History Main / ThePunishment

** ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl'': Captain Barbossa & his crew from stole cursed gold and were turned into a literal "skeleton crew" because of it. While they could not get any pleasure from anything, they ended up being far more formidable foes, as they couldn't be killed. Jack actually catches on to this and [[spoiler: gets himself cursed just long enough to survive the fight against Barbossa.]]

* The {{Wendigo}} from the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, itself based on Native American myths; according to the folklore, those who resorted to cannibalism in times of famine would be transformed into giants with hearts made of ice and an insatiable desire for human flesh.

* Subverted by Karin in ''Manga/UQHolder''. She has immortality and is unable to be injured due to having betrayed a great man that she followed ([[spoiler:implied to be Jesus]]). She treats it as a curse, but it was actually meant as a blessing so that she might one day find redemption.

A long time ago, the Punishment committed a terrible crime. It was decided that the only way to truly make him pay for his deeds was a torture of the [[FateWorseThanDeath darkest supernatural sort.]] A side-effect to this, however, would be the punished one becoming immortal and/or gaining control of the forces of life/death/darkness itself. The Punishment then uses this new power to bring terror and death to everyone.

* The Oathbreakers from ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' are an example of the Punishment done smartly -- they get undead immortality as part of the curse for betraying Isildur, but become bound to serve his descendants if they ever need to call on them, and the only real power they get is the ability to inspire unnatural terror (shared by all Middle-earth undead). This is also a true punishment, as in Middle-earth the mortal soul wants to leave the world after the span of a lifetime and is in agony if it cannot.

* Pre-retcon Warwick in ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' was cursed for his evil alchemy by getting turned into a werewolf. He rather liked his new form.

* Salem of ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' was cursed with immortality for (unsuccessfully) tricking one of the gods into bringing her dead lover back to life. It's a JustifiedTrope in that immortality specifically fits the nature of her supposed crime; they wanted her to understand the importance of life and death. Unfortunately, Salem was already an immensely powerful magic user when they cursed her, and all they really did was make her mad. Now she's the BigBad, and humanity still has to deal with the fallout of the gods' actions centuries later.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TalesFromTheCryptKeeper'' (parodying "Sleeping Beauty") an [[LordErrorProne evil knight]] and his heroic but ExtremeDoormat brother set out to free and awake a sleeping princess, only to find a vicious female vampire instead. After the knight abandons his brothers to escape, he gets his comeuppance by being transformed into a vampire himself. This is clearly shown as a terrible punishment, ignoring the implications of a vain, cruel, greedy man being given powerful mind control abilities and NighInvulnerability. Then again, it DOES also mean that he'll never be able to see himself in a mirror again...

* Salem of ''WebAnimation/RWBY'' was cursed with immortality for (unsuccessfully) tricking one of the gods into bringing her dead lover back to life. It's a JustifiedTrope in that immortality specifically fits the nature of her supposed crime; they wanted her to understand the importance of life and death. Unfortunately, Salem was already an immensely powerful magic user when they cursed her, and all they really did was make her mad. Now she's the BigBad, and humanity still has to deal with the fallout of the gods' actions centuries later.

* OlderThanFeudalism: In Myth/GreekMythology, some versions of the Medusa myth say she was originally a beautiful nymph. Her monstrous form, complete with killing everybody who looked at her, was the result of a curse put on her by Athena, for the offense of sexually defiling her temple. (Although this may be unfair: some stories say she was raped by Poseidon, and other versions along this line say that this was Athena's way to protect Medusa after said rape.)

* The Latinx folk tale of La Llorona. She was a woman who drowned her two children for varying reasons (to get a husband, to spite her ex, because she didn't want them-always a petty and/or spiteful reason). After she died, for some reason God cursed her to wander eternally looking for her children instead of just sending her to Hell. She now wanders the riverbanks looking for her children, and drowns any children she finds to try and replace them. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Nice job breaking it, God.]]

* In the Percy Jackson series, monsters have ResurrectiveImmortality, which means any instance of a Greek god punishing a mortal by turning them into a monster is an example of this trope. They make people who are either innocent or assholes into immortal superhuman beings primed to bear a grudge against them but only have an outlet in targeting their mortal lovers and children. Justified as the gods being shortsighted jackasses is par for the course in Greek mythology, and it does bite then in the butt regularly.

