History Main / LesserOfTwoEvils

* ''FanFic/{{CONSEQUENCES/MiraculousLadybug}}'': ''BULLYING'' spins around the [[FandomSpecificPlot/MiraculousLadybug common Salt Fic plotline]] of having [[GullibleLemmings Marinette's whole class turn on her]] by having them ''pretend'' to fall for [[ManipulativeBitch Lila's claims]]. This included faking physical assaults, using makeup to feign bruises -- in one case, however, Alix misjudged her momentum and ''actually'' slammed Marinette up against the wall, much to her horror. When Lila questions why they went through so much trouble, they retort that if they ''hadn't'' done so, Lila would have likely gone on to hurt Marinette ''herself''; because she believed they were doing it ''for her'', she left her alone.

* ''FanFic/MiraculousLadybugConsequences'': ''BULLYING'' spins around the [[FandomSpecificPlot/MiraculousLadybug common Salt Fic plotline]] of having [[GullibleLemmings Marinette's whole class turn on her]] by having them ''pretend'' to fall for [[ManipulativeBitch Lila's claims]]. This included faking physical assaults, using makeup to feign bruises -- in one case, however, Alix misjudged her momentum and ''actually'' slammed Marinette up against the wall, much to her horror. When Lila questions why they went through so much trouble, they retort that if they ''hadn't'' done so, Lila would have likely gone on to hurt Marinette ''herself''; because she believed they were doing it ''for her'', she left her alone.

* Happens all too often in ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' with The Imperium's policies. Committing a world to [[EarthShatteringKaboom Exterminatus]] is bad, but when the alternative is a Daemon World where the inhabitants will [[AndIMustScream suffer for all eternity]] or being munched by [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Tyranids]] and bolstering their biomass, it may be a MercyKill.

* ''Fanfic/CodePrimeR1Rebellion'': Schneizel views servitude under the heel of the Decepticons as the best option for humanity, believing that mankind would destroy itself otherwise, and while not ideal, it's the course of action with the best chance of survival.

* In ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'', the Brain had an ArchEnemy named Snowball. Described by Pinky as a "genetically enhanced evil hamster dedicated to... well, ''evil''," Snowball also wanted to TakeOverTheWorld, but his plans for it once he did so were much worse than Brain's.

* In an episode of the Mexican sitcom ''Series/ElChavoDelOcho'', Chavo runs over Quiko's cat with a bicycle, and is put on trial for it, with Quko's mother Doña Florinda acting as the prosecution, Don Ramon as the defense, and Profesor Jirafales, Doña Florinda's boyfriend, as the judge. Throughout the case Chavo sabtage's his defense, saying he ran over the cat on purpose, in the end as Don Ramon sees the case as lost, he allows Chavo to take the stand and give his testimony. Chavo reiterates that he did in fact ran over the cat on on purpose but he did it becuase of a pretty woman that was nearby. When Don Ramon says a boy like shouldn't yet be interested in pretty women, Chavo says the pretty lady wasn't the reason he ran over the cat, [[DistractedByTheSexy but it was a moron who stood in his way, looking at the pretty woman,]] the reason he swerved and ran over the cat. When Don Ramon asked why he didn't mention a moron who stood in his way before, Chavo responds that he would've been asked if he could recognize the moron, looks at Profesor Jirafales and asks if he could by any chance recognize that moron. [[IResembleThatRemark Profesor Jirafales declares Chavo not guilty and closes the case.]]
** This was remade in a ''Series/{{Chespirito}}'' skit starring Doctor Chapatin. Chapatin is being sued by a woman whose dog he ran over, and he keeps sabotaging his defense by admitting that he ran over the dog. Just as his lawyer is about to give the case as lost, he allows Doctor Chapatin to give his testimony and again admits to running over the dog, but he ads that he did it not out spite, but because he would have otherwise ran over [[TheAlcoholic a jaywalking drunk.]] When his lawyer asks why didn't say anything about a drunk jaywalker, Doctor Chapatin says that they would ask him, under oath, if he could recognize who that drunk was. He looks at the Judge and asks if the court would like to know if can recognize that jaywalking drunk, [[IResembleThatRemark the judge declares Doctor Chapatin not guilty and closes the case.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'': When the Unicron threat rears its head, Megatron offers a truce with Optimus Prime to deal with it together. Ratchet lampshades this trope and even states that ''siding the lesser evil is still siding with evil''.

