History TheDogBitesBack / Literature

* Katsa from ''Literature/{{Graceling}}'' has the Grace (enhanced ability) of death, and is used by her uncle, King Randa, as an enforcer -- he sends her to kill criminals and torture those who defy his orders. Katsa founded the Council, an organization who help civilians who are persecuted by others, and grows a sense of morality through her actions as the founder... meaning that when Randa sends her to force a disobedient lord to send him one of his daughters (another lord asked Randa for help in finding a wife, and Randa asked the first lord, who had two daughters each with a large dowry; the understanding was that Randa would get the dowry and the second lord would get the bride) the lord refused. Katsa realises that this is probably one of the worst things that Randa has ever asked her to do (in fact, she says that had someone else been sent to torture the lord into giving up one of his daughters, the Council would have sent someone to stop them), so she refuses to do so and when Randa attempts to have her thrown in his dungeon, she gives him a ShutUpHannibal speech and leaves the country.

** In the final arc of ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' [[BigBad Visser One]] finds himself betrayed by his security chief [[SmugSnake Tom]]. Guess he should've promoted him when he had the chance.

* After having [[TraumaCongaLine his work sabotaged, his wife desert him, his friends vanished without a trace, his great attempt seemingly ruined, and having been forced to burn down his own house]], all while his enemy gloats at him and tells him how they're NotSoDifferent, it is immensely satisfying to see Montag in ''Literature/{{Fahrenheit 451}}'' turn his fire-spraying hose on Captain Beatty, especially for the look on his face in TheMovie.

** One of the prophecies of Dagor Dagorlad, the final battle of Middle-earth as a whole, would have [[BiggerBad Morgoth]] end up being killed by Turín Turambar, who Morgoth had cursed to a life of hardship and woe, as a final revenge for both himself and his children that had also suffered under the curse.

---> '''Thrawn:''' ''[[FamousLastWords But... it was so artistically done]].''

* ''Literature/TheRadix'': The Knight's plans of becoming the leader of the Knights of Malta was foiled not by heroes, but by a mere bum who recognized him as his pal's abductor and reported to authorities.
* ''Literature/TheReynardCycle'': The Calvarians hold captive a two-headed, partially reptilian, Warg Chimera the size of an RV near the gate of their capital, in order to remind their populace that, A: They're [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy a race of badasses,]] and B: They were descended from [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Wargs]], and that beast needs to be kept chained. When Reynard releases it from captivity, it's more than happy to savage its former captors.
* Grí­ma Wormtongue of Creator/JRRTolkien's ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' turned on Saruman after one taunt and demand too many -- and after [[IronWoobie Frodo]] had deliberately spared both their lives and ordered the other hobbits to do the same.
** The aforementioned hobbits stuck Grí­ma full of arrows as soon as he killed Saruman and started his escape, most likely as payback for Wormtongue's murder of Lotho Sackville-Baggins, Frodo's kinsman and Saruman's accomplice. Either that, or they (correctly) figured a person who stabs someone in the back isn't someone you want running around your homes.
** Note that this karmic death was apparently so appealing that even though the entire section leading up to it was left out of the movie, the back-stab was transplanted onto Saruman's Tower. Grí­ma is similarly killed by the heroes, possibly to keep him from killing Saruman, just a second too late.
* At the end of ''Literature/{{Tigana}}'', one wizard Evil Overlord is killed by his own court jester, an old enemy kept idiotic by spells, which had failed.

* The ''Literature/BelisariusSeries''. The good guys are triumphant, but the evil Malwa emperor and the real BigBad have escaped with the Big Bad plotting how to try again...only for the emperor to be recognized and the pair captured by a team of Malwa assassins who've spent the entire book helplessly trying to catch their target, the Roman Emperor, had given up and were trying to find somewhere to hide from the new regime. Until they recognize an opportunity to make a nice payday for capturing a wanted man.
* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/SearchByTheMule": When he's cornered by the Mule, an agent of the Second Foundation frees one of the Mule's victims from their [[{{Brainwashed}} conditioning]], but holds him in place, creating a MexicanStandoff. The Mule has a blaster pointed at the Second Foundation agent. Both know that the Mule's victim is so full of hatred and training that he could kill the Mule with his bare hands before the Mule could kill both with the blaster. To resolve the standoff, the Mule agrees to throw away his blaster so that he can freely Convert his minion to utter loyalty again.

* ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse''
** ''Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy'': Grand Admiral Thrawn dies this way - his Noghri bodyguard Rukh, finally realizing that the Empire has been poisoning his homeworld instead of helping the clean-up process as they say, [[BodyguardBetrayal stabs him in the back]].
---> '''Thrawn:''' ''[[FamousLastWords But... it was so artistically done]].''
** ''Literature/FateOfTheJedi'': In ''Vortex'', [[spoiler: Lord Taalon beats Vestara twice. Later, when it becomes apparent that he's turning into an EldritchAbomination, she [[IntheBack cuts him open from behind]]]].

* In Creator/JackChalker's ''Four Lords of the Diamond'' series, the antagonist had captured one of the four mental clones (mind-wiped criminals with the agent's personality and memory imprinted on them) of the agent sent to stop him and had changed him into a female sex-slave. He brings her to a face to face meeting with the agent in order to gloat...only for the agent to utter a [[BrownNote trigger phrase]] that causes her to assassinate the villain.
* After having [[TraumaCongaLine his work sabotaged, his wife desert him, his friends vanished without a trace, his great attempt seemingly ruined, and having been forced to burn down his own house]], all while his enemy gloats at him and tells him how they're NotSoDifferent, it is immensely satisfying to see Montag in ''Literature/{{Fahrenheit 451}}'' turn his fire-spraying hose on Captain Beatty, especially for the look on his face in TheMovie.
-->'''Beatty''': [[OhCrap M-Montag! Like you w-would really]]...''[[KilledMidSentence aaaaaiiiiiggghhh!]]''
* Creator/EdgarAllanPoe used this one with his characteristic flair in "[[http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/eapoe/bl-eapoe-hop.htm Hop-Frog]]"
* In ''[[{{Literature/Flashman}} Flash for Freedom!]]'' the evil slaver captain John Charity Spring is [[spoiler: shot in the back by a half-addled crew member he'd previously viciously whipped. Admittedly, the captain had good reasons to be angry with the fool, but still..]].
* In Creator/GrahamMcNeill's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} novel ''Storm of Iron'', a daemon decides to possess Larana Utorian, instead of the Berserker holding her captive. It lures her in with promises of {{Revenge}} -- which she does get.

* In Vivian Vande Velde's ''The Changeling Prince'', the BigBad releases TheDragon from his restraint...at which time the audience discovers that he was a ''literal'' dragon and not happy about his forced servitude.
* ''Literature/HarryPotter''
** In ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Deathly Hallows]]'' seemingly loyal Death Eater Narcissa Malfoy seizes the opportunity to help Harry fake his own death, thereby almost single-handedly ruining Lord Voldemort's final attempt to return to power. This is a bit of LaserGuidedKarma, as Voldemort had alienated Narcissa by treating her son Draco as more or less cannon fodder.
** The end of that series pretty much served as a "bit 'em if you want 'em" moment for put upon characters, especially in the huge battle at the end. A notable example is when the House Elves join in, led by Kreacher. It has been established that Death Eaters basically consider House Elves to be silly inferior servants and make them do all sorts of horrible things. It was also revealed earlier that Voldemort used Kreacher to test a terrible potion to hide the horcrux locket. Another House-Elf example would be Dobby, who goes back to the Malfoy Manor (where it was established that he lived in fear and pain as a servant) to save Harry and his friends. While there, he drops a chandelier on Bellatrix and disarms Narcissa before angrily telling them that he's not under the Malfoy family's control and will save Harry if he pleases.
** A darker example would be Kreacher who after constant abuse by Sirius Black, and hating him for "betraying" the family by running away from their abuse as a teenager, eventually starts working for someone else and finally deceives Harry into going to the Department of Mysteries room in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Order of the Phoenix]]''. Indirectly Kreacher [[spoiler:got Sirius killed at the hands of Bellatrix]].
* Lady Aquitaine manages a two-for-one in ''[[Literature/CodexAlera Captain's Fury]]'': in disguise and unrecognized, she's first taken hostage by her former ally she'd discarded as useless as he tries to flee from Tavi's forces, and then is nearly killed by her (former) spy Fidelis as collateral damage when he assassinates said ally. She was found by the BigBad, who saved her life in exchange for her services as TheDragon.
** Less ambiguous example in Furies of Calderon-Isana, in a final and desperately one-sided showdown with Kord (who has basically spent the entire book being an utter bastard to everything with a pulse), actually manages to cripple him. Kord demands that she finish the job, but she opts not to; she'd rather he be forced to face justice with an outside that reflects his personality. Or to put it another way, helpless and covered in feces. She enjoys telling him so perhaps a little too much.
*** Also used with Kord's ultimate fate. After Isana leaves him there, his other victim, an axe-crazy water witch he had drugged and repeatedly raped shows up. She proceeds to hang the scalps of Marat warriors on him, before telling him that Marat are searching the building for their foes and that they will do ''unpleasant'' things because he has scalps of their people. She leaves, and the Marat show up shortly afterwards.
* Katsa from ''Literature/{{Graceling}}'' has the Grace (enhanced ability) of death, and is used by her uncle, King Randa, as an enforcer- he sends her to kill criminals and torture those who defy his orders. Katsa founded the Council, an organization who help civilians who are persecuted by others, and grows a sense of morality through her actions as the founder... meaning that when Randa sends her to force a disobedient lord to send him one of his daughters (another lord asked Randa for help in finding a wife, and Randa asked the first lord, who had two daughters each with a large dowry; the understanding was that Randa would get the dowry and the second lord would get the bride) the lord refused. Katsa realises that this is probably one of the worst things that Randa has ever asked her to do (in fact, she says that had someone else been sent to torture the lord into giving up one of his daughters, the Council would have sent someone to stop them), so she refuses to do so and when Randa attempts to have her thrown in his dungeon, she gives him a ShutUpHannibal speech and leaves the country.
* Subverted in ''[[http://www.peldor.com/chapters.php?153 The Adventurers]]'' where death knight Gorath killed his supervisor and ally after that guy abused the authority over him. Subverted because, being LawfulEvil, Gorath had warned him ''twice'' before the actual attack.
* Seen in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' when Sandor Clegane finally gets sick of working for the Lannisters, who've treated him with no lack of disdain and disrespect, and deserts. This particular instance is also humorously in keeping with the Trope name, given that Sandor is better known as "the Hound" / "Joffrey's dog" and even cites his reason for leaving as, "Even a dog gets tired of being kicked." Might edge into BodyguardBetrayal but that he doesn't take any action against ''Joffrey'' specifically and instead starts opposing the Lannisters in general.
** Also seen with [[spoiler: Lancel Lannister]], who King Robert treats as a general dogsbody, humiliating and insulting him wherever possible. [[spoiler: This doesn't end well for Robert]].
** ''A Storm of Swords'' has this when [[spoiler:Tyrion Lannister]], after an entire ''lifetime'' of being talked down to, insulted, and seen as less than anyone else for simply being a dwarf by his father, finally shoots the bastard dead.
* In ''Literature/FevreDream'', an early novel by [[Creator/GeorgeRRMartin the author of the above]], VampireVannabe Sour Billy Tipton spends the whole book playing TheDragon and TheRenfield to Damon Julian, convinced that he's to be rewarded with immortality. Mortally wounded at the end, he begs Julian to save him by completing the change, and Julian just laughs at him and admits that the whole deal was a lie. Billy's rebuttal is a knife through Julian's eye.
* Azhdeen the dragon in Creator/MelanieRawn's ''[[Literature/DragonPrince Sunrunner's Fire]]'' is being controlled by BigBad Ruval. Pol releases Azhdeen and things go badly for Ruval.
* While he isn't exactly a villain, the second version happens to Albert in ''Literature/{{Mort}}''. He is far too powerful a wizard for the faculty of Unseen University to defy him - but when Death has him by the throat and he orders them to throw him his staff, they are all struck with a mysterious case of deafness...
* Twoflower to Lord Hong in ''Literature/InterestingTimes''. It would have ended quite badly for him too, if it weren't for the UU faculty.
* ''Literature/TheVoyageOfTheJerleShannara'': In ''Morgawr'', Elven Prince [[TheWoobie Ahren Elessedil]], who'd already gone through a serious case of BreakTheCutie, goes through shattering psychological and mental torture at the hands of [[BigBad The Morgawr's]] [[TheDragon Dragon]], [[LizardFolk Mwellret leader]] [[SmugSnake Cree Bega]]. By the end, Ahren has almost no self-respect left, and is alone on a ship when Cree Bega comes on board, murders his one companion, [[JustBetweenYouAndMe tells him]] about the Mwellrets' [[KickTheDog torture]] of his crush, demands the books of magic from him and then attacks. Ahren just barely manages to man up and [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice skewer]] the slippery bastard, who's had it coming for almost three books now. Easily Ahren's SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, and one of the most affirming moments in an otherwise ShootTheShaggyDog story.
* The very first ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'' story, "Literature/ThePhoenixOnTheSword," has Ascalante, a scheming rogue who wants to get his hands on Conan's throne in Aquilonia. His chiefest slave and chew-toy is Thoth-Amon, once a powerful sorcerer of Stygia, who was robbed of the ring that he used to work his sorcery by a Shemite thief, and who Ascalante has blackmailed into doing his will by means of leaving a sealed note with someone with instructions to inform his enemies in Stygia of Thoth-Amon's whereabouts if Ascalante should die by Thoth-Amon's hand. But then Thoth-Amon reclaims his ring from Dion, one of the nobles involved in Ascalante's conspiracy to kill Conan, and proceeds to take terrible vengeance upon Ascalante by summoning a demon of Set to kill him and everyone with him, royally fucking up Ascalante's plans in the process.
* Hanno is avenged in ''Literature/{{Buddenbrooks}}'' by Kai biting Hagenström Jr.
* Renfield from {{Literature/Dracula}}, [[RedemptionEqualsDeath even though it costs him his life]].
* Maurice from ''{{Literature/Malevil}}'' is an unwilling recruit in Vilmain's bandit army. He defects to Malevil the night before the battle and he's the one who kills Vilmain in the end.
* In ''[[Literature/ModernFaerieTales Tithe]]'', after [[spoiler:Kaye poisons Nephamael with iron nails from her boots]], Corny, who he'd been keeping like a [[PetHomosexual pet]] for the past few chapters, grabbed a nearby knife and stabbed him over and over again.
* This trope is pretty much the entire plot of Stephen King's ''Literature/{{Carrie}}''. That is one dog that bites back hard.
* The Extinctionists, a group of minor villains in ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'': The Time Paradox, enjoy capturing endangered animals and subjecting them to executions. In fact, the BigBad of the book stages the executions and keeps the animals sedated in a laboratory beneath the Extinctionist's compound. When Artemis sabotages their annual conference, the animals break out of the lab, and many Extinctionists are mauled and trampled in the ensuing stampede.
* In ''Literature/{{Kraken}}'', Paul, the unwilling host of the magical mob boss known as the Tattoo (who is a literal talking tattoo inked onto Paul's back), finally tires of being forced to participate in crimes and murders and repeatedly being threatened, and [[spoiler: stabs the Tattoo's chief enforcer to death, escapes his men, and has Tattoo's mouth sewn up]].
* Elizabeth Bathory in ''Literature/CountAndCountess'' to both her husband and her majordomo. Her husband, impotent, has the majordomo impregnate her against her will in order to produce an heir. After [[BrokenBird snapping]], she kills both of them in gruesome but satisfying ways.
* Two related examples in the Sister Mary Helen novel ''Death of an Angel''. First, Angelica Bowers means to murder her domineering, often abusive mother. [[spoiler:Her plan is to go on vacation for a week or two after smothering Mama, and in the days leading up to this she makes sure the dogs get just enough food to survive but not enough that they won't still be hungry. Then, when Mama is dead, she will set them loose on the corpse. It doesn't work out that way; she is injured in the fracas with Mama, the criminal the A plot is concerned with pays a [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty very hostile]] call, and then Sisters Mary Helen and Eileen show up (saving her from him in the process) followed by the police--about that time the dogs emerge from the basement and smell the blood from Angelica's face wound. They also have to know that she's the one been keeping them hungry all this time. She dies of the resulting injuries the next morning.]]
* In one of the ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' books, The Council of Thirteen sends a warrior known as The Inspector to evaluate [[BigBad Visser Three's]] progress in trying to TakeOverTheWorld. The Inspector spends the whole book mocking and belittling the Visser. Eventually, Marco turns into a cobra and bites him. The dying Inspector begs for help, only for Visser Three to mock him and leave.
** In the final arc of ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' [[BigBad Visser One]] finds himself betrayed by his security chief [[SmugSnake Tom]]. Guess he should've promoted him when he had the chance.
* ''Literature/SeptimusHeap'' - ''Magyk'': The constant mistreatments in the Young Army prompted Boy 412 into a HeelFaceTurn and helping the Heaps escape from the Hunter and the Custodian Guards.
* Impressively {{averted}} in ''Literature/TheMarkOfTheLion'' trilogy: [[IncorruptiblePurePureness Hadassah]] never takes any opportunity to retaliate against Julia, despite the latter’s constant [[SpoiledBrat selfishness]], ingratitude, petulance, [[RichBitch cruelty]], and attempt to murder her.
* At the end of the Creator/DaleBrown novel ''Edge of Battle'', [[spoiler: Zakharov gets killed by a sheriff who he had shot InTheBack earlier]].
* At the end of the ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' novel ''Literature/AgentsOfArtifice'', [[spoiler:the Nezumi tribe that the Consortium slaughtered]] comes back right in time to bite [[spoiler:Tezzeret, weakened by his battle with Jace]], thanks to Jace's timely SummonBiggerFish.
* The VillainProtagonist Alex of ''Literature/AClockworkOrange'', being a rather horrific [[TheSociopath sociopath]], experiences a lot of this; toward the beginning of the book, his [[ConLang droogs]] are fed up with the way he treats them and happily [[EyeScream blind him]] and leave him to the [[PoliceBrutality police]]; the entire third act is made up of Alex being DrivenToSuicide by former victims, though it ''is'' a BungledSuicide in the end anyway.
* Swedish writer Simona Ahrnstedt gives us a downplayed example of this in ''Literature/{{Overenskommelser}}''. The female protagonist Beatrice has been abused by her tyrannical uncle for five long years, to the point where she was forced into a marriage with a man, who was forty years older than her and treated women like dirt. But she gets a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome towards the end of the story, where she gets a small revenge on her uncle. Not only does Beatrice claim the right to "his" house, which he basically had stolen from her, despite that she had inherited it from her grandmother. (What makes it even more awesome is that she sells the house to use the money for education for girls.) This leaves her uncle homeless, but do we really feel sorry for him? Beatrice also reminds him that his daughter wants nothing more to do with him and that even his wife has left him...
* Creator/RoaldDahl's ''The Enormous Crocodile'' has the titular character's abuse of his fellow jungle animals coming back to, well, bite him. One of these animals, Trunky the elephant, repays the favour by grabbing him and [[HurlItIntoTheSun throwing him into the Sun]].
* ''Literature/ForestKingdom'': In the climax of the ''Hawk & Fisher'' spinoff series' book 2 (''Winner Takes All''), a corrupt politician who'd engineered a campaign of mayhem against his opponent and everyone who'd dared support his rival is killed, not by the heroes or any of the other badass killers and traitors on either side of the election, but by the mousy, terrified wife he'd been beating for years, who seized the moment of his downfall to stab him thirty or forty times.
* In the ''Film/DollarsTrilogy'' tie-in novel ''A Dollar to Die For'', Tuco, after being abducted by Apaches, is re-kidnapped by outlaw Pinky Roebuck and tortured to starvation on where he buried the gold that the Count de Cabronet was going to use to save Maximilian I. As soon as they reach the gold, however, [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal Tuco turns the tables and ties the treacherous truant to a tree]], camps out by his captive, revitalising himself with the food from the saddlebags, and leaves him there. This isn't the last he sees of him, though.
* This is the main plot of ''Mice'' by Gordon Reece. The main characters are a timid, sensitive, conflict-averse teenage girl and her equally timid mother, who quietly endure extreme school bullying, spousal abuse, and workplace harassment until finally a burglar who breaks into their house and threatens them with rape and murder pushes them too far, and they discover that they are just as capable of violence and savagery as any other human being.
* In ''[[Literature/MarthaSpeaks Perfectly Martha]]'', after Weaselgraft offends him, Dr. Pablum is quite willing to team up with Martha to expose his "[[{{Brainwashing}} dog training]]" program in exchange for the secret of how she can talk.
* This trope is the reason as to why Nezumi in ''Broken Gate'' put a curse on her brother Ryuuuji, as he had been cruel to her before then. However, while he was cruel to her, her curse wasn't out of deep-seated hatred or anything of the sort, actually, she put the curse on him out of punishment for his arrogance and necessity. While she cursed him, she did offer to lift it and make amends.
* Scourge's second-in-command (Bone) in ''Literature/WarriorCats'' spent his life bullying, beating, and even killing, those weaker than himself. His preferred targets were kits unfortunate enough to be born on the streets. He dies in battle against the Clans, disappearing under a pile of clawing, biting apprentices (warriors-in-training, typically 6 months to a year old). He had been trying to kill one of them, when her brother jumped him, followed by the rest.

* Creator/NiccoloMachiavelli warned against this in ''Literature/ThePrince''. Although the most well-known line from the book is "it is safer to be feared than loved," said line is followed up with a warning that states that a prince must not inspire so much fear that he becomes hated. Being hated eventually leads to the prince's subjects rebelling.
* In ''Literature/LittleFiresEverywhere'', Izzy finally takes out years of mistreatment at Elena's hands by [[spoiler:setting [[TitleDrop little fires everywhere]] in the Richardson family house.]]
* In ''Literature/AmericanDirt'', Soledad and Rebeca endure an ungodly amount of suffering. First Soledad is forced into a sexual relationship by a sicario (leaving her with an unwanted pregnancy) who later tells her to bring her sister to his group for the same treatment, prompting the two of them to flee to el notre. Then they find out that their father was attacked by said sicario, while they're miles away and unable to be there with him. [[spoiler:Then they are captured and raped by migrant police, causing Soledad to miscarry her pregnancy. Then she finds out her father was killed by her vengeful ex-boyfriend's attack. When SmugSnake Lorenzo attempts to rape Rebeca, Soledad finally snaps and kills him in an instant.]]

** The aforementioned hobbits stuck Grí­ma full of arrows as soon as he killed Saruman and started his escape, most likely as payback for Wormtongue's murder of Lotho Sackville-Baggins, Frodo's kinsman and accomplice. Either that, or they (correctly) figured a person who stabs someone in the back isn't someone you want running around your homes.

* In one of Creator/SimonRGreen's ''Hawk and Fisher'' tales, a corrupt politician who'd engineered a campaign of mayhem against his opponent and everyone who'd dared support his rival is killed, not by the heroes or any of the other Badass killers and traitors on either side of the election, but by the mousy, terrified wife he'd been beating for years, who seized the moment of his downfall to stab him thirty or forty times.

* God bless Emilia of ''Theatre/{{Othello}}'' fame, exposing her husband Iago for the scum he is. True, it doesn't turn out well for her, but considering she knew how he would react, she's definitely badass. She even has a smaller one ''before'' that, when she tells Iago off for thinking that she'd cheat on him with Othello. Keep in mind that Iago is a paranoid bugger who spends most of the play suspecting everyone of sleeping with his wife. Emilia is the only person who actually realizes and confronts him on this.

** ''The Bellmaker'': Captain Slipp kills the badger mother Mellus, steals a silver cup, and flees. Blaggut, his ex-bosun, follows him, but cries his eyes out all night because he liked Mellus and he wanted to settle in the Abbey. Slipp physically and verbally assaults Blaggut, as he had done repeatedly throughout the book, but this time Blaggut gets up and strangles Slipp with an [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome impressive]] "fuck you" speech:

* Creator/DavidWeber does this for a exceedingly well earned KarmicDeath for [[OmnicidalManiac Saint-Just]], when [[AntiHero Thomas Theisman]] ends his regime of terror. [[JustForFun/MadeOfWin Last line of the book when he breaks into his office and Saint-Just mocks him:]]

*** Also used with Kord's ultimate fate. After Isana leaves him there, his other victim, an axe-crazy water witch he had drugged and repeatedly raped shows up. She proceeds to hang the scalps of Marat warriors on him, before telling him that Marat are searching the building for their foes, and that they will do ''unpleasant'' things because he has scalps of their people. She leaves, and the Marat show up shortly afterwards.

* ''Literature/TheVoyageOfTheJerleShannara'': In ''Morgawr'', Elven Prince [[TheWoobie Ahren Elessedil]], who'd already gone through a serious case of BreakTheCutie, goes through shattering psychological and mental torture at the hands of [[BigBad The Morgawr's]] [[TheDragon Dragon]], [[LizardFolk Mwellret leader]] [[SmugSnake Cree Bega]]. By the end Ahren has almost no self-respect left, and is alone on a ship when Cree Bega comes on board, murders his one companion, [[JustBetweenYouAndMe tells him]] about the Mwellrets' [[KickTheDog torture]] of his crush, demands the books of magic from him and then attacks. Ahren just barely manages to man up and [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice skewer]] the slippery bastard, who's had it coming for almost three books now. Easily Ahren's SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, and one of the most affirming moments in an otherwise ShootTheShaggyDog story.

* The Extinctionists, a group of minor villains in ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'': The Time Paradox, enjoy capturing endangered animals and subjecting them to executions. In fact the BigBad of the book stages the executions and keeps the animals sedated in a laboratory beneath the Extinctionist's compound. When Artemis sabotages their annual conference, the animals break out of the lab, and many Extinctionists are mauled and trampled in the ensuing stampede.

* Elizabeth Bathory in ''Literature/CountAndCountess'' to both her husband and her majordomo. Her husband, impotent, has the majordomo impregnate her against her will in order to produce an heir. After [[BrokenBird snapping]], she kills the both of them in gruesome but satisfying ways.

* Swedish writer Simona Ahrnstedt gives us a downplayed example of this in ''Literature/{{Overenskommelser}}''. The female protagonist Beatrice has been abused by her tyrannical uncle for five long years, to the point where she was forced into a marriage with a man, who was forty years older than her and treated women like dirt. But she gets a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome towards the end of the story, where she gets a small revenge on her uncle. Not only does Beatrice claim the right to "his" house, which he basically had stolen from her, despite that she had inherited it from her grandmother. (What makes it even more awesome is that she sells the house to use the money for education for girls.) This leaves her uncle homeless, but do we really feel sorry for him? Beatrice also reminds him of that his daughter wants nothing more to do with him, and that even his wife has left him...

* Creator/NiccoloMachiavelli warned against this in ''Literature/ThePrince''. Although the most well-known line from the book is "it is safer to be feared than loved," said line is followed up with a warning that states that a prince must not inspire so much fear that he becomes hated. Being hated eventually leads to the prince's subjects rebelling.

* Impressively {{averted}} in ''Literature/TheMarkOfTheLion'' trilogy: [[IncorruptiblePurePureness Hadassah]] never takes any opportunity to retaliate against Julia, despite the latter’s constant [[SpoiledBrat selfishness]], ingratitude, petulance, [[RichBitch cruelty]], and [[OneOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers attempt to murder her]].

* While he isn't exactly a villain, the second version happens to Albert in ''Discworld/{{Mort}}''. He is far too powerful a wizard for the faculty of Unseen University to defy him - but when Death has him by the throat and he orders them to throw him his staff, they are all struck with a mysterious case of deafness...
* Twoflower to Lord Hong in ''Discworld/InterestingTimes''. It would have ended quite badly for him too, if it weren't for the UU faculty.

* The Literature/BelisariusSeries. The good guys are triumphant, but the evil Malwa emperor and the real BigBad have escaped with the Big Bad plotting how to try again...only for the emperor to be recognized and the pair captured by a team of Malwa assassins who've spent the entire book helplessly trying to catch their target, the Roman Emperor, had given up and were trying to find somewhere to hide from the new regime. Until they recognize an opportunity to make a nice payday for capturing a wanted man.
* Subverted in Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''Literature/{{Foundation}}'' trilogy: Cornered by the Mule, an agent of the Second Foundation frees a Brainwashed victim and points out there is no way he can both stop the agent and keep his victim from killing him. When the Mule agrees to his terms, the agent allows him to Brainwash the victim again.

* In one of the ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' books, [[BiggerBad The Council of Thirteen]] sends a warrior known as The Inspector to evaluate [[BigBad Visser Three's]] progress in trying to TakeOverTheWorld. The Inspector spends the whole book mocking and belittling the Visser. Eventually, Marco turns into a cobra and bites him. The dying Inspector begs for help, only for Visser Three to mock him and leave.

* NiccoloMachiavelli warned against this in ''Literature/ThePrince''. Although the most well-known line from the book is "it is safer to be feared than loved," said line is followed up with a warning that states that a prince must not inspire so much fear that he becomes hated. Being hated eventually leads to the prince's subjects rebelling.

* ''Literature/YoungSherlockHolmes'': In ''Red Leech'', the BigBad Duke Balthassar has a pair of cougars that he uses as {{Right Hand Attack Dog}}s: having semi-trained through a combination of fear and cruelty. Sherlock is able to turn them against Balthassar by giving them a taste for his blood (by feeding them the eponymous red leech) at a point when he is in a weakened position. Blathassar falls off a cliff attempting to escape them.

** ''Triss'' ends with the titular squirrel to free all of the others she was enslaved with. Just for effect, she does it in the ship of the girl who was chasing her... [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome and tosses said hunter's dead body off said ship before charging the guards]].
** ''The Bellmaker'': Captain Slipp kills the badger mother Mellus, steals a silver cup, and flees. Blaggut, his ex-bosun, follows him, but cries his eyes out all night because he liked Mellus and he wanted to settle in the Abbey. Slipp physically and verbally assaults Blaggut, as he had done repeatedly throughout the book, but this time Blaggut gets up and strangles Slipp with an [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome impressive]] "fuck you" speech:

* ''Literature/TheVoyageOfTheJerleShannara'': In ''Morgawr'', Elven Prince [[TheWoobie Ahren Elessedil]], who'd already gone through a serious case of BreakTheCutie, goes through shattering psychological and mental torture at the hands of [[BigBad The Morgawr's]] [[TheDragon Dragon]], [[LizardFolk Mwellret leader]] [[SmugSnake Cree Bega]]. By the end Ahren has almost no self-respect left, and is alone on a ship when Cree Bega comes on board, murders his one companion, [[JustBetweenYouAndMe tells him]] about the Mwellrets' [[KickTheDog torture]] of his crush, demands the books of magic from him and then attacks. Ahren just barely manages to man up and [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice skewer]] the slippery bastard, who's had it coming for almost three books now. Easily Ahren's CrowningMomentOfAwesome, and one of the most affirming moments in an otherwise ShootTheShaggyDog story.

* Swedish writer Simona Ahrnstedt gives us a downplayed example of this in ''Literature/{{Overenskommelser}}''. The female protagonist Beatrice has been abused by her tyrannical uncle for five long years, to the point where she was forced into a marriage with a man, who was forty years older than her and treated women like dirt. But she gets a [[MomentOfAwesome moment of awesome]] towards the end of the story, where she gets a small revenge on her uncle. Not only does Beatrice claim the right to "his" house, which he basically had stolen from her, despite that she had inherited it from her grandmother. (What makes it even more awesome is that she sells the house to use the money for education for girls.) This leaves her uncle homeless, but do we really feel sorry for him? Beatrice also reminds him of that his daughter wants nothing more to do with him, and that even his wife has left him...

* In ''[[Literature/MarthaSpeaks Perfectly Martha]]'', after Weaselgraft offends him, Dr. Pablum is quite willing to team up with Martha to expose his "[[{{Brainwashing}} dog training]" program in exchange for the secret of how she can talk.

* ''TheVoyageOfTheJerleShannara'': In ''Morgawr'', Elven Prince [[TheWoobie Ahren Elessedil]], who'd already gone through a serious case of BreakTheCutie, goes through shattering psychological and mental torture at the hands of [[BigBad The Morgawr's]] [[TheDragon Dragon]], [[LizardFolk Mwellret leader]] [[SmugSnake Cree Bega]]. By the end Ahren has almost no self-respect left, and is alone on a ship when Cree Bega comes on board, murders his one companion, [[JustBetweenYouAndMe tells him]] about the Mwellrets' [[KickTheDog torture]] of his crush, demands the books of magic from him and then attacks. Ahren just barely manages to man up and [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice skewer]] the slippery bastard, who's had it coming for almost three books now. Easily Ahren's CrowningMomentOfAwesome, and one of the most affirming moments in an otherwise ShootTheShaggyDog story.

* Scourge's second-in-command (Bone) in ''Literature/WarriorCats'' spent his life bullying, beating, and even killing, those weaker than himself. His preferred targets were kits unfortunate enough to be born on the streets. He dies in battle against the Clans, disappearing under a pile of clawing, biting apprentices (warriors-in-training, typically 6 months to a year old). He had been trying to kill one of them, when her brother jumped him, followed by the rest.

** A darker example would be Kreacher who after constant abuse by Sirius Black, eventually starts working for someone else and finally deceives Harry into going to the Department of Mysteries room. Indirectly Kreacher [[spoiler:got Sirius killed at the hands of Bellatrix]].

* Scourge's second-in-command (Bone) in WarriorCats spent his life bullying, beating, and even killing, those weaker than himself. His preferred targets were kits unfortunate enough to be born on the streets. He dies in battle against the Clans, disappearing under a pile of clawing, biting apprentices (warriors-in-training, typically 6 months to a year old). He had been trying to kill one of them, when her brother jumped him, followed by the rest.

** The aforementioned hobbits stuck Grí­ma full of arrows as soon as he killed Saruman and started his escape, most likely as payback for Wormtongue's murder of Lotho Sackville-Baggins, Frodo's kinsman and fellow accomplice. Either that, or they (correctly) figured a person who stabs someone in the back isn't someone you want running around your homes.

* This trope is the reason as to why Nezumi in ''Broken Gate'' put a curse on her brother Ryuuuji, as he had been cruel to her before then. However, while he was cruel to her, her curse wasn't out of deep-seated hatred or anything of the sort, actually, she put the curse on him out of punishment for his arrogance and necessity. While she cursed him, she did offer to lift it and make amends.

* In Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''If This Goes On...'' the Prophet dies in the gap between when the women at his headquarters realize he will lose and the actual arrival of enemy forces.