History Main / TheScourgeOfGod

--->What does that say about us? Does that make us the sub-humans? What if Terror-Billy is not an agent of Satan, but sent by God to punish us? [[HeelRealization What if we deserve it?]]\\

[[SortingAlgorithmOfMortality Not quite.]] It turns out that the common ground most monsters and antagonists, regardless of alignment, intelligence, or sanity, seem to share is a habit to pick targets who have just [[KickTheDog exposed]] some [[DeathBySex minor vice]] of their own. [[MadonnaWhoreComplex Given the choice between]] the [[TheIngenue prim and chaste (but initially vulnerable)]] FinalGirl, or the [[TheVamp smoldering, seductive temptress]], they will, without fail, [[SexSignalsDeath gut the temptress, probably just after she's had sex to show us how promiscuous she is]].

* Referenced in ''Film/{{Scream 1996}}'' where Randy explains the rules to surviving a horror movie, with the explanation of DeathBySex and drug use are 'Sins' and those who break these rules are in for a KarmicDeath.

See DeathBySex, DeathByGluttony, DeathByIrony, ThePunishment, CantGetAwayWithNuthin, SoiledCityOnAHill. Compare EvenEvilHasStandards. If the "god" is implied to be the Earth itself in retaliation for environmental damage, this is GaiasVengeance. Unrelated to WordOfGod or ShrugOfGod.

[[SortingAlgorithmOfMortality Not quite.]] It turns out that the common ground most monsters and antagonists, regardless of alignment, intelligence, or sanity, seem to share is a habit to pick targets who have just [[KickTheDog exposed]] some [[DeathBySex minor vice]] of their own. [[MadonnaWhoreComplex Given the choice between]] the [[TheIngenue prim and chaste (but initially vulnerable)]] FinalGirl, or the [[TheVamp smoldering, seductive temptress]], they will, without fail, [[DeathBySex gut the temptress]], probably [[SexIsEvil just after she's had sex to show us how promiscuous she is]].

Such a pattern will continue throughout the tale until the monster is out of sinful meat and will be forced to finally make an attack against their more saintly counterparts. By the end of the tale, the monster will [[MonsterThreatExpiration run out of the "instant death" moves that allowed it to kill a normal human being before they even realized it.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/Castlevania2017'': Though Dracula's rampage against mankind for the [[CrusadingWidower unjust death of his wife Lisa]] doesn't seem like this trope at first glance, one of his minions taunts the Bishop that ordered her death saying that his actions led to God deserting him in disgust and allowing Dracula's goblins to enter the Bishop's cathedral and butcher everyone inside.

* ''TabletopGame/BeastThePrimordial'': Beasts with the Hunger for Punishment (also called Nemeses) can only sate their HorrorHunger by killing or torturing someone who has violated a moral standard in which the Nemesis believes, and the victim must be at least generally aware of what they are being punished for. However, within these limits the quality of the feeding is defined only by the severity of the punishment, which need not be at all proportionate to the offense. A Nemesis could torture someone to death for simple littering, and their Horror would accept the meal with gusto.

* The UsefulNotes/JewishRevolts resulted in the Second Temple of Jerusalem being destroyed by the Roman Empire, which was viewed by both Jews and early Christians as God's punishment but for different theological reasons: the Jews believed God was chastizing them for neglecting to study the Torah, while the Christians viewed it as [[ValuesDissonance just punishment for rejecting Jesus as the Messiah]]. This solidified the split between Christianity and Judaism as the former started out as a Jewish sect, but became its own separate religion over time. More recently, some ultra-Orthodox Jews have suggested that the Holocaust was a punishment God sent for others' lack of strict observance. This has gone down [[BerserkButton about as well as you'd expect]] in other quarters.

* ''[[VideoGame/EternalDarkness Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem]]'': At the culmination of Roberto's chapter, the warlord that hired him [[spoiler:Pious Augustus]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=AtIOphn53k4#t=54s quotes]] UsefulNotes/TimurTheLame as he lets people fall to their death to become part of the Pillar of Flesh, right before he allows Roberto to make his [[BuriedAlive greatest contribution]] to the project.

* In ''Literature/TheBlackSwan'', Creator/MercedesLackey's retelling of ''Theatre/SwanLake'', Baron von Rothbart's stated reason for capturing the swan-maidens is to punish them for being unfaithful to their husbands or disobedient to their fathers. (In reality it's because he can use them as a convenient battery for magical power).

[[folder:Film]]

** Genghis Khan's distant relative UsefulNotes/TimurTheLame also styled himself as the Scourge of God, as part of his general effort to be a spiritual successor to to the Khan.

* Notorious Brazilian bandit Virgulino Ferreira da Silva, also known as {{UsefulNotes/Lampiao}}, was a [[RaisedCatholic devout Roman Catholic]] that prayed to the saints and made his mark in the Northeast by portraying himself as an instrument of justice ordained by God to fight against the corrupt local authorities, being recorded as saying, "When I fire upon a man, he dies because God wants to; if God didn't want it, he wouldn't die."

