History MisplacedRetribution / WesternAnimation

* ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'': In the episode "[[Recap/RegularShowS04Ep11FireworkRun Firework Run]]", when Muscle Man accidentally sets off the Fourth of July fireworks, [[MeanBoss Benson]] threatens to fire Mordecai, Rigby and Hi-Five Ghost ''alongside him'' for it even though none of the three had anything to do with it.

** "[[Recap/AmericanDadS5E5EscapeFromPearlBailey Escape from Pearl Bailey]]" has this happen on both sides. After Steve's girlfriend is slandered and as a result loses her run for election, he gets revenge on the three popular kids that he believes were the culprits (by having buffalo feces dropped on one, injecting another with fat and giving the final one an STD). He then discovers that it was [[EtTuBrute his friends]] who had slandered his girlfriend. When the whole school finds out Steve was responsible for getting revenge, they decide to get revenge on all of them, despite Steve protesting that his friends were responsible for the slander against Debbie and pinned it on Lisa Silver, after they come clean.

* ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'': When one Ed does something wrong, it's common for all of them to get punished. Sometimes, however, it's just a different Ed or ''both'' other Eds facing the consequences of another's actions.

** In the episode "[[Recap/ThePowerpuffGirlss2E2CollectHerSupperVillain Collect Her]]", the girls blame each other for their missing belongings, when it was actually Lenny who stole them.

** In "[[Recap/EdEddNEddysBooHawHaw Ed, Edd, 'n' Eddy's Boo Haw Haw]]", Ed goes around beating up people, thanks to getting hallucinations from watching several monster movies. However, it's Edd and Eddy who get beaten up instead and Ed is unharmed.

** In "A Fistful of Ed" after Eddy keeps insulting, taunting, and pelting Jimmy with endless hot dogs, Jimmy explodes and gives ''Edd'' a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown.

** Butters' AbusiveParents will always [[YouAreGrounded punish him]] for stuff the boys (mostly Cartman) did. Then again, they just want ''any'' excuse to punish him.
** Kyle blames Canadian TV shows for Heidi chosing Cartman over him, despite Heidi's decision actually being based on the girls ignoring Kyle's warnings and [[BlamingTheVictim continuing to mock Heidi for her choices]].

* ''WesternAnimation/WhatIf'': In one episode, [[spoiler:Hank Pym]] kills the Avengers in revenge for his daughter's death as a [=SHIELD=] agent. The Avenger candidates he killed had ''nothing to do'' with that (it's implied the Winter Soldier was the culprit), and Thor wasn't even a candidate at the time, he just wanted to make Nick Fury suffer. This bites him in the ass when Loki shows up on Earth, none too happy that his brother was killed on the off-chance it might piss off someone he didn't even know.

** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E4Rosebud Rosebud]]" the Ramones perform at Mr. Burn's birthday, but they insult him. Burns, who failed to recognize them orders to have Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}} killed.
** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E17MySisterMySitter My Sister, My Sitter]]", the 911 operator ignores Lisa's call because ''Bart'' made a bunch of prank calls beforehand.

* ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyTest'': Invoked in one episode where Johnny's father said that Johnny would be held accountable for any further transformation experiments the twins performed. No sooner did his parents leave than his sisters turned themselves into babies as part of a scheme to win over the neighborhood hottie.

** One episode has this happen on both sides. After Steve's girlfriend is slandered and as a result loses her run for election, he gets revenge on the three popular kids that he believes were the culprits (by having buffalo feces dropped on one, injecting another with fat and giving the final one an STD). He then discovers that it was [[EtTuBrute his friends]] who had slandered his girlfriend. When the whole school finds out Steve was responsible for getting revenge, they decide to get revenge on all of them, despite Steve protesting that his friends were responsible for the slander against Debbie and pinned it on Lisa Silver, after they come clean.

* ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead'': In "Prank Call", [[AxCrazy Harry Sachz]] receives a bunch of prank calls by the titular characters and decides to get revenge on them. However, the two inadvertently end up directing him to Stewart's house, where he mistakes Mr. Stevenson as his prank caller and proceeds to give the latter a brutal AssShove.

* ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'': In "The Deepening", Teddy has [[EnmityWithAnObject an obsessive hatred for a mechanical shark]] featured in a movie he did an acting job on. He reveals why to Bob when they are about to confront it, how he used to be fit and tried hitting on an actress, but the shark operator caused the shark to knock into him and spill food all over them, ruining a possible relationship and causing Teddy to descend into a lifetime of overeating. Bob asks why Teddy isn't angry at the guy who operated the shark, since the shark is just a prop. Teddy realizes Bob has a point [[IgnoredEpiphany but begins to insist the shark made him do that]].

** Happens in "1600 Candles" after Francine accidentally causes the Smith family to forget Roger's 1600th birthday by using a classified CIA experiment to revert Steve to a toddler, causing him to become the center of the family's attention. Because of this, Roger blames Steve for making the family forget his birthday, assuming that Steve is at fault due to getting all the attention instead of Roger. As a result, Roger decides to pants Steve in the school dance while Francine manages to fully escape his wrath.
* The Clock King from ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' goes after Gotham City mayor Hamilton Hill. Why? Years earlier, The Clock King (then Temple Fugate) was put out of business by a lawsuit brought by Hamilton Hill's law firm. While Hill wasn't specifically the lawyer representing the plaintiff, the Clock King does consider him completely responsible because Hill also suggested Fugate take his coffee break at a different time... which led to [[FromBadToWorse things going worse]].

* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'': In "Mystery Meat", [[JerkJock Dash]] is angry at Danny because the school's cafeteria now serves food made from grass and soil, resulting in him being served mud pies made from real mud ([[InsistentTerminology or topsoil]], as Sam claims it to be). Despite the change being made at Sam's suggestion, he orders Danny to eat the mud pies in front of everyone due to him being friends with Sam.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': Deconstructed in the episode "Save the Date," where Bobby breaks up with Lori when Lincoln hurts his sister's feelings despite Lori having nothing to do with it. It becomes clear he doesn't want to when he has to do it again later in the episode, and he is just as overjoyed as Lori when Lincoln publicly makes up with Ronnie Anne so they can get back together.

** In "Karate Choppers," Mr. Krabs orders [=SpongeBob=] to give up his obsession with karate for good, or he's fired. As [=SpongeBob=] is leaving the Krusty Krab, contemplating how to break the news to Sandy, Sandy herself comes in and starts attacking him, [[CassandraTruth dismissing SpongeBob's attempts to explain what Krabs said]]. Mr. Krabs comes out at that exact moment and sees it, and despite the fact that [=SpongeBob=] was literally standing there doing ''absolutely nothing'' while Sandy was trying to instigate, singles out [=SpongeBob=] and fires him on the spot. He takes it back after Sandy explains the situation and agrees to give up karate as well.
** In "Shanghaied", when [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick keep jumping off the [[GhostPirate Flying Dutchman's]] [[GhostShip ship]], [[UnnaturallyLoopingLocation only to keep landing back on it]], the Dutchman asks if they're going to keep doing it. When Patrick responds "Maybe", the Dutchman blasts ''[[ButtMonkey Squidward]]'' with a ball of fire ([[RunningGag again]]).
** In "Bubble Buddy", after [=SpongeBob=] and the titular bubble unintentionally cause everyone on the beach grief and trouble, they form an angry mob and tip over the lifeguard tower to vent... followed by deciding to attack the lifeguard who did nothing. Fortunately, Squidward convinces them to focus the senseless violence against [=SpongeBob=] and Bubble Buddy instead.
** In "Patty Hype", after [=SpongeBob=]'s Pretty Patties dye the people who ate them different colors, they take their vengeance out on Mr. Krabs because he was the current owner of the stand selling the patties, even though [=SpongeBob=] was the one who came up with and sold them the patties in the first place. Of course, Mr. Krabs did deserve it, but for entirely different reasons.
** In "The Bully", [=SpongeBob=] is on the run from his new classmate, who has threatened to "kick [his] butt". As he runs past a city block, he screams and points in the general direction of the bully, but the people around him think he's referring to a polite old man, and beat the old man up accordingly.

** In "Someone's in the Kitchen with Sandy", Sandy is arrested by the police for indecent exposure, even though Plankton was the one who stole her fur for his latest scheme.

