History Main / ThereAreNoGoodExecutives

** [[PreCrisis Before the Crisis,]] Morgan Edge was [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold arrogant and obnoxious, but certainly not evil,]] and he could even show a surprisingly decent side from time to time (refusing to cross a union's picket line, for instance). An [[EvilTwin evil clone]] once tried to frame him as being a minion of {{Darkseid}}, but Edge was proven innocent. PostCrisis, the affiliation with Darkseid was declared ''real,'' and he is now [[{{Flanderization}} really and truly evil.]]

** The Horizon tie-in fiction in the 20th Anniversary Version of the 4th edition core rules does show that Gary Cline, Horizon's CEO, is very likely a sociopath. Seeing as how when a former executive from a rival megacorporation burst into his office intending to kill Cline for ruining his career by getting the better of him in a business deal and took Cline's executive assistant hostage, Gary Cline's response was... to tell his assistant that Gary had been upset with the way his assistant had fumbled a recent project anyway, that he had [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness outlived his usefulness]], and killed his secretary himself. He then congratulated the gunman on his assertiveness and planning skills, and offered him a job with Horizon. The story vignette ends with the guy asking Cline if Horizon has a good vacation plan.

*** Notable in that, due to the [[TooGoodToLast notoriously short run]] of ''Firefly'', we were given minimal info on Blue Sun, other than a small tidbit on the Commentary, and the fact that River didn't like them. But everyone ''knows'' [[ForegoneConclusion they weren't going to be nice people...]]
** And then there's ''{{Dollhouse}}''. Oh dear god, ''Dollhouse''.

** . Ha. Yes. Anvilistic. [[SarcasmMode Because it's not like corporate interests were behind the unseating of Patrice Lumumba, the propping up of Ian Smith's "Rhodesian" government, or indeed the survival of the racist South African state until the point where - oh yeah - the ANC finally attained power with a crippling set of diktats laid down by the IMF specifically designed to ensure that corporations relying on cheap SA labour wouldn't suffer.]]
*** Just because it's true doesn't mean it's not {{Anvilicious}}. SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped.

* If you're a socialist of some flavor, you may believe that ''all'' capitalism is inherently sociopathic. Because of differences in aforementioned flavors, the socialist [[YourMileageMayVary may differ]] in whether this means capitalism must be banned, or not personally practiced, or moderated with extensive ethics rules in a social democracy.

* Also, one does not have to be anti-capitalist in order to accept this trope. Joseph Schumpeter, a classically liberal (and hence pro–free-market) economist, believed that the corporate, bureaucratic economies (which were run on a mixture of Keynesianism and Corporate Statism, rather than laissez-faire free markets) of 1950s America were going to destroy free markets by strangling the Entrepreneur and the Innovator under a blanket of institutionalized stagnation.

** [[PreCrisis Before the Crisis,]] Morgan Edge was [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold arrogant and obnoxious, but certainly not evil,]] and he could even show a surprisingly decent side from time to time (refusing to cross a union's picket line, for instance). An [[EvilTwin evil clone]] once tried to frame him as being a minion of {{Darkseid}}, but Edge was proven innocent. PostCrisis, the affiliation with Darkseid was declared ''real,'' and he is now [[{{Flanderization}} really and truly evil.]]

** Over at [[MarvelComics Marvel,]] Norman Osborne the Green Goblin is the poster child for this trope, along with many of IronMan's enemies like Justin Hammer and Obadiah Stane. [[IronMan Tony Stark]] ''had'' always been the great aversion to this trope, [[CharacterDerailment but recently,]] [[CivilWar well...]]

** [[PreCrisis Before the Crisis,]] Morgan Edge was [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold arrogant and obnoxious, but certainly not evil,]] and he could even show a surprisingly decent side from time to time (refusing to cross a union's picket line, for instance). An [[EvilTwin evil clone]] once tried to frame him as being a minion of {{Darkseid}}, but Edge was proven innocent. PostCrisis, the affiliation with Darkseid was declared ''real,'' and he is now [[{{Flanderization}} really and truly evil.]]

