History Main / RevengeIsNotJustice

[[folder:Web Original]]
* [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] often espouses this philosophy in defense of ThouShaltNotKill. For a notable example, when Green Arrow calls killing Prometheus after ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueCryForJustice'', Linkara promptly rebuts it.
-->'''Linkara''': NO! Like every other repetition of that word, you mean revenge! [[Theatre/{{Camelot}} Revenge. The most worthless of causes]]...
* This trope is the reason why one of the CommonMarySueTraits listed on Website/{{Springhole}}’s [[OldShame now-deprecated]] [[https://springhole.net/writing/marysue.htm Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test]] is “Is your character mainly driven by completely justified revenge?” (In other words, [[KarmicOverkill no matter how extreme the revenge]], it in no way detracts from the character [[DesignatedHero supposedly]] being a [[IncorruptiblePurePureness purely good hero]].) “Completely” is the operative word here, otherwise every AntiHero would have to answer yes to the question. It only applies if the narrative thinks the character did nothing wrong.

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' episode "[[Recap/ArthurS4E1DWsLibraryCardArthursBigHit Arthur's Big Hit]]" had Arthur punch [=DW=] after she destroyed his model plane by throwing it out of a window to make it fly. Their parents and Arthur's friends tell him off because Arthur should have known better than to hit his 4-year-old sister but Arthur doesn't understand the issue since he warned [=DW=] plenty of times not to touch the plane and she tried to shift the blame on to Arthur by saying he built it incorrectly as it was supposed to fly. So when Binky hits him for an unrelated reason, Arthur's parents call it karma by saying "Now you know how D.W. feels.", and Arthur finally apologizes for lashing out.
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': In "The Southern Raiders", Zuko reveals to Katara that he can help her find the man who killed her mother. This prompts her to go off on a quest to find the killer and take his life, despite Aang's warnings nothing good ever comes from revenge and murder is never the solution. Later, when Katara finally finds the killer, she sees what a pathetic man he is and lets him live, giving up on her quest but making it clear that she does not, and will never, forgive him.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheGhostAndMollyMcGee'': In "The Don't Gooder", Molly gets tired of Andrea hogging all the credit and glory for her charity work. After Andrea beats Molly in a nougat-selling drive, Molly becomes obsessed with proving Andrea is a phony to the point [[EveryoneHasStandards even the revenge- and mischief-loving Scratch has concerns]]. Molly [[HeelRealization starts to feel ashamed]] when she learns Andrea was [[WellDoneSonGuy only stealing the spotlight in a desperate attempt to get the approval of her neglectful parents]].

* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'': After [[spoiler:major character Nacho Varga]] is killed, Mike goes to deliver the news of this to [[spoiler: his father]], promising that there will be "justice" for them. [[spoiler:Manuel Varga]] rejects this. Whatever vengeance he has planned is just revenge and will not bring him peace. He rejects Mike with "You gangsters, you're all the same."

* In ''Series/TheBoys2019'', the VillainWithGoodPublicity Blue Hawk cripples A-Train's brother Nathan, leading A-Train to brutally murder him in retaliation. When Nathan finds out what he's done he's disgusted, telling him that justice would've been putting him behind bars and that he refuses to have a murderer around his kids, yelling at him to GetOut
* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'': After [[spoiler: major character Nacho Varga]] is killed, Mike goes to deliver the news of this to [[spoiler: his father]], promising that there will be "justice" for them. [[spoiler: Manuel Varga]] rejects this. Whatever vengeance he has planned is just revenge and will not bring him peace. He rejects Mike with "You gangsters, you're all the same."

* ''Series/KamenRiderZeroOne'': The final arc of the show revolves around [[BigBad The Ark]]'s MouthOfSauron [[spoiler: orchestrating a climactic duel against Aruto and Horobi (each of whom has destroyed the other's MoralityPet - Horobi deliberately and Aruto accidentally - and are on [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge the warpath]]) by arming them with Ark Drivers]], intent on using the fighting to shatter relations between Humans and Humagears and start a RobotWar. The finale sees Aruto subject to this moral by a hologram of his father ([[IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight after a failed attempt by Isamu and Naki to do the same the episode before]]), who notes the anger in his heart and [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan reinforces the idea of "strength of heart]]." Aruto takes his father's advice into his battle with Horobi, tempering his anger with mercy instead of taking revenge, trying once more to appeal toHorobi's burgeoning emotions. This spurs Horobi into finally acknowledging both his murder of Izu and the human heart he's developed from the show's events. The duo's sins laid bare, both of them [[spoiler: forgive one another and use the duel to vent their rage rather than resort to murder; [[TakeAThirdOption destroying each other's Ark Drivers]] and de-railing As' attempts to start a war]].

* In ''Film/ClashOfTheTitans1981'', Calibos begs his mother Thetis to convince Poseidon to unleash the Kraken on Joppa to punish Perseus for chopping off his hand. When he calls it "justice", his mother responds with "Justice, or revenge?" Thetis does heseuas he asks eventually, but only after Queen Cassiopeia carelessly commits blasphemy against Thetis herself.
* ''Film/FallingDown'': [[spoiler:Foster's rampage is caused by stress revolving around the loss of his job, marriage, and access to his child, and the general degradation of modern society. It gradually gets more dangerous and destructive. He busts up a shop because the owner was rude to him and all his merchandise was offensively overpriced, he attacks some thugs for trying to rob him and subsequently drive-by-shoot him, he lets an angry old man die from a heart attack after trying to hit him with a golf ball just because he was passing through the golf course, destroys a road to give a wasteful construction crew something to ''really'' fix, he kills a man for breaking his daughter's birthday gift and trying to turn him into the police, and Prendergast believes he might be planning to kill his ex-wife, daughter, and himself. Sergeant Prendergast empathizes with him because he lost his daughter to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, but he rejects Foster's excuse because none of these things gave him the right to go on a rampage]].

* ''Film/GranTorino'': [[spoiler:In a deconstruction of vigilante justice, Walt's attempt to help the Vang Lor family by assaulting a gang member leads to a drive-by shooting, the injuring of Thao, and the kidnapping and rape of Sue. While Thao desires revenge, Walt imprisons him so he can't take revenge since Walt knows from experience that killing others isn't as glorious as Thao thinks. Walt instead orchestrates his own death, sacrificing himself so that Spider and the gang can be arrested]].
* ''Film/HotFuzz'': [[spoiler:Frank Butterman is the chief of police in Sandford whose wife committed suicide after Sandford lost Village of the Year 20 years ago because of travelers. After her death, Frank convinced the Neighbourhood Watch Association to punish all crimes and imperfections with the death penalty (ranging from stealing from the shops to simply having an annoying laugh) and brainwashed the police force into rationalising these deaths as accidents. When Nicholas Angel heard of these crimes, he assumed it was all part of a grand money-making scheme and is absolutely horrified by their pettiness and sheer ruthlessness]].

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': When Princess Elia Martell and her two children were brutally killed by two of the Lannisters bannermen during Tywin Lannister's sacking of King's Landing, [[spoiler:her brothers, Doran and Oberyn, plotted to avenge their deaths where they plan to destroy House Lannister and restore House Targaryen back into power by having Doran's eldest daughter, Arianne, to marry Viserys Targaryen. However, their plan hit a few snags where Viserys was killed by Khal Drogo [[TooDumbToLive for insulting him]], meaning Quentyn, Doran's eldest son, had to be the one to forge an alliance with Daenerys Targaryen which leads him to his death after he failed to tame one of Daenerys' dragons. Then, Oberyn [[EnemyMine volunteers to be Tyrion Lannister's champion]] during the TrialByCombat because Elia's killer, Ser Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane, happens to be his opponent which also leads to his own death via MutualKill. In turn, Oberyn's three eldest bastard daughters, the Sand Snakes, demand "justice" for his death. But at that point, Tywin Lannister is killed by Tyrion who escaped to Essos. Despite the deaths of the people responsible for the death of their relatives, Doran and the Sand Snakes still want vengeance much to the grief of Oberyn's paramour, [[OnlySaneMan Ellaria Sand]], who points out that the destruction of House Lannister will not bring back Elia and Oberyn]].

** The Thirteenth Doctor has a black-and-white take on morality and forbids revenge killing -- however, very few people actually agree with her on this since the enemy hasn't done anything to deserve this kind of clemency. In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E4ArachnidsInTheUK Arachnids in the UK]]", [[spoiler:she shames Jack Robertson for killing the Spider Mother despite the creature already dying a slow and painful death by suffocation]]. In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E1TheWomanWhoFellToEarth The Woman Who Fell to Earth]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E10TheBattleOfRanskoorAvKolos The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos]]", [[spoiler:she shames Graham and Karl for taking revenge despite having legitimate reasons to hate Tim Shaw (he tried to kill Karl and he killed Grace, Graham's wife and Ryan's grandmother)]]. In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS39E2FluxChapterTwoWarOfTheSontarans War of the Sontarans]]", [[spoiler:she shames the General for blowing up the Sontarans because they were retreating; however, the Sontaran General pretty much told her that he and his army will return once they restock their supplies and those same Sontarans are the ones who gleefully massacred the British army]].

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Unlike [[OnlySaneMan her book counterpart]], Ellaria Sand demands justice for Oberyn's death which was rejected by Doran because Oberyn volunteered in the TrialByCombat and Ellaria should have known that because she witnessed it. When Ellaria tells Doran to use Myrcella Baratheon, who is engaged to his son Trystane, as a hostage because [[RevengeByProxy she's Cersei's daughter]] despite that she has no connection to Oberyn's death, Doran is appalled by this and tells her that they don't hurt little girls. However, Ellaria is still determined to get revenge by enlisting Oberyn's bastard daughters, the Sand Snakes, who share the same cause as hers. After failing to abduct Myrcella and receiving a pardon from Doran for her actions, Ellaria poisons her instead. Then, she and Sand Snakes murder Doran and Trystane because they don't support their revenge plans and take control of Dorne so they can forge an alliance with Daenerys Targaryen and Olenna Tyrell. However, these actions led to their downfall where two of the Sand Snakes are killed during Euron Greyjoy's ship raid. Ellaria and her daughter are captured and brought to [[MamaBear Cersei]], who gives them her own brand of justice by forcing Ellaria to watch her own daughter die with the same poison used to kill Myrcella. In the end, not only Ellaria's quest for vengeance led to the demise of her family but also left Dorne without a leader until an unnamed Martell prince took over Dorne in Season 8 and supported Daenerys.

* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'': After [[spoiler: major character Nacho Varga]] is killed, Mike goes to deliver the news of this to [[spoiler: his father]], promising that there will be "justice" for them. [[spoiler: Manuel Varga]] rejects this, as whatever vengeance he has planned is just revenge and will not bring him, and rejects Mike with "You gangsters, you're all the same."

* In ''Series/BetterCallSaul'', [[spoiler:after Nacho ends up dead due to his involvement with the Salamancas, Mike goes to deliver the news of this to his father, Manuel Varga. He informs him that his son is dead, but adds that he doesn't have to worry about the Salamanca family coming after him as well, because justice for them will be coming. The depressed Manuel retorts by pointing out that he's not talking about justice; he's talking about revenge. He lets Mike know that whatever vengeance he has planned towards the Salamanca's will not make his son return from the dead, and he then shrugs Mike off as just another gangster with misguided morals]].

* In ''ComicBook/AvengersTheChildrensCrusade'', a few {{Armor Piercing Question}}s from Billy and Tommy made ComicBook/TheAvengers and the ComicBook/XMen realize that they weren’t really going after [[ComicBook/ScarletWitch Wanda Maximoff]] to fix anything, and just wanted to punish her. When they learned that she was BrainwashedAndCrazy during the events they wanted revenge for, everyone just went home.
* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': DependingOnTheWriter, Bruce walks a very, very thin line between both sides of this equation, and it is actually one of the biggest reasons [[ThouShallNotKill he absolutely refuses to kill criminals]], even the ones that most people would not care to see gone like [[JokerImmunity the Joker]]. As he sees it, the moment he starts killing crooks he will just find reasons to keep on going, and that is the moment [[HeWhoFightsMonsters he really would not be any different from all of the psychos in Arkham Asylum]].

* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'': Parker Cerise has been reeling from the trauma of his beloved sister Chloe running away from home, which led to several painful revelations. Like how most of her classmates were bullying her, something they cheerfully ''brag about'' to Parker's face. He learned that she felt neglected by their father, abandoned by her ChildhoodFriend, overshadowed by Ash... and that if things don't change, she might stay on the Train forever, or return there even after coming home. When the worst of her bullies proves [[TheUnapologetic completely unapologetic]], Parker unleashes the Unown with the intent of getting "justice" in his sister's name. This only serves to make matters far worse for everyone involved; his desire for vengeance upon everyone who'd wronged his sister, even those who had simply been InnocentlyInsensitive or unaware of how badly she was struggling, causes a lot of pain and suffering and turns public opinion against the Cerises.

* ''Film/BatmanBegins'': {{Discussed}}. Seven years after Bruce Wayne's parents were murdered, he returns to Gotham City to attend the public trial of Joe Chill, who agreed to cooperate with Gotham's DA in taking down the Falcone crime family in exchange for early release from prison. When Rachel Dawes, Bruce's childhood friend and the DA's assistant, tries to dissuade Bruce from going (as she was the one who was going to drive him to the trial), Bruce firmly insists on going, as unbeknownst to Rachel, Bruce had fully intended on killing Joe Chill himself. Shortly after the trial's conclusion, one of Falcone's hitmen gets to Joe and kills him before Bruce could. Frustrated that Falcone had escaped justice again, Rachel and Bruce later discuss how Falcone managed to pull it off, which Bruce noted that he should thank Falcone for it, only for Rachel to point out that what he wanted was revenge, not justice, and imported the importance of an impartial judicial system, which Bruce complains as being broken. Disgusted, Rachel drives Bruce up to a diner that Falcone frequents, making sure to drive him by the countless homeless encampments along the way to show Bruce just how bad Gotham's crime families have been making things for Gotham citizens and how much they're destroying everything Bruce's parents have fought for and pointing out that Joe Chill himself was a victim of Falcone's criminal empire, despite his crime. She then promptly slaps Bruce after he reveals the revolver he planned to kill Joe Chill with, and tells him how ashamed his parents would be of him. Bruce ultimately [[ThouShaltNotKill takes the lecture to heart]], and it's the starting point on his journey to becoming the Dark Knight.

* ''Film/FallingDown'': [[spoiler:Foster's rampage is caused by stress revolving around the loss of his job, marriage, and access to his child, and the general degradation of modern society. It gradually gets more dangerous and destructive. He busts up a shop because the owner was rude to him and all his merchandise was offensively overpriced, he attacks some thugs for trying to rob him and subsequently drive-by-shoot him, he lets an angry old man die from a heart attack after trying to hit him with a golf ball just because he was passing through the golf course, destroys a road to give a wasteful construction crew something to ''really'' fix, he kills a man for breaking his daughter's birthday gift and trying to turn him into the police, and Prendergast believes he might be planning to kill his ex-wife, daughter, and himself. Sergeant Prendergast empathizes with him because he lost his daughter to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, but he rejects Foster's excuse because none of these things gave him the right to go on a rampage.]]

* ''Film/GranTorino'': [[spoiler:In a deconstruction of vigilante justice, Walt's attempt to help the Vang Lor family by assaulting a gang member leads to a drive-by shooting, the injuring of Thao, and the kidnapping and rape of Sue. While Thao desires revenge, Walt imprisons him so he can't take revenge since Walt knows from experience that killing others isn't as glorious as Thao thinks. Walt instead orchestrates his own death, sacrificing himself so that Spider and the gang can be arrested.]]
* ''Film/HotFuzz'': [[spoiler:Frank Butterman is the chief of police in Sandford whose wife committed suicide after Sandford lost Village of the Year 20 years ago because of travelers. After her death, Frank convinced the Neighbourhood Watch Association to punish all crimes and imperfections with the death penalty (ranging from stealing from the shops to simply having an annoying laugh) and brainwashed the police force into rationalising these deaths as accidents. When Nicholas Angel heard of these crimes, he assumed it was all part of a grand money-making scheme and is absolutely horrified by their pettiness and sheer ruthlessness.]]

* ''Series/KamenRiderZeroOne'': The final arc of the show revolves around [[BigBad The Ark]]'s MouthOfSauron [[spoiler: orchestrating a climactic duel against Aruto and Horobi (each of whom has destroyed the other's MoralityPet - Horobi deliberately and Aruto accidentally - and are on [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge the warpath]]) by arming them with Ark Drivers]], intent on using the fighting to shatter relations between Humans and Humagears and start a RobotWar. The finale sees Aruto subject to this moral by a hologram of his father ([[IKnowYouAreInThereSomewhereFight after a failed attempt by Isamu and Naki to do the same the episode before]]), who notes the anger in his heart and [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan reinforces the idea of "strength of heart]]." Aruto takes his father's advice into his battle with Horobi, tempering his anger with mercy instead of taking revenge, trying once more to appeal toHorobi's burgeoning emotions. This spurs Horobi into finally acknowledging both his murder of Izu and the human heart he's developed from the show's events. The duo's sins laid bare, both of them [[spoiler: forgive one another and use the duel to vent their rage rather than resort to murder; [[TakeAThirdOption destroying each other's Ark Drivers]] and de-railing As' attempts to start a war]].

* ''Series/TheSwampFox'' Marion has to accept this after Col. Horry gives him a WhatTheHellHero speech and gets him to realize that his quest for vengeance against his nephew’s killer is hurting his brigade and the war itself.

* ''Literature/TheBible'' gives mixed messages on this (from a {{Doylist}} perspective, not all of the scripture was written at the same time or by the same people). The books of Mosaic law, beginning with the Literature/BookOfExodus, echo the Code of Hammurabi that one who causes harm to another should suffer equal (but not greater) harm in return ([[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2021-24&version=NIV Ex. 21:22-25]], [[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+24-20&version=NIV Lev. 24:17-22]], [[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+19-21&version=NIV Deut. 19:16-21]]). The later Literature/BookOfProverbs, however, commands the reader to ''not'' take vengeance but let {{God}} handle it ([[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+20-22&version=NIV Prov. 20:22]]). In [[Literature/TheFourGospels the Gospel of Matthew]], Jesus repudiates the eye for an eye commandment, saying that one is not to resist an evil person: "if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also" ([[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%205%3A38-40&version=NIV Matt. 5:38-40]]).
* In the [[SevenDeadlySins seven deadly sins]] wrath is seen as the 3rd deadliest sin with the other two being Envy and Pride. To avoid the sin of wrath, people are encouraged to forgive their abusers or move on from their rage by allowing God to sort out their grievances or sense of injustice.

* During Gunvolt's TrueFinalBoss fight in ''VideoGame/AzureStrikerGunvolt2'', [[spoiler:there's a part during the BossBanter where Gunvolt tries to warn Copen that getting vengeance sucks, in reference to him killing Asimov to avenge Joule's death in the previous game and the HeroicBSOD he subsequently suffered from prior to the start of ''2''. Copen, who's not only already head-deep in vengeance but also (wrongly) believes that Gunvolt killed his sister Mytyl, is far too angry to listen.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Bully}}'': ZigZagged, chapter 4, ''A Healthy Mind In a Healthy Body, and Other Lies'', has Jimmy enlist the Nerds in his fight against the jocks because they have been bullying everyone since the start of the game and the Nerds want revenge as well for being bullied by them. In their revenge plot, Earnest makes Jimmy take illicit photos of Mandy, the head cheerleader and a bully herself, in order to rile up the Jocks (in actuality, Earnest was just being a creep and wanted those photos for himself). The nerds are attacked later on by the jocks for what happened and later on, Jimmy meets a distressed Mandy, who tells him that the photos have been printed all over town and she feels that her life has been ruined by it. In an inversion of the trope, Mandy accepts that she's been a terrible person and says she deserves it, while Jimmy volunteers to take the posters down after internally realizing that he and the Nerds have taken their revenge too far since they've effectively ruined Mandy's life and caused life long trauma. Since then, Mandy has been attracted to Jimmy and she becomes a lot nicer.

** Inverted in ''VideoGame/GodOfWarPs4'', [[spoiler:during his journey to Jotunheim, he meets Mimir and takes him along for the rest of the journey with Atreus. After Atreus falls sick, Kratos and Mimir travel to Helheim, and Mimir learns of Kratos's true identity as the Ghost of Sparta. While Kratos believes that his actions were wrong and he should still hide his past, Mimir believes the Olympians had it coming and that he should be honest with Atreus.]]

* ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'': After ComicBook/TheJoker drugged ComicBook/{{Superman}} with Kryptonite-laced fear toxin and tricked him into killing his pregnant wife Lois Lane and detonating a nuclear weapon that destroys Metropolis, the Man of Steel not only kills the clown in revenge, he adopts a KnightTemplar WellIntentionedExtremist stance on crime. He even blames Batman for allowing the clown to run amok and putting him in Arkham Asylum, an infamous CardboardPrison whose criminals don't reform. However, anyone can notice Superman was clearly motivated by revenge and not altruism when it comes to the post-Metropolis crimes he commits, such as brutally crushing any opposition to the [[TheDictatorship One Earth Regime]] he established, and frequently gets condemned by the Insurgency for breaking the no-kill rule.
* ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUsPartII'': [[spoiler:Abby wants revenge because Joel killed her father, the surgeon who was going to sacrifice Ellie to make a cure for the outbreak. Once Abby kills Joel, she gives Ellie a reason to want revenge and everyone in Abby's group believes she went too far in killing Joel. They understand her reasoning to kill Joel, but decree that she went too far in beating him to death. Abby even agrees in the end by saying it didn't bring any peace or bring her father back. Ellie also realises that killing Abby won't undo the damage done to her or bring Joel back. She ultimately decides to spare Abby so she doesn't lose anything else in her life.]]

* ''VideoGame/SpiderManPS4'': [[spoiler:Dr. Octavius wants revenge because Norman Osborn ruined his career years ago and continues to cause trouble for him even after. When Octavius's tentacles begin to chip away his inhibitions, he becomes more and more desperate for revenge. At first, Peter assumes that it was the tentacles manipulating him until he discovers that Octavius was always in control and he knew all along that Peter was Spider-Man. Finally realizing that his friend and mentor was willing to sacrifice countless civilians to hurt Osborn and that their friendship meant nothing to him, Peter finally drops the special treatment and defeats him.]]

* ''VideoGame/UntilDawn'': [[spoiler:Early in the game, the main characters unintentionally cause the deaths of Hannah and Beth Washington with a DeadlyPrank, causing their brother to seek medical help to cope with the loss of his sisters. Josh decides to get revenge on his friends by playing a traumatising prank that involves creating near-fatal traps, faking his murder, and creating a fake serial killer who forces them to turn against each other. When the group finds out about Josh's prank, they are rightly pissed off with him, and the psychological manifestation of Dr. Hill berates him for traumatising his friends over what was clearly an accident, something they unwittingly caused and deeply regretted.]]

** In [[Recap/FamilyGuyS12E18BabyGotBlack Baby Got Black]], Jerome's disapproval of Chris stems from his wariness of white people due to facing years of racial prejudice. Peter witnessed this firsthand while the pair are driving to Chris and Pam, as Jerome is stopped by a cop despite not committing any crimes and Jerome admits to Peter that he gets pulled over multiple times a day. When Jerome and Peter do finally reach Chris and Pam, Peter forbids him from ever interacting with black people per Jerome's wishes, something that shocks Jerome and makes him fully realise that he's encouraging segregation and similarly judging people because of the color of their skin.

* ''Film/BatmanForever'': After Two-Face kills Dick Grayson's family, he immediately plans to kill him for revenge and Batman spends the film trying to talk him out of it. When Dick finds out Bruce's secret, he wants to join so he'd find Two-Face but Bruce rejects him because he knows from personal experience that revenge won't undo the damage done to him. [[spoiler: Dick does eventually take this to heart and eventually saves Two-Face, only for the latter to betray him immediately afterwards. In the climax, Bruce causes Two-Face's death by throwing coins in the air as Two-Face is flipping his own coin, which causes him to lose balance when he tries to catch the original and tumble to his death.]]

** Unlike in [[ComicBook/CivilWar the comic event]], the conflict in ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' is about this trope. Bucky Barnes has done some terrible things as the Winter Soldier, but he was also brainwashed into them and, when in his right mind, is Steve's friend. Steve forgives him and tries to get him help for his brainwashing problem, while Tony fails the test by attacking Bucky and Steve [[spoiler: after he's shown evidence that Bucky, as the Winter Soldier, killed his parents]]. T'Challa ''almost'' falls into this trope (Zemo assassinated his father), but stops himself when he sees what revenge has cost the others. [[spoiler: Baron Zemo also falls into this, as he successfully destroys the Avengers for their role in Sovokia's destruction... but not only was that manipulated by outside causes, the Avengers not being together means that Earth doesn't have a coherent defense force when Thanos comes calling.]]

* This is the whole point of the Oath of Redemption Paladin in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsFifthEdition''. Redemption Paladins follow the ideal that justice means allowing everyone a chance to redeem themselves (often, Redemption Paladins are [[TheAtoner examples of this mindset working]]). Though anyone who thinks 'believes in second chances' equates to '[[VirtueIsWeakness timid and weak]]' with ''any'' sort of Paladin absolutely deserves their upcoming righteous ass-kicking.