Asshole Victim: Difference between revisions

 

There are three possible reasons for having an Asshole Victim:

# It's one of the only ways to have a [[Sympathetic Murderer]]. Writers may make the victim an asshole in this case either just to have a sympathetic murderer; or, if the show is a [[Law Procedural|Courtroom Drama]], to make it harder to convict the killer as the jury sympathizes.

# In a mystery show, it [[Everyone Is a Suspect|maximizes the possible suspects]], as just about ''everyone'' involved would have a potential motive to kill this guy. Usually the line, "Well, I certainly ''hated'' X, but I didn't ''kill'' him" will be used repeatedly, and perhaps the extreme variation "Yeah, I ''wanted'' to kill X, but somebody beat me to it." In a few really extreme cases, suspects may even add "I'd kill X ''now'' if I could, but it's a moot point." In rare cases, a suspect admits that "[[I Wished You Were Dead|I wished X was dead]]" before the victim actually died, and now therefore feels [[Be Careful What You Wish For|indirectly responsible]] for it.

* In [http://fishbones.livejournal.com/29307.html the LJ sample chapter] of ''[[Fishbones]]'', Mr. Gonyer, the insurance agent who won't give coverage to a family man for his wife's breast cancer treatment because it's "too experimental."

* ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'', occasionally. Such as [http://sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/070119 these].

 

== Western Animation ==