History AssholeVictim / ComicBooks

* ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'':

* ''ComicBook/{{Shadowland}}'': Comicbook/{{Daredevil}} completely loses his shit and murders Bullseye after dislocating his arms. This was supposed to show that Daredevil was descending into darkness, but [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic it backfired as most people wanted Daredevil to actually kill the man who blew up a block in Hell's Kitchen and gloated over it.]]

* Tommy Monaghan, the titular protagonist of ''Comicbook/{{Hitman}}'', only takes contracts out on those he considers to be "bad" people.
* In the backstory of ''Comicbook/KingdomCome'', [[NinetiesAntiHero Magog]] kills the Joker while he's in police custody. This is '''[[MonsterClown The Joker]]''', and he was arrested because he went on a rampage in the ''Daily Planet'' offices and killed 75 people -- including ComicBook/LoisLane. When Franchise/{{Superman}} protests, the public sides with Magog for this very reason. This kind of mindset is gradually deconstructed, however. The public deciding that it's okay for heroes to kill someone just because people think they're an asshole eventually leads to an entire generation of out-of-control and reckless heroes who don't hold back for anything -- including innocent bystanders.

* In the first ''ComicBook/{{Deadshot}}'' miniseries, Deadshot--at the time a BoxedCrook [[Comicbook/SuicideSquad working for the government]]--went on an unsanctioned spree of torture, maiming, and murder. However, since every one of his victims was complicit in the kidnapping, rape, and murder of Deadshot's young son, neither his boss nor the readers cared all that much.

* ''Comicbook/JohnnyTheHomicidalManiac'':

** ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan'': The bullies that were picking on Anna Marconi for being a little person. Sure what Otto did was DisproportionateRetribution, but those guys were hardly innocents. Same goes for many of the bad guys that Otto has beaten up or killed.

* ''ComicBook/AnimalMan'': The alternate future miniseries ''The Last Days of Animal Man'' ends with the villains Bloodrage and Prismatik crippled for life after Buddy defeats them by infecting them with the bubonic plague and permanently loses his powers before he is able to cure them as a show of mercy. While Buddy is upset that he can't undo what he did to the villains, the fact remains that they deserve their fate for remorselessly threatening countless lives and attempting to extort a fortune of the world by holding the League of Titans hostage.

* [[ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}} Deathstroke's]] bastard [[ComicBook/TeenTitans Titans]] went up against these types of villains on most of their missions, including a crime syndicate that manufactured a highly addictive drug literally made from children, a serial child molester with an hypnotic voice, the man who remorselessly murdered Tattooed Man's son, and the leader of an organization of underground human death matches where the fighters are experimented on and mutilated before they fight. This was on part of writer Eric Wallace's attempt to make the team of self-admitted villains seem better in comparison and thus earn sympathy from the readers. For a variety of reasons, it didn't work and fans hated the Titans just as much as their enemies.

** ''ComicBook/UntoldTalesOfSpiderMan'': [[PlayingWithATrope Played With]]. Sally Avril was a cruel and uncaring [[JerkAss bitch]] who mocked and bullied Peter Parker and was desperate to be famous. When Peter's uncle dies, [[LackOfEmpathy she didn't give a rat's ass, and when she saw her friend Liz Allan talking to him (she was offering him her condolences), she coaxed Liz away rather than offer her own sympathy to Peter]]. Eventually, to become famous, Sally tried to become a superhero and called herself Bluebird, and even tried to blackmail Peter into taking pictures of her superhero identity by threatening to reveal his Spidey photography to the rest of her friends, which forced Peter to announce it himself at school. Sally failed as a superhero because she was not much of a fighter, and her gadgets didn't work most of the time. What causes Sally to quit being Bluebird is that Spider-Man lets thugs beat her as a warning and tells her she can't be a superhero. So Sally decides to try and get famous by becoming a photographer like Peter, only to end up dying in a car crash when she forces Jason Ionello to drive faster than he should to take pictures of a Spider-Man fight. Peter starts blaming himself for Sally's death and acts like she was a good friend whom he failed. It takes the Human Torch to get Peter out of his funk, calling out Sally as a careless thrill seeker who would've probably gotten herself killed much sooner if Spider-Man hadn't held her back. All in all, while Sally's death is sad, she wasn't a nice person, and her own stupidity led to her death.

* From ''ComicBook/DarkTimes'', Dezono Qua.

