History KarmaHoudini / AnimeAndManga

* The 2003 ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'':

* In [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureSteelBallRun Part 7]] of ''Franchise/JoJosBizarreAdventure'', the Stand Ticket to Ride is able to make its user a literal Karma Houdini with Love Train -- while in effect, all misfortune directed at the user is deflected and sent to someone else far away, leaving only good fortune behind. [[BigBad Funny Valentine]] acquires this ability and can use it more effectively thanks to his Stand, [=D4C=].

* Nagi is not only [[DragonInChief arguably the main villain]] of ''Anime/MyHime'' (even though the [[BigBad Obsidian Lord/Prince]] was technically more powerful than him), but is directly responsible for everything the characters go through. He survives unscathed and mostly unconfronted for this, admits to the entire thing being a riotously entertaining good time, and happily ''takes Mashiro'' (one of the supporting characters) ''with him'' to his home... wherever. He then returns in ''Anime/MyOtome'' [[DragonAscendant as the full-on main villain]], a Grand Duke, and causes even more trouble for the heroes. [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty Thankfully he’s finally arrested in the end]], and in the manga [[EvilerThanThou he’s betrayed and killed]] by the ''[[ManBehindTheMan real]]'' villains.

* Taken UpToEleven and through the other side in ''Manga/SeigiNoMikata''. Makiko ''should'' be a VillainProtagonist. She delights in cruel pranks and acts of DisproportionateRetribution. However, Karma seems to be full-on inverted for her. The target of her cruelty always either ends up benefitting in some way, or turns out to be an AssholeVictim who deserves it. She keeps getting civic awards and approbation for being a pillar of the community.

* In ''Manga/BakiTheGrappler'', Baki's ArchnemesisDad, ArrogantKungFuGuy Yujiro Hanma, is a {{sadist}}ic murderer and [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rapist]]. He's also an InvincibleVillain, as he's the UltimateLifeForm who's simply too far above and beyond anyone's ability to punish. [[spoiler:Even at the very end of the series Baki is unable to defeat him, but earns his respect.]]

* Black Organization from ''Manga/CaseClosed'': due to the apparently never-ending [[ArcFatigue Myth Stalling]], Conan never gets to encounter Gin and Vodka in person, while the terrorists keep piling up bodies, killing failures/traitors, and escaping even the most complex of FBI's [[BatmanGambit Batman Gambits]]. That, and nobody knows who or where the mastermind is.

* ''Manga/TongariBooshiNoAtorie'': Agate, early on, sends Coco in a mission she was not ready for and could have gotten hurt or died, but since she comes back without a scratch, nobody holds Agate accountable, not even their mentor and guardian. This is later {{Handwave}}d when Agate tells Coco that she should have told on her to Qifrey, but Coco says that it was a challenge she should have faced.

* In ''Anime/{{Gilgamesh}}'', Dr. Monica and the rest of the original scientists survive to the very end of the series with no one else left alive to exact retribution upon them. Monica killed off many people especially during the Twin X incident. At the end of the series he manages to kill off the main characters and the rest of the human race. What happens to him after the end of the series is unknown. Even if he ceased to exist, which is likely what happened, it's still not karma, because that's exactly what he wanted to happen.

** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamF91'': While DarthVaderClone Karozo "Iron Mask" Ronah is the BigBad and does get his comeuppance, the same cannot be said for Meitzer Ronah. The AffablyEvil head of the Ronah family, Meitzer is a NonActionBigBad who doesn't actually kill anyone with his own two hands, but he did come up with TheSocialDarwinist ideology which demands 90% of mankind be culled and drives Iron Mask to act on his AxCrazy nature. All the blood Iron Mask spills (and he spills a ''lot'' of it) is ultimately on Meitzer's hands, yet he faces no punishment at all by the OVA's end.

* Mykage from ''Anime/AquarionEvol''. Despite killing Jin, Izumo and Alicia and manipulating Kagura and Zessica into doing his evil bidding. He gets trapped in Apollonius/Zen which is what he wanted all along.

