Tropescilloscope: I Did What I Had to Do

An after-the-fact justification for morally questionable but necessary actions. (read more at tvtropes.org)

More Tropes Even Evil Has Loved Ones Eagleland There Is No Kill Like Overkill Alpha Bitch Karmic Death True Companions Final Girl Blackmail Badass in a Nice Suit Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane One Steve Limit Cloudcuckoolander Wretched Hive Author Avatar Book-Ends Calling the Old Man Out Chuck Cunningham Syndrome Dying Moment of Awesome Everyone Has Standards Biopic Four-Temperament Ensemble Storming the Castle Rich Bitch Stock Footage Flashback Improbable Aiming Skills Trailers Always Spoil Fish out of Water Fan Disservice Wham Shot Obviously Evil Fiery Redhead Chekhov's Skill Anachronic Order Ironic Echo Heroes Want Redheads Last-Name Basis Not Quite Dead Catch-Phrase Bolivian Army Ending Stealth Pun Mexican Standoff Big "NO!" Psycho for Hire Missing Mom Large Ham Badass Longcoat Spell My Name with an "S" Hero of Another Story Australian Movies B-Movie In Medias Res Military and Warfare Films Slasher Smile Adaptation Dye-Job Cat Scare One-Man Army Brother–Sister Incest Eldritch Abomination Ominous Latin Chanting Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! Title Drop Green-Eyed Monster The X of Y Undying Loyalty He Who Fights Monsters Zombie Stories Immune to Bullets Make It Look Like an Accident Sole Survivor Genre Shift Humiliation Conga Villain Opening Scene Combat Pragmatist Chiaroscuro Bound and Gagged Love Triangle Determinator It Will Never Catch On Properly Paranoid Action Survivor Beta Couple Composite Character Villain Song Took a Level in Jerkass Armor-Piercing Question Deal with the Devil Covers Always Lie The Stoner Token Minority Broken Pedestal Those Wacky Nazis Sci-Fi Horror Tagline Jump Scare Expository Hairstyle Change Award-Bait Song Pretty Little Headshots Death by Sex Japanese Films I Want My Beloved to Be Happy Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism An Aesop Evil Brit Toplessness from the Back All Just a Dream It's All About Me Adaptational Badass "Well Done, Son!" Guy And the Adventure Continues Fantastic Racism Intrepid Reporter Beware the Nice Ones Dark Is Not Evil Peek-a-Boo Corpse The Reveal No-Holds-Barred Beatdown You Killed My Father Wrong Genre Savvy Race Lift The Hero Dies Bar Brawl Pre-Mortem One-Liner Evil Is Hammy Disappeared Dad Breaking the Fourth Wall Totally Radical Rasputinian Death Hong Kong Films Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil Mama Bear Black Comedy Brutal Honesty Instant Death Bullet Parental Incest The '70s Rule of Three What Happened to the Mouse? Foreshadowing Suspiciously Specific Denial No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Slap-Slap-Kiss Never Trust a Trailer Vomit Indiscretion Shot Actually Pretty Funny Roaring Rampage of Revenge Man on Fire Gone Horribly Right Jitter Cam You Have Got to Be Kidding Me! Men Are the Expendable Gender The Ace I Have Your Wife Only Sane Man Hair-Trigger Temper Bunny-Ears Lawyer Does This Remind You of Anything? Big Bad Left the Background Music On Show Within a Show Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass Blood Knight The Casanova Jerkass Has a Point Offscreen Moment of Awesome The Vamp Chekhov's Gun Mistaken for Gay Scary Black Man Tranquil Fury The Cameo Bad "Bad Acting" Documentary Scenery Porn Well-Intentioned Extremist Market-Based Title Kill It with Fire Country Matters Actor Allusion It's Personal Bland-Name Product Ascended Extra Sassy Black Woman Big Bad Duumvirate Bloodless Carnage Chekhov's Gunman Insistent Terminology