SPOILER WARNING: The nature of this trope means that spoilers abound. Tread carefully.
Then Let Me Be Evil moments in Fan Works.
Crossovers
- Business
shows the results of Harry Potter always being told he was a criminal throughout his childhood. By the time he's 14, Harry (or rather his alter-ego James Moriarty) runs a criminal empire so successful that he functionally owns Wizarding Britain. - Child of the Storm has Harry teeter right on the edge of this at the end of the Forever Red arc in the sequel, nearly becoming the Dark Phoenix. Given that it's a Trauma Conga Line unequalled in the story (which, considering that he's previously been possessed by an Eldritch Abomination, seen his father put in a coma by a bullet that should have killed him and killed, takes some doing), and he's only 14, caught up in a horrible mixture of grief, pain, guilt, and rage at himself and the adults he believed failed him (the truth is more complicated), this is not surprising. Thankfully, he is talked down - barely.
- Death Note Equestria: This is invoked by Twilight at the end of Season 2. Realizing that by this point, Kira will never be viewed as the shining beacon of justice Twilight was originally aiming for, Twilight decides to build up the image of Kira as an almost mythical epitome of evil, a monster who targets other evil-doers, in order to scare anyone out of ever breaking the law ever again. Coincidentally, this coincides with Twilight's slip into full-on A God Am I territory.
- Digimon Codex: Many of the members of WarGrowlmon's Virus Army only joined because they have nowhere else to go with the rest of the Digital World ostracizing them just for being Virus Types, which isn't at all helped by Digimon like MagnaAngemon spreading fear of Virus Types and attacking them on site. Megadramon in particular hates being a Virus Type for this reason and only joined because it was the only place he could make a home, with everyone else he met just calling him a destroyer, even though he honestly doesn't want the Digital World to be destroyed. Though just as he begins to believe that everyone is right about him, Flash Sentry convinces him that being a Virus Type doesn't automatically make him evil, explaining even the Royal Knights have Virus Types among them, and that he can make his own choices and be who he wants to be, not what WarGrowlmon or anymore else says he is. So, Megadramon decides to turn against WarGrowlmon and stop him.
- Equestrylvania: Dirt Nap invokes this trope by saying that since everypony always mistreated him just because his special talent is for handling dead bodies, he's going to make them pay by joining Dracula. The trope gets deconstructed however, when Twilight gives him a pretty righteous "The Reason You Suck" Speech (among other things, he never acted friendly to anyone else, so everyone just assumed he preferred it that way) that sums up why no sympathy is given to him.
- Fallout: Equestria - Project Horizons: Villain Sanguinius had this as his motivation. After being looked on as a scumbag for attempting to get off the front lines by helping one influential soldier instead of five others that died because he burned his horn out on the first, he decided to eventually become the monster they thought he was.
- The Hands of Fate: Invasion has something similar to X-Men. On Earth-2, Metahumans are stripped of their rights by the U.S. government (with the U.N.'s blessing), locked up, rendered sterile (the men through chemical treatments, the women have their ovaries removed), and brutally experimented on, all out of fear of what they may do. Unsurprisingly, upon being freed by Zoom, the Metas decide to be the monsters society treats them as and start fighting back.
- Harry and the Shipgirls has an incident of this in the setting's backstory. Once, the Huli Jing Su Daji was living a quiet life with her husband Jiahao and their friend Lianhua in their village. However, some Ungrateful Bastards who viewed her as a demoness told the Taoists, who view the union of human and nonhuman as a sin, about their relationship. Daji was wounded in their attack, Lianhua and the child of Daji and Jiahao were killed, and Jiahao was tortured with the intend of making him disavow his marriage to Daji, with him being burned alive when he refused. Daji decided that if the other villagers would do that due to viewing her as a demon, then a demon she would indeed be.
- Eventually, after toppling dynasties in China and causing the downfall of the Roman Empire, Daji was forced to flee, assuming spirit form and possessing a Japanese girl who was stillborn in her mother's womb. Now known as Mikuzume, she quickly became a favored child of the Imperial Court, together with her retainers Chūjitsu, Momoiro, Midori, Kiro, Murasaki, and Aoi, with the first two being her Love Interests. Mikuzume by this point was seriously considering putting a stop to her path of toppling dynasties. Then an assassin from the Fujiwara Clan killed Chūjitsu and Momoiro, attempting to kill Mikuzume as well. When Mikuzume learned that the Emperor was fine with this because it would give him a chance to bed her...she was later known by another name, specifically Tamamo no Mae. That name is all that needs to be said about her reaction.
- In the J-WITCH Series, the Frame-Up blaming Prince Phobos for the death of his parents was effective enough that despite his genuine attempts to maintain order in Meridian and find Elyon, he ended up going Knight Templar as a result, determined to claim Elyon's power for himself so he can use it to end the conflict. Averted on a personal level, though; he makes it very clear to Cedric that he has no intention of doing anything worse than wiping Elyon's memories and sending her back to Earth after he acquires her magic, because she's the only flesh and blood family he has left and he refuses to become the heartless monster the Rebellion views him as.
- In The Last Son, Superman pulls a Fake Defector version of this. He pretends that he's joining up with General Zod on the grounds that he did his best to do good despite the people who mistrusted or even tried to destroy him. Power Girl also adds to Nick Fury that "You treat someone like an enemy for too long, and eventually, they'll be one".
- Oni Ga Shiku Series: Musashi's reason for running away from home and joining a gang is that since his father is a Addled Addict and his mother abandoned them, he might as well be like the shit he came from.
- Shadows over Meridian:
- ZigZagged a bit. After having been unjustly treated as a monstrous underling of Prince Phobos by the heroes, forced to join the Knights of Vengeance for survival, and failing in her attempts to return home, Jade has finally snapped, accepted her Superpowered Evil Side through a Split-Personality Merge, taken up the mantle of the Queen of the Shadowkhan and officially allied herself with Phobos to get some payback for all the mistreatment she has suffered. However, she makes it clear that Raythor is the only reason she's helping Phobos at all, and she intends to make the prince a Villain with Good Publicity through Pragmatic Villainy instead of simply crushing all resistance with her Shadowkhan armies. Returning to her home universe remains as her main goal, and she's willing to show she's not heartless when it comes to enemies or bystanders who haven't incited her wrath.
- Phobos reveals that he's been treated as a bad omen ever since he was born, and being given a name that means fear didn't help the matter, so he chose to live up to that name with pride. He actually intended to become a good king as a child to prove wrong the whispers circling around him, but Elyon's birth crushed those ambitions and convinced him that even his parents were against him. In fact, he's considering making a reality of Kandrakar's original belief (which Nerissa ignited) of him becoming a Multiversal Conqueror to show how wrong people were to spurn him.
- Sasha and the Frogs: Sasha immediately recognizes that the toad tax collectors are corrupt, and rejects their initial invitation for her to join them. But after several of the locals bully her again, she decides that she'll help the toads repossess everyone's belongings out of sheer spite.
- In The Cutting Edge, after Felicity is fired from Queen Consolidated for corporate espionage (she was forced to help someone else and them framed an intern for it), when her father approaches her to offer her support, she decides to work with him, reasoning that trying to be a good person just got her nowhere, ignoring how she framed an innocent woman to protect herself.
- Danganronpa: Yakuza Arc: When the other kids kept avoiding Natsumi due to her coming from a notorious Yakuza family, Natsumi decided she'd give them a reason to be afraid of her, becoming a nasty bully.
- let's go out with a bang!: Miu was already isolated from her classmates as The Friend Nobody Likes, watching them embrace Kokichi and feeling as though they blamed all of the trouble he caused on her. When she learns that the rest of the class is growing even warier of her during the lockdown, she hisses to herself that "I'll show them fucking bad guy."
- In Daughter of Fire and Steel, when Kara tries to appeal to Zod by saying that if he succeeds then the future generations of their people will see him as a monster, he hesitates, but ultimately decides that if he must be a monster to ensure his people's survival, then so be it.
- In the Role Swap AU How Far Do These Roots Go Down?, Isabella knows that she's the Black Sheep of the Madrigals, often being blamed for the things she foresees. Due to this, she Stopped Caring about trying to please her unpleasable grandmother and the rest of the village. If they're only ever going to treat her like an outcast, why not embrace the role and do whatever she pleases?
- Fate/Black Dawn: Shirou has to join with Morgan le Faye, the infamous witch, and fight King Arthur in order to save Arthur from the destined fall of Camelot. He eventually embraces his identity as the Black Dragon, the Tyrant King Who Destroys Utopia, who leads a war against Camelot and personally strikes down Arturia when she is the insane pseudo-goddess Rhongomyniad.
- That Glorious Strength: As per canon, Remus Lupin tried to be as civilised as possible despite being a werewolf — until James and Lily were murdered by blood supremacists who objected to a pureblood marrying a muggle-born. On the following full moon, Remus fully embraced the wolf and its desire for slaughter, giving him the ability to transform at any time, retain his mind, and enhance his wolf body with his magic, and he announced that if Harry were harmed, he would go on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge.Tom: He made himself into the demon of their worst nightmares.
- Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality: As a student, Voldemort once begged Dumbledore to let him meet Nicolas Flamel so that he could make a Philosopher's Stone. He claims that that was his last attempt to be a good person because Dumbledore refused and told him that fearing death was wrong, which led him to conclude that, if he was going to be called evil for trying to stay alive, he may as well embrace it.
- I Am What You Made Me: Theodore Nott wanted to become Minister of Magic when he was a child so he could fight for equality. Because his ambitions got him sorted into Slytherin, he spent his school career being told he was evil, which eventually caused him to willingly join the Death Eaters.Theodore Nott: If the outside world comes to see me as a man of Hell, they should know that Hell was the forge they fashioned.
- In Trouble, six-year-old Harry decides that if his aunt and uncle are going to punish him for being "bad" no matter what he does, then he should actually be bad. This results in a spate of theft, arson and the occasional bit of assault against his bullies. It says a great deal about his homelife that he actually prefers being in Juvenile Hall.
- In the Unacceptable Sitch Series, Shego firmly believes that Love Is a Weakness, so she's reluctant to admit her feelings for Kim. When she finally confesses her feelings, only for Kim to balk, Shego decides to rejoin Drakken.
- In The Devil You Know, Loki puts it quite simply.Loki: I've always thought of myself as a monster and acted accordingly.
- In Queen of Mean, Marinette decides that if her classmates are going to see her as a heartless bully, then that is what she is going to be. And she is going to start her reign of terror by ruining all of her "friends".
- Recommencer: This is what spurs Ringleader's akumatization; sick of Lila constantly getting away with her Blatant Lies due to the apathy of those with the authority to do anything about her, she decides to take matters into her own hands. If Lila wants to play the victim so badly, then fine! She'll be her villain.
- Scarlet Lady offers a variant: Chloé is a Nominal Heroine at best, only caring about hogging all the credit for Chat Noir and the other Miraculous heroes' efforts to protect Paris. After the public realizes what a horrible excuse for a superheroine she is and turns upon her, she angrily denounces them all as ungrateful and accepts Hawkmoth's offer of akumatization.
- Marinette spends the first half of Truth and Consequences tying herself in mental knots to justify her Face–Heel Turn as "the right thing to do." In Chapter 16 however, she finally breaks down and admits that, no, it isn't the right thing to do, and she's being utterly selfish in her choices; after sacrificing her own personal happiness and goals since she was fourteen, all to protect Paris, hasn't she earned the right to be selfish about this one thing? And if that makes her a villain in her former friends' eyes, then a villain is what she'll be.Marinette: No, I don't think I'm doing the 'right' thing. I don't think I'm being just or righteous or pure or selfless; I'm not going to lie and say this is objectively the right thing to do because it isn't! But you know what? It's the right thing for me ...just once... this one time, we're doing the right thing for me... even if I'm the only one who will...
- Emerald Furnace - Path Of Storms: If Izuku using his Quirk is labeled villainous to the point where the cops will shoot at him, then he will become evil.
- Entropy: The Fate of the Hero System: Melissa proposes this after Momo argues they would be seen as villains if Momo kept acting as a vigilante despite losing her hero license.Melissa: If we end up becoming villains as part of continuing to help as many people as we can, maybe it would be worth it.
Momo: (shocked) Mel-Melissa— did you just— Melissa, think about what happened when your father went that far. Think about how much of your problems since then resulted from that.
Melissa: Yes, and because of that I've already spent the last six years of my life being treated as a villain in the eyes of the public. I have nothing left to lose by actually becoming one, and neither do you. Sometimes you have to put your foot down and make a stand even if the entire world seems to be against you.
[...]
Momo: (grateful) But Melissa, you don't have to go that far just for my sake.
Melissa: It's not just for your sake, it's for mine as well. I'm tired of pretending I'm fine with the way I'm treated by the world. If people will only see me as a villain, if people will only allow me to be a villain, perhaps that's who I should be, just to spite them. And if we end up arrested and jailed, or even killed, like so many other villains-so what? You know that we're already heading towards disaster. Our reputations have made sure of that. We might as well send the world a message while at it. - Komorebi is a partial example: Shinsou pretends to have finally embraced being the villain people assumed his quirk made him, but it's all a ploy so he can become The Mole in the League of Villains.
- Mastermind: Rise of Anarchy: After Tokoyami's own classmates attack and drive them away from U.A. based off of nothing more than rumors and their own assumptions, they decide that enough is enough and join up with Mastermind and the League of Villains.
- Three Guys Go to a Bar(and then they Beat You With It): Bakugou, Shinsou and Tokoyami find themselves forcibly typecast as villains for a final exam. While none of the trio become actual villains, they resolve to play the roles to the hilt, with Katsuki wondering whether he should snarl "Here I am, the villain you demanded of me!" during one of the tests.
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
- Blooming Moon Chronicles: After centuries of being built up as the villain by the gods, Loki decides in Hecate's Orphanage that he's finally had enough, and that he's going to destroy all the worlds.
- In Dark Spectrum Public Enemy, Rainbow Dash becomes a villain after being treated like a pariah and getting assaulted at the marketplace.
- In Equestria: A History Revealed, Princess Luna, upon realizing all the things that she had done so far in the Equestrian Civil War, believes her redemption to be impossible and that she could no longer turn back from her path to darkness.
- Faith in the sequel to Faith and Doubt. The other Elements of Harmony spend the entire fic claiming he must be evil, never forgiving him for his past. When Laughter makes him believe he has a child and a family, only to rip it away from him, he decides to revert back to his dark self and show the Elements why it wasn't smart to poke the dragon.
- In The Last Adventure, Discord has become a pariah after the entire Ponyville learned that he had been responsible for reuniting Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow and put Equestria in danger once again. Having had more than enough of being called a "monster", he decides to flood Ponyville with a storm of milk chocolate. Subverted, because Discord realizes that would break Fluttershy's heart -again- and starts to wonder if the other ponies wouldn't be right when they insisted that he never would change. Devastated, he cancels the storm and exiles in the Everfree Forest.
- In The Rise of Darth Vulcan, the Flim-Flam brothers reveal that this is the reason they became con artists. They spent years trying to bring technological innovation to Equestria, but the country's dedication to Medieval Stasis stymied them at every step, with everyone treating their work as junk. Ultimately, they decided that if everyone was going to treat their creations as junk, then that'll be what they give.
- Why Am I Crying?: Diamond Tiara was bullied mercilessly at a corrupt summer camp and was falsely accused by her old friend Apple Bloom (who forgot who she was following a long absence) of bullying her friends all because she was perceived as a Rich Bitch. After the latter incident, she decided that enough was enough and become what everypony expected of her, and she vowed to make Apple Bloom and all her friends pay dearly.
- The Moon Cries in Reverse: Discussed in Lunar Lamentations; upon reflecting upon the matter, Jiraiya believes that this is why Orochimaru eventually went missing-nin. No matter what he'd done to prove his loyalty to Konohagakure, he was still heavily distrusted due to his intelligence. What's worse, Jiraiya fears this Self-Fulfilling Prophecy is playing out once more with Naruto, Sakura and Shikamaru, who are also being isolated and treated cruelly for similar reasons.
- According to The Extended Unova Pokemon Guide, Tynamo and Eeletrik are constantly hunted by pretty much anything and everything around them. When one manages to evolve into an Eelektross, everything in the immediate vicinity attempts to kill it before it can reach water. As a result, Eelektross tend to be brutal and heartless pokémon.
- Villain has Buttercup face increasing ostracization from the citizens of Townsville after an incident leaves her badly scarred, forcing her to watch as her sisters continue to be hailed as heroes while she's met with mockery and disgust. This eventually reaches the point that she decides to become the monster they clearly all expect her to be.
- Through Her Eyes: Discussed in regards to the White Fang. While still an antagonistic terrorist organization, they've also worked to expose government corruption and how Faunus have been exploited, as well as arranging for powerful lawyers to help defend victims of such treatment, including Velvet. Several times, characters question just how evil the group is, and whether it might be understandable why they've turned violent.
- In the Empath: The Luckiest Smurf story "The Once And Smurfy King", which adapts The Smurfs comic book version of "King Smurf", Lord Smurf the First continually suffers the slander of being called "Lord Smurf the Worst" by the rebel Smurfs, who see how terrible he is as a king. Eventually he decides to adopt the title "Lord Smurf the Terrible".
- In the Better Bones AU, Blossomfall being punished for being a Dark Forest trainee by being given a dishonor title only makes her feel more isolated from her Clan and like she will always be bad, leading to her joining another evil group, the Kin. Squirrelflight suggests that she should be punished in a different way that would let her be more integrated into the Clan for this reason, but Bramblestar has already given dishonor titles to Spiderleg and Mousewhisker and doesn't think it would be fair to not treat Blossomfall the same way.
- Inheritance: Despite Taylor's efforts to use the Butcher powers for good, the PRT decides it can't trust her, and determines to send her to the Birdcage, voluntarily or involuntarily. So she turns to the people who will still take her side: the Butcher's gang, the Teeth.Brockton Bay had no idea what the heroes had awakened tonight, and even if I didn't think I had it in me to be a villain, I had the memories of those who were villains. I could certainly fake it. I would make this work.
I had to.
Sorry, dad. I hoped that I wouldn’t come to regret this decision.
I would do what was necessary, even if I hated every minute of it.
I would become the Butcher in truth.
Me, Taylor Hebert.
Weaver.
Butcher XV.
- In Devil's Diary, Magneto states that if the world regards him as "evil" because he'll take extreme measures to protect his people from a hypothetical genocide, then maybe they shouldn't have treated him and his Jewish kin as "something to be gassed, processed, and burned".
