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Anime and Manga
"Is there any way to make up for the deaths of thousands of innocent people? I can't think of one... I can't make even one death be okay. All I can do is build the future... a future that saves as many other lives as possible! Even if that makes me the worst villain of all!"
— Hoichi, Cannon God Exaxxion
"I'm aware of the concept of a 'necessary evil'. I understand it's a convenient justification for your misdeeds. But society doesn't need your cheap excuses. If you were a true necessary evil, you'd be kept on a much shorter leash, with the hand of the state firmly in control."
— Makima deconstructing this trope, Chainsaw Man
"What do you do when there is an evil you cannot defeat by just means? ...In my case, I commit evil in order to destroy the greater evil!"
— Lelouch Lamperouge, Code Geass
Comic Books
"My name is Lincoln Red Crow, and I consider myself an honorable man. Spiritual. Respectful to my elders. Kind to animals. A friend of nature. A tender lover. A benevolent politician. An honorable man, sure, but that doesn't make me a nice guy. If there's one thing I ain't, it's a nice guy. I've killed too many men. Women too. Some with the wave of a finger or a spoken word. Some with my own two hands. And I'll kill a hundred more, if that's what it takes to see my vision through. To carve a better place in this world for my people. To leave this rez better off than I found it. Like it or not, that is who I am. Who I'll always be. I do what I do because someone has to. That may not make me popular in some circles, but so be it."
— Scalped
"This Security Council has lost the will to do what must be done. That is why I was chosen to be Prime... because I am the monster the people need."
— Zeta Prime, The Transformers: Robots in Disguise
Magneto: I am sorry for your son, colonel. Which is more than I ever heard for the slaughter of those I loved.
Semyanov: Your... daughter, you mean? And that absolves you of any crime?
Magneto: I never said it did. For who we are, and for what we have done, comrade colonel, we are both of us condemned. [kills Semyanov]
Rogue: Magneto, that's enough! Fury destroyed the energy towers! We won!
Magneto: So long as this creature exists, the threat remains. Your precious victory is meaningless.
Nick Fury: She's beaten, mister.
Magneto: Do you still not comprehend, Fury? She would have destroyed the world!
Fury: We only got your word for that. 'Sides, it's really not for you to judge.
Ka-Zar: You trusted the World Court for yourself, Magneto, why not grant Zaladane the same mercy?
Magneto: And perpetuate one tragic error, Ka-Zar, with a greater one? No. There can be only one master of magnetism.
Rogue: Is this the kind of man you choose to be, Magneto? Ah thought you'd learned that means matter as much as ends. You twist the one, you taint the other! Where's the nobility, where's the honor in slaying a helpless foe?
Magneto: Honor is a concept this world has cast aside.
Fury: Don't force me ta bring you in.
Magneto: Fury, you are certainly welcome to try. And suffer the consequences.
Rogue: Stop it, ah say! You just fought to help each other, doesn't that mean anything? Magneto, you hate the Russians because o' what happened t' your daughter. And Semyanov you, 'cause o' his son. The blood an' rage an' hate, they can't sustain you, don't you see, only destroy! Is that what you want?! You found a better way with the X-Men, d'you want to turn your back on it?!
Magneto: And for those efforts, Rogue, what have I accomplished? The New Mutants were left in my charge and they suffered for it because I tried to pattern myself after Charles Xavier. [kills Zaladane] I am not Charles Xavier. I was a fool to try.
Rogue: NO!
Magneto: As he was, for believing I could succeed. My people are in danger — more so than ever before — from the Hellfire Club and their accursed Shadow King, from foul creatures such as this, perhaps even from the very United Nations which colonel Fury loyally serves. And a kinder, gentler Magneto cannot save them.
Magneto flies off. Zaladane's base collapses, but Rogue, absorbing the power of a mind-controlling mutate, manages to lead out everyone in time, as Magneto notices, looking back over his shoulder.