Adaptational Attractiveness NO INDOOR VOICE Break the Cutie The Alcoholic Dwindling Party The Great Depression Artistic License – Geography Dirty Cop Berserk Button Exact Words All for Nothing Guile Hero Rated M for Manly Children Are Innocent I'm a Humanitarian Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer Paper-Thin Disguise Creator Cameo Room Full of Crazy Madness Mantra Match Cut Parental Abandonment Camp Gay Pragmatic Adaptation Henpecked Husband Setting Update Super Strength Bare Your Midriff Does Not Like Shoes Mundane Made Awesome Extreme Doormat Stylistic Suck The Place Artistic License – Military After the End Those Two Bad Guys Did Not Get the Girl Big Fancy House Historical Villain Upgrade Hollywood Law Police Brutality Dramatic Gun Cock Brainless Beauty She Cleans Up Nicely No Celebrities Were Harmed May–December Romance Fanservice Extra Evil Counterpart Stuff Blowing Up Danny Peary Cult Movies List Retcon What You Are in the Dark Death of a Child No Antagonist Adaptational Heroism Cool Old Guy Badass Boast Serial Killer Real Life Writes the Plot Better to Die than Be Killed Manipulative Bastard "Shaggy Dog" Story For the Evulz Chase Scene Genre Savvy Car Fu Mythology Gag Betty and Veronica Male Gaze Unreliable Narrator The Mafia Romantic Comedy Soundtrack Dissonance Parental Substitute Dull Surprise Red Eyes, Take Warning Villain Ball O.O.C. Is Serious Business Taking You with Me Smug Snake Artistic License – Law Worthy Opponent Happily Married Woman Scorned Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene Ms. Fanservice Not So Above It All Driven to Suicide Deconstruction Good Is Not Nice Married to the Job Even Evil Has Standards Only One Name Punch-Clock Villain Distracted by the Sexy The Bully Diabolus ex Machina Funny Foreigner Have a Gay Old Time Badass Grandpa My Greatest Failure Re-Cut Irony Creative Closing Credits Sexy Discretion Shot Cassandra Truth Love at First Sight Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds Our Vampires Are Different Slasher Movie Put on a Bus Accidental Misnaming The Alleged Car Sealed Evil in a Can Recycled IN SPACE! Skewed Priorities Curb-Stomp Battle 20 Minutes into the Future Arranged Marriage Fingore Nice Hat Interrupted Suicide Ambiguously Gay Call-Forward Affectionate Parody Amusing Injuries Alas, Poor Villain Would Hit a Girl Ugly Guy, Hot Wife Together in Death Half the Man He Used to Be Mighty Whitey Recap / RiffTrax aka: Riff Trax Movies Deadpan Snarker Major Injury Underreaction Random Events Plot Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping Anyone Can Die The Atoner It Can Think Product Placement Obfuscating Stupidity Facial Horror Aluminum Christmas Trees Adaptation Name Change Easily Forgiven Neck Snap Shower Scene Evil Sounds Deep Artistic License – Gun Safety Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! Card-Carrying Villain Only Known by Their Nickname Not What It Looks Like Not Even Bothering with the Accent Artistic License – History Victoria's Secret Compartment Fate Worse than Death Older Than They Look Morality Pet Names to Run Away from Really Fast Bloodier and Gorier Greater-Scope Villain Bloody Hilarious Psychological Thriller Beauty Is Never Tarnished Would Hurt a Child Male Frontal Nudity All Men Are Perverts Red Right Hand Film Series The Load Running Gag Eiffel Tower Effect Once More, with Clarity! Insane Troll Logic Groin Attack Loads and Loads of Characters The Power of Love Taking the Bullet Meaningful Echo Posthumous Character Shown Their Work Epic Fail I Did What I Had to Do Wham Line Continuity Nod Evil vs. Evil Babies Ever After Scenery Gorn Ass Shove Bond Villain Stupidity Getting Crap Past the Radar Screw the Money, I Have Rules! Historical-Domain Character Unspoken Plan Guarantee Funny Background Event Retired Badass Downer Ending Butt-Monkey Demoted to Extra Gorn Romantic False Lead "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue Catapult Nightmare "Awesome McCool" Name One-Word Title Tap on the Head All There in the Manual Wounded Gazelle Gambit Antagonist Title Big Damn Heroes Bring My Brown Pants Corrupt Corporate Executive Artistic License – Physics Big Applesauce Stalker with a Crush Psychopathic Manchild The Smurfette Principle Off-into-the-Distance Ending Evil Cannot Comprehend Good Back from the Dead Shell-Shocked Veteran Cruel and Unusual Death Early-Bird Cameo Broken Aesop Leitmotif Fourth Date Marriage Here We Go Again! Police are Useless Evil Laugh Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other The Stoic Black and Gray Morality Destination Defenestration Dark and Troubled Past The Dragon The Faceless Superhero Kubrick Stare Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome Dropped a Bridge on Him Training Montage The '90s Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking Television Movie Index Screw This, I'm Outta Here! Rape as Drama Failed a Spot Check Fatal Family Photo Self-Deprecation Jerkass Foregone Conclusion Crazy-Prepared The Hero Due to the Dead Frame-Up Moment Killer Annoying Younger Sibling Redshirt Army Protagonist Title Dramedy Cool Car The Quiet One Hoist by His Own Petard Kill 'em All Exactly What It Says on the Tin Abhorrent Admirer Maybe Ever After War Is Hell Adaptational Villainy Disney Villain Death Rule of Funny Cowboy Cop Bavarian Fire Drill Bond One-Liner Ungrateful Bastard A God Am I Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas Auto Erotica Freeze-Frame Bonus Sequel Hook Arc Words Precision F-Strike Eyepatch of Power Evil Plan Artistic License – Biology For Want of a Nail Hypocrite Anguished Declaration of Love Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? Heroic BSoD Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" Animal Title Index Daylight Horror Brick Joke Idiot Ball Scare Chord Asshole Victim Batman Gambit Monumental Damage Jerk with a Heart of Gold Red Herring Gory Discretion Shot The '60s Shout-Out Yandere Adorkable Casting Gag Disney Death Suddenly SHOUTING! Mad Scientist Pre-Asskicking One-Liner Bury Your Gays Soft Glass BFG Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy Damsel in Distress Take That! The '80s Cool Old Lady Hooker with a Heart of Gold Ragtag Bunch of Misfits My Beloved Smother Dark Action Girl Rule of Symbolism A Minor Kidroduction Fake Shemp Karma Houdini Dirty Coward Air-Vent Passageway Take a Third Option An Arm and a Leg Narrator Novelization Villainous Breakdown Throwing Your Sword Always Works The End... Or Is It? Bottomless Magazines Early Installment Weirdness Hell Is That Noise Bad Boss Translation Convention Curse Cut Short Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie In Name Only Stepford Smiler The Un-Reveal Light Is Not Good Evil-Detecting Dog A Date with Rosie Palms Author Appeal Lampshade Hanging Pyrrhic Victory Comically Missing the Point Reasonable Authority Figure Not So Different The Dog Bites Back Politically Incorrect Villain In the Back Vomit Discretion Shot Spared by the Adaptation Animal Motifs Blood from the Mouth Serious Business No Name Given Hero Antagonist Noodle Incident Amoral Attorney The Stinger Ax-Crazy Riddle for the Ages Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Freudian Excuse Break the Haughty Killed Mid-Sentence Heel–Face