History Main / InsaneForgiveness

* [[Badass Knuckles the Echidna]] from [[SonictheHedgehog SonictheHedgehog]] who believes that there is good in everyone, always forgives Dr. Eggman. Though Knuckles always find out that Dr. Eggman lies in the end.

It's the principle of "forgive and forget" taken to extremes. Most viewers will be left scratching their head, wondering, "How can they just let that go?" Sometimes, other characters InUniverse also [[WhatTheHellHero have this reaction.]]

* MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha has Fate who, shortly after her own atonement and Prescia's defeat, offers to save Prescia from dying because Prescia raised her like a daughter. After repeatedly abusing Fate, attacking the familiar Fate worked so hard to create, and nearly causing the deaths of countless numbers of people, most objective observers would say that Prescia wasn't worthy of Fate's consideration.
* In LittleHouseWithAnOrangeRoof, protagonist Shoutarou tends to stress forgiveness way too often, such as when an adult man strikes his 5-year-old-step-daughter-to-be hard enough to knock her over.
* Goku from DragonballZ has a long list of people who've tried to kill him. Most of these people become his TrueCompanions later and after that happens, he never brings up their previous transgressions.
* {{Naruto}} toward Sasuke, after the latter has done everything but stab a puppy onscreen.
** He also tries to do this with Tobi/[[spoiler: Obito Uchiha]], the man who has led an active campaign to wipe out all life on the planet and has ruined or killed countless people. His reasoning for this? [[spoiler: Basically because he wanted to be Hokage at one point and there is still some good in him. And because he's still pining after his PosthumousCharacter love interest.]] Naruto does, however, say that Tobi's actions are inexcusable, that [[spoiler:despite having once had the same goal, Tobi's actions go against all of Naruto's principles (Tobi declares a desire to take a "shortcut", so to speak, while Naruto thinks there are no shortcuts)]], and Naruto believes Tobi should accept punishment for his crimes.

* In the ''Anime/YuGiOh'' second anime (or [[DubInducedPlotHole at least the dub]]), Kaiba instantly forgives the Big Five for trying to kill him, or at least decides to hold off calling the police until ''after'' trying out this new virtual reality device they've invented. In the original version, he makes it clear that he knows that they will retaliate if he merely tries to dispose of them, and believes that he will beat them at their own game, making it a case of arrogance, rather than forgiveness.
** ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'' naturally has a field day with this:

* [[RanmaOneHalf Ranma 1/2]]: Ranma Saotome has forgiven and really helped out many people who've tried to kill him, have kidnapped a loved one, or both. Does this guy never hold a grudge?

* [[NiceGirl Enju]] [[AllLovingHero Aihara]] from ''LightNovel/BlackBullet''. Despite her severe trust issues and DarkAndTroubledPast, she holds no hatred or grudge against anyone and forgives people easily. [[spoiler:In fact, she not only forgives her former enemies easily, [[DefeatMeansFriendship she also befriend them]]. This is evident when she forgives and befriended [[TheQuietOne Tina]] [[{{Cloudcukoolander}} Sprout]] despite the fact that Tina attempted to kill [[BigGood Seitenshi]] and even brutally injured Enju at one point.]]

[[AC: Comic Books]]
* The first Silk Spectre forgives [[spoiler: her attempted rapist,]] the Comedian, and even later [[spoiler: sleeps with him consensually]]. Whether this counts as "true" forgiveness or just StockholmSyndrome is very much a matter for [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation interpretation]], although Doctor Manhattan considers it "a miracle" which is sufficiently noteworthy as to make it worth the trouble to [[spoiler: return to Earth and attempt to save humanity from nuclear war]].

[[AC:FanFic]]
* This is a ''trademark'' of any bad fan fiction.

