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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"Nothing buys bygones quicker than cash"''|'''Jayne Cobb''', ''[[
{{quote|''"Sorry I burned down your village. Here's some gold."''|''Flavor text for the [[Magic:
An insincere [[The Atoner|Atoner]] attempts by his good deeds to stifle any guilt he feels, or buy off his victims so they will not seek [[Revenge]] when they learn he has wronged them. He often resorts to material assistance, because personal help prods his conscience and makes him feel worse.
Generally, he regards his evil deeds as not so much offset by his good deeds as obliterated by
Often his evil deeds are discovered long after the fact, to cast a respective light on his good deeds.
May be a form of [[Screw the Rules, I Have Money]], but the character does not have to be richer than others. Compare [[Every Man Has His Price]] for "bribery" in a more generic sense. See [[Must Make Amends]] for when the efforts are sincere.
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* Subverted in ''[[Monster (
* In ''[[Blassreiter]]'', after the bullies {{spoiler|[[Driven to Suicide|drive Malek's friend to suicide]]}}, the father of one of the bullies pays the boy's parents off to keep quiet. {{spoiler|This leads directly into Malek's [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]].}}
* ''[[
== [[Fan Works]] ==
* The formalized system of ''weregild'' (sic) is an important plot point in the ''[[How to Train Your Dragon (animation)|How to Train Your Dragon]]'' fanfic ''[[A Thing of Vikings]]'', repeatedly appearing for offenses varying wildly from near-inconsequential to monstrous depravity -- and in the latter cases motivating some of the influential figures in the story to start looking into a better system.
== [[Film]] ==
* Pretty much the entire plot behind ''[[
* In ''[[
* In ''[[The Princess Bride (
== [[Literature]] ==
* In [[Madeleine L
* In [[Dan Abnett]]'s [[
* In ''[[Missing Magic]]'', the main character's uncle/cousin dotes on him and even pays for the main character to go to a fancy magic school, despite the fact that he has no magic. It's later revealed that the uncle/cousin was the one responsible for removing the main character's magic by using him as a guinea pig for a new spell when he was just a toddler.
* In [[
* In [[Graham McNeill]]'s [[Warhammer
* In [[The Dresden Files]], the magical beings frequently pay weregild. Mentioned many times in passing.
** At the end of ''White Night'', Harry demands it from {{spoiler|Lara}} for the dead women.
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* The main characters try this in ''[[The Secret History]]'', to prevent Bunny from telling the police about their accidental murder. It works for a while, but they {{spoiler|end up killing him just to be on the safe side.}}
* In the [[Farsala Trilogy]], an arrogant deghan scars Kavi's hand so badly that he can no longer practice his trade. About a year later, he returns and pays Kavi "for his trouble." [[Disproportionate Retribution|It doesn't help]].
* In [[Robert E. Howard]]'s "[[
{{quote|
** Later, a man comes with the keys and asks Conan what he would pay for him. Then he revealed that Conan had killed his brother and asks his price again. Then he says the price is Conan's head.
* ''[[In Death]]'': ''Haunted In Death'' reveals that Hopkins bought off the police investigating his wife or lover's death. Eve Dallas makes it clear in that story that no one buys her off. ''Seduction In Death'' and ''Kindred In Death'' had the people responsible for murder try to buy off Eve. She makes them wish they didn't try that.
* In [[Rick Cook]]'s ''[[
* In [[Michael Flynn]]'s ''[[Spiral Arm
* Backstory to ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' given in ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' has Sauron as something of this after the defeat of [[God of Evil|Morgoth]]; he begs clemency from the emmisary of the Valar and offers his services in fixing the damage done by his master. The narration states that he was not entirely insincere in such offers (even if only driven by fear), and certain other writings imply that Sauron ultimately contrived his decision to remain in Middle-Earth against the instructions to return to Valinor for judgement as an opportunity to do good works (even if jealousy of the Elves and Númenórëans helped his true nature reassert itself).
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* At one point in ''[[My Name Is Earl]]'', Earl tries to teach someone else to do their own list. They end up just sending fruit baskets to everyone.
* In ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]'', Autolycus the thief (played by [[Bruce Campbell]]) is about to kill the man who murdered his older brother years ago. When the man tries to buy him off by offering money, Autolycus gives him a [[Hope Spot]] by asking him how much he's willing to offer. When the man responds "All I've got!", Autolycus says that's not enough and prepares to kill him. {{spoiler|Xena stops Autolycus from crossing the line between thief and killer by asking him if this is really what his brother would have wanted.}}
* In ''[[
* ''[[Revenge (TV series)|Revenge]]'' has Conrad and Victoria Grayson endowing a charity to help victims of terrorist attacks in order to sooth their own guilty consciences about laundering money for terrorists.
** This appears to be the standard Grayson reaction. Conrad buys Victoria a car to make up for cheating on her, Victoria gives Charlotte the same car to apologize for {{spoiler|wishing she'd never been born.}}
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* The [[Magic:
== [[Theatre]] ==
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* [[Cyrano De Bergerac]]:
** Used by Cyrano after he refuses to apologiyze to the Burgundy Theater's audience for interrupting ''[[Show Within a Show|The Clorise]]'' because ''"The Clorise"'' [[Fan Dumb|was a bad play and all the assistants are wrong because they wanted to see it]], He pay’s Bellerose for all the entrance fees so they can give it back to the public. He also uses it to bribe the Duenna to invoke [[Leave the Two Lovebirds Alone]] with Roxane.
** At Act II Scene VII, De Guiche plans to
{{quote|
Your fancy pleased my uncle Richelieu.
I'll gladly say a word to him for you.
'''LE BRET''' ''(overjoyed):'' Great Heavens!
'''De Guiche:''' I imagine you have rhymed
Five acts, or so?
'''LE BRET''' ''(in Cyrano's ear):'' Your play!—your 'Agrippine!'
You'll see it staged at last!
'''De Guiche:''' Take them to him.
'''Cyrano (beginning to be tempted and attracted):''' In sooth, — I would... }}
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== [[Truth in Television]] ==
* As repeatedly cited in ''[[
** A very good concept, since at the time the only other option was [[Cycle of Revenge|a blood feud that could last for decades and centuries]], as two clans kill each others' random members in retribution to other random killings for the same reason.
** The [https://web.archive.org/web/20090423031845/http://www.keesn.nl/lex/lex_en1.htm Lex Frisionum] (Law of the Frisian tribe) shows how complex and detailed the wergild could be. It is like a shopping list for the murder, rape, and pillage of other clans in the tribe, as long as the you were willing to pay the wergild to the survivors.
* As mentioned in [[The Death of the Vazir Mukhtar]], the Qajar Persian government "apologised" for the destruction of the Russian embassy and the death of the ambassador at the hands of an angry mob in 1829 by sending [
** Well, it really doesn't brighten your day to have [[Mother Russia Makes You Strong|the czar]] grumpy at you.
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[[Category:Characterization Tropes]]
[[Category:Morality Tropes]]
[[Category:
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