History KarmaHoudini / LiveActionTv

*** A good (and not rich) SVU example is Darius. He sets up a XanatosGambit to seek revenge on his family and ensure that he gets away with at least one murder. He still fully expects to go to jail, but he knows he won't get nearly as much time as he should. In the end he doesn't get ''any'' jail time and walks away scot-free.

*** A good (and not rich) SVU example is Darius. He sets up a XanatosGambit to seek revenge on his family and ensure that he gets away with at least one murder. He still fully expects to go to jail, but he knows he won't get nearly as much time as he should.

* Creed from ''TheOffice'', who confesses to the camera that he is a kleptomaniac and never gets called on his repeated theft of office supplies (among other things). When he fails in his quality assurance duties by letting slip through a large batch of printer paper with a dirty drawing on every page, he quickly finds a scapegoat in the paper manufacturer's employ and gets her fired, then collects gift money to help her out of this tough spot and pockets all the cash before throwing out the card without delivering it to her. He is seen on camera doing this but is never caught by anyone in either company.

**** The above example may not be valid. S7 Spike has a soul, and reensouled vampires are so profoundly disgusted and horrified by what they have done that for one to commit wanton murder would be difficult. So, Buffy wasn't totally wrong to doubt that S7 Spike could be murdering. S6 Spike essentially kills himself to give himself a real chance with Buffy; the reensouled Spike is a completely different individual, arguably. Furthermore, Dawn was to be given to Spike only because there was no safer place for her; no matter Buffy's personal feelings towards Spike he was the one most able to protect Dawn, and that is her utmost priority in that season.

* VillainProtagonist Max Russso, from ''{{Wizards of Waverly Place}}'',He who released a bunch of monsters, which killed a bunch of people to the point where they were running out of monster hunters.

*** And even though his plan ultimately failed, Sylar was STILL saved after the two most manipulative XanatosGambit planners on the show (Noah Bennet and Angela Petrelli) proved unable to think of any better plan to disable the government's anti-mutant programs than to [[spoiler: try and convince Matt Parkman (one of the last people in the world who should have any sympathy for Sylar) to use his telepathic powers to make Sylar think he is a now deceased Nathan Petrelli.]] Which, of course, doesn't last. In the next season, [[spoiler: after he's gotten his identity back and acquired yet another new motivation, Matt traps him in a YearInsideHourOutside nightmare and has very nearly permanently sealed him behind a wall in his basement when Peter of all people saves him. The nightmare allows him to go through years of CharacterDevelopment, win Peter's forgiveness, and still have time to help save the day from the BigBad and become a hero.[[/quoteblock]] And then the show is canceled.

*** And even though his plan ultimately failed, Sylar was STILL saved after the two most manipulative XanatosGambit planners on the show (Noah Bennet and Angela Petrelli) proved unable to think of any better plan to disable the government's anti-mutant programs than to [[spoiler: try and convince Matt Parkman (one of the last people in the world who should have any sympathy for Sylar) to use his telepathic powers to make Sylar think he is a now deceased Nathan Petrelli. Any suspense over how long Sylar might be contained was spoiled after the Chapter 5 preview revealed that "Nathan" still had access to Sylar's power to understand things and that he "just didn't feel like himself".]]

*** Actually, T-Bag had it pretty rough throughout the show. He gets beaten up twice by Abruzzis henchmen, his hand is hacked off and he's left to die, his plan of BecomingTheMask with his Cole Pfeiffer identity blows up in his face and in the end he's the only one to get sent back to prison. For life. And sees someone reading a GATES book reminding him of Cole Pfeiffer. He may not have died like others, but he didn't ''get away'' with anything.

* Jade West from ''Victorious''. In the pilot episode, she pours coffee on Tori's hair as punishment for "rubbing" on her boyfriend, Beck, because she thought she was trying to flirt with him. You'd think that she would get detention or even a warning for such a thing, but no, Tori runs out of the room in rage and noone else even says anything. [[spoiler: But then, at the end of the episode, Tori kisses Beck in a sketch to make Jade mad.]] Then, in the episode ''Stage Fighting'', Tori swings at Jade with a cane during a scene, she falls to the floor and everyone thinks Tori hit her for real, even when Tori denies it. Afterward, Tori is given two weeks detention, along with a lower grade, and is forced to scrape moldy pudding off walls of an auditorium on a Friday night. Afterward, Andre finds out that Jade faked everything, and tells Tori. Instead of turning Jade in, Tori takes the punishment she was assigned. [[spoiler: But at the end, Jade helps Tori scrape the walls.]]

* On ''{{The League of Gentlemen}}'', Hilary Briss escapes to the Caribbean with no punishment whatever for [[TakeOurWordForIt whatever it was he was doing]], although [[spoiler: the BigDamnMovie of vague canonicity eventually averts this with RedemptionEqualsDeath). Similarly, we have [[spoiler: Papa Lazarou]], who never pays in the slightest for any of the [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel horrifying]] stuff [[spoiler: he]] did.
* Alpha from ''{{Dollhouse}}''. He murdered a ton of people, rendered Ballard brain-dead and in the end Echo just lets him walk out? She should have just killed him then and there. That's the last we ever see of him. (Granted they may have been planning to resolve the Alpha plotline at a later time but couldn't because the show got cancelled).

* Creed from ''TheOffice'', who confesses to the camera being a cleptomaniac and never gets called on his repeated theft of office supplies (among other things). When he fails in his quality assurance duties by letting slip through a large batch of printer paper with a dirty drawing on every page, he quickly finds a scapegoat in the paper manufacturer's employ and gets her fired, then collects gift money to help her out of this tough spot and pockets all the cash before throwing out the card without delivering it to her. He is seen on camera doing this but is never caught by anyone in either company.

* Angelique the Witch in ''DarkShadows''. the 1795 flashback where [[spoiler: where she curses Barnabas Collins with vampirism, and even after her DEATH, still manages to drive his fiancee to suicide and gets an innocent governess convicted and hanged for HER crimes]]. She then appears in the present day and continues to try and make Barnabas' life a living hell.
** She does eventually get what's coming to her near the end of the series. For a true Houdini, there's Laura Collins, a phoenix-like being who appears every hundred years and then burns herself to death, preferring to take any offspring with her. She's prevented from killing her son David, but still presumably goes on to try again every hundred years.
* On ''StarTrekEnterprise'', DesignatedHero Captain Archer allows ''an entire race to die'' at one point in the name of non-interference and then becomes the President of the Federation.
* [[StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Sisko]] personally rendered an entire Maquis colony uninhabitable with chemical weapons and started a war between the Romulans and the Dominion, [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence and then he became a GOD!]]
*** Severe {{YMMV}}. The Maquis were in violation of the Federation/Cardassia treaty in the first place, and had already pulled the same shit on the Cardassians. Moreover, both bio-weapons were harmless to the other side; Sisko was essentially just enforcing the treaty, and Eddington drove him to act this way through repeated dickery. The second part also ignores the fact that the Dominion almost certainly would have won the war if not for Sisko's efforts. Sisko did things that needed to be done, however horrible.
** Also in [[StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]], Quark gets away with all his deeds, including arms dealership, because he helps the good guys... sometimes.
** And Garak the Cardassian as well. He's a known ex-spy who holds way too much information about everything that goes on aboard the station, lies about everything, keeps ties with the Cardassian Central Command, and was several times involved in plots that would've at least put the Federation at a great risk (and other times, was on the verge of killing innocent people on the station). And yet every time he does the equivalent of "I take it back", and actually manages to get MORE trust and respect than he did before.
*** Well, he does suffer mental torture from being forced to fight against his home planet, and in the end is faced with the almost impossible task of bringing that planet back from the ashes it was reduced to during the Dominion War.
*** He also gets sent to prison after lying his way onto a Starfleet mission in order to attempt to destroy the Founders' homeworld in "Broken Link". However, seeing a character sit around in prison for months does not always make for interesting television, so he is simply dropped from the plot until he returns (at this point he is not nearly as major a character as he becomes in later seasons, so his absence is not remarkable), making it easy to get the impression that he was never punished at all.
** Then there's [[StarTrekTheNextGeneration Picard]], who's generally considered the most moral of Trek's captains. His stubborn adherence to the Prime Directive has nearly let two entire primitive civilizations die when he could have helped, all without them knowing. The first time, he was guilt-tripped into helping and worked out a loophole to make himself feel better. The second time, he was forced into helping by the one guy who did care. [[StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Kirk]] or [[StarTrekVoyager Janeway]] would have saved the Boraalans in "Homeward" without blinking.
** Happens on at least two occasions in ''StarTrekVoyager'': Both the Akritirians in "The Chute" and the unnamed alien from "Persistence of Vision" come off none the worse for their crimes. (Some have also applied this label to the main character, Captain Janeway, for her alleged LawfulStupid behavior over the course of the series.)

** Jack [=McCoy=] can also be considered a KarmaHoudini himself. He continually skirts and occasionally [[CourtroomAntic jumps over the line of legal ethics, engaging in selective prosecution, jury tampering, withholding evidence and reneging on plea deals]] throughout the series, but is rarely sanctioned or reprimanded in any official way. Jack is also a DesignatedHero (in the opinion of some) and one of the principals. So ultimately...
*** At least [=McCoy=] [[WhatTheHellHero gets called on his actions]] (Usually in response to one of his WriterOnBoard rants). Mike Cutter gets no such upbraiding for his often case-destroying antics, other than the occasional smart-ass remark from [=McCoy=] when one of his tactics blows up in his face.

* In the episode of ''{{The King of Queens}}'' "Inner Tube" (the one with the DownerEnding), Carrie throws water onto Doug's face and chews him out. Subsequent episodes never show her remorseful for this or Doug forgiving her.
** Actually, the whole reason for that is that Doug faked sick for one of her parties because he was too distracted by something. Really he did lie to her and after watching a show that gave the husband a possible KarmaHoudini, this is more of an aversion with a ThisIsReality message.

** And then there's Lincoln Burrows. Say what you will about [[spoiler: Christina Rose]], but her assessment on Michael Scofield's misguided love for his brother was more or less spot-on. A career trouble-maker that started the whole mess to begin with, constantly drags his brother into his nefarious affairs and has him fix it, an unabashed JerkAss, and ultimately gets an arguably undeserved happy ending at the expense of the person he owes it to.
*** In fairness the entire reason he got into trouble in the first place was because he tried to help his brother (the reason he took the job that resulted in him getting framed was because he put himself in massive debt in order to pay for Michael's Education. Finding this out is what causes Michael to try to help him when originally Michael was willing to let him die). Plus he had been framed for murder, and people who undergo that sort of deserve some happy ending.

** Though to be fair, who'd have ''wanted'' them to stick around even a moment longer to do that? Plus, we never really see that 'happy reunion', so just what happened to them after they left the galaxy and the series is mostly a matter of conjecture.

* Also in ''{{Babylon 5}}'' the TV Series at least Bester is a total Karma Houdini ([[spoiler: He gets his in the ExpandedUniverse, he gets imprisons on telepath suppression drugs, dies ten years later, and Garibardi nails a crosswalk sign over his grave.]])
* The series ''{{Ivanhoe}}'' did this a lot. For instance, the first episode features an ashen-faced necromancer type who goes around murdering women and extracting their bones by a {{Squick}}ful arcane process, leaving their flesh behind. He is doing this to try to resurrect his late wife, because he is ''lonely''. Eventually he has enough bones, and succeeds in raising his wife in the form of a nine-foot-tall bone monster with a ''tail''. Instead of utterly freaking out at this, she goes along with him on the final stage - the abduction and sacrifice of a princess - during which she smashes her way into a fortified castle and wipes out most of the castle guard single-handed. Finally, Ivanhoe and his companions track down the necromancer and his one-boney-wife-army, and stop them. And their spirits leave their bodies, are reunited in their original forms, before zipping up, presumably to heaven. ''There ain't no justice'' - not in this series, anyway.

** And in Season 10, Fitz and Owen throw [[{{Transgender}} Adam]] out of the boys' bathroom. As in, they physically pick him up, carry him out of the bathroom and ''throw'' him into a main doorway so hard his landing breaks the wire-reinforced window. That's aggravated assault and battery, and probably could be tried as a hate crime in Ontario. With a side order of [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking destruction of school property]]. They're suspended from school for a week.

** Well, Bad Priest was maintaining the historical status quo ? human sacrifices, that is ? which Barbara tried to change. For his time, he was rather normal than bad, and the ending, though sad, is inevitable: it's forbidden to change the past. Doctor, on the other hand, really messed things up with his marriage which makes him a kind of Karma Houdini this time.
** In season 14, "The Hand of Fear" arc, Eldrad hypnotizes and almost kills Sarah, then causes one person to attack the Doctor (and get killed) and another to go into the core to get roasted. All to cause the reactor meltdown and use the energy to regenerate himself. What does the doctor say? "It's scared, let's help it get home!" Eventually Eldrad [[spoiler:gets what he deserves]], but it seems like Doctor never blamed him for two deaths, not mentioning scaring Sarah and destroying a power plant.
*** Sarah even went as far as to say something like "I rather liked her but couldn't stand [[spoiler:him]], as if Eldrad only became villainous towards the end.
*** Actually, Sarah Jane does call the Doctor on this when he tells her they are taking Eldrad home. The Doctor justifies it by asking Sarah if she really wants Eldrad to stay on Earth causing trouble.
** Arguably, the Master is like this. The Doctor often treats him as a friendly antagonist, despite the fact he's killed millions, tried to destroy the world countless times and has [[spoiler:literally destroyed a third of the universe]]. Yeah, he and the Doctor are now the [[LastOfHisKind last of their kind]], but if you and Hitler were the last two humans alive, would you burst into tears when ''he'' died?
** Rickston Slade from "Voyage of the Damned". All throughout the episode, all he seemed to do was whine, make rude comments about the other passengers (especially the genuinely nice couple, Morvin and Foon Van Hoff), and generally do ''nothing'' to help out. The real kicker though? At the end of episode [[spoiler:he actually '''''ends up benefitting''''' from all the death and destruction]]. However, we are left with this rather poignant comment:
--->'''Mr. Copper''': Of all the people to survive, [[LampshadeHanging he's not the one you would have chosen]], is it? But if you could choose, Doctor, if you could decide who lives and who dies... that would make you a monster.
* Arguably, ''{{Torchwood}}'''s Captain Jack is a mild version of this trope. He's never a villain, but is constantly indulging in morally gray activities and doesn't ever seem to pay directly for what he does. He ends up in multiple potentially RedemptionEqualsDeath situations, and not only survives, but is granted immortality. On ''{{Torchwood}}'', he hides evidence of crimes, hides missing people from their families, kills people/aliens when it obviously isn't necessary, takes out his Gwen-related angst on other members of the team, tries to force members of his team to kill people they love when he can't bring himself to kill his psychotic brother Grey, and chooses saving severed hands over young girls being held hostage. But somehow, on his own show, he is always treated as if he's a freakin' saint. If something bad does happen to him, it's to show ''just how strong and cool he is'', and he usually gets over torture/disappointment/torture pretty fast.
** [[spoiler: Ianto's death]] might have been a bit of extremely sick, twisted karma that Jack had a long time coming. [[spoiler: Grey's being evil]] and just [[spoiler: a lot of the torture in "Children of Earth" in general]] probably count as well. He's hardly avoiding getting kicked around by misfortune these days.
*** Not to mention [[spoiler: having to kill his own grandson to save the rest of the children on Earth]].
** Denise in "Children of Earth". The politician who [[spoiler: suggested that the elite protect their own and select the lowest achieving schools]] gets to be in charge at the end.
*** At least the slimy, SmugSnake Prime Minister gets... something.
** Don't forget the people in the episode "Meat" who were harvesting the meat of a live alien. They cut off slabs of the alien's meat while the alien was still alive just so that they could profit from it. Their punishment? They had their memories erased and were allowed to return to their normal lives. I almost yelled at the screen.
* Alex Russo, from ''{{Wizards of Waverly Place}}'', the protagonist and the AntiHero of the series, a 15-16 years old girl, {{Jerkass}} in the beginning, ManipulativeBastard in the latest season, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking possible anarchist]], killed a dragon and wanted to eat its heart, likes to take advantage of everyone, stealer and liar. [[DysfunctionalFamily Her parents]] didn't want to save her when she was kidnapped by vampires and [[MadScientist her brother created a monster to capture her]].
** That's an exaggeration. The anarchy reference was a single painted symbol that was there as a ParentalBonus. Even if you assume Alex knew what it was, that doesn't mean that she's an anarchist, only that she thinks it's cool to paint rebellious symbols. Killing the dragon was an act of selflessness and bravery, implying that doing so was ''good'', and there's nothing wrong with eating dead monsters. (Perhaps it's cannibalism if the monsters are sentient, but there was no reason to believe the dragon was.) The parents and brother are just ComedicSociopathy, and their actions don't reflect on her anyway. If you want a KarmaHoudini, look at Max, who released a bunch of monsters, which killed a bunch of people to the point where they were running out of monster hunters.

