Quotes / Pragmatic Hero

Fan Works

Skuntank: I thought you guild chumps were supposed to fight fair and square!
Nate: What? You think I'm a person of principle, like Martha? No. You saw me playing nice for appearances. Where I come from, you do whatever it takes to defeat the opponent, or you lose your life.

— For The Mission

Films — Live-Action

"You'll hunt me. You'll condemn me. Set the dogs on me. Because that's what needs to happen. Because sometimes the truth isn't good enough. Sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded."

— Batman, The Dark Knight

"If I didn't work with cops you investigated while you were making your name at I.A. I'd be working alone. I don't get political points for being an idealist, I have to do the best I can with what I have."

— Jim Gordon, The Dark Knight

"About the whole no guns thing... I'm not sure I feel as strongly about it as you do."

— Catwoman, The Dark Knight Rises

Literature

Marco: <We're going to take them both down. Vissers One and Three. They want to kill each other, we'll help them.>
Tobias: <You're setting up your mom?>
Marco: <No. I'm setting up Visser One.>
Tobias: <Marco, she's—>
Marco: <Shut up, Tobias. Okay? I know all about it. You guys don't think I'll do it? Well, here's a news flash: I'll do it. Me. Not any of you. Me. My plan, okay?>
Tobias: <You don't have to prove anything, dude.>
Marco: <It's not about proving anything. It's about winning this stupid war.>

—Animorphs #30: The Reunion

"Even if I am to carry 'all the evils of this world,' it won't matter. If that can save the world, then I'd gladly accept it."

— Kiritsugu Emiya, Fate/Zero

"But he [Lord Vetinari] was popular, in a fashion. Under his rule, for the first time in ages, Ankh-Morpork worked. It may not have been particularly fair or just or democratic, but it operated."

— Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!

"My first priority is and always has been protecting people. If it’s a question between abandoning the security the Birdcage offers the world at large or requesting the assistance of a scoundrel — a known murderer, even — I will take security without question."

— Alexandria, Worm

Live-Action TV

"If you try not to get anybody killed, you wind up getting everyone killed."

— Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, Angel

Giles: I imagine you hate me right now. I love Dawn.
Buffy: I know.
Giles: But I've sworn to protect this sorry world, and sometimes that means saying and doing... what other people can't. What they shouldn't have to.

—Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Clark Kent: Why are you so determined to see Davis Bloome die?
Tess Mercer: That's simple, Clark. An entire civilization's survival depends on it.

— Smallville

"If you're gonna be bad, be bad with purpose. Otherwise, you're just not worth forgiving."

— Damon Salvatore, The Vampire Diaries

Video Games

Henry Leland: Faced with the choice of which information to save, you chose-
Michael Thorton: I chose the information that would save Sung.
Leland: Why?
Thorton: If Sung died, the entire country could be destabilized. That could push Taiwan into a war with China - that isn't worth stopping a few riots.
Leland: I see. That's a very pragmatic strategy, Agent.
Thorton: I made the best choice I could, given the options.
Leland: But it didn't turn out that way, did it...?

—Alpha Protocol

"Someone needs helping, we help 'em. Someone needs hurting, we hurt 'em. It's not hard."

— Hancock, Fallout 4

"I thought you were a hero. Heroes don't do things like this. I wish I'd never met you."

— Conrad Verner, Mass Effect

"Stand in the ashes of a trillion dead souls, and ask the ghosts if honor matters. The silence is your answer."

— Javik, Mass Effect 3

"There's a saying I like: 'One sword keeps another in the sheath.' Sometimes, the threat of violence alone is a deterrent. Sometimes, by taking a life, others can be preserved. It's the code the samurai lived by..."

— Raiden, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

"I will be pragmatic, and treat with the Orcs, if it delays them from attacking."

— Empire General engaging in neutral diplomacy with Greenskins, Total War: Warhammer

Web Original

"You've done horrible, awful things while working for the Foundation — don't try to deny it, Doctor... You've consoled yourself by thinking that all the torture and murder is for the greater good. This implies that there is a greater good... and a lesser good. It implies that there are multiple distinct goods, and that these can be quantified and compared."

— The Ethics Committee, The SCP Foundation

"If I am forced to make a choice between saving a friend/lover or fulfilling my mission, I will remind myself that failing to accomplish the mission will probably result in the friend/lover's death anyway, and go on with the mission."

— The Things I Will Do if I Am Ever the Hero

Web Videos

"Okay, guys, if you're bothered by cheating, either loosen your moral code or stop hinging the fate of the world ON DEATHMATCHES!"

— Trunks, Dragon Ball Z Abridged

Rebecca: He's not dead, just unconscious for awhile.
Chris: How long is "awhile"?
Rebecca: Anywhere from 15min., to 2 hours.
Chris: I hate to be "that guy," but... this place is absolutely crawling with zombies, and carrying him around is only going to hamper our own chances of survival. Soo....
Rebecca: (shocked) Are you suggesting we just LEAVE HIM HERE??
Chris: I don't know if I'd use exactly those words, but—
Rebecca: Oh, Thank God. I was afraid I was gonna have to suggest it. Come on, let's book it.

— Resident Evil Abridged

Riddler: Try this for size! I come from a mine and get surrounded by wood always. Everyone… okay, I see what you're doing—
Batman: (typing on a phone) I'm not doing anything.
Riddler: No, I clearly—
Batman: Pencil lead!
Riddler: You've just been googling these?
Batman: What? No! I was just telling Robin about how he's… he's really missing out here--
Riddler: You know, I put a lot of time and effort into these, y'know, with the riddles and everything—
Batman: Y-yeah, well, it's kinda weird I can just find all these riddles online. Isn't— isn't that kinda just strange?
Riddler: You know how difficult it is to get away with putting, like, five bombs across the city wearing green spandex?
Batman: Maybe just don't.
Riddler: You know, Batman, I… I really don't have any friends or anything, this is like my one social interaction of the month, and… you're kind of ruining it for me right now.
Batman: Okay, I hear you... counterpoint: you're a terrorist.
Riddler: Oh, so all of a sudden, that justifies you cheating?
Batman: In every conceivable way.
Riddler: Oh. (cue the Bat-beatdown)

— Batman defies the Honor Before Reason trope when dealing with The Riddler and his usual tricks, "Riddle Me This, Batman" by Solid jj

---