History IDidWhatIHadToDo / FanWorks

** Inverted; Celestia assures the guilt-ridden Twilight that while [[spoiler: [[{{Retgone}} retgoning]] the adult Starlight and rewriting the timeline by adopting the filly Starlight out of her OrphanageOfFear]] without knowing the full consequences was extremely dangerous, it was necessary [[ShootTheDog because she ultimately had no other choice]].

** Played straight when Human Rainbow Dash kicks one of the Changeling mobsters [[GroinAttack below the belt]] to save [[spoiler: Sci-Twi]], an action that [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome ended up with him needing immediate medical attention]]. Apple Bloom is shocked when she heard about it, since her dad taught her it was ''never'' okay to do something like that to a guy. Dash proceeds to explain to the younger girl that in a dangerous situation, you sometimes have to resort to dirty tactics to survive and that if she ''didn't'' do it, Rainbow probably would have gotten stabbed and [[spoiler: the kidnappers would have succeeded in taking away Sci-Twi]].

* In ''Fanfic/TailsOfTheOldRepublic'', a crossover/ FusionFic between ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' and the videogame ''Franchise/StarWars: VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', Tails the fox has a very strong ThouShaltNotKill philosophy, but when [[spoiler:he's unable to keep it, this trope is how he rationalizes killing to survive or to save his friends.]]

--> '''Cardinal:''' "The Duchess, quite simply, moved the mountains to try to find you. And in so doing showed the weakness of the crown who could not stop one of their nobles from doing as she pleased. This, in turn, meant that your recovery would have made it all the more obvious how weak they were. Especially so if you were found in Germania, of all places. The risk of war with a country that is more than five times the military power of Tristain had to be avoided at all costs. If you had been found, on Germanian soil, well, the Duchess would have felt the need to demand reparations from the country itself."

* [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/22012711/chapters/86156383 White King, Black King]], a ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' fanfic, makes [[DiscussedTrope this Trope- by name- and its Deconstruction]] central elements of Petra's POV chapter, when she's talking with Hubert. Petra states that "The laziest words in the world are these seven", something [[DeceasedParentsAreTheBest her dead father]] taught her about rulership and politics; she explicitly calls this trope a [[DeconstructedTrope trap]]. Notably, Petra is not against making hard decisions- she actually agrees with many of Hubert's decisions- but she thinks that Hubert and, through him, Edelgard have gotten into a rut of using this trope instead of their brains.
--> “ I did what I had to do. It is... trap. Easy for royal, person, anybody to say. Fast. Justifies everything. But all traps are having bait, and that is the bait for this trap: it is easy, fast, justifies. Makes all kinds of things easy, fast, and justified to do, at least, for person doing them, not victims, maybe. But is trap. It is rarely being truth. Mostly excuse. Royal must be bigger, better, or will not be royal long. Must not be saying words, must be thinking, always, this thought- what if I don't? What if I could do something else? Is how ruler thinks of all angles.”

* Hermione [[spoiler: cut off Snape's hand]] in ''Fanfic/TheParselmouthOfGryffindor''. She had a good reason, and it was ultimately to protect him, but not everyone sees it that way.

* In ''Fanfic/{{Tizenot}}'', [[Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers Austria]] intentionally tried to act like an aloof {{Jerkass}} to Hungary following their divorce in an attempt to make it easier and quick for them. [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone He would come to regret that.]]

* ''Fanfic/BreathOfTheWild'': a plot point that completely changes how the canon backstory of ''Videogame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' is perceived. [[spoiler: The Golden Goddesses, Din, Nayru, and Farore, and their subordinate Goddess Hylia, set up a LongGame to destroy Demise's curse once and for all. Among the events they set into motion was the ''devastating'' Great Calamity that destroyed much of Hyrule and killed many people. They are ''not'' happy about this by a long shot, but they felt that it was necessary to finally put an end to the cycle of violence.]]

* ''Fanfic/WhatIsAPersonWorth''

** [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] when Lincoln tells his mother he feels guilty for considering calling the police on her and his father. She assures him that he did the right thing, and even admit that had he called the police and if she and his father were arrested, they would have completely deserved it. Rita even goes as far as to have Lincoln promise to call the police if she and his father ever do something like that again.

[[AC:Creator/MarvelComics]]

* ''Fanfic/ThePowersOfHarmony'': This is the justification used by Libra [[spoiler: and his Echo Blair]] for breaking the taboo on the use of Lifeforce magic. [[spoiler: It was the only way to stop Nightmare Moon's undying army in the War of the Sun and Moon.]]

-->“And what if that one pony would be [[SadisticChoice your student]]?"

* ''Fanfic/ACrownOfStars'': Discussed. Daniel discusses Shinji's actions during the Bardiel battle with him and tells Shinji that even if it was a terrible thing to do, Gendo had no option but activating the dummy plug since Shinji would not fight -he would not even lift a finger to try to rescue the pilot- and they could not let Bardiel reach Lilith, not matter what. He also examines Shinji's actions during the coup against Winthrop (refusing fighting in the middle of Berlin out of fear to hurt civilians) and pointed out that: Shinji nearly got Asuka and himself killed; and if they had not risked accidentally killing people, plenty more people would have assuredly died if they did not stop Winthrop. Then he explains that sometimes it is regrettably necessary endangering innocent lives to save a greater number of people, and Shinji has to agree he was going to let a lot of people die so that his conscience remained clean.

-->''"I'm the fool. And I've become a monster." She looked down, unable to face him.''\\
''"You made hard choices. And you had your responsibilities."''\\
''"So much blood, Kaji. I have so much blood on my hands." Negev. Tricking the Israelis into stealing bogus S2 engine specifications. When they used it to activate their Eva, everything within 50km was obliterated. The Army of God. She had given no quarter and made sure their leader met his end at SEELE's hands. Blackmailing the Chinese and then summarily nuked all the other military sites that were building their own Evas. They had no warning. No chance. She looked up almost earnestly. Having confessed her sins, she sought absolution in the man she had been forced to betray.''\\
''His smile was sad and warm. He touched the crook of her arm. She did not pull away. "But you knew had to," he said as his fingers traced their way down her forearm. "You had a reason."''
* Deconstructed in ''Fanfic/NeonGenesisEvangelionGenocide''. [[BigBad Gendo]] labeled any atrocity he committed as a "necessary sacrifice". His second-in-command Fuyutsuki calls this reasoning a "bad excuse".

* In ''[[Fanfic/PokeWars Poke Wars: The Subsistence]]'' Ash has Pikachu use Thunder on a sinking ferry overrun by Sharpedo and Tentecruel. He regrets that he had to kill everyone on the ship but the Pokémon swarming the ship were too dangerous to leave alive.

* In "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8361242/1/Taking-Care-of-Business Taking Care of Business]]" Homer Yannos uses this as the mantra he needs to keep himself sane [[spoiler: after he kills Lee's enemy girlfriend to prevent the group's discovery.]]