History Main / RevengeIsNotJustice

* ''Series/CriminalMinds'': Unsubs who kill for revenge are ultimately treated the same as any other killer. There's a good reason for this: On more than one occasion, the unsubs actually succeeded in killing the primary target of their rage, only to find that this didn't actually fix their internal traumas or improve their life for very long, so they attempt to relive that excitement by killing people who only slightly resemble their initial targets. And in the end, they are still killing to make themselves feel better, not for actual justice.

-> ''"Remember, Arthas: we are paladins. Vengeance cannot be a part of what we must do. If we allow our passions to turn to bloodlust, then we will become as vile as the orcs."''

** In the follow-up ''ComicBook/DoomsdayClock'', [[spoiler: Rorschach's successor is inspired by Batman telling him YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre to follow in his footsteps. When Ozymandias is shot by [[PracticallyJoker the Comedian]], he tells Rorschach that he'll finally get to avenge his parents. Rorschach then asserts that he wants justice, not revenge, and stops his bleeding [[CruelMercy to make sure he rots in prison]].]]

* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'': Parker Cerise has been reeling over the trauma of his sister running away from home, learning how she was bullied by her class with little to no adult help at all, her ChildhoodFriend abandoned her, Ash takes their father's attention away and the implications that Chloe ''could'' go back to the Train if no one changes their act. This, combined with Professor Hale delivering the Unown box at a '''very''' bad time, has him use the Unown to unleash justice in his sister's name with disastrous results. It takes a long time for others to tell him that what he wants is the satisfaction of crushing those who have hurt his sister even though the mistakes were either very small due to them being InnocentlyInsensitive, the fact that his targets have already had their lives ruined and also revealing that he and Chloe were also as much at fault than everyone else who caused her to be a near-suicidal wreck.

* ''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/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 travellers. 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.]]
-->'''Nicholas Angel''': How can this be for the greater good?
-->'''Neighbourhood Watch Association''': The Greater Good
-->'''Nicholas Angel''': SHUT IT! These people died for no reason, no reason whatsoever!
* ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'': John Kramer was a civil engineer who was [[ControlFreak obsessed with control]] until a series of tragedies put him on death's door. After surviving a suicide attempt, he decided to help people reform by putting them through various death traps that would make them "appreciate life". However, as the series goes on, the victims he targets aren't random, and they tend to be people who did him a great wrong (from denying him treatment for his cancer or denying him insurance that would support his wife when he dies). His reasoning becomes especially petty since he starts sacrificing innocent people to prove a point to his victim (one such example being sacrificing a chain-smoking janitor in ''Film/SawVI'' to motivate William and make it easier for him to pass his first trap).

-->'''Anakin:''' Revenge is never just. It ''can't'' be...
-->'''[[BigBad Palpatine:]]''' Don't be childish, Anakin. Revenge is the ''foundation'' of justice. Justice began with revenge, and revenge is still the only justice some beings can ever hope for.

-->'''Romans 12:19''': Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves but rather give place unto wrath for it is written "Vengeance is mine, I will repay" sayeth the Lord.
-->'''[[Literature/BooksOfSamuel 1 Samuel 24:12]]''': May the LORD judge between you and me! And may He take vengeance upon you for me, but my hand will never touch you.

-->'''Zhi:''' Spirit of universe has slaughtered my happiness and so I must slaughter too. All who disrupt my garden of peace shall die! [spits at corpses]\\

-->'''Anakin:''' "Revenge is never just. It ''can't'' be..."
-->'''[[BigBad Palpatine:]]''' "Don't be childish, Anakin. Revenge is the ''foundation'' of justice. Justice began with revenge, and revenge is still the only justice some beings can ever hope for."

** The reason that Erik Stevens/Killmonger is unworthy of Wakanda's throne in ''Film/BlackPanther'' is because of his obsession with revenge against everyone; the world in general for racism existing, Wakanda for not helping, and T'Challa in particular for T'Chaka killing Erik's father. He has genuinely good points about the problems Wakanda's isolationism has caused, but it's made clear that his methods (essentially, start a hi-tech worldwide race war) are just going to make everything worse, and it's up to T'Challa to open Wakanda to the world the responsible way.

* ''Theatre/TheMerchantOfVenice'': Shylock faced prejudice for being Jewish during a time period where he is belittled, shunned, and mocked for his faith, and several lines of his imply that he has given up on any further pretenses of amicability, stating that he wants a pound of Antonio's flesh to satisfy his need vengeance since Antonio ridicules him at every opportunity. Since Shylock chose to act on his lust for vengeance (even when offered triple the money that he'd originally wanted); he lost his wealth, his property, his daughter, and his faith because as the court points out, Shylock still tried to mutilate and even kill Antonio. Since Shylock made an attempt on his life, Antonio is owed half of Shylock's fortune as compensation. [[note]]In the play, Shylock is considered "alien" for being Jewish and forced to forfeit his property to both Antonio and the government as punishment for trying to take Antonio's life. Making his punishment unfair and prejudiced in the modern era but the trope still applies because Shylock is punished for acting on his desire for revenge.[[/note]]

* ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole'' plays this for laughs: [[spoiler:Mitch Connor's backstory is that he walked in on his dad having sex and felt so traumatized that he spent most of his life looking for the person who did it. In the end, Mitch's mother turns up, reveals she was the one who fucked Mitch's dad, and pleads with Mitch to forgive her. Mitch refuses to forgive her, despite a drunk Stephen Stotch saying he should, and the resulting fight between Mitch and his mother leads to their deaths.]]

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' episode "[[Recap/ArthurS4E1DWsLibraryCardArthursBigHit Arthur's Big Hit]]" had, Arthur punche [=DW=] after she destroyed a model plane after she threw 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.

* In ''ComicBook/YoungAvengersTheChildrensCrusade'', 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.

* In Young Avengers: The Children’s Crusade, a few armor piercing questions from Billy and Tommy made the Avengers and X-Men realize that they weren’t really going after 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.

* 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 'timid and weak' with ''any'' sort of Paladin absolutely deserves their upcoming righteous ass-kicking.

** In "The Christmas Invasion", after asking the Tenth Doctor about other alien invaders, Harriet Jones orders the destruction of the Sycorax spaceship and the Tenth Doctor calls her out on this because the Sycorax were retreating at this point. However, Harriet Jones justifies her decision by pointing out that the Sycorax have killed two people while he was unconscious and very nearly killed one-third of the human race by using blood control to force them to commit suicide. However, the Doctor ignores her excuses and causes her to lose her position as Prime Minister. When Harriet returns, she still stands by her decision and sees the Dalek invasion as further proof of her method.
** 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 "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 "The Woman Who Fell to Earth" and "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 "War Of The Sontarans", [[spoiler: she shames the General for blowing up the Sontaran's 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.]]

* A few armor piercing questions from Billy and Tommy made the Avengers and X-Men realize that they weren’t really going after 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.

* The edict against using powers for personal gain in ''Series/Charmed1998'' applies to revenge, and is thus punished by swift karmic retribution. Good witches are intended to protect the innocent, not punish the guilty. Played for laughs at one point when Paige's use of a spell to punish a serial harasser backfires into giving her GagBoobs. Played much more drastically in an earlier episode where a far pettier act of revenge resulted in a BadFuture where the merely inconvenienced "victim" led a genocidal witch hunt and all the Charmed Ones were a lot more selfish.

-> ''"Remember, Arthas, we are paladins. Vengeance cannot be a part of what we must do. If we allow our passions to turn to bloodlust, then we will become as vile as the orcs."''

* ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'': This is a typical topic of conversation for any person who tries to talk Frank Castle into stopping his vigilante war. As they see it, murdering criminals for the sake of getting even for the death of his family is wrong (depending on the universe, the people who committed the murders were the very first criminals Frank killed, so he already got his pound of flesh, too). [[DramaticallyMissingThePoint What they never seem to understand]] is that Frank generally ''doesn't care'' about either cause; while his reasons vary DependingOnTheWriter, the most common are that a) he sees it as a [[IDidWhatIHadToDo dirty-but-more-effective]] version of traditional superheroics, b) he hit the DespairEventHorizon after his family was killed and is just trying to die doing something semi-constructive [[BecauseImGoodAtIt that he's undoubtably good at]], and c) he was already a BloodKnight teetering on the edge of MoralSociopathy ''with'' his family to rein him in. Now that they're dead, Frank is restricting himself to [[AssholeVictim complete assholes]] because otherwise he'd just be going on an indiscriminate murder spree.

* ''Film/CapeFear'': In the 1992 adaptation, Max Cady wants revenge because his lawyer Sam Bowden buried evidence that could have saved Max 14 years in prison (where it's implied that he sexually assaulted there and he felt especially vulnerable due to his illiteracy). However, in the climax, it's revealed that the evidence that could have saved Max was that his victim was promiscuous, something Sam points out as ridiculous and evil. Max doesn't accept this and prepares to murder him for violating his oath as a lawyer.

* In ''Series/BetterCallSaul'', [[spoiler: after Nacho ends up dead due to his involvement with the Salamanca's, 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]].

* ''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 have 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]].

** Kratos wanted revenge against Ares for tricking him into murdering his wife and daughter. When he succeeds in killing Ares, Kratos doesn't feel any better and he resorts to killing himself but is saved by the Olympians who give him Ares' title as the God of War. In the sequel, he decides to kill Zeus and anyone who gets in his way. Hermes and Hera try to tell him that his crusade against the gods has only brought him more nightmares and thrown Greece into chaos, claims that Kratos ignores until he kills Zeus. Once Kratos killed Zeus, he realized what he's done and he seemingly commits suicide, only for that to fail and for Kratos to spend the next 150 years regretting what he did and hating himself. This incident is what motivates Kratos trying to discipline his son to ensure that he doesn't go down the same path as he did. Centuries later, when encountering a man who similarly wanted revenge against his family for being wronged, Kratos tries to talk him out of it but said man brushed it off, forcing Kratos to MercyKill him just before he could kill his own mother.

** 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/SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole'' plays this for laughs: [[spoiler:Mitch Connor's backstory is that he walked in on his dad having sex and felt so traumatized that he spent most of his life looking for the person who did it. In the end, Mitch's mother turns up, reveals she was the one who fucked Mitch's dad and pleads with Mitch to forgive her. Mitch refuses to forgive her, despite a drunk Stephen Stotch saying he should, and the resulting fight between Mitch and his mother leads to their deaths.]]

* ''Videogame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' has Jun Seros, a Jedi who serves as the antagonist of the Bounty Hunter storyline who wants to bring the protagonist to justice because they killed a fellow Jedi of his. While this does actually make the Bounty Hunter a legitimate war criminal (especially considering that they also blew up said Jedi's ship, killing countless Republic soldiers) Seros is primarily motivated by vengeance as his actions to take them down leads him to sacrificing lives and resources (including his friend's Padawan if you spared her) as well as forcing the Hunter into serving a brutal Sith Lord who directs them towards the Republic war effort, culminating in [[spoiler:potentially assassinating/capturing the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic]]. After beating him [[EvilGloating you can point out]] that all his actions have only succeeded in undermining the Republic and dooming the Supreme Chancellor, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone much to his horror]].

** 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 first hand 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.

** [[spoiler: When Skjor is killed by the Silver Hand before Aela the Huntress and the Dragonborn could meet up with him. Aela vengefully directs the Dragonborn in fighting the Silver Hand and word of their assaults reach Kodlak Whitemane. Kodlak summons the Dragonborn and calls them out on their revenge quest, stating their revenge ended when they killed Skjor's slayers and their actions have kickstarted a cycle of revenge from the Silver Hand. Something Aela takes to heart when Kodlak is eventually killed by the Silver Hand.]]

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E9TheBattle The Battle]]" has Ferengi Captain Daimon Bok gift the derelict Federation ship Stargazer to the Enterprise. The captain's underlings murmur that gifting a prize is "bad business." The Captain has plans to avenge his son's death by creating in-fighting between the Stargazer and the Enterprise via MindControl. The scheme unravels, and Captain Bok is relieved of command by his First Officer for "conducting an unprofitable venture."

* Discussed in ''Literature/RevengeOfTheSith'', though it should be noted that one of the speakers is actively trying to corrupt the other person:
-->'''Anakin:''' "Revenge is never just. It ''can't'' be..."
-->'''[[BigBad Palpatine:]]''' "Don't be childish, Anakin. Revenge is the ''foundation'' of justice. Justice began with revenge, and revenge is still the only justice some beings can ever hope for."

-->'''1 Samuel 24:12''': May the Lord judge between you and me, and may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me but my hand will not touch you.

* This is the whole point of the Oath of Redemption Paladin in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' 5e. 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 'timid and weak' with ''any'' sort of Paladin absolutely deserves their upcoming righteous ass-kicking.

[[folder: Web Original]]

** For all that the Moriarty family is portrayed sympathetically, their actions are not portrayed as acceptable or forgivable. They were evil and they all commit to devoting the rest of their lives to atoning for their crimes. William even outright states that he's never thought of his actions as justice, nor that he has any right to have done what he has. This trope is the entire theme of the series.
** Billy seeks out McGinty afte McGinty killed Pat Garrett and destroyed his hometown to try to ''forgive'' him instead of seeking revenge...only for it to nearly faily because he was so tempted to take revenge himself. Fortunately, he manages to deliver McGinty over to the law.

* ''Manga/MoriartyThePatriot'': For all that the Moriarty family is portrayed sympathetically, their actions are not portrayed as acceptable or forgivable. They were evil and they all commit to devoting the rest of their lives to atoning for their crimes. William even outright states that he's never thought of his actions as justice, nor that he has any right to have done what he has. This trope is the entire theme of the series.

SinsOfTheFather is one of the biggest motivators of this, a character wants revenge but targets the child of the aggressor because they either resemble them in some way or they are desperately looking for closure by any means necessary even if the child did nothing to deserve it.

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': Tenya "Ingenium" Iida became a hero after he became his brother's successor when he was attacked by Stain and forced to retire. When Iida finally met Stain face to face, he ignored an injured hero and tried to attack him. During their fight, Stain chews Iida out for his need for vengeance and then drives in the nail further by stating that Iida's actions are the furthest thing from being a hero. In an inversion of the trope, when Ida actually admits to these criticisms, Stain seemed unable to accept that he had really had gotten through to him.
* ''Anime/PsychoPass'': When Shinya Kougami finally confronts Shogo Makishima, who is responsible for the death of his Enforcer partner Mitsuru Sasayama and his demotion as a latent criminal, he tries to kill him only to be beaten like a pulp until Akane saves him. When he learns that Chief Kasei wants Makishima alive instead of arresting or killing him, Kougami chooses to leave the bureau to go after him much to Akane's grief. Kougami is aware of this which he mentions in his letter to her. When he eventually kills Makishima, Kougami is forced to escape Japan leaving everything behind. As seen in ''Anime/PsychoPassSinnersOfTheSystem Case 3 - Beyond Love and Hate'', [[TheAtoner Kougami is on a path of atonement]] after he realizes killing Makishima to avenge Sasayama's death costs him everything and is haunted by Makishima's ghost wherever he goes. That's why he warns Tenzing, whose parents were murdered by guerillas, that avenging their deaths wouldn't give her justice.

* ''Fanfic/CindersAndAshesTheChroniclesOfKamenRiderDante'' has this as a CentralTheme, especially for the first half. Hoshi was briefly on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge through writing [[RevengeFic stories of his OC fighting caricatures of cyberbullies]] that drove his friend to suicide. However, Hoshi eventually realizes this and the climax of his character arc in the first quarter is to rationalize that what he did wasn't justice, something he would later teach [[TheSixthRanger Yuichi]] during his introductiory arc.

* ''Film/CapeFear'': In the 1992 adaptation, Max Cady wants revenge because his lawyer, Sam Bowden, buried evidence that could have saved Max 14 years in prison (where it's implied that he sexually assaulted there and he felt especially vulnerable due to his illiteracy). However, in the climax, it's revealed that the evidence that could have saved Max was that his victim was promiscuous, something Sam points out as ridiculous and evil. Max doesn't accept this and prepares to murder him for violating his oath as a lawyer.

--> '''Nicholas Angel''': How can this be for the greater good?
--> '''Neighbourhood Watch Association''': The Greater Good
--> '''Nicholas Angel''': SHUT IT! These people died for no reason, no reason whatsoever!

** The Maximoff twins (Wanda and Pietro, otherwise known as Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver) are mad at Tony because a Stark missile killed their parents. Fair enough- part of Tony's own character arc has been learning about the consequences of his weapons dealing. But when they go after the Avengers for it, not only are they attacking a man who's been TheAtoner for years and has ''already'' suffered horribly for his mistakes, Scarlet Witch exacerbating Tony's PTSD results in the creation of Ultron, who then goes on to destroy their home country of Sovokia. They wise up by the end of the movie, [[spoiler: though it costs Pietro his life]].

* Kaladin Stormblessed from ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'' has to learn this twice; both experiencing it for himself and watching someone else. Having been branded a slave as part of an elaborate plot by [[spoiler: [[AristocratsAreEvil Meridas Amaram]], the man who allowed his kid-brother to die on the frontlines,]] he spends the majority of book 1 and 2 brooding over exacting his revenge. Little does he know that doing so would [[TheOathBreaker break his oath as a]] [[spoiler: Surgebinder to protect those who cannot protect themselves]]. Later he finds that the reason he and his brother were sent to war in the first place was the responsibility of [[spoiler: King Elhokar]], who also allowed the deaths of fellow-slave [[{{Foil}} Moash's]] grandparents. Kaladin has to decide for himself if he should let Moash get ''his'' revenge, get involved for his own ends, or keep his oaths.
** He later learns the hard way how badly this can turn out. [[spoiler: Not only does he end up befriending Elhokar, but finds out that Elhokar is both technically innocent and actually a pretty stand-up guy when he wants to be - especially after considering that [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Dalinar]], uncle to the king and the man who gave Kaladin and Moash their freedom back, [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes genuinely loves his nephew for all the guys faults]]. Then Moash [[KilledOffForReal gets his hands on Elhokar]]. It's shown in gruesome detail how revenge doesn't only hurt the people you hate; it can destroy the lives of everyone around them, too, with Kaladin as the prime example.]]

** In "The Christmas Invasion", after asking the Tenth Doctor about other alien invaders, Harriet Jones orders the destruction of the Sycorax spaceship and the Tenth Doctor calls her out on this because the Sycorax were retreating at this point. However, Harriet Jones justifies her decision by pointing that the sycorax have killed two people while he was unconcious and very nearly killed one third of the human race by using blood control to force them to commit suicide. However, the Doctor ignores her excuses and causes her lose her position as prime minister. When Harriet returns, she still stands by her decision and sees the Dalek invasion as further proof of her method.
** 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 "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 "The Woman Who Fell to Earth" and "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 "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/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 have destroyed the other's MoralityPet - Horobi deliberately and Aruto accidently - 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 burgedoning 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/TheyThem2022'': When Molly tempts Jordan to help her target more conversion camps, they turn their back on her, wanting nothing more than to leave with their friends and make a new life with them.

* This is the whole point of the Oath of Redemption Paladin in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' 5e. 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 'timid and weak' with ''any'' sort of Paladin absolutely deserves their upcoming righteous asskicking.

* ''VideoGame/DeadRising3'': Zhi is the first optional psychopath Nick faces and he's the embodiment of the deadly sin of wrath. After fighting Nick, Zhi laments about how life has dealt him more than few bad cards; he was fired, his wife left him for another man, his kids disrespect him and he's now suffering from a zombie outbreak. However, Nick responds to his self-pity by saying that none of these things gave him the right to kill others, especially when his victims had nothing to do with the tragedies that befell him or even realised how they offended him in the first place.

** Kratos wanted revenge against Ares for tricking him into murdering his wife and daughter. When he succeeds in killing Ares, Kratos doesn't feel any better and he resorts to killing himself but is saved by the Olympians who give him Ares' title as the God of War. In the sequel, he decides to kill Zeus and anyone who gets in his way. Hermes and Hera try to tell him that his crusade against the gods has only brought him more nightmares and thrown Greece into chaos, claims that Kratos ignores until he kills Zeus. Once Kratos killed Zeus, he realized that what he's done and he seemingly commits suicide, only for that to fail and for Kratos to spend the next 150 years regretting what he did and hating himself. This incident is what motivates Kratos trying to discipline his son to ensure that he doesn't go down the same path as he did. Centuries later, when encountering a man who similarly wanted revenge against his family for being wronged, Kratos tries to talk him out of it but said man brushed it off, forcing Kratos to MercyKill him just before he could kill his own mother.

* ''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.]]

** One of the cornerstones of ThePaladin is the acknowledgment that that "vengeance cannot be a part of what we must do". ''Warcraft III'' centers around TheWisePrince and Paladin, Arthas Menethil, SlowlySlippingIntoEvil as more and more of his people die in plots by TheUndead and his increasing frustration with [[YouAreTooLate always being too late to save them]], until he decides to forego the paladin oaths and begin his descent into FallenHero territory, eventually becoming a servant of the very undead he swore to destroy as his obsession with vengeance led to him picking up [[EvilWeapon Frostmourne]] which promptly stole his soul in exchange for a hollow victory, after which Arthas returns to his kingdom, murders his father, and brings his kingdom to ruin, raising everyone he can find as undead.

A SubTrope of RevengeBeforeReason, where revenge is depicted as an amoral decision done in the name of justice, only to be told afterwards that it's no excuse for hurting people.