History Main / KickTheDOg

Of course, the crux of this trope isn't just the cruel act; it's also about the innocence of the victim, i.e. they have done nothing to warrant their abuse. If the target is an AssholeVictim instead, the cruel act can become a sympathetic one for the villain/anti-hero instead. If going after the [[AcceptableTargets Acceptable Target]] is a coincidence, it becomes LaserGuidedKarma; if the victim was [[EvenEvilHasStandards specifically targeted]] for their assholery, it becomes PayEvilUntoEvil.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': A comic strip has [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick arrive in a land populated by ice cream people. The inhabitants welcome the two with open arms. The two proceed to devour all the living beings out of gluttony. [[BlackComedy this is played for humor]].

'''WARNING!''' Enacting this trope, particularly in the presence of a heroic character, may result in the following: BerserkButton, RoaringRampageOfRevenge, CurbStompBattle, TheDogBitesBack, the aforementioned LaserGuidedKarma etc. Do not attempt this trope unless you're feeling suicidal.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* After frequent allegations of corruption, dishonesty and law-breaking being made against the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, his Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when asked during a CNN interview if she could imagine circumstances under which she wouldn't support him, replied, “If he went out and kicked a dog, I would probably withdraw my support for him.”
[[/folder]]

** After seeing how overly positive Mel Giedroyc was, no matter what they threw at her, Greg and Alex conspired to give her the [[ImpossibleMission impossible task]] of hiding a ''gigantic'' beach ball from Alex in only 5 minutes. Also she had to inflate it, which took over a half-hour, and then deflate it to get it outside, which took almost a half-hour. She got no points for this, they purely did it to try and BreakTheCutie because [[ItAmusedMe it amused them]].
** Rhod Gilbert edged close to this a few times, but he actually got ''called out for it'' once. He had the rather genius solution to a task, which involved tying yourself up for Alex to untie (whoever Alex took the longest to untie was the winner), where he ''tied up Alex'' first and then tied himself up. This netted him the victory as Alex couldn't even try to untie him, which everyone on task admitted was actually pretty clever... but they were unanimously in agreement that also putting a bucket on Alex's head, and then a hat on the bucket, was just needlessly mean.

Of course, the crux of this trope isn't just the cruel act; it's also about the innocence of the victim, i.e. they have done nothing to warrant their abuse. If the target is an AssholeVictim instead, the cruel act can become a sympathetic one for the villan/anti-hero instead. If going after the [[AcceptableTargets Acceptable Target]] is a coincidence, it becomes LaserGuidedKarma; if the victim was [[EvenEvilHasStandards specifically targeted]] for their assholery, it becomes PayEvilUntoEvil.

[[caption-width-right:300:Would-be [[TakeOverTheWorld Dictator]]. Murderer. Kidnapper. Terrorist. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Pupp]]y [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals punter]].]]

[[caption-width-right:300:Would-be [[TakeOverTheWorld Dictator]]. Murderer. Kidnapper. Terrorist. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Puppy]] [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals punter]].]]

Of course, the crux of this trope isn't just the cruel act; it's also about the innocence of the victim, i.e. they have done nothing to warrant their abuse. If the target is an AssholeVictim instead, the cruel act can become a sympathetic one for the villan/anti-hero instead. If going after the [[AcceptableTargets Acceptable Target]] is a coincidence, it becomes KickTheSonOfABitch; if the victim was [[EvenEvilHasStandards specifically targeted]] for their assholery, it becomes PayEvilUntoEvil.

* Done in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MduR-MzfzdI this]] commercial. [[KickTheSonOfABitch The dog did deserve it though.]]

For bad people who ''literally'' kick dogs, see BadPeopleAbuseAnimals. For the RealLife phenomenon called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kick_the_cat "Kick the Cat"]] or "Kick the Dog", you'll be wanting TheChainOfHarm.

When a character does something evil, cruel or very mean for no apparent gain, because the author wants to demonstrate that they is not a nice person and shift audience sympathy away from them.

When a character does something evil, cruel or very mean for no apparent gain, because the author wants to demonstrate that he's not a nice guy and shift audience sympathy away from him.

Dog-kickings can be verbal as well, when a line of dialogue is used to shock the audience with its sheer repugnance. If it's uttered in the presence of the hero in an action series, he'll echo the audience's thoughts and tell the villain "YoureInsane"

Needless to say, this trope can be enacted without harming any dogs. Any act or statement that shows the character's [[{{Jerkass}} meanness]] or outright evil will do, such as a boss demanding an employee come in to work during Christmas when the employee's kid is [[LittlestCancerPatient in the hospital]], or a passer-by stealing from a blind beggar's coin dish, or TheDragon inflicting a vicious NoHoldsBarredBeatdown on the hero or one of his TrueCompanions or {{Protectorate}}. A PoliticallyIncorrectVillain can kick the dog by showing gratuitous racism, sexism, homophobia, or some combination of such non-PC traits. If the event happened off screen in the past, just have Bob [[ReminiscingAboutYourVictims fondly recall the incident]] and make it clear that he has no remorse whatsoever. Bingo, mission accomplished.

