Category:Necessary Evil

"Without its master's command, the restless Scourge will become an even greater threat to this world. Control must  be maintained.  There must always  be... a Lich King!"

- King Terenas Menethil II

Villains that can actually serve very important purposes and need to be kept alive, imprisoned or simply kept around. No matter how sadistic, bloodthirsty, cruel, or even how much they are hated, these villains cannot be destroyed/killed or something terrible can happen. These characters are usually created to keep the story relatively three dimesnsional. Examples include:
 * 1) Villains keeping a much worse evil at bay (Galactus keeps Abraxas, a being able to destroy universes, out of the Marvel Universe, the Lich King keeps the Scourge from becoming an even greater threat to Azeroth, and The Seven Deities, while seeking a new world order, protect Gaea from the Gohma, and the Gohma Vlitra, while the remnants of the US Armed Forces in Last of Us, despite running the quarantine zones as police states, genuinely protect the inhabitants from the Infected and attempt to help and be friendly with civilians whenever they can)
 * 2) Jerk employees and empoyers that actually are capable of doing their jobs and it's made very clear the business cannot succeed without them (Benson is heavily trusted with keeping the park afloat.)
 * 3) Villains preventing catastrophes including end of the world or universe with their mere presence or actions (Each time a God of Olympus dies, a different ecological disaster occurs and Kyubey prevents armegeddon with energy collected from magic girls)
 * 4) Some anti-heroes (Vegeta, debatably, The Punisher, and The Hero of Bowerstone)
 * 5) Evil vs. Evil scenarios where one of the villains is the only subject strong/powerful enough to defeat the more dangerous threat (Lord Garmadon was the only person who could wield all four golden weapons and destroy The Great Devourer;  Stewie Griffin, in Family Guy, who was the only one who could stop Diane Simmons when she was about to kill Lois, and the Hulk was the only one who could stop the Abomination in the 2008 adaptation of The Incredible Hulk.)
 * 6) Business Villains that can provide a product or service that is needed or well liked by people (Mr. Krabs runs the Krusty Krab which produces the very well-accepted Krabby Patty, Abstergo Industries have genuinely contributed to most of society's inventions, and Seto Kaiba is in charge of KaibaCorp.)
 * 7) Villains performing villainous acts that lead to beneficial results (Joe Chill murdering Martha and Thomas Wayne leads to Bruce Wayne becoming Batman; Blackfire using her sister, Starfire, as a bargaining chip for the Gordanians leads to the creation of the superhero team called the Teen Titans, and Thunderbolt Ross being in charge of the project that lead Bruce Banner into becoming the Hulk.)
 * 8) Rich Villains that helped the city they live in (Lex Luthor helped build half of Metropolis and Mr. Burns is Springfield's only taxpayer)
 * 9) Amoral entities that must keep the balance of nature in check (Almost every incarnation of the Grim Reaper or any Death God in myhtology is this)
 * 10) Family Breadwinners (Homer Simpson, Al Bundy, and Peter Griffin are often the only people in the family that actually work to put food on the table)
 * 11) Successful Anti-Villains (Lelouch Vi Britannia purposely made himself an enemy of the world so the world would unite against him and temporarily create peace, and Ozymandias did the same to Dr. Manhattan in order to prevent World War III.)
 * 12) Villains with important information (Hannibal Lecter had information that helped Clarice defeat Buffalo Bill)
 * 13) Some heroes who turned to the dark side (When Harvey Dent helped locked half of Gotham's crime bosses away in The Dark Knight, he gave hope to Gotham. When he became Two-Face and killed some people, Gordan and Batman knew if the truth came out, people would lose hope so Batman willingly took the blame so Dent would stay a hero after his death)
 * 14) Lawful Neutral or corrupt cops who keep order (Judge Dredd and Razoul, despite being amoral and corrupt, keep peace and order in their home cities)
 * 15) Hostile biological species, tribes, or civilizations that while hostile or xenophobic, are capable of producing children and families. Killing of a naturally hostile race, civilization or tribe would still be considered an act of genocide (The Yuuzhan Vong and The Predators)
 * 16) Certain Evil Teachers who keep unruly students in line (e.g. Viola Swamp and Principal Ed Rooney).
 * 17) Certain Evil Alter-Egos within a hero, the ones that has pocessed or grannt the hero their power to save him or her from time to time. (Zangetsu pocesses Ichigo multiple times, and as a result, has saved his life multiple times, Kurama sometimes gives Naruto some of his power to prevent Naruto from getting killed or to fight off a powerful foe, and Yami Yugi frequently helps Yugi out.)
 * 18) Redeemed Villains that joined the Hero (Spectra Phantom, and Yasha)