History Main / IDidWhatIHadToDo

* This was Ultra Magnus' justification for creating PersonOfMassDestruction Omega Supreme in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'', showing that he was (and still is) willing to do nearly anything to end the war. Ratchet didn't agree.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlDZqnxVZVg PreGame Lobby]] parodies this trope... With a giant blue duck.

* Urza in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' practically had this printed on a shirt. Let's put it this way: his plan to wreck the biomechanical hell of Phyrexia involved recruiting eight planeswalkers. One of said planeswalkers was a sociopathic murderer who Urza knew all along would try and kill the other planeswalkers; he let said murderer kill two, then hit the kill command for that murderer's powersuit and used his life energy to prime the bombs. While ranting about how everyone kept underestimating him, no less.
** [[spoiler: He did a lot more than that. Let's begin with the earlier years of his four thousand year life. He rose to power as a talented Artificer in Yotia. Soon he came into conflict with a neighboring desert nation led by his brother. The following war saw entire forests cut down for wood, seas poisoned, deserts burned to glass and the earth blackened. The Brothers' War devastated Terisaire and killed most of the continent's population, all to save those that did survive from his brother, who was even worse. In order to win his war, Urza used the sylex at Argoth, which was pretty much a magic nuke that changed the shape of Dominaria forever. After that the list gets even longer. He unintentionally led the Phyrexians to Serra's realm, which was destroyed. He sacrificed friends as if they grew on trees, all in the name of revenge. In order to combat Phyrexia, Urza began a century-long eugenics project to breed a savior that can defeat them. He built a school for mages only to abandon its students when the academy was trapped in time dilation. Here is a man who sacrifices friends and nations, a man to whom no price is too high to defeat Phyrexia and Yawgmoth. In the end, he even sacrificed himself to that end.]] All of this made his [[spoiler:betrayal of his own cause]] that much worse. After all of the terrible things he did to fight Phyrexia [[spoiler:he was seduced by its power and majesty and pledged himself to Yawgmoth at the moment of truth. He only got back on track after Gerrard chopped his head off.]]

* There's a reason [[TabletopGame/WerewolfTheForsaken the Forsaken]] are called such -- because they killed their father deity when they saw that he was getting weak and was unable to hunt down the [[EldritchAbomination spirit entities]] that threatened primordial Earth. As a result, they pretty much dashed Paradise to pieces, alienated their mother deity for millennia, and earned the undying enmity of their cousins, the Pure.

* ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'':
** The U.N. Director invokes this trope when he gives the order to drop nukes on the big superhero brawl. "The only way to make certain future generations will know this was our only hope... is to ensure there will BE future generations." He is later shown in his office, looking rather regretful.
** Magog uses this one too, which isn't surprising as he was inspired by Cable.
* Creator/MarvelComics' ComicBook/{{Cable}} might as well have this monogrammed on his towels as often as he says it in his early appearances.

Generally associated with OOCIsSeriousBusiness. Compare WellIntentionedExtremist and ItSeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime. When the character's motivation is her responsibility to those under her command, see TheChainsOfCommanding. If the consequences shown actually ''justify'' the action, then TheExtremistWasRight. A character growing too comfortable with 'doing what I had to do' is guilty of a ReverseSlipperySlopeFallacy. Can be a MoralEventHorizon if it was particularly cruel or if they're particularly callous and nonchalant about it when confronted. If invoked large-scale by a VisionaryVillain, it's UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans. Also, see JustFollowingOrders.

->''"I have always admired [[UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln Lincoln]]. When the South began going its own way, he knew that taking a position against them would lead to civil war. But he did it anyway. Because he understood something...understood it more perhaps than anyone else in that time. He knew that a house divided against itself cannot stand...a nation cannot be divided and survive. Under his administration, brother hunted down brother, friend turned against friend. It was terrible. It was bloody. It was '''necessary'''. Because at the end, the republic held, and the nation was restored."''

Sometimes a decent person has to do something bad because it is the only way to prevent something ''worse'' from happening. 'I Did What I Had To Do' generally involves an after-the-fact justification for [[NecessarilyEvil morally questionable]] [[ShootTheDog actions.]] The culprit presents this statement when he's confronted with a "WhatWereYouThinking" or "WhatTheHellHero" reaction from someone (particularly TheHeart) to whom he owes an explanation.

The consequences of such an action vary, of course, depending on the work's place in the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism. A character who sincerely regrets the 'necessary' action is likely to regard it as DirtyBusiness, suffer {{Past Experience Nightmare}}s, or [[DrowningMySorrows try to forget through chemical means.]] Someone who realizes they don't feel all that bad about the 'necessity' may be suffering from StartOfDarkness. A character who was already rather amoral might say this only because [[ItsAllAboutMe they're upset that they had to get their hands dirty]].

