History Main / VirtueIsWeakness

** When the four Planeteers he corrupted in "The Conquerors" break loose and reunite with [[TeamMom Gaia]] and [[EveryonesBabyBrother Ma-Ti]], he calls it "sentimental slop" and asks what happened to their strong selves.
** In "Summit to Save Earth", he distracts Gaia at a crucial moment by nearly killing the Planeteers. After striking her down, he sneers at her, saying that by saving the Planeteers rather than herself, she made a wrong choice. He's clearly aware that she loves them, to the point of sacrificing herself for them, but he doesn't respect it in the slightest and only sees it as something to exploit.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''
** In the episode "The Return of Harmony", Discord manages to [[BreakTheCutie emotionally break]] the mane six (right before hypnotizing all but Twilight) by explaining how the virtues represented by the elements of harmony are weaknesses. Specifically, honesty causes others to know things you don't want them to know, laughter hurts the feelings of the one being laughed at, kindness opens yourself up to being abused by others, generosity prevents you from getting the things that you want, loyalty means nothing when you can't be in two places at once and have to choose between two loyalties, and in general harmony is pointless as its own elements lead it to collapse on itself.
** Mixed with BlueAndOrangeMorality, the Changeling [[EmotionEater Queen Chrysalis]] only sees love as a food source and laughs at the idea of actually loving someone.
** Tirek, the BigBad of the season 4 finale, [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E25TwilightsKingdomPart1 "Twilight's Kingdom - Part 1"]], during his [[BreakThemByTalking Breaking Speech]] to Discord, Tirek dismisses his brother's befriending ponies so many years ago as a sign of a weak mind. More generally, he considers friendship just another form of imprisonment.
** Cozy Glow shows a complete disregard for the values of friendship, her mind solely focused on the "power" side of it.

* David Xanatos, from ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' had to ally himself with the heroes to save his fiancee, and after succeeding Xanatos said that love was his only weakness. Goliath is sick to hear this.

* Grace Monroe in ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'' has a train-specific variant of this. All passengers have a glowing number tattooed on them, which can go up or down. This is the train's way of quantifying how much CharacterDevelopment you've had; it goes up if you decide to [[IgnoredEpiphany ignore the lessons you're supposed to learn]], and if it hits 0, then the train has judged that you're mentally healthy and you may leave. Grace believes, and has led her cult to believe, that the number is a Dragon Ball Z-esque power level and hitting zero means you die. By observation, she knows that the number goes up when you act like an asshole and down when you act nice, she's decided that virtuous acts are worthless and even detrimental.[[spoiler: This misconception originated when Simon asked her what the numbers meant, and she made something up rather than admit she had no clue. She's utterly horrified when Amelia tells her the true purpose of the numbers.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012'': In the episode "Requiem," Shredder outright tells Splinter that he views Splinter's compassion as a weakness Shredder himself lacks.
-->'''Shredder:''' Your weakness is that you care about others. I have torn all weaknesses away and become all powerful.

-->'''Talking Dog:''' Bubbles.. have mercy..\\

* ''Series/TheATeam'', "[[Recap/TheATeamS2E23CurtainCall Curtain Call]]". Col. Decker talks about how having one man wounded will make the A-Team's ability crumble as they try to save their injured member. He's right that it hampers them, but it doesn't stop them. Given that the "virtue" in question is loyalty to their injured friend, it overlaps with a platonic version of LoveIsAWeakness.

* Grace Monroe in ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'' states that being kind and compassionate is weak and it won't raise the number on her hand higher. The irony is that the number on your hand is not some score or ranking system; it's detailing how mentally messed up you are and the goal is to ''get them down to 0''. She learns the truth in Book 3 and begins to realize how her twisted views have ruined hundreds of lives.

** ''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]].

* In ''Webanimation/DingoDoodles'''s ''Fool's Gold'' series, the [[{{Precursor}} Foreclaimers]] consider empathy to be a defect, incompatible with their society's concept of efficiency, and LackOfEmpathy to be a good trait.

[[GoodSamaritan Compassion]], [[GreaterNeedThanMine generosity]], [[ThouShaltNotKill mercy]], [[HonestyIsTheBestPolicy honesty]], [[CodeOfHonour honor]], [[UndyingLoyalty loyalty]], [[ForGreatJustice justice]], [[ThePowerOfFriendship friendship]], and [[TheFourLoves love]]. It is by these values by which people are able to cooperate and society is able to function.

For some explanation on ''why'' this view is wrong, see our [[Analysis/VirtueIsWeakness analysis page]].

