History Main / CreateYourOwnHero

Unfortunately for them, they end up [[YouKilledMyFather killing the family of a child]] that grows up to be an utter badass [[{{Revenge}} with a vengeance]], or cause an accident which gives someone superpowers, or through their actions force a HeroicNeutral to declare that ItsPersonal and be NeutralNoLonger, usually with a DoomedHometown. In other words they've created their own hero. Someone to be a beacon of hope in the world's DarkestHour, someone to lead the [[LaResistance token resistance against their rule]] and eventually overcome them, all because of an act they did on a [[ButForMeItWasTuesday random Tuesday that they can't even remember]] sometimes involving a SelfFulfillingProphecy. Now they have to deal with the possibility of being killed in a fight with their personally created nemesis, or (in some cases) killed by their partners when they realize whose fault it is that this do-gooder keeps ruining all their plots.

!!Examples

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* ''Manga/BananaFish'': [[BigBad Dino Golzine]] spent years training Ash Lynx, first as a SexSlave, then later as the ultimate CulturedBadass. It works too well; when Ash eventually finds the means to take Golzine down, he does so—''hard''.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': One of Aizen's Hollowfication experiments ultimately led to [[spoiler:[[HeroProtagonist Ichigo]]'s birth]]. Aizen even went out of his way throughout the series to toughen him up in the hopes of fighting a WorthyOpponent.
* ''Anime/CodeGeass'' has [[CreepyChild V.V.]] eventually revealed to have done this: [[spoiler:him killing Marianne is what drove Lelouch originally to fight against Britannia and do all he can to figure out why she was murdered and who did it.]]
* ''Manga/CodenameSailorV'' (the manga ''Franchise/SailorMoon'' is a spin-off of) shows that the Dark Kingdom (through its subdivision the Dark Agency) pulled the trope ''thrice'' with Sailor Venus:
** At first Minako wasn't exactly thrilled by Artemis' attempts at getting her to become Sailor V (in fact at first she thought it was a joke)... Then the boy she was crushing on revealed himself as a youma and attacked her, leading to Minako first becoming Sailor V.
** At one point Minako has decided to retire... Cue ''another youma attack'', this time specifically directed at her, [[TenMinuteRetirement getting Minako to unretire for the time being]].
** In the final chapter Minako is still considering retiring once the thing is settled. Then [[BigBad Danburite]] succeeds in awakening Minako's memories of her past life and [[MarriedToTheJob her legendary sense of duty]], resulting in Minako deciding to stay Sailor Venus for good. Worth noting that Danburite [[spoiler:''did it on purpose'': [[ReincarnationRomance he was in love with her since their past lives]], and knowing they would never be able to stay together planned to have her fall for him and then kill him to make sure she rediscovered her sense of duty when she could still recover from the shock]].
* ''Manga/Cyborg009'': The [[WarForFunAndProfit Black Ghost organization]] kidnapped nine people to use as test subjects for their new line of {{cyborg}} supersoldiers. Then one of the scientists working on the project had a change of heart and helped the nine cyborgs escape, leading the to go on to become the biggest thorn in the organization's side.
* ''LightNovel/DateALive'': The reason why Shido and the Spirits exists in the way we know is all because of the BigBad, Isaac Ray Peram Westcott. You can hate him with all your might but without this guy, the story of Date A Live would have never existed. If Westcott had not caused the destruction of China and Eurasia by summoning Mio, Tohka, Yoshino, Kurumi and many other Spirits who appear on the series would have never existed and they would have been raised as normal humans, given their background where all Spirits were humans once with the exception of Mio. It was also Westcott's atrocity in kidnapping Mana who lead Shido to his first death. As soon as Shinji refused to give Mio to him, Westcott shot him and killed him right in front of her, resulting in the First Spirit "eating" him and reincarnating with her powers in an attempt to save her beloved; this resulted in Shinji being reborn as Shido, a Spirit-Human hybrid able to seal the power of other Spirits. Without Westcott's corruption, Elliot and Karen would have never created Ratatoskr, the main heroic faction of the series that has been around since from Volume 1, helping Shido and saving all Spirits from DEM's threat. He is also this one for Mana Takamiya. If Westcott decided to kill Mana years ago, she would have never existed in the series and consequently she would never have saved Origami and the SSS Wizards from Minerva Liddell. Not to mention that without Mana, with the powers of an Adeptus Wizard given by Westcott, she would have never saved Shido from Kurumi Tokisaki and many of DEM's minions.
* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', Muzan Kibutsuji, progenitor of all demons and the strongest of them all, reigned in the shadows almost entirely unopposed by the Demon Slayer Corps who never got anywhere close to defeating him for four hundred years after one legendary slayer posed Muzan a threat, but ultimately he managed to escape. Muzan then killed the series' protagonist entire family, save his little sister who became a demon instead, Tanjiro was out on a errand at the time, now with the weight of his lost family on his shoulders and hope of one day curing his sister Nezuko he enrolls in Demon Slayer Corps to hunt Muzan down. The irony of this situation only increases as the series' plot unfolds, it is revealed [[spoiler:Muzan went absolutely paranoid with fear after said legendary slayer Yoriichi Tsugikuni almost killed him, Muzan tried to eradicate anyone who could ever have learned Yoriichi's Sun Breathing style, something that could pose a threat to him, but he couldn't ever know that Yoriichi coincidentally passed on the Sun Breathing to Tanjiro's ancestors and they preserved it not as a tool of combat but as a religious ceremony instead, with them living in seclusion no one knew Sun Breathing was preserved after all official disciples were killed. In short, with Muzan killing Tanjiro's family on a random whim to see if demons useful to him could be born he accidentally made the last inheritor of Sun Breathing start a quest to take him down]].
* ''Manga/{{Dokuro}}'': [[BigBad Kanehira Aiichiro]] taking sexual advantage of and then casting the mother of Takeo aside motivated him to take down the Church.
* ''Franchise/DragonBall'':
** As shown in ''Manga/JacoTheGalacticPatrolman'''s bonus chapter, ''Dragon Ball Minus'', Frieza recalled all the Saiyans back to their home planet so he could kill as many of them at once. This alerted Bardock and Gine that something was wrong, so they sent their youngest child away to protect him. That child is Goku, the same Saiyan Frieza meets on Namek in ''Anime/DragonBallZ''. Despite having the advantage, Frieza toys with Goku, giving him time to form the Spirit Bomb that nearly kills him. In anger, Frieza picks off Goku's friends until Goku becomes the legendary Super Saiyan, [[NiceJobFixingItVillain the very thing Frieza was trying to prevent]]. In the end, Frieza is beaten by a monster that he himself created.
** In ''Anime/DragonBallZCoolersRevenge'', as Goku sends him straight for the sun, Cooler remembers that when Planet Vegeta blew up, he saw baby Goku's pod, but ignored it since it was Frieza's fault. His reaction when he realizes this?
--->'''Cooler (seconds before he's incinerated by the sun)''': I don't believe it. I could have killed him. I let him go. ''I let him go!''
* ''Manga/FairyTail'''s prequel spinoff, ''Manga/FairyTailZero'', reveals that [[spoiler:Zeref, the Black Wizard,]] is the one who taught the founders of Fairy Tail magic in the first place, and is thus indirectly responsible for creating the guild that would oppose him. The same character is also responsible for [[spoiler:bringing Natsu BackFromTheDead for the express purpose of being killed by him, so long as Zeref's curse would let him allow it.]]
* ''Lightnovel/FullMetalPanic'': The last original founder of [[spoiler:Amalgam]], [[spoiler:Mr. Mercury]], was so disgusted with what his organization had become that he ''created'' [[spoiler:Mithril]] to oppose them.
* The titular Goblins of ''LightNovel/GoblinSlayer''. For untold years, no one spared a thought to seriously exterminating them, seeing them as low rank monsters not worth the time or money. Then they pulled their RapePillageAndBurn routine on a specific village, and violated the sister of a certain little boy. That little boy grew up to be a merciless slayer of all goblins, the title Goblin Slayer, who is so good at what he does that he has reached Silver Rank in the Adventurer's Guild.
* In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean'', Jolyne Cujoh was thrown into Green Dolphin Street Prison by [[spoiler:[[BigBad Enrico Pucci]], the prison's pastor and]] an ally of DIO who planned to use her to lure her father Jotaro to the prison so that he could steal his memories and discover how to achieve heaven. Jolyne didn't figure into his plans at all as anything besides bait, as he thought she was an ordinary teenage girl who wouldn't pose any threat to his plans. However, after seeing her father rendered comatose by his [[FightingSpirit stand]] while he attempts to break her out of prison, Jolyne becomes determined to recover her father's mind and shows [[spoiler:Pucci]] that he drastically miscalculated which Joestar was the real threat to his plans.
* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'': Supposedly, all members of Celestial Being are hand-picked by VEDA, the supercomputer in charge of the organization's operations. However, it turns out that [[spoiler:Setsuna, the main protagonist, was NOT. The BigBad, Ribbons Almark, manipulated VEDA into choosing Setsuna as a Gundam Meister. The reason he did this was because he caught sight of Setsuna staring at his Gundam with an almost religious awe during one of his missions, which fed into his [[AGodAmI god-complex]] and led to him JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope, and wanted to keep Setsuna around to further feed his ego. Guess who winds up being one of the biggest key players in Ribbons' defeat, as well as the overall success of Celestial Being's true mission?]]
* In ''Manga/MoriartyThePatriot'', William does this ''on purpose''. After he met Franchise/SherlockHolmes and was impressed by his deductions and ability to recognize the presence of a criminal mastermind, he gave Sherlock an "audition" for the role of hero in his play by seeing what he'd do when framed for murder, then happily cast him in the role, continuing to tease him with mysteries and crimes hoping to frustrate Sherlock enough to end the story of the Lord of Crime.
* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', this is the origin of the unique transferable Quirk One for All. Way back when Quirks were first appearing, there was a supervillain with the power to take and give out Quirks, called All for One. He had a more heroic brother, who was thought to be Quirkless. All for One gave his brother a minor power stockpiling Quirk. The thing was, the brother ''did'' have a Quirk, just an extremely subtle one. The brother could pass his Quirk on to others, and this ability fused to the stockpile power to become One for All, which not only became stronger with every generation, but was immune to being stolen and was thus the perfect power to face All for One with.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'': Donquixote Doflamingo created his own AntiHero in his former protégée Trafalgar Law, by murdering his former right hand Corazon [[spoiler:aka his biological younger brother, Donquixote Rocinante]], who came to be Law's ParentalSubstitute and eventually saved Law's life at the cost of his own. In turn, Law swore to end Doflamingo's evil and avenge Corazon's death by any means necessary. He worked towards this goal for ''thirteen years'', eventually culminating in the Dressrosa arc, where Doflamingo's criminal empire, the one he's spent almost all his life building, falls apart in the span of a ''single day''.
* In ''Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'', the Church of the Three Heroes works with King Aultcray to summon the Four Legendary Heroes, but both proceed to treat one of them like crap for several reasons. Naofumi Iwatani, the man in question, is forced to strike on his own with zero external support, unlike the other three, and not only becomes the only one of the four that is actually worthy of being a Hero, but he ends up being the focal point of the efforts to destroy the Church and render the King completely powerless.
* In ''Manga/TokyoRevengers'', it's revealed that the BigBad Kisaki was the one who arranged for Takemichi to be pushed in front of a train at the start of the story, which was what led to him awakening to his TimeMaster powers and doing everything he can to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong and oppose him.

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'': In Batman #47, way back in 1948, Batman finally finds and confronts Joe Chill, the man who killed Thomas and Martha Wayne, who is now a significant figure in Gotham organized crime. To [[ItsPersonal drive the point home,]] Bruce takes off the cowl and promises that even if he can't prove the murders, he will ''never'' [[TheDeterminator stop pursuing Chill]] until the latter makes a fatal mistake. Hysterical with fear, the murderer runs to his fellow criminals for help. And, in his panic, Chill tells them [[TooDumbToLive he personally created the Batman.]] Enraged, the thugs -- all of whom have, in the past, been busted by the Caped Crusader -- put enough lead into him to sink a battleship. ''Then'' they realize that [[NiceJobFixingItVillain they just shot the man who knows Bat's]] SecretIdentity. Cue one of the biggest OhCrap moments in the Dark Knight mythos.
** The first ComicBook/{{Robin}}, Dick Grayson, turned to crimefighting in order to track down the man who killed his parents.
* ''ComicBook/CaptainAtom'': Wade Eiling led the experiment that transformed Nathaniel Adam into Captain Atom and also led the conspiracy that manipulated Nate into volunteering for the experiment.
* A Nazi villain named Iron Jaw kills a war correspondent and his wife, [[YouKilledMyFather prompting their son]] to become the Golden Age hero ''Crimebuster''.
* ''ComicBook/{{Huntress}}'': Helena Bertinelli was the supposed daughter of mob boss Franco Bertinelli, the actual daughter of mob boss Santo Cassamento, and the niece of mob boss Tomasso Panessa, making her pretty much the ultimate MafiaPrincess. Cassamento and mob boss Stephen Mandragora conspired to kill all the Bertinellis, leaving only Helena alive. She then went to live with her cousins, who were mob assassins; they taught her to fight and to kill. She eventually became a vigilante, murdered Mandragora and Cassamento, and became the scourge of the mob in general. Of course, this was really more a case of the mob creating its own antihero.
* ''ComicBook/LegendsOfTheDeadEarth'': In ''[[Franchise/{{Superman}} Superman: The Man of Steel]]'' Annual #5, the people of Hydros are wiped out by the Empire on the orders of Luthor the 60th. This inspires the planet's [[LastOfHisKind last survivor]] Kaleb to join the rebellion and fight the Empire as the new Superman.
* Played with in ''ComicBook/LesLegendaires'', where [[BigBad Darkhell]] actually gets wise about this trope, and, after slaughtering a village, framed a local army of heroes by [[FalseFlagOperation leaving their banner behind]]. As a result, the only kid who survived ends up directing his hate toward said heroes, grows into a villain and becomes Darkhell's [[TheDragon Dragon]]. However, he eventually does learn the truth, causing him to pull a HeelFaceTurn and join the protagonists.
* When soldier of fortune Marc Spector defied his commander Raoul Bushman in order to protect archeologist Dr. Peter Alruane and his daughter Marlene, Bushman killed the elder Alruane and beat Spector to the point of death. Whether Spector actually died [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane is unknown]], but he would definitely face Bushman again as ComicBook/MoonKnight.
* The ComicBook/RedSkull proved to be such a terrifyingly potent propaganda mascot for UsefulNotes/NaziGermany that the US decided to counter it by making Steve Rogers ComicBook/CaptainAmerica.
** Diluted with the previous establishment of Union Jack and the Phantom Eagle during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI; presumably these mascot adventurers served as previous examples.
* Uncle Ben's killer is just as responsible for creating Franchise/SpiderMan as the radioactive spider. While Peter was already Spider-Man by the time Uncle Ben was murdered, he was only interested in using his powers for personal gain, looking to achieve fame and fortune as an entertainer. It was only after realizing the criminal he let go was the same man who killed Uncle Ben that he decided to use his powers for something greater than himself, and started living by the creed of "great responsibility". In summation, Spider-Man probably wouldn't be the hero we know today if not for the cruelty of a petty crook. Not to mention the reason he lived with his Uncle Ben is because the Russian Red Skull Albert Malik ordered Karl Fiers/Finisher to eliminate Richard and Mary Parker who were assigned to infiltrate and spy on his organization.
** Speaking of Spider-Man, the case was more explicit in ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan''. In the very start of the series, Norman Osbourne is dealing with big and ugly experimental spiders, while wearing protective gloves. Then his lawyer calls and he starts discussing with him at the phone, and casually hands the spider to the employee next to him (who was not wearing any protection). Terrified, this guy throws the spider into her box. But he forgets to close it. The spider climbs and gets out, and the rest, as they say, is history.
* In Creator/AlanMoore's ''ComicBook/{{Supreme}}'', due to [[spoiler:a StableTimeLoop]], the villain becomes the source of the hero's powers.
** Likewise in his ''ComicBook/VForVendetta'' graphic novel, albeit indirectly and more by the TheConspiracy as a whole than by the villain himself.
* In ''ComicBook/TheTransformersAutocracy'', it's shown that while Orion Pax was always ''badass'', he would never have become Optimus Prime or united half of Cybertron against the ascendant Megatron if Megs hadn't betrayed him and dropped him into a deep hole -- Orion survived the impact, and the structure at the bottom of the hole happened to be the hiding place for the Matrix of Leadership.
** Even before that Megatron and a friendly senator had a lot of influence on forming Pax's strong principles that make him TheParagon he is as Optimus.''ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'' also reveals that in the tragic turn of fate [[spoiler:that senator was Shockwave, before the Institute turned him into a monster. Meaning two people who helped Optimus Prime gain his famous moral code, without which he wouldn't be half a hero he is, were two of his deadliest enemies.]]
* ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'': The Red Skull gave Petra a SadisticChoice: kill her husband with a pair of scissors, or he would kill her newborn son. After she killed him, he killed the baby anyway, and had his thugs rape her. Years later, she was the one who killed him.
* ComicBook/{{Ultron}} is a prime example of AIIsACrapshoot and CreateYourOwnVillain... so it's poetic justice that he's had this happen to him ''several times over''. Over the years, he's created ComicBook/{{the Vision}}, Jocasta and [[ComicBook/{{Runaways}} Victor Mancha]] as part of various schemes, and they've ''all'' turned on him and joined the good guys.
* ''ComicBook/{{Wanted}}'': Invoked by Mr. Rictus, a CardCarryingVillain who routinely [[YouKilledMyFather murders a kid's parents in front of him]] to see if this will happen (in this world, the supervillains won decisively by banding together and rewriting reality so heroes forgot who they were). So far, nothing.

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* The monsters of the H-series ''Monster Girl Encyclopedia'' have stopped killing humans to prevent the Order from getting competent Heroes, who resort to inhumane methods to produce their military might. However, crossover fics have their [[EvilCannotComprehendGood inability to understand why normal humans would be disgusted by them anyway]] ([[HornyDevils for obvious reasons]]) create people who oppose them inexorably, leading to either their loss or ending the conflict that’s more favorable for humanity and other non-monster races than otherwise.
** In ''FanFic/KnightOfDeathAndRebirth'', the actions of the Radical Faction (particularly Meivia and Druella) cause Lelouch to become a BlackKnight seeking to overthrow Lilith along with Britannia and the Chief God. The repercussions don’t help as he saves several Heroes of Lescatie from becoming monsters, who all join him as TrueCompanions.
* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': [[Characters/AbraxasHrodvitnon Ghidorah]] has done this by planning before San's decapitation to bring Vivienne Graham BackFromTheDead as a part-Ghidorah ArtificialHybrid, which led to San's decapitated head carrying out that order. If Ichi/Eldest Brother (Ghidorah's middle head) had just been able to settle for letting Vivienne stay dead after he ate her alive, the course of events in the story would probably go quite differently.
* In the ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'':
** Discord accidentally did this in the most literal way possible: [[spoiler:during the G3 apocalypse, he decided to spare Pinkie and Minty for giggles and just to annoy he this partner Luna. This not only results in Pinkie surviving the entire thing and being reincarnated into the next world, but Pinkie Pie puts mortally wounded Minty's Light of Existence into the Shadow of Existence of G1 Twilight, creating G4 Twilight. In other words: two of Discord's greatest enemies are a direct result of him screwing with Luna for laughs ''eons'' ago.]]
** In Dark World, it turns out that [[spoiler:Nightmare Eclipse has been RunningBothSides in her EvilPlan to torture Discord via GroundhogDayLoop, meaning Twilight rebelling and assembling a team to defeat Discord was all her doing, and thus she created the very team that ultimately beats her. Discord's HeelFaceTurn and helping them beat her was also a result of her hundreds of thousands of years of torture to him.]]
** Due to the nature of the Rumors, several of the Cutie Mark Crusaders' allies in defeating them gained powers or were even created outright from the Rumors themselves.
* [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] by Sabrina in her sidestory of ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines''. She begins to terrorize her hometown using her powers in hopes that someone will stand up to her. She succeeds when a Bug-catching trainer named Tommy decides to try and fight her, [[YouWillBeSpared and she ultimately spares him]], [[WorthyOpponent waiting for the day they meet again for another confrontation.]]
* In ''Fanfic/AmazingFantasy'', Prowler's failure to obtain the genetically-altered spider Mysterio sent her after allowed it to bite Izuku and grant him spider-powers. Then her attempt to assassinate Peter led Izuku to rush into the fray to help him, which inspires All Might to give Izuku the pep talk Izuku needed to accept Peter's tutelage and begin training to become Spider-Man. Mysterio is also guilty of this, since it's implied that he was the one who tried to replicate the spider that gave Peter his powers.
* Purposely invoked by [[FaceHeelTurn Toshinori]] in ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/series/966600 To Make A Better Hero]]'' with Izuku. After getting a hard reality check on the quality of his fellow heroes [[ForWantOfANail in his fateful fight with All for One]], Toshinori decides to purge the heroics industry of the heroes who did nothing and coast on their fame. So when he meets Izuku, who helps him in spite of knowing that he's a supervillain, he decides to cultivate Izuku's heroism [[spoiler:by forcing All for One on him.]]
* ''Fanfic/CastSwap'': An odd indirect example -- Scarlett's early-game decision to help eliminate Amy instead of Sammy actually allows Sammy the time to grow a spine throughout the course of the show and eventually take down Scarlett in the final challenge. The twist is that Sammy isn't even ''aware'' Scarlett did this, and neither of them bring it up by the end of the season.
