History Main / ForGreatJustice

* ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'': This is [[CuteClumsyGirl Princess Amelia Seiryuun's]] schtick throughout the series, [[DaddysGirl which she gets from her father]], [[BigHam Prince Phil.]] In addition to suffering from ChronicHeroSyndrome (which annoys Lina, to no end), she proudly proclaims herself to be a champion of love, peace, and justice and will smite evil [[WrestlerInAllOfUs with dropkicks, suplexes]], and [[CuteBruiser really big, EXTREMELY HEAVY blunt objects.]]

* ''Anime/TekkonKinkreet'': "This is Agent White reporting! Keeping the peace, doing my best to fight the bad guys, wherever they may be. Over and out."

* ''LightNovel/UndefeatedBahamutChronicle'': Deconstructed. The BigBad, Fugil Arcadia, is a KnightTemplar who declares himself to be a hero fighting for justice, a concept he defines as using any means necessary - such as [[spoiler:perception and memory manipulation]] - to keep all political powers in balance and serve TheNeedsOfTheMany. While he recognizes that other people, including the protagonist Lux, have different definitions of justice, he considers their justice to be insufficient compared to his own because they're not willing to go to the same [[WellIntentionedExtremist extremes]]. In his backstory, he wasn't always this zealous, but the constant conflict in his era caused him and his partner to believe that [[spoiler:forcing the masses to forget their grudges is the only way to get them on board with their ideals]].

* ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'': This is [[CuteClumsyGirl Princess Amelia Seiryuun's]] schtick throughout the series, [[DaddysGirl which she gets from her father]], [[BigHam Prince Phil.]] In addition to suffering from ChronicHeroSyndrome (which annoys Lina, to no end), she proudly proclaims herself to be a champion of love, peace, and justice and will smite the hell out of evil [[WrestlerInAllOfUs with dropkicks, suplexes]], and [[CuteBruiser really big, EXTREMELY HEAVY blunt objects.]]

* In ''Franchise/StarWars'', Obi-Wan described the Jedi as "the guardians of peace and justice". Of course, he was talking to a young-for-his-age twenty-ish rube with stars in his eyes.

** ''Series/KamenRiderWizard''[='s=] [[PostScriptSeason Post-Script Episodes]] see the villain give a BreakingSpeech where he claims Riders are [[NotSoDifferentRemark no different]] from the Kaijin they fight, only hiding behind hollow claims of being "allies of justice". The Riders [[KirkSummation promptly retort by saying that]] what they fight for isn't justice, but to protect peoples' freedom from those who would take it away by force. This has been the ethos of the franchise from the very beginning, with the very first Rider having said, “Human lives are more important than peace and justice,” and indeed, he fought against those who would take away human freedom by force (i.e. Shocker, an organization literally founded by ThoseWackyNazis).

* In the prologue of ''Theatre/{{JB}}'', Mr. Zuss states that the point of the Literature/BookOfJob is to teach Job what God's justice means. Nickles of course takes a more cynical view, and Sarah in the final scene says that there simply isn't any justice in what happened.

** ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies Dual Destinies]]'' gives us Detective Fulbright. His MO is basically this trope, with his own CatchPhrase of "In justice we trust!". [[spoiler:Subverted when it is discovered that the Fulbright who the characters meet is actually a murderous, emotionless sociopath (and final villain of the game) impersonating the now-deceased real Fulbright, but the original presumably used the phrase honestly.]]

* Justice is pretty much what the ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'' series' [[KnightInShiningArmor Maximillian Knights]] are all about.

** The skill in question actually has your character shout the line. It sounds hilarious from [[LargeHam male norn]] or pretty much any asura. Female norn and male sylvari manage to sound deadly serious.

** One of the companions in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening'' is a friendly fade spirit that is literally defined by this concept. Justice is his identity, not his name.

* Probably ''the'' most common character trait found in hero profiles in {{JRPG}}s. It isn't unusual to find an entire team of characters with no similarities apart from having "a strong sense of justice."

