8/25/22, 5:26 PM Everyone Has Standards - TV Tropes

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Arya: You're fine with murdering little boys, but thieving is beneath you?

The Hound: A man's got to have a code.

— Game of Thrones, "Two Swords"

Whether someone is a weirdo, villain, pervert, jerkass, geek, or just way too nice, deviant from the
customs of "normal" society — one often finds that those things can only go so far. These characters
find that when they're in a situation where they would cross a certain line, they don't do it. Or they get
disgusted at those who do cross that line.

The standard is often moral or ethical, but could also be regarding culture, or True Art, or good taste,
or good manners, or what constitutes a good meal, or even the boundaries around a fandom —
basically, anything that a person or group is willing to treat as Serious Business. The point of this
trope is that no matter how high or low anyone thinks the line is, they all believe that there is a line,
and that those who cross it are in the wrong. Even people you wouldn't think of as having standards
still tend to believe in something.

Compare Conscience Makes You Go Back, Sudden Principled Stand. See What the Hell, Hero? when
someone calls out a person's actions for violating their own standards. If someone judges other
people's actions but assumes their own must be good by definition, they have Moral Myopia. If
someone's standards are applied inconsistently, it's a Double Standard. Conversely, someone's
standards may be consistent but at odds with genuine morality, leading to Curious Qualms of
Conscience. See also Shades of Conflict for the many variations that may occur when people with
different levels of standards collide.

Someone who doesn't observe any standards may cross the Moral Event Horizon and become a
Complete Monster.
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This is Truth in Television, of course; just about all people do try to follow some sort of standard, and
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8/25/22, 5:26 PM Everyone Has Standards - TV Tropes

standards, for someone to not care about any ethical or moral standards is generally a sign of a
severe mental pathology. That said, No Real Life Examples, Please!

Sub-tropes:

Ape Shall Never Kill Ape: A violent group sees it as immoral to be violent toward one of their own.
Arbitrary Skepticism: In a world with lots of weird stuff, this is so remarkable that one can't help
pointing it out.
"Blackmail" Is Such an Ugly Word: A villain is perfectly willing to do evil, but takes offense to
someone calling it evil.
Black-and-White Morality: Sees the world in clear and unambiguous shades of pure good vs. pure
evil.
Black-and-White Insanity: The above, taken to a completely irrational extreme.
Blue-and-Orange Morality: A strict ethical framework, but one that happens to be based on strange
or alien moral principles.
Caper Rationalization: A group of criminals comes up with a reason this particular crime is
justifiable.
Chivalrous Pervert: An individual who has some filthy desires but holds themselves to a standard
when going about them.
Choosy Beggar: Just because they're needy doesn't mean they don't have good taste.
Churchgoing Villain: A villain may be vile to the core, but still believes that Real Men Love Jesus.
Code of Honour: The standard is formally codified and agreed to, often with a Heroic Vow.
The Commandments: The standards take the form of a short simple list of rules.
Con Men Hate Guns: They make their living scamming and cheating people, but they refuse to
resort to violence.
Dude, Not Funny!: As much as they love a good laugh, they will rebuke anyone who dares to make
jokes that are in poor taste.
Ethical Slut: Has a very active sex life, but goes about it in a moral and responsible way.
Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Villains care about their mothers especially.
Even Beggars Won't Choose It: The poor may be needy, but they're not desperate enough to
accept that handout.
Even the Dog Is Ashamed: An action so bad, it even warrants the disapproval of the Non-Human
Sidekick.
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Even Evil Has Standards: An evildoer rejects some bad deed as too evil for them to be involved
with.
Even the Loving Hero Has Hated Ones: Even the All-Loving Hero has people they dislike and
consider unworthy of redemption.
Even Mooks Have Loved Ones: Evil henchmen aren't evil to their families.
Even Nerds Have Standards: Something is considered too nerdy even by other nerds.
Even the Rats Won't Touch It: The Lethal Chef's food is so awful, it gets turned down by vermin.
Everything Is Racist: When someone has put his bar of racial sensitivity too high, everybody else's
standards are deemed too rude.
Evil Virtues: Being effectively evil requires strengths of character.
Family-Values Villain: A bad guy who believes in good old fashioned family values.
Fandom Heresy: A fandom may disagree about everything, but they will not disagree about this.
For the Evulz: A villain who knows the difference between good and evil, and chooses to be on the
side of evil.
Hitman with a Heart: A Professional Killer who will Never Hurt an Innocent.
Hooker with a Heart of Gold: They may make a living selling their body for sex, but they genuinely
care about people and want to make them happy other ways.
Honor Among Thieves: Scoundrels agree on clearly defined limits to their villainy.
Honor Before Reason: This standard is followed to the (sometimes bitter) end, even when other
people believe that having flexibility is better for moral (and sometimes actual) survival.
Horror Hates a Rulebreaker: The supernatural's standards might be arbitrary, but they're there.
Hypocrite: Someone who has high standards, but doesn't practice what they preach.
Hypocritical Heartwarming: A bully who frequently enjoys tormenting someone doesn't like their
victim being bullied by someone else.
If You're So Evil, Eat This Kitten!: Testing whether someone is truly evil by their willingness to do
something obviously cruel.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Someone who, even if 99.999% of the time is a colossal Jerkass, still has
a moment when he decides it's enough.
Karmic Thief: Steals only from people who deserve it.
Kinslaying Is a Special Kind of Evil: Killing one's own family members is considered an In-Universe
Moral Event Horizon.
Knight Templar: Believes that simply holding a standard is enough to justify other evil behavior. (If
they even realize that their behavior is evil, that is.)
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Mr. Vice Guy: Having vices does not stop the character from following a heroic calling.
Must Be Invited: Vampires, zombies, demons, etc. will not enter a human's home (or body) unless
they are specifically invited in.
Never Hurt an Innocent: A villain wouldn't harm an innocent bystander.
Never Speak Ill of the Dead: It is considered disgraceful to say negative things about the deceased,
given that they're no longer around to defend themselves from criticisms or accusations.
Noble Bigot: Even though prejudiced towards a certain race, still values their lives.
Noble Demon: A villain who pursues evil goals but refuses to be too evil about getting there.
Nobody's That Dumb: A stupid character reveals themselves to be aware of their idiocy and
addresses that even they have limits to their stupidity.
Not What I Signed on For: Someone is recruited for one cause, but the group's real cause and/or
actions make them rethink the deal.
No Zombie Cannibals: Zombies will not attack their own kind, no matter how far gone they may be.
Obstructive Code of Conduct: What you have when the standard gets in the way of your mission.
Pet the Dog: When a villain or Anti-Hero does something nice or heroic for their adversary for their
sake.
Political Overcorrectness: When someone tries to avoid being rude to the point everybody else
thinks it's ridiculous.
Politically Correct Villain: A villain may perform every evil act under the sun, but he explicitly refuses
be bigoted in any way as he does so.
Pragmatic Villainy: A villain occasionally performs good deeds (or doesn't act as evil as he should),
because on the long run it is a more beneficial decision.
Principles Zealot: Follows their standards no matter what, good or bad consequences be damned.
Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Murder, robbery, and arson may be one thing, but even many
otherwise evil people are aghast at sexual assault.
Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: When a person can't be bribed or otherwise persuaded to bend
their standards.
Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: When a person holds two sets of standards that conflict,
they take the higher road.
Selective Slaughter: A killer refuses to harm certain people or groups, such as children or
innocents.
Serial-Killer Killer: A Serial Killer that only targets people as evil as he is.
Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: Slavery and human trafficking are seen as worse than other
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Straight Edge Evil: A villain believes in the value of clean and orderly living.
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To Be Lawful or Good: The moral dilemma that results when someone's standards conflict with their
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duties.
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Too Kinky to Torture: Torture Always Works for the villains... until the hero comes along, and it turns
out that what villains call "inhuman torture" the hero instead calls "foreplay" (sometimes literally).
Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth: The Eldritch Abomination refuses to eat the hero, or tries but can't keep
down their meal.
Treachery Is a Special Kind of Evil: Traitors are considered the scum of the earth.
Villainous Parental Instinct: Even evil people will protect or take care of their children.
Virtue/Vice Codification: Formalized lists of what character qualities are considered good or evil.
Wants a Prize for Basic Decency: Someone thinks they have high standards, but compared to
everyone else's standards, they've only attained the bare minimum.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: Does morally problematic things, but only in pursuit of a worthy goal.
What You Are in the Dark: The moment that reveals whether a person's standards are really a part
of their character or whether they're just a Slave to PR.
Wife-Basher Basher: Someone finds domestic abuse inexcusable to the point that they're willing to
beat up or kill anyone who beats or mistreats their spouse.
Wouldn't Hit a Girl: He may be a complete jerk, but he won't hit women.
Wouldn't Hurt a Child: Whichever is their code of conduct, the iron-clad rule is that children are off
limits.
Would Not Shoot a Civilian: They may be trained to kill, but they only kill enemy soldiers.
You Monster!: Someone being called a "monster" for their acts too atrocious even for the bad guys.
Your Normal Is Our Taboo: A different group's standards consider your standards really weird.
Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: Two conflicting groups each see themselves as
upholding a standard and the others as breaking it, for pretty much the exact same reasons.

Examples:

Anime & Manga

Comic Books
Fan Works
Film — Live-Action
Literature
Live-Action TV
Video Games
Web Animation 
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Western Animation

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    Theatre 
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Video Example(s): Feedback

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Colonel Luger
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Example of:

Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves

Mr. Small Oscar Wildcat's... Natalie & the V... Mr. Krabs is sh... Supe

Alternative Title(s):
Everybody Has Standards

Previous Index Next

Even Evil Has Standards Maturity Tropes Forgiveness

Extreme Doormat A Polite Index Even Evil Has Standards

Establishing Character Music Characterization Tropes Experienced Protagonist

Bruce Willis The Roast Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas

Even Evil Has Standards Idealism Tropes Even Evil Has Loved Ones

Entitled to This Index Morality Tropes Evil Tropes

Encyclopaedic Knowledge NoRealLife/Too Common Extreme Doormat

Eunuchs Are Evil QuoteSource/Live-Action TV Faster Than They Look

Even Evil Has Standards Moral Event Horizon Felony Misdemeanor

Deal with the Devil Overdosed Tropes Never My Fault

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