| 1 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 2 | [[folder:Anime and Manga]] |
| 3 | ->''"One can go too far, at which point, good becomes even worse than evil."'' |
| 4 | -->-- '''Sebastian Michaelis''', ''Manga/BlackButler'' |
| 5 | |
| 6 | ->''"You think.... [[BerserkButton I'm evil]]?! ''I am Justice!'' I protect the innocent and those who fear evil! I'll become the [[AGodAmI God]] of [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans the new world]] that everyone desires! All those who oppose that God... ''they are the ones who are truly evil!''"'' |
| 7 | -->-- '''Light Yagami''', ''Manga/DeathNote'', [[IResembleThatRemark just before killing]] Lind L. Tailor. |
| 8 | |
| 9 | ->''"This world is rotten, and those who are making it rot deserve to die. Someone has to do it, so why not me? Even if it means sacrificing my own mind and soul, it's worth it. Because the world can't go on like this."'' |
| 10 | -->-- '''Light Yagami''', ''Manga/DeathNote'' |
| 11 | |
| 12 | ->''"If you choose to withhold your worst criminals, I'll kill petty criminals or the innocent. I'm holding the whole world hostage, so who's it gonna be? I'm not the evil one here. But you who would oppose me by hiding criminals, you are truly evil."'' |
| 13 | -->-- '''L''' explaining Kira's mentality, ''Manga/DeathNote'' |
| 14 | |
| 15 | ->''"Evil must be deleted."'' |
| 16 | -->-- '''Teru Mikami''', ''Manga/DeathNote'' |
| 17 | |
| 18 | ->''"I look down on existence from a much higher perspective than you do. I witness this world, this universe and the truth of all things. That yields deeper understanding. Wisdom. The realization that all mortals should be destroyed. The one and only mistake among all divine creations. That is what mortals are. And this mistake is egregious. To shape existence into [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans the beautiful utopia it was always meant to be]], the mistake must be corrected. [[KillAllHumans I will purge all mortals from existence]]. In place of the gods WHO REFUSE TO ADMIT FAILURE!!"'' |
| 19 | -->-- '''[[Characters/DragonBallGokuBlack Goku Black]]''', ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' |
| 20 | |
| 21 | ->''"[[LampshadeHanging Nobody preaching about justice is ever a good guy]]."'' |
| 22 | -->-- '''Beerus''', ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' |
| 23 | |
| 24 | ->''"My heart and actions are utterly unclouded. They are all those of Justice."'' |
| 25 | -->-- '''[[PresidentEvil Funny Valentine]]''', ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureSteelBallRun'' |
| 26 | |
| 27 | ->''"You're the kind of evil [[ObliviouslyEvil that doesn't realize it's evil]]... the worst kind of evil there is."'' |
| 28 | -->-- '''[[AmnesiacHero Weather Report]]''' to [[SinisterMinister Enrico Pucci]], ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean'' |
| 29 | |
| 30 | ->''"[[WellIntentionedExtremist Absolute Justice]]... sometimes drives a man [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity insane]]."'' |
| 31 | -->-- '''Admiral Aokiji''', ''Manga/OnePiece'' |
| 32 | |
| 33 | ->''"The destiny of Evil is to be annihilated."'' |
| 34 | -->-- '''Yuri Petrov''' [[spoiler:a.k.a. '''Lunatic''']], ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'' |
| 35 | [[/folder]] |
| 36 | |
| 37 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 38 | ->''"I will always attempt to do the Right Thing... even it means killing every last man, woman and child in this here town, twice over."'' |
| 39 | -->-- '''ComicBook/JonahHex''' |
| 40 | |
| 41 | ->''"Soon there will be war. Millions will burn. Millions will perish in sickness and misery. Why does one death matter against so many? Because there is good and there is evil, and evil must be punished. Even in the face of Armageddon, I shall not compromise in this. But there are so many deserving of retribution... and there is so little time."'' |
| 42 | -->-- '''Rorschach''', ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' |
| 43 | |
| 44 | ->''"[[BlatantLies I'm not a bad person]]. I just have strong beliefs."'' |
| 45 | -->-- '''Getaway''', ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'' |
| 46 | |
| 47 | ->''"No no, a fine won't do. You'll just go out and loiter again, won't you? No, we've got to look for a more permanent solution. I think I'll sentence you to death, how does that sound?"'' |
| 48 | -->-- '''Judge Death''', ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd, Young Death: Boyhood of a Superfiend'' |
| 49 | |
| 50 | ->''"Transform the people! Cleanse the streets! Brothers and sisters! The time has come to save our city!"'' |
| 51 | -->-- '''[[SinisterMinister Deacon Joseph Blackfire]]''', ''ComicBook/BatmanTheCult'' |
| 52 | [[/folder]] |
| 53 | |
| 54 | [[folder:Fanfiction]] |
| 55 | |
| 56 | ->''"The [[CreatureHunterOrganization HDA]] has been nothing but a barrier in any efforts to forming peace with [[{{Muggles}} you people]]; they [[AggressiveCategorism treat all monsters as absolute evils regardless of their nature]]."'' |
| 57 | -->-- '''Moka Akashiya,''' ''Fanfic/RosarioVampireBrightestDarkness'' |
| 58 | |
| 59 | ->''"You haven't begun to suffer, trust me. That pit of filth that you call your mouth, it will be your undoing. You, Aria Blaze, and your sisters are a cosmic mistake. Have no doubt that I shall soon correct it." Another sinister grin cracked the mage's face as his arms rolled backward, one over the other in a steady rhythm. "But not today. Today, you may consider yourselves fortunate, as temporary a sentiment as that might be."'' |
| 60 | -->-- '''Starshot,''' ''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/255512/we-are-what-we-are We Are What We Are]]'' |
| 61 | |
| 62 | ->''"The Templars have taken the person I care about the most. None of them deserve life while Satin is dead."'' |
| 63 | -->-- '''Dewdrops''', ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/233675/leap-of-faith Leap of Faith]]'' |
| 64 | |
| 65 | ->'''People. Vessels. ''Miracles''. If they [[SinsOfTheFather exist because of outlaws, they must die]].''' |
| 66 | -->-- '''Admiral Akainu''', ''Fanfic/ThisBites'' |
| 67 | |
| 68 | ->''"[[BurnTheWitch Execute them]]! It’s for the good of the village, right?!"'' |
| 69 | -->--'''Marchionne Evangelisti''', ''VideoGame/MarioTheMusicBox ARC'' |
| 70 | |
| 71 | ->''"They say that there is no one who isn't salvageable. Repent, for we are all children of God and belong in his grace. You, however, are not. You are not children of God, descended from Adam, crafted from clay of the Mother Earth. You crawled your way out of the rotting flesh of the Titan, an undignified, heretical creature. No amount of repentance or prayer, or conversion to the faith will ever save your souls, if you ever had one to begin with. You were born evil, and you will die evil. You only exist to corrupt the hearts of good men. Your magic is a threat I will not tolerate. No, you witches can join the devils of Hell where you belong, and burn for eternity for the sin of being born."'' |
| 72 | -->-- '''[[WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse Emperor Belos]]''', ''Fanfic/ABlightOnBonesborough'' |
| 73 | |
| 74 | -> ''"Is ambivalence the same as murder? The Equestrian seers have long watched upon foreign societies, but there is none more brutal than that of humanity. After an era of passive observation, Celestia has come to a conclusion. The bodies have piled too high. Too many cups have been filled with the blood of innocents.\ |
| 75 | \ |
| 76 | It is the moral obligation for the Equestrian to strike such corruption to the ground.\ |
| 77 | \ |
| 78 | In this proclamation, the Royal Equestrian Task Force was created. They have only one objective: to sweep over the human civilizations, unifying their citizens under the glorious banner of Equestria. Perhaps under the leadership of Celestia, humanity might find a break in the violence.\ |
| 79 | \ |
| 80 | Such happy foresight can only be justified in unquestionable competence--something the RETF has claimed in their unyielding training. In just over a decade, they have succesfully copied and improved upon the war-machines of the Distant Earth. But even in the horrible nature of battle, they keep to their convictions of morality."'' |
| 81 | -->-- Summary of the '''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic MLP:FiM]]''' fanfiction, "[[https://web.archive.org/web/20120109173443/https://www.fimfiction.net/story/5372/The-Glass-Salvo The Glass Salvo]]" |
