History AssholeVictim / Literature

** In ''Fool Moon'', a vicious mob hitman nicknamed "Spike" is killed by a werewolf. Even his employer, John Marcone, who otherwise cares for his employees (to one degree or another), doesn't even mention Spike over the course of the book.
** In ''Turn Coat'', Aleron [=LaFortier=], a member of the Wizard's Senior Council, is murdered, and you're not shown anyone mourning for ''him'' either. [=LaFortier=] was shown in an earlier book to want to throw Harry to the vampires, so this might be a case of ProtagonistCenteredMorality, plus the suspected murderer is a member of the White Council meaning most of the Wizards are much more worried about a potential traitor than mourning the dead. Harry is also too busy trying to work out who killed [=LaFortier=] in the first place to worry about much of anything else.

*** [[spoiler:Robert Powell]] is fatally struck in the head with [[MurphysBullet a stray bullet]] when the cops confront Blue Eyes (the ''other'' main antagonist). As by this point [[spoiler:Robert]] had been revealed to be a dreadful person who was just as guilty as Betsy of helping ruin people's lives (perhaps worst of all was [[sppiler:sexually abusing his stepdaughter and driving a friend to suicide after ruining him financially]]) and was in all likelihood going to [[KarmaHoudini get away with it]], no one is sorry he died like he did save for [[spoiler:[[GoldDigger Muriel Craig]] (mostly because she's now lost her MealTicket)]].

*** Robert Powell is fatally struck in the head with [[MurphysBullet a stray bullet]] when the cops confront Blue Eyes (the ''other'' main antagonist). As by this point Robert had been revealed to be a dreadful person who was just as guilty as his wife Betsy of helping ruin people's lives (perhaps worst of all was sexually abusing his stepdaughter and driving a friend to suicide after ruining him financially) and was in all likelihood going to [[KarmaHoudini get away with it]], no one is sorry he died like he did save for [[GoldDigger Muriel Craig]] (mostly because she's now lost her MealTicket).
** ''Literature/TheCinderellaMurder'': After Martin Collins throws him under the bus to cover up his involvement in his crimes, Steve Roman breaks into Martin's house, waits for him to come home and then shoots him twice before [[MurderSuicide turning the gun on himself]]. Martin ends up surviving, just, which means he can go straight to prison for racketeering, child sex abuse and various other crimes. No one is remotely sympathetic about him being shot and in fact, the emergency services being called to his home enabled them to find evidence of his crimes.
** In ''Literature/YouDontOwnMe'', the more we learn about murder victim Martin Bell, the harder it becomes to feel much sympathy for him. Beyond his positive public facade and his parents' rose-tinted view of him, he was controlling, manipulative and egotistical with a dash of misogyny. It's strongly implied he duped his patients into taking a cocktail of painkillers that turned them into "zombies" while touting himself as a miracle worker. He was especially cruel to his long-suffering wife, having no empathy for her mental health struggles, getting her hooked on pills and making her out to be crazy. While his killer doesn't exactly come across as a SympatheticMurderer, Leigh Ann killed Martin because he ''demanded'' she leave her husband for him and become an adoring, docile housewife and stepmother, threatening to tell her husband and the media if she refused. His widow's first response to his murder was relief she was "free" of him and even the family's nanny admits his wife and children are much happier without him around.

*** [[spoiler:Robert Powell]] is fatally struck in the head with [[MurphysBullet a stray bullet]] when the cops confront [[spoiler:Blue Eyes (the ''other'' main antagonist)]]. As by this point Robert had been revealed to be a dreadful person who was just as guilty as his wife Betsy of helping ruin people's lives (perhaps worst of all was sexually abusing his stepdaughter and driving a friend to suicide after ruining him financially) and was in all likelihood going to [[KarmaHoudini get away with it]], no one is sorry he died like he did save for [[GoldDigger Muriel Craig]] (mostly because she's now lost her MealTicket).
** ''Literature/TheCinderellaMurder'': After Martin Collins throws him under the bus to cover up his involvement in his crimes, Steve Roman breaks into Martin's house, waits for him to come home and then shoots him twice before [[MurderSuicide turning the gun on himself]]. Martin ends up surviving, just, which means he can go straight to prison for [[spoiler:racketeering, child sex abuse and various other crimes]]. No one is remotely sympathetic about him being shot and in fact, the emergency services being called to his home enabled them to find evidence of his crimes.
** In ''Literature/YouDontOwnMe'', the more we learn about murder victim Martin Bell, the harder it becomes to feel much sympathy for him. Beyond his positive public facade and his parents' rose-tinted view of him, he was controlling, manipulative and egotistical with a dash of misogyny. [[spoiler:It's strongly implied he duped his patients into taking a cocktail of painkillers that turned them into "zombies" while touting himself as a miracle worker]]. He was especially cruel to his long-suffering wife, having no empathy for her mental health struggles, [[spoiler:getting her hooked on pills]] and making her out to be crazy. While his killer doesn't exactly come across as a SympatheticMurderer, [[spoiler:Leigh Ann killed Martin because he ''demanded'' she leave her husband for him and become an adoring, docile housewife and stepmother, threatening to tell her husband and the media if she refused]]. His widow's first response to his murder was relief she was "free" of him and even the family's nanny admits his wife and children are much happier without him around.

