History Main / PayEviluntoEvil

Compare with StrikeMeDownWithAllOfYourHatred, in which the villain ''deliberately'' goads the hero into doing the same terrible things he did to him. Usually as a plot to get them to sink to their level.

Contrast with IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim, TheFarmerAndTheViper, AssholeVictim, and LaserGuidedKarma. Depending on the depiction, {{Hell}} may also serve as an extreme example, where those who do evil are punished forever with various torments you certainly wouldn't call ''good''. May overlap with DisproportionateRetribution. See RevengeIsNotJustice which is a possible deconstruction of this trope in which the hero is held accountable for victimizing the wrongdoer.

In real life, the sort of thinking behind this trope is called "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retributive_justice retributive justice]]".

[[quoteright:299:[[ComicBook/ThePunisher https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_punisherbags_9.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:299:''"[[Series/Daredevil2015 I think there's no good in the filth that I put down, that's what I think.]]"'']]

* ''WesternAnimation/ParaNorman'': [[spoiler:After being killed by the Puritans, Agatha Prenderghast (the supposed "witch") sentences them to walk around town as zombies in order to be attacked by the modern townspeople]]. This becomes {{deconstructed|trope}} when Norman goes on to tell her that her actions are [[HeWhoFightsMonsters only making her come off as no better than them]], especially since they have been truly remorseful for what they did and they've already been punished enough.

* ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf'': In ''Joys of Seasons'' episode 4, Wolffy tricks Master Pao Pao into believing he's going to be blown up by a time bomb stuck to him unless he gives the wolf one of the goats. When it turns out the bomb is just an alarm clock, Weslie gets back at Wolffy by doing the same thing to his wife Wolnie [[spoiler:with the trade-off that this time, it actually ''is'' a bomb and blows them out of Wolf Castle]].

* ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe'': As soon as the obnoxious carny scams Agnes out of her stuffed unicorn, Gru obliterates the bastard’s booth and scares him straight into giving the unicorn to Agnes.

Contrast with IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim, TheFarmerAndTheViper, and KickTheSonOfABitch (when the victim in question isn't recognized by the person victimizing them for the bad things they've done; the lines may be blurred in cases where the person inflicting harm was, at the core, just looking for someone to hurt and [[DogKickingExcuse decided to use the victim's scumminess as an excuse to harm them]]). Depending on the depiction, {{Hell}} may also serve as an extreme example, where those who do evil are punished forever with various torments you certainly wouldn't call ''good''. May overlap with DisproportionateRetribution. See RevengeIsNotJustice which is a possible deconstruction of this trope in which the hero is held accountable for victimizing the wrongdoer.

* If Elsa from ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'' harms someone with malicious intent, it's pretty much safe to say they had it coming. Just ask the Duke of Weselton and his henchmen, who draw first blood and provoke her into an UnstoppableRage against them. Not a particularly bright move on their parts, considering [[AnIcePerson what Elsa is]].

* In ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'', WellIntentionedExtremist Lenny Priestly kills [[spoiler:Viki Valentine]] and runs off into the woods, leaving Gabe [=McCallum=] and Steve Digaetano to mourn her. Next time they meet, Gabe shoots down [[spoiler:Lenny's sister, Elizabeth Priestly]] in a fit of rage, despite Steve's best efforts. Now that Lenny's been rid of his MoralityChain and decided to go on a suicidal RoaringRampageOfRevenge, it's clear that [[WhatTheHellHero Gabe has pretty much fucked up here.]]

* ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'' ''Reconstruction'': Agent South Dakota caused the death of her brother North, and shot Agent Washington in the back and left him as bait just to save her own skin. She's finally cornered by Washington (after Caboose shot her) who shoots her in the head, and disposes of her body by burning it, burying it, and [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill blowing it up]]. She totally deserved all that.

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' ''Reconstruction'': Agent South Dakota caused the death of her brother North, and shot Agent Washington in the back and left him as bait just to save her own skin. She's finally cornered by Washington (after Caboose shot her) who shoots her in the head, and disposes of her body by burning it, burying it, and [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill blowing it up]]. She totally deserved all that.

* Used by Wrestling/{{Edge}} against Wrestling/{{Kane}}. Kane is known for being a sadistic monster that torments and tortures his opponents without remorse: a NobleDemon at best, one of the biggest heels in all of wrestling at worst. Edge proceeds to kidnap Kane's [[Wrestling/PaulBearer evil father]] (who'd himself been seen as a monster quite often) and torture and torment him and Kane. Just so happens to follow Kane being an even bigger monster than normal, it's almost as if the WWE wanted to make sure Kane had it coming.

So the character descends upon the settlement, burns their buildings, kills the inhabitants, takes their money and resources, and leaves, pleased that now he'll be able to buy that [[ShinyNewAustralia shiny new whatever-he-was-wanting]].

Welcome to a special kind of morality where otherwise evil actions are considered okay because [[AssholeVictim the victims deserved it]] and RevengeIsSweet. Like all tropes, this can be played with any number of ways. It can be [[ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption played straight]], [[WhatTheHellHero defied]], [[JustifiedCriminal deconstructed]], or [[{{Applicability}} left disquietingly gray]] depending on the author. This one's very common with {{Revenge}} stories in general, since revenge at its core is a viciously [[ItsPersonal personal]] case of Paying Evil Unto Evil, and when one is [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds broken to the core]] by the suffering brought by the evil, even a desperate RevengeByProxy becomes justifiable (or at least it will seem that way to the one taking revenge). Alternatively, the hero may use such tactics as part of a deliberate and calculated strategy to [[TerrorHero break the villains' morale]].