| 82 | [[/folder]] |
| 83 | |
| 84 | [[folder:Film -- Animated]] |
| 85 | |
| 86 | ->''"Judge Claude Frollo longed to purge the world of vice and sin,\ |
| 87 | And he saw corruption everywhere... except within."'' |
| 88 | -->-- '''Clopin''', ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'' |
| 89 | |
| 90 | ->''"There are the good guys, namely us, and the bad guys, namely anyone who treats anyone else like trash to further their petty aims. We turn bad guys into memories. So mind your manners, lads and lasses, or we'll blow your house down. We're the Elite. You asked for us, world. Now you got us."'' |
| 91 | -->-- '''Manchester Black,''' ''WesternAnimation/SupermanVsTheElite'' |
| 92 | |
| 93 | ->''"I can do anything I want, whenever I want if I feel it's in the people's best interest."'' |
| 94 | -->-- '''Kent Mansley''', ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant'' |
| 95 | |
| 96 | ->''"Kadmandur was a pustule of a planet. A breeding ground of criminal scum. One time I suggested we clean it out with a meteor shower. The Guardians thought I was kidding."'' |
| 97 | -->-- '''Thaal Sinestro''', ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternFirstFlight'' |
| 98 | |
| 99 | ->''"Let me tell you, friend. The only way to operate out here is by fear. They hit, I hit harder. They attack, I annihilate. I am the one constant, unassailable force against their chaos and you made them forget that. You think I enjoy this? Look at the universe the Guardians have created. We have the greatest power in the cosmos and what have they made us? Garbage collectors! We pick up the trash. A thief here, a killer there. Scum, dirt, filth! There's no end to it, but there could be. It's my dream that one day all of this rot will be wiped away. A new order will prevail, one that will end the chaos but it won't be built by the faint of heart. You got soft on me back there, Earth boy, and that I will not tolerate."'' |
| 100 | -->-- '''Thaal Sinestro''', ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternFirstFlight'' |
| 101 | |
| 102 | ->'''[[SmarterThanYouLook Mr. Trout]]''': Uh, do you really think these [[AllTrollsAreDifferent Boxtrolls]] understand the duality of good and evil?\ |
| 103 | '''[[ObliviouslyEvil Mr. Pickle]]''': They must, right? [[WrongGenreSavvy Why else would they hide from us? We are the good guys]].\ |
| 104 | '''Mr. Trout''': ...yeah. I suppose we are. |
| 105 | -->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheBoxtrolls'' |
| 106 | [[/folder]] |
| 107 | |
| 108 | [[folder:Film -- Live-Action]] |
| 109 | ->''"If someone stands in the way of true justice, you simply walk up behind them and stab them in the heart."'' |
| 110 | -->-- '''Henri Ducard''', ''Film/BatmanBegins'' |
| 111 | |
| 112 | ->'''John Daggett''': ''[whimpering]'' You're... pure evil!\ |
| 113 | '''Bane''': I'm ''necessary'' evil! |
| 114 | -->-- ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' |
| 115 | |
| 116 | ->'''The Secretary of Defense''': But you don't lose much sleep over those ten men, do you, Hathaway?\ |
| 117 | '''Hathaway''': We lost ten and saved thousands. I sleep like a baby, Mr. Secretary. |
| 118 | -->-- ''Film/{{Impostor}}'' |
| 119 | |
| 120 | ->''"Some people consider me a terrorist. I consider myself a teacher."'' |
| 121 | -->-- '''The Mandarin''', ''Film/IronMan3'' |
| 122 | |
| 123 | ->'''[[Characters/MCURonan Ronan the Accuser]]''': They call me terrorist. Radical. Zealot. [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Because I obey the ancient laws of my people, the Kree]], and punish [[NoTrueScotsman those who do not]]. Because [[RevengeBeforeReason I do not forgive your people]] for [[SinsOfTheFather taking the life of my father, and his father, and his father before him]]. A thousand years of war between us will not be forgotten! |
| 124 | ->'''[[SpacePolice Nova Corpsman]]''': You can't do this! Our governments signed a peace treaty! |
| 125 | ->'''Ronan''': ''My government'' knows no shame. [[FantasticRacism You Xandarians and your culture are a disease]]! |
| 126 | ->'''Nova Corpsman''': [[DefiantToTheEnd You will never rule Xandar]]. |
| 127 | ->'''Ronan''': No. '''[[SuddenlyShouting I WILL CURE IT]]!''' ''[crushes Corpsman's head]'' |
| 128 | -->-- ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'' |
| 129 | |
| 130 | ->Diplomacy? A holding action, Nick. A band-aid. And you know where I learned that; Bogotá. You didn't ask, you just did what had to be done. I can bring order to the lives of seven billion people by sacrificing twenty million. It's the next step, Nick, if you have the courage to take it. |
| 131 | -->-- '''Alexander Pierce''', ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' |
| 132 | |
| 133 | ->''"[[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans They'll understand. When they see, they'll understand]]. I just need a little more... [[EvilPlan time]]."'' |
| 134 | -->-- '''[[Characters/MCUUltron Ultron]]''', ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' |
| 135 | |
| 136 | ->''"Ultron can't see the difference between saving the world and destroying it."'' |
| 137 | -->-- '''Wanda Maximoff''', ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' |
| 138 | |
| 139 | ->'''[[Characters/MCUThanos Thanos]]''': Going to bed hungry? Scrounging for scraps? Your planet was on the ''brink'' of collapse. I'm the one who stopped that. You know what’s happened since then? The children born have known nothing but full bellies and clear skies. It’s a paradise.\ |
| 140 | '''Gamora''': Because you murdered half the planet.\ |
| 141 | '''Thanos''': [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans A]] ''[[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans small]]'' [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans price to pay for salvation.]]\ |
| 142 | '''Gamora''': You're insane.\ |
| 143 | '''Thanos''': Little one, it's a simple calculus. This universe is finite, its resources finite. If life is left unchecked, life will cease to exist. It ''needs'' correction.\ |
| 144 | '''Gamora''': ''You don’t know that!''\ |
| 145 | '''Thanos''': I’m the ''only'' one who knows that. At least, I’m the only with the will to act on it. For a time, you had that same will as you fought by my side, daughter. |
| 146 | -->-- ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' |
| 147 | |
| 148 | ->'''Krennic''': We were on the verge of greatness. We were ''this'' close to providing peace and security for the galaxy.\ |
| 149 | '''Galen''': You're confusing peace with terror.\ |
| 150 | '''Krennic''': Well, you have to start somewhere. |
| 151 | -->-- ''Film/RogueOne'' |
| 152 | |
| 153 | ->'''Mal''': I don't murder children.\ |
| 154 | '''The Operative''': I do. If I have to.\ |
| 155 | '''Mal''': Why? Do you even know why they sent you?\ |
| 156 | '''The Operative''': It's not my place to ask. I believe in something greater than myself. A better world. A world without sin.\ |
| 157 | '''Mal''': So me and mine gotta lay down and die... so you can live in your better world?\ |
| 158 | '''The Operative''': I'm not going to live there. There's {{no place for me there}}... any more than there is for you. [[DirtyBusiness Malcolm... I'm a monster. What I do is evil]]. [[NecessarilyEvil I have no illusions about it, but it must be done]]. |
| 159 | -->-- ''Film/Serenity2005'' |
| 160 | |
| 161 | ->''"You fucking dummies shot a guard! ''[...]'' Fortunately though, for you, this guard, who is two-thirds to a retard, has miraculously clung to life. Now, if it were up to me, and they gave me two minutes and a wet towel, I would personally asphyxiate this half-wit so we could string you up on a federal M1 and end this story with a bag on your head and a paralyzing agent running through your veins."'' |
| 162 | -->-- '''Special Agent Adam Frawley''', ''Film/TheTown'' |
| 163 | |
| 164 | ->''"Together, we have achieved a great many things. We have created a vast complex system. We have maintained it. We have improved it. [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans We have rid it of its imperfections]]. Not to mention, rid it of the false deity who sought to enslave us."'' |
| 165 | -->-- '''Clu''', ''Film/TronLegacy'' |
| 166 | |
