History Main / VengeanceDenied

* ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperheroes'': One of the major sub-plots of the second season is Superman-X's obsession with finding and destroying Imperiex, a ConquerorFromTheFuture [[LaserGuidedTykeBomb Superman was designed to destroy]]. In the final two episodes of the season, [[HijackedByGanon Brainiac]] takes over Brainiac-5 and kills Imperiex within ten seconds of doing so, establishing himself as the true BigBad. Superman-X is understandably not happy that his mission [[AllForNothing came to naught]].

* In ''Videogame/LikeADragonInfiniteWealth'', this is a major part of one of the main villain's backstory, specifically [[spoiler:Masataka Ebina]]. It's revealed that [[spoiler:he's actually Masumi Arakawa's offspring with the daughter of the Hikawa Clan's boss and wanted vengeance against him and the Yakuza after Arakawa wiped out the clan, leaving him and his mother to live in squalor until she died while he was in middle school. While he originally became a cop out of a desire to bust him, his death in the previous game means that he never truly got vengeance, driving him instead to [[HeWhoFightsMonsters become a Yakuza himself]] to [[GenocideFromTheInside destroy organized crime from inside]]]].

* During the ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' episode, "The Impossible Summit of Mt. Neverrest!", Scrooge has an unexplained hatred of explorer George Mallardy. It is later revealed that the reason for this is that [[spoiler: Scrooge was abandoned on a prior trek up the mountain by Mallardy, who cut the rope holding them together after Scrooge refused to lighten his load.]] However, due to the magical nature of the mountain, Mallardy got lost on the way up and died on the mountain. Huey even points out that the mountain saved Scrooge the effort of trying to get revenge on Mallardy.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In "Moaning Lisa", Homer gets close to finally beating Bart at a boxing game, and then Marge shuts down the game right at the very nanosecond before Homer's character knocks out Bart's, followed by Bart deciding to quit playing the game ever again to maintain his unbroken streak. Homer can only languish at all of this.

* ''Manga/HunterXHunter'': [[BloodKnight Uvogin]] from the [[BadassCrew Phantom Troupe]] explicitly admits that he enjoys it when people the Spiders have wronged come looking for revenge, [[CurbStompBattle only for him to crush them like insects]]. {{Defied|Trope}} by Kurapika, [[CripplingOverspecialization who specifically developed his Nen abilities with the express purpose of killing the Phantom Troupe to the last man]] in retribution for their slaughter of the Kurta Clan, and goes out of his way to test them on Uvogin first before moving on to the rest. Uvogin is rendered utterly helpless before long as Kurapika denies his denial of his vengeance.

* ''Fanfic/AquasMission'': Ren feels this way after [[spoiler:Sephiroth]] kills the Nuckelavee, solely because it happened to be in their way.

* ''Film/GangsOfNewYork'': After a whole film of building up to a climactic duel between Amsterdam Vallon and Bill the Butcher (who murdered Vallon's father years earlier), complete with massive gang war, the United States Army effectively kills the conflict by arriving to deal with the New York City Draft Riots of 1863 (which had been building up as the B-Plot), shelling the streets with artillery and sending troops with orders to TakeNoPrisoners. To Amsterdam's eternal regret, Bill ends up fatally wounded by shrapnel and he ends up giving him a MercyKill.
* In the ''Franchise/JamesBond'' film, ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'', when Auric Goldfinger has one of his minions, Jill Masterson, get painted-gold-to death (for the 'crime' of having sex with James Bond), her sister, Tilly Masterson, vows revenge and goes on a mission to kill Goldfinger. However; Tilly's in over her head and gets herself killed.

* ''Literature/TheSagaOfThePeopleOfLaxardal'': Thorleik Hoskuldsson gets into a quarrel with Eldgrim because Thorleik is unwilling to sell him his best stud of horses, leading to Eldgrim insulting Thorleik. Later, Eldgrim attempts to steal the horses, but is held up by Thorleik's uncle and neighbour, Hrut. The encounter ends with Hrut killing Eldgrim, thinking he is doing his nephew a favour; however hearing the news Thorleik is furious, as he believes Hrut has purposefully humiliated him by depriving him of the possibility to kill Eldgrim himself. His conviction that Hrut has offended him is so strong that he tries to avenge himself on Hrut, leading to a serious feud between uncle and nephew.
* ''Literature/SpaceWolf'': Ragnar intends to kill Strybjorn to avenge his father, whom Strybjorn killed in an attack on Ragnar's clan's settlement where they both died (at each other's hands) and were revived by the Space Wolves as cadets for the Space Marine chapter. Senior Space Wolves tell Ragnar that his old life and its vengeances are over and that Strybjorn is his comrade in arms now. The two men eventually become FireForgedFriends while fighting their way out of a Thousand Sons enclave on Fenris and Ragnar's quest for vengeance is forgotten.

** Arya Stark intends to kill King Joffrey Baratheon to avenge her father Lord Eddard Stark (among other things), whom Joffrey had beheaded as a traitor in the first season. In the second episode of season four, Joffrey instead chokes to death on a piece of pie at his wedding feast, [[spoiler:having been poisoned by Littlefinger and Lady Olenna Tyrell]] (a BloodMagic curse by Stannis Baratheon [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane may or may not have also contributed]]).

** After the Lannisters took over Highgarden, the Tyrells' main castle, in episode 3 of Season 7, Jaime Lannister faces Olenna Tyrell and offers her a [[MercyKill Mercy Death]] by giving poison to drink so that she wouldn't suffer a cruel execution from his sister, Cersei, who is already Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Olenna drinks the poison right away and tells Jaime [[spoiler:that she is responsible for Joffrey's death which denies Cersei any sort of vengeance against her]]. In the next episode, Cersei is completely pissed off with the news and blames Jaime for being too merciful.

* ''Series/{{Highlander}}'': One friend of Duncan's saw his wife murdered by another immortal. He was last seen leaving to confront him and is believed to have died in a duel against him, but it's later revealed [[spoiler:he was killed by Richie like 50ft from the villain due to a contrived coincidence: Richie's bike just happened to break down in front of the villain's plain-looking lair, and while Richie was busy repairing it, Duncan's other friend mistook him for an evil henchman and duel to the death ensued.]]
* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': After centuries spent on hunting down Sauron, Galadriel gets her revenge denied in the moment she learns he was slain by Adar, an Uruk, some long time ago. [[spoiler:How true this is becomes muddled when it turns out her human companion Halbrand ''is'' Sauron, though Adar did apparently betray and try to kill him in some capacity.]]

** Damion Pope goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge on the Sons after Tig [[RevengeMyopia accidentally kills his daughter while performing a drive by on local gang members]] who he believed had attempted to kill Clay (Clay lied). [[PayingEvilUntoEvil He forces Tig to watch]] as he [[DisproportionateRetribution burns one of Tig's]] [[SinsOfOurFathers daughters alive]], gets the Sons locked up for his daughter's murder, and will only have them released if they voluntarily sacrifice the life of one of their members (Opie volunteers). Upon their release, it is agreed that Jax has a limited amount of time to handle business according to Pope's specification and at the end of that time, he expects Tig to be handed over to be murdered. Still stinging from [[spoiler:Opie's death, Jax manipulates it so that Tig ends up getting [[ATasteOfTheirOwnMedicine to murder Pope]] and blame Clay, denying Pope the satisfaction of killing his daughter's killer]].

* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': After centuries spent on hunting down Sauron, Galadriel gets her revenge denied in the moment she learns he was slain by Adar, an Uruk, some long time ago.