History Main / InUniverseCatharsis

-->-- '''The God-Emperor of Mankind''', ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice''

->''[[AC:Do you know what? Given the soul-crushing amount of arbitrary deaths decent people die for no reason [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 in this galaxy]], it is surprisingly refreshing to see it happen first hand to someone who absolutely deserves it.]]''

* Played with on ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' with a FantasticRacist Vulcan who had tormented Sisko with his self-proclaimed superiority since their academy days. The crew was determined to put him in his place once and for all by beating him at a baseball game. [[CurbstompBattle It didn't work]]. But they celebrated as if they had won. It turns out, the best way to get under a petty Vulcan's skin is to be happy for no logical reason.

-->YES! THAT'S HOW IT FEELS!

* ''Fanfic/MastermindRiseOfAnarchy'' deconstructs this with Bakugou: [[spoiler:after losing his best friend, Kirishima, and becoming a social pariah, he decides to become a {{vigilante|man}} as a form of stress relief, beating up random criminals he runs across in increasingly violent ways. This culminates in him attacking a group of robbers stealing from an [=ATM=] and [[RealityEnsues accidentally killing one of them]], partially mistaking him for Kirishima.]]

* ''Fanfic/MastermindRiseOfAnarchy'' deconstructs this with Bakugou: [[spoiler:after losing his best friend, Kirishima, and becoming a social pariah, he decides to become a {{vigilante|man}} as a form of stress relief, beating up random criminals he runs across in increasingly violent ways. This culminates in him attacking a group of robbers stealing from an [=ATM=] and accidentally killing one of them, partially mistaking him for Kirishima.]]

* ''Fanfic/MastermindRiseOfAnarchy'' deconstructs this with Bakugou: [[spoiler:after losing his best friend, Kirishima, and becoming a social pariah, he decides to become a {{vigilante|man}} as a form of stress relief, beating up random criminals he runs across in increasingly violent ways. This culminates in him attacking a group of robbers stealing from an [=ATM=] and accidentally killing one of them, believing him to be Kirishima.]]

* ''Fanfic/MastermindRiseOfAnarchy'' deconstructs this: [[spoiler:after losing his best friend, Kirishima, and becoming a social pariah, Bakugou decides to become a {{vigilante|man}} as a form of stress relief, beating up random criminals he runs across in increasingly violent ways. This culminates in him attacking a group of robbers stealing from an [=ATM=] and accidentally killing one of them, believing him to be Kirishima.]]

* ''Film/ThorRagnarok'': Thor and [[spoiler:Hulk are fighting in an arena]] with Loki looking on. During a quiet moment, Thor attempts [[spoiler:one of Black Widow's "lullaby"s on Hulk, only to get [[MetronomicManMashing yanked off his feet and smashed into the ground repeatedly]] in the exact same manner Loki was in ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}''.]] Loki's reaction?

* In ''FanFic/CatarinaClaesMustDie'', Henrietta Garland recalls her past life of how she enjoyed the ending of ''[[FictionalVideoGame Fortune Lover]]'', particularly the bad ends when [[AlphaBitch Catarina Claes]] is killed gruesomely by either Keith or Geordo, due to [[BullyMagnet being bullied in school]]. The problem is that, after she [[MediaTransmigration transmigrated]] to the world of ''Fortune Lover'', she wants to see the same thing happen to the present-day Catarina, who has become a kindhearted and cheerful girl after regaining her own PastLifeMemories.

* In ''FanFic/HopeOnADistantMountain'', Makoto goes back into the Hope's Peak Academy as seen in a sandbox version of the D-7 simulation, a virtual reality program designed to push students past their emotional limits to test their mettle via [[DeadlyGames Deadly Games]][=.=] He does this in order to better understand the events that happened to him and their effects on his psyche, and fortunately, there are AIs there to explain things to him. [[spoiler: Or unfortunately, given they still want to help Makoto "grow".]]

* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/26654806/chapters/65003890 Catarina Claes MUST DIE!]]'', Henrietta Garland recalls her past life of how she enjoyed the ending of ''Fortune Lover'', particularly the bad ends when [[AlphaBitch Catarina Claes]] is killed gruesomely by either Keith or Geordo, due to being bullied in school. The problem is that she wants to see the same thing happen to the present-day Catarina, who has become a kindhearted and cheerful girl after regaining her past memories.

* ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'': [[spoiler:This is the intended purpose of the train. It appears to isolated individuals who are at the height of their emotional trauma and spirits them away to an alternate dimension where they must travel through various different worlds until they realize their have said emotional issues and work to resolve or come to terms them. A number counts down to how close their are to having that one, final cathartic epiphany about their trauma, at which point a portal opens that returns them to Earth. Well, [[DeathWorld assuming they last that long]].]]

There is also a more serious form of catharsis where psychological ills are healed through ceremony or painful experiences. Basically, usually as a major plot point, a character either seeks or inadvertently goes through an experience that normally only a NightmareFetishist might seek, and it helps them deal with a medical, psychological, etc. condition. [[CatharsisFactor When a story does this for a reader in the real world]], it's YMMV. When it occurs InUniverse, it's less subjective. May take the form of PercussiveTherapy or a CatharticScream.

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'': When the Reds and Blues finally get to beat the tar out of [[spoiler:ManipulativeBastard Felix]], it is ridiculously satisfying, for them and theaudience.

* Creator/AaronAllston's ''Literature/XWingSeries'' novels are full of this. Most notably, [[TheWoobie Myn Donos']] arc in ''Wraith Squadron'' contains at least two, first when [[spoiler:he kills Admiral Trigit, who ordered the ambush that destroyed his previous squadron]], and later when the good guys [[spoiler:receive undeniable evidence that Lara Notsil, Myn's LoveInterest and formerly TheMole before her cover was blown, has genuinely become a ReverseMole on their side.]]

* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/26654806/chapters/65003890 Catarina Claes MUST DIE!]]'', Heriette Garland recalls her past life of how she enjoyed the ending of ''Fortune Lover'', particularly the bad ends when [[AlphaBitch Catarina Claes]] is killed gruesomely by either Keith or Gerald, due to being bullied in school. The problem is that she wants to see the same thing happen to the present-day Catarina, who has become a kindhearted and cheerful girl after regaining her past memories.

* Max's monologue in the normal ending of ''VideoGame/MaxPayne 2'' (concluding with "I had a dream of my wife. She was dead. But it was all right.") suggested that Max underwent a catharsis after [[spoiler:the death of pretty much anyone he ever cared about, including Vlad and Mona]], finally breaking away from the self-destructive path that Michelle and Alex's deaths put him onto. [[SequelReset Part three says otherwise.]]

* ''[[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Harry Dresden]] gets this every so often, but it's ''never'' without consequence.