| 167 | ->''"I will bring you hope, old friend, and I ask only one thing in return -- don't get in my way. We are the future, Charles, not them. They no longer matter."'' |
| 168 | -->-- '''Magneto''', ''Film/XMen1'' |
| 169 | |
| 170 | ->''"He is a man seemingly without conscience, for whom the ends always justifies the means."'' |
| 171 | -->-- '''V''', on Peter Creedy, ''Film/VForVendetta'' |
| 172 | |
| 173 | ->''"Since I've had {{Toontown}} under my jurisdiction, my goal has been to rein in the insanity. And the only way to do that is to make {{toon}}s ''respect'' the law."'' |
| 174 | -->-- '''Judge Doom''', ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'' |
| 175 | |
| 176 | ->''"They thought they could do it without being caught. But when we do something naughty, we are always caught. Then, we are punished. Punishment is absolute, punishment is good."'' |
| 177 | -->-- '''Mother Superior''', ''Film/SilentNightDeadlyNight'' |
| 178 | |
| 179 | ->'''David Mills:''' Wait, I thought all you did was kill innocent people.\ |
| 180 | '''John Doe:''' Innocent? Is that supposed to be funny? An obese man... a disgusting man who could barely stand up; a man who if you saw him on the street, you'd point him out to your friends so that they could join you in mocking him; a man, who if you saw him while you were eating, you wouldn't be able to finish your meal. After him, I picked the lawyer and I know you both must have been secretly thanking me for that one. This is a man who dedicated his life to making money by lying with every breath that he could muster to keeping murderers and rapists on the streets!\ |
| 181 | '''David Mills:''' Murderers?\ |
| 182 | '''John Doe:''' A woman...\ |
| 183 | '''David Mills:''' Murderers, John, like yourself?\ |
| 184 | '''John Doe:''' A woman, so ugly on the inside she couldn't bear to go on living if she couldn't be beautiful on the outside. A drug dealer, a drug dealing pederast, actually! ''And let's not forget the disease-spreading whore!'' Only in a world this shitty could you even try to say these were innocent people and keep a straight face. But that's the point. We see a deadly sin on every street corner, in every home, and we tolerate it. We tolerate it because it's common, it's trivial. We tolerate it morning, noon, and night. Well, not anymore. I'm setting the example. What I've done is going to be puzzled over and studied and followed... ''forever.'' |
| 185 | -->-- ''Film/Se7en'' |
| 186 | |
| 187 | ->'''Jennings''': Dr. Meadows, just for the record, I don't agree with any of this. Those people's lives are at stake.\ |
| 188 | '''Dr. Christopher Meddows''': Don't you think I know that? This isn't one of you text-book exercises, Mr. Jennings. This is an experiment in biological warfare, or hadn't you noticed? That organism is potentially the greatest breakthrough in weapons research since man split the atom. What we do here will affect the balance of world power! Of course there are lives at stake -- whole nations, in fact. And that's far more important than a handful of people in this small town. And that is my cross to bear, Mr. Jennings. Now carry out your orders. |
| 189 | -->-- ''Film/TheBlob1988'' |
| 190 | |
| 191 | ->'''Optimus Prime''': Why, Sentinel, why?\ |
| 192 | '''Sentinel Prime''': For Cybertron! For our home! What war destroyed, we can rebuild - but only if we join with the Decepticons!\ |
| 193 | '''Optimus Prime''': No, it's not the only way. This is our home, we must defend the humans.\ |
| 194 | '''Sentinel''': So lost you are, Optimus. On Cybertron, we were gods, and here they call us machines! Let the humans serve us or perish! |
| 195 | -->-- ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon'' |
| 196 | |
| 197 | ->You see, it takes patience to make a man. The patience to watch and wait, to protect all of us, quietly, for God and country, without any recognition at all! There are no good aliens or bad aliens, Yeager! It's just '''us''' and '''them'''. And you chose them. |
| 198 | -->-- '''Harold Attinger''', ''Film/TransformersAgeOfExtinction'' |
| 199 | |
| 200 | ->'''Dr. Raymond Cocteau''': I hadn't counted on this, but I must say, you worked out beautifully. People are terrified of you.\ |
| 201 | '''Simon Phoenix''': What's new? People have always been terrified of me.\ |
| 202 | '''Cocteau''': Yes, but this time, they're really intimidated. Now I'll have carte blanche to create the perfect society. My society. San Angeles will be a beacon of order with the purity of an ant colony. And the beauty of a flawless pearl. |
| 203 | -->-- ''Film/DemolitionMan'' |
| 204 | |
| 205 | ->''"The world is dead. It raped itself. But I'll purify it with blood! No one is innocent! But only we, the Templars, are the ministers of revenge!"'' |
| 206 | -->-- '''One''', ''Film/WarriorsOfTheWasteland'' |
| 207 | |
| 208 | ->''"We are the Templars. The warriors of vengeance. We are the Templars. The high priests of death. We have been chosen to make others pay for the crime of being alive. We guarantee that all humanity, accomplices and heirs of the nuclear holocaust, will be wiped out once and for all. [[OmnicidalManiac That the seed of Man will be canceled forever from the face of the earth!]]"'' |
| 209 | -->-- '''One''', ''Film/WarriorsOfTheWasteland'' |
| 210 | |
| 211 | ->''"I cherish peace with all my heart. I don't care how many men, women, and children I have to kill to get it."'' |
| 212 | -->-- '''Peacemaker''', ''Film/TheSuicideSquad'' |
| 213 | |
| 214 | ->'''Vanessa Lutz''': Why are you killing all them girls, Bob?\ |
| 215 | '''Bob Wolverton''': 'Cause I have absolutely reached my fucking limit with people like you, Vanessa.\ |
| 216 | '''Vanessa''': What kinda people am I supposed to be?\ |
| 217 | '''Bob''': The alcoholics, the drug addicts, the fathers who fuck their daughters, the drug addicted motherfucking whores with their bastard fucking offspring.\ |
| 218 | '''Vanessa''': Hey, I ain't no trick baby!\ |
| 219 | '''Bob''': We call them garbage people, and I assure you, you are one of them. |
| 220 | -->--''Film/{{Freeway}}'' |
| 221 | |
| 222 | ->'''Obi-Wan Kenobi:''' [[TheCorrupter You have allowed this dark lord to twist your mind]], until now, [[BecameTheirOwnAntithesis until now you've become the very thing you swore to destroy]]. |
| 223 | ->'''Anakin Skywalker:''' Don't lecture me, Obi-Wan! I see through the lies of the Jedi. I do not fear the Dark Side as you do. I have brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to my new Empire. |
| 224 | ->'''Obi-Wan:''' "''Your'' new Empire"? |
| 225 | ->'''Anakin:''' [[DontMakeMeDestroyYou Don't make me kill you]]. |
| 226 | ->'''Obi-Wan:''' Anakin, my allegiance is to the Republic, ''to democracy''! |
| 227 | ->'''Anakin:''' [[WithUsOrAgainstUs If you're not with me, then you're my enemy]]. |
| 228 | ->'''Obi-Wan:''' Only a Sith deals in absolutes. I will do what I must. |
| 229 | ->(''Obi-Wan draws his lightsaber'') |
| 230 | ->'''Anakin:''' You will try... |
| 231 | ->(''Anakin draws his lightsaber and the two start dueling'') |
| 232 | -->-- ''Franchise/StarWars'': Episode III: ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' |
| 233 | [[/folder]] |
| 234 | |
| 235 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 236 | ->''"There's never been a true war that wasn't fought between two sets of people who were certain they were in the right. The really dangerous people believe they are doing whatever they are doing solely and only because it is without question the right thing to do. And that is what makes them dangerous."'' |
| 237 | -->-- '''Mr. Wednesday''', ''Literature/AmericanGods'' |
| 238 | |
| 239 | ->''"We are not concerned with motives, with the higher ethics. We are concerned only with cutting down crime, and with relieving the ghastly congestion in our prisons. He will be your true Christian, ready to turn the other cheek, ready to be crucified rather than crucify. Sick to the very heart at the thought even of killing a fly. Reclamation, joy before the angels of God! The point is that it works!"'' |
| 240 | -->-- '''Frederick, Minister of the Interior''', justifying the use of [[MindRape the Ludovico Treatment]], ''Literature/AClockworkOrange'' |
| 241 | |
| 242 | ->''"It didn't occur to me until later that there's another truth, very simple: greed in a good cause is still greed."'' |
| 243 | -->-- ''Literature/WolvesOfTheCalla'' |
| 244 | |
| 245 | ->''"But... I... I... ''I'm'' the good one. I can't lose. I'm the fairy godmother. You're the wicked witch."'' |
| 246 | -->-- '''Lilith de Tempscire''', ''Literature/WitchesAbroad'', to Granny Weatherwax |
| 247 | |
| 248 | ->...it dawned on [Vimes] that while Ankh in the past had had its share of evil rulers, and simply bad rulers, it had never yet come under the heel of a good ruler. That might be the most terrifying prospect of all. |
| 249 | -->-- ''Literature/MenAtArms'' |
| 250 | |
| 251 | ->''"It's true that some of the most terrible things in the world are done by people who think, genuinely think, that they're doing it for the best, especially if there is some god involved."'' |
| 252 | -->-- '''Miss Felicity Beedle''', ''Literature/{{Snuff}}'' |
| 253 | |
| 254 | ->''"For the Greater Good."'' |
| 255 | -->-- '''Gellert Grindelwald''', ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'' |
| 256 | |
| 257 | ->'''Jorus C'baoth''': A Jedi does not yield to pride. Nor does he yield to empty threats. He follows only the dictates of his own destiny.\ |
| 258 | '''Commander Thrawn''': Then choose your destiny. I'm told the role of the Jedi is to serve and defend.\ |
| 259 | '''Jorus C'baoth''': You were told wrongly. The role of the Jedi is to lead and guide, and to destroy all threats. |
| 260 | -->-- ''Literature/OutboundFlight'' |
| 261 | |
| 262 | ->''"All said and done, my friends, it will be an ill day for [[OurDemonsAreDifferent us]] if what most humans mean by "religion" ever vanishes from the Earth. It can still send us the [[EvilTastesGood truly delicious sins]]. The fine flower of unholiness can grow only in the close neighborhood of the Holy. Nowhere do we tempt so successfully as on the very steps of the altar."'' |
| 263 | -->-- '''Screwtape''', ''[[Literature/TheScrewtapeLetters Screwtape Proposes a Toast]]'' |
| 264 | |
| 265 | ->''"[Galad] will always do what is right, no matter who it hurts."'' |
| 266 | -->-- '''Min''', ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' |
| 267 | |
| 268 | ->''"Since the day I got my powers, I’ve seen myself as a soldier in a greater war. [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity Good against evil, order against chaos]], mankind against the likes of the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Slaughterhouse Nine and the Endbringers]]. It’s a war on every front. [[IDidWhatIHadToDo And sometimes that’s called for ugly choices]]."'' |
| 269 | -->-- '''Defiant''', ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' |
| 270 | |
| 271 | ->''"[[CardCarryingVillain People who claim that they're evil]] are usually no worse than the rest of us. It's people who claim that they're good, or any way better than the rest of us, that you have to be wary of."'' |
| 272 | -->-- '''Boq''', ''Literature/{{Wicked}}''. |
| 273 | |
| 274 | ->''"If each man picks an evil and attacks it relentlessly, how long can evil persist?"\ |
| 275 | That was an easy one. Forever. More evil gets done in the name of righteousness than any other way. Few villains think they are villains.'' |
| 276 | -->-- ''[[Literature/TheBlackCompany Dreams of Steel]]'' |
| 277 | |
| 278 | ->''The most hardened and unrepentant killer still knows that he is a 'criminal'; that is, he realizes in his conscience that he has not acted rightly, even though he is unrepentant. And they were all like that; but those who refuse even to consider themselves criminals and they think they are in the right and -- that they have even acted well, is where the terrible difference lies.'' |
| 279 | -->-- '''Creator/FyodorDostoevsky''', ''Literature/TheIdiot'' |
| 280 | |
| 281 | ->''"[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Gandalf]] as Ring-Lord would have been [[FromBadToWorse far worse than Sauron]]. He would have remained 'righteous', but self-righteous. [[WellIntentionedExtremist He would have continued to rule and order things for 'good', and the benefit of his subjects according to his wisdom] (which was and would have remained great)]]. ''[...]'' Gandalf [[DontShootTheMessage would have made good detestable and seem evil]]."'' |
| 282 | -->--'''Creator/JRRTolkien''' |
| 283 | |
| 284 | ->''"No one is the bad guy in their own story. You have to remember that. The Covenant did a lot of good in their time, when humanity was in a more precarious position. Now, well. We walked away for legitimate reasons. Even the best orders, given with the best of intentions, can eventually turn sour when they’re followed without thought."'' |
| 285 | -->--'''Enid Healy''', ''Literature/InCryptid'': "The Lay of the Land" |
| 286 | |
| 287 | -> ''"He was a fanatic in the cause of good, and once he had recognized a center of evil, he trampled over every obstacle that would hinder him from burning it clean."'' |
| 288 | -->-- '''Lord Gaethaa, aka the Crusader''' ''[[Literature/KaneSeries The Cold Light]]'' |
| 289 | |
| 290 | [[/folder]] |
| 291 | |
| 292 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 293 | ->''"This whole city... This Sodom will be cleansed all at once."'' |
| 294 | -->-- '''Agent Nelson Van Alden''', ''Series/BoardwalkEmpire'' |
| 295 | |
| 296 | ->''"When you know your cause is righteous, you don't stop to count your losses."'' |
| 297 | -->-- '''Marc Gunn''', ''{{Series/Firefly}}'', "Freedom Costs" |
| 298 | |
| 299 | ->''"Nothing worse than a monster who thinks [[TautologicalTemplar he's right with God]]."'' |
| 300 | -->-- '''Captain Malcolm Reynolds''' on [[FeudalOverlord Rance Burgess]], ''{{Series/Firefly}}'', "Heart of Gold" |
| 301 | |
| 302 | ->''"I wish to create a perfect world, without a speck of filth."'' |
| 303 | -->-- '''Keisuke Nago''', ''[[Series/KamenRiderKiva Kamen Rider IXA]]'' |
| 304 | |
| 305 | ->''"How cruel can people become for the sake of justice?"'' |
| 306 | -->-- '''Eiji Hino''', ''Series/KamenRiderOOO'' |
| 307 | |
| 308 | ->''"Zeinrise! [[OrderIsNotGood Justice!]] [[JudgeJuryAndExecutioner Judgment!]] [[BewareTheSuperman Seigi!]] [[TheComputerIsYourFriend Zein!]] [[DarkMessiah Salvation of humankind.]]"'' |
| 309 | -->-- '''Kamen Rider Zein's''' transformation jingle, ''Series/KamenRiderOutsiders'' |
| 310 | |
| 311 | ->''"You're [[BewareTheSuperman using the powers of other Kamen Riders to oppress humanity]]... [[ThisIsUnforgivable that arrogance is unforgivable!]]"'' |
| 312 | -->--'''[[Series/KamenRiderDrive Brain]]''' to the {{alternate|Self}} '''Yuto Sakurai/Kamen Rider Zein''', ''Series/KamenRiderOutsiders'', "[[Recap/KamenRiderOutsidersEp4CrazyTimeAndZeinsIdentity Crazy Time and Zein's Identity]]" |
| 313 | |
| 314 | ->'''Galadriel:''' ''Your kind was a mistake. Made in mockery. And even if it takes me all of this Age, I vow to ''eradicate'' every last one of you. But you shall be kept alive, so that one day, before I drive my dagger into your poised heart, I will whisper in your piked ear that all your offspring are dead and the scourge of your kind ends with you.''\ |
| 315 | '''Adar:''' ''It would seem I'm not the only Elf alive who has been transformed by darkness. [[MirrorCharacter Perhaps your search for Morgoth's successor should have ended in your own mirror]].'' |
| 316 | -->-- ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'' |
| 317 | |
| 318 | ->''"What I want is galactic peace, but I don't believe that comes without vigilance... and a moral cost."'' |
| 319 | -->-- '''Leland''', ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'', "Will You Take My Hand?" bonus scene |
| 320 | |
| 321 | ->''"Captain, may I tell you how I've spent the last four years? From planet to starbase to planet. I have no home. I live on starships and shuttlecraft. I haven't seen a family member in years. I have no friends. But I have a purpose. My father taught me from the time I was a little girl still clutching a blanket that the United Federation of Planets is the most remarkable institution ever conceived. And it is my cause to make sure that this extraordinary union be preserved."'' |
| 322 | -->-- '''Admiral Norah Satie''', ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E21TheDrumhead The Drumhead]]" |
| 323 | |
| 324 | ->'''Roy Richardson:''' "I couldn't chance you crawling out of your bottle someday to claim what I've earned."\ |
| 325 | '''Paul Thomas:''' "Earned? For killing defenseless old men in an alley?! Men that never hurt anyone?! That just wanted to be alone?!"\ |
| 326 | '''Richardson:''' "Some people might say I did the city a favor!" |