** Then there's his AntiVillain foil, Jetstream Sam, who wandered the world single-handedly slaughtering entire gangs and drug cartels before declaring war on one of the three largest private military companies in America... because hey, it's not like he can "sharpen [his] skills" on the ''good'' guys.

* {{Deconstructed}} similarly in by Shirou in ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight''. Having no sense of self-preservation, he's willing to throw his life away if it means doing the "right" thing at almost any opportunity to do so and will stop at nothing to become a "Hero of Justice". [[spoiler: His future self, Archer, sold his soul to become a Counter-Guardian in hopes of being able to protect everyone, but instead, he was reduced to killing terrorist and radical groups of people that threatened to start wars and revolutions that had the potential to destroy the world, making him realize that "true justice" is the result of order, and that salvation of others and salvation of the self are not only different but incompatible, and since he had no idea who to actually save before making the pact, he ended up betrayed by his own ideal. In his own words, he basically became no more than a mere murderer.]]

* ''WebComic/MagickChicks'': [[GeniusDitz Tiffany]] tries to invoke this with mixed results. She's Artemis Academy's self-appointed champion: the MMAA,[[note]]"Mysterious Masked Academy Avenger"[[/note]] who fights against the school's social injustices, which basically means [[http://www.magickchicks.com/strips-mc/now_is_for_running she pesters Faith.]] On the other hand, while she's had [[http://www.magickchicks.com/strips-mc/feat_of_derring-do some success]], she's still [[FailedDramaticExit really, REALLY]], [[http://www.magickchicks.com/strips-mc/i_am_okay! bad at it.]]

* Miko from ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' uses this for most of her actions. Of course, she's actually a LawfulStupid KnightTemplar, so she's not the most self-aware person that you're going to run into.

** Sadly, not every country with such a motto is also able to follow this motto. The official motto "Justice, Liberty, Prosperity" belongs to the Republic of South Sudan, which was torn by civil wars for sixty years! "Paix, Justice, Travail" is the motto of the Kongo, one of the poorest countries in the world, and a state that has also to deal with civil war. Of course, this is universally true for every nation, the land of "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" was built on slavery, and "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" excluded those pesky colonial nations.

* As do the Tau Empire in TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}, with their ubiquitous catchphrase, "For the Greater Good!" This has the effect of making newcomers to the series believe and latch onto the idea that the Tau are the [[BlackAndGreyMorality "Good Guys"]], prompting others to mock them with the phrase "Good for the Good God!"

** The Tau ''were'' this in their original incarnation. At first, the Tau were a {{utopia}} whose White morality clashed terribly with the setting's [[EvilVersusEvil charcoal-grey-on-black-on-event-horizon-of-a-black-hole morality.]] Fan reaction was fairly negative. The Tau got a bit of character development and started doing rather questionable things that would make them ScaryDogmaticAliens in most settings, but by 40k's absurd StealthParody standards, the Tau are downright nice guys. The Tau may not be in it For Great Justice, but they're amongst the ''least'' evil. By now, with the Tau adopting a GunboatDiplomacy manifest destiny motive, the Tau have been accepted by ''most'' of the fandom. However, the fanbase is so broken and vocal that everything is hated by a good chunk of the fanbase.

** The Tau ''were'' this in their original incarnation. At first, the Tau were a MarySuetopia whose White morality clashed terribly with the setting's [[EvilVersusEvil charcoal-grey-on-black-on-event-horizon-of-a-black-hole morality.]] Fan reaction was fairly negative. The Tau got a bit of character development and started doing rather questionable things that would make them ScaryDogmaticAliens in most settings, but by 40k's absurd StealthParody standards, the Tau are downright nice guys. The Tau may not be in it For Great Justice, but they're amongst the ''least'' evil. By now, with the Tau adopting a GunboatDiplomacy manifest destiny motive, the Tau have been accepted by ''most'' of the fandom. However, the fanbase is so broken and vocal that everything is hated by a good chunk of the fanbase.

