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| - Sometimes the "forces of good" in a story treat an "evil" character badly enough, for long enough, that the "evil" character just says "Screw it. You think I'm evil? Then let me be evil." Prolonged exposure to the cynical side of the Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism has conditioned this character to accept the fact that Humans Are Bastards, and if he wants to get anywhere in the world, he has to be every bit as dirty and cruel as they are. At that last point, you might start wondering who the villain really is, and have fun arguing with people over the authorial intent.
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| abstract
| - Sometimes the "forces of good" in a story treat an "evil" character badly enough, for long enough, that the "evil" character just says "Screw it. You think I'm evil? Then let me be evil." Prolonged exposure to the cynical side of the Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism has conditioned this character to accept the fact that Humans Are Bastards, and if he wants to get anywhere in the world, he has to be every bit as dirty and cruel as they are. The villain normally gets to this point by being rejected by the resident morality enforcers and treated to assumptive behaviour. Whether it's due to being of a different nationality, hailing from a stereotypically Always Chaotic Evil species, or having had a few evil moments in the past, they just cannot get a break; even if they try to do good deeds, it will only lead to being horrifically punished for them. The point is, there is absolutely no way they can change anyone's mind that they're not a Complete Monster, so why bother? Once this trope has been declared, unlike a lot of Ambiguously Evil characters, they won't be redeemed in spite of their sympathetic traits -- this is largely because it took a lot of work to turn him evil in the first place. Interestingly, in spite of all this, he doesn't look for excuses to kick puppies -- he still has morals, he just exercises a (much) more cynical variant of The Golden Rule. The trope can be played to be more or less convincing for the audience depending on what point the writer wants to make. You can have the statement come across like a cheap Freudian Excuse such that it feels just like the villain is not truly owning up to their own part in their villainy. You could have it come across as a genuine explanation, but still not an excuse. And then again, it could be used as a genuine exposure of mistakes the hero has made, or even an outright exposure and commentary of the other characters' hypocrisy. At that last point, you might start wondering who the villain really is, and have fun arguing with people over the authorial intent. Related to Internalized Categorism, He Who Fights Monsters, Reformed but Rejected, Cycle of Revenge, Not Helping Your Case, Interrupted Cooldown Hug, and Who's Laughing Now?. See also Self-Fulfilling Prophecy. Examples of Then Let Me Be Evil include:
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