doctor Doom insists that his desire to Take Over the World is for the benefit of humanity. Deep down, however, his motives are often shown to just be completely selfish in nature. When he actually does take over the world in the graphic novel Emperor Doom, he gets bored of ruling the world with no challenges and allows The Avengers to overthrow him. The event depicts him as wanting to be a conqueror, not an administrator. While he does save reality in Secret Wars (2015), the reality he rules over is a hellhole plagued by supervillains whom Doom could easily use his newly found godly powers to stop but is only concerned about his own rule. It's taken even farther in Fantastic Four #553, in which after seeing Reed Richards become useful in the future and turn the Earth into a paradise, his ego refuses to accept it and he tries to Set Wrong What Was Once Made Right in order to become the savior of humanity himself.
• In Jupiter's Legacy, Walter claims that superheroes aren't doing enough to help society and should lead instead of just treat the symptoms of its issues. It quickly becomes apparent that he just wants things done his way, and either doesn't care about the consequences to others or refuses to accept that he just doesn't know what he's talking about.
• Mega Man (Archie Comics): Alexander "Xander" Payne of the Emerald Spears talks of saving humans from the robots but is willing to put innocents at risk saying it will protect even more (even saying that they are guilty by looking up to Mega-Man and treating him like a person). He is mostly motivated by vengeance for losing his eye.
• The Mighty Thor: Korvac claims his intentions are to create a utopia, but moments later also admits that getting revenge on everyone is also his plan, and Phase 1 involves blowing up Earth out of spite. On confronting him, Thor calls Korvac out on this, pointing out he's just full of it.
• Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): In issue 23, Dr. Eggman proudly boasts to Sonic that his actions are "bringing peace and unity to the world, and providing it with [his] brilliant guidance." It falls flat considering that in addition to having unleashed a robotic Zombie Apocalypse that is ravaging the world as he says this, Eggman has committed all manner of atrocities, such as blowing up the moon and splitting the planet itself open, and earned himself nothing but hatred and fear from the world at large. When Sonic rightfully counters that Eggman is not bringing peace and unity to anyone, the doctor merely retorts, "Agree to disagree."
• Star Wars: The High Republic - Eye of the Storm: Marchion Ro, the Eye of the Nihil, makes grandiose pronunciations of leading the Nihil to freedom from tyranny (for most of the Nihil, the freedom in question being the power to raid and pillage the Outer Rim) and finding a higher purpose, even creating his own cult within the ranks. However, in private, he admits that deep down, he's actually just a self-absorbed, bloodthirsty child that hates being told what to do by anyone and is fighting against the Jedi and Republic for his own ego (to the point that his family grudge against the Jedi stops holding any water in regards to higher motivations). When Starlight Beacon is destroyed and he gloats about it on the Holonet, he claims it as his victory, willfully choosing not to credit it to the Nihil as a whole.
  Marchion Ro: I am all that matters, and I do not like people who do not matter telling me what to do.
• Superman:
  • In his own mind, Lex Luthor is quite sincere in his desire to uplift humanity and serve as an example of all they can accomplish. In reality, that philanthropy only extends to how much gain he can get out of the situation, and he'd be more than willing to slit the throat of every human on the planet (personally and literally, if need be) if it will further his ego-driven vendetta with Superman.
    • In The Black Ring, Luthor achieves godhood, but can't do anything villainous with the power. For a few minutes, he banishes suffering from the universe... and then gives it all up because he can't hurt Superman.
    • In Superman: Up, Up and Away!, the Man of Steel calls Luthor out on doing nothing whatsoever in the whole year Superman was missing, despite his claims that he could save the world if Superman wasn't around.
    • In All-Star Superman, Lex Luthor again claims he could have saved the world if it wasn't for Superman. In answer, Superman knocks him down and points out that's nothing but a bad excuse. For once, Lex acquiesces.
      Lex Luthor: [trying to lunge at Superman] I saw how to save the world! I could have made everyone see. I could have saved the world if it wasn't for you!
      Superman: You could have saved the world years ago if it mattered to you, Luthor.
  • The Super-Duel in Space: Brainiac claims he is stealing cities in order to repopulate his world...and then having a new empire to rule once again.
  • In the Crucible storyline, Korstus often claims that he's just trying to create a peace-keeping force capable of protecting the galaxy more efficiently than Crucible's old methods ever did... and every time, he also remarks that he'll obviously be at the helm of said force, hinting that he's deluded himself into believing he's driven by a noble goal instead of petty ambition and self-interest.
