History Main / TheFarmerAndTheViper

* The novelized fanwork ''Fanfic/TheMythOfLinkAndZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' at one point has Paya and Link traveling together through the Blatchery Plain, and they rescue a woman from a Bokoblin attack, but they're too late to save the man she's with, implied to be her husband. [[spoiler: Paya realizes too late that the wounds on the dead man are from a slit throat, not from being clubbed to death. The woman they saved is actually a Yiga Clan Footsoldier, and she quickly attempts to kill Link and Paya. Link puts a stop to that very quickly, but that betrayal really leaves an impact on Paya.]]

* {{Discussed}} in ''Fanfic/MyLittleBalladeer'': Twilight notes that Thorne could have earned the wealth and renown he desires [[CutLexLuthorACheck through his knowledge and skills]], wondering why he's so keen on doing terrible things. Applejack replies that "For some skunks, it's just plain fun ta get what they want by hurtin' somepony else."

* In ''Fanfic/ACureForLove'', after having [[spoiler:Watari]] killed, [[Manga/DeathNote Light]] feels a bit uncomfortable later when he remembers how [[spoiler:Watari]] saved his life.

** This also applies to his relationship with All Might. While Katsuki doesn't make the best first impression upon Toshinori, especially when he [[{{Blackmail}} threatens to reveal his secret]] unless he lets him join their training sessions at the beach, he still sincerely tries to teach him what it truly means to be a hero. But Katsuki repays his efforts with MaliciousSlander, trying to convince Inko that Toshinori's a predator abusing her son so that he can have All Might all to himself.

* In ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/234217/sympathy-for-the-siren Sympathy for the Siren]]'', Fluttershy finds Sonata Dusk alone and helpless in an alleyway, feels sorry for her and gives her a home, and befriends her. But when she goes to sleep, she wakes to find Sonata gone. Where'd she go? [[spoiler:Well, it turns out that this was just her plan to get the Dazzlings' powers back using the ritual sacrifice of Fluttershy's animal friends, and she also plans on making Fluttershy her pet. [[TheBadGuyWins She succeeds, too.]]]]

* ''Fanfic/BoundlessWorldOfDanmaku'': Wildcard [[InvokedTrope invokes]] this when she tries to induct Darius. [[spoiler:It works.]]

[[quoteright:350:[[Literature/AesopsFables https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/serpens_griset12.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[ComicallyMissingThePoint Perhaps they want a pet snake?]][[note]] An illustration of La Fontaine's fable by Ernest Griset[[/note]]]]

(Also, at risk of pointing out the obvious, don't take Aesop's Fables as a good guide to real-life snakes, who do not run around envenomating people out of a general desire to do evil. Venom is precious and expensive, so real snakes save it for protection or their next meal.)

* ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon'': In order to cross a lake, Senshi befriends a Kelpie which seems to allow him to cross the lake on its back. Although he's convinced it's entirely friendly, his final time the Kelpie decides for seemingly no reason to shove him under and try to kill him. After he's rescue and Laios kills the Kelpie, he's devastated, having genuinely thought of it as a friend. As a final act of kindness, he chooses to eat the Kelpie's flesh rather than let it go to waste.

* DeliciousInDungeon: In order to cross a lake, Senshi befriends a Kelpie which seems to allow him to cross the lake on its back. Although he's convinced it's entirely friendly, his final time the Kelpie decides for seemingly no reason to shove him under and try to kill him. After he's rescue and Laios kills the Kelpie, he's devastated, having genuinely thought of it as a friend. As a final act of kindness, he chooses to eat the Kelpie's flesh rather than let it go to waste.

* ''Manga/FrierenBeyondJourneysEnd'': Frieren is about to execute a demon who ate a couple's daughter, but the village chief steps in and offers to help reform her. Himmel pledges his support of the decision, with Frieren reluctantly going along with it at Himmel's request (but still keeping an eye on her). [[HopeSpot It initially seems like the demon has made good progress in bonding with the chief and his daughter...]] and the next time we see the chief, he's lying on the ground dead, his house is on fire, and his daughter is taken hostage by the demon they took in. The demon mocks the townspeople and the heroes for not killing her despite actively wanting her dead, and, to twist the knife further, [[KickTheDog she offers the couple whose child she ate as a "replacement" for their daughter]]. This enrages Himmel and Freiren enough to immediately take action, with the former rescuing the chief's daughter and the latter dealing the killing blow to the demon.

* ''Manga/FrierenBeyondJourneysEnd'': Frieren is about to execute a demon who ate a couple's daughter, but the village chief steps in and offers to help reform her. Himmel pledges his support of the decision, with Frieren reluctantly going along with it at Himmel's request (but still keeping an eye on her). [[HopeSpot It initially seems like the demon has made good progress in bonding with the chief and his daughter...]] and the next time we see the chief, he's lying on the ground dead, his house is on fire, and his daughter is taken hostage by the demon they took in. The demon mocks the townspeople and the heroes for not killing her despite actively wanting her dead, and, to twist the knife further, [[KickTheDog she offers the couple whose child she ate as a "replacement" for their daughter]]. This enrages Himmel and Freiren enough to kill the demon right then and there, with the former rescuing the cheif's daughter and the latter dealing the killing blow.

* ''Manga/FrierenBeyondJourneysEnd'': Frieren is about to execute a demon who ate a couple's daughter, but the village chief steps in and offers to help reform her. Himmel pledges his support of the decision, with Frieren reluctantly going along with it at Himmel's request (but still keeping an eye on her). [[HopeSpot It initially seems like the demon has made good progress in bonding with the chief and his daughter...]] and the next time we see the chief, he's lying on the ground dead, his house is on fire, and his daughter is taken hostage by the demon they took in. The demon mocks the townspeople and the heroes for not killing her back then, and, to twist the knife further, [[KickTheDog she offers the couple whose child she ate as a "replacement" for their daughter]]. This enrages Himmel and Freiren enough to kill the demon right then and there, with the former rescuing the cheif's daughter and the latter dealing the killing blow.