* ''ComicBook/Robin1993'': Tim Drake's motivation boils down to his belief in the need for true justice, especially in a city like Gotham. It's a motivation he restates on several occasions but first made evident in the speech he used on Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson when he was still trying to remain a particularly well informed and investigative civilian;

* Kanetsugu Naoe of ''VideoGame/SamuraiWarriors'' is this too, but is even worse at it than Ma Chao. At least Ma Chao has a rough idea of what he means by justice. Kanetsugu actually undergoes a minor existential crisis when he realizes he has ''no idea'' what justice means in his world.

** The highly unofficial United States motto "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness" is probably the most famous example in the English-speaking world.[[note]]The official United States motto is "In God We Trust", adopted in TheFifties to show the atheist DirtyCommies that ''America'' still believes. An unofficial-official motto—dating back to the Revolution and used on the Great Seal and on virtually all US currency—is ''[[PretentiousLatinMotto E pluribus unum]]'', "Out of many, one"; this originally referred to [[UsefulNotes/AmericanFederalism a single union out of many states]], but it has also gained connotations of [[UsefulNotes/MeltingPot the formation of a single American people out of immigrants from around the world]].[[/note]] Almost directly derived from the works of John Locke (having "pursuit of happiness" stand in for the rather crasser-sounding "property" of Locke's original), it reflects America's "rugged individualism", particularly its rigid stance on individual rights and more laissez-faire attitude towards economics.

** A close second in English-speaking countries and probably more famous over all is France's "Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité" (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity). French democracy places a great deal of emphasis on social equality and solidarity, which often together trump the idea of personal freedom; the French have never forgotten the indignities of the ''[[UsefulNotes/LetatCestMoi ancien régime]]''. This is how France justifies many policies which Americans (and, truth be told, Britons) would find repulsive, such as banning religious clothing and symbols in public places or the heavily regulated and state-directed French economy.

** Germany has "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit" (Unity and Justice and Liberty).[[note]]Perhaps it's worth mentioning that this phrase most famously occurs in the third stanza of the Song of the Germans (Das Lied der Deutschen). You know, the song whose first stanza starts with "Deutschland, Deutschland über Alles." The third stanza (only) is the modern national anthem of Germany.[[/note]][[note]]It should be noted that the Song was from a time when there was [[UsefulNotes/AllTheLittleGermanies no German state]] and the songwriter just wanted to emphasize how important the existence of such a state was for him. The song was not meant to be aggressive against other countries, that's one reason why it was used as national anthem during the Weimar Republic, but Nazi Germany only used the first stanza.[[/note]] Modern Germany, as one might recall, had a very hard time getting to where it is now. Its legal system is noted for trying to strike a balance between the extremes of France and Britain in substance (in format, it's all French) and is ''very'' concerned with ensuring that the rule of law is applied consistently and fairly.
** Sadly, not every country with such a motto is also able to follow this motto. The official motto "Justice, Liberty, Prosperity" belongs to the Republic of South Sudan, which is torn in civil wars since sixty years! "Paix, Justice, Travail" is the motto of the Kongo, one of the poorest countries in the world, and a state that has also to deal with civil war. Of course, this is universally true for every nation, the land of "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" was built on slavery, and "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" excluded those pesky colonial nations.

* PlayedForLaughs in ''Anime/SpacePatrolLuluco'' where everyone's suits shout out "[[GratuitousEnglish Fight for Justice!]]" whenever they attack. UpToEleven with DaChief, [[MeaningfulName Over Justice]].

** In ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork 6'', the Joke program causes [=MegaMan.EXE=] to {{lampshade|Hanging}} this line during a joke. When that fails, he tries to [[UpToEleven one-up]] it into "For Great''er'' Justice?" Lan is not amused.

