History Main / VirtueIsWeakness

** [[spoiler:Pre-timeskip]] has Bellamy mocks Luffy for believing in his dreams, and the present is all that matters. [[CurbstompBattle he gets one good punch in the face for it.]]

* People on [[InternetJerk the internet]] often use the term "virtue signaling" to disparage anyone that claims to have done anything good, as opposed to the commonly-accepted definition of wanting credit for ''saying'' the right things on social media [[ConceptsAreCheap while not]] ''[[ConceptsAreCheap doing]]'' [[ConceptsAreCheap much actual good]] offline (e.g. pushing a hashtag to show your support for homeless vets without giving any time or resources would be considered virtue signaling, volunteering at a homeless shelter and saying that you do would not be).

** It could even be argued that this is the central theme of the entire franchise.
*** Argubly deconstructed, as the characters who try to get ahead through throwing out virtue are often shown to create further problems for themselves and not really win proper loyalty.

** This of course comes back to bite him in the rear. After a student is permanently banned from future competitions when he forces the kid to show "no mercy" in the climactic POINT SPARRING TOURNAMENT, followed by his vicious assault on his senior student for failure to win (and then his humiliating defeat at the hands of a most definitely merciful Miyagi), his students all leave him and the third film in the trilogy shows him bankrupt and ruined as a result.

* Carcer, the BigBad of ''Literature/{{Night Watch|Discworld}}'' is basically convinced that morals and laws are just arbitrary lines in the sand that lesser people draw to pretend that they're safe, and hence, he can do whatever the hell he likes - he's a man who, if he wanted to know the time, would stab you to death and take your watch rather than simply ask you. [[LawfulGood Vimes]] [[BerserkButton doesn't take kindly to that way of thinking]]. [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMoments Not at all]].

* ''Film/ThePrincess'': Julius is convinced that kings must rule brutally, and sneers at the princess' father ruling with compassion toward his subjects.

* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'': Being the embodiment of destruction and hatred, Zarm takes a dim view of anything more positive. When the four Planeteers he corrupted in "The Conquerors" break loose and reunite with Gaia and Ma-Ti, he calls it "sentimental slop" and asks what happened to their strong selves.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' and ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'': As the Chaos Space Marines [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O03WLn8SzaE#t=26 say it best,]] "Sanity... is for the ''weak!''" Given that one of their gods is a literal embodiment of excess in every way, shape and form, they actually gain favor with him (her? It's complicated.) by corrupting the virtuous and the faithful. The others aren't much better, like the Chaos god of disease, plague and love being ''very'' generous with his gifts of boils and pestilence, while the god of backstabbers, mutants and sorcerers is hope incarnate. And then there's Khorne, who was the god of martial valor before becoming an enraged berserker who doesn't care if his followers, their enemies or non-combatants shed blood in battle [[note]]He is, however, very particular that his followers only claim the skull of a WorthyOpponent[[/note]].
** "Mercy is a sign of weakness" is a common motto/thought of the day in 40k. In the video game ''VideoGame/Warhammer40000SpaceMarine'', it can be found [[http://i.imgur.com/SKtAY8r.jpg engraved on the butt of artillery shells.]]
** The Dark Elf society is revolved wholly around making sure the Druchii are as ruthless as possible to not only the slaves but to their own kin as well. Anyone caught showing even the slightest act of compassion towards others often find themselves with a knife to their back as their society is a brutal martial society where mistreated slaves serve as labor so they focus on killing better.

** Mercykillers from the ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'' campaign setting are zero tolerance on injustice. Their credo is that 'mercy is for the weak, and the merciful should be punished'- they preferred to exact brutal, final punishments for criminals, and viewed mercy as a weakness to be purged from the multiverse.

* In ''ComicStrip/{{Retail}}'' Stuart, Josh, and Brice all are of the mindset that blind loyalty to upper management is more important, and things like empathy, loyalty to the fellow employees, and common sense are weaknesses, causing them to constantly butt heads with Marla. Josh ends up fired by Marla after she finds out he lied about getting a better offer from Delman's to get a raise, then gloated about it after he gave his two weeks notice later, Brice is forced to eat humble pie after finding all the flaws in this mindset (and finding out just how much ''worse'' retail can be after a stint as Mina's assistant manager) and [[spoiler: Marla and most of the staff quit abruptly once they find out Grumbel's is going into bankruptcy, leaving Stuart with only a skeleton crew to run the liquidation sales.]]

