History MotiveDecay / ComicBooks

* In ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'' it's shown that Megatron and the Decepticons originally started the war to overthrow the corrupt, evil Senate that ruled Cybertron and to bring an end to Functionism and bigotry against bots who were Constructed Cold. Over time the revolution slowly slipped beyond Megatron's original plans and he started to become NotSoDifferent from the Senate, becoming convinced that the only way the galaxy would be at true peace would be if ''he'' ruled everything. By its end the Great War had pretty much devolved into the Autobots trying to keep the Decepticons from raping and pillaging the galaxy so they could rule it. Made even more clear by the fact that the Decepticons who stood against bigotry [[{{Hypocrite}} were massive bigots towards non-cybertronions]].

* ComicBook/TheJoker has his motives originally being a killer clown with almost no motive in his first appearances of the GoldenAge, to just a common criminal after things like money in UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}}. However, it is averted nowadays, since his insanity means his reasons and motives to do anything can change at the drop of a hat. Most commonly they're a combination of ItAmusedMe and ForTheEvulz. That said, Joker's most consistent motivation for his actions involves screwing with and/or trying to kill Batman and his Batfamily in some manner or another.

** The third Cheetah (and the most well-known of the Modern Age) who started out as a tomb raider greedily obsessed with mystical artifacts, hasn't mentioned them in about two decades, substituting that for just trying to kill Wonder Woman for whatever reason.

** His [[ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan Ultimate Universe Counterpart]] is much the same. The man was originally only interested in patenting the Oz formula and making millions for replacing the Super Soldier Serum that created Captain America, but after his first arrest at the hands of Nick Fury and Spider-Man (and subsequent imprisonment) he started to shift his focus to revenge on Fury by destroying his career. After ''that'' was foiled enough times by Spider-Man, Norman changed gears again and focused everything on killing Peter.

* Several ''WonderWoman'' villains:

** In an issue of ''ComicBook/SpiderGirl'', there's reports that Magneto's been spotted (despite disappearing some time ago), and everyone's on high alert, with the X-People, Avengers, and ComicBook/FantasticFour on the lookout, cautioning anyone to call in back-up if they see him. When Spider-Girl and a young X-Person spot what looks like Magneto, they quickly come to the conclusion that it's just someone posing as the powerful mutant because, come on, would Magneto ''really'' be robbing a bank? [[spoiler:They're right, and go at him alone in order to spare him the utter beating that would result from every hero in the Tri-State Area dropping on his head.]]

** The most cut-and-dry example of this variation in action is the vicious cycle of Doctor Doom and Reed Richards of the ''ComicBook/FantasticFour''. Doom originally had a [[DisproportionateRetribution murderous grudge]] against Reed because he blamed him for a botched experiment that scarred Doom's face, injured his pride, and got him expelled. However, every time he's tried to kill Reed or TakeOverTheWorld in order to get the power necessary to kill him, Reed manages to beat him, hurting Doom's pride even more because it proves Reed is ''still'' smarter than Doom, which makes him hate Reed even more, which causes him to redouble his efforts to kill Reed, which cause him to get defeated by Reed again, which hurts his already-injured pride even more, which makes him hate Reed even more... ad infinitum.

* Despero, Justice League foe. When he first appeared he was a weird-looking alien despot, backed up by unseen tech that could teleport people and subdue them, fighting the heroes because they had accepted some refugees trying to overthrow him. But the more he gets used, the more power he gets and the less motive he had, so that as of just before ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}} he was a walking tank with telepathy, but apparently homeless and just battling the heroes because... revenge or something?

* In ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'' it's shown that Megatron and the Decepticons originally started the war to overthrow the corrupt, evil Senate that ruled Cybertron and to bring an end to Functionism and bigotry against bots who were Constructed Cold. Over time the revolution slowly slipped beyond Megatron's original plans and he started to become NotSoDifferent from the Senate, becoming convinced that the only way the galaxy would be at true peace would be if ''he'' ruled everything. By it's end the Great War had pretty much devolved into the Autobots trying to keep the Decepticons from raping and pillaging the galaxy so they could rule it. Made even more clear by the fact that the Decepticons who stood against bigotry [[{{Hypocrite}} were massive bigots towards non-cybertronions]].

