KHW can only come into play if Karma Houdini previously did; KH is already considered an Ending Trope and only applies if Alice does something awful and gets away with it, hence the name. KHW cannot come into effect within the span of a single work (even if the horrible action is a part of a character's backstory, or the world's history - the audience doesn't see them in the process of getting away with it, just the aftermath.)
Consider a simple example across a serialized video game. In order.
- Alice insults Bob's puppy in Trope Quest.
- Just as Bob is about to fight Alice at the end, she escapes unscathed - Karma Houdini begins here.
- Alice is encountered again in Trope Quest 2.
- Bob defeats Alice and makes her apologize profusely for the puppy's hurt feelings. - Karma Houdini Warranty is in effect.
Edited by GreenGalaxy on Jul 16th 2023 at 4:30:42 AM
Thank you for your response. If Karma Houdini Warranty is only supposed to apply to sequels or future installments in a serialised work, then there are several examples on the trope page that don't fit that criteria (to name some, every example under Fairytales, Coco, Turning Red, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, I Care a Lot, Promising Young Woman, Titanic (1997), Vertigo), and this is just from a quick check.
This would indicate there's a fair bit of misuse, or that the criteria needs to be expanded. Is this enough of an issue to maybe bring it up in the Trope Repair Shop or something similar?
Edit: Just to add, a lot of those examples do feature the character actively doing and getting away with nasty things throughout the story, as opposed to it being relegated to the backstory.
Edited by Stevebob on Jul 16th 2023 at 6:17:15 AM
That might actually be worth looking into. I'd wait until somebody with more experience clarifies the "backstory" relationship, but from my understanding KHW is only on the table if the installment where the Houdini did some evil thing has already completed. The trope description even says that it requires separate installments, so what are single-episode-or-installment examples doing on page?
EDIT: Typo.
Edited by GreenGalaxy on Jul 17th 2023 at 10:58:44 AM
Berserk Button: misusing Nightmare Fuel
One example I have in mind is Yoshikage Kira from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable. His backstory is that he's a Serial Killer who's operated for over a decade and has claimed dozens of victims, never getting caught due to not only being extremely careful, but also having the ability to erase the bodies of his victims, which meant he left very little evidence behind. He also kills several characters throughout the story, including some of the heroes, and manages to get away without getting caught every time (including one occasion where he did get caught, but then managed to escape and then completely change his appearance to lose the heroes' trail). It's only at the end of the story that he finally gets defeated.
Yoshikage Kira was not introduced in a previous part of the story, so most of his Karma Houdini antics are strictly backstory territory. I feel like a murderer getting away with his crimes for years and years before karma catches up to him could fit a trope, but under a strict reading of the current description, he doesn't qualify.
Karma Houdini Backstory could be a potential trope to help catch some of the misuse.
Kirby is awesome.Before you begin, please check out How to Do a Wick Check and create your wick check under a fitting Sandbox name (i.e. Karma Houdini Warranty Wick Check). Once you complete it and you feel you've determined there's a problem, go to the TRS Queue and study the O Ps at the bottom of the page. Write one up, include your Wick Check, and then add your entry to the end of the queue. You'll be pinged by somebody when it's your turn to open a thread.
Good luck and godspeed!
Berserk Button: misusing Berserk Button
I myself have also made a thread about this and feel that this should only apply to cases where the villain goes at least one installment unscathed. But I'm not certain if there is enough misuse to justify a wick check as opposed to just removing all of it.
Edited by MasterN on Jul 19th 2023 at 11:29:56 AM
One of these days, all of you will accept me as your supreme overlord.

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this question, but I couldn't find any other discussions or posts about it. I will be happy to post this in a more relevant place if this is the case.
I recently noticed some work pages I frequent got Karma Houdini Warranty examples removed because of misuse, as the examples didn't cover multiple installments of a work. The trope description does mention a villain getting their comeuppance in the next installment as an example, but I noticed that a lot of examples on the trope page, its subpages and on various work pages feature cases of villains or jerks getting their comeuppance in the same installment / a standalone work after getting away with bad stuff for a long time (usually near the end). The Laconic description and Playing With page also make no mention of it needing to happen in a sequel/future installment. It's not specified as such in other areas, such as index pages, either.
I was wondering if Karma Houdini Warranty is exclusively supposed to be for sequels/ serialised works, or if it is applicable to single installments and standalones?
Edited by Stevebob on Jul 16th 2023 at 1:14:16 AM