** [[DishingOutDirt Crocodile]] and few Baroque Works Officer Agents during the Alabasta Arc see camaraderie [[TrueCompanions beyond professionalism and]] [[ThePowerOfFriendship a common goal]] as a sign of weakness. [[spoiler:Crocodile and [[TheDragon Daz Bones]] now softened their view a bit.]]

* ''Manga/YuGiOh5Ds'': Jack Atlas, [[AdaptationalJerkass who is even more of an asshole than his]] [[Anime/YuGiOh5Ds anime counterpart]], challenges Yusei to a duel. Yusei tries to decline as he is trying to get his unconscious friend Sect to a hospital, but Jack forces him to duel and mocks his friendship, saying friends are nothing but shackles. When Jack makes his final attack, Yusei is about to activate his facedown card, but notices Sect is falling into a river and jumps away to save him, losing as a result. Jack examines Yusei's abandoned cards and sees that his facedown card would have destroyed Jack's monster if it had been played. Instead of acknowledging Yusei as the true winner, Jack throws the card away and mocks Yusei for putting his friend above victory.

* The [[XenomorphXerox Brood]] in ''ComicBook/XMen''. They hate and detest empathy and friendship, the known "[[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch Mutant Brood]]" are born with empathy, mutant Brood are quickly eliminated by normal Brood, they see love, empathy and friendship as a virus or a deadly disease that must be eradicated, as these mutant Brood are seen as a threat to Brood society. The only empathic Brood allowed to live would be [[ComicBook/PlanetHulk No-Name]] of the Warbound and Broo.

* 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]].

** Queen Chrysalis in ''Metamorphosis'' not only doesn't understand [[EvilCannotComprehendGood why Twilight still fights for them]], despite all of them having cold-heartedly left her, but is disgusted at the fact.

* Played more sympathetically in ''Fanfic/RabbitOfTheMoon''. Bell's innate kindness does him more harm than good when he's pitted against the turned Father Gascoigne. His attempts to reason with Gascoigne fall on deaf ears, and Bell is left shaken and heartbroken when he's finally forced to kill him. Gehrman even warns Bell that his kindness is misplaced when dealing with maddened Hunters.

** In ''Film/Blade1998'', 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.

--->'''[[spoiler:Green Goblin]]:''' Your weakness, Peter... is morality! It's choking you!.

* In ''Film/ManOfSteel'', Faora-Ul gives Superman a speech about this combined with rantings of [[TheSocialDarwinist social darwinism]].

** This is a common belief that is passed down through the current Lannister family, after current patriarch Tywin Lannister's father ended up dealing with a rebellion from two other powerful vassals due to them ''also'' seeing him as weak. Even the otherwise good-intentioned Tyrion considers honor to be a way to death.
* Voldemort of ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' considers love, friendship and anything related to compassion a weakness. And then does his darndest to prove his point by [[ManipulativeBastard using these traits in other people as a weapon against them]]. Justified by his loveless upbringing and the fact that he is extremely powerful in areas of BlackMagic that require you to genuinely ''[[ThePowerOfHate want]]'' to hurt people, so being anything other than a remorseless sociopath would severely crimp his style.

* The protagonist of ''Literature/TheSecretPlace'' by Tana French believes that friendship is a weakness. His point of view is partly influenced by the fact he grew up with people who wouldn't have supported his ambition to have a career in the police force. Not a villainous example, he does get some character development with regard to this attitude, too.
* The Creator/MarquisDeSade and his characters often mocked or dismissed compassion, mercy etc. in favor of cruelty and killing for the sheer pleasure which it brought them, viewing the former as denying this for no good reason.
* Exploited the BigBad in the [[Literature/XWingSeries Rogue Squadron]] series. She releases a [[ThePlague bioweapon]] on Coruscant that causes CruelAndUnusualDeath to aliens, but that can also be easily cured with large quantities of [[{{Panacea}} bacta medicine]]. Her plan is to let the Republic bankrupt itself trying to cure the millions of citizens dying horrific deaths in front of them, since unlike TheEmpire they're too compassionate to simply write them off as a loss.
* In ''The Impossible Virgin'', a Literature/ModestyBlaise novel, Brunel is a cold-blooded criminal mastermind who regards the compassionate virtues as weaknesses that he's glad not to share. He understands how they work well enough to manipulate his opponents with them (including at one point luring Modesty and Willie into a trap), which just makes him more sure that they're a weakness to be avoided. Even loyalty doesn't mean anything to him; he feels no loyalty to anyone, and prefers to rely on fear and greed in controlling his subordinates, which is what gets him killed in the end.

** The Cyber-Planner in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E12NightmareInSilver Nightmare in Silver]]" scoffs at the Doctor for having emotions, and for his willingness to make sacrifices to protect the children in his care.

* This is one of Black's traits in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering''. It rejects all virtues that won't help it reach it's own personal goals and ambitions; Black isn't necessarily evil, but it doesn't care about morals.
* ''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]].

* In ''Theatre/{{Camelot}}'', Mordred sings a song called "The Seven Deadly Virtues", saying that courage, purity, honesty, humility, diligence, fidelity and charity are "ghastly little traps" fit only for those more foolish than he.

* In ''Videogame/DynastyWarriors 7: Empires''. You can make [[TheGoodKing Liu Bei]]-- who's canonical obsession with ruling with [[AC:Benevolence]] runs through his other officers as their [[PlanetOfHats hat]]-- Evil, so to speak. If you make his Fame "Evil", he will eventually [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf_vjYuYlgo get a cutscene]] where he regrets being so virtuous.

** [[LastOfHisKind Javik]], who saw the rest of his species wiped out in a futile war against the Reapers in the previous galactic cycles, makes it clear that he would much prefer Shepard fight dirty, as he did. Unlike the example above, his reason of being this is purely out of desparation to make it out alive alongside his race (he was born around the near end of the Cycle, which means that his people were already on the losing side of the war), as opposed to Kai Leng's arrogance and pettiness.

* ''VideoGame/Persona5'': Kunikazu Okumura grew up in a poor household, due to his own father being a kind person, but a rather bad buisnessman who was always in debt. This experience gave him the mentality that "virtue and sentiment are for losers", resulting in him becoming a CorruptCorporateExecutive who overworks his workers, forces his daughter into an arranged marriage with an abusive asshole, and [[spoiler: collaborates with a conspiracy to use the cognitive world to cause a series of accidents and use the social unrest to expand their power and wealth]]. Ironically, [[spoiler: the conspiracy in question, particularly Masayoshi Shido]], likely believes in more than even him, seeing how it's to the point where [[spoiler: they were willing to throw him under the bus as part of their FrameUp, with Shido also expressing his beliefs as TheSocialDarwinist]].
* The [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Mercykillers]] in ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' embody this. They're a faction of KnightTemplar {{Bounty Hunter}}s who believe that evil should be punished at any cost. A common misconception resulting from their name is that they believe in CruelMercy, when in reality they seek to ''kill mercy itself'' because they see it as a weakness.

* Sonata in ''WebAnimation/TurnaboutStorm'' mentions feeling pity for others (in other words, compassion) as a weakness. There's a catch though: She doesn't see it a weakness of character, but as one in a pragmatic sense. [[spoiler:Continuing with her blackmailer schemes became difficult when she started to realize how much damage she was causing to others]].

* On the ''WebVideo/DreamSMP'', Dream[[note]]The character, not the content creator who plays him[[/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]].]]

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': Ozai refers to Aang's unwillingness to kill him his as weakness and tries to exploit it to kill Aang. [[spoiler:Of course, Aang uses his newly-acquired Chi-bending to [[BroughtDownToNormal render Ozai unable to firebend]], which, to a raging egotist gooned on the power of firebending, is a FateWorseThanDeath.]]
** Ozai pulled this twice on Zuko in rapid succession. First, when Zuko talked out of turn during the war room (to speak against a WeHaveReserves plan to throw new recruits away as a distraction), Ozai made him fight in an Agni Kai against himself on the justificaiton that since Zuko did it in Ozai's war room, it was an insult against Ozai himself. When Zuko could not bring himself to fight his own father, Ozai burned Zuko's eye and sent Zuko on seemingly unwinnable SnipeHunt to capture the Avatar.

** Cozy Glow shows complete disregard for the values of friendship, her mind solely focused on the "power" side of it.
* In the short ''WesternAnimation/EducationForDeath'', Hans' teacher is horrified when he expresses sympathy for a rabbit killed by a fox in a story. Instead, he claims that the fox is to be admired and the rabbit hated because according to the Nazis, MightMakesRight. After being the class fool for a day, Hans becomes a fanatic who screams that he hates the Rabbit. He eventually grows up to become just another mindless Nazi robot in whom is "planted no seed of laughter, hope, tolerance or mercy."

* Grace Monroe in ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'' states that being kind and compassionate is weak and it won't raise the number on her hand higher. The irony is that the number on your hand is not some score or ranking system; it's detailing how mentally messed up you are and the goal is to ''get them down to 0''. She learns the truth in Book 3 and begins to realize how her twisted views has ruined hundreds of lives.

* Several societal injustices and systemic problems can be traced back to the cynical systems designed to keep corrupt [[TheSociopath and sociopathic]] people in power, and screw over the many others who have the moral constraints that stop them from just doing what every they deem necessary to [[DespotismJustifiesTheMeans gain as much power as possible]].

* 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, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_triad just that they often are]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'':

* In ''Film/{{Downfall|2004}}'', 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/{{Flash Gordon|1980}}'', as Flash is going to be executed, Dale is crying. Ming the Merciless and his daughter have this exchange:

** Seen again in ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' after [[spoiler:the Green Goblin]] has [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown smashed Spider-Man through every floor of the apartment building]] and pinned him to the ground. Followed by [[spoiler:killing [[ILetGwenStacyDie Aunt May]]]] for essentially committing the sin [[TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth of being nice in general]] and [[spoiler:to Norman Osborn in specific]].

** Seen again in ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' after [[spoiler:the Green Goblin]] has [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown smashed Spider-Man through every floor of the apartment building]] and pinned him to the ground.

* It's a common theme for the villains of ''Manga/OnePiece'' to share this sentiment; some of the best examples are:
** [[CombatPragmatist Don]] [[MoreDakka Krieg]] from the Baratie Arc considers sympathy, pride, and honor as signs of weakness and is willing to [[BadBoss kill anyone in his crew for showing it.]]
** [[DishingOutDirt Crocodile]] and few Baroque Works Officer Agents during the Alabasta Arc see camaraderie [[TrueCompanions beyond professionalism and]] [[ThePowerOfFriendship a common goal]] as a sign of weakness. [[spoiler:Crocodile and [[TheDragon Daz Bones]] now softened their view a bit.]]
** [[spoiler:Pre-timeskip]] has Bellamy mock Luffy for believing in his dreams, and declares 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 her mother's real killer 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 -a.k.a [[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."

** The Saiyan race as a whole believe traits like compassion, forgiveness, love, and even family bonds to be weaknesses. They call it "going soft" and it's part of the reason Vegeta despises Goku for so long; he's a Saiyan who gained such power in spite of these "weaknesses".
* ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'': During the later part of the series, Naraku states outright that just seeing Inuyasha and his companions show mercy to Kanna, who he had sent on a SuicideMission to kill them, actually makes him sick.

* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesDiamondAndPearl'': [[{{Jerkass}} Paul]] is firmly convinced that befriending one's Pokémon is a waste of time, and regularly abandons any Pokémon of his that he considers weak or doesn't meet his expectations. This bites him in the ass when Ash takes in a Chimchar he abandoned, raises it into an Infernape, and defeats him in the Pokémon league with it.
* In ''Literature/{{Gate}}'', Emperor Molto Sol Augustus shows contempt for Japan's policy of caring for and rescuing as many citizens as possible, unlike his Empire which doesn't care about "peasants" and will sacrifice as many men as needed to achieve victory. He declares that in spite of Japan's superior military might, their compassion is a sentimental weakness that can be exploited. [[spoiler:The Empire fails to find a way to exploit it and loses.]]
* ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'': [[spoiler:Claire Stanfield]] has a weird {{inverted|Trope}} way of looking at this. Specifically, he believes virtues like mercy and compassion are ''strengths'' that only the truly strong are privileged to possess since they can afford to let them backfire without worry for themselves. [[WorldsStrongestMan And he's the strongest guy around]].
* ''Manga/YuGiOh5Ds'': Jack Atlas, [[AdaptationalJerkass who is even more of an asshole than his]] [[Anime/YuGiOh5Ds anime counterpart]], challenges Yusei to a duel. Yusei tries to decline as he is trying to get his unconscious friend Sect to a hospital, but Jack forces him to duel and mocks his friendship, saying friends are nothing but shackles. When Jack makes his final attack, Yusei is about to activate his facedown card, but notices Sect is falling into a river and jumps away to save him, losing as a result. Jack examines Yusei's abandoned cards and sees that his facedown card would have destroyed Jack's monster if it had been played. Instead of acknowledging Yusei as the true winner, Jack throws the card away and mocks Yusei for putting his friend above victory.

* ''Anime/DuelMasters'': Duels sometimes become real and the monsters inflict real damage. Since Shobu doesn't want to hurt anyone, he tries to avoid attacking directly and instead get his opponent to surrender if he is in a position to win. Sometimes this works, other times his opponent or a bystander will mock him for being weak and refuse to acknowledge his victory unless he actually attacks.

** Freeza has ''nothing'' but disgust and contempt for Goku for showing mercy to him, and even goes so far as to mock him for it point-blank. In ''[[Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF Resurrection 'F']]'', he says that Gohan choosing not to kill any of his {{Mook}}s actually makes him sick.

* [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] in the "[[Recap/SherlockS02E01AScandalInBelgravia A Scandal in Belgravia]]" episode of ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'', with Sherlock asking his brother is his lack of caring about others is a good or bad thing.
-->'''Sherlock:''' Look at them. They all care so much. Do you ever wonder if there's something wrong with us?\\

* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "Space Seed", when Marla [=McGivers=] [[HighHeelFaceTurn asks to be excused]] from seeing her captain and the other officers executed, Khan comments, "I had hoped you would be stronger."
* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "Déjà Q", Q is banished from the Q Continuum and stripped of his powers, but given the choice of what species to exist as and where to be deposited. Knowing he'll be mercilessly hunted by the countless races he's antagonized over the years he chooses to become human and be deposited on the Enterprise, later explaining that humans' capacity for forgiveness and compassion are "weaknesses of the breed" that he could exploit for his own safety. Picard counters that these are the species' strengths, and it turns out that showing a little human "nobility" is what ends up getting Q reinstated with his brethren.

** The Cyber-Planner in "Nightmare in Silver" scoffs at the Doctor for having emotions, and for his willingness to make sacrifices to protect the children in his care.
** 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]]), although he later states that the Daleks allow his continued existence because of a flaw he was unable to cure them off - respect for their father. He outright says to the Doctor in "The Magician's Apprentice" that "compassion is wrong."
** The Harold Saxon incarnation of The Master, in "The Doctor Falls", insists on describing a passive cyberman as [[ItIsDehumanizing an "it"]]. When his future self, Missy, corrects him with "she", he appears disgusted by the thought that [[FutureMeScaresMe at some point in the future, he's going to feel empathy for other beings.]]
* In ''Series/TheFlash2014'', while Leonard Snart[=/=]Captain Cold acquires a "[[FreezeRay cold generator]]" that allows him to hurt The Flash, he considers his real weakness to be his focus on saving people instead of beating the bad guy. Snart uses this to his advantage by derailing a train and forcing the Flash to save everyone, then attacking from behind while the Flash catches his breath.

** Lionel Luthor believes in this wholeheartedly, and he has been teaching this to his son [[Characters/SupermanLexLuthor Lex]] his whole life. Lex initially tries not to follow and to be genuinely good at first, but later on, everyone's constant rejection of his attempts at goodness leads him to [[ThenLetMeBeEvil gradually embrace]] his selfishness and exploitation of others.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''VideoGame/Persona5'': Kunikazu Okumura grew up in a poor household, due to his own father being a kind person, but a rather bad buisnessman who was always in debt. This experience gave him the mentality that "virtue and sentiment are for losers", resulting in him becoming a CorruptCorporateExecutive who overworks his workers, forces his daughter into an arranged marriage with an abusive asshole, and [[spoiler: collaborates with a conspiracy to use the cognitive world to cause a series of accidents and use the social unrest to expand their power and wealth]].

** ''Film/BlackPantherWakandaForever'': [[spoiler: During Shuri's visit to the Ancestral Plane brought on by an artificial heart-shaped herb, she encounters not Queen Ramonda but [[EvilMentor Erik Killmonger]], who tells her this trope was what led to T'Challa's untimely downfall. If she wanted to [[YouKilledMyFather avenge her mother's death at the hands of Namor]], she'd need to act like Erik and [[TheUnfettered do whatever was necessary]]. She almost goes through with killing Namor, but Ramonda's spirit convinces her at the last moment to lay down arms and seek a more peaceful solution to stop the fighting between their people]].

* ''Manga/{{InuYasha}}'': During the later part of the series, Naraku states outright that just seeing Inuyasha and his companions show mercy to Kanna, who he had sent on a SuicideMission to kill them, actually makes him sick.

** In ''LightNovel/FateZero'', Gilgamesh at first sees [[BoisterousBruiser Rider]] as a fool for challenging him for the Grail, but ultimately comes to view him as a WorthyOpponent upon seeing the strength of his convictions and his bonds of loyalty and friendship with his warriors. He even goes so far as to spare the life of Rider's Master Waver simply because his loyalty to his Servant/king was so strong, praising him for it. As for Saber, while he mocks her desire he does find a fascination for her convictions and willpower, as well as her [[ILoveYouBecauseICantControlYou stubborn refusal to ever be his]], which is why he's attracted to her.

* ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'': [[spoiler:Claire Stanfield]] has a weird {{inverted|Trope}} way of looking at this. Specifically, he believes virtues like mercy and compassion are ''strengths'' that only the truly strong are privileged to possess since they can afford to let them backfire without worry for themselves. [[WorldsStrongestMan And he's the strongest guy around]].

* The ''Franchise/FateSeries''' take on [[WorldsStrongestMan Gilgamesh]] has a complicated view on this as he's canonically mocked ''and'' praised virtue, which seem to vary depending upon the person he's talking to.

** In ''Anime/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks'', Gilgamesh defeats Berserker with ease because he wouldn't stop shielding Illya from his attacks. Gligamesh mocks him and says if Berserker had just abandoned the child to her fate and attacked him full force, he might have stood a chance. He also mocks Shirou and Rin for wasting time trying to save Shinji's life when killing him would have accomplished their goal faster (stopping him from being the host of the Holy Grail). In both these cases, he sees Illya and Shinji as beneath notice (Illya is an ArtificialHuman whose only purpose is to be the Grail, and Shinji is a [[HateSink pretty despicable human being]]) and wouldn't see why anyone would fight to save their lives.

* On the ''LetsPlay/DreamSMP'', 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]].]]

--> '''Xanatos:''' So now you know my weakness.\\

* UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler is on record saying that humanitarianism is a form of stupidity, as he wanted to eliminate all the "inferior" races of the world and populate it with pure-blooded Aryans. Then there's his approach to geopolitics. He saw everyone else as land-grabbing empires who would turn on each other if they smelled weakness; for example, he expected the US to gobble up British possessions in the Americas if the homeland fell, and the British to do the same to French colonies in Africa. [[TheAlliance This, of course, didn't happen]].

* ''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 [[TeamMom Gaia]] and [[EveryonesBabyBrother Ma-Ti]], he calls it "sentimental slop" and asks what happened to their strong selves.

[[GoodSamaritan Compassion]], [[GreaterNeedThanMine generosity]], [[ThouShallNotKill mercy]], [[HonestyIsTheBestPolicy honesty]], [[CodeOfHonour honor]], [[UndyingLoyalty loyalty]], [[ForGreatJustice justice]], [[ThePowerOfFriendship friendship]], and [[TheFourLoves love]]. It is by these values by which people are able to cooperate and society is able to function.

This is a very common subject of a BreakingSpeech when the BigBad is confronted by the hero. It's also common for the villain to give a short speech about this when the hero is confronted with the choice of killing the villain and [[ThouShallNotKill refuses to kill him]]. The hero usually responds by it is [[TheFettered from good where his strength comes]] and that [[PatrickStewartSpeech it's through the power of goodness that a diverse species as humans were able to succeed]]. Depending on where the work falls on the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism, the hero may be vindicated... [[DownerEnding or not]].

Belief in this is a telltale sign of being TheSociopath, TheUnfettered, or a SocialDarwinist who sees empathy for others as a bad trait in favor of a literal struggle between life and death. This can be one of the JerkJustifications for a character to be a {{Jerkass}} with a LackOfEmpathy. TheUnapologetic may [[NeverMyFault justify themselves]] for not apologizing by believing that remorse makes a person weak. Someone who holds grudges and [[RejectedApology never accepts apologies]] sees forgiving someone as a sign of weakness. A lot of the time, this tends to be the rationalization of someone who thinks ItsAllAboutMe. Cynically interpreted, one who believes this can be seen as the {{Ubermensch}}. This may also be invoked by an AntiHero to justify fighting dirty to win, [[IDidWhatIHadToDo by any means necessary]].

* ''Manga/DeathNote'': When Soichiro chooses to try to arrest Mello rather than kill him with the Death Note as Light expected him to do, despite the fact that Mello had kidnapped and [[BreakTheCutie traumatized]] Sayu, Light is annoyed and openly declares it an act of stupidity. Light's way of thinking comes back to bite him hard when, later on, he mocks Soichiro in front of his former assistant Matsuda, [[spoiler:which ''pisses Matsuda off'', enough to fly into a fit of rage and shoot Light's right hand, preventing Light from writing into the Death Note, and then shoots him ''four'' more times for good measure.]]

