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{{quote|''"I trust you implicitly, thieving child."''|'''Joey''', ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series|Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series]]''}}
They [[Betrayal Tropes|betrayed]] you, they tried to kill you, in some cases they really did kill you. But within the space of an episode or two, you find it in your heart to [[Forgiveness|forgive]] them. After all, [[As the Good Book Says...|"To err is human, to forgive is divine."]] As long as they're a fellow series regular.
Usually an instance of [[Plug N Play Friends]]. If the unmasked traitor was an active party member or contributing part of the team, and ''remains'' an active party member or contributing part of the team, it's [[Welcome Back, Traitor]].
If some sort of [[Hand Wave]] is given for this, then it's a case of [["Get Out of Jail Free" Card]]. Such easy forgiveness may be given after an insincere [[The Grovel]]. The kinds of people most likely to easily forgive are [[The Messiah]], the [[Friend to All Living Things]] and those who prefer to [[Turn the Other Cheek]], although more cynical characters may take a [[Restrained Revenge]]. If no such excuse exists or "apology accepted" speech occurs, then it's a [[Karma Houdini]]. Compare [[Welcome Back, Traitor]] and [[
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
*
** Duke Devlin is possibly the most blatant example, but the reasons are far more clear in the manga version of the story, where the true villain is his insane father.
** Seto Kaiba repeatedly tried to kill the protagonists in the early manga, including Tristan's year old nephew who just happened to be with them at the time. One of the ways was locking them in a house with a child mass murderer. They do hold a bit of a grudge for a while, but still forgive him far too quickly.
***
▲**** Because it happened before the second anime begins, it seems nobody even remembers Mokuba is an attempted murderer and serial cheater (which, in the Yu-Gi-Oh world, is practically worse.) He's just Seto's [[Morality Pet]].
*** Kaiba does get a bit of a pass on the strength of the fact that during their second fight Yugi ''destroyed his heart'' (as in "Mind crush!") and left him to rebuild it properly without all the deformity that resulted from years of abuse, so in theory he's morally a different person whose previous misdeeds are irrelevant. Since he's still a [[Jerkass]] who's completely willing to kill people if they're party to an attempt to kill him first, this policy may need reexamining, but it's based on sound magical theory.
*** Both Kaiba brother's Easy Forgiveness rests on a ''foundation'' of Mokuba's Easily Forgiving Seto for emotionally mistreating him and, shortly before Mind Crush II, ''torturing'' him with the Mind Crush I simulator he'd built to use on Yugi after beating him. Yugi&Yugi take pity on them both for their evil adoptive father and screwed-up relationship that ''used'' to be all [[Big Brother Instinct]], and fix Seto. Violently. From then on, Yugi is focused on continuing to fix Seto during most of their interactions.
** Pegasus and Marik, in a case of [[Defeat Means Friendship]].
*** Marik at least had the excuse that he believed the Pharaoh was responsible for [[You Killed My Father|killing his father]] and enslaving his family, and once he realises his error (and sees his [[Super-Powered Evil Side]]) he helps Yugi win his duel against said Evil Side and resolves to atone for his actions.
** Joey towards Espa Roba. After learning that Espa is a cheater, it's hard for Joey to stay mad at him after finding out that [[Promoted to Parent| he's raising his younger brothers on his own]], something Joey sees [[Not So Different| as very similar to how he is trying to protect Serenity.]] Mokuba counts here too; he initially intends to disqualify Roba, but lets it slide after Roba's siblings plead with him not to.
* Shizuru in ''[[Mai-HiME]]'' is [[Easily Forgiven]] by by Natsuki ([[Draco in Leather Pants|a good number of the series' fans too]]) for the things she did as a [[Psycho Lesbian]]. Haruka and Yukino weren't quite as easily convinced, though.▼
** In ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal]]'', nobody seems to hold anything against serial cheater and [[Snake Oil Salesman]] Flip Turner; he continues to be [[The Friend Nobody Likes]] despite them having to bail him out of trouble many times.
** In ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V]]'', Yuya's willingness to forgive Sora is a ''little'' understandable, as he knew the guy for a long time, and nothing Sora did was directed to Yuya personally. Dennis, however, was far more sinister and deceptive, not to mention sadistic, but the Lancers still offered him clemency - which he rejected.
** Grace and Glory were downright sadistic bullies before falling out of favor of Duel Academy, were supposedly willing accomplices to the genocidal purge of the Xyz Dimension, and never truly showed any signs of wanting to reform, but were still welcome among the Lancers later.
▲* Shizuru in ''[[
** Same thing with Mikoto, who was directly responsible for killing two of Mai's Most Important People. Mai, however, realizes she was [[Brainwashed]] the whole time ({{spoiler|and it was actually Shiho who was responsible for Takumi's death}}), and decides not to hold it against Mikoto{{spoiler|, even telling her up front that she loves her (though [[Hide Your Lesbians|probably not]] in ''that'' way)}}.
** {{spoiler|Everyone forgives everyone at the end, whatever terrible things they'd done.}} Given how much of a [[Dysfunction Junction|clusterfuck]] the Carnival was, though, it's fairly justified.
** In a special added to the Blu-Ray release "The Black Dance/The Last Supper", Mai tricks {{spoiler|Reito}} into coming to the beach and burying himself in the sand, and she and the other [[Hi Me]] take turns force-feeding him extremely spicy food in revenge for what his alter-ego, the Obsidian Lord, did. Natsuki invites Nao and Yukino to join in, but when they decline, she fears that they're planning on doing the same to {{spoiler|Shizuru}}.
* While the theme of forgiveness vs. revenge is developed in an interesting and moving way in ''[[Gankutsuou]]'', it is difficult to believe that Albert would actually forgive the Count so easily for {{spoiler|befriending him to use him for the sake of his twisted revenge, lying to him all along, betraying him, breaking apart his family, killing his best friend, and attempting repeatedly to kill him in a brutal way in front of one of his parents.}} Sure enough, Albert gets to understand that Edmond Dantes is truly {{spoiler|a caring man who's been deeply wronged by Fernand and is trying to kill off his human feelings}} - and the fact that he's just witnessed {{spoiler|his father going on a psychotic rampage}} probably helps- but psychological realism really goes overboard when he decides to {{spoiler|save Dantes from himself}}. Why doesn't Albert suffer from massive post-traumatic stress disorder every time the Count shows up towards the end of the series anyway!?
** It makes the point that even after losing everything, not everyone will go mad and become a [[Manipulative Bastard|heartless bastard]] like the Count did, which makes Albert a foil for the Count.
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** Arika also has no reservations about fighting alongside the Aswad, who attacked her during the survival exam and {{spoiler|killed her mother}}.
* Kouga in ''[[Inuyasha]]''. He started out by slaughtering Rin's entire village, and to top it off, kidnaps Kagome, falls for her, and tries to force her to be his bride. He falls into [[The Rival]] role, and the only person who distrusts him even slightly (aside from Rin, who rarely confronts him) is Inuyasha, and that's treated like a schoolyard dispute.
* ''[[One Piece]]'':
** Subverted in
** Subverted again during the Impel Down arc when Luffy comes across Crocodile. Crocodile offers to help in exchange for being let out of his cell, but Luffy turns him down cold because of all the things he did in Alabasta. {{spoiler|Luffy is convinced to let him out anyway, though, because Ivankov assures him that he knows something about Crocodile to keep him in line.}}
** Played straighter with Bon Clay (a.k.a. Mr. 2) at the end of the Alabasta arc. Affable as he was, Mr. 2 DID directly take part in framing the king to incite the rebels to full-blown warfare, but after an [[Heroic Sacrifice]] to distract the Marines away from the escaping Straw Hats, he's been considered a friend of the crew ever since. He only briefly complains about Mr. 2 being with Baroque Works when Mr. 2 contacts him again.