* In ''Fanfic/RiskItAll'', Black Mask inadvertently awakens Ren's powers by shooting him in the head, leading to Black Mask's downfall as Ren makes it his mission to dismantle his operations.
* Non-villainous example in ''Fanfic/TheSuperheroicsOfHaruhiSuzumiya''. When Haruhi is transferred to Izuku's class, Bakugou suggests that the two should be friends because [[UnSorcerer they're Quirkless]]. This single act backfires horribly as Izuku and Haruhi start training together to become [[BadassNormal Quirkless Heroes]], and they steal his thunder during the Sports Festival. Moreover, when Bakugou starts insulting Haruhi, Izuku hits the RageBreakingPoint and [[ShutUpHannibal after punching Bakugou]] lets him have it for all those years of bullying, telling him that he's got nobody else to blame but himself for pushing the two Quirkless kids to be friends.
* In ''Fanfic/SixesAndSevens'', HYDRA experiments are what give [[spoiler: Roger Aubrey]] his powers, and the ability to tear apart the base he was being held at.

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* In Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'', Hades failed attempt to kill Hercules as a baby to guarantee his future plans to usurp Olympus won't fail [[SelfFulfillingProphecy ends up causing Hercules to become the very hero that ultimately defeats Hades in the end.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'' tries to [[InvokedTrope invoke]] this trope. After accidentally killing Metroman, he [[AntagonistInMourning misses playing the bad guy]] and creates a new super-hero by giving powers to a random man named Hal. However, Hal actually [[GoodPowersBadPeople uses his power to become a villain even worse than Megamind]] the moment that being good doesn't satisfy his selfish needs and ironically, is one of many people who unintentionally helps Megamind to become a hero.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'': It's implied that the spider which bites Miles and gives him his powers is "radioactive" due to the Collider (either it came from another universe through the Collider or it was somehow contaminated by the Collider's energy). When a frightened Miles returns to the scene of the bite, he witnesses a battle between Kingpin and his universe's Spider-Man, and when the battle ends in Spider-Man's death, he vows to finish what Peter Parker started. Furthermore, the other five Spider-people -- Peter B. Parker, Gwen Stacy, Peni Parker, Spider-Ham, and Spider-Man Noir -- are pulled into Miles's universe by the same experimental tech.
* ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'': Had King Candy not screwed with Vanellope's code, she would not have gained her glitching powers which would go on to make her a major factor to ruining his master plan in taking over the arcade. Whoops.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* In ''Film/{{Andhadhun}}'', Akash was content to pretend he never witnessed anything, and then Simi blinded him and Manohar tried to kill him. Only then does he start to plot against them -- because he wants his eyesight back and he wants to be sure that they don't try to kill him again.
* In Creator/TimBurton's version of ''Film/{{Batman|1989}}'', Jack Napier's murder of Bruce Wayne's parents was the event causing him to become Batman. Ironically, [[CreateYourOwnVillain Batman himself would later cause the accident resulting in Napier becoming]] ComicBook/TheJoker. They discuss both this trope and the reverse.
-->'''Batman''': I made you, but you made me first.\\
'''The Joker''': Hey, bat-brain, I mean, I was a kid when I killed your parents. I mean, I say "I made you" you gotta say "[[NoYou you made me]]." [[LampshadeHanging I mean, how childish can you get?]]
* Yet another example occurs in ''Film/BatmanBegins'', with not one but ''two'' villains unintentionally creating Batman:
** Bruce confronts mob boss Carmine Falcone who had recently had the murderer of Bruce's parents killed to prevent him from testifying against the mob boss. Despite Bruce's goal being to prove not everyone in Gotham is afraid of Falcone, Falcone gives the Wayne heir a [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech verbal tear down about how completely out of his element he is when it comes to dealing with the mob]]. This results in Bruce taking the journey across the globe resulting in him becoming Batman.
** Not only did Henri Ducard aka [[spoiler:the real Ra's al Ghul]] provide Bruce the skills he needed, but [[spoiler:he reveals that the League of Shadows deliberately exacerbated the poverty and corruption within Gotham to "make everyone a criminal". In other words, if not for the League, Joe Chill probably never would have killed the Waynes and Bruce would have never become Batman]].
* ''Film/BlackScorpion'': The villain of the first film creates the heroine by killing her father.
* ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian1982'': Thulsa Doom raided Conan's village, killed all the adults including Conan's parents, then sold him and the other children into slavery. Conan survived, became a mighty warrior, and sought revenge. When they confront each other, Doom declares Conan owes him because if he didn't raid his village, Conan would have grown up an ordinary peasant who didn't make a mark on the world, then claims this makes him Conan's real father.
* ''Film/TheCrow'': Top Dollar unwittingly created his own nemesis when he orders T-Bird's gang to lay waste to several apartments and murder their residents to create chaos. He never paid it any second thought until Eric Draven [[UnfinishedBusiness returns from the dead to exact revenge on his killers]].
* ''Film/{{Deadpool|2016}}'': Ajax, who was running mutant test-programs disguised as new cancer treatments, successfully recreated Wolverine's healing powers in mercenary Wade Wilson. Unfortunately, these tests involved incredibly painful torture, caused the destruction of Wilson's relationship, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking made him ugly]], so he destroys the lab, takes up the moniker Deadpool, and hunts down every single person involved in Ajax's plot, up to and including Ajax himself.
* ''Film/InglouriousBasterds'': Hans Landa murdered the family of Shoshana Dreyfus in their home, leaving only her alive. A few years later, we find her running a cinema as she plots her vengeance against the Nazis.
* ''Film/Joker2019'': [[spoiler:After Arthur becomes Joker and inspires Gotham's citizens to riot, the ensuing chaos forces the Waynes to take a way down a back alley after a trip to the theater. There, a follower of Joker's ideals (implied to be Joe Chill, but left unnamed) sees an opportunity and guns down Thomas and Martha, leaving Bruce to begin his journey to become Batman.]]
* In the movie version of ''Film/KickAss'', [[BigBad Frank D'Amigo]] ruining Damon [=McCready=]'s life was what caused the former cop to become the superhero Big Daddy and train his daughter into becoming Hit-Girl.
* ''Film/KingArthurLegendOfTheSword:'' Arthur has no idea he's the Born King until Vortigern forces him to pull the sword from the stone. Vortigern then monologues about murdering Arthur's parents and attempting to murder Arthur. Then he sets up a public execution so he can flaunt his power, beginning by murdering the woman who raised Arthur. After Arthur escapes, Vortigern orders the complete destruction of the village Arthur lives in. Previously vehement about not wanting to be part of LaResistance, Arthur decides Vortigern must die and successfully does just that. Had Vortigern left well enough alone, Arthur would have lived and died a charismatic but inconsequential street tough.
* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:''
** ''Film/IronMan1:'' The BigBad [[spoiler:Obadiah Stane]] causes Tony Stark to become Iron Man after the latter spends three months in the captivity of an Afghan terrorist group (defying [[spoiler:Stane's]] instructions to kill him). Not only is he confronted with the reality of war for the first time, but he learns that his own weapons are being sold to terrorists without his knowledge. Tony is forced to create the first Iron Man prototype to escape, and he and Pepper Potts eventually expose and stop [[spoiler:Stane.]]
** ''Film/{{Thor}}:'' Loki gets Thor exiled from Asgard by setting things up to show that his brother isn't worthy of taking their father's throne. In doing so, he humbles Thor enough for him to ''become'' worthy. Sending the Destroyer after him gave him a chance to prove it.
** ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'': Gamora is initially one of Thanos's minions, fiercely loyal to her father until she meets the other Guardians, and her sister Nebula rebels in the same way in [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2 the sequel]]. ''Vol. 2'' and ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' show that years of being forced to fight each other as children, countless cybernetic upgrades, and the slaughter of half of Gamora's homeworld, including her mother (and likely the same fate for Nebula's as well) built up enough resentment to cause the two sisters to finally break away.
** ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'': along with the [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant literal implications of the trope]], Star-Lord's father Ego qualifies. Ego, a Celestial with nearly limitless powers, passed on many of these powers to his son Quill. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, Ego also slaughtered hundreds of Quill's half siblings who ''didn't'' manifest Celestial powers, and he killed Quill's mother to avoid getting too attached to her; the trauma of discovering both (but especially the latter) caused Quill to open fire on Ego immediately.]]
** ''Film/CaptainMarvel2019'': doubly so with Vers, a Kree who was saved from an explosion and Skrull attack by her superior Yon-Rogg, who infused her with his blood and gave her photon blasts. In reality, [[spoiler:Vers is a human named Carol Danvers and was given her photon blasts when Yon-Rogg attacked an experimental light-speed craft carrying herself and her mentor, an undercover Kree named Mar-Vell; the exploding engine after the crash infused her with the powers of the Tesseract. Yon-Rogg saw her value, returned her to the Kree homeworld of Hala, and [[FakeMemories altered her memories]] to fit this new purpose]]. When Vers learns this, as well as the fact that [[spoiler:the invasive, evil Skrulls she's spent six years hunting and killing are actually refugees escaping the genocidal Kree]], she turns on the Kree and Yon-Rogg and [[CurbStompBattle wipes the floor with them]].
* In ''Film/TheMaskOfZorro'', Alejandro is motivated to become the new Zorro after Captain Love kills his brother.
* ''Film/ThePatriot'': Benjamin Martin was actively trying to avoid becoming involved in the Revolutionary War for the sake of his family. He only starts a guerilla movement to oppose the Redcoats after Colonel Tavington burns down his home and shoots one of his sons in front of him.
* Likewise with The Lady (becoming an expert gunfighter) in ''Film/TheQuickAndTheDead'', when the villian gets her to accidentally shoot her own father when she is a young girl.
* This is the origin of Franchise/RoboCop: in [[Film/RoboCop1987 the original film]], CopKiller Clarence Boddicker and his gang torture and gun down police officer Alex Murphy, but OCP then turns Murphy into the titular cyborg. Likewise, in [[Film/RoboCop2014 the 2014 remake]], crime boss Antonie Vallon sends one of his thugs to place a bomb in Murphy's car and it goes off, maiming Murphy, only for Omnicorp to turn Murphy into [=RoboCop=]. For both Boddicker and Vallon, this bites them in the ass as Murphy ends up [[CopKillerManhunt confronting and ultimately killing them]].
* ''Film/ShowdownInLittleTokyo'': The current {{Yakuza}} boss killing the hero's parents as an assassin decades earlier is what drove him to become a cop in the first place.
* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
** [[TheParagon Luke Skywalker]] had no intention of fighting TheEmpire until they [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive massacred his family]], and in fact he was planning to ''join'' them until then ([[ZeroPercentApprovalRating purely out of]] SmallTownBoredom). Thanks to TheEmperor's needless cruelty and the [[ArmiesAreEvil Stormtroopers]]' "shoot first, ask questions later" method of enforcing Imperial rule, plenty of Rebels had stories just like Luke's and had nothing left but to dedicate their lives to revenge.
** Luke's father Anakin was a more literal, convoluted example. It's established in ''Literature/DarthPlagueis'' that [[RuleOfTwo Palpatine's titular master]] was attempting to use a Sith ritual to RageAgainstTheHeavens and assume control of [[SentientCosmicForce the Force]] itself. The Force rebelled against him and in retribution created TheChosenOne Anakin through a MysticalPregnancy, who [[FallenHero eventually]] went on to destroy the Sith... [[ForeverWar for a time]].
* In ''Film/StreetFighter'', Chun-Li says to M.Bison that her father used to lead an uprising against him when he was killed, supposedly by one of Bison's cronies, and it drove her to avenge him. Bison's [[TropeNamer response]]?
--> "For you, the day Bison graced your village was the most important day of your life. [[ButForMeItWasTuesday But for me, it was Tuesday]]."
* ''Film/TerminatorDarkFate'': Although the Resistance leader in the new BadFuture with Legion isn't born because of time travel as John Connor was, [[spoiler:sending the Rev-9 after Dani, the future leader of the Resistance]], certainly starts their development into the badass future resistance leader. Once again, [[spoiler:meddling with time]] probably only created the evil AI's own doom.
* ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}'': This happens in the TwistEnding. [[spoiler:Elijah, aka "Mr. Glass"]], kills hundreds of people in order to find a real-life superhero, then convince him to follow [[CallToAdventure the call]].
* In ''Film/TheWaterboy'', it happened twice to Coach Red Beaulieu, the film's main antagonist. First, he fires Bobby Boucher, the eponymous water boy from the University of Louisiana Cougars. When Bobby is hired by Coach Cline of the South Central Louisiana State University Mud Dogs, [[AccidentalAthlete they both discover that all of Bobby's repressed anger allows him to run fast and tackle any and all opposing players,]] and helps break the Mud Dog's legendary losing streak. Later, it's also revealed that Beaulieu and Cline were both assistants to the head coach of the UL Cougars, and when he was to retire, they both applied for the position, with Cline creating a playbook that would secure his bid, which Beaulieu bullied Cline into handing over. Once Beaulieu became head coach of the Cougars, he fired Cline on the spot. Just as Cline inspired Bobby to stand up for himself, Bobby inspires Cline to no be afraid of Beaulieu, and they [[spoiler:win the championship game.]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/ChrysalisBeaverFur'': Completely on a whim, the Terran chooses to show Daokat mercy when they find him cowering in some wreckage for dear life with a palace servant, helping the two out of the wreckage and even building them a rudimentary ship so they can leave the planet. This act proves to the Xunvir and other members of the Galactic community that the Terran is in fact sapient, and potentially able to be reasoned with.
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'' has a SelfFulfillingProphecy variant of this: [[spoiler:when learning a child with the potential to kill him would come]], Voldemort tracked down the baby and tried to kill him. This ironically resulted in him marking the kid as his equal [[spoiler:just as the prophecy foretold]].
* In ''Literature/TheLastApprentice'', [[ProfessionalKiller Grimalkin]], while [[EvenEvilHasStandards already not a fan of the Fiend]], didn't seem to really care about him that much, and was still pretty much a villain in the setting. Only after he [[spoiler:brutally killed their child]] did she go on a vendetta against him, eventually leading her to an EnemyMine with the protagonists.
* ''Literature/{{Patternist}}'': The BigBad Coransee [[EvilCannotComprehendGood cannot believe]] that his half-brother Teray doesn't want to compete to become Heir to the Patternmaster. His efforts to kill or [[RestrainingBolt mind-control]] Teray force Teray to set aside his own (relatively) HumbleGoal and become a serious contender, and, ultimately, to kill Coransee.
* ''Literature/TheSeventhTower'' begins with Tal trying to replace his family's Sunstone, a PowerCrystal that's a necessity for life in the Castle. After the [[AristocratsAreEvil Evil Aristocrat]] Sushin and [[spoiler:Sharrakor, a rogue [[LivingShadow Spiritshadow]] [[DemonicPossession possessing Sushin]]]] repeatedly stymie his efforts out of [[KickTheDog simple malice]], Tal resorts to a desperate heist that sets him on the path to learning about Sushin's plots, his own DisappearedDad, and the AwfulTruth behind the history of the Castle.
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' has this trope occuring alongside CreateYourOwnVillain (given which sides of GreyAndGrayMorality each falls on). In the backstory, most of [[TheCaligula King Aerys Targaryen's]] opponents in Robert's Rebellion (or the War of the Usurper for Targaryen supporters) declared war for a rather long list of reasons. For the Starks, Baratheons, and Arryns, it was the kidnapping of Lyanna Stark (Robert Baratheon's betrothed) by Aerys' son Rhaegar, the horrible execution of Lord Rickard Stark (Lyanna's father), Lyanna's brother Brandon, and Lord Arryn's nephew Elbert (among others), and the calling for the heads of Rickard's son Eddard and Robert himself on scant grounds to decide ThisMeansWar. For Tywin Lannister, it was decades of disrespect by Aerys despite Tywin faithfully serving as a HypercompetentSidekick, Aerys creeping on Tywin's wife, Tywin's daughter being passed over as a bride for Rhaegar because Aerys refused to pair his son with the daughter of a "servant", and Aerys robbing Tywin of his heir Jaime by naming him as a Kingsguard. Only when it appeared that Aerys would be losing did Tywin break his neutrality and enact a KingmakerScenario in Robert's favor.
* In ''Literature/SoonIWillBeInvincible'', the future Dr. Impossible ends up accidentally creating his arch-nemesis [=CoreFire=] (an [[CaptainErsatz ersatz]] of Franchise/{{Superman}}) with a FreakLabAccident during their time in college. [[spoiler:The funny thing is, [=CoreFire=] doesn't even remember Impossible as a student, despite having interacted with him on several occasions]]. It's pointed out that Dr. Impossible has tried everything he could think of to try to destroy [=CoreFire=], but nothing works. [=CoreFire=] appears to be utterly invulnerable to anything, except perhaps iridium, but the heroes made sure to get rid of any of that stuff long ago. While [=CoreFire=] is a member of the [[SuperTeam Champions]] (and, later, the [[PuttingTheBandBackTogether New Champions]]), he's easily the strongest member of the team (despite [[BadassNormal Blackwolf]] claiming to be able to beat him). Without [=CoreFire=], Impossible manages to single-handedly beat and capture the rest of the New Champions, having learned about their weaknesses long ago.

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* In ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', Oliver Queen's transformation into the Green Arrow began when his family's yacht, the ''Queen's Gambit'', sank, and he became stranded on Lian Yu. There, he was trained to fight by Slade Wilson. The ''Queen's Gambit'' was sunk by Malcolm Merlyn, the BigBad of Season 1, while Slade Wilson became the BigBad of Season 2. Oliver even expressly acknowledges at the end of Season 2 that it was Slade who made Oliver into a hero.
* In ''Series/BlackLightning'', Jefferson Pierce was motivated to become a superhero after he witnessed the murder of his father by Tobias Whale. Later it is revealed that the government agency, the A.S.A. (American Security Agency), created a vaccine to make the minority population of Freeland docile but ended up giving numerous people superpowers instead. This was how Jefferson gained the powers that made him Black Lightning.
* ''Series/TheFlash2014'':
** The man in yellow, also known as the Reverse-Flash, [[spoiler:deliberately]] played a major role in making Barry Allen into the Flash. The irony is that [[spoiler:Eobard Thawne deliberately traveled back in time to try to kill Barry as a child. Future!Barry saved his past self, so Thawne ended up killing his mother. His trip back in time messed up his connection to the Speed Force, making him unable to return to his own time. Determined to bring about the Flash sooner than in his own history, he stole Harrison Wells's identity (and killed the real one) and built the particle accelerator 6 years earlier than expected. His eventual goal is to train Barry to be at his best, and then use him (willingly or otherwise) to open a time portal and return home.]]
** In Season 4, the Thinker ends up masterminding the transformation of a busload of people into new metahumans. While a number of them end up becoming criminals, one ends up becoming Central City's newest hero (under Barry's tutelage) -- Ralph Dibny (AKA the Elongated Man). How does this work against the Thinker? [[spoiler:Dibny uses his {{Shapeshifter}} ability to spring Barry from prison, where he was put by the Thinker framing him for murder]].
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': At the start of the show, the Starks are a peaceful, close-knit family who are happy to remain at Winterfell and care for the North under the King's rule until events early in the narrative [[PartyScattering separate them]], initially splitting them into Ned/Sansa/Arya in King's Landing, Jon/[[CoolUncle Benjen]] at Castle Black, and Catelyn/Robb/Bran/Rickon at Winterfell and they are further separated due to unfortunate events. All the while, the Lannisters' ambitions and [[spoiler:habit of brutally murdering House Stark members (Joffrey executes Ned and Tywin conspires with the Boltons and Freys to murder Catelyn and Robb)]] contribute to turning the younger Starks into an increasingly ruthless, badass bunch who are bent on getting vengeance for their loved ones and protecting the smallfolk from the [[spoiler:Lannisters and Boltons. And, in terms of undermining the Stark's reputation and support, it wasn't a great idea to kill members from the most honourable House in the kingdom in the most ''dis''honourable way possible.]] Just think: if they hadn't done all of this, and had simply allowed Joffrey and Sansa's betrothal to take its course without any extra drama, the Lannisters could have had powerful allies in the Starks instead of now ABSURDLY powerful enemies.
** Specifically between them all: [[spoiler:Cersei and Joffrey abuse Sansa for years, which led her to helping reclaim the North with Jon after [[BrotherSisterTeam they took back Winterfell]] from the Boltons, as well as the fact that her time in King's Landing taught her how to play the game of thrones better than anyone else in the show; Jaime cripples and almost kills Bran, who develops supernatural powers as a result; and Twyin's arranged-murder of Robb and Catelyn is witnessed by Arya, resulting in her becoming a finely-honed assassin barely into her teens and she, personally, takes out many of the Lannister's allies. Even Joffrey trying to kill Arya's direwolf Nymeria ended with her becoming the leader of a massive wolf pack loyal to the Starks, and the absolutely abhorrent treatment of the Stark family by the Lannisters eventually leads to the whole North rebelling and proclaiming Jon Snow their king.]]
* ''Franchise/KamenRider'':
** ''Series/KamenRider'': In the original show, [[NebulousEvilOrganisation Shocker]] had not one, but TWO super-cyborgs [[PhlebotinumRebel escape from them]] and [[NiceJobFixingItVillain become superheroes!]] This trope is '''very''' common throughout the Showa era, and is so recurrent that it has been given an InUniverse name: The Cross of Fire, and for the most part, it ''has'' happened a couple of times. [[Series/KamenRiderWizard A villain causing an eclipse caused a wizard with the potential to be a real pain to be born,]] [[Series/KamenRiderGaim a corporation using kids as guinea pigs ended up with several kids gunning for them]], [[Series/KamenRiderGhost hell even killing a guy ends up in them becoming a Kamen Rider]]. Even if the villains didn't accidentally create the heroes powers, their actions will somehow result in this. Notably, the Cross of Fire is implied to be some cosmic force, meaning this trope is technically a ''law of reality'' in the Kamen Rider universe!
** ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'' follows a more Showa-era approach to the main rider. [[spoiler:Emu was used as a test subject to help refine the Bugster virus by Doctor Pac-Man[[note]]Yes, THAT Pac-Man[[/note]]. As a result, not only does this allow him to use the Gamer Driver and a Gashat without the special immunity surgery the other Riders had to go through, but his special biology later opens the way for completing [[MidSeasonUpgrade the Mighty Brothers XX Gashat]]]].
** ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'' has the real BigBad ''invoke'' this with the main heroes! [[spoiler:Sento was formerly known as Takumi Katsuragi aka the Devil's Scientist who was the creator of Faust along the Build system. After wanting to quit Faust, Blood Stalk knocks him out and uses his powers to arrange Takumi's appearance into Sento Kiryu from Tarou Sato who was killed at that time... ''then'' framing Ryuuga for the murder of Takumi Katsuragi who then became a test subject for Faust who didn't turn into a Smash and escaped. After erasing the memories of the man who is now known as Sento, he is founded by Soichi who helped him become Kamen Rider Build to become the hero while Ryuuga becomes Sento's ally and eventually becomes Kamen Rider Cross-Z to fight against the Smash and Soichi's daughter Misora has powers to purify Fullbottles from the Smash to help aid the heroes for justice. However, Soichi is none other than Blood Stalk of Faust! So Soichi "rescued" his daughter from Faust while setting Sento up as the hero of justice while had his daughter ''believe'' she was purifying the Fullbottles for good after refusing to do so when she found out it was for Faust even when threatened. So he has the heroes fight to collect all Fullbottles and Panels to use the Pandora Box for his own reason as he's the astronaut who founded the Pandora and then opened it to cause the Skywall Incident. Then comes the revelation that Ryuuga is not human as he was born half human and blood tribe due to an alien specimen coming across his mother and she give birth to him in two months. His origin is similar to Evolt who is actually Soichi being possessed by him the entire time and that they can weld the Pandora Box!]]
* ''Series/KidouKeijiJiban'': Rookie police officer Naoto Tamura was fatally injured in an attack by [[NebulousEvilOrganisation Criminal Syndicate Bioron]]. This just so happened to make him the perfect candidate for the police department's {{cyborg}} SuperCop program.
* In the pilot of ''Series/{{Leverage}}'', Victor Dubenich hires most of what would become the Leverage team to steal back airplane plans from his business rival. However, when it comes time for payment, Dubenich instead tries to kill them. After narrowly escaping from the attempt and the authorities that came to investigate, they find out they were actually just plain stealing the plans, and decide to get both payback and the payment they were promised. So, they recruit Sophie and not only do they steal back the plans, with evidence that Dubenich's company stole them, but they also run his reputation and company to the ground and use the ensuing plummet in the company's stock price to make an enormous killing in short-selling. And then the team finds that they enjoyed it so much and want to do it again, and the rest is what makes up the rest of the series.
* ''Series/{{Luke Cage|2016}}'': As revenge for [[spoiler: their father]] disowning him, Willis "Diamondback" Stryker frames [[spoiler: his half-brother]] Carl Lucas for a crime which results in Carl being sent to Seagate Prison. While there, Carl is subjected to an experiment that grants him SuperStrength and SuperToughness, becoming the hero of Harlem, Luke Cage. Lampshaded by Diamondback himself:
-->I sent you to hell and you come back with superpowers! Ain't that a bitch.
* ''Series/{{Outlander}}'': Captain Jonathan "Black Jack" Randall and his cruel sadistic streak converts Jamie Fraser from a teenager working on his family's farm into an infamous Jacobite rebel fighting to over throw the Crown and expel the Redcoats from Scotland. Because of Black Jack's numerous sexual assaults against Jamie and his family, the two men repeatedly clash, culminating in Jamie killing Black Jack during a battle between the Jacobites and Randall's Redcoats batallion. Had Randall never falsely imprisoned Jamie, Jamie would have still been at Lallybroch, farming and dealing with his tenants.
* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'':
** ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'':
*** The first time this happens is when the series' original BigBad, Rita Repulsa sends her {{Mooks}} to attack the five chosen teens when she sees them leaving Zordon's base. What she didn't know was that the teens had initially refused Zordon's offer to become Power Rangers. The only reason they end up using the [[TransformationTrinket morphers]] Zordon gave them is because of self-defense. This event causes the team to realize what is at stake and they accept Zordon's offer to become Power Rangers.
*** In "Green With Evil", Rita abducts, brainwashes and empowers Tommy Oliver, a new kid in town whose martial arts skills rival that of Jason's. The Rangers ultimately free Tommy from Rita's evil grip and gain a [[SixthRanger new ally]] in the process. Tommy would then go on to be the longest serving Ranger in the entire franchise, making him a thorn in not only Rita's side but for a number of other villains as well. Basically, [[Series/PowerRangersZeo the Machine Empire]], [[Series/PowerRangersTurbo Divatox]] and [[Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder Mesogog]] all have Rita to thank for Tommy Oliver being a Ranger.
*** In Season 2, the Rangers meet and befriend three teenagers from Stone Canyon named Rocky, Adam and Aisha. These teens end up getting kidnapped by the villains to lure the Rangers into a trap. This results in the trio discovering the Rangers' identities and subsequently joining the team when Jason, Trini and Zack are PutOnABus.
*** Rita later creates a clone of Tommy and gives him Tommy's old Green Ranger powers. Tommy breaks Rita's control over the clone and he helps Tommy save the other five Rangers.
*** In Season 3, Rita kidnaps and brainwashes a teenager who is new in town yet again. This time, the teen in question is an Australian student named Katherine whom Rita has instructed to spy on the Rangers and steal Kimberly's power coin which would result in the Pink Ranger's death as the power coins are connected to the Rangers' life force. Not only does Kat break free from Rita's control and help save Kim, but she takes over as the Pink Ranger after Kim is PutOnABus. Even better, Kat had a temporary psychic connection to Rita as a result of the spell which allowed her to foil another of Rita's plans.
** As ''Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder'' is a homage of the above mentioned ''Mighty Morphin Power Rangers'', the villains end up being guilty of this trope as well.
*** Elsa aka [[EvilTeacher Principal Randall]] places Tommy in charge of [[JerkJock Conner]], [[{{Geek}} Ethan]] and [[SingerSongwriter Kira]]'s detention. This leads to them finding the Dino Gems and becoming Power Rangers.
*** Mesogog captures Tommy and tries to force him to release the Black Dino Gem from its resting place. The gem bonds with Tommy of its own accord and he becomes a Ranger once more.
*** Zeltrax frames Trent (who is BrainwashedAndCrazy) for destroying Mesogog's lab, leading to Mesogog trying to kill Trent. Hearing his son beg for his help causes Anton Mercer to momentarily wrest control from Mesogog, and in doing so, he destroys the evil encoding on the White Dino Gem. This allows Trent to make a HeelFaceTurn and join the other four Rangers, completing the Dino Thunder team.
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': Dean and Sam Winchester were genetically engineered to be the human embodiment of the archangels Michael and Lucifer respectively. To make them strong enough to physically/emotionally handle their essence the Winchesters' lives were made a living hell, almost from infancy. Guess who defeated, multiple times, Michael and Lucifer's attempts to end humanity?
* ''Franchise/SuperSentai''
** ''Series/HimitsuSentaiGoranger'': The first episode sees the Black Cross Army carrying out attacks against five different [[UnitedNationsIsASuperpower EAGLE]] bases. The {{Sole Survivor}}s of each of these attacks would go on to form the Gorangers to fight them.
** ''Series/ChoujuuSentaiLiveman'': It's safe to say the Liveman would have just been three regular university students had they not lost two of their friends to the [[AcademyOfEvil Armed Brain Army Volt]] and had three more of their classmates defect to join them.
** ''Series/KaizokuSentaiGokaiger'': The protagonists all suffered tragedies due to the [[TheEmpire Zangyack]], which through some way or another led to them joining [[TheCaptain Captain Marvelous]]'s crew and fighting against them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mythology and Religion]]
* Myth/GreekMythology: Done by accident several times. When a king hears a prophecy that their son/grandson will cause their death/be greater than them, the steps they take to avert this [[SelfFulfillingProphecy result in it happening]]:
** A prophecy foretold that Priam's son Paris would be the downfall of Troy, so he was sent away to Mount Ida. Then he judged which of the three goddesses was most beautiful and promised the hand of Helen, and was recognized as Priam's son, who could not send away his newfound son but also had no wish to see all of Greece allied against him.
** Oedipus' parents, the king and queen of Thebes, heard a prophecy that their son would kill his father and have children with his mother. Horrified, they had the child taken away to be killed, but he was saved and raised by a different couple. When Oedipus learned of the prophecy, he thought it applied to his (unknowingly adoptive) parents, and left, killing an older man and marrying the recently widowed queen of Thebes...
** Perseus' grandfather Acrisius learned that his grandson would kill him, so he locked his daughter in a tower. This didn't stop Zeus from entering and impregnating her, and she and her son Perseus were cast out to sea. Perseus grew up to slay Medusa, [[SubvertedTrope and ended up accidentally killing his grandfather during a sports contest.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
* Ray González and his La Familia del Milenio probably would have successfully taken over WWC by sheer attrition if not for the fact González thought making his feud with Carlos Colón, one of the company founders and its top baby {{face}}, more personal by attacking his non wrestler son Wrestling/{{Carl|itoColon}}y after learning Carly was acting as a cameraman to help business along. Initially Carly had no interest in becoming a wrestler, but after being embarrassed by González he trained very hard, defeated most of La Familia and became a constant thorn in the side of González for decades to come.
* This is very common in Wrestling/DragonGate. Even during the Wrestling/{{Toryumon}} Japan days, [=M2K=] turned perennial renegades Crazy Max into [[BlackAndGreyMorality faces by default]] when they purposefully sabotaged El Numero Uno Tournament CIMA and Magnum Tokyo were favorites to win in order to make Masaaki Mochizuki look better. After [[TraumaticHaircut losing]] a [[HumiliatingWager hair vs hair match]] to CIMA caused Masaaki Mochizuki to [[HeelRealization realize what a jerk he had been]] and [[HeelFaceTurn clean up his act]], Crazy Max ensured the now virtuous [=M2K=] would still oppose them by manipulating Darkness Dragon and Chocoball KOBE into betraying Mochizuki and [=M2K=] itself would make an unnecessary enemy out of one of it's own founders for that matter when Susumu Mochizuki rejected Masaaki's reforms and banished him from the group. Darkness Dragon ultimately brought one of the keys to ending his own PowerStable Do FIXER in his own protege Dragon Kid, who would go on to join the more {{face}}y Typhoon of CIMA.
* Post Toryumon Japan, Muscle Outlaw'z hazed their own personal referee Kinta Tamaoka in an [[ComplexityAddiction overly elaborate plot]] that ended with ''[[TheDogBitesBack all]]'' the referees of Dragon Gate taking a stand against the power stable. Blood Warriors made Ronin from DG USA their enemies, perhaps unintentionally, when Wrestling/AustinAries attacked Wrestling/JohnnyGargano, Rich Swann and Wrestling/ChuckTaylor to prove his dedication to CIMA. Shingo Takagi and YAMATO had no interest in forming a PowerStable, but changed their mind after witnessing Mad Blankey's unnecessary bullying of their rookie friend Tominaga and created ''akatsuki'' with Tominaga and Super Shenlong. Mad Blankey turned on Akira Tozawa, despite him successfully leading them to victory time and time again, for being too [[VirtueIsWeakness facey]], which in turn only made him more facey, and then turned on Uhaa Nation for not destroying the banished Tozawa for them. This lead to Nation and Tozawa joining with the World 1 rejected Shachihoko BOY, Ricochet and Masato Yoshino to create Monster Express. [=VerserK=] basically created their sworn enemy [=MaxiMuM=]. The first step was when T-Hawk punished Naruki Doi for [[MisplacedRetribution Kotoka's betrayal of the group]], kicked Doi out of the stable, and [=VerserK=] then gave Doi a gang beating [[DisproportionateRetribution for asking to come back later]]. Second was when Takagi, T-Hawk, and Lindaman won the [[TournamentArc New Years Unit War 6 Man Tag Team Tournament]] and proved to be very unsporting winners by continuing to attack fellow finalists Masato Yoshino, Kotoka and Ben-K after the match, which inspired Naruki Doi to save them and propose an anti [=VerserK=] alliance. Despite being an explicitly anti [=VerserK=] alliance The Jimmyz quickly managed to end up at the top of [=MaxiMuM=]'s hit list when the Jimmyz attacked them after a match so Genki Horiguchi could show everyone the difference between "professionals" and "amateurs".
* [=VALkyrie=], the first PowerStable of Wrestling/{{SHINE}}, brought about its own downfall when it recruited Wrestling/IvelisseVelez and Wrestling/SuYung.
** Velez was an average talent with no resources or connections that interested [=VALkyrie=], had no discernible reason to resent SHINE as much them and [[DragonWithAnAgenda wanted to prove herself better than all other wrestles, including the rest of VALkyrie]]. The many enemies [=VALkyrie=] made [[ChallengeSeeker created a steady schedule for Velez]], and she grew from average [[TookALevelInBadass to best in the group]]. Their first mistake was recruiting her, their second was dumping Velez after she knocked off their leader and became champion, which resulted in [=VALkyrie=] not having another champion until [=SoCal=] Val's [[EvilerThanThou hostile takeover]]. Their third mistake, under Val's leadership, [[FriendOrIdolDecision was the attempted kidnapping]] of Velez's injured friend Wrestling/LaRosaNegra. This made things [[ItsPersonal even more personal]] for Velez, [[OlderAndWiser who now had resources and connections]] comparable to [[LegionOfDoom VALkyrie]]'s own.
** Su Yung, a wrestler driven crazy by [=VALkyrie=]'s reign of terror, was recruited when Velez was dumped. [=VALkyrie=]'s [[HiredGuns hired muscle]] Sweet Saraya turned Yung into an [[OurZombiesAreDifferent obedient zombie]], seemingly to save money by having Su openly do for free what Saraya did covertly for pay, but [=VALkyrie=] had no idea how to handle Yung without Saraya around, and Val proved [[TheDogBitesBack so abusive even Saraya]] lost control of the now more dangerous zombie Su ([[AxCrazy which Saraya was proud of]]). Velez took [=VALkyrie=]'s last title belt. When Yung failed to get it back, Yung finished off [=VALkyrie=] herself.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* One of the villains in ''TabletopGame/{{Crimestrikers}}'' is Roderick Norco, a MadScientist whose lifelong dream is to create {{Super Soldier}}s through [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke genetic engineeering]]. His most successful creations, Nyx Marama and Arcana, both TurnedAgainstTheirMasters and joined the titular hero team.
* ''TabletopGame/LeviathanTheTempest:'' This is how Ahabs are created. A person who the Leviathan has wronged in some way is exposed to the mind-shattering effects of the Wake, and instead of becoming a cultist obsessed with serving the Leviathan he becomes obsessed with destroying the Leviathan, able to draw on the Leviathan's own self-loathing for power.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed:'' The Templars have a really, really, ''really'' bad habit of doing this, routinely motivating one person to dismantle their latest operation via their own pettiness. And they never learn from it.
** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII:'' Ezio Auditore was a layabout Florentine youth, until the day Rodrigo Borgia had his father and brothers arrested and killed for being a thorn in his side. Ezio spent the next twenty years hunting down and killing all of Rodrigo's confederates, before taking the fight to the man himself in Rome, rebuilding the Italian Assassins while he was at it.
** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII:'' Connor Kenway was a child when Charles Lee and his fellow Templars attacked him, insulted him, and apparently tried to burn down his village, killing Connor's mother. Connor's efforts to find Lee wound up not only getting all those Templars killed, but helped kick-start the American revolution. Connor's father, Haytham, even pointed out to Lee that this wouldn't have happened if Lee ''hadn't hit a kid in the face with a rifle for no reason''.
** In Modern day, Desmond Miles had abandoned the ways of the assassins, believing them to be a crazed cult. Warren Vidic had him kidnapped and forced him back into the war. This resulted in the deaths of himself, Master Templar Daniel Cross [[spoiler:, and his double agent Lucy Stillman]].
** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedOrigins:'' Bayek and his wife Aya were just minding their own business in Siwa, until the Order of Ancients rolled through, looking for a Precursor vault in their village, resulting in the death of their child. The couple's RoaringRampageOfRevenge is what ultimately cause the founding of the Assassins.
** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedOdyssey:'' Alexios / Kassandra was quite happily lounging around on Kephallonia, minding their own business and occasionally working as muscle-for-hire, when one of the Cult of Kosmos hires them to march off into the middle of UsefulNotes/ThePeloponnesianWar and assassinate some general. Who turns out to be their [[spoiler:step]]father. Their anger prompts the Eagle Bearer to start investigating, and ultimately go after the entire Cult.
** In Modern day, Layla Hassan was an employee of Abstergo Industries who only wanted to work on the Animus. After getting no recognition for her efforts, she choose to build her own and present her findings to her bosses. They sent in a strike team after her driving her straight into the arms of the Assassins.
* In ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault'', the Grand Marshal had his daughter train to eventually fight against him. Later, [[spoiler:it turns out that Airy did this by leading the heroes through the five worlds and guiding them, to eventually be defeated]]. And in ''VideoGame/BravelySecond'', [[spoiler:Anne did this with [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou you]] in the first game, making it so you could defeat Ouroboros and clear the way for Providence]].
* ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'': The titular bandicoot and his sister Coco were ordinary bandicoots until they were mutated by the evil scientist Dr. Neo Cortex as part of his plan for world domination. The two bandicoots escaped Cortex's clutches and have frequently opposed him ever since.
* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'':
** ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry1'': One of the reasons Dante became a demon hunter was to eventually find and kill the demon that killed his mother. That demon turns out to be Mundus, the ruler of the demon world who [[NiceJobFixingItVillain makes the foolish mistake]] of luring Dante to his island in an attempt to kill him. Worse, Mundus' cruel treatment of his minion Trish causes her to pull a HeelFaceTurn and lend her power to Dante in his climactic battle with the villain.
** ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry2''. Lucia is revealed to be one of the [[ArtificialHuman demons created by]] [[BigBad Arius]] but was discarded for being a "defect". She is adopted by the demon hunting clan of the Vie du Marli and kills Arius in the game's climax.
** ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening'': Arkham's murder of his wife Kalina Ann results in their daughter Mary, now known as Lady, becoming a demon hunter and killing him.
** Vergil, Dante's EvilTwin brother, begets a child named Nero who would become the protagonist of ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'' and ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5''. Nero would also [[spoiler: defeat Vergil in ''5''.]]
** ''VideoGame/DMCDevilMayCry'' basically retreads the same backstory of the original continuity but with some alterations - Mundus' murder of Eva and torture of Sparda led Vergil and Dante to embrace their Nephilim heritage and be reunited. This ultimately comes back to bite Mundus in the ass, big time, as he is later killed by the twins.
* [[spoiler:Omega]] in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' actively [[{{Invoked}} Invokes]] this trope. It desires to fight powerful enemies to further grow in strength and evolve. After reading about countless accounts of "heroes", both factual and fictional, who overcame objectivly impossible odds to save the day, it purposefully acts villainous by threatening innocents and attacking those close to [[PlayerCharacter the Warrior of Light]] to shape them into the perfect heroic opponent.
* ''VideoGame/FreedomForce'': In Minuteman's origin story, he is shot by an American traitor during his meeting with Sukhov. The mortally wounded man crawls to the statue of a minuteman nearby, which has been hit with [[SuperSerum Energy X]] and absorbs the energy.
* Khotun Khan in ''VideoGame/GhostOfTsushima'' starts off well, invading Tsushima, massacring the samurai army, filling the main character Jin full of arrows, then curbstomping the main character when he comes looking for a rematch. But then Khan pulls a BondVillainStupidity and chucks Jin off a bridge instead of finishing him off. Not only does Jin survive, but two near-death experiences teach Jin that straightforward samurai tactics are not going to work against the Mongol army and switches to using guerilla/assassin attacks, which work much better.
* In ''VideoGame/GhostTrick'', [[spoiler:Yomiel]] causes Sissel's death, triggering the events of the night and eventually leading to his plans foiled. Also, [[spoiler:One Step Ahead Tengo]] in turn causes [[spoiler:Missile]]'s death, which turns the latter into the BigGood of the story.
* ''Videogame/GrimDawn:'' During the titular [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Grim Dawn]], one wayward Aetherial spirit decides to possess some random schmuck, wiping their memories and puppeteering them right until the locals try to hang them; then, instead of getting banished back to their realm for a while as the body is killed, it decides to depart the body with just enough time for the host to be cut down and survive. A host that now has no memory of the past, a slew of unusual and useful abilities and unnatural, growing strength that Aetherial energy seems to enhance. A host now known as the Taken, who can proceed to dismantle almost everything they had achieved, and take down threats of similar apocalyptic caliber. Notably, the Taken can find the same spirit possessing a different body later on during the assault on their stronghold at Malmouth, and the spirit is ''not'' happy that things spun so far out of control.
* ''VideoGame/Halo2:'' The Prophets decide to spare the life of disgraced commander Thel Vadam and appoint him as Arbiter, intended to be used for dangerous suicide missions, while also making moves to replace his species with the dogmatically loyal Brutes. He ends up becoming the leader of the Covenant splinter faction after learning the truth of Halo and ultimately kills the Prophet of Truth.
* ''VideoGame/HorizonZeroDawn'': Had [[spoiler:HADES]] not tried to kill Aloy the moment he saw her, then she may never have left the Nora tribe's Sacred Lands. It's possible she would have eventually found out about [[spoiler:the end of the old world, the role of the machines, and her power as a clone of Elisabet Sobeck via the door in All-Mother Mountain]] eventually, but the odds of that happening early enough to lead to her being able to defeat [[spoiler:HADES prior to his assault on the Spire]] are practically zero given the tribe's isolationist customs and their gerontocratic system of government, meaning that it would be decades before Aloy would even know she had to, [[spoiler: as only women with living grandchildren are even allowed near that door, and Aloy doesn't even have a boyfriend]].
* Exploited in ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire''. [[spoiler:After the sacking of Dirge, Master Li discovered a Spirit Monk baby, whom he adopted and trained to be the instrument of his revenge against his brothers. Once the Monk was ready, Li told them of their heritage, got himself kidnapped and the town where he lived destroyed, all to set the Monk on a quest to rescue him. Once the quest was finished and Li's brothers dead, Li killed the Monk using weaknesses he had deliberately taught them for that very purpose; if not for the Water Dragon's intervention, he would have won then and there.]]
* ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends''
** Evelynn's extended lore says that, as one of her many [[InterplayOfSexAndViolence sadistic flings]], she killed a pair of Demacian nobles in front of their child. She then left, figuring that the look of trauma on the child's face was funny enough. Said child grew up to become Shauna Vayne, one of the most feared, proficient and ruthless demon hunters in all of Runeterra -- and, [[DifficultButAwesome in the right hands]], one of the strongest [=ADCs=] in the game.
** Gankplank coldly executed the gunsmith who forged his flintlock, along with her young daughter. But the daughter survived, growing up to be rival pirate Miss Fortune. [[spoiler:Who got her revenge in spectacular fashion by blowing his ship, his crew and his arm to pieces.]]
* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' Commander Shepard is literally brought back from the dead with a reinforced skeleton, enhanced mental capacity, off the charts biotic powers, on top of Shepard's pre-existing military training and inherent instinct for battle, in order to fight off hordes of Reapers who seem to be harvesting humans. Shepard was engineered by Cerberus to be a nigh unstoppable super soldier. However, when Commander Shepard finds out that Cerberus is allowing human colonies to be targeted in order to track Reaper movement, s/he breaks with Cerberus who then tries repeatedly to kill Shepard if they can't control him/her. That's right. They try to kill the already badass military (wo)man that they then enhanced into a super soldier engineered to be able to take on hordes of insanely overpowered aliens single handedly. And they try to bring him/her down with mid-level goons with guns.
* ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'': Ridley's attack on 3-year-old Samus' colony and the murder of her parents ended up creating his [[ArchEnemy greatest enemy]].
* Done deliberately in ''VideoGame/NierAutomata''. [[spoiler:The entire [=YoRHa=] project 2B and 9S were created for is part of a larger charade between machine lifeforms and androids to perpetuate the ForeverWar. If [=YoRHa=] ever got the upper hand (which they eventually do,) contingencies were in place to destroy the entire project and either kill or [[BrainwashedAndCrazy infect and convert]] everyone involved with it. Unfortunately for the machines, there were still survivors.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'':
** TheHeavy of the game, [[spoiler:Masayoshi Shido]], is guilty of this not once, not twice, but ''four times'' over.
*** First, he got the Protagonist convicted of assault because he got a minor scratch when the Protagonist tried to stop him from sexually harassing a woman. This gets the Protagonist put on probation, which gets him sent to Tokyo and puts him in a position and mindset to interfere with [[spoiler:Shido's plans]].
*** Later, [[spoiler:Shido shoves Ryuji out of the way in order to get onto an elevator. While much more minor than the earlier incident, this gives Ryuji the idea to form the Phantom Thieves of Hearts.]]
*** The protagonist isn't the only person he's been pushed to opposing him, either; he [[spoiler:killed Futaba's mother using Akechi for the sake of getting her cognitive research for his own use two years prior to the game's events, and instead of simply murdering Futaba's mom, in an incredibly unnecessary KickTheDog moment on his part, he '''forged a suicide note stating that Futaba's mom committed suicide because she hated her daughter and read it out loud to a 14-year-old Futaba and her relatives!''' Sure enough, Futaba was instantly driven into an increasingly extreme depression to the point that she generated a palace, heard hallucinations of Wakaba telling her that she's disappointed on her and even believing that if she died her mom will come back to life. Once she knows the truth, it's quite clear that she would accompany the protagonist to take down Shido at all costs.]]
*** In the events of the game itself, he also [[spoiler:ordered Akechi to kill Haru's dad just to remove an obstacle to his political campaign, frame the Phantom Thieves for his murder and the fact that the scandals over Okumura's business practices had got him lots of notoreity. While it makes no ambiguity that Haru's father is despicable by the events of the game since he works his clerks and employees to death and tried to sell Haru to a fiance that could care less about her for the sole reason of competing with Shido for presidency, Haru was totally grief-ridden when she saw her dad die in front of the camera, since unlike most targets in-game, Haru's dad did genuinely care for her like a daughter before he went too far, adding one more adolescent he tried to ruin onto the list of people who are going after his head.]]
*** He also [[spoiler:literally]] created his own [[spoiler:''AntiVillain'']] as well. [[spoiler:He had impulsive sex with a prostitute and she gave birth to a bastard child named Goro Akechi, then committed suicide soon after. Akechi desired to be loved and wanted, and fostered the needs to be [[WellDoneSonGuy loved by their father]] but also to [[BastardBastard seek revenge for the abandonment.]] After acquiring Persona powers, he presented himself to Shido as an asset to take down rivals through mental shutdowns. Being publicly loved for "solving" those cases became an added bonus for Akechi. Then at the peak of Shido's political career, he would destroy Shido's reputation through a public tell-all. So while Akechi's goals were somewhat heroic in exposing Shido, his methods were far from noble, and sure that, he doesn't get this way and just ended up seemingly sacrificed himself in front of his cognitive doppelganger.]]
** While only a StarterVillain, Kamoshida created 3 out of the 4 founding members of the [[PhantomThief Phantom Thieves]] by causing a CareerEndingInjury to one, molesting the friend of another and trying to commit statutory rape on said member, and spreading rumors about the third, ruining their reputation.
** Principal Kobayakawa, having contributed to the Phantom Thieves' formation through his failure to protect the student body from Kamoshida, caused the Phantom Thieves' ranks to swell by forcing [[StudentCouncilPresident Makoto]] to investigate them when she wanted to investigate reports that yakuza goons were extorting Shujin students, resulting in her joining the Phantom Thieves.
* The BigBad of ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity'', [[spoiler:Thaos]], does this ''twice'' to [[PlayerCharacter the Watcher]]: once, when his ritual at Cilant Lis Awakens the Watcher to their past lives, and [[spoiler:many centuries ''before'' that, when Thaos made a previous incarnation of the Watcher betray Iovara, which effectively tied all three of their souls together, bound to clash with each other again, sooner or later]].
* Albert Wesker in the ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' series was one of the founders and original leaders of Raccoon City's S.T.A.R.S. unit. He would go on to betray the unit in the first game as part of his schemes. Unfortunately for him, two of the unit's members, Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine, would survive to become persistent thorns in his side. In his final appearance in ''Videogame/ResidentEvil5'', Chris has foiled his latest scheme and succeeds in killing him. Wesker admits that he should have killed Chris years ago.
* ''VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog'': The villains of the game are the Black Arms, an evil alien race whose leader, Black Doom, was involved in Shadow's creation by contributing some of his DNA. Black Doom tries to sway Shadow to his side, but fails in the game's canonical good ending and is beaten by the dark hedgehog.
* ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' uses this twice, in the same campaign, with the same character. Jim Raynor was originally a marshal on a backwater Confederate world of Mar Sara. When Mar Sara fell victim to a Zerg invasion, Raynor took matters into his own hands rather than wait for Confederate backup, and destroyed an infested Command Center. [[UngratefulBastard The Confederacy responded by placing Raynor under arrest for destroying Confederate property]]. Enter the Sons of Korhal, a rebel group led by the charismatic Arcturus Mengsk, who were evacuating Mar Sara and offered Raynor a way out, which he accepted. But later, Mengsk [[MoralEventHorizon crossed the line]] by deliberately luring a Zerg invasion to the Confederate capital world of Tarsonis, ''and'' abandoned Raynor's LoveInterest, Sarah Kerrigan, when her outpost got overrun by Zerg. This led Raynor to split with Mengsk, and he formed Raynor's Raiders to combat Mengsk's new regime -- [[FullCircleRevolution which quickly became as oppressive and corrupt as the one it replaced]].
* ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'': The Sith Inquisitor PC, especially if played lightside (and in fact [[CuttingOffTheBranches their default name]] if a level 60 character is created in the expansions is the lightside title Darth Imperius). After they kill their first master, Darth Zash, in self-defense, Zash's enemy Darth Thanaton tries to kill them out of an AssociationFallacy, driving the PC to become one of the mightiest Sith Lords in living memory and eventually overthrow Thanaton just to survive -- whereas [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot if he'd just accepted their offer to become his apprentice, he'd probably have lived]].
* ''VideoGame/SwordOfPaladin'': [[spoiler:Lancelot]] frames Nade for the Bokka Village attack and reveals his plans, leading to Nade becoming a Paladin to stop him. If he didn't involve Nade in his plans, the latter probably would have remained an ordinary knight.
* Frau Engel's disrespect over her daughter Sigrun, and her eventual abandonment, is what led to [[spoiler:her defeat and death]] in ''VideoGame/WolfensteinIITheNewColossus''. During the climax of the first act of the game, she's scolded after she failed to [[OffWithHisHead execute]] Caroline Becker, leader of the [[LaResistance Kreisau Circle]], promoting Frau to do the deed herself. After a fight, she leaves her daughter for the rest of the KC to finish her... [[spoiler:only for the resistance members to ''welcome'' her onto their ranks. This led to Sigrun hacking the codes that led to the Ausmerzer's capture, Frau Engel's eventual assassination at the hands of BJ Blazkowicz, and the Second American Revolution happening]].
* This trope appears in all 3 games in the ''Franchise/WatchDogs'' franchise.