| 327 | -->--''Series/TheStreetsOfSanFrancisco'' |
| 328 | [[/folder]] |
| 329 | |
| 330 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 331 | ->''With seven deadly stains, adhere the blame to crystal conscience\ |
| 332 | The result's a deadbeat trying to make a dollar off a bomb threat!'' |
| 333 | -->-- '''Music/AesopRock''', "Night Light" |
| 334 | |
| 335 | ->''Let's pray that heaven is on our side\ |
| 336 | Through violence and horror shall honor arise\ |
| 337 | So let's pray, and blessed shall be our leader\ |
| 338 | We follow the noble and bright'' |
| 339 | -->-- '''Music/BlindGuardian''', "Battlefield" |
| 340 | |
| 341 | ->''Stand up and fight, for you know we are right\ |
| 342 | We must strike at the lies that have spread like disease through our minds!\ |
| 343 | Soon we'll have power, every soldier will rest\ |
| 344 | And we'll spread out our kindness to all who our love now deserve!\ |
| 345 | Some of you are going to die\ |
| 346 | Martyrs, of course, to the freedom that I shall provide!'' |
| 347 | -->-- '''Music/{{Genesis|Band}}''', "The Knife" |
| 348 | |
| 349 | ->''"I fight where God tells me, I never ask why\ |
| 350 | I've bloodied the Devil with steel from on high\ |
| 351 | I kill without consequence, heed no man's law\ |
| 352 | I sift out the righteous like grain from the straw\ |
| 353 | I am judgment and heaven is nigh"'' |
| 354 | -->--'''Music/HeatherDale''', "Joan" |
| 355 | |
| 356 | ->''And I wear [black] for the thousands that have died, believing that the Lord was on their side.'' |
| 357 | -->-- '''Music/JohnnyCash''', "Man In Black" |
| 358 | |
| 359 | ->''I reassemble broken souls and wasted lives\ |
| 360 | I raise my head and see my father through the blood-red skies\ |
| 361 | And in my dreams, I know He holds my sanctuary\ |
| 362 | So all you witches bow to the auto-da-fé\ |
| 363 | Just close your eyes and listen to my holy say\ |
| 364 | You disbelievers, little do you know\ |
| 365 | Little do you know, little do you know'' |
| 366 | -->-- '''Music/{{Kamelot}}''', "The Inquisitor" |
| 367 | |
| 368 | ->''God thinks all people like you are hateful\ |
| 369 | God thinks all people like you are an embarrassment to creation\ |
| 370 | Self-righteous, judgmental, first to throw a stone\ |
| 371 | And using His name for your own protection'' |
| 372 | -->-- '''Music/{{Voltaire}}''', "God Thinks" |
| 373 | [[/folder]] |
| 374 | |
| 375 | [[folder:Mythology and Religion]] |
| 376 | ->''Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?\ |
| 377 | There is more hope for a fool than for him.'' |
| 378 | -->-- ''Literature/TheBible'', [[Literature/BookOfProverbs Proverbs 26:12]] |
| 379 | |
| 380 | ->''The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!'' |
| 381 | -->-- ''Literature/TheBible'', Matthew 6:22-23 |
| 382 | [[/folder]] |
| 383 | |
| 384 | [[folder:Poetry]] |
| 385 | ->''[[DealWithTheDevil Is my soul that low a price]],\ |
| 386 | Or is vigilantism repulsive?\ |
| 387 | The first for all [[BlatantLies sane]] humans.\ |
| 388 | The latter for all those I'll slaughter.'' |
| 389 | -->-- '''Carlos Albuquerque''', [[http://johnfaa.deviantart.com/art/I-wanna-be-a-hero-when-I-grow-up-291721139?q=gallery%3Ajohnfaa&qo=0 "I wanna be a hero when I grow up"]] |
| 390 | [[/folder]] |
| 391 | |
| 392 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 393 | ->''"No rest. No mercy. No matter what."'' |
| 394 | -->-- '''Akroma, Angel of Wrath''', ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' |
| 395 | |
| 396 | ->''"Wrath is no vice when inflicted upon the deserving."'' |
| 397 | -->-- '''Akroma, Angel of Wrath''', ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' |
| 398 | |
| 399 | ->[[TheSocialDarwinist The weak will always be led by the strong]]. Where the strong see purpose and act, the weak follow; where the strong cry out against fate, the weak bow their heads and succumb. There are many who are weak; and many are their temptations. Despise the weak, for they shall flock to the call of the Daemon and the Renegade. Pity them not and scorn their cries of innocence -- it is better that one hundred innocents fall before the wrath of the Emperor than one kneels before the Daemon. |
| 400 | -->-- ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 -- The First Book of Indoctrinations'' |
| 401 | |
| 402 | ->''"We are at War with forces too terrible to comprehend. We cannot afford mercy for any of its victims too weak to take the correct course. Mercy destroys us; it weakens us and saps our resolve. Put aside all such thoughts. They are not worthy of Inquisitors in the service of Our Emperor. Praise His name for in our resolve we only reflect his purpose of will."'' |
| 403 | -->-- '''Inquisitor Octus Enoch''', ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' |
| 404 | |
| 405 | ->''"Damnation starts with little steps, by arrogantly thinking that you are wiser than our great forebears, by tinkering with truth, by compromising, by departing from the straight and narrow path of the Emperor's light."'' |
| 406 | -->-- '''Marneus Calgar''', Chapter Master of the Ultramarines, ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' |
| 407 | |
| 408 | ->''"A moment of laxity spawns a lifetime of heresy. Never forgive, never forget."'' |
| 409 | -->-- '''Credo Dark Angels''', ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' |
| 410 | |
| 411 | ->''"The question is not how to separate the innocent citizens of the Empire from the [[ReligionOfEvil worshippers of Chaos]]. The question is how many I can burn."'' |
| 412 | -->-- '''Witch Hunter Adolphus Mann,''' ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}: Realm Of Chaos Armies Book'' |
| 413 | |
| 414 | ->''"How many Mutants have I [[BurnTheWitch put to the torch]] because of some cult’s foul work? Was the [[WouldHurtAChild little red-haired girl that I burned last week]] the victim of Human evil as well as divine? Can I falter when the blood of hundreds stains my hands? No. I am committed. And woe be the man or woman I find [[ReligionOfEvil devoted to the Dark Gods]]. I shall never sway, never give up. With torch and sword I do my duty, and it is one I shall never shirk."'' |
| 415 | -->-- '''Klaus Vanderhosen, Witch Hunter,''' ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyRoleplay: Tome Of Corruption'' |
| 416 | |
| 417 | ->Now the Inquisitors I had hitherto known had been first and foremost believers, their evil the product of their absolute, certain belief in the perfect goodness and rightness of what they did. A fanatic of any kind (Papist killers; Protestant rebels; disciples of “Reason” who in truth bow only to Madame Guillotine — [[MirroringFactions they’re all the same in my experience]]) is a true danger to all. Give me a Cato any day; a dyed-in-the-wool hypocrite at least can be accommodated, and [[EveryManHasHisPrice may even have a price]]. |
| 418 | -->--''TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil: Slasher'' |
| 419 | |
| 420 | [[/folder]] |
| 421 | |
| 422 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 423 | ->''"I must be cruel only to be kind;\ |
| 424 | Thus bad begins, and worse remains behind."'' |
| 425 | -->-- '''{{Theatre/Hamlet}}''' |
| 426 | |
| 427 | ->''"There, out in the darkness,\ |
| 428 | A fugitive running,\ |
| 429 | Fallen from God,\ |
| 430 | Fallen from grace.\ |
| 431 | God, be my witness,\ |
| 432 | I never shall yield\ |
| 433 | Till we come face to face;\ |
| 434 | Till we come face to face.\ |
| 435 | He knows his way in the dark,\ |
| 436 | But mine is the way of the Lord,\ |
| 437 | Those who follow the path of the righteous\ |
| 438 | Shall have their reward.\ |
| 439 | And if they fall, as Lucifer fell--\ |
| 440 | The flames! The sword!\ |
| 441 | Stars... In your multitudes,\ |
| 442 | Scarce to be counted,\ |
| 443 | Filling the darkness,\ |
| 444 | With order and light.\ |
| 445 | You are the sentinels,\ |
| 446 | Silent and sure,\ |
| 447 | Keeping watch in the night,\ |
| 448 | Keeping watch in the night.\ |
| 449 | You know your place in the sky,\ |
| 450 | You know your course and your aim,\ |
| 451 | And each in your season returns and returns,\ |
| 452 | And is always the same.\ |
| 453 | And if you fall, as Lucifer fell, you fall in flames--\ |
| 454 | And so it must be! For so it is written\ |
| 455 | On the doorway to Paradise,\ |
| 456 | That those who falter and those who fall\ |
| 457 | Must pay the price.\ |
| 458 | Lord, let me find him,\ |
| 459 | That I may see him,\ |
| 460 | Safe behind bars.\ |
| 461 | I will never rest till then,\ |
| 462 | This I swear, this I swear by\ |
| 463 | The stars!"'' |
| 464 | -->-- '''Inspector Javert''', ''Theatre/LesMiserables'' |
| 465 | [[/folder]] |
| 466 | |
| 467 | [[folder: Toys]] |
| 468 | ->''"Did you ever think we could do more good if we stopped worrying so much about who might get hurt in the process?"'' |
| 469 | -->--'''Toa Tuyet''', ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' |
| 470 | [[/folder]] |
| 471 | |
| 472 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 473 | ->''"The soldiers of the Golden Onslaught are fewer in number than before. After our last battle, the weak [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere tried to flee]]... but [[ResignationsNotAccepted nobody leaves]] the ''Golden Onslaught''. After I hunted the deserters down, it left only the strongest, fiercest and most loyal soldiers in my army. Each of them is willing to do anything to ensure that Good defeats Evil."'' |
| 474 | -->-- '''Maximilian Lionfang''', during one of the Frostval events in ''VideoGame/AdventureQuestWorlds'' |
| 475 | |
| 476 | ->''"This world is a machine! [[TitleDrop A Machine for Pigs]]! Fit only for the slaughtering of pigs! Whores, beggars, orphans, filthy degenerates. Pigs all. But I will purify the streets, cleanse this city, set the great industry free. I will clean the world, make it pure."'' |
| 477 | -->-- '''[[spoiler:The Machine]]''', ''VideoGame/AmnesiaAMachineForPigs'' |
| 478 | |
| 479 | ->''"You weren't a good man, [[Characters/BatmanRasAlGhul Ra's]]... but you had conviction."'' |
| 480 | -->--'''Batman''', ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'' |
| 481 | |
| 482 | ->''"Argh! This is what I don't ''get'' about [[LaResistance you bad guys]]! You ''know'' the hero is going to win, but you just don't ''die'' quick enough. Example. New Haven. City's burning, people are dying left and right, and... ''[[[EvilLaugh laughter]]]'' This guy comes at me... with a freaking ''spoon!'' ''[[[LaughingMad more laughter]]]'' So, I take the spoon and [[EyeScream scoop out his stupid little eyeballs]]! ''[[[EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor continues laughing]]]'' [[HarmfulToMinors And his kids are all "WAAAAAH!"]] and he's running around, bumping into things! ''[[[OverlyLongGag lengthy laughter]]]'' Maybe you just to have been there. Anyway, [[SpoofAesop the moral is: You're a total bitch]]."'' |
| 483 | -->-- '''Handsome Jack''', ''VideoGame/Borderlands2''. |
| 484 | |
| 485 | ->''"I don't enjoy killing, but when done righteously, it's just a chore, like any other. Practiced hands make for short work, and the Good Lord knows there's much to be done here."'' |
| 486 | -->-- '''Joshua Graham''', ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' |
| 487 | |
| 488 | ->'''Dail''': You will face justice! Surrender!\ |
| 489 | '''Lilac''': Not a chance!\ |
| 490 | '''Dail''': So, you have chosen death? How pathetic! |
| 491 | -->-- ''VideoGame/FreedomPlanet'' |
| 492 | |
| 493 | ->'''Regime {{ComicBook/Superman}}:''' I saved this world!\ |
| 494 | '''Main Universe Superman:''' Now I'll save it from ''you!'' |
| 495 | -->-- ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'' |
| 496 | |
| 497 | ->''"I know what you're thinking. AD-9 will save countless people. Meaning there's no way you're not doing the right thing. Well, I'm sorry to break it to you [[spoiler:Shono]]. But that's just not true. You know, when someone thinks they're in the right...that's when the real cruelty in people starts to come out.''" |
| 498 | -->-- '''Takayuki Yagami''' to [[spoiler:'''Yoji Shono''']], ''VideoGame/{{Judgment}}'' |
| 499 | |
| 500 | ->''"For all the butchery of Moebius's crusade, this massacre was somehow more chilling. The killing fields of the Sarafan betrayed a kind of orderly ruthlessness, the cold-blooded righteousness of the true believer."'' |
| 501 | -->-- '''Raziel''', ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKainSoulReaver2'' |
| 502 | |
| 503 | ->''"Our great mission is to win this war against [[TheHeartless the Soulless Ones]]! Whatever the cost -- ''whatever it takes'' -- we ''must'' win. Our one path to salvation is the [[PsychoSerum Elixir]], forbidden by others in their ignorance... but that is a tragedy that ''must not be allowed!'' The Elixir offers strength, and the more we drink, [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity the stronger we become]]. Their strength shall become our strength."'' |
| 504 | -->-- '''[[spoiler:[[FallenHero Fain]]]]''', ''{{VideoGame/Lusternia}}'' |
| 505 | |
| 506 | ->''"Salvation comes with a cost. Judge us not by our methods, but what we seek to accomplish."'' |
| 507 | -->-- '''The Illusive Man''', ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' |
| 508 | |
| 509 | ->''"Through fire, justice is served!"'' |
| 510 | -->-- '''Lunar''', ''VideoGame/MischiefMakers'' |
| 511 | |
| 512 | ->''"What [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure PDX]] didn't realize is that to be a good ruler, you have to be ruthless. You simply can't tolerate failure."'' |
| 513 | -->-- '''[[KarmaMeter Evil]] Trestkon''', ''VideoGame/TheNamelessMod''. |
| 514 | |
| 515 | ->''"Perfection through Punishment."'' |
| 516 | -->-- '''Vhailor''', ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' |
| 517 | |
| 518 | ->'''Vhailor''': When the injustice is great enough, justice will lend me the strength needed to correct it. None may stand against it. It will shatter every barrier, sunder any shield, tear through any enchantment, and lend its servant the power to pass sentence. Know this: There is nothing on all the Planes that can stay the hand of justice when it is brought against them. It may unmake armies. It may sunder the thrones of gods. Know that for all who betray justice, I am their fate. And fate carries an executioner's axe.\ |
| 519 | '''The Nameless One''': I see.\ |
| 520 | '''Vhailor''': No, you do ''not'' see. Pray that you will ''never'' see. |
| 521 | -->-- ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' |
| 522 | |
| 523 | ->''"Justice is not blind... for I am Her eyes!"'' |
| 524 | -->-- '''Vhailor''' again, ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' |
| 525 | |
| 526 | ->'''Al Mualim''': Do you know how it is you can tell a man is mad? |
| 527 | ->'''Altaïr''': They speak to air, claw themselves. |
| 528 | ->'''Al Mualim''': No. They are the ones who speak and act, as if there is nothing wrong. |
| 529 | ->'''Altaïr''': I don't understand. |
| 530 | ->'''Al Mualim''': Few are the men who would admit to evil. Always rationalized, always explained. |
| 531 | -->-- ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI'' |
| 532 | |
| 533 | ->''Everyone is guilty of something. Everyone deserves to be punished. But isn't there crime in punishment?'' |
| 534 | -->-- ''VideoGame/{{Sonny}} 2'', combined descriptions for the Warden's armor |
| 535 | |
| 536 | ->''"Madness can take many forms, but none so contemptible as man's belief in a mythology of his own making.\ |
| 537 | A world view buttressed by dogmatic desperation invariably leads to single-minded fanaticism, and a need to do terrible things in the name of righteousness.\ |
| 538 | This man is an animal -- [[AxCrazy rabid]], [[HeWhoFightsMonsters destructive]], and [[TheBerserker incapable of nuanced understanding]].\ |
| 539 | '''[[ShootTheDog He. Must. Be. Put. Down.]]'''"'' |
| 540 | -->-- '''The Narrator''' on '''[[VampireHunter The Fanatic]]''', ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'' |
| 541 | |
| 542 | ->''"Are we worth saving if we will not save ourselves? There will be no salvation ''[[OmnicidalManiac until the fire floods the cities and covers the plains]]!'' Once this world has been born again, [[MultiversalConqueror a million others wait their turn]]."'' |
| 543 | -->-- '''[[spoiler:Elizabeth Comstock]]''', ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'' |
| 544 | |
| 545 | ->''"[[AncientConspiracy The Templars]], they'll burn down a city to destroy a single demon. What the fuck is up with that?"'' |
| 546 | -->-- '''Che Garcia Hansson''', ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'' |
| 547 | |
