History Main / BetterTheDevilYouKnow

* ''VideoGame/Portal2'': [=GLaDOS=] may have been an [[AIIsACrapshoot unhinged, immoral AI]] that made life miserable for those that entered her facility, but [[ForScience she still had a genuine purpose behind her "antics"]], [[spoiler:unlike Wheatley who [[FromBadToWorse who was MUCH worse than GLaDOS ever was.]] With Wheatley in charge of the Aperture Science facility, the very semblance of "balance" in running things was practically non-existent]].

* Defied in ''VideoGame/BaldursGate3'': Asterion, after having spent two centuries as the thrall to a brutal and sadistic vampire lord, is fine with the potential of making himself a slave to a literal devil because it can't be any worse than what he suffered through at the hands of his old master.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Jumanji}}'', Van Pelt explained that he hunts because, in Jumanji you either hunt or are hunted. Peter, Judy and Alan then decided to hunt Van Pelt. When it seemed they got rid of him for good, Jumanji turned Peter into a new Van Pelt. The episode ended with [[StatusQuoIsGod Peter going back to normal and Van Pelt coming back]].

* Arguably, this is the World Government's feelings toward Whitebeard from ''Manga/OnePiece''. Sure he's a badass pirate, one of the strongest in the world, but he actually cares about the wellbeing of civilians and protects the islands under his banner, preventing much worse pirates from getting too powerful. The World Government knows that when he's killed, the general populace is completely screwed. [[spoiler: This is confirmed to be true, as many of the islands which were under his protection became instant hellholes in the space of a few days when every two bit pirate crew makes a grab for his old territory, making the New World even ''more'' chaotic than before. Even the other Emperors get more active now that they know they lost some of their only real competition for the title of Pirate King. In addition, the one who killed him, Blackbeard, has since ceased hiding in the shadows, and decided to let everyone know he's the real deal. Whitebeard's last words ''actually'' exacerbated the pirate problem by giving them a reason to persevere. New Age of Pirates, indeed]].
* At the finale of ''Anime/TransformersEnergon'', [[PlanetEater Unicron]] was finally destroyed. However, that only spawned an even worse entity, a black hole called the Grand Black Hole (or the Unicron Singularity in the dub). It was the focus of the next series, ''Anime/TransformersCybertron'', where it not only threatened to destroy existence, but the scattered pieces of Unicron's original body enabled Megatron to gain dark powers.

* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': DependingOnTheWriter, this is one of the reasons why the JokerImmunity exists. That damned clown brings Gotham to its knees once a day and twice on Sundays, but losing him isn't going to improve things. Without him around as disruptive element, other villains will be able to reliably [[VillainTeamUp team up]] to overwhelm the Bat Family. At worst, [[EldritchLocation Gotham]] itself is only going manufacture something just as bad or possibly worse than Joker himself to [[EvilPowerVacuum take his place]]. Either way, the city will to [[WretchedHive continue being a terrible place to live]].

* This is why the Marvel Universe keeps ComicBook/{{Galactus}} around. They got rid of him once before, only for something much worse to appear, [[OmnicidalManiac Abraxas]]. His whole purpose is to act as [[SealedEvilInACan a living seal]] to prevent an imprisoned EldritchAbomination from destroying the universe. That's why he has to feed on planets; he's sort of a living generator that keeps the seal active, and his meals act as fuel for it. Between the two, the universe as a whole would gladly choose to deal with Galactus.

** Spidey will later snark to himself that he is beginning to miss Fisk since he's no longer around to keep his goons in line. [[FromBadToWorse And then]] when the Demons start to become completely unhinged in their attacks on the city, Spidey notes that as bad as Fisk was, he never let his villainy get this out of hand and actually cared about order in the city.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'': Following the [[EvilPowerVacuum chaos resulting from "killing" the Shredder]] the turtles temporarily ally themselves with Shredder's adoptive daughter to ensure that the Foot Clan gains dominance in the gang wars. Leonardo, invoking this trope word for word, reasons that as bad as the Foot may be, putting them back on top would end the wars and get ''some'' order in the city.

* In Spanish, the saying goes "Más vale lo malo por conocido, que el bueno por conocer.". Translated, it means "Better the evil you know, than the good to be known.".

* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': DependingOnTheWriter, this is one of the reasons why the JokerImmunity exists. That damned clown brings Gotham to its knees once a day and twice on Sundays, but if he is gone [[EldritchLocation Gotham]] is only going to manufacture something much worse to [[WretchedHive continue being a terrible place to live]].
* This is why ComicBook/DoctorDoom has ruled Latveria for so long. He's evil, yes, but every time he's been replaced, the guy taking his place has been an even ''worse'' tyrant, as was [[AssholeVictim the guy that he replaced originally]]. If nothing else, he's good at protecting the place from external threats. When he returns, the citizens are always glad to have him back.
* This is why the Marvel Universe keeps ComicBook/{{Galactus}} around. They got rid of him once before, only for something much worse to appear, Abraxas. His whole purpose is to act as [[SealedEvilInACan a living seal]] to prevent an imprisoned EldritchAbomination from destroying the universe. That's why he has to feed on planets; he's sort of a living generator that keeps the seal active, and his meals act as fuel for it.

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' has this as a plot point when the player first learns of [[spoiler: the Patriots]]. The President says that even though their existence is a stranglehold on the true ideas of American freedom, if they cease to exist (according to him), the ensuing political power vacuum can wreak massive, unforseen danger to current American society if not the world.