History Main / RightMakesMight

** In the fourth game, [[BigBad Sanctus]] demands to know why he's losing even though he's wielding the Sword of Sparda and has gained Sparda's power. Nero explains it's because he lacks Sparda's compassion and ability to love.

* In ''VideoGame/DmCDevilMayCry'', Dante is UnskilledButStrong while Vergil is about as strong, yet also has superior skill. That said, [[spoiler: during their duel, as Dante's ChaoticGood trumps Vergil's mix of LawfulNeutral and LawfulEvil, Dante wins anyway]].

-> ''"My strength is as the strength of ten, because my heart is pure."''
-->-- '''Sir Galahad''', ''Myth/KingArthur''

* There's a kind of complicated example in ''WebComic/TowerOfGod'', on the Hell Train, when Koon challenges [[spoiler: Rachel]] to a contest with big stakes, and the contest is a coin toss. Koon explicitly frames it as a competition over "who {{god}} likes more," like it's about karma or something. Koon is an AntiHero in the moral sense himself, it's just that [[spoiler: Rachel]]'s even worse -- and he wants to rub it in how nobody likes her, not even god. They end up doing [[BestOutOfInfinity best of three rounds]], even though it was supposed to be one, and Koon wins the first and last ones. An observant spectator analyses the situation like this: Koon probably cheated on the first round, though it would have been too risky to try it again. But on the third round, he just trusted that god wouldn't let [[spoiler: Rachel]] win. So basically, in this scene, Koon is thinking of himself as a bad person who's still going to win in righteousness ''by comparison''. It looks as though he's even going to handle it by cheating, but then willingly switches to Right Makes Might because he wants to see that happen.

* This is essentially how Lion-O is able to harness the power of the Sword of Omens in both ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats1985'' and ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats2011''. It repels evil, does not work in the hands of of selfish or misguided, but it does not hold back when Lion-O is fighting for the good of others.

* Generally averted in history, as the type of nation that [[MightMakesRight will wage wars of aggression has to also be the type of nation that]] ''[[MightMakesRight can]]''.

This is one of the main components of JapaneseSpirit. See also: HeroicResolve.

* In general it can be convincingly claimed that EvilIsEasy but Good is DifficultButAwesome. [[TheAlliance Mutual cooperation, alliances, and diversity]] may be harder to pull off in some ways but the results are self evident. At a minimum, people you are cooperating with are people you don't have to fight. And at best you get something greater than the sum of it's parts. This is also the fundamental reason for HonorAmongThieves: even if you don't care about morality, a reputation for honesty is [[PragmaticVillainy just better business.]] This also applies to seemingly amoral and ruthless fields like war and spycraft. Studies by the CIA, of all people, have determined that TortureIsIneffective and is more likely to make your enemies fight to the death than anything else. [[RapePillageAndBurn War crimes against civilians]] cost you informants, effectively recruit for your enemy, and on top of it they lead to poor discipline in your troops. And authoritarian governments and warlords tend to collapse quite dramatically in short order, because the [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder paranoia]] and inevitable [[YesMan toadies]] that come from emphasizing loyalty over all lead to... [[VillainBall ''poor'' decision making.]] Not to mention the pervasive fear of being subject to ShootTheMessenger if you dare cross the party line. Even seemingly self-sacrificing choices such as accepting refugees turn out to have a karmic payoff, since economic studies have shown that in the long run having people around who are ready to work hard for a new life becomes a major economic boon. And the better they are supported and helped to get on their feet, the faster and better the results.

