History Main / TokenMotivationalNemesis

** Similarly, he first major set piece in the first adventure of the game's second edition, ''Age of Ashes'', is a halfling rogue named Calmont's attempt use a summoned fire elemental to burn down the city hall of the town where the heroes are about to be hired, followed by a quest to track him down and capture him. Aside from being a rebellious former servant of Book One's ArcVillain Voz Lirayne - not even in a [[TheDragon villainous way]], just an apprentice at her book shop - he is not in any way connected to the villains' schemes.
** ''Extinction Curse'' has several. Nemmia Bramblecloak, a [[EcoTerrorist militantly anti-civilization druid]] begins the adventure by [[DeathByOriginStory murdering the circus heroes's ringmaster]] as part of her campaign to drive civilized people from her domain. She, in turn, was corrupted by her EvilMentor and [[DepravedBisexual lover]], the [[HornyDevil succubus]] Balenni. Lastly, the ArcVillain of book two is Mistress Dusklight, the [[BadBoss abusive former employer]] of the founders of the Circus of Wayward Wonders, a group that the game expects to include most if not all of the [=PC=]s, who is now out to sabotage her ex-employees turned business rivals by any means necessary. While Balenni and Dusklight are both aware of and make deals with the campaign's Xulgath antagonists, neither of them are involved in their actual plans.
** ''Gatewalkers'' has a double-layered case - the first villain the adventurers face is Bolan Nogasso, another civilization hating druid, who is plotting to spread the [[FinalSolution elf killing]] obnubilate curse across the entire world to wipe out civilization. He's acting on the orders of the curse's original creator Kaneepo the Slim, a [[TheFairFolk fey]] who wants revenge on the elves for [[SealedEvilInACan sealing them away for thousands of years]], and who later desires to [[VillainTakesAnInterest make the heroes into their heirs]]. Aside from Bolan's status as a fellow Gatewalker - a recipient of the same MassSuperEmpoweringEvent as the heroes [[spoiler: and fellow one time BrainwashedAndCrazy servant of campaign antagonist [[AnimalisticAbomination Osoyo the Blackfrost Whale]], which neither he nor the party will remember until long after Bolan is dead and forgotten]], neither are in any way involved in the campaign's main plot.

In ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}''s Curse of the Crimson Throne adventure path, the characters are brought together by a woman named Zellara because each of them (Zellara included) has been wronged by the small-time crimelord [[TheFagin Gaedren Lamm]] in various ways. Zellara has discovered the location of Lamm's operations, and sends the [=PC=]s to take him out. Invading Lamm's warehouse and killing him is the first set piece of the campaign; as the characters emerge from the hideout, they hear about the event which kicks off the rest of the plot. Lamm himself is quickly forgotten, as it becomes apparent the [=PC=]s have bigger fish to fry.

** For Phoenix himself, Redd White. He kills [[MentorOccupationalHazard Mia Fey]] right after Phoenix's first case, an act that is responsible for many characters' first meetings and the main reason Maya choothe ses to participate in the series at all. Phoenix gets him arrested and everyone promptly forgets he ever existed. Even when the third game introduces a new character whose entire characterization is based around that murder, he barely acknowledges the murderer.

** In ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney'', Jezaille Brett is the motivational villain for protagonist Ryunosuke Naruhodo, who framed him for the murder of John H. Wilson and lead Ryunosuke to [[ClearMyName clear his name in court]]. After she is revealed as the killer, she is arrested and taken by British authority, never seen for the rest of the first game, seemingly able to [[KarmaHoudini get away with her crime]]. [[spoiler:This is later subverted in the sequel, where not only is she the victim of the second case but it's revealed that she was a pawn of a greater conspiracy between the British and Japanese judicial system]].

* Subverted in ''LightNovel/ItsukaTenmaNoKuroUsagi'': Hinata seems to be one for Gekkou, setting up the latter's entire motivation to get to where he is today, only to be killed off at the end of the second episode. Yeah, [[NotQuiteDead not so much]]...

* The first episode of ''[[Series/BlakesSeven Blake's 7]]'' features Dev Tarrant, the undercover Federation agent who arranged the massacre of Blake's original followers and inspires him to become a rebel again by arranging a similar massacre. Despite still being at large and infiltrating the resistance as the episode closes, he is never seen or mentioned again, with the role of Blake's nemesis quickly being assigned to Travis, the officer who actually carried out the original massacre.

* In ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD'', Issei's motivational nemesis is Raynare, his fallen angel [[HoneyPot ex-girlfriend]] who killed him at the end of the first episode, then killed his friend/one-of-several-future love interests Asia three episodes later. He avenges his and Asia's deaths when he punches Raynare through a wall/through a window in the anime. While Rias does kill her after Issei can't bring himself to do it, Issei is left severely traumatized by the ordeal, making it harder for him to accept that someone could love him. The example as a whole is interesting for while Raynare herself doesn't impact Issei's motivations for too long,[[note]]Closest being when her boss, Azazel, becomes a major character and his duty as her superior makes him accountable, but that is quickly dropped for [[{{Realpolitik}} realpolitikal]] reasons, [[EasilyForgiven letting him off the hook]] and eventually becoming TheMentor to Issei[[/note]] she does leave a lasting impact on Issei's CharacterArc as he's forced to come to terms with what she did to him and accept the affections of his club mates.

* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure'':

* In ''Webcomic/{{Necropolis}}'', the plot is kicked off when a gang of bandits ravaging the main character's hometown, killing her father, and burning down her house. She responds by going off to a nearby shop run by a demon and [[DealWithTheDevil making a deal]] for a magic sword. Thanks to said magic sword, she easily kills the bandit leader in the strip after she catches up to them, and then wipes out the rest of the gang of bandits offscreen.

* The Barbarian King for the entire ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' series. He was an warlord who bested Kratos during his early career as an Spartan captain in his backstory and was about to execute him after crushing his army. During a moment of weakness, Kratos ask the help of Ares to save him and in exchange he would be enforcer of his will. That was when things went downhill from there and this escalated to Kratos murdering his mortal and divine family, toppling the Greek Pantheon and nearly destroying humankind. Yet the Barbarian King never appears outside of flashbacks since Kratos killed him shortly after being saved by Ares, though he returns for a brief boss fight as an MonsterFromBeyondTheVeil in the second game where he escapes from Hades and randomly cross paths with his old rival to settle things once and for all, but even then, [[WarGod Ares]] and [[KingOfTheGods Zeus]] top Kratos' list.

** The first ten chapters were written in a way that implied that Kenshiro and Shin were the sole practitioners of ''Hokuto Shinken'' and ''Nanto Seiken'' respectively. The existence of the other Hokuto Brothers and other Nanto Seiken practitioners would not be established a bit later, with ''Nanto Seiken'' simply being an umbrella term for 108 martial arts styles that were developed from a common source rather than just something unique to Shin. Because of this, Shin's specific style of ''Nanto Seiken'' was never given a name in the actual manga, even when he was brought up posthumously. Later guidebooks and spinoff material would establish his style to be ''Koshuken'' or "Lone Eagle Fist" style, following the [[ThemeNaming avian themed naming]] of the styles practiced by the other Nanto grandmasters (Waterfowl, Crimson Crane, White Heron and Phoenix).

** The first ten chapters were written in a way that implied that Kenshiro and Shin were the sole practitioners of ''Hokuto Shinken'' and ''Nanto Seiken'' respectively. The existence of the other Hokuto Brothers and other Nanto Seiken practitioners would not be established a bit later, with ''Nanto Seiken''simply being an umbrella term for 108 martial arts styles that were developed from a common source rather than just something unique to Shin. Because of this, Shin's specific style of ''Nanto Seiken'' was never given a name in the actual manga, even when he was brought up posthumously. Later guidebooks and spinoff material would establish his style to be ''Koshuken'' or "Lone Eagle Fist" style, following the [[ThemeNaming avian themed naming]] of the styles practiced by the other Nanto grandmasters (Waterfowl, Crimson Crane, White Heron and Phoenix).

* Shin, Kenshiro's [[RivalTurnedEvil romantic rival-turned-nemesis]] in ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'', was the one who defeated him in combat, [[ScarsAreForever engraved the seven scars on his chest]], and stole Yuria, the love of his life, away from him, leading Ken to his quest for revenge. Shin then goes on to amass a huge gang and declares war on Kenshiro...until he is defeated by the end of the manga's tenth chapter. The cover of the second Jump Comics volume doesn't even try to hide Shin's literal downfall.
** The first ten chapters were also written in a way that implied that Shin was the sole successor of the ''Nanto Seiken'' style, much in the same way Kenshiro was the sole successor of ''Hokuto Shinken''. Subsequent stories would reveal that ''Nanto Seiken'' is an open style with various sects and practitioners, and that Shin was simply one of the six grandmasters, but his specific brand of ''Nanto Seiken'' is never mentioned in the original manga, not even in the few times when Shin was brought up posthumously. Later guidebooks and spinoff material would establish his style to be ''Koshuken'' or "Lone Eagle Fist" style, following the [[ThemeNaming avian themed naming]] of the styles practiced by the other Nanto grandmasters (Waterfowl, Crimson Crane, White Heron and Phoenix).

** For Phoenix himself, Redd White. He kills [[MentorOccupationalHazard Mia Fey]] right after Phoenix's first case, an act that is responsible for many characters' first meetings and the main reason Maya chooses to participate in the series at all. Phoenix gets him arrested and everyone promptly forgets he ever existed. Even when the third game introduces a new character whose entire characterization is based around that murder, he barely acknowledges the murderer.

* Polnareff in ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'' joined the heroes to avenge his sister, who was raped and murdered by one of Dio's henchmen, J. Geil. Polnareff succeeds less than a quarter of the way through the series, and stays with the protagonists afterward.

[[folder:Film]]

** The TV series did give Shin a bigger role by rearranging the order of events of the first few story arcs, placing the final battle between Kenshiro and Shin a bit later than it had originally occurred. As a result, Shin gets [[MonsterOfTheWeek more henchmen]] besides Mr. Heart and the other three playing card themed thugs who worked for him in the manga and his pining over Yuria is given a bit more focus as well. He also gets one good fight scene in the episode before his battle with Ken.
** The original movie on the other hand, gave Shin even less things to do than what he did in the manga. After defeating Kenshiro, Shin spends almost all of the movie walking around in his castle and giving orders to his lackeys. When Kenshiro finally arrives at Southern Cross to confront Shin, he finds out that Shin has already been defeated by Raoh, his more iconic rival.

** ''ComicBook/Daredevil2003'' replaced him with the Kingpin, doing a routine hit on his way to [[BigBad the top]].

* Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger in ''Film/IronMan1'; he is revealed as the movie progresses to be the one who hired the Ten Rings to kill Tony Stark, thus indirectly causing the incident that changed Stark's vision of life and led him to become Iron Man. Despite this, he doesn't survive the first movie, and is never mentioned again in the second Opus. Ironically enough, this version of him led the character to be promoted in the fans' eyes, and he is made part of the BigBadEnsemble in ''WesternAnimation/IronManArmoredAdventures''.

You've seen it a dozen times since ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' in the 1930s:

* [=Deconstructed=] in ''Film/BatmanBegins''. Joe Chill is killed by a mob hit before Bruce can take his revenge. Being ''denied'' vengeance motivates him to become Batman, with the added bonus of Rachel guilting him into [[DoesNotLikeGuns swearing off guns]]. To an extent Chill is replaced in this regard by Carmine Falcone, the gang lord who ordered Chill's death. However, as soon as Batman has dealt with Falcone halfway through, he only appears once more in prison, as Batman moves on to the far more dangerous Scarecrow and Ra's al Ghul.
* The Creator/TimBurton ''Film/Batman1989'' film turned Jack Napier, the man who would become Joker, into the murderer of Bruce Wayne's parents, presumably to add more chemistry to the Batman/Joker rivalry. However, the Joker got killed in the first film and never appeared in any of Creator/TimBurton's or Creator/JoelSchumacher's sequels, except for a second-long flashback in ''Film/BatmanForever'' where he is played by TheOtherDarrin.

->'''Gamora''': Your wife and child shall rest well knowing that you have avenged them.\\
'''Drax''': Yes. Of course, Ronan was only a puppet. It's really [[GreaterScopeVillain Thanos]] I need to kill.
-->-- ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy''

Due to the often Traumatic nature of the motivating events, '''Spoilers Abound'''. Technically, these could count as {{Late Arrival Spoiler}}s, but since these nemeses tend to become forgotten...

* Joe Chill, the mugger who murdered [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Bruce Wayne's]] parents, is possibly the most well known example of this trope. While Batman's origin story was first shown in ''Detective Comics'' #33 (published November 1939, a few months after his debut), the true identity of the mugger was not revealed until ''Batman'' #47 (June 1948, almost ten years later), where he was unceremoniously killed by his very own henchmen when they learned he was indirectly responsible for the birth of Batman. In the post-''ComicBook/ZeroHourCrisisInTime'' continuity, the [[RunningTheAsylum writers at DC]] made the identity of the mugger unclear, with the rationalization that since Batman never found out his parents' murderer, any criminal he catches might as well be the one who did it. However, the ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'' storyline retconned the mugger's identity back to being Joe Chill. Most retellings keep the incident the same, but rather than a simple burglary gone wrong, Joe Chill was usually working for someone who wanted the Waynes out of the way.
* Dr. Bruce Banner's transformation into ''Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk'' has Igor Drenkov ([[{{Retcon}} then named Igor Starsky]]), who, by inaction during the gamma bomb test left Banner to be bombarded by gamma rays shortly after saving the life of teenager Rick Jones, in an attempt to have him killed and steal secrets of the G-bomb. He got beaten up by the Hulk and arrested for his trouble, but he later informed his handler, [[EvilGenius The Gargoyle]] of the Hulk, who arranged the whole incident, and doesn't survive past the first issue. We don't see Igor again until the [[MilestoneCelebration 30th anniversary issue]], where the Hulk decides to pay him a visit and mete out his own ironic punishment to him by forcing him to relive that day, convinced that despite Igor being an alcoholic, and homeless, that he hasn't suffered nearly enough - the knowledge that he only stayed in jail for 6 months before he returned to the Soviet Union as part of its spy trade deal was icing on the cake. This either doesn't work, or works ''too'' well, as Drenkov was already driven mad by the guilt of being responsible for the Hulk, came to believe that he was in an IronicHell even ''before'' the jade giant came across him again.
** He's AdaptedOut in most adaptations, while in the 2003 ''Film/{{Hulk}}'' Bruce's father and Thunderbolt Ross are responsible for his transformation, directly and indirectly, respectively.
* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':

* Similarly, The Fixer who turned Matt Murdock into ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} dies of a heart-attack by the end of the first issue.
** TheMovie replaced him with the Kingpin, doing a routine hit on his way to [[BigBad the top.]]
** Creator/FrankMiller's re-telling of Daredevil's origin, entitled "The Man Without Fear," has The Fixer ordering the Kingpin (at that point, his main enforcer) to kill Matt Murdock's father. Later in the miniseries, Kingpin takes control by killing the Fixer.
* Marie L'Angelle in ''ComicBook/{{Preacher}}'', Jesse Custer's grandmother who made his childhood a living hell, is introduced in the beginning of the second volume but dies halfway through the book. Her influence, however, radiates on a while longer - [[spoiler:her nephew is Allfather D'aronique]].

* Diamondback served this role to ComicBook/LukeCage. When Luke was still known as Carl Lucas, Diamondback framed him for drug possession and got him sent to prison. There, Carl was experimented and gained his bullet-proof skin, owning his current condition to his enemy. After breaking out of prison and changing his name, he confronted Diamondback hoping to clearing his charges. Unfortunately, Diamondback got killed in his secondary appearance, ruining any chance of Luke clearing his name.

[[folder:Films]]
* Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger in the ''Film/IronMan'' movie; he is revealed as the movie progresses to be the one who hired the Ten Rings to kill Tony Stark, thus indirectly causing the incident that changed Stark's vision of life and led him to become Iron Man. Despite this, he doesn't survive the first movie, and is never mentioned again in the second Opus. Ironically enough, this version of him led the character to be promoted in the fans' eyes, and he is made part of the BigBadEnsemble in ''WesternAnimation/IronManArmoredAdventures''.

* What was left of police officer Alex Murphy after he was brutally murdered by a gang was turned into Franchise/RoboCop. His memory was erased, but key memories resurfaced, including Murphy's murder. Robocop killed Murphy's killers at the end of [[Film/RoboCop1987 the first film]] and they were never mentioned in either of the two sequels, even though [[Film/RoboCop2 the first of those]] explored Robocop's identity or lack thereof and to what extent he is Alex Murphy.
** In the 2014 remake, the crime boss who is responsible for putting a bomb in Murphy's car and mortally wound him is killed halfway through the movie without any fanfare with the movie rapidly switching to another villain in order to have a climatic ending.

* In ''Film/{{Payback}}'' the ConsummateProfessional thief and hardass VillainProtagonist Porter is betrayed by his partner Val after a job they completed together, shot, and left for dead. After a few months of recovering from his wounds, Porter comes back for revenge and his half of the money from the job. Porter shows early on he can get to Val whenever he wants to; he breaks into Val's apartment in the night and surprises Val, despite the fact that the building belongs to TheSyndicate and Val is a low ranking member. Roughly halfway through the movie Porter kills off Val since Val doesn't have his money and can't get ahold of it, and focuses the rest of the film on getting his cash from the Syndicate.

In ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}''s Curse of the Crimson Throne adventure path, the characters are brought together by a woman named Zellara because each of them (Zellara included) has been wronged by the small-time crimelord Gaedren Lamm in various ways. Zellara has discovered the location of Lamm's operations, and sends the [=PC=]s to take him out. Invading Lamm's warehouse and killing him is the first set piece of the campaign; as the characters emerge from the hideout, they hear about the event which kicks off the rest of the plot. Lamm himself is quickly forgotten, as it becomes apparent the [=PC=]s have bigger fish to fry.

* The 1989 Creator/TimBurton ''Film/{{Batman1989}}'' film turned Jack Napier, the man who would become Joker, into the murderer of Bruce Wayne's parents, presumably to add more chemistry to the Batman/Joker rivalry. However, the Joker got killed in the first film and never appeared in any of Creator/TimBurton's or Creator/JoelSchumacher's sequels, except for a second-long flashback in ''Film/BatmanForever'' where he is played by TheOtherDarrin.

* ''Manga/DragonBall'' has Raditz, Son Goku's [[LongLostRelative long lost older brother]] and the StarterVillain of the anime series ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', who reveals Goku his true origins and that he's actually an alien. He dies along with Goku fighting him and Piccolo, and is mentioned as an afterthought in the arc he was introduced in, only getting a bit more characterization in a Frieza Saga anime {{filler}} flashback.

* In ''Film/{{Payback}}'' the ConsummateProfessional thief and hardass VillainProtagonist Porter is betrayed by his partner Val after a job they completed together, shot, and left for dead. After a few months of recovering from his wounds, Porter comes back for revenge and his half of the money from the job. Porter shows early on he can get to Val whenever he wants to; he breaks into Val's apartment in the night and surprises Val, despite the fact that the building belongs to TheSyndicate and Val is a low ranking member. [[spoiler:Roughly halfway through the movie Porter kills off Val since Val doesn't have his money and can't get ahold of it, and focuses the rest of the film on getting his cash from the Syndicate.]]

* Diamondback served this role to [[ComicBook/LukeCageHeroForHire Luke Cage]]. When Luke was still known as Carl Lucas, Diamondback framed him for drug possession and got him sent to prison. There, Carl was experimented and gained his bullet-proof skin, owning his current condition to his enemy. After breaking out of prison and changing his name, he confronted Diamondback hoping to clearing his charges. Unfortunately, Diamondback got killed in his secondary appearance, ruining any chance of Luke clearing his name.

* The 1989 Creator/TimBurton ''Film/{{Batman1989}}'' film turned Jack Napier, the man who would become Joker, into the murderer of Bruce Wayne's parents, presumably to add more chemistry to the Batman/Joker rivalry. However, the Joker got killed in the first film and never appeared in any of Burton's or Schumacher's sequels, except for a second-long flashback in Film/BatmanForever where he is played by TheOtherDarrin.
** Schumacher [[WhatCouldHaveBeen planned to have]] the Joker reappeared as a result of Scarecrow's fear toxin in the planned fifth film, but it never happened.

* Joe Chill, the mugger who murdered [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Bruce Wayne's]] parents, is possibly the most well known example of this trope. While Batman's origin story was first shown in ''Detective Comics'' #33 (published November 1939, a few months after his debut), the true identity of the mugger was not revealed until ''Batman'' #47 (June 1948, almost ten years later), where he was unceremoniously killed by his very own henchmen when they learned he was indirectly responsible for the birth of Batman. In the post-''ComicBook/ZeroHour'' continuity, the [[RunningTheAsylum writers at DC]] made the identity of the mugger unclear, with the rationalization that since Batman never found out his parents' murderer, any criminal he catches might as well be the one who did it. However, the ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'' storyline retconned the mugger's identity back to being Joe Chill. Most retellings keep the incident the same, but rather than a simple burglary gone wrong, Joe Chill was usually working for someone who wanted the Waynes out of the way.

* Magneto did away with his NotSoDifferent nemesis Sebastian Shaw in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', but never mentioned him in the TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture trilogy that preceded it. We're talking about the man who killed Magneto's mother and whose role Magneto assumed after killing him. Of course, the writers of the trilogy couldn't have predicted the future (in fact, Shaw doesn't look very dead, or old enough to have been an adult in TheForties, in his television appearance in X2). [[spoiler:And it doesn't matter, as ''Days of Future Past'' removes the trilogy from existence.]]