Justice Will Prevail

You said it, L.

"Hey, relax. We're the good guys. Justice will prevail and all that stuff... right, Samus?"

—Rundas, Metroid Prime 3

"Those who stand at the top determine what's wrong and what's right! This very place is neutral ground! Justice will prevail, you say?! But of course it will!! Whoever wins this war becomes justice!!!"

—Donquixote Doflamingo, One Piece

The underlying principle of all series on the idealistic end of the Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: the good guys will always win in the end. Most of the drama in the show comes from the sacrifices they will have to make to this end, and sometimes from their lack of faith in this principle, though usually The Hero, The Love Freak, The Mentor or The Messiah will be there to serve as an endless supply of optimism for the ultimate victory of their cause.

May come as a package deal with Right Makes Might, but not necessarily. If the show is idealistic enough or targeted to a very young audience, Justice Will Prevail without a single drop of blood being shed—indeed, justice usually prevails with the aid of karma, and the heroes won't actually have to beat anyone into submission. If its cynical enough, the word 'justice' becomes propaganda that both sides of a conflict use to justify violent/controversial/misc shade of grey actions.

Compare For Great Justice, when this is explicitly stated in the opening, narration, or cutscenes.

Contrast Concepts Are Cheap, for when this is just thrown in dialog, without actually meaning much.

Examples of Justice Will Prevail include:

Anime and Manga

• Said right after "I am Justice" by characters in Death Note. The audience can be sure that Justice will prevail. The question is only: whose brand of justice?
  • The series' position on the Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism makes a Zig-Zagging Trope out of it.
• Amelia in The Slayers often makes speeches along these lines, but isn't taken very seriously. One particularly warped bit of reasoning on her part comes when trying to figure out whether Lina or another individual is the guilty party:

Amelia: "Justice always prevails! Therefore, whichever of you survives must be the good guy! FIREBALL!"

• • Oh, and technically, both sides survive that blast. Whether this has implications as to her philosophy... well....
  • As time goes on, she seems to realise how silly she looks and does this less often, though she can still pump out the Hot Blood for, say, her father or the "Senile Sentai Squad".
• Played straight and subverted in Martian Successor Nadesico. It's one of the Catch Phrases of the Show Within a Show Gekiganger 3...and a slogan of the Jovian Armed Forces.
• "Take this! Bossborot the Great's Iron Fist of Justice!"
• One Piece: This is the stated goal of the Marines (good and evil) and most of the people who oppose them, with the main conflict being "Absolute" (Disproportionate Retribution) or Moral (Exactly What It Says on the Tin). The Marines even have "Justice" printed on their uniforms. The World Government really doesn't care which type of justice a Marine enforces, so long as pirates and revolutionaries are kept in line.
  • In the most recent arc, the war between Whitebeard (the commander of world's most powerful pirate fleet) and the Marines, brings the theme of "which kind of justice?" to the forefront.

Donquixote Doflamingo: Pirates are evil? The Marines are righteous? These terms have always changed throughout the course of history! Kids who have never seen peace and kids who have never seen war have different values! Those who stand at the top determine what's wrong and what's right! This very place is neutral ground! Justice will prevail, you say? But of course it will! Whoever wins this war...becomes justice!

• • • This is a pretty blasphemous statement to make in a Shonen manga, where clearly defined clashes between good and evil are usually major themes. So when a character basically says that good and evil are just labels the winning side in a conflict uses to justify its actions, it's a moment to take note of.
      • Then again, Doflamingo is insane and probably sociopathic to no small degree, so Unreliable Expositor comes into play.
      • While that may be true, he has a point.
• The Student Council President from Onidere is practically invulnerable as long as he believes he is fighting for justice. He even has a statue of some... thing... that he refers to as the 'statue of justice' and is commonly seen praying to it and making sure it stays clean.
• The Law of Ueki. If you had a shot for the number of times that word is mentioned, you'd be dead drunk after a few episodes.
• Lampshaded in Fullmetal Alchemist, where Maria Ross, during a broadcast, claimed that Roy Mustang and his party were specifically fighting for justice. Some comments from the less gullible flock:

"'Justice' was an excellent word choice. The people will eat that up."
"Justice is about as vague word as there is."
"Please, it was great. It has a great ring to it. 'Justice'. It's beautiful."
"Yup. Whoever uses the word first has the advantage."

• In Machine Robo: Revenge of the Chronos, this is the whole basis of Rom Stoll's speeches, emphasizing to the villains that justice always prevails, and that they don't deserve to know his name for being so evil.
• No mention for Chang Wufei?
• America from Axis Powers Hetalia is obsessed with being The Hero, and as a result often says things like this.

Comic Books

• Name a superhero. If they've been around for more than a year, they've probably said it or some variation. Some are more driven by the idea than others, though.
• Inverted in a Justice League of America storyline about a villain named Prometheus, who is obsessed with the eradication of justice. His plan to destroy the League involves disguising himself as a superhero named Retro, whose catch phrase is "here comes justice!" After disabling half the League and revealing his true identity, Prometheus repeats the phrase one more time, this time with malicious sarcasm.

Literature

• In the Miss Marple book A Pocket Full of Rye, Helen McKenezie insists that the man responsible for her husband's death will be punished and that "No question is ever settled until it is settled right." She claims to be quoting Kipling but doesn't give a source.

Theater

• In Shakespeare's plays, innocent people are likely to die, but villains are practically certain to get punished. "Truth will come to light; murder cannot be hid long; a man's son may, but in the end truth will out."
  • Or as Tom Stoppard put it "The bad end unhappily and the good unluckily. That is what tragedy means".

Video Games

• Inverted in Guilty Gear, where keeping Justice from prevailing is the entire goal of the game.
• Xianghua of Soul Calibur plays with this trope, as this is one of her win quotes, but she adds a "...just kidding!" to the end of it. Interesting, as she is the one character who can wield the eponymous holy sword in its true form.
  • And quite arguably the only Lawful Good character aside from Sophitia.
  • It's implied that the fact that she doesn't take justice so seriously—but just practices it as a matter of course, without getting high and mighty—is exactly why she is the purest character in the lineup.
• One of the more frequently recited Dwarven Vows in Tales of Symphonia is dwarven vow number seven; "Justice and love will always win!" (Or "goodness and love", depending on whether you ask Lloyd or Colette). Despite his idealism, Lloyd cannot hear or recite this line without pointing out how cheesy it sounds.
  • The line "Justice will prevail" is in the sequel. It is to note that the villains of Dawn of the New World seem to think "justice" is what they're trying to achieve.

Lloyd: Don't even start spewing the word "justice"!

• In Disgaea, this is literally the catchphrase of CAPTAIN GORDON, DEFENDER OF EARTH! Can be made especially hilarious when he yells it while fighting humans and angels.
• Ma Chao in Dynasty Warriors lives, eats and breathes this trope, with all of the series' subtlety and understatement... or lack thereof.
• Azai Nagamasa of Sengoku Basara is no different from Ma Chao, with the added bonus of being a literal Knight in Shining Armor.
• Kim Kaphwan. Because "Evil is unforgivable!"
  • And from the past, there's also Galford D. Weiler, McNinja of Justice.
• Justice is always victorious in the end! Long live the USA!
• Apollo Justice will do anything to live up to his surname. So will Phoenix Wright.
  • "Here comes justice!"
• Minsc from Baldur's Gate is quite obsessed with goodness and justice, with whatever little he has in his brain. "Butt-kicking FOR GOODNESS!!!"
  • Stand back, FOR JUSTICE.
• This is word-for-word Captain America's voiced victory message in the Marvel Superheroes/ Marvel vs. Capcom fighting games.
• Slightly more cynical version from Metroid Prime 3, in which Rundas comes up with this line when the hunters are all arguing with one another: "Hey, relax. We're the good guys, remember? Justice will prevail, and all that stuff. Right, Samus?"
  • Tragic considering he succumbs to The Corruption not that much later and you are forced to kill him off :(
• This is pretty much the catchphrase of the eponymous heroine of Yggdra Union. Because the game is on the cynical side, she learns that it's not justice that's winning her battles, it's power alone--and she's misused hers believing she has an Omniscient Morality License. Oops.
• One of the few characters to ever beat Calypso at his own game in Twisted Metal is Agent Shepard in Head-On. He doesn't make a wish. He doesn't do anything stupid. He wins the tournament, gets out of his car, and arrests Calypso outright.
• The Spirit of Justice from the Awakening expansion for Dragon Age: Origins will cry out "Let justice prevail!" during combat.
  • Subverted by Dragon Age II, as the same Justice, corrupted to Vengeance, seems a bit cynical about himself prevailing at all. And in the best-case ending of the game, no one can say that Justice was done.
• In Samurai Warriors 3, Kanetsugu Naoe's character focuses soley on justice, bordering Large Ham territories. Most of his lines are about how sheer force of will can beat all odds and how "another has been slain in the name of JUSTICE!"

Western Animation

• You'd think this would be Once an Episode on Justice League, but nah. Anyway, one episode had a pretty catchy variation, said by the Streak to The Flash, whom the Streak thinks is evil:

The Streak: "Evil can never outrun justice!"

• • Also, the Justice Guild's catchphrase, "Let Justice Prevail!" Only in The DCAU could that line have been made Badass.
• This seems to be The Tick (animation)'s motive, giving us such gems as "EVILDOERS! EAT MY JUSTICE!" It would be easier to take this idea seriously if he wasn't completely insane.
• "You mistreat this poor boy the same way you mistreat my people! You speak for justice but you are cruel to those that that need your help!" "SILENCE!" "JUSTICE!"

Real Life

• A famous lawyer's joke: An attorney succeeds in getting a court judgment in his favor. He wires his client: "JUSTICE HAS PREVAILED". The client wires back: "APPEAL IMMEDIATELY".