History Main / TargetedToHurtTheHero

** ''ComicBook/DarkAvengers'': Lindy Lee. She was killed by Hawkeye (Bullseye) on orders from Norman Osborn in order to make Sentry release his full potential and successfully attack Asgard in ''ComicBook/{{Seige}}''.

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/{{Superman}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rco001_1462416650.jpg]]]]

** ''ComicBook/BlackestNight'': Gehenna, who was killed in the most horrific manner possible, turned into salt, just to torment her boyfriend. Though this was the point as Ronnie was continuously feeding Black Lantern Firestorm emotions since they were fused together and it ''would'' have happened to anyone else who was fused with Jason to make Firestorm (such as Jason's best friend Mick if he didn't cease to exist during ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', or even Professor Stein).

*** Major Force kills Kyle Rayner's girlfriend Alexandra [=DeWitt=] and leaves her remains [[BodyInABreadbox in the fridge]] for the hero to find, as {{Revenge}} for Kyle getting in his way. This was the TropeNamer for StuffedIntoTheFridge as well as the inspiration for ''Website/WomenInRefrigerators.''
*** Major Force would enact the same tactic a few years later, murdering former Green Lantern Arisia Rrab by [[SinisterSuffocation suffocation]] in order to torment her friend Guy Gardner (who at the time operated as the hero Warrior). However, due to her alien physiology, Arisia did not actually die, but rather entered into a state of dormancy that she later recovered from.
*** John Stewart's wife, Katma Nui, was murdered by Star Sapphire (Carol Ferris). [[KickTheDog To make things even worse]], it was not strictly because she was Stewart's wife - Ferris just wanted to kill a Green Lantern, arrived to Stewart's apartment, recognized Katma Nui as a former GL and literally said "you'll do".
** ''Comicbook/TheFlash'': Barry Allen's archnemesis, Eobard Thawne, goes back in time to kill Barry's mother and to frame his father for it just to torment him.

** ''ComicBook/DarkAvengers'': Lindy Lee. She was killed by Hawkeye (Bullseye) on orders from Norman Osborn in order to make Sentry release his full potential and successfully attack Asgard.

*** ''ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied'': After an unsuccessful attempt at using Aunt May to get to Peter, the Green Goblin killed Gwen Stacy to hurt Peter Parker/Spider-Man. It doesn't end well for him, to the point that the Goblin was actually ''killed'' for a time.

* ''Fanfic/IAmNotDoneMHA'' has [[BarbaricBully Katsuki]] subject Mei to a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown during the Sports Festival after discovering that she's friends with Izuku, as he's pissed off that Izuku is continuing to pursue his dreams of becoming a Pro Hero after [[AnArmAndALeg losing an arm to one of his explosions]].
** This is also PlayedWith in that Mina incorrectly assumes that he beat the shit out of Mei in order to teach ''her'' a lesson, as she'd suggested that his temper was [[PaperTiger all show]]. She's left horrified at the notion that he was willing to nearly ''kill'' a perfect stranger in order to prove her wrong.

** In chapter 359 of the manga, All For One is facing off against the entire cast (minus "Deku" Midoriya, the holder of One For All, who is currently dealing with difficulties elsewhere), and [[spoiler:he singles out Katsuki Bakugo for death, telling him that he's going to kill him not because he's a powerful combatant, but because murdering him will hurt Deku's psyche the most. [[{{Cliffhanger}} He then apparently makes due on his promise a few seconds later]]]].

** Nana Shimura's husband was murdered by [[BigBad All For One]] to spite her, the seventh holder of One For All, for opposing him. This is what convinces her to give her child Kotaro up for adoption while forbidding both All Might and Gran Torino from learning anything about him to keep Kotaro out of All For One's clutches. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, this backfired horribly in the long-term, as Kotaro became physically and emotionally abusive to his own family as a result of his ParentalAbandonment, creating the conditions that would turn her grandson into Tomura Shigaraki.]]

Compare IWillPunishYourFriendForYourFailure, when a villain actively threatens to use this trope, FriendlyTarget, where those close to the hero are the most likely to be hurt, CollateralAngst, a more general case where bad things happening to Character A are primarily important for their effect on Character B, and AndYourLittleDogToo, when a villain threatens to hurt a hero's loved one as a display of evilness. Also compare DeathByOriginStory. Depending on how useful/interesting the character is, and whether their death was abrupt or not, can overlap with DroppedABridgeOnHim. See also RevengeByProxy, when a character goes after a perceived offender's loved one.