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* ''Series/ATouchOfCloth'': Parodied with the first episode's second murder victim, 'sushi despot' Aiden Hawkchurck. This walking turd was '''so''' despised that the featured magazine covers of himself that were displayed in his living room had headlines like "Enemymaker" and "Someone kill him already!". Even random radio broadcasters celebrate his death right after the protagonists muse that there must be a million suspects.
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* ''Series/ATouchOfCloth'': Parodied with the first episode's second murder victim, 'sushi despot' Aiden Hawkchurck. This walking turd was '''so''' despised that the featured magazine covers of himself that were displayed in his living room magazines with him on it had headlines like "Enemymaker" and "Someone kill him already!". Even random radio broadcasters celebrate his death right after the protagonists muse that there must be a million suspects.
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* In the ''Franchise/AceAttorney Investigations'' manga, Emi St. Cloud is one, being a selfish JerkAss who [[BitchInSheepsClothing puts on a good image for the public]] and [[NiceCharacterMeanActor plays the heroine in Othello Detectives]]. However, she was not killed by any of the people she wronged, but out of a belief that her death and her fiance, who is one of the male leads, being arrested for her murder would prevent Othello Detectives from being released.
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* In the ''Franchise/AceAttorney Investigations'' manga, Emi St. Cloud is one, being a selfish JerkAss {{Jerkass}} who [[BitchInSheepsClothing puts on a good image for the public]] and [[NiceCharacterMeanActor plays the heroine in Othello Detectives]]. However, she was not killed by any of the people she wronged, but out of a belief that her death and her fiance, who is one of the male leads, being arrested for her murder would prevent Othello Detectives from being released.
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* ''Series/TheUnusuals'': In the pilot, the late Detective Kowalski is revealed to have been a CorruptCop, an adulterer, a blackmailer and an all-around JerkAss for the purpose of making [[EveryoneIsASuspect everyone a suspect]]. However, his widow is shown to love him and genuinely mourn him.
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* ''Series/TheUnusuals'': In the pilot, the late Detective Kowalski is revealed to have been a CorruptCop, an adulterer, a blackmailer and an all-around JerkAss {{Jerkass}} for the purpose of making [[EveryoneIsASuspect everyone a suspect]]. However, his widow is shown to love him and genuinely mourn him.
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* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Mr. Burns would potentially have been this had he not survived the events of "Who Shot Mr. Burns". (That was the whole idea of the {{Cliffhanger}}; practically ''everyone'' in Springfield wanted to kill him, and in many cases, few would have blamed them.) However, not only did he survive, the shooting was an accident (presumably) making it a Subversion twice-over.
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* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Mr. Burns would potentially have been this had he not survived the events of "Who Shot Mr. Burns". (That was the Burns" after being shot by an unseen gunman. The whole idea of the {{Cliffhanger}}; {{Cliffhanger}} was that practically ''everyone'' in Springfield wanted to kill him, and in many cases, few would have blamed them.) them. However, not only did he survive, the shooting was an accident (presumably) making it a Subversion twice-over.
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* ''Series/{{iZombie}}'': In "Virtual Reality Bites", Liv tries to find the killer of a hacker called Sin Reaper. Thing is Sin has hundreds of enemies taking credit for his death, with a website popping up just to celebrate it.
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* In one of Kate Ross's ''Julian Kestrel'' books ([[spoiler: ''Whom The Gods Love'']]) the victim is revealed to have been a complete monster, so the book quickly goes from "who could have done this horrible murder?" to "is there a single character without a motive?".
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->'''Anne Oldman:''' A man as unpopular as Aiden Hawkchurch, must be a million suspects.\\
'''Radio presenter:''' ...Now I'm ''delighted'' to say we've just heard that the celebrity chef Aiden Hawkchurch has been murdered!\\
'''Jack Cloth:''' A million and one.
-->-- ''Series/ATouchOfCloth''
'''Radio presenter:''' ...Now I'm ''delighted'' to say we've just heard that the celebrity chef Aiden Hawkchurch has been murdered!\\
'''Jack Cloth:''' A million and one.
-->-- ''Series/ATouchOfCloth''
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This seems a bit too vague to be usable as an example.
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[[folder:Real Life]]
* There was an account of a small-town bully who terrorized an entire small midwestern U.S. town - one day a bunch of residents closed in on him and someone shot him dead. Nobody would identify who shot him, so no criminal proceedings followed.
[[/folder]]
* There was an account of a small-town bully who terrorized an entire small midwestern U.S. town - one day a bunch of residents closed in on him and someone shot him dead. Nobody would identify who shot him, so no criminal proceedings followed.
[[/folder]]
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* ''Series/ATouchOfCloth'': Parodied with the first episode's second murder victim, 'sushi despot' Aiden Hawkchurck. This walking turd was '''so''' despised that the featured magazine covers of himself that were displayed in his living room had headlines like "Enemymaker" and "Someone kill him already!". Even random radio broadcasters celebrate his death right after the protagonists muse that there must be a million suspects.
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Zero Context Example cleanup. Do not uncomment without adding context.
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* In both Perry Mason and Columbo the victim usually had it coming.
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* In both Perry Mason and Columbo the victim usually had it coming.
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* ''Series/Whodunnit1970'': Most victims. In the most extreme case, every suspect tried to claim credit for killing the victim (a South American dictator) and the mystery was to work out who was telling the truth rather than who was lying.
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* ''Series/Whodunnit1970'': ''Series/WhodunnitUK'': Most victims. In the most extreme case, every suspect tried to claim credit for killing the victim (a South American dictator) and the mystery was to work out who was telling the truth rather than who was lying.
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* In ''Series/MissFishersMurderMysteries'', the VictimOfTheWeek from "The Green Mill Murder" turns out to have been a blackmailer who had a string of people who wanted him dead for entirely understandable reasons.
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* ''Whodunnit!'': Most victims. In the most extreme case, every suspect tried to claim credit for killing the victim (a South American dictator) and the mystery was to work out who was telling the truth rather than who was lying.
%%* In ''Series/MissFishersMurderMysteries'', the blackmailer from The Green Mill Murder.
%%* In ''Series/MissFishersMurderMysteries'', the blackmailer from The Green Mill Murder.
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* ''Whodunnit!'': ''Series/Whodunnit1970'': Most victims. In the most extreme case, every suspect tried to claim credit for killing the victim (a South American dictator) and the mystery was to work out who was telling the truth rather than who was lying.
%%* In ''Series/MissFishersMurderMysteries'', the blackmailer from The Green Mill Murder.lying.
%%* In ''Series/MissFishersMurderMysteries'', the blackmailer from The Green Mill Murder.
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The example still doesn\'t have sufficient context for this trope, so I\'m just pasting in the one from the show.
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* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', when [[TheCaligula ruthless tyrant]] Joffrey Baratheon gets poisonned, nobody mourns him but his mother Cersei. The murderer is unknown for a while. His uncle goes as far to say that he wishes he did kill him because watching him die gave him more relief than thousand whores.
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* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', when [[TheCaligula ruthless tyrant]] Joffrey Baratheon gets poisonned, nobody mourns him but his mother Cersei. The murderer is unknown for a while. His uncle goes as far ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': [[spoiler: Joffrey's]] death leads to say this. He was so hated and reviled that he wishes he did the characters who actually cared about finding the true killer said that practically all of Westeros had motive to kill him because watching him die gave him more relief than thousand whores.him.
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[[folder:Real Life]]
* There was an account of a small-town bully who terrorized an entire small midwestern U.S. town - one day a bunch of residents closed in on him and someone shot him dead. Nobody would identify who shot him, so no criminal proceedings followed.
[[/folder]]
* There was an account of a small-town bully who terrorized an entire small midwestern U.S. town - one day a bunch of residents closed in on him and someone shot him dead. Nobody would identify who shot him, so no criminal proceedings followed.
[[/folder]]
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* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': [[spoiler: Joffrey's]] death leads to this. He was so hated and reviled that the characters who actually cared about finding the true killer said that practically all of Westeros had motive to kill him.
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this is an example. The murderer is at first unknown
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* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', when [[TheCaligula ruthless tyrant]] Joffrey Baratheon gets poisonned, nobody mourns him but his mother Cersei. The murderer is unknown for a while. His uncle goes as far to say that he wishes he did kill him because watching him die gave him more relief than thousand whores.
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That sounds like Asshole Victim.
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* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', when [[TheCaligula ruthless tyrant]] Joffrey Baratheon gets poisonned, nobody mourns him but his mother Cersei. His uncle goes as far to say that he wishes he did kill him because watching him die gave him more relief than thousand whores.
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* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', when [[TheCaligula ruthless tyrant]] Joffrey Baratheon gets poisonned, nobody mourns him but his mother Cersei. His uncle goes as far to say that he wishes he did kill him because watching him die gave him more relief than thousand whores.
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* Walter Breckenridge in ''Theatre/ThinkTwice'' is a wealthy philanthropist who uses his power to keep people dependent on him, so he can run their lives. When he's murdered, nearly everyone is happy for it.
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* Walter Breckenridge in Creator/AynRand's ''Theatre/ThinkTwice'' is a wealthy philanthropist who uses his power to keep people dependent on him, so he can run their lives. When he's murdered, nearly everyone is happy for it.
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* Walter Breckenridge in ''Theatre/ThinkTwice'' is a wealthy philanthropist who uses his power to keep people dependent on him, so he can run their lives. When he's murdered, nearly everyone is happy for it.
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** Similarly, the cast of the movie ''Film/{{Clue}}'' was either the {{blackmail}}er, his accomplices, or the blackmailed suspects (who all survive the movie), except FBI agent Mr. Green.
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** Similarly, the cast of the movie ''Film/{{Clue}}'' was either the {{blackmail}}er, his accomplices, or the blackmailed suspects (who all survive the movie), movie)[[spoiler:, except FBI agent Mr. Green.Green]].
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[[folder:FanWorks]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' and ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney'' crossover ''TurnaboutStorm'', it's eventually revealed that the murder victim, Ace Swift, was a massive {{Jerkass}} who, among other things, [[spoiler: threatened to take Cruise Control's injured little sister off of life support if he didn't keep intentionally losing to him, and attempted to murder his partner in blackmail, Sonata, when she started developing a conscience and wanted to walk out]]. However, this is later subverted in that [[spoiler: while Ace Swift was indeed an asshole, he wasn't actually murdered. His death was a freak accident that he brought upon himself]].
[[/folder]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' and ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney'' crossover ''TurnaboutStorm'', it's eventually revealed that the murder victim, Ace Swift, was a massive {{Jerkass}} who, among other things, [[spoiler: threatened to take Cruise Control's injured little sister off of life support if he didn't keep intentionally losing to him, and attempted to murder his partner in blackmail, Sonata, when she started developing a conscience and wanted to walk out]]. However, this is later subverted in that [[spoiler: while Ace Swift was indeed an asshole, he wasn't actually murdered. His death was a freak accident that he brought upon himself]].
[[/folder]]
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** Toyed with in ''Literature/TheNakedSun,'' where the murder victim qualifies under reasons two and three. . . because he was the perfect embodiment of the planet's social code ("a good Solarian"); that is, an antisocial asshole. As the detective brought in from Earth just to solve the case [[GenreBlind has to explain to his audience]] at the SummationGathering, ''everyone'' had a motive to murder the man who reminded them all of their imperfections.
to:
** Toyed with in ''Literature/TheNakedSun,'' where the murder victim qualifies under reasons two and three. . . because he was the perfect embodiment of the planet's social code ("a good Solarian"); that is, Solarian")... and therefore qualifies, since the definition of a good Solarian ''is'' an antisocial asshole. As the detective brought in from Earth just to solve the case [[GenreBlind has to explain to his audience]] at the SummationGathering, ''everyone'' had a motive to murder the man who reminded them all of their imperfections.
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* Creator/BenElton's ''Past Mortem'', in which a series of [[SchoolyardBullyAllGrownUp grown-up school bullies]] are found murdered in ways similar to accounts of ways they used to bully their childhood victims. It's zig-zagged, however, in that while some of the bullies kept up being assholes in adulthood, others of them had clearly matured and, even if they didn't exactly regret what they had done, were at least not assholes worthy of death.
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** Mr. Shaitana in ''Literature/CardsOnTheTable'', who has a collection of successful murderers -- the ones he knows got away with it -- and invites them to a party calculated to make them squirm. Christie plays with this one, as Poirot immediately points out that this is not a safe hobby. Much of the book is spent trying to find out what murders the suspects previously committed.
*** As a further sign of Shaitana's arrogance, very late in the book, it is revealed that one of the so-called "murderers" was actually innocent of his original crime, and thus did not deserve to be put through Shaitana's mind game in the first place.
*** As a further sign of Shaitana's arrogance, very late in the book, it is revealed that one of the so-called "murderers" was actually innocent of his original crime, and thus did not deserve to be put through Shaitana's mind game in the first place.
to:
** Mr. Shaitana in ''Literature/CardsOnTheTable'', who has a collection of successful murderers -- the ones he knows got away with it -- and invites them to a party calculated to make them squirm. Christie plays with this one, as Poirot immediately points out that this is not a safe hobby. Much of the book is spent trying to find out what murders the suspects previously committed.
***committed. As a further sign of Shaitana's arrogance, very late in the book, it is revealed that one of the so-called "murderers" was actually innocent of his original crime, and thus did not deserve to be put through Shaitana's mind game in the first place.
***
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* ''Literature/NeroWolfe:''
** ''Too Many Cooks'' opens, before the victim has even died, with a man ranting not only about how much he wants to kill the soon-to-be victim Philip Laszio, but also how every other person you are about to meet in the book has a motive to kill Laszio too. You almost expect EverybodyDidIt in this one.
** ''Too Many Cooks'' opens, before the victim has even died, with a man ranting not only about how much he wants to kill the soon-to-be victim Philip Laszio, but also how every other person you are about to meet in the book has a motive to kill Laszio too. You almost expect EverybodyDidIt in this one.
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* ''Literature/NeroWolfe:''
**''Literature/NeroWolfe'': ''Too Many Cooks'' opens, before the victim has even died, with a man ranting not only about how much he wants to kill the soon-to-be victim Philip Laszio, but also how every other person you are about to meet in the book has a motive to kill Laszio too. You almost expect EverybodyDidIt in this one.
**
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** It happens many, many times in the ''CSI'' franchise, usually coupled with a SympatheticMurderer. Examples include:
*** An AlphaBitch of such horrible caliber that she had driven a teenage boy into attempting suicide and had the boy's sister gang-raped to showcase that they were "losers", and none of the other students wanted to stop the bullying in fear of what she could do to ''them''. The PapaWolf and MamaBear collective of every kid she bullied banded together to kidnap her, tie her to a touchdown pole and force her to hear to their children's confessions to the school psychiatrist, and then ''stoned her to death'' when she had the stupid idea of not only not show any regret, but also tell the parents that ''the kids deserved everything that she did to them because they were losers''.
*** An AlphaBitch of such horrible caliber that she had driven a teenage boy into attempting suicide and had the boy's sister gang-raped to showcase that they were "losers", and none of the other students wanted to stop the bullying in fear of what she could do to ''them''. The PapaWolf and MamaBear collective of every kid she bullied banded together to kidnap her, tie her to a touchdown pole and force her to hear to their children's confessions to the school psychiatrist, and then ''stoned her to death'' when she had the stupid idea of not only not show any regret, but also tell the parents that ''the kids deserved everything that she did to them because they were losers''.
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** It happens many, many times in the ''CSI'' franchise, usually coupled with a SympatheticMurderer. Examples include:
*** Aninclude an AlphaBitch of such horrible caliber that she had driven a teenage boy into attempting suicide and had the boy's sister gang-raped to showcase that they were "losers", and none of the other students wanted to stop the bullying in fear of what she could do to ''them''. The PapaWolf and MamaBear collective of every kid she bullied banded together to kidnap her, tie her to a touchdown pole and force her to hear to their children's confessions to the school psychiatrist, and then ''stoned her to death'' when she had the stupid idea of not only not to show any regret, but also to tell the parents that ''the kids deserved everything that she did to them because they were losers''.
*** An
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* In Creator/KerryGreenwood's ''Literature/PhryneFisher'' stories:
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* In Creator/KerryGreenwood's ''Literature/PhryneFisher'' stories:''Literature/NeroWolfe:''
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** Mr. Shaitana in ''Cards On the Table'', who has a collection of successful murderers -- the ones he knows got away with it -- and invites them to a party calculated to make them squirm. Christie plays with this one, as Poirot immediately points out that this is not a safe hobby. Much of the book is spent trying to find out what murders the suspects previously committed.
to:
** Mr. Shaitana in ''Cards On the Table'', ''Literature/CardsOnTheTable'', who has a collection of successful murderers -- the ones he knows got away with it -- and invites them to a party calculated to make them squirm. Christie plays with this one, as Poirot immediately points out that this is not a safe hobby. Much of the book is spent trying to find out what murders the suspects previously committed.
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** Another story, called ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dust_of_Death The Dust of Death]]'', features a famous researcher who dies in a lab explosion. Foul play is suspected. The problem is, it turns out this "researcher" never did anything except steal the ideas and results of his employees, so not only did everyone have a motive, ''everyone was openly discussing the best way to kill him''.
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** Another story, called ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dust_of_Death The Dust of Death]]'', features a famous researcher who dies in a lab explosion. Foul play is suspected. The problem is, it turns out this "researcher" never did anything except steal the ideas and results of his employees, so employees. So, not only did everyone have a motive, ''everyone was openly discussing the best way to kill him''.
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** Another story by Asimov features a famous researcher who dies in a lab explosion. Foul play is suspected. The problem is, it turns out this "researcher" never did anything except steal the ideas and results of others, so not only did everyone have a motive, ''everyone was openly discussing the best way to kill him''.
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** Another story by Asimov story, called ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dust_of_Death The Dust of Death]]'', features a famous researcher who dies in a lab explosion. Foul play is suspected. The problem is, it turns out this "researcher" never did anything except steal the ideas and results of others, his employees, so not only did everyone have a motive, ''everyone was openly discussing the best way to kill him''.
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Moving from Sandbox to as per this
TRS thread.
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Someone has been murdered. The first step is simply to determine what sort of motivation someone might have had to kill them. There's just one problem: He was a complete and total asshole, so ''everyone'' wanted to kill him.
This is a murder mystery trope, intended to increase the number of suspects and draw out the investigation. Expect the police to express the feeling at some point that maybe this guy deserved to die, and that his killer did a public service. Typically, at the end it's discovered that the murder was unrelated to the fact that the victim was an asshole, or at least not directly related.
See also AssholeVictim (for victims the audience is not intended to sympathize with).
As a DeathTrope, obviously '''beware unmarked spoilers.'''
----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* In the ''Franchise/AceAttorney Investigations'' manga, Emi St. Cloud is one, being a selfish JerkAss who [[BitchInSheepsClothing puts on a good image for the public]] and [[NiceCharacterMeanActor plays the heroine in Othello Detectives]]. However, she was not killed by any of the people she wronged, but out of a belief that her death and her fiance, who is one of the male leads, being arrested for her murder would prevent Othello Detectives from being released.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Film]]
* ''Film/GosfordPark''. Though the victim as we see him is portrayed relatively sympathetically, seeming to be a fairly nice old duffer with a horrible harpy of a wife (she tears chunks out of him at dinner in front of all their friends), his past is not so clear and when he is murdered it turns out everyone had a motive. Though in fact all the people with real, personal motives are ignored as [[DeliberateValuesDissonance they are only the servants.]]
* This trope is exaggerated with the victim in ''Film/MurderOnTheOrientExpress''. It turns out that he was ''everybody's'' victim. In case you [[ItWasHisSled didn't know that already]].
* The murder victim in the movie ''Film/{{Bully}}'', which is based on a real homicide of a teen who bullied and abused his best friend, his best friend's girlfriend and all of his associates.
* Inverted in ''Film/DontTortureADuckling'': the townspeople use the string of murders as an excuse to accuse all the local outsiders and misfits of being murderers, including a witch and a mentally retarded man.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* Creator/IsaacAsimov:
** Toyed with in ''Literature/TheNakedSun,'' where the murder victim qualifies under reasons two and three. . . because he was the perfect embodiment of the planet's social code ("a good Solarian"); that is, an antisocial asshole. As the detective brought in from Earth just to solve the case [[GenreBlind has to explain to his audience]] at the SummationGathering, ''everyone'' had a motive to murder the man who reminded them all of their imperfections.
** Another story by Asimov features a famous researcher who dies in a lab explosion. Foul play is suspected. The problem is, it turns out this "researcher" never did anything except steal the ideas and results of others, so not only did everyone have a motive, ''everyone was openly discussing the best way to kill him''.
* Scottish police detective Literature/HamishMacbeth, in the mystery novels by M.C. Beaton, often finds himself investigating crimes in which the victim is someone who many people were glad to see go away. It's even right there in the [[IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming titles]] -- ''Death of a Snob'', ''Death of an Outsider'', ''Death of a Poison Pen'', etc.
* Creator/AgathaChristie liked to do this as well.
** Ratchett in ''Literature/MurderOnTheOrientExpress'' is worth mentioning in particular, being [[ExaggeratedTrope doubly]] an Asshole Victim. He's portrayed as a total jackass from the minute he steps on board, so don't feel too guilty when he's splattered across a Pullman carriage for the watcher's entertainment. As more is learned about him after the murder, it becomes even clearer just how deserving he was of his fate. [[HerculePoirot Poirot]] eventually lets his murderers go. A nice twist on the "everyone had a motive" reason for an asshole villain, given that it turns out that everyone did it.
** Mr. Shaitana in ''Cards On the Table'', who has a collection of successful murderers -- the ones he knows got away with it -- and invites them to a party calculated to make them squirm. Christie plays with this one, as Poirot immediately points out that this is not a safe hobby. Much of the book is spent trying to find out what murders the suspects previously committed.
*** As a further sign of Shaitana's arrogance, very late in the book, it is revealed that one of the so-called "murderers" was actually innocent of his original crime, and thus did not deserve to be put through Shaitana's mind game in the first place.
** Simeon Lee in ''Hercule Poirot's Christmas'' is an selfish old millionaire, who plays sadistic mind games with his family. Here, however, the murder was actually personal revenge.
** The sadistic Lord Edgware in ''Literature/LordEdgwareDies''. However, as in ''Appointment with Death'', the murder was committed for selfish motives.
** Colonel Protheroe of ''Literature/MurderAtTheVicarage'' is the most despised man in the village; even the local ''vicar'' says that killing him would be a service to the community. However, yet again, the murder turns out to have been committed for purely selfish motives.
* In Creator/KerryGreenwood's ''Literature/PhryneFisher'' stories:
** ''Too Many Cooks'' opens, before the victim has even died, with a man ranting not only about how much he wants to kill the soon-to-be victim Philip Laszio, but also how every other person you are about to meet in the book has a motive to kill Laszio too. You almost expect EverybodyDidIt in this one.
* ''Literature/TheSaint'': In the short story "Nassau: The Arrow of God", Simon Templar investigates the murder of a man given to publicly announcing other people's sins for his own amusement. Templar [[ConvictionByContradiction "solves"]] the crime by determining that only one of the suspects has a prior felony (selling fraudulent stock) to conceal. Because nobody ever killed somebody for threatening to expose an extramarital affair or for claiming one's religion is fraudulent. Really, Simon's entire career consists of liberating a succession of asshole victims from (always) their money and (periodically) their lives.
* Ali, (actually Courtney) in ''Literature/PrettyLittleLiars'' is pretty conniving and bitchy to her friends, and ends up going missing and being found dead in her backyard. On the other hand, a reader may be able to find a little more sympathy as she was only ''[[KidsAreCruel 14]]'' at the time of her death.
* CC de Poitiers, the victim in Louise Penny's second ''Three Pines'' mystery ''A Fatal Grace'', is self-obsessed, emotionally and verbally abusive to her husband and daughter, and universally loathed (even by the man she's having an affair with). Possible motives are not hard to come by.
* Stella Rodes, the [[{{Hypocrite}} seemingly angelic victim]] in Creator/JohnLeCarre's second novel, ''A Murder of Quality.'' It turns out that she runs the gamut from taunting people to outright blackmailing them (which is what finally gets her killed).
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* ''Series/AllMyChildren'':
** In 1992, Will Cortlandt was bludgeoned to death with a crowbar and had become such a pariah that there were no less than 15 suspects, including his own SISTER.
** Later, in 2004, after Michael Cambias [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil raped Bianca]], he earned the hatred of everyone in Pine Valley, especially after he gets OffOnATechnicality because Bianca destroyed the physical evidence. After he shows up dead shortly after, all of Bianca's loved ones and friends attend his funeral [[SpeakIllOfTheDead just to give eulogies on how much they hate him]], with Tad Martin himself stealing his body from the morgue and burying it in the city dump. When it is revealed that Bianca herself confronted Michael and shot him dead in self-defense when he tried to rape her again, the judge, who was sympathetic to Bianca and believed her from the start, leaned hard on the prosecution ''not'' to press any charges on Bianca.
* ''Series/{{Angel}}'': In the episode "Double or Nothing", Angel had to invoke this trope to enlist bystanders' help in taking down a hard-to-kill-for-good mob boss. "How many of you owe this guy money?"
* ''Series/{{Bones}}'':
** Probably happens with about the same 50/50 frequency as other crime shows. An example is a {{parody}} of ''Series/{{The Office|US}}'', where a hateful manager is dumped down an elevator. It turns out she had an aneurysm burst when one of the couple she busted for a forbidden affair -- one of whom she was already blackmailing to sleep with her -- threw a stapler at her head in frustration, and the two dumped her body in a panic.
** Perhaps the biggest example of the show is The Gravedigger [[spoiler:a.k.a. Heather Taffet]], a serial killer who buried her victims alive then demanded a ransom. After finally getting caught and convicted, she gets her head blown off while on the way to try and appeal her conviction. The killer turns out to be [[spoiler:Booth's former mentor, who was in turn hired by the father of two of the Gravedigger's victims.]]
* ''Series/CityHomicide'': The episode "Cut and Dried" has a convicted child molester murdered in prison, and few of the detectives are motivated to investigate too thoroughly. It's then subverted when it turns out he was genuinely repentant, was intending to give evidence against the pedophile ring he belonged to, and was in fact silenced by two of the prison ''guards''.
* ''Cluedo'':
** Most of the victims on this GameShow were straight-up ass-lacquers. Definitely helps for a show with a small, recurring cast of potential murderers.
** Similarly, the cast of the movie ''Film/{{Clue}}'' was either the {{blackmail}}er, his accomplices, or the blackmailed suspects (who all survive the movie), except FBI agent Mr. Green.
* The South Korean whodunnit game show ''Series/CrimeScene'' frequently uses this trope, likely because the format requires there to be 6 suspects, and therefore 6 motives because the game would be too easy unless EveryoneIsASuspect.
* ''Series/{{CSI}}'':
** Subversion in one episode. The victim is an asshole to his four co-workers, all of whom were the only ones to have access to the room he died in. The audience is led to believe that a combination of two or more of the four are the ones who offed the {{jerkass}} (all of whom are pretty jerkassy themselves). Turns out it was the janitor cleaning the vents, who killed the man when his hammer fell out of the pocket and through the grate. He didn't know the guy and removed the hammer because he didn't want to go back to jail.
** It happens many, many times in the ''CSI'' franchise, usually coupled with a SympatheticMurderer. Examples include:
*** An AlphaBitch of such horrible caliber that she had driven a teenage boy into attempting suicide and had the boy's sister gang-raped to showcase that they were "losers", and none of the other students wanted to stop the bullying in fear of what she could do to ''them''. The PapaWolf and MamaBear collective of every kid she bullied banded together to kidnap her, tie her to a touchdown pole and force her to hear to their children's confessions to the school psychiatrist, and then ''stoned her to death'' when she had the stupid idea of not only not show any regret, but also tell the parents that ''the kids deserved everything that she did to them because they were losers''.
* ''Series/{{Dallas}}'': While he survived, J.R. Ewing, hence the "Who shot JR?" plotline.
* ''Series/DiagnosisMurder'': Subverted in one episode where the victim was a blackmailing, mean-spirited nurse with several personal enemies. Why is it a subversion? The only reason she was actually killed was because she walked in on another murder; the killer was one of the few people who ''didn't'' seem to hate her.
* ''Series/{{Elementary}}'': In the episode "Poison Pen", where the victim's wife's alibi is that at the time of his poisoning she was buying the same poison that the actual murderer, their son, used. Both had the same idea of framing their nanny, since she had killed her own father that way twenty years before.
* ''Series/ElleryQueen'': Every VictimOfTheWeek. This was to maximise the number of suspects by giving everyone a motive to want the victim dead.
* ''Series/{{Emmerdale}}'': When Cain Dingle was beaten up and stabbed, there were no shortage of suspects, seeing how he'd antagonised nearly have the village by that point with his general {{Jerkass}} scumbaggery.
* ''Series/TheLWord'': Jenny Schecter in the final season. Each [[TheTeaser teaser]] seems to end with yet another person having a reason to hate her.
* ''Series/MidsomerMurders'': One character, played by [[RetroactiveRecognition Orlando Bloom]], who was sleeping with at least three different women (one of whom was paying him for it) until he got pitchforked through the chest in the first five minutes. He was also a petty thief and a vandal with a serious [[{{Jerkass}} attitude problem]].
%% * ''Franchise/PerryMason'': Most, but not all, of this show's episodes.
* ''To Catch The Uncatchable'':
** In this Hong Kong comedy detective show, a majority of the victims are often JerkAss and should [[PayEvilUntoEvil had it coming to them]]. The female protagonist's previous boss had several affairs and tried to rape the protagonist as well. Turns out his jilted lover was the one to kill him. Another man was a cult leader who put drugs into his believers' drinks so they would follow his orders and would later force the drugs down a believer's throat for disobeying him and also going out with his son. His wife tried to stop him from killing the girl and accidentally pushed him too hard, causing him to fall off the building. There was a woman who was a model who chased after men, then dumped them after she had exploited them for all they are worth. She was pushed off the stairs by a fan of hers, after she insulted him for being worthless.
** There's the episode with the little girl who HasTwoMommies and went to catholic school, who had a bully who relentlessly harassed her, who was practically encouraged by his parents and the school itself. The girl stabbed him in the spine with scissors and paralyzed him after he assaulted her and cut off a lock of her hair... remind me why the kid wasn't dealt with in court.
* ''Series/TheUnusuals'': In the pilot, the late Detective Kowalski is revealed to have been a CorruptCop, an adulterer, a blackmailer and an all-around JerkAss for the purpose of making [[EveryoneIsASuspect everyone a suspect]]. However, his widow is shown to love him and genuinely mourn him.
* ''Whodunnit!'': Most victims. In the most extreme case, every suspect tried to claim credit for killing the victim (a South American dictator) and the mystery was to work out who was telling the truth rather than who was lying.
%%* In ''Series/MissFishersMurderMysteries'', the blackmailer from The Green Mill Murder.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Theatre]]
* Consul Karl Baumer in ''Theatre/MarginForError'' is a Nazi of the least likable sort. When UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler is making a speech, he turns up the volume on the radio so loud that nobody hears the gunshot that kills him.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/LANoire'' the BodyOfTheWeek with whom [[PlayerCharacter Cole Phelps]] makes detective turns out to be an anti-Semitic jerkwad. [[spoiler:He [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections tried to use his connections]] to sabotage a non-competing store because it was owned by a Jew, who finally snapped and filled him with lead.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* The victim in the MurderMystery VisualNovel ''VisualNovel/{{Jisei}}'' was working with her company to steal information from a rival corporation, but decided to doublecross her employer in favor of a third party that offered her more money.
* ''VisualNovel/SuperDanganRonpa2'' has [[spoiler: Hiyoko Saionji]], a ''massive'' brat who treated her classmates like garbage (especially [[ShrinkingViolet Tsumiki]]) and had a habit of abusing small animals. [[spoiler: However, even though Tsumiki was the one who killed her, this turns out not to be the case; Hiyoko wasn't targeted, she just walked in on a murder already underway and [[HeKnowsTooMuch had to be silenced]].]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'': A non-lethal version comes up in "Golem" when the car of the school's JerkJock is found crushed like a soda can. Bruce asks Terry whether anyone might be holding some kind of grudge or otherwise seeking revenge against said jock. Terry promptly admits "The line starts with me and goes around the block, ''twice''."
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Mr. Burns would potentially have been this had he not survived the events of "Who Shot Mr. Burns". (That was the whole idea of the {{Cliffhanger}}; practically ''everyone'' in Springfield wanted to kill him, and in many cases, few would have blamed them.) However, not only did he survive, the shooting was an accident (presumably) making it a Subversion twice-over.
[[/folder]]
----
This is a murder mystery trope, intended to increase the number of suspects and draw out the investigation. Expect the police to express the feeling at some point that maybe this guy deserved to die, and that his killer did a public service. Typically, at the end it's discovered that the murder was unrelated to the fact that the victim was an asshole, or at least not directly related.
See also AssholeVictim (for victims the audience is not intended to sympathize with).
As a DeathTrope, obviously '''beware unmarked spoilers.'''
----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* In the ''Franchise/AceAttorney Investigations'' manga, Emi St. Cloud is one, being a selfish JerkAss who [[BitchInSheepsClothing puts on a good image for the public]] and [[NiceCharacterMeanActor plays the heroine in Othello Detectives]]. However, she was not killed by any of the people she wronged, but out of a belief that her death and her fiance, who is one of the male leads, being arrested for her murder would prevent Othello Detectives from being released.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Film]]
* ''Film/GosfordPark''. Though the victim as we see him is portrayed relatively sympathetically, seeming to be a fairly nice old duffer with a horrible harpy of a wife (she tears chunks out of him at dinner in front of all their friends), his past is not so clear and when he is murdered it turns out everyone had a motive. Though in fact all the people with real, personal motives are ignored as [[DeliberateValuesDissonance they are only the servants.]]
* This trope is exaggerated with the victim in ''Film/MurderOnTheOrientExpress''. It turns out that he was ''everybody's'' victim. In case you [[ItWasHisSled didn't know that already]].
* The murder victim in the movie ''Film/{{Bully}}'', which is based on a real homicide of a teen who bullied and abused his best friend, his best friend's girlfriend and all of his associates.
* Inverted in ''Film/DontTortureADuckling'': the townspeople use the string of murders as an excuse to accuse all the local outsiders and misfits of being murderers, including a witch and a mentally retarded man.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* Creator/IsaacAsimov:
** Toyed with in ''Literature/TheNakedSun,'' where the murder victim qualifies under reasons two and three. . . because he was the perfect embodiment of the planet's social code ("a good Solarian"); that is, an antisocial asshole. As the detective brought in from Earth just to solve the case [[GenreBlind has to explain to his audience]] at the SummationGathering, ''everyone'' had a motive to murder the man who reminded them all of their imperfections.
** Another story by Asimov features a famous researcher who dies in a lab explosion. Foul play is suspected. The problem is, it turns out this "researcher" never did anything except steal the ideas and results of others, so not only did everyone have a motive, ''everyone was openly discussing the best way to kill him''.
* Scottish police detective Literature/HamishMacbeth, in the mystery novels by M.C. Beaton, often finds himself investigating crimes in which the victim is someone who many people were glad to see go away. It's even right there in the [[IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming titles]] -- ''Death of a Snob'', ''Death of an Outsider'', ''Death of a Poison Pen'', etc.
* Creator/AgathaChristie liked to do this as well.
** Ratchett in ''Literature/MurderOnTheOrientExpress'' is worth mentioning in particular, being [[ExaggeratedTrope doubly]] an Asshole Victim. He's portrayed as a total jackass from the minute he steps on board, so don't feel too guilty when he's splattered across a Pullman carriage for the watcher's entertainment. As more is learned about him after the murder, it becomes even clearer just how deserving he was of his fate. [[HerculePoirot Poirot]] eventually lets his murderers go. A nice twist on the "everyone had a motive" reason for an asshole villain, given that it turns out that everyone did it.
** Mr. Shaitana in ''Cards On the Table'', who has a collection of successful murderers -- the ones he knows got away with it -- and invites them to a party calculated to make them squirm. Christie plays with this one, as Poirot immediately points out that this is not a safe hobby. Much of the book is spent trying to find out what murders the suspects previously committed.
*** As a further sign of Shaitana's arrogance, very late in the book, it is revealed that one of the so-called "murderers" was actually innocent of his original crime, and thus did not deserve to be put through Shaitana's mind game in the first place.
** Simeon Lee in ''Hercule Poirot's Christmas'' is an selfish old millionaire, who plays sadistic mind games with his family. Here, however, the murder was actually personal revenge.
** The sadistic Lord Edgware in ''Literature/LordEdgwareDies''. However, as in ''Appointment with Death'', the murder was committed for selfish motives.
** Colonel Protheroe of ''Literature/MurderAtTheVicarage'' is the most despised man in the village; even the local ''vicar'' says that killing him would be a service to the community. However, yet again, the murder turns out to have been committed for purely selfish motives.
* In Creator/KerryGreenwood's ''Literature/PhryneFisher'' stories:
** ''Too Many Cooks'' opens, before the victim has even died, with a man ranting not only about how much he wants to kill the soon-to-be victim Philip Laszio, but also how every other person you are about to meet in the book has a motive to kill Laszio too. You almost expect EverybodyDidIt in this one.
* ''Literature/TheSaint'': In the short story "Nassau: The Arrow of God", Simon Templar investigates the murder of a man given to publicly announcing other people's sins for his own amusement. Templar [[ConvictionByContradiction "solves"]] the crime by determining that only one of the suspects has a prior felony (selling fraudulent stock) to conceal. Because nobody ever killed somebody for threatening to expose an extramarital affair or for claiming one's religion is fraudulent. Really, Simon's entire career consists of liberating a succession of asshole victims from (always) their money and (periodically) their lives.
* Ali, (actually Courtney) in ''Literature/PrettyLittleLiars'' is pretty conniving and bitchy to her friends, and ends up going missing and being found dead in her backyard. On the other hand, a reader may be able to find a little more sympathy as she was only ''[[KidsAreCruel 14]]'' at the time of her death.
* CC de Poitiers, the victim in Louise Penny's second ''Three Pines'' mystery ''A Fatal Grace'', is self-obsessed, emotionally and verbally abusive to her husband and daughter, and universally loathed (even by the man she's having an affair with). Possible motives are not hard to come by.
* Stella Rodes, the [[{{Hypocrite}} seemingly angelic victim]] in Creator/JohnLeCarre's second novel, ''A Murder of Quality.'' It turns out that she runs the gamut from taunting people to outright blackmailing them (which is what finally gets her killed).
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* ''Series/AllMyChildren'':
** In 1992, Will Cortlandt was bludgeoned to death with a crowbar and had become such a pariah that there were no less than 15 suspects, including his own SISTER.
** Later, in 2004, after Michael Cambias [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil raped Bianca]], he earned the hatred of everyone in Pine Valley, especially after he gets OffOnATechnicality because Bianca destroyed the physical evidence. After he shows up dead shortly after, all of Bianca's loved ones and friends attend his funeral [[SpeakIllOfTheDead just to give eulogies on how much they hate him]], with Tad Martin himself stealing his body from the morgue and burying it in the city dump. When it is revealed that Bianca herself confronted Michael and shot him dead in self-defense when he tried to rape her again, the judge, who was sympathetic to Bianca and believed her from the start, leaned hard on the prosecution ''not'' to press any charges on Bianca.
* ''Series/{{Angel}}'': In the episode "Double or Nothing", Angel had to invoke this trope to enlist bystanders' help in taking down a hard-to-kill-for-good mob boss. "How many of you owe this guy money?"
* ''Series/{{Bones}}'':
** Probably happens with about the same 50/50 frequency as other crime shows. An example is a {{parody}} of ''Series/{{The Office|US}}'', where a hateful manager is dumped down an elevator. It turns out she had an aneurysm burst when one of the couple she busted for a forbidden affair -- one of whom she was already blackmailing to sleep with her -- threw a stapler at her head in frustration, and the two dumped her body in a panic.
** Perhaps the biggest example of the show is The Gravedigger [[spoiler:a.k.a. Heather Taffet]], a serial killer who buried her victims alive then demanded a ransom. After finally getting caught and convicted, she gets her head blown off while on the way to try and appeal her conviction. The killer turns out to be [[spoiler:Booth's former mentor, who was in turn hired by the father of two of the Gravedigger's victims.]]
* ''Series/CityHomicide'': The episode "Cut and Dried" has a convicted child molester murdered in prison, and few of the detectives are motivated to investigate too thoroughly. It's then subverted when it turns out he was genuinely repentant, was intending to give evidence against the pedophile ring he belonged to, and was in fact silenced by two of the prison ''guards''.
* ''Cluedo'':
** Most of the victims on this GameShow were straight-up ass-lacquers. Definitely helps for a show with a small, recurring cast of potential murderers.
** Similarly, the cast of the movie ''Film/{{Clue}}'' was either the {{blackmail}}er, his accomplices, or the blackmailed suspects (who all survive the movie), except FBI agent Mr. Green.
* The South Korean whodunnit game show ''Series/CrimeScene'' frequently uses this trope, likely because the format requires there to be 6 suspects, and therefore 6 motives because the game would be too easy unless EveryoneIsASuspect.
* ''Series/{{CSI}}'':
** Subversion in one episode. The victim is an asshole to his four co-workers, all of whom were the only ones to have access to the room he died in. The audience is led to believe that a combination of two or more of the four are the ones who offed the {{jerkass}} (all of whom are pretty jerkassy themselves). Turns out it was the janitor cleaning the vents, who killed the man when his hammer fell out of the pocket and through the grate. He didn't know the guy and removed the hammer because he didn't want to go back to jail.
** It happens many, many times in the ''CSI'' franchise, usually coupled with a SympatheticMurderer. Examples include:
*** An AlphaBitch of such horrible caliber that she had driven a teenage boy into attempting suicide and had the boy's sister gang-raped to showcase that they were "losers", and none of the other students wanted to stop the bullying in fear of what she could do to ''them''. The PapaWolf and MamaBear collective of every kid she bullied banded together to kidnap her, tie her to a touchdown pole and force her to hear to their children's confessions to the school psychiatrist, and then ''stoned her to death'' when she had the stupid idea of not only not show any regret, but also tell the parents that ''the kids deserved everything that she did to them because they were losers''.
* ''Series/{{Dallas}}'': While he survived, J.R. Ewing, hence the "Who shot JR?" plotline.
* ''Series/DiagnosisMurder'': Subverted in one episode where the victim was a blackmailing, mean-spirited nurse with several personal enemies. Why is it a subversion? The only reason she was actually killed was because she walked in on another murder; the killer was one of the few people who ''didn't'' seem to hate her.
* ''Series/{{Elementary}}'': In the episode "Poison Pen", where the victim's wife's alibi is that at the time of his poisoning she was buying the same poison that the actual murderer, their son, used. Both had the same idea of framing their nanny, since she had killed her own father that way twenty years before.
* ''Series/ElleryQueen'': Every VictimOfTheWeek. This was to maximise the number of suspects by giving everyone a motive to want the victim dead.
* ''Series/{{Emmerdale}}'': When Cain Dingle was beaten up and stabbed, there were no shortage of suspects, seeing how he'd antagonised nearly have the village by that point with his general {{Jerkass}} scumbaggery.
* ''Series/TheLWord'': Jenny Schecter in the final season. Each [[TheTeaser teaser]] seems to end with yet another person having a reason to hate her.
* ''Series/MidsomerMurders'': One character, played by [[RetroactiveRecognition Orlando Bloom]], who was sleeping with at least three different women (one of whom was paying him for it) until he got pitchforked through the chest in the first five minutes. He was also a petty thief and a vandal with a serious [[{{Jerkass}} attitude problem]].
%% * ''Franchise/PerryMason'': Most, but not all, of this show's episodes.
* ''To Catch The Uncatchable'':
** In this Hong Kong comedy detective show, a majority of the victims are often JerkAss and should [[PayEvilUntoEvil had it coming to them]]. The female protagonist's previous boss had several affairs and tried to rape the protagonist as well. Turns out his jilted lover was the one to kill him. Another man was a cult leader who put drugs into his believers' drinks so they would follow his orders and would later force the drugs down a believer's throat for disobeying him and also going out with his son. His wife tried to stop him from killing the girl and accidentally pushed him too hard, causing him to fall off the building. There was a woman who was a model who chased after men, then dumped them after she had exploited them for all they are worth. She was pushed off the stairs by a fan of hers, after she insulted him for being worthless.
** There's the episode with the little girl who HasTwoMommies and went to catholic school, who had a bully who relentlessly harassed her, who was practically encouraged by his parents and the school itself. The girl stabbed him in the spine with scissors and paralyzed him after he assaulted her and cut off a lock of her hair... remind me why the kid wasn't dealt with in court.
* ''Series/TheUnusuals'': In the pilot, the late Detective Kowalski is revealed to have been a CorruptCop, an adulterer, a blackmailer and an all-around JerkAss for the purpose of making [[EveryoneIsASuspect everyone a suspect]]. However, his widow is shown to love him and genuinely mourn him.
* ''Whodunnit!'': Most victims. In the most extreme case, every suspect tried to claim credit for killing the victim (a South American dictator) and the mystery was to work out who was telling the truth rather than who was lying.
%%* In ''Series/MissFishersMurderMysteries'', the blackmailer from The Green Mill Murder.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Theatre]]
* Consul Karl Baumer in ''Theatre/MarginForError'' is a Nazi of the least likable sort. When UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler is making a speech, he turns up the volume on the radio so loud that nobody hears the gunshot that kills him.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/LANoire'' the BodyOfTheWeek with whom [[PlayerCharacter Cole Phelps]] makes detective turns out to be an anti-Semitic jerkwad. [[spoiler:He [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections tried to use his connections]] to sabotage a non-competing store because it was owned by a Jew, who finally snapped and filled him with lead.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* The victim in the MurderMystery VisualNovel ''VisualNovel/{{Jisei}}'' was working with her company to steal information from a rival corporation, but decided to doublecross her employer in favor of a third party that offered her more money.
* ''VisualNovel/SuperDanganRonpa2'' has [[spoiler: Hiyoko Saionji]], a ''massive'' brat who treated her classmates like garbage (especially [[ShrinkingViolet Tsumiki]]) and had a habit of abusing small animals. [[spoiler: However, even though Tsumiki was the one who killed her, this turns out not to be the case; Hiyoko wasn't targeted, she just walked in on a murder already underway and [[HeKnowsTooMuch had to be silenced]].]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'': A non-lethal version comes up in "Golem" when the car of the school's JerkJock is found crushed like a soda can. Bruce asks Terry whether anyone might be holding some kind of grudge or otherwise seeking revenge against said jock. Terry promptly admits "The line starts with me and goes around the block, ''twice''."
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Mr. Burns would potentially have been this had he not survived the events of "Who Shot Mr. Burns". (That was the whole idea of the {{Cliffhanger}}; practically ''everyone'' in Springfield wanted to kill him, and in many cases, few would have blamed them.) However, not only did he survive, the shooting was an accident (presumably) making it a Subversion twice-over.
[[/folder]]
----
