History Main / ItsPersonal

** In ''Film/Godzilla2014'', it's implied that the skeleton in the beginning is another of Godzilla's species, making it possible the reason why Godzilla is so hellbent on killing the [=MUTOs=] because they killed either his mate or family.
** In ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'', Godzilla and Ghidorah treat their feud like this. Though for Godzilla, it becomes ''much'' more personal after Ghidorah [[spoiler: kills Mothra who is Godzilla's loyal ally]]. Godzilla appears downright ''furious'' and when [[spoiler: he becomes Burning Godzilla, he brutally annihilates Ghidorah.]]

** In ComicBook/GhostRider vs SelfDemonstrating/{{Lobo}}, Johnny had come for the Main Man on business. It's only once he had been crushed into a building, eaten alive, then dogpiled on by several Lobo clones that he allowed [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Zarathos]] loose who took it VERY personally.

ItsPersonalWithTheDragon is a specific subtrope. Compare BerserkButton, when something personal elicits a sudden reaction from the person wronged or offended. Contrast when it's NothingPersonal, or at least the character(s) claim it's not.

ItsPersonalWithTheDragon is a specific subtrope. Contrast when it's NothingPersonal, or at least the character(s) claim it's not.

*** Both Nebula and Gamora want to kill him for the life time of abuse he put them through. While Drax wishes to see him die for the part his played in Ronan the Accuser killing his family. Star-Lord gets a reason to hate him after he [[spoiler:kidnaps and later kills Gamora.]]

* In the ''Series/DoctorWho''/''Film/{{Underworld}}'' crossover ''Fanfic/DoctorInTheUnderworld'', the Tenth Doctor initially regards the discovery of the war as just another crisis for him to resolve, but acknowledges that it’s become personal when he recognises the vampire servant girl Erika as none other than Reinette Poisson, Madame de Pompadour, his own former lover.

** An episode has recurring character Sideshow Bob attempting to rig the election for Mayor of Springfield by including the names of dead people and animals as those who voted for him. When Lisa's cat Snowball appears on the list, she angrily declares that "''now'' it's personal!" Bart [[LampshadeHanging points out, with some irritation]], that "he ''did'' try to kill me, you know."

Usually eventually leads to NotSoDifferent. For a more specific form of this, see YouKilledMyFather. Often enough, ThisMeansWar. If this is the impetus for the hero going on the journey to begin with, it's because TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive. When done to their home or base, the hero will usually take a moment to [[WatchingTroyBurn Watch Troy Burn]]. If the one for whom It's Personal finally gets to stare down the one who made it personal, expect an AndThisIsFor beatdown.

* ''Manga/RosarioToVampire'': Kurumu promptly develops this mindset against [[AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil Security]] [[DirtyCop Committee]] member [[FemaleMisogynist Keito]] calls her a "[[SlutShaming dumb, slutty airhead]]" to her face.

* ''Literature/TheShahnameh'': Rostam has gone to war against the Turanians on many occasions, simply as a patriotic Persian defending his country. But when the Turanians kill the innocent Siavash (Rostam's surrogate son) he goes to war for the sole purpose of killing everyone responsible. Same can be said about king Key Khosro who was Siavash's son and the Persians in general.

* In ''Literature/ShadowsOfTheEmpire'', crime lord Prince Xizor would hate Vader anyway, since they're more or less rivals for power under the Emperor. But Xizor has a special hatred for Vader and wants to kill his son, because there was a hazard lab on Xizor's homeworld, a flesh-eating bacteria escaped, and Vader had the site - and the city around it, including Xizor's family - "sterilized" (ie. ''incinerated'') from orbit. Xizor erased all record of this, but Vader's spies find out about this near the end of the novel.
* For the first eleven books of the ''Literature/DresdenFiles'' series, Harry fought vampires, necromancers, werewolves, faeries and [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin God]] knows what else because it was his job and because he [[WeHelpTheHelpless helps the helpless]]. The twelfth book, ''Literature/{{Changes}}'' (whose very name is a change from the IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming of the rest of the series), has the monsters bring the fight to Harry. The first line promises a rampage to end all rampages. And it was. It was spectacular. Fuck with Harry Dresden's [[spoiler:family]], and he will be willing to sell his soul to get back at you. Not that he does, but it's close:
-->'''Harry Dresden:''' [[spoiler: I answered the phone, and Susan Rodriguez said, "They've taken our daughter."]]
* Subverted in ''Literature/TheActsOfCaine''. For the main bad guy (the Blind God) and his minions, everything is impersonal, and that anonymous hunger is their defining trait. There are lots of side characters (Raithe, Kierendal, Orbek, Avery Shanks) with personal grudges against the main character, since Caine has a tendency [[WalkingDisasterArea to ruin people's lives]]. But the protagonist himself doesn't count, despite the horrible things done to his family and friends, not because he doesn't take their [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge vengeance personally]], but because ''he takes every single fight personally''. Something as trivial as getting drunk and shouting at him is enough to get your jaw broken, minimum.
* Daine's RoaringRampageOfRevenge in ''Literature/TheImmortals''. She didn't ''like'' Ozorne very much before, but she wasn't gung-ho about doing what the Graveyard Hag wanted... [[spoiler:until Ozorne had Numair (fake) killed]]. Daine promptly unleashes her new necromantic powers and awakens a horde of dinosaur fossils to storm through Ozorne's palace.
* ''Literature/The39Clues'': [[BrotherSisterTeam Amy and Dan]] don't just want to beat [[RichBitch Isabel]] in the clue hunt, they want to do it because [[YouKilledMyFather she murdered their parents]].
* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'':
** In the novel ''The Andalite Chronicles'', Visser 32 (the future Visser Three), promises Elfangor that he will kill Elfangor for all of the crap Elfangor has put him through, and that he would make it personal. Very personal. Visser Three kept his word in the first book of the main series when [[spoiler:he turned into a horrible monster and ''ate Elfangor alive''.]]
** Marco and Jake when the Yeerks went after their families. Marco, in particular, battled his way through half the Yeerk Pool with the rest of the group helping him, to save his mother. He also took on several hork-bajir and human controllers singlehandedly to save his father, although Rachel showed up for backup partway through.
** Don't forget David and Rachel. After two books with no interaction, Rachel swears to kill David after he [[spoiler:almost kills]] Tobias. David in turn makes Rachel his number one target after she [[spoiler:jams a fork into his ear and threatens to kill his parents.]]
** Rachel also almost killed Taylor after she tortured Tobias, and only Tobias's pleas stopped her. Tobias got one of his own when his mother was being targeted by the Yeerks.
* ''Literature/SisterhoodSeries'' by Creator/FernMichaels: The first 7 books have almost all the members of the Vigilantes wronged in some way. Naturally, it is ''quite'' personal for them. Some of the books after that have the Vigilantes taking action, because one of their friends or loved ones is in trouble.

* In ''[[Literature/MaridAudran When Gravity Fails]]'', the killer leaves a message, written in the blood of his last victim, next to the corpse, saying, "Audran, you're next." Up until that point, Audran didn't even know the guy knew he existed. Suddenly, matters become much more urgent.
* It pops up with a vengeance, complete with DisposableWoman, in the second ''[[Literature/ChroniclesOfAmber Amber]]'' novel. [[spoiler:A minor character murders one of Corwin's casual flings.]] It's not a good idea to cross Corwin.
--->'''Corwin:''' I spoke not a word when I unhorsed him, nor afterward, and I did not use my blade, though he drew his own. I hurled his broken body into a high oak tree, and when I looked back it was dark with birds.
* In Michelle Paver's "Literature/TheChroniclesOfAncientDarkness: Oathbreaker," Torak swears he will avenge his cousin [[spoiler: Bale]] and kill Soul-Eater Thiazzi. [[spoiler: However, when he finds Thiazzi (staying in the tree Torak was born in, no less), he has to break his oath in order to save Renn, who is trapped inside with a fire and who is quickly running out of breath.]]