* In ''Fanfic/CissneisPath'', a ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' fanfic, Crimson (Cissnei) justifies this as the reason they shouldn't kill Rufus Shinra in Rocket Town unless absolutely necessary. Rufus is smart and rational enough to keep his priorities straight, whereas if he dies then either Scarlet or Heideggar would get the Company. Both are war-mongers and having complete control of the company would be giving them a blank check to create weapons of destruction and attack places that gave the group shelter.

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

* In ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'' there are ''two'' evil organizations, Team Aqua and Team Magma. The player opposes one (whose plans threatened to destroy the world) and allies with the other (who is trying to prevent it). Which is which depends on which game. That doesn't mean that your allies aren't evil however, they just aren't ''currently'' involved in any evil plans (this is emphasized in the third game, ''Pokémon Emerald''.) Thus, in this case, the LesserOfTwoEvils is the team you ally with.

* The finale of ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama World Tour''. After Cody, the last remaining non-villainous contestant in the game is eliminated, everyone takes to supporting and rooting for [[AlphaBitch Heather]] (whom they all dislike greatly for her mean personality and actions in the first season) in favour of [[ManipulativeBastard Alejandro]] (who has demonstrated himself to be the show's most heinous contestant at that point and has become even more despised than Heather as a result).

** In the episode "Love Is A Many Strangled Thing", it was revealed that Homer's strangling Bart has actually been keeping some of Bart's worst tendencies in check. However, the same thing happened on Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie where Homer and Marge gave Bart a legitimate punishment only to let him off the hook. When this happens again in "Postcards from the Wedge", causing Homer and Marge to let Bart fend for himself, it resulted in Bart attempting to destroy Springfield Elementary to get their attention.
** In "Sideshow Bob Roberts", Sideshow Bob is running for mayor opposite "Diamond Joe" Quimby. Lisa and Bart do their best to try and make sure Quimby is reelected over Bob, with the former quoting this word for word.

* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'': During the Namek Saga, the heroes are presented with such a situation; Krillin agrees to use the Dragon Balls to make Vegeta immortal because he'd rather face that than be killed by Frieza, only for Guru, the creator of the Namekian Dragon Balls, to [[DeathByDespair die of grief]] before Dende can finish making the wish, [[CantLiveWithoutYou taking Porunga and the Dragon Balls with him]]. PlayedWith since the subsequent fight between Vegeta and Frieza, as well as Goku and Frieza, not to mention [[AllThereInTHeManual the datebook]], makes it clear that Frieza was ''way'' more powerful than even Vegeta realised, so it's unlikely that an immortal Vegeta would have been much more than an invincible punching bag.

* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'': During the Namek Saga, the heroes are presented with such a situation; Krillin agrees to use the Dragon Balls to make Vegeta immortal because he'd rather face that than be killed by Frieza. The only reason it doesn't work is because Guru, the creator of the Namekian Dragon Balls, [[DeathByDespair dies of grief]] before Dende can finish making the wish, [[CantLiveWithoutYou taking Porunga and the Dragon Balls with him]].

* At the end of ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'', [[spoiler: the Phantom Thieves have exposed Masayoshi Shido's crimes, destroyed the Metaverse and defeated the evil god Yaldabaoth. However, with the Metaverse gone and TheDragon presumed dead, the only people who can testify against Shido are the Phantom Thieves. Not to mention that the authorities will most likely try to strike down the Thieves and stop them from being hailed as heroes in order to save face, potentially even framing them on false charges. The only option left is for the Protagonist to turn himself in as leader of the Thieves so he can give testimony; however, doing so will also mean admitting that he broke his probation, and thus means that he'll be sent to juvenile hall. The Protagonist chooses the latter, both in order to protect his friends and make sure their efforts weren't wasted. Fortunately, he only has to be there for a little over a month and a half, due to his friends managing to gather enough evidence[[note]]while it's never specifically stated how long he would have had to stay, it's at least implied that his sentence would have been ''much'' longer without their intervention[[/note]] to finally clear him of the crime he was on probation for in the first place.]]

