History Main / VigilanteMan

* Eric Draven in ''Film/TheCrow''. Although, since he's already died and has resurrected as an unkillable zombie, he's technically a Vigilante ''Thing''.

** On the villain's side, the Fourth Harbinger of the Fatui is this. Arlecchino knows and understands how endemic the child trafficking business in Fontaine and it sickens her. Furthering her disgust is how the nobles use their status to commit such crimes under the guise of a sympathetic philanthropists. Had not for her intervention, playable characters and her agents such as [[StageMagician Lyney and Lynette]] would end up at the hands of abusive and pedophilic nobles. They might be working under Arlecchino as her sleeper agents and being exposed to dangerous missions, but at least their lives are vastly improved under the Harbinger's care. As for the Harbinger herself, she will not hesitate to kill such individuals and expose their dirt to the media.

The Vigilante Man is a man who brings criminals to justice by any means necessary, even if it means killing the criminals outright. Although he is breaking the law, he is presented as the good guy. If the police are after him, expect them to secretly sympathize with his goals. Occasionally, [[InspectorJavert one officer]] is determined to catch the Vigilante Man, but you can be sure that his fellow officers aren't working very hard to help him. The "good" Vigilante Man [[WouldNotShootAGoodGuy refuses to fight the police, and if confronted, will either surrender or die before harming them]], and may even try to [[ThouShaltNotKill keep killing to zero whenever possible]]. The "bad" Vigilante Man is [[TheUnfettered willing to kill anyone who tries to stop him]]. (In such cases, compare with the CowboyCop.)

* Dexter Morgan from ''Series/{{Dexter}}'' sometimes sees himself as a vigilante for killing murderers, and in one episode fantasizes about being a superhero who is applauded by the public and in another, has a brief daydream where he acts as a Franchise/{{Batman}} style vigilante {{Superhero}} but quickly dismisses it as ridiculous. In his darker moments, however, he admits that he's just a monster with a little more self-control.

* Lelouch in ''Anime/CodeGeass'', in creating the terrorist group the Black Knights, is trying to overthrow Brittania's racist, [[TheSocialDarwinist Social Darwinist]] regime, so as to create his sister Nunnally's longed-for "beautiful world."
* Light Yagami, the VillainProtagonist of ''Manga/DeathNote''. Death is the only punishment he ''can'' dish out. Early on, he states that he's going to create a world filled with only good-hearted people he approves of. He's simply going to ''start'' with the criminals... and he quickly crosses over into "bad" vigilante man territory, when in the second chapter he [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope leaps off the slippery slope]] and begins to target and kill all those who oppose Kira, including law-enforcement officials. With the exception of his family and officials he considers useful enough, he is very ruthless when dealing with his opponents.

* Lelouch in ''Anime/CodeGeass'', in creating the terrorist group the Black Knights, is trying to overthrow Brittania's racist, SocialDarwinist regime, so as to create his sister Nunnally's longed-for "beautiful world."

* Lin Beifong from ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' drops her job as DaChief and goes vigilante in order to fight [[BigBad Amon]]. Though she's still a policewoman at her core and doesn't kill anyone. Korra herself gets into some trouble early on with the police when she tries to hunt down criminals: she feels she's justified in that she's the Avatar, while the police are annoyed at some naive civilian girl interfering in their work. As the show goes on and Korra gets some CharacterDevelopment, she begins to learn to cooperate and work with the police, rather than just blindly charging in on her own. More often than not though, the police and government are willing to let Korra deal with the situation as she sees fit.

* In ''Fanfic/ViridianTheGreenGuide'', [[ForWantOfANail Izuku Midoriya doesn't receive One-For-All]] and [[UnSorcerer remains quirkless]]. He subsequently decides to become a Vigilante, [[LoopholeAbuse taking advantage of the fact that the Quirkless technically cannot be vigilantes]] because the law defines vigilantism as using one's quirk similar to a Pro-Hero without having a hero license, so he can help save people.

* The Christian Marines in ''Literature/{{Victoria}}'' start out like this, a small group of ex-servicemen banding together to take on the criminals who prey on their old neighborhoods. Then they move on to bigger fish, the corrupt politicians and officials who shelter the gangs, and things escalate from there on.

* Perhaps the most famous example is ComicBook/ThePunisher, who kills every criminal he comes across. Notably, in his comics, most of the villains he kills are the lowest of scum that humanity has to offer. The overall result is that the rest of the superhero community doesn't like him (especially Daredevil), but keeps him around and respects him because he serves as a reminder of what they could become if they cross the line.

"Urban vigilante" protagonists were a staple of action movies roughly between the 1970s and the very early 1990s mainly as rising crime rates and increasing police corruption (and racism in the case of blaxploitation films) led people to lose faith in the long arm of the law and act for themselves instead. Ironically, it was these very concerns, combine with a growing distrust for justice carry by someone outside the law, that eventually led to more negative views of vigilantes, and modern straight examples are often frowned upon.

"Urban vigilante" protagonists were a staple of action movies roughly between the 1970s and the very early 1990s mainly as rising crime rates and increasing police corruption (and racism in the case of blaxploitation films) led people to lose faith in the long arm of the law and act for themselves instead. Ironically, it was also these very concerns, combine with a growing distrust for justice carry by someone outside the law, that eventually led to more negative views of vigilantes, and modern straight examples are often frowned upon.

"Urban vigilante" protagonists were a staple of action movies roughly between the 1970s and the very early 1990s mainly as rising crime rates and increasing police corruption (and racism in the case of blaxploitation films) led people to lose faith in the long arm of the law and act for themselves instead. Concerns about justice by one's own hand eventually led to a more negative view of vigilantes, and modern straight examples are often frowned upon.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Plauch%C3%A9 Gary Plauché]] publicly shot dead the man who'd molested his son. He served no prison time. Similarly, mothers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marianne_Bachmeier Marianne Bachmeier]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellie_Nesler Ellie Nesler]] also publicly killed the men who'd molested their kids right in the courtroom. All three shot the men from close range. Nesler and Bachmeier served brief prison terms. [[PedoHunt As you can imagine]], the public largely sympathized with them, and none ever expressed remorse.

* In the midst of anarchy in the High Middle Ages Westphalia, Vehmic courts were established by the Holy German Emperor to try and judge miscreants. Accuseds were given six weeks and three days (or 45 days) to come to be tried, and the sole verdicts available were death or acquittal. Although public order was assured starting from the 1400s, such courts were abolished only in 1811 by King Jerome of Westphalia.

* Jack Ruby, who killed Lee Harvey Oswald to avenge his assassination of UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy. On live television. He himself was arrested.

* The Whitechapel Vigilance Committee tried to be this in the days of UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper. Tired of the police not catching the criminal, they sent out men on patrols round Whitechapel and tried to investigate the case themselves. Which didn't do a lot; the Ripper himself was confident enough he wouldn't get caught that he sent the [[FingerInTheMail letter with half a human kidney attached]] to their leader.

* The [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulabi_Gang Gulabi Gang]] in India advocates for women's rights and in particular fights injustice and violence against women. To be fair, they would report incidents to the authorities first, but this can be seen as formality due [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections to corruption.]] As a last resort, they'd lynch the perpetrator using lathis. That said, TorchesAndPitchforks is just a small fraction of their other, nonviolent, humanitarian activities.

* Inmate Steven Sandison was hailed by some for killing convicted paedophile Theodore Dyer and made no bones about doing what was perceived as an act of vigilantism, but he did maintain that [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLcDskek7Zg he was by no means a hero]]. Some have expressed doubts on whether his actions were worth the praise considering his prior criminal record, though.

** Rosaria is technically a nun, but she only performs the bare minimum of duties required of her in that role. Her ''de facto'' occupation is protecting Mondstadt from the shadows, and for this reason the Church tolerates her behavior. That said, this was never an official part of her job description. She threatened to arrest Paimon and the Traveler for eavesdropping, and even kept a close eye on their activities with Albedo for any signs of a threat to the safety of Mondstadt. Fischl inadvertently overheard Rosaria in the middle of her enforcement, but thought Rosaria was [[ComicallyMissesThePoint just devoutly praying]].

** Rosaria is technically a nun, but she only performs the bare minimum of duties required of her in that role. Her ''de facto'' occupation is protecting Mondstadt from the shadows, and for this reason the Church tolerates her behavior. That said, this was never an official part of her job description. She threatened to arrest Paimon and the Traveler for eavesdropping, and even kept a close eye on their activities with Albedo for any signs of a threat to the safety of Mondstadt. Fischl also inadvertently overhears Rosaria in the middle of her enforcement.

* The ''Series/{{Castle}}'' episode "Heroes and Villains" features a vigilante that actually dresses like a superhero. While he initially used nonlethal tactics, he eventually commits a murder. [[spoiler: It turns out that the vigilante, [[SamusIsAGirl a female police officer by day]], was innocent of the murder. The real killer impersonated her.]]