Turn The Lancer World of Ham Ghost Fiction Handicapped Badass Imagine Spot Action Prologue Red Shirt Drowning My Sorrows Rewatch Bonus Shipper on Deck Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality Dumb Blonde Film Noir Vitriolic Best Buds Improbable Weapon User Vacation Films Becoming the Mask The Voiceless Friend to All Children Extremely Short Timespan Very Loosely Based on a True Story The Un-Favourite aka: The Un Favorite Abusive Parents Manchild Mr. Fanservice As the Good Book Says... Cluster F-Bomb Playing Gertrude The Lost Lenore Laughing Mad Sir Swears-a-Lot Dies Wide Open The '50s Ambiguous Ending Intergenerational Friendship Department of Redundancy Department Reality Is Unrealistic Insult Backfire Redemption Equals Death Corpsing Attempted Rape Belligerent Sexual Tension Pragmatic Villainy Reality Has No Subtitles Naïve Newcomer Up to Eleven Impaled with Extreme Prejudice Important Haircut More Dakka Body Horror Never My Fault Manly Tears Adaptation Distillation Age Lift The Bad Guy Wins Ripped from the Headlines Fanservice Laser-Guided Karma Meaningful Background Event Cool Shades Humans Are Bastards Pet the Dog Accidental Murder Agony of the Feet Stealth Hi/Bye Overprotective Dad The Big Guy Domestic Abuse Honor Before Reason Eye Scream Blonde, Brunette, Redhead How We Got Here Meaningful Name Film Noir Index Call-Back Leaning on the Fourth Wall Gilligan Cut Sequel Escalation Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday Motor Mouth Deliberately Monochrome Expy Your Cheating Heart Pay Evil unto Evil The Starscream Unusually Uninteresting Sight Death by Adaptation Character Development Heterosexual Life-Partners Deus ex Machina I Just Shot Marvin in the Face Animated Credits Opening Captain Obvious Mood Whiplash Apocalypse How Death Glare Our Zombies Are Different Cain and Abel Action Genre Sadistic Choice Adapted Out Word of God Dissonant Serenity Historical Hero Upgrade Didn't Think This Through Black Dude Dies First Big Brother Instinct '80s Hair Plucky Comic Relief Smoking Is Cool Dual Wielding Offscreen Teleportation A.I. Is a Crapshoot Camera Abuse Framing Device Music Stories Punctuated! For! Emphasis! Bittersweet Ending She's Got Legs The Brute Historical In-Joke Thriller Russian Films Loophole Abuse Death Seeker Overly Long Gag All There in the Script You Have Outlived Your Usefulness Visual Pun Face Death with Dignity Defrosting Ice Queen Face–Heel Turn Twist Ending Made of Iron Index of Film Westerns Public Domain Feature Films Refuge in Audacity Suspiciously Similar Substitute Star-Crossed Lovers Meet Cute Kick the Dog Gender Flip From Bad to Worse Race Against the Clock Mooks Epic Movie Femme Fatale Martial Arts Movie MacGuffin Reality Ensues La Résistance Only in It for the Money Crazy Jealous Guy Slashed Throat Sinister Minister Anti-Hero The Ghost Screw the Rules, I Have Money! Heel Realization Authority Equals Asskicking Dogged Nice Guy Not Using the "Z" Word Needs Wiki Magic Love Italian Films Spanner in the Works Celebrity Paradox Real Life Non-Indicative Name The Mole The Oner Papa Wolf Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique Bait-and-Switch Improvised Weapon Parental Neglect Say My Name Truth in Television Poor Communication Kills Empathic Environment Punny Name The Remake Never Found the Body Arch-Enemy Drives Like Crazy Malevolent Masked Men Roger Ebert: Great Movies List The Dreaded The Chessmaster Heroic Sacrifice Action Girl Sacrificial Lion An Axe to Grind Dirty Old Man Bi the Way Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! Informed Ability The Ditz And I Must Scream Let's Get Dangerous! Outrun the Fireball Evil Is Petty From Nobody to Nightmare Earn Your Happy Ending Toilet Humour aka: Toilet Humor Despair Event Horizon Knight Templar Blatant Lies Pun aka: Incredibly Lame Pun Mystery and Detective Films Bullying a Dragon As You Know Rousing Speech Genre Throwback Pretty in Mink Hidden Depths Took a Level in Badass timeperiod Obstructive Bureaucrat British Films Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold Unwitting Instigator of Doom Double Entendre Broken Bird Flipping the Bird Ambiguous Disorder Closed Circle Cool Guns Reckless Gun Usage No OSHA Compliance A Father to His Men Fatal Flaw Video Credits Canon Foreigner Alliterative Name Rule of Cool Mugging the Monster Boom, Headshot! Five-Man Band Plot Hole Hope Spot Anachronism Stew Silence Is Golden Revenge Dutch Angle All Girls Want Bad Boys Anti-Villain Darkest Hour Guns Akimbo Eureka Moment Fainting Works Set in World War II The Chick He Knows Too Much This Is Gonna Suck Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? No-Sell Disguised in Drag Enemy Mine Lock and Load Montage Credits Gag Pimped-Out Dress Horror Comedy And Starring Fun with Acronyms Horror Films Villain Protagonist Drugs Are Bad The Cavalry Shut Up, Hannibal! Those Two Guys Drill Sergeant Nasty The Sociopath Red Oni, Blue Oni Be Careful What You Wish For Hate Sink Spiritual Successor Mercy Kill Demonic Possession Christmas Movies Index Black Comedy Rape Conspicuous CG Double-Meaning Title Dark Reprise Adult Fear Creepy Child Nothing Is Scarier Crapsack World Determinator aka: The Determinator Leave the Camera Running French Films What the Hell, Hero? Silent Movie Darker and Edgier Foil Hollywood Darkness No Ending Affably Evil Bowdlerise Off with His Head! Unusual Euphemism Coming-of-Age Story Whole Plot Reference Line-of-Sight Name Cold-Blooded Torture Cat Fight Sports Stories Beard of Evil Contrived Coincidence Small Name, Big Ego Deliberate Values Dissonance Depraved Bisexual Homage Made of Explodium "The Reason You Suck" Speech Not So Stoic The Musical Girl-on-Girl Is Hot Adaptation Expansion Your Head A-Splode N-Word Privileges Unresolved Sexual Tension Villain with Good Publicity Neck Lift Chewing the Scenery Faking the Dead Almost Kiss Fire-Forged Friends Badass Bookworm As Himself Developing Doomed Characters Costume Porn Really Gets Around Wicked Cultured Bald of Evil German Films Establishing Character Moment Gold Digger Sanity Slippage The Film of the Book Badass Normal folderlabel Gainax Ending Woman in White Oh, Crap! Naked People Are Funny Shirtless Scene My God, What Have I Done? Death by Irony Fat Bastard Black Best Friend Nice Guy Captain Ersatz Big-Bad Ensemble Colour-Coded for Your Convenience aka: Color Coded For Your Convenience Fantasy Films Ship Tease Gratuitous English Mind Screw Based on a True Story Bilingual Bonus Every Car Is a Pinto Science Fiction Films Get Out! Famous Last Words Implacable Man Dramatic Irony Awesome, but Impractical The Smart Guy Tempting Fate Kick the Son of a Bitch Mr. Exposition Straight Gay You Have Failed Me Spiteful Spit Grey and Gray Morality Lighter and Softer Vampire Fiction Disproportionate Retribution Daddy's Girl Hypocritical Humor Manic Pixie Dream Girl Jerk Jock As Long as It Sounds Foreign Defiant to the End Crucified Hero Shot Central Theme Faux Affably Evil Only a Flesh Wound Retirony Advertised Extra Grievous Bottley Harm Same Language Dub Knife Nut Dressing as the Enemy Adults Are Useless I Need a Freaking Drink Shoot the Shaggy Dog Time Skip Logo Joke Big Eater Canadian Movies Kids Are Cruel Aside Glance Too Dumb to Live Decoy Protagonist