** In "My Fair Ed", the kids hold Edd responsible for the trouble Ed and Eddy cause, saying if he doesn't stop their shenanigans, ''he'll'' pay the price.
** In "[[HalloweenEpisode Ed, Edd, 'n' Eddy's Boo Haw Haw]]", Ed goes around beating up people, thanks to getting hallucinations from watching several monster movies. However, it's Edd and Eddy who get beaten up instead and Ed is unharmed.
** In "All Eds Are Off," Ed contaminates the pool with gravy and ''Eddy'' receives detention for it instead.
** In "Smile For the Ed" Eddy gets a week's detention for impersonating the principal, which Edd actually did (though Edd was trying to help).

** This was actually lampshaded and deconstructed in "For Your Ed Only" when Sarah writes in her diary that Ed and Eddy deserved what she gave them and that she knows that Edd is almost always the innocent one, but as she states, "Give those cute ones an inch, and they'll take a mile."

** In "Blondas Have More Fun", Jorgen blamed Wanda for Timmy's reckless and dangerous stunt wishes when it was Cosmo who was granting them.
** In "Boys in the Band", Timmy's Mom threatened on TV to take her aggression out on Timmy if Chip Skylark didn't show up to the concert she and Timmy's Dad were at [[note]]Timmy actually ''was'' responsible for Chip's absence because his wish got him kidnapped by Vicky, [[DramaticIrony but his mother didn't know that]][[/note]]. His dad advises him to run.

** In "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Fonz", one CutawayGag depicts Peter eating dinner while on steroids. When Lois asks him to pass her the potatoes, [[ComicalOverreacting he flips the bowl over]] and punches [[ButtMonkey Meg]].
** In "Airport '07", Peter siphons fuel from a plane that Quagmire was about to pilot to [[InsaneTrollLogic make his new pickup truck fly]], resulting in the plane crashing and Quagmire losing his job. As part of an EscalatingPunchline, [[KentBrockmanNews Channel 5 News]] shows a visualization of the plane crashing into a school for bunnies and one passenger surviving, then going home and taking it out on his wife, who asks if it's because she overcooked her roast as he slaps her.

* PlayedForLaughs in ''WesternAnimation/HarleyQuinn2019'' when Doctor Psycho is explaining his OriginStory and the joy he felt after watching a Ferris wheel he was told he was too short to ride as a child collapse and kill all the occupants. He then closes with "[[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain And that's why I hate women]]," ''baffling'' ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' episode "Battle of the Planets", Tallest Purple orders someone ThrownOutTheAirlock for not remembering Zim ruining Operation Impending Doom I. His response afterward:

* Invoked in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyTest'' where Johnny's father said that Johnny would be held accountable for any further transformation experiments the twins performed. No sooner did his parents leave than his sisters turned themselves into babies as part of a scheme to win over the neighborhood hottie.

* Deconstructed in ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' episode "Save the Date," where Bobby breaks up with Lori when Lincoln hurts his sister's feelings despite Lori having nothing to do with it. It becomes clear he doesn't want to when he has to do it again later in the episode, and he is just as overjoyed as Lori when Lincoln publicly makes up with Ronnie Anne so they can get back together.

** * In episode "[[Recap/ThePowerpuffGirlss2E2CollectHerSupperVillain Collect Her]]", the girls blame each other for their missing belongings, when it was actually Lenny who stole them.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' episode "Firework Run", when Muscle Man accidentally sets off the Fourth of July fireworks, [[MeanBoss Benson]] threatens to fire Mordecai, Rigby and Hi-Five Ghost ''alongside him'' for it even though none of the three had anything to do with it.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' episode "Lawnmower Dog", Jerry demands that Rick find a way to [[UpliftedAnimal make the family dog smarter]], but since he has no authority over Rick, he threatens to ground Morty so Rick can't bring him to help on his latest adventure. Fortunately for Morty, [[CrazyPrepared Rick already had a device for just such an occasion]].

* ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead'': In "Prank Call", [[AxCrazy Harry Sachz]] receives a bunch of prank calls by the titular characters and decides to get revenge on them, but the two inadvertently end up directing him to Stewart's house where he mistakes Mr. Stevenson as his prank caller and proceeds to give the latter a brutal AssShove.

** In "Patty Hype", after [=SpongeBob=]'s Pretty Patties dye the people who ate them different colors, they take their vengeance out on Mr. Krabs because he was the current owner of the stand selling the patties, even though [=SpongeBob=] was the one who came up with and sold them the patties in the first place. Of course, Mr. Krabs did deserve it, but for [[KickTheSonOfABitch entirely different reasons]].

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'': In the episode "Paste Makes Waste," when a bullied kid named Elmer Sglue mutates into a giant monster after being ruthlessly teased and bullied by Buttercup and the other kids, Blossom and Bubbles initially refuse to help Buttercup fight him, telling her outright that she and the other bullies deserve it for how they treated Elmer. They quickly change their minds when Elmer proceeds to attack Ms. Keane, who had ''nothing'' to do with the bullying, and proceeds to rampage through Townsville.

* It's easier to list all of the villains in ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'' who ''don't'' fall under this trope. For example, there's Eugene Snit from the Season 2 episode "Matchmaker." His girlfriend dumped him on Valentine's Day the year before, so he decided to get revenge by installing dating booths that helped him to gather information on a girl's ideal boyfriend in Beverly Hills High. He then used a holographic disguise device that allowed him to change into that ideal boyfriend. Then he seduced all the girls at Beverly Hill High and stood them up by not showing up to the dance to break their hearts. So instead of seducing his ex-girlfriend and breaking up with her to break her heart, Eugene decides to seduce and break the hearts of a bunch of girls that had nothing to do with his breakup. What made this worse is that he did not even go to Beverly Hills High; his school is the Institute for Gifted Teens. While it still would have been petty and cruel, it would have made more sense for him to seduce and break the hearts of the girls at his own school.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "Slice of Life", a background ''[[Film/TheBigLebowski Big Lebowski]]'' reference near the end implies that the bugbear killed Donny in its attempt to get at Bon Bon (who had sent it to Tartarus).

* In the ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' episode "Firework Run", when Muscle Man accidentally sets off the Fourth of July fireworks, [[MeanBoss Benson]] threatens to fire Mordecai, Rigby and Hi-Five Ghost ''alongside him'' for it even though none of the three had anything to do with it. In the case of Mordecai and Rigby, though, he just wanted an excuse to be rid of them.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead'', [[AxCrazy Harry Sachz]] receives a bunch of prank calls by the titular characters and decides to get revenge on them, but the two inadvertently end up directing him to Stewart's house where he mistakes Mr. Stevenson as his prank caller and proceeds to give the latter a brutal AssShove.

** In "Patty Hype", after [=SpongeBob=]'s Pretty Patties dye the people who ate them different colors, they take their vengeance out on Mr. Krabs because he was the current owner of the stand selling the patties, even though [=SpongeBob=] was the one who came up with and sold them the patties in the first place. Of course, Mr. Krabs did deserve it, but for [[KickTheSonOfABitch entirely different reasons.]]

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead'', [[AxCrazy Harry Sachz]] receives a bunch of prank calls by the title characters and decides to get revenge on them, but the two inadvertently end up directing him to Stewart's house where he mistakes Mr. Stevenson as his prank caller and proceeds to give the latter a brutal AssShove.

** In general, the Troublesome Trucks always get away with causing the accidents the steam engines suffer, such as [[Recap/ThomasAndFriendsS1E7ThomasAndTheBreakdownTrain causing James to crash into a field on his first day]], but the engines alway get reprimanded by the Fat Controller for them.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'' episode "Trust Thomas", James angrily bumps the troublesome trucks because he has to do Percy's work while he's away at the harbor, but after the trucks find out that Thomas agreed to do James' work, even though James was playing sick, they decide to play tricks on Thomas instead since "one engine is as good as another".
** The show frequently shows railwaymen screwing up, causing no end of crashes and delays. But of course, the engines will nearly always be blamed for it. In "Thomas Comes To Breakfast", for example, Thomas crashed through the station master's house because a cleaner had fiddled with his controls but the Fat Controller still scolds Thomas for it.
** In "One Good Turn" everyone blames Bill and Ben for the incident with the turntable, when the narrator very clearly said that it was the foreman's mistake.

** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E4Rosebud Rosebud]]" the Ramones perform at Mr. Burn's birthday, but they insult him. Burns, who failed to recognize them orders to have Music/TheRollingStones killed.