Magneto [thinking/narrating]: Once outside, she will release them from their bondage. Would we were all so fortunate. But the chains we forge for ourselves — tempered by hardship and grief, honed by duty — are often all too tragically unbreakable. She looks after me, a last, imploring entreaty. That part of me will always yearn to accept. But my choice is made. My destiny set. And from this fateful crossroads we go our separate ways.
Semyanov: Your... daughter, you mean? And that absolves you of any crime?
Magneto: I never said it did. For who we are, and for what we have done, comrade colonel, we are both of us condemned. [kills Semyanov]
Rogue: Magneto, that's enough! Fury destroyed the energy towers! We won!
Magneto: So long as this creature exists, the threat remains. Your precious victory is meaningless.
Nick Fury: She's beaten, mister.
Magneto: Do you still not comprehend, Fury? She would have destroyed the world!
Fury: We only got your word for that. 'Sides, it's really not for you to judge.
Ka-Zar: You trusted the World Court for yourself, Magneto, why not grant Zaladane the same mercy?
Magneto: And perpetuate one tragic error, Ka-Zar, with a greater one? No. There can be only one master of magnetism.
Rogue: Is this the kind of man you choose to be, Magneto? Ah thought you'd learned that means matter as much as ends. You twist the one, you taint the other! Where's the nobility, where's the honor in slaying a helpless foe?
Magneto: Honor is a concept this world has cast aside.
Fury: Don't force me ta bring you in.
Magneto: Fury, you are certainly welcome to try. And suffer the consequences.
Rogue: Stop it, ah say! You just fought to help each other, doesn't that mean anything? Magneto, you hate the Russians because o' what happened t' your daughter. And Semyanov you, 'cause o' his son. The blood an' rage an' hate, they can't sustain you, don't you see, only destroy! Is that what you want?! You found a better way with the X-Men, d'you want to turn your back on it?!
Magneto: And for those efforts, Rogue, what have I accomplished? The New Mutants were left in my charge and they suffered for it because I tried to pattern myself after Charles Xavier. [kills Zaladane] I am not Charles Xavier. I was a fool to try.
Rogue: NO!
Magneto: As he was, for believing I could succeed. My people are in danger — more so than ever before — from the Hellfire Club and their accursed Shadow King, from foul creatures such as this, perhaps even from the very United Nations which colonel Fury loyally serves. And a kinder, gentler Magneto cannot save them.
Magneto flies off. Zaladane's base collapses, but Rogue, absorbing the power of a mind-controlling mutate, manages to lead out everyone in time, as Magneto notices, looking back over his shoulder.
Magneto [thinking/narrating]: Once outside, she will release them from their bondage. Would we were all so fortunate. But the chains we forge for ourselves — tempered by hardship and grief, honed by duty — are often all too tragically unbreakable. She looks after me, a last, imploring entreaty. That part of me will always yearn to accept. But my choice is made. My destiny set. And from this fateful crossroads we go our separate ways.
— Uncanny X-Men #275, "The Path Not Taken!", written by Chris Claremont
"Oh, yes, I am a fascist. What of it? Fascism... a word. A word whose meaning has been lost in the bleatings of the weak and the treacherous. The Romans invented fascism. A bundle of bound twigs was its symbol. One twig could be broken. A bundle would prevail. Fascism... strength in unity.
I believe in strength. I believe in unity. And if that strength, that unity of purpose, demands a uniformity of thought, word and deed, then so be it. I will not hear talk of freedom. I will not hear talk of individual liberty. They are luxuries. I do not believe in luxuries. The war put paid to luxury. The war put paid to freedom. The only freedom left to my people is the freedom to starve. The freedom to die, the freedom to live in a world of chaos. Should I allow them that freedom? I think not. I think not."
I believe in strength. I believe in unity. And if that strength, that unity of purpose, demands a uniformity of thought, word and deed, then so be it. I will not hear talk of freedom. I will not hear talk of individual liberty. They are luxuries. I do not believe in luxuries. The war put paid to luxury. The war put paid to freedom. The only freedom left to my people is the freedom to starve. The freedom to die, the freedom to live in a world of chaos. Should I allow them that freedom? I think not. I think not."