** ''ComicBook/UntoldTalesOfSpiderMan'': [[PlayingWithATrope Played With]]. Sally Avril was a cruel and uncaring bitch who mocked and bullied Peter Parker and was desperate to be famous. When Peter's uncle dies, she does not care, and when she sees her friend Liz Allan talking to him (she is offering him her condolences), she coaxes Liz away rather than offer her own sympathy to Peter. Eventually, to become famous, Sally tried to become a superhero and called herself Bluebird, and even tried to blackmail Peter into taking pictures of her superhero identity by threatening to reveal his Spidey photography to the rest of her friends, which forced Peter to announce it himself at school. Sally failed as a superhero because she was not much of a fighter, and her gadgets didn't work most of the time. What causes Sally to quit being Bluebird is that Spider-Man lets thugs beat her as a warning and tells her she can't be a superhero. So Sally decides to try and get famous by becoming a photographer like Peter, only to end up dying in a car crash when she forces Jason Ionello to drive faster than he should to take pictures of a Spider-Man fight. Peter starts blaming himself for Sally's death and acts like she was a good friend whom he failed. It takes the Human Torch to get Peter out of his funk, calling out Sally as a careless thrill seeker who would've probably gotten herself killed much sooner if Spider-Man hadn't held her back. All in all, while Sally's death is sad, she wasn't a nice person, and her own stupidity led to her death.

** ''ComicBook/UntoldTalesOfSpiderMan'': [[PlayingWithATrope Played With]]. Sally Avril was a cruel and uncaring jerkass who mocked and bullied Peter Parker and was desperate to be famous. When Peter's uncle dies, she does not care, and when she sees her friend Liz Allan talking to him (she is offering him her condolences), she coaxes Liz away rather than offer her own sympathy to Peter. Eventually, to become famous, Sally tried to become a superhero and called herself Bluebird, and even tried to blackmail Peter into taking pictures of her superhero identity by threatening to reveal his Spidey photography to the rest of her friends, which forced Peter to announce it himself at school. Sally failed as a superhero because she was not much of a fighter, and her gadgets didn't work most of the time. What causes Sally to quit being Bluebird is that Spider-Man lets thugs beat her as a warning and tells her she can't be a superhero. So Sally decides to try and get famous by becoming a photographer like Peter, only to end up dying in a car crash when she forces Jason Ionello to drive faster than he should to take pictures of a Spider-Man fight. Peter starts blaming himself for Sally's death and acts like she was a good friend whom he failed. It takes the Human Torch to get Peter out of his funk, calling out Sally as a careless thrill seeker who would've probably gotten herself killed much sooner if Spider-Man hadn't held her back. All in all, while Sally's death is sad, she wasn't a nice person, and her own stupidity led to her death.

* In the ''ComicBook/{{Shadowland}}'' comic series Comicbook/{{Daredevil}} completely loses his shit and murders Bullseye after dislocating his arms. This was supposed to show that Daredevil was descending into darkness, but [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic it backfired as most people wanted Daredevil to actually kill the man who blew up a block in Hell's Kitchen and gloated over it.]]

* ''ComicBook/BatmanDarkVictory'' involves a CopKiller called the Hangman. Among the victims are the {{Dirty Cop}}s from ''ComicBook/BatmanYearOne'': former commissioner Gillian Loeb, Gordon's former partner Arnold Flass, SWAT Lt. Branden, and SWAT officer Pratt. While Flass and Branden only appear in the mini as corpses, both Loeb and Pratt each get a moment to further cement their asshole behavior before they die: Loeb swings by recently promoted commissioner Gordon's office to gloat about Harvey Dent's transformation into Two-Face and [[Series/Batman1966 Chief O'Hara]] being the first victim of the Hangman (and not-subtly imply he's gunning to get his job as police commissioner back) and Pratt tries to shoot Batman in retaliation for Batman punching him through a wall (which Pratt earned considering he fired at a cat).

* Another deserved victim of the Joker's was Alexander Luthor in ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis''. The man became a FallenHero who directly or indirectly murdered countless people in his quest to find the perfect Earth, either by his own hand or by the work of the Society (like the WretchedHive Bludhaven) or fellow Fallen Hero Superboy-Prime (who ended up killing the Conner Kent Superboy and other heroes, CListFodder or not). While Joker's reasoning is just as petty (Alex refused to let him be on the Society, something our Lex Luthor knew was a bad thing to pull), Lex Luthor leading Joker to Alex and letting him spray him with acid and flash fry him with a powered up joybuzzer before blasting him in the head was seen as a fitting in for most.

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan''

* In the ''ComicBook/{{Shadowland}}'' comic series Comicbook/{{Daredevil}} completely loses his shit and murders Bullseye after dislocating his arms. This was supposed to show that Daredevil was descending into darkness, but [[KickTheSonOfABitch it backfired as most people wanted Daredevil to actually kill the man who blew up a block in Hell's Kitchen and gloated over it.]]

** Jimmy, Johnny's creepy fanboy/admirer, murders several innocent people for no reason other than being like his "hero", Johnny. But without a doubt his worst crime is raping and killing an innocent girl, just because she looks like another who dissed him in school. He's the title character with no sympathetic qualities. When the reader witnesses [[KickTheSonOfABitch his brutal murder at Johnny's hands,]] not a single tear is shed.