* Manga/FrierenBeyondJourneysEnd'': Frieren is about to execute a demon who ate a couple's daughter, but the village chief steps in and offers to help reform her. Himmel pledges his support of the decision, with Frieren reluctantly going along with it at Himmel's request (but still keeping an eye on her). [[HopeSpot It initially seems like the demon has made good progress in bonding with the chief and his daughter...]] and the next time we see the chief, he's lying on the ground dead, his house is on fire, and his daughter is taken hostage by the demon they took in. The demon mocks the townspeople and the heroes for not killing her back then, and, to twist the knife further, [[KickTheDog she offers the couple whose child she ate as a "replacement" for their daughter]]. This enrages Himmel and Freiren enough to kill the demon right then and there, with the former rescuing the cheif's daughter and the latter dealing the killing blow.

(Also, at risk of pointing out the obvious, don't take Aesop's Fables as a good guide to real-life snakes, who do not run around envenomating people out of a general desire to do evil. Venom is precious and expensive, so real snakes save it for if they think they're really under threat.)

** Another one involving bandits- there's a cave to the north where a bandit group was slaughtered by hagravens. They captured one- but if he is freed, he tries to kill you.

* In a ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' Detective comics storyline, the Joker gets hit by a truck after trying to kill Robin. He gets taken in by a magician who came to Gotham to study its "fascinating" criminal element. The Joker repays his kindness by teaching him some tricks of the trade. Then the Joker garrotes him and [[spoiler:steals his identity to facilitate (oddly enough) a BatmanGambit to get Batman into one of his more clever deathtraps, not that it works. It's the Goddamned Batman]]. The Joker even refers to the "Farmer and the Viper" story while recapping his scheme to Batman.

** In Creator/DonRosa's ''ComicBook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcduck'', Scrooge encounters an unnamed South Afrikaner ([[spoiler:who later turns out to be a younger Flintheart Glomgold]]) after the mining camp he had been a part of left him for dead for his numerous acts of thievery by tying him to a water buffalo. Scrooge saves his life and even shares his camp with him. The Afrikaner repays him by stealing all his supplies in the middle of the night and leaves him stranded in the wastelands. It's even lampshaded with Scrooge calling the Afrikaner a viper; he had experience dealing with unapologetic crooks, but this kind of betrayal genuinely infuriated him.

* The idea of ThePowerOfLove failing to redeem is featured in ''ComicBook/JohnnyTheHomicidalManiac'', when [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter Devi]] asks [[AxCrazy Johnny]] on a date. All seems to be going well at first until Johnny realises that he's found someone who actually makes him feel happy. He then [[spoiler:tries to murder her, the one person who ever showed him any kindness]] in order to "immortalise the moment." This goes to show how completely fucked up his mind is, as well as kill the idea of any more romance in the series. [[spoiler:Devi gets away though.]]
* ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor:'' No matter how many times Thor tries to reach out to or forgive Loki, sooner or later Loki will stab him in the back. Or at least until the 00s, where Loki's character shifts so he's no longer out to deliberately hurt Thor. Loki does it again in ''ComicBook/JourneyIntoMystery'', going so far as to lampshade it. [[spoiler:While he keeps reassuring Thor of his good intentions, reciting him the first verses of ''The Scorpion and the Frog'', he still betrays him while telling "I'm no scorpion... for I am Loki!"]]

* ''ComicBook/Robin1993'': Tim tries to give Damian a second chance after their first meeting consists of Damian trying to blow him up and, though he never truly gives Damian his trust, Damian never truly stops trying to kill him, continuing sabotaging his equipment in potentially fatal ways long after he's mostly adapted to life outside the League of Assassins. Jason, on the other hand, betrays Tim thoroughly. After Tim helps Jason escape from Arkham and gives him access to the Batcave to view his portion of Bruce’s video will Jason seems to be ready to uphold their unspoken truce but later has a complete breakdown over the message Bruce left him and nearly succeeds in killing Tim.

** Snively switches sides between the Freedom Fighters and Robotnik/Eggman frequently, usually for his own safety and benefit. It had gotten to the point where his sister, Hope, disowns him when his use of the trope leads to Knothole destroyed and nearly led to the Freedom Fighters killed.
** The original Freedom Fighters group that fought Robotnik prior to the modern heroes were betrayed by one of their own: a Mobian snake named Trey Scales. His excuse for turning on them was that it was "totally in his nature" to be a traitor due to being a snake. However, Trey failed to take into account that backstabbing was Robotnik's nature as well and [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves he was roboticized alongside his former comrades.]]
* A recurring theme throughout ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW'' is that Sonic's tendency to be kind towards his enemies often has long term consequences. His insistence on showing mercy to Eggman and Metal Sonic led to the Metal Virus nearly destroying the world. When he and Tails decided to send the Deadly Six back to their home planet rather than punish them for their crimes, their leader Zavok mocked them by promising that he would repay Sonic's compassion with violence and misery. Sonic is occasionally shown to be more than somewhat troubled by this and he has been repeatedly criticized by his friends for his leniency, but he also refuses to comprise his morals out of fear.

* ''ComicBook/UsagiYojimbo'' also makes use of the "Farmer and the Viper" story when a hapless fisherman rescues [[AxCrazy Jei-san]] [[spoiler:after the latter was stabbed in the stomach and tossed off a cliff into a raging river]] and fails to notice Jei's MilkyWhiteEyes, [[VoiceOfTheLegion ominous voice]], and [[EvilIsDeathlyCold the mysterious chill]] that follows him. Jei even tells the story to the fisherman [[spoiler:right before Jei kills him with his bare hands]].

