Line #53 PlayingWith/LaserGuidedKarma


1	'''Basic Trope:''' A character experiences a bad misfortune due to his/her bad deeds.
2	* '''Straight:'''
3	** Alice [[KickTheDog ridicules]] Bob, [[MinorInsultMeltdown damaging his feelings]]. Later, she becomes sick.
4	** Alice devises a scheme to publically humiliate Bob. Shortly after the scheme, she gets stripped naked in public.
5	* '''Exaggerated:'''
6	** AssholeVictim.
7	** KarmicDeath.
8	** Alice plays a mean prank on Bob only to suffer DisproportionateRetribution.
9	** Alice, Damien, and Flynn put together a huge, high-budget smear campaign so that everyone will run Bob out of town because he lied about how tall he was once in the second grade. Shortly after its success, Damien's marriage grows turbulant and leads to a divorce, Flynn's career experiences a severe slump, Alice loses all her hair and gets hit by a car and hospitalized.
10	** Alice, a CompleteMonster [[HateSink with absolutely no redeeming qualities at all]] who likes to cross the MoralEventHorizon [[AndIMustScream gets put in a]] FateWorseThanDeath.
11	*** Alternatively: A CompleteMonster [[CruelAndUnusualDeath is killed]] [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill in a very cruel and painful way]].
12	* '''Downplayed:'''
13	** Alice calls Bob a nasty name. As a result, she gets a sore throat that renders her unable to talk.
14	** While what Alice receives isn’t that much of a punishment for anyone else, it is a fitting repercussion and for her, a FateWorseThanDeath.
15	** Alice [[PokeThePoodle calls Bob a]] BigStupidDooDooHead only to get {{dope slap}}ped later on.
16	** [[AssholeVictim Alice’s punishment didn’t have any connections to her crimes and still would happened to her even if she wasn’t a]] {{jerkass}}.
17	* '''Justified:'''
18	** The world is ruled by a deity who sets the world under [[BlackAndWhiteMorality black and white rules]], and is functioned to reward good and punish evil.
19	** Alice's plan to humiliate Bob involved her dyeing her hair, which ruined it and left her with no choice but to shave it all off, leaving ''her'' humiliated.
20	* '''Inverted:'''
21	** Alice performs a good action [[KarmicJackpot and gets rewarded for it]].
22	** Alice performs a good action [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished and gets punished for it]].
23	** Alice performs a bad action [[KarmaHoudini and gets rewarded for it.]]
24	* '''Subverted:''' It seems that the audience is awaiting Alice's comeuppance, but [[TheAtoner she becomes repentant of her deed]].
25	* '''Double Subverted:''' ...[[KarmaHoudiniWarranty but that didn't stop karma from making her ill anyways]].
26	* '''Parodied:'''
27	** Alice listens to violent GangstaRap. Her ears are profusely bleeding.
28	** Alice [[PokeThePoodle steals ice cream from a child]]. Later on, when she gets ice cream for herself, she learns that the local ice cream store has removed her favorite flavor and raised the prices for scoops.
29	** Alice makes a [[DeadpanSnarker snarky remark]] at Bob [[DiabolusExMachina and instantly drops dead]] [[DisproportionateRetribution without any possible explanation whatsoever]].
30	* '''Zig Zagged:''' Alice is a KarmaHoudini who gets away with all kinds of misdeeds, but eventually, she [[TookALevelInKindness grows a heart,]] performs a HeelFaceTurn and goes clean. Unfortunately, in doing so, she's abandoned most of her normal "safeguards" and leaves herself vulnerable to all the people she's hurt over the years, who have [[PayEvilUntoEvil varying]] [[TurnTheOtherCheek reactions.]]
31	* '''Averted:''' KarmaHoudini
32	* '''Enforced:''' "Alice always get away from her {{jerkass}}ery. Let's punish her to please our audience."
33	* '''Lampshaded:''' "You got exactly what you deserved, Alice!"
34	* '''Invoked''':
35	** Alice, who is [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone regretful of the deed]], is looking forward to having bad things to happen to her right away.
36	** A {{jerkass\|God}} deity wants to rule the world just for the sake of punishing people for bad deeds since [[HumansAreBastards humanity is prone committing them]].
37	** After being berated by Alice, [[ATasteOfTheirOwnMedicine Bob decides to take matters into his own hands]]...
38	** {{Revenge}}[=/=]PayEvilUntoEvil
39	* '''Exploited:'''
40	** A miserly Jarl refuses to tip a Wise Woman. The Wise Woman gets even by giving a hint to [[Myth/NorseMythology Odin]] to go for a visit [[KingIncognito in disguise]] to that Jarl. That Jarl has a habit of [[DoNotTauntCthulhu robbing his guests.]]
41	** [[DogKickingExcuse Alice spies on others in hopes for them to do something bad so that she can get away with]] [[KickTheDog doing something bad to them]] [[KarmaHoudini and get away with it]].
42	* '''Defied:'''
43	** “I don't believe in what goes around comes around. I believe that whatever happens, happens."
44	** Alice, worrying about karma catching up to her, decides to [[HeKnowsTooMuch kill all people aware of her misdeeds]]. [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome This gives her a reputation where she is willing to kill]] ''[[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome 5,000 people]]'' [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome just because one of them saw her calling Bob an idiot]].
45	* '''Discussed:''' "There's nothing more satisfying than to see people get what they deserve."
46	* '''Conversed:''' A viewer who watches Alice suffer her punishment screams out "Karma's a bitch! Huh, Alice?!".
47	* '''Implied''': OffscreenKarma
48	* '''Deconstructed:'''
49	** Alice suffers karmic retribution, but this didn't stop others to celebrate it, [[ReformedButRejected especially when she actually is trying to atone for her actions]]. This proves that every character is no better than the other, and even worse, [[KarmaHoudini karma didn't bother to bite them all in the asses.]]
50	** If evil is punished [[KarmicJackpot and good is rewarded]], than people avoid doing bad things [[PragmaticVillainy only to avoid get punished instead of]] [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone the guilt of doing so]]. [[PragmaticVillainy Same for them doing the right thing not because of genuine goodness, but because of selfish motives thinking that they will be rewarded]].
51	** Alice does something bad to one of Bob’s friends, [[InvokedTrope so Bob does something bad to her]]. However, Alice calls out Bob, [[NotSoDifferentRemark saying that he’s no different from her]] as both are willing to do bad things to others, and that he is still [[RevengeIsNotJustice held accountable for his actions]]. Because of this, people view Bob as {{hypocrite}} for punishing Alice [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished even though it was the right thing to do]].
52	** Alice’s [[DisproportionateRetribution “Karma”]] is [[KarmicOverkill way too severe for what she’s done]]. Because of this, the viewers [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic view Alice as more sympathetic than how the narrative portrays her]], and [[TooBleakStoppedCaring the episode gets badly reviewed in the fandom for Alice’s unfair treatment]].
53	* '''Reconstructed:'''
54	** The people who [[OnceDoneNeverForgotten never let Alice forget her misdeeds]] and rejoice in her misery receive a ''vicious'' ShamingTheMob speech from an enraged bystander, who points out that in acting self-righteous and petty, they've become no better than Alice herself.
55	** But even if everyone is doing good deeds and avoid doing bad ones for [[ItsAllAboutMe selfish motivations]], [[LesserOfTwoEvils it’s a lot better than everyone doing bad deeds and avoid doing good ones]].
56	* '''Played For Laughs:''' Alice is an UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist in a SadistShow [[TheChewToy who’s constantly receiving]] [[CrossesTheLineTwice over the top]] [[DisproportionateRetribution punishments]] for her {{jerkass}}ery.
57	* '''Played For Drama''':
58	** Alice’s meanness is a [[SourOutsideSadInside coping mechanism]] ever since her grandma died. Being publicly humiliated for her acts of cruelty and everyone going all “[[NoSympathy You get what you deserve, Alice!]]” only [[DespairEventHorizon deepened it as a result.]]
59	** AlasPoorVillain[=/=]JerkassWoobie: Yes, Alice may have been a terrible person who has done some pretty mean things in life but you can’t help but to feel sorry for her when she got punished.
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61	Return to the [[LaserGuidedKarma main page]] to get your JustDesserts.
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63	%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:
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Context PlayingWith / LaserGuidedKarma