* [[spoiler: Ra's Al Ghul]] says this line verbatim in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond''. [[spoiler:He ''had'' placed his mind into his daughter's body in order to cheat death.]]
** An alternate version of Batman from ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' uses five simple words as justification for an alternate Superman vaporizing their version of Lex Luthor: "It had to be done." And then this act sets the heroes on a path to creating [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans a world without war, crime, poverty, suffering and most importantly, freedom]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', this is used by Zuko twice; once in his second fight against Zhao to justify [[spoiler:becoming the Blue Spirit and springing the Avatar, thus rendering himself a traitor to his own nation]], and then again in season 3 to [[spoiler:Iroh as his excuse for his actions during the season 2 finale]]. It's pretty notable that while the first is said with utter conviction, the second time it's used it more or less fails to even convince Zuko himself. In the case of the latter though, [[spoiler:it's more from a pragmatic standpoint that if Iroh had joined him, he wouldn't have had to end up rotting in a cell]].

* ''WesternAnimation/JurassicWorld:CampCretaceous'' Sammy is reveal to be a spy from a Rival Company, she accepted their deal after her Parents refused their offered. Not wanting to lose their Famiy Ranch, Sam chose to be a spy, without the knowledge of her Parents.

* ''WesternAnimation/JurassicWorld:CampCertaceous'' Sammy is reveal to be a spy from a Rival Company, she accepted their deal after her Parents refused their offered. Not wanting to lose their Famiy Ranch, Sam chose to be a spy, without the knowledge of her Parents.

* ''WesternAnimation/JurassicWorldCampCertaceous'' Sammy is reveal to be a spy from a Rival Company, she accepted their deal after her Parents refused their offered. Not wanting to lose their Famiy Ranch, Sam chose to be a spy, without the knowledge of her Parents.

* {{IDidWhatIHadToDo/Webcomics}}

[[folder: Comic Books]]

->''"I have always admired [[UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln Lincoln]]. When the South began going its own way, he knew that taking a position against them would lead to civil war. But he did it anyway. Because he understood something... understood it more perhaps than anyone else in that time. He knew that a house divided against itself cannot stand... a nation cannot be divided and survive. Under his administration, brother hunted down brother, friend turned against friend. It was terrible. It was bloody. It was '''necessary'''. Because at the end, the republic held, and the nation was restored."''
-->-- '''[[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]]''', ''ComicBook/CivilWar''

* In Franchise/TheDCU, this is Amanda Waller's ''raison d'être''.
** Waller is odd in that she has a tendency to surround herself with idealists in an attempt to curb her pragmatic tendencies. When she (invariably) alienates these people, she REALLY starts to fall into this trope.
** In the ''Elseworlds'' story ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'', the U.N. Director invokes this trope when he gives the order to drop nukes on the big superhero brawl. "The only way to make certain future generations will know this was our only hope... is to ensure there will BE future generations." He is later shown in his office, looking rather regretful.

* Magog from ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'' uses this one too, which isn't surprising as he was inspired by Cable.

** [[spoiler: He kinda succeeds after the events in Phoenix Five. Kinda.]]

* In the Franchise/{{Superman}} storyline ''ComicBook/TheThirdKryptonian'', Karsta Wor-Ul admits she sometimes killed people to survive during her time as a runaway outlaw. She isn't proud of it, and she wonders whether she could have found another way, but she points out she was just trying to keep herself alive.
-->'''Superman:''' You... killed them? A ship full of law officers, doing their duty?\\

* An account about [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Porta_Vaga Our Lady of Porta Vaga]] in the Philippines tells that of a Spanish sentinel guarding the Porta Vaga in Cavite during a dark and stormy night, despite the dangers brought about by thunderstorm and furious lashes of rain. A blinding halo of light emanated from a distance, which the sentinel initially mistook for [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfPiracy a pirate ship]] intent on looting Cavite due to its role in the galleon trade. He yelled at the light to stop, and cried "Who is there?" The light turned out to be a Marian apparition, who asked the soldier in a soothing voice, ''"Soldadito, ¿por qué el alto me das en noche tan fría? Dame paso. ¿No conoces a Maria?"'' (Soldier boy, why challenge me on a night so cold? Let me pass. Don’t you recognize Maria?) Feeling guilty at his irreverent reaction, the sentinel humbly apologised and explained he was just fulfilling his sworn duty, saying ''"Perdóname, Virgen Maria, Reina de mi devoción; pues solo soy un soldado que cumplo mi obligación!"'' (Forgive me, my Virgin, Queen of my heart; I am a poor sentinel abiding by his duty.”)

* An account about [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Porta_Vaga Our Lady of Porta Vaga]] in the Philippines tells that of a Spanish sentinel guarding the Porta Vaga in Cavite during a dark and stormy night, despite the dangers brought about by thunderstorm and furious lashes of rain. A blinding halo of light emanated from a distance, which the sentinel initially mistook for [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfPiracy a pirate ship]] intent on looting Cavite due to its role in the galleon trade. He yelled at the light to stop, and asked "Who is there?". The light turned out to be a Marian apparition, who told the soldier in a soothing voice, ''"Soldadito, ¿por qué el alto me das en noche tan fría? Dame paso. ¿No conoces a Maria?"'' (Soldier boy, why challenge me on a night so cold? Let me pass. Don’t you recognize Maria?) Feeling guilty at his irreverent reaction, the sentinel humbly apologised and explained he was just fulfilling his sworn duty, saying ''"Perdóname, Virgen Maria, Reina de mi devoción; pues solo soy un soldado que cumplo mi obligación!"'' (Forgive me, my Virgin, Queen of my heart; I am a poor sentinel abiding by his duty.”)

->''"I have always admired Lincoln. When the South began going its own way, he knew that taking a position against them would lead to civil war. But he did it anyway. Because he understood something... understood it more perhaps than anyone else in that time. He knew that a house divided against itself cannot stand... a nation cannot be divided and survive. Under his administration, brother hunted down brother, friend turned against friend. It was terrible. It was bloody. It was '''necessary'''. Because at the end, the republic held, and the nation was restored."''

Generally associated with OOCIsSeriousBusiness. Compare WellIntentionedExtremist and ItSeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime. When the character's motivation is her responsibility to those under her command, see TheChainsOfCommanding. If the consequences shown actually ''justify'' the action, then that's AndItWorked. A character growing too comfortable with 'doing what I had to do' is guilty of a ReverseSlipperySlopeFallacy. Can be a MoralEventHorizon if it was particularly cruel or if they're particularly callous and nonchalant about it when confronted. If invoked large-scale by a VisionaryVillain, it's UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans. Also, see JustFollowingOrders.

* In ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' storyline ''ComicBook/TheThirdKryptonian'', Karsta Wor-Ul admits she sometimes killed people to survive during her time as a runaway outlaw. She isn't proud of it, and she wonders whether she could have found another way, but she points out she was just trying to keep herself alive.

* ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'': Bobby has been on vacation, got a girlfriend, and told her about the school. Not just the school itself: every minute detail about it. Xavier was hesitant to simply erase the memory of this conversation from their minds, but saw no other alternative. He asked Jean, who did not see another option either, so he proceeds. Still, he loathes having to do it.

* After UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, Italian General Luigi Cadorna, best known for his draconian discipline measures, [[AttackAttackAttack inability to conceive a different tactic from the frontal attack]], practically establishing a dictatorship in everything but name and [[CurbStompBattle getting crushed at Caporetto]] before being sacked, wrote a book in which he justified almost all his actions with necessity. Doing only frontal attacks? There was no time nor resources to retrain the soldiers for different tactics, and he ''still'' managed to partly do it ''and'' create the most feared special forces of the war. Retiring most troops and all airplanes from Libya, thus crippling the efforts to crush the Senussi rebellion while it's still weak? He needed them to fight Austria-Hungary, and they could reconquer Libya relatively easily once the war was won. The dictatorship? Necessary to fight a war without being crippled by Italy's {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s that caused the Italian Army to enter the war underequipped, and he could have taken over and established an actual dictatorship whenever he wanted (he actually got some flak from Mussolini for backing out of a coup attempt). That draconian discipline? It had to be done. What's worse, is that, aside for the draconian discipline, ''he was right''.

The consequences of such an action vary, of course, depending on the work's place in the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism. A character who sincerely regrets the 'necessary' action is likely to regard it as DirtyBusiness, suffer BadDreams, or [[DrowningMySorrows try to forget through chemical means.]] Someone who realizes they don't feel all that bad about the 'necessity' may be suffering from StartOfDarkness. A character who was already rather amoral might say this only because [[ItsAllAboutMe they're upset that they had to get their hands dirty]].

* [[spoiler:Ozymandias]] from ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'' killed millions to save billions. [[spoiler:Possibly. The ending deliberately leaves it ambiguous as to whether his gambit ultimately succeeds. Regardless, he certainly ''believes'' his actions will save billions, at least until Dr. Manhattan leaves him with the words "Nothing ever ends, Adrian"]].

-->[[spoiler: Ozymandias: I weaned my world off gasoline and oil. I cured famine and disease. I negotiated nuclear disarmament. I turned the world upside down. I did whatever I had to, to try and save it. And, yes, I failed. [[ArmorPiercingQuestion But what have you tried to do to make this world a better place?]]]]

* UsefulNotes/HarryTruman stood by his decision to use atomic bombs against Japan, saying "I knew what I was doing when I stopped the war... I have no regrets and, under the same circumstances, I would do it again." In private diaries, however, he expressed some regrets and uncertainty.

-->[[spoiler: Ozymandias]]: [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech Your world is worse off than mine ever was. Look at the sheer number of people you lost in the narrative of Good versus Bad. Wandering aimlessly in a fog of self-righteousness. You're so busy putting these "super-villains" into prisons with revolving doors, you've ignored the world's real problems.]]