*** Luffy is also relatively friendly toward Buggy and Mr. 3, despite the former trying to kill him (almost succeeding in Loguetown) and Nami and the latter almost turning Vivi, Nami and Zoro into wax figures.
** Played straight with Boa Hancock. Despite the fact that she turned several of her people to stone just for speaking up on Luffy's behalf and her sisters tried to smash those people just to hurt Luffy, after he defeats her sisters and she agrees to restore her petrified victims<ref>
** Also played with in regards to Nami and Jinbe after Jinbe apologizes for indirectly allowing Arlong to terrorize her hometown. Jinbe was even willing to accept any punishment as necessary but Nami explains that Arlong was the one who she will ''not''
** Played ''very'' straight with Shirahosh from the Fishman Island Arc. A kindly soul who can't seem to hate or condemn ''anyone'', she even tries to make peace with Vander Decken IX (a [[Yandere]] who stalked her for over a decade and eventually tried to kill her) and Hody Jones (who brutally killed her mother, Otohime and tried to destroy Fishman Island).
** In fact, this seems common for merfolk in general. [[Warrior Prince|Fukaboshi]] (Shirahosh's sister) goes so far as to tell Hody he doesn't hate him for his mother's death, while [[The Good King|Neptune]] himself (the siblings' father and king of the Ryugu Kingdom) is willing to consider clemency for Jones once it's obvious he is no longer a threat. Even ''Otohime herself'', as she ''lay dying from Jones' assault'', pleaded that her children and followers show mercy to him, which in a way, made Jones' defeat inevitable.
* Rokudo Mukuro from ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]''. He manipulated Lancia into killing all of his friends, beat up Tsuna's friends and used them as hostages, beat Tsuna up quite a bit during their fight, revealed his plan was to [[Grand Theft Me|possess Tsuna's body]] so he could destroy the Mafia and turn the world into a sea of blood, and [[Fighting Dirty|generally fought dirty]]. He is shown to be entirely unapologetic about the whole thing the next time he meets Tsuna, even stating that he plans to take over Tsuna at the next opportunity. However, when he {{spoiler|became Tsuna's guardian}} and showed Tsuna the vision of his body in prison, Tsuna quickly develops sympathy for him, and it becomes obvious that Tsuna has already forgiven him for the whole ordeal (much to Reborn's chagrin). Tsuna even goes so far as to excuse his unapologetic proclamation as him just being [[Aloof Ally|stubborn and shy]].
* Andrei Smirnov in ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]'' counts very much here. He {{spoiler|committed patricide on his own father Sergei Smirnov, his adopted daughter Soma Peiries hunts him down with extreme vengeance}}. But in the latest episode, thanks to a certain [[Deus Ex Machina]] device... he is forgiven. Thankfully, said [[Deus Ex Machina]] comes with him ''finally'' [[My God, What Have I Done?|realising how much]] [[Heel Realization|of an ass he was]] [[Character Development|and getting rid of what makes him annoying]], thus somewhat [[Rescued
* ''[[Mars (manga)|Mars]]'' has two [[Egregious]] instances. In a [[Cliff Hanger]], Harumi escalates her bullying of [[Shrinking Violet|Kira]] to an unthinkable level by threatening to smash Kira's fingers with a small barbell. She doesn't follow through, but it's jarring when Harumi become's Kira's closest and most supportive female friend not two volumes later. An even worse instance is when Kira's mother, stricken by [[Soap Opera Disease]], takes back the stepfather who {{spoiler|''raped her daughter''}}. Kira's mother may forgive, but Kira certainly ''[[Improvised Weapon|doesn't]]''.
* ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]]'' has Beatrice, the main antagonist of the series. {{spoiler|A supposedly all-powerful witch who the protagonist has seen kill his family repeatedly in grotesque and horrific ways, she plays up a [[Heel Face Turn]] to specifically lead Battler into forgiving her, and even coming to like her... and then proceeds to troll the Hell out of him and reveal it was all an act just for the sake of toying with his emotions.}}
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** Lunamaria Hawke not only forgives Shinn, but ends up his lover {{spoiler|despite Shinn (seemingly) killing her previous love-interest Athrun and her sister Meyrin}}.
** Neo Roanoke is welcomed into the ''Archangel'''s crew with open arms and never confronted over the things he did while working for Djibril, including putting Stella in the cockpit of the Destroy Gundam after promising Shinn to keep her away from combat. This one is justified on several levels: no one on the ''Archangel'' is aware of the more heinous details of Neo's actions, and more importantly, he {{spoiler|is their old comrade Mu la Flaga under a nasty case of brainwashing}}, so especially once he chooses to come back to them of his own accord they're automatically predisposed to trust him.
* [[Dragonball Z|Vegeta]]. As the series progresses he goes from a mass-murdering psychopath to a member of the main cast. The main characters (with the possible exception of Tien) conveniently forget all the people he and Nappa killed during their invasion of Earth, as well as everything he does during the Namek Saga, all the while being motivated by his own self-interests.
** Most of the main characters didn't want to forgive him, it's just that Goku decided to, and they won't argue with him. Goku is pretty much the king of this trope though.
** One could argue that after being killed by Frieza, and then being revived shortly afterwards gave him a kind of "clean slate".
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** Eh, your mileage may vary there. Android 18 (the version the Z Fighters meet, not Trunk's alternate universe version) does nothing bad but steal a car and beat the Z Fighters up in self-defence. Piccolo, the one who's not forgiven, actually has an excuse for the evil due to the fact he is an entierly different person - other than physical apperance - to King Piccolo, and the worst thing he personally did was try to kill Goku in a fight, something Goku doesn't see as any different than a handshake. Buu has no excuse though, so played strait there.
*** Buu does have an excuse in that he was basically a child who was specifically designed to kill more things than possible. When given the proper moral guiding, Buu just accepts that killing is wrong and promises not to do it anymore.
* Subverted in ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]''. Winry didn't forgive {{spoiler|Scar}} for killing her parents. {{spoiler|Although it didn't stop her for treating his wounds, on the principle that her parents would have done the same.}} One strong theme in this manga is how to deal with sins, forgiveness, and cycle of hatred.
** Also subverted with the Ishbalan people after nearly getting wiped out in a genocide. Scar's master says that they should not forgive the Amestrians, because good people ''should'' be outraged at injustice, but they do need to ''endure'' it and not continue the cycle of hatred. The result is a rare middle ground between forgiveness and vengeance.
** Subverted ''again'' when Izumi forgives Edward and Alphonse for disobeying her repeated warnings to not attempt human transmutation ... but still expels them as her students. They now consider each other peers rather than master and student, though.
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** Hilariously played straight with Paninya in Rush Valley. Paninya stole Edward's silver watch, the proof that he's a state alchemist, which sparked off a chase sequence that caused a lot of damage. When they capture her, a furious Edward wants to have her arrested, while Winry berates him for being so horrible for not forgiving a 'minor' slight ... mostly because she wants Paninya to introduce her to the man who made her incredibly well-designed automail legs. (Edward does forgive her after a punch or two).
*** She does, however, give Paninya a [[What the Hell, Hero?]] speech after hearing that she steals to repay the man who made her legs, telling her that he wouldn't want it.
* [[Sailor Moon]] in the anime forgives Ali and En, the Akayashi Sisters, the Black Moon brothers, Professor Tomoe, the Amazon Trio, the Amazon Quartet, Nehelenia, and Galaxia. Although it's not shown that any of these people (save Galaxia) killed anyone, they all were trying to kill the senshi and destroy the world. In most of these examples, the characters in question were being either heavily manipulated by the [[Bigger Bad]], literally fighting for their own survival the only way they knew (Ali and En) or in Tomoe and Galaxia's case, possessed and not in control of their own actions. Nehellenia is the only one that comes off as really questionable, as she was really motivated by her own vanity in
** In the manga it's only the Shitennou, the Quartet, and Galaxia. Of course, they were brainwashed by higher-up villains (Queen Metallia, Death Phantom, Pharaoh 90, Queen Nehelenia and Chaos)... who were ''not'' forgiven. Several of the characters that were forgiven in the anime were also ''significantly'' less sympathetic in the manga, where they were pretty much psychotic murderers.
*** Actually Galaxia was a victim of [[Demonic Possession]] in the anime, but just manipulated and psychotic into manga. Considering that she killed most of the cast and reanimates them as [[Brainwashed and Crazy]] puppets [[For the Evulz|just to screw with]] [[Sailor Moon]] immediately before, this trope was played very straight there, [[Justified Trope|although as a deliberate illustration of Usagi's desire to stop the recurring cycle of war and killing]].
* In ''[[Magic Knight Rayearth]]'', when Ascot [[Heel Face Turn|turns to the good side]] he is instantly forgiven for earlier {{spoiler|having killed Presea}} and in turn instantly forgives the Magic Knights for {{spoiler|killing his summons, whom he thought of as friends}}.
* ''[[Bleach]]'' After their first encounter Ishida doesn't seem to have that many problems with Mayuri for killing off the last of his people and ''torturing their souls''.
** No, he did have a problem with it, however in that arc he was far more concerned with the rescue of Orihime than to worry about his vendetta against the [[Mad Scientist]].
* Of all people, Goldie Musou, the main antagonist of ''[[Gunsmith Cats]]'', gets
* Subverted on ''both'' Manga and Anime of ''[[Elfen Lied]]'' {{spoiler|Kouta does '''not''' forgive Lucy for killing his little sister Kanae and their father. However, even though he never does forgive her, in the anime, he openly declares that he will always love her; while in the manga, while he is much more bitter and hateful, he offers her a [[Last Second Chance]] to live peacefully with him and the rest of the cast, then takes a bullet fully intended for her because he ''refused'' to let another family member of his die ever again, after which Lucy [[Superpower Meltdown|sacrifices her body integrity]] in a last bid attempt to save him, leaving her in crippling agony; Kouta then [[I Cannot Self-Terminate|kills her purely out of love and mercy after she begs him to do so]], and afterwards still visits the spot they promised to meet each other as children, desperately waiting for her to come [[Back
* ''[[Naruto]]'' had the Sand Village ninjas (particularly Gaara and company) start off as murderers conspiring with the current [[Big Bad]] to try and overthrow and destroy the Hidden Leaf Village. The plan fails, but {{spoiler|the third Hokage still ends up dead}} in no small part thanks to the Sand Village's assistance and at least tacit approval. Later on, the Sand Village as a whole, and Gaara, Temari and Kankuro specifically, are close allies with the Hidden Leaf Village and friends of the protagonists, mostly just because Orochimaru became a common enemy when he killed the Kazekage.
** More than that, it was revealed the Kazekage had been killed before the war even began. It's a bit easier to give a large group of what amounts to soldiers the benefit of the doubt if their hierarchy is completely compromised.
*** And they were already allies at the time the war
*** It's implied that Konoha, weakened after the conflict and shorthanded, decided not to hold the Sand Village responsible in order to get a chance to recover.
** Naruto's willing to {{spoiler|forgive Sasuke for all the chaos he's caused since he joined Akatsuki. Although, after being introduced to [[Cycle of Revenge]] and [[Not So Different]] in an earlier arc, he's realized that he and Sasuke easily could've been on opposite sides of the same conflict.}}
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** Ohgi himself is easily forgiven for betraying Lelouch and siding with Schniezel by various people who were on Lelouch's side. They even actually attend his and Villetta's wedding!
* In [[Revolutionary Girl Utena]] {{spoiler|Utena has no hard feelings about being stabbed in the back ([[Up to Eleven|literally]]).}}
* When {{spoiler|[[Long Lost Sibling|Leonard Testarossa]]}} abruptly kissed Kanami in [[Full Metal Panic!|The Second Raid]], she was rather offended. She was willing forgive him if he let her new [[Guardian Entity]] from Mithril live. However, there could be a hint of subversion, considering that after {{spoiler|Leonard}} left, she {{spoiler|started "wiping away the kiss" so hard her lips looked like they would start bleeding}}.
* By the third season, Shibuya Yuuri, the young king in [[Kyou Kara Maou]], has a policy of unconditional forgiveness, much to the consternation of his fiancé and advisers. To the point that {{spoiler|Saralegui}} only has to apologise to be forgiven for manipulating Yuuri into become a weapon of mass destruction and killing hundreds of people.
* In the last episodes of ''[[Black Cat (manga)|Black Cat]]'', surviving members of Chronos and the Apostles team up in spite of spending most of the series trying to kill each other. They are joined by several Sweepers (bounty hunters) who had been manipulated by or defected from Chronos and had just been battling against the apostles. For that matter, some members of the Apostles had previously defected from that group or tried to kill other members of that group. Even the orphan children had been abandoned by their one member to gain power. Yet all these people work togther in the final battle.
* An unintentional example in the ''[[Warrior Cats]]'' [[Expanded Universe]] manga ''Ravenpaw's Path''. During ''Shattered Peace'', Ravenpaw and Barley are chased off the farm they live on by the farmer because he is tricked into thinking they killed his chickens. The farmer says that if he sees them again, he'll shoot them. However, when they come back and defeat the rogues who took over their home in ''The Heart of a Warrior'', the farmer doesn't care, despite still thinking they killed his chickens.
* The second princess of England in ''[[A Certain Magical Index]]'' is easily forgiven despite committing {{spoiler|treason in an attempted ''coup de tat'', because her actions were those of a [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] looking out for her homeland}}.
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* When [[Green Lantern|Hal Jordan]] came back from the dead he was ''not'' Easily Forgiven. In this case it makes no sense as he was possessed by a cosmic being that they all know is completely real.
** The problem was while the Earth heroes more or less forgave Hal (even Batman), the [[Green Lantern|Green Lantern Corps]] which Hal decimated was much less so. Especially when a sizable group of them were left for dead in space by Hal and were captured by Manhunters for years. It's more of a "Why didn't you do better trying to stop that cosmic being, Mr. Willpower?" than anything.
* Similarly, the Marvel heroes have never really forgiven Spider-Woman for [[Misplaced Retribution| being imitated by the Skrull Empress.]]
* Speaking of [[Spider-Woman]], another odd example is the Night Shift, a gang of criminals led by the Shroud (a hero who pretends to be a villain) in Los Angeles, most of them Jessica's former enemies. There are no less than two reasons for ''several'' of them to hate each other: Dansen Macabre once tried to murder the Shroud, while Tik-Tok worked for the vigilante [[The Jailer| Locksmith]], who had once held Macabre and Gypsy Moth prisoner. Oddly enough all this ''never'' comes up in stories featuring the Night Shift, and Macabre is even Shroud's [[Number One]].
* Now that the ''[[Brightest Day]]'' has brought back Hawk, nobody at all seems inclined to mention the deaths he caused as Monarch and
* Moonstone is still a regular ''[[Thunderbolts]]'' member despite (amongst other things) murdering random civilians to distract [[Ms. Marvel]] in the middle of a fight. Admittedly the purpose of the team is to give supervillians a chance at redemption, but at what point do you give up on trying to redeem an unrepentant serial killer?
