History Main / LesserOfTwoEvils

* ''LastExileFamTheSilverWing'': Liliana joins Luscinia and his plans after realizing that even though he is bent on conquering the world and killed her father, killing him [[ItGotWorse will only makes things worse]] since his death will lead to a massive civil war in Ades over his position and the Exile nations will use that war to their advantage to grab power.

* The ''FanFic/PonyPOVSeries'': At one point during the [[BadFuture Epilogue timeline]] (about five hundred years prior to the "present" of the Dark World arc), [[MyLittlePony Grogar]] returned from his [[SealedEvilInACan imprisonment]] and [[EvilVersusEvil went to war with Discord]] for control of Equestria. During this war, many of Discord's enemies allied with Grogar, as they figured that his "[[LawfulEvil perfect order]]" would be preferable to Discord's "[[ChaoticEvil perfect chaos]]". On the other hand, some did remain with Discord because they saw ''him'' as the lesser evil.

* ''FanFic/PoniesMakeWar'': This is pretty much the justification for [[spoiler: allying with Discord]] in order to defeat [[BigBad Titan]]. As [[spoiler: Celestia]] puts it, they've dealt with the former before, and besides, "better the devil you know".

* This is a focal point to the plot of ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia''. The main character, Lloyd, is an idealist. His friend, Colette, must [[spoiler:sacrifice herself in order to save her world]]. Must of this game's struggle involves [[TakeAThirdOption finding a third option]].

* The ''FanFic/PonyPOVSeries'': At one point during the [[BadFuture Epilogue timeline]] (about five hundred years prior to the "present" of the Dark World arc), [[MyLittlePony Grogar]] returned from his [[SealedEvilInACan imprisonment]] and [[EvilVersusEvil went to war with Discord]] for control of Equestria. During this war, many of Discord's enemies allied with Grogar, as they figured that his "[[LawfulEvil perfect order]]" would be preferable to Discord's "[[ChaoticEvil perfect chaos]]".

* In ''VorkosiganSaga'', Prince Serg is so [[UpToEleven outrageously]] [[TheCaligula psychopathic]] that his father considers it necessary to both start an unprovoked war and then lose it deliberately just so Prince Serg and his supporters can be killed in the process.

-> "I think her bad guys are badder than my bad guys" -Echo (Dollhouse)

-> "I think her bad guys are badder than my bad guys" -Echo (Dollhouse)

* Roughly half the plot of TheDresdenFiles consists of dealing with these. In particular, "Gentleman" Johnny Marcone (a very powerful, cunning, and ruthless gangster) and Lara Raith (the ''de facto'' leader of one of the three Vampire Courts) fully qualify as evil despite both having moments of sympathy, but Harry Dresden and co. end up allied with them more often than not, if only because they're forces of stability who have no use for the wide-scale destruction many of the ''real'' villains have planned. Harry still doesn't trust either of them farther than he could throw them (which is wise, since both are certified [[ManipulativeBastard manipulative bastards]]).

* A major theme of the Literature/TheWheelOfTime series is people having to learn to work together against a common enemy: many, if not most, of the various nations, organisations and political factions are morally questionable at best, but against an EldritchAbomination trying to undo reality you take what allies you can get.
* In VorkosiganSaga, Prince Serg is so [[UpToEleven outrageously]] [[TheCaligula psychopathic]] that his father considers it necessary to both start an unprovoked war and then lose it deliberately just so Prince Serg and his supporters can be killed in the process.

* ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain'': [[spoiler: Raziel]] allows himself to be absorbed into the Reaver rather than be the Elder God's captive for the rest of eternity. He's a prisoner either way, but one of his prisons can do more good than the other.

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* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'': Siding with [[spoiler:Megatron against Unicron.]]

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* This is a focal point to the plot of ''TalesOfSymphonia''. The main character, Lloyd, is an idealist. His friend, Colette, must [[spoiler:sacrifice herself in order to save her world]]. Must of this game's struggle involves [[TakeAThirdOption finding a third option]].
* In the first two ''GoldenSun'' games, the object is to [[spoiler:restore alchemy to the world]]. Though the main characters understand that this will bring war and strife back to the world, they do this out of necessity because otherwise, [[spoiler:the world will decay]].

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* In the second chapter of the original ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresIII'', after Stuart Black is kidnapped, John Black, Kanyenke and Nonakhee are involved in the SevenYearsWar. They have to choose between the britons and the frenchs. They side with the french [[spoiler:at first]].

The hero is in a situation with two unpleasant alternatives and [[TakeAThirdOption no other options]] are available to him. Begrudgingly, he holds to his moral code and chooses the lesser of two evils.

* A major theme of the Literature/TheWheelOfTime series is people having to learn to work together against a common enemy; the series can be summed up as TheChosenOne trying to make humanity as a whole understand the difference between a rival lord who wants to undercut your political influence and an EldritchAbomination who wants to undo reality and consign your species to a FateWorseThanDeath.

* Roughly half the plot of TheDresdenFiles consists of dealing with these. In particular, "Gentleman" Johnny Marcone (a very powerful, cunning, and ruthless gangster) and Lara Raith (the ''de facto'' leader of one of the three Vampire Courts) fully qualify as evil despite both having moments of sympathy, but Harry Dresden and co. end up allied with them more often than not, if only because they're forces of stability who have no use for the wide-scale destruction many of the ''real'' villains have planned. Harry still doesn't trust either of them farther than he could throw them (which is wise, since both are certified ManipulativeBastards).

* Roughly half the plot of TheDresdenFiles consists of dealing with these.

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Compare BlackAndGreyMorality, when the black ones are diehard evil and the grey ones are technically the "good guys" but arn't completly innocent and do-goody themselves.