Anime and Manga
"You think I'm evil? I AM JUSTICE!"
— Light Yagami, Death Note
"Kuyou is the kind of guy who believes without a doubt that everything he does is for the sake of justice. Anyone who goes against him is going against justice, and is an evildoer."
— Gin, Rosario + Vampire
Link: An average person couldn't handle this. It requires someone chosen by the gods themselves. I must throw off the person I was so I can become the hero of all Hyrule.
Midna: Listen to yourself! Talking about how powerful you are, how the gods chose you! You're all puffed up with your own importance, drunk on your own pride! Does that sound like a hero? Wake up!
Link: I've changed because I woke up. Everything we've done has led me here. Don't worry. I will not fail my mission.
Comic Books
Ozai: There is no right or wrong apart from what you decide. Who you choose to defend deserves to be defended simply because you chose them. You are the Fire Lord. What you choose, by definition, is right.
Zuko: No! Right and wrong are bigger than me, or you, or even the Avatar! And I believe that the Avatar, the Earth King and I can come closest to what's right by working together!
Zuko: No! Right and wrong are bigger than me, or you, or even the Avatar! And I believe that the Avatar, the Earth King and I can come closest to what's right by working together!
Film
Thor: We can not fight an enemy we can not locate! Malekith could be right over us now, and we'd never know! How many Asgardian lives must we sacrifice?
Odin: AS MANY AS IS NEEDED! Till the last Asgardian falls, till the last drop of blood is shed!
Thor: What makes you so different from Malekith, then?
Odin: The difference, my son, is that I will WIN.
Odin: AS MANY AS IS NEEDED! Till the last Asgardian falls, till the last drop of blood is shed!
Thor: What makes you so different from Malekith, then?
Odin: The difference, my son, is that I will WIN.
Wanda: You have no idea just how reasonable I've been.
Stephen: Right. Book of the damned, calling yourself a witch, conjuring creatures to abduct a kid. I don't exactly call that being reasonable.
Wanda: Sending those creatures after her instead of myself was an act of mercy. And in spite of your hypocrisy and insults, I begged you to safely get out of my way. You have exhausted my patience. But I do hope you understand, that even now, what’s about to happen, this is me being reasonable.
Stephen: Right. Book of the damned, calling yourself a witch, conjuring creatures to abduct a kid. I don't exactly call that being reasonable.
Wanda: Sending those creatures after her instead of myself was an act of mercy. And in spite of your hypocrisy and insults, I begged you to safely get out of my way. You have exhausted my patience. But I do hope you understand, that even now, what’s about to happen, this is me being reasonable.
Literature
They needed me to be the bad guy. And I needed them to be the good guys. See, if they were good guys, and I was on their team, then that automatically made me a good guy, too. Even if I was different. At least that’s what I'd been telling myself.
"No one is more dangerous than he who imagines himself pure in heart: for his purity, by definition, is unassailable."
— James Baldwin, Nobody Knows My Name
"I did not make a mistake. I have never made a mistake. However, it is time for a change."
— The Lord Ruler, Mistborn: The Original Trilogy
Live-Action TV
"Of course you can trust me! I'm an angel!"
Music
I see my reflection in the window
It looks different, so different than what you see
Projecting judgement on the world
This house is clean babe
This house is clean
It looks different, so different than what you see
Projecting judgement on the world
This house is clean babe
This house is clean
— "Dirty Window
," Metallica
," MetallicaRadio
The White Wizard: Sometimes you have to do difficult things if you want everything to be perfect. And I do want everything to be perfect. And I'm the living embodiment of goodness, so whatever I want must be good. D'you see?
Sam: OK! So, he's a complete nutcase.
Sam: OK! So, he's a complete nutcase.
Theatre
"When the King executes a man, it is proof to the King that it must have been a bad man."
— Cromwell, A Man for All Seasons
Video Games
"They were trying to wipe out the goddess and her followers in hopes of taking back the surface. That's why they called themselves saviors. To their mind, they were."
—Ignatz, on "those who slither in the dark", Fire Emblem: Three Houses
"We are Jedi. What we decide is right."
Web Animation
Ironwood: Winter, do not blame me! I have sacrificed everything!
Winter: No, you have sacrificed everyone else! You closed the borders! You squeezed Mantle until it broke!
Ironwood: I’ve only done what’s best for Remnant, and NO ONE IS GRATEFUL!!
Winter: No, you have sacrificed everyone else! You closed the borders! You squeezed Mantle until it broke!
Ironwood: I’ve only done what’s best for Remnant, and NO ONE IS GRATEFUL!!
—RWBY, "The Final World"
Web Original
"The West Wing is a fairytale about good vs. evil disguised as a realistic portrayal of Washington D.C's inner-workings. It sold many different fantasies, one of which was that politicians ever acted in good faith, but the other big one is that policy could be achieved if you just 'did the right thing.' When the characters faced opposition, the solution was to always summon their inner good-guy strength like Goku charging up for a Kamehameha, and then deliver an earth-shattering speech that changes hearts and minds through its pure goodness. [...] Maybe this is fine as escapist television, but the problem arises when the Chuck Schumers or the Michelle Obamas apply this good-guy vs. bad-guy dichotomy as an actual ideology in our real world. It sucks for two main reasons, one of which is that if you're a politician that sniffs your farts long enough to actually assume you're 'the good guy,' then you end up not doing enough self-reflection and listening to realize that wearing a kente cloth in a show of solidarity for Black Lives Matter isn't actually helping."
Webcomics
"Oh, we usually murder our way to the top and claim victory whilst astride a pile of mangled bodies. But we're heroes so it's okay when we do that."
— Fighter, 8-Bit Theater
Blunt: Ms. Ambrose believes she is doing right. This makes her very dangerous. She proceeds as she feels she must. There is no appealing to her conscience or her better nature.
Reporter: How are you different?
Blunt: The difference is I am right.
Reporter: How are you different?
Blunt: The difference is I am right.
— Freefall
Western Animation
"I'll prove I'm a good guy even if I have to destroy this entire city and beat you to a pulp!"
— Coop, Megas XLR
