History Main / TrappedInVillainy

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' prequel ''[[Recap/TheOrderOfTheStickStartOfDarkness Start of Darkness]]'', Xykon {{invoke|dTrope}}s this on Redcloak with a merciless BreakingSpeech. As he says, if Redcloak wants to betray Xykon and abandon the Plan, he'd have to face the crushing HeelRealization that every evil thing he did, [[spoiler:including murdering his own little brother]], was his own fault. Effectively, Redcloak traps himself in villainy with the SunkCostFallacy and the delusion that Xykon, as a more powerful CardCarryingVillain, [[JustFollowingOrders can be blamed]] for the things Redcloak does as his lackey.

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' prequel ''Start of Darkness'', Xykon {{invoke|dTrope}}s this on Redcloak with a merciless BreakingSpeech. As he says, if Redcloak wants to betray Xykon and abandon the Plan, he'd have to face the crushing HeelRealization that every evil thing he did, [[spoiler:including murdering his own little brother]], was his own fault. Effectively, Redcloak traps himself in villainy with the SunkCostFallacy and the delusion that Xykon, as a more powerful CardCarryingVillain, [[JustFollowingOrders can be blamed]] for the things Redcloak does as his lackey.

* ''Literature/SpinningSilver'': [[spoiler:TheEvilPrince Mirnatius]] was ForcedIntoEvil when his mother [[DemonicPossession bound a demon to him]] in the womb, and is now stuck feeding human victims to the demon. Irina [[SympathyForTheDevil feels deeply sad for him]] when she realizes he would have preferred to be an artist and scholar, and ultimately [[spoiler:saves him by destroying the demon]].
* {{Invoked|Trope}} by the Black Ajah in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' books. They are magically bound by oaths that will kill them if they betray the organization, so even those who have second thoughts are stuck with them, [[spoiler:and one character's SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome involves realizing the wording includes [[LoopholeAbuse "Until the hour of my]] [[DyingMomentofAwesome death."]]]]

* ''Manga/VenusPutsFurOnMe'': Of a sort; Nakajima only bullies Shirosaki, regularly subjecting her to all sorts of humiliation and violence, becuase if he doesn't, ''[[TooKinkyToTorture she]]'' will, at minimum, torture ''him'' with her ice picks, and has flat-out threatened to kill him if he quits bullying her.

* ''Fanfic/VowOfNudity'': One story’s guest star, Fiora the Forest Witch, has her entire backstory revolve around this. First her college bans her from becoming a graduate student because she’s poor, then she realizes her favorite professor had been co-opting her research to prime the school for demonic invasion. Left with seconds to act and nobody to turn to for help, she sells her soul to an opposing demon lord to stop him, and suffers for years as an unhappy abyssal thrall for her sacrifice. (Worst of all, since nobody else knows the true context, she’s remembered by everybody as only an insane/jealous demon worshipper who killed a university professor.)

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'' has Draco Malfoy as a zig-zagged example who, for the first five books, is just [[StarterVillain a nuisance for Harry to deal with at school]] on his own accord. Admittedly, he does KickTheDog [[pretty nasty stuff]] during those five books, from bullying and verbal abuse towards Harry's dead parents to starting a smear campaign against Hagrid and attempting to have his pet [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals executed]]. Once he joins the Death Eaters, however, things change. He's given the job to [[spoiler:kill Dumbledore]], which seems simple enough in theory. But once Draco realizes that [[spoiler:he can't follow through with direct murder so easily]], he remains hesitant throughout the next book, and only stays in Voldemort's service because he's ''terrified'' of the man.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'' has Draco Malfoy as a zig-zagged example who, for the first five books, is just [[StarterVillain a nuisance for Harry to deal with at school]]. Admittedly, he does pretty nasty stuff during those five books, from bullying and verbal abuse towards Harry's dead parents to starting a smear campaign against Hagrid and attempting to have his pet executed. Once he joins the Death Eaters, however, things change. He's given the job to [[spoiler:kill Dumbledore]], which seems simple enough in theory. But once Draco realizes that [[spoiler:he can't follow through with murder so easily]], he remains hesitant throughout the next book, and only stays in Voldemort's service because he's ''terrified'' of the man.

* ''FanFic/OogwaysLittleOwl'': PlayedForLaughs. Fung and his gang of Croc Bandits decide to abandon the criminal lifestyle and ply their skills as law-abiding mercenaries. Unfortunately for them, everyone who hires them turns out to be a villain trying to take on the Furious Five, or otherwise commit crimes. First they're brought on by a corrupt aristocrat to rob Tigress's old orphanage, which they abandon as soon as they realize they're stealing from orphans, and then by an ape with a grudge against Master Viper, whom they ditch for her to take out.

* ''FanFic/TheStoryOfTwilightGlow'': Moondancer would rather not work for [[EvilOverlord Nightmare Moon]], but can't disobey her, or else her friends and family will suffer.

* Many [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual Contractors]] in ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack''. They're extremely powerful, [[MutantDraftBoard so they're very in-demand as spies and assassins for various organizations]]; however, if they can't/won't do this, they aren't allowed to live. On their own, most are closer to TrueNeutral.

** Roman Torchwick was [[DownplayedTrope already Vale's crime boss]], but he never sought the world-changing death and destruction that [[TheHeavy Cinder Fall]] was planning. By the time he realised what Cinder Fall was doing, he was in too deep to get out. In Volume 3, he tells Ruby Rose no-one can stop these super-villains; you have to join them or die.

** Roman Torchwick was [[DownplayedTrope already Vale's crime boss]], but he never sought the world-changing death and destruction that [[TheHeavy Cinder Fall]] was planning. By the time he realised what Cinder Fall was doing, he was in too deep to get out. In Volume 3, he tells Ruby no-one can stop these super-villains; you have to join them or die.
** Ilia Amitola is not a fan of the extreme methods that the White Fang employ and doesn't relish the idea of hurting people. However, she has long since crossed the DespairEventHorizon and genuinely doesn't know how else to help the Faunus aside from violence. While dueling each other in the Volume 5 episode "[[Recap/RWBYV5E10TrueColors True Colors]]", Blake tells Ilia she's a good person who keeps making the wrong choices. [[spoiler:Eventually, a tearful Ilia asks Blake what she is supposed to do. She finds her answer after stopping Corsac from attacking the Belladonnas, and pulls a HeelFaceTurn.]]
** Hazel Rainart hates [[BigGood Ozpin]] because he feels the Huntsman Academies are throwing away the lives of children. Though Ozpin [[GuiltComplex accepts]] Hazel's perception of him, he's baffled by Hazel's conclusion that opposing him means siding with the monstrous [[BigBad Salem]]. [[spoiler:While torturing Ozpin for the password to the [[ArtifactOfPower Relic of Knowledge]], Hazel admits he did go after Salem first. She let him [[CompleteImmortality kill her repeatedly]] until he [[DespairEventHorizon broke]] from the futility of fighting her. She redirected his rage at Ozpin, promising him a Huntsman-free world. Hazel's true problem with Ozpin is his determination to encourage opposition to an InvincibleVillain instead of accepting its futility; when he refuses to believe Ozpin's explanation that Salem's true end-game is planetary destruction, [[SharingABody Oscar intervenes]] to give Hazel the password to the Relic of Knowledge in the hope that Hazel will use it to discover the truth for himself.]]
** Tyrian Callowa believes Mercury Black's boast about being fine with serving Salem because he's a trained assassin is hiding the fear of leaving the cycle of pain and violence his abusive father trapped him into. [[spoiler:After Salem promotes him out of Cinder's group, Tyrian confirms to him and Emerald that Salem's true end-game is to destroy the world. Mercury is visibly hesitant, but is whisked away to Vacuo by Tyrian before he can discuss it further with Emerald; these leaves her free to defect, but not him.]]

** Ilia Amitola is not a fan of the extreme methods that the White Fang employ and doesn't relish the idea of hurting people. However, she has long since crossed the DespairEventHorizon and genuinely doesn't know how else to help the Faunus aside from violence. While differing each other in Volume 5, Blake tells Ilia she's a good person who keeps making the wrong choices. [[spoiler:Eventually, a tearful Ilia asks Blake what she is supposed to do. She finds her answer after stopping Corsac from attacking the Belladonnas, and pulls a HeelFaceTurn.]]

** Roman was [[DownplayedTrope already Vale's crime boss]], but he never sought the world-changing death and destruction that [[TheHeavy Cinder Fall]] was planning. By the time he realised what Cinder was doing, he was in too deep to get out. In Volume 3, he tells Ruby that no-one can stop these super-villains; you have to join them or die.
** Ilia is not a fan of the extreme methods that the White Fang employ and doesn't relish the idea of hurting people. However, she has long since crossed the DespairEventHorizon and genuinely doesn't know how else to help the Faunus aside from violence. During their Volume 5 fight, Blake tells Ilia that she is not a bad person, she just keeps making the wrong choices. [[spoiler:Ilia eventually bursts into tears and asks Blake what she is supposed to do. She finds her answer after stopping Corsac from attacking the Belladonnas, and pulls a HeelFaceTurn.]]
** Hazel hates [[BigGood Ozpin]] because he feels the Huntsman Academies are throwing away the lives of children. While Ozpin [[GuiltComplex accepts]] Hazel's perception of him, he's baffled by Hazel's conclusion that opposing him means siding with the monstrous [[BigBad Salem]]. [[spoiler:While torturing Ozpin for the password to the [[ArtifactOfPower Relic of Knowledge]], Hazel admits he did go after Salem first. She let him [[CompleteImmortality kill her repeatedly]] until he [[DespairEventHorizon broke]] from the futility of fighting her. She redirected his rage at Ozpin, promising him a Huntsman-free world. Hazel's true problem with Ozpin is Ozpin's determination to encourage opposition to an InvincibleVillain instead of accepting its futility; when he refuses to believe Ozpin's explanation that Salem's true end-game is planetary destruction, [[SharingABody Oscar intervenes]] to give Hazel the password to the Relic of Knowledge in the hope that Hazel will use it to discover the truth for himself.]]
** Tyrian believes that Mercury's boast about being fine with serving Salem because he's a trained assassin is hiding the fear of leaving the cycle of pain and violence his abusive father trapped him into. [[spoiler:After Salem promotes him out of Cinder's group, Tyrian confirms to him and Emerald that Salem's true end-game is to destroy the world. Mercury is visibly hesitant, but is whisked away to Vacuo by Tyrian before he can discuss it further with Emerald; these leaves her free to defect, but not him.]]

** Ilia is not a fan of the extreme methods that the White Fang employ and doesn't relish the idea of hurting people. However, she has long since crossed the DespairEventHorizon and genuinely doesn't know how else to help the Faunus aside from violence. During their Volume 5 fight, Blake tells Ilia that she is not a bad person, she just keeps making the wrong choices. [[spoiler:Eventually Ilia breaks into tears and asks Blake what she is supposed to do. She finds her answer after stopping Corsac from attacking the Belladonnas, and pulls a HeelFaceTurn.]]
** Hazel hates Ozpin because he feels the Huntsman Academies are throwing away the lives of children. While Ozpin accepts Hazel's perception of him, he's baffled by Hazel's conclusion that opposing him means siding with the monstrous Salem. [[spoiler:While torturing Ozpin for the password to the Relic of Knowledge, Hazel admits he did go after Salem first. She let him [[CompleteImmortality kill her repeatedly]] until he [[DespairEventHorizon broke]] from the futility of fighting her. She redirected his rage at Ozpin, promising him a Huntsman-free world. Hazel's true problem with Ozpin is Ozpin's determination to encourage opposition to an InvincibleVillain instead of accepting its futility; when he refuses to believe Ozpin's explanation that Salem's true end-game is planetary destruction, Oscar intervenes to give Hazel the password to the Relic of Knowledge in the hope that Hazel will use it to discover the truth for himself.]]

** Roman Torchwick [[DownplayedTrope was already a crime boss and Vale's most wanted]], but he would have never sought out the death and destruction Cinder Fall had planned. By the time he realized the full scope of her EvilPlan, Roman was already in too deep and knew she would kill him if he tried to back out. Feeling like no one could stop what was set in motion, Roman decided "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em".
** Ilia is not a fan of the extreme methods that the White Fang employ and doesn't relish the idea of hurting people. However, she has long since crossed the DespairEventHorizon and genuinely doesn't know how else to help the Faunus aside from violence. During their fight in "True Colors", Blake tells Ilia that she is not a bad person but that she just keeps making the wrong choices. [[spoiler:Eventually Ilia breaks into tears during their fight and asks Blake what she is supposed to do. She finds her answer after stopping Corsac from attacking the Belladonnas, and pulls a HeelFaceTurn.]]

