History MoralMyopia / LiveActionTV

** In the fourth series, General Melchett is utterly enraged when Blackadder cooks and eats his pet pigeon, and sentences Blackadder to death in a comically ridiculous KangarooCourt. However, in another episode, it's revealed that he ran over Lt. George's pet rabbit when George was a child and is [[KickTheDog completely callous about it-both when it happened, and when he talks about it in the present]].

** Being a crossover anthology that centering around on previous villains in the franchise and the imminent threat of [[TheComputerIsYourFriend AI autocracy]], the Ark apparently hates the idea of another artificial intelligence planning to KillAllHumans to impose its idea of {{order|IsNotGood}} when the Ark originally planned to do the same in [[Series/KamenRiderZeroOne its home series]].
** Zein's supporters as a whole abhors malice, but their methods in doing so, mostly in their war against Foundation X and Project Outsiders shows that they have no compunctions in [[KnightTemplar doing things that a villain would normally do]]; more specifically Nico Saiba threatening Desast to stay away from Ren if he values his rival's life, Tachibana and Yuto relaunching Kamen Rider Chronicle to the public despite the danger it poses to the point of holding Nico at gunpoint when she protested the earlier idea, and finally Yuto's NoHoldsBarredBeatdown on Banno and the Ark are anything but heroic; to the point he mangles Banno's Humagear body in the most brutal and graphic fashion, and Yuto is almost an inch away from JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope by killing Horobi had not for Brain's intervention.

** ''Series/KamenRiderOutsiders'': Being a crossover anthology that centering around on previous villains in the franchise and the imminent threat of [[TheComputerIsYourFriend AI autocracy]], the Ark apparently hates the idea of another artificial intelligence planning to KillAllHumans to impose its idea of {{order|IsNotGood}} when the Ark originally planned to do the same in [[Series/KamenRiderZeroOne its home series]].

** This is how the Cardassians viewed the Bajorans (and likely everyone else). Gul Dukat in particular claims that it was obvious that the Bajorans were inferior technologically, culturally and socially, and that their biggest problem is that they would not just accept their role. He also seemed to be very shocked and angry when Cardassians were killed by Bajoran terrorists, but was significantly less concerned with the lives of the Bajoran slaves on Terok Nor. Admittedly he claims (and it's likely he is telling the truth, given his PetTheDog moments) to have improved conditions for the slaves, but he seemed pretty clear on the whole "Bajorans need to learn their place, they only bring suffering on themselves by not acquiescing" mentality.

** In Season 7, [[spoiler: a Kitsune who saved Sam in the past had managed for years to get by without killing humans by working at the morgue. When her son gets sick, she is forced to go vigilante on the lowest scum of society to tap their brains and nurse him back to health, but when he's healthy again she stops instantly. Dean still kills her under the logic 'You killed once, you'll do it again']]. No one, not even Bobby points out about all the times ''they'' had to kill monsters to save a loved one. Hell, to kill the Queen of the Monsters, Dean had to kill a Phoenix for its ashes. Unsurprisingly, [[TheHeart Sam]][[spoiler:, barely holding on with Lucifer (or at least a convincing hallucination) messing with his head,]] eventually tries to make Dean feel better by agreeing [[IDidWhatIHadToDo he did what he had to]].

** In the fourth series, General Melchett is utterly enraged when Blackadder cooks and eats his pet pigeon, and sentences Blackadder to death in a comically ridiculous KangarooCourt. However, in another episode, it's revealed that he ran over Lt. George's pet rabbit when George was a child and is completely callous about it-both when it happened, and when he talks about it in the present.

** In a Halloween episode, Howard dresses up and acts just like Sheldon. A little mean, but he really doesn't attack him, he just ''acts just like Sheldon'' back at Sheldon. Because he's hurt by his friends laughing at him (by Howard treating him in the same manner he treats everyone, but because it's directed at him it's bad) he and Amy crash their Halloween party, dressed and acting just like Howard and Bernadette (who hadn't even done anything to either Sheldon or Amy) -- except highly caricaturized and "in character" stating their character flaws as actions. In the end, no one really apologizes but we're meant to believe that Howard's act was on the same level as the retaliatory Sheldon and Amy.

* ''Series/TwentyFour'': In the penultimate season, [[spoiler: Jack confronts former agent Tony Almeida with the fact that everything he's done to get revenge on Alan Wilson for the death of his wife has endangered innocent lives]]. Then in the final season after [[spoiler: Renee Walker, whom he'd just started to become intimate with, is killed as part of a Russian coverup and the President betrays him by refusing to expose it since she needs it hidden in order to preserve a peace treaty,]] Jack snaps and winds up following the same path [[spoiler: Tony]] does. [[spoiler: He takes it upon himself to murder the conspirators in revenge and begins endangering innocent lives by drawing them out in the open. Oh, and he nearly starts World War III because of it. Yet during most of this even after admitting that he is just in this for personal revenge, he attempts to justify his actions by stating that in [[CrapsackWorld in a world this fucked up]] his way is the closest thing to a right way.]]

* In an episode of ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', the Genii have taken over Atlantis during a powerful storm, during which the city was evacuated. Commander Acastus Kolya personally shoots two Atlantis guards upon arriving, even though the original plan called for capturing them. When Sheppard kills two of Kolya's men sent to kill him, Kolya is outraged, even though Sheppard says they're even now. Kolya replies that he doesn't see it that way and pretends to shoot Weir. Basically, this is the Genii's [[PlanetOfHats hat]]. They believe they are above anyone else and that the ends justify the means. During their first encounter with Sheppard and his team, Teyla ends up leaving one of the Genii to die aboard a Hive-ship after he kills several trapped people to accomplish the mission. Naturally, the Genii don't give a shit about what he did, only what Teyla did. However, later on, the new Genii leader does get on friendlier terms with Atlantis after they save a number of his people (including his sister) who are dying of radiation poisoning.

* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'': Lex Luthor. If it happens to him, it's unforgivable. If he does it to someone else, it's business as usual. And not just him either, in fact this can be considered pretty much the underlining basis of the series. The heroes' actions can usually be broken down into one of two categories. Either the hero does something horrible "because they had to", but will react with revulsion when the villain does the same thing (Oliver Queen). Or the villain will do something sending the hero into a Knight Templar-like revenge only to turn around and do the same thing (Lana Lang, Tess Mercer).

* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'': ComicBook/LexLuthor. If it happens to him it's unforgivable. If he does it to someone else, it's business as usual. And not just him either, in fact this can be considered pretty much the underlining basis of the series. The heroes' actions can usually be broken down into one of two categories. Either the hero does something horrible "because they had to", but will react with revulsion when the villain does the same thing (Oliver Queen). Or the villain will do something sending the hero into a Knight Templar-like revenge only to turn around and do the same thing (Lana Lang, Tess Mercer).

** This is actually invoked near the end of the movie, but it's easy to miss because of the Minbari's tendency for slightly flowery dialect-Delenn openly discusses the ridiculousness of claiming to be undertaking a "holy" war as the Minbari grow very close to Earth. The other council member she's talking to, who has previously been incredibly war-mongering about the entire situation, is visibly tired and dejected with it by this point but can't bring himself to admit it. Later, Delenn tells the Vorlons that everyone is so tired of the killing that even he would stop if there was just some reason to give everyone for doing so, meaning this is, indeed, a hard thing to overcome even when you're aware of it, and having an excuse to do so is far easier than admitting you're suffering from it.

** Another recurring hypocrisy is the continuing squabbles amongst the Mandalorians of what defines a [[NoTrueScotsman "true" Mandalorian]]. Best exemplified is ''The Clone Wars'' character Bo-Katan, who mocks Din Djarin for his strict adherence to the beliefs of "The Way", yet when [[spoiler: he tries handing over the Darksaber to her after he beats Moff Gideon, she refuses to take it, citing that she has to beat him to win it (despite the fact that her appearance in ''Rebels'' shows she willingly took it last time without a fuss for tradition).]] In another example, she criticizes her ally Koska Reeves for duking it out with [[spoiler: Boba Fett]], claiming that this constant infighting caused Mandalore to fall to the Empire in the first place. It seems she forgot that she played a big role in that infighting, and got [[spoiler: Boba]] riled up by [[spoiler: calling his father Jango his "donor".]] Din was no better himself in this regard, though at least through his CharacterDevelopment, he learns to keep a more open mind.

** One episode deals with a Native American protest against Columbus Day celebrations. The gangsters maintain that Columbus Day is an important celebration of Italian-American heritage which they are entitled to since Italian immigrants were discriminated against when they first arrived in America, yet they don't remotely care about the atrocities committed against Native Americans. That same episode also features a TV news debate between one of the protestors and an Italian-American which is moderated by an African-American, who is clearly biased towards the Italian (or rather, the white[=/=]European American[=/=]settler position) position. However, when the Italian describes his grandparents' migration to the US as the "middle passage", basically implying that Italians had it as bad as slaves, the black moderator immediately turns on him. The basic theme of the episode is that every community is only focussed on it's own historical wrongs and considers them more important than anyone else's.

%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order.

** In Season Four, Laurel takes Oliver to task over his lying to his fiancée about having a son when the boy's mother demanded he not tell anyone about him in exchange for being allowed to visit with him. This in spite of Laurel making some equally objectionable decisions regarding lying to loved ones, including spending the better part of Season Three hiding her sister's death from her father and going so far as to masquerade as said sister while dragging her fellow vigilantes into helping cover-up the death.

** In season six NTA hates Oliver because he doesn't trust them implicitly, when they have show clear lack of trust for him in the past.

** Bester definitely qualifies. In Season Five, he seems to take "The Corps is Mother, The Corps is Father" seriously, and (at least seems) to show fellow teeps genuine fatherly tenderness. When mundanes are involved, however... He even gleefully justifies his attitude by pointing out that normals are far more numerous than telepaths ("Mundanes breed like rabbits" are his exact words), so the death of a normal is no big deal.

** Later, in the beginning of season 3, Cavil whines like a bitch that, after being left to die slowly by ''the people he had rounded up en masse to be shot to death in cold blood'', he had to crawl over to a piece of shrapnel and sever an artery so he could resurrect, which caused him to suffer a migraine. Never mind the fact that, as a Cylon, he's directly responsible for the deaths of several ''billion'' people, none of whom have the luxury of resurrection, migraines or no.

** Cavil (again) takes the cake when his motivations are all laid out late in Season Four. [[spoiler: Cavil believes he can convince the Final Five of the righteousness of his desire for revenge, painting it as a human versus Cylon conflict, despite: 1) The Five created Cavil and the other humanoid Cylons because they wanted peace with the humans. 2) The Thirteenth Tribe is many centuries and generations removed from Kobol, and the Five don't have the emotional baggage that Cavil does. 3) The humanoid Cylons of the Thirteenth Tribe enslaved their Centurions, and thus are guilty of the same crimes Cavil won't forgive the humans for. Cavil is incapable of noticing any of this, and is only 20% successful in his attempts at conversion. To top it all off, he enslaves the Centurions as well.]]

** In a Halloween episode, Howard dresses up and acts just like Sheldon. A little mean, but he really doesn't attack him, he just ''acts just like Sheldon'' back at Sheldon. Because he's hurt by his friends laughing at him (by Howard treating him in the same manner he treats everyone, but because it's directed at him it's bad) he and Amy crash their Halloween party, dressed and acting just like Howard and Bernadette (who hadn't even done anything to either Sheldon or Amy) - except highly caricaturized and "in character" stating their character flaws as actions. In the end, no one really apologizes but we're meant to believe that Howard's act was on the same level as the retaliatory Sheldon and Amy.

** In ''Angel'' Season 4, Wesley is bitter and angry after being booted from Angel Investigations in Season 3; when asked what happened to him by Gunn, Wesley [[RhetoricalQuestionBlunder replies, matter-of-factly]], "I had my [[SlashedThroat throat cut]] and all my friends abandoned me". The reason his friends abandoned him is because when he was reading a prophecy of how Angel might end up [[OffingTheOffspring killing Connor]], he kept it from them and didn't discuss it with any of them - mainly because he was jealous of Fred and Gunn's relationship (having had a thing for Fred that she was oblivious to). Rather than getting help from his friends, Wesley made the poor decision to consult with Holtz, their enemy... who was the one that ended up kidnapping Connor to Quor'toth. In fact, when Lorne discovered Wesley's plan to steal the baby, Wesley merely knocked him unconscious rather than explain things.

** On the heroes' side, Iris West kept her relationship with Eddie Thawne a secret from her father for months, but gets angry at Barry for hiding the fact that he's the Flash from her. When she confesses in Season Two that she hid the existence of her brother from her father, too, she finally admits she shouldn't try to have a high moral ground over Barry anymore.

** Walder Frey is notorious for breaking oaths when it suits him. However he justifies [[spoiler: killing Robb and Catelyn Stark, and the Red Wedding]] on the basis that Robb Stark "betrayed" an oath to marry Frey's daughter.

** Yara Greyjoy complains about how Jon killed Daenerys, the same Daenerys that make literally zero efforts in rescue her after she was captured by Euron.

** This is a recurring hypocrisy of ex-Imperials in the series--in just the previous episode, a different officer says that all the atrocities that the Empire commits are perfectly justified for basically the same reasons as the above example, and the client whose contract is the IncitingIncident for the series is eager to bring back the Empire because of the chaos that came to the galaxy after its fall, and might have a point if the Empire's bread and butter wasn't tyrannical oppression and genocide even ''before'' the Death Star was built.

* The gangsters in ''Series/TheSopranos'' could rival the Cylons for this trope. Most are willing to commit multiple murders to protect their own, even when they have committed terrible crimes, such as Tony protecting his cousin from the New York families and putting his friends in danger even though his cousin murdered one of their men (though that was only because Tony wanted him not to suffer, which he almost certainly would have at their hands). It reaches its peak in Season 3 when the bosses admonish Tony for beating up Ralph after Ralph had just brutally murdered a twenty-year old stripper who was pregnant with Ralph's child. The sole reason is because she was not related to him and thus not important in their eyes. Ralph then acts personally offended and demands an apology and compensation, completely ignoring the fact that he just killed a completely innocent girl in cold blood.

** In season seven, [[spoiler: a Kitsune who saved Sam in the past had managed for years to get by without killing humans by working at the morgue. When her son gets sick, she is forced to go vigilante on the lowest scum of society to tap their brains and nurse him back to health, but when he's healthy again she stops instantly. Dean still kills her under the logic 'You killed once, you'll do it again']]. No one, not even Bobby points out about all the times ''they'' had to kill monsters to save a loved one. Hell, to kill the Queen of the Monsters, Dean had to kill a Phoenix for its ashes. Unsurprisingly, [[TheHeart Sam]][[spoiler:, barely holding on with Lucifer (or at least a convincing hallucination) messing with his head,]] eventually tries to make Dean feel better by agreeing [[IDidWhatIHadToDo he did what he had to]].

* ''Series/TheWire'': DiscussedTrope in season 1. D'Angelo, a mid-level soldier in the Barksdale Organization (and nephew of the boss), in his attempt to school his underlings on a less violent means to run the drug trade, points out to one of them the absurdity of a ''drug dealer'' despising drug addicts. After all, they're directly profiting off the average fiend's misery and actively encourage it.

* The Mayor, normally too upbeat to be overly concerned about the deaths of others, goes into a rage when Buffy critically wounds Faith.