* In the ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' and ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' crossover ''Fanfic/AceOfSpades'', [[AxCrazy Harry]] becomes obsessed with Jim Gorden due to how he [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe treated him nicely]] while he was in Arkham. Later, Jim [[spoiler:adopts Harry into his family]], and is rewarded for the gesture by Harry [[spoiler:and his son Jimmy working with the Joker to murder Jim's wife and daughter]].
* ''Fanfic/AvatarLegendOfDiamondTiara'': Twilight forgives Trixie for everything she's done, offering her a chance at redemption. Trixie's response is to strike while Twilight's guard is down, then mock her as she [[spoiler:lies dying before her]].
* The novelized fanwork ''Fanfic/TheMythOfLinkAndZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' at one point has Paya and Link traveling together through the Blatchery Plain, and they rescue a woman from a Bokoblin attack, but they're too late to save the man she's with, implied to be her husband. [[spoiler:Paya realizes too late that the wounds on the dead man are from a slit throat, not from being clubbed to death. The woman they saved is actually a Yiga Clan Footsoldier, and she quickly attempts to kill Link and Paya. Link puts a stop to that very quickly, but that betrayal really leaves an impact on Paya.]]

* ''Fanfic/HarryPotterAndTheMysticForce'': When he turns upon Harry [[spoiler:in the Dark Wish world]], Voldemort simply says "Frog and the Scorpion," implicitly chiding Harry for being willing to trust him in the first place.

* "Literature/TheDeathOfKoscheiTheDeathless": Ivan finds the evil sorcerer Koschei trapped in a dungeon and begging for some water. Ivan takes pity on him and gives him three buckets of water, whereupon Koschei becomes completely recovered, snaps his chains and kidnaps Ivan's wife.

* ''WesternAnimation/DoctorDeSoto'': The titular mouse dentist takes a chance to treat a fox's toothache when the fox begs him for help, and the very grateful fox [[SapientEatSapient plans to eat him anyway]]. Dr. [=DeSoto=] finishes the job [[ConsummateProfessional out of professional pride]] and survives by [[spoiler:gluing the fox's mouth shut on the way out, having no illusions about the fox's intentions]].

* ''Film/TheCryingGame'': When a British soldier is taken hostage by an Irish Republican Army terrorists, he tells his guard the story of the Scorpion and the Frog, using it in reverse to suggest that his guard is not a killer and cannot escape his nature as a ''good'' man.

** In [[Film/Halloween2007 the 2007 remake]], when Michael escapes the institution, the only security guard who showed him compassion and kindness throughout his fifteen-year incarceration is given an extremely brutal and over the top murder: tossed around like a ragdoll, head dunked in sink four times, and finally head squashed by thrown TV. In contrast, the other guards, most of whom bullied and demeaned him, are typically stabbed or [[NeckSnap neck snapped]].
* A ZigZaggingTrope in the 2000 live-action adaptation of ''Film/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas''. Here, the Grinch is [[FantasticRacism a green-furred baby who is persecuted throughout his childhood]] and finally driven out of Whoville and up to the isolation of Mount Crumpet, where he grows to maturity. Cindy Lou Who becomes convinced that the Grinch is not completely evil and urges the townspeople to include him in their Christmas festivities. But not only are the Whos unreceptive to this idea at first, but the Grinch himself has become so misanthropic that he does not ''want'' to be treated kindly anymore. Cindy at length gets both sides to change their minds, and the Grinch is made the guest of honor at the Whoville Christmas festival - a position he does not enjoy. Even so, the Whos shower him with kindness and the Grinch grudgingly plays along... until the time of the gift exchange comes and he is awarded a "gag gift" of a razor - an object that was a TraumaButton for him because as a boy he had been mocked by the other children for his green whiskers, and when he tried to shave them off he succeeded only in cutting himself and getting mocked for ''that'' (led by the very person who would later gift him the razor, no less); this was the final injustice that drove the Grinch to flee from civilization. His temper boiling over, the Grinch [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech lectures all the Whos about their hypocritical attitude toward Christmas]] before setting fire to the Christmas tree in the town square and fleeing the scene. But when he discovers that the Whos had a spare tree to continue the festivities, he becomes even more filled with hatred and finally embarks on his mission to steal all the townspeople's presents.

* The British humor film ''Film/KeepingMum'' has what might be considered a (on the whole) well-meaning (though definitely not good) snake. Grace, the new housekeeper (who happens to be an elderly released murderess) becomes genuinely grateful that the family she has moved in with is happy and grateful she's come, particularly Walter (aka. Mr. Bean). Compounded with her [[spoiler:being Gloria's mother]], she decides to help the family and goes about being a decidedly murderous Mary Poppins to the Goodfellow family. First killing a dog that kept Gloria up, then the owner when he snooped, and finally Gloria's peeping tom paramour because he was causing Gloria to destabilize the family. All in all, she did the family a world of good, however [[spoiler:she may well have unlocked her daughter's murderous side]].

** Aunt May convinces Peter to not go through with sending the supervillains back home without curing them, which would condemn them to die, after she meets Norman Osborn. [[spoiler:Green Goblin(admittedly distinct from Norman) thanks her by killing her in order to drive Peter to villainy.]]
** [[spoiler:Raimi-verse Peter saves Green Goblin's life by stopping an enraged MCU Peter from impaling him on his own glider. Green Goblin immediately and literally stabs him in the back.]]

* ''Film/SupermanII'': Near the end, Superman asks Lex Luthor to help him trick Zod, Ursa, and Nod into depowering themselves by getting him into a chamber that would take away their powers. Lex ''immediately'' informs Zod to get back into his good graces, despite Zod having turned on him earlier, and Zod promises to give him the ShinyNewAustralia he was asking for all along, Superman is forced into the chamber instead. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for Lex and Zod, Superman ''counted'' on Lex doing exactly that, [[BatmanGambit knowing]] that Lex was a SmugSnake with ChronicBackstabbingDisorder who couldn't help himself, and had rigged the chamber so that it worked in reverse- Superman was protected while ''inside'' the chamber, but Zod and his minions lost their powers because they ''weren't'', leaving Superman the only one with powers again.]]