* In general it can be convincingly claimed that EvilIsEasy but Good is DifficultButAwesome. [[TheAlliance Mutual cooperation, alliances, and diversity]] may be harder to pull off in some ways but the results are self evident. At a minimum, people you are cooperating with are people you don't have to fight. And at best you get something greater than the sum of it's parts. This is also the fundamental reason for HonorAmongThieves: even if you don't care about morality, a reputation for honesty is [[PragmaticVillainy just better business.]] This also applies to seemingly amoral and ruthless fields like war and spycraft. Studies by the CIA, of all people, have determined that TortureIsIneffective and is more likely to make your enemies fight to the death than anything else. [[RapePillageAndBurn War crimes against civilians]] cost you informants, effectively recruit for your enemy, and on top of it they lead to poor discipline in your troops. And authoritarian governments and warlords tend to collapse quite dramatically in short order, because the [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder paranoia]] and inevitable [[YesMan toadies]] that come from emphasizing loyalty over all lead to... [[VillainBall ''poor'' decision making.]] Not to mention the pervasive fear of being subject to ShootTheMessenger if you dare cross the party line.

* In general it can be convincingly claimed that EvilIsEasy but Good is DifficultButAwesome. [[TheAlliance Mutual cooperation, alliances, and diversity]] may be harder to pull off in some ways but the results are self evident. At a minimum, people you are cooperating with are people you don't have to fight. And at best you get something greater than the sum of it's parts. This is also the fundamental reason for HonorAmongThieves: even if you don't care about morality, a reputation for honesty is [[PragmaticVillainy just better business.]] This also applies to seemingly amoral and ruthless fields like war and spycraft. Studies by the CIA, of all people, have determined that TortureIsIneffective and is more likely to make your enemies fight to the death than anything else. [[RapePillageAndBurn War crimes against civilians]] cost you informants, effectively recruit for your enemy, and on top of it they lead to poor discipline in your troops. And authoritarian governments and warlords tend to collapse quite dramatically in short order, because the [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder paranoia]] and inevitable [[YesMan toadies]] that come from emphasizing loyalty over all lead to... ''poor'' decision making. Not to mention the pervasive fear of being subject to ShootTheMessenger if you dare cross the party line.

* In general it can be convincingly claimed that EvilIsEasy but Good is DifficultButAwesome. [[TheAlliance Mutual cooperation, alliances, and diversity]] may be harder to pull off in some ways but the results are self evident. At a minimum, people you are cooperating with are people you don't have to fight. And at best you get something greater than the sum of it's parts. This is also the fundamental reason for HonorAmongThieves: even if you don't care about morality, a reputation for honesty is [[PragmaticVillainy just better business.]] This also applies to seemingly amoral and ruthless fields like war and spycraft. Studies by the CIA, of all people, have determined that TortureIsIneffective and is more likely to make your enemies fight to the death than anything else. [[RapePillageAndBurn War crimes against civilians]] cost you informants, effectively recruit for your enemy, and on top of it they lead to poor discipline in your troops. And authoritarian tend to collapse quite dramatically in short order, because the [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder paranoia]] and inevitable [[YesMan toadies]] that come from emphasizing loyalty over all lead to... ''poor'' decision making. Not to mention the pervasive fear of being subject to ShootTheMessenger if you dare cross the party line.

Very prevalent in {{sho|nenDemographic}}unen anime and western comic books, but really, this has been used to deliver morals throughout history. It was even assumed in ancient times in Western civilization to ''work in real life'', on the logic that God or gods would help those worthy of victory.

* There's a kind of complicated example in ''WebComic/TowerOfGod'', on the Hell Train, when Koon challenges [[spoiler: Rachel]] to a contest with big stakes, and the contest is a coin toss. Koon explicitly frames it as a competition over "who {{god}} likes more," like it's about karma or something. Koon is an AntiHero in the moral sense himself, it's just that [[spoiler: Rachel]]'s even worse -- and he wants to rub it in how nobody likes her, not even god. They end up doing best of three rounds, and Koon wins the first and last ones. An observant spectator analyses the situation like this: Koon probably cheated on the first round, though it would have been too risky to try it again. But on the third round, he just trusted that god wouldn't let [[spoiler: Rachel]] win. So basically, in this scene, Koon is thinking of himself as a bad person who's still going to win in righteousness ''by comparison''. He was even going to handle it by cheating, presumably, but then willingly switched to Right Makes Might.

* There's a kind of complicated example in ''WebComic/TowerOfGod'', on the Hell Train, when Koon challenges [[spoiler: Rachel]] to a contest with big stakes, and the contest is a coin toss. Koon explicitly frames it as a competition over "who {{god}} likes more," like it's about karma or something. Koon is an AntiHero in the moral sense himself, it's just that [[spoiler: Rachel]]'s even worse -- and he wants to rub it in how nobody likes her, not even god. They end up doing best of three rounds, and Koon wins the first and last ones. An observant spectator analyses the situation like this: Koon probably cheated on the first round, though it would have been too risky to try it again. But on the third round, he just trusted that god wouldn't let [[spoiler: Rachel]] win. So basically, in this scene, Koon is thinking of himself as a bad person who's still going to win in righteousness ''by comparison''.

* There's a kind of complicated example in ''WebComic/TowerOfGod'',on the Hell Train, when Koon challenges [[spoiler: Rachel]] to a contest with big stakes, and the contest is a coin toss. Koon explicitly frames it as a competition over "who {{god}} likes more," like it's about karma or something. Koon is an AntiHero in the moral sense himself, it's just that [[spoiler: Rachel]]'s even worse -- and he wants to rub it in how nobody likes her, not even god. They end up doing best of three rounds, and Koon wins the first and last ones. An observant spectator analyses the situation like this: Koon probably cheated on the first round, though it would have been too risky to try it again. But on the third round, he just trusted that god wouldn't let [[spoiler: Rachel]] win. So basically, in this scene, Koon is thinking of himself as a bad person who's still going to win in righteousness ''by comparison''.

* There's a kind of complicated example in ''WebComic/TowerOfGod'', when Koon challenges [[spoiler: Rachel]] to a contest with big stakes, and the contest is a coin toss. Koon explicitly frames it as a competition over "who {{god}} likes more," like it's about karma or something. Koon is an AntiHero in the moral sense himself, it's just that [[spoiler: Rachel]]'s even worse -- and he wants to rub it in how nobody likes her, not even god. They end up doing best of three rounds, and Koon wins the first and last ones. An observant spectator analyses the situation like this: Koon probably cheated on the first round, though it would have been too risky to try it again. But on the third round, he just trusted that god wouldn't let [[spoiler: Rachel]] win. So basically, in this scene, Koon is thinking of himself as a bad person who's still going to win in righteousness ''by comparison''.

* There's a kind of complicated example in ''WebComic/TowerOfGod'', when Koon challenges [[spoiler: Rachel]] to a contest with big stakes, and the contest is a coin toss. Koon explicitly frames it as a competition over "who {{god}} likes more," like it's about karma or something. Koon is an AntiHero in the moral sense himself, it's just that [[spoiler: Rachel]]'s even worse -- and he wants to rub it in how nobody likes her, not even god. They end up doing best of three rounds, and Koon wins the first and last ones. An observant spectator analyses the situation like this: Koon probably cheated on the first round, though it would have been too risky to try it again. But on the third round, when the score was (naturally) 1--1, he just trusted that god wouldn't let [[spoiler: Rachel]] win. So basically, in this scene, Koon is thinking of himself as a bad person who's still going to win in righteousness ''by comparison''.

* There's a kind of complicated example in ''WebComic/TowerOfGod'', when Koon challenges Rachel to a contest with big stakes, and the contest is a coin toss. Koon explicitly frames it as a competition over "who {{god}} likes more," like it's about karma or something. Koon is an AntiHero in the moral sense himself, it's just that Rachel's even worse -- and he wants to rub it in how nobody likes her, not even god. They end up doing best of three rounds, and Koon wins the first and last ones. An observant spectator analyses the situation like this: Koon probably cheated on the first round, though it would have been too risky to try it again. But on the third round, when the score was (naturally) 1--1, he just trusted that god wouldn't let Rachel win. So basically, in this scene, Koon is thinking of himself as a bad person who's still going to win in righteousness ''by comparison''.

