Times where the hero creates their own villain in Fan Works.
Crossovers
- Avengers: Infinite Wars: Vision discusses this, observing that groups like the Avengers and the Jedi Council seem to inspire conflict, as others rise up to challenge them and the power they hold.
- In Avenging Class, the death of Quicksilver at the hands of MHXX spurs Wanda joining forces with Thanos in order to avenge them.
- The Bridge has a rather bizarre example of one villain making another. Over three hundred years ago, Grand King Ghidorah laid waste to Planet Xilian and pushed the inhabitants to the brink of extinction. In desperation, they created a kaiju of their own, by splicing Ghidorah's genes with an Xilian volunteer to create Monster X and his berserk alternate form, Kaizer Ghidorah. While Grand King Ghidorah is a Smug Super, Kaizer Ghidorah is one of the few beings he's genuinely afraid of.
- CN Akumas:
- Ben smashes up Kevin's car, deliberately pissing him off enough to cause his akumatization. While Gwen calls him out on this, Ben insists it was for the greater good, reasoning that this was faster and easier than waiting for some random person to be akumatized so that they could test out the anti-akumatization potion Gwen and Juniper had developed.
- The Kanker Sisters want to know how it feels to be akumatized, so they agree amongst themselves that they'll deliberately try upsetting each other enough in order to attract Hawk Moth's attention. The heroes end up going along with this as part of a plan to try and determine Hawk Moth's location.
- Cycles Upon Cycles: Due to StarCraft's Koprulu Alliance's actions, by the time the events of the Mass Effect roll around, Saren's army not only consists of Geth like in canon, but also Batarians who resent the Alliance for nearly eradicating them for attempting a slave run during First Contact and Krogan remnants who despise the Zerg for assimilating the majority of their race (willingly, mind you), viewing the new Krogan as abominations.
- Evil And Ham: Sophia causes Taylor to become a villain — one who gets a lot of mentors when she wanders into the Villain Pub shortly after Triggering.
- I Write Trials, Not Trebuchets: The only reason Veronica was able to destroy the Prime Universe is because Raven created her as a clone of herself.
- In Kings of Revolution, the Black Knights rebel against the Time-Space Bureau in addition to Britannia. Why? Because the High Council not only created Jail Scaglietti, but also the fanfic's Big Bad who is assisting Britannia.
- Magical Pony Lyrical Twilight: Nyx realizes too late that this is the case with Nachtwal, which goes through a case of Adaptational Villainy due to how its core includes a piece of the Crystal Heart.
- Shadows over Meridian:
- The gradual process of Jade's Face–Heel Turn that started in Kage has come full circle by the start of this fic. While the heroes finally realize they've been antagonizing Jade on poor grounds, it's likely too late to make peace with her now that she has officially allied herself with Phobos and promised to return him to power.
- Though this is more of a case of a Well-Intentioned Extremist creating a Knight Templar through a Cycle of Revenge, Metalbeak eventually admits that by killing Jesekiel Bexley in front of his granddaughter Vera ten years earlier to avenge all the Mogriffs that "the Nest Butcher" had killed, he's responsible for turning Vera into the vengeful new Butcher who'll sacrifice even her friends and own life to exterminate every single member of his species.
- Unsurprisingly, this happens to Shirou Emiya, in multiple fics. Two that stand out, with one being Fate/Reach Out where the Greater-Scope Villain who has Humanity on Trial, makes herself more villainous by removing the parts of her that are cheering for his victory, both to make the trial fair and too make both a villain and someone for him to rescue. The other is My Ideal Academia, where Shirou's unconscious wish to be a hero gets him transported to the world of My Hero Academia with Angra Mainyu sent as his Arch-Nemesis.
- Arrow: Rebirth: Oliver was fully aware that letting Tommy be taken by the League would ensure that his former best friend would turn against him. However, he sees this as the Lesser of Two Evils; challenging the League instead would have either gotten himself and everyone else killed... or, if he'd won, it would have sped the Crisis along.
- Calvin creates a villain in Calvin & Hobbes: The Series. His attempt to get more TV channels ends up unleashing Electro upon the world.
- Dominoes:
- Yuusaku framed the first Kaitou KID for supposedly causing Toichi's death, making the second KID hellbent on getting revenge. Yuusaku is Narcissistic and arrogant enough to claim that he's actually helping the second KID by deliberately antagonizing him, claiming that without everything Yuusaku has done, the second KID wouldn't have any purpose for his life.
- Everyone around Shinichi claims to care about him, yet considered his emotional and psychological well-being things that could easily be sacrificed in the name of "the greater good." Years of Gaslighting, keeping Shinichi Locked Out of the Loop, and generally treating him like shit in the name of "protecting" him ultimately poison his relationships with everyone around him, until he finally turns against the lot and allies with the vengeful Kaitou KID, since they were the only one to treat him with anything approaching respect.
- Cross Ange: Futatsu Sekai no Border: For generations, the Norma were subjected to Fantastic Racism due to their inability to use Mana. After The Magic Goes Away, the Norma left behind turn against the now powerless ex-Mana users.
- Becoming a True Invader: Tel inadvertently turned his sister Pel into an authoritarian monster by making up bedtime stories about the "Great Boad" who punished villains, only for her to take him seriously and start emulating the story to the point of taking over their society and enforcing her own rules based on those stories.
- Alya and the Harem Reality: Lila has the Monkey Miraculous in the new universe, and tries to make her own adversaries for her to fight so she can boost her profile. She doesn't have very good aim, though; when she tried akumatizing Marinette, she wound up hitting Kagami instead.
- In Dad Villain AU, Hawkmoth used the Wish to make it so it was Marinette and her family that suffered the consequences of Emilie's misuse of the broken Peacock Miraculous. When this leads to Sabine's death, Nooroo manages to escape in an attempt to get to Marinette, only for Tom to catch him and become Viceroy, who makes it his mission to protect Marinette and ruin Hawkmoth's life.
- Gabriel's Lament: After getting his Wish, Gabriel finds himself in a Self-Inflicted Hell where he no longer holds the Butterfly Brooch and most of the power he previously enjoyed as a result, effectively helpless to do anything about the new reality's new Hawkmoth. He's also directly responsible for his son getting perma-akumatized into Chat Blanc, having ramped up his efforts to micro-manage Adrien's life until his misery attracted the new Hawkmoth's attention.
- In Miraculous! Rewrite, Hawkmoth is responsible for creating another villain. His decision to bring Natalie into the fold by revealing Emilie's condition to her and exploiting her love for her sister comes back to haunt him during the Queen's Battle arc, as he attempts to retire from supervillainy... but Natalie has no intention of giving up. So she takes the Butterfly to become Monarcha, and makes quite clear that he can't stop her.
- In MiraculousWeirdo's A Price to Pay
, Gabriel gets his Wish after convincing Adrien/Chat Noir to betray his partner. Upon learning that Marinette was Ladybug, it's implied that he Wishes that her family pays the cost of resurrecting Emilie. This results in Tom Dupain-Cheng getting killed in a car accident in the new reality... a car accident that Gabriel caused. He then uses his wealth to rig the trial in his favor, leaving Sabine utterly furious at such blatant injustice and corruption. Then the Butterfly Brooch ends up in her hands... - Scarlet Lady: Chloé is more than happy to exploit the fact that the misery and suffering she inflicts on others makes them prime butterfly bait. Once they're akumatized, she can have Chat Noir beat them up and bask in all the glory~!
- During "Reflekta", she gloats about the idea of Juleka being akumatized after locking her in the bathroom, looking forward to the idea of exploiting her misery to make her "heroic" alter ego look even better. Naturally, she's outraged when said akumatization winds up proving mildly inconvenient for her.