* It's a common theme for the villains of ''Manga/OnePiece'' to share this sentiment, some of the best examples are:

** [[DishingOutDirt Crocodile]] and few Baroque Works officers during the Alabasta Arc sees camaraderie [[TrueCompanions beyond professionalism and]] [[PowerOfFriendship a common goal]] as a sign of weakness. [[spoiler: Crocodile and [[TheDragon Daz Bones]] now softened their view a bit.]]
** [[spoiler: Pre-timeskip]] Bellamy mocks Luffy for believing in his dreams, and the present is all that matters, [[CurbstompBattle he gets one good punch in the face for it.]]
** The Time-Skip shows [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Hody Jones]] laughing at [[PrincessClassic Princess]] [[GentleGiant Shirahoshi]] for not hating him [[spoiler: while knowing that Hody was the real killer to her mother the whole time, because that would go against her mother's wishes.]] Speaking of which, Hody and his crew would see any of their fellow merfolk and fishmen attempting peace with the humans as [[CategoryTraitor traitors]].
** Vinsmoke Judge aka [[spoiler: Sanji's father]], is a firm believer of this. He considers [[spoiler: Sanji]] feeding common folk — "rats", as he calls them — to be disgusting, as "royalty should never serve commoners" in his mind. He's also not big on mercy, believing that those with power have a right to brutalize the weak. The worst, and possibly most self-destructive part? [[KickTheDog He considers being a chef a worthless profession]], [[EvilIsPetty certainly not one fit for "royalty."]] All his children, [[spoiler: bar Sanji,]] share this mindset. It would seem none of them have heard the old adage "armies march on their stomachs."

* In ''Film/{{Blade}}'', Deacon Frost taunts Blade about his humanity, and escapes from him in one scene by throwing a little girl into traffic and forcing Blade to waste time saving her.
* In ''Film/BladeTrinity'', Drake also taunts Blade about his humanity, and escapes from him in one scene by throwing a baby into the air and forcing Blade to waste time catching him.

-->"Mercy is for the weak. We do not train to be merciful here. If a man faces you, he is the enemy. An enemy deserves no mercy."

** Seen again in ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' after [[spoiler:Green Goblin]] has [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown smashed Spider-Man through every floor of the apartment building]] and pinned him to the ground.
-->''' [[spoiler:Green Goblin]] ''' Your weakness, Peter ... is morality! It's choking you!.

* On the ''LetsPlay/DreamSMP'', [[OverarchingVillain Dream]][[note]]To any fans of the content creator, rest assured that this is referring to the character he plays, not him in real life[[/note]] grows to see having attachments (e.g. pets, prized weapons, friendships) as a weakness and starts cutting them off, so that he could not be controlled through them, as they have arguably been by other members of the server (e.g. the Pet Wars started over Sapnap being a ChronicPetKiller, which pissed off the owners of the pets, among other things). [[spoiler:In an attempt to reunite the server [[ControlFreak under his control]], he then begins to collect everyone else's attachments (i.e. stealing treasured items and kidnapping beloved pets) as blackmail in a secret vault, where he and Tommy and Tubbo confront each other over [[NumberOneDime Tommy's discs, Cat and Mellohi]] (a months-long animosity and cause of conflict between the two sides). Unfortunately for Dream, [[FatalFlaw this doesn't work out]] and even backfires on him when half the server [[BigDamnHeroes teams up to confront him]] during the Season 2 finale, discovering his attempt at blackmailing the entire SMP. Moreover, by cutting his friends out of his life, the only ally Dream had left was Punz, a mercenary who was OnlyInItForTheMoney, and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard betrayed]] him as soon as Tommy paid him more than Dream did. This eventually leads to the loss of two of his canon lives, as Tommy gets his revenge on him for putting him through a massive TraumaCongaLine, and his imprisonment in [[TheAlcatraz Pandora's Vault]].]]

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13877472/1/Reapers-Among-Fairies Reapers Among Fairies]]'': Minerva uses Milianna as a hostage to try to force Erza and Ichigo to surrender, gloating that their compassion and desire to protect others is their weakness. This backfires when Ichigo points out that since he wants to protect others, he will not hesitate to do what is necessary. He uses a FlashStep to get right next to Minerva and [[ShootTheHostageTaker stabs her to make her drop Milianna]].

* Unfortunately, this is often the way it works out in real life just by default, as people who are TheSociopath and the like don't have any of the moral constraints that the rest of us have to stop them from just doing what every they deem necessary to [[DespotismJustifiesTheMeans gain as much power as possible]]. Which [[AppealToNature isn't to say]] that things ''should'' be this way, just that they often are.

** ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'':

[[folder: Fairy Tales]]

* In ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'', Mr. Freeze zaps Robin, forcing Batman into a SadisticChoice: "Chase the villain or save the boy." He concludes, "Emotion makes you weak. That's why the day is mine. I'll kill you next time."

* In ''Film/{{Flash Gordon|1980}}'', as Flash is going to be executed, Dale is crying. Ming the Merciless and his daughter have this exchange:
-->'''Aura:''' Look! Water is leaking from her eyes!\\
'''Ming:''' It's what they call "tears". It's a sign of their weakness.
* Various Sith in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' universe believe that the Jedi's adherence to their Code (which promotes self-control and peaceful conflict resolution) is what makes them weaker than the Sith themselves (who give lip-service to valuing freedom from restraints above all else [[{{Hypocrite}} while being just as dogmatic and order-obsessed in their own way as the Jedi).]]
* In ''Film/{{Downfall}}'', Adolf Hitler gives a speech during one of the dinners in the bunker that he believes it is natural and right that [[TheSocialDarwinist the strong should kill off the weak]], citing how apes bash in the skulls of smaller ones during fights. He calls compassion towards other people a "natural sin" and morality a human flaw. Although humorously enough, after giving this speech, he receives news that Himmler and his forces have surrendered to the advancing Anglo-American allies (who are certainly the "strong" in this situation) and flies into an explosive rage, calling him a traitor with no morals. A rather meta case of MoralMyopia.
* In ''Film/{{Alien}}'', Ash expresses an [[AdmiringTheAbomination admiration for the extra-terrestrial monster]] which is stalking and killing off the Nostromo's crew. He prizes it for being a remorseless predator who survives because it is "unclouded by delusions of morality".

* In ''Film/{{Blade}}'', Deacon Frost taunts Blade about his humanity, and escapes from him in one scene by throwing a little girl into traffic and forcing Blade to waste time saving her.
* In ''Film/BladeTrinity'', Drake also taunts Blade about his humanity, and escapes from him in one scene by throwing a baby into the air and forcing Blade to waste time catching him.
* In ''Film/JonahHex'', Turnbull uses Lilah as a shield. Jonah cannot bring himself to risk shooting her and surrenders. Turnbull mocks him, saying his inability to sacrifice anyone to achieve victory is his weakness.
* In ''Film/GodzillaFinalWars'', Ozaki holds back when sparring because he doesn't want to hurt his teammates and cares more about saving people than fighting the bad guys. His teammate Kazama angrily lectures him that his compassion is holding him back. [[spoiler:Later, when Kazama is BrainwashedAndCrazy, Ozaki defeats him without killing him. A grateful Kazama admits he was wrong before pulling a HeroicSacrifice.]]
* In ''Film/AKnightsTale'', Adhemar calls William weak when he shows mercy to Sir Colville after the latter is injured during their second tilt.
** ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'':
** ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'': Love and compassion are not alien to Thanos, but he believes that they make people weak and get in the way of the "simple calculus" of [[IDidWhatIHadToDo what needs to be done]]. He reprimands Gamora for losing her unwavering will after her HeelFaceTurn and shows disdain for both her and Loki [[spoiler:as they give in after witnessing the torture of their siblings.]] By contrast, he praises Peter Quill and Wanda [[spoiler:for being willing to [[KillTheOnesYouLove Kill The Ones They Love]].]] He conquers his own weakness [[spoiler:by tossing Gamora off the cliff.]]
** Seen again in ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' after [[spoiler:Green Goblin]] has [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown smashed Spider-Man through every floor of the apartment building]] and pinned him to the ground.
-->''' [[spoiler:Green Goblin]] ''' Your weakness, Peter ... is morality! It's choking you!.
* ''Film/ThePostman'': The Holnists' third law says "Mercy is for the weak", and boy does General Bethlehem live it out. He doesn't expect it himself at the end as a result, but then he's spared by the Postman. Then he tries to [[UngratefulBastard shoot the Postman after]] this, but is shot himself. This is all part of the Holnists' cruel SocialDarwinist ideology.

* ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'': Love and compassion are not alien to Thanos, but he believes that they make people weak and get in the way of the "simple calculus" of [[IDidWhatIHadToDo what needs to be done]]. He reprimands Gamora for losing her unwavering will after her HeelFaceTurn and shows disdain for both her and Loki [[spoiler:as they give in after witnessing the torture of their siblings.]] By contrast, he praises Peter Quill and Wanda [[spoiler:for being willing to [[KillTheOnesYouLove Kill The Ones They Love]].]] He conquers his own weakness [[spoiler:by tossing Gamora off the cliff.]]
* Seen again in ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' after [[spoiler:Green Goblin]] has [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown smashed Spider-Man through every floor of the apartment building]] and pinned him to the ground.
-->''' [[spoiler:Green Goblin]] ''' Your weekness, Peter ... is morality! It's choking you!.

--->'''Mirage:''' [[ShutUpHannibal He's not weak, you know. Valuing life is not a weakness. And disregarding it is not strength!]]

--->'''Syndrome:''' I knew you couldn't do it, even when you had nothing to lose! You're weak. And I've outgrown you.

** Davros removed emotions like [[LackOfEmpathy empathy]] from [[AbsoluteXenophobe the Daleks]], seeing them as something his UltimateLifeForm shouldn't have. [[GoneHorriblyRight It got him killed]] ([[JokerImmunity for a time, anyway]]). He outright says to the Doctor in "The Magician's Apprentice" that "compassion is wrong."