Tropedia

  • Before making a single edit, Tropedia EXPECTS our site policy and manual of style to be followed. Failure to do so may result in deletion of contributions and blocks of users who refuse to learn to do so. Our policies can be reviewed here.
  • All images MUST now have proper attribution, those who neglect to assign at least the "fair use" licensing to an image may have it deleted. All new pages should use the preloadable templates feature on the edit page to add the appropriate basic page markup. Pages that don't do this will be subject to deletion, with or without explanation.
  • All new trope pages will be made with the "Trope Workshop" found on the "Troper Tools" menu and worked on until they have at least three examples. The Trope workshop specific templates can then be removed and it will be regarded as a regular trope page after being moved to the Main namespace. THIS SHOULD BE WORKING NOW, REPORT ANY ISSUES TO Janna2000, SelfCloak or RRabbit42. DON'T MAKE PAGES MANUALLY UNLESS A TEMPLATE IS BROKEN, AND REPORT IT THAT IS THE CASE. PAGES WILL BE DELETED OTHERWISE IF THEY ARE MISSING BASIC MARKUP.

READ MORE

Tropedia
Register
Advertisement
WikEd fancyquotesQuotesBug-silkHeadscratchersIcons-mini-icon extensionPlaying WithUseful NotesMagnifierAnalysisPhoto linkImage LinksHaiku-wide-iconHaikuLaconic
File:SchlockMightRight 4175.png

Hey, at least he's fair.


Cquote1
Cquote2


"I am stronger than you, therefore, I make all the rules."

This very simple aphorism can be used by a character of virtually any level of intelligence. Usually they're explicitly evil. Bear in mind that anyone who espouses this belief will almost invariably be wrong- but usually the hero beats them by actually somehow being stronger than they are so, well, the Aesop is kind of broken.

Remember that physical strength is not necessarily the determinant here. Monetary wealth, political power, and just about any form of bullying can take the place of this.

Truth in Television for the vast majority of human history, including today. Fortunately for those of us living in Real Life, people who espouse this philosophy are not always explicitly evil; in fact, the whole idea of Knights In Shining Armor, True Warriors and "Comes Great Responsibility" is to espouse and encourage the virtuous use of power. The truth is that "Might" is a weapon like any other: its effects depend on s/he who wields it. It is possible to use Might for good. ...It's just not as likely. It's also the least constructive of just about any of humanity's problem-solving tools, which is why people are generally encouraged to settle conflicts with something other than their fists. This is where the "violence is evil" underlying assumption comes from: someone who resorts to violence must be too stupid to use any of the more peaceful conflict-resolution tools. Or worse, are actively looking for any Pretext for War.

Fictional characters taking this trope seriously can lead in all sorts of more specific directions:



Opposite hero trope:

See also Appeal to Force in Logical Fallacies. The Hedonist, when they are a powerful character, will usually use this logic.

Advertisement