- Throughout Truth and Consequences, Ladybug repeatedly dismisses Chat Noir's desire to bring Hawk Moth to justice as putting Revenge Before Reason, mainly as a way of rationalizing her decision to work with Gabriel so as to 'protect' Adrien from the Awful Truth about his father. She then turns Paris against him by making it appear as though Chat Noir is the one working with the supervillain. Ultimately, Chat Noir hits his Rage Breaking Point and intends to get Revenge by Proxy on Hawk Moth's son... unaware that he's referring to himself.
- A common plotline in fanworks is Izuku turning villanous due to the his ostracization and bullying he suffered for being Quirkless. Often, All Might crushing his dreams proves to be the final straw, with Izuku deciding that if society won't give him a fair chance, he'll tear it down entirely.
- Apotheosis: All Might realized he did this when he crushed Izuku's dreams at the start of the series, leading him to create the Infinity Gauntlet and embark on his quest to recreate hero society so someone like him could become a hero if they wanted to. This is, of course, after Izuku's villainy is exposed to the public and he becomes public enemy #1.
- A Central Theme in Mastermind: Strategist for Hire and its sequel Mastermind: Rise of Anarchy:
- In addition to the usual stressors of Bakugou's bullying and All Might dismissing his dreams of becoming a Pro Hero, Izuku finds that nobody is willing to hire him simply because he's Quirkless. Even for jobs that don't benefit from Quirks at all. The fact that villains actually appreciate his analytical skills provides further motivation for him to become the titular Mastermind.
- Lampshaded by Nedzu when he speculates that Mastermind could be a Quirkless teenager, noting how much bullying and abuse towards the Quirkless goes unreported and how suicide rates have been rising. He comments that if his analysis proves correct, then society itself created one of the worst villains Japan has ever seen.
- The Hero Commission's abusive treatment of Hawks, paired with their plotting to force other children into the same program as him, spurs Hawks' defecting to the League.
- In Rise of Anarchy, Nedzu makes the cold, calculated decision to let Katsuki 'secretly' operate as the violent vigilante King rather than assisting them, as part of a plan to set them up as an Unwitting Pawn and a Starter Villain for Uraraka, whom he's grooming as a replacement Symbol of Peace.
- Rise also features Fumikage and Dark Shadow getting pushed into the League's waiting arms after most of Class 1-A sees a photo of Hawks harassing him and leaps to all the wrong conclusions, driving him out of the dorms. This convinces them to join the villains since that's clearly what's expected of them.
- My Hero Academia: Entropy: Three people played major roles in pushing Midoriya into villainy: Bakugou, All Might, and Aizawa. Each takes a different measure of responsibility for this: Katsuki immediately recognizes the part he played, but just as immediately represses his guilt and rechannels it into a vow to kill Izuku personally. All Might recognizes that he failed to help Midoriya when he needed him most, and regrets that he spiraled so far, but draws the line at being accused of being responsible for the blood Izuku has shed. Aizawa, meanwhile, completely denies playing any role in his downfall.
- Nemesis: Katsuki believed that he'd successfully convinced Izuku to kill himself two years ago. In reality, Izuku faked his death and spent all that time building up a reputation as the rising supervillain star Mischief. Once Katsuki gains his provisional hero license, Mischief officially declares him to be his nemesis and sets into motion a series of crimes centered around exposing just how the two of them are tied together and the role Katsuki played in turning him into a villain.
- With Confidence: After Izuku hoists Hada Shiro by his own petard by pointing various Hero schools towards the Quirkist and discriminatory comments Hada was making on various social media sites, Nedzu reams him out, explaining to Izuku how he didn't just destroy Hada's chances of getting into a Hero school - no normal high school will touch him, either. With his future cut off, Hada would likely have little choice but to fall into villainy, if not for Nedzu intervening on his behalf to ensure the boy has something.
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
- Codex Equus: There are countless examples in the Codexverse who later become villains, whether through their own choices, the actions of those around them, or other external circumstances beyond their control.
- King Xestobium, Princess Apterus, and Dr. Toxikon would go on a rampage against the Dragons and Changelings... and were born entirely as a result of the eons-old grudge between the two species, with neither side wanting to let it go despite the pointless harm and destruction being done to themselves as a result of their grudge. This would prompt Thorax and Ember's choice to forgive the divine leaders of Changelingkind and Dragonkind, as they rightly believed doing anything else would only perpetuate the cycle of racism, violence, and death, and understandably were both sick of it.
- Queen Eclaira wouldn't have become the goddess she is today if her foalhood kingdom actually looked past her mediocre looks and loved her for who she is. Instead, they scorned and abused her for being 'ugly' by their standards, turning her into an utterly miserable foal who eventually gained the desire to become the Fairest of Them All. And for their mistreatment of Eclaira, they would become the first among the many a vengeful Eclaira would devour to sate her own ravenous hunger and vanity. It's revealed Prince Dissonant Tune had a role in Eclaira's rise - he happened upon Eclaira's kingdom as it was sinking into corruption and, disgusted, proceeded to tempt them to see if even a single person would rise above their growing vanity. Dissonant's efforts failed, and the kingdom was later devoured by a vengeful Eclaira armed with dark sorceries taught by Overlord Vondor.
- Prince Dissonant Tune himself is another example that ultimately became a positive one. As a result of being constantly judged and mistreated by Ponyland at large for being one of War Rock's children, he became a self-destructive villain with an It's All About Me mindset similar to his father's... and was utterly miserable for it. But after surviving a drug overdose and meeting Luminiferous, Dissonant would end up learning about the story of Moon Ray Vaughof, inspiring him to become a divine punisher of the wicked. It leads to him Ascending to godhood as the Alicorn god of Music, Vice, Corruption, and Revelry.
- Temnobog, the Deer god of Darkness, Evil, and Suffering, was born because High King Irminsul selfishly tried to turn his unborn son into a perfect, flawless ruler, mutilating him in the process. For the crime of being born 'evil', Temnobog was horrifically abused by his family and extended relatives, while his older twin brother, the radiant Belyolen, was psychologically manipulated by their parents into condoning his abuse. The abuse later caused Temnobog to snap and become a villain to spite his family, validating their perception of him as an abomination that must be killed. Fortunately, a series of events and divine intervention from benevolent deities led to Temnobog and Belyolen learning of their true origins, allowing them to accept each other's natures and reconcile. While still evil, Temnobog decided to use his nature for constructive ends, spreading evil and corruption to test mortals so they could be prepared to face real threats.
- One of the Elternteil Deer Pantheon's mortal Deer champions became a Fallen Hero because their negligence and stubborn refusal to heed prophetic warnings led to his home's destruction. Out of grief and revenge, the Deer champion allied himself with Hydianite covens so he could corrupt everything the Elternteil Deer Pantheon treasured. On the flip side, the Deer champion's rampage led to the rise of twin brothers, Prince Golden Ash and Prince Rowan, as heroic demigods - and ultimately their choice to abandon the Elternteil Deer Pantheon and Alvslog Deer Herds altogether after seeing their divine/mortal people's corruption.
- In How I Lost My Mother, Princess Celestia experienced a vision foretelling that Cozy Glownote would bring about doom to Equestria with her Magic and resolved to seal it away along with erasing all traces of her existence from the public mind and memories along with restricting any surviving physical evidence behind her authority alone before banishing her from Canterlot. Years later, Cozy Glow learned that Celestia realized she might have triggered a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy, but refused to recant, being too prideful and worried about public opinion should the Awful Truth about her mistake come out. Thus, she decided to set Twilight up as a Replacement Goldfish for her daughter, while hoping that Cozy Glow would just move on with her life. This results in Cozy Glow becoming the very monster Celestia was trying to prevent, paying her mother back in spades.
- Pony POV Series:
- Back when she was still in her A God Am I phase (before mellowing out a lot), Luna gave Tirek the Rainbow of Darkness so he could try and prove his love to her. During her and Celestia's reign, Tirek returned to life and ended up having a battle with her for dominion over the night.
