Promethean Punishment/Playing With
Basic Trope: Divine retribution in the form of Immortality and/or amazing power.
- Straight: Alice killed her sister Betty in ancient times, so the gods cursed her to live as an immortal Lich, complete with all the Required Secondary Powers.
- Exaggerated: Alice killed Betty, hunted down and murdered her entire family, burned every orphanage in a fifty mile radius, and destroyed Tokyo. The gods' "punishment" makes her an immortal, all-powerful demon queen. They even throw in her own massage therapist.
- Downplayed: Alice's punishment involves an extra 20 years to live and the power to talk to chipmunks.
- Justified: The evil Gods actually intend to use Alice as their Dragon.
- Alternatively, the gods work In Mysterious Ways; Alice is part of a and their choice is part of some great Xanatos Roulette.
- Inverted: Alice's punishment for petting puppies is to be sealed inside a can. While conscious.
- Subverted: The powers and immortality are nice, but they come with some VERY nasty side-effects.
- Double Subverted: But Alice doesn't care.
- Parodied: Alice whines obnoxiously about how her amazing powers are somehow a curse. The other characters just roll their eyes.
- Deconstructed: Alice's initial glee with her situation wanes considerably once she realizes that being immortal ain't all it's cracked up to be, and that her dark powers don't discriminate between friend and foe. Even using them to get rich doesn't make her happy. She eventually realizes that her punishment was actually to spend eternity alone and friendless.
- Reconstructed: ???
- Zig Zagged: Alice's powers come with an instant eternity-sentence behind a magic seal. Bob releases Alice, so she conspires to raise the Legions of Hell to take revenge. However, the years have taken a toll and she needs Applied Phlebotinum to recharge. But it's been longer than she thought and the Plebotinum is extremely scarce in the modern world, severely restricting her otherwise dangerous power.
- Averted: The Gods give Alice powers for her good deeds, or her punishment is proportionally hideous to her crime.
- Enforced: "Rule 666 clearly states that Alice's crime MUST be punished with immortality and superpowers. ...uh, I'm sure the High Ones must've had their reasons..."
- Lampshaded: Alice and the other characters comment on how her situation is anything but disadvantageous.
- Invoked: Alice commits her crime specifically because she wants The Punishment...
- Exploited: ...and when she succeeds, other people follow suit because, hey, who DOESN'T like superpowers?
- Defied: "No, Alice, killing your sister gets you ostracized from the rest of mankind, not amazing powers or immortality. Look it up."
- Discussed: "Let Me Get This Straight.... You pissed off God, and He lets you live? FOREVER?"
- Conversed: "You'd think omnipotent beings would realize that giving dangerous people superpowers isn't really the best way to punish them, wouldn't you?"
Back to The Punishment