** [[DishingOutDirt Crocodile]] and few Baroque Works Officer Agents during the Alabasta Arc see 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.]]

** The Time-Skip shows [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Hody Jones]] laughing at [[PrincessClassic Princess]] [[GentleGiant Shirahoshi]] for not hating him [[spoiler:while knowing that Hody was the her mother's real killer 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]].

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'': During the Diamond and Pearl arc, [[{{Jerkass}} Paul]] is firmly convinced that befriending one's Pokémon is a waste of time, and regularly abandons any Pokémon of his that he considers weak or doesn't meet his expectations. This bites him in the ass when Ash takes in a Chimchar he abandoned, raises it into an Infernape, and defeats him in the Pokémon league with it.

* ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'': [[spoiler:Claire Stanfield]] has a weird {{inverted}} way of looking at this. Specifically, he believes virtues like mercy and compassion are ''strengths'' that only the truly strong are privileged to possess since they can afford to let them backfire without worry for themselves. [[WorldsStrongestMan And he's the strongest guy around]].

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': As part of his BreakingSpeech on Hinata during the Chunin Exams preliminaries, Neji tells her that her kind and compassionate nature makes her weak and unfit to be the heiress of the Hyuga Clan. It almost gets through, [[ShutUpHannibal until Naruto snaps her out of it]].

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'': Jim Gordon's sociopathic serial killer son James Gordon Jr. believes that empathy is a weakness.

** In ''[[ComicBook/SupergirlRebirth Rebirth]]'' story ''ComicBook/TheKillersOfKrypton'', a weakened ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} is wrestling with Splyce when all of sudden the alien villain incinerates a little girl who was just running by. Seeing Supergirl's horrified expression, Splyce mocks her compassion. Kara angrily retorts compassion isn't a weakness, and in spite of being weakened, rips Splyce's tentacles off.

* The [[XenomorphXerox Brood]] in ''ComicBook/XMen''. They hate and detest empathy and friendship, the known "[[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch Mutant Brood]]" are born with empathy, mutant Brood are quickly eliminated by normal Brood, they see love, empathy and friendship as a virus or a deadly disease that must be eradicated, as these mutant Brood are seen as a threat to Brood society. The only empathic Brood allowed to live would be; [[ComicBook/PlanetHulk No-Name]] of the Warbound and Broo.

* 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.]]

* In ''Fanfic/IAgainstIMeAgainstYou'', [[BigBad The Director]] tells Celestia this [[spoiler:after he reveals his intentions to hold Canterlot hostage with the ''Mother of Invention'']]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles''

* 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/{{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.

** ''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.]]

** ''Film/BlackPantherWakandaForever'': [[spoiler: During Shuri's visit to the Ancestral Plane brought on by an artificial heart-shaped herb, she encounters not Queen Ramonda but [[EvilMentor Erik Killmonger]], who tells her this trope was what led to T'Challa's untimely downfall. If she wanted to [[YouKilledMyFather avenge her mother's death at the hands of Namor]], she'd need to act like Erik and [[TheUnfettered do whatever was necessary]]. She almost goes through with killing Namor, but Ramonda's spirit convinces her at the last moment to lay down arms and seek a more peaceful solution to stop the fighting between their people.]]

* ''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.

* In ''Series/LoisAndClark'', after ComicBook/LexLuthor analyzes Superman through a series of tests of his strength and speed, he remarks to his servant that he has found the chink in his armor; the fact he has morals.

** Lionel Luthor believes in this wholeheartedly, and he has been teaching this to his son [[ComicBook/LexLuthor Lex]] his whole life. Lex initially tries not to follow and to be genuinely good at first, but later on, everyone's constant rejection of his attempts at goodness leads him to [[ThenLetMeBeEvil gradually embrace]] his selfishness and exploitation of others.

* [[ArrogantKungFuGuy Kai]] [[SmugSnake Leng]] from ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' looks down at [[UnderestimatingBadassery Shepard]] and is insulted when the [[WellIntentionedExtremist Illusive Man]] said that [[WorthyOpponent Shepard is to be admired for his/her skills]]. Never believing that Shepard is his equal [[spoiler: which later bit him in the ass with an [[KarmicDeath Omniblade to the gut.]]]]

--> '''Javik:''' Stand amongst the ashes of a trillion dead souls, and ask the ghosts if honor matters. The silence is your answer.

