History MoralEventHorizon / WebComics

[[caption-width-right:265:You can scroll down this page to find out what he did. If you want to, that is.]]

** Vaarsuvius while [[spoiler:under the influence of the soul splice]] counts. On the one hand, it allowed them to [[spoiler:save their family from a black dragon seeking revenge]], but on the other hand, [[spoiler:casting Familicide was taking things a step too far, especially since it went as far as to kill every being related to the black dragon and every being related to those beings, which included not only Girard Draketooth's family, but all the innocents the Draketooths used to propagate their clan.]] To make things even worse, it's later stated that [[spoiler:the soul splice didn't have an effect on V's alignment; V willfully committed mass murder of their own free will.]] [[HeroicBSOD Needless to say, V didn't take this fact well.]]

** Fans debate quite a bit as to whether Vriska has crossed this or not. Some viewers believe that she gleefully swan-dived over the line back when [[spoiler:she mind-controlled Tavros into jumping off a cliff]] and has only gone deeper since then, and some viewers think that she can still be redeemed. Given that she's easily [[BaseBreaker the most divisive character in the series]], this argument is not surprising.
*** And given that the author has [[WordOfGod said outright]] that Vriska's [[BaseBreaker status]] is intentional and [[TrollingCreator he does it to mess with the fanbase]], it's equally unsurprising that he pulled an even more confusing possible-example with her later when she [[spoiler:kills Tavros]]: she does something awful, then immediately goes into full-on PetTheDog mode.

** The biggest and undisputed moment in the series happened in the backstory during the Nidraa'chal War, when [[spoiler:Snadhya'rune, Sarv'swati, and Zala'ess Vel'Sharen]] orchestrated the entire war and the deaths and forceful demonification of hundreds if not ''thousands'' of people in order to [[spoiler:kill their mother Val'Sharess Diva'ratrika by sealing her in her own throne room until she died, and frame their sister Sil'lice and force her into exile]]. And while a case could be made for WellIntentionedExtremist, [[spoiler:Snadhya'rune]] was sent even further beyond the horizon at the revelation that [[spoiler:[[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?order=chapters&id=1275 she's deliberately given faulty demonic seeds to many of her followers that will slowly kill them within 25 to 50 years until only a few of her choosing are left]]]]. It's not a matter of ''if'' it's going to catch up them as ''when'', since the plot is starting to fall down around them.

* Even after he'd pulled a heinous stunt like [[spoiler:utterly ''humiliating'' Ally in front of the cancer patients she was a nurse for]], Keith in ''Webcomic/{{Fans}}'' still had some DracoInLeatherPants status from the people who believed he was still just on his revenge kick for [[FreudianExcuse the mental torture Ally had put him through years ago.]] Then he [[spoiler:murdered Rob, who was both in love with him and was his most fervent supporter, in cold blood for the sake of power.]] Any and all sympathy vanished, and the forum unanimously cheered for an asskicking at the least.
** Said cheering grew all the louder when he followed it up by [[spoiler:setting a kid with cancer on fire just for talking back to him.]]

* Debatably, [[spoiler:Zola]] in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' had already crossed this by double-dealing and out-Eviling the Other, but after [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20101015 this]] it's not really a question of if she is going to die, but whether death's enough.

-->-- [[spoiler:Mitch Marks]], ''Webcomic/SuicideForHire''

* In ''Webcomic/AmazingAgentJennifer'', Jennifer's parents definitely have crossed it in the "Coming Home" arc. Jennifer chooses a career path that is not the family business, and her father Benjiro turns his back on her, saying she turned her back on the family and the family business, saying Jennifer broke her mother's heart when she didn't come home for the holidays 3 years before the arc, at which point his FantasyForbiddingFather attitude had already driven her away, and refused to show up for her graduation, and actually ''forbid'' his wife to attend to the ceremony, and when he finds out Jennifer's mother ''did'' attend to the ceremony, she tries to pretend she wasn't there, and after shit hits the fan, Jennifer's mother accused ''her'' of "tearing the family apart". And in Jennifer's words, they wouldn't even try to make things right or listen to her. And as the final [[KickTheDog kick in the dog's gut]], Benjiro outright calls Jennifer a ''disgrace''. [[SarcasmMode Yeah, she's a disgrace for not being their puppet robot, good at running the "family business" and choosing to live her life on her own terms instead. Parents of the year...]] And years later, in the [[Manga/AmazingAgentLuna series]] that ''Jennifer'' is a prequel to, they try to sweep all of this under the rug as if nothing had happened.