* ''Literature/HonorHarrington'':
** The titular heroine is quite willing to make peace with the people she's fought for most of her career in a sometimes very vicious and brutal war that has cost her many friends, because they were only doing exactly what ''she'' would have done in their place. The sneak attack on Manticore that kills most of her extended family (as well as several million other civilians) by the Mesan Alignment, on the other hand -- ''that'' has her out for blood.
** Queen Elizabeth III had it out for Haven because their agents assassinated her father. She's since discovered that the Alignment, ultimately, was the reason for Haven's expansionism which led to her father's death, and is not at all pleased. The Havenites aren't too happy about the revelation either; the Alignment's manipulation re-started military hostilities and resulted in the death of the President of Haven's [[spoiler:lover and ''de facto'' husband]]. And when Eloise Pritchart carries a grudge against someone, that someone is going to die. Painfully. The only thing that can make the Alignment's situation worse is [[spoiler:having Manticore and Haven join up in a military and political alliance -- which they do]].
** After discovering all of the above, the Alignment does the only thing it can do: [[RunOrDie get the hell out of Dodge]]. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like they'll be able to get out fast enough...
* In the ''Literature/RainbowMagic'' series, Rachel takes it personally when Jack Frost threatens to ruin her mom's birthday.
* In ''Literature/PleaseDontTellMyParentsImASupervillain'', one of the things that keeps the superhero/supervillain fights nonlethal and relatively harmless is that everyone goes to a great deal of effort to keep things from getting personal. Villains who prey on kids or heroes who try too hard to discover supervillain secret identities tend to get "accidentally" killed.
* In ''[[Literature/DavidIsaaksShockAndAwe Shock and Awe]]'', Carla hates Arabs because her brother was killed in 9/11.
* In ''Literature/CoilingDragon'', when Linley discovers that [[spoiler:the [[LightIsNotGood Radiant Church]] killed his mother]], he makes it his life's goal to destroy them (and, along the way, gathers a group of followers that want to do the same).
* In ''Literature/TheFalconer'' the protagonist kills [[TheFairFolk faeries]] because they killed her mother.
* ''Literature/DebtOfHonor'':
** It's revealed at the beginning of the novel that Yamata's reason for starting a war with the United States was because he was orphaned during World War II when his family chose to commit suicide during the invasion of Saipan rather than be captured by the Marines.
** Ron Jones says this of his motivation for fighting against Japan, as the son of his mentor when he was a sonarman aboard ''USS Dallas'' was aboard ''USS Asheville'' when it was sunk.
* Yerrininae from ''Literature/CompanionsCodex'' didn't take the death of his beloved at the hands of Dahlia well. The only thing stopping him from cruelly killing her are the plans of Lolth and first priestess Berrelip for Dahlia to [[spoiler: become Matron of the next incarnation of House Do'Urden]]. They don't stop him from having a good time hitting [[spoiler: Entreri]] sensless multiple times a day, though.
* In ''Literature/TheSouthernReachTrilogy'', [[spoiler: The psychologist/director]] used to live in the place that became Area X and her mother disappeared together with everyone else within it when the border came down, which later motived her to work for the Southern Reach no matter the cost.
* ''Literature/VillainsByNecessity'':
** Sam starts the book under the belief that the Assassin's Guild, the closest thing he has to a family, are all abandoning their trade because it's a much less stable business as evil is being wiped out of the world. After finding out exactly what [[BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood whitewashing]] actually entails, he realizes they were forced against their will into leaving their old lives behind, and vows to kill Mizzamir for it.
** Cited as [[spoiler: the reason behind Blackmail's final break with the Six Heroes. When his brother turned evil, he had asked Mizzamir to be merciful... and Mizzamir turned his brother into a warhorse. It's implied that this is the same warhorse he rode and lovingly cared for until Fenwick's men killed it.]]
** Valeriana's grudge against Sir Fenwick - the Verdant Company hunted her race to near total extinction, including her husband, daughter, and unborn son.
* In ''[[Literature/FortunesOfWar Dreadnought!]]'', when Piper's friend Merete reveals herself as TheMole for [[BigBad Rittenhouse]], she explains that the motivation for both her and one of the captains most loyal to Rittenhouse to join him was from when Orion pirates attacked a passenger ship that both her family and the captain's son were on. The Orions butchered everyone except Merete, who was a child and able to hide from them. Their grief and anger has simmered ever since then, making them both easy to bring to Rittenhouse's side [[spoiler:although Merete genuinely likes Piper and the book's events have shaken her trust in Rittenhouse, and Piper is gradually able to make her see that she doesn't matter to him and bring her around]].
* ''Literature/{{Threadbare}}'':
** One of the primary pieces of advice given when fighting dwarves is ''don't make it personal''. They're quite understanding of the realities of war, and will invoke NothingPersonal on themselves. You can go to war with dwarves, and win or lose they'll be happy to trade with you after. If you do make it personal, however (such as by breaking oaths or claiming that they're the ones who started the war when they didn't), then they will hold a grudge for generations, passing it down from parent to child like a treasured heirloom.
** The daemon known as Anayse Lay'di, the BigBad, normally doesn't care one whit about mortals. In fact, her entire motivation is little more than "wouldn't it be funny if I tricked a country into destroying itself?" However, she becomes more and more annoyed at Threadbare, culminating in [[spoiler:her ultimate defeat after she had seemingly won. She spent ''fifteen years'' working on that plan, only to be foiled by a goddamn ''teddy bear'']]. Of course, there's more than a little MoralMyopia here; Threadbare never held a grudge against her, [[CrimeOfSelfDefense he just wanted to keep his people safe]].

* Subverted in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''. Roy pursues Xykon due to an oath of revenge, but not for his sake. His father swore the oath after his mentor was killed by Xykon, but [[JerkAss was too lazy to pursue it and handed it to Roy]] who tries to fulfill it out of duty -- but after he [[spoiler:dies and spends some time in heaven with his father]] Roy begins to actively hate his father. He keeps pursuing Xykon, though, because he feels that saving the world is a lot more important than spitefully trying to anger his father.
* In ''Webcomic/LookingForGroup'' we learn that if you failed to kill the target personally, the next best thing is to [[http://www.lfgcomic.com/page/186 resurrect him so you can kill him personally one second later]]. Bonus KickTheDog points if you claim intention to do it over and over!

* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance''. Torg is all set to kill Lord Horribus for [[spoiler:killing Alt-Zoe]]. But, at the last second, he decides [[SaveTheWorld saving the world]] is more important, and settles for knocking Horribus down a steep hill instead. And it's revealed he wasn't exactly trying to "make him pay" -- [[spoiler:he wanted to make up for failing to keep her safe as he had promised]].
* In ''Webcomic/TheDreamlandChronicles'', Nicodemus to Alex, for the [[ScarsAreForever scar]]

* Pranger's Bangers during the "Resident Mad Scientist" arc in ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary''. Kevyn describes them as having "a grudge and a contract"...which overlap. The problem is eventually solved with a spot of TimeTravel (incidental to solving a completely different problem).

** For most of Season One Admiral Zhao thought Zuko was little more than an annoyance. Once he learns that Zuko was the one who rescued Aang from his clutches (via the Blue Spirit disguise) he's immediately out for blood.

* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond''. Terry believes his relationship with Season One BigBad Blight is personal. Blight is ignorant of this.

** In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E26TwilightsKingdomPart2 Twilight's Kingdom – Part 2]]", while Tirek did plenty of evil, horrific things throughout his time as BigBad, destroying Twilight's home makes her go berserk and attack him with everything she has. She doesn't seem to feel any remorse about [[DraggedOffToHell sending him back to Tartarus either]].
** In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E25ToWhereAndBackAgainPart1 To Where and Back Again – Part 1]]", Discord is indifferent to Queen Chrysalis kidnapping the most important figures of Equestria, but when he learns [[MoralityPet Fluttershy]] was one of them, Discord gets pissed and decides to come with Starlight, Thorax and Trixie just to save his one friend that cares about (and is cared about by) him.

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[[quoteright:335:[[ComicBook/ThePunisherWelcomeBackFrank https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ma_gnucci.png]]]]

->''"In all my years of conquest... violence... slaughter... it was never personal. But I'll tell you now, what I'm about to do to your stubborn, annoying little planet -- I'm going to enjoy it. Very, very much."''
-->-- '''ComicBook/{{Thanos}}''', ''Film/AvengersEndgame''

%% One page quote is sufficient. Please use the quotes tab for additional entries.

* ''Anime/StrainStrategicArmoredInfantry''; as if her beloved older brother [[EverybodysDeadDave killing her whole school]] didn't already give Sara Werec this complex, [[spoiler:he goes and offs Carris too, just after exposing her true identity.]] True, he ''did'' have a bit of a suicide wish...
* In ''Anime/{{K}}'' Tatara Totsuka from the Red Clan, HOMRA, is killed before the start of the anime. This causes the rest of the Clan to try to hunt down and kill the killer. It is stated they have bonds that run thicker than blood, so doing the same to any other member would prompt the same response. [[spoiler: Reisi Munakata kills Mikoto Suoh, the Red King. However, HOMRA doesn't go after him. Though Anna can't forgive him, she knows Mikoto wouldn't want Reisi killed for it. It also helps that Reisi genuinely feels sorry for killing him.]]
* The final arc of ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' has Kenshin fighting Enishi Yukishiro, his brother-in-law because Kenshin accidentally killed [[spoiler:Tomoe Yukishiro, Enishi's sister, and Kenshin's first wife.]] Enishi makes it clear that this is personal, by sending Kenshin into a "living hell" by defeating him and killing Kenshin's lover [[spoiler:Kaoru, though he actually only kidnaps her.]]
* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'':
** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'': Amuro Ray and Char Aznable become mortal enemies after the tragic death of Lalah, who has been so dear to both of them.
** ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam'' has Domon Kasshu, who is ''really'' pissed at his brother Kyoji for getting their mother killed and father imprisoned. [[spoiler:Which turns out to be a frame-up by the Japanese government; when he learns the truth, Domon switches targets accordingly]]. He's also out to get Master Asia after learning he's in cahoots with the Devil Gundam. On a smaller scale, there's Andrew Graham of Neo-Canada who is totally uninterested in fighting anyone but Argo Gulskii, as he blames Argo for his wife's death.
** In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'', [[VillainProtagonist Shinn Asuka]] wants [[HeroAntagonist Kira Yamato]] dead after Kira kills Shinn's love, Stella, only to save the mass from further tragedies she is causing.
*** Kira himself meanwhile opposes Zaft after they supposedly send assassins after Lacus (and further attempts on their life prove him correct) despite them looking like the good guys in the war at first. At the end of the series he personally goes to confront the chairman at gunpoint over this and his attempts to destroy Orb. He also starts viewing Shinn as a serious threat after his first defeat of him, although he doesn't hold a grudge when the war is over.
** This seems to run a lot in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00''. DarkActionGirl in training [[spoiler: Louise Halevy]] wants a piece of the Celestial Being for what she thought to be [[spoiler: massacring her whole family and crippling her.]] Meanwhile, many people want a piece of [[BloodKnight Ali Al-Saachez]] for several reasons:
*** Setsuna F. Seiei wants him dead for manipulating him to [[SelfMadeOrphan kill his own parents]] and becoming a purposeless [[Main/TykeBomb child]] [[ChildSoldiers soldier]].
*** Lockon Stratos wants him dead for [[spoiler:being responsible for the death of his entire family save his twin brother. He fails, unfortunatley, which sets the motivation for the next guy.]]
*** Tieria Erde wants him dead for [[spoiler:killing Lockon, his partner and first love.]]
*** Nena Trinity wants him dead for killing her brothers. [[spoiler:Ironically, she's the one who actually killed Louise's family.]]
*** And Ali's eventual killer? [[spoiler:Lyle Dylandy, the twin brother of the original Lockon Stratos who now took his name. In an aversion of this trope, he didn't exactly kill Ali because he killed his brother. In fact, he offered him one last chance at redemption, which Ali promptly refused.]]
** In ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamAGE Gundam AGE]]'', one of Grodek Ainoa's reasons for hijacking the battleship Diva is to avenge the death of his wife and daughter, who have been murdered by the AxCrazy Unknown Enemies.
*** Flit has it in for Decil thanks to [[spoiler:Yurin's death]] at the end of the first generation, and Decil towards Flit for [[SoreLoser beating him]]. Interestingly, Flit is rather a CombatPragmatist who's perfectly willing to gang up on Decil or fight him with the ''Diva'' itself rather than insisting on a duel... which makes Decil flip out even worse.
*** There's also Asemu and Zeheart, but in Asemu's case it's less about vengeance or anger and more about proving he can fight him equally despite not having psychic powers. He also starts hating on Desil (everyone hates this guy). [[spoiler: When he kills Woolf. But unlike Flit who clashed with Desil for years, Asemu promptly killed him almost immediately, meaning it was personal for about 5 minutes.]]
** In ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans Iron Blooded Orphans]]'', after [[spoiler: Biscuit's death]], Mikazuki Augus declared whoever blocks his way is his enemy and he will crush every last one of them. When he finally get to meet Carta Issue, [[spoiler: the one who killed Biscuit, he prompted to go for a RoaringRampageOfRevenge and immediately shredded every last one of them within a minute without even bothering to speak. Unlike most examples, it remained ambiguous whether Mika took Biscuit's death very personally, or he just ''[[SociopathicHero doesn't want to waste any time on his enemies]] and simply kill them [[TheStoic in his everyday "whatever" mood]]''.]]
*** Gaelio is a much more stricter and tamer example compared to Mika, he has a legitimate grudge against Tekkadan for them being responsible to his friends' maim and deaths, especially [[spoiler: Mika brutally killing Carta [[ExtremeMeleeRevenge in the most undignified way as possible]].]]
*** Ein Dalton makes the other two look ''tame'' in comparison, ever since the death of Lieutenant Crank, one of the only two Gjallarhorn officers who even cared about him in his entire life, he has been plotting to exact his revenge to the "[[WouldHurtAChild sinful children]]" who killed Crank. When he got the chance to exact his revenge, he [[RevengeBeforeReason blamed everyone in Tekkadan for Crank's death]], [[WouldHitAGirl brutalized both Azee and Lafter]], and even going after ''[[RevengeByProxy Kudelia]]'', a politician who has nothing to do with Crank's death.

** In ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', Goku Black ends up generating personal vendettas against him from Future Trunks, Vegeta, and eventually, ''[[BewareOfTheNiceOnes Goku himself]]''. Future Trunks despises him for completely devastating his world which had already experienced so much destruction from the Androids, with [[spoiler: his ''[[HeroKiller mom]]'']] being one of the recent victims. Going off that Vegeta also hates him for killing [[spoiler: Future Bulma]] and making Future Trunks's life miserable. And Goku [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge explodes with absolute rage]] when he learns that Black [[spoiler:stole his body in another timeline, murdered him with it in front of Chi-Chi and Goten, and then went after them too]]. Having three major characters out for his blood to this extent is probably a record for Dragonball villains and really says something about how horrible he is.
* In ''Anime/MazingerZ'', [[BigBad Dr. Hell]] got [[TheHero Kouji's grandfather]] assassinated. After his grandfather died, Kouji swore he WOULD find those responsible and WOULD make them pay. That is one of his motivations to piloting Mazinger-Z and fighting Hell. Moreover he has stated he does not want nobody else loses his/her families cause the ambition of Hell.
** In the sequel, ''Anime/GreatMazinger'', fighting the Mykene became personal to Tetsuya after [[spoiler:Professor Kabuto, his adoptive father [[HeroicSacrifice died to save him]].]]. And in the Gosaku Ota manga version, he wanted Marquiss Yanus dead after she [[spoiler:tore Misato in half to his face]].
** And in the OTHER sequel, ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'', the version manga of Duke Fleed hated Commander Barendos after he [[spoiler:dropped his little siblings from a height from three kilometers]] in front of him. The sole sight or mention of him press HARD Duke's BerserkButton.
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'':
** Orochimaru seems to make it his life's work to earn the hatred of a significant portion of the cast, from Anko Mitarashi and Hiruzen Sarutobi, to Jiraiya and Tsunade, and is probably this to the Leaf as a whole given his goal is to wipe it from the face of the Earth and that he topped its Most Wanted List. Naruto probably feels this way about him too, since even though Oro hasn't done that much to him personally, he doesn't forgive him for murdering the Third or corrupting Sasuke.
** Naruto has this for Kabuto Yakushi after learning that he was a spy for Orochimaru.
** Despite already hunting him for the nine-tailed fox, Pain happened to make things very personal for Naruto when he killed Jiraiya, forced Kakashi into a HeroicSacrifice, and destroyed the Leaf Village. After injuring and potentially killing Naruto's toad allies, his [[MoralEventHorizon stabbing]] [[LivingEmotionalCrutch Hinata]] after [[AnguishedDeclarationOfLove she told Naruto she loved him]] [[BerserkButton is enough to force]] Naruto into his [[SuperpoweredEvilSide six-tailed]], and then [[UpToEleven his eight-tailed]], [[UnstoppableRage states]].
*** Earlier on, there's also Naruto's fight against Neji in the Chunin Exams finals. Neji tries to talk Naruto into giving up by telling him that he has NothingPersonal against him, to which Naruto answers that he ''does'' have a lot against Neji, particularly for how [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown he nearly killed Hinata in the preliminaries]].
** The reason Sasuke JumpedOffTheSlipperySlope. Itachi killed the Uchiha clan and traumatized him with [[MindRape Tsukuyomi]]. Then after [[spoiler:killing Itachi]] he turned his attention to [[spoiler:Konoha because they ordered Itachi to massacre the clan and that led to his RevengeBeforeReason mindset.]]
** Averted by [[spoiler:Tobi/Obito Uchiha. While Rin's death was Obito's StartOfDarkness, and Obito (knowing Kakashi feels guilty about being unable to protect her) plays with Kakashi's feelings for a bit ("Because you let Rin die"), he is well-aware that Kakashi was forced into that situation and admits that it's not Kakashi's fault that he became what he did, but rather the [[CrapsackWorld world's]] fault.]]
*** [[spoiler:Obito is the mastermind of the Nine-Tails attack, the murderer of Naruto Uzumaki's parents, and is the reason Naruto became a jinchūriki shunned by most of Konoha (save for a very few number of people [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe who were always nice to him]]). Obito and his Akatsuki subordinates, including the aforementioned Pain, have relentlessly hunted for Naruto and killed many of his allies. Naruto and Hinata consider it ''very'' personal when Obito kills Neji, [[HeroicSacrifice who died protecting the two of them]]]].
** Madara never forgot about how Tobirama killed his brother[[spoiler: and when they're both revived in the Fourth Shinobi War, he gets to act on his grudge]].
* ''Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman'': Unlike his teammates, Joe "The Condor" Asakura has a very personal reason to fight the Galactor organization, since they took his parents' lives and almost took his.
* In ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'', Toguro capitalizes on this trope in order to get Yusuke to fight him at his full strength. He does this by first killing [[spoiler:Genkai]] before the finals, and then during his fight with Yusuke, seemingly kills [[spoiler:Kuwabara]], [[spoiler: but he had only pretended to]]. Ironically, [[spoiler:50 years ago, a demon named Kairen had killed all his students and forced him to come to the Dark Tournament, which precipitated his StartOfDarkness.]]
* In ''Manga/{{Monster}}'', Eva is only linked to Johan by her connection to Tenma. But when [[spoiler: Martin dies, Eva decides she's going to go after him herself.]]
* In ''Anime/SonicX'', seeing his friends attacked, injured and imprisoned by the Metarex in the episode ''Testing Time'' gives us [[https://youtu.be/PFQNjwIubDo?t=2m49s Dark Sonic]]. And also show's us a side of Sonic that we've really never seen in full swing before - namely the part of him that you do not, under any circumstances, piss off.
* ''Anime/YuGiOh'': Do NOT mess with Yugi (or Tea, for that matter). Yami WILL kill you. For that matter, don't screw with Mokuba. it's a great way to get Kaiba pissed off.
* The Demon Arc in ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' turned out to be very personal indeed for Negi when [[BigBad Wilhelm]] revealed to him that [[spoiler:he was the demon that [[TakenForGranite petrified]] [[DoomedHometown his hometown]]]]. Cue Negi blindly charging, and having to be pulled out of the line of fire by Kotaro.
** Also, Fate Averruncus. Initially, to Negi, it was just a really powerful evil guy that had to go down, but it was personal for Fate [[MinorInjuryOverreaction because Negi managed to hit him]]. Subsequent encounters made it personal for Negi as well.
** Happened again with Negi to Governor General Kurt Godell after learning Godell was one of many responsible for the destruction of his [[DoomedHometown hometown]]. It gets pretty intense after Negi literally turns into a demon. Even got to the point that ShrinkingViolet Nodoka couldn't use her mind reading book to tell what was going on inside Negi's head save for three sentences "Make them atone. Don't Forgive. Kill them all."
** In chapter 301, Dynamis [[NotSoStoic breaks out of his Stoic facade]]. He laments the fall of the organization's power from boasting an army of thousands to relying on a few relatively weak little girls and that they were forced to play dead to survive. Dynamis blames this VillainDecay on Takamichi and Godel, and really ''really'' '''''really''''' wants to make them pay.
* Terrorist group in ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'' that threatens the safety of TheMultiverse? Pretty bad, but saving worlds and stopping such threats are part of [[HeroesRUs Nanoha's job description]]. Terrorist group that kidnapped and tortured the MysteriousWaif that Nanoha had taken in as her daughter? Okay, [[MamaBear now it's personal]].
** Subverted in ''[[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs A's]]''. Chrono does request that he be put in charge of the Book of Darkness Case since it was responsible for his father's death, but he doesn't view it differently than any other dangerous Lost Logia and he never shows [[AntiVillain the Wolkenritter]] any personal animosity.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
** Though outclassed in depravity by villains such as Szayel-Aporro and Aizen, the Grand Fisher happens to be one of Ichigo's most personal roles for killing his mother and of course for attacking his two sisters so that he could consume their souls as well. Ultimately, it is Isshin Kurosaki who cuts him down.
** Zommari Rureaux, on the verge of defeat against Byakuya, rants about Soul Reapers persecuting Hollows and declaring that they have no right to judge them merely for eating humans. Byakuya then cuts him down, replying that his actions had nothing to do with Soul Reaper duties, but for Zommari's trying to kill his sister Rukia.
** Aizen made it very personal for Hitsugaya after brutally stabbing Momo Hinamori, Aizen's previous lieutenant and Hitsugaya's [[LikeBrotherAndSister friend]], when the former defected from the Soul Society. [[spoiler:Then Aizen tricked Hitsugaya into ''impaling Hinamori'' in chapter 392 and suddenly this trope was cranked UpToEleven.]]
** Aizen thinks Ichigo needs this trope to win a fight. He's wrong.
** The Visoreds had a personal grudge against Aizen for forcing hollowfication on them. [[spoiler: Then Gin sliced Hiyori in half, and cranked this trope up for Shinji, who directed his ire at Aizen, not Gin: Gin was just the subordinate doing Aizen's dirty work, so Aizen was the real threat.]]
** Ishida's battle with Mayuri is one of the most epic cases of this trope in the series, second only to...
** ...Yamamoto's truly incredible [[BerserkButton explosion]] of [[UnstoppableRage rage]] in Chapters 503-505.
* In ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'', it's revealed that Gauron and Sousuke initially had nothing against each other. And then Gauron decided to attack the Guerilla village Sousuke had been living in, mass slaughtering all the citizens while Sousuke and Kalinin were out. Not to mention how, after that, he decided to accept a job from the KGB to go after Sousuke and Kalinin and kill them. After all ''that''... it became personal.
* In ''Manga/{{Knights}}'', Mist is especially driven to stop the CorruptChurch and their [[BurnTheWitch witch-hunts]] after seeing his own mother burned at the stake, [[spoiler:and at his father's hands.]]

* The very first episode of ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun'' has Saten trying to be BadassNormal by stopping an escaping bank robber. Unfortunately for her, she's just a teenage girl while her target is an adult man. Mikoto witnesses the bad guy kicking into Saten. Cue Mikoto showing [[WaveMotionGun why]] is her nickname "the Railgun" despite the fact that as a BadassBystander, she has no real reason to join the fray.
* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'': "Stiyl, I'm gonna go punch Fiamma. While I'm gone, you take care of Index."

* In one episode of ''Manga/DetectiveConan'', the murder takes place at a reunion of Kogoro's old high school Judo club, with both the victim and killer being members (and therefore [[TrueCompanions longtime friends]]). Kogoro's anger over the situation and resolve to see it through to the end convinces Conan to [[ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself let him have this one]], though he does help out by subtly nudging Kogoro in the right direction.
** Also, did the killer of the week target Ran? Conan will take that ''very'', '''very''' personally.
** Really, as a general rule, if you have any plans at all of getting away with your murder/other crime, you should definitely not run afoul of this trope with Kogoro. [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass The bumbling drunk routine will go out the window]], he will find you and he will make sure you face justice, probably with some expert-level Judo moves thrown in.

** Let's just say that Smoker didn't take [[spoiler:Vergo's]] betrayal of the Marines very well and leave it at that. Then [[spoiler:Vergo]] went and attacked his subordinates. Ultimately, Smoker realizes that he can't beat [[spoiler:Vergo]], so he steals the handicap that was preventing the nearby [[spoiler:Trafalgar Law]], who had an even bigger instance of this trope towards him, from winning. The end result is [[spoiler:Vergo]] being chopped to pieces and blown up. That's right: a One Piece villain, in ''canon,'' was KilledOffForReal.
** In ''Anime/OnePieceFilmZ'', this was the Straw Hats' main motivation for going after Z. He attacked them after they went out of their way to heal him, had one of his subordinates [[spoiler: rejuvenate Nami, Robin, Chopper and Brook by twelve years]] and finally, [[spoiler: taking Luffy's hat.]]
** Law's plan and alliance with the Straw Hats was not to go after Kaido, as he initially claimed. In truth, it was to screw over Donquixote Doflamingo for [[spoiler:murdering his father figure Corazon thirteen years ago]]. Law himself is prepared to fight Doflamingo one-on-one and, even if he dies in the ensuing battle, the destruction of the [=SMILEs=] factory on Punk Hazard he orchestrated will ensure that Doflamingo will die anyway at the hands of Kaido. Since Law intentionally pissed off Doflamingo with the entire plan and [[spoiler:the killing of two loyal subordinates]], the conflict is personal on both ends.

* ''Manga/{{Holyland}}'': Masaki originally did not want to lead the rest of the street fighters against King, but when [[spoiler: Yagi tried to kidnap Mai]], he changed his mind.

* ''Manga/FairyTail'':
** This is the [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Tartarus]] guild member [[AnIcePerson Silver's]] history with Gray, as he makes no secret that he absolutely '''''loathes''''' him. [[spoiler:Which actually makes sense, when you realize he's actually Deliora, the demon who destroyed Gray's hometown and forced his beloved mentor and surrogate mother to sacrifice her life to stop. He never forgave her or any of her students. For those same reasons, and considering he's also currently using Gray's father, Silver's, corpse [[DemonicPossession as a vessel]],]] this trope is in full swing by Gray to him as well. Subverted when it turns out that he isn't really Deliora, he's actually [[spoiler:the [[OurZombiesAreDifferent reanimated body]] of Silver Fullbuster, and he was just saying all that to Grey to make him angry enough to kill him [[TakeUpMySword so as to avenge him and defeat Tartarus]].]]
** Zeref's desire to die is so great that he deliberately tries to invoke this with protagonist Natsu Dragneel, [[spoiler:who, as both his younger brother and the demon E.N.D., is the only being capable of killing him]]. He hopes that if Natsu is driven by rage, it'll empower him enough to kill Zeref.
* ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'':
** [[ArchEnemy Shizuo Heiwajima and Izaya Orihara]] [[HateAtFirstSight hated each other the moment they first met]] -- Shizuo was able to tell [[{{Jerkass}} what]] [[{{Troll}} kind of]] [[ManipulativeBastard person]] Izaya was while Izaya hated the fact that Shizuo's TooDumbToFool status and aggression made him unable to manipulate him, and therefore a potential SpannerInTheWorks for his plans. The intervening years of numerous {{Noodle Incident}}s is what made that hatred ''personal''. By the time the series starts, Shizuo's flies into a homicidal rage just by seeing him, while Izaya, [[LoveYouAndEverybody who espouses that he loves all humans]], admits that Shizuo is the one person in the world he actually hates and goes to great lengths to kill him, including harming those close to Shizuo.
** [[spoiler:[[PoisonousFriend Izaya]] isn't all that fond of [[ThisIsUnforgivable Nakura]] or [[BigBad Yodogiri]] either.]]
* ''Manga/RosarioToVampire'': Kurumu promptly develops this mindset against [[AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil Security]] [[DirtyCop Committee]] member [[FemaleMisogynist Keito]] calls her a "[[SlutShaming dumb, slutty airhead]]" to her face.
* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', Eren [[spoiler:when he sees the abnormal Titan who ate Thomas while in Titan form. He suddenly gains the strength to overpower the numerous Titans pinning him and charges the abnormal one uncaring of the fact that his arms are being torn off in the process. He then proceeds to bite the Titan's weakspot and throws him at the other Titans while simultaneously decapitating the one he was biting.]]
** Eren's feelings towards the Colossal and Armored Titans who destroyed his hometown. It's the same as his feelings towards all Titans, but turned [[UpToEleven Up To Eleven]].
---> '''Eren:''' I'll do everything in my power to make your deaths as excruciating as possible.
* Bon from ''Manga/BlueExorcist'' is someone who takes this trope too far as a character flaw. He tends to take everything personally, from Rin hiding that he's the son of Satan, to [[spoiler:Shima serving as a DoubleReverseQuadrupleAgent between the Order and the Illuminati]]. He feels betrayed that Rin wouldn't confide in him his true heritage, even though he never stopped talking about how much he hates everything Satan related (and indeed, he and everyone else started ignoring Rin after the truth came out for a while) and can't understand that the latter example has nothing to do with him. It's not until Shima calls him out for acting like a spoiled brat who thinks the world revolves around him that Bon starts to get over this behavior.
* In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'', Rohan Kishibe's motivation to join the hunt for Yoshikage Kira is this trope. [[spoiler: Kira's first victim was Rohan's CoolBigSis Reimi, and she died [[HeroicSacrifice protecting him]].]]
* In ''Manga/HunterXHunter'':
** This is the core of Kurapika's motivation for almost everything he does: He is the LastOfHisKind among the Kurta Clan, which the Phantom Troupe had wiped out many years ago--Kurta eyes glow red when under distress, and sell for very high prices on the black market. From that point on, Kurapika has dedicated his life to seeking out and killing off every member of the Phantom Troupe.
** The Phantom Troupe itself, meanwhile, plays with this trope. Uvogin has no personal stake in anyone he kills, and in fact is so remorseless that he feels nothing when killing people. However, he is absolutely ''thrilled'' [[HeroKiller to kill people who have developed personal grudges against him]], and goes from indifference to elation when Kurapika fights him one-on-one and Uvogin learns Kurapika's motivations. [[spoiler:When Kurapika actually manages to kill off Uvogin, this kicks off this trope in Nobunaga, as Uvogin and Nobunaga were friends, and [[CycleOfRevenge Nobunaga swears revenge on Kurapika]].]] Meanwhile, Nobunaga attempts to nominate IdiotHero Gon into the Phantom Troupe, and while it fails, for some reason, this enrages Troupe member Feitan so much that he makes it a personal goal of his to kill Gon, though it's a low priority and he doesn't actively seek Gon out.
* ''Anime/GaoGaiGar'':
** It was personal from before the beginning of the series, after EI-01 slammed into the shuttle Guy was piloting, nearly killed him, and did kill his girlfriend's family.
** Forty-eight episodes later, after the force behind the Zonders has been destroyed... Mikoto is forced to become the next evolution of Zonder-esque machine life-form.
* ''Anime/BagiTheMonsterOfMightyNature'': Ryo in the FramingDevice has a personal vendetta against Bagi — she killed his mother when she promised not to. He didn't know she was set free, however.
* ''Anime/HiSpeedJecy'': Erin's crusade against Major Sabatini is in part because her brother got the business end of the very corruption he was investigating.
* ''Anime/IrresponsibleCaptainTylor'': Admiral Donan after being "outwitted" by the Soyokaze early in the show attempts to track Tylor down for revenge. He leads his entire fleet to orbit around a star then fires on the Soyokaze. The star's gravity well changes the course of the shots, hitting the star and causing it to flare up and destroy his own fleet. His ship crippled, Donan asks Dom if he managed to take out the Soyokaze as well and Dom confirms his success.
* ''Anime/Megazone23 Part II'': B.D. framed Shogo for Tomomi's murder.
* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'': Once Ed realizes that Scar is responsible for Nina's death, he begins to take his conflict with the man more seriously. But once he learns he also killed Winry's parents, he begins pursuing the man with even more rage.
** Scar and Kimblee end up having this dynamic with one another upon meeting each other face-to-face on a train to Briggs. They recognize each other from the Ishvalan Civil War when Kimblee personally attacked Scar's hometown and slaughtered his family. While for Scar, it's personal because Kimblee killed his family, it's personal for Kimblee because the idea that he failed to kill someone in front of him in the midst of a battle irritates him.

* At one point in ''ComicBook/{{Preacher}}'', Allfather D'aronique explains to Jesse Custer why he changed his plans from exploiting [[CompellingVoice the word]] to killing him:
-->'''Allfather D'aronique:''' You killed her, Custer. [[spoiler:You killed my Aunt Marie!]]\\
'''Jesse:''' ''[[spoiler:Grandma.]]''

* Played for laughs in issue #4 of ''Comicbook/TheAwesomeSlapstick''. When the Neutron Bum is rampaging through Manhattan, Steve Harmon flatly refuses to get involved (he was waiting in line for a concert). He leaps into action only after the Bum attacks the Tower Records building.

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' has so many villains that fit this mold, he can sometimes seem as though he isn't actually doing any superhero work but is rather trying to survive the next villain who wants to get even:
** The original Green Goblin, ComicBook/NormanOsborn, started off trying to take control of the New York underworld, but by his second appearance he was dedicated completely to killing Spider-Man. See quote for this trope. It's only been during the recent ''ComicBook/DarkReign'' crossover that he has begun to do other villainous things besides messing with Peter Parker.
** The same goes for the second Green Goblin, Norman's son Harry. He went into villainy just to kill Spider-Man as revenge for his father's [[ComicBookDeath "death"]]. It doesn't help that he was always going through a HeelFaceRevolvingDoor so he never really wanted to do anything evil when he wasn't after Spidey's blood.
** The first ComicBook/{{Venom}} was Eddie Brock, who was also only after Spider-Man and not only had no aspirations for further villainy, but he was something of a SociopathicHero. Once he agreed to a truce with Spider-Man, he became an AntiHero.
** The Jackal was also mostly interested in Spider-Man and was the villain responsible for kick starting ''ComicBook/TheCloneSaga''... apparently ForTheEvulz.
** Kraven the Hunter was hired to captured Spidey one time and failed, resulting in him becoming obsessed with Peter Parker to the point where he was DrivenToSuicide.
*** Over the years, his wife and three children all took turns trying to kill Spidey in revenge.
** The MadScientist Spencer Smythe was likewise hired to build spider-slayer robots. He was driven to insanity and financial ruin due to building wave after wave of robots designed to kill Spider-Man, only for them to be busted into pieces. Eventually, he died of old age.
*** His son then took up his mantle during a single story arc where he built an entire robot army of spider-slayers which, as expected, were destroyed by Spidey. He even turned himself into a cyborg in order to beat Spidey one-on-one. [[ForegoneConclusion He lost]].
** During ''ComicBook/SpiderVerse'', ComicBook/SpiderGirl, [[ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan Miles Morales]] and Spider-Gwen all say one variation of this to the Inheritors after they end up doing something that ''really'' pissed them off: [[spoiler:Killing Mayday's family, destroying Rio Morales' gravestone and forcing a Peter Parker Gwen was trying to save to sacrifice himself.]] For the last two, the Inheritor who brought this about [[EvilCannotComprehendGood just has no idea why]].

* The one thing that all ComicBook/IronMan villains have in common is that they really, really, ''really'' hate Tony Stark. [[StalkerWithACrush Or are psychotically obsessed with him]].

* This is the core motivation of the ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' story arc, "The Dark Ages," with Charles and Royal Williams spending years on a vendetta against the man who killed their parents twenty years ago.
* The conflict at the heart of ''ComicBook/CivilWarII'' is [[spoiler: due to the death of ComicBook/WarMachine as when a new character with precognive powers emerges, [[ComicBook/MsMarvel Captain Marvel]], who was Rhodey's lover and present when he died, wants to use the character to make {{Precrime Arrest}}s and ComicBook/IronMan, who was Rhodey's best friend, still believes that punishment should come arrest the crime.]]
* In the Eleventh Doctor ''ComicBook/DoctorWhoTitan'' comics, Alice has this level of personal hatred of [[BigBad the Talent Scout]] after he impersonates her dead mother in an attempt to manipulate her.
* ''ComicBook/UltimateGalactusTrilogy'': Captain America will not shy away from saving the world, but taking down a cult of aliens that pervert the idea of God... that's something else.
* ''ComicBook/AgeOfReptiles'':
** "Tribal Warfare": The ''Deinonychus'' pack has a grudge against the ''T. rex'' family for stealing a kill. The grudge also extends the other way when the ''Deinonychus'' pack steals all the ''Tyrannosaurus'' eggs [[spoiler: and kills the baby ''T. rex]].
** "The Hunt": The ''Allosaurus'' ([[AllThereInTheManual named Santo in the prologue]]) has a grudge against the ''Ceratosaurus'' pack for killing his mother. [[spoiler: When the ''Allosaurus'' kills the ''Ceratosaurus'' pack leader, it's revealed the ''Ceratosaurus'' had a mate and offspring, who just witnessed the ''Allosaurus'' kill their mate/father]].
** "Ancient Egyptian": The female ''Spinosaurus'' struggles to forgive the male when he kills her babies from a previous ''Spinosaurus''. While they already have a hatred of predators, the alpha male ''Paralititan'' has a grudge against the male ''Spinosaurus'' for injuring his foot and the ''Carcharodontosaurus'' for killing one of his babies.
* In the ''ComicBook/SuperMetroid'' comic, Samus discovers the dead hatchling and swears to avenge it, and opens up with everything she has on Mother Brain.
* In ''ComicBook/TheWarlord'', the Vashek assassins despise the Warlord for defeating their New Atlanteans, and Y'smalla has an even more personal stake because the Warlord killed the man she loved during his war against the Atlanteans.

* In ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2'', Po slowly discovers that the BigBad he's trying to stop happens to be responsible for massacring most of his species. Subverted in that he spends most of the movie trying to get answers about this, but ultimately lets it go and attains inner peace. In addition, every villain in the series, including the aforementioned one, has some kind of personal stake in their motives.

* The popularity of the phrase possibly originates from ''Film/JawsTheRevenge'''s tagline: "This time...It's personal." Given that the film came out in 1987, the concept is probably substantially older.
* In every ''Film/LethalWeapon'' movie, the villains threaten Murtaugh's family, and in the [[Film/LethalWeapon2 second film]] [[spoiler:we learn the villains have not only killed Riggs' current squeeze, but also killed his wife ''previous to the events of the first movie'']].

* In ''Film/KingArthurLegendOfTheSword'' even after finding out that Vortigern murdered his parents, tried to murder him, and that the throne is his birthright, Arthur still has no interest in being king, only wanting to return his life as a street-level gang lord. But then, as Arthur is being dragged off to be decapitated for being a threat to the kingdom, [[CreateYourOwnHero Vortigern kills Lucy, the prostitute that raised Arthur]], the only mother Arthur's ever known [[ForTheEvulz Just. Because. He. Can.]] [[SeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime Then Arthur escapes his execution]] and the only thing on his mind is avenging Lucy's death.
* In ''Film/Robocop1987'' the titular character initially arrests Clarence Boddicker, the man responsible for wounding him so grievously that he was made a candidate for OCP's clandestine cyborg program, but the next time he encounters Boddicker, after he tried to ambush and kill [=RoboCop=] and messily gunned down his former partner, [=RoboCop=] ominous walks towards Boddicker- who [[ISurrenderSuckers seemingly is surrendering]]- with his gun out. He tells Boddicker 'I'm not arresting you, anymore'...

* This is one reason why ''Film/TheRingTwo'' was less successful than the first: Samara's wrath was horrifying in the original precisely because it was ''impersonal''. Not only was she out to kill people who had never done anything to her, she was out to kill anyone who watched the video, regardless of whether they had done anything wrong ever. In the sequel she targets Rachel and Aiden specifically, and the feeling of "it could happen to you," so powerful in the first film, was accordingly defenestrated.
* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
** ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'':
--->'''Vader:''' Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father.\\
'''Luke:''' He told me enough. He told me [[YouKilledMyFather you killed him]].\\
'''Vader:''' No. '''I''' [[IAmYourFather am your father]]!
** It continued getting personal for Luke in the ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' universe when [[spoiler:the new Sith Lord, his own student and nephew, [[Literature/LegacyOfTheForce killed his wife]].]] Yeah, he had a bit of a problem with that.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** ''Film/StarTrek2009'': Both Kirk and Spock have lost a parent to the BigBad Nero. It's also personal on Nero's side, [[spoiler:[[InsaneTrollLogic as he blames Spock for the destruction of his home planet]]. In reality, it was destroyed by a natural disaster while Spock was the only person who was actively trying to save it]].
** ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'': Things start to become personal for Kirk ''and'' Spock when Pike dies. And when Kirk dies in a HeroicSacrifice...let's just say the result for Khan was NOT pretty.
* The lesson learned from the movie ''Film/{{Taken}}'' is never, ''ever'', '''ever''' kidnap a [[RetiredBadass retired federal agent's]] daughter, as he will proceed to [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge mercilessly carve a bloody swath]] through your organization to get her back.
-->'''[[spoiler:Saint Clair]]:''' Please understand... it was all business. It wasn't personal.\\
'''Bryan:''' It was all personal to me. ''[shoots him with every round in his pistol]''

* Even Franchise/{{Godzilla}} can take things personally:
** The conflict in ''Film/GodzillaVsDestoroyah'' becomes personal after the latter brutally tortures Godzilla Junior to death, then [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown attacks Godzilla while he is]] ''[[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown grieving]]''.
** Matches between Godzilla and his {{Archenemy}} King Ghidorah often come off this way; in Scott Ciencein's novelisation, ''[[Film/GodzillaVsGigan Godzilla vs. The Space Monster]]'' this is made explicit, as Ghidorah's gleeful enjoyment of what he does, mockery of his opponents, and unprovoked attack on Monster Island ''really'' piss the big guy off. By the end of the novel (and the later films in the franchise), it's personal on Ghidorah's side as well, given the damage Godzilla has done to him.
** In ''Film/Godzilla2014'', it's implied that the skeleton in the beginning is another of Godzilla's species, making it possible the reason why Godzilla is so hellbent on killing the [=MUTOs=] because they killed either his mate or family.
** In ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'', Godzilla and Ghidorah treat their feud like this. Though for Godzilla, it becomes ''much'' more personal after Ghidorah [[spoiler: kills Mothra who is Godzilla's loyal ally]]. Godzilla appears downright ''furious'' and when [[spoiler: he becomes Burning Godzilla, he brutally annihilates Ghidorah.]]
* In ''Film/{{Sunset}}'', it becomes personal for Wyatt Earp after Christina is murdered.
* In ''Film/{{Tombstone}}'', another movie about Wyatt Earp, it becomes increasingly personal as the film goes on and [[spoiler: the Cowboys keep killing people connected to him.]] This culminates in [[spoiler: the death of Wyatt's brother]], at which point he declares "I see a red sash, I kill the man wearin' it!"
* In ''Film/DieHard'', the first terrorist [=McClane=] manages to take out happens to be the little brother of TheDragon Karl. Karl does ''not'' take it well and spends the rest of the movie in a RoaringRampageOfRevenge, being fully willing to put their entire plan at risk for the sake of putting a bullet in the head of his brother's killer.
** Zigzagged in ''Film/DieHardWithAVengeance'' where Simon is apparently blowing up buildings as part of an elaborate scheme to screw with, and eventually kill, [=McClane=] as payback for killing his brother Hans (the BigBad of the first film). Then it's revealed that was all a cover for Simon's scheme of robbing the Federal Reserve and that Simon didn't even like his brother. ''Then'' it's revealed that while Simon's in it for the money and he didn't like his brother, he still took the man's death personally:
--> '''Simon:''' There's a difference between not liking one's brother and not caring when some dumb Irish flatfoot throws him out a window!
** Nothing is personal in ''Film/LiveFreeOrDieHard'', at least not until the bad guys make the ''huge'' mistake of [[spoiler: kidnapping [=McClane's=] daughter.]] Of course, this was in response to [[spoiler: [=McClane=] killing the BigBad's girlfriend Mai]], after which Gabriel said "You want to make it personal? Fine. It's personal." Still, it was a ''very very bad idea'' on Gabriel's part, and he paid the price eventually. Don't fuck with [=McClane's=] family.

* In ''Film/TheExpendables2'', the death of one of the team members turns a meager mission to retrieve weapons-grade plutonium into this trope.
* In ''Film/TheCrossing'', Washington is particularly eager to get back at the Hessians in Trenton because they killed his surrendering troops in Brooklyn.
* ''Film/TheWolfman2010'': Lawrence in relation to [[spoiler:his own father, who is revealed to have killed his wife and oldest son and bit Lawrence, thus spreading the curse to him.]]
* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries''
** ''Film/XMenOriginsWolverine'':\\\
The only thing in the world Victor cares about is his baby brother. When said brother walks out on him, he doesn't take it well.\\\
This is also how Stryker gets Jimmy involved in the Weapon X program.\\\
When Logan gets bashed through a wall by Gambit, he sees Victor. When Gambit appears right behind him, intent on continuing their fight, Logan doesn't even spare him so much as a ''glance'' before elbowing him in the face and fighting Victor.
** Erik wants revenge on Shaw/Schmidt [[YouKilledMyFather for killing his mother]]. One of the reasons it feels like Erik is the hero of ''Film/XMenFirstClass''.
* In ''Film/AustinPowersTheSpyWhoShaggedMe,'' this is present in the film's tagline of "First he fought for the crown, now he's fighting for the family jewels!" While done in a more comedic sense, Austin's desire to take down Dr. Evil becomes personal in the second film when the villain orders the theft of Austin's mojo, the physical manifestation of his libido, rendering the International Man of Mystery impotent. Naturally, Dr. Evil's revenge plan hits below the belt literally and causes Austin to pursue him relentlessly to reclaim his mojo and cure his erectile dysfunction.
* In ''Film/YouveGotMail'' Kathleen Kelly is miffed about Joe Fox claiming putting her bookstore out of business was "nothing personal".
-->'''Joe Fox:''' It wasn't... personal.\\
'''Kathleen Kelly:''' What is that supposed to mean? I am so sick of that. All that means is that it wasn't personal to you. But it was personal to me. It's personal to a lot of people. And what's so wrong with being personal, anyway?\\
'''Joe Fox:''' Uh, nothing.\\
'''Kathleen Kelly:''' Whatever else anything is, it ought to begin by being personal.
* ''Film/TheHidden'': [[SpaceCop Lloyd Gallagher]] has been hunting the evil alien parasite ever since it killed his partner on the planet Altair, so [[CowboyCop he's a lot more reckless]] than the human officer he's paired up with.
* ''Film/AssassinsCreed2016'': Sophia hates Callum after [[spoiler: he kills her father Alan at the end of the movie along with stealing the Apple.]] Before then, their interaction were just business and research.
* ''Film/IShotJesseJames'': Frank James comes after Robert Ford, as Ford killed Frank's younger brother [[UsefulNotes/JesseJames Jesse]].
* ''Film/WarForThePlanetOfTheApes'': Unlike in [[Film/RiseOfThePlanetOfTheApes the first]] [[Film/DawnOfThePlanetOfTheApes two films]], Caesar is fighting selfishly in this film [[spoiler:because his wife, Cornelia, and his eldest son, Blue Eyes, were killed]].

* ''Film/{{Maverick}}''. After Angel learns that Maverick tricked him into backing down from a fight, he's enraged and is determined to get his revenge. He says "Maverick is mine, anyway. But this time it's personal."
* ''Film/{{Unforgiven}}'':
-->'''William Munny:''' That's right. I've killed women and children. I've killed just about everything that walks or crawled at one time or another. And I'm here to kill you, Little Bill - for what you did to Ned.
* ''Film/SplitSecond1992'': Stone has a personal vendetta with the monster, as it previously killed his partner, sending Stone over the edge and turning him into his current cynical and anti-social self, and is constantly leaving him messages to fuck with him.
* ''Film/{{Polar}}''. Mr Blut sends a hit team led by his girlfriend Hilde to kill Duncan Vizla so he won't have to pay his multimillion dollar retirement pension. When Vizla kills Hilde and it's pointed out that it would be smarter just to pay the pension, Blut refuses because the situation has turned personal. [[OnlySaneWoman Vivian]] can't conceal her astonishment at this MoralMyopia.
-->'''Vivian''': Stealing his pension, trying to kill him, ''twice'', and [[IHaveYourWife kidnapping his cute little neighbor]]... ''that'' is personal.

* ''Film/HalloweenAtAuntEthels'': Mark and Mandy are revealed to want to kill Aunt Ethel because she killed Mark's brother and Mandy's sister.

** In ''Film/Godzilla2014'', it's implied that the skeleton in the beginning is another of Godzilla's species, making it possible the reason why Godzilla is so hellbent on killing the MUTOs because they killed either his mate or family.

** In ''ComicBook/SupermanRedSon,'' ComicBook/LexLuthor was originally hired to kill Superman (here a champion of the Soviet Union) by the US Government and just saw it as another problem to solve with his genius intellect. But he decides to devote his entire life to the task shortly after Superman defeats a Bizarro duplicate he created. But he later reveals that wasn't the problem--the thing that drove him over the edge was that Bizarro managed to beat him at chess, implying that he, and by extension the original Superman, was more intelligent then Lex was.

* ''Film/SplitSecond'': Stone has a personal vendetta with the monster, as it previously killed his partner, sending Stone over the edge and turning him into his current cynical and anti-social self, and is constantly leaving him messages to fuck with him.

[[quoteright:335:[[ComicBook/WelcomeBackFrank https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ma_gnucci.png]]]]

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/WelcomeBackFrank https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ma_gnucci.png]]]]

* In ''Anime/Megazone23 Part II'', B.D. framed Shogo for Tomomi's murder.

* ''Literature/{{Threadbare}}'': Anayse Lay'di, with Threadbare, at the end of the trilogy. She spent ''15 years'' working on that plan, only to be foiled by a goddamn ''teddy bear''.

--->'''Bond:''' No. For me. ([[''drops him hundreds of feet onto the hard concrete surface below'')

** ''Film/LicenceToKill'' exemplifies this trope. The slimy villain, Franz Sanchez, throws Felix Leiter (Bond's best pal) to [[SharkPool the sharks]]. Bond is naturally pissed, and subsequently blows up windows, laboratories and trailer trucks to get to Sanchez.
*** As bad as almost killing Felix by shark is, the real MoralEventHorizon was that the gang also raped and killed Felix's wife... ''on the night of their honeymoon!''

** ''{{Film/Skyfall}}'' has Silva, a villain that doesn't want to destroy/take over the world. He just wants revenge [[spoiler: on M for leaving him to be tortured to the point of insanity when Silva was an [=MI6=] agent.]]
*** On a more amusing note, it isn't until [[spoiler: Silva shoots up his iconic Aston Martin [=DB5=]]] that Bond really gets pissed off.

** Ma Gnucci provides the page image up top. The fact that a battle with the Punisher renders her a quadriplegic doesn't improve her disposition. It gets to the point that once she's killed, her will states that her last remaining family member [[OnOneCondition won't inherit until the Punisher is dead]]. Punisher's feelings towards her get a lot uglier after she has one of his friends tortured while trying to find him.

** Pictured above is Ma Gnucci, BigBad of ComicBook/WelcomeBackFrank. Frank not only [[spoiler:sics a few polar bears on her, making her a quadruple amputee]], he ends up setting her house on fire with her inside it.

** This is Crocodile's main motivation throughout the Whitebeard War.

** In ''Anime/OnePieceFilmZ'', this was the Straw Hats' main motivation for going after Z. He attacked them after they went out of their way to heal him, had one of his subordinates [[spoiler: rejuvenate Nami, Robin, Chopper and Brook]] and finally, [[spoiler: taking Luffy's hat.]]

* In Michelle Paver's "Literature/TheChroniclesofAncientDarkness:Oathbreaker," Torak swears he will avenge his cousin [[spoiler: Bale]] and kill Soul-Eater Thiazzi. [[spoiler: However, when he finds Thiazzi (staying in the tree Torak was born in, no less), he has to break his oath in order to save Renn, who is trapped inside with a fire and who is quickly running out of breath.]]

* In Advertising/{{GEICO}}'s RealTrailerFakeMovie / NoTalkingOrPhonesWarning spot where the mother calls her secret agent son, she says that the squirrels are back in the attic but his father refuses to call the exterminator.