History Main / OmniscientMoralityLicense

* ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'': Subverted with the Valar. [[{{God}} Eru]] gave them almost absolute authority (their authority over Elves and Men, particularly the latter, is a bit of a grey area) over the world, but they lack the "omniscient" part. The Valar can and do make mistakes in pursuit of a greater good, despite (and sometimes ''because'') of their good intentions. The narrative implies that several of their actions where they intervened directly to improve the lives of Elves and Men (such as bringing the Elves to Aman, or giving Númenor and extended life to the Edain) were entirely the wrong thing to do, even if they were motivated by the best intentions. Some of their other actions (such as releasing Melkor, or sending the Istari to Middle Earth) also had bad results due to lack of foresight ([[GoodCannotComprehendEvil or an inability to understand how good things can become evil]]). Played straight with Eru himself, who tolerates evil not only because He gave free-will to His creations but also because even evil actions have good consequences that the Dark Lords can't possibly foresee but He does.

* Before the climax of ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', the Avengers have secured an organic android body that Ultron was planning on using for his final form, but was only able to place a portion of his programming in it before it was apprehended. Tony wants to activate the android, saying that it could be a powerful ally and would be the savior Ultron was supposed to be. Steve (who is backed by the defected Maximoff twins) says that the risk of another robot as powerful as Ultron is far too dangerous, and demands it be destroyed. As they have only minutes to either activate the android or destroy it, the argument degrades into a brawl. Suddenly, [[spoiler: ComicBook/{{Thor}} crashes in, scatters his teammates and uses his lightning to bring the android to life. Why? Because oracular water spirits told him that the android would be a key factor in defeating Ultron. It is because of this that the android is given the name ComicBook/{{Vision}}. And when Vision's motives are questioned, he unwittingly proves his goodness by lifting Mjolnir -- even though a scene earlier in the film implied that most of the Avengers didn't really consider lifting the hammer proof of anything (but mostly because none of them could lift it themselves, with the exception of Steve, who [[Film/AvengersEndgame could lift it]] but chose not to).]] Can't argue with Asgardians, can you?

Occasionally WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility will also pop up if the character has their decisions or motives questioned. "Knowledge is power" after all, and if they ''know'' everything, that's whole lot of power and responsibility. As the one who can fully understand all the context and consequences, they are perhaps the ''only one'' in a position to make the difficult choices and sacrifices so things work out "for the best".

** Note further that his replacement actually ''did'' have plans to scrap the system, but was forced/convinced not to by a conclave of the other gods (including, yes, good ones) in connection with the Trial of Cyric. Obviously not the sort of thing you'd like a mortal, even one powerful enough to breach into your homeplane, to know.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'', Waka could very likely be accused of this trope. In the game, it's shown that he can see the future, and is pretty strong, at one point even ''fixing the coastline of its corruption''. Staggeringly, he does very little in the way of progress, when, theoretically, he could fix most of Nippon's problems. And a lot of problems would probably have been solved if he took a more direct approach in saving the world, rather than let destiny play out. Of course, Waka, knowing the future, would know that he's not powerful enough to defeat the BigBad without a powered-up Ammy's help.
** His actions in ''VideoGame/{{Okamiden}}'' only serve to show how far he'll go if his foresight shows him a better future. [[spoiler: He created the living doll Kurow, a younger copy of himself, specifically to house the evil essence of Akuro and allow Chibiterasu to strike him down once and for all. No one was informed, so it comes as a horrifying shock when they find out and nearly leads to a HeroicRROD for Kurow. Waka gets called out for his actions, but his absence from the game means he never actually has to own up.]]

May overlap with TheExtremistWasRight where the actions genuinely work out for the good of most/all. Compare to InMysteriousWays where the acts tend to be a lot more low key and often not unethical of themselves. Also compare with BlindObedience. Can overlap with GodIsGood, when the supreme being's benevolence and omnipotence are reconciled with the license. If a character attempts to invoke the license only for it to be made clear that it doesn't justify their actions, it's an example of AGodAmI.

Occasionally ComesGreatResponsibility will also pop up if the character has their decisions or motives questioned. "Knowledge is power" after all, and if they ''know'' everything, that's whole lot of power and responsibility. As the one who can fully understand all the context and consequences, they are perhaps the ''only one'' in a position to make the difficult choices and sacrifices so things work out "for the best".