** That isn't an example of this trope. To qualify, a character would have to have gotten away with a BAD thing....

* Barney from ''HowIMetYourMother'' can be horrible to the numerous women he sleeps with (He stole someone's car and left her alone in the woods, got another girl arrested for trespassing and probably sold a woman on another occasion), but almost never gets what he deserves. When karma does punch Barney in the face, he doesn't really care. The only lesson he ever learns is "I'm awesome".
** That's because he is. Barney pretty much defines the MagnificentBastard trope. Besides, he does get various mild comeuppances throughout the series. And the one time he truly crossed the line, it caused a long rift between him and Ted.
** A straighter example of a KarmaHoudini in the show is Lily, ''who broke up Ted with the majority of his girlfriends on the sole basis that she didn't like them'', and this list includes Robin, her best friend. All Lily ever got is a telling off from Ted, and he forgave her by the end of the episode, whilst Robin forgave Lily immediately, as she said they might not've become friends if Ted & Robin had a bad break-up ([[WallBanger Even though Robin & Lily were friends for a year before Robin started dating Ted]]). And let's not even get into her [[SarcasmModeunbiased]] [[ItMakesSenseInContext Slap Bet officiating]]...

* ''{{House}}''. Any real doctor who behaved like that would be arrested. Seriously, he does something illegal or at least wildly unethical in every episode. And the drug use. And he treats everyone like crap 99.999% of the time, and they him still treat him like TheWoobie. What does he have to do to gain people's ire, intentionally let patients die? Oh wait...
** In addition to being the Doctor From Hell, House is also the Boss From Hell, much more than Michael Scott could ever be.
** This is partially {{Lampshaded}} in an earlier episode when House is told (I forget if it was Cuddy or the Admin who tells him) that the reason Princeton-Plainsboro could afford a doctor of his caliber is that House's rep is so bad that none of the bigger medical centers will touch him.
** He doesn't escape karma so much as not care, getting shot, punched, [[spoiler: going bonkers]].
** YourMileageMayVary . Since he has his leg pounding every single moment of every single day. I'd hardly call it a "get away from karma free" card and some would even regard it as FateWorseThanDeath (not House though). Also, having his patients live is his uttermost priority, always. Even though he is reckless and do away with proper procedure it is somewhat admirable to have a medic who wants above all to save his patients' lives. And even the "it's just puzzles" doesn't hold water. If they were just puzzles, he'd be happy to just do the autopsies.