— Adam Susan, Leader of the Norsefire Party, V for Vendetta
Fan Fiction
"I must protect the galaxy at any cost. I abandoned the moral high ground many years ago. It's not as if the rachni or krogan would show mercy out of a sense of morality. I will pay for taking the low ground after I die, but there always has to be someone that is willing to make such a sacrifice for the sake of something far greater than themselves. It's part of the order of things."
— Tyrin Lieph, The Council Era
The power she had required was now hers, leaving her free to finally start changing things for the better. And, just as expected, that had required her to take on more unpleasant tasks than ever before. For the greater good. It was the way of things. She was the necessary evil and in a way always had been. She had done many horrible things to people who did not deserve them simply because they needed to be done. That was just how it was. [...] In a way, the Madam was an anomaly among the dead in that she held very little personal disdain for Incubators. Like her, they had a nasty job that needed to be done, and no one else would do it. True, the little guy (or girl, as was the case) was massively screwed over in the process, but that was just the way it was. The Madam bore them no ill will, even if it had cost her her life.
Films — Live-Action
"We are the sin eaters. It means that we take the moral excrement we find in this equation, and we bury it down deep inside of us, so that the rest of our case can stay pure. That is the job. We are morally indefensible, and absolutely necessary."
— Colonel Eric Byer, The Bourne Legacy
Daggett: What are you?
Bane: I'm Gotham's reckoning, here to end the borrowed time you've all been living on.
Daggett: You're pure evil!
Bane: I'm necessary evil.
Bane: I'm Gotham's reckoning, here to end the borrowed time you've all been living on.
Daggett: You're pure evil!
Bane: I'm necessary evil.
"Let me tell you what's gonna happen. This way you can prepare yourself. Okay: Soon there's gonna be a knock on that door and you will be called outside. In the hall there will be a man who outranks you. First, he'll compliment you on the fine job you've done, that you're making the world a safer place, that you're to receive a commendation and a promotion. And then he's going to tell you that I am to be released. You're going to protest. You'll probably threaten to resign. But in the end, I will be released. The reason I'll be released is the same reason you think I'll be convicted. I do rub shoulders with some of the most vile, sadistic men calling themselves leaders today. But some of those men are the enemies of your enemies. And while the biggest arms dealer in the world is your boss, the President of the United States — who ships more merchandise in a day than I do in a year — sometimes it's embarrassing to have his fingerprints on the guns. Sometimes he needs a freelancer like me to supply forces he can't be seen supplying. So, you call me evil. But unfortunately for you, I'm a necessary evil."
— Yuri Orlov, Lord of War
The Operative: I believe in something greater than myself. A better world. A world without sin.
Mal: So me and mine gotta lay down and die... so you can live in your better world?
The Operative: I'm not going to live there. There's no place for me there... any more than there is for you. Malcolm... I'm a monster. What I do is evil. I have no illusions about it, but it must be done.
Mal: So me and mine gotta lay down and die... so you can live in your better world?
The Operative: I'm not going to live there. There's no place for me there... any more than there is for you. Malcolm... I'm a monster. What I do is evil. I have no illusions about it, but it must be done.
Literature
"I sometimes fancy myself an evil that exists to oppose other evils... On that day when the world is completely cleansed of evil, then I, too, will go down into darkness, swallowing curses. Perhaps even sooner than that, I now judge. But whatever... Until that time, I shall not wash my hands nor let them hang useless."
— Corwin, The Chronicles of Amber: The Guns of Avalon
"Sometimes, being a bitch is the last thing a woman has to hang on to..."
— Vera Donovan, Dolores Claiborne
"I can't help it. I like the kid. I think we're going to screw him up."
"Of course we are. It's our job. We're the wicked witch. We promise them gingerbread, but we eat the little bastards alive."
"Of course we are. It's our job. We're the wicked witch. We promise them gingerbread, but we eat the little bastards alive."
— Colonel Graff and Major Anderson, Ender's Game
"In the battleground, there is no place for hope. What lies there is just cold despair and a sin called victory, built on the pain of the defeated. The world as is, the human nature as always, it is impossible to eliminate the battles. In the end, killing is necessary evil — and if so, it is best to end them in the best efficiency and at the least cost, least time. Call it not foul nor nasty. Justice cannot save the world. It is useless."
— Kiritsugu Emiya, Fate/Zero
"It's been some time since I lost sleep because of a heavy conscience."
Live-Action TV
Clarke: Why aren't you with your people on Level 5?
Dante: After what I've done, they can be free, I can't. Deliverance comes at a cost; I bear it so they don't have to.
Dante: After what I've done, they can be free, I can't. Deliverance comes at a cost; I bear it so they don't have to.
Secretary Bishop: How long before we're ready?
Brandon Fayette: It should be within the hour. Sir, history may never fully know what we've done here. How we've saved our universe. I'm proud to be a part of it.
Bishop: Oppenheimer saved us, too. But at what cost? He couldn't bear the nightmares... the screams of all the innocents he had killed. "Now I am become death, destroyer of worlds." Only in our case, that really is true. We destroyed their world to save ours. May God have mercy on us.
Brandon Fayette: It should be within the hour. Sir, history may never fully know what we've done here. How we've saved our universe. I'm proud to be a part of it.
Bishop: Oppenheimer saved us, too. But at what cost? He couldn't bear the nightmares... the screams of all the innocents he had killed. "Now I am become death, destroyer of worlds." Only in our case, that really is true. We destroyed their world to save ours. May God have mercy on us.
— Fringe
"A regrettable decision, but a necessary one. No one life is above the safety of millions of Americans. That's the ugly math that I have to deal with every day."
— Special Counsel, Person of Interest, "Relevance"
Palindrome: Of course it would mean certain death for everyone on board.
The Head: This is a tough one, Palindrome. But as you know, one of the responsibilities of those in charge is to order the sacrifice of the few for the sake of the many.
Palindrome: Yes, sir.
The Head: Particularly when those in charge are among the many.
The Head: This is a tough one, Palindrome. But as you know, one of the responsibilities of those in charge is to order the sacrifice of the few for the sake of the many.
Palindrome: Yes, sir.
The Head: Particularly when those in charge are among the many.
— Quark
"So... I lied. I cheated. I bribed men to cover the crimes of other men. I am an accessory to murder. But the most damning thing of all... I think I can live with it. And if I had to do it all over again, I would. Garak was right about one thing — a guilty conscience is a small price to pay for the safety of the Alpha Quadrant. So I will learn to live with it. Because I can live with it. I can live with it... Computer, erase that entire personal log."
— Captain Benjamin Sisko, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, "In the Pale Moonlight"
"[The] world needs bad men. We keep the other bad men from the door."
— Rust Cohle, True Detective
Music
There'll be times when my crimes
Will seem almost unforgivable
I give in to sin
Because you have to make this life livable"
Will seem almost unforgivable
I give in to sin
Because you have to make this life livable"
— Depeche Mode, "Strangelove"
Video Games
Thaddeus: What power could be worth betraying us all?
Tarkus: The power to save you.
Tarkus: The power to save you.
— Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising
"I would treasure the chance to be wrong once again, my friend."
— Solas, Dragon Age: Inquisition
"Oh, I don't relish this decision. If there was another way... but there isn't. No price is too high for the survival of the human race. If you were human, you'd understand."
— President Richardson, Fallout 2
"I hear my enemies speculate about my motives. My ambitions. 'Who is Admiral Aken Bosch? What is that old scoundrel up to?' The tragedy of my life is that I will be remembered as a butcher of innocents, and this assessment is not unfair. I cannot argue with their condemnation, or the verdict of history. The Neo-Terran Front is an army of stupid cattle, driven by their hatreds, their fears, and their insecurities. Ignorance is the greatest weapon of tyranny, and old wounds open all too easily. I am merely a fool who created a monster I am now powerless to stop. And so I will play my role to the bloody end. I have given the lost generation something to die for, and now my legacy will be crowned with infamy. What my enemies will never understand is that my rebellion is about my love for humanity, not my hatred for Vasudans. In the Gamma Draconis system, the Destroyers have returned, and soon the Alliance will learn the method behind my madness."
— Admiral Aken Bosch, FreeSpace 2
Mike Toreno: He's in prison up state, D Wing. Cell 13. To the left I got a child killer who wants to rip his throat out. To the right of him I got a white supremacist who wants to eat his heart, to be precise...
Carl "C.J." Johnson: Damn. Hey, man, how you know all this stuff, man, and why don't you stop it?
Toreno: You just don't understand, do you, kid? It's all white knights and heroes. We have to make decisions, kid. You know, I try to set bad people on other bad people. And sometimes, I let good guys die. He's your brother, but to me, he's just collateral. It's a very delicate decision. Over here, you got all the scumbags inside the country, and over here, you got all the scumbags outside the country. And me and my colleagues? We're the fucking pivot.
Carl "C.J." Johnson: Damn. Hey, man, how you know all this stuff, man, and why don't you stop it?
Toreno: You just don't understand, do you, kid? It's all white knights and heroes. We have to make decisions, kid. You know, I try to set bad people on other bad people. And sometimes, I let good guys die. He's your brother, but to me, he's just collateral. It's a very delicate decision. Over here, you got all the scumbags inside the country, and over here, you got all the scumbags outside the country. And me and my colleagues? We're the fucking pivot.
"People often ask for a hero, when a villain is what they truly need."
"You think because I'm willing to use the enemy's tactics, that they're no longer my enemy?"
— The Illusive Man, Mass Effect 3
Edgar Ross: You see, we — me and Archer — we're the "bad guys". We enforce the rules. Now, while the rules may not be perfect, they're really not so bad.
Archer Fordham: Exactly what's the alternative?
Ross: Yeah, see, I'll tell you what the alternative is. It's not complicated, it's about one man and his gun versus another man. Sure, civilization may be dull, but the alternative, Mr. Marston, is Hell.
Archer Fordham: Exactly what's the alternative?
Ross: Yeah, see, I'll tell you what the alternative is. It's not complicated, it's about one man and his gun versus another man. Sure, civilization may be dull, but the alternative, Mr. Marston, is Hell.
"There is no difference between what is right and what is necessary."
— Loading screen text of Spec Ops: The Line
"This is the line I walk, finally knowing that the actions I take in necessity are nonetheless indefensible."
— Lor'themar Theron, World of Warcraft, "In the Shadow of the Sun"
Lady Liandrin: You are a monster, Darion!
Darion Mograine: Without monsters, there can be no heroes.
Darion Mograine: Without monsters, there can be no heroes.
Visual Novels
Athena Cykes: But breaking the law is breaking the law!
Dr. Herman Crab: ...But, in some cases, lives can be saved by breaking the law. Do we simply allow the lives of our animals to be lost while we wait for laws to change?
Dr. Herman Crab: ...But, in some cases, lives can be saved by breaking the law. Do we simply allow the lives of our animals to be lost while we wait for laws to change?
— Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies, Case 5-DLC: "Turnabout Reclaimed"
Webcomics
Payne: Could you burn down people — women and children — even if you knew they had become monsters?
Agatha: I... no... I don't know.
Payne: The Baron can. The Baron has. I respect him for that, but I don't want to be him. No sane man would.
Agatha: I... no... I don't know.
Payne: The Baron can. The Baron has. I respect him for that, but I don't want to be him. No sane man would.
Web Original
"Trolls are the janitors of DA. You don't want to associate with them, but without us, this place would be covered in shit."
— A member of I-Call-Bull
"Remember this: the Foundation is not evil. We do not torture people 'just because'. We are against unnecessary cruelty. Which means somebody has to decide when cruelty is necessary. And that somebody is us."
"There's been a lot of talk today about what we bring to the table — why each of us is here. Well, the Peacekeepers know why we're here. You people need a villain. You need some son of a bitch to blame all the hard decisions on. You need someone to sit here and say 'take them out' and 'shut it down', so you can go home that night and feel like you really tried to make the right decision, but oh, if only those bastard Peacekeepers would let you. We're also the ones you send in when diplomacy fails. We're the jar-heads you teleport off to the cults, the bleeding rivers, and the freaky upside-down cities full of immortal tea-slurping fucks because — guess what — sometimes things just want to kill you. You can't leave them alone, you can't re-locate them, you can't talk them into being good. They just want to kill you. So we kill them. Don't forget who sands down all the rough edges of your perfect world when the pieces don't fucking fit."
Yesterday,
I watched three men die because one man sneezed in a room full of blood and shit and light.
Today,
three more men go in, cheap mops and each other's lives in their hands.
Yesterday,
I watched a man I admired gunned down for leaving a rose for a girl whose life was tattered by trauma she never deserved.
Today,
she doesn't remember, and three halls down I can hear her screaming.
Yesterday,
I watched a group of soldiers go down fighting against the corpses of comrades who'd died before them.
Today,
we test another sample, this time on children.
Yesterday,
I watched five men and women gunned down in an abandoned factory no one cares about.
Today,
it happens again and again. Every eleven seconds. Forever.
Yesterday,
I watched a man sit comfortably in a nice armchair, sipping scotch and laughing as he ordered a woman to simply stop breathing.
Today,
he gets the day off of work detail for good behavior.
Yesterday,
I watched hundreds of men and women in orange jumpsuits herded like animals into empty rooms that filled with gas and fire.
Today,
hundreds more are told they have a chance for a lighter sentence, and a chance to serve their country.
Yesterday,
I watched the world nearly die in a thousand thousand terrible ways. Sometimes we would have had time to scream.
Today,
I'm alive to write about it. You want happy endings? Fuck you.
You're alive to read it.
God help us all.
Secure. Contain. Protect.
,I watched three men die because one man sneezed in a room full of blood and shit and light.
Today,
three more men go in, cheap mops and each other's lives in their hands.
Yesterday
,I watched a man I admired gunned down for leaving a rose for a girl whose life was tattered by trauma she never deserved.
Today,
she doesn't remember, and three halls down I can hear her screaming.
Yesterday
,I watched a group of soldiers go down fighting against the corpses of comrades who'd died before them.
Today,
we test another sample, this time on children.
Yesterday
,I watched five men and women gunned down in an abandoned factory no one cares about.
Today,
it happens again and again. Every eleven seconds. Forever.
Yesterday
,I watched a man sit comfortably in a nice armchair, sipping scotch and laughing as he ordered a woman to simply stop breathing.
Today,
he gets the day off of work detail for good behavior.
Yesterday,
I watched hundreds of men and women in orange jumpsuits herded like animals into empty rooms that filled with gas and fire.
Today,
hundreds more are told they have a chance for a lighter sentence, and a chance to serve their country.
Yesterday,
I watched the world nearly die in a thousand thousand terrible ways. Sometimes we would have had time to scream.
Today,
I'm alive to write about it. You want happy endings? Fuck you.
You're alive to read it.
God help us all.
Secure. Contain. Protect.
"Necessity" is a cloth draped over a gun, so that one does not have to look too closely at what it is one is doing.
— Oculus Imperia Defying this trope, "On The Origins Of The Inquisition"
Real Life
"Vote for the crook — it's important!"
— Bumper sticker sold during the Edwin Edwards/David Duke Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1991
"War is cruelty. There's no use trying to reform it, the crueler it is the sooner it will be over."
-[[folder:Western Animation]]"Is this trip really necessary? Sure its necessary! I'm the necessary evil!"- Woody Woodpecker, 1940 short "Ration Bored" 'Woody Woodpecker''- —