*** It turns out her master plan is to basically force everyone to follow her upon pain of death, either through [[spoiler:faulty tainting or parasitic flowers]] [[PoisonAndCureGambit both of which only she can fix]]. Snadhya is willing to murder ''her entire species'' if she doesn't get her way.

** Kore is so far past the Moral Event Horizon in his FIRST APPEARANCE. He slaughters a bar of completely innocent orcs and what not simply for the fact they're existing. Then kills a dwarf child, who was adopted by one of the orcs, simply because he was WITH the Orcs. That's nothing compared to [[ColdBloodedTorture what he does]] [[spoiler:to Chief...]]
*** Kore by murdering the Dwarf child in cold blood just for being kidnapped by the 'evil races' and thus being 'tainted', Dellyn by carving the word 'monster' in Fumbles' head with his knife during their first torture session. [[spoiler:Psion-Minmax does this by telling Kin how he murdered her 817 times, and she remembers each of them thanks to the power of the Maze of Many, and how he intends to use the powers of the maze to wipe all all the characters currently inside completely from existence. Before killing her for the 818th time.]]
* In ''FanFic/GrimTalesFromDownBelow'', Mandy [[spoiler:masterminds 9/11, Operation Freedom, Hurricane Katrina and Crash 38 in an attempt to win Grim's affections.]]. She also agreed to [[spoiler:have two daughters with ''Dark Danny'', knowing he wanted to use them as weapons. Because she planned on betraying him and doing the same.]]

* In ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'', we got an example that was more subtle than most, but still important, in the flashback to the Court's early history. DoggedNiceGuy / StalkerWithACrush Diego reacts to his vehement rejection by Jeanne by [[spoiler:nominating her as the sacrifice for a plan to "protect" the Court from the magical influences of Gillitie Wood.]] Even after ''that'', he still had groups of people who insisted it was just a misguided plan to play hero, that he really didn't mean it, or even that Jeanne ''deserved'' it, [[spoiler:until the next page went up, wherein Diego ''[[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=657 smiles at an unknowing Jeanne's fear]] of being sent down into the ravine.'']] After that, even the people who'd previously defended him wanted him dead.

** Grimbark!Jade [[spoiler: kicks WV off a ledge with full intent for him to die horribly in the lava below. He doesn't die and she is mind controlled at the time, but still...]]
** Aranea [[spoiler: drops a house on Jade to prevent her from going Grimbark a second time, then manipul8tes the God Tier clock into considering her death Just right as it appears she might revive, killing her for real as a result.]]
** Gamzee, who had already established himself as evil by [[spoiler: killing Equius and Nepeta, and hoarding their and others' corpses to sell their blood]], pretty definitively crossed the MEH when he [[spoiler:beat Terezi, his former kismesis, to a bloody pulp (over the course of several very graphic panels), nearly killing her while all her friends who were still alive watched]]. It was enough to [[spoiler: drive Kanaya to slice him up with her chainsaw.]]
* "Webcomic/{{Housepets}}" has Pete, a recently freed griffin with supernatural powers, who recently gave a former member of [[AnimalWrongsGroup PETA]] a KarmicTransformation into a dog. This was seen as an interesting twist, and King, as he's now called, has become a fan favorite for being complicated, adorable, and the Grumpy Bear of the cast. Except that on the conclusion of the Chrismas ark, Pete informed King that [[spoiler:he has no intention of changing King back into a human.]] [[HilarityEnsues Horror ensued.]]

** Drip, embodiment of the Sin of Lust, likely hurled himself across it at some point in the backstory, as we know he was a murderer and [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rapist]] in life. Then he did...[[http://www.pholph.com/strip.php?id=5&sid=1196 this.]] However, his first (chronologically speaking) crossing of the MEH would have to be when the Devil takes him back in time to murder his own parents. Not that he knows who they are, but given the sheer brutality in how he murders his father and [[http://www.pholph.com/strip.php?id=5&sid=3611 handles his mother]] (WARNING, VERY NSFW), it almost doesn't matter. (Even ''he'' is horrified by this once he [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone realises who they are]]!)

** Natalie Geln, whilst never nice (Her first appearance is her as a five-year-old bullying Charlie for wearing women's clothing), crosses it when she [[spoiler:orders her gang to rape Charlie's FTM transexual friend Tom.]]

** Or, in the "Ty and Rosaline" arc, [[spoiler:Ty not only abuses his loving wife repeatedly, but drives her to contact Suicide For Hire...and, after her suicide, makes the fatal mistake of contacting them himself to arrange ''his'' suicide... and demonstrates a complete lack of interest for his wife's last message. They do...oh, don't they just!]]

* In ''FanFic/GrimTalesFromDownBelow'', Mandy [[spoiler:masterminds 9/11, Operation Freedom, Hurricane Katrina and Crash 38 in an attempt to win Grim's affections.]].

* Even after he'd pulled a heinous stunt like [[spoiler:utterly ''humiliating'' Ally in front of the cancer patients she was a nurse for]], Keith in ''{{Fans}}'' still had some DracoInLeatherPants status from the people who believed he was still just on his revenge kick for [[FreudianExcuse the mental torture Ally had put him through years ago.]] Then he [[spoiler:murdered Rob, who was both in love with him and was his most fervent supporter, in cold blood for the sake of power.]] Any and all sympathy vanished, and the forum unanimously cheered for an asskicking at the least.

-->-- [[spoiler:Mitch Marks]], ''SuicideForHire''

* In ''CaptainSNES'', Mother Brain crosses this when she shoves Duke into the Omega Gate, thereby introducing permanent death into a world that had extra lives, continues, and save points.

* It's debated on the forums, but Syphile from ''{{Drowtales}}'' started as a {{Jerkass}} with slight hints of JerkWithAHeartOfGold, but then she left Ariel in a room with her pet cat for a week with no provisions for the calls of nature, resulting in Fuzzy becoming very sick with Ariel unable to do anything about it. When Syphile came back and saw what had happened, she blamed Ariel and took that cat away, and then when the cat bit her, she slammed his head against the wall and killed him. To top it off, when Ariel was understandably upset about this, Syphile beat her to make her stop crying. Earlier versions of the story had portrayed Syphile somewhat sympathetically (possibly [[UnintentionallySympathetic unintentionally]]), but this act cemented her as a total bitch in many people's minds.

* One of the remarkable things about the writing in ErrantStory is that many readers were still undecided about whether Ian's actions were evil when he started trying to genocide the [[PayEvilUntoEvil entire Elven race]], due to what they'd done to the Half-Elves. Others thought the genocide was definitely evil, but were sympathetic to his motives and wondered if he could be brought back to his senses. Ultimately, it wasn't so much any one specific bad thing Ian did that showed he was beyond recovery, but [[http://www.errantstory.com/2011-11-03/5322 this rant]] as his plans unraveled.

* ''FuzzyKnights'' rather plays with this a bit. [[spoiler:Hamaestra]] has been working on his plans for years, but thus far had remained at least a TechnicalPacifist. He realizes that [[spoiler:killing The Fuzz]] will be crossing the line, and spends a strip getting completely drunk as he contemplates whether to do it or not, despite seeming completely confident when confronting his enemies later. The author's commentary included his thoughts that a lot of villains probably have times like that.
* In GeneralProtectionFault, Ki stood by her fiance Sam, even as almost certainly true rumors of him cheating on her spread. When she [[spoiler:decided to have sex with him, only to be unable to go through with it, he tried to rape her in a fit of rage]]. When he came to apologize, she told him that she would not be able to forgive him for that, and returned his engagement ring, breaking up with him in the process.

