History Main / SympathyfortheDevil

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': It's mentioned in one episode that Kenny is ''only'' friends with [[VillainProtagonist Cartman]] out of pity.

--> '''Clive:''' "And what of you? How many people have you killed? How many dreams have you crushed? You’re not the only one who has seen their world fall apart around them. [''draws his sword''] You’ll get no pity from me, Kupka. No pity...and no mercy!"

* ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'': [[PlayedforHorror Played for Horror]] when Monokuma kills Monophanie and Monotaro during Gonta's execution in a very [[ChestBurster disturbing]] fashion. Keebo was horrified as to why Monokuma would be [[WouldHurtaChild willing to kill his remaining children]] out of child-blood.
** Later, Keebo and Shuichi express this a bit in Chapter 6 when Monokuma implants all five of his revived Monokubs with bombs to blow them up in case they don't give valuable arguments. Monokuma does kill them all later on.

* In ''Fanfic/YourAlicornIsInAnotherCastle'', a ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' and ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' CrossoverFic by Creator/{{Estee}}, when Bowser begins to explain how his "Princess Kidnapping Business" works to Twilight Sparkle, he starts by showing her his "Cutie Mark": a crown wrapped in chains and ready to be dragged away. The implications utterly horrify Twilight.

* {{Invoked|Trope}} in ''WesternAnimation/TheBadGuys2022''. When the gang is arrested for attempting to steal the Good Samaritan Award, Mr. Wolf claims nobody had ever given him and his friends a chance to be anything other than criminals. Professor Marmalade, the award's recipient, takes pity on them and comes up with the idea to have the gang rehabilitated at his compound instead of going to jail. Mr. Wolf is playing him, hoping to use the pretense to get another chance at stealing the trophy.

-->'''Archer''': The man who... might have [[spoiler:been my father... just died.]]

** Zuko and Katara's silent but all too visible reaction to [[spoiler: Azula]]'s VillainousBreakdown in the last episode of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' invokes this trope.

** In ''Trial'', it was outright stated that Batman and most of his RoguesGallery were most likely not that different: Deeply troubled individuals who reacted to great hardship by putting on a mask and lashing out. The big difference being that Batman put on his mask and lashed out against crime, while the villains put on a mask and lashed out at society.

-->'''Silverbolt''': No. Let him be. For the moment, we are brothers.

-->'''Amethyst''': ''[sighs and picks up Jasper's gem]'' C'mere, sis.
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'': In "[[Recap/TeenTitansS1E2Sisters Sisters]]", Starfire looks saddened when the Centuari police arrest [[CainAndAbel her sister Blackfire]], even if it's no less than the latter deserves after her actions.

* Raoul Silva in ''Film/{{Skyfall}}''. During his confrontation with M where he reveals his TragicVillain backstory, when he says "You betrayed me," Bond looks away from Silva and gazes intently at M. After Silva has a mini-meltdown where he reveals his cyanide-induced deformity (for which he also blames M), M leaves and Bond turns to follow, but slowly and hesitantly, suggesting he doesn't entirely want to leave Silva alone. After he rejoins M, he stares silently at her until she explains why she "betrayed" Silva. According to Daniel Craig on the DVD special features, under better circumstances Bond would have rather let Silva live and get therapy.
** M, for her part, is visibly shaken after Silva's big reveal and her explanation is tinged with melancholy. Later in the film, as they are lying in wait for Silva's final attack, she says, "I fucked this up, didn't I?" While Bond assures her she was just doing her job, he doesn't go so far as to tell her she did the right thing.

*** [[ZigZaggedTrope Zigzagged]] in ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'', when Rey makes it clear that she sympathizes with Ben Solo, ''not'' Kylo Ren (his evil persona.)

* ''Fanfic/LovedAndLost'': Despite all the cruelties he puts everyone through, the heroes, especially the three alicorn princesses, are saddened in the epilogue that they were unable to redeem [[spoiler:Princess Cadance's [[EvilAllAlong all along rotten]] cousin Prince Jewelius]] before he received his [[KarmicDeath well-earned end]] [[JustDesserts in the teeth of]] the vengeful [[spoiler:Changelings]].