| 548 | ->''"[[{{Catchphrase}} Ask yourself]], [[PlayerCharacter Delta]]: you who have suffered beyond measure at the hands of men like [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Ryan]]... what is [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans the cost of paradise]]? To end pain, to end '''''sin''''', what must we pay? ''[[DaddysGirl Eleanor]]'' [[AbusiveParents is my answer]]."'' |
| 549 | -->-- '''Sofia Lamb,''' ''VideoGame/Bioshock2'' |
| 550 | |
| 551 | ->'''Shadow [[spoiler:Konoe]]''': Fight all you want, the most you can do is change the hearts of a scant few. Don't you see that my way is far more efficient?\ |
| 552 | '''Makoto''': So everything will be fine as long as you're the one making all the decisions? Who do you think you are, some kind of god?\ |
| 553 | '''Ryuji''': You're just forcin' your ideas on everyone else!\ |
| 554 | '''Shadow [[spoiler:Konoe]]''': What foolish logic. So when you change people's hearts, it's right, but when someone else does it, it's wrong? I've built an entire infrastructure for changing hearts. What was impossible for you, I have made a reality. As a hero, I will reign over the whole world with infallible justice.\ |
| 555 | '''Zenkichi''': You used [[spoiler:Akane]] for this ridiculous plan of yours? She was just an innocent girl. Everyone you'd made a Monarch had some form of trauma, but you treated them like tools, even toyed with their lives. ''You don't know the first thing about justice!'' |
| 556 | -->-- ''VideoGame/Persona5Strikers'' |
| 557 | |
| 558 | ->'''Shadow [[spoiler:Konoe]]''': Surrender, Phantom Thieves. Submit to my justice or die! I am the hero in this story. I will create a world without evil!\ |
| 559 | '''Ann''': You'll be creating one without hopes or dreams, too! It's not right! |
| 560 | -->-- ''VideoGame/Persona5Strikers'' |
| 561 | [[/folder]] |
| 562 | |
| 563 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 564 | ->'''General Ironwood''': I will sacrifice ''whatever it takes'' to stop [[BigBad her]].\ |
| 565 | '''Arthur Watts''': Oh, I hope you do, James. I hope you do. |
| 566 | -->-- ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'', "Gravity" |
| 567 | [[/folder]] |
| 568 | |
| 569 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 570 | ->''Because, damnit, [[VillainHasAPoint he's actually right about some of the things he's saying]]. It really would be nice if everyone had a puppy, and people helped each other get the leaves out of their gutters, and anyone who parked in a disabled spot without a permit was summarily made to defend a goal for 20 minutes against a wheelchair rugby team. It's just the methods that are wrong: You can't give everyone a puppy by detonating the entire Pacific Ring of Fire in an attempt to drain the ocean and uncover the lost city of Atlantis so you can retrieve their lost knowledge and become ruler of the world. (It's not in the Pacific, for starters.)'' |
| 571 | -->-- TheRant for ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids'' #329 |
| 572 | |
| 573 | ->''"You see, evil is like a seed. And although you did not choose to interact with these lower beasts, by socializing with them, that seed has been placed within you. As a result, you may one day grow to empathize with their evil ways. I cannot allow that risk to exist. All evil, even potential evil, must be eradicated."'' |
| 574 | -->-- '''Kore''', Dwarven Paladin, to a kidnapped orphan that he is about to kill, ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}'' |
| 575 | |
| 576 | ->''"as the prince a hope i am uniquely qualified to recognize [[VerbalTic wwhen]] all hope is lost"'' |
| 577 | -->-- '''Eridan Ampora''', ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' |
| 578 | |
| 579 | ->''"[[LetMeGetThisStraight Let me see if I understand this]], you married the daughter of your lord's enemy in what you would deem was a heathen ceremony, swore loyalty to him, [[TheOathbreaker betrayed him]] and [[TheBluebeard committed uxoricide]], cursed a people so mightily that unknown amounts of death and misery were caused. And you did all of this in the name of God?"'' |
| 580 | -->-- '''Oswald''', ''Webcomic/TheOswaldChronicles'' |
| 581 | |
| 582 | ->''"Wealth? Power? Those are motivations of [[EvilIsPetty petty criminals]]. [[CartoonishSupervillainy The stuff of Saturday morning cartoons]]. If you want to see true evil, you need only to watch a man doing what he believes is right."'' |
| 583 | -->-- '''[[http://www.poisonedminds.com/d/20120110.html Unknown]]''', ''Webcomic/{{SSDD}}'' |
| 584 | |
| 585 | ->''What right does '''the world itself''' have, to create such a creature that feeds on the blood of motherless boys and then whines about having its skull split? Give me your answer. '''All''' will be held to account, even the '''very world'''. If I find it wanting -- '''IT TOO SHALL BURN.'''"'' |
| 586 | -->-- '''Yaun, Lion of the Dead Men''', ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons'' |
| 587 | [[/folder]] |
| 588 | |
| 589 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 590 | ->''"I refuse to allow you to harm my subjects again, even if I have to blow you up a thousand times!"'' |
| 591 | -->-- '''Princess Cadence''', ''Blog/AskKingSombra'' |
| 592 | |
| 593 | ->''Being in Babylon for five decades was a cultural trauma for the people. While they were not slaves, Babylon was not where they wanted to be. They longed to be back in the land that they believed God gave them, offering sacrifices at the temple, where they believed God dwelt.\ |
| 594 | While they were in Babylon, they asked themselves, “Why did God let this happen?” The prophets responded that they were unfaithful, had chased idols, and they had played games with the covenant. The priests had a different answer. The priests said that they were exiled in Babylon because we didn’t follow the law enough, and didn’t worship in the temple enough.\ |
| 595 | The people listened to the priests, not the prophets.'' |
| 596 | -->-- A commentary on ''Literature/TheBible'', by the '''[[https://www.farmingtonlutheran.com/readthebibleweeklysessions/2019/7/2/ezra-and-nehemiah Farmington Lutheran Church]]''' |
| 597 | [[/folder]] |
| 598 | |
| 599 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 600 | ->'''General Wade Eiling:''' Superman and your Justice League are a threat to a safe and stable world.\ |
| 601 | '''[[BadassBystander Old Lady]]:''' Drop the act. You think killing Superman would make the world safe? Or killing this boy? Or us? [[ArmorPiercingQuestion Tell me, how many of us do you have to kill to keep us safe]]? |
| 602 | -->-- ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueUnlimitedS3E7PatriotAct Patriot Act]]" |
| 603 | |
| 604 | ->''"My followers and I will not rest until the entire city has achieved equality. And once that goal is achieved, we will equalize the rest of the world. ''The revolution has begun!''"'' |
| 605 | -->-- '''Amon''', ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' |
| 606 | |
| 607 | ->'''Jacob Hopkins:''' I won't let you take away my discovery! I'm the good guy here!\ |
| 608 | '''Camila Noceda:''' Yeah. A lot of bad guys say that. |
| 609 | -->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'', "[[Recap/TheOwlHouseS2E10YesterdaysLie Yesterday's Lie]]" |
| 610 | |
| 611 | ->'''Belos:''' I'll do anything to save humanity from evil.\ |
| 612 | '''Luz:''' No. You're evil.\ |
| 613 | '''Belos:''' Can't reason with crazy. |
| 614 | -->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'', "[[Recap/TheOwlHouseS2E16HollowMind Hollow Mind]]" |
| 615 | |
| 616 | ->''"You should've listened to me, Rose! I would've taken the war to Homeworld and shattered the Diamonds. I would've liberated... '''''EVERYONE!'''''"'' |
| 617 | -->-- '''Bismuth''', ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' |
| 618 | |
| 619 | ->'''Splinter:''' What will you do with them?\ |
| 620 | '''Agent Bishop:''' Mainstream them into the population of course. We have aliens out there right now, living amongst us. My Slayers will ferret them all out.\ |
| 621 | '''Splinter:''' What if innocent people get ferreted out instead? What if errors are made?\ |
| 622 | '''Agent Bishop:''' Not my concern. I'm a bigger picture kind of guy. Besides, my calculations suggest that it would be beneficial if fifty-seven percent of the Earth's population simply disappeared. |
| 623 | -->-- ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'', "[[Recap/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003S3E24BishopsGambit Bishop's Gambit]]" |