** ''VideoGame/WatchDogs'': Aiden Pearce was just a high tech theif until [[spoiler:mob boss Dermot 'Lucky' Quinn]] put out a hit on him [[spoiler:because he mistakenly believed that Aiden had tried to steal the blackmail he had on the mayor.]] The hitman, Maurice Vega, failed to kill Pearce, but the accident he caused killed Pearce's neice, Lena, sending him on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the Chicago underworld, ultimately resulting in the death of both [[spoiler:Quinn and Iraq, the actual attempted thief.]]
** ''VideoGame/WatchDogs2'': Marcus Holloway was set on the path that let to him joining [=DedSec=] when he was falsely accused of a crime by the [=ctOS=].
** ''VideoGame/WatchDogsLegion'': [[spoiler: [=DedSec=] itself is restarted by Sabine Brandt, the treacherous former member who, posing as a rival hacker group, Zero Day, orchastrated the fall of the group's previous incarnation while framing them for her bombings.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* Done deliberately by Mercurius in ''VisualNovel/DiesIrae''. He specifically created the protagonist Ren with the explicit purpose of being the antagonist towards his close friend and the BigBad Reinhard. All to give Reinhard the fight he has so longed for to allow him to go all out. [[spoiler:Mercurius also has a secondary purpose to this. Namely to allow the soul within Ren to grow in order to be able to replace Mercurius as the God of the world]].
* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'': Both [[spoiler:Gilgamesh]] and Kotomine's role in the fire that [[spoiler:killed Shirou's parents]] and his arrogant displays of power against him with the Gate of Babylon inspired the young man to form the basis of [[spoiler:''Unlimited Blade Works'' and the EMIYA persona]] who would go on to become their most persistent enemy in the franchise.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* The EvilOverlordList has advice on avoiding this kind of scenario.
** "If an enemy I have just killed has a younger sibling or offspring anywhere, I will find them and have them killed immediately, instead of waiting for them to grow up harboring feelings of vengeance towards me in my old age."
** "Orphans will be placed in foster-homes, not abandoned in the woods to be raised by creatures of the wild."
** "Prior to kidnapping an older male scientist and forcing him to work for me, I will investigate his offspring and make sure that he has neither a beautiful but naive daughter who is willing to risk anything to get him back, nor an estranged son who works in the same field but had a falling-out with his father many years ago."
** "If I know of any heroes in the land, I will not under any circumstance kill their mentors, teachers, and/or best friends."
** "I will be an equal-opportunity despot and make sure that terror and oppression is distributed fairly, not just against one particular group that will form the core of a rebellion."
** "I will have a staff of competent detectives handy. If I learn that someone in a certain village is plotting against me, I will have them find out who rather than wipe out the entire village in a preemptive strike."
* JustForFun/TVTropesAdditionalEvilOverlordVows has a few more.
** "If I ever have a child, I will keep them as happy as possible, as an unloved child would likely betray me and defect to my enemies."
** "Whenever I take over another country, I won't force them to give up their culture and follow mine."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'':
** Plastic Man was a henchman and thief until he was CursedWithAwesome as a result of Batman's actions. Batman personally sees to Plas' reform and rehabilitation; now, larceny-related issues aside, Plastic Man is a genuine superhero thanks to Batman's influence.
** ''Chill of the Night!'': Batman confronts Joe Chill (the man who murdered his parents) during a weapons auction, where many of his Rogues Gallery are in attendance. In the fight, Batman reveals to Chill that he's Bruce Wayne. Chill realizes that by killing Thomas and Martha Wayne, he inspired Bruce to fight crime. He's the reason Batman exists. In a panic, Chill admits this to the Rogues. They aren't amused (except for Joker; he thinks it's hilarious).
* In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'', [[BigBad Vilgax]] trying to get the Omnitrix for his scheme was what eventually led the device to end up on Earth and stick itself on the wrist of Ben Tennyson. This even gets a lampshade in ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse''.
* Drake Mallard became ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' on the first place when his prom dance was attacked by [[PsychoElectro Megavolt]]. Drake was considered the school's ButtMonkey, and even nerds and geeks mocked him, so Megavolt didn't take him seriously and defeated him without trouble when Drake first tried to stop him; so Drake improvised the Darkwing Duck's identity on the spot (using props and costumes from the Drama Club), defeating Megavolt and officially starting his hero career.
* ''Franchise/{{DCAU}}'':
** ''[[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries The Adventures of Batman & Robin]]'': In "Trial", Batman is put before a KangarooCourt with a JokerJury made up of his rogue's gallery and the Joker himself as the judge, charging Batman with [[CreateYourOwnVillain creating them]]. And just to stack the deck against Bats even further, they also kidnap a District Attorney who has publicly accused him of the same crime to act as his defense. After hearing their testimonies, the attorney concludes that they would have all eventually turned to villainy on their own even without Batman, and in fact, ''they'' created ''him''. They proceed to find Batman not guilty... and then ''because'' they're such evil villains, they try to kill him anyway.
*** The same series had ComicBook/TheJoker inadvertently turn Jack Ryder into "[[ComicBook/TheCreeper Yellow-skinned wacky man]]", who is so utterly bonkers that even ''the Joker'' [[HorrifyingTheHorror considers him insane]].
** ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' has Terry [=McGinnis=] become the new Batman, not long after his father Warren is murdered on the orders of [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Derek Powers]], the [[BigBad main antagonist]] of the first season. The hitman who actually committed the murder in question is killed by Terry when he inadvertently becomes exposed to the toxin they were illegally manufacturing, but Powers manages to stick around until the Season 1 finale by undergoing experimental radiation treatment that saves his life with some... [[WalkingWasteland side effects]].
** ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' presents the darkest version of this trope in "Epilogue", where [[WellIntentionedExtremist Amanda Waller]] reveals to Terry [=McGinnis=] that [[spoiler:when she noticed Bruce Wayne was growing too old to be Batman, she decided to create her own hero by collecting Batman's DNA, finding a couple with an identical psychological make-up as Thomas and Martha Wayne, overwrite the husband's reproductive DNA with Batman's without the man's knowledge, with Terry being the resultant child. Then when he was 7-years-old, Waller commissioned [[WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm the Phantasm]] to assassinate Terry's parents in his presence. Thankfully, the Phantasm decided to abort the operation to honor Bruce's legacy, instead of taint it. Although Terry points out, as detailed above, that the actions of Derek Powers wound up finishing the job anyway.]]
* This happens in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' in relation to [[spoiler:''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'']]. Black Heron of F.O.W.L. had created an intelligence-granting ray gun and tested it out on a rodent. That rodent, one [[spoiler:Gadget Hackwrench]], would go on to boost up other rodents, team up and help Launchpad and Dewey save the day.
* ''WesternAnimation/HarleyQuinn2019'': In "[[Recap/HarleyQuinn2019S2E2RiddleU Riddle U]]", Riddler taking over the university is what inspires Barbara to try to take him down. And teaming up with Harley and Ivy inspires her to become Batgirl at the end of the episode. Harley even lampshades it when Ivy speculates it'll just be a phase. And Harley being right on that makes sense seeing as Ivy's mostly a misanthrope and Harley's a psychiatrist...
* On ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'', it's eventually revealed that Mojo Jojo was once Professor Utonium's lab partner and caused the Chemical X to be added to the formula the girls were made from. Realising this causes Jojo to suffer a VillainousBreakdown. In another episode it gets even worse for him when [[spoiler:he tries going back in time to RetGone the girls and ends up giving Utonium the idea to create them in the first place.]]
-->[[MadnessMantra "It was me...it was me..."]]
** TheMovie reveals Mojo Jojo was the reason the Powerpuff Girls decided to even become heroes in the first place. When they were created, the Girls hadn't yet [[OpeningNarration "dedicated their lives to fighting crime and the forces of evil"]], and were in fact feared and hated by most of Townsville for their dangerous powers. Then Mojo tricked the girls into building him what would become his lair and creating an army of super-intelligent primates. Eventually, the girls figured out that they could stop Mojo and the monkeys by using their powers to fight them and the rest is history.
* ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'': Ironically in Season 5, the High Priestess raising her seven daughters to kill Jack is what led to her eldest daughter, Ashi, pulling a {{Heel Face Turn}}, [[PredatorTurnedProtector assisting Jack in his quest]], [[spoiler:and being the key to Aku's ultimate downfall]].
* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'': Adora was raised in the Horde as an officer cadet, and as a result of her subsequent HeelFaceTurn, the Horde's greatest enemy is using its combat training. [[spoiler:Light Hope tells her in Season 3 that she was only on Etheria to become She-Ra ''at all'' because of Hordak's portal experiments, but Season 4 reveals this to be a complete lie.]]
** [[spoiler:Scorpia]] only becomes a hero at all, as opposed to staying a TokenGoodTeammate to the Horde, because Catra [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal kept treating her like shit]].
** [[spoiler:Entrapta]] ends up back with the Rebellion because after she's exiled to Beast Island, it's the Rebellion that comes to get her.
* In ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'', Pink Diamond created the Rose Quartz line. One of those Rose Quartzes would go on to found the Crystal Gem rebellion. [[spoiler:At least that's the story Rose spread. In reality, she and Pink Diamond were one and the same. It was all part of a plan to free herself from her role as a Diamond and to free the Earth and the Crystal Gems. Which goes around to making Pink an example, as the other diamonds probably created her and their aloof, condescending attitude indirectly lead her to sympathize with Earth life and Homeworld's undesirables.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/StretchArmstrongAndTheFlexFighters'' reveals via flashbacks in the second season that Stretch Monster killed two scientists, signed onto a project to undo any attempts he'd make to turn other people into monsters, but the child of those two scientists[[note]]Riya Dashti, aka the CyberNinja Blindstrike[[/note]] would grow up to carry out revenge against the monster.
* In ''WesternAnimation/SuperRobotMonkeyTeamHyperforceGo'', [[spoiler:the Alchemist's last act before the Dark Ones' corrupting influence transformed him into the Skeleton King was to create and empower the Hyperforce so that they would protect the universe from him. Antauri later tries to reach out to Skeleton King by reminding him of this, to no avail.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'': Shredder ends up creating the Turtles. He poured a caustic chemical down the sewer where Hamato Yoshi was living in an attempt to kill him. The chemical turned out to be a powerful mutagen which made the Turtles anthropomorphic and transformed Yoshi into an anthropomorphic rat named Splinter. Shredder tried to use this information to convince the Turtles to join his side, but they declined.
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'' also does this, though less directly. The ooze that mutated the turtles and Splinter was a by-product of experiments by the stranded Utroms...who were only stranded in the first place because Shredder made their ship crash. Donny spells this out for everyone in the ClipShow episode. Shredder also ''personally'' killed Hamato Yoshi, who in this version was Splinter's owner when he was a normal rat. The mutated Splinter treats this as YouKilledMyFather, and is committed to stopping Shredder as a result.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'': The episode "[[Recap/TransformersG1WarDawn War Dawn]]" shows a young Autobot named Orion Pax being gunned down by Megatron, and later rebuilt as Optimus Prime.
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