History ItsPersonal / LiveActionTV

* A minor example in ''WesternAnimation/FetchWithRuffRuffman'': In the episode "Ruff's Big Break" The challenge he gives to Bridget and Rosario is considered "important" because "it has to do with his psyche". What was their challenge? Convince Ruff that hospitals aren't scary.

*** '''Tutuola''': "You're taking this kind of personal, Amanda",
*** '''Rollins''': "If I don't, what am I doing here?" [[note]]Rollins winds up causing the death of the titular victim, Esther[[/note]]

** ''[[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries The Original Series]]:'' Subject of a joke in "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E15TheTroubleWithTribbles The Trouble With Tribbles]]" when Kirk discovers that some of the Tribbles have eaten his chicken sandwich and coffee.

* In the second plug for the eighth season of ''Series/BarRescue,'' these are Jon Taffer's ExactWords to describe his challenges in Las Vegas (his home base, which was extremely affected by the 2020 pandemic). In other words, ''not'' business as usual.

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'':

* ''Series/MayfairWitches'': One of the witch-hunters who kidnaps Tessa was a former employee at Mayfair Auto, Tessa's parents' company. She and her husband lost their jobs when Tessa's parents personnel cuts... while their daughter was undergoing chemotherapy at the Mayfair hospital. Needless to say, her interest in seeing Tessa burn goes well beyond mere witch-hunting.

* This was why Dr. Yukio Hattori was Series/IronChef [[TheWoobie Nakamura]]'s final challenger: his grandfather was snubbed for a prestigious position by the head chef of Nadaman and Hattori wished to avenge his ancestor's honor on the current head chef of Nadaman-Nakamura. [[spoiler: Nakamura would win the battle.]]

** Taffer nearly got into a fight with Ami, owner of ZanZBar, when he called expert chef Brian Duffy "fat boy".

*** Oliver Queen and Malcolm Merlyn are [[ArchEnemy Arch-Enemies]] for a reason. For Oliver, Malcolm sabotaged the ''Queen's Gambit'', leading to the death of Robert Queen and Oliver being left stranded on the hellish island of Lian Yu for five years. Since then, Malcolm coerced his mother into the Undertaking by threatening his sister, kidnapped his stepfather, [[spoiler:inadvertently killed his best friend, ''Malcolm's own son'', via said Undertaking]], manipulated his sister (and Malcolm's daughter) and their love for each other [[spoiler:by brainwashing Thea into killing Sara to turn Oliver and Ra's against each other so he can get off the hit list of the League of Assassins, resulting in Ollie temporarily ''dying'', and then told another villain the location of Oliver's son out of spite]]. For Malcolm, Oliver was a constant thorn in his side throughout the events leading up to the Undertaking, culminating in Malcolm's first defeat in combat in a long time, and later [[spoiler:cost Malcolm the leadership of the League of Assassins and cut off his hand after handing him his ass in a [[CurbStompBattle humiliatingly one-sided duel]]]]. It seems the only reason both of them are alive at this point is because Oliver initially thought he was dead after Season 1 and adopted a ThouShaltNotKill policy during that time, while Malcolm just wants Oliver to suffer as much possible.

*** Prometheus. Like Slade, he hates Oliver [[spoiler:for the death of someone he loved (in this case, Prometheus' father, a corrupt Pharmaceutical Executive whose name was on The List)]] and wants to destroy his life. ''Unlike'' Slade he doesn't have the excuse of Mirakuru-induced insanity -- he just hates Oliver that much. The long list of things he's done to screw Ollie over include: terrorizing the city as a serial killer murdering innocent people [[spoiler:whose names are anagrams of those on The List, manipulating Oliver into killing Billy Malone, Felicity's boyfriend, breaking out Black Siren and having her impersonate the deceased Earth-1 Laurel, Oliver's FirstLove, and then arranging things so Oliver's alter-ego is public enemy #1. In the meanwhile, under the guise of FalseFriend DA Adrian Chase, he butters Oliver up to gain his trust, aiding him in his administration several times and even helping Diggle get out of military prison]]. Once Oliver learns his identity, he is ''not'' happy, and after TheReveal, the two don't even try hiding how much they've come to hate each other.
*** The only BigBad Oliver didn't come to personally hate was Ra's al Ghul, mainly because it was Malcolm's fault they were at odds at all. In the finale, when an opportunity to make Ra's back off entirely with little bloodshed involved for both sides presented itself, Oliver didn't hesitate to take it, and the only reason he killed Ra's was because he didn't have any other choice. Seasons afterwards, Oliver still regards him with some respect, recognizing that for all his faults he was an honorable man to the end.