  • Rana, the villain of issue #26 of the 2000s Power Girl comic. A native of the planet Areta, Rana grew up under the tyranny of the war lords of of Azaar for over a century. She managed to steal a spaceship belonging to the Azaar and fled to Earth, a planet populated by superheroes. Rana was convinced that her people could have defeated the Azaar if her planet had a large population of heroes just like Earth and she decided to drain the powers of Power Girl whom Rana had concluded was the most powerful female hero on Earth. Despite Rana's insistence that she was doing all this for the sake of her people, Karen believes that Rana only wanted the power of a superhero without the responsibility of protecting others.
    Power Girl: You don't want to be a hero. You just want to be super.
  • In Superman vs. Shazam!, Karmang wants to blow up two planets because he needs a lot of energy to free one billion ghosts, but he never addresses why he specifically needs to blow up two inhabited worlds, and he does not seem at all bothered about committing two genocides.
  • In Starfire's Revenge, Supergirl villain Starfire tricks women into joining her gang and committing crimes by claiming she needs troops and money to tear down the world's unfair and destructive status quo... as simultaneously inwardly mocking her own soldiers by foolishly believing she cares for feminism or environmentalism.
  • In Way of the World, villain Aftermath claims to want to turn the public against super-humans because decent normal people always get screwed by their battles. However, his scheme — kidnapping a couple to blackmail their daughter into putting a mind-control hex on Supergirl, intending to force Kara to cause mayhem until everybody hates her and super-heroes — hints that he is merely self-justifying a personal vendetta.
    Aftermath: NO!!! I only did this to make them understand— to make the world better.
    Supergirl: I know. But that doesn't mean you're right.
  • Post-Crisis, General Zod is characterized as a great hero to Kryptonian society prior to his coup and imprisonment in the Phantom Zone for opposing Krypton's council for correctly assuming that said council was corrupt and ignorant of Krypton's upcoming demise. When Kandor is restored and settled in New Krypton, Zod returns to at least try to secure the safety of his new home and his people, even begrudgingly working with Kal-El, though his military and societal upbringing meant that Zod would go with more uncompromising and violent options first that goes against Superman's more peaceful and pacifistic ways. As a result, Zod does become a genuine Well-Intentioned Extremist... until Reactron blows up New Krypton with Lex Luthor's aid, whereupon Zod becomes embittered and angry to the point where he drops any good intentions he has and aims to once again take over Earth, obviously getting into conflict against Kal-El and his family and friends.
• Teen Titans:
  • Cinder of Deathstroke's knockoff Titans is a serial killer who targets sex offenders and child molesters. At first glance, her motives appear to be justified anger and compassion stemming from her own sexual abuse at the hands of her uncle; however, it becomes increasingly clear that she's only bloodthirsty and looking for something to do with her time since she can't kill herself. She gets hit by this especially hard when her immortality is revealed in regard to how she joined Deathstroke's team. He offered her openings to get child molesters who are particularly powerful such as cardinals and politicians, and in exchange she had to help murder Ryan Choi (the fourth Atom) who was a completely innocent man. Given that Cinder cannot die, it raises the question of what was stopping her from reaching those high-profile targets in the past and makes her reasons for killing Ryan especially shallow.
  • Mark Richards, a.k.a. Tattooed Man, was another example of the same team. He left his neighborhood under the watchful eye of two gangs he controlled while he joined Deathstroke's team to find Slipknot, the villain who killed his son. Mark's desire to avenge his son's death might have been sympathetic and well-meaning, except like Cinder above he joins in killing the totally innocent Ryan Choi to achieve his goal. And once Deathstroke finally gets his hands on Slipknot and Mark kills him, Mark doesn't feel any better about his son's death. Oh, and he returns to Liberty Hill to discover the residents all live in fear of their lives thanks to Mark abdicating responsibility to his thugs. Mark's inability to think things out in the long term and do whatever's necessary just robs his actions of credibility and makes him an incompetent asshole.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (IDW): Krang repeatedly insists that he's doing what he feels is necessary to ensure the survival of the Utroms, and swears up and down that he did what he had to do to do so, regardless of the ethics of his methods. During the "Trial of Krang" arc, the Fugitoid tears his argument apart, stating that though Krang paints himself as a savior of his people, he's caused nothing but pain and suffering to millions of innocent and killed numerous others in pursuit of his goal, stating that no savior would ever consider mass murder and genocide as a means to an end and summing Krang up as nothing more than an Omnicidal Maniac.
  Fugitoid: General Krang fashions himself a victim of circumstances beyond his control, forced to be a rescue of his people. That is only a half-truth. He did rescue his people by any means he deemed necessary. But what kind of savior finds the annihilation of millions of innocent souls as one of those acceptable means? The answer is none, because mass murder is a method only of a genocidal maniac.
• The Transformers (IDW):
  • Deconstructed with Megatron, who started out as a genuine reformer and swiftly became a sadistic, genocidal authoritarian, slaughtering entire species out of Fantastic Racism and trying to be as deliberately cruel as possible to Optimus. Eventually Megatron reaches the point he can no longer justify it to himself and undergoes a Heel–Face Turn to fix things. He then has to deal with many refusing to accept his desire to set things right after all his evildoing and facing down monsters he himself created.
    Megatron: I once told Optimus I killed for the sake of killing. I wanted him to hurt me, you see - because when he hurts others, he hurts himself. And the thing is, when those words were in my head, I didn't think I meant them; but when they left my mouth, I realised that I did. If the world thinks you're a monster, what does it matter? The world is wrong. But when you start to think of yourself as a monster...
  • Tarn, the most notable of those monsters, portrays himself as a Decepticon patriot who is a ruthless bastard, but has standards. Ultimately, though, he's shown to be just another sadist leading a team of sadists, whose ostensible standards do nothing to actually change his behavior, and who abandons pretty much every scruple he pretended to have during his Villainous Breakdown as shown when he callously murders Kaon.
  • Getaway presents himself as someone who's just willing to do ruthless things when necessary and is uninterested in looking past Megatron's past deeds for pretty understandable reasons, but he's ultimately just a vicious, self-serving asshole with delusions of grandeur. He's spiteful to his victims, he manipulates his friends, his behaviour towards Tailgate comes across as jerkish and predatory, and eventually ends up being willing to go to ridiculous lengths to get petty revenge on Team Rodimus.
    Atomizer: There's a way to do things, and a way not to do things, and the way you spoke to him just now... you're winning, Getaway. You needn't be so cruel.
  • Played for dark laughs with the Omega Guardians. They start out by proposing a way that the heroes can destroy Functionist Cybertron/Primus, which is on a genocidal rampage. It takes only a token amount of pushback from the heroes, who want to find a method with less collateral damage, before they flip out, kill a trio of now-extraneous side characters with a blast from the Magnificence, and start ranting about how they really want there to be a big explosion in the specific spatial feature the characters are in, so they can come back from the higher planes and eat everything. The entire process, from revealing that they're even involved to confessing that they're Eldritch Abominations now to Nickel crushing the Magnificence to shut them up, takes one conversation.
• Transformers (2019): This version of Megatron portrays himself as a reformer, trying to shake up the stasis Cybertronian civilisation had put itself in with the Nominus Edict, but his methods start out at enlisting a war criminal to run a terror cell for him and rapidly go downhill. Eventually Termagax, the founder of the movement he's hijacked, calls him out directly to his face for being more interested in his own personal power than any of the actual principles she tried to encourage, and if she hadn't been using a drone as her messenger she wouldn't have survived.
  Termagax: How stupid of me not to have seen it long ago. It's not about the cause. It's about you. Self-elevation. Self-glorification. You mislearned every lesson I tried to teach.
• Ultimate Marvel:
  • In The Ultimates (2002), Bruce Banner becomes increasingly unstable following his breakup with Betty Ross and talks of the government pulling the team's funding, and injects himself with a Psycho Serum, turning him into the Hulk. After he's subdued by the other Ultimates following a rampage through Manhattan that kills hundreds, he claims that it was a Zero-Approval Gambit for the team's sake, but his behavior makes it painfully obvious that Betty is all he really cares about. Captain America has no interest in his excuses and kicks Bruce in the face before arresting him.
  • The Maker claims that he simply wants to bring all of the benefits of his advanced scientific understanding and creative genius to a world where the government has prevented him from doing so to preserve the status quo. His actions show that instead he's just a bitter and vengeful boy taking out a lifetime's pain and frustration on everyone else around him.
• Ozymandias in Watchmen. He's a narcissist convinced that he alone has the resources and the will to carry out his plan to avert nuclear war, and is wholly unconvinced of humanity's potential to avert war on their own terms. In the sequel Doomsday Clock, after his plan fails, he refuses to admit that he was wrong and doubles down, planning to Save Both Worlds after ending up in the DC Rebirth universe with the same destructive methods that worsened things in his own. He goes so far as to undermine the efforts of actual heroes to look good in comparison, and after getting shot by the Comedian, he expresses a desire to die as the heroic martyr that saved everyone.

---