History Main / RevengeThroughCorruption

A sexual example may take the form of corrupting the victim through seduction. The avenger often either seduces the target's LoveInterest (or [[IBangedYourMom mother]], [[MySisterIsOffLimits sister]], [[OverprotectiveDad daughter]], etc., especially if the target is male), or ''was'' the target's love interest and has "spite sex" with someone else close to the target after the breakup. A ''[[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil really]]'' twisted villain may {{rape|AsDrama}} the target's loved one; strictly speaking, that's an example of RevengeByProxy more generally, but it can overlap with this trope if the story treats the victim as DefiledForever and/or indulges in UsefulNotes/VictimBlaming. In these sexually violent examples of the trope, if the victim is a love interest, the villain may follow the act with a PostRapeTaunt along the lines of "I showed her[[note]]and yes, it's usually a her[[/note]] what a real man is," to emphasize that the target of revenge is now an EmasculatedCuckold.

Revenge Through Corruption is a subtrope of RevengeByProxy and is related to SinsOfOurFathers. SinsOfOurFathers refers to revenge against the descendants of someone that is dead or missing. RevengeByProxy refers to revenge by harming someone important to the living person instead of taking the option of going directly after the target of revenge. Revenge Through Corruption can overlap either trope. What distinguishes this trope is the method of revenge.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'' - Tombstone forms a streetgang of teenage thugs to help him steal tech for the Silvermane family and makes a point of recruiting the son of Robbie Robertson [[spoiler:whom Tombstone blames for letting him get caught robbing a grocery store in their youth and taking the fall (starting him down a life of crime)]]. When Robbie confronts him, Tombstone takes great pleasure in showing him the video feed of his son robbing the facility and leaving his fingerprints everywhere.
* ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies''; the three part Blaine Arc was about recurring villain Geraldine Husk and a revenge plot against Clover, whom she blamed for her first defeat and arrest. (Despite the fact that said defeat happened because she turned Clover into a brainwashed cyborg to use against the other heroines). The first part was fooling a male spy named Blaine into believing Clover was a criminal who had to be eliminated; when this failed, she set in motion several projects bent on making Clover miserable and ruining her reputation, saving the lethal blow for last; she bought the members-only spa Clover belonged to, then opened it to the public, and bought Clover's favorite boutique and vegetarian restaurant, turning them into a thrift shop and steakhouse. Then she framed Clover for plagiarizing Sam's report, stealing Alex's car and trashing it, and stealing classified WOOHP weaponry, getting her suspended by Jerry. Her one flaw was underestimating Clover's intelligence; she realized the incidents were related, as did the other heroines once Geraldine's escape was reported. Thus, the final part of the villain's plan (kidnapping and killing Clover) didn't go as planned, and she was beaten again.

[[folder:Anime]]
* Tomura Shigaraki in ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' is [[spoiler:the grandson of All Might's mentor Nana Shimura, who All For One took in and raised to be a villain. Both as a means of obtaining a successor and as a final insult to his old enemy. He reveals this to All Might during their final battle to torture him, momentarily causing him to suffer a HeroicBSOD.]]

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[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]

* ''Series/BabylonFive'': Centauri Emperor, who was being controlled by the [[TheRemnant Drakh]] through a PuppeteerParasite, gave President Sheridan a gift intended for Sheridan's future offspring. The gift had another Puppeteer Parasite hidden within it.

* In ''Series/OnceUponATime'', Cora, one of the show's most evil characters hands down, attempted this against Snow White just because she hated Snow's ''mother'' Eva. Once Snow's mother was dying (from something Cora caused in the first place), Cora disguised herself as the [[BigGood Blue Fairy]] and offered Snow a magic item to save her life - [[BalancingDeathsBooks by sacrificing]] another person's. [[XanatosGambit Either way]], Cora would get something she wanted--either Eva died, or Eva lived but Snow was corrupted. Snow refused to save Eva at the cost of someone else's life, and when she did eventually darken her heart, [[{{Irony}} it was to kill Cora herself]] so she wasn't in a position to enjoy revenge through corruption.