** Jade shows sympathy for both Miranda and Cedric due to a shared history of having faced persecution, and plans to give them a new start after their mission is over.
** Despite [[HeWhoFightsMonsters Vera's actions]], Jade and Metalbeak both end up feeling sorry for the girl who has ruined her own life in her obsession to avenge her grandfather.

* In ''Fanfic/ShadowsOverMeridian'', Jade shows sympathy for both Miranda and Cedric due to a shared history of having faced persecution, and plans to give them a new start after their mission is over.

* Similarly, ''Manga/BlackLagoon'' is full of sympathetic devils. The only exceptions that come to mind are the Neo-Nazis (who are misguided and comical) and [[StupidEvil Chaka]].

* [[Anime/BeybladeMetalFusion Beyblade: Metal Masters]]: Despite knowing how he’s responsible for [[spoiler: hospitalizing Yu and Tsubasa, as well as sadistically tormenting Julian Konzern,]] Gingka extends this to [[spoiler: Damian from Team Star Breaker, acknowledging how, in the end, Damian was used as a tool by Dr. Ziggurat, just like Masamune’s childhood friend Zeo.]]

* [[Anime/BeybladeMetalFusion Beyblade: Metal Masters]]: Despite knowing how he’s responsible for [[spoiler: hospitalizing Yu and Tsubasa, as well as sadistically tormenting Julian Konzern,]] Gingka extends this to [[spoiler: Damian from Team Star Breaker. While Damian is shown to be a very horrible person, Gingka acknowledges how, in the end, Damian was used as a tool by Dr. Ziggurat, just like Masamune’s childhood friend Zeo.]]

* ''[[Anime/BeybladeMetalFusion Beyblade: Metal Masters]]: Despite knowing how he’s responsible for [[spoiler: hospitalizing Yu and Tsubasa, as well as sadistically tormenting Julian Konzern,]] Gingka extends this to [[spoiler: Damian from Team Star Breaker. While Damian is shown to be a very horrible person, Gingka acknowledges how, in the end, Damian was used as a tool by Dr. Ziggurat, just like Masamune’s childhood friend Zeo.]]
-->Gingka: [[spoiler: Damian…you’re lost…]](…) I see. You really are just a victim in all of this. You did as you were told and took up Beyblade. Did as you were told and became some kind of lab rat test subject!

* {{Kaiju}} movies frequently use this trope to create more investment in the monsters as more than just disasters. ''Film/KingKong1933'' framed the titular monster in a sympathetic light, as a creature lost and confused driven to protect someone who feels nothing for him (taken to an occasionally more hilarious extreme in later remakes where the relationship between Kong and the female lead was usually emphasized). Creator/{{Toho}} movies often pull this, with both ''Film/{{Mothra}}'' and ''Film/{{Rodan}}'' adding tragedy to the monsters, particularly Rodan seemingly dying after its mate does. The ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' franchise generally frames Godzilla in a more sympathetic light if he's not being framed as a pure villain or hero. The original film portrayed his death as a tragic, painful moment. In ''Film/GodzillaVsDestoroyah'', he has absorbed too much radiation from an explosion in ''Film/GodzillaVsSpaceGodzilla'', and his body is now melting down. After going through a TraumaCongaLine with his son dying, his body being frozen, and a couple rounds with the monster Destoroyah, he finally reaches the breaking point and [[SuperpowerMeltdown melts down]]. Despite all of the destruction Godzilla has caused over the years, the human protagonists can't help but feel remorse for his passing. In Shin Godzilla, his theme song is all about how Godzilla is living in constant agony and is in a world they do not belong in.

