History Main / GoodRunningEvil

This sometimes overlaps with MoleInCharge.

* At the end of ''[[WorldOfWarcraft Wrath of the Lich King,]]'' the titular Lich King is defeated. But ''somebody'' has to be in charge of the hordes of ravenous undead crawling around the planet, or the effects will be worse than the original war. So [[spoiler: Bolvar Fordragon]] takes on the mantle of the Lich King, proclaiming himself the "Jailor of the Damned."

* [[MultipleEndings Depending on how you play]] Mike Thorton of ''AlphaProtocol'' can end up running Halbech... or all sorts of organizations really, at the end of the game.

* The end of EasternPromises reveals that [[spoiler: Nikolai is an undercover law-enforcement agent]], and is likely to (at some point in the future) end up running the organisation.

* This is basically what FanFic/DungeonKeeperAmi is all about, by taking a through-and-through good girl like Ami and forcing to use the most hated powers of the land to survive.
** [[RuleOfCool In an Awesome Manner.]]

* How "good" you are is up to you, but you can become the leader of the Dark Brotherhood (an Assassins' Guild) and/or the Thieves' Guild in most games in the ''Franchise/ElderScrolls'' series. A certain amount of stealing and, well, assassination is required to do so, though at least a couple of the assassination targets ''really'' deserve to die.
** Played straightest in Oblivion, where completing the Knights of the Nine storyline wipes away your infamy and is supposed to offer redemption for evil characters. You could be the most thoroughly cruel Dark Brotherhood assassin, head of the Thieves' Guild, start the quest, and wind up the noble paragon.

* In ''ComicBook/SupermanAndBatmanGenerations'', Batman ultimately ends up accepting Ra's Al Ghul's offer to become his heir, and turns his terrorist organization into a world-spanning anti-crime unit.

** In the end of ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', [[spoiler: one of the three options to stop the Reaper threat is to upload Shepard's consciousness to control them. The consequences of this are never shown though in the original ending, with the exception of the Reapers leaving. In the Extended Cut version of this ending, the resulting Reaper-Shepard consciousness has the Reapers repair all the damage they caused.]]

* In ''Series/Supergirl'' the Department of Extranormal Operations was founded specifically to act as a counter to Superman if necessary, which evolved into a KnightTemplar organization that considered ''all'' extraterrestrials as threats, run by rabid bigot Hank Henshaw who saw its responsibility as protecting humans from aliens at almost any cost. When J'onn J'onzz secretly replaced Henshaw, he was obviously able to quietly adjust its mission and personnel to the point that when Supergirl became active the DEO aided her, and when he was outed as a Martian the majority of people within the organization took it in stride and cheered when he was formally re-instated as director under his true name. The DEO has since become one of the biggest ''protectors'' of law-abiding and innocent extraterrestrials in the United States.

* In ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'', Captain Jack was pressured into working for Torchwood Three back when it was still a conspiracy to seize alien tech for the British Empire and hunt down the Doctor. He was given the opportunity to reinvent the organisation when [[spoiler: its previous leader went mad after seeing the future and killed everyone]].

* [[spoiler: Prince Zuko]] of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' technically ends up in this role in the finale. While the Fire Nation is an evil, corrupt, warmongering empire, it's explicitly pointed out that this is because propaganda has raised everyone to believe its necessary, even good. They aren't AlwaysChaoticEvil. [[spoiler: Zuko]] himself spent about two and a half seasons realizing it was wrong, and eventually pulled a HeelFaceTurn. When the finale comes around and Team Avatar places him in charge, he's more than happy to rebuild the nation. Follow-up comics make it clear how very, ''very'' hard this is, especially when everyone has been conditioned to hate you ''and'' you're simultaneously trying to fix an entire nation while not being as authoritarian as your father (though canonically he survives, abdicates his position to his daughter, and is still traveling as an ambassador at ninety-three, as per the sequel show).

* ''Series/{{Angel}}''. In Season 5, Team Angel are put in charge of the Los Angeles branch of supernatural law firm Wolfram & Hart. It doesn't work well, with our heroes finding themselves increasingly morally compromised and demoralized.