* There's a kind of complicated example in ''WebComic/TowerOfGod'', when Koon challenges Rachel to a contest with big stakes, and the contest is a coin toss. Koon explicitly frames it as a competition over "who {{god}} likes more," like it's about karma or something. Koon is an AntiHero in the moral sense himself, it's just that Rachel's even worse -- and he wants to rub it in how nobody likes her, not even god. They end up doing best of three rounds. An observant spectator analyses the situation like this: Koon probably cheated on the first round, though it would have been too risky to try it again. But on the third round, when the score was (naturally) 1--1, he just trusted that god wouldn't let Rachel win. Koon wins.

Other times this trope is taken more literally as it might be the righteousness of the hero that allows them to use resource not available to the bad guys in the for of OnlyTheChosenMayWield,OnlyTheWorthyMayPass, OnlyTheChosenMayRide or they are chosen by the EmpathicWeapon or a LivingWeapon. The hero's virtuous heart a may also make them a candidate by a TheChooserOfTheOne, especially in instances where the story has TheChosenMany.

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hqdefault_jack_1.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:YOU. ARE. WORTHY.]]

Other times this trope is taken more literally as it might be the righteousness of the hero that allows them to use resource not available to the bad guys in the for of OnlyTheChosenMayWield,OnlyTheWorthyMayPass, OnlyTheChosenMayRide or they are chosen by the EmpathicWeapon or a LivingWeapon. The hero's virtuous heart a may also make them a candidate by a ChooserOfTheOne, especially in instances where the story has TheChosenMany.

* The ''Videogame/KingdomHearts'' series is built on this trope and ThePowerOfFriendship.
* In ''VideoGame/{{DmC Devil May Cry}}'', Dante is UnskilledButStrong while Vergil is about as strong, yet also has superior skill. That said, [[spoiler: during their duel, as Dante's ChaoticGood trumps Vergil's mix of LawfulNeutral and LawfulEvil, Dante wins anyway]].

** In order to teach Film/Thor a lesson in humility and compassion, Odin casts a curse/geas on the Divine Hammer Mjölnir that allows only those with a kind and noble heart to wield, much less lift it, before casting his hot-headed and violent firsborn son to Earth for re-igniting a bloody war with the Frost Giants of Jotunheim. Only through the three days he spent as a mortal man did Thor learn the value of selflessness, love and kindness, and only then was he deemed worthy of wielding Mjölnir once more.

** In the DarkestHour of ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', Stark is knocked unconscious by Thanos and Thor a breath away from having his heart carved out by the Mad Titan. Captain Steve Rogers, gentle and kind of hear, is deemed worthy by Mjölnir to wiled it in defiance of the tyrant, becoming the Ultimate Warrior that Dr Henry Erskine always believed he could be. The Good Doctor would be proud of Captain Rogers.

* In ''Film/TheAvengers2012'', Phil Caulson alludes to this trope. He confidently tells Loki that he has no chance of winning, because evil has "no conviction". Tony echoes this when he points out that Loki is going to have to keep fighting even if his ploy to conquer the world succeeds. Something Loki doesn't seem to have considered.

** And as a related point, regimes or groups that are so willing to violate the most widely held standards of morality for their cause/ideology probably are also going to make a lot a dumb and inefficient decisions because their priority is making decisions that conform rather than ones that are effective. For example the [[KatanasOfTheRisingSun military run government of Japan]] placed almost no emphasis on trying to maintain the national economy, even though they needed its tax money to keep the military running. At worst, they made a lot pointless regulations outlawing business practices that were "too western." The net result of this was that a lot of Japanese businesses (and the government and military themselves) had to do their banking in the United States. When Japan started trying to take over Asia, the US government just ordered their assets to be frozen and stopped allowing oil to be sold to Japan. The Imperial Japanese Navy then thought it prudent to attack America to stop the embargo rather than secure another source of oil, because that was the "warrior's option." So less right makes might and more "wrong can not maintain might long term."