* The Mexican folk tale of La Llorona. She was a woman who drowned her two children for varying reasons (to get a husband, to spite her ex, because she didn't want them-always a petty and/or spiteful reason). After she died, for some reason God cursed her to wander eternally looking for her children instead of just sending her to Hell. She now wanders the riverbanks looking for her children, and drowns any children she finds to try and replace them. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Nice job breaking it, God.]]

** Although most of Dr. Weil's antics in the ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' series are "merely" facilitated by the fact that his is immortal - ie, he is still around after 100 years of bitter punishment, and eventually proves [[HealingFactor very difficult to kill]] - at the ''very end'' of the series it goes FromBadToWorse. He figures out a way to use the technology that made him immortal - more commonly known to the players as Biometal - to [[EvilMakeover become superpowered]], [[PowerCopying channel the powers of his deceased minions]], harness the raw energy powering his KillSat, and generally kick ass. Zero manages to [[SuperPowerMeltdown kill him]] in this form, but that only solves the problem temporarily, as, again due to [[CursedWithAwesome the Awesome he was Cursed with]], he eventually resurfaces in the ''VideoGame/MegaManZX'' series as something akin to [[TheLordOfTheRings Sauron]].

* Warwick in ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' was cursed for his evil alchemy by getting turned into a werewolf. He rather likes his new form.

-->-- Exposition for ''Film/{{The Mummy|1999}}''

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TalesFromTheCryptKeeper'' (parodying "Sleeping Beauty") an [[LordErrorProne evil knight]] and his heroic but ExtremeDoormate brother set out to free and awake a sleeping princess, only to find a vicious female vampire instead. After the knight abandons his brothers to escape, he gets his comeuppance by being transformed into a vampire himself. This is clearly shown as a terrible punishment, ignoring the implications of a vain, cruel, greedy man being given powerful mind control abilities and NighInvulnerability. Then again, it DOES also mean that he'll never be able to see himself in a mirror again...

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TalesFromTheCryptKeeper'' an [[LordErrorProne evil knight]] and his heroic squire set out to kill a vampire. After the knight abandons the squire to save the day alone he gets his comeuppance by being transformed into a vampire himself. This is clearly shown as a terrible punishment, ignoring the implications of a vain, cruel, greedy man being given powerful mind control abilities and NighInvulnerability. Then again, it DOES also mean that he'll never be able to see himself in a mirror again...

!!Examples

* Klingsor from Music/RichardWagner's opera ''{{Parsifal}}'' became this through self-mutilation.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Venomstripe from ''Roleplay/WarriorCatsRPG'' was punished for her evil acts by being granted telepathy...very painful, semi-uncontrollable telepathy, but telepathy all the same.
[[/folder]]

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TalesFromTheCryptKeeper'' an [[LordErrorProne evil knight]] and his heroic squire set out to kill a vampire. After the knight abandons the squire to save the day alone he gets his comeuppance by being transformed into a vampire himself. This is clearly shown as a terrible punishment, ignoring the implications of a vain, cruel, greedy man being given powerful mind control abilities and NighInvulnerability.

* OlderThanFeudalism: In Myth/GreekMythology, some versions of the Medusa myth say she was originally a beautiful nymph. Her monstrous form, complete with killing everybody who looked at her, was the result of a curse put on her by Athena, for the offense of sexually defiling her temple. (Although this may be unfair: some stories say she was raped by Poseidon.)

* Warrior-king Lo Pan from ''Film/BigTroubleInLittleChina'' was defeated by the first sovereign emperor of China and afflicted with the "curse of no flesh" making him immortal and indestructible, albeit without physical form. His goal then becomes to fix the third point while keeping the former two benefits. Luckily for the heroes, Jack puts a knife through his head when he gets his physical form back, but not before he can restore the immortality and invulnerability.

* Warrior-king Lo Pan from ''Film/BigTroubleInLittleChina'' was defeated by the first sovereign emperor of China and afflicted with the "curse of no flesh" making him immortal and indestructible, albeit without physical form.