Basic Trope: A character (usually a villain) justly deserving punishment either ends the story without receiving any or receives punishment so minor as to be fairly negligible.
- Straight: Emperor Evulz does many awful things in pursuit of his goal to Take Over the World, and even murders a hero in the climax. Though defeated, he escapes and gets away with it.
- Exaggerated:
- Evulz gets rewarded for his actions.
- Evulz blows up several galaxies, inflicts an And I Must Scream fate on an entire planet’s population, rapes every woman he encounters and crosses the road on a red light. He somehow gets away with it.
- Evulz crosses the Moral Event Horizon, but somehow goes to Heaven instead of Hell for his crimes.
- Evulz's victim's/victims' family receives further punishment for trying to retaliate, and Evulz is rewarded directly for his actions on top of that.
- The Bad Guy Wins.
- Downplayed:
- Evulz gets a lifetime in prison, which is a life he is used to, but he still wishes he could go outside more.
- Evulz plays an annoying practical joke and gets away with it.
- Evulz is punished, just not as severely as he deserves.
- Evulz is punished, but doesn't care for whatever reason.
- Evulz does something bad, but no one calls him out on it.
- Evulz gets away with it, but the things that happened to him during the act were punishment enough.
- Evulz gets away with it. He later becomes The Atoner and, though he never receives an external punishment, he feels it necessary to atone for his sins.
- The story has Multiple Endings and one has Evulz succeed in his goals without being punished.
- Evulz gets away with it but at a great cost. Most of his loved ones are now dead, his surviving friends and family disown him, his image is ruined, and he got a paper cut.
- Evulz gets away without punishment, but it’s on level with his crimes, as he only did really small deeds like stealing from a donation box, starting a fight in a school cafeteria, Mustache Vandalism, and eating a chocolate bar without paying for it.
- Bob is the most ruthless of the heroes, yet he is the only one to get a happy ending.
- Similar to the above example: Bob is a vigilante who gets away with deliberately targeting criminals despite it being illegal.
- Alice gets away with being a petty jerkass.
- Evulz dies, but the people he wronged never find out he was responsible and remember him in a positive light.
- Evulz got away with something more minor, such as cheating on a exam.
- Justified:
- Some higher power covered up Evulz’s heinous act, whether it be a conspiracy who still needs Evulz for an aspect of their scheme or a loved one in denial that their beloved Evulz could really do such a thing.
- Evulz's "crime" was very minor, at worst leaving his victims a few dollars poorer and annoying the neighborhood. In other words, it's not a big enough deal for the others to seek revenge or press charges over.
- Evulz is clever enough to plan several contingency plans enabling her to escape punishment for her crimes.
- Evulz is the Evil, Polar Opposite Twin of a Butt-Monkey.
- There is no one left who's strong enough to punish Evulz.
- Evulz does a Heel–Face Turn halfway or at the end of the story. There's no point in punishing him if he is a changed man and wishes to make up for his misdeeds.
- Evulz completely vanishes from the storyline after his actions and the writers leave his fate ambiguous.
- The story is a cynical one.
- Nearly everyone is a villain and the hero Evulz murdered was a member of a rebellion.
- Screw the Rules, I Make Them!
- Evulz is an integral part of the universe, in the way that Johnny the Homicidal Maniac is.
- Evulz was Brainwashed and Crazy and was therefore, brainwashed into killing.
- Evulz has been trained to or studied how to kill without leaving a trace and may be Ninja.
- Evulz is a secret agent with a license to kill.
- Evulz has been hired by a secret organization that is in charge of all government decisions to kill the hero, because He Knows Too Much. As such, they give Evulz preferential treatment.
- Evulz is a child.
- Evulz is based on a person in real life who never got punished.
- The hero is angry at Evulz for what he did, but decides to let it go because his obsession with revenge could poison him and because he is optimistic that Evulz will suffer the consequences of his actions eventually.
- No one ever found out about what Evulz did.
- People like Evulz enough not to want to punish him.
