Karma Houdini/Playing With: Difference between revisions

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Latest revision as of 08:00, 9 January 2014

Basic Trope: A villain justly deserving punishment either ends the story without receiving any or receives punishment so minor as to be fairly negligible.

Straight: Chad murders a hero. He gets away with it.
Exaggerated: Chad murders a hero. He gets rewarded for it.
- Alternatively, Chad blows up a couple of galaxies. He gets away with(or gets rewarded for) it.
Justified: Chad is clever enough to plan several contingency plans enabling him to escape punishment for his crimes.
- He could also be the evil twin of a Butt Monkey.
- Or there's no one left who's strong enough to punish him.
- Chad does a Heel Face Turn halfway or at the end of the story
- The Bad Guy Wins
- The story is a cynical one.
- Or nearly everyone is a villain and the hero Chad murdered was a member of a rebellion.
- See Screw the Rules, I Make Them.
- Magnificent Bastard.
- Chad is an integral part of his universe, in the way that Johnny the Homicidal Maniac is.
Inverted: See Karmic Death, Laser-Guided Karma, Karmic Jackpot...
- Alternatively: Dude, Where's My Reward?
  - Another alternative: Disproportionate Retribution
- Tragic Hero and Tragic Villain
- Jerkass Woobie
  - Butt Monkey
Subverted: Chad seems to be escaping, but at the last minute receives appropriate punishment for his crimes.
- Karma Houdini Warranty
Doubly Subverted: ... which Chad still manages to escape.
Parodied: Chad does a musical song-and-dance number celebrating about how he's managed to get away with it.
Deconstructed: Chad seems to be getting away with it, at least on the surface; however, deep down, he has to live with what he's done and the memories and guilt rotting away at his soul for the rest of his life. Furthermore, they have to constantly worry about justice catching up with him, meaning that he spends the rest of his life dealing with lingering paranoia. And Saint Peter isn't exactly happy with him either (The devil, however, is tickled pink to have someone to test "Murdered Ever After" on.). As a result, although he's gotten away with the crime he's never truly happy.
Reconstructed: But because he's such a sociopathic bastard, it doesn't bother him for that long.
Averted: Chad receives just punishment for his crimes.
- Figuring that Chad will somehow weasel out of his punishment, the heroes summarily execute him.
Enforced: "The universe is unfair, sometimes the guilty aren't punished, and I think this story should reflect that."
- Alternatively: "Wow! Chad's so awesome I can't bring myself to punish him!"
Lampshaded: "You're kidding me! After all we've been through, he got away scot-free?!"
Invoked: "I'm a villain. I'm very good at escaping punishment for my actions."
Defied: Bob vows that Chad will not escape punishment and takes matters into his own hands to ensure this.
Discussed: "It's a cruel world; sometimes, people do get away with murder."
Conversed: "You're kidding me! I read that whole thing and Chad got away with it?!"
Played for Drama: The hero's attempt to stop Chad goes in vain, resulting in the world descending into Chaos it has no chance of waking from.
Played for Laughs: It was revealed that Chad only wanted to go to the grocery store and get cucumbers.

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 ** The story is a cynical one.
 ** Or nearly everyone is a villain and the hero Chad murdered was a member of a rebellion.
-** See [[Screw the Rules I Make Them]].
+** See [[Screw the Rules, I Make Them]].
 ** [[Magnificent Bastard]].
 ** Chad is an integral part of his universe, in the way that [[Johnny the Homicidal Maniac]] is.
-* '''Inverted''': See [[Karmic Death]], [[Laser Guided Karma]], [[Karmic Jackpot]]...
+* '''Inverted''': See [[Karmic Death]], [[Laser-Guided Karma]], [[Karmic Jackpot]]...
-** Alternatively: [[Dude Where's My Reward]]
+** Alternatively: [[Dude, Where's My Reward?]]
 *** Another alternative: [[Disproportionate Retribution]]
 ** [[Tragic Hero]] and [[Tragic Villain]]