* [[spoiler: Prince Zuko]] of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' technically ends up in this role in the finale. While the Fire Nation is an evil, corrupt, warmongering empire, it's explicitly pointed out that this is because propaganda has raised everyone to believe its necessary, even good. They aren't AlwaysChaoticEvil. [[spoiler: Zuko]] himself spent about two and a half seasons realizing it was wrong, and eventually pulled a HeelFaceTurn. When the finale comes around and Team Avatar places him in charge, he's more than happy to rebuild the nation. Follow-up comics make it clear how very, ''very'' hard this is, especially when everyone has been conditioned to hate you (though canonically he at least survived long enough to abdicate his position to his daughter).

* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion'' has [[spoiler:a self-inflicted version taken UpToEleven with Akuma Homura - the evolution of DarkMagicalGirl Homura into a ''SatanicArchetype'' out of the belief she needed to do so in order to save her friend and probable lover. PlayedWith, in that it's also implied her motive was a ''misunderstanding'' (the conversation that convinced her to betray Madoka was with her pre-CharacterDevelopment NaiveEverygirl version who was trying to cheer her up) and it's made quite clear that part of it is still massively selfish (she links he own happiness to Madoka's safety so utterly she dismisses the idea of letting her be free out of hand).]]

* ''Series/{{Angel}}'': Taking over Wolfram and Hart in season 5.

* While ''{{Drowtales}}'' is a GreyAndGrayMorality, the Vloz'ress clan is pretty much the [[FantasyCounterpartCulture nation - equivalent]] of a VillainousHarlequin. After [[spoiler: the death of Sene'kha, the real power behind the throne,]] Lavova tries to take over, only to find EnsembleDarkHorse [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?id=1429 Kiel waiting for her]].

* Subverted in ''Series/ThePrisoner'' episode "Free For All": Number 6 is elected to the position of Number 2, technically putting him in charge of the Village.

* A Light side Smuggler in ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' is a Republic patriot and fairly honest person...who still gets to run most of the criminal underworld. Likewise, their companion Risha gets her own empire to run.

* In the Open Palm ("light sided") ending of ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'', the thief Sky takes up running his archenemy's criminal empire. Seems BioWare has a soft spot for this trope.

* In ''Comicbook/GhostRider'', Noble Kale takes over Mephisto's realm, which effectively put an end to Mephisto and Blackheart for good, or would have if {{StatusQuo|IsGod}} wasn't was prevalent in Marvel comics. So he was kicked out of hell by demons for being ''too benevolent'' for their tastes and later disappeared into comic book limbo while Mephisto and Blackheart returned.

-->-- '''Commander Shepard''', ''VideoGame/MassEffect3''[[note]][[https://youtu.be/lX7HDcvw2pk?t=107 Paragon, Control Ending]][[/note]]

* The end of EasternPromises reveals that [[spoiler: Nikolai is an undercover law-enforcement agent]], and is likely to (at some point in the future,) end up running the organisation.

-->-- '''Commander Shepard''', ''VideoGame/MassEffect3''[[note]]Paragon, Control Ending[[/note]]

* In ''CodeGeass'', Lelouch has been fighting Britannia's tyranny; later, he [[spoiler:succeeds Charles as emperor, and plays the part of EvilOverlord in a GenghisGambit for world peace.]]
* In ''UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'', for several reasons, Battler ends up arguing for the Witches' side in Episodes 5 and 6 of the VisualNovel.

* At the end of ''VideoGame/{{Outlast}}'', [[spoiler:Miles ends up becoming the new host for the Walrider, and is last seen during the ''Whistleblower'' DLC using his newfound powers to take vengeance all the bastards at Murkoff who put him and the other inmates through a living hell.]]

* In SupermanAndBatmanGenerations, Batman ultimately ends up accepting Ra's Al Ghul's offer to become his heir, and turns his terrorist organization into a world-spanning anti-crime unit.
* In ''{{Superman}}: [[ComicBook/NewKrypton World of New Krypton]]'', General Zod is severely injured before he can unleash his plan to invade Earth. While he recovers, the supreme commander of New Krypton's military forces is ... Commander Kal-El. Kryptonian foreign policy suddenly becomes a lot more diplomatic; unfortunately, it's temporary.