Revenge Before Reason: Difference between revisions

{{quote|'''[[Only Sane Man|Joachim]]:''' We're all with you, sir. But consider this. We are free. We have a ship, and the means to go where we will. We have escaped permanent exile on Ceti Alpha V. You have defeated the plans of [[The Captain|Admiral Kirk]]. You do not need to defeat him again.<br />

'''[[The Chessmaster|Khan Noonien Singh]]:''' He'' tasks ''me to! He tasks me, and I shall have him! [[Determinator|I will chase him 'round the Moons of Nibia, and 'round the Antares Maelstrom, and 'round perdition's flames before I give him up.]]|''[[Star Trek II: theThe Wrath of Khan (Film)|Star Trek II the Wrath of Khan]]''}}

Often invokes [[Taking You Withwith Me]]. If the character snaps out of it, can lead to [[Was It Really Worth It?]] and [[My God, What Have I Done?]].

* Sasuke Uchiha of ''[[Naruto]]'' has allowed revenge to motivate almost every single action he takes. ''Everything'' he does in the first half and most of the second half of ''[[Naruto]]'' is done to become strong enough to face Itachi. These actions include charging in half-cocked to fight Itachi when he was nowhere near ready, getting excessively jealous when a "failure" starts surpassing him, [[Face Heel Turn]]-ing to the enemy, ''killing'' said enemy and absorbing his powers, and gathering his own team to help him. You would think that Sasuke might chill out a tiny bit after he finally succeeds, but nooooo. When Sasuke learns {{spoiler|his (now late) older brother did everything he did for ''Sasuke's'' sake}}, he sets out on a ''whole new'' rampage of revenge, this one {{spoiler|directed at the Leaf Village itself and the current aspirant for Hokage (Danzo) in particular. You know it's bad when Danzo, not exactly a saint himself, calls him on it and has a valid point.}} Gets even worse when he abandons his new team because he's too impatient to wait for them to catch up, and {{spoiler|stabs through Karin simply because Danzo took her hostage and it was too much effort on his part to help her. Remember, she is his only medic at this point.}} There's a big reason why [[Trope Pantheons/Emotion|Sasuke is the God of this trope]].

*** It should also be noted that the cornerstone of Pain's beliefs and plan is that he thinks ''[[Humans Are Bastardsthe Real Monsters|everyone acts like this]]''.

* Sosuke Nekome, one of the main characters of ''[[Dennou Coil]]'', is obsessed with ruining the MegaMass corporation for causing his father's death and ruining his reputation. He's willing to sacrifice anything or ultimately kill anyone who gets in the way of this plan, even the twelve-year-old protagonists Yasako and Isako. {{spoiler|Fortunately his little brother ''does'' possess reason and [[Heel Face Turn|Heel Face Turns]]s in the final episode.}}

* Then there's Lockon Stratos {{spoiler|(that is, Neil Dylandy)}}, from ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]'', whose ''whole motivation'' turns out to be revenge against the people who bombed his family. At one point, the terrorist leader who caused their deaths tries to divide the Gundam Meisters by telling Lockon that his teammate Setsuna used to belong to his group; Lockon points his gun at Setsuna and says (paraphrased) "I know you couldn't have done it, but just let me shoot you so I can feel better."

** Later on, he goes out in a badly damaged Gundam and missing one eye because the aforementioned terrorist was on the battlefield and he refused to let the guy get away in the time it would have taken to fix the Gundam and regenerate his lost eye. {{spoiler|Which ends up causing Lockon's death because the guy picks up on his new blind spot and exploits it, despite a sterling [[Determinator]] attempt by Lockon to [[Taking You Withwith Me|take him along for the ride]].}}

* An earlier [[Gundam]] example is Kamille Bidan, of ''[[Zeta Gundam]]'', who in the first episode gets himself thrown into military prison for attacking a Titan, and then beaten up for physically assaulting a military police officer, in both cases because of ultimately petty reasons. Even his [[Gundamjack]], which goes on to cause him [[Downer Ending|so much misery]], is motivated by pointless revenge -- herevenge—he initially climbs into the cockpit, breaking into a military base to do so, in order to intimidate the MP officer who beat him up.

* Guts from ''[[Berserk]]''. He and his lover Casca were the sole survivors of the dreaded Eclipse {{spoiler|which was caused by their former friend and leader, Griffith, [[Face Heel Turn|selling them and all of their comrades in the Band of the Hawk out to the Godhand]] [[Deal Withwith the Devil|in order to become a demon lord]] so that he could fulfill his life-long dream after a year of crippling torture. [[To Make a Long Story Short|To make a long and sad story short]], neither Guts nor Casca come out [[Go Mad Fromfrom the Revelation|unharmed]] [[Life or Limb Decision|or intact]].}} After the event, and though all that they had left were each other, Guts was so embroiled in his rage and grief over what happened to them that he left Casca in the care of Godot, Erica, and Rickert after only a few weeks in order to [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge|pursue revenge against Griffith, the Apostles and the Godhand]], which apart from leading Guts to [[Took a Level Inin Jerkass|Take A Level In Jerkass]] during those two years certainly did not help Casca's post-Eclipse condition at all. It is only after getting a serious [[What the Hell, Hero?]] speech from Godot about this two years after this that Guts finally starts getting his act together again.

* ''[[Ranma Half½]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s [[The Determinator|Ryoga]] [[No Sense of Direction|Hibiki]]. He left his home, his school and everything else to [[The Rival|try to get revenge on Ranma]] for "breaking a man-to-man promise" and abandoning a challenge which Ryoga was [[Up to Eleven|ludicrously]] late for. The original reason for the fight? Ranma [[What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?|had cut in front of him in line at the school tuckshop]]. Okay, a fair few times, but...

* The [[Word of Dante|Yves Rodier]] finished version of ''[[Tintin (Comic Book)]] and the Alph-Art'' has {{spoiler|Rastapapolous so willing to kill the titular character (who continuously screwed up his plans and operations) that his plan to do so would also inevitably lead to [[Taking You Withwith Me|killing himself in the process.]]}}

* In ''[[All Fall Down (Comic Book)|All Fall Down]]'', this motivates {{spoiler|Pronto}} into selling out his friends to get his powers back.

* ''[[Star Trek II: the Wrath of Khan (Film)|Star Trek II theThe Wrath of Khan]]''. [[The Chessmaster|Khan]] flies into an obvious trap just for the chance to get [[The Captain|Kirk]].

* [[The Captain|Captain Picard]] in ''[[Star Trek First Contact (Film)|Star Trek: First Contact]]''. He gets over it.

* In the new2009 ''[[Star Trek (Filmfilm)|Star Trek]]'', [[Big Bad|Captain Nero]] is like this.

* In ''[[Iron Man (Filmfilm)|Iron Man]] 2'', Ivan Vanko wants revenge on Tony Stark for the [[Sins of Our Fathers]]; his father Anton Vanko {{spoiler|invented the original Arc Reactor alongside Tony's father, Howard Stark, but Howard Stark had him accused of spying and deported.}} Needless to say, Ivan is pissed off, but his desire to get ''personal'' revenge on Tony Stark for what his father did blinds him. He invents his own personal reactor for a suit of his own and attacks Tony in public, trying to discredit him and his claims that no one else can match his own technology. Shortly afterward, when Tony defeats him, he comments on Vanko's pursuit of personal revenge over [[Cut Lex Luthor a Check|simply selling the reactor to anyone who wants it and making a huge profit.]] Later, when {{spoiler|Justin Hammer busts Vanko out of prison}}, he explains that Vanko is approaching revenge all ''wrong'', and says that instead of attacking the man personally, one should attack his ''legacy'', and arranges for Vanko to {{spoiler|create an army of "Hammer Drones" that are intended to make Stark's Iron Man technology obsolete.}} Vanko goes along with it at first, apparently, but ultimately {{spoiler|sabotages the drones and War Machine, takes control of the whole lot, and tries to kill Tony ''again''.}}

* In the second ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Filmfilm)|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' film, after downing the mutagen and transforming into Super Shredder, Shredder becomes so fixated on killing the Turtles that he doesn't realize that the bridge they're under is falling apart. But then when told so, he's beyond caring.

{{quote| '''Leo:''' Shredder, you gotta listen to reason! You're gonna destroy us all!<br />

* In the film (and [[MST3KMystery Science Theater 3000]] episode) ''[[Sidehackers]]'', the protagonist Rommel, finds out that the [[Big Bad]], J.C., is hiding in a rock quarry planning an ambush for him. Rather than sending word to the police where J.C. (who is wanted for murdering Rommel's fiancee<ref>and in the original movie version, brutally raping and murdering her</ref>) is, he goes ahead with his original plan to confront and kill J.C. [[Rocks Fall Everybody Dies|It doesn't end well.]]

* The protagonist of the ''[[Joshuu Sasori (Film)|Joshuu Sasori]]'' series is so hell-bent on revenge that she pursues her [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge|list of targets]] leaving the worst for last because she knows exactly where it'll get her: {{spoiler|he's a detective, and she attacks and kills him in the police station where he works. Sure enough, the final shot of the film shows her re-entering the prison.}}

{{quote| '''Starbuck:''' Vengeance on a dumb brute! That simply smote thee from blindest instinct! Madness! To be enraged with a dumb thing, Captain Ahab, seems blasphemous...<br />

* The Sponsor in ''[[Star Trek: Department of Temporal Investigations]]'' has a little of this. First by maliciously deleting from history the temporal agent who attempted to identify him (rewriting the timeline so she was never born) and then, when other agents were nonetheless able to use her last, shielded transmission to find him, having this to say:

{{quote| "If that revenge backfired and led to my arrest, then all the more need for the revenge itself to stand".}}

* On ''[[Supernatural]]'', all of the Winchesters are hell-bent on taking out the demons who have destroyed their family, but John and Sam are particularly scary and self-destructive about it. Particularly notable in season four, when Sam's quest to kill Lilith, the demon who laughed as her hounds tore Dean apart and dragged him to hell, leads the poor kid down a path that ensures he fulfills his own greatest [[The Corruption|fears]] [[Sliding Down the Slippery Slope|about]] [[The Dark Side|himself]]. {{spoiler|And brings about [[The End of the World Asas We Know It]] killing her [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|in an attempt to prevent the Apocalypse]].}}

* On [[Twenty Four|24]], {{spoiler|Gael's wife shoots Saunders}} despite him being the only person who can stop the outbreak of a deadly virus.

* In [[The Storyteller (TV series)|The Storyteller]], the retelling of Daedalus' story presents him as falling into this. After terrible actions in the past (causing the deaths of his nephew and son), Daedalus had a chance to atone when he befriended the young prince and princess at a court. However, when he is blackmailed by King Minos into building the Labyrinth, he throws away that chance by his terrible revenge on Minos- rigging his bath to boil him alive. The story indicates that with that revenge, Daedalus essentially froze his heart, and he dies alone, a broken man.

* ''[[Exalted]]'': So. Let's say that you are the ghost of a First Age god-king, who has been empowered by the dead gods that once ruled Creation to go out and drag the whole place screaming into the maw of Oblivion. They have power over you that is paramount, and [[You Have Failed Me...|do not show favor to those who screw up]]. So what have you spent the last several years doing? You've been tracking down the reincarnations of the people who tormented you in the First Age, and making their lives hell over and over again. You have let plans that could put a serious cold sore on Creation's lips, including a ''zombie plague'', char on the back burner because you are so busy fucking over the people who tormented you millennia ago. You are Eye and Seven Despairs, and you are, in the eyes of your colleagues, utter dogshit.

* In ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' the Dwarves. Every time. They are determined to avenge every slight, and never, ever forgive. And just to make sure they don't forget either, they have a giant book called the Book of Grudges in which they write them all down. They're currently going slowly extinct, and a fair amount of the blame goes to their refusal to cooperate with the other races because at some point in centuries past they were wronged by them. That, and their literal inability to stop taking revenge. Every time they take revenge, and lose a dwarf doing it? Write it down in the book.

{{quote| "Revenge for the sake of revenge is pointless. Mindless revenge is pure stupidity."}}

* Assassin Asha in ''[[Iji (Video Game)|Iji]]''. He also accuses Iji of the same, as she really wants to kill him for {{spoiler|attacking and [[Multiple Endings|possibly]] killing Dan}}.

* ''[[Touhou (Video Game)|Touhou]]'' gives us Kaguya Houraisan and Fujiwara no Mokou, two immortal girls who are perpetually trying to kill each other despite knowing that they can't die. The reason behind their feud is pretty pathetic too; it's all because Kaguya humiliated Mokou's father centuries ago.