* In ''TheSilmarillion,'' [[BigGood Manwë]] forgiving [[GodOfEvil Melkor]] is a borderline example--even most of the other Valar thought it was a bad idea. It was a GoodCannotComprehendEvil situation. When Melkor rose up ''again,'' waged war in Middle-Earth for centuries and then asked for forgiveness a second time, the Valar just chucked him into the void outside of the universe.
* According to [[Literature/TheBible the New Testament]], Jesus, and by extension God, would be an example of this.
** That's provided the sinner is genuinely contrite, asks for forgiveness and accepts salvation. If they don't, there's a very different result...

* In ''{{Smallville}}'', [[IncorruptiblePurePureness Chloe Sullivan]] forgives Lionel off-screen for trying to kill her. Twice.
** In ''Fracture'', she [[spoiler:dies saving ''LexLuthor''. Luckily, she has ResurrectiveImmortality.]]
* Tori Vega of ''{{Victorious}}'' always seems to be able to let Jade West's behavior slide, no matter how awful that behavior might seem to the viewer. One episode even features a truly bizzare example of WhatTheHellHero where the person ''being forgiven'' is the same person calling Tori out for it.

* On ''TrueBlood,'' Sookie's LoveMakesYouDumb is arguably bordering on this when it comes to Bill's various dodgy deeds.

* In Mozart's DonGiovanni, [[WomanScorned Donna Elvira]] is willing to forgive everything if Giovanni just loves her. Also, surprisingly, despite all his scariness, the commander. What do you do if someone tries to rape your daughter, kills you and mocks your grave and you know this man has just a few more ours to live? Gloat back, just wait to really enjoy just seeing him go to hell? Of course not, you come back from the grave in a desperate attempt to save his soul from hell...

* [[NiceGirl Marona]] from ''Video/PhantomBrave'' virtually holds not grudges against anyone and forgives everyone unconditionally despite [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer the world she's living in]].

* On ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries,'' Harley Quinn always forgives the Joker no matter what, even when he tortures children and has tried to kill Harley in the past. In this case, she ''is'' insane, though, and the show makes it clear that [[MadLove this isn't a healthy relationship]].

[[AC: Web Comic]]
* According to ''SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal,'' [[http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=513#comic Jesus]] would be an example of this.

* [[NiceGirl Enju]] [[AllLovingHero Aihara]] from ''LightNovel/BlackBullet''. Despite her severe trust issues and DarkAndTroubledPast, she holds no hatred or grudge against anyone and forgives people easily. [[spoiler:In fact, she not only forgives her former enemies easily, [[DefeatMeansFriendship she also befriend them]]. This is evident when she forgive and befriended [[TheQuietOne Tina]] [[{{Cloudcukoolander}} Sprout]] despite the fact that Tina attempted to kill [[BigGood Seitenshi]] and even brutally injured Enju at one point.]]

* [[NiceGirl Enju]] [[AllLovingHero Aihara]] from ''LightNovel/BlackBullet''. Despite her severe trust issues and DarkAndTroubledPast, she holds no hatred or grudge against anyone and forgives people easily. [[spoiler:In fact, she not only forgives her former enemies easily, [[DefeatMeansFriendship she also befriend them]], as evident with her friendship with [[TheQuietOne Tina]] [[{{Cloudcukoolander}} Sprout]] despite the fact that Tina attempted to kill [[BigGood Seitenshi]] and even brutally injured Enju at one point.]]

This may be a trait of the VictoriousLoser or an AllLovingHero. StupidGood characters do this as well; when they do, things tend to go wrong.

* ''CodeGeass'': Ohgi still forgives Villetta, then a Britannian spy, for trying to kill him while she still ''hasn't given up trying to do so''.

* On ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer,'' many fans felt this way about Buffy and Spike after the AttemptedRape. Admittedly, by the next time she saw him he had [[OurSoulsAreDifferent gained a soul]] and thus could be considered a different moral entity, but she showed signs of forgiving him even before that. Their relationship was never really portrayed as healthy that season. While she doesn't confront him about the rape attempt itself after, for many in-show months she noticeably flinches when he touches her and otherwise does her best to ignore his presence when she can. The forgiveness didn't come immediately, even when she found out he had a soul.

** He also tries to do this with Tobi/[[spoiler: Obito Uchiha]], the man who has led an active campaign to wipe out all life on the planet and has ruined or killed countless people. His reasoning for this? [[spoiler: Basically because he wanted to be Hokage at one point. And because he's still pining after his PosthumousCharacter love interest.]] Naruto does, however, say that Tobi's actions are inexcusable, that [[spoiler:despite having once had the same goal, Tobi's actions go against all of Naruto's principles (Tobi declares a desire to take a "shortcut", so to speak, while Naruto thinks there are no shortcuts)]], and Naruto believes Tobi should accept punishment for his crimes.

[[AC:ComicStrips]]
* In ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'', Paige frequently babysits Ms. O'Mally's preschool daughter Katie, despite the fact that Paige is a ''horrible'' babysitter that no sane parent would trust with a child. The earliest example was when Paige gave Katie a huge piece of chocolate cake, making her too hyperactive to control. Another time, Paige watched ''[[JerrySpringer Jerzy Spaniel]]'' in front of Katie, teaching Katie foul language. The worst example was the time Paige fell asleep while watching her; Katie started ''[[AdultFear playing with scissors]]'' as she dozed. (Fortunately, Paige woke up before a disaster occurred.) Still, for some reason, the worst punishment Paige has yet to receive is having to pay for Katie's dress that was ruined in that last incident, and Ms. O'Mally continues to hire her for some reason, as recently as November 2013, when Paige narrowly averted another disaster, giving her what she thought were Peter's old preschool video games. (They were actually his violent M-rated games that he had put in innocent-looking casings to keep them hidden from their mother; of course, you can probably blame that one on Peter, and the last panel does suggest Paige managed to call them before Katie played any.)

* ''Manga/OnePiece'' has Luffy who has on several occasions forgiven old enemies upon meeting them again, and has ''recruited'' one of them to his crew when she asked. However, he ''does'' have limits, and when the transgression is too great such as tearing up a friend's beloved country and forcing her into an [[BreakTheCutie emotional breakdown]], he won't trust the person until he's proven himself enough. [[note]] BTW, that in ''no'' way meant that said person got soft on him. It meant he did exactly what he'd said he'd do. Nothing more.[[/note]]

* In Moazart's Don Giovanni Donna Elvira is willing to forgive everything if Giovanni just loves her. Also, surprisingly, despite all his scariness, the commander. What do you do if someone tries to rape your daughter, kills you and mocks your grave and you know this man has just a few more ours to live? Gloat back, just wait to really enjoy just seeing him go to hell? Of course not, you come back from the grave in a desperate attempt to save his soul from hell...

* In ''TheSilmarillion,'' [[BigGood Manwë]] forgiving [[GodOfEvil Melkor]] is a borderline example--even most of the other Valar thought it was a bad idea. It was an [[InvertedTrope inverted]] EvilCannotComprehendGood situation. When Melkor rose up ''again,'' waged war in Middle-Earth for centuries and then asked for forgiveness a second time, the Valar just chucked him into the void outside of the universe.

** He also tries to do this with Tobi/[[spoiler: Obito Uchiha]], the man who has led an active campaign to wipe out all life on the planet and has ruined or killed countless people. His reasoning for this? [[spoiler: Basically because he wanted to be Hokage at one point. And because he's still pining after his PosthumousCharacter love interest.]]

* In the ''Anime/YuGiOh'' second anime (or [[DubInducedPlotHole at least the dub]]), Kaiba instantly forgives the Big Five for trying to kill him, or at least decides to hold off calling the police until ''after'' trying out this new virtual reality device they've invented.

** ''YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'' naturally has a field day with this:

* In ''Franchise/{{Noob}}'', [[KindHeartedSimpleton Sparadrap]] is quite prone to this. This is best seen when his reaction to his ManipulativeBastard guildmate [[spoiler:setting up a Face Heel revolving door]] boils down to : "Happy you're back, I was starting to miss you". Perhaps justified in that this happended on a {{MMORPG}}, but the franchise wouldn't be part of its genre without the SeriousBusiness about the game to which Sparadrap is on of the few exceptions.

* In ''TheSilmarillion,'' [[BigGood Manwë]] forgiving [[GodOfEvil Melkor]] is a borderline example--even most of the other gods thought it was a bad idea. It was an [[InvertedTrope inverted]] EvilCannotComprehendGood situation. When Melkor rose up ''again,'' waged war in Middle-Earth for centuries and then asked for forgiveness a second time, the gods just chucked him into the void outside of the universe.

** To be fair, the former enemy that he recruited into his crew had already saved his life twice.

* In the ''Anime/YuGiOh'' second anime (or [[DubInducedPlotHole at least the dub]]), Kaiba instantly forgives the Big Five for trying to kill him, or at least decides to hold off calling the police until ''after'' trying out this [[strike:obvious trap]] new virtual reality device they've invented.

* ''Manga/OnePiece'' has Luffy who has on several occasions forgiven old enemies upon meeting them again, and has ''recruited'' one of them to his crew when she asked. However, he ''does'' have limits, and when the transgression is too great such as tearing up a friend's beloved country and forcing her into an [[BreakTheCutie emotional breakdown]], he won't trust the person until he's proven himself enough. [[hottip:*: BTW, that in ''no'' way meant that said person got soft on him. It meant he did exactly what he'd said he'd do. Nothing more.]]

This may be a trait of the VictoriousLoser or TheMessiah. StupidGood characters do this as well; when they do, things tend to go wrong.

* This happens in Homestuck a ''lot.''

* In ''TheSilmarillion,'' [[BigGood Manwe]] forgiving [[GodOfEvil Melkor]] is a borderline example--even most of the other gods thought it was a bad idea. It was an [[InvertedTrope inverted]] EvilCannotComprehendGood situation. When Melkor rose up ''again,'' waged war in Middle-earth for centuries and then asked for forgiveness a second time, the gods just chucked him into the void outside of the universe.

* {{Naruto}} toward Sasuke, after the latter has just about done everything but stab a puppy onscreen.
* ''[[Manga/OnePiece One Piece]]'' has Luffy who has on several occasions forgiven old enemies upon meeting them again, and has ''recruited'' one of them to his crew when she asked. However, he ''does'' have limits, and when the transgression is too great such as tearing up a friend's beloved country and forcing her into an [[BreakTheCutie emotional breakdown]], he won't trust the person until he's proven himself enough. [[hottip:*: BTW, that in ''no'' way meant that said person got soft on him. It meant he did exactly what he'd said he'd do. Nothing more.]]

* [[RanmaOneHalf Ranma 1/2]]: Ranma Saotome has forgiven and even really helped out many people who've tried to kill him, have kidnapped a loved one, or both. Does this guy never hold a grudge?

* In ''TheSilmarillion,'' [[BigGood Manwe]] forgiving [[GodOfEvil Melkor]] is a borderline example--even most of the other gods thought it was a bad idea. It was basically an [[InvertedTrope inverted]] EvilCannotComprehendGood situation. Notably, when Melkor rose up ''again,'' waged war in Middle-earth for centuries and then asked for forgiveness a second time, the gods just chucked him into the void outside of the universe.

* On ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer,'' many fans felt this way about Buffy and Spike after the AttemptedRape. Admittedly, by the next time she saw him he had [[OurSoulsAreDifferent gained a soul]] and thus could be considered a different moral entity, but she showed signs of forgiving him even before that. Of course, their relationship was never really portrayed as healthy that season.
** It should also be noted that while she doesn't confront him about the rape attempt itself after, for many in-show months she noticeably flinches when he touches her and otherwise does her best to ignore his presence when she can. The forgiveness didn't come immediately, even when she found out he had a soul.

* On ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries,'' Harley Quinn pretty much always forgives the Joker no matter what, even when he tortures children and has tried to kill Harley in the past. In this case, she literally ''is'' insane, though, and the show makes it clear that [[MadLove this isn't a healthy relationship]].