* ''VideoGame/VoltageFighterGowcaizer'': [[http://zanyvgquotes.com/gowcaizer/gow-justice.png "I AM THE JUSTICE, NOT YOU."]] [[http://zanyvgquotes.com/gowcaizer/gow-justice2.png "THE JUSTICE ALWAYS WINS. NEVER FORGET IT."]] [[http://zanyvgquotes.com/gowcaizer/gow-winsjustice.png "NOTHING WINS THE JUSTICE."]] [[http://zanyvgquotes.com/gowcaizer/gow-together.png "LET'S FIGHT TOGETHER FOR JUSTICE!"]] All courtesy of Brider, who can only be described as a bastard lovechild of ''Kamen Rider'' and ''Gundam'', with the former's passion for fighting evil and defending justice dialed UpToEleven. Although the above was due to the [[BlindIdiotTranslation SNK bad Engrish syndrome for being an old Neo Geo game]], the Japanese version still retains his passion for great justice.

->''"I’ll be all aroun’ in the dark. I’ll be ever’where -- wherever you look. Wherever they’s a fight so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Wherever they’s a cop beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there."''

* ''[[ComicBook/RobinSeries Robin]]'' Tim Drake's motivation boils down to his belief in the need for true justice, especially in a city like Gotham. It's a motivation he restates on several occasions but first made evident in the speech he used on Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson when he was still trying to remain a particularly well informed and investigative civilian;

* Real-life inventors sometimes invent things just for the benefit of humanity, rather than for [[MoneyDearBoy profit]]. Jonas Salk (inventor of the polio vaccine) is one such example. Someone even suggested he patent the vaccine to make money off of it and he replied by saying "Could you patent the Sun?" Unfortunately, this practice is becoming less and less common.

[[quoteright:350:[[Franchise/{{Superman}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/truthnjustice.png]]]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* Ky Kiske of ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' whos initial theme song is called "Holy orders Be just or be Dead"

* {{Deconstructed}} by Vhailor in ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment''. Justice is his literal ''raison d'etre'', it's the reason he's still alive because he's unwilling to die as long as there is justice left to be meted out. He is completely single-minded on punishing evil, has close to no ego and views himself as an implement of an ideal rather than a person, nigh impossible to dissuade or convince, uncompromising, believes in the rightness of his cause, and, in a world full of GreyAndGrayMorality, [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity utterly terrifying]].

** A close second in English-speaking countries and probably more famous over all is France's "Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité" (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity). French democracy places a great deal of emphasis on social equality and solidarity, which often together trump the idea of personal freedom; the French have never forgotten the indignities of the ''[[UsefulNotes/LetatCestMoi ancien régime]]''. This is how France justifies many policies which Americans (and, truth be told, Britons) would find repulsive, such as banning religious clothing and symbols in public places or the heavily-regulated and state-directed French economy.

** Germany has "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit" (Unity and Justice and Liberty).[[note]]Perhaps it's worth mentioning that this phrase most famously occurs in the third stanza of the Song of the Germans (Das Lied der Deutschen). You know, the song whose first stanza starts with "Deutschland, Deutschland über Alles." The third stanza (only) is the modern national anthem of Germany.[[/note]][[note]]It should be noted that the Song was from a time when there was [[UsefulNotes/AllTheLittleGermanies no German state]] and the songwriter just wanted to emphasize how important the existence of such a state was for him. The song was not meant to be aggressive against other countries, that's one reason why it was used as national anthem during the Weimar Republic, but Nazi Germany only used the first stanza.[[/note]] Modern Germany, as one might recall, had a very hard time in getting to where it is now. Its legal system is noted for trying to strike a balance between the extremes of France and Britain in substance (in format, it's all French) and is ''very'' concerned with ensuring that the rule of law is applied consistently and fairly.

* ''Anime/KazemakaseTsukikageRan'': Meow will fight anyone for this reason. She even calls herself 'The Beauty of Justice'.

** ''Series/KamenRiderWizard''[='s=] [[PostScriptSeason Post-Script Episodes]] see the villain give a BreakingSpeech where he claims Riders are [[NotSoDifferent no different]] from the Kaijin they fight, only hiding behind hollow claims of being "allies of justice". The Riders [[KirkSummation promptly retort by saying that]] what they fight for isn't justice, but to protect peoples' freedom from those who would take it away by force. This has been the ethos of the franchise from the very beginning, with the very first Rider having said, “Human lives are more important than peace and justice,” and indeed, he fought against those who would take away human freedom by force (i.e. Shocker, an organization literally founded by ThoseWackyNazis).