* ''VideoGame/SlyCooper'':
** ''VideoGame/SlyCooperAndTheThieviusRaccoonus'': [[BigBad Clockwerk]] states outright that he views Sly's empathy as a weakness to be exploited, using it to his advantage by holding [[LoveInterest Carmelita Fox]] hostage to lure him into a DeathTrap.

* ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice'': Episode 26 begins with a monologue on the matter by the Emperor. Back during the times he was personally leading humanity to the stars, he found that compassion and empathy were hindering his progress, to the point of being directly opposed at times. [[spoiler:So he got rid of them, even if it meant no longer being human, so he could be the leader humanity seemed to need. But now, the galaxy and humanity itself are crueler and worse than ever, so he realizes he ''desperately'' needs them back, because it's now more than ever that humanity needs a little, well, ''humanity'' to stop circling the drain to oblivion]].

** Ironically, [[spoiler:Mammon himself has gone partway senile with old age and has forgotten much of his own 'teachings': He remembers killing his brothers but has lost the GoldFever and [[AmbitionIsEvil ambition]] that inspired him to kill them in the first place, and feels immensely remorseful over his previous actions.]]

** Tirek, the BigBad of the season 4 finale, [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E25TwilightsKingdomPart1 "Twilight's Kingdom - Part 1"]], during his BreakingSpeech to Discord, Tirek dismisses his brother's befriending ponies so many years ago as a sign of a weak mind. More generally, he considers friendship just another form of imprisonment.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'': The episode "Bubblevicious" does this for laughs (Bubbles is out to prove that she can be "hardcore") with a ShoutOut to the Karate Kid example listed above:
-->'''Small Harmless Dog:''' Bubbles.. have mercy..\\

* The [[XenomorphXerox Brood]] in ''ComicBook/XMen''. They hate and detest empathy and friendship, the known [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch Mutant Brood]] are born with empathy, mutant Brood are quickly eliminated by normal Brood, they see love, empathy and friendship as a virus or a deadly disease that must be eradicated, as these mutant Brood are seen as a threat to Brood society. The only empathic Brood allowed to live would be; [[ComicBook/PlanetHulk No-Name]] of the Warbound and Broo.

* The [[XenomorphXerox Brood]] in ''ComicBook/XMen''. They hate and detest empathy and friendship, the known [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch Mutant Brood]] are born with empathy, mutant Broods are quickly eliminated by normal Broods, they see love, empathy and friendship as a virus or a deadly disease that must be eradicated, as these mutant Broods are seen as a threat to Brood society. The only empathic Brood allowed to live would be; [[ComicBook/PlanetHulk No-Name]] of the Warbound and Broo.

* The [[XenomorphXerox Brood]] in ''ComicBook/XMen''. They hate and detest empathy and friendship, the known ''[[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch Mutant Broods]]'' are born with empathy, mutant Broods are quickly eliminated by normal Broods, they see love, empathy and friendship as a virus or a deadly disease that must be eradicated, as these mutant Broods are seen as a threat to Brood society. The only empathic Brood allowed to live would be; [[ComicBook/PlanetHulk No-Name]] of the Warbound and Broo.

* The [[XenomorphXerox Brood]] in ''ComicBook/XMen''. They hate and detest empathy and friendship, the known ''[[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch Mutant Broods]]'' are born with empathy, mutant Broods are quickly eliminated by normal Broods, they see love, empathy and friendship as a virus or a deadly disease that must be eradicated, as these mutant Broods are seen as a threat to Brood society. The only empathic Brood allowed to live would be; [[ComicBook/Planet Hulk No-Name]] of the Warbound and Broo.

See also StrawNihilist, who believes that good is pointless rather than a weakness (though it's not uncommon for many villains to believe both). Supertrope to LoveIsAWeakness. Contrast EvilVirtues, where evil displays virtues/morals in order to [[PragmaticVillainy be effective]].

** ''Film/BlackPantherWakandaForever'': [[spoiler: During Shuri's visit to the Ancestral Plane brought on by an artificial heart-shaped herb, she encounters not Queen Ramonda but [[EvilMentor Erik Killmonger]], who tells her this trope was what led to T'Challa's untimely downfall. If she wanted to [[YouKilledMyFather avenge her mother's death at the hands of Namor]], she'd need to act like Erik and [[TheUnfettered do whatever was necessary]]. She almost goes through with killing Namor, but Ramonda's spirit convinces her at the last moment not to lay down arms and seek a more peaceful solution to stop the fighting between their people.]]