* ''Anime/CodeGeass'''s infamous ending is chock full of it. Lelouch decides to pull off the [[ZeroApprovalGambit Zero]] [[ThanatosGambit Requiem]] with Suzaku; he would build himself up as an EvilOverlord, conquer the world, and be such a monster that no one would want to do anything associated with him. Then, after Suzaku (having spent time as his Knight of Zero) fakes the dead, he'll return as "Zero" himself, and assassinate Emperor Lelouch, uniting the world against him and behind Zero. It works. Problem? The only reason this entire plan ended up necessary is thanks to the ''Black Knights betraying'' Lelouch by listening to [[DevilInPlainSight Schneizel]] and tossing him into a KangarooCourt that he only survived thanks to Rolo rescuing him. All of them get off scot-free due to the Zero Requiem placing the blame for everything on Lelouch, and get to lead happier lives for it.

Forgetting the Black Knights, almost none of the Brittanians involved in the military suffer any consequences for their numerous war crimes. Nina designs and encourages the use of the Fleija, a WMD, resulting in the deaths of millions of people. Cornelia kills many Japanese civilians to lure out Zero. These two and many others face no punishment for any of this, and instead get to attend a wedding in the end.

** The resident PsychoForHire Yazan Gable in ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'', notorious for being the most cruel and immoral of the Titans, gets away scott-free even after [[TheHero Kamille]] completely dismantles his Mobile Suit. Although he ''does'' seem to meet his doom in [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ the sequel]], viewers never get to actually ''see'' his demise, which suggests that he may have cheated death once again. Hey, Yazan is not known as [[FanNickname "the Immortal Cockroach"]] for nothing!

* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'': Scar. Despite spending most of the first half of the story on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge, murdering anyone who was a State Alchemist regardless of whether they were present in the civil war that wiped out most of his people or not. His massive body count is conveniently forgotten about by the end.

* Black Organization from ''Manga/DetectiveConan'': due to the apparently never-ending [[ArcFatigue Myth Stalling]], Conan never gets to encounter Gin and Vodka in person, while the terrorists keep piling up bodies, killing failures/traitors, and escaping even the most complex of FBI's [[BatmanGambit Batman Gambits]]. That, and nobody knows who or where the mastermind is.

* An uncountable'''many''' characters in most {{hentai}}. Rare is the sex scene consensual throughout for both parties.

* '''Many''' characters in {{hentai}}. Rare is the sex scene consensual throughout for both parties.

** Take Etsuko Yamanobe, from ''Foxy Nudes''. She's a newscaster covering a hostage crisis, but to get hot ratings, actually manipulates the drunk kidnapper into raping his boss's daughter repeatedly, gives him a gun, tells him it's fake, and when he opens fire, a sniper tries to shoot him and accidentally hits...the hostage. The kidnapper goes to jail while Etsuko goes to have happy sex with her cameraman and enjoy great ratings, and the show treats it like a ''happy ending the entire time.''

* ''Many'' characters in {{hentai}}. Rare is the sex scene consensual throughout for both parties.

* In ''LightNovel/{{Bakemonogatari}}'', during the ''Owarimonogatari'' chapter, we are introduced to [[RotatingProtagonist Sodachi Oikura]], a classmate of [[TheProtagonist Koyomi]] since his first year. A flashback then shows an incident where everyone who attended the study session had scored unusually higher than those who did not attend, causing Sodachi to suspect that someone leaked the exam questions. After Koyomi insists on ending the meeting due to the discussion becoming chaotic, Sodachi decided that they should resolve this incident by having people vote for the person they suspect. However, this backfired, because most of the class voted for Sodachi, causing Sodachi not to come to school anymore and Koyomi to lose faith in friends and relationships in general. [[spoiler: The culprit was eventually revealed to be the homeroom teacher of the class, who has also attended the study session. The homeroom teacher, who turns out to also be a math teacher, wants to raise the average score of her class in order to increase her own reputation.]] As she was directly responsible for the incident and also for voting against Sodachi while knowing that she is innocent, she's basically the reason as to why Koyomi had become an anti-social, sparking the events that lead to Kizumonogatari. As the culprit was never revealed publicly, she got away scot-free and is even leading a happy life.