* Giant monster movies frequently use this trope to create more investment in the monsters as more than just disasters. The original ''Film/King Kong'' frequently framed the titual monster in a sympathethic light, as a creature lost and confused driven to protect someone who feels nothing for him (taken to an occasionally more hilarious extreme in later remakes where the realationship between Kong and the female lead was usually emphasised). Toho movies often pull this,. with both Mothra and Rodan adding tragedy to the monsters, particularly the Rodan seemingly dying after its mate. The Godzilla franchise generally frames Godzilla in a more sympathetic light if he's not being framed as a pure villain or hero. The original film portrayed his death as a tragic, painful moment. In ''Film/GodzillaVsDestoroyah'' he has absorbed too much radiation from an explosion in Film/GodzillaVsSpaceGodzilla, and his body is now melting down. After going through a TraumaCongaLine with his son dying, his body being frozen, and a couple rounds with the monster Destoroyah, he finally reaches the breaking point and [[SuperpowerMeltdown melts down]]. Despite all of the destruction Godzilla has caused over the years, the human protagonists can't help but feel remorse for his passing. In Shin Godzilla, his theme song is all about how Godzilla is living in constant agony and is in a world they do not belong in.
--> '''Ishiro Honda''': "Monsters are tragic beings. They are born too tall, too strong, too heavy. They are not evil by choice. That is their tragedy.".

* ''Film/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas'': Cindy Lou pities the Grinch throughout the film, especially after discovering that he [[FreudianExcuse became the cruel, selfish, Christmas-hating person he became]] after being bullied and ridiculed relentlessly by his peers.

* Another Creator/JohnWoo example: [[HitmanWithAHeart Ah Jong]] and [[CowboyCop Inspector Li Ying]] from ''Film/TheKiller'', who end up teaming up against Jong's boss in order to get the money needed for Jenny's eye operation.

* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'':
** An ambiguous case appears in ''ComicBook/LexLuthorManOfSteel''. After the events of the series, Lex Luthor confronts Superman, who looks as if he's barely restraining himself from attacking Luthor, and delivers TheReasonYouSuckSpeech about how everyone in Metropolis wanted to see [[spoiler: Toyman]] be killed for his (suspected) actions, and how the fact that Superman in fact rescued him will be enough to turn people against him. He doesn't say anything, but for just one panel Superman's angry expression disappears and he looks at Luthor with sadness.
** In ''ComicBook/TheCondemnedLegionnaires'', Satan Girl infects the ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes' female members with a mysterious plague, and she gleefully attempts to murder them and ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} several times. At the end, though, Satan Girl fails, and she reveals her true nature as she is dying: she was a Supergirl's duplicate created when Kara got exposed to Red Kryptonite. Since she was doomed to disappear when the Red-K effect vanished after forty-eight hours, she tried to keep herself alive by transfering the Kryptonite radiation to the Legion girls. As Satan Girl's fades forever, Supergirl feels sorry for her evil doppelganger, stating she was only fighting hard to survive.
** ''ComicBook/TheLifeStoryOfSuperman'': Subverted. When Lex Luthor's ego inevitably foils his latest scheme, Superman states he could ''almost'' pity his nemesis...but Luthor is too dangerous and mad to waste compassion on him.

* In ''ComicBook/ScottPilgrim'', [[spoiler: this is materialized as the Power of Understanding.]]

** James invokes this in regards to the Walkers in general. A former Whisperer living in the woods near the school, he insists that the Walkers are more than just mindless monsters and considers them innocent in a way, since they don't fight amongst themselves like humans. Before agreeing to help Clementine rescue her friends from the raiders, he has her enter a walker-infested barn while wearing his mask and ring a wind chime. The scene takes on an almost religous feeling when Clem rings the chime and the walkers all stop and stare at it together. Even Clementine feels touched by the moment and may agree that James could be right about their still being something human inside them.

* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': In this ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' fanfiction, [[Characters/AbraxasHrodvitnonHumans Alan Jonah]] attempts to [[InvokedTrope invoke]] and [[ExploitedTrope exploit]] this trope by telling Vivienne Graham about the tragic murder of his daughter Lindy which set him on the MisanthropeSupreme path he's on today. Vivienne doesn't fall for it, noting that as tragic as his daughter's death was, [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse it doesn't justify him forcing the same fate on millions of other innocents with families]].
* Victoria pities [[VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition Calpernia]] during their one and only meeting, in ''[[Fanfic/TwiceUponAnAge All This Sh*t is Twice as Weird]]'', when she realizes that the other woman is actually quite well-meaning and thoroughly devastated by the betrayal that Victoria reveals to her. They part company, each leaving the other unharmed.

* Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}' ''Sympathy For The Devil'', which is told in the Devil's first person about the atrocities he's witnessed since the days of Christ, sums it up with these lines: