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| 3 | %% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks! |
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| 7 | ->'''Archie Downes:''' Well, maybe you shall, sir... and maybe other events will transpire.\ |
| 8 | '''Arthur Morgan:''' You best ''stick'' to them books. Because mark my ''words'' on this: vengeance is an idiot's game. |
| 9 | -->-- ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'', during ''Sodom? Back to Gomorrah'' mission. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | Some people can be filled with the desire for {{Revenge}} so greatly that they will pursue it at any cost. Their pursuit of it can be unreasonably dangerous to themselves and/or their loved ones (which in extreme cases can make it a SuicideMission), or it can lead to unreasonable and irrevocable consequence to their mission/objective. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | This is mainly a villain trope, not the least of which because the revenge tends to be DisproportionateRetribution caused by the most minuscule of slights, and sometimes targets [[RevengeByProxy innocent third parties]]. If the level of vengeance is taken to a downright ridiculous level, one may end up asking WhyDontYouJustShootHim rather than waste time and resources towards humiliating or [[ColdBloodedTorture torturing]] the person before killing them or [[BondVillainStupidity making sure that they die horribly in some slow, easily escapable death trap]]. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | Yet heroes can fall into this, showing that even they aren't immune to this flaw. When heroes experience this, it may lead to becoming [[HeWhoFightsMonsters just like the villains they sought revenge against]]. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | CantKillYouStillNeedYou is a concept that this trope will completely ignore, or will even actively fight against to get at the target of their vengeance. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | Often invokes TakingYouWithMe and BeingEvilSucks. If avenging a death, will be regarded ExcessiveMourning. If the character snaps out of it, can lead to WasItReallyWorthIt and MyGodWhatHaveIDone. If a character calls them out on their revenge quest then it's RevengeIsNotJustice. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | A SisterTrope to BlindedByRage. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | Compare with FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse, HonorBeforeReason, RoaringRampageOfRevenge, HeWhoFightsMonsters, EvilIsPetty, InspectorJavert, PyrrhicVictory, RevengeIsNotJustice, StupidEvil, ScrewTheMoneyThisIsPersonal, or PersonalHateBeforeCommonGoals. |
| 24 | |
| 25 | If revenge can lead to serious punishment or outright death for the perpetrator(s), that's BullyingADragon. |
| 26 | |
| 27 | Contrast with {{Forgiveness}} or RestrainedRevenge. SuccessAsRevenge is essentially the opposite, giving up on revenge entirely because it's not worth it. |
| 28 | ---- |
| 29 | !!Examples: |
| 30 | [[index]] |
| 31 | * RevengeBeforeReason/AnimeAndManga |
| 32 | * RevengeBeforeReason/{{Literature}} |
| 33 | * RevengeBeforeReason/LiveActionTV |
| 34 | * RevengeBeforeReason/VideoGames |
| 35 | [[/index]] |
| 36 | |
| 37 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 38 | |
| 39 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 40 | * In ''ComicBook/AllFallDown'', this motivates [[spoiler:Pronto]] into selling out his friends to get his powers back. |
| 41 | * ''ComicBook/BlazeOfGlory'': [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Clay Riley]] could have just sat back and let Wonderment be destroyed, but decides to lead the battle personally just so he can murder his old nemesis the Ghost Rider himself. [[spoiler: He gets killed for his trouble -- ''[[LaserGuidedKarma by]]'' [[LaserGuidedKarma the Ghost Rider]].]] |
| 42 | * During the height of the Iraq War, ''ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}}'' offered a depressingly realistic explanation for the seemingly impossible task of convincing certain Iraqis to live together peacefully, when Ray stresses the importance of capturing a target alive: |
| 43 | -->'''Iraqi Officer''': This will not be possible. I am sworn to vengeance!\ |
| 44 | '''Ray''': Why? What'd he ever do to you?\ |
| 45 | '''Iraqi Officer''': A member of his family killed a member of mine!\ |
| 46 | '''Ray''': What? When did that happen?\ |
| 47 | '''Iraqi Officer''': 1387. |
| 48 | * ''ComicBook/TheAvengersJonathanHickman'': During the ''ComicBook/TimeRunsOut'' arc Steve Rogers, and the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D., insist on hunting down and capturing the Illuminati, who are trying to prevent the destruction of the universe, and the rest of existence, while doing absolutely nothing to solve this problem themselves. By the time Sue Storm gets both sides to sit down and shut up, the situation is beyond saving. |
| 49 | ** And even then, in the very last issue, Steve decides that hunting down and beating the ever-loving crap out of Tony is more important than the imminent end of ''everything''. |
| 50 | * The 2014 ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' series introduced a villain who called himself "the Quiet Man", and claims to have not only been responsible for the team's recent run of bad luck (Reed and Sue losing custody of their children, Ben being framed for murder and Johnny losing his powers), but also plans to frame Reed for an invasion from a parallel universe and claims to have been responsible for bankrolling some of their other villains over the years. Even if the Quiet Man is exaggerating the scale of his influence on the FF’s history, he goes to ridiculous lengths to destroy the team when the only thing they ever "did" to him was Reed getting the chance to talk to Sue first (the Quiet Man had a crush on Sue when he was a child but didn't have the nerve to talk to her before Reed did). |
| 51 | * ''ComicBook/JSAClassified'': As ComicBook/VandalSavage's stockpile of bits of his kids and descendants to eat and store up his powers goes missing at the same time his immortality starts slipping and his mind. He becomes obsessed with ensuring that if he's about to die he's taking Alan Scott with him no matter what he has to do to kill him, even cutting his own remaining time short. |
| 52 | * In ''ComicBook/{{Lucifer}}'', the titular Lucifer pulls a DisproportionateRetribution on angel Meleos, destroying the latter's millennia of work; and the broken Meleos swears revenge. [[spoiler:Being an angel, this revenge takes the form of ''saving Lucifer's life'' and nursing him back to health after somebody else tried to kill him. Because to the prideful Lucifer, being that much in debt to somebody else is worse than actually being killed.]] |
| 53 | * Queen Chrysalis ''again''[[note]]See the WesternAnimation entry below[[/note]] in ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW''. Twilight and her friends have already proven they are more than a match for her and her changelings, but she wants payback. She pulls another invasion, kidnaps the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and it ends about as well for her as you would expect. |
| 54 | * In ''ComicBook/{{Silverblade}}'', film producer Vincent Vermillion, who has waited forty years to take revenge on Milestone and Lord for his CareerEndingInjury, is willing to jeopardise his latest multi-million production by using it as part of his plan to snare the pair. If his plan works, he will never be able to finish the film, as he will have killed his leading man. |
| 55 | * Subverted in ''ComicBook/SinCity: Hell and Back''. When mob boss Wallenquist hears that one of his operations was completely shut down by an ex-soldier, his subordinates start making plans to track and kill the guy. Instead, Wallenquist points out that there's [[PragmaticVillainy no profit in revenge]] and no point in pursuing a fight with someone who's leaving town anyway. He knows what's in his own best interest. |
| 56 | * ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide'': After being defeated by Super Sonic and Super Armor Mega Man in the final issue of the crossover, Eggman is so pissed that he deliberately interferes with Super Sonic's attempt to undo the Super Genesis Wave, willing to let reality be destroyed rather than let Sonic restore it to normal. Said interference results in a CosmicRetcon on Sonic's world, as well as the subsequent [[VideoGame/SonicUnleashed Shattered World Crisis]]. |
| 57 | * ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': ComicBook/{{Venom}} lived and breathed this trope during his first several appearances. With the powers and knowledge of the alien costume, Eddie Brock could have done pretty much anything he wanted, including repairing his damaged life. But he was so consumed by his vendetta against Spidey that he would immediately try to kill him at every opportunity, despite it always ending with Venom incarcerated or otherwise disabled. The most egregious example is in "Trial of Venom", where Brock is actually found not guilty of his crimes as Venom (by reason of insanity) and is about to be released from prison...but he can't stop himself from going after Spider-Man. |
| 58 | * In the ''Literature/StarTrekMyriadUniverses'' comic ''The Last Generation'', Wesley Crusher wants revenge on the Klingon Empire for their war against Earth. When Picard proposes a plan to go back in time and stop the war before it starts, Wesley is horrified, seeing the idea of peace with the Klingons as a slap in the face to everyone who died in the war. The fact ''they won't have died'' never seems to occur to him. |
| 59 | * ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'': |
| 60 | ** Subverted in ''ComicBook/SupergirlRebirth''. Lar-On was a Kryptonian with lycanthropy who was quarantined to the PhantomZone by ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'s father Zor-El. When he escapes, he wants to kill Supergirl when he finds out that she's Zor-El's daughter. However Kara talks him down, pointing out that she has nothing to do with whatever her father did, and killing people will not bring his family back. |
| 61 | ** In ''ComicBook/TheHuntForReactron'', Supergirl has been tasked by her mother Alura with capturing her father's murderer Reactron. Nevertheless, Flamebird tries to dissuade her friend Kara from dragging Reactron back to Kandor, on grounds of Alura being out for his blood after her husband's murder, to the point of refusing to listen to reason. |
| 62 | ** "ComicBook/TheSuperSteedOfSteel": ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} travels to planet Zerox to lend Comet to the Zeroxian King, who needs a flying horse urgently to lead a parade since his own pegasus has become unable to fly. His nephew Nomed, who enchanted Endor's pegasus as part of a stealthy ploy to seize the throne, decides to pay Supergirl by ruining his coup d'etat...and his attempted revenge gets him turned into a statue. If he had reminded himself that both outsiders would leave Zerox soon, leaving him free to keep plotting since nobody suspected his duplicity, he would be still alive. |
| 63 | * ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'': |
| 64 | ** Combined with IrrationalHatred, Cyborg-Superman (Henk Henshaw) blames the Man of the Steel for causing his accident, for driving his friends to suicide and for exiling Henshaw from Earth. And none of these things were Superman's fault. |
| 65 | ** In ''ComicBook/SupermanVsTheAmazingSpiderMan'', ComicBook/LexLuthor's real goal is [[spoiler:destroying the planet "which held [his] genius in contempt"... even though he cannot survive in a devastated world]]. |
| 66 | ** In a two-part story told in ''ComicBook/ActionComics'' #555 and ''ComicBook/Supergirl1982'' #21, Superman and Supergirl are hunted down by Kryptonite Man, the last survivor of a race that inhabited Krypton in the past, who blames kryptonians for his race and planet's demise and refuses to listen when both cousins point out how irrational it is to believe their species intended to blow themselves and their world up to destroy his race. |
| 67 | ** In ''ComicBook/TheThirdKryptonian'', Amalak hates Kryptonians because a group of them wiped his race out several centuries ago. He doesn't ''care'' if you were born long after his people's genocide, [[ComicBook/PowerGirl you were born in another universe]] or [[ComicBook/KryptoTheSuperdog you are a dog]]. If you are a Kryptonian, he wants you dead. |
| 68 | ** In ''ComicBook/HowLuthorMetSuperboy'', Lex and Superboy become friends. Unfortunately, Superboy accidentally destroys Lex's breakthrough discovery while putting out a fire which was burning Lex's lab down, and Lex becomes convinced that Superboy did it on purpose because he was jealous of his genius. Superboy tries to calm him down, but he eventually stops trying to change Lex's mind because he realizes that Lex will never believe him due to his arrogance and guilt-pushing attitude. Meanwhile, Lex's obsession with getting back at Superboy quickly escalates from being a dick to planning a murder. |
| 69 | ** "ComicBook/LuthorUnleashed": |
| 70 | *** After one battle, Lex Luthor realizes he is sick of getting beaten and humilliated every turn, and Superman himself is likewise becoming dangerously sick of putting up with his antics, so he exiles himself into planet Lexor, where his family lives and he is hailed as a science hero. Despite being constantly showered with love and praise, though, Lex cannot forget his hatred towards Superman, not even for one second. At the end, Lex starts another battle with Superman, during which Luthor is beaten again and Lexor gets destroyed, and Lex swears he will never stop trying to destroy Superman. |
| 71 | *** After Superman has destroyed one of Luthor's lairs, one surviving robot sets off one special super-weapon without its master's order or knowledge, wondering whether it has been programmed to act on its own, or Luthor somehow implanted his obsession for revenge into its circuitry. |
| 72 | * ''ComicBook/{{Tintin}}'': The Yves Rodier finished version of album [[Recap/TintinTintinAndAlphArt "Tintin and the Alph-Art"]] has [[spoiler: Rastapopoulos so willing to kill the titular character (who continuously screwed up his plans and operations) that his plan to do so would also inevitably lead to [[TakingYouWithMe killing himself in the process.]]]] |
| 73 | * ''ComicBook/{{Ultimatum}}'': Angel's lover Dazzler died during the Ultimatum wave. Despite having no power better than wings and flight, he decides to charge straight to Magneto's headquarters, which gets him shredded. |
| 74 | * ''Franchise/TheWalkingDead'' loves using this trope; you'll see more in the Live-Action TV and Video Game folders. The [[ComicBook/TheWalkingDead comic book]] has its own examples: |
| 75 | ** Michonne. Instead of escaping from the Governor with the others, she decides to [[spoiler:stay and give the Governor the biggest torture known the man. This happens after he raped her. The result? The [[EvilIsPetty petty man attacks the prison, causing everyone to separate for a long time. And of course Tyreese and Hershel's death]]]]. |
| 76 | ** It's heavily implied the Governor's assault on the prison was less for pragmatic reasons and more petty revenge for [[spoiler: his torture at the hands of Michonne.]] As expected, [[spoiler: it gets him and his entire group killed]]. |
| 77 | * ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: Priscilla Rich snapping and becoming the supervillain the ComicBook/{{Cheetah}} is out of her desire for revenge on those she feels have wronged her, by making her jealous, and at times where she could easily kill her opponents in their sleep or without allowing them to fight back her need for "revenge" and making them suffer stays her hand. Prior to picking up a costumed supervillain identity she was much more quick to turn to murder and better and covering her tracks. |
| 78 | [[/folder]] |
| 79 | |
| 80 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 81 | * ''Fanfic/AllForLuz'': At one point during her massacre, [[spoiler:Luz]] realises she could stop her RoaringRampageOfRevenge and try escape the [[DeadlyGame Death Camp]] with all the new powerful Quirks she stole from her victims. Instead Luz carries on with her MookHorrorShow [[spoiler:to avenge her recently murdered camper friends]] until all but one SoleSurvivor is dead. Not long afterwards, she suffers a HeroicRROD from having far more Quirks than her body can handle, nearly killing her. [[spoiler:She only survives thanks to her new HealingFactor and the army arriving to rescue her and her surviving team mates.]] |
| 82 | * [[Manga/{{Naruto}} Unkei]] in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3665921/45/Black-Flames-Dance-In-The-Wind-Rise-of-Naruto Black Flames Dance in the Wind: Rise of Naruto]]''. His entire clan is defecting from Konoha and he knows full well the only way for them to succeed is to have as much of a lead as possible. He still insists on killing Yakumo (due to the demon sealed in her betraying them), who's under 24-hour guard. |
| 83 | * When Uryu confronts Ichigo in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8987477/9/A-Black-Heart A Black Heart]]'', Ichigo gladly tells him that he can take over for Ichigo in protecting Karakura from Hollows. Uryu however insists that he won't allow Ichigo to simply forfeit and uses Hollow Bait to prove he's better. The only reason Ichigo doesn't kill him afterwards is that Urahara took Uryu away and hid him. |
| 84 | * ''Fanfic/BurningBridgesBuildingConfidence'' has Alya's self-destructive vendettas against Vexxin/Cole and Marinette. |
| 85 | ** Since Vexxin replaced her as the Fox heroine, she absolutely ''despises'' her, responding to her appearance by posting wild accusations on her blog that she ''stole'' her Miraculous. Even after Ladybug takes Alya aside and makes absolutely clear that she has nobody to blame for being replaced but herself, and that her actions have only served to ensure that she won't be trusted with ''any'' Miraculous from here on, Alya refuses to admit that [[NeverMyFault she did anything wrong]] and continues to rage against her. This effectively ruins not just her reputation, but that of her blog; while she retains some loyal fans, most jump ship to other sites that aren't building a reputation as a trashy tabloid. |
| 86 | ** Alya also blames Cole and Marinette for all of the drama with [[BitchInSheepsClothing Lila]]. Eventually, she works herself up to the point that she sharpens her nails before lunging at them, attempting to claw their faces off in front of the whole class. Naturally, this gets her in a ''massive'' amount of trouble ([[spoiler: especially since the attack reopened [[EyeScream Cole's eye stitches]]]]), as she learns the hard way that her parents ''do NOT approve'' of her attacking anyone, and that the parents of her would-be victims are [[MamaBear all too happy]] to resort to litigation to ensure she's punished for her actions. And yet she ''still'' keeps digging the hole ever deeper... |
| 87 | ** As a comparatively lesser example, Chat Noir comes to dislike Vexxin for the horrible crime of [[WhatTheHellHero calling him out]] on his self-serving attitude and SkewedPriorities. He responds to her accusations of [[BetrayalByInaction betraying Ladybug by withholding his aid]] by... deliberately standing aside and letting a trio of akuma take on Vexxin alone, declaring that she deserves to ''die'' at their hands. While failing to consider that the Seisquake trio also see ''HIM'' as an enemy, and exploit his refusal to work together with Vexxin to take them ''both'' down. |
| 88 | * ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfRemnant'': The Schnees and Belladonnas are working together to assassinate the Claimed, which, even if they succeeded, would start a war that humanity is simply not prepared to win. It's clear that their grief has destroyed their sense of judgement. |
| 89 | * [[spoiler:The Sludge Villain]] does this in ''Fanfic/ConversationsWithACryptid'', and what he lacks in determination he makes up for in stupidity. [[spoiler:First he, along with a few others, kidnaps Izuku to torture him to death in revenge for being caught. This doesn't fit the trope, but when his co-conspirators are left as chunky salsa from [[PersonOfMassDestruction All for One's]] VillainousRescue, he attacks Izuku ''again'', apparently not considering that [[TheDreaded All for One]] might still be protecting him. He ends up roasted alive for his trouble.]] |
| 90 | * In ''Franchise/MassEffect'''s ''Fanfic/{{Crucible|MassEffect}}'', Makern, the ancestor of the Northern turian clans lost his beloved daughter Koria due to one greedy old nobleman from the South and decided that he needed to destroy them all completely before building everything from scratch under his absolute rule. |
| 91 | ** Because one group of Quarians led by Raan and Tali killed Alt.Amata and their children, Alt.Gaius made them all pay by dropping a bomb on Rannoch, completely pushed the whole race with all its innocent people to extinction while making the leaders watch before they too died. |
| 92 | * ''Webcomic/DadVillainAU'': [[TheBadGuyWins Hawkmoth won]]. Gabriel got to make his [[RealityWarpingIsNotAToy reality-altering Wish]], which he was ostensibly after in order to save Emelie from dying from the magical backlash of using the broken Peacock Pin. But rather than repairing the Miraculous or anything of that nature, Gabriel [[EvilIsPetty spitefully Wishes]] for the backlash to hit ''Ladybug'' and her loved ones instead, wanting her to '''suffer''' for having opposed him for so long. As Duusu points out, he cares about this petty revenge more than he does Emelie herself, treating his wife as nothing more than an UnwittingPawn for exacting vengeance upon the heroine. |
| 93 | * ''Fanfic/DanganronpaParadiseLost'': The final chapter reveals that [[spoiler:Junpei and Momiji co-masterminded the Killing Game in an attempt to gain their revenge against their tormentors... only to be confronted with the fact that with one target defunct and the other repentant, [[AllForNothing their plan was completely unnecessary]]. After they got 11 people, including Junpei, killed and ruined their reputations. The sheer shock is enough for [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled Momiji to execute herself rather than face the Future Foundation's judgement]]]]. |
| 94 | * ''Fanfic/DistortionsSymphogear'': Samantha Acamporra knows that what she's doing as a member of the Four Horsemen is wrong, but she's so full of hatred towards [[Anime/{{Symphogear}} S.O.N.G.]], whom she holds responsible for her brother's death, that she doesn't care as long as he is avenged. |
| 95 | * In the [[TournamentArc second arc of]] ''[[Anime/YuGiOh Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' fanfiction ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10037710/1 For Want of a Card]]'', Rebecca Hawkins falls into this trope hard after knowing that the ones who killed her parents were Rare Hunters led by Steve, just because of a rare card, namely "Blue-eyes White Dragon", which had been given to Sugoroku Muto by Arthur, her grandfather. She stops at nothing to get a chance of avenging her late parents, from giving help in hacking Industrial Illusions, entering an obviously rigged tournament, [[ExcessiveMourning alienating her own grandfather, the only family she has, therefore she enters the tournament without Arthur's blessing]], cheating in card games knowing her opponents would cheat as well, knowingly sending several of her opponents into either death or bankruptcy in AbsurdlyHighStakesGame, bribing a shady underground middleman to ruin her ArchNemesis reputation, all while risking her own life, in case she loses even just one match in the tournament, she were to be executed. She manages to get her revenge against Steve in a somewhat PyrrhicVictory, by winning the tournament [[note]]It has been established in anime storyline that, at one point, Rebecca was American's duel champion, so her victory here was kind of LateArrivalSpoiler[[/note]] at the cost of her own innocence as she grows more bitter as time goes on until she met [[IncorruptiblePurePureness Yugi Muto]]. |
| 96 | * Zig-zagged in ''Fanfic/TheGrinningSnake'', a crossover between ''Anime/MyHime'' and ''Anime/HellGirl'', Konoka, the daughter of one of the First District agents Shizuru killed, finds out who her father's killer is. Unfortunately, the police won't believe the only piece of evidence she has, and the perpetrator won't turn herself in, leaving Konoka to use Ai's doll, sending Shizuru to hell immediately and ensuring that Konoka will also go there when she dies. On the one hand, Konoka literally more or less sells her soul for her vengeance (especially when you consider that she believes her father went to heaven, meaning that [[DaddysGirl she]] won't join him there), but on the other, she only chose to do so after exhausting all other options. |
| 97 | * ''Webcomic/{{Horrortale}}'': Alphys tells Undyne that Sans' powers could restart the CORE at the cost of the latter's life. While this does work, Sans survives the extraction of his magic eye and confronts Alphys about her decision. When Alphys reasserts that her course of action was the right choice and there's no changing her mind, Sans gets so angry at her that [[spoiler:he shreds the CORE with magic attacks, negating the attempt to fix it and dooming himself along with the entire Underground]]. |
| 98 | * ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13526309/18/I-am-Bitch-the-Shield-Hero-s-Slut I am Bitch, the Shield Hero's Slut]]'': King Aultcray hates Naofumi, even more than canon, for the crime of... not being framed for rape and being given Malty as a slave by the Queen. As revenge, Aultcray issues a royal decree that no member of Naofumi's party is allowed to get a class upgrade, seemingly in hopes of getting Naofumi killed. Since the only member of Naofumi's party who could possibly get a class upgrade is Aultcray's own daughter Malty, his actions just serve to make it more likely that she will be killed fighting in the Wave. |
| 99 | * ''Fanfic/TheJudgementOfTheWorld5Ds'': Upon learning that [[spoiler:Isao poisoned Yusei and has the only antidote with him at a location that's too far for them to travel to and back from on time]], Jack and Crow impulsively decide to find the Arcadia Movement's hideout and beat every member up to avenge their friend. They quickly find that they're out of their league, as despite being Signers and hardened former gang members, they're still up against a larger group of Psychic Duelists inside an unfamiliar building. It's not until too late that they realize they've wasted time and effort on meaningless revenge that could've gone towards helping their friend [[spoiler:by keeping Aki in the loop and having her use her father's connections and her psychic powers to help get the antidote back to Yusei on time]]. [[spoiler:In fact, if not for Aki learning about their plan and intervening, Jack and Crow might've gotten both themselves and Yusei killed]]. |
| 100 | * ''Fanfic/MaylusRevenge'': Maylu is dead set on getting revenge against her [=NetNavi=] Roll for her actions as Empress Roll, despite how [[NeverMyFault said incident was partially her own fault]]. This spurs her to [[FaceHeelTurn join World Three]] in hopes of getting strong enough to delete Roll from existence. |
| 101 | * In ''Fanfic/OriginStory'', for several of the ComicBook/TheAvengers, defeating Alex Harris is less about any laws she may or may not have broken and more about her embarrassing them in public. |
| 102 | * In the ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'' [[BadFuture Dark World Arc]], the possibility of falling victim to this trope is a constant threat while trying to stop Discord and free Equestria, in no small part thanks to [[EvilMentor the Nameless Passenger's]] constant encouragement to take this path. [[spoiler:As it turns out, the Passenger is [[GreaterScopeVillain Nightmare Eclipse]], Twilight's [[FutureMeScaresMe evil potential future self]] who is ''defined'' by this trope. In her timeline, she intentionally [[SuperpoweredEvilSide went Nightmare]] after managing to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong to take revenge on Discord...and became so addicted to her vengeance, she [[GroundhogDayLoop trapped Discord in a loop where he'd rule for a thousand years before being defeated and his daughter Fluttercruel killed before it resets]], [[RetGone destroying the universe and erasing everyone from that thousand years from existence.]] It got to the point that Discord's had a HeelRealization and she has to ''control'' him as her PuppetKing to be evil so she can take revenge on him, [[HeWhoFightsMonsters becoming even]] [[EvilerThanThou worse than him]].]] Thankfully, in the end [[spoiler:Eclipse meets her end]] and the heroes avoid this trope. |
| 103 | * ''Fanfic/RosarioVampireBrightestDarkness Act VI'' has one in Talon Ryashen. He was once an ordinary boy who was kidnapped off of the streets by Fairy Tale and used in their SuperSoldier experiments, being infused with Alucard's blood and becoming a HalfHumanHybrid; as a result, Talon was rejected and disowned by his own family and seeks to [[GottaKillEmAll hunt down and kill]] ''every'' last member of Fairy Tale, including those who were LockedOutOfTheLoop, defected, or simple non-combatants. Despite having been repeatedly told that the members of Fairy Tale who were truly responsible for his condition are dead, Talon [[KnightTemplar refuses to see the situation in anything but black-and-white]]; as far as he's concerned, ''everyone'' who was ''ever'' a member of Fairy Tale for ''any'' reason is equally responsible for his condition, and he won't stop until they're all dead. It's even been mentioned in-universe by more than one character that Talon simply will ''not'' listen to reason. |
| 104 | * ''Fanfic/ShadowsOverMeridian'': |
| 105 | ** Vera Bexley is obsessed with wiping out the Mogriffs and [[YouKilledMyFather avenging her grandfather]], even if it means launching a fight against the Shadowkhan that everyone else knows is hopeless [[spoiler:and going rogue from Elyon's army]] to do it. It eventually culminates in her [[spoiler:abandoning her wounded friends whom she lied to in order to get their help when they [[KnowWhenToFoldEm refuse to accommodate her whims anymore]] and running off alone to find Metalbeak and kill him. She's even willing to get killed herself if [[WouldHurtAChild killing Bladebeak (whom she doesn't know to be Metalbeak's son)]] before Metalbeak's eyes can give him pain. After both Jade and Metalkbeak [[SympathyForTheDevil decide to show her mercy]] by simply imprisoning her when they originally planned to subject her to a terrifying punishment, she makes Jade change her mind by trying to assassinate her before going after Metalbeak again without caring about risking everyone on Meridian, her own mother included, to the RoaringRampageOfRevenge of the Shadowkhan]]. |
| 106 | ** Metalbeak goes into a blind fury when he realizes that a descendant of [[TheButcher the Nest Butcher]] is among Elyon's army, and nearly charges off without a second thought to hunt her down. Jade has to beat him into submission to get him to think through how he'd be leaving the Stone Nest undermanned to defend itself against a potential sneak attack if he did that. [[spoiler:He proves that in contrast to Vera, he's learned his lesson when he prevents Jade from dealing with her in a way that'd risk the entire Stone Nest and gives up on trying to make Vera suffer for her actions when he realizes that [[CreateYourOwnVillain by savouring his revenge on her grandfather when she was there to witness it, he's responsible for Vera growing up into a vengeful wreck]].]] |
| 107 | * In ''Fanfic/TellingLiesNoMama'', all of Lila's lies are revealed, including why she hates Ladybug after she exposed and humiliated her in front of Adrien. It is further unveiled that Lila was witnessed working with Oni-Chan to distract Chat Noir and destroy Ladybug, even un-akumatized and not brainwashed, with clear thinking, so to speak. Everyone is horrified to find out that Lila would try to get their beloved hero killed and help a supervillain win just to settle her petty grudge. |
| 108 | ** Subverted with Chloé, who gets a REAL redemption arc in this story. She figures out Marinette's secret identity soon after meeting Pollen in [[Recap/MiraculousLadybugS02E20StyleQueenQueensBattlePart1 "Style Queen"]]. Remembering Tikki, who she mistook for a toy during [[Recap/MiraculousLadybugS01E23PrincessFragrance "Princess Fragrance"]] and noting the similarities between her and Pollen, Chloé connects the dots. However, unlike Lila, she promises to [[SecretKeeper keep the secret]] because even if she doesn't like Marinette, she knows better than to unveil her with Hawkmoth on the loose. And also because Ladybug deciding to have faith in her even knowing what kind of person she was made her want to be a better person. |
| 109 | * In ''[[http://www.tthfanfic.org/story.php?no=31044 Things Unseen, Things Unknown, and Things Yet to Be]]'', [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Willow]] responds to [[OnlySaneMan Xander]] questioning her decision to keep an employee whom she knows full well is spying on them by deliberately sabotaging him on an upcoming mission to an area that's already cost them six people. In other words, she risks the death of a friend she's known for roughly forty years because he disagreed with her. |
| 110 | * Karai falls into this in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12193288/1/TMNT-Turtle-Power TMNT: Turtle Power]]'' after [[spoiler:Leonardo kills the Shredder. She expends a ''lot'' of time and effort focusing on avenging her father's death at the Turtles' hands, leaving his criminal empire defenseless in the process and leading directly to the City at War arc, with [[EvilPowerVacuum every crook in the city fighting to fill the void left behind by Shredder's demise]]. She ''does'' realize this, and comes back to New York to fix things]]. |
| 111 | * ''Fanfic/TradeUsForTheWorld'': After Anne manages to escape Toad Tower, Captain Grime leads his army in a SternChase, insisting that they ''must'' make her pay. Marcy ultimately turns this against him, pointing out that in his eagerness to hunt her down, he neglected the state of his soldiers, forcing them to push forward rather than tending to their injuries. |
| 112 | -->'''Marcy:''' For how many days did you make them chase after Anne on broken legs? Carry weapons with sprained wrists, fight through concussions, wear armor over lacerations? Force them to march with you after ''[[AnArmAndALeg losing a limb]]?''\ |
| 113 | '''Grime:''' You're right! You see? They lost everything to the Herons! They need revenge, they need ''justice''--\ |
| 114 | '''Marcy:''' No! ''You'' needed revenge. ''You'' needed what you ''thought'' was justice. Your soldiers needed ''help''. Medical attention. Emotional support. Time to process. And now they'll need it even more! But you know what they don't need? You. You don't do what's good for the Toad Army, only [[ItsAllAboutMe what's good for yourself]]. You might be a good warrior, but you're a terrible leader. And your army doesn't need you. |
| 115 | * The ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'' fanfic ''[[Fanfic/TheNowakverse Under The Bridge]]'' is a two-way example. Widget Hackwrench believes that their father tried to drown her in favor of her sister Gadget, a cute blond mouse and not a one-armed, gray-haired albino like herself. She builds a submarine out of a discarded boiler and hires a crew for it including a war veteran mouse as the captain, the latter being the only one who knows about her plans -- nothing less than killing her sister in revenge for what she herself had lived through in her past. She even goes as far as sinking a rodent ferryboat. After several unsuccessful attacks, Gadget [[spoiler:decides to take her sister's death threat against her into her own hands, snapping mentally in the progress. She modifies a machine gun round into a guided torpedo to kill Widget by sinking her submarine with everyone aboard. In a sense, the other Rangers have to intervene against one of their team members in the end]]. |
| 116 | * ''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/255512/we-are-what-we-are We Are What We Are]]'' has Starshot. Though his reasons for getting back at the Dazzlings are understandable, (they took his wife from him and ruined his life) he goes way too far: He doesn't kill them right away in favor of letting them suffer, he's willing to hold innocent bystanders hostage, and he puts Adagio in a HopeSpot just to make sure she knows there's no way she can stop him. |
| 117 | * In ''Fanfic/TheWeaverOption'' a Biel-tan raid intended to reclaim a blade of Vaul from Taylor fails badly, leaving only two survivors. The craftworld is furious and sends an entire fleet to take revenge only for Trazyn the Infinite to steal it and insult the ones he spared. When word comes that Taylor has launched a raid on [[spoiler:Commorragh]], Biel-tan decides to ally with the [[spoiler:Drukhari]], a faction that takes great joy in torturing Eldar, and forms a coalition of four craftworlds to kill Taylor and stop her forces. Not only do they fail, but the Eldar suffer two ''billion'' casualties, potentially dooming all four craftworlds. [[spoiler:Roughly six months after the battle, a combined Navy/Astartes task force takes advantage of the heavy casualties that Biel-tan had taken to destroy the entire Craftworld, slaughter everyone that hadn't seen their doom coming, and emigrated to another one, and claimed their Infinity Circuit as a trophy for the Inquisition]]. |
| 118 | * In ''Fanfic/TheWitchOfTheEverfree'', after her parents are killed by a timberwolf, Applejack goes into the Everfree Forest determined to make it pay, ignoring both the dangers of the forest and the fact that she doesn't know where the timberwolves actually ''are''. |
| 119 | * ''Fanfic/YoullGetNoAnswersFromTheBlueSeaStar'': When Jo brings news that she's spotted Tomas out in the woods, all three sisters throw caution and good sense to the wind. Without bothering to inform the Knights of the situation, they charge over to [[spoiler:avenge their dad]] and end up very nearly dying. Then the group of students who'd been following them (again, without bothering to inform the Knights) charge over to avenge the sisters, and ''they'' end up very nearly dying. Afterwards everyone generally agrees the whole thing was a bad idea. |
| 120 | [[/folder]] |
| 121 | |
| 122 | [[folder:Film — Animated]] |
| 123 | * ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheReturnOfJafar'': Jafar is so obsessed with destroying Aladdin and his friends in revenge for his defeat in the first movie that in the FinalBattle, he [[KillItWithFire turns the Agrabah Palace grounds into a volcanic wasteland]] to [[LoopholeAbuse work around the rule about genies being unable to kill]] despite the fact that he's putting [[SoulJar his own lamp, which his existence depends upon]] at risk as well. This, naturally, backfires on him when [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal his own former minion Iago]] knocks Jafar's lamp into the lava, destroying Jafar. |
| 124 | * ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'': |
| 125 | ** [[TheHero Hiro]]'s primary flaw turns out to be this, [[spoiler:as shown when, upon finding out that Callaghan is Yokai, he tries to kill him by reprogramming Baymax to follow his order to destroy. This leads his teammates to stop Baymax, letting Callaghan escape in the struggle.]] |
| 126 | ** [[BigBad Yokai]]'s desire for [[spoiler:revenge against Alistair Krei for his daughter's apparent death]] pushes him beyond the realm of any reason or sense. [[spoiler:He ignores Hiro's plea for redemption and instead opts to swallow up an entire building area with his portal solely to get his revenge.]] |
| 127 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'': Fergus, who is so set on bringing down Mor'du, and later the bear he thinks killed his wife, that he won't listen to Merida trying to tell him the bear ''is'' his wife. In his defense, it's a bit much to believe out of nowhere. |
| 128 | * Soto from ''WesternAnimation/IceAge1'' is so obsessed with getting revenge on the tribe of primeval men who killed half his pack (probably ''in self-defense'' anyway), he makes an assault on their camp with the specific goal of eating the chief's infant son, which results in more tigers killed (offscreen) and his [[TheDragon Dragon]] betraying him in favor of his new FireForgedFriends. In the climax, when he hears the baby cooing, he immediately turns to it -- completely forgetting about the raging mammoth right behind him. It gets him knocked into a wall and killed by falling icicles. |
| 129 | * In ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueTheFlashpointParadox'', there are three stunning examples: |
| 130 | ** [[spoiler: Professor Zoom]], whose hatred of Flash is so much that he not only is willing to commit suicide if he can manage to blow up Flash, the Flash Museum, and thousands of innocent, Flash-admiring civilians in the process, but he also interferes with Flash's efforts to save the CrapsackWorld that is Flashpoint and then tries to ensure Flash will be stranded there as the world is destroyed, even if it means committing suicide in the process. |
| 131 | ** [[spoiler: ComicBook/WonderWoman]], who commits adultery with a married man and then ''kills his wife'' (she claims in self-defense, but it's ambiguous) before claiming her victim's crown as a trophy and sending the decapitated body back to her now-''ex''-lover. After this she leads an Amazon invasion of Europe, slaughtering every man and enslaving all of the women, to strengthen her position to defeat her former lover in bloody combat. She all but states outright an intention of leading a bloody {{Gendercide}} after she believes she has claimed victory towards the end of the movie. |
| 132 | ** [[spoiler: ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}]], who gets his wife killed by cheating on her with [[spoiler: Wonder Woman]], and then declares war on the Amazons over it, a war that starts with him sinking ''all of West Europe''. By the time of the final battle, he's rigged what he knows could very well be an unstoppable DoomsdayDevice up as a suicide strike, and his final action after being beaten is to trigger it, ensuring that the whole world follows him into death. |
| 133 | * The legendary WickedWitch ([[spoiler:Agatha Prenderghast]]) from ''WesternAnimation/ParaNorman''. She became so obsessed with making the townspeople pay for what they did to her that [[spoiler:she completely forgot about the people who loved her and she almost completely lost herself in her rage. It's until Norman helps her remember the good things about her life and makes her realize she has to find peace to see her mother again that Agatha finally lets go of her revenge.]] |
| 134 | * ''WesternAnimation/RecessSchoolsOut'': Dr. Benedict's scientists beg him to move the base for the tractor beam to another location where it would be more effective, but he holds such a grudge against Principal Prickly and Third Street School that he refuses to conduct his EvilPlan to get rid of recess from anywhere else. |
| 135 | * ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'': During one of his fights with Spider-Man, Kingpin tries to kill the latter where his family witness it and run away in horror, leading to them dying in a car crash. He still hasn’t learned from this, as he does the same with Miles and his alternative family leaves him ''again''. |
| 136 | * ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory1'': DoubleSubverted when Buzz catches up to Woody after falling out of Andy's window. He tells Woody that revenge is frowned upon back on his planet. Then, he rhetorically asks Woody if they ''are'' on his planet before tackling him out of the van. During the tussle, Andy and his mother return to the van and drive off without them. |
| 137 | [[/folder]] |
| 138 | |
| 139 | [[folder:Film — Live-Action]] |
| 140 | * ''Film/BatmanReturns'': Even though Selina Kyle is in love with Bruce Wayne and wants to spend her life with him, she can't let Max Shreck live. |
| 141 | * ''Film/BloodSurf'': John does his best Captain Ahab impression, as he's obsessed with killing the crocodile after it ate several of his former passengers. In the process of hunting it, he ends up crashing their get-away boat and becomes just another meal for the crocodile while trying to fix it. |
| 142 | * A villainous example from ''Film/CurseOfChucky''. [[spoiler:Chucky has gotten away with his crimes, and left a crippled girl to take the fall. He decides instead of calling it a day, he'll get mailed to his old "buddy" Andy. Unfortunately for him, Andy has gotten wise to his game. And has a shotgun pointed at his face the second he emerges from his box.]] |
| 143 | * ''Film/Daredevil2003'': Instead of taking Matt's advice to run or seek medical help for him [[spoiler:on the stab she inflicted when she thought that he was her father's killer]], Elektra chooses to face Bullseye, [[spoiler:the actual killer]], on her own. Unfortunately, Elektra fought him without a clear head, lashing out in anger and Bullseye easily takes advantage of her and wins the fight, giving her [[TakeThatKiss a kiss]] and [[spoiler:a stab to the gut]]. |
| 144 | * ''Film/DawnOfThePlanetOfTheApes'': Carver and Dreyfus both blame the apes for the deaths of their families. [[spoiler: Koba is prone to this as well risking his own life just to avenge his kind]]. |
| 145 | * The ''Franchise/DieHard'' series uses this trope a fair few times: |
| 146 | ** The first henchman that John [=McClane=] kills in ''Film/DieHard'' has a brother who is also involved in the scheme. Said brother spends the remainder of the movie doing anything he can to kill [=McClane=], even when it works to the detriment of the plan. |
| 147 | ** ''Film/DieHardWithAVengeance'': Simon Gruber happens to be the brother of the villain of the first movie; therefore, he takes a special interest in tormenting [=McClane=]. His partner-in-crime has to tell him ''repeatedly'' to [[KillHimAlready quit the games and kill him]]. [[spoiler:However, this is being deliberately [[InvokedTrope invoked]] by Simon. The mind games he was playing with [=McClane=] were actually a part of the plan, and were used to keep both [=McClane=] and the rest of the NYPD out of their hair.]] |
| 148 | ** Happens one last time toward the end of ''Film/AGoodDayToDieHard'' when the BigBad meets a messy ending via HelicopterBlender. [[spoiler:His daughter reacts by launching a SuicideAttack with said helicopter against both [=McClane=] and his son.]] |
| 149 | * In the climax of ''Film/TheFly1986'', [[spoiler: Stathis shoots out the cables connecting Veronica's telepod to the others, saving her from Romantic Fusion with Seth Brundle/Brundlefly. The monster's response is to smash the glass door of his pod open so he can finish Stathis (who is already maimed) off -- disregarding the fact that ''he'' is still about to be teleported. He ends up fused with broken pieces of the pod, necessitating a Mercy Kill]]. Justified in that [[spoiler: his mind is dominated by an insect's ruthless instincts rather than human reason at that point]]. |
| 150 | * ''Film/FreddyVsJason'': Lori's original plan was to bring Freddy into the human world so Jason could kill him. However, in her last nightmare, she discovered [[spoiler: [[YouKilledMyFather he murdered her mother]]]]. This, along with many of her friends dying and his [[AttemptedRape attempt to rape her after said revelation]], made her unwilling to leave until she saw Freddy die. |
| 151 | * In Michael Mann's ''Film/{{Heat}}'', this is what eventually brings master thief Neil [=McCauley=] down. He's literally on the way to the airport with his girlfriend, ready to catch a private jet to retirement in New Zealand, but [[spoiler: he gets a phone call letting him know where the guy who ratted him out to the cops (and tortured one of his friends to death) is staying. He just can't leave without paying the guy a visit...and it turns out the cops have got him staked out for just that reason.]] |
| 152 | * ''Film/HocusPocus'': The Sanderson sisters meet their (second) end due to a monumentally stupid case of this on Winifred's behalf. The spell that brought them back will only keep them alive for Halloween night, at dawn of the next day, they will die immediately. However, if they can steal the life force of at least one child before that happens, they will be able to stay alive indefinitely. With only minutes before dawn, the heroes attack them and rescue Dani, their first intended victim, and spill most of the potion. However, enough of it remains for a single serving, and they still have the dozens of other children Sarah enslaved with her CompellingVoice. There was nothing stopping them from draining one of the other kids, which would keep them alive through the dawn and give them time to brew more potion (and plot revenge on the heroes). However, Winifred insists on going after Dani even though there's no practical reason to do so, just because she wants to kill her first for [[EvilIsPetty calling her ugly]]. Sarah and Mary even [[LampshadeHanging Lampshade]] this, but Winifred is too stubborn to listen, and they're too dim-witted and obedient to press the issue once she's shot it down. |
| 153 | * ''Film/HomeAlone1'': Once Kevin finally flees the house via zip-line, the Wet Bandits could have simply burgled it and escaped the way they'd initially planned. Instead, they choose to keep chasing Kevin in order to get back at him for all the pain and humilitation he inflicted on them with all his booby traps. This leads to both of them getting caught and sent to jail. The same thing happens in ''[[Film/HomeAlone2LostInNewYork the sequel]]'', where their obsession with chasing Kevin for revenge takes priority over stealing the money and escaping (or simply going ''anywhere else'' to commit a crime), and they once again get put through a humiliating and painful wringer of booby traps. |
| 154 | * Taken to a particularly unusual (not to say unrealistic) degree in ''Film/TheHurtLocker'', where Sgt. James discovers a mutilated, explosive-laced body that could pass for the local Iraqi kid he had befriended, and becomes so fixated on avenging the boy that he draws a gun on the only man he associated him with, takes his car, goes to the house where the kid apparently lived, breaks in, finds the resident father-figure, who turns out to be a professor who has nothing to do with the insurgency, comes to his senses after a short conversation with the terrified man, and finally realizes he has no idea what he's doing. |
| 155 | * The protagonist of the ''Film/JoshuuSasori'' series is so hell-bent on revenge that she pursues her [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge list of targets]] leaving the worst for last because she knows exactly where it'll get her: [[spoiler: he's a detective, and she attacks and kills him in the police station where he works. Sure enough, the final shot of the film shows her re-entering the prison.]] |
| 156 | * In ''Film/JupiterAscending'', Balem is willing to [[spoiler:harvest Earth ahead of schedule]] just to spite and/or kill Jupiter, even though Mr. Night points out the serious financial blow doing so would entail. |
| 157 | * In ''Film/JurassicPark'', The Big One becomes enraged when Rexy [[spoiler: kills her subordinate, and proceeds to attack the ''T. rex'' instead of focusing on the humans, despite the fact that Rexy is larger and could easily crush her with her jaws. And she does just that.]] |
| 158 | * ''Film/LadiesTheyTalkAbout'': Nan goes to kill Slade at one of his sermons. There’s a huge crowd and a policeman even recognizes her before she goes into the building, but she still goes in to kill him. |
| 159 | * In ''Film/TheLastCircus'' it's a recurring theme, with revenge-driven people ending up making the situation much worse for themselves and for others: |
| 160 | ** The protagonist Javier, following his imprisoned father's [[AdviceBackfire ill-advice]] about revenge being a form of retribution, blows up the labor camp site with dynamite to free him. However, in the midst of the chaos, Javier's dad is killed by an evil colonel. |
| 161 | ** Javier snaps after being beaten by [[CrazyJealousGuy Sergio]] and decides to brutally beat him to near death to "free" Natalia from him, [[spoiler: but he just ends up getting chased after cops and forced to hide and survive in the wild]]. [[SarcasmMode Bonus points]] for making the circus close since Sergio was the main star. Natalia and the troupe do find a new job at a nightclub, but still. |
| 162 | ** The evil colonel who killed Javier's father, Salcedo, captures him and torments him for injuring him in the eye back when he blew up the campsite, [[spoiler:but this ends up further worsening Javier's mental state and causes him to turn into a MonsterClown who kills Salcedo and two friends of his before escaping]]. |
| 163 | ** In the ending, [[spoiler: Javier decides to fully embrace the trope and takes Natalia on a CaptiveDate, which only escalates with a likewise vengeful Sergio (who survived the beating but lost his job due to being [[ScaryStitches horribly scarred]]) calling the State Police on him which leads to a ClimbingClimax where Natalia ends up dying and both Javier and Sergio get arrested.]] |
| 164 | * ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'': |
| 165 | ** In ''Film/IronMan2'', Ivan Vanko wants revenge on Tony Stark for the SinsOfOurFathers; his father Anton Vanko [[spoiler: invented the original Arc Reactor alongside Tony's father, Howard Stark, but Howard accused of spying and had him deported.]] Needless to say, Ivan is pissed off, but his desire to get ''personal'' revenge on Tony Stark for what his father did blinds him. He invents his own personal reactor for a suit of his own and attacks Tony in public, trying to discredit him and his claims that no one else can match his own technology. Shortly afterward, when Tony defeats him, he comments on Vanko's pursuit of personal revenge over [[CutLexLuthorACheck simply selling the reactor to anyone who wants it and making a huge profit.]] Later, when [[spoiler: Justin Hammer busts Vanko out of prison]], he explains that Vanko is [[DoWrongRight doing it wrong]]. Instead of attacking the man personally, one should attack his ''legacy'', and arranges for Vanko to [[spoiler: create an army of "Hammer Drones" that are intended to make Stark's Iron Man technology obsolete.]] Vanko goes along with it at first, apparently, but ultimately [[spoiler: sabotages the drones and War Machine, takes control of the whole lot, and tries to kill Tony ''again'']]. Then again, [[spoiler: Justin Hammer]] is a BigBadWannabe SmugSnake who just wouldn't [[MotorMouth SHUT UP]] about how things should be done, didn't bring Vanko his [[MemeticMutation burd]] from Russia and, seeing [[spoiler: he's a CorruptCorporateExecutive]], he would have most likely [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness killed Vanko once his drones outdid Tony's suit]]. Plus, Vanko was never intending on earning profit or making the drones for Hammer. He just wanted to kill Tony, preferably in the most epic way ever. |
| 166 | ** In ''Film/IronMan3'', Aldrich Killian's plans would have gone much more smoothly if he hadn't involved Tony due to revenge for a petty joke thirteen years ago. In more detail: [[spoiler:Killian showed up at Stark Industries showing Pepper ideas his new Extremis SuperSerum in the most flirtatious way possible. Happy then follows his henchman Eric Savin, witnesses a drug deal between Savin and another Extremis user Jack Taggart, and ends up in a coma when Taggart blows up. This leads Tony to decide to take an active interest in the Mandarin, storm his hideout, and kill all of his men]]. Now, while a good amount of that Killian couldn't have predicted going exactly that way, the fact is that he [[spoiler:flirted with Pepper]] specifically to piss off Tony. |
| 167 | ** ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'' deconstructs this trope when [[spoiler:Drax the Destroyer sells out the team to get Ronan the Accuser's attention so he can kill Ronan to avenge the deaths of his family. Ronan beats him up fairly easily and obtains the Orb he's competing with Quill to obtain (and discovers it carries an Infinity Stone), Quill and Gamora nearly die, and the rest of the team are furious at his foolishness, not to mention tons of potential civilian casualties down the line.]] |
| 168 | ** ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'': Wanda Maximoff wants revenge on Tony Stark, who created the bombs that killed her parents, to the point that anyone with him is, in her eyes, either [[GuiltByAssociation just as bad as he was]] or simply CollateralDamage, though eventually comes to realize the error of her ways and [[HeelFaceTurn becomes an Avenger herself]]. [[spoiler:Then in the climax, she abandons her post guarding the anti-gravity drill to destroy Ultron Prime when he kills Pietro, even though he can barely move at this point. This allows one of the Ultron Sentries to recover and activate the drill's reverse switch, causing Novi Grad to begin plummeting to Earth. Wanda only survives due to Vision coming back for her.]] |
| 169 | ** In ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'', Tony Stark spends the movie trying to hold his [[ComicBook/TheAvengers makeshift family]] together even though he's adamant that they all need to be kept in check. [[spoiler:But when Baron Zemo shows him the footage of the Winter Soldier assassinating his parents, he snaps like a twig and all his efforts for the rest of the movie go straight out the window. Not five minutes earlier he [[TheNicknamer proved]] that he knew Bucky was BrainwashedAndCrazy at the time, and he also knows what he's doing to the Avengers by attacking them ("[[TearJerker So was I]]."), but he can't get a handle on himself and it's the [[BreakingTheFellowship final fatal blow to the team]].]] |
| 170 | ** ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}'': Erik Killmonger is motivated by getting his revenge on the Wakandan royal family and white people whom he blames for the suffering of black people, himself included, especially since T'Challa's father killed his brother, Erik's father Prince N'Jobu. However, many characters point out that his plan [[spoiler:to arm African minorities with vibranium weapons]] would only cause a race war that would lead to unnecessary deaths. Furthermore, he could've used his MIT education and military skills to pursue a legitimate career like a businessman, which would've made him rich enough to help impoverished Africans. [[spoiler:Killmonger also kills his lover and burns the heart-shaped herbs after usurping the throne, implying that he doesn't want to have an heir or dynasty]]. Killmonger eventually admits that he couldn't care any less about what happens to him so long as he can see T'Challa and the world share in his suffering. |
| 171 | ** ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'': During the climactic battle, [[spoiler:Thor shows up with Stormbreaker, his new [[WeaponOfXSlaying Thanos-killing axe]], and throws it into Thanos' chest, gravely wounding him. However, having been ForcedToWatch Thanos kill Loki earlier, Thor decides to literally twist the knife rather than just withdraw Stormbreaker and behead Thanos, wanting him to suffer as much as possible. Because of this, Thanos is still able to pull off his BadassFingersnap, killing half of the universe and escaping victorious and alive]]. |
| 172 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Metegol}}'': El Grosso is more concerned about his revenge over a foosball game he lost back when he was a kid than his career as a soccer player. |
| 173 | * ''Murphy's War'' (1971). The title character is the SoleSurvivor after a U-boat [[SinkTheLifeboats machine-gunned the rest of his crew]]. He conducts a one-man war against the U-Boat, even after receiving word that the war has ended. He eventually succeeds but becomes trapped in his sinking vessel and dies as well. |
| 174 | * In the film (and [[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S02E02TheSidehackers MST3K episode]]) ''Film/TheSidehackers'', protagonist Rommel, finds out that the BigBad, J.C., is hiding out in a rock quarry and planning an ambush for him. Rather than sending word to the police where J.C. is[[note]]J.C. is wanted for the rape and murder of Rommel's fiancee. Though in the [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3K]] version, the former act is cut and never referenced and we only see Rommel's reaction to her death.[[/note]], he goes ahead with his original plan to confront and kill J.C. [[RocksFallEverybodyDies It doesn't end well.]] |
| 175 | * ''Film/TheNorthman'': Done as part of the film's {{Deconstruction}} of the CycleOfRevenge and ProudWarriorRaceGuy. At one point Amleth is given a perfect chance to abandon his revenge quest and leave Iceland to start a new life elsewhere with Olga, a woman who loves him and is pregnant with his child... but he instead throws this away to go back and finish off Fjolnir, fearing that since ''he'' swore bloody vengeance on Amleth, he would not rest until his family were dead. [[spoiler:Amleth kills Fjolnir in a showdown, and then dies.]] |
| 176 | * A central theme of ''Film/ThePrestige'', starting with Angier craving justice when, thanks to Borden's incompetency, Angier's wife drowns playing an assistant in a water tank trick. Escalating in one-upmanship, the two frequently seek to better and ruin each other's magic career, which even leads to Angier pushing his assistant Olivia to infiltrate and woo Borden to have a means of striking at him: |
| 177 | -->'''Olivia''': If I don't get [his diary] back by tomorrow morning he'll know I took it!\ |
| 178 | '''Angier''': Leave him.\ |
| 179 | '''Olivia''': I can't, he knows where I live.\ |
| 180 | '''Angier''': (laughs) This is his diary, Olivia. ''All of his secrets are right here in my hands!''\ |
| 181 | '''Olivia''': It won't bring your wife back.\ |
| 182 | '''Angier''': [[DroppingTheBombshell I don't care about my wife, I care about his secret.]]\ |
| 183 | [[JerkassRealization (pregnant pause)]] |
| 184 | * The titular ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' was ultimately unnecessary; while [[TheOrder the Jedi Order]] were no fans of [[BigBad Darth Sidious]] even before ThePurge, they weren't much of a threat to him either, particularly in light of his being [[MoleInCharge supreme ruler]] of TheRepublic and the WorldsBestWarrior to boot with [[TheChosenOne the only man in the galaxy capable of besting him]] becoming a FallenHero. By settling a millennia-old score to satisfy his own sadism he [[HoistByHisOwnPetard triggered an epic chain of events that would eventually culminate in his being overthrown]]. In the [[Literature/RevengeOfTheSith novelization]] Dooku offers a much more sensible alternative; to instead ''[[TheCorrupter convert]]'' the Jedi using Anakin's influence and rally as many as possible to their side, but Palpatine was too DrunkOnTheDarkSide to care about PragmaticVillainy. |
| 185 | * Jeff Dalson from ''Film/SawIII''. He could have forgiven those responsible for his son's death, saved their lives, and found peace for himself. He could have also chosen to live the rest of his life with his other family members, learning to live with his son's death. Yeah, he doesn't. The result? [[spoiler:Every one of the game's victims die, including his wife. Plus, his daughter remains missing]]. |
| 186 | * In ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', both Mal and Jayne caution Zoe to keep her head in the game and not in revenge for [[spoiler:Wash's]] death. Ultimately she ignores them and leaves cover to shoot the Reavers at point-blank range and fight them hand to hand. This results in both the others being able to provide less adequate cover fire (out of fear they'll hit her) and her being injured. Jayne is then forced to leave cover to drag her to safety, further limiting how much cover fire is provided. |
| 187 | * ''Franchise/StarTrek'': |
| 188 | ** In ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'' this is [[TheChessmaster Khan]] towards [[TheCaptain Kirk]], all the way down the line. Even though Khan's dialogue shows he's read ''Literature/MobyDick'', he follows Ahab's footsteps to the bitter end. |
| 189 | ** [[TheCaptain Captain Picard]] in ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact''. Another character finally gives him a WhatTheHellHero speech that snaps him out of it. |
| 190 | ** In ''Film/StarTrek2009'', [[BigBad Captain Nero]] is like this. Overlapping with [[spoiler:CutLexLuthorACheck, he could have just taken his ship to Romulus after escaping from the Klingons (DeletedScene), even after capturing [[TheSpock Spock]]. Then he could have given the future tech to his people, and they could have taken on the Federation and the Klingon Empire, thus assuring the safety he wanted.]] |
| 191 | *** In a more subtle example, Spock toward the end, when Kirk offers to rescue Nero ([[spoiler: who had previously destroyed Vulcan]]) from the singularity he created: |
| 192 | ---->'''Spock''': Captain, what are you doing?\ |
| 193 | '''Kirk''': Showing them compassion may be the only way to earn peace with the Romulans. It's logic, Spock. I thought you'd like that.\ |
| 194 | '''Spock''': No, not really. Not this time. |
| 195 | ** Shows up again in ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'', where Kirk wants Harrison dead for [[spoiler: killing Pike]], and [[spoiler:Admiral Marcus [[ExploitedTrope exploits this]] by sending Kirk on an assassination mission that is really about starting a war. Unfortunately for Marcus, Kirk's good sense comes back before he can carry out the plan as ordered]]. |
| 196 | * In ''Film/SympathyForMrVengeance'', this is what leads to both the protagonists' downfall. |
| 197 | ** Ryu himself went on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge on the organ dealers after [[spoiler:his sister's suicide]], in retaliation for stealing his money and kidney. However, when he gets back to Cha Yeong-mi's apartment, [[spoiler:he found his girlfriend's dead body in the stretcher while in a lift. Consumed with grief and unwilling to get over her death, he swears vengeance on his girlfriend's killer.]] |
| 198 | ** Park Dong-jin wants to fulfill his justice on the kidnappers of his daughter, right after [[spoiler:Yu-sun's demise]]. He starts out by going to [[spoiler:Yeong-mi's apartment to interrogate her. However, the girl tells him that the anarch-terrorist underground she's part of, who know who he is, will find and kill him if he kills her. Said threats sound completely hollow, so Dong-jin kills her anyway.]] |
| 199 | * In ''Film/{{Taken 2}}'', the BigBad Murad is the father of one of the sex slavers Bryan killed in the first film. Considering how much other damage Bryan had done to his sex slavery ring, it was already BullyingADragon to try AvengingTheVillain. What really puts it into TooDumbToLive, however, was trying to get at Bryan by abducting the man's loved ones -- the very thing that first sent Bryan against his son and the other slavers to begin with! If Murad had just quietly restarted the ring and not done anything to regain Bryan's ire, he could have avoided his fate. |
| 200 | * In ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesIITheSecretOfTheOoze'', after downing the mutagen and transforming into Super Shredder, Shredder becomes so fixated on killing the Turtles that he doesn't realize that the bridge they're under is falling apart. But then when told so, he's beyond caring. |
| 201 | -->'''Leo''': Shredder, you gotta listen to reason! You're gonna destroy us all!\ |
| 202 | '''Super Shredder''': Then so be it! |
| 203 | * PlayedForLaughs in the classic Film/TheThreeStooges short ''Film/PunchDrunks'', with Curly as a waiter serving Moe: |
| 204 | -->'''Curly''': What'll it be, sir?\ |
| 205 | '''Moe''': Two slices of burnt toast and a rotten egg.\ |
| 206 | '''Curly''': Burnt toast and a rotten egg? Why you wanna eat that for?\ |
| 207 | '''Moe''': 'Cuz I got a tapeworm and it's all he deserves! |
| 208 | * ''Film/{{Troy}}'': [[spoiler: Achilles kills Hector as revenge for killing his cousin Patrocles, whom he believed was Achilles when he killed him. Consumed by his anger, Achilles, after killing Hector, rather than allowing his body to be properly honored, desecrates his body by dragging it behind his chariot in full view of his family before dragging it all the way back to the Greeks’ camp. When Priam confronts him to retrieve Hector’s body, Priam manages to get Achilles to listen to reason and give Hector his final honors by causing Achilles to realize how much he’s fallen by acting so dishonorably towards Hector.]] |
| 209 | * In ''Film/UnderworldUSA'', Tolly devotes almost 20 years to tracking down his father's killers, including spending five years in prison just so he can get close to Vic Farrar. |
| 210 | * ''Film/{{Whiplash}}'': [[SadistTeacher Fletcher]] invites Andrew to play drums with his professional band in front of a real audience, which includes talent scouts, jazz aficionados, and other paying customers. However, Fletcher does this to seek revenge on Andrew for getting him fired from the prestigious music school where he was previously employed, and gives Andrew the wrong sheet music, ensuring that Andrew would not be able to play with everyone else. If Andrew hadn't successfully improvised, this would have sabotaged the entire performance, embarrassing not only Fletcher but everyone in the professional band as well. |
| 211 | * In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', only Charles Xavier's timely intervention prevented Erik Lehnsherr from drowning while the latter tried to stop Sebastian Shaw's submarine. |
| 212 | [[/folder]] |
| 213 | |
| 214 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 215 | * "1 Shot 2 Shot" by Music/{{Eminem}} fully acknowledges the fact that bullets are flying everywhere as people engage in a shootout, even leaving their wives and girlfriends in harm's way to go get a gun so they can return fire. Something of a subculture-specific example of HonorBeforeReason, as well, as the culture expects one to fight back when shot at. |
| 216 | * "Before He Cheats" by Music/CarrieUnderwood; a woman perceives her boyfriend to be cheating on her. What does she do? Wreck up his car and key-scratch her name into it, of course! Apparently, she doesn't know that you can go to jail for such blatant destruction of property, not to mention the fact that key-scratching ''her name'' into her boyfriend's car pretty much counts as a signed confession. |
| 217 | * Discussed in [[Creator/ChrisRock Chris Rock]]'s "No Sex (in the Champagne Room)": |
| 218 | -->"Young black men -- if you go to a movie theater and someone steps on your foot, let it slide. Why spend the next twenty years in jail cause someone smudged your Puma?" |
| 219 | [[/folder]] |
| 220 | |
| 221 | [[folder:Podcasts]] |
| 222 | * ''Podcast/DecoderRingTheatre'' |
| 223 | ** ''Podcast/BlackJackJustice'': |
| 224 | *** "The Late Mr. Justice": An old foe of Jack's, gangster Rick Morales, is noted to have failed to be let out on parole twice because, in his hearings, he said the first thing he would do upon release was kill Jack Justice. Trixie has to confirm he did this twice, noting that doing it even ''once'' seemed like a bad idea. Indeed, when Morales does get out on parole, he kidnaps Jack's girlfriend and threatens to kill her unless Jack gives himself up to him. Unfortunately for Morales, he makes the mistake of giving Jack enough time to call in every favor he could which allows him to turn the tables. When cornered, Morales refuses to surrender, opting instead to go down fighting. |
| 225 | *** "Dead Men Run": The antagonist of the novel, Owen Grant, was a sex trafficker who managed to skirt the law well enough that FramingTheGuiltyParty was the best Jack and a cop friend of his could do to stop him. Because the only crime he was convicted of was relatively minor, he was eventually let out on parole. He immediately set out on a mission of revenge by killing the cop and framing Jack for the crime, aiming to get him killed by police who wouldn't care about a cop killer's innocence. What ultimately trips Grant up is that he also makes a point of going after the client Jack had been working for at the time, a man whose daughter was one of Grant's victims. Jack even points out that he expected Grant would want to get out of town in a hurry, especially since evading Jack's attempts to track him down caused Grant to violate his parole, but knew he wouldn't be able to resist going after the client. This lets Jack, Trixie, and Sabien lay a trap for Grant in which he is tricked into confessing his full crimes and winds up [[spoiler:shot by the client by the end of it]]. |
| 226 | ** ''Podcast/RedPandaAdventures'': Professor Zombie is a recurring member of the Red Panda's RoguesGallery. She is a mad scientist who, as her name implies, developed a formula called Necronium 234 that lets her turn corpses into obedient zombie servants. Despite this and a tendency towards being a LargeHam, she's generally inclined towards PragmaticVillainy. She kills to increase her zombie army, commits crimes primarily for monetary gain, and once aided the heroes in stopping an ''actual'' ZombieApocalypse. This changes when she becomes the BigBad of Season 9 and becomes much more willing to start an apocalypse of her own, turning her Necronium into a street drug called Frost that gradually turns the living into the undead. The Red Panda discovers this sudden shift in behavior comes from her being held captive by a branch of the Canadian military, who [[spoiler:forced her to refine her Necronium formula, forced her to breathe it in, and buried her alive when they were done with her]]. The whole affair left her with jumbled memories of what actually happened, causing her rage to default onto the Red Panda and driving her to destroy the city he protects and essentially committing SuicideByCop in their final confrontation. |
| 227 | [[/folder]] |
| 228 | |
| 229 | [[folder:Professional Wrestling]] |
| 230 | * Many attribute this as to why the Invasion angle in Wrestling/{{WWE}} failed. Wrestling/{{Vince McMahon}} wanted to get revenge against Wrestling/{{WCW}} by burying whatever wrestlers he could afford. He could've made millions of dollars with that angle had he put his ego aside, but instead the angle was a glorified {{Squash Match}}. |
| 231 | * Wrestling/DaltonCastle teamed with the World Six Man TagTeam Champions during the ''[[Wrestling/RingOfHonor War Of The Worlds]]'' against Wrestling/LosIngobernablesDeJapon. The match was going pretty well for the champions but not for Castle, leading to The Boys [[PersonalMook who wait on him]] to pull Castle out of harm's way when EVIL tried to hit him with [[SuperSpit poison fog]], resulting in Jay Briscoe getting misted and the champion team being defeated. Jay was more angry with The Boys for their incompetence than EVIL for his maliciousness, to the point he had to be restrained by Mark and [[Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys Bully Ray]], and ended up giving Dalton and The Boys their requested title shot at ''Best In The World'' just to get his hands on them. The champions would lose their belts when Ray and Jay's brother Mark again became disturbed at just how intent Jay was on hurting The Boys. |
| 232 | * Very common in wrestling matches, particularly during hot feuds. Sometimes a heel will pass up the opportunity to score a pinfall over a babyface because of a desire for revenge. It's also common for faces to attack heels with little regard for the rules and/or the face's personal safety if the heel has made [[ItsPersonal it personal.]] One example of this is Wrestling/{{Lita}} vs Wrestling/TrishStratus {{Kayfabe}} grudge match in Survivor Series 2004, where Lita took a steel chair despite the referee already warning her, and she still decided to hit Trish with a steel chair, aware that she would be disqualified. Lita then proceed to keep beating Trish even though the bell already rang, forcing the referees to come and separate them both. |
| 233 | * This becomes Wrestling/RomanReigns' downfall at ''Wrestling/WrestleMania 40'' — near the climax of his main event rematch against Wrestling/CodyRhodes for the Undisputed WWE Universal Title contested under Bloodline Rules[[note]]an "Anything Goes" match[[/note]], once Roman's and his cousin [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock's]] past enemies level the playing field after too many Bloodline interferences, Reigns, still standing, would hold a steel chair in hand ready to finish Cody off once and for all. However, he turns his focus to an already injured Wrestling/SethRollins, who is wearing his old black protective vest from their days in Wrestling/TheShield, and is immediately reminded of [[BondBreaker the infamous chair shot]] nearly a decade ago that split the group apart, something Roman [[ThisIsUnforgivable never forgave Seth for]] and never truly got over. Seeing an opportunity for revenge, Reigns chooses to blast Seth with a chair shot to ''his'' back in a similar manner to that very night. This decision would come to bite him hard as Rhodes gains a HeroicSecondWind and hits Roman with three consecutive ''Cross Rhodes'' to finally end the Tribal Chief's historic 1316-day title reign and [[EarnYourHappyEnding "finish the story."]] |
| 234 | [[/folder]] |
| 235 | |
| 236 | [[folder:Roleplay]] |
| 237 | * In ''Roleplay/DawnOfANewAgeOldportBlues'', Melissa is able to manipulate the Dark Dragon into attacking public civilians, despite the danger this would put him in because cops are interspersed in the crowd, and the Dragon has a deep hatred for them (after an implied incident of PoliceBrutality in his past) that supersedes his common sense. |
| 238 | [[/folder]] |
| 239 | |
| 240 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 241 | * In the lore of ''TabletopGame/CardfightVanguard'', Luard is an elven mage who delves into forbidden arts in the name of seeking vengeance on the dragon who killed his adoptive brother Dagda. In the process, he ends up transforming into a dragon himself, a dragon driven so violently in pursuit of revenge that he snaps upon discovering his target is no longer even on the same planet as him and sets about killing his adversary's clan instead. His own kin end up begging a third party to stop him out of fear that his lust for vengeance will drive him totally off the deep end, as it does when he tears apart Chronotiger Gear Glare who was trying to stop him followed by him ripping through a group of Cray's greatest heroes. [[spoiler: It only gets worse from there, as the entire thing was orchestrated to ensure Luard would return to his destiny of being TheAntichrist for the deity of destruction Gyze]]. |
| 242 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': So. Let's say that you are the ghost of a First Age god-king, who has been empowered by the dead gods that once ruled Creation to go out and drag the whole place screaming into the maw of Oblivion. They have power over you that is paramount, and [[YouHaveFailedMe do not show favor to those who screw up]]. So what have you spent the last several years doing? You've been tracking down the reincarnations of the people who tormented you in the First Age and making their lives hell over and over again. You have let plans that could put a serious cold sore on Creation's lips, including a ''zombie plague'', char on the back burner because you are so busy fucking over the people who tormented you millennia ago. You are Eye and Seven Despairs, and you are, in the eyes of your colleagues, utter dogshit. |
| 243 | * At least one ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'' module addresses this: "After all, what's more important -- that you survive, or that your enemy gets his?" |
| 244 | * The [[MadScientist Baron Blade]] from ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'' is an ExaggeratedTrope version of this. Using a TractorBeam on the moon for a ColonyDrop is somewhat extreme when the Baron Blade holds a personal vendetta against a single SuperHero. |
| 245 | * In ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'', most [[MegaCorp Mega Corps]] avert this, as they accept shadowruns against them as the price of doing business unless the runners cause major property damage, leave behind a huge pile of dead employees, or get caught by the news. However, Mitsuhama Computer Technologies plays this extremely straight, taking every shadowrun against them personally no matter what, as their motto is "Zero penetration, zero survival". |
| 246 | * In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' the Dwarfs. Every time. They are determined to avenge every slight, and never, ever forgive. And just to make sure they don't forget either, their king has a giant book called the Book of Grudges in which he writes them all down in blood. They're currently going slowly extinct, and a fair amount of the blame goes to their refusal to cooperate with the other races because at some point in centuries past they were wronged by them. That, and their literal inability to stop taking revenge. When they go to war to take revenge and lose more dwarfs doing it, that goes in the book as well, fueling an unending cycle of revenge. Vengeance is a ''sacrament'' to them; one wonders what they'd do once the Book of Grudges no longer had any unfulfilled grudges within. |
| 247 | ** To add some perspective on just how obsessive dwarfs are on the subject: A ''Magazine/WhiteDwarf'' article (later added in the 8th edition armybook) described how Dwarf craftsmen were once hired to build a castle for the elector count of Ostermark, but the agreed-upon payment was ''two and a half pennies short''. They initially went a relatively reasonable route and sent a delegation to collect the missing payment, but when the current lord refused to pay such a minor amount for a contract dating back before he was even born, the dwarfs raised a throng and razed the castle to the ground at massive cost to their own in both lives and gold. |
| 248 | ** Similarly, the Dwarfs took massive losses fighting the Greenskins at the Battle of Grimspike Pass, after an Ork Shaman [[YourHeadAsplode exploded]] causing a massive landslide. The Dwarfs wanted revenge, but since the offending Greenskin was dead, and the Dwarfs already had vowed to exterminate all Greenskins for other reasons, they declared a grudge against ''Grimspike Pass'', broke down the surrounding mountains and used the rocks to fill up the pass. |
| 249 | ** The Tomb Kings are nearly as bad when it comes to graverobbers. It doesn't matter how trivial the value actually held by an item stolen from their crypt, it's the insult inherent to the act that will make them chase the perpetrator to the ends of the earth with their undead armies. In fact, they've been locked in a back-and-forth with the Dwarfs for some time over a Dwarfen pickaxe with a single Khemrian coin embedded in it. The Tomb Kings want the coin back, the Dwarfs declare a grudge every time the pickaxe is stolen, and a CycleOfRevenge is born. At one point a third party suggests that they pry the coin off the axe and they each take the part they care about, and the suggestion is immediately rejected out of hand by both sides. |
| 250 | [[/folder]] |
| 251 | |
| 252 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 253 | * Most culprits in ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' wind up in court because they wanted their revenge on somebody so badly they were willing to resort to murder. Phoenix ''always'' figures them out and gets them imprisoned. |
| 254 | ** ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'': |
| 255 | *** In ''Turnabout Sisters'', the killer gets caught because he was so mad at Phoenix for accusing him of murder that he just had to appear in court and say Phoenix did it, no matter how far a stretch it was. |
| 256 | *** The victim of ''Turnabout Samurai'' wanted to kill his producer in revenge for her blackmailing him and frame his co-star because he was jealous that said co-star got to play the hero and he had to be the villain. He ends up dying in the attempt, leaving behind a great big mess for Phoenix to clean up. |
| 257 | *** The whole of ''Turnabout Goodbyes'' is a big messy case of this involving ''several'' people, all connected to [[ThatOneCase the DL-6 incident]]. The initial culprit wanted revenge on [[spoiler: his lawyer for forcing him to plead insanity when he was the defendant at DL-6]], and is fine with framing the one other person involved, who was a young child at the time. The culprit of DL-6, [[spoiler: Manfred von Karma]], takes this to an insane extreme; [[spoiler: Miles Edgeworth's father Gregory got him a penalty once. He didn't even lose the case, but he was so pissed about having a mark on his record that not only did he murder Gregory, he adopted Miles to turn him into the same kind of AmoralAttorney as Manfred himself, followed by ''planning out'' Yanni Yogi framing Miles, and then getting him to confess to DL-6 himself. All of this leads to Phoenix eventually solving the case and nailing him for the murder.]] |
| 258 | ** ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyJusticeForAll'': |
| 259 | *** Subverted with the culprit of case 2, who ''claims'' her motive is revenge on the victim, but that's just to prop up a false narrative that the culprit was a vengeful spirit that Maya channeled. The culprit ''was'' wronged by the victim, but was actually fine with letting the incident go; the victim was killed [[spoiler: because he would otherwise uncover that she had taken on her sister's identity]]. |
| 260 | *** Played straight in Case 3, as [[spoiler: Acro wanted revenge on Regina for a DeadlyPrank that put his brother in a coma and crippled Acro himself]]. The incident was an accident, but [[spoiler: Acro just couldn't forgive Regina for brushing the incident off because she was so naive she didn't realize what really happened]]. The revenge ends up killing someone the culprit genuinely admired, much to their horror. |
| 261 | ** ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth'': The sequel's plot is a truly spectacular revenge scheme to ruin multiple very high-ranking people with the culprit barely having to do anything, and one that goes off perfectly, even though Edgeworth catches the mastermind. [[spoiler: Simon Keyes wanted revenge on Horace Knightly for betraying him as a child (Horace doesn't remember it happened and considers Simon a friend), the President of Zheng Fa (actually a body double) for nearly killing Simon for witnessing a KillAndReplace plot, Patricia Rolond for being the body double's accomplice and interrogating him ruthlessly, and Blaise Debeste for covering it all up. By the end of the game, all of these people have been convicted of murder- except for the body double, who Simon killed himself.]] In the end, the mastermind even admits that VengeanceFeelsEmpty. [[spoiler: it's just that he sees this as a positive, compared to the ''utter hell'' his victims put him through.]] |
| 262 | ** ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'': The first culprit, [[spoiler: Kristoph Gavin]], seems to be clearly angling to take the 'most over-the-top and least-justified revenge' crown from Manfred von Karma. [[spoiler: His response to Zak Gramarye choosing Phoenix Wright as a defense attorney over him? Kill Zak, forge evidence to get Phoenix disbarred and mocked as the "forging attorney", then kill the man behind the forging.]] |
| 263 | ** ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies'': |
| 264 | *** The culprit of the DLC case has a bad case of this towards [[spoiler: [[AnimalArchNemesis an orca]] of all things. He thought that the orca had killed his girlfriend (the orca's trainer), but not only is said orca an animal incapable of malice, a) the orca didn't kill her trainer (the trainer died of a heart condition), b) while trying to kill the orca his boss (someone he genuinely respected) died while trying to stop him, and c) the orca he tried to kill ''wasn't even the same orca'', being a replacement for the original. Marlon Rimes is horrified when he finds out all the above facts, and actually tries to get himself the death penalty to atone (though Phoenix eventually proves the death was an accident).]] |
| 265 | *** This is [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation probably]] what did in the BigBad. [[spoiler: The phantom wanted to get back at Athena for attacking and scarring him (after he'd just killed her mother, mind), so he presented evidence to implicate her in a murder. This ultimately leads to a chain of events ending in the phantom himself being convicted for both the most recent murder and the [[ThatOneCase UR-1 incident]], while [[NiceJobFixingItVillain Athena is cleared of all suspicion and gets some much-needed closure]].]] |
| 266 | ** ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice'': |
| 267 | *** [[spoiler: Roger Retinz]] is willing to kill his own successor to frame Trucy Wright, because [[[spoiler: she is the granddaughter of Troupe Gramarye's leader, and Roger holds a grudge against the man (dead by this point) for firing him from the Troupe. Retinz was fired because he went against orders to perform tricks while injured- something that could have backfired horribly.]] |
| 268 | *** The DLC case happens because [[spoiler: Pierce Nichody]] wants revenge on Sorin Sprocket by getting his fiancee framed for murder. And while the incident that caused this was partially Sorin's fault, Sorin himself has suffered greatly (including getting anterograde amnesia) from it, something the villain knows.[[spoiler: Pierce was the surgeon treating Sorin and his sister Selena (who was also Pierce's girlfriend) after a car accident (for which Sorin was at fault), and he treated Sorin first at Selena's request, which resulted in Selena dying. He's never really gotten over that day, and cooked up an elaborate plot (along with Dumas Gloomsbury, who was blamed for the accident) to make Sorin feel the same pain by killing/framing ''his'' girlfriend.]] |
| 269 | * In ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'', one character is driven to this as a result of ThePowerOfFriendship. [[spoiler:Aoi Asahina found her friend's fake suicide note, which stated (falsely) that she killed herself by the mistrust of her peers. Aoi ends up sabotaging the investigation with the intent of getting those responsible killed, as per the rules of the DeadlyGame. Aoi doesn't seem to care that this will also kill Makoto and Kyoko, who had no part in the incident, as well as herself; Aoi only cares about getting revenge, consequences be damned.]] |
| 270 | * In ''VisualNovel/{{Sunrider}}'', SpacePirate Cosette Cosmos is fed up with foreign powers exploiting her home planet Ongess for its fuel reserves. Seeing the Solar Alliance as no different from past overlords, she starts bombing their refueling stations and teams up with the PACT to destroy the massing Alliance fleet while it’s still docked for refueling. But when Alliance Admiral Grey shows up mid-battle with a fresh fleet and threatens to nuke Ongess back to the Stone Age unless the combined PACT-pirate forces withdraw, Cosette is perfectly willing to call his bluff and let Grey devastate Ongess, killing billions of people for a chance to screw the Alliance over. PACT admiral Veniczar Fontana, by contrast, refuses to endanger the lives of Ongess’s population and orders an immediate withdrawal; when Cosette protests, he questions whether she actually cares about her people at all. |
| 271 | [[/folder]] |
| 272 | |
| 273 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 274 | * ''WebAnimation/TheMostPopularGirlsInSchool'' practically lives and breathes this trope. Of course, it does not go unlampshaded. |
| 275 | -->'''Deandra''': Do you guys ever talk about anything other than, like... revenge? |
| 276 | * In ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'', [[spoiler:the Blues and Reds are driven by the desire to kill all members of Project Freelancer, after a fight between Carolina and Tex resulted in the death of Temple's best friend Biff. Not only are they horrifyingly successful in their tasks (killing numerous agents in AndIMustScream ways), they decide that the entire UNSC is ultimately responsible and decide to destroy the organization at its source -- Earth]]. |
| 277 | * ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': |
| 278 | ** From Volume 4 onwards, [[Characters/RWBYCinderFall Cinder Fall's]] entire motivation is getting back at Ruby for crippling her at the end of Volume 3, and it begins to [[SanitySlippage eat away at her mind]], leading her to adapt her plans for personal gain rather than necessity. Watts even lampshades it when Cinder agrees to a deal with Raven, calling her out on her growing obsession and fearing it may jeopardize Salem's plans. He's proven right when Cinder's hatred and obsession lead her to underestimate Raven; this leads to the villains failing to obtain the Relic or destroy Haven Academy, and Cinder herself being nearly killed by Raven and exiled from Salem's group. [[spoiler:In Volume 6, Cinder realises she needs to obtain the Relic before she can return to Salem, but she still wants revenge against Ruby. As Salem wants Ruby alive and has ordered Cinder not to kill her, Cinder tells Neo that the person she needs to kill for Roman's death is Ruby; by turning Neo against Ruby, Cinder hopes that Neo can kill Ruby, thereby allowing Cinder to return to Salem with the Relic and not get into trouble for Ruby's death.]] |
| 279 | ** Also [[Characters/RWBYAdamTaurus Adam Taurus]], whose obsession with getting revenge on humanity for their FantasticRacism towards Faunus leads him into quite a bit of trouble. To wit, [[spoiler:their entire plan to grab the Relic at Haven Academy and destroy the place ends up falling apart due to this (and Cinder's, as mentioned above), with most of the White Fang arrested and Taurus now on the run.]] |
| 280 | * Arrow from WebAnimation/WolfSongTheMovie holds a vendetta on the Death Alpha for attacking his former pack and effectively destroying it. It is this which becomes his motivation, and when he is given temporary leadership of the heroes (mostly due to the previous one being injured badly and in no shape to lead), he states he won’t rest until he has “torn the flesh off his pack’s murderer”. Once he gets a chance to fight the Death Alpha, [[spoiler: he vastly underestimates his opponent and despite powering up and temporarily putting his opponent on the backfoot, the fact that his powered up form has sacrificed reason for elemental abilities ends up causing him to unexpectedly die a horrible death at the jaws of the Death Alpha.]] |
| 281 | [[/folder]] |
| 282 | |
| 283 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 284 | * ''WebVideo/DreamSMP'': |
| 285 | ** [[HotBlooded Tommy]] does this twice throughout Season 1. |
| 286 | *** When [[ChronicPetKiller Sapnap]] "accidentally" kills his pet cow, Henry, Tommy defaces and burns the wooden Eiffel Tower and attempts to use Sapnap's pet fish as leverage to get away with it. It takes Technoblade [[LampshadeHanging pointing out the ridiculousness of the situation]] for him to even offer the fish in return for the music discs that Bad has, but by that point, the tense negotiations have broken down and a battle breaks out. The only reason this works out for Tommy is that he has [[TheDreaded both Dream and Techno]] to support him. |
| 287 | ---->'''Technoblade:''' Wait, [[SillyReasonForWar this is over a fish]]? Tommy, just [[StatingTheSimpleSolution give him the fish]]! God, I didn't even bring a shield. |
| 288 | *** During the Manburg Festival, Tommy was wracked with grief when [[spoiler:[[HeterosexualLifePartners Tubbo]] was publicly executed on the spot by Technoblade under [[PresidentEvil Schlatt's]] orders. He threw an enderpearl to teleport onto the podium and attack Techno in front of everyone]], completely breaking cover. |
| 289 | ** One of Quackity's core traits is his hatred of injustice. However, some of his actions -- and ''especially'' those taken during his [[JadeColoredGlasses spiral and corruption arc]] in Season 3 -- are driven more by revenge then justice, like [[spoiler:his torture of Dream and failed attempt to kill Technoblade in the prison]]. [[DeconstructedTrope In general]], the violent methods he uses to try to get even often just cause more problems, [[CycleOfRevenge yet every loss just makes him all the more desperate to get revenge]]. [[spoiler:Slime eventually points out the flaws in this mentality and causes Quackity to start reflecting on this, allowing him to start pulling himself out of his spiral; notably, rather then chasing after Purpled for betraying Quackity and killing Slime, Quackity instead focuses more on helping his friend, showing how he is drifting away from his vengeful ways. His character arc ultimately ends with him knowing and acknowledging that RevengeIsNotJustice, and tentatively reaching out to others as he rebuilds Las Nevadas after its destruction.]] |
| 290 | * Joko from ''WebVideo/SMPLive'' is very vengeful and revenge tends to be his first instinct, often leading to him reacting with violence only to realize he's made a mistake after. |
| 291 | [[/folder]] |
| 292 | |
| 293 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 294 | * Sarda in ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'' wants the so-called "Light Warriors"[[note]]Except [[TokenGoodTeammate Fighter]], who Sarda admits isn't at fault for any wrong against Sarda, and is merely acceptable collateral damage to get at the other three.[[/note]] to suffer for all the harm they caused and continue to cause, rather than stop them from causing more harm. He eventually [[spoiler:willfully participated in their rise in power and destructivity,]] just so he could confiscate all this power from them at the end. |
| 295 | * In ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'', the method the Nasaghast used to try to kill the doc for punching an astronaut would've, if successful, killed another astronaut. The AltText [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this, saying it is impossible to reason with a vengeful ghost. |
| 296 | * In ''Webcomic/{{Dreamkeepers}}'', one of Nabonidus's minions is so drunk on revenge against Mace that he sends a demon with orders to kill him, despite Nabonidus's [[IWantThemAlive explicit orders to the contrary]]. |
| 297 | * In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', [[http://egscomics.com/comic/2011-05-30 a throwaway gag]] reveals that Noah was looking into [[spoiler:selling his soul for power]] in order to exact his revenge on Damien before Raven dissuaded him. |
| 298 | * In ''Webcomic/GetMedieval'', crimelord Broat personally flies out to the backwater planet his deposed rival Torquel Hane is stranded on (France in 15th century Earth, to be exact) to personally kill, rather leave him stuck somewhere he has no ability or desire to leave. Why? Because Torquel wasn't suffering enough. |
| 299 | * In ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'', Fructose Ribflavin's father was killed by the Nemesite emperor. That emperor is long dead. Riboflavin has wasted his entire life seeking revenge against the emperor's innocent descendants. [[https://bobadventures.thecomicseries.com/comics/490 Bob pointed out the pointlessness of this to him, but that only enraged him.]] |
| 300 | * ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'': |
| 301 | ** Ms. Damico kidnaps two people who cost her some money. Petey, a near-godlike AI who can wage war on whole galaxies, offers to buy his friends' freedom for 25 times the amount Damico lost. [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20101010.html She refuses, instead demanding "satisfaction"]]. |
| 302 | ** In a (technically) heroic example, this trope is the only thing that can make Tagon say ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules. When he's offered a huge fee to rescue Xinchub from certain death, he refuses, because he and his soldiers hate Xinchub so much. |
| 303 | * ''Webcomic/{{Scurry}}'': Titan refuses to let Wix escape from him a third time. Wix ducks into the forest, where he knows the cats won't follow him. Titan decides he hates Wix more than he fears the forest and gives chase. Turns out there's a good reason the cats avoided the forest: [[spoiler: The pack of wolves that live there. Titan is quickly killed and eaten by the pack's leader Erebus.]] |
| 304 | * ''Webcomic/SlightlyDamned'': [[AnIcePerson Lazuli]] wants to kill Kieri in revenge for injuring her and for killing her partner Talus even though we later learn that all the demons are under orders to [[IWantThemAlive capture living angels]] to [[spoiler:use them in a [[HumanSacrifice ritual]] to bring more of them to Medius]], even after her superior officers order her to stand down she still tries to off Kieri. |
| 305 | * Lord Horribus from ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' wants revenge on Torg ''bad'' (well, technically he wants redemption for having let Torg escape, but they both come down to tearing Torg into tiny, meaty bits). He proves willing to sacrifice the demons's entire [[DemonicInvaders invasion attempt]] just for the chance of killing Torg. |
| 306 | * In ''Webcomic/WeakHero'', Jake's backstory involves him seeking revenge against the Manwol Gang for crippling his brother, even knowing that it's suicidal and against his brother's wishes. It's only [[ManipulativeBastard Donald's]] intervention that stops Jake from putting a gigantic target on his back -- and even that ends up with Jake being indebted to Donald and integrated into his [[StandardEvilOrganizationSquad Union]]. |
| 307 | [[/folder]] |
| 308 | |
| 309 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 310 | * ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': |
| 311 | ** Jimmy the "Jazz Man" was more focused on making sure Gordon is killed than getting out of Gotham and laying low, even after escaping prison. He didn't even care if he went back to prison afterwards, all that mattered was making things "square" with Gordon for breaking up his smuggling racket. |
| 312 | ** And in the film, ''WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm'' we have [[spoiler:Andrea]] and briefly [[spoiler:Batman himself.]] |
| 313 | ---> '''[[spoiler:Andrea]]''': I'm not saying it's right or even sane, but it's all I have left, so either help me or get out of the way!\ |
| 314 | '''Joker''': Let me go or we both die!\ |
| 315 | '''[[spoiler:Batman]]''': Whatever it takes. |
| 316 | ** The Clock King gets his StartOfDarkness by seeking revenge on Gotham's Mayor Hamilton Hill for [[EvilIsPetty inadvertently making him late for an appointment]]: Clock King, or Temple Fugate as he was known then, was an efficiency expert dealing with some legal trouble. Hill, who was working as a lawyer at the time, commuted on the same train as Fugate, and suggested he take a break in the Gotham Park so he'd come off more relaxed and trustworthy in court. This completely innocent suggestion caused a series of accidental DisasterDominoes for Fugate that destroyed his legal paperwork and caused him to show up late for his court hearing, costing him his business and ruined his life. While Fugate's justification for targeting Hill for his revenge is seemingly based on Hill working for the law firm that sued him (though Hill had nothing to do with that case), during his MotiveRant, Fugate confirms that it's really the "made me late" part that truly drives him. |
| 317 | * Depth Charge from ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' is a Maximal driven by an all-consuming need to take revenge on the sadistic [[PsychoPrototype Rampage]], who personally killed and ate all of the former's friends for a laugh. He'll blow off any order if Rampage is anywhere nearby. In the GrandFinale, Depth Charge finally corners Rampage and [[spoiler:stabs him [[OurSoulsAreDifferent right through the spark]] with a crystal of [[PureEnergy raw energon]], knowing full well this will result in an [[StuffBlowingUp explosion]] [[TakingYouWithMe he can't survive]]]]. On the other hand, this results in [[spoiler:Dinobot II regaining the memories and nobility of the original and turning on Megatron at the crucial moment]]. |
| 318 | * The Retaliator in ''WesternAnimation/Ben10DestroyAllAliens'': He goes after a [=To'kuStar=], believing it to have killed his son Azmuth, completely disregarding the fact that his target is [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever about 100 feet tall]]. [[spoiler:To be fair, it may have been the suit talking, [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity since anyone who wears it becomes a single-minded engine of destruction.]]]] |
| 319 | ** Another example is Attea in “Vilgax Must Croak.” Ben tries to make a truce with her and form a deal concerning their mutual enemy Vilgax. Attea flat out refuses because she still wants revenge for Ben imprisoning her in stasis jail, and promptly attacks him, leading Ben to immediately rescind his offer and fight back. Therefore, making Attea’s mission even more difficult than it already. Surprisingly, none of her mooks lampshade her incredibly stupid and petty decision. |
| 320 | * In ''WesternAnimation/CentralPark'', Season 1 "[[Recap/CentralParkS1E10AFishCalledSnakehead A Fish Called Snakehead]]", Bitsy considers plotting to buy Paige's newspaper, "What's New, New York", in retaliation for Paige breaking the story on Dick Flake's fake snakehead which makes her look bad to the public and wants to fire everyone there, despite Helen pointing out to Bitsy that doing so would not be profitable. |
| 321 | * In ''WesternAnimation/DanVs'' this is Dan's bread and butter. More specifically, '''every''' episode is about him getting revenge on something, often for comically stupid and petty reasons. Sometimes he will try to get revenge on things people normally wouldn't even dream of getting revenge on or think you could get revenge on like New Mexico, art, technology, a ''dead'' president, and [[NoodleIncident a squirrel for some reason]]. |
| 322 | * ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': In the episode "The Big Bang Theory", Bertram decides to travel back in time to RetGone Stewie by killing his ancestor, none other than [[HistoricalDomainCharacter Leonardo da Vinci]], unaware that, as a result of a time paradox, Stewie was the one that caused the Big Bang and that erasing him would destroy the universe, including himself. Even after Brian and Stewie tell him as such, Bertram, after a brief hesitation, promptly declares that getting rid of Stewie is worth the end of the universe and promptly shoots da Vinci dead. However, Stewie preserves events by [[MyOwnGrampa becoming his own ancestor]]. |
| 323 | * ''WesternAnimation/FinalSpace'': In Episode 7, even though getting the Galaxy One repaired and finding a way to close the breach in space that is threatening the Earth should be their highest priority, KVN, Gary, Little Cato and Mooncake set out to kill the Lord Commander to avenge Avocato. Quinn calls them out for it. It ends with their ship getting destroyed by a heavy incinerator, and they themselves drifting in space, about to be killed. It’s only thanks to Nightfall’s interference that they survive. |
| 324 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': In "The Late Philip J. Fry", Professor Farnsworth invents a time machine that can only go forward in time (since he doesn't want anyone to mess up history like Fry did when he became [[MyOwnGrandpa his own grandpa]]). When the Professor, Fry, and Bender mistakenly take the machine too far into the future, they resolve to go to a time period where humans have invented a backwards time machine to go back home. In one time period, humanity is at war with [[KillerRobot Killer Robots]], which of course Bender finds perfect and asks for the group to stop and stay there. The Professor and Fry naturally refuse and keep going forward. The next time period has a world full of beautiful women who have invented the backwards time machine, but asks the two humans of the group to attend a "Fertility Banquet" in their honor before using it, since [[GenderRarityValue men are rare here]]. Bender, pissed that he wasn't allowed to stay in the killer robot time period, activates the group's time machine to get out of there, sacrificing a chance to get home. |
| 325 | * David Xanatos of ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' always defied this trope, believing that [[KnowWhenToFoldEm revenge is a sucker's game]]. This in contrast to may characters like Demona and [=MacBeth=] (and even most of the heroes on the occasions their {{Berserk Button}}s are pushed) who often fall right into this. |
| 326 | * ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': The Lumberjack Ghost wants revenge on the Northwest bloodline for flaunting their wealth and barring the workers who built their mansion from all of their celebrations. His violent antics tend to endanger many other innocent people which he ignores because he's so focused on revenge. When Pacifica goes to right the injustice, however, he stops his attacks, showing he's not so far gone into vengeance. |
| 327 | * ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim''. The writers point out that the only reason [[Characters/InvaderZimZim Zim]] hasn't taken over the world is that he gets caught up in pointless battles like finding out if Dib threw that muffin at his head during lunch by hooking him up to a LotusEaterMachine and making him live out a vivid, decades-long fantasy life. |
| 328 | * Percy De Rolo from ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfVoxMachina'' (originally from ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'') spends the bulk of season 1 trying to bring justice to the five people responsible for the death of his family. He's so obsessed with it that it causes him to, in this order; [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique mutilate an innocent boy to get answers]], leaves his allies at a crucial moment to kill one of the traitors which gets many resistance fighters killed or injured waiting for him, nearly (mistakenly) shoots his allies point blank, almost throws away a valuable informant in the form of the third traitor, and almost ''flays the final traitor [[DisproportionateRetribution alive]]!'' [[spoiler: All this because he's been possessed by a demon of vengeance, who feasts on the souls of those he kills - performing the latter act of cruelty would push Percy's own soul over the edge. After the main conflict of the season is wrapped up, the demon nearly has him kill his entire team before they can stop that from happening.]] |
| 329 | * Blythe soon falls into this in the ''WesternAnimation/LittlestPetShop2012'' episode "[[Recap/LittlestPetShop2012S1E21TerriersAndTiaras Terriers & Tiaras]]" in trying to best Judy Jo Jameson at a dog pageant. The TV crew at hand encourages her, and the once sweet-tempered girl becomes meaner and more aggressive than even Judy Jo, going as far as to [[spoiler: repurpose the dress Blythe originally gave her dog Zoe as a birthday present to try to gain a competitive edge]]. [[Series/ToddlersAndTiaras Given what this]] [[Series/HereComesHoneyBooBoo episode is spoofing]], Blythe's 180-degree in behavior was bound to happen. |
| 330 | * In ''WesternAnimation/MyAdventuresWithSuperman'', GeneralRipper Sam Lane and [[BlackBossLady Amanda Waller]] were traumatized after an AlienInvasion by the Kryptonians, and antagonized ComicBook/{{Superman}} under [[ImproperlyParanoid the belief that he had come to finish the job]] despite him doing nothing but go out of his way to help others. [[spoiler:After capturing and interrogating him, Lane realizes that he's innocent and plans on questioning him further to find the truth. Waller, KnightTemplar that she is, was incensed by him doubting her and [[TyrantTakesTheHelm stabbed him in the back so she could take control of Task Force X]] from him and ''force'' him to kill Superman.]] |
| 331 | * ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': |
| 332 | ** [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicQueenChrysalis Queen Chrysalis]] falls into this full throttle, and it costs her. [[spoiler:In disguise as Princess Cadence, she's succeeded in turning every character, even ''Princess Celestia'' herself against Twilight Sparkle for her harsh accusations, and even makes Twilight ''herself'' regretful of accusing her of being evil. What does she do? She picks up the IdiotBall and traps Twilight in ''exactly the same place as the real Cadence''. You can guess what happens next.]] |
| 333 | *** She falls for this ''again'' in the sixth season finale. [[spoiler:Thanks to Starlight Glimmer convincing the Changeling Thorax to ''give'' love than to steal it, Chrysalis' plan against the Mane Six and the Royal Family goes up in smoke and she loses everything -- her throne, her people, her prisoners in the very same ponies she was getting {{Revenge}} against, her title -- save her life. Starlight attempts to get her to stop this ridiculous CycleOfRevenge and be a good leader, but [[RedemptionRejection she slaps away her hoof]] and vows revenge on Starlight. This is despite that she's now alone.]] |
| 334 | ** This is the problem with [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicStarlightGlimmer Starlight Glimmer]] at the end of Season 5: [[spoiler:After the Mane Six stops her cult of equality and restores the villagers' Cutie Marks, Starlight flips out and decides to wreck everything by using time travel to stop Rainbow Dash from performing the Sonic Rainboom that would bring together the Mane Six. End result: an Equestria on the brink of tearing itself apart -- oh, sure, Starlight's gonna have possession of an "equal" Ponyville, but with Nightmare Moon unrestrained and Celestia ready to declare war, the only thing she's brought is pain and terror. All because Twilight and the others thought "Your village is creepy and you're creepy."]] |
| 335 | * In ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', [[Characters/SouthParkEricCartman Eric Cartman]] does this, usually DisproportionateRetribution to the offense. Kyle, who is usually the most logical of the boys often devolves into this when Cartman is involved. A lot of both characters' abuse is often self inflicted by their zeal in destroying one another. One example to show exactly ''how'' disproportionate we're talking about: Scott Tenorman swindles Cartman out of $16.12 (not all at once). Cartman's response is to [[spoiler: get Scott's parents killed, grind up their bodies, make them into chili, and trick Scott into eating it before revealing all of this to him]]. And then he gets Scott's favorite band to mock him for crying. Much later, it's revealed that [[spoiler:Scott's father is his own father as well, so he unknowingly killed his own father]]. |
| 336 | * In ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'', Adrian Toomes could have saved his corporation, Toomes Aerodynamics, from being bought out by Norman Osborn by just [[CutLexLuthorACheck showing off that his anti-gravity experiments had worked and he'd built a workable flying suit]]. Instead, he dressed up in the suit as "the Vulture" and tried to assassinate Norman Osborn for the effort, which ultimately cost him his company. |
| 337 | * ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': |
| 338 | ** In [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E10LairOfGrievous "Lair of Grievous"]], Nahdar Vebb becomes more and more frustrated at the deaths of his clone troopers and [[HeroKiller Grievous]] seemingly playing with him and impugning his honor as a Knight, and despite revenge going against the creed of the Jedi becomes more and more angrily set on getting revenge against Grievous. In the end, he turns away from Kit Fisto when the other implores him to help destroy Grievous' command center and escape in order to [[LeeroyJenkins go after Grievous by himself]] and dies in the fight. |
| 339 | ** In the final season, shortly before the Film/RevengeOfTheSith took place Darth Maul had the opportunity to warn the Jedi of Sidious' plans but couldn't let go of his hatred for them and likely planned to simply replace Sidious after foiling his plan with Anakin. After his attempt to form an EnemyMine with Ahsoka fails due to PoorCommunicationKills, all he can do is watch helplessly as the galaxy burns around them. |
| 340 | * ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'': |
| 341 | ** {{Subverted|Trope}} in [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS1E06EmpireDay "Empire Day"]]: [[TheBigGuy Zeb]] has his {{archenemy}} Agent Kallus in his sights, but has no problem being told to shoot at the Inquisitor, a much larger threat who happens to appear on scene the same time as Kallus. |
| 342 | ** [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS2E14Homecoming "Homecoming"]]: Cham Syndulla ''really'' wants to blow up the Imperial light carrier that's terrorized the population of Ryloth with its contingent of TIE bombers, even though Phoenix Squadron and his own daughter Hera want to steal it so they can put it to more constructive use. Cham and company even attempt to backstab the ''Ghost'' crew so they can blow up the carrier. Fortunately, Hera manages to talk him out of it, and Cham gets the explosion he wanted by destroying the Imperial cruiser also stationed at Ryloth. |
| 343 | * ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': |
| 344 | ** What cemented Peridot's HeelFaceTurn is realizing that [[Characters/StevenUniverseYellowDiamond Yellow Diamond]], whom she's always revered as a Gem of logic and reason, is subject to this trope: she doesn't care how useful Earth and its resources can be, she just wants it destroyed out of revenge for all the trouble that planet and the Crystal Gems on it caused her. Cue the BrokenPedestal. Becomes an even bigger example later on with TheReveal that [[spoiler:Homeworld is running out of resources and Yellow Diamond throwing out Peridot's suggestion of getting Earth's resources ''without'' ruining its ability to support organic life or harm it (a win-win situation) is throwing away resources they desperately need, but she's beyond caring at that point.]] A later reveal by [[BloodKnight Jasper]] of all people [[spoiler:suggests that part of Yellow Diamond's hatred for Earth is cemented in the fact she thinks Rose was responsible for the death of her fellow Diamond [[UnPerson Pink Diamond]], something that she hasn't forgiven her or Earth by extension for]], which suddenly makes her seemingly irrational hatred a bit more justified. |
| 345 | ** The above incident inspires a lot of this trope when combined with the fact Steven is often mistaken for Rose by Homeworld Gems. [[Characters/StevenUniverseJasper Jasper]] [[spoiler:refuses to accept healing from her hated enemy, even while being turned into a monster]], and one Homeworld Ruby [[spoiler:tries to kill Steven even though succeeding would trap her alone in space forever]]. |
| 346 | *** Making all of the above even more tragic is this: [[spoiler:Rose Quartz ''was'' Pink Diamond. She [[FakingTheDead faked her death]] to try to spare Earth, and because she thought the other Diamonds didn't care about her, and that didn't even work.]] |
| 347 | * Quite a few ''[[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles TMNT]]'' {{Big Bad}}s (namely versions of the Shredder) suffer from this: |
| 348 | ** ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'': |
| 349 | *** Shredder's obsession with destroying the Turtles was often the SpannerInTheWorks for his and Krang's attempts to conquer the Earth. In one episode, the villains trap the Turtles in Dimension X, paving the way for an easy conquest. However, the Turtles provoke the Shredder into letting them out so he can fight them head-on by pointing out that he had never personally defeated them. |
| 350 | *** Lord Dregg, the BigBad of the final two seasons, falls into this too by the last episode, being more concerned with destroying the Turtles as payback for them ruining numerous plans of his than his plans for world domination. |
| 351 | ** In the ''WesternAnimation/TurtlesForever'' animated movie, the [[Characters/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003TheShredder 2003 Shredder]] from the WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 series, after being beaten so many times by his Turtles and discovering TheMultiverse, decides to go to the source (the [[ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage Mirage comics universe]]) and destroy all reality. Karai even explicitly tells him that this would kill him as well, but he's so obsessed with his revenge that he ''just doesn't care''. This turns her against him permanently. [[EvenEvilHasStandards Even the 1987 Shredder decides to put]] [[EvilVersusOblivion self-preservation above revenge]]. |
| 352 | ** ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012'': This is this [[Characters/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012TheShredder Shredder's]] defining trait; he's so obsessed with getting revenge on Splinter (primarily for things that [[NeverMyFault were Shredder's own fault in the first place]]) that ''nothing else'' matters to him at all. Splinter calls him out on this during the first season finale, [[AndThenWhat pointing out that when he dies, Shredder will have nothing]]. [[spoiler:In the third season finale, during an EnemyMine scenario to stop the entire Earth from being destroyed, Shredder literally stabs Splinter InTheBack at a crucial moment, killing him and dooming the planet. He then goes on to say that he doesn't even care if Earth gets destroyed anymore, [[WorthIt he can die happy now that he's finally gotten his revenge]].]] |
| 353 | * ''WesternAnimation/Thundercats2011'': Panthro is so obsessed with making the treacherous Grune pay for his crimes that [[spoiler:he [[AnArmAndALeg sacrifices both his arms]] just to ensure that Grune dies alongside the collapsing [[AnotherDimension Astral Plane]], nearly dying himself in the process.]] |
| 354 | * [[Characters/TotalDramaCourtney Courtney]] spends much of the latter half of ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama World Tour'' sabotaging ''her own team'' to get revenge on [[PerkyGoth Gwen]] as well as Duncan who was her boyfriend at the time for kissing behind her back. |
| 355 | * Arcee's obsession with Airachnid in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' is made of this, since the latter was the one who [[spoiler: killed her partner Tailgate]]. This also applies to Starscream after [[spoiler: she finds out he was the one who killed Cliffjumper]]. Fortunately by the end of "Partners", she was able to put her desire for revenge behind her. As of ''Crossfire'', she swerved right back into it. |
| 356 | * ''WesternAnimation/TransformersCyberverse'': After an encounter with Bumblebee which ends with him blowing up an energon storehouse, Shadow Striker becomes obsessed with killing him. The explosion killed her comrades and blew her to pieces requiring an emergency surgery that grafted her allies parts to her form and left her with chronic pain. Her hatred and obsession for Bumblebee nearly get her killed on a number of occasions as she throws common sense and self-preservation away for any edge. That said, part of her CharacterDevelopment is letting go of her grudge and putting her skills to more important goals. [[spoiler:She ultimately buries the hatchet with Bumblebee in the finale as they work towards a more peaceful world]]. |
| 357 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Trollhunters}}'': The Goblins will swear revenge anyone killing their own. The problem is that they have no concept of logical cause-and-effect about who is culpable in their vendettas. For instance, when one Goblin was run over by a human's truck, they don't attack the driver but destroy the truck itself instead. In addition, one of the major characters, Claire, is targeted when a Goblin is killed and its remains had her photograph in the mess, which the Goblins don't understand is no evidence that she had anything to do with it. |
| 358 | * ''WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadRunner'': After a certain point, it becomes clear that Wile E. Coyote is really motivated more by this trope than by his ostensible motivations of desire for food. Many of his traps would kill the roadrunner in ways that would render the corpse totally inedible, but Coyote has come to care more about seeing the roadrunner dead than feeding himself or not getting maimed constantly on account of the Roadrunner's [[RealityWarper reality-warping powers]]. |
| 359 | * In ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'', the [[spoiler:Earth fairies were so caught up in revenge against the Wizards of the Black Circle and the people of Earth that they were about to freeze Earth over when one of their grievances was that humans had not taken care of Earth. Nebula in particular wanted vengeance even when Morgana and the other Earth fairies had given up on it.]] Thankfully, they were all convinced by Bloom and the Winx to drop it. |
| 360 | [[/folder]] |
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