There are no limits on fictional villainy. The defining trait of an evil character is their willingness or desire to do things that everyone else agrees are unacceptable. However, not every antagonist is completely amoral. Some have lines that they simply will not cross, possibly bringing an evil character into a new light with the introduction of standards.

Villainy exists on a spectrum between pure unhinged forces of chaos and calculating despots convinced of their moral righteousness. In either case, their villainous methods and goals match the world they find themselves in. When dealing with a villain in a work of fiction, it's possible to lose the audience by going too far.

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The "Even Evil Has Standards" trope refers to a villain's unexpected code of honor suddenly changing their behavior. Frequently, a villain will have no compunction about killing, but crimes like human trafficking or sexual assault remain completely unacceptable. Some have limits on who they'll kill, typically refusing to kill women and children. Sometimes they do horrible things with wild abandon until having to face the consequences causes them to stay their hand. This could lead a villain to demonstrate new dimensions or even force them to turn on a fellow antagonist. In some cases, an enemy's hard moral line can bring them into collaboration with the hero to stop whatever personal affront forced them off of the team. The purpose of this trope is multifaceted. Establishing standards is a great way to keep a villain sympathetic enough to be believably human. It's also a way to add layers to a character that could otherwise be cartoonish in their amorality.

Things Fate Change About Gilgamesh Mythology

This trope is almost as old as literature as a concept. The Epic of Gilgamesh is the second-oldest religious text known to modern man. It's the go-to example for a piece of written fiction that predates recorded history. Along with several other examples of early mythology, Gilgamesh features a villainous character expressing shock at the abhorrent actions of an even bigger threat. Ishtar is the principal antagonist of the piece. She sends the Bull of Heaven to destroy a city full of innocent people as punishment for its ruler rejecting her romantically. She threatens her fellow deities with the end of days and a zombie apocalypse if they try to stop her. After her evil is stopped, Enlil threatens to wipe out humanity for the crime of keeping him awake. Ishtar, fresh from her own near-genocide for weak reasons, is stunned by Enlil's evil. Villains have evidently always had standards.

Comic book villains fall into this trope all the time. Look at Red Skull, the nemesis of Captain America. Johann Shmidt is a card-carrying Nazi and a member of Hitler's inner circle. Shmidt is usually depicted as a monster by Nazi standards, too evil for the world's shorthand for evil. There are very few characters, even among comic book supervillains, who will stomach Red Skull's fascist beliefs long enough to work with him. Norman Osborn is enough of a bigot to bankroll Shmidt's schemes. Doctor Doom will occasionally tolerate his presence with the clear implication that he'll slaughter Shmidt the instant he outlives his usefulness. Magneto might be a villain, but he has a very personal score to settle with surviving Nazis, so he'll put aside literally any other goal to put Red Skull in the ground. In the 1997 Batman & Captain America crossover event, it becomes clear that even the Joker won't stoop to collaboration with a Nazi. Firm anti-fascism is a standard that even most comic book supervillains can be trusted to uphold.

Weirdly, one of the faces of this concept could be Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik. Eggman is the main reoccurring villain of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, but he almost always finds himself in the position of second fiddle to a bigger villain. His goal seems to be world domination, but his pursuit of that goal often involves the power of a much more capable threat. There's Shadow the Hedgehog, Metal Sonic, Space Colony ARK, the Deadly Six, Infinite, The End from Sonic Frontiers, and more. Sometimes he builds them, sometimes he briefly works alongside them, and sometimes he's immediately made a pawn of their plan. Since the larger threat almost always intends to destroy the world, Eggman is forced to join forces with Sonic and his friends. He changes sides for pragmatic reasons, but it's also clear that he sees the actions of his fellow villains as unacceptable. To hear him tell it, he's a complicated guy.

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From the earliest fictional villains to the modern day, evil isn't absolute. Every villain has a limit, even if it doesn't make much sense. They might be the antagonist of the story, but the addition of a hard line they won't cross makes them that much more entertaining. Evil has its standards because it falls into chaos without them.

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