Aesop Collateral Damage: Difference between revisions

In mythological, religious and fantasy works, somebody does or says something that shows he's in need of an attitude adjustment. Either a being (often a deity or similarly powerful creature) or Fate itself will act overtly to [[Aesop|teach this lesson]]. Unfortunately, the direct victim of this tutelage isn't the person in need of the lesson, but rather one or more persons close to him who haven't been shown to have done anything wrong. Typical victims are children, spouses and colleagues of the culprit, and the suffering often involves their deaths. In light of this, the culprit expresses remorse and either changes his ways or gives way to grief. Either way, he won't be making ''that'' mistake again. It is rarely/never mentioned that the entirely innocent suffer the most.

 

 

== Comic Books ==

* ''[[Batman]]'': Dr Leslie Thompkins purposely let Robin die just to demonstrate to the youth of Gotham the dangers of letting kids fight crime. The subsequent [[Retcon]] held that it never happened; Dr Thompkins knew Steph hadn't died and just lied to Bruce about it.

* In [[Stuffed Into the Fridge]]'s purest form, female supporting characters die so that male heroes can learn vague lessons about the price of heroism, after which said heroes usually find new love interests and generally move on.

 

== Literature ==