* At the end of ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'', [[spoiler: the Phantom Thieves have exposed Masayoshi Shido's crimes, destroyed the Metaverse and defeated the evil god Yaldabaoth. However, with the Metaverse gone and TheDragon presumed dead, the only people who can testify against Shido are the Phantom Thieves. Not to mention that the authorities will most likely try to strike down the Thieves and stop them from being hailed as heroes in order to save face, potentially even framing them on false charges. The only option left is for the Protagonist to turn themselves in as leader of the Thieves so they can give testimony; however, doing so will also mean admitting that he broke his probation, and thus means that he'll be sent to juvenile hall. The Protagonist chooses the latter, both in order to protect his friends and make sure their efforts weren't wasted. Fortunately, he only has to be there for a little over a month and a half[[note]]while it's never specifically stated how long he would have had to stay, it's at least implied that his sentence would have been ''much'' longer without their intervention[[/note]], due to his friends managing to find evidence that would finally clear him of the crime he was on probation for in the first place.]]

* 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]]. Most of this game's struggle involves [[TakeAThirdOption finding a third option]].

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Comicbooks]]

* {{Defied|Trope}} in ''ComicStrip/TheBoondocks'', when Huey is knocked on his behind by his reflection for daring to side with a Democrat (John Kerry) just because he is slightly better than his Republican opponent (George W. Bush).

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]
* ''FanFic/DungeonKeeperAmi'': The Shining Concord Empire, Avatar of All Light, King Albreight, and many other lesser overworld powers breifly ally with [[spoiler: Empress]] Mercury for the battle of Crowned Death's high temple. This is actually a case of subversion, as Mercury is a heroine. However, most of the lightworld powers involved do not know or do not acknowledge her as a hero and see it as PragmaticVillainy on her part- she was at war with Crowned Death; and, having discovered the massive, mobile fortress, needs their help to destroy it.
* ''FanFic/AnUnsungSong'': To help the Capitol or [[spoiler:District Fourteen]]?
* ''FanFic/TheImmortalGame'': 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".
* The ''FanFic/PonyPOVSeries'': At one point during the [[BadFuture Epilogue timeline]] (about five hundred years prior to the "present" of the Dark World arc), [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends 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/QueenOfShadows'': Jade, stuck in the life of the Queen of the Shadowkhan, knows that she's expected to restart the paused war with the free human territories of Kyushu, and if she doesn't she'll blow her cover. So she devises a war plan that she hopes will minimize human casualties and give the heroes she believes are at Tobe a chance to defeat the Shadowkhan.

* ''FanFic/CastlevaniaNocturneOfRuin'': When Walter Bernhard is resurrected and intent on taking back his power base from {{Dracula}}, {{Alucard}} quickly decides that it would be better for Walter to die and Dracula to remain in power; as evil as Dracula is, he kills with definitive planning and is nowhere near as depraved as Walter, who kills people for fun and plays sick games with his victims.
* In ''FanFic/OriginStory'', this is Tony Stark's initial justification for the Registration Act. Toward the end of the story, he no longer really believes this, and has come to the idea that it was a choice that should never have been made.

* In ''[[FanFic/CissneisPath Cissnei's Path]]'', a VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII fanfic, Crimson (Cissnei) justifies this as the reason they shouldn't kill Rufus Shinra in Rocket Town unless absolutely necessary. Rufus is smart and rational enough to keep his priorities straight, whereas if he dies then either Scarlet or Heideggar would get the Company. Both are war-mongers and having complete control of the company would be giving them a blank check to create weapons of destruction and attack places that gave the group shelter.

* Darth Vader does not like the idea of Han Solo anywhere near Leia, at all in [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5858012/1/Sibling-Revelry Sibling Revelry]], but between that and the possibility of Luke and Leia committing accidental {{Twincest}}, something that a series of misunderstandings make him see as very close to happening, he would rather take the nerfherder.

[[folder:Film]]

-->'''Professor X''': I had a terrible choice to make; I chose the lesser of two evils.

[[folder:Theatre]]

[[folder:Videogames]]

[[folder:Web Originals]]
* ''Creator/MarcMues'': Invoked in the eponymous video series where two horrible musicians are compared to each other.
* On the [[FilthyFrank Filthy Frank Show,]] everyone appears to not mind the presence of [[TheStoic Prometheus]], but [[OhCrap crap their pants]] whenever [[HumanoidAbomination Chin Chin]] shows up, despite both of them being described as evil (Lawful and Chaotic, respectively).