- Celestia didn't make Discord a monster, but she taught him how to plan and ultimately accidentally helped him discover he was a sadist. She also left him to be punished by his family for helping her bring the Windigos to Equestria, causing him to keep a grudge against her.
- Dark World!Discord ended up creating Nightmare Eclipse/Paradox. She was originally Twilight Sparkle until he turned her into Twilight Tragedy and put her through a living hell for a thousand years. When she finally broke free, she snapped and decided to invoke Nightmarification to become Nightmare Purgatory and brutally kill him in revenge. By that point, she's been so consumed by her thirst for vengeance that she turns her plan to Set Right What Once Went Wrong into a "Groundhog Day" Loop Ironic Hell for Discord, becoming the Omnicidal Maniac she is now.
- RainbowDoubleDash's Lunaverse: In Crisis On Two Equestrias, the constant infighting between the two Trixies and two Twilights ends up shattering the Element of Magic, forcing all four to work together in order to deal with the problem. This also had the side effect of creating a black magic-based fusion of them that was born with the desire to kill her "parents".
- Androgyninja's A Drop of Poison: Towards the end, several of Sakura's mentors Discuss the very real possibility of Sakura herself turning against Konoha due to the sheer amount of shit the village has put them through, combined with the recent loss of both her parents.
- The Moon Cries in Reverse: As of Lunar Lamentations, Jiraiya has come to see his former teammate Orochimaru as an example of this paired with Self-Fulfilling Prophecy — people were afraid of Orochimaru's intelligence, including their mentor Hiruzen, so they treated him with suspicion and scorn, making Orochimaru desperate to prove himself to them... something that drove him to monsterous ends, and ultimately led to his defection after his experiments were discovered and condemned. Jiraiya's also furious to discover that Hiruzen learned nothing from his mistakes with their team, as he signed off on Naruto, Sakura and Shikamaru receiving similarly shitty treatment at the hands of Konoha's T&I unit, leaving Jiraiya scrambling to mitigate the damage and prevent the trio from turning on Konoha as well.
- In Holding the World On Their Shoulders, a Role Swap AU, Ironwood's own authoritarian actions, culminating in throwing May Marigold in a secret prison after she glimpses the skeletons in Atlas' closet, are what ultimately led her to falling into Salem's arms and becoming a powerful sorceress hellbent on seeing Atlas torn from the sky.
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
- Cat-Ra plays with this: While Catra blames herself for Adora's Sanity Slippage and decline — and Adora holds her responsible as well — much of the responsibility actually lies with Shadow Weaver, whose attempts to mold her into a ruthless agent of the Horde work far too well. Something Shadow Weaver herself recognizes when Adora betrays her to Hordak:Shadow Weaver: I've created a monster.
Adora: No, you've created your replacement.
- In Pink doesn't really exist and other existential truths, White Diamond uses protonic crystals to suppress Steven's empathy, with him only finding out after the process was completed. The only reason they don't kill her on the spot upon learning this is because of Spinal Taking the Bullet and getting poofed in her place.
- Unbreakable Red Silken Thread: A minor example, but Ella is indirectly the reason for Sugar's attitude, having accidentally entered and winning a beauty pageant she thought was a singing contest. Deconstructed and discussed by Cody however; according to him, "No one turns into that big of a bitch overnight". Given just who his girlfriend is and some of TD's other contestants, he does have some experience in this.
- Earning Her Stripes has Sophia, Emma, and Madison attempt to invoke this by force-feeding Taylor a vial of Cauldron, turning their favorite bullying target into a 'villain' for them to torment even more.
- Nemesis: Cauldron runs a 'Nemesis Program' that allows young heroic hopefuls to select somebody to become their Arch-Enemy. Emma picks Taylor so that she has an excuse to beat up her former friend turned favorite victim. Unfortunately for her, Taylor proves to be far more competent than she'd expected.