* Debatably, [[spoiler:Zola]] in Webcomic/GirlGenius had already crossed this by double-dealing and out-Eviling the Other, but after [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20101015 this]] it's not really a question of if she is going to die, but whether death's enough.
* Dellyn Goblinslayer from ''{{Goblins}}'' is a horrible bastard who tortures so-called "monstrous races" to get a better understanding of their biology and kill them more efficiently (at least, that's what he says, but he's a horribly sadistic monster), so he's well past that point when we meet him. However, he becomes this in the eyes of Minmax (who doesn't know about the rest of his horrific actions) when he admits to healing his "pet" Yuan-Ti after beating and raping her into negative HP. He ponders over what Dellyn says for a moment, [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome then chucks the bastard through a window.]]

* Veithel of {{Juathuur}} thinks she is past that [[spoiler:because she deserted the Juathuur, getting her master blinded in the process, and making everyone believe she was dead.]]
* [[spoiler:Jamie's mother]] from ''KhaosKomix'' crosses it when [[spoiler:she forces Jamie (who was at the time probably around 5/6) to wash himself in scalding hot water to cleanse himself for the crime of simple curiosity.]]

* [[spoiler:Ari]] from ''{{Panthera}}'' when he [[spoiler:kills Valeska]]. He ''was'' considered a WellIntentionedExtremist, upset over the death of his wife, until then, but now....
* In ''ScaryGoRound'', former DesignatedHero Rachel Dukakis-Monteforte's psychopathic jealousy of universally popular heroine Shelley Winters finally drives her to arrange Shelley's death via [[AllBikersAreHellsAngels biker gang]]. The author confirms her crossing of the M.E.H. by having her sell her soul to the devil and [[PutOnABus skip town]]. When she returns a few years later, it's only to have [[DroppedABridgeOnHim a bridge dropped on her]].

* Kyle in ''SomethingPositive'', [[http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp05242004.shtml here.]] Bad enough that he's a misogynistic jerk, worse that he's cheating on a member of the cast, but what completely pushes him over the line is that he's bragging to a reforming JerkAss who would move heaven and earth to have the woman Kyle's discarding. His [[http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp10292004.shtml comeuppance]] delighted the bulk of the comic's notoriously UnpleasableFanbase.
* While the protagonists of SuicideForHire spend a lot of time on the far side of the MoralEventHorizon, many (if not most) of their clientele also cross that line...

** Or, in the "Ty and Rosaline" arc, [[spoiler:Ty not only abuses his loving wife repeatedly, but drives her to contact SuicideForHire...and, after her suicide, makes the fatal mistake of contacting them himself to arrange ''his'' suicide... and demonstrates a complete lack of interest for his wife's last message. They do...oh, don't they just!]]
* Admiral Blake in ''{{Terinu}}''. Supervising Terinu's arrest and detention in a biological research lab? Decidedly unpleasant. Arranging for his daughter Leeza to be fired from her job and forcing her into being the boy's guardian after she rescues him from said facility? Definitely not good. [[spoiler:Having Leeza arrested and ordering Terinu's assassination to cover up a centuries-old act of genocide?]] The readers were howling for his blood.

*** Since then, Vaarsuvius has taken part in torturing a prisoner. Without any such excuse as V had for the above.

** Aranea [[spoiler: drops a house on Jade to prevent her from going Grimbark a second time, then manipul8tes the God Tier clock into considering her death Just right as it appears she might revive, killing her for real as a result.]]

** Aranea [[spoiler: drops a house on Jade to prevent her from going Grimbark a second time, then manipul8tes the God Tier clock into giving her a Just death just as it appears she might revive, killing her for real as a result.]]

*** It turns out her master plan is to basically [[PoisonAndCureGambit force everyone to follow her upon pain of death]], either through [[spoiler:faulty tainting or parasitic flowers]]. Snadhya is willing to murder ''her entire species'' if she doesn't get her way.

*** It turns out her master plan is to basically force everyone to follow her upon pain of death, either through [[spoiler:faulty tainting or parasitic flowers]]. Snadhya is willing to murder ''her entire species'' if she doesn't get her way.

** Redcloak himself isn't as bad as his boss Xykon, but he also crosses the horizon when he murders his brother Right-Eye simply so that he can fulfill his plans of The Dark One gaining control of the Snarl.
*** To say he killed Righteye "simply" to fulfill the plan might be a bit harsh. He had by that point invested the better part of his (for a goblin, substantial) lifespan into the plan [[note]]The plan being to blackmail the god into giving the goblins a fair deal[[/note]] and sacrificed too much to simply stop. Still a moral event horizon though.

** One could argue that [[spoiler:Coyote]] launches himself over it at warp speed towards the end of Chapter 39, when [[spoiler:he [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=1077 manipulates Ysengrin into attacking Annie]]]], then follows that lovely act up by [[spoiler:[[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=1091 wiping an unwilling Ysengrin's memory]] after the fact.]] In one update, he goes from [[spoiler:"lovable maniac"]] to "terrifying, amoral monster." Most fans are likely never going to look at him the same way again.

** Vaarsuvius while [[spoiler:under the influence of the soul splice]] could count. On the one hand, it allowed them to [[spoiler:save their family from a black dragon seeking revenge]], but on the other hand, [[spoiler:casting Familicide was arguably taking things a step too far, especially since it went as far as to kill every being related to the black dragon and every being related to those beings, which included not only Girard Draketooth's family, but all the innocents the Draketooths used to propagate their clan.]] To make things even worse, it's later stated that [[spoiler:the soul splice didn't have an effect on V's alignment; V willfully committed mass murder of their own free will.]] [[HeroicBSOD Needless to say, V didn't take this fact well.]]

* In @/MrDeath's now finished ''[[http://as.crowdedstreet.net/Something/ Something!]]'', largely a retelling of ''MegaManX 4'' and ''MegaManX 5'', [[TheMole Double]], who had been established as a villain, but had mainly been the butt of jokes, ended up crossing the line in the eyes of the comic's readership when it was revealed he was the one who sent Iris to her PlotlineDeath. The incident changed the outlook, in general, from "I can't wait to see the fight with him!" to "Sonuvabitch needs to ''die''."

** Vaarsuvius while [[spoiler:under the influence of the soul splice]] could count. On the one hand, it allowed them to [[spoiler:save their family from a black dragon seeking revenge]], but on the other hand, [[spoiler:casting Familicide was arguably taking things a step too far, especially since it went as far as to kill every being that had the blood of a black dragon in their veins, including Girard's kin.]] To make things even worse, it's later stated that [[spoiler:the soul splice didn't have an effect; V willfully committed genocide against an entire race of their own free will.]] [[HeroicBSOD Needless to say, V didn't take this fact well.]]

*** To say he killed Righteye "simply" to fulfill the plan might be a bit harsh. He had by that point invested the better part of his (for a goblin, substantial)lifespan and sacrifice too much into the plan [[note]]The plan being to blackmail the god into giving the goblins a fair deal[[/note]] to simply stop. Still a moral event horizon though.

*** To say he killed Righteye "simply" to fulfil the plan might be a bit harsh. He had by that point invested the better part of his (for a goblin, substantial)lifespan and sacrifice too much into the plan [[superscript:2 The plan being to blackmail the god into giving the goblins a fair deal]] to simply stop. Still a moral event horizon though.

*** And just to really punch the reader in the gut, one Sapphire Guard is left atop the carnage, screaming "MyGodWhatHaveIDone Forgive me!", before committing [[{{Seppuku}} suicide]].

* ''Webcomic/{{Jack}}'' has a multitude of characters who've hurled themselves across the MoralEventHorizon.