- Evulz cannot be tried in his own courts, and his subjects are either all too blindly loyal or too afraid to take him to task over it, which would make them rebels and traitors.
- Evulz negotiates a deal where he gets no punishment, in exchange for information on everyone else in The Conspiracy. One man avoiding punishment is worth the good that'll come from the collapse of The Conspiracy.
- 'Evulz' is the Real Life kind of Criminally Insane.
- What Evulz did was an accident: he didn't intend on doing what he did and the rest understands.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!/Screw the Rules, I'm Beautiful!/Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!
- Plain dumb luck. While Evulz was one of the most evil bastards, his comedically high luck was his savior each and every time.
- Evulz is a Magnificent Bastard.
- If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!
- Evulz wasn't in control of himself.
- Inverted:
- Can't Get Away with Nuthin'
- Alice saves a hero. She is never thanked or given recognition.
- Alice saves a hero. She gets punished for it.
- Alice accidentally kills a hero. Though she feels very guilty, she is executed by being burned alive while nailed to a tree.
- Alice's arrogance ends up causing her death.
- Evulz receives a punishment far too excessive than what he actually deserves, as while he only really stole, his punishment is so horrific that even the person punishing him refuses to watch.
- Alice goes through a massive Trauma Conga Line and barely manages to earn happy ending.
- Bob is a Harmless Villain who does something extremely petty. Let’s just say, he poked a poodle for example. Despite this, everyone refuses to let him walk away scott-free and punishes him severely.
- Evulz is a Villain Protagonist.
- Subverted:
- Karma Houdini Warranty
- Evulz avoids punishment for a crime he apparently committed ... only for a flashback to reveal that he really was innocent all along.
- Evulz avoids direct punishment. But his life and future goals are pretty much screwed due to the heroes' actions that even when he lives, he's still screwed. The heroes might have been doing this on purpose.
- Evulz ends up pulling a Heel–Face Turn in a later installment.
- While the story may have ended with Evulz getting away with his crimes and the fact that Word of God has confirmed that there are no sequels to the story, according to an interview from the creator, he said that Evulz got punished, but it was off-screen.
- Double Subverted:
- ...which Evulz still manages to escape.
- Evulz survives the fall.
- This was a ploy to hide his involvement within the crime.
- Evulz however then pulls a Face–Heel Turn later on and gets away with his crimes.
- Parodied:
- Evulz does a musical song-and-dance number celebrating about how he has managed to get away with it, and he ends up getting caught while singing.
- Evulz just doesn't get why he manages to get away with every crime he has ever committed even when he talked to the police and the government about it.
- Evulz does a literal Houdini-style escape every time he's about to be caught.
- Zig-Zagged:
- While Evulz can escape his misdeeds, he gets chased by the karma laser again and again until he finally gives in. And at that point karma gives him Restrained Revenge so he feels he sort of got away with it, that is, until the people he wronged take matters into their own hands, the first person slaps him, the second person tickles him with a feather, the third person hits him in the face with a pie, the fourth person shoots him.....
- Evulz seems to be escaping, but then slips on a wet floor and falls out of the building. Evulz unfortunately survives, but now is completely paralyzed. He is still delighted since he fears death, until he eventually realizes that he will be like this forever and cannot kill himself out misery.
- Many people give different accounts of Evulz's crimes and punishment, making it not clear if it was far too little or far too severe.
- Evulz is constantly changing sides, to the point where the heroes see no reason to punish him.
- Evulz gets away with some of his evil deeds, while at other times, he gets punished for his other ones.
- Averted:
- Evulz receives fair punishment for his crimes.
- Evulz can never get away with his deeds.
- Put on a Prison Bus
- Enforced:
- "The universe is unfair, sometimes the guilty aren't punished, and I think this story should reflect that."
- "Wow! Evulz's so awesome I can't bring myself to punish him!"
- The creators deliberately delay the villain's punishment until a later installment, reasoning that letting the villain get away with their crimes for now will make it all the more satisfying for the fans once the fiend finally gets their comeuppance.
- Evulz's planned comeuppance was omitted from the work after creators felt it would break the pacing of the ending, detract from the intended tone; etc.