* ''Manga/BusoRenkin'': Despite being directly responsible for dozens of deaths, and indirectly responsible for many more, Papillon doesn't receive any form of lasting punishment[[note]]he did get killed at one point but he was then brought back to life by his great-grandfather much the same as he was[[/note]]. By the end of the series [[spoiler:he even becomes a beloved urban legend, serves as inspiration for children's toys at fast food restaurants, and is the only person, except for the main character, to be allowed to keep his [[{{Magitek}} kakugane]] due to his character development, despite still showing no remorse for his initial actions]].

* [[EnfantTerrible Monaca Towa]] in ''Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool''. [[spoiler: During her debut in ''VideoGame/DanganronpaAnotherEpisodeUltraDespairGirls'' it's revealed that she provided [[BigBad Junko]] with most of the technology she used to bring about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, and reappears in the anime under the pretense of [[HijackedByGanon finishing what she started]]. However it's then revealed that she was merely a RedHerring, but while she had nothing to do with the new DeadlyGame she ''did'' KillAndReplace an innocent woman [[ForTheEvulz purely for her own amusement]]. She then escapes into space before Komaru and Toko can apprehend her.]]

*** Iznario Fareed, the ArcVillain of Season 1, is ultimately outmaneuvered and exiled by his son. Season 2 reveals [[spoiler:Iznario's history as a pedophile who sexually abused [=McGillis=] for years and also]] that his exile is quite a pleasant one living on a large estate out in the country. He even gets to assist Rustal in taking down [=McGillis=] and Tekkadan.

* [[spoiler:Eiji Touno]] from ''Manga/TheKindaichiCaseFiles'' is probably one of the worst SerialKiller in the series -- barring [[BigBad Yoichi Takato]] -- who cold-bloodedly murdered four innocents [[spoiler:(including Miyuki's cousin)]] simply for sharing the same initials as the guy who let [[spoiler:his [[BrotherSisterIncest sister/girlfriend]], Keiko, die]]. He would have killed 5 others too, if Kindaichi didn't stop him in time. He commits suicide before the police can come to apprehend him, and everyone considers the case closed. A year later, however, he re-appears as [[spoiler:Hikage Miyama]], having survived his suicide attempt, which left him with an IdentityAmnesia. Even though he is the prime suspect of the second case, he is eventually found innocent, and despite Itsuki's misgivings, Kindaichi allows him to live on under his new identity, declaring that [[spoiler:Eiji Tono]] [[ThatManIsDead has already died]] during his first suicide attempt. In other words, the man never really get any repercussions for his crimes.

** Similarly, Yukari always gets away with bullying Chiyo, a 10-13-YEAR OLD GIRL. And nothing is ever said as to whether she got in trouble for hitting Tomo with cafeteria plates. To be fair, though, Tomo hit Yukari first while aiming for Yomi, but teachers are never supposed to retaliate.

*** Iznario Fareed, the ArcVillain of season 1, is ultimately outmaneuvered and exiled by his son. Season 2 reveals [[spoiler:Iznario's history as a pedophile who sexually abused [=McGillis=] for years and also]] that his exile is quite a pleasant one living on a large estate out in the country. He even gets to assist Rustal in taking down [=McGillis=] and Tekkadan.

* In [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureSteelBallRun Part 7]] of ''Franchise/JoJosBizarreAdventure'', the Stand Ticket to Ride is able to make its user a literal Karma Houdini with Love Train - while in effect, all misfortune directed at the user is deflected and sent to someone else far away, leaving only good fortune behind. [[BigBad Funny Valentine]] acquires this ability and can use it more effectively thanks to his Stand, [=D4C=].

* [[spoiler:Eiji Touno]] from ''Manga/TheKindaichiCaseFiles'' is probably one of the worst SerialKiller in the series--barring [[BigBad Yoichi Takato]]--who cold-bloodedly murdered four innocents [[spoiler:(including Miyuki's cousin)]] simply for sharing the same initials as the guy who let [[spoiler:his [[BrotherSisterIncest sister/girlfriend]], Keiko, die]]. He would have killed 5 others too, if Kindaichi didn't stop him in time. He commits suicide before the police can come to apprehend him, and everyone considers the case closed. A year later, however, he re-appears as [[spoiler:Hikage Miyama]], having survived his suicide attempt, which left him with an IdentityAmnesia. Even though he is the prime suspect of the second case, he is eventually found innocent, and despite Itsuki's misgivings, Kindaichi allows him to live on under his new identity, declaring that [[spoiler:Eiji Tono]] [[ThatManIsDead has already died]] during his first suicide attempt. In other words, the man never really get any repercussions for his crimes.