** [[PreCrisis Before the Crisis,]] Morgan Edge was [[RoundedCharacter arrogant and obnoxious, but certainly not evil,]] and he could even show a [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold surprisingly decent side]] from time to time (refusing to cross a union's picket line, for instance). An [[EvilTwin evil clone]] once tried to frame him as being a minion of {{Darkseid}}, but Edge was proven innocent. PostCrisis, the affiliation with Darkseid was declared ''real,'' and he is now [[{{Flanderization}} really and truly evil.]]

** [[PreCrisis Before the Crisis,]] Morgan Edge was [[RoundedCharacter arrogant and obnoxious, but certainly not evil,]] and he could even show a surprisingly decent side from time to time (refusing to cross a union's picket line, for instance). An [[EvilTwin evil clone]] once tried to frame him as being a minion of {{Darkseid}}, but Edge was proven innocent. PostCrisis, the affiliation with Darkseid was declared ''real,'' and he is now [[{{Flanderization}} really and truly evil.]]

** [[PreCrisis Before the Crisis,]] Morgan Edge was [[RoundedCharacter arrogant and obnoxious, but certainly not evil,]] and he could even show a surprisingly decent side from time to time (refusing to cross a union's picket line, for instance). An [[EvilTwin evil clone]] once tried to frame him as being a minion of Darkseid, but Edge was proven innocent. PostCrisis, the affiliation with Darkseid was declared ''real,'' and he is now [[{{Flanderization}} really and truly evil.]]

** [[PreCrisis Before the Crisis,]] Morgan Edge was arrogant and obnoxious, but certainly not evil, and he could even show a surprisingly decent side from time to time (refusing to cross a union's picket line, for instance). An [[EvilTwin evil clone]] once tried to frame him as being a minion of Darkseid, but Edge was proven innocent. PostCrisis, the affiliation with Darkseid was declared ''real,'' and he is now really and truly evil.

** [[PreCrisis Before the Crisis,]] Edge was arrogant and obnoxious, but certainly not evil, and he could even show a surprisingly decent side from time to time (refusing to cross a union's picket line, for instance). An [[EvilTwin evil clone]] once tried to frame him as being a minion of Darkseid, but Edge was proven innocent. PostCrisis, the affiliation with Darkseid was declared ''real,'' and he is now really and truly evil.

** [[PreCrisis Before the Crisis,]] Edge was conceited and frequently obnoxious, but certainly not evil, and he could even show a surprisingly decent side from time to time (refusing to cross a union's picket line, for instance). An [[EvilTwin evil clone]] once tried to frame him as being a minion of Darkseid, but Edge was proven innocent. PostCrisis, the affiliation with Darkseid was declared ''real,'' and he is now really and truly evil.

** [[PreCrisis Before the Crisis,]] Edge was conceited, but certainly not evil, and he could even show a surprisingly decent side from time to time (refusing to cross a union's picket line, for instance). An [[EvilTwin evil clone]] once tried to frame him as being a minion of Darkseid, but Edge was proven innocent. PostCrisis, the affiliation with Darkseid was declared ''real,'' and he is now really and truly evil.

*** [[PreCrisis Before the Crisis,]] Edge was conceited, but certainly not evil, and he could even show a surprisingly decent side from time to time (refusing to cross a union's picket line, for instance). An [[EvilTwin evil clone]] once tried to frame him as being a minion of Darkseid, but Edge was proven innocent. PostCrisis, the affiliation with Darkseid was declared ''real,'' and he is now really and truly evil.

*** [[PreCrisis Before the Crisis,]] Edge was greedy and conceited, but certainly not evil, and he could even show a surprisingly decent side from time to time (refusing to cross a union's picket line, for instance). An [[EvilTwin evil clone]] once tried to frame him as being a minion of Darkseid, but Edge was proven innocent. PostCrisis, the affiliation with Darkseid was declared ''real,'' and he is now really and truly evil.

This trope is pretty common and carries several UnfortunateImplications; for instance that ''all'' businessmen are evil, deceptive and depraved. While ''some'' businessmen are, it is extreme hyperbole to consider ''all'' of them to be so. Indeed, it is quite reasonable to argue [[CutLexLuthorACheck evil conduct is (in the long run) bad for a business]]; would ''you'' want to do business with a baby-eating puppy-kicking psychopath?

You may note that millionaires [[UnclePennybags do not always]] fall into this trope. These people are often depicted as [[SelfMadeMan self-made men]], having wits and spirit enough to carve out their empires, and if not, they at least are the one in charge and responsibility of them, tied to them in a way a king may be to his realm. Corporate executives, on the other hand, climb in already established hierarchy, the leadership (thus also responsibility for any wrongdoing) of which is decentralised into some shadowy group, like "the board of directors"; going back to our feudal analogy, they would have more in common with [[EvilChancellor court intriguers]].

** CEO and founder of Justice League International Maxwell Lord used to be a decent guy, if a bit of an asshole, but he's been reconned into an evil villian for no apparent reason.

*** Considering that got him a buttload of guilt and a zombie pursuer for several decades, he quickly learned to accept it.

* Averted, but not Inverted, in ''AtlasShrugged''; there are plenty of CorruptCorporateExecutive types (usually [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections sucking up to their best buddy in government]]), but the protagonists are generally of the the SelfMadeMan variety of entrepreneur, and there are plenty of non-businessperson protagonists (Richard Halley being a musician, Hugh Akston being a professor of philosophy, etc).

* The show Leverage pretty much runs on this trope. Half the episodes are about some evil executive(s)/entire-corporation abusing their power.

*** Waitaminute, is this ''Time Chasers'' as in the MST3K film? Because if so...[[SoBadItsHorrible ...well, that kind of explains any and every characterisation fuckup fairly instantly...]]

** YourMileageMayVary. Even Karl Marx recognised that capitalism isn't entirely without value - he saw it as necessary transition from feudalism to socialism. Several other left-leaning thinkers have added the deal [[GrayAndGrayMorality plenty of more shades of gray]].
*** Indeed, Marx extensively praised capitalism in ''The Communist Manifesto''. However, [[{{UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies}} Marx's definition of capitalism was pretty broad]] and basically covered any economic system where machines and factories were the primary means of making more stuff, and said machines and factories were not collectively owned. This definition, in and of itself, doesn't actually require any corporations in the first place.
* Also, one does not have to be anti-capitalist in order to accept this trope. Classically liberal (and hence pro-free-market) economist Joseph Schumpeter believed that the corporate, bureaucratic economies (which were ran on a mixture of Keynesianism and Corporate Statism, rather than laissez-faire free markets) of 1950's America were going to destroy free markets by strangling the Entrepreneur and the Innovator under a blanket of institutionalized stagnation.
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This trope is pretty common and carries several UnfortunateImplications; for instance that ''all'' businessmen are evil, deceptive and depraved. Whilst ''some'' businessmen are, it is an absolute lie to argue ''all'' of them are. Indeed, it is quite reasonable to argue [[CutLexLuthorACheck evil conduct is (in the long run) bad for a business]]; would ''you'' want to do business with a baby-eating puppy-kicking psychopath?

This trope is pretty common and carries several UnfortunateImplications; for instance that ''all'' businessmen are evil, deceptive and depraved. Whilst ''some'' businessmen are, it is an absolute lie to argue ''all'' of them are. Indeed, it is quite reasonable to argue evil conduct is (in the long run) bad for a business; would ''you'' want to do business with a baby-eating puppy-kicking psychopath?

You may note that millionaires [[UnclePennybags not always]] fall into this trope. These people are often depicted as [[SelfMadeMan self-made men]], having wits and spirit enough to carve out their empires, and if not, they at least are the one in charge and responsibility of them, tied to them in a way a king may be to his realm. Corporate executives, on the other hand, climb in already established hierarchy, the leadership (thus also responsibility for any wrongdoing) of which is decentralised into some shadowy group, like "the board of directors"; going back to our feudal analogy, they would have more in common with [[EvilChancellor court intriguers]].