*** Barry Allen and Eobard Thawne, whose conflict spans over several different timelines. While Eobard's reasons for hating Barry [[EvilIsPetty are rather petty]], Barry's reasons for hating Eobard are much more severe -- Eobard murdered his mother, framed his father for it, and then manipulated him for most of his life just to make sure he became the Flash, that way Thawne had a way to get home. He is one of Barry's most personal enemies (though not necessarily his most hated) -- their destinies are so intertwined that they literally can't get rid of each other without causing a paradox, which only makes them hate each other more.
*** Earth-2 Hunter Zolomon made it personal for all of Team Flash. On top of presenting himself as FalseFriend "Jay Garrick" (an identity he stole from the ''real'' Jay Garrick, the Earth-3 counterpart to Henry Allen, who he kept as a trophy in his lair) and ingratiating himself to them much like Eobard Thawne as Dr. Wells last season, he beats the crap out of Barry several times, the first time breaking his back and humiliating him in front of Central City. He kidnaps Jesse Wells to force Earth-2 Harrison Wells to do his bidding, kidnaps Wally West to force Barry to give up his speed, and kidnaps Caitlin Snow to invoke StockholmSyndrome on her, traumatizing her. For the final finishing touch, he murders Henry Allen in the very same spot where Eobard Thawne murdered Nora Allen, right in front of Barry's eyes. After that, Barry wants him deader than he does Eobard Thawne. Ironically, it's subverted on Zolomon's end. Other than some resentment for Barry's relatively happily childhood after his mother's death, Zolomon largely screwed with them either to further his plan or ForTheEvulz (usually both) than the in the name of any real personal hatred.

*** Downplayed with the Thinker. While his ultimate plan is on a more worldwide scale, he still spies on Barry and either tries to keep him from interfering with his plans, or uses him as an UnwittingPawn to further them. For example, at the end of the previous season, Barry had to [[spoiler: go into the Speed Force]]. In the next episode, the others found a way to [[spoiler: bring him back]] after a villain wanted to fight the Flash, resulting in a release of energy similar to that of the particle accelerator, which was later revealed to have turned a group of people into metahumans. While it all seemed completely coincidental, it what the Thinker had planned to happen [[spoiler: so he could BodySurf through them to escape his dying body]].[[spoiler: Also, the villain who wanted to fight the Flash was actually a robot created by him to get Barry's friends to bring him back and create the new metahumans. The whole episode was a BatmanGambit]]. It becomes personal for Barry once he realises he's being played with, and when [[spoiler: he is framed for murdering the Thinker when he takes over someone else's body and leaves his previous body in Barry's apartment, stabbed with the knife he was gifted earlier that episode and therefore had his fingerprints]]. Then it becomes even ''more'' personal after the Thinker [[spoiler: takes over the body of Ralph Dibny, one of the new metahumans who Barry had previously disliked, but soon became friends with after he decided to become a superhero]].

** A major catalyst of why Londo Mollari really becomes so belligerent against the Narns is their invasion of Ragesh 3 in "Midnight on the Firing Line". In that episode, Londo's nephew, who had been assigned there to keep him safe, was among the capture and he was tortured and forced to cooperate in their propaganda, and the Centauri Republic was too weak to respond. So, Londo blames G'Kar in particular for these events, even after Commander Sheridan manages to undo the Narn's aggression, and later sees Mr. Morden's offers to assist him partially as a chance to prevent further such incidents against his loved ones.

** Alfred Bester is normally completely unflappable and professional. He keeps everything at a "strictly business" level. But when he realizes that the Shadows not only kidnapped a bunch of telepaths, but that one of them was [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes his lover and the future mother of his child]], he shows a TranquilFury side that has never been seen on him before.

** Does this somewhat frequently. When someone threatens either Booth or Bones, or their kids,it becomes quite personal for the other.

** And then there was Pelant, who [[spoiler:snuck a dead body above Angela and Hodgins' ''bed'' while they were knocked out from carbon monoxide poisoning]], among other things. After a while his M.O. was ''literally'' making things personal.

** Much of the criticism with Buffy's handling of [[TheLancer Faith]] boils down to this. It's not enough for her to become TheDragon and get off on killing, she has to shoot Angel with a crossbow that poisons and slowly kills him to make Buffy seriously risk falling to TheDarkSide and breaking her ThouShaltNotKill rule.

** Anything which touches on the murder of Kate Beckett's mother is this trope. It's also a DeconstructedTrope as well, as where she's normally a rational, level-headed and effective investigator her mother's case sends her completely off-the-rails, leading her to make big mistakes as a result.

** Several villains decide to target the family or friends of Chuck, Sarah and Casey, making missions suddenly very personal:

** When the investigators fly off the handle, they sometimes violate some of the suspects' rights with their outbursts (Catherine Willows and Sara Sidle are especially guilty of this) or some of the ways they try to obtain evidence. As just one example, getting a suspect to give a urine sample through saying it's required by law, when it actually isn't, sounds like grounds to have the evidence thrown out of court, given that it was obtained under false pretenses, or was coerced.

* ''Series/{{ER}}'': Happens with some frequency. From the very first episode, Carol Hathaway was treated for a suicide attempt and by the time the final episode aired, nearly two-thirds of the characters having been in the ER for one reason or another, and not all surviving.

** In a pivotal scene, Mal and his tormentor are struggling near the edge of a MalevolentArchitecture pit when Mal's allies arrive. It is played straight at first: Jayne raises his gun to shoot the tormentor, but is stopped by Zoe. "Jayne. This is something the Captain has to do for himself." Then [[spoiler:they turn it into an InvertedTrope. Mal: "No! No it's not!" Zoe: "Oh." The ensemble promptly riddle the tormentor with bullets.]]

* A minor example in * ''WesternAnimation/FetchWithRuffRuffman'': In the episode "Ruff's Big Break" The challenge he gives to Bridget and Rosario is considered "important" because "it has to do with his psyche". What was their challenge? Convince Ruff that hospitals aren't scary.

*** Averted by Amaro in "Russian Brides": near the beginning of the episode, he and Olivia have a conversation about their respective fathers, in which Amaro reveals his father was physically abusive toward his mother. Later in the episode, the victim of the week is alleged to have had an abusive ex-boyfriend. Rather than leaping to irrationally believe her due to his own hot button issues, Amaro is immediately (and, as it turns out, correctly) skeptical that the victim might have been engaging in a WoundedGazelleGambit.
*** Played with in "Class": Stabler thinks they should go easy on a college student who murdered his girlfriend, since the boy had a tough time in school due to his working class background, much like Stabler’s. He tries to appeal to Casey Novak, who also grew up working class and then went to Harvard -- Casey responds that her experiences were hard, but they never pushed her to murder anyone.

* In Season 2 of ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'', [[Comicbook/BlackCanary Sara]] has a deep hatred of Damian Darhk, as he [[spoiler: murdered her [[Comicbook/BlackCanary sister]]]]. Whenever the team encounter him in history, she is willing to risk all of time itself to kill him for a crime which he hasn't technically committed yet (although he's committed plenty of others). Notably, this is a one-sided grudge at first, since Darhk has [[HaveWeMetYet yet to meet]] Sara from his point of view, he originally has [[UnknownRival no idea who she is]] or why she hates him. This changes in [[Recap/LegendsOfTomorrowS2E5Compromised "Compromised"]], where Sara tells Darhk his future -- the loss of his loved ones and his eventual defeat and death -- making Darhk hate her as much as she hates him.

* ''Series/TheMentalist'': Fundamental to the show, where the titular mentalist, Patrick Jane, is only helping the California Bureau of Investigation because they're his best shot at catching Red John, the SerialKiller who murdered Jane's wife and daughter. Also the reason why, at the start of the second season, the CBI has taken the Red John case away from the team Jane works with, because the team head was also losing her detachment from the case and indulging Jane's recklessness too much.

** A close runner up is "Two Daughters", which was a normal case until [[spoiler:Megan is taken hostage]], then it becomes very, ''very'' personal. Though [[spoiler:Megan herself]] doesn't seem to feel that way, despite everything that happens.

** Many guest character cops get involved because of this: Willons in "Nine Wives", Malloy in "Burn Rate", Bloom in "Jack of All Trades". Even recurring guest character Gary Walker gets one in "End of Watch", though unlike the others, it's not his first appearance.

** Things became personal between [[spoiler: Jason Neville and Tom Neville]] the minute the latter realized that the former had not only turned against him, but was now working for the rebels in [[Recap/RevolutionS1E13TheSongRemainsTheSame episode 13]].

** Monroe has it in for Miles, but he really cranks up the personal part in [[Recap/RevolutionS1E15Home episode 15]] by [[spoiler: going back to their hometown in Jasper, and threatening to kill everyone there, starting with Miles's highschool fiance Emma. Emma ends up dead, and Miles more or less states this trope]].

** It also happens in Series 3. [[spoiler: After Sherlock get John out of a bonfire]], he said that he'll find the person responsible for throwing him in it, since he ''hates'' not knowing. Cue episode 3, and cue it being Charles Augustus Magnussen. Uh-oh. We can expect a certain detective BEING PISSED when he finds that out. It doesn't help that it proceeds to screw things up since Sherlock had no idea that Magnuseen knew his pressure point was John and Sherlock shoots Magnussen right in front of everyone, including Mycroft. WHOOPS.

** ''[[Series/StarTrekEnterprise Enterprise]]'': Trip wants to personally pay back the Xindi for killing his sister Elizabeth. When the Xindi official Degra (who lead the attack on Earth) starts working with the crew, Trip wastes no time letting him know, verbally, how much Trip hates him. Archer also has this attitude to a lesser degree.

** Also, involving either Mulder or William in a conspiracy is a good way to bump the episode up to a "it's personal" for Scully.