** Several villains, like Wapol and Enel, don't get punished in the long run. Sure, Luffy kicks their asses seven ways to Sunday, but things turn out OK for them in the end anyway. Wapol's life in particular is ''much better'' now than it was during his time as an evil king, without any sort of HeelFaceTurn required. This is also globally the case for the [[AristocratsAreEvil World Nobles]], the biggest assholes in the series, who are so above the law that they can get away with anything (And by anything, we mean, among other things, kill children because their boat ''crossed paths with theirs'', feed little girls Devil Fruits for their own twisted pleasure, own and abuse the fuck out of slaves, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and all around being]] [[UngratefulBastard ungrateful]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking motherfuckers]].)
*** One reason for Enel getting away and accomplishing at least one of his goals (to fly off to Endless Verth on his airship) could be justified as a sort of DeusExitMachina. Being one of the most powerful characters in the ''One Piece'' universe (to the point that the only way he could be beaten was because Luffy's Devil Fruit powers [[ElementalRockPaperScissors just happened to be able to counter his lightning abilities]]) and being in a location where the Marines and their Devil Fruit-cancelling sea prism stones wouldn't be able to reach and capture him, it would've been easier to just let him escape and go far away where the plot can't reach him.

** The CP-9 commit incredibly heinous acts, in particular tormenting Nico Robin mentally and physically, and at the end of the Water 7 arc they appear to get their just deserts with the Straw Hats beating the ever living shit out of them and the assassins stripped of their positions. However, it's later revealed that not only were they never fired but the key perpetrators, Spandam and Rob Lucci, along with Kaku, were actually promoted and appear to be better off now than before they ever crossed the Strawhats' path.

* Sae from ''Manga/PeachGirl''. She does do some make-goods, and she encounters some serious setbacks and heartache, particularly in the manga sequel/spinoff, Sae's Story. But the pain she puts Momo through - at one point threatening to disgrace her on an international level, just so Toji will break up with her, and making Momo believe she's been raped - means that she should have had some kind of beatdown. The classmates she tricks early in the series to hate Momo are ready to hold Momo down and maybe hit her, but no such brutality is even mentioned when Sae is majorly exposed. She doesn't do a complete Houdini, except when the level of her actions is taken into account. Her pain with Ryo was largely self-inflicted, so it really doesn't balance the scales.

** Minor examples are Mr. Iwamoto and Mr. Akashi. Iwamoto steals a bunch of stuff and frames Yusuke for it, while Akashi arranges for Kuwabara to be ''beaten up''. Neither really gets their just deserts.

* ''LightNovel/TheTwelveKingdoms'' has Yuka and Kouya, both of whom are EasilyForgiven.

* The ''Manga/ElfenLied'' anime was CutShort at the 60% mark, so two characters got better fates than they did in the manga.
** In the ending, Kakuzawa is seen laughing maniacally and declaring his victory.
** Lucy is a more ambiguous example. First off, in the manga, Kouta never forgave her for her crimes, while in the anime, Kouta was far more willing to do so; at least, he was more concerned with stopping the killing than placing blame or seeking revenge. Secondly, it's implied she survived her final showdown with the army in the anime, while in the manga, she died by SuperpowerMeltdown.

* Yukari Sahashi from ''Manga/{{Sekirei}}'' rightly earned her title as the "Devil Ashikabi" for violently assaulting and hospitalizing her rivals. However, her violence against even innocent Ashikabi is [[DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale played for laughs]], and no one even remotely calls her on behavior. She escapes the Sekirei Plan with Shiina, only to return to help stop Minaka's plans for good.

*** In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'', Rau's "brother" Mu La Flaga faces no consequences of any kind for the atrocities he committed while [[AmnesiacDissonance suffering from amnesia]] as Neo Roanoke. In this case, it's most likely a combination of the fact that he himself is a victim of LOGOS's brainwashing, and that the crew of the ''Archangel'' know basically nothing about what he was up to before they took him in.