History Main / ThePunishmentIsTheCrime

* In one episode of ''RedDwarf'', Rimmer is put on trial for causing the deaths of the original crew. Kryten, as his defence lawyer, sums up his argument as "He's only guilty of being Arnold J. Rimmer. That is his crime, it is also his punishment"

* In ''ASongOfIceAndFire'', two of the Lannister hostages try to escape from King's Landing by hiring on as oarsman. Tyrion Lannister suggests keeping them on the oars for a few years as punishment, but eventually decides against it as they can't afford to lose the hostages.
* In TheodoreSturgeon's short story "Vengeance Is", two men rape an academic's wife and he begs her to give into them. He does so because he knows that she's the [[TyphoidMary carrier]] for a venereal disease that will soon cause them painful death.

* At the end of IsaacAsimov's story "The Dead Past", the government agents tracking down the protagonists for the crime of illegally building [[{{Chronoscope}} a time viewer]] arrive too late to stop them from [[CantStopTheSignal spreading the secret]]. After explaining to the protagonists that they've just abolished privacy (since the viewer can be set to see any place at any time from a century ago to a split-second ago), the agents rescind the arrest and leave them to live with the consequences.

* In one episode of ''{{Seinfeld}'', Elaine eats a 100-year-old slice of wedding cake which was one of her boss J. Peterman's prized possessions. When he finds out, she's afraid he'll punish her somehow. His response:

* In one episode of "Seinfeld", Elaine eats a 100-year-old slice of wedding cake which was one of her boss J. Peterman's prized possessions. When he finds out, she's afraid he'll punish her somehow. His response:

* In one episode of "Seinfeld", Elaine eats a 100-year-old slice of wedding cake which was one of her boss's prized possessions. When he finds out, she's afraid he'll punish her somehow. His response is something along the lines of, "Do you know what sitting around for 100 years does to a piece of cake? What's about to happen inside your intestines will be punishment enough."

* In the CarlHiaasen novel ''{{Striptease}}'', as well as the film, Shad wants to sue a dairy company by pretending he found a cockroach in his yogurt. His lawyer, Mordecai, keeps the evidence in his refrigerator, only to find after he's come back from meeting with the company and getting a settlement offer that his temporary secretary, Rachel, has eaten the yogurt. She worriedly asks if Mordecai is going to fire her, but Mordecai has something far worse in mind - "I'm going to tell you exactly what you ate."

* In the ''CodexAlera'', Fidelias's eventual punishment for [[spoiler: being a spy and pretending to be Valiar Marcus is to have to keep living as Valiar Marcus]].

* In no less than ''three'' DoctorWho storylines, the punishment for people seeking immortality was to become immortal. "Human Nature"/"Family of Blood" and "The Five Doctors" were both subversions of this trope, because [[FateWorseThanDeath extra punishments]] were added on, but in the other example, "Mawdryn Undead", the punishment for seeking immortality was nothing more than immortality itself.
* In one episode of "Seinfeld", Elaine eats a 100-year-old slice of wedding cake which was one of her boss's prized possessions. When he finds out, she's afraid he'll punish her somehow. His response is something along the lines of, "Do you know what sitting around for 100 years does to a piece of cake? What's about to happen inside your intestines will be punishment enough."

* In the backstory of MortalKombat, it's stated that the ElderGods punished Shang Tsung for taking a soul with a curse which not only forces him to kill his enemies, but to take their souls as well. Only in this way would he hold off his grim fate: to age rapidly and die prematurely.

* Many sorts of FantasticNuke may be included, since, as ''[[TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms Shadowdale]]'' put it,
-->'''Elminster''': Spells of this sort are directly forbidden, although it is difficult to punish transgressors as they are usually dead before the spell reaches this stage!
* At one point the penalty for attempted suicide was death by hanging (in England at least). The thinking was along the lines of punishing someone for their own attempted murder (since they had no more right to take their own life than anyone else's). Successful suicides were punished by being buried as an executed murderer would be (at the crossroads, away from sanctified ground).

* In ''LaFilleMalGardee'', after Colas's appearance in Lise's room causes Alain to dump her, Widow Simone, who had earlier been deadset against Lise marrying anyone other than Alain, decides she'll have to settle for Colas.
* There's the classic "smoke the whole pack" punishment for kids who are caught smoking. [[TheSimpsons Homer Simpson]] once attempted this one on Bart when Bart was actually ''transporting'' cigarettes for [[TheMafia Fat Tony]], and had a bedroom full of crates of cigarettes floor-to-ceiling.
** The "smoke a whole pack" punishment occurred in an episode of ''KingOfTheHill'' where Bobby started smoking.

* RealLife example: one man in Africa was caught having intercourse with a goat. The locals handled the matter by forcing him to marry it...
* In ''ASongOfIceAndFire'', two of the Lannister hostages try to escape from King's Landing by hiring on as oarsman. Tyrion Lannister suggests keeping them on the oars for a few years as punishment, but eventually decides against it as they can't afford to lose the hostages.
* In CodeGeass this occurs in the final second - season episode. However, it's a very odd example because Lelouch had been planning this for some time and Suzaku had willingly agreed to it.
-->'''Lelouch''': "The punishment for what you've done shall be this, then. You will live on, always wearing that mask serving as a knight for justice and truth. You will no longer live your life as Suzaku Kururugi. You shall sacrifice the ordinary pleasures of your life for the benefit of the world. For eternity...
-->'''Suzaku''': This Geass, I do solemnly accept.
* Many branches of Christianity teach that God's main punishment of sin is the ENJOYMENT of the sin committed. So many of our sins are easier to stop on day 1.
* In the ''CodexAlera'', Fidelias's eventual punishment for [[spoiler: being a spy and pretending to be Valiar Marcus is to have to keep living as Valiar Marcus]].
* There is an old joke that states that God's punishment for polygamy is having two wives.
* In TheodoreSturgeon's short story "Vengeance Is", two men rape an academic's wife and he begs her to give into them. He does so because he knows that she's the [[TyphoidMary carrier]] for a venereal disease that will soon cause them painful death.
* A literary example would be AmbroseBierce's definition of bigamy: "A mistake in taste, for which the wisdom of the future will adjudge a punishment called 'trigamy.'"
* On one episode of ''MarriedWithChildren'', a man told Al that Peg was running around with his husband. He responded "Well, he's got what he deserved!" When reminded that what he got was Al's wife, he said "Let the punishment fit the crime!"
* In an episode of ''TheBuzzOnMaggie'', Maggie went to see a PG-13 movie her parents forbade her from seeing and it ended up scaring her so much she was left traumatised. After Maggie confessed to her parents they decided her trauma was more than enough punishment.
* In Deuteronomy in TheBible, the punishment for raping a woman is being forced to marry her. Certain amount of ValuesDissonance here since the victim is also stuck married to their rapist; though FairForItsDay as [[DefiledForever the life of an unmarried unvirgin woman was quite unenviable]] at the time.

* In ''Series/TheWire'' Bubbles, accossed by a violent bully, poisons a drug vial which ends up killing a dear friend instead. He inmediately confeses to the police, an InterruptedSuicide ensues and finally Sergeant Landsman leaves him off the hook, reasoning no punishment will be worse than having to live with this guilty. It's meant more as a [[PetTheDog benevolent decission]] by Landsman than as an actual punishment.

* Many sorts of FantasticNuke may be included, since, as Shadowdale put it,

* There's the classic "smoke the whole pack" punishment for kids who are caught smoking. [[TheSimpsons Homer Simpson]] once attempted this one on Bart when Bart was actually ''transporting'' cigarettes for Fat Tony.

* In Deuteronomy in TheBible, the punishment for raping a woman is being forced to marry her. Certain amount of ValuesDissonance here since the victim is also stuck married to their rapist; though FairForItsDay as the life of an unmarried unvirgin woman was quite unenviable at the time.

Compare RadishCure, where a person shows ''desire'' for something forbidden, and then has it forced on them.

* In Deuteronomy in TheBible, the punishment for raping a woman is being forced to marry her. Certain amount of ValuesDissonance here since the victim is also stuck married to their rapist; though FairForItsDay as the life of an unmarried unvirgin woman was quite bad at the time.

* In Deuteronomy in TheBible, the punishment for raping a woman is being forced to marry her. Certain amount of ValuesDissonance here since the victim is also stuck married to their rapist.

* In no less than ''three'' DoctorWho storylines, the punishment for people seeking immortality was to become immortal. "Human Nature"/"Family of Blood" and "The Five Doctors" were both subversions of this trope, because extra punishments were added on, but in the other example, "Mawdryn Undead", the punishment for seeking immortality was nothing more than immortality itself.

* At one point the penalty for attempted suicide was death by hanging (in England at least). Though this may have to do with suicide being considered the honorable way out and execution bringing shame to the guilty's family.

->'''Lelouch''': "The punishment for what you've done shall be this, then. You will live on, always wearing that mask serving as a knight for justice and truth. You will no longer live your life as Suzaku Kururugi. You shall sacrifice the ordinary pleasures of your life for the benefit of the world. For eternity...
->Suzaku: This Geass, I do solemnly accept.

->'''Elminster''': Spells of this sort are directly forbidden, although it is difficult to punish transgressors as they are usually dead before the spell reaches this stage!

Examples: