History Main / EasilyForgiven

They [[ManipulativeBastard manipulated]] you, they {{betray|alTropes}}ed you, they tried to kill you, [[DeathIsCheap really did kill you]], tortured all your friends and loved ones, [[DoomedHometown burned down your village]], and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking even]] went and [[KickTheDog kicked your dog]]. Despite all this, you find it in your heart to {{forgive|ness}} them. After all, [[AsTheGoodBookSays "To err is human, to forgive is divine."]]

** Claudio from ''Theatre/MuchAdoAboutNothing'' [[spoiler: reveals Hero's (untrue) unfaithfulness at their wedding, causing her father to wish her dead (and in many productions attempt to strangle her). This 'revelation' usually feels like an attack that ''ruins Hero's life'' over nothing; outrage over this and an inability to take him to task has to enrage Beatrice enough to persuade Benedict to turn on his friend, enough that Hero [[FakingTheDead fakes her own death]].]] Yet when Hero returns the two are together in literally seconds. Though it should be noted that only Hero easily forgives him here; before this, the other characters make him go through a big repentance ceremony in order for him to earn their forgiveness. Hero's father though has to go through no such thing.

** Claudio from ''Theatre/MuchAdoAboutNothing'' [[spoiler:reveals Hero's (untrue) unfaithfulness at their wedding. When Hero reappears after faking her death, the two are together in literally seconds]]. Though it should be noted that only Hero easily forgives him here; before this, the other characters make him go through a big repentance ceremony in order for him to earn their forgiveness.

* ''WebVideo/CinematicExcrement'': Upon learning that the ComicBook/HumanTorch's dialogue in ''Film/FantasticFour2005'' was ad-libbed by Creator/ChrisEvans, The Smeghead yells at a picture of Evans as Johnny Storm. Then the picture shifts to Evans as [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse Captain America]] and the Smeghead says he can't stay mad at Evans.

* The reconciliation between the Wrestling/BellaTwins was so absurd it even surprised them. After Brie lost the 2014 Hell in a Cell match, she had to be Nikki's assistant (as in {{jobber}}) for thirty days. One would think Brie wouldn't be ready to forgive such humiliation, seeing as she shouted publicly that she wished her own sister had "died in the womb"; thing is, ''after'' those thirty days, it seemed everyone forgot about it completely, and they were inexplicably friends again. (Even the twins themselves - as in the real ones, out of character - had no idea why the storyline was dropped, and the fans certainly didn't either.)
* Pretty common following the standard HeelFaceTurn: often the reformed heel doesn't even have to earn redemption, as it's enough that he's agreed not to be mean anymore. In extreme cases, he can even continue to be mean, as long as he's only mean to heels or if he's [[TooFunnyToBeEvil "funny" mean]] as opposed to being a jerk about it. Lampshaded histrionically by Wrestling/{{Christian}} who was outraged that Wrestling/RandyOrton is allowed to do whatever the hell he wants in Wrestling/{{WWE}}. He screamed at Wrestling/TripleH to do something about the situation in his capacity as Chief Operating Officer, demanding to know if the COO even cared that Orton once attacked his father-in-law and brother-in-law and terrorized his wife. Apparently Triple H ''didn't'' care.
* This can be particularly egregious in cases of tag-team matches. Seeing a total monster, one who's undergone a HeelFaceTurn, teaming up with the same person whose life they destroyed a few months earlier is not that unusual in pro wrestling. Triple H even got to lampshade this trope at the 2007 Survivor Series when his partners (Wrestling/{{Kane}}, Jeff Hardy, and Wrestling/{{Rey Mysterio|Jr}}) all called him out on his actions against them over the years, even bringing up the [[DiscontinuityNod Katie Vick angle]]. They still teamed up and won their match.

* [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zagged]] when it came to the members of Wrestling/TheShield. While Wrestling/RomanReigns was willing to forgive Wrestling/SethRollins after the latter's HeelFaceTurn, Wrestling/DeanAmbrose was ''not''. This is justified, as Dean took Seth's betrayal even harder than Roman did (and Roman took it pretty hard -- he was Tag Team Champions with Seth at one point during the Shield's initial run), starting a blood feud that lasted over two years. It took ''weeks'' of bickering and brawling before the two finally met halfway and forgave each other.

** Subverted in ''Singularity'', where resident [[TheChewToy Chew Toys]] Doc and Donut's {{Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal}}s are mercilessly held against them, to the point Sarge even threatens to execute Donut. Donut calls them out repeatedly on the DoubleStandard and how absurd it is that they're being raked over the coals when everyone else has done just as bad and worse at various points.

* The tendency of anime characters to befriend their enemies is parodied by Creator/ProZD in his Website/YouTube short ''[[https://youtu.be/JeYIlET3szA when everyone forgives the bad guy even though he did horrible shit]]''.

* A severe case when it comes to {{Wrestling/Undertaker}} with {{Wrestling/Kane}}. The latter has started all but one of their 5 feuds, all of which he's attacked Taker without provocation or warning. Yet everything is always fine after a while and he's back working with Kane again. Their last feud was 2010 when Taker recovered from Kane's recent attack. Eventually Taker apparently forgave him because he shows up to save him on the 2012 Anniversary of RAW. Even Kane was confused by his appearance and the two shared uneasy stares but cleared the ring together. Kane has not betrayed Taker since then. Maybe he finally sees just how much his brother cares for him.

!!Examples:

* In ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'', [[spoiler:there's a rather {{Justified|Trope}} case with Aoi Asahina in the fourth case. In it, her best friend [[TheBigGirl Sakura Ogami]] kills herself after being revealed as TheMole and shortly after, Aoi finds herself a suicide note who belives it was of her, saying that she couldn't support everyone treating her with harm and distrust enough to not want to keep living anymore. Enraged, Hina pulls a plan to make it look like she killed her, and either having the survivors figure out she did it, or someone else did it. Due to the rules of the game, she would make it so that they choose wrongly in the class trial and have them all of the survivors pull a SuicideByCop. Her plan fails and she reveals her reasons for it, but [[BigBad Monokuma]] reveals that she actually fooled her into thinking that she killed herself due to weakness, with the actual suicide note revealing that she did not want to keep herself being the reason people hurt and were distrusting of one another because of her mole status. Due to effectively being the cause of manipulating Hina into causing such actions (and also manipulating the rules so that the killing continued), everyone (including [[{{Jerkass}} Byakuya Togami]]) easily forgives Hina and turns to Monokuma instead. She also regrets doing this after having heard the true reason of Sakura's death.]]

* In ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'', [[spoiler:there's a rather {{Justified|Trope}} case with Aoi Asahina in the fourth case. In it, her best friend [[TheBigGirl Sakura Ogami]] kills herself after being revealed as TheMole and shortly after, Aoi finds herself a suicide note who belives it was of her, saying that she couldn't support everyone treating her with harm and distrust enough to not want to keep living anymore. Enraged, Hina plans to pull a plan making it look like either one of the people who visited her in the reunion killed her, or that she killed her herself. Due to the rules of the game, she would make it so that they choose wrongly in the class trial and have them all of the survivors pull a SuicideByCop. Her plan fails and she reveals her reasons for it, but [[BigBad Monokuma]] reveals that she actually fooled her into thinking that she killed herself due to weakness, with the actual suicide note revealing that she did not want to keep herself being the reason people hurt and distrusting one another because of her mole status. Due to effectevily being the cause of manipulating Hina into causing such actions, everyone (including [[{{Jerkass}} Byakuya Togami]]) easily forgives Hina and turns to Monokuma instead.]]

* At the start of ''VisualNovel/HighwayBlossoms'', Marina's car runs out of gas, resulting in Amber picking her up and giving her a ride to a convenience store to get gas. While they're away, a group of down-on-their-luck drifters known as "The Trio" happen upon the abandoned car and dismantle it to sell for parts, resulting in it not being there when Marina and Amber return, and forcing the two to travel together. Amber only realizes the truth later after noticing that Tess, one-third of The Trio, has a New Mexico license plate(Marina's home state) that she got recently. Amber calls The Trio out on their actions, but Marina is willing to forgive them for scrapping her brother's car.

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'':

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** Claudio from ''Theatre/MuchAdoAboutNothing'' [[spoiler:reveals Hero's (untrue) unfaithfulness at their wedding. When Hero reappears after faking her death, the two are together in literally seconds]]. Though it should be noted that only Hero easily forgives him here; before this, the other characters make him go through a big repentance ceremony in order for him to earn their forgiveness.
** In ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'', Juliet very quickly forgives Romeo for killing her cousin Tybalt, although she does have a horrified, angry speech first. It helps that it happened in a kill-or-be-killed fight that Tybalt started, and (although Juliet isn't told this) that Tybalt had killed Romeo's friend Mercutio.
* ''Theatre/WestSideStory'': Like Juliet, her [[RecycledInSpace inspiration]], Maria almost instantly forgives Tony for killing her brother Bernardo. For just a moment she attacks him in rage, pounding his chest with her fists, but then crumples sobbing into his arms.
* In Aphra Behn's ''The Rover'', at one point or another just about all of Belvile's friends try to rape his love interest Florinda, in some cases after mistaking her for a prostitute. But then they find out Florinda is Belvile's love interest and not a prostitute, and all is A-OK. Florinda's sister even marries one of them.
* In ''Theatre/TheGoldenApple'', Helen is immediately forgiven by her husband Menelaus when he wins her back from the TravelingSalesman she ran away with. The Boys are understandably upset about this, considering how much effort they went to.

** Subverted in the season 13 finale, after [[spoiler: Locus]] makes a HeelFaceTurn and tells them of his plans to become TheAtoner for his past actions. But they make it clear that they are not going to forgive [[spoiler: Locus]] for his involvement in the villain's schemes, just like that, and try to apprehend him, forcing him to go into hiding.
** Zigzagged in season 15, after [[spoiler: Sarge]] has a brief FaceHeelTurn, the rest of the gang tell him off for thinking they were just going to let this go and even consider throwing him in one of the cells he just freed them from. But as [[spoiler: Locus]] points out, they have '''much''' bigger problems and are forced the suck it up before accepting him back and by the next episode, they are working together again like normal.
** This is discussed in season 15, when [[spoiler: [[EvilCounterpart Temple]]]] criticizes Tucker and the others for allowing Agents Washington and Carolina to join [[RagTagBunchOfMisfits their ranks]] with no strings attached, despite them being former members of the organization [[GreaterScopeVillain responsible for almost all of their problems]]. This is what ultimately sets the two groups apart, as while the Reds and Blues manage to give forgiveness and move on without much issue, [[spoiler: Temple and the Blues and Reds]] allowed anger and {{revenge}} to consume them and set them on a path to villainy.
---> '''Simmons:''' Water under the bridge.

* Upon learning that the ComicBook/HumanTorch's dialogue in ''Film/FantasticFour2005'' was ad-libbed by Creator/ChrisEvans, [[WebVideo/CinematicExcrement The Smeghead]] yells at a picture of Evans as Johnny Storm. Then the picture shifts to Evans as [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse Captain America]] and the Smeghead says he can't stay mad at Evans.
* The tendency of anime characters to befriend their enemies is parodied by Creator/ProZD in his Website/YouTube short ''[[https://youtu.be/JeYIlET3szA when everyone forgives the bad guy even though he did horrible shit]].''
* At the end of WebVideo/ShipwreckedComedy's ''The Case of the Gilded Lily'', [[spoiler:Roger is revealed to be blackmailing his wife, using the money to pay off a gambling debt, because he was too proud just to ask her for it and risk her divorcing him. She immediately forgives him, but her best friend Fig doesn't, and as they're having their dramatic make-up, she slides by in the background, giving Roger a DeathGlare]].
* Nappa in ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'', [[BackFromTheDead post-revival]], seems to get on rather well with the people he killed. At the least, no one seems particularly concerned that he's alive again, Krillin's played video games with him without incident, and Bulma even trusts him enough to ask him to help Vegeta watch Baby Trunks. The most anyone's referred to their past together is Chiaotzu calling him 'Vegeta's dumbass friend'. (That said, Tien is likely the only aversion, given how he refused to work with Nappa in a music video.) Nappa, for his part, has also forgiven Vegeta for killing ''him'', although he's not above needling him for fun.

See also KarmaHoudini (when the offending character is forgiven without as much as an "I'm sorry" or any sort of punishment), ForgivenButNotForgotten (where the hero is willing to forgive, but ''not'' if it happens a second time), GoAndSinNoMore (when granting forgiveness ''is'' the punishment, with the assumption that the offender will make amends) and ThisIsNotMyLifeToTake (when a victim does not take revenge because they think someone else is more entitled to it). Contrast ReformedButRejected, where a villain ''does'' want to be forgiven and works for it, but doesn't get accepted. EasilyCondemned, RejectedApology, ThisIsUnforgivable, and MinorFlawMajorBreakup are the opposite tropes. Not to be confused with FlippantForgiveness, which is more insulting than gracious.

** This was a large part of UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}'s message. Even for those who crucified Him: "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do." And after resurrecting, He forgave Peter's repeated denials.

* Hot Box's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8LmMtScH3g All I Want For Christmas Is Jews]]" has a [[PlayedForLaughs little fun with this]] in absolving Jews for killing Jesus Christ. After all, [[BackFromTheDead he didn't stay dead]]... [[ActuallyPrettyFunny which is kind of a good point, actually]].

** The title character of ''Theatre/RichardIII'' [[MagnificentBastard manages to seduce and marry Lady Anne]] after killing both her husband and her father-and-law. Earlier, she explicitly cursed [[WhatAnIdiot any woman stupid enough to marry him.]]

This trope describes a situation where forgiveness comes quickly after a character has committed some foul act. Within a season or maybe even an episode, foes become friends and whatever evil the forgiven character did is swept under the rug and forgotten. Whether or not this appears ''too'' easy from the perspective of the audience is not the point. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools Like all tropes]] it can be used well or poorly and played with in a number of ways. The character who committed the deed/s may be sufficiently apologetic to warrant forgiveness, or the latter character learning AnAesop may be considered punishment enough, or maybe ThePunishmentIsTheCrime. Sometimes, showing a bit of trust to a former villain who doesn't seem to deserve it can lead to them becoming a reliable ally. Forgiving someone for their crime without their having earned it may inspire them to become TheAtoner so that they can earn forgiveness. Conversely, forgiving too easily can be a character flaw [[TheFarmerAndTheViper that bites them in the ass]].

* Subverted and played straight in ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'' when Quincy eats Paige's signed boy band picture. Andy bends over backwards to appease Paige, and when Paige calls herself on this, Andy forgives her without a second thought.

* At the end of the UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar, a 4-year conflict that resulted in over 600,000 deaths, the defeated Southern states were brought back into the Union without any sanctions or harsh measures. While some parts of the South would be occupied by federal troops for years, no members of the confederate military or government were ever put on trial for treason[[note]]though some of them were exiled and died without a country; all had their citizenship posthumously restored[[/note]] -- a handful were tried for other crimes committed in the process, with seven men ultimately being executed (three for espionage, two for being guerrillas, and two for war crimes), but no one was punished for the actual act of turning against the country, only for particularly egregious acts. Likewise, the vast majority of Confederate veterans returned home to become peaceful productive citizens of the United States, despite spending the last four years viewing the US as a mortal enemy. This was in keeping with the wishes of President UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln, who in his 1865 inauguration speech stated "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."

[[folder:Mythology and Religion]]
* This was a large part of UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}'s message. Even for those who crucified Him: "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do." And after resurrecting, He forgave Peter's repeated denials.

->''"Oh look grandpa, it's that guy who kidnapped your soul and then tried to kill me. But now he's our friend."''

** Calvin causes the family car to roll out the driveway and fall down a ditch across the street. He and Hobbes hide in a tree, but is confused to find his parents are more concerned about whether he was safe than about the car (which, incidentally, wasn't damaged).

* ''ComicStrip/ShermansLagoon'': One series of strips has Hawthorne making a deal with Captain Quigley to help him capture Sherman for a thousand dollars. After his efforts fail, he comes clean to Sherman, who's understandably pretty angry at him. Then Hawthorne offers him a Twinkie and Sherman forgives him immediately.

* Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels, Wrestling/ChrisHero and [[Wrestling/KevinOwens Kevin Steen]] all got off pretty light in Wrestling/RingOfHonor, considering each one of them led a movement to destroy it. For reference, Wrestling/LowKi was banned for life when he allegedly broke the [[Wrestling/JimCornette commissioner's tooth]] despite at least nominally being against the Wrestling/{{CZW}} invasion. For that matter, Wrestling/BryanDanielson for betraying ROH to CZW just to screw over Wrestling/SamoaJoe also got off pretty easily. Wrestling/RoderickStrong called out the audience for cheering Steen while he was still in the process of burying the company. Despite the prevalence of this in the promotion, there was a major aversion in the cases of Wrestling/JimmyJacobs, Steve Corino and Wrestling/MattHardy's S.C.U.M. involvement at least.
* In Wrestling/{{WWE}}, this seems characteristic of Wrestling/PaulHeyman's regime. Never mind what an asshole he was, how many times he betrayed, lied, extorted and so forth, Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys, Wrestling/BigShow and Wrestling/BrockLesnar all ended up going back to Heyman.

* At the start of ''VisualNovel/HighwayBlossoms'', Marina's car runs out of gas, resulting in Amber picking her up and giving her a ride to a convenience store to get gas. While they're away, a group of down-on-their-luck drifters known as "The Trio" happen upon the abandoned car and dismantle it to sell for parts, resulting in it not being there when Marina and Amber return, and forcing the two to travel together. Amber only realizes the truth later after noticing that Tess, one third of The Trio, has a New Mexico license plate(Marina's home state) that she got recently. Amber calls The Trio out on their actions, but Marina is willing to forgive them for scrapping her brother's car.

** Subverted in the season 13 finale, after [[spoiler: Locus]] makes a HeelFaceTurn and tells them of his plans to become TheAtoner for his past actions. But they make it clear that they are not going forgive [[spoiler: Locus]] for his involvement in the villain's schemes, just like that, and try to apprehend him, forcing him to go into hiding.

* Reputedly, UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat's relentless pursuit of ex-emperor Darius III of Persia was not because he wanted to kill him, but because Alexander recognized Darius' genius and wanted to recruit Darius to govern Persia in Alexander's name. This was pretty much Alexander's Modus Operandi, {{Curb Stomp|Battle}} the enemy on the battlefield and then make him his vassal. It is one of the reasons as to why his empire disintegrated once he wasn't around to keep them in line.

* Colonel Thomas Blood -- adventurer, soldier of fortune, con man and criminal -- was brought before King Charles II after being caught red-handed stealing the Crown Jewels of England. Reportedly, the King asked: "What would you do if I were to give you your life?" to which Blood replied: "I would endeavour to deserve it, sire." Somehow, this worked -- and despite his having also fought for Parliament in the Civil War, and attempted to murder the Duke of Ormonde, Blood was given a full pardon and lands with an income of £500 a year. The reasons for this are much speculated upon by historians.
* In his last day in office, former Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin pardoned numerous hardened criminals, including one who filmed his gang rape of a teenage boy to share with the Internet, a murderer whose family donated $25000 to Bevin's campaign and a mom who left her newborn to die. Outrage promptly ensued across Kentucky and the nation as a whole.

See also KarmaHoudini (when the offending character is forgiven without as much as "a sorry" or any sort of punishment), ForgivenButNotForgotten (where the hero is willing to forgive, but ''not'' if it happens a second time), GoAndSinNoMore (when granting forgiveness ''is'' the punishment, with the assumption that the offender will make amends) and ThisIsNotMyLifeToTake (when a victim does not take revenge because they think someone else is more entitled to it). Contrast ReformedButRejected, where a villain ''does'' want to be forgiven and works for it, but doesn't get accepted. EasilyCondemned, RejectedApology, ThisIsUnforgivable, and MinorFlawMajorBreakup are the opposite tropes. Not to be confused with FlippantForgiveness, which is more insulting than gracious.

* As depicted in ''Film/{{Invictus}}'': After spending 28 years as a political prisoner on Robbins Island, Nelson Mandela is released and within a few years becomes President of South Africa. Incredibly, one of the first things he does is hire for his cabinet ''some of the same men who had worked for the previous government that had imprisoned him''. Those years on Robbins Island made him change and he came out OlderAndWiser, so his strategy became less "''Black Power!''" and more "''I'll show you that we can live in peace as equals.''". He didn't forget, but he didn't want black people to become NotSoDifferent when he changed the country. There's a reason he said this: