History Main / InsaneForgiveness

-> "You are free, and there are no conditions, no bargains, no petitions. There's nothing that I blame you for... you've [[JustFollowingOrders done your duty. Nothing more.]]"/

-> "You are free, and there are no conditions, no bargains, no petitions. There's nothing that I blame you for... you've [[JustFollowingOrders done your duty. Nothing more.]]"\

-> "You are free, and there are no conditions, no bargains, no petitions. There's nothing that I blame you for... you've [[JustFollowingOrders done your duty. Nothing more.]]"

* In ''Series/{{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.]]

* 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.)

** In Chloe's defense for the second case, it's less that she's forgiven [[spoiler: Lex]] and more that [[spoiler: Clark is mentally connected to him and his Lex dies he might take Clark with him]].

There are many RevengeTropes. "An eye for an eye" is one of [[OlderThanDirt the oldest laws there is]]. To every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction; to every wrong, there'll always be an equal [[DisproportionateRetribution (or not)]] and opposite revenge. Right?

Sometimes you'll meet characters who offer complete forgiveness -- maybe not ''immediately'', but when it is given, it's wholehearted. There is no trick or "gotcha" moment. No matter how serious the wrong was (whether [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope a betrayal of their values]], [[HeelFaceIndex a betrayal of their loved ones,]] [[SexualHarassmentAndRapeTropes rape,]] [[MurderTropes even murder]]), nothing is beyond the scope of the forgiver's mercy. In extreme cases, a character granting InsaneForgiveness will grant it to someone who already crossed the MoralEventHorizon.

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

Compare EasilyForgiven, which occurs when a specific character receives this from every good guy that matters. Polar opposite of DisproportionateRetribution, where a small or even imaginary slight is punished terribly.

[[AC: Anime/Manga]]

* Manga/{{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.

* The first Silk Spectre of ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' 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]].

* Tori Vega of ''Series/{{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.
* The Tenth Doctor from ''Series/DoctorWho'' does this selectively. Unfortunately, the probability of his granting forgiveness is ''directly'' related to the horrors the person he's forgiving has committed, and often granted without there being a HeelFaceTurn from the other party.

* ''Series/{{Chuck}}'': It seemed like this trope applied to Agent [[spoiler:Shaw]] and Sarah until TheReveal that he had been faking his forgiveness so he could get a chance to kill her: "[[spoiler:You killed my wife.]] Did you really think I'd be okay with that?"
* [[Series/{{Supernatural}} Sam Winchester]] could be the poster boy for this trope. No matter what people do to him, he'll forgive them. Dean blatantly disregarding his wishes multiple times, not trusting him, blaming and guilting him for everything, letting an angel possess him, killing one of his friends? He forgave that. Cas breaking the wall in his head and forcing him to remember all the trauma of Lucifer's cage and resulting in him hallucinating his torturer? Meg possessing him and using his body to kill people? He forgave them too.

* 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 in reality Sparadrap is one of the few characters ''not'' considering the game to be SeriousBusiness.

* ''{{Chuck}}'': It seemed like this trope applied to Agent [[spoiler:Shaw]] and Sarah until TheReveal that he had been faking his forgiveness so he could get a chance to kill her: "[[spoiler:You killed my wife.]] Did you really think I'd be okay with that?"

Sometimes you'll meet characters who offer complete forgiveness -- maybe not ''immediately'', but when it is given, it's wholehearted. There is no trick or "gotcha" moment. No matter how serious the wrong was (whether [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope a betrayal of their values]], [[HeelFaceIndex a betrayal of their loved ones,]] [[ [[SexualHarrassmentAndRapeTropes rape,]] [[MurderTropes even murder]]), nothing is beyond the scope of the forgiver's mercy. In extreme cases, a character granting InsaneForgiveness will grant it to someone who already crossed the MoralEventHorizon.

This is the tendency of some characters to forgive other characters no matter how serious the wrong. This includes those other characters JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope, murdering loved ones, or raping the person granting the forgiveness. In extreme cases, a character granting InsaneForgiveness will grant it to someone who already crossed the MoralEventHorizon.

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

* In ''FireEmblemAwakening'', with SpotPass, [[spoiler:three former major antagonists]] can potentially join Chrom and his party. [[spoiler:We find through them and other events that Chrom and the rest of the Shepherds can easily forgive Aversa ([[TheVamp a vamp]] who was in cahoots with [[BigBad Validar]], although in her Paralogue, it's [[AssPull cheaply]] found out that her memories were manipulated by him) and Walhart (a TinTyrant and antagonist for the middle of the game) for what they've done. It's averted when Chrom recruits Gangrel, however, although it certainly helps that Gangrel antagonized Ylisse for a long time and was the one responsible for [[CoolBigSis Emmeryn's]] death.]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* 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:Multiple Media]]
* 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 in reality Sparadrap is one of the few characters ''not'' considering the game as SeriousBusiness.

* 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...

Compare EasilyForgiven, which occurs when a specific character receives this from every good guy that matters.

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 [[{{Facepalm}} have this reaction.]]

* ''{{Chuck}}'': It seemed like this trope applied to Agent [[spoiler: Shaw]] and Sarah until TheReveal that he had been faking his forgiveness so he could get a chance to kill her: "[[spoiler: You killed my wife.]] Did you really think I'd be okay with that?"

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

* 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.\\
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''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'' naturally has a field day with this:
-->'''[[MoralityPet Mokuba]]:''' Big Brother, [[LampshadeHanging why are you]] [[OutOfCharacterMoment acting so out of character]]?

* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' 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.

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

* 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.

* [[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.

* [[BadassKnuckles 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.