-->-- '''UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan''' (attributed)

* Joshua Graham in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' wants to exterminate the White Legs because they sacked New Canaan and he is FightingForAHomeland for his people. [[spoiler:Depending on your actions, he can revert back to his violent self and become an warlord with his followers becoming NotSoDifferent from [[TheEmpire Caesar's Legion]], the difference is that they use Christian influence instead of Roman ones. In addition, deep down he admits that he uses his religion as an excuse for his actions, and that he's trying to convince himself that God is behind him more than trying to convince the player]].

* The context of Genghis Khan's quote in the above page is directed towards the Khwarazmian Empire (located in modern day UsefulNotes/{{Iran}}) whose monarch had the [[SarcasmMode brilliant idea]] of [[ShootTheMessenger executing his ambassadors sent to negotiate with him]]. Khan replied by destroying the empire completely, erasing their civilization from the face of the Earth and then gathered the survivors to deliver this speech. 13th-Century Persian historian Ata-Malik Juvayni is responsible for recording this event in his historical document regarding the Mongol Empire, though its important to note he did not witness this personally (he was born 20 years after Genghis Khan had died) so it's very plausible this line was an embellishment.

* The UsefulNotes/JewishRevolts resulted in the Second Temple of Jerusalem being destroyed by the Roman Empire, which was viewed by both Jews and early Christians as God's punishment but for different theological reasons: the Jews believed God was chastizing them for neglecting to study the Torah, while the Christians viewed it as [[ValuesDissonance just punishment for rejecting Jesus as the Messiah]]. This solidified the split between Christianity and Judaism as the former started out as a Jewish sect, but became its own separate religion over time. More recently, some utlra-Orthodox Jews have suggested that the Holocaust was a punishment God sent for others' lack of strict observance. This has gone down [[BerserkButton about as well as you'd expect]] in other quarters.

* Many Christians, especially Conservative Christians, believe that Adolf Hitler's war on Europe was divine judgement.

* The UsefulNotes/JewishRevolts resulted in the Second Temple of Jerusalem being destroyed by the Roman Empire, which was viewed by both Jews and early Christians as God's punishment but for different theological reasons: the Jews believed God was chastizing them for neglecting to study the Torah, while the Christians viewed it as [[ValuesDissonance just punishment for rejecting Jesus as the Messiah]]. This solidified the split between Christianity and Judaism as the former started out as an Jewish sect, but became its own separate religion over time. More recently, some utlra-Orthodox Jews have suggested that the Holocaust was a punishment God sent for others' lack of strict observance. This has gone down [[BerserkButton about as well as you'd expect]] in other quarters.

[[SortingAlgorithmOfMortality Not quite.]] It turns out that the common ground most monsters and antagonists, regardless of alignment, intelligence, or sanity, seem to share is a habit to pick targets who have just [[KickTheDog exposed]] some [[DeathBySex minor vice]] of their own. [[MadonnaWhoreComplex Given the choice between]] the [[TheIngenue prim and chaste (but initially vulnerable)]] FinalGirl, or the [[TheVamp smoldering, seductive temptress]], they will, without fail, [[DeathBySex gut the temptress]], probably [[SexIsEvil just after she's had sex]] [[MyGirlIsNotASlut to show us how promiscuous she is]].

* Harvey Dent from ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' begins as something like this in his conversion to the 'Fallen Angel' of Two-Face, but as the story reaches its climax beings to subvert the trope. He begins with those of with the most guilt and least sympathetic motivation ([[ChaoticEvil The]] [[ForTheEvulz Joker]], [[DirtyCop Det.]] [[TheMole Wertz]], [[TheDon Maroni]]) and moves on until he begins to punish those who are only questionably guilty or downright innocent.

** Some people (including UsefulNotes/UlyssesSGrant) also saw the American Civil War as a divine punishment for the preceding war against Mexico.[[note]]The Mexican-American War certainly ''contributed'' to the conditions that led to the Civil War; mainly, the previous quantitative balance between free and slave states was drastically upended by the sudden increase in US-owned land south of the Mason-Dixon line.[[/note]]

* The [[BoardToDeath boardroom scene]] in ''Film/{{Dogma}}'' has the {{Fallen Angel}}s Loki and Bartleby enter the executive boardroom of the fast-food chain/multimedia corporation Mooby's to declare them all to be idolaters for raising up "Mooby the Golden Calf" as a false consumerist idol, then proceeding to list off their various other sins ([[YourCheatingHeart adultery]], DateRape, homophobia, elder abuse, pedophilia, [[NoOSHACompliance corner-cutting on safety]], and [[NoodleIncident something so nasty]] that all we get is Bartleby whispering it into the CEO's ear while Loki says "you're his father, you sick fuck!") before gunning them all down. They allow a lone female executive to live because they deemed her to be an innocent.