-->'''[[spoiler: Sans]]:''' sometimes... you act like you know what's gonna happen. like [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall you've already experienced it all before]]. this is an odd thing to say, but... [[ComesGreatResponsibility if you have some sort of special power... isn't it your responsibility to do the right thing?]]

* Morpheus has a habit of behaving like this in ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', called out in one of [[TheCuckoolanderWasRight Delirium's occasional moments of incisive lucidity]] -- "you just act like you know stuff I don't know and that makes everything you do OK." The only truly omniscient member of the Endless is Destiny, and he follows a strict [[AllPowerfulBystander non-interference clause]].

*** It's important to note that Spectre was manipulated by Eclipso during this time and -- though still flawed logic -- thought he was doing the universe a favor by wiping out magic users who regularly break the laws of reality, which is a viewpoint at least worth debating. What's completely terrifying are the off-the-wall punishments he was dealing out BEFORE his wrath was targeted on the magic community. Destroying a wizard because he can shoot fire from his hands could be considered a preemptive measure. Impaling a man with a giant pen for tax fraud or cutting a girl's head off for being disrespectful to her parents is just insanity.

* ''Comicbook/XMen'' villain ComicBook/{{Mystique}} had a psychic lover for most of Creator/ChrisClaremont's run, who, according to his own {{Retcon}}, drove Mystique's [[NecessarilyEvil apparently evil]] actions until driving her insane by dying.

** The TARDIS. She is a semi-tame, mostly omniscient EldritchAbomination SapientShip with a mind of her own, apparently very protective of and fond of her Doctor. Of course, she tends to spend most of her time dropping her Time Lord and his human friends off in places where they experience terrible danger and often nearly get killed (and sometimes ''do'' get killed), ostensibly for the greater good. Despite this the new series straight-up reimagines her as the Doctor's "wife".

* In WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}, at least one of the gods of the setting (literally Creator/TheBrothersGrimm) is set up to be this. However, it is swiftly subverted. They may be so omnipotent that they can resurrect the dead or set off a DepopulationBomb without any effort. But the brothers also argue with each other, enact petty revenge, break their own established rules on a whim, and seem not to know or truly care about the consequences of their actions. Notably, when Professor Ozpin and General Ironwood each try and act this way, they do indeed get called out on it by the protagonists.

* Although not explicitly stated in ''Franchise/StarWars'', Obi-Wan and Yoda used Luke FromACertainPointOfView as what they felt was the best way to get him to stop Vader and the Emperor. In the end it's subverted, as Luke wins by NOT heeding their advice. If he had killed Vader like they asked, the Emperor would have won.

* Most of the characters' issues with god emperor Leto II in ''[[Literature/{{Dune}} God Emperor of Dune]]'' revolves around his near-omniscience and the resulting path he leads humanity down because of it. Duncan Idaho in particular takes issue with it, as well as Leto's [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman transformation into a nigh-immortal sandworm/human hybrid]]. When queried, Leto argues that the higher morality conferred by his gift of prescience compels him to act in ways that seem unimaginably cruel when the alternative is the complete extinction of humanity. Unlike most examples of this trope, Leto is very, very aware of the evil of his actions, which causes him to occasionally doubt himself and wonder if he's doing the right thing.\\\

* Most of the characters' issues with god emperor Leto II in ''[[Literature/{{Dune}} God Emperor of Dune]]'' revolves around his near-omniscience and the resulting path he leads humanity down because of it. Duncan Idaho in particular takes issue with it, as well as Leto's [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman transformation into a nigh-immortal sandworm/human hybrid]]. When queried, Leto argues that the higher morality conferred by his gift of prescience compels him to act in ways that seem unimaginably cruel when the alternative is the complete extinction of humanity.\\\
To be specific, humanity needed melange for space travel. Melange could only be found on Arrakis, so humanity had confined itself to planets close to it. Leto II realized that if they continued on this path, humanity would die out. To counter this, he ruled over humanity in a reign spanning thousands of years, restricting both their freedom and travel. This was so that as soon as he died, humanity would satisfy a three and a half millennia long thirst for freedom and travel and explode out beyond the reach of known space. Humanity would thus be spread out so far and have no vital center, and would thus never end. Leto called it the "Golden Path." He stated that his father, Paul Muad'dib, also saw the Golden Path, but was too frightened to start it. There was also another part to it; prescience itself is a trap, since once something is foreseen it becomes inevitable. He used his rule to spread the previously unique genetics and technology that render people immune to it far and wide, so nobody can pull this crap again.

* The [[AllPowerfulBystander Dungeon Master]] from the ''WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons'' animated series. He uses ''children'' to carry out potentially fatal quests that work towards his enigmatic goals. Although he could easily defeat [[BigBad Venger]] and most of the other threats to the Realm, he prefers to use the kids to do it under the pretense of helping them get back to Earth. He is actually capable of just sending them home, but either gets evasive or disappears when asked to do so.

* Before the climax of ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', the Avengers have secured an organic android body that Ultron was planning on using for his final form, but was only able to place a portion of his programming in it before it was apprehended. ComicBook/IronMan wants to activate the android, saying that it could be a powerful ally and would be the savior Ultron was supposed to be. ComicBook/CaptainAmerica says that the risk of another robot as powerful as Ultron is far too dangerous, and demands it be destroyed. As they have only minutes to either activate the android or destroy it, the argument degrades into a brawl. Suddenly, [[spoiler: ComicBook/{{Thor}} crashes in, scatters his teammates and uses his lightning to bring the android to life. Why? Because oracular water spirits told him that the android would be a key factor in defeating Ultron. It is because of this that the android is given the name ComicBook/{{Vision}}. And when Vision's motives are questioned, he unwittingly proves his goodness by lifting Thor's hammer -- even though a scene earlier in the film implied that most of the Avengers didn't really consider lifting the hammer proof of anything (but mostly because none of them could lift it themselves, with the exception of Steve "Captain America" Rogers who it's implied could lift it but chooses not to).]] Can't argue with Asgardians, can you?
* In ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', ComicBook/DoctorStrange uses his Eye of Agamotto [[spoiler:(i.e Time Stone)]] to look into the future and see the ways the future will play out to find out any probability where the heroes can win against Comicbook/{{Thanos}}. Out of 14 million or so possible futures, [[MillionToOneChance he only sees one positive outcome]]. Then, [[spoiler:during his battle (assisted with Iron Man, Spider-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy) vs. Thanos in Titan, as Thanos heavily wounds Tony, Strange decides to give his Time Stone to Thanos (who was seeking it) to spare Tony. This would later allow Thanos to complete the [[PowerFist Infinity Gauntlet]] and use it to wipe out half of the lives in the universe, which apparently includes Strange himself. As he's slowly crumbling into dust, he tells the distraught Tony that "this is the only way", suggesting that whatever positive outcome he saw would involve letting Thanos achieve his goal first]]. And it turns out as ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' reveals, [[spoiler:said outcome involves Tony performing a HeroicSacrifice by using the Infinity Gauntlet to turn Thanos and all his forces into dust evidently shown when Strange shows to one outcome finger to Tony which means he is fully willing to sacrifice Tony just to bring down the Mad Titan]].

* Urza, in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', had this regarding the Phyrexian invasion. The results of this ranged from creating an entire race [[NotSoDifferent who were basically nicer-looking versions of the Phyrexians]] to recruiting a treacherous murderer onto a strike team so the guy would shank some of his allies and Urza could justify using his life energy to arm the mission's bomb payload.

* Aslan in ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia''. No matter what he does to whom (including in one book turning a class of schoolchildren into pigs with no indication that they'll ever turn back), both the protagonists and the reader are expected to take it on faith that it's good and right because he's so transparently supposed to be Lion!Jesus.

* In ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII'' the PlayerCharacter is a Godwoken, meaning a ChosenOne handpicked by their race's god as a potential successor. In Act 2 of the game the player is granted the ability to [[DeaderThanDead consume people's souls]] for [[BackgroundMagicField Source energy]]. You can lampshade the obvious ethical ramifications of this to them, but the apparent consensus among the gods is that [[PhysicalGod you decide what right and wrong is]], with Duna (the dwarf god) in particular equating {{muggle}}s to livestock.

* The Inquisitor, the villain of the ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode of the same name, behaved as though he has one. After surviving to the end of time, he concludes that there is no god and no afterlife, and that the only purpose of existence is to live a worthwhile life. To this end, he travels through time, [[RetGone deletes]] those he judges to have wasted their lives and replaces them with another possible version of themselves. An interesting twist, though, [[spoiler:is that allows his victims to judge themselves, and the requirements aren't that stringent, especially if you have extremely low personal standards -- meaning, ironically, that it's the moral and decent people (who are humble enough to see their own moral shortcomings) who get punished, while the self-satisfied and morally lazy get off scot free.]]

* The Inquisitor, the villain of the ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode of the same name, behaved as though he has one. After surviving to the end of time, he concludes that there is no god and no afterlife, and that the only purpose of existence is to live a worthwhile life. To this end, he travels through time, [[RetGone deletes]] those he judges to have wasted their lives and replaces them with another possible version of themselves. An interesting twist, though, [[spoiler:is that allows his victims to judge themselves, and the requirements aren't that stringent, especially if you have extremely low personal standards -- meaning, ironically, that it's the moral and decent people (who are humble enough to see their own moral shortcomings) who get punished, while the self-satisfied and morally lazy get off scot free.].

* The Inquisitor, the villain of the ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode of the same name, behaved as though he has one. After surviving to the end of time, he concludes that there is no god and no afterlife, and that the only purpose of existence is to live a worthwhile life. To this end, he travels through time, [[RetGone deletes]] those he judges to have wasted their lives and replaces them with another possible version of themselves. An interesting twist, though, [[spoiler:is that allows his victims to judge themselves, and the requirements aren't that stringent, especially if you have extremely low personal standards]].

* ComicBook/{{Cable}} generally acts like this, thanks to coming from the future and already knowing how everything turns out. Curiously, although he's also from the future and is accompanied by a floating repository of 21st century history, ComicBook/BoosterGold doesn't.

* Zigzagged with Yukari Yakumo from the ''Videogame/TouhouProject''. As the founder, protector and benefactor of [[FantasyKitchenSink Gensoukyou]], everything she does is for the realm's sake... However, Gensoukyou is a FantasticNatureReserve, meaning the well-being of its [[OurMonstersAreDifferent Monsters]], {{Youkai}} and FairFolk is more important than the well-being of its human residents, who are considered [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve superstition-and-faith livestock]] ''at best'', to say nothing of the humans from ''outside'' Gensoukyou who are treated as ''regular'' livestock for the realm's many [[ToServeMan man-eaters]]. Further complicating matters is Yukari's own refusal to ever explain or justify her actions or lack thereof, leaving even main characters to attept to [[WhatTheHellHero call her out]], only to get brushed off and left to apprehensively ''hope'' that Yukari has an omniscient morality license... even if she does, it's [[BlueAndOrangeMorality of the blue and orange variery.]]

* In ''LightNovel/GoshuushouSamaNinomiyaKun'', the hero and heroine's family is a mass of absolute jerks willing to continuously mentally and physically torment the main characters, up to and including faking their own death just to get them riled up, as part of a "training" course. While they aren't explicitly stated to have God-like powers, their ability to be anywhere and everywhere at once borders on DeusExMachina.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}'': Nox committed atrocities for two hundred years, collecting Wakfu (life energy) to power a spell to turn back time and save his family. He collected what he thought would be enough, believing that whatever he had done would be undone once time was turned back. [[spoiler: That would have been a much happier ending. [[WrongTimeTravelSavvy It only took him back]] [[AllForNothing twenty minutes]].]]

* Averted in ''Anime/DragonBallZ'': after Trunks' first time travel and after he has warned the heroes about the incoming threat of the Androids, Bulma suggests seeking out Dr. Gero, the Androids' creator, and killing him before he can enact his plan, which they ''know for sure'' he will enact. Goku refuses, partly because he wants to fight the Androids, and partly because he doesn't think it's right to kill someone who hasn't ''technically'' done anything wrong yet (forgetting that Gero was the lead scientist of the Red Ribbon Army, and so most of their tech was probably built by him).
* ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'': Goku Black feels that he has one since he comes from a 'higher place' and has 'seen the truth'. He feels no remorse killing billions of mortals in the name of [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans creating a perfect universe]].