If what is supposed to be a character's Kick The Dog moment is excessively horrible, cruel, or otherwise despicable enough to make an audience lose all sympathy for him, then he's crossed the MoralEventHorizon, if he's not on the other side of it already. If the Dog in question is someone the character cares about and discovers BeingEvilSucks, then they've [[KickTheMoralityPet Kicked the Morality Pet]] and ''might'' be in time to avoid a FaceHeelTurn. If the dog belonged to a minion, expect it to help cause a MookFaceTurn because EvenMooksHaveLovedOnes. On occasions, if karma works in the dog's favor, [[TheDogBitesBack he'll manage to get a last laugh]]. On even rarer occasions, after being pushed around too many times, the dog may decide to [[TheStarscream plan against the Big Bad for his own ambitions]], because BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil. When the dog-kicking is done in a way that (usually inadvertently) increases sympathy for the villain, it becomes StrawmanHasAPoint. If the character ''appears'' to be likable or sympathetic when introduced and the dog-kicking proves that he is actually evil, that is BaitTheDog. If the villain shoots for this trope but fails to actually do anything seriously evil, it's PokeThePoodle.

* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LM-s5C0dnZs North American commercial]] for ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemElibe Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword]]'' has the leader of a group of warriors poison one of his own men, just to drive the point home that no one should be trusted.

This trope is often used to counter or prevent a character from being seen by the audience as a DesignatedVillain or StrawmanHasAPoint. These tropes tend to occur when poor writing or characterization causes a character to become more [[UnintentionallySympathetic sympathetic to the viewers than intended.]] Since the writers can't just give these villains their just desserts if the audience likes them too much or [[RootingForTheEmpire prefers to take their side on an issue]], an effective Kick the Dog moment can make them lose their sympathy and make them punishable again. This can [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools backfire, though,]] as the audience may decide that the [[VillainHasAPoint villain still has a point]] and that the writers are forcibly making them look bad through gratuitous dog-kicking rather than seriously addressing their points.

This trope is often used to counter or prevent a character from being seen by the audience as a DesignatedVillain or StrawmanHasAPoint. These tropes tend to occur when poor writing or characterization causes a character to become more [[UnintentionallySympathetic sympathetic to the viewers than intended.]] Since the writers can't just give these villains their just desserts if the audience likes them too much or [[RootingForTheEmpire prefers to take their side on an issue]], an effective Kick the Dog moment can make them lose their sympathy and make them punishable again. This can [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools backfire, though,]] as the audience may decide that the [[VillainHasAPoint villain still has a point]] and that the writers are forcibly making them look bad through gratuitous dog-kicking rather than seriously address their points.

This trope is often used to counter or prevent a character from being seen by the audience as a DesignatedVillain or StrawmanHasAPoint. These tropes tend to occur when poor writing or characterization causes a character to become more [[UnintentionallySympathetic sympathetic to the viewers than intended.]] Since the writers can't just give these villains their just desserts if the audience likes them too much or [[RootingFortheEmpire prefers to take their side on an issue]], an effective Kick the Dog moment can make them lose their sympathy and make them punishable again. This can [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools backfire though.]]

[[caption-width-right:300:Would-be [[TakeOverTheWorld Dictator]]. Murderer. Kidnapper. Terrorist. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Puppy punter]].]]

* ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' occasionally kicks Odie. And by "occasionally" we mean [[CatsAreMean "constantly"]].

* After frequent allegations of corruption, dishonesty and law-breaking being made agains the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, his Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media, when asked during a CNN interview if she could imagine circumstances under which she wouldn't support him, replied, “If he went out and kicked a dog, I would probably withdraw my support for him.”

* After frequent allegations of corruption, dishonesty and law-breaking being made agains the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, his Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media, when asked if she could imagine circumstances under which she wouldn't back him, replied, “If he went out and kicked a dog, I would probably withdraw my support for him.”

This trope is common in horror-based MonsterOfTheWeek shows, often to set up the AssholeVictim for the KarmicTwistEnding. Anthologies are especially prone to this, as they have to set up their villains really quickly, since they only have one episode to tell their story. This can be played up by having the very same kick of cruelty be [[LaserGuidedKarma the cause of their downfall.]] At the very least, it is designed to let you know who is going to lose at the end. The opposite of KarmaHoudini.

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* ''ComicStrip/LittleOrphanAnnie'': While it wasn't the first sign that she was no good, the fact that [[spoiler:Trixie Tinkle]] kicked Annie's dog Sandy established that she didn't actually like Annie.
* ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' occasionally kicks Odie. And by "occasionally" we mean [[CatsAreMean "constantly"]].
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': A comic strip has [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick arrive in a land populated by ice cream people. The inhabitants welcome the two with open arms. The two proceed to devour all the living beings out of gluttony. [[BlackComedy this is played for humor]].

* ''TabletopGame/{{Space 1889}}'' has an almost literal example in Canal Priest of Mars. That also doubles as EstablishingCharacterMoment “She is accompanied by a maid and by three poodles housed in the kennels. Her character may be indicated by the fact that she won’t visit the dogs once during the voyage.” The trip in question is expected to take ten weeks.

* It happens all the time ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''. KickTheDog barely ''begins'' to describe the treatment of choice for civilians, cute fluffy critters, and ''planets'' in this [[CrapsackWorld supremely fucked-up universe]]. Even MoralEventHorizon barely begins to cover it. Meta-example: every time a faction is viewed more sympathetically by the fans, the writers have a nasty trick of making said faction do this. [[SpaceElves Eldar]] looking too much like a WoobieSpecies? Make them destroy an entire world and kill millions to save a handful of their own kind, and ''do not'' gloss over this. [[TheGreys Tau]] looking too much like the [[ALighterShadeOfGrey good guys]] of the setting? Make them brutal fascists and hint at hidden sterilization of non-Tau, brainwashing and genocide. [[TheEmpire Imperium]] looking too much like a LawfulGood empire? Play up their [[KnightTemplar religious dogma]], [[AbsoluteXenophobe virulent xenophobia]] and/or [[WeHaveReserves lack of respect for the lives of innocent people]] to remind the players that HumansAreTheRealMonsters. [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Orks]] looking too much like a comic relief ([[BloodyHilarious for a given value of]] "[[GallowsHumor comic]]") faction? Show them gleefully slaughtering unarmed [[MenAreTheExpendableGender women]] and children to remind you that they're violent, amoral monsters. ''Warhammer 40000'' is EvilVersusEvil, and the creators want to keep it that way.

* Villains in ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' seem to be prone to this. Kathrine Steiner-Davion, for example, once had a planet send her a birthday gift that she decided wasn't expensive enough. So she ordered that medical shipments for a viral outbreak the planet was currently suffering from be cut off.

* In ''Theatre/DreamGirl'', Clark is in the middle of torturing a cat when Georgina shoots him in her revenge fantasy DreamSequence.

* ''WebAnimation/{{Bunnykill}}'':
** Flint, BigBad of ''Bunnykill 4'', does this big time when he [[spoiler:kills Ruby, Snowball's potential love interest.]] Oddly enough, this makes him the only BigBad of the series to do something truly villainous onscreen.
** As of ''Bunnykill 5'', Smoke has joined the dog-kicking party. He [[spoiler:has Snowball's friend Dust injected with PsychoSerum, turning him BrainwashedAndCrazy and ultimately leading to Snowball's death]]. For added dick points, he also [[spoiler:betrays his partner Professor Sludge, the designer of the serum, leaving him to become Dust's first victim]]. The second half also has him [[spoiler:throwing his own mooks into Dust's way to save his own hide. Not that it helps him in the end]].
* In ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice'', the Emperor says that snatching Angron from his last stand and leaving him to watch his men die hopelessly was absolutely hilarious. Worth noting is that this is what made Angron - already a ball of UnstoppableRage - go off the deep end.
* In the animation ''[[http://www.ninjai.com/ Ninjai]]'' the bad guy attacks the hero's little bird friend for no reason at all. The bird gets his own back later.
* ''WebAnimation/ShareMyStory'': It's bad enough that Clara cheated on the protagonist with Brandon, but at school, everyone laughs at him over what happened and, to add insult to injury, Clara and Brandon kiss in front of him during class time.
* While the titular ''WebAnimation/DrCrafty'' can be quite an ass to anyone, his ex, Sasha, sometimes brings out the worst in him. When Sasha's brought to her lowest point and appears before him in "The Foreshadow Game," Crafty starts ranting about their unresolved personal issues unprompted, which makes Sasha feel far worse. During their shared dream in "Crafty Hearts Re:Grouped," he tauntingly asks Sasha if he should throw himself off a cliff again to get her to return for good. Both times, Crafty is rightfully called out, and after having some sense talked into him, he backs off and recognizes his poor choices. Thankfully, their interaction in "Questions and Answers" demonstrates some growth on his part. [[spoiler: He's at first frustrated with Sasha coming to him as she did before, but he quickly calms down to listen to what Sasha has to say.]]

* The would-be-governor villain of the season from [[http://joshreads.com/?p=8363 this]] ''ComiStrip/MarkTrail'' storyline decides to cement his evilness by kicking the proverbial pet deer.

* KickTheDog/{{Webcomics}}