** Moonstone is more tolerated than forgiven; most of her shenanigans didn't actually interfere with an official mission after all. Songbird, for one, would happily drop kick her over the horizon if given half an excuse.
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** In "Greed," Kelli essentially tricks an old man into making her his heiress by preventing him from hearing from his relatives, then not giving him medication until he dies. After she converts and dies of cancer, some of the relatives are set on not forgiving her ([[Double Subversion|although one changes her mind after hearing she will get her share of the estate after all]]), ''and this is played as a bad thing'', with it suggested that they will not be forgiven for their sins.
** In "Baby Talk" Eric dumps his girlfriend when he learns that she is pregnant, but then accepts Christianity and, after preventing her from being forcibly taken to get an abortion, promises to help her raise the baby and gets back together with her. At no point is she shown to be angry with him.
* For some reason the Asgardians have no problem forgiving Loki. And then ''trusting'' Loki. Of course, to be honest, they were like that a lot in the original Norse Mythology too, up until [[This Is Unforgivable!| he actually killed Baldur.]]
** Played with. A lot of the time in recent comics, they don't ''actually'' trust him, he's just a [[Manipulative Bastard]] who really is ''that good'' at what he does. For the moment, thanks to causing the destruction of Asgard (not what he was going for, either: he wanted them to ''win'' but underestimed The Void), only Thor has forgiven Loki and most find his [[Heroic Sacrifice]] in trying to save Asgard to be worthless. The fact that the trope has been Averted ''now'' means that he's in trouble, since he's stuck as his child self and therefore pretty defenseless unless Thor protects him.
* Subverted when Rogue has a [[Heel Face Turn]] and wants to join the [[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]. They threaten to disband if she is allowed on the team and she has to work to earn their trust.
** [[Ms. Marvel]] to this day has not forgiven Rogue though she tolerates her presence (barely). Justified since Rogue used her energy draining touch on Carol long enough to drain her powers for an extended period of time and send her into a ''coma''.
* Bombshell from ''[[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]]'' is allowed membership on the team, after she betrayed them prior, had tried to kill them, and tried to frame two other (innocent) members of the group as the real traitor. Sure, Ravager was also allowed on the team, but she was [[Brainwashed and Crazy]] when she was their enemy... Bombshell has no such excuse.
* [[Superman]] has gotten shafted plenty of times by his tendency to extend this too freely. In fact, in a 1960s imaginary story, Luthor dupes Supes into becoming his best friend after publicly renouncing evil, then [[Tear Jerker|promptly slaughters him with Kryptonite]] [[Moral Event Horizon|while laughing derisively at Superman's dying expressions of heartbreak and betrayal.]]
▲== Fan Fiction ==
* The "easily" part is averted in [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4004316/1/Windows_of_the_Soul Windows of the Soul], in which Natsuki acknowledges the severity of {{spoiler|Shizuru's}} misdeeds and her flaws as a person, but nevertheless forgives her. Much of the fic involves {{spoiler|Shizuru's}} inability to forgive {{spoiler|herself}} for what {{spoiler|she}} has done.
* The ''[[Death Note]]'' [[Fanfic]] ''[[Constant Temptation]]'' dials this [[Up to Eleven]] when L forgives Light a.k.a. [[Serial Killer|Kira]] the guy who's killed hundreds of people (''by the first episode''). And Kira is not just forgiven by L but also the very Police Taskforce assigned to catching him (because he is now [[Slash Fic|dating L]] and has [["Well Done, Son" Guy|Daddy Issues]]. [[Make Room for the New Plot|There's also an]] [[Enemy Mine]] [[Make Room for the New Plot|excuse.]]) But to be fair Kira being
* Pick any fanfic containing a [[Mary Sue|Mysterious New Girl]]. Chances are that the only person who won't instantly forgive her all her misdeeds (no matter how severe they were) the minute she makes it obvious she wants them to is the Mary Sue herself -- or the obvious villain of the piece.
* Many [[Naruto]] fanfics have Naruto being beaten within an inch of his life only to forgive them as well as Hiruzen's (Third hokage) Bullshit excuses for letting it happen.
* Done to Demona in [http://tgs.gargoyles-fans.org The Gargoyles Saga], Demona gives up trying to destroy humanity, and becomes one of the good guys all because Angela waves a finger in her face. Less than two months after attempting mass genocide of the human race, Demona is eating Christmas dinner with the heroes.
** Yet subverted with Fang, who is shown to still be imprisoned in the Labyrinth. Talon eventually allows him out so he can help rescue civilians in a burning building, but continues to subvert this trope by putting a security cuff on Fang's ankle that will stun him out cold if he strays too far from Talon.
* In another ''[[Death Note]]'' [[Slash Fic]] ''[[I Won't Say]]'' the easily part is averted. Light "wins" and learns L's true name but he doesn't want to have to kill L because [[Villainous Crush|he's fallen in love with him.]] But in order to ensure that L cooperates and doesn't arrest him or have him executed he casually mentions that he [[And Your Little Dog, Too|knows Watari's]] [[I Know Your True Name|true name too.]] This does nothing to improve L's opnion of him and initially L does NOT want to forgive him and makes life miserable for Light whenever possible and for the rest of the fic Light plays the [[Dogged Nice Guy]] and (sort of) [[The Atoner]] trying to win back what little trust he had. {{spoiler|L (kind of) forgives him eventually because [[Love Redeems]] in this universe. Also becuase Light becomes a [[Papa Wolf]] towards L's orphans and L realizes that while Light is a killer [[Even Evil Has Standards|he would never hurt the children]]-[[Lima Syndrome|at least not now that he has grown attached to them]].}} Later however this trope is played entirely straight when L invites [[Axe Crazy|Beyond Birthday]] to join them for Christmas dinner.
* In [[Naruto Veangance Revelaitons]], Ronan, after being told to kill his daughter ([[Squick|and]] [[Parental Incest|girlfriend]]) Mandy, does so. Mandy's mother Sakura is shocked for a moment, but immediately forgives him after Ronan says he loves her and Taliana more. Gubgub's [[Dramatic Reading]] points out the [[Unfortunate Implications]] of a mother forgiving her husband so easily for [[Offing the Offspring|killing]] [[Moral Event Horizon|their child]].
* In the [[Professor Layton]] fanfic [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5769377/1/bbleeding_b_at_the_bsped_b_of_bSound_b bleeding at the sped of sound], the main character, a [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|cyborg vampire]], wants to eat Layton and plans on killing Luke first. After luring him away and announcing her intention to kill him, Layton catches her, but she cries, causing him to forgive her and declare his love for her.
* In ''[[Light and Dark - The Adventures of Dark Yagami|Light and Dark The Adventures of Dark Yagami]]''- Dark's punishment for trying to ''destroy the world?'' [[You Are Grounded|He gets grounded.]]
* ''[[Ace Combat: The Equestrian War
* ''[[Princess Celestia Hates Tea]]'': Despite [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|Twilight']]s wild accusations of being a changeling queen that got Celestia attacked by her own staff, getting blasted by the Elements of Harmony, getting her room exploded, and nearly getting her banished to the moon for a thousand years, the old goddess is surprisingly cordial with Twilight in the upcoming mess she caused. {{spoiler|And then Twilight [[Mind Rape
* One of the [[Fanon]] interpretations of Albus Dumbledore among ''[[Harry Potter]]'' fan writers turns him into a hypocrite willing to give Death Eaters and others of their ilk unlimited chances to "come back to the Light" (while standing ready to accuse anyone on his side who doesn't follow his every command of "going Dark").