* In ''Series/OnceUponATime'', Cora, one of the show's most evil characters hands down, attempted this against Snow White just because she hated Snow's ''mother'' Eva. Once Snow's mother was dying (from something Cora caused in the first place), Cora disguised herself as the [[BigGood Blue Fairy]] and offered Snow a magic item to save her life. [[XanatosGambit Either way]], Cora got something she wanted--either Eva died, or Eva lived but Snow was corrupted. Snow refused to save Eva at the cost of someone else's life, and when she did eventually darken her heart, [[{{Irony}} it was to kill Cora herself]] so she wasn't in a position to enjoy revenge through corruption.

** In series 6, where the Silence [[spoiler:kidnaps Amy and Rory's time-headed daughter when she's a baby with the intention of bringing her up to be a weapon effective against the Doctor]]. [[SubvertedTrope However, this proves unsuccessful.]]
** Of course, [[GenderBender The Mistress]] proves to be better than most of The Doctor's foes at this. Crafting a Cyberman Army? Doable. Crafting it out of The Doctor's deceased friends and allies - including the ''Brigadier'' - and handing the controls over to him as a twisted "birthday present?" That's just cold.

Instead of inflicting physical harm, the villain attacks the mind and soul. The intent is to get revenge on an enemy by making someone important to them evil, insane, under the control of the villain, hooked on drugs, or some other comparable effect -- in essence, an engineered FaceHeelTurn or FaceMonsterTurn. Victims may include friends, family, sidekicks, or even distant descendants. So long as the target's loved ones are shells of their former selves, than success is achieved.

* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' takes this UpToEleven. A group of male mages in the [[TheTimeOfMyths Age of Legends]] defeated the forces of the Dark One, a GodOfEvil, by [[SealedEvilInACan sealing him outside Creation]]; in a parting shot, the Dark One corrupted the male component of the BackgroundMagicField. The group immediately went insane, followed by every other male mage on the planet, and their rampage [[EndOfAnAge ended the Age]] and caused the Breaking of the World; ever since, male mages are doomed to go insane and eventually rot alive. [[spoiler:Until TheChosenOne decides to fix things.]]

* Manfred von Karma of the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' series suffers a single penalty in his otherwise unblemished career as a prosecutor. He murders the attorney who penalized him, Gregory Edgeworth, and completes his revenge by raising his son Miles as a ruthless prosecutor who wants to see every defendant convicted. Unfortunately for him, Phoenix Wright undoes all his years of planning and helps Miles Edgeworth become an honest prosecutor who eventually dedicates himself to cleaning out the Prosecutor's Office.

A sexual example may take the form of corrupting the victim through seduction. The avenger often either seduces the target's LoveInterest (or [[IBangedYourMom mother]], [[MySisterIsOffLimits sister]], [[OverprotectiveDad daughter]], etc., especially if the target is male), or ''was'' the target's love interest and has "spite sex" with someone else close to the target after the breakup. A ''[[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil really]]'' twisted villain may {{rape|AsDrama}} the target's loved one; strictly speaking, that's an example of RevengeByProxy more generally (and sometimes of StuffedIntoTheFridge), but it can overlap with this trope if the story treats the victim as DefiledForever and/or indulges in UsefulNotes/VictimBlaming. In these sexually violent examples of the trope, if the victim is a love interest, the villain may follow the act with a PostRapeTaunt along the lines of "I showed her[[note]]and yes, it's usually a her[[/note]] what a real man is," to emphasize that the target of revenge is now an EmasculatedCuckold.

%%* This is the entire plot of Mark Twain's ''The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg.''

** ''Series/CobraKai'': Kreese does this himself in season 3, where he recruits Daniel's student, Johnny's son Robby Keene, while Robby is doing time in juvie for injuring Miguel Diaz. First, Kreese takes advantage of Robby feeling abandoned by his father (who blew off a juvie visit to be with Miguel's family) and by Daniel (who turned Robby in), visits Robby, and encourages him to adapt a "strike first" mentality against a gang of bullies who are picking on him. When Robby uses Kreese's wisdom to defeat the bullies, he gains more appreciation for Kreese's abilities, so after getting out of juvie, he goes to Cobra Kai. Here, Kreese does the final stages of corruption by having Tory talk Robby into tagging along as the students steal a snake from the zoo as tribute for their sensei. Robby ensures the mission succeeds after Kyler nearly bungles the whole plan, earning him credibility in the eyes of the other Cobra Kai students, ensuring Robby will want to stay because they're providing the familial unit (and Kreese the parental affections) he craves.

* In an episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'', a district attorney's privileged son is suspected of committing murder, and the detectives believe the attorney is trying to protect him, because his father happens to be a infamous criminal, and they believe the attorney might be corrupt. Turns out the attorney dedicated his life to living crime free and rejected his criminal father. He was simply being a father and giving his son the benefit of the doubt. In the end, its reveal that the attorney's criminal father got his revenge by corrupting his son from prison and convinced him into becoming a criminal and to reject his father for being weak. Once the attorney realized this, he disowns his son and lets the detectives arrest him for murder.

A sexual example may take the form of corrupting the victim through seduction. The avenger often either seduces the target's LoveInterest (or [[IBangedYourMom mother]], [[MySisterIsOffLimits sister]], [[OverprotectiveDad daughter]], etc., especially if the target is male), or ''was'' the target's love interest and has "spite sex" with someone else close to the target after the breakup. A ''[[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil really]]'' twisted villain may {{rape|AsDrama}} the target's loved one; strictly speaking, that's an example of RevengeByProxy more generally (and sometimes of StuffedIntoTheFridge), but it can overlap with this trope if the story treats the victim as DefiledForever and/or indulges in UsefulNotes/VictimBlaming. In the these sexually violent examples of the trope, if the victim is a love interest, the villain may follow the act with a PostRapeTaunt along the lines of "I showed her[[note]]and yes, it's usually a her[[/note]] what a real man is," to emphasize that the target of revenge is now an EmasculatedCuckold.

* ComicBook/NormanOsborn also seems to like this one.
* It also happened to ComicBook/NickFury's son Mikel.

* ''Film/TheKarateKidPartIII'': After being humiliated by Daniel and Mr. Miyagi and losing [[ThugDojo Cobra Kai]], John Kreese turns to his millionaire friend Terry Silver for help. Silver approaches Daniel pretending to be a middle-class karate expert looking to renovate Cobra Kai, putting himself in a position to help Daniel when [[TheDragon Mike Barnes]], who Silver has recruited to beat Daniel in the All-Valley, begins attacking Daniel. When Mr. Miyagi refuses to help Daniel train for the tournament (seeing it as a frivolous exercise just to compete, as opposed to training for a purpose), Silver takes over as Daniel's coach. His purpose is three-fold: to put Daniel through heavy pain via harsh training methods, like punching and kicking hardwood targets; to corrupt him by promoting a far more aggressive attitude towards fighting, and to teach him specific moves and techniques that Barnes will have knowledge of beforehand so that he can easily counter them in the tournament.

* ''Literature/{{Night Watch|Discworld}}'' - Carcer toys with the idea of doing this to Vimes' younger self.

* This is the entire plot of Mark Twain's ''The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg.''

* Invoked in ''Series/DoctorWho'' series 6, where the Silence [[spoiler:kidnaps Amy and Rory's time-headed daughter when she's a baby with the intention of bringing her up to be a weapon effective against the Doctor]]. [[SubvertedTrope However, this proves unsuccessful.]]

* One of the reasons Malak [[spoiler: turns Bastila into his [[TheDragon apprentice]]]] in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic''.

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' - "What is Life?" The Ice King tries to do this to Finn's RobotBuddy NEPTR.

* Was a large factor in ''Film/TheKarateKidPartIII''. After being humiliated by Daniel and Mr. Miyagi and losing his dojo, Cobra Kai master John Kreese turns to his millionaire friend Terry Silver for help. Terry moves into down under the guise of a middle-class karate expert looking to renovate the Cobra Kai school, putting himself in a position to help Daniel when a [[TheDragon world-class martial arts expert]] that Silver recruited attacks him. When Mr. Miyagi refuses to help Daniel train for the tournament (seeing it as a frivolous exercise just to compete, as opposed to training for a purpose), Terry takes over as Daniel's coach. His purpose is three-fold: To put Daniel through heavy pain via harsh training methods, like punching and kicking hardwood targets; to corrupt him by promoting a far more aggressive attitude towards fighting, and to teach him specific moves and techniques that Barnes, his hired expert, will have knowledge of beforehand so that he could easily counter them in the tournament.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'', Lupin says that he was turned into a werewolf by Fenrir Greyback, who had a feud with Lupin's father. However, Lupin isn't evil unless he's actually a wolf. Greyback is also quite fond of kidnapping children after biting them, then raising them to hate normal humans, so it's likely he's played the trope completely straight in some cases.

* The theme of the song "Mordred's Lullaby" by Heather Dale: Morgana is raising Mordred as a villain in order to satisfy her own desire for vengeance against Arthur and Guinevere.

A sexual example may take the form of corrupting the victim through seduction. The avenger often either seduces the target's LoveInterest (or [[IBangedYourMom mother]], [[MySisterIsOffLimits sister]], [[OverprotectiveDad daughter]], etc., especially if the target is male), or ''was'' the target's love interest and has "spite sex" with someone else close to the target after the breakup. A ''[[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil really]]'' twisted villain may {{rape|AsDrama}} the target's loved one; strictly speaking, that's an example of RevengeByProxy more generally (and sometimes of StuffedIntoTheFridge), but it can overlap with this trope if the story treats the victim as DefiledForever and/or indulges in UsefulNotes/VictimBlaming. In the these sexually violent examples of the trope, if the victim is a love interest, the villain may follow the act with a PostRapeTaunt along the lines of "I showed her[[note]]and it's usually a her[[/note]] what a real man is," to emphasize that the target of revenge is now an EmasculatedCuckold.

A sexual example may take the form of corrupting the victim through seduction. The avenger often either seduces the target's LoveInterest (or [[IBangedYourMom mother]], [[MySisterIsOffLimits sister]], [[OverprotectiveDad daughter]], etc., especially if the target is male), or ''was'' the target's love interest and has "spite sex" with someone else close to the target after the breakup. A ''[[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil really]]'' twisted villain may {{rape|AsDrama}} the target's loved one; strictly speaking, that's an example of RevengeByProxy more generally (and sometimes of StuffedIntoTheFridge), but it can overlap with this trope if the story treats the victim as DefiledForever and/or indulges in UsefulNotes/VictimBlaming. In the these sexually violent examples of the trope, if the victim is a love interest, the villain may follow the act with a PostRapeTaunt about how he showed her (and it's usually a her) what a real man is, to emphasize that the target of revenge is now an EmasculatedCuckold.

A sexual example may take the form of corrupting the victim through seduction. The avenger often either seduces the target's LoveInterest (or [[IBangedYourMom mother]], [[MySisterIsOffLimits sister]], [[OverprotectiveDad daughter]], etc., especially if the target is male), or ''was'' the target's love interest and has "spite sex" with someone else close to the target after the breakup. A ''[[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil really]]'' twisted villain may {{rape|AsDrama}} the target's loved one; strictly speaking, that's an example of RevengeByProxy more generally (and sometimes of StuffedIntoTheFridge), but it can overlap with this trope if the story treats the victim as DefiledForever. In the these sexually violent examples of the trope, if the victim is a love interest, the villain may follow the act with a PostRapeTaunt about how he showed her (and it's usually a her), just to rub in what an EmasculatedCuckold the target of revenge is.

A sexual example may take the form of [[DefiledForever corrupting the victim through seduction]]. The avenger often either seduces the target's LoveInterest (or [[IBangedYourMom mother]], [[MySisterIsOffLimits sister]], [[OverprotectiveDad daughter]], etc., especially if the target is male), or ''was'' the target's love interest and has "spite sex" with someone else close to the target after the breakup.

A sexual example may take the form of [[DefiledForever corrupting the victim through seduction]]. The avenger often either seduces the target's LoveInterest (or [[IBangedYourMom mother]], [[MySisterIsOffLimits sister]], [[OverprotectiveDad daughter]], etc.), or ''was'' the target's love interest and has "spite sex" with someone else close to the target after the breakup.

A sexual example may take the form of [[DefiledForever corrupting the victim through seduction]]. The avenger often either seduces the target's LoveInterest (or [[IBangedYourMom mother]], [[MySisterIsOffLimits sister]], [[OverprotectiveDad daughter]], etc.), or ''was'' the target's love interest and sleeps with someone else close to the target after the breakup.

A sexual example may take the form of [[DefiledForever corrupting the victim through seduction]]. The avenger often either seduces the target's LoveInterest (or YourMom), or ''was'' the target's love interest and sleeps with someone else close to the target after the breakup.

A sexual example may take the form of [[DefiledForever corrupting the victim through seduction]]. The avenger often either seduces the target's LoveInterest, or ''was'' the target's love interest and sleeps with someone else close to the target after the breakup.