* ''Film/TrueLegend2010'': The movie's BigBad is the adoptive half-brother of TheHero but was treated with love and respect by the adoptive father like a biological son. When TheHero has a chance of promotion, he relinquishes his position as governor for his half-brother to make amends for their fathers' wars in the past. Refusing to let go of a grudge, he proceeds to kill his adoptive father, arrange for his adoptive family to be massacred and tried to kill TheHero for daring to show any compassion towards him.
* ''Film/WarForThePlanetOfTheApes'': Caesar spares a small group of the Colonel's soldiers early in the film in a bid for peace. Not only is there no attempt at peace, [[spoiler:one of the soldiers he spared ends up shooting him in the final battle, which ultimately proves to be a fatal injury]].

** It's revealed that a case of this is what turned the Yeerks into the {{Galactic Conqueror}}s they are. On an expedition to the Yeerk homeworld, the Andalite Prince Seerow felt sorry for the Yeerks, who were fully sentient, but limited by the need for their hosts and Kandrona rays. Thus, he gave them access to Andalite technology and taught them writing, science, astronomy, and even how to build their own portable Kandrona generators. The Yeerks thanked Seerow by betraying him, escaping into space, and enslaving multiple races and civilizations to use as host bodies. It's because of this that the Andalites created a law, aptly titled "Seerow's Kindness," that expressly forbade any Andalite from sharing their technology and secrets with non-Andalites.
** Of course, the series takes the view that the Andalites learned the wrong lesson from Seerow's mistake. The Animorphs are only able to fight back against the Yeerks because an Andalite illegally gave them morphing technology, the Hork-bajir could have been protected from the Yeerks if the Andalites were more willing to arm them, and [[spoiler:the Taxxons are ultimately convinced to turn on the Yeerks by giving them morphing technology -- a deal that the Andalites almost ruin by rejecting it out of hand. To some extent this even occurs with some of the Yeerks themselves, as Cassie letting them acquire the morphing cube causes many Yeerks to desert the army as they no longer need to capture hosts when they can morph a body of their own.]]

* ''Literature/TheCalfOfTheNovemberCloud'': Konyek and Parmet are taking care of their families' cattle when the herd is attacked by a lion. Konyek attempts to protect his father's animals whereas his cousin runs away. Later, when telling their family the incident, Konyek leaves Parmet's cowardice out, despite knowing that his cousin hates him, since he doesn't wish Parmet be humiliated and mocked by their tribe. Even so, Parmet kept hating Konyek, and he abandoned his cousin the next time that Konyek was badly injured while protecting his livestock.

* Discussed in the novel ''Literature/{{Hannibal}}''. Barney, Hannibal Lecter's primary handler during his incarceration at the asylum, defies any notion that he fraternized with Lecter. According to Barney, Lecter is ''nobody's'' friend. Lecter was civil with Barney, genuinely thanked him for treating him decently, and sent him a generous tip after his escape. Despite that, Barney had no delusions regarding Lecter's nature--at the end of the book, when he spots Lecter and [[spoiler: Starling]] at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, he hauls ass out of town ''that very same night'', knowing full well that Lecter wouldn't hesitate to kill him in order to ensure his freedom. Jack Crawford gives Clarice Starling a similar warning after Lecter's escape. In the end, Clarice decides to rescue Lecter from being tortured to death and in return Lecter [[spoiler:brainwashes her with hypnosis and drugs in an attempt to reprogram her with the personality of his dead sister. Clarice is able to resist total LossOfIdentity but still ends up with memories removed and a radical change in personality]].

* ''Literature/MarketOfMonsters'' starts with Nita deciding to risk her mother's wrath and free her captive Fabricio rather than let her mother slowly kill him and sell his body parts on the titular market. She gets him out of the house, gives him her phone, and puts him on a bus to safety. [[spoiler:Fabricio uses her phone to out her as an unnatural and sell her location to black market traffickers, leading to her capture and a living nightmare that lasts almost the entire first book.]]

** Jean Valjean is taken in by the priest when no one else will after being paroled following nineteen terrible years in prison. Valjean assaults the priest and steals his silver in the night, but while escaping, he is caught by the police as a suspicious character. The priest tells the police that he gave Valjean the silver, and lets him go. This second act of kindness actually ''changes'' Valjean's nature, as he strives to be good in return for this following act of compassion. It's shown that [[HadToComeToPrisonToBeACrook being put in prison had thoroughly corrupted him in the first place]]. His crime was stealing bread to feed his sister's children, for which he got five years, with the sentence extended for every time he escaped.

** Veil Sixclaw repaid the Abbeydwellers for saving him by attempting to poison one of them. Then again, they may have saved his life but even before he attempted to kill them they always treated him as if he was going to anyway. His foster-mother Bryony, the only one who trusted him, considered this as a FreudianExcuse, but it didn't help. Worse yet, even at the end of the book [[spoiler:and his life]], he himself feels like he is evil or just born bad, even though he [[HeroicSacrifice saved Bryony, sacrificing himself to do that]]. It's also notable for being one of the few books where Redwallians are portrayed in a less-than-sterling light. They're good in themselves here, but their actions toward Veil are ambiguous at best, just as he is ambiguously good or evil. Bryony also seems very uncertain about him even afterward, and both seem to think she should have let him go long before.
** This trope also applies to Chickenhound of ''Redwall'', who is kindly taken in by the Abbeydwellers after they find him lying muddy, bloody, and unconscious in the middle of the road. He repays the gesture by stealing a bunch of random trinkets and [[spoiler:killing Methuselah]], although in his defense the latter was mostly an accident. About the only thing he ''does'' do that's him being nice to the Redwallers is tell them about [[spoiler:Cluny's plans to tunnel into the Abbey]], which turns out to be incredibly useful, but wasn't [[ItsPersonal entirely altruistic on his part]].
** Any vermin Redwallers ever take in or help fit this trope. ''Salamandastron'' has Dingeye and Thura, who eventually [[spoiler:kill Brother Hal]] and then flee the Abbey, stealing [[SpiritAdvisor Martin the Warrior's]] sword and infecting the place with Dryditch Fever in the process. [[spoiler:Hal's death]] was accidental and the Dryditch Fever was inadvertent, but the sword stealing was their decision, albeit while in a state of panic. The ''Bellmaker'' has the Redwallers take in two wandering corsairs, a captain and his MinionWithAnFInEvil. The captain ends up [[spoiler:killing Mother Mellus]] and stealing a trophy cup, but the trope is inverted when the minion ends up [[spoiler:[[TheDogBitesBack killing ''him'']] and returning the cup to the Redwallers, whereupon he becomes a good friend of theirs and is allowed back to the Abbey for visits.]]

** A young Catelyn Tully saved her friend and admirer Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish from being killed by Brandon Stark in a duel for her hand. Years later he would repay her by betraying her husband Ned Stark and cause his death as well as her own. It is however implied her plea for Littlefinger's life came off as belittling to his character.
** House Hollard was all but wiped out by The Mad King had it not been for Ser Barristan Selmy's plea to spare a young Dontos. Years later Dontos would help Sansa Stark escape to the Vale, only to be killed by Petyr Baelish who said he was going to sell her out to the Lannisters once the money to pay him off had been spent.
** The Tyrells had been opponents of the Baratheons during Robert's Rebellion but bent the knee when the Targaryens fell. They weren't punished (but they weren't allowed at court) and Renly was even fostered at Highgarden. They repaid the Baratheons by corrupting Renly into trying to take the throne, leading to his death. They then allied with the Lannisters to defeat Stannis Baratheon at Blackwater Bay.
** House Bolton ([[ObviouslyEvil whose standard is a man being flayed alive]]) has apparently been the Viper for the Starks and the North in general for generations with it surviving by keeping its more heinous acts mostly quiet and relegated to mere rumor. By the time of the War of the Five Kings, the current head Roose Bolton is given a prominent command by Robb Stark, and immediately starts sabotaging his allies by sacrificing more loyal soldiers in battles, and making secret overtures to their Lannister enemies. [[spoiler: It all culminates in the Red Wedding that sees Roose Bolton conspire to murder Robb and several heads of Northern Houses, in order to gain control of the North with the Lannisters' blessing.]] Though notably, later in the series, this earns House Bolton the hatred of all the North who no longer tolerate them and are ready to kill them off for good.

** Daenerys Targaryen saves Mirri Maz Duur from being raped by Drogo's khalasar after the destruction of the village. Mirri repays this by tricking her into making a deal that kills off her unborn son in exchange for resurrecting her dying husband into a vegetative state. When Daenerys demands answers for this, Mirri says that she had experienced horrors during her village's destruction and wanted to take revenge against Drogo and anyone associated with him. Daenerys saving her didn't change the fact that she is his wife, meaning she is a prime target.
** Catelyn ''fears'' that Jon Snow is going to be this, thinking that a noble upbringing, instead of that of a bastard, would go to his head, leading him take over his legitimate siblings' inheritance as a Stark. Fortunately, Jon inherits his father's honor and has nothing but respect to all of his siblings. He even refuses to become the Lord of Winterfell after his brothers have all ([[FakingTheDead seemingly]]) died, because his sister Sansa is still alive.

* ''Literature/WhoIsThePrey'': At the start of the story, He Yan stops to help someone she thinks is in danger, only to end up nearly being raped and killed. She kills her attacker in self defense.

** In the season 3 episode "[[Recap/AngelS03E07Offspring Offspring]]", Angel's sire/ex-lover Darla shows up at the hotel, [[MonsterIsAMommy visibly pregnant]]. Seeing Darla's pain over her pregnancy, Cordelia throws Angel out of her room and tries to comfort her, to which Darla responds by [[HandGagging covering Cordelia's mouth]] so she can't scream and biting her neck. Cordelia is only saved by Angel making a ConvenientlyTimedAttackFromBehind. After Darla's escape, Cordelia apologizes to Angel, remarking that she let Darla's condition cloud her better judgment and forgot that pregnant or not, Darla is ''still'' a dangerous vampire.
* LifetimeMovieOfTheWeek ''Bad to the Bone'' is an adolescent version of all those FilmNoir capers featuring a (mostly) good man and an evil woman. A teenage girl [[BlackWidow wants her rich boyfriend dead so that she can get all his money]], so she [[WoundedGazelleGambit lies to her brother that the boyfriend is abusing her]]. The brother shoots the boyfriend dead in an alley, and soon afterward both brother and sister are arrested on suspicion of the murder. The brother makes clear early on that he is willing to take all the blame for the murder in order to save his sister from life imprisonment, or possibly even execution. The sister repays him by [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere making bail and disappearing two weeks before the trial even begins]], leaving her brother to stew in his jail cell while she's living the high life with various other gullible boy-toys. (Even then, [[StupidGood the brother refuses to testify against his sister at his trial]], and it takes him until almost the end of the movie before he realizes what a patsy he's been.) At one point we see the bad girl telling her "life story" to one of the rich male companions she's snagged (she's concocted a MultipleChoicePast to go with the false identity she's assumed), and she says that she had a brother once, but he died!
* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'': After surviving an assassination attempt by a group of hired mercenaries, Lalo stumbles into the home of a nearby civilian couple, which had been his friends for years, who help patch up his wounds and offer him breakfast. Lalo then kills them both, the husband to [[FakingTheDead use as a body double]] so that the people who wanted him dead will think they were successful (with Lalo burning the body to disguise discrepancies in their appearance and ensuring their dental records are the same), and the wife [[LeaveNoWitnesses just to eliminate any witnesses]] to his survival.