* An optional sidequest in ''Videogame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' has the protagonist [[HeroicMime Link]] [[StealthBasedMission discreetly following]] a girl, Mila, through the town of Windfall in the middle of the night. Once she reaches the open-air stall that she works at, she attempts to get into a safe and steal money from her boss (having recently suffered an inverted RagsToRiches). One of the reasons that the player can give for not letting her off the hook when he catches her is that Link is "an ally of justice!"

Compare ForScience, CaptainGeographic, CaptainPatriotic, CaptainSpaceDefenderOfEarth, and ForHappiness.

** And completely inverted in ''VideoGame/StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime'', when the in the gap between the penultimate and ultimate battle, the BigBad [[{{Satan}} Luther's]] world comes crashing around him and he goes rather mad. In a rather {{Narm}}y fashion, he screeches at the party that "RIGHTEOUSNESS SHALL PREVAIL!" before attacking.
* "''VideoGame/SpaceAce'', defender of truth, justice, and the planet Earth! …[[AlwaysSaveTheGirl and his girlfriend, Kimberly]]."

** And then there's his AntiVillain foil, Jetstream Sam, who wandered the world single-handedly slaughtering entire gangs and drug cartels before declaring war on one of the three largest private military companies in America... because hey, it's not like he can "sharpen [his] skills" on the ''good'' guys.

** ''Series/KamenRiderWizard''[='s=] [[PostScriptSeason Post-Script Episodes]] see the villain give a BreakingSpeech where he claims Riders are [[NotSoDifferent no different]] from the Kaijin they fight, only hiding behind hollow claims of being "allies of justice". The Riders [[KirkSummation promptly retort by saying that]] what they fight for isn't justice, but to protect peoples' freedom from those who would take it away by force. This ended up becoming a key difference between the old-school Showa Kamen Riders like Stronger (who ''do'' fight for justice) and the modern Heisei Riders like Wizard, and was more fully explored in ''Film/HeiseiRiderVsShowaRiderKamenRiderWarsFeaturingSuperSentai''.

* America in ''Manga/AxisPowersHetalia'':

* ''Anime/KazemakaseTsukikageRan'': Meow will fight anyone for this reason. She even calls herself 'The Beauty of Justice'

* The World Government Marines in ''Manga/OnePiece'' have a bit of a thing for justice. Aside from having the characters for justice printed on captain-rank officer's coats, several prominent personnel tend to have their own take on the concept; [[BrilliantButLazy Admiral Aokiji]] has "Lazy Justice," [[GeneralRipper Admiral Akainu]] has [[KnightTemplar "Absolute Justice,"]] [[BloodKnight Rob Lucci]] has "Dark Justice," etc.

Compare ForScience, CaptainGeographic, CaptainPatriotic, CaptainSpaceDefenderOfEarth, ForHappiness.

The EvilCounterpart is ForTheEvulz, or WellIntentionedExtremist if the villains had good intentions behind their atrocities. Do NOT confuse with JusticeWillPrevail, a more complicated topic to say the least.

* ''VideoGame/VoltageFighterGowcaizer'': [[http://zanyvgquotes.com/gowcaizer/gow-justice.png "I AM THE JUSTICE, NOT YOU."]] [[http://zanyvgquotes.com/gowcaizer/gow-justice2.png "THE JUSTICE ALWAYS WINS. NEVER FORGET IT."]] [[http://zanyvgquotes.com/gowcaizer/gow-winsjustice.png "NOTHING WINS THE JUSTICE."]] [[http://zanyvgquotes.com/gowcaizer/gow-together.png "LET'S FIGHT TOGETHER FOR JUSTICE!"]] All courtesy of Brider, who can only be described as a bastard lovechild of ''Kamen Rider'' and ''Gundam'', with the former's passion for fighting evil and defending justice dialed UpToEleven.

