History KarmaHoudini / VideoGames

** ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'':
*** Saemon Havarian is only mildly villainous, but he's the most annoying character in terms of getting away with things. He keeps dumping his own troubles and enemies on you in both the original game and the expansion, and coming back and belittling what he did and acting like you're friends before doing it again, but you never get to take revenge successfully, even if you set the biggest thieves' guild in the country on him. Technically you ''can'' kill him and get his role later in the story to be replaced by someone else, it requires you being ready far in advance, making his comeuppance ''very'' tricky to do. The way he always gets away really fits the "Houdini" part -- and in this case it's just not karma he's eluding, but a pissed-off player character as well. Considering that even beings of godlike status often fall to the might of the PlayerCharacter, it's about equally impressive.
*** A particularly grating example is Saerk. [[spoiler:In Anomen's personal quest, his sister gets murdered, and Saerk is the prime suspect. If you convince Anomen to go to the authorities, they tell you that there's not enough evidence to convict him. The ''good'' option to the quest (as well as the one that will allow Anomen to be knighted and become considerably more tolerable) is to convince Anomen not to pursue Saerk and to let bygones be bygones.]] Oh, and it doesn't stop there. [[spoiler:Sometime after Anomen is knighted, he learns not only that Saerk really ''was'' the murderer, but that now he's ''killed Anomen's father'' after the latter confronted him. Again, the ''good'' option is to convince Anomen not to kill him, saying that he'd be no better than his alcoholic father if he did. In summary, Saerk ruins Anomen's life, and the good option is to ''let him get away with it''.]]
** ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'': The one enemy you can't do anything to is the [[OurDemonsAreDifferent cambion]] Mizora, TheDragon to the [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils archdevil]] Zariel and SmugSnake patron of your warlock Wyll. She spends the entirety of the game tormenting him and your other party member Karlach, but since she's under Zariel's protection, she can't be harmed, as she simply teleports back to {{Hell}} every time you try. You get one opportunity to kill her in Act II, but you can't actually act on it, as it would result in Wyll being DraggedOffToHell due to the terms of his DealWithTheDevil. [[spoiler:To make matters worse, if you do the good ending of Wyll's questline and manage to sever his ties with her, she kills his father out of spite and [[TheThingThatWouldNotLeave continues to hang around your camp as if nothing happened]]. While exceedingly difficult, it ''is'' possible to outsmart her and save Wyll's father, but she makes it clear that she'll simply keep trying once the dust settles.]]

** Averting this is the primary goal of the ''VideoGame/Persona5'' protagonists, who are fed up with adults abusing their power to get away with whatever they want.

* In ''VideoGame/Persona5Strikers'', the main culprit behind the incidents, [[spoiler:Kuon Ichinose]], confesses [[spoiler:her]] crimes to the police, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome and ends up getting released because there's no evidence of the crimes.]] Said culprit ends up becoming TheAtoner, though.

* ''VideoGame/DoubleSwitch'': Elizabeth is very much a KarmaHoudini. Why? Because she took a hefty bribe from mobsters to let them find Brutus, and she had to have known that they were going to murder him, one of her own tenants. She did not try to protect the tenants from a secret society, mobsters, and [[spoiler:Eddie]]. In fact, she actually prevented two tenants from leaving the building when they were trying to escape [[spoiler:Eddie]]. No one chews her out for her actions, not even at the end of the game.

** In the FanGame ''VisualNovel/SuperDanganronpaAnother2'', [[spoiler: MinionWithAnFInEvil Iroha Nijiue was one of the masterminds behind the DeadlyGame, but unlike her associates who were also ForcedIntoVillainy she's far less redeemable due to being a DirtyCoward with a HazyFeelTurn that against all odds managed to become one of the final survivors. In the epilogue she manages to go on the lam with NobleDemon Syobai, escaping any justice for her actions]].

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'':
** In the DS VideoGameRemake of ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIV'', the main villain Psaro slaughters your village just like in the original; and a number of other hideous crimes as well, and that's even before his MoralityChain is killed. Yet you can resurrect said MoralityChain and...return in time? after the end of the game to save his soul from becoming a OneWingedAngel. And then he joins your party to kill the demon who tricked him into declaring genocide on the human race.

** One of the most egregious cases occurs in ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'', where [[spoiler:[[TheDogWasTheMastermind Volo]] reveals himself to be the true culprit behind all the hyperspatial distortions and the rampaging Nobles in Hisui, and is seeking to ''use Giratina to destroy reality so he could recreate it InTheirOwnImage''. Just like Ardos, he clearly has no remorse over it even if you manage to defeat him.]] It says a ''lot'' for a franchise [[spoiler:who usually punishes this type of villain with great prejudice and he somehow ''gets away with everything''. Although it's somewhat of a ForegoneConclusion considering that he's all but stated to be [[IndenticalGrandson Cynthia's ancestor]] and hasn't been shown to have any children yet.]]