* Gargamel originally wanted to use one of ComicBook/TheSmurfs as ingredient to create the PhilosophersStone and make gold. For some reason, in later seasons, he simply wanted to capture/eat/destroy them for no real reason other than they kept besting his last plan to get them. He got his original motive back in "A Child Among the Smurfs", but seemingly he forgets that he needed just one Smurf, and tries to get all of them anyways.

* Recurring ''Comicbook/TeenTitans'' character ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}} the Terminator a.k.a. Slade Wilson started out as a [[HitmanWithAHeart ruthless, though not unscrupulous assassin]] who honestly didn't have any great animosity towards the team and originally only came into conflict with them as part of fulfilling a contract that his son died trying to complete. When he dropped the contract he actually became rather amiable towards his former targets and actually counseled grief stricken members of the team on occasion and teaming up with them fairly regularly. While his relationship with the team eventually went sour again, it really doesn't explain him suddenly becoming a CardCarryingVillain and doing things like injecting his only surviving child with a PsychoSerum and implanting a [[GreenRocks chunk of radioactive kryptonite in her eye socket]] and nuking Bludhaven to spite Nightwing (a character he had previously had a lot of respect for). When pressed for a reason why he'd become such a monster his only answer was because he blamed Nightwing and the Titans for all the loss he's experienced in life, namely his children dying/abandoning him, despite the fact that it had been established that his sons had died under circumstances out of both the Titans' (and Slade's) control and his daughter abandoning him was unquestionably his fault. Since then, Deathstroke has engaged in nothing but wanton villainy. Nightwing actually calls him on all of this.

** The third Cheetah, who started out as a tomb raider greedily obsessed with mystical artifacts, hasn't mentioned them in about two decades, substituting that for just trying to kill Wonder Woman for whatever reason.

* {{ComicBook/Darkseid}} of Creator/JackKirby fame. His motive was to find the Anti-Life Equation and enslave the universe. Forty years later he just keeps showing up to mess with Earth and the JusticeLeagueOfAmerica. He finally managed to get back on track in ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis''.

* In a rare positive version of this trope, ComicBook/LexLuthor, ''{{Superman}}'''s ArchEnemy, started out wanting revenge on the Man of Steel for making him bald (yes, really. This happened in UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}}, when goofy motivations abounded...) even though it was also because Superman accidentally destroyed his lab as well as the lifeform he created which Luthor attributed to jealousy. Nobody complained much when this motive decayed away, even though none of its replacement motives for being Superman's nemesis are as clear-cut. Lex himself would tell you that he's doing it to prove to humanity that they don't need an alien savior and that when Superman is gone and humanity rules itself again (with Lex, as the smartest and best human, naturally in charge), he'll [[ReedRichardsIsUseless use his genius to cure cancer]] and rescue kitties and make the world wonderful. Superman would counter that by pointing out that [[ComicBook/FiftyTwo he ''was'' gone, for a year]] (and until he came back, it seemed like he'd be gone forever), and Lex spent the year... plotting ways to kill Superman.

* SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker has his motives originally being a killer clown with almost no motive in his first appearances of the GoldenAge, to just a common criminal after things like money in UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}}. However, it is averted nowadays, since his insanity means his reasons and motives to do anything can change at the drop of a hat. Most commonly they're a combination of ItAmusedMe and ForTheEvulz. That said, Joker's most consistent motivation for his actions involves screwing with and/or trying to kill Batman and his Batfamily in some manner or another.

* In ''ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'' it's shown that Megatron and the Decepticons originally started the war to overthrow the corrupt, evil Senate that ruled Cybertron and to bring an end to Functionism and bigotry against bots who were Constructed Cold. Over time the revolution slowly slipped beyond Megatron's original plans and he started to become NotSoDifferent from the Senate, becoming convinced that the only way the galaxy would be at true peace would be if ''he'' ruled everything. By it's end the Great War had pretty much devolved into the Autobots trying to keep the Decepticons from raping and pillaging the galaxy so they could rule it. Made even more clear by the fact that the Decepticons who stood against bigotry [[{{Hypocrite}} were massive bigots towards non-cybertronions]].