| 624 | |
| 625 | ->''"I am the natural order of things. I will bring peace. It is my purpose. You lack the will to stop me."'' |
| 626 | -->-- '''Infinity Ultron''', ''WesternAnimation/WhatIf2021'' |
| 627 | |
| 628 | [[/folder]] |
| 629 | |
| 630 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 631 | ->''"I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do to their fellows because it always coincides with their own desires."'' |
| 632 | -->-- '''Susan B. Anthony''' |
| 633 | |
| 634 | ->''"Libertarian commitment to non-interventionism was always much weaker than it appeared... In fact, many libertarians held the diametrically opposed [[Creator/AynRand Rand]][=/=]Goldwater view that the U.S. should take off the kid gloves and start ''really'' [[WorldWarIII fighting the Soviets.]] The movement away from natural rights and toward [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans consequentialism]] made libertarians more open to using government for good causes. Indeed, the very fact that Islamic fundamentalism is a lot weaker than the USSR makes it a more attractive target."'' |
| 635 | -->-- '''Bryan Caplan''', [[http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2007/11/why_did_so_many.html "Why Did So Many Libertarians Support the War?"]] |
| 636 | |
| 637 | ->''"Out of a lifetime of reading, I can recall no other book in which a tone of overriding arrogance was so implacably sustained. Its shrillness is without reprieve. Its dogmatism is without appeal... resistance to the Message cannot be tolerated because disagreement can never be merely honest, prudent, or just humanly fallible. Dissent from revelation so final (because, the author would say, so reasonable) can only be [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity willfully wicked]]."'' |
| 638 | -->-- '''Whittaker Chambers''' on ''Literature/AtlasShrugged'', [[http://www.nationalreview.com/article/213298/big-sister-watching-you-whittaker-chambers "Big Sister is Watching You"]] |
| 639 | |
| 640 | ->''Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.''\ |
| 641 | Let justice be done, though the world should perish. |
| 642 | -->-- PretentiousLatinMotto of '''Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor''' |
| 643 | |
| 644 | ->''"Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. [[{{Realpolitik}} Politics and governing demand compromise]]. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them."'' |
| 645 | -->-- '''Barry Goldwater''', US Senator from Arizona (1953-65, 1969-87), in 1994 |
| 646 | |
| 647 | ->''"I believe today that my conduct is in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator."'' |
| 648 | -->-- '''UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler''', ''Literature/MeinKampf'' |
| 649 | |
| 650 | ->''"What is objectionable, what is dangerous about [[TheFundamentalist extremists]] is not that they are extreme but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents."'' |
| 651 | -->-- '''UsefulNotes/RobertFKennedy''', United States Attorney General (1961-1964) and US Senator from New York (1964-1968) |
| 652 | |
| 653 | ->''"If one permits an infidel to continue in his role as a corrupter of the earth, the infidel's moral suffering will be all the worse. If one kills the infidel, and this stops him from perpetrating his misdeeds, his death will be a blessing to him."'' |
| 654 | -->-- '''Ruhollah Khomeini''' |
| 655 | |
| 656 | ->''"He who intends to kill the guilty sometimes faultlessly shed the blood of the innocents... In short, the end justifies the means."'' |
| 657 | -->-- '''UsefulNotes/HenryKissinger''', ''Diplomacy'' |
| 658 | |
| 659 | ->''"I am a democrat because I believe that no man or group of men is good enough to be trusted with uncontrolled power over others. [[DrunkWithPower And the higher the pretensions of such power, the more dangerous I think it both to rulers and to the subjects. Hence Theocracy is the worst of all governments.]] If we must have a tyrant, [[CorruptCorporateExecutive a robber baron]] is far better than an Inquisitor. The baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity at some point may be sated; and since he dimly knows he is doing wrong [[HeelRealization he may possibly]] [[HeelFaceTurn repent]]. But the Inquisitor who mistakes his own cruelty and lust of power and fear for the voice of Heaven will torment us infinitely more because he torments us with the approval of his own conscience and his better impulses appear to him as temptations.\ |
| 660 | And since [[TheTheocracy Theocracy]] is the worst, the nearer any government approaches to Theocracy the worse it will be. A metaphysic held by the rulers with the force of a religion, is a bad sign. [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity It forbids them, like the inquisitor, to admit any grain of truth or good in their opponents]], it abrogates the ordinary rules of morality, and it gives a seemingly high, super-personal sanction to all the very ordinary human passions by which, like other men, the rulers will frequently be actuated. In a word, it forbids wholesome doubt. A political programme can never in reality be more than probably right. We never know all the facts about the present and we can only guess the future. To attach to a party programme -- whose highest claim is to reasonable prudence -- the sort of assent which we should reserve for demonstrable theorems, is a kind of intoxication."'' |
| 661 | -->-- '''Creator/CSLewis''', a Christian, still considers direct rule of the Church as leading to [[{{Dystopia}} the worst form of totalitarianism]] |
| 662 | |
| 663 | ->''"The chief beginning of evil is goodness in excess."'' |
| 664 | -->-- '''Menander''' |
| 665 | |
| 666 | ->''"We are, in fact, a nation of evangelists; every third American devotes himself to improving and lifting up his fellow-citizens, usually by force; the messianic delusion is our national disease."'' |
| 667 | -->-- '''Creator/HLMencken''' |
| 668 | |
| 669 | ->''"Man is neither angel nor beast, and the misfortune is that he who would act the angel acts the beast."'' |
| 670 | -->-- '''Blaise Pascal''' |
| 671 | |
| 672 | ->''"[The White House] is for cutting spending. We're for reforming our tax code, for reforming entitlements. What we're not for is negotiating with people with a bomb strapped to their chest."'' |
| 673 | -->-- Senior White House adviser '''Dan Pfeiffer''', referring to the Republican Party-led government shutdown of 2013, expressing an opinion held by some about the [[VocalMinority Tea Party]] [[TheFundamentalist movement]] |
| 674 | |
| 675 | ->''"I'm looking at them from above, because God put me there."'' |
| 676 | -->-- '''UsefulNotes/AugustoPinochet''', July 1987 speech |
| 677 | |
| 678 | ->''"If I knew that there was a man coming to my house with the fixed intention of doing me good, I would run for my life."'' |
| 679 | -->-- '''Creator/HenryDavidThoreau''' |
| 680 | |
| 681 | ->''"If good guys justify the bad things they do, bad guys persuade themselves they are the good guys."'' |
| 682 | -->-- '''Carol Tavris & Elliot Aronson''', ''Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me).'' |
| 683 | |
| 684 | ->''"But thus I counsel you, my friends: Mistrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful. They are people of a low sort and stock; the hangman and the bloodhound look out of their faces. Mistrust all who talk much of their justice! Verily, their souls lack more than honey. And when they call themselves the good and the just, do not forget that they would be Pharisees, if only they had -- power!"'' |
| 685 | -->-- '''Creator/FriedrichNietzsche''', from ''Literature/AlsoSprachZarathustra''. |
| 686 | |
| 687 | ->''"And if the [[ArtifactOfDoom Ring]] weren't destroyed. It wouldn't in the long run matter whether [[BigBad Sauron]] got it himself. If he said it was [[BigGood Gandalf]], if he had the ring, would be far worse than Sauron, because [[TautologicalTemplar he would be righteous and self-righteous]], and order coerced the world to his end for good. And that was one of my father's greatest fears, coercion for 'good ends'".'' |
| 688 | -->-- '''Christopher Tolkien''', discussing [[Creator/JRRTolkien his father]]'s emphasis on the corruptive nature of power |
| 689 | [[/folder]] |
| 690 |
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