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The time has come for the Big Bad (or Jerkass or just whoever's in the wrong in the moment) to get their karma. However, the punishment is so bad that the audience (and potentially the characters in-universe) feel sorry for them.
Whether it be you feel the crime in question wasn't that bad or the punishment is that awful, you will feel that person got the short end of the stick.
Can overlap with Disproportionate Retribution, Alas, Poor Scrappy, Alas, Poor Villain, Unintentionally Sympathetic, and Jerkass Woobie.
Note: On TV Tropes, this is known as "Karmic Overkill." The title was changed slightly to avoid potential copyright issues with TV Tropes.
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Anime and Manga[]
- Blood-C: With the reveal of the twist that Saya's whole mission was all a lie, that she was a Elder Barn and all her friends are actors, most of whom don't actually care about her. You'd expect to feel perfectly content and satisfied about their deaths. However the show is so gory, that when they did beat the dust, some people couldn't help but feel a smidge of pity for them. That's not to mention the infamous 'bunny' scene, where several people who probably didn't know the extent of the experiment get slaughtered by bunny-looking elder barns in strange but cruel ways.
- The twins, Nene and Nono, get this. For Nene, she's tripped by her own sister and stomped into bloody pulp by Dog. For Nono, her death was so brutal, some did feel sorry for her (for context: she's picked up, forcefully put into a split, then Dog starts to tear off her leg before finally eating her!).
- Many fans feels this ways towards main characters who get put into sexual misunderstandings due to how infamously brutal Pervert Revenge Mode can be (even MCs who were being perverts had gotten sympathy because it).
Comic Books[]
Fan Works[]
- Generally, if there's a Ron the Death Eater that gets taken out/treated quite harshly and is a Base Breaker (Alas, Poor Scrappy can also feature here), the audience might think this.
- A lot of Miraculous Ladybug salt fics (particularly the ones concerning Lila) can be seen to inflict this towards Miss Bustier's class. Salt Fics of that flavour have a a good chance that the classmates, who are not even fifteen yet, will have their whole lives ruined just because they dismissed Marinette's concern over Lila as Crying Wolf. While said dismissal was Too Dumb to Live, it wasn't a crime. The person who typically gets this the worst is Adrien/Chat Noir.
- This can be seen to happen many a time in The Many Dates of Danny Fenton and its various Spin-Offs, but its most prominent is in the Author Tracted After Many Dates: Danny and Kim. Virtually any character that the author even mildly dislikes gets some form of Disproportionate Retribution. For example, Glenn Quagmire gets a Fate Worse Than Death, the same fate dished out to Big Bad Vlad Masters, who tried to Take Over the World and become a god. Quagmire is hardly a saint but he's hardly deserving of the same fate as a war criminal who attempted genocide.
- The most common opinion of Chapter 4 of Child of the Storm where the full might of the Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the British Government is unleashed upon the the Dursleys for their abuse of Harry, ending with the Dursleys becoming so hated that their first names declined in use. To their credit, the author admits to this, and even says that what's posted now is toned down from the original version, but that it's too late to go back and change it. Mind you, later appearances of the Dursleys only keep this up, noting that Petunia has become the Black Sheep of her family, Dudley having crossed the Moral Event Horizon several dozen times and their actions even incurred the hatred of several Physical Gods to the point that Jesus Christ says that they're beyond redemption.
- Cori Falls's Pokémon fanfics were absolutely brutal to Ash later on, ranging from violent beatings to the classic Laxative Prank to having even his closest friends and allies turn their backs on him as he degenerates into full-on psychosis. Even fans who didn't like Ash and longed to see him taken down a peg or two were disgusted by this.
Film[]
- Can occur in a multitude of horror media depending on what they did, their age, how brutal their death was or how bad their fate was left.
- In Midsommar, Christian is kind of a jerk, who is condescending to Dani (who would possibly be in a better place if he didn't take her there) and throws Josh under the bus when it's speculated he stole some of the cults' sacred texts. However, many thought he did not deserve to be paralyzed, sown up in a bear skin, and set on fire.
- Similarly, Mark is a dick that talks rudely about Dani behind her back is disrespectful to the elders of the cults' ways, and did nothing to help Connie when she was most likely running from the cult. However, again, nobody wanted him to have his skin peeled off!
- Lastly there is Josh, who is very uncaring towards Dani's feelings and ignored the elder's warnings to not take photos of the cult's sacred book. But once again, did not deserve to have have his head caved with by a mallet (the culprit being not other than Pelle) with the last thing he sees is Ulf (the elder Mark disrespected) wearing Mark's skin. Also not helping is the fact Word of God has confirmed the cult are in fact, racists.
- Ready or Not (2019): Emile's kids. Granted, it isn't too hard to be mad at Georgie due to him shooting Grace. But they're still kids forced to play a dangerous game. No one wanted them to see them get blown up with the rest of the family. At best, we the audience are spared from seeing the gory details.
- Nope: Jupe's kids' prank towards OJ might have been in poor taste but that does not mean they deserved to sucked up and slowly left to digest in Jean Jacket's digestive tract.
- In V/H/S:
- In the short, 'Second Honeymoon', Sam is far from being the ideal husband to Stephanie. He constantly puts pressure on her to allow him to film her without clothes, and when she refuses, he complains excessively. On top of that, he may be lying to her about who was at the door, and he even blames her when money goes missing from his wallet. His behavior towards her is generally passive-aggressive. However, despite all of this, some people found Stephanie's decision to murder him with her lesbian lover to be quite extreme. Many viewers suggested that she could have simply asked for a divorce instead.
- Briefly discussed in the climax of Last Night in Soho. Aside from Complete Monster Jack, the ghosts of the men that Sandie killed argue that they didn't deserve death. However, Ellie notes that the men were all Punch Clock Villains who abused, demeaned and objectified women and broke Sandie to the point that they turned an aspiring singer into a Serial Killer. Maybe they didn't deserve death, but they're all Asshole Victims so Ellie doesn't have any sympathy for them or any desire to help them.
Literature[]
- Stanley in The Railway Series (named Smudger in Thomas the Tank Engine). After being fitted to run on French rails when he served in World War I, Stanley was not properly re-gauged to run on the Island of Sodor's narrow gauge rails. This meant he often derailed, delaying his trains. While Stanley thought this was a minor problem at best, the railway responded by stripping him of his wheels and turning him into an immobile power generator. For something that was totally out of his control.
Live-Action TV[]
- A view of Agatha Harkness' fate at the end of WandaVision. While there's no arguing that Agatha was a dangerous threat that can't roam free, subjecting her to an And I Must Scream fate seemed to rub most fans the wrong way, especially given that Wanda was horrified to see that she'd been subjecting innocents to that same fate earlier on. Hell Agatha herself even lampshades this. Though this might have been the point to show that Wanda isn't as heroic a person as some Marvel Cinematic Universe fans would like to think.
- Black Mirror: Another debatable example. In White Bear, it's revealed Angela is an accomplice to her boyfriend burned a child again while she filmed it. You'd think that would automatically make everything the people put her through okay (and indeed some people do agree hence the debatable part). However, she's forced to painfully lose her memories and go through the terrifying scenario of being chased down by hunters before it being revealed to be a show for the audience, which she has to go through all over again and the fact her amnesiac self genuinely seems to feel bad for her actions made some people think her punishment was going much too far.
Music[]
New Media[]
Newspaper Comics[]
Oral Tradition, Folklore, Myths and Legends[]
- Thanks to Values Dissonance, Classical Mythology can often elicit this reaction. A popular candidate for this is when Apollo and Artemis kill Leto's children after a Blasphemous Boast.
Pinball[]
Podcasts[]
Professional Wrestling[]
Puppet Shows[]
Radio[]
Recorded and Stand Up Comedy[]
Tabletop Games[]
Theatre[]
Video Games[]
- Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach: Some fans hold this perspective regarding the fates of the enemy Glamrock animatronics. In the storyline, these animatronics are last shown being harshly damaged, with their components being utilized to enhance Glamrock Freddy. Although their primary objective was to murder Gregory and they have seemingly taken other children in the past, it is important to note that they were reprogrammed by Vanny and are not entirely acting of their own accord. Numerous fans express a desire for an option to either release or repair these animatronics.
Visual Novels[]
Web Animation[]
Web Comics[]
Web Original[]
- Helluva Boss: Moxxie is horrified that he inflicted this on the titular "Murder Family". After he kills the target, the mother, he proceeds to turn in the serial-killing father and children to the human police. The human police blows up the house with the family still inside. That was a bit much.
- The Cherubs might've been pains in the neck for I.M.P to deal with, but some couldn't help but think them getting exiled from heaven was a bit too much (especially since the old guy they were trying to save dying was in fact an accident). With their reappearance in 'The Full Moon', this has lessened for Cletus and Keenie, but this is still the case with Collin.
- Similarly, yes, Chaz was a bit scummy and obnoxious for his own good. Yes, lying about being rich to a mob boss is very stupid. But a good chunk of the audience thought his implied death was too far (even if again, it's realistic considering the circumstances).
Western Animation[]
- In a Broken Base kind of way, some think Eric Cartman potentially ending up homeless in the future is this.
- In the much-hated episode of The Loud House "No Such Luck," Lincoln tricks the family into thinking he's bad luck to avoid attending their scheduled events and have some time to himself. Yes, Lincoln doing this was wrong. However, as the episode goes on, the family goes too far in trying to avoid him. Them making him sleep outside is what got this reaction the most.
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic has suffered from quite a few of these:
- "Boast Busters": For as obnoxious and rude as she was, many people thought Trixie having her home smashed by the Ursa Major (actually Minor) was a bit too much.
- "The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well": This despised episode has one of the more infamous examples of this happening. Rainbow Dash is in over her head with fame, so her friends decide to dress up as the hero Mare Do Well. However, we see everyone disregarding Rainbow Dash and how much it hurts her to be alone, making Rainbow Unintentionally Sympathetic. Many had wished her friends had at least had try talking to Rainbow before concocting the plan to upstage. Even fans that did think Rainbow needed this lesson either thought this was too cruel or that it was a horrible execution.
- Another infamous example with "Ponyville Confidential". Diamond Tiara has the CMC go out and publish embarrassing/not true headlines of everypony. Not that this isn't a bad thing, however the CMC (i.e children) getting ostracized by everyone (including the Mane Six and their own families, with only Rarity seemingly being the only one to try thinking rationally about it) gained the trio several sympathy points by the fandom. Not helping was Diamond Tiara was the one orchestrating the whole event, blackmailing the trio when they tried to get out of it (which, by the way, is never called out on) and Featherweight is the one that listened in on and took the embarrassing photos/secrets.
- "Scare Master" (though this is more of a Broken Base than the previous RD example): Yes, this episode shows Rainbow not having a care about anyone with her pranking thus setting her up for karma. However, some thought the whole town pretending to be cookie-invested zombies just to get back at her for a few pranks was a bit much.
- The Simpsons:
- Principal Skinner in "Girls Just Want to Have Sums". For making an Innocently Insensitive comment, he gets called "worse than Hitler", demoted to Assistant Groundskeeper and is force fed poison by squirrels.
- Bart in "The Boys of Bummer". He failed to catch a baseball at the Little League championship and is Driven to Suicide by the angry townsfolk with his error actually weakening the US dollar.
- Total Drama: After manipulating his way through the game, in both endings of World Tour, Alejandro gets kneed in shin by the one girl he actually had feelings for and send down the mountain. However in a after episode spot, it's revealed he's horribly burnt and stuck inside a robot suit unable to talk until 'All Stars', that made some ease up on when.
- Similarly, Scott of 'Revenge of the Island' schemed his way through the game and constantly got his team to purposefully lose. He finally gets karma when he's eliminated, being sent catapulted with Fang. However, when he is sent back for the finale, he is in a trauma suit. There's a scene where all the other contestants just laugh at him while a tear falls from his eye, this scene is seen by many as very cruel and unsettling. This (as well as him being a Designated Monkey in All-Stars) made many feel sorry for him.
- Courtney, despite being a very divisive character, faced a significant amount of criticism for her humiliation in the episode "Sundae Muddy Sundae". Initially, everything seemed to be going well for her until Mal stumbled upon a list she had made earlier, leading to a rapid downfall. She not only loses the support of both Scott and Gwen, but her sundae also becomes a target for sabotage (including a bird vomiting on it). To make matters worse, it is revealed that the contestants have to eat their own sundaes, and Courtney struggles to do it. Consequently, she is eliminated, with only Scott showing any sign of missing her. The most heartbreaking moment occurs in the after-episode spot, where Courtney finds herself surrounded by sharks and offers them her unappetizing ice cream. However, instead of accepting it, the sharks vomit on her, leaving poor Courtney in tears. This episode has garnered significant dislike from many viewers.
- Dave in "Pakhinew Island' is also a very divisive character due to how he treated Sky. That being said, the season leaving off on him being mauled by a robo-scuba bear with there being no indication he survived or not, was too much even for his detractors.