== [[Film]] ==
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* In ''[[From Dusk till Dawn]]'', Seth Gecko's reaction to his brother having raped and murdered their hostage while he was gone quickly fades from disgusted to 'don't do that again' and then hugs him and forgives him... sort of justified because we're apparently ''supposed'' to be shocked at the mildness of his reaction. It it also used to show Seth's blind love for his brother, as well as the fact that Seth is also a psychopath, if not a rapist.
* In ''[[Bad Lieutenant]]'', the [[Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil|rape of a nun shocks even the hardened eponymous character]]. {{spoiler|He is prevented from exacting brutal revenge on the perpetrators when the nun herself forgives them. In his only redeeming action of the film, he instead puts them on a bus out of town.}}
* In ''[[Top Gun]]'' while Iceman did apologize for what happened to Goose, Maverick seems awfully willing to forgive a guy whose [[Glory Hound
* ''[[Back to The Future]]''; yeah, it's feasible that Marty's dad could forgive Biff and hire him as a handyman even after all the bullying, but the idea that he'd forgive him for an [[Attempted Rape]] of his wife - or anyone - stretches it.
== [[Literature]] ==
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* ''[[Harry Potter]]''. Kreacher seems to have been forgiven by Harry and the others for his direct involvement in the plot that {{spoiler|killed Sirius}}. Now it's certainly true that Kreacher was constantly bullied by Sirius and also thought he was doing the right thing but it's definitely out of character for Harry to be so forgiving of anyone who got anyone, as important to him as Sirius was, {{spoiler|killed}}. Now Kreacher did eventually help Harry, Ron and Hermione out a lot to redeem himself but it would be more convincing if they'd brought up the issue.
** Harry actually did bring it up. Hermione had to remind him that while Sirius was a good guy, he was also a [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]] who got [[Hoist by His Own Petard]].
** Harry quickly learns that he can use Kreacher for his own ends to help defeat Voldemort. This plays a very big role in why Harry treated him so well - he wanted Kreacher to do as he said and not run off to obey other members of the family like he did before.
* In the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]], particularly media set during the early days of the Rebel Alliance, the Rebels are such a small presence that they're always eager for new recruits, even recruits who have defected from the Empire. Even when these former Imperials have killed Rebels. Some of their best people are ex-Imperials who quit for various reasons. By the time of the [[X Wing Series]], around three or four years after Endor, attitudes have changed and members of the New Republic are suspicious of new ex-Imperials; Wedge Antilles is very ready to forgive former enemies, even ones he's flown against personally, but he's the exception. He and other characters argue about whether it's ever too late to change.
** A repeated theme throughout numerous works in said [[Expanded Universe]] mention that while Luke Easily Forgave Darth Vader for years of death and destruction after ten minutes of good behaviour (admittedly good behaviour that was essential in toppling [[The Empire]]), the rest of the galaxy most certainly did ''not'', and still generally consider him one the greatest evils in galactic history. Leia in particular was originally outraged that Luke would forgive the "monster" that tortured her, and even decades later while she admitted that he was essentially a good man, he was also a good man that did horrible things.
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* ''Sisterhood'' series by [[Fern Michaels]]: Hoo, boy! This trope certainly pops up. For example, Charles sends presidential men with gold shields to scare Jack Emery, but the men ''misconstrue'' the orders and give Jack a [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown]] in the book ''Payback''. Jack Emery knows that Charles is responsible for this, but after the book ''Free Fall'', in which Jack becomes an honourary member of the Vigilantes and is revealed as this to the entire group, it seems that Jack has pretty much forgotten about the whole affair. Also, Jack and Ted Robinson start out as friends, become enemies by the book ''Free Fall'', but once Ted more or less becomes a member by the book ''Collateral Damage'', it's all cool now. Although Jack did say that they are trying to take it one step at a time.
* In ''[[Warrior Cats]]'', during the fifth book of ''[[Omen of the Stars]]'', {{spoiler|1=Hollyleaf returns to ThunderClan and nobody cares about her crimes, even when they find out that she killed Ashfur.}}
* In ''[[How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (novel)|How the Grinch Stole Christmas]]'', all the Whos down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot, but the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville, did not. So he stole all their Christmas accoutrements and '''all their food'''. But [[Easy Evangelism|he gave it back after]], which apparently justified making him the guest of honor at Christmas dinner.
** Grinch gives it back when he finds out the Whos are completely unfazed by the fact that all their stuff is gone. He got the message of the spirit of Christmas after that, and the Whos are so happy he learned to be good and appreciate other people that they honoured him.
** This is, in fact, very common in [[Dr. Seuss]] books; Geisel was not big on stories with retribution towards antagonists.
* This happens a lot in the ''[[Land of Oz]]'' books; for example, Ozma gave the Nome King several chances to reform, and never gave him a lasting punishment. The biggest example may be the Wizard. The second book revealed he was not only a humbug, he was an usurper, kidnapping Ozma (the rightful heir to the throne) and taking her to the hag Mombi, who used her dark magic to turn Ozma into a boy and take him as a servant, allowing the Wizard to rule in her place. Ozma was restored to her true form by the end of the book, but in subsequent appearances, the Wizard was never punished for what he did, and was in fact, welcomed into Ozma’s court, becoming one of the few citizens allowed to use magic.
** Mombi herself zigzags this; in the aforementioned book, her only punishment was losing her ability to use magic, which would be redundant, as Ozma would outlaw use of magic by anyone without her permission. (The reason for this would become obvious, given that most villains in the series are magic-users.) But in the third-party ''The Lost King of Oz'' (which explores what happened to Ozma’s father) Mombi’s “probation” is revoked for additional crimes, and Ozma actually orders her executed, the sentence carried out via being doused with water.<ref>As noted, this book is third-party; Baum likely would not have approved of Ozian capital punishment.</ref>
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
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** And Tara, with the blindness thing. And Xander with the musical demon. And Buffy, with the psychological institution one. And Angel, with {{spoiler|the whole second half of Season 2}}. It's safe to say that just about everybody got one of these, at least.
** The Scoobies generally forgave those who were close to them more easily than those outside their inner circle. Faith had to work harder for forgiveness. Amy was particularly pissed that the gang took ''3 years'' to transform her from a rat back to human, and then very quickly cast her out. They never forgave her, but easily forgave Willow who {{spoiler|tried to kill all of them, and then tried to end the world}}.
* Amusingly subverted in an episode of ''[[Firefly (TV series)|Firefly]]'', where Simon figures out that Jayne had sold out both River and himself in a previous episode. Simon doesn't forgive Jayne, but he does point out they have way too many mutual enemies as it stands, and that constantly being at each others' throats over this would be pointless and stupid. Then, as he leaves, River sticks her head in, looks directly at Jayne, and warns him that "I can kill you with my brain."
* In ''[[Torchwood]]'', Captain Jack is shot dead by Owen. Despite the fact Owen was unaware that Jack would resurrect, Jack easily forgives him.
** In that same episode, the team mutinies against Jack and unintentionally releases a giant monster that steals the life force of anyone its giant shadow falls upon. Jack manages to destroy it by letting it feed of him. However, the effort leaves him dead for three days, which is the longest to date that he's ever stayed dead. He still forgives the team, minutes after reviving. It might be subverted, given that he ran off to find the Doctor a few scenes later.
** And, in "Cyberwoman", we find out Ianto's been hiding a dangerous [[Killer Robot|Cyberman]] in the basement. He endangers the whole planet, tells the main character he wants him dead and is forgiven by the end of the episode.
** In "Exit Wounds", Captain Jack forgives his brother, Grey, for burying him alive for almost exactly 1900 years. By 'alive' we mean that he suffocated to death and then revived every couple of minutes for nineteen centuries as the city of Cardiff is established above him. Mind you, this is after Grey has John Hart systematically blow up Cardiff, in addition to stabbing Jack in the back (literally!) when they're first reunited. To be fair, though, Jack blames his own failure to protect his brother for being the root cause of all this. And he didn't know what had happened to Owen and Tosh until after the forgiving.
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** An '''extremely''' obvious one is the recent (apparent) reconciliation with Matt and [[Jeff Hardy]]. Essentially Matt said that he had made a mistake and Jeff forgave him. The "mistake" apparently involved Matt burning Jeff's house to the ground, killing his dog, and trying to murder him and/or end his career at least three times. The forgiveness came only a couple months after the end of their fighting over it.
* ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' season 3: {{spoiler|Elle seems to forgive Sylar a bit too easily for killing her father.}} It's true, she did try her best to kill him at first, but subsequently it looks more like that was self loathing than hatred. This is even remarked upon by Noah.
** Although it's a little more believable when you keep in mind that Elle's father was something of a [[Smug Snake]] who put his own daughter through [[Training
* Seems to happen quite a lot in the various ''[[Star Trek]]'' series: One of the regular cast spends the episode trying to kill everyone, drive the ship into a black hole or whatever, and is welcomed back with open arms by all concerned.
** This is especially clear in the [[Star Trek V: The Final Frontier|fifth film]]. It's specifically stated that the people the villain converts are ''not'' brainwashed; they're completely acting of their own free will in following him. Yet none of them face any repercussions.
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* First subverted, then played straight on ''[[CSI: Miami]]''. First, it takes the team several episodes to warm up to Natalia again after she reveals that she'd originally been sent there to spy on them by the FBI. {{spoiler|She never said anything bad about them though, and it turned out that someone else had set them up}}. But then a few seasons later, Ryan, WITHHOLDS EVIDENCE from a crime scene because a friend's son has been kidnapped by the Russian mob, which he only tells Horatio, yet despite very realistic anger from the rest of his team when he finally produces the evidence, by next episode, it seems to not only have been forgiven but forgotten too. Sometimes this show is really good about continuity, sometimes it throws it out the window. I kinda wish it'd make up it's mind.
* Played absurdly straight on ''[[Robin Hood (TV series)|Robin Hood]]''. Ask yourself: would you go on a field-trip with the man who brutally slaughtered your wife? Robin does. Made even more idiotic considering Robin doesn't display any such altruism toward Isabella or Allan, whose crimes against him are barely a blip on the radar screen compared to Guy's.
** In her first appearance [[The Scrappy|Kate]] sells out Robin's whereabouts to Guy in order to secure the safety of her brother. You can't says that she's
* Subverted in ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'', where Ted's friends are upset and furious with Stella who [[Runaway Bride|left Ted]] to be with her ex-boyfriend, only leaving a note to explain her actions.
** Also averted when Lily returned to Marshall after leaving him to go to San Francisco, Marshall doesn't immediately take her back and she spends much of season 2 getting back into Marshall and Ted's good graces.
* In ''[[The Vampire Diaries]]'' Damon. Over and over again. He murders people on a whim, uses his [[Mind Control]] powers to [[Double Standard Rape (Sci Fi)|effectively rape people]], torments his brother and murders his best friend, [[spoiler: it's strongly implied he was about to force himself on Elena when her brother interrupted them, in response he murdered him and within a few episodes they're acting as he's just one of the team. When he does something that isn't ''reprehensible'' they act as though he's done something laudable, as opposed to adhering to minimum standards of acceptable behavior.
** A lot of times, it seems that they're not so much forgiving him as giving up on him ever being a reasonable human being. Then he does something not-horrifying, and it makes everyone think "well, maybe he can change..." and then he kills someone [[Kick the Dog|just to prove that he's still evil]]. The only reason they haven't killed him is because he's Stefan's brother (and he can't bring himself to kill him), not to mention the best fighter.
* "[[The Big Bang Theory|I forgive you, let's go home]]."
* In the ''[[Smallville]]'' episode "Rage", Chloe doesn't seem to mind Lionel Luthor's presence at the dinner table, despite his earlier attempts to kill her.
** Also happened with Tess, especially in the last season. She kidnapped Lana and Lois at separate times, actually killed at least five people, and tried to kill others. Clark seems perfectly fine with her around.
*** Does it count when she spent a good chunk of early part of season 10 trying to be forgiven and actually helping before she's officially welcomed into Watchtower? Because that doesn't happen until after Chloe leaves.
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* In [[Babylon 5]], we are not even shown a scene where Sinclair forgives Delenn for being there when he is subjected to the [[Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique]]. It might have been a touching scene, but it is just assumed. Presumably Fan Fic can fix this oversight.
** He never does forgive her; in fact, he never finds out she was involved.
* Played with in ''[[Law and Order Special Victims Unit]]''. The characters tend to stay pissed for the duration of an episode, but are usually over it in the next. Bear in mind though that episodes tend to take place over a few days, and there is no telling how far apart episodes are. Stabler and Benson tend to forgive each other pretty quickly, but that makes sense considering how long they've known each other.
** Fin however was pissed at Stabler for awhile. It's implied that he forgives him, after a pedophile attempts to post a picture of Stabler's underage daughter on the internet and Stabler beats him half to death. Fin considers this to be a sign of extreme restraint, as he would have killed the man outright.
* The eponymous bikers of ''[[Sons of Anarchy]]'' are able to forgive each other a lot of crap. Extreme transgressions (like murdering another member's wife) will also be forgiven if they were done for the good of the club. However, betraying the club or failure to back up another member are seen as unforgivable offences and treated with extreme prejudice.
** This is played with in the feud between Tiggs and Kozik. Tiggs cannot forgive Kozik even years after the events and the audience is left to wonder for a long time what was that so bad that it caused such a rift between them. It turns out it was over the death of a dog.
== [[Music]] ==
"A Quick One While He's Away" by [[The Who]]; the girl who is the subject of the song is forgiven by her long-absent boyfriend immediately after admitting her infidelity with Ivor the engine driver. A rare justified example — said boyfriend mentions he wasn't entirely faithful himself.
== [[Newspaper Comics]] ==
* ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]''
** Parodied in one strip
{{quote|"On second thought, let's [[The Grovel|see you grovel]] a little!"}}
* Subverted and played straight in ''[[FoxTrot]]'' when Quincy eats Paige's signed boyband picture. Andy bends over backwards to appease Paige, and when Paige calls herself on this, Andy forgives her without a second thought.
* Bill the Cat in ''[[Bloom County]]''. Among the horrible things he's done include, in separate arcs: Espionage against the United States by seducing Jean Kirkpatrick stealing data from her and selling it to the Soviet Union, causing the Chernobyl disaster after being traded to them in a prisoner exchange, shooting up the neighborhood with a machine gun while running for President, selling out the other members of his rock band and ruining their reputation, becoming a televangelist and accusing Opus of "Penguin Lust" on the air (never explaining what that is) and then being caught in a pedophile human trafficking ring. Despite all this, the other characters have a loyalty and admiration towards Bill that keeps him from ever truly being punished; Opus has named him sole beneficiary of his will and he has earned the Bloom Party nomination for President three times. Only Portnoy seems willing to express a dislike for him, trying to do so during two mock retrospectives of the character.
== [[Professional Wrestling]] ==
* Pretty common following the standard [[Heel Face Turn]]: often the reformed heel doesn't even have to earn redemption, as it's enough that he's agreed not to be mean anymore. Lampshaded histrionically by [[Christian]] who was outraged that [[Heroic Sociopath]] [[Randy Orton]] is allowed to do whatever the hell he wants in [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]]. He screamed at [[Triple H]] to do something about the situation in his capacity as Chief Operating Officer, demanding to know something along the lines of "Don't you even care that this man once attacked your father-in-law and brother-in-law and terrorized your wife?!" Well, apparently [[Triple H]] ''didn't'' care.
** This can be particularly egregious in cases of tag-team matches. In these cases, seeing a total monster, who's undergone a [[Heel Face Turn]] teaming up with the same person who's life they completely destroyed a few months ago is not particularly unusual in pro wrestling.
* Subverted more often in [[TNA]], where it's more common for there to be tension between two tag-team partners when one of them has recently undergone a Heel Face Turn. Even characters who weren't evil to begin with, such as [[Sting (music)|Sting]], [[All of the Other Reindeer|are frequently mistrusted by other faces for having a mysterious agenda]].
== [[Theater]] ==
* [[William Shakespeare]]'s plays have several examples:
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** In ''[[Two Gentlemen of Verona]]'', Proteus tries to rape his best friend's girlfriend. His best friend and his own girlfriend both forgive him, after ''seeing him do it''. By the end of the scene, his best friend is talking about how much fun it'll be for the four of them to live in a house together.
** Claudio from ''[[Much Ado About Nothing]]'' {{spoiler|reveals Hero's (untrue) unfaithfulness at their wedding -- depending on the director, possibly physically abusing her as well -- and when Leonato tells him that Hero died of grief, he acts like a total dick about it and doesn't care in the slightest until he discovers that Hero was telling the truth. Of course, when Hero finally appears after faking her death, the two are together in literally seconds}}.
* In Aphra Behn's ''The Rover'', at one point or another just about all of Belvile's friends try to rape his love interest Florinda, in some cases after mistaking her for a prostitute. But then they find out Florinda is Belvile's love interest and not a prostitute, and all is A-OK. Florinda's sister even marries one of them.
== [[Video Games]] ==
* The ''[[Dead or Alive]]'' series of fighting games are so thoroughly removed from the [[Guilty Pleasures|terrible-but-somehow-great]] ''Xtreme'' [[Spin-Off]]. The best example is that Christie murdered Helena's mother, but buy her a couple of gifts and suddenly she'll pair up for volleyball matches and mutual sun-tan oil application. With the woman who murdered her mother. Covering her in her mother's blood. While they were both on stage in an opera. In an opera house that then caught fire.
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* ''[[Tales of Legendia]]'' is a prime example of this. {{spoiler|Shirley ("So who cares if our only experience with you is the part where you tried to destroy the land and kill millions of people? You're part of the ''team'' now."), Chloe ("Guys, we have to save the chick who just ran me through with a sword!"), Jay ("Well, obviously he had a ''reason'' for kidnapping her."), ''Alcott'' ("Sure, you killed hundreds of people and served as general to an evil regime, but it was all for your sick daughter, so we forgive you."), and Maurits (...let's just not go there.)}} Granted, in the game itself, this comes off more like an example of the party's endearing-if-stupid idealism than anything else, but ''still''.
* Gaspard in ''[[Dark Cloud]] 2''. Yes, he's a [[Noble Demon]] with a [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds|tragic past]], but the main heroine Monica forgave him surprisingly easily after this was made clear even though she spent most of the game prior hating him for [[You Killed My Father|killing her father.]]
* The transition of the Turks from fairly serious (albeit [[Quirky Miniboss Squad|quirky]]) villains in ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' to comic relief, [[Heel Face Turn
** To be fair, there is also a "just doing our jobs" scene in ''Crisis Core'', where Tseng (one of the Turks), {{spoiler|lets a village be bombed to erase evidence and doesn't show remorse over it}}. Zack does not take that lightly, and spends the rest of the game remembering it.
** The Turks were hardly taken seriously in the original game, despite the Sector 7 collapse. Every time you fight them they toss comments around leisurely, you see them outside of battle quite a bit lounging around, and there's an entire sidequest in Wutai involving them and their "[[Punch Clock Villain|just doing our jobs]]" stuff.
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* In [[The World Ends With You]], Neku and Beat don't hold {{spoiler|Rhyme's erasure}} against Kariya and Uzuki at any point. Granted, Kariya and Uzuki did risk their safety by giving them a keypin that is vital to their quest, but the incident in question made Beat quite angry with the Reapers at the time.
* In ''[[Dragon Age]]'' ''Awakening'', Nathaniel Howe will express disbelief if you offer to conscript him into the Wardens instead of hanging him for scheming to kill you. You can respond by claiming that some of your best friends are people who tried to kill you in the past.
* In ''[[Rune Factory]]'', [[The Dragon|Lynette]] is responsible for wiping Raguna's memory and throwing him into a monster infested village (which she is responsible for infesting) all for the purpose of [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|using Raguna]] to help unleash a dragon god on the kingdom. After the plan fails, [[You Have Failed Me...|and she's banished from her kingdom for it]], Raguna forgives her virtually instantly (she's even eligible for marriage at that point). Raguna never even asks Lynette to tell him about his past, even if he marries her.
* In ''[[Ace Attorney]]'', Phoenix Wright is surprisingly determined to reach out to and "save" Miles Edgeworth, especially when Edgeworth is on trial as a murder suspect. What is amazing is that Phoenix is doing this even though Edgeworth ruthlessly and relentlessly used every tactic he could, including some very underhanded ones, to get Maya and then Phoenix himself convicted for the murder of his beloved mentor (Let's face it; Edgeworth is not stupid. He HAD to have realized who Mia Fey's REAL murderer was...).
* In the Crimson Flower route of ''[[Fire Emblem: Three Houses]]'', {{spoiler|the Black Eagles are ''very'' forgiving of the crimes Edelgard committed as the Flame Emperor pre-timeskip, which include the attempted murder of Claude and Dimitri by way of hired bandits, enabling Those Who Slither In The Dark to commit horrible atrocities such as the Remire Village tragedy and the forced transformation of students into demonic beasts, and Jeralt's murder at the hands of Monica/Kronya}}. In fact, {{spoiler|a lot of Edelgard's shadier actions are swept under the rug so she can look better than she really is, with the most standout example being Petra's love and admiration of the woman allowing the empire to keep her as a political hostage to keep her home country in line, which REEKS of stockholm syndrome}}.
** In {{spoiler|the Silver Snow route however, the weight of her atrocities lead to her becoming something of a [[Broken Pedestal]] to all of them... except, of course, for [[The Dragon|Hubert]]}}.
* In ''[[Might and Magic]]'', the only game that seems strict with lawbreaking players is the third game, where unsuccessfully trying to steal from a store will give you a year in jail (and being ''falsely'' accused of murder in the second game gives a life sentence, where you serve five years before being cleared). The sixth game has some repercussions for evil deeds, but even if you murder the entire population of a town, you can restore your reputation quickly by making donations to the local temple. Even if you are arrested (due to Notorious reputation) after slaughtering hundreds of civilians, you’ll only get a year in jail, and upon release, your Reputation will be set to Average.
** The seventh game downplays this: one crime that is truly unforgivable is betraying your employer during the Human Elf War, which will cause you [[Nonstandard Game Over|to be executed]] should you confess to it; also, giving in to the Mercenary Guild's demands and stealing from your allies, they will not forgive you for a full year (game time) and will arrest you if you try to talk to them. Anything else (including murdering civilians or the town guard) can be excused by paying fines at the town hall, and failing to do so will, again, only result in a year in prison.