* Vic Mackey on ''TheShield'', although YourMileageMayVary. [[spoiler: Vic Mackey ''is'' stuck in a sort of personal hell for the next several years. However, his personal hell consists of a $62,000 a year desk job where he will write boring reports and be loathed by his coworkers. Meanwhile, his subordinates all end up dead or in prison.]]
** Only if you consider death or jail proper karmic payback: Many will consider the fact that [[spoiler: his reputation as a good, if rough, cop is in flaming pieces, the few friends he had that aren't dead or in jail now loathe him, his wife and kids went into witness protection to hide from him, and maintaining a job he hates is all that stands between him and an instant life sentence]] a sufficient Option 2.
*** WordOfGod, however, [[http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2008/11/shield-shawn-ryan-post-finale-q.html doesn't.]]
** Antwon Mitchell probably qualifies too. He's sent to prison for life, but still manages to maintain a pretty comfortable lifestyle with the cops even providing hookers for him. His last appearance is when Vic asks him if he ordered an attack on the Strike Team; Antwon gleefully (and truthfully) denies it, realizing that because Vic's coming to him about this, it means he has no real leads.
* Izzy Stevens from ''[[GraysAnatomy Grey's Anatomy]]'' consciously broke several ethical rules to give her lover a new heart, despite him being lower at the list of patients who need it. She also put his life in danger to do so. She only gets suspended for a short amount of time, instead of being kicked off from the hospital.

* Sam from ''{{iCarly}}''. Is there only a single time in the entire series where we get to enjoy seeing her getting punished for something? One of the worst examples: Sam and Freddie have to part a superspecial locker. At the end of the episode, Freddy offers Sam two hundred dollars so he can have it for himself. She takes it, then declaring that she would have given him the locker anyway. Then her mother crashes backwards into the locker with her car (she had a laser surgery), destroying it completely. Sam runs off, only for the vice principal to appear and blame Freddie for the hole, not to mention he got "caught" several times in that episode already.
** Sam has ''one'' comeuppance episode. ''iSpeed Date''. Rejected by her intended date (Gibby) twice, the second after she goes to his house and finds out he's got a girl at his house already and can't take her because it's girl's choice, that causes her to miss the school dance, and then right at the end, finds out that Carly and Freddie are sharing a slow dance together and don't even care if she showed up or not.
** The one time we see ever Sam in prison is in a WonderfulLife scenario.
** Carly should be considered this as well. She acts like a spoiled brat and treats others (Especially Freddie) terribly for no good reason, and never gets any sort of punishment for her actions.
* Charlie Harper on ''TwoAndAHalfMen.'' Despite being borderline sociopathic in his pursuit and callous use of women, as well as a huge reputation for being a misogynistic ass, he is never without a woman on his arm or in his bed. He even managed to get engaged to a decent woman. He also never suffers any real consequences for any other actions of his, and can fall into a pile of shit and come out smelling like a rose. In one episode he found out he had no money and was practically on the verge of bankruptcy because he pissed away all his money on booze, gambling and hookers only to be "rescued" by the end of the episode by the ex-husband of a woman he was banging(!) who offered him a sweet record deal and turned him into an overnight sensation writing children's songs(!!). He is also an alcoholic who takes terrible care of himself, yet was revealed in one episode to be in perfect health. To balance this out, however, this is frequently [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by other characters, especially his brother Alan, the classic ChewToy, who often expresses anger and disbelief at everything Charlie can get away with.
** Lets not forget Alan's ex-wife, Judith. She does abusive things to Alan and always gets away with it, like making large alimony payments that she most of the time uses to buy things for herself instead of for child support and making snide comments to him. Alan's not the only one to suffer from Judith's bitchiness; her second husband, Herb Melnick, is also abused by her. At one point, when Alan and Herb tried to be friends, Judith interfered and tried to make sure that didn't happen because she didn't like the idea of her ex-husband and new husband hanging out. Again, no retribution what so ever.
*** TruthInTelevision: We've pretty much decided as a civilization that Charlie Sheen is allowed to do whatever he wants. It just bleeds into the characters he plays.
* Larry Sizemore, the main character's PsychoForHire EvilMentor in ''BurnNotice''. He's probably killed more people than all the rest of the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Job Of The Week]] villains put together, gleefully so, but he always escapes in the end. In the episode "Double Booked," he's even able to keep the money he was paid to assassinate an innocent woman.
** By the half-way point of the fourth season, he's [[spoiler: finally in prison. Probably.]]
** A more egregious example comes from the back half of the second season. An entire episode revolves around trying to extradite a criminal bastard in exile back to Haiti so he can answer for his crimes. He looted the nation's treasury and fled into hiding. Halfway through the episode, we learn that [[spoiler: his dead father]], also a criminal and a thief, is nowhere near as dead as suspected, but also escaped into hiding. While the target is apprehended and shipped off to Haiti, his equally guilty partner stays in hiding in the states and it, apparently, never occurs to the heroes to ship HIM back for judgment as well.
* ''TalesFromTheCrypt'' was all about terrible people getting what they deserved, which makes this incident all the more damning. [[spoiler: "The Third Pig", the only animated episode, ended with the Wolf eating all three pigs]]. Sure, he [[spoiler: got chewed up by the Frankenpig]], but he still got out in one piece.

**** The above example isn't really valid. S7 Spike has a soul, and reensouled vampires are so profoundly disgusted and horrified by what they have done that for one to commit wanton murder would be literally impossible. So, Buffy wasn't wrong to doubt that S7 Spike could be murdering. Furthermore, Spike himself never really pulls a Karma Houdini. S2-S6 Spike essentially kills himself to give himself a real chance with Buffy; the reensouled Spike is a completely different individual. Furthermore, Dawn was to be given to Spike only because there was no safer place for her; no matter Buffy's personal feelings towards Spike he was the one most able to protect Dawn, and that is her utmost priority.

* Lots of characters on ''{{Intelligence}}'' get away with their evil deeds, but Ted Altman is actually rewarded for his villainy as the series goes on.

* The third ''{{Blackadder}}''. Unlike the first, second, and fourth incarnations of him, he rarely gets the punishment the world's biggest Jerkass should. He often takes advantage of his boss and Duke of Wales, George, to escape karma at the last minute, even going so far as [[spoiler: assuming his identity in the season finale.]] The modern and distant future Blackadders take after the third.

*** The Minbari weren't really apologetic or remorseful at all, since they stopped the war because [[spoiler:they discovered that Minbari souls were being reincarnated into humans.]] Without that, they would've marched right on to Earth. But what stopped the war was arguably Karmic in the sense that [[spoiler:the Minbari discovered that they'd basically killed a whole bunch of their own. But as a whole, they didn't even do that. Only a handful were informed.]]

** It's a contested issue, but Xander himself is viewed by some as a Karma Houdini as he does not tell Buffy that Willow plans to re-ensoul Angel which of course leads to Buffy having to kill Angel ''after'' his soul has been restored. It gets referenced again in the season 7 episode "Helpless" where Willow finds out but the incident is glossed over and never mentioned again. Also he gets off scott free for the time he manipulated Faith into going to kill Angel.