History Main / TokenMotivationalNemesis

* Subverted by Shou Tucker from FullmetalAlchemist. While he is killed shortly after he first appears and transmutes his daughter and dog into a chimera Ed and Al's inability to save Nina is a driving force for many of the brothers' actions throughout the series and every other villain manages to trigger a brief flashback to her.
** How is that a subversion?

* Shin, Kenshiro's [[RivalTurnedEvil romantic rival-turned-nemesis]] in ''FistOfTheNorthStar'', was the one who defeated him in combat, [[ScarsAreForever engraved the seven scars on his chest]], and stole the love of life away from him, leading Ken to his quest for revenge. Shin then goes on to amass a huge gang and declares war on Kenshiro...until he is defeated by the end of the manga's tenth chapter. The cover of the second Jump Comics volume doesn't even try to hide Shin's literal downfall.

[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

[[AC:{{Comic Books}}]]

[[AC:{{Western Animation}}]]

* Hakon, who massacred Goliath's clan in ''{{Gargoyles}}'' is killed in the second episode of the series and rarely mentioned again. He does return as a ghost in two later episodes but in the first the focus is mostly on the Captain of the Guard and the second is a comedic BreatherEpisode with little overall importance to the series.

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* [[spoiler:Manfred von Karma]] from the first ''AceAttorney'' game, whose murder of [[spoiler:Gregory Edgeworth]] 15 years earlier turned pretty much ''all'' of the recurring cast's lives around, be it directly or indirectly. He is only mentioned a few times in the second and third games. [[spoiler:He does appear in a [[WholeEpisodeFlashback flashback episode]] in ''AceAttorneyInvestigations'', but his role there is little more than a cameo for the purpose of ContinuityPorn.]]

<<|{{Villains}}|>>

This phenomenon occurs in many retrospectively popular works, which like all fiction must compete in a market that does not give second chances. Particularly in the first productions of many comic and manga authors, one is encouraged to finish his story as soon as possible in case it proves to be unpopular, so the publishers can have an easier time cutting the losses. Only when the successful sales figures come in are the authors forces to bear the awkward responsibility of expanding a story beyond the scope of the now already-dead villain that has created it.

* Subverted by Shou Tucker from FullmetalAlchemist. While he is killed shortly after he first appears [[spoiler:in the manga and second anime]] and transmutes his daughter and dog into a chimera Ed and Al's inability to save Nina is a driving force for many of the brothers' actions throughout the series and every other villain manages to trigger a brief flashback to her.

* Subverted by Shou Tucker from FullmetalAlchemist. While he is killed shortly after he first appears and transmutes his daughter and dog into a chimera Ed and Al's inability to save Nina is a driving force for many of the brothers' actions throughout the series and every other villain manages to trigger a brief flashback to her.

* Naraku serves in this capacity for virtually everyone in {{Inuyasha}}.

You've seen it a dozen times since {{Batman}} in the 1930's:

** The TV series did give Shin a bigger role by arranging the order of events of the first few story arcs, placing the final battle between Kenshiro and Shin a bit later than it had originally occurred. As a result, Shin gets [[MonsterOfTheWeek more henchmen]] besides the four playing card themed thugs from the manga and his struggle to win over Yuria's heart is given a bit more focus as well. He also gets [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome one good fight scene]] on the episode before his battle with Ken.
** The original movie on the other hand, gave Shin even less things to do than what he did in the manga. After defeating Kenshiro, Shin spends almost all of the movie walking around in his castle and talking to other characters. When Kenshiro finally arrives at Southern Cross to confront Shin, he finds out that Shin has already been defeated by Raoh, his more iconic rival.

* Joe Chill, the mugger who murdered [[{{Batman}} Bruce Wayne's]] parents, is possibly the most well known example of this trope. While Batman's origin story was first shown in ''Detective Comics'' #33 (published November 1939, a few months after his debut), the true identity of the mugger was not revealed until ''Batman'' #47 (June 1948, almost ten years later), where he was unceremoniously killed by his very own henchmen when they learned he was indirectly responsible for the birth of Batman. In the post-''ZeroHour'' continuity, the　[[RunningTheAsylum writers at DC]] made the identity of the mugger unclear, with the rationalization that since Batman never found out his parents' murderer, any criminal he catches might as well be the one who did it. However, the ''InfiniteCrisis'' storyline retconned the mugger's identity back to being Joe Chill.

** And in ''TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' he's the Cat Burglar, father of recurring villain/partner/[[DatingCatwoman love interest]] Black Cat. This version turns out to have never intended to kill ''anybody'', and guilt has made him repent in prison.

* Mr. Fixx killed [[BatmanBeyond Terry McGinnis']] father and then died in the first episode... [[NeverFoundTheBody maybe...]] Of course [[ManBehindTheMan Derek]] [[BigBad Powers]] ordered the hit, and was still around to be the target of Terry's vengeance. However, Powers disappears at the end of Season 1 and never returned in any of the following seasons, despite the possibility being left open.

* In the original ''TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' comic book by Eastman and Laird, Shredder died at the end of the first issue. However, unlike other examples, The Shredder did came [[BackFromTheDead back from the dead]]

* Shin, Kenshiro's [[RivalTurnedEvil friend-turned-nemesis]] in ''FistOfTheNorthStar'', was the one who defeated him in combat, [[ScarsAreForever engraved the seven scars on his chest]], and stole the love of life away from him, leading Ken to his quest for revenge. Shin then goes on to amass a huge gang and declares war on Kenshiro...until he is defeated by the end of the manga's tenth chapter. The cover of the second volume doesn't even tries to hide Shin's literal downfall.
** The anime TV series did give Shin more exposure by arranging the order of events of the manga's first few story arcs, placing the final battle between Kenshiro and Shin a bit later than it had originally occurred. As a result, Shin gets more [[MonsterOfTheWeek villain of the week henchmen]] besides the four playing card themed thugs and his struggle to win over Yuria's heart is given a bit more attention as well. He also gets [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome one good fight scene]] on the episode before his battle with Kenshiro.
** On the other hand, the original movie gave Shin even less things to do than what he did in the manga. After defeating Kenshiro, Shin spends almost all of his scenes walking around in his castle and talking to other characters. When Kenshiro finally arrives at Southern Cross to confront Shin, he finds out that his old nemesis has already been defeated by Raoh, his more iconic rival.

* Joe Chill, the mugger who murdered [[{{Batman}} Bruce Wayne's]] parents, is possibly the most well known example of this trope. While Batman's origin story was first shown in ''Detective Comics'' #33 (published November 1939, a few months after his debut), the true identity of the mugger was not revealed until ''Batman'' #47 (June 1948, almost ten years later), where he was unceremoniously killed by his very own henchmen when they learned he was indirectly responsible for the birth of Batman. In the post-''ZeroHour'' continuity, the identity of the mugger is left unclear, since in Batman's mind every criminal he faces could have been his parents' killer. However, the ''InfiniteCrisis'' storyline retconned the mugger's identity back to being Joe Chill.
** This story was the basis for the ''BatManTheBraveAndTheBold'' episode "Chill in the Night". The episode borrowed much from #33, but upped the ante. Joe was an arms dealer auctioning weapons on the black market, replaced his henchmen with Batman's RoguesGallery (who were attending the auction), and [[spoiler:TheSpectre finishing Chill, dropping a ceiling on him.]]
** [=Deconstructed/Justified=] in ''BatmanBegins''. Joe Chill is killed by a mob hit before Bruce can take his revenge. Being ''denied'' vengeance motivates him to become Batman, with the added bonus of Rachel guilting him into [[DoesNotLikeGuns swearing off guns]].
** The TimBurton [[Film/{{Batman}} film version]] turned Jack Napier, the man who would become Joker, into the murderer of Bruce Wayne's parents. He then gets killed at the end, eliminating the possibility of him appearing in the sequels.
* Mr. Carradine, the thief who murdered [[SpiderMan Peter Parker's]] uncle Ben Parker. He came back for a second appearance in the seventies, and died of a heart attack when confronted by Spidey.
** In the [[Film/SpiderMan third movie]], Uncle Ben's murderer was actually Sandman, a member of Spidey's RoguesGallery in the original comics. However, the killing turns out to had been accidentally provoked by the burglar originally believed to be Uncle Ben's murderer, who turns out to had been Sandman's lackey.

* Mr. Fixx killed [[BatmanBeyond Terry McGinnis']] father and then died in the first episode... [[NeverFoundTheBody maybe...]] Of course [[ManBehindTheMan Derek]] [[BigBad Powers]] ordered the hit, and was still around to be the target of Terry's vengeance. However, Powers disappears at the end of season 1.

** On the other hand, the original movie gave Shin even less things to do than what he did in the original movie. After defeating Kenshiro, Shin spends almost all of his scenes walking around in his castle and giving orders. When Kenshiro finally arrives at Southern Cross to confront Shin, he finds out that his old nemesis has already been defeated by Raoh, his more iconic rival.

** The original movie on the other hand gave Shin even less things to do than what he did in the original movie. After defeating Kenshiro, Shin spends almost all of his scenes walking around and giving orders and when Kenshiro finally arrives at Southern Cross to confront his old nemesis, he finds out that Shin has already been defeated by Raoh, the more iconic rival to Kenshiro.

** The anime TV series did give Shin more exposure by arranging the order of events of the manga's first few story arcs by placing the final battle between Kenshiro and Shin a bit later than it originally occurred. As a result, Shin gets more [[MonsterOfTheWeek villain of the week henchmen]] besides his four playing card themed thugs from the manga and his struggle to win over Yuria's heart is given a bit more attention as well. He also gets [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome one good fight scene]] before his battle with Kenshiro.

* Shin, Kenshiro's [[RivalTurnedEvil friend-turned-nemesis]] in ''FistOfTheNorthStar'', was the one who defeated him in combat, [[ScarsAreForever engraved the seven scars on his chest]], and stole the love of life away from him, leading Ken to his quest for revenge. Shin then goes on to amass a huge gang and becomes Kenshiro's main adversary...until the end of the manga's tenth chapter. In the TV anime series, his role is [[AdaptationExpansion expanded for 22 episodes]], and while most of it consist of giving Shin more [[VillainOfTheWeek underlings]] than the four [[ThemeNaming playing-card-themed henchmen]] he originally had in the manga, he does get his own [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome moment of glory]] where he repels a rebellion within his own army.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* [[TheDresdenFiles Harry Dresden]] killed his evil mentor Justin [=DuMorne=] in self-defense before the story started. Justin has been referred to numerous times and his impact still affects Harry's life (Bob belonged to Justin before Harry, Justin's manipulation of Elaine tainted Harry's relationship with her, Justin and his death is one of the many reasons the White Council distrusts Harry), but he has never been seen in person and WordOfGod assures us that Justin really is dead.

** [=Deconstructed/Justified=] in ''BatmanBegins''. Joe Chill is killed by a mob hit before Bruce can take his revenge. Being ''denied'' vengeance motivates him to become Batman.

* Shin, Kenshiro's [[RivalTurnedEvil friend-turned-nemesis]] in ''FistOfTheNorthStar'', was the one who defeated him in combat, [[ScarsAreForever engraved the seven scars on his chest]], and stole the love of life away from him, leading Ken to his quest for revenge. Shin then goes on to amass a huge gang and becomes Kenshiro's main adversary...until the end of the manga's tenth chapter. In the TV anime series, his role is [[AdaptationExpansion expanded for 22 episodes]], and while most of it consist of giving Shin more [[VillainOfTheWeek underlings]] than the four [[ThemeNaming playing-card-themed henchmen]] he originally had in the manga, he does get his own [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome moment of glory]] where he singlehandedly repelled an entire rebellion within his own army.

** This story was the basis for the BatManTheBraveAndTheBold episode "Chill in the Night". The episode borrowed much from #33, but upped the ante. Joe was an arms dealer auctioning weapons on the black market, replaced his henchmen with Batman's RoguesGallery (who were attending the auction), and [[spoiler:TheSpectre finishing Chill, dropping a ceiling on him.]]

* Shin, Kenshiro's [[RivalTurnedEvil friend-turned-nemesis]] in ''FistOfTheNorthStar'', was the one who defeated him in combat, [[ScarsAreForever engraved the seven scars on his chest]], and stole the love of life away from him, leading Ken to his quest for revenge. Shin then goes on to amass a huge gang and becomes Kenshiro's main adversary...until the end of the manga's tenth chapter. In the TV anime series, his role is [[AdaptationExpansion expanded for 22 episodes]], and while most of it consist of giving Shin more [[VillainOfTheWeek underlings]] than the four [[ThemeNaming playing-card-themed henchmen]] he originally had in the manga, he does get his own [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome moment of glory]] where he singlehandedly repelled an entire rebellion within his own army.

* Nakatsukasa Tsubaki's brother Masamune in ''SoulEater.''
* Mr. Fixx killed [[BatmanBeyond Terry McGinnis']] father and then died in the first episode... [[NeverFoundTheBody maybe...]] Of course [[ManBehindTheMan Derek]] [[BigBad Powers]] ordered the hit, and was still around to be the target of Terry's vengeance. However, Powers disappears at the end of season 1.

* [[TheDresdenFiles Harry Dresden]] killed his evil mentor Justin [=DuMorne=] in self-defense before the story started. Justin has been referred to numerous times and his impact still affects Harry's life (Bob belonged to Justin before Harry, Justin's manipulation of Elaine tainted Harry's relationship with her, Justin and his death is one of the many reasons the White Council distrusts Harry), but he has never been seen in person and WordOfGod assures us that Justin really is dead.

<<|{{Villains}}|>>