- The story is a prequel, so Evulz needs to survive to get his dues later.
- Joker Immunity
- Lampshaded: "You're kidding me! After all we've been through, he got away scot-free?!"
- Invoked:
- Evulz does everything he can do to avoid punishment. He kills every witness, leaves his hometown, changes his identity and starts a new life.
- Evulz is aware he is in a TV show, and actively tries to get the show canceled.
- The heroes refuse to punish Evulz.
- Defied:
- Figuring that Evulz will somehow weasel out of punishment, the heroes summarily execute him.
- Evulz chooses to make amends because, despite not getting punishment, he still feels guilty.
- Exploited: Evulz murders a hero and gets away with it. Then he robs a bank and also gets away with it. He realizes that his actions don't seem to have consequences, so he runs around doing whatever he damn well pleases.
- Implied: Evulz doesn't seem like he’s done anything bad, but there's hints that he did get away with it, but it's not for certain what did he do.
- Discussed: "It's a cruel world; sometimes, people do get away with murder."
- Conversed:
- "You're kidding me! I read that whole thing and Evulz got away with it?!"
- "You know what? If you're gonna let him get away with all that malarky, this world deserves to burn!"
- Deconstructed:
- Evulz has to live with what he's done and the memories and guilt rotting at his soul. He also, like many real-life dictators, becomes paranoid by constantly worrying about justice catching up with him, assassination attempts, and such. So, although he got away with his crimes, he isn't truly happy.
- Evulz's karmic immunity allows him to avoid punishment for his evil deeds, but it also means he's never rewarded for the rare instances where he does something good.
- Because of his karmic immunity, The Empire of Evulz ends up devolving into a dreadful Crapsack World brimming with corruption, violence, selfishness, depravity, and all other kinds of terrible things.
- Evulz was trying to get punished.
- The friends of the hero are in despair that Evulz will never be punished for his evil deeds. It makes them question what they're fighting for if ultimately, evil is never punished.
- Due to the publicity he receives for escaping punishment, Evulz is shunned by everyone he knows and becomes a social pariah. In a fit of irony, Evulz ultimately lives out the rest of his days alone and hated.
- One of the people Evulz hurt snaps upon realizing that he is going to walk off scot-free, and butchers everyone in his personal life (whether they had anything to do with the crime or not) in a vain attempt to see him face justice.
- Evulz gets hit with a Villainous BSoD and becomes mortified by the crimes he got away with, and gives a Karmic Nod to the authorities.
- Reconstructed:
- Because he's a nihilist, living with the memories of his misdeeds doesn't bother him for that long.
- Evulz is a Card-Carrying Villain who does not care about getting recognition for doing good things.
- In the long run, Evulz doesn't notice his punishment.
- Punishment never occurs in The Empire, so everyone is capable of being a Karma Houdini.
- Evulz learns to be grateful for his karmic immunity.
- The hero's friends accept that although it feels unfair that Evulz gets away, it's part of life. They recognize now that winning isn't everything and carry on the hero's mission to defeat Evulz, because although he has won the battle, he hasn't won the war.
- Now that everyone disregards him, Evulz can get away with anything for sure.
- Evulz is a sociopath who doesn't care for anyone else in his life. Or, more ironically, the killer gets away with slaying those people.
- Played for Laughs: It was revealed that Evulz only wanted to go to the grocery store and get cucumbers.
- Played for Drama:
- The hero's attempt to stop Evulz amounts to nothing, resulting in the world descending into chaos it has no chance of waking from.
- The hero's attempt to stop Evulz amounts to nothing, resulting in dilemmas among the world and the characters, leading to even stronger attempts to take him down.
- The hero's attempt to stop Evulz amounts to nothing, and the heroes decide that if Evulz can get away with his crimes, so can they.
- Played for Horror: Evulz gets away with inflicting Cruel And Unusual Deaths, Cold-Blooded Torture, and other grotesque punishments on the most innocent characters.
Back to Karma Houdini, unless you want me to get away. [Evil Laugh]