* {{ComicBook/Darkseid}} of JackKirby fame. His motive was to find the Anti-Life Equation and enslave the universe. Forty years later he just keeps showing up to mess with Earth and the JusticeLeagueOfAmerica. He finally managed to get back on track in ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis''.

** Also, it's been {{retcon}}ned that he real reason Brock decided to kill himself the night he bonded with the symbiote wasn't solely because Spidey ruined his career; it turns out Brock had terminal cancer, and the death of his career was just the final straw.

* {{Magneto}}, of ''ComicBook/XMen'' fame, has cycled over the years between a WellIntentionedExtremist and a simple EvilOverlord [[DependingOnTheWriter according to the preferences of his writers]].

* {{Magneto}}, of ''ComicBook/{{X-Men}}'' fame, has cycled over the years between a WellIntentionedExtremist and a simple EvilOverlord [[DependingOnTheWriter according to the preferences of his writers]].

* The major point of contention with fans of the ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'' series and Ian's interpretation of the Dark Legion; before he took over, they were written as {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s focused only on undoing a [[StrawCharacter Straw Political]]-based technology ban and be reintegrated into main Echidna society without having to sacrifice their MachineWorship lifestyle, and have at several points [[EnemyMine sided with the other Echidnas against shared threats]]. After Ian took over? They got [[{{Flanderization}} Flanderized]] into generic MechaMooks who [[TheAssimilator force-cybertize other people into their ranks]].

** The most cut-and-dry example of this variation in action is the vicious cycle of DoctorDoom and Reed Richards of the ''ComicBook/FantasticFour''. Doom originally had a [[DisproportionateRetribution murderous grudge]] against Reed because he blamed him for a botched experiment that scarred Doom's face, injured his pride, and got him expelled. However, every time he's tried to kill Reed or TakeOverTheWorld in order to get the power necessary to kill him, Reed manages to beat him, hurting Doom's pride even more because it proves Reed is ''still'' smarter than Doom, which makes him hate Reed even more, which causes him to redouble his efforts to kill Reed, which cause him to get defeated by Reed again, which hurts his already-injured pride even more, which makes him hate Reed even more... ad infinitum.

* Gargamel originally wanted to use one of ComicBook/TheSmurfs to create the PhilosophersStone and make gold. For some reason, in later seasons, he simply wanted to capture/eat/destroy them for no real reason other than they kept besting his last plan to get them. He got his original motive back in "A Child Among the Smurfs", but seemingly he forgets that he needed just one Smurf, and tries to get all of them anyways.

* SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker has his motives originally being a killer clown with almost no motive in his first appearances of the GoldenAge, to just a common criminal after things like money in the SilverAge. However, it is averted nowadays, since his insanity means his reasons and motives to do anything can change at the drop of a hat. Most commonly they're a combination of ItAmusedMe and ForTheEvulz. That said, Joker's most consistent motivation for his actions involves screwing with and/or trying to kill Batman and his Batfamily in some manner or another.

* In a rare positive version of this trope, ComicBook/LexLuthor, ''{{Superman}}'''s ArchEnemy, started out wanting revenge on the Man of Steel for making him bald (yes, really. This happened in the SilverAge, when goofy motivations abounded...) even though it was also because Superman accidentally destroyed his lab as well as the lifeform he created which Luthor attributed to jealousy. Nobody complained much when this motive decayed away, even though none of its replacement motives for being Superman's nemesis are as clear-cut. Lex himself would tell you that he's doing it to prove to humanity that they don't need an alien savior and that when Superman is gone and humanity rules itself again (with Lex, as the smartest and best human, naturally in charge), he'll [[ReedRichardsIsUseless use his genius to cure cancer]] and rescue kitties and make the world wonderful. Superman would counter that by pointing out that [[ComicBook/FiftyTwo he ''was'' gone, for a year]] (and until he came back, it seemed like he'd be gone forever), and Lex spent the year... plotting ways to kill Superman.