Sins of Our Fathers: Difference between revisions

The villain may justify it on the grounds that the children profited by the original crime. Particularly when they own something that belonged to the villain. Do not expect the villain to be deterred by questions such as how he came into possession of the item in the first place, whether the children knew or could have been reasonably expected to know of the provenance of the item, or if they might give it back if they knew. Not that a return might assuage a sufficiently off-his-rocker villain anyway. (On the other hand, the children, aware of the tainted source, may attempt to [[Buy Them Off]] but refuse to restore, which tends to move the situation out of the scope of this trope.)

Contrast [[Revenge by Proxy]], where the target is the child or other associates in preference to the character who actually wronged them, in order to make that character suffer more. [[Revenge Through Corruption]] is when the method of revenge is trying to effect a [[Face Heel Turn]] upon the offspring of one's enemy. See also [[Generational Trauma]], which might overlap if someone decides that the best way to resolve the family issues is to get vengeance on the descendants of the traumatiser.