== [[Web Animation]] ==
* Lighthearted example, the famous [[Food Fight]] scene in ''[[RWBY]]''. The students wreck the cafeteria in what would be, to most onlookers, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yhmrFN6A-g a brutal and deadly free-for-all], but they don't even get detention for it, their only punishment being [[Badass Teacher| Goodwitch]] sternly telling them not to "play with their food." Possibly justified, as given the [[Training from Hell]] nature of [[Academy of Adventure| Beacon Academy]], the occasional brawl between students might be seen as having benefits.
== [[Web Comics]] ==
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** [[Truth in Television]] for those who play the game. Very rarely will anyone call you out for killing someone if you thought they were the killer ([[Chessmaster|or were pretending to]]). Of course, when this is averted, it is averted ''violently.''
* {{spoiler|Gamzee Makara}} in Homestuck is welcomed back with seemingly open arms after his his brief stint of semi-genocidal madness wherein he {{spoiler|successfully murdered several people and seemed bent on getting rid of every other troll before being calmed down. He also directly and deliberately contributed to the creation of a being bent on destroying any universe it is allowed into, the prior creation of a similar omnicidal creature being seen by other characters as akin to a [[Moral Event Horizon]]}}. This quick forgiveness particularly comes out of character for Terezi who had just a few minutes prior (in-story) been ready to kill someone else over suspicion for the same exact murders.
** Kanaya is not so forgiving, and would be happy if she never saw him again. Fortunately, {{spoiler|Gamzee}} seems to be ''afraid'' of her and also avoids her.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* Raimundo in ''[[Xiaolin Showdown]]'', after willingly turning evil and then back again. Omi does express suspicion about him from time to time.
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** Also, given the fact that afterwards Omi kept falling into Chase Young's traps to be prepared for his ally he really couldn't say that he didn't know what Raimundo did.
* Subverted in ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' with Hawkgirl. At first glance, it seems that the team will sweep her assignment from the Thanagarian Empire under the rug at the end of the episode because she's one of the [[True Companions]], but she resigns from the team. She spends a season mostly off-camera doing some soul-searching and still has to save the world a few more times before Wonder Woman's fine with having Hawkgirl in the Justice League again. It remains a sore spot for her and detractors of the Justice League still bring up that the League let Hawkgirl back on the team after what she did... a sore spot that Lex Luthor is [[Magnificent Bastard|notably willing to exploit]].
* Over the course of two sequels, [[Cinderella (Disney film)|Cinderella]] manages to forgive her two stepsisters; after all, they're still family, and never portrayed as more than [[Punch Clock Villain]]s compared to their cruel mother. She even manages to play matchmaker for Anastasia.
* Every "villain" in ''[[Horton Hears a Who!]]!'' The directors bring this up a couple times on the DVD commentary, justifying it by saying it stays true to the spirit of Dr. Seuss' works, as Seuss "was not in the comeuppance business." There was originally a more clear comeuppance for the Kangaroo when everyone turns their back on her, but it was taken out for this reason.
* On ''[[The Fairly
* In ''[[Gargoyles]]'', Goliath readily forgives anyone who stops attacking and tries to undo whatever they've done. Even if two minutes before that they were roaring at each other and fighting tooth and nail. It's most apparent in that lengthy section in season two where he and a few others were being sent all over the world by Avalon. Of course, those few times when he ''wasn't'' attacked right off the bat and tried being friendly first didn't work that well...
** One theme of the show was that holding grudges didn't work out, and that things like revenge only made things worse. Probably a message there.
** Some subversions, however, with the other characters. Lexington continued to harbor a grudge against the members of the Pack throughout the series. While it took some time (as well as his bond with Alex) for him to put aside his grudge with Fox, and we never saw him meet Dingo after his [[Heel Face Turn]], it's safe to assume the others don't get that luxury. {{spoiler|And while Brooklyn's demonstrated the ability to put aside his own grudge with Demona, [[Word of God|it took a long time and some time travel for him to let go of it properly]].}}
* ''[[Kim Possible]]'', episode "Ill-Suited"; Ron is let off the hook despite lying to Kim, cheating at a major sporting event and stole high tech weaponry that put lives in danger. Kim forgave him and Barkin let him stay on the team. [[Cool and Unusual Punishment|Although he did have to do 20 crabwalk laps around the field.]] [[Values Dissonance|Though it is a stark reminder of how in Season 1 Kim was grounded just for lying.]]
** On the villainous side of the fence, consider Drakken and Shego's [[Post Script Season]] appearances up through "Mad Dogs And Aliens". On two different occasions, Shego was busted out of prison by other villains, and gave no thought to Drakken (except to yell "Later, loser!" on her way out). In MDaA, Drakken orders Warmonga to throw Shego out, then holds her captive intending to make her watch Warmonga score the victory over Kimmie that she never could (and [[The Only One Allowed to Defeat You|claims as her prerogative]]). Really, it's amazing that they were on speaking terms, much less working together, in later episodes.
* Subverted in ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''. Katara is really reluctant to forgive people who betrayed her, and will express this as openly and occasionally violently as possible. She is initially angry with her father for leaving home, and takes the longest to forgive {{spoiler|Zuko}}.
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** Which becomes a bit ridiculous by season three, when [[Sassy Black Woman|Leshawna]] [[What the Hell, Hero?|openly brags about]] ''[[Disproportionate Retribution|knocking her tooth out]]'' even ''after'' she should have realized it was totally unjustified (as Heather had been trying to ''help'' her at the time). [[Only Sane Man|Bridgette]] even calls the others out on this toward the end of the show.
* Buck Strickland from ''[[King of the Hill]]'' has done some pretty nasty things to Hank and he always sticks by his side, his worst act was framing Hank for the murder of his mistress Debbie. He plants a lot of evidence that made it seem like he was guilty of the crime, and yet Hank almost immediately forgives him after the murder is solved.
* ''[[Regular Show]]'' has Skips being forgiven for {{spoiler|killing Rigby over a game of arm wrestling. Rigby was really cool about the whole thing.}}
{{quote|'''Skips:''' Uh... Sorry for, you know, {{spoiler|killing you}} back there... It was unprofessional.
{{spoiler|'''Rigby'''}}''':''' Huh? ....You know what? Water under the bridge. }}
* ''[[Huntik Secrets and Seekers]]'' has Zhalia easily forgiven {{spoiler|after Lok, Dante, and Sophie discover she's [[The Mole]] for the [[Big Bad]]}}. See the quote.
* Fungus in ''[[Monsters, Inc.]].'' had been Randall's henchman, aiding him in his evil plot, yet at the end he is seen cheerfully working alongside the others, as if there had never been any bad feelings between them.
** [[Subverted Trope]]. Well, Sully DID put him in the Scream Extractor, and it is implied often that he was coerced into helping them.
* In ''[[Family Guy]]'', it's often difficult to believe Peter is forgiven for a ''lot'' of the crummy things he does, but the biggest example is when Cleveland actually forgives him for ''shooting his son''. Even if Peter did seem genuinely sorry for doing so, it's kind of a stretch.
* In the ''[[Futurama]]'' episode "Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences", Leela seems to hold no grudge whatsoever against Lrrr [[Large Ham| (RULER OF]] [[Running Gag| OMNICRON PERSEI 8!)]] even though he tried to ''eat'' her in "The Problem With Popplers"; Leela [[Call Back| even mentions that incident]] to him here but doesn't seem upset about it when she does.
== [[Real Life]] ==
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[[Category:Narrative Devices]]
[[Category:Improbable Behavior Tropes]]
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[[Category:Easily Forgiven]]
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