* In the backstory of ''Comicbook/KingdomCome'', [[NinetiesAntiHero Magog]] kills the Joker while he's in police custody. This is '''[[MonsterClown The Joker]]''', and he was arrested because he went on a rampage in the ''Daily Planet'' offices and killed 75 people -- including ComicBook/LoisLane. When Franchise/{{Superman}} protests, the public sides with Magog for this very reason. This kind of mindset is gradually deconstructed, however. The public deciding that it's okay for heroes to kill someone just because people think they're an asshole eventually leads to an entire generation of out-of-control and reckless heroes who don't hold back for anything -- including innocent bystanders. [[KickTheSonOfABitch But still...]]

** ''ComicBook/UntoldTalesOfSpiderMan'': [[PlayingWithATrope Played With]]. Sally Avril was something of a {{Jerkass}} who bullied Peter Parker and was desperate to be famous. First she tried to be a superhero and called herself Bluebird, but she wasn't much of a fighter and her gadgets didn't work most of the time. So she decides to try and get famous by becoming a photographer like Peter, only to end up dying in a car crash when she forces Jason Ionello to drive faster than he should. Peter starts blaming himself for Sally's death and acts like she was a good friend whom he failed. It takes the Human Torch to get Peter out of his funk, calling out Sally as a careless thrill seeker who would've probably gotten herself killed much sooner if Spider-Man hadn't held her back. All in all, while Sally's death is sad, she herself wasn't a nice person and it was her own stupidity that led to her death.

** ''ComicBook/UntoldTalesOfSpiderMan'': [[PlayingWithATrope Played With]]. Sally Avril was a deeply unpleasant person. She mocked and bullied Peter Parker, she didn't care about his uncle's death, and when she saw Liz talking to him (she was offering him her condolences) she coaxed Liz away rather than offer her own sympathy to Peter. She even tried to blackmail Peter when she became the superhero Bluebird to take her pictures. But when she died in a car accident trying to take pictures of a Spider-Man fight, Peter acted like he lost a good friend and wonderful person in his life. However, Peter acting like Sally was a good person could be seen as him feeling guilty that he did not save her. Talking with Johnny Storm, who told him that Sally's death was her own fault, allowed Peter to let go of the guilt he had for her death.

* ''ComicBook/{{Sword}}:'' At the end of the series, [[spoiler:Henry Gyrich]], who for years has generally been a KarmaHoudini for pretty much anything they've done, gets spaced. The killer makes a note to act more irritated than sad, because nobody who knows either of them would believe they actually were sad. Come ''ComicBook/XMenRed2022'' it's an OpenSecret that it wasn't suicide, but when called on it the killer just shrugs and goes "so what if I did? Is anyone here going to say it was ''wrong?''" Despite one or two people looking uncertain, no-one actually objects.

** Years before he became the Hulk, Bruce Banner killed his own father, ''mostly'' by accident. The shock and horror of this caused Bruce to forget the entire event, burying it in his memories for years, and he ran off into the night, until he came too the next day and called the police. Fortunately, the rain covered up any evidence of what'd happened, and the police knew what kind of person Brian Banner had been like (he'd just been released from a mental asylum where he'd been sent for '''bragging''' about murdering his wife), so they didn't feel the need to investigate too hard.

* As another Joker example, ''[[ComicBook/BatmanVampire Batman: Bloodstorm]]'' sees him become the leader of a group of vampires after the death of Dracula leaves the other bloodsuckers basically incapable of planning any further than their next meal. He single-handedly helps them take control of all of Gotham's major crime families, only to be stopped when the now-vampire Batman's daylight allies stake his followers during the day and the last few are dealt with by Batman himself. After Joker kills Selina Kyle, the were-cat-woman who was the only person able to help Batman control his thirst for blood, the Dark Knight finally loses his self-control, slapping the Joker so hard that he breaks the clown's neck and then drinks his blood. This is regarded by Batman himself as the moment he crossed the MoralEventHorizon- made even more explicit as he loses his immunity to crucifixes when he first drinks blood- but literally nobody is actually going to mourn the Joker's death after everything he's done up to this point.

* ComicBook/{{X 23}}:

* Most people who get beat up by [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk The Hulk]] usually have it coming. Bruce Banner just can't stop running into assholes who go out of their way to make the poor guy mad.

* ''ComicBook/IncredibleHulk:'' Years before he became the Hulk, Bruce Banner killed his own father, ''mostly'' by accident. The shock and horror of this caused Bruce to forget the entire event, burying it in his memories for years, and he ran off into the night, until he came too the next day and called the police. Fortunately, the rain covered up any evidence of what'd happened, and the police knew what kind of person Brian Banner had been like (he'd just been released from a mental asylum where he'd been sent for '''bragging''' about murdering his wife), so they didn't feel the need to investigate too hard.