* Chloe in ''[[Tales of Legendia (Video Game)|Tales of Legendia]]''. During her the main game, her primary motivation is justice. However, justice soon turns to revenge when confronted with person who killed her parents. Later in game during the Character Quests, Chloe's want for revenge upon learning identity of killer, to the point where she {{spoiler|stabs and leaves for death Senel and tries to kill the swordsmen in front of his daughter who she has gotten close to and sees her as a sister.}} Luckily, she grabs a hold of her senses when she almost {{spoiler|kills said daughter who stands in her way from harming her father.}}

* In [[Mass Effect 2]], {{spoiler|Zaeed wants the head of Vido Santiago on a pike in the worst way. The two started the Blue Suns merc group together. Vido wanted to hire Batarians because they were cheaper, but Zaeed considered them a little too hardcore. Vido circumvents Zaeed by betraying him and shooting him in the face. Zaeed attempts to get his revenge later with the help of Commander Shepard, but ends up endangering the lives of innocent refinery workers in the process. A Paragon player can go so far as to deck Zaeed across the face in a [[What the Hell, Hero?]] diatribe, and deprive Zaeed of his revenge attempt and save the plant workers instead. Renegade players can go along with Zaeed's [[Revenge Before Reason]] spree.}}

* In ''[[Dragon Age II]]'', Vengeance -- theVengeance—the former spirit of Justice twisted by Ander's rage directed at the Templars -- embodiesTemplars—embodies this. Over the course of the game Anders/Vengeance cares less about true justice and more about making the Templars pay for oppressing mages, regardless of who gets hurt.

* ''[[Prototype (Videovideo Gamegame)|Prototype]]'', where Alex Mercer kills countless people to get revenge on the people who turned him into what he is, overturning their operations whenever he finds an opportunity. As a direct consequence, Manhattan becomes a war-zone. {{spoiler|This is, of course, one of the few things remaining from the ''original'' Mercer, whose corpse was reanimated after he died [[Taking You Withwith Me|trying to take the rest of the world down with him]].}}

** It's a something of a theme now; in ''[[Prototype 2 (Video Game)|Prototype 2]]'', Heller's motive is to get revenge on Alex for 1) wreaking so much havoc on New York (indirectly killing Heller's family, who were caught in the crossfire of the first game) and 2) turning Heller into a creature like Alex, making him immortal [[Death Seeker|when all he wanted was to die]].

* In ''[[Schlock Mercenary (Webcomic)|Schlock Mercenary]]'', Ms. Damico kidnaps two people who cost her some money. Petey, a near-godlike AI who can wage war on whole galaxies, offers to buy his friends' freedom for 25 times the amount Damico lost. [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20101010.html She refuses, instead demanding "satisfaction"].

* David Xanatos of ''[[Gargoyles (Animation)|Gargoyles]]'' always defied this trope, believing that [[Know When to Fold 'Em|revenge is a sucker's game]].

** This in contrast to may characters like Demona and MacBeth (and even most of the heroes on the occasions their [[Berserk Button|Berserk Buttons]]s are pushed) who often fall right into this.

* In the ''[[Turtles Forever]]'' animated movie, the [[TMNTTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003|2003 Shredder]], after being beaten so many times by his Turtles and discovering [[The Multiverse]], decides to go to the source (the [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mirage (Comic Book)|Mirage comics universe]]) and destroy all reality. He doesn't seem to care that this would kill him as well.

* Depth Charge from ''[[Beast Wars (Animation)|Beast Wars]]'' is a Maximal driven by an all-consuming need to take revenge on the sadistic [[Psycho Prototype|Rampage]], who personally killed and ate the all of the former's friends for a laugh. He'll blow off any order if Rampage is anywhere nearby.

** In the [[Grand Finale]], Depth Charge finally corners Rampage and {{spoiler|stabs his [[Our Souls Are Different|spark]] with an [[Pure Energy|energon]] stake, knowing full well this will result in an [[Earth Shattering Explosion]] [[Taking You Withwith Me|he can't survive]]}}. On the other hand, this results in {{spoiler|Dinobot II regaining the memories and nobility of the original and turning on Megatron at the crucial moment}}.

* In ''[[Batman: theThe Animated Series]]'', Jimmy the "Jazz Man" was more focused on making sure GordenGordon is killed than getting out of Gotham and laying low.

** And in the film, ''[[Batman: Mask of the Phantasm]]'' we have {{spoiler|Andrea.}}

{{quote| '''{{spoiler|Andrea}}''': I'm not saying it's right or even sane, but it's all I have left, so either help me or get out of the way!}}

* This is ''[[Dan Vs (Animation)|Dan.]]'': This is Dan's bread and butter.

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