* ''Series/{{Elementary}}'': Sherlock takes in Cassie Lenue, a teenage con artist, and tries to help her change her ways. She responds by trying to blackmail a suspect in the murder that he was helping her investigate out of two million dollars. [[spoiler:She was actually trying to help catch the murderer. She blackmailed the suspect to bait him into a trap.]]

** "The Train Job" has the moment when Mal spares one of Niska's goons and hands him the money they were paid for the job the didn't do. Instead, the guy threatens him so Mal kicks him into a turbine.

** Played with Xaro Xhoan Daxos. Daxos was taken in by the city state of Qarth (which is usually closed to outsiders) and proceeds to work his way up to a position of leadership- at which point he has the other leaders killed and declares himself king. However, Daxos attributes his treachery to his love of Qarth- he agrees with the slain leaders that it is a great city but feels that it will grow stagnant if allowed to continue to be isolated from the rest of the world under their leadership.

* In one episode of ''Series/GilligansIsland'', a hardened criminal came to the island, and proceeded to kidnap Mrs. Howell, then Ginger, and then Mary Ann, demanding a ransom for their return each time. (This was one of the few times that chest full of cash Mr. Howell had brought proved useful.) When Mary Ann was released, she told the others that he told her he planned to do the same to the other four, and then ''start over again'', so the Professor set a trap for the criminal, and it worked. As the castaways held the criminal in a makeshift cell while the Professor worked on his ship, Ginger felt sorry for him and asked if she could speak to him, remembering how she once acted in a movie about how a psychiatrist helped a criminal reform. Eventually, the others consented (except the Professor, who had his doubts) and Ginger's amateur therapy seemed to work; for a while, he seemed remorseful and willing to help. Unfortunately, it was an act; at the party they had before they planned to leave, the guy proceeded to steal their jewelry and then escape on his own. That's when Ginger realized that that's how the movie ended.

* On ''Series/{{Gotham}}'', Alfred's army mate Reggie Payne shows up at Wayne Manor on a rainy night. Alfred lets him in and Bruce further extends hospitality. Having him around puts Alfred on edge and before he leaves [[spoiler: he steals files on behalf of the corrupt Wayne Enterprises board and stabs Alfred nearly to death]].

* In the ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' episode "[[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS2E02TheScorpionAndTheToad The Scorpion and the Toad]]", Barney takes newly single Marshall to bars, including one called [[TitleDrop The Scorpion and the Toad]]. But every time Marshall gets a girl interested, Barney charms her away and goes home with her instead. Later subverted when its revealed that Barney flew to San Francisco to convince Lily to get back together with Marshal, so he was actually sabotaging Marshal's attempts at dating so they would reconcile.

* ''Series/StargateSG1'' season 8: Replicator Carter approaches the SGC and Carter in particular with a sob story about how poorly Fifth is treating her and asks for their help in stopping him, but warns that he's developed an immunity to the Disruptor and offers to help them overcome that immunity. They were rightfully wary, but in the end, Carter couldn't help but aid her Replicator clone. [[spoiler:There never was a Disruptor immunity, the whole thing was a ploy to study the Disruptor in order to develop one. With the immunity in hand Replicarter [[TheStarscream lured Fifth into range of the Alpha Site where he was killed by a Disruptor Satellite so that she could take sole control of all Replicators]], which she would subsequently make immune to the only real threat.]]

*** In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E13DejaQ Deja Q]]", Q actually uses this ''against'' the crew [[BroughtDownToNormal when he's turned mortal by the continuum]], choosing a human form and going to them for help, assuming that their values and willingness to forgive "almost any offense" will mean they are willing to protect him from the variety of less-moral creatures he has tormented in the past, and who are willing to take advantage of his newfound humanity. [[SubvertedTrope He's not entirely right in this assumption]], but he also subverts his own role as the viper; after [[spoiler:Data risks his life to save Q, Q is moved to the point where he decides to risk his own life for the good of the ship]].

** In season 3 Klaus discovers the alternate timeline version of his abusive adoptive father Reginald Hargreeves is being drugged into helplessness and taken advantage of by the Sparrow Academy and helps him get out from under their control. Unfortunately, this version of Hargreeves turns out to be at least as bad as the one he knew, and repays him by [[spoiler:murdering his brother Luther and trying to sacrifice all of them to rewrite the universe to his advantage]].

* ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scorpion_and_the_Frog The Scorpion and the Frog]]'', an ancient African & European fable commonly [[InTheOriginalKlingon misattributed to Aesop]] is equally [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scorpion_and_the_Frog#Use_in_pop_culture if not more popular]] than the trope namer, but also deals in how evil is ultimately [[BeingEvilSucks unconsciously self-destructive]]. Sometimes the moral is slightly more digestible.

* A [[http://truecenterpublishing.com/zenstory/onesnature.html Zen parable]] tells of two monks who were washing their bowls at a river. One monk saw a drowning scorpion, and saved it, only to be stung -- again and again. The other monk asks why his brother keeps saving a creature whose nature is to harm, and the first monk replies that his nature is to help.

* In India there is the story of "The Tiger and the Farmer". The gist is that a farmer was traveling on a road, when he saw a tiger in a cage, the tiger promised that if the farmer opened it, he would flee into the jungle. The farmer was suspicious but let the tiger go, only for the tiger to try and eat the farmer, [[ILied who blamed the predicament on the farmer for trusting a hungry predator.]] Just then a wise man came upon the scene and asked what happened. When they told him, the wise man insisted that the tiger was too big to fit in the cage, the tiger got inside to prove he could fit, the wise man locked the cage and he and the farmer left the tiger to his fate.
* Japanese mythology has a kind of {{Youkai}} called the Konaki-jiji, which normally looks like an ordinary baby and poses as a baby someone abandoned. As soon as someone tries to pick it up, it [[SizeShifter grows really big and crushes them.]] in the stories Konaki-jiji doesn't even gain anything from this, so it's just crushing people ForTheEvulz.

** During the build to ''Wrestling/{{ECW}} Barely Legal,'' April 13, 1997, a masked man who was [[PaperThinDisguise believed to be]] Wrestling/RickRude was threatening [[Wrestling/ShaneDouglas "The Franchise" Shane Douglas]] and promised to unmask if Douglas successfully defended his [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/ecw/ecw-tv.html ECW World Television Championship]] against Pitbull #2 (w/Pitbull #1) at the [=PPV=]. Douglas won his match, and what was believed to be Rude's voice came over the sound system, saying that he'd take his mask off, but Douglas has to "give up the girl" (Wrestling/{{Francine}}) or he'd give Douglas "the ass-kicking of a lifetime." The masked man then walked out in Rude's trademark robe. Shane pushed Francine toward him. The masked man kissed Francine, who, believing it was [[MrFanservice Rude]], appeared to pass out in delight. Then, one of Douglas' riot guards took off his helmet, revealing ''himself'' to be Rick Rude. The masked man unmasked and took off his robe, revealing, instead, Douglas' Triple Threat ally "Bulldozer" Brian Lee, who then choke-slammed Douglas. Douglas, Wrestling/ChrisCandido, and a clearly disgusted Francine ran off, vowing revenge.
** After a few more months of making trouble for Douglas for his own amusement (including pulling up Francine's dress to reveal her panties during Douglas' match with Chris Chetti at ''Buffalo Invasion'' on May 17th), he surprisingly turned on Wrestling/TommyDreamer and [[Wrestling/JimFullington the Sandman]] in a six-man-tag against Wrestling/RobVanDam, Wrestling/{{Sabu}} and Wrestling/JerryLawler at ''[=Heatwave=]'' on July 19th, giving the Triple Threat hand sign. Douglas defeated [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/ecw/ecw-h.html ECW World Heavyweight Champion]] Wrestling/{{Sabu}} and Wrestling/TerryFunk in a [[MeleeATrois three-way-dance]] to win the title at ECW's second [=PPV=], ''Hardcore Heaven,'' on August 17th. This led to Rude becoming a manager for the Triple Threat (now, Douglas, Candido, and Wrestling/BamBamBigelow, w/Francine) and handpicking opponents for him, as thanks for Douglas giving Rude one night with Francine. Douglas defeated Wrestling/AlSnow, Wrestling/BallsMahoney, and Phil [=LaFon=]. Then came the October 16th show at the Elk's Lodge in Queens, NY. Rude told Douglas that he had found him an opponent who "ran roughshod over the [[Wrestling/{{WWE}} WWF.]]" Douglas asked, "You got me [[Wrestling/ShawnMichaels the Boy Toy]]?"[[note]]This was during the time when, due to the inter-promotional relationship between ECW and Wrestling/{{WWE}}, Rude was going back and forth working with both Douglas and his hated enemy Shawn Michaels, stemming from Douglas' run-ins with [[Wrestling/TheKliq the Clique]] in WWE in 1995 as Dean Douglas.[[/note]] Then, [[Music/GunsNRoses "Welcome to the Jungle"]] started playing, with Douglas doing a great EyeTake, as BAM BAM BIGELOW was revealed to be Douglas' opponent, meaning that Rude had tricked Douglas [[IdiotBall TWICE in SIX MONTHS.]]

* Wrestling/{{Edge|Wrestler}} did something similar in 2010. Returning from injury during the Royal Rumble, he came back to a huge ovation as he won the match and went into Wrestlemania as the challenger for the World Heavyweight champion. After coming up short too many times and then getting traded to Raw, Edge revealed his true nature in rant, going on about how switching shows ruined his opportunity to be the top face of Smackdown.

* The novelized fanwork ''Fanfic/BreathOfTheWild'' exists in the greater ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'', ''Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse'', and ''Creator/{{Nintendo}}'' crossover universe. During this time, Paya and Link are traveling together through the Blatchery Plain, and they rescue a woman from a Bokoblin attack, but they're too late to save the man she's with, implied to be her husband. [[spoiler:Paya realizes too late that the wounds on the dead man are from a slit throat, not from being clubbed to death. The woman they saved is actually a Yiga Clan Footsoldier, and she quickly attempts to kill Link and Paya. Link puts a stop to that very quickly, but that betrayal really leaves an impact on Paya.]]

* Near the end of ''Film/SupermanII'', Superman asks Lex Luthor to help him trick Zod, Ursa, and Nod into depowering themselves by getting him into a chamber that would take away their powers. Lex ''immediately'' informs Zod to get back into his good graces, despite Zod having turned on him earlier, and Zod promises to give him the ShinyNewAustralia he was asking for all along, Superman is forced into the chamber instead. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for Lex and Zod, Superman ''counted'' on Lex doing exactly that, [[BatmanGambit knowing]] that Lex was a SmugSnake with ChronicBackstabbingDisorder who couldn't help himself, and had rigged the chamber so that it worked in reverse- Superman was protected while ''inside'' the chamber, but Zod and his minions lost their powers because they ''weren't'', leaving Superman the only one with powers again.]]

** In [[Film/{{Halloween 2007}} the 2007 remake]], when Michael escapes the institution, the only security guard who showed him compassion and kindness throughout his fifteen-year incarceration is given an extremely brutal and over the top murder: tossed around like a ragdoll, head dunked in sink four times, and finally head squashed by thrown TV. In contrast, the other guards, most of whom bullied and demeaned him, are typically stabbed or [[NeckSnap neck snapped]].

* ''Series/TheWalkingDead'': In "Always Accountable", Daryl is attacked by a small group of survivors, led by a man named Dwight, who tie him up and rob him. He manages to escape and take his things back, only to realize that one of them was diabetic and he had inadvertently stolen her insulin. He goes to return it and finds them being threatened by another group, that they had mistakenly believed Daryl to be part of. Daryl helps fight them off and eventually offers to let them join the community of survivors he's part of. They rob him again.

* In Chapter 1 of ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'', [[spoiler:Ddfeating the King either by fighting or simply stalling him out leads to the King collapsing to the floor, exhausted, while giving a speech about how he wasn't always such a bad person. Ralsei, the party's {{WhiteMage}}, takes pity upon him and heals him, which the King uses as an opportunity to hit the party with a surprise attack that nearly results in their death, only being saved by the King becoming incapacitated, either by his former minions, or Ralsei putting him to sleep. Either way, Ralsei apologizes to the team for trying to help a person who had no plans on cooperating]].

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'' series, [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot zombie cyborg former Interpol agent]] Bryan Fury is saved by Dr. Boskonovich and installed with a perpetual generator. Bryan's thanks is to trash the lab and kill members of the Manji clan, who were led by Dr. B's close friend Yoshimitsu.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'' book 3, episode "The New Apex". After Grace saved Simon's life[[note]] He was going to fall in the train lines because his wall-walking boots failed.[[/note]], he kicked her in the train lines. Fortunately Grace was saved by origami birds she helped before and Simon was killed by a Ghom.

** In ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003'', the disgraced and homeless [[TheChewToy Yoki]] is taken in by a group of Ishbalan refugees. He promptly betrays them by selling out the SerialKiller and fellow Ishbalan Scar to a bunch of bounty-hunters with the intent to split the bounty. The refugees don't take the idea of Yoki ratting out one of their own well and promptly give him a beat-down. Averted in ''Brotherhood'' and the manga.

Also called the "Scorpion Dilemma" or "The Scorpion and The Frog" after a similar {{Fable}} (popularized in Creator/OrsonWelles's ''Film/MrArkadin''), this story contains the additional [[AnAesop Aesop]] that a poisonous creature can't help but give in to its nature, [[StupidEvil even when doing so will lead directly to its own death]]. See also OrcRaisedByElves.

* ''Literature/SpinningSilver'': When a human family found one of the malevolent Staryk [[TheFairFolk Fair Folk]] badly wounded and nursed him back to health, he immediately murdered them all, dying in the process. It's later explained as DeliberateValuesDissonance: the Staryk are [[DebtDetester bound to repay all debts]], so [[IOweYouMyLife saving one's life]] without negotiating a price beforehand is effectively claiming them as an eternal slave, a FateWorseThanDeath for them.

Correctly discerning the irredeemable from the redeemable is tricky, of course, and expect characters to argue over whether this trope even applies. After all, in RealLife, this belief is used to justify ignoring people in need, especially if they have ever done anything vaguely "bad". In fact, characters believing in this trope too passionately often creates unsympathetic to outright villainous characters - anything from uncaring zealots to psychotic serial murderers who believe they are purging society of its permanently corrupted evil dregs since there is no hope for redemption for them.

Compare MoralityChain, where the Samaritan ''does'' somehow manage to restrain their ward's wickedness. TurnTheOtherCheek is probably the Samaritan's mindset. The receiver may turn out to be AlwaysChaoticEvil, a BitchInSheepsClothing, or a JerkWithAHeartOfJerk. When combined with SaveTheVillain, this is sometimes used to set up a DisneyVillainDeath. Compare BadSamaritan, when it is the caregiver, not the care-receiver, who is evil. Also compare ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike. Plays with the traditional belief of SacredHospitality. If such an act makes a character give up on redeeming the villain, it's BeyondRedemption.

Also called the "Scorpion Dilemma" or "The Scorpion and The Frog" after a similar {{Fable}} (popularized in Creator/OrsonWelles' ''Film/MrArkadin''), this story contains the additional [[AnAesop Aesop]] that a poisonous creature can't help but give in to its nature, [[StupidEvil even when doing so will lead directly to its own death]]. See also OrcRaisedByElves.

(Also, at risk of pointing out the obvious, but don't take Aesop's Fables as a good guide to real-life snakes, who do not run around envenomating people out of a general desire to do evil. Venom is precious and expensive, so real snakes save it for if they think they're really under threat.)

* ''Anime/DoraemonNobitasDorabianNights'' has Doraemon and gang meeting Sinbad the sailor, and Abdil, a thief who plots to steal Sinbad's magic palace for himself. Several years ago, Sinbad had rescued Abdil from the desert and treats Abdil like a guest in his palace, only to expel Abdil after finding out he's a [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil slaver]]. In the present, Doraemon and gang, looking for Shizuka who's lost in the Arabian Desert with their new ally Sinbad, eventually find her... as a captive of Abdil, leading to Sinbad scolding Abdil for ''still'' dabbling in the HumanTrafficking business. Rather than arresting Abdil, however, Sinbad is decent enough to give Abdil sacks of water and food before telling him to leave the desert and never come back. So Abdil repays Sinbad by convincing the thief Cassim to help him steal Sinbad's palace and artifacts, have Sinbad and everyone else sealed in a dungeon, and later as the heroes escaped, releasing hordes and hordes of vampire bats to kill everyone. Sinbad lampshades it to the gang by saying "I should've left Abdil alone in the desert instead of saving him."

* ''Film/BatmanForever'' had one where Robin saved Two-Face from falling to certain death and he gets rewarded by having a gun pointed at his face and used as a hostage.