* This trope is used a few times in ''Literature/{[Under Suspicion|Series}}'':

* ''Literature/IveGotYouUnderMySkin'':
** It becomes evident that Betsy Bonner Powell was not a pleasant woman; she was vain, greedy and selfish with a cruel streak, and enjoyed manipulating other people for her own gain. She harmed all the suspects in one way or another, and the only person who appears genuinely heartbroken by her murder is her husband. Everyone else privately thinks that it's not surprising someone whacked Betsy and they're not sorry she's dead.
** [[spoiler:Robert Powell]] is fatally struck in the head with a stray bullet when the cops confront [[spoiler:Blue Eyes (the ''other'' main antagonist)]]. As by this point Robert had been revealed to be a dreadful person who was just as guilty as Betsy of helping ruin people's lives (perhaps worst of all was sexually abusing his stepdaughter and driving a friend to suicide after ruining him financially) and was in all likelihood going to [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty get away with it]], no one is sorry he died like he did save for [[GoldDigger Muriel Craig]] (mostly because she's now lost her MealTicket).

* In ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'', Edward Cullen spent his early vampire years feeding off human murderers, rapists, and other serious criminals before restricting himself to animal blood. This is heinous enough to make him think he's a monster and give him something to angst about but not horrible enough to scare off his love interest Bella or his fangirls.

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* ''Literature/{{Stray}}'': Pufftail speculates that one of the cats rescued at an AnimalTesting facility was [[spoiler:the former cult leader Tom-Cat]]. The cat had [[EyeScream his eyelids removed]] and was forced onto a treadmill in order to test the effects of sleeplessness.

* The novel ''The Absolution'', by Creator/YrsaSigurdardottir'', deals with a serial killer at work in [[UsefulNotes/{{Iceland}} Reykjavik]]. A common theme linking the murders of several school-age teenagers is that they were the ringleaders of school gangs who brutally bullied weaker kids at school, provoking several attempted suicides and one of the victims to end up horribly physically disfigured. Even the police investigating the case agree the kids involved are unpleasant obnoxious little shits, but conclude not even they deserved to die like this.

** In ''Literature/MurderIsEasy'', Harry Carter and Tommy Pierce fit this trope.w

*** He was also more sympathetic in the movie adaptation where his son is seen as an unambiguously depraved, all-grown-up lunatic before he locked him up, rather than [[BitchInSheepsClothing a scared]], [[MaskOfSanity young boy]] who only shows at the end his [[PsychoSupporter real]] [[Sadist nature]].

** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'' starts with the local Muggles' viewpoint of the murder of the Riddle family, for whom no one wastes any breath feeling sorry. That said, they didn't sympathize with the man suspected of the murder either, even though he was never charged. They were very snobbish, abusive, and cruel and their son was very vocal with his elitist sentimentality.

*** He was also more sympathetic in the movie adaptation where his son is seen as an unambiguously depraved, all-grown-up lunatic before he locked him up, rather than a scared, young boy who only shows at the end his real nature.

* Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/{{Friday}}''. Lieutenant Dickey is described as someone who had repeatedly tried to sleep with Friday's friend Janet despite being repeatedly told no, as "slimy", and as having "a size-twelve ego in a size-four soul". About a minute later, the title character kills him as he's trying to arrest one of her friends at gunpoint.

* Usually not seen in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', where posthumous dialogue between victims and Death tends to paint all but the worst villains in a sympathetic light. Used straight with Homicidal Lord Winder from ''Literature/NightWatchDiscworld'', though: a paranoid former Patrician so universally despised that, when an ''undisguised'' assassin walked up to him in the midst of a grand ball, the majority of guests either allowed it to happen or actively distracted Winder's few supporters. Downplayed, because the target's paranoia was so great that the assassin (a young Vetinari) didn't actually have to strike him down; rather, the stress of the confrontation caused the deranged Lord Winder to suffer a fatal heart attack. Although knowing Vetinari, that may well have been the intended method of assassination.

** The two victims in "A Study in Scarlet" (1887) definitely qualify, being murderers themselves as well as rapists, misogynists, hedonists, and religious extremists who, in turn, abandoned said religion ([[AcceptableReligiousTargets Mormonism]]) the second it became inconvenient for them. In this case, the reader is definitely expected to side with the murderer, especially when the second half of the book is devoted to retelling the background in which his girlfriend's father was killed by one of the victims and the other forced her to marry him, leading to what was implied to be her suicide. The one who killed the two victims was arrested but died from a preexisting medical condition before ever standing trial.

* ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'':

** Thrackan Sal-Solo, first introduced in the ''Literature/TheCorellianTrilogy''. A cousin of Han Solo, he bore a strong resemblance to his famous cousin but had none of the honor that his cousin did. Among his crimes were terrorism and murder. Sal-Solo tried on a number of occasions to have his cousin and his family murdered. He was finally killed off by Boba Fett in the ''Literature/LegacyOfTheForce'' book ''Bloodlines''. Following his death, there was no shortage of Corellians wanting to claim credit for killing Sal-Solo, and Han Solo was definitely not in mourning over the death of his cousin.
*** In the novel ''Sacrifice'' very few tears are shed after Ben Skywalker assassinates Thracken's successor Dur Gejjen given how he tried to have Wedge Antilles killed and hired bounty hunters to kill Thracken, but also sets up peace talks with the intent of pulling a ISurrenderSuckers down the road.

Nearly ''everyone'' in ''Literature/{{Carrie}}'' save Sue Snell (who survives). The famous scene where Carrie kills everyone at the prom is supposed to be deliberately horrifying in the book and film, but the effect is [[NightmareRetardant nullified somewhat]] when you are cheering her on. Carrie's date started out this way, but by the time the prom rolled around, he had actually grown to like her. Pity she never found that out...