-->-- '''Tom Joad''', ''Film/TheGrapesOfWrath''

A stock reason given in the opening/narration of a show. This is why the good guys in some shows (particularly {{Anime}}, {{Kaiju}}, and {{Toku}}) fight against evil. It's for justice, righteousness, principles and values that depend more on what people deserve than [[ForHappiness on what they enjoy]]. It's a good reason to [[FighterLaunchingSequence launch all your fighters]] or HumongousMecha and beat the stuffings out of rubber suit monsters.

The EvilCounterpart is ForTheEvulz, or WellIntentionedExtremist if the villains had good intents behind their atrocities. Do NOT confuse with JusticeWillPrevail, a more complicated topic to say the least.

* ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'': This is [[CuteClumsyGirl Princess Amelia Seiryuun's]] schtick throughout the series, [[DaddysGirl which she gets from her father]], [[BigHam Prince Phil.]] In addition to suffering form ChronicHeroSyndrome (which annoys Lina, to no end), she proudly proclaims herself to be a champion of love, peace, and justice and will smite the hell out of evil [[WrestlerInAllOfUs with dropkicks, suplexes]], and [[CuteBruiser really big, EXTREMELY HEAVY blunt objects.]]

* Miko from ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' is all about promoting justice and morality, tends to classify people by whether they are good or bad, and is planning on attending law school when she graduates. According to her character profile in one of the volume extras, it's a habit she developed in order to feel closer to her often absent mother and father (who do humanitarian aid and work as a judge respectively).

* ''{{Film/Byzantium}}'': The Brethren's claimed goal is to work for this. We see no evidence of it in the film however.

* "''VideoGame/SpaceAce'', defender of truth, justice and the planet Earth! …[[AlwaysSaveTheGirl and his girlfriend, Kimberly]]."

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', this is both averted and played straight in two characters: Xander is more KnightInSourArmor, believing that this trope is a complete sham, as it makes one person not see the whole picture that [[GreyAndGrayMorality there's no clear cut good and evil in life]]. Also played straight on Arthur, who's born and raised into believing justice and doing good overall, with his quotes rife with declarations of JusticeWillPrevail. The funny thing is? They're under the same banner (Nohr). Fittingly, however, they cannot support to each other, and Arthur is instead the retainer of the youngest, most childish sibling, Elise, who DOES find such escapades of justice awesome.

* ''Blog/HowToHero'' invokes this concept all the time. The author even mentions that he talks about Justice as a proper-nouned concept so much that it his phone automatically capitalizes it.
** When devising a questionnaire to test potential [[MissionControl mission control]] members one of the questions is simply "How big is your thirst for justice?" with the options being: a. I have no thirst. b. I have some thirst. c. I have moderate to sever thirst. d. UNQUENCHABLE.

* Real life inventors sometimes invent things just for the benefit of humanity, rather than for [[MoneyDearBoy profit]]. Jonas Salk (inventor of the polio vaccine) is one such example. Someone even suggested he patent the vaccine to make money off of it and he replied by saying "Could you patent the Sun?" Unfortunately, this practice is becoming less and less commmon

** The Tau ''were'' this in their original incarnation. At first, the Tau were a MarySuetopia whose White morality clashed terribly with the setting's [[EvilVersusEvil charcoal-grey-on-black-on-event-horizon-of-a-black-hole morality.]] Fan reaction was fairly negative. The Tau got a bit of character development and started doing rather questionable things that would make them ScaryDogmaticAliens in most settings, but by 40k's absurd StealthParody standards, the Tau are downright nice guys. The Tau may not be in it ForGreatJustice, but they're amongst the ''least'' evil. By now, with the Tau adopting a GunboatDiplomacy manifest destiny motive, the Tau have been accepted by ''most'' of the fandom. However, the fanbase is so broken and vocal that everything is hated by a good chunk of the fanbase.