** Ilia is not a fan of the extreme methods that the White Fang employ and doesn't relish the idea of hurting people. However, she has long since crossed the DespairEventHorizon and genuinely doesn't know how else to help the Faunus aside from violence. During their fight in "True Colors", Blake tells Ilia that she is not a bad person but that she just keeps making the wrong choices. Eventually Ilia breaks into tears during their fight and asks Blake what she is supposed to do. She finds her answer after stopping Corsac from attacking the Belladonnas, and pulls a HeelFaceTurn.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'':
** Roman Torchwick [[DownplayedTrope was already a crime boss and Vale's most wanted]], but he would have never sought out the death and destruction Cinder Fall had planned. By the time he realized the full scope of her EvilPlan, Roman was already in too deep and knew she would kill him if he tried to back out. Feeling like no one could stop what was set in motion, Roman decided "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em".
** Ilia is not a fan of the extreme methods that the White Fang employ and doesn't relish the idea of hurting people. However, she has long since crossed the DespairEventHorizon and genuinely doesn't know how else to help the Faunus aside from violence. During their fight in "True Colors", Blake tells Ilia that she is not a bad person but that she just keeps making the wrong choices. Eventually Ilia breaks into tears during their fight and asks Blake what she is supposed to do. She finds her answer after stopping Corsac from attacking the Belladonnas, and pulls a HeelFaceTurn.

* For ''Literature/{{Pact}}'' see Literature above.

* Roman Torchwick in ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' [[DownplayedTrope was already a crime boss and Vale's most wanted]], but he would have never sought out the death and destruction Cinder Fall had planned. By the time he realized the full scope of her EvilPlan, Roman was already in too deep and knew she would kill him if he tried to back out. Feeling like no one could stop what was set in motion, Roman decided "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em".

[[folder:Anime And Manga]]

** [[spoiler:Reiner, Bertolt, and Annie]] are a case of this. They [[TearsOfRemorse aren't]] [[BecomingTheMask particularly]] [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone happy]] [[VillainousBSOD about]] what they're doing, but view it as absolutely necessary. [[spoiler:They hail from a totalitarian nation where their people are kept in Internment camps, and have absolutely no rights as human beings. Should they fail their mission or be ''suspected'' of rebellious thoughts, their superiors will [[EatenAlive kill them]] and condemn their ''entire'' family to AFateWorseThanDeath]]. If they won't complete their mission, their superiors will simply [[WeHaveReserves find someone else]] to do it.

* ''Anime/DanganRonpa3'' has [[spoiler:Ruruka Andou]]. Their Deadly Action is "Letting anyone leave the game stage", forcing them into becoming a villain that has to keep everyone inside the building and hide the only way out. [[spoiler:This turns out to be completely pointless, as there's no exit and the "way out" actually leads to the power source of the building that can stop the game and deactivate her code, making her code unbreakable. The mastermind still uses this to manipulate her into SanitySlippage based on her already paranoiac behavior.]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* In ''Series/TwentyFour'', this is the ultimate fate of [[PunchClockVillain Ira Gaines]]. As a mercenary for hire, he takes on the job to kill Jack Bauer and his family along with David Palmer for a large sum of money from [[TheMafia the Drazens]]. Unfortunately for him, he didn't realize how unstoppable Jack Bauer really is. He seems to regret taking on the job by the end, but fights to the death anyway because he knows that getting killed by Jack is a better fate than what the Drazens would do him.
* In an episode of ''{{Series/Bones}}'', the Perp[=/=]VictimOfTheWeek was strapped into a bomb vest and forced to rob a bank or else the bomb would be set off.

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* Jin from ''{{Webcomic/Bastard|2014}}'' is trapped into helping [[SerialKiller his father]] commit and cover up his crimes because the alternative for him [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness isn't pretty]].

* In one arc of ''Webcomic/{{Jack|DavidHopkins}}'', a man becomes the assistant of a doctor who is working on a new treatment that could save the man's wife from dying of cancer. The man eventually discovers that the doctor is a twisted paedophile who is molesting child patients in his "care". He immediately threatens to go to the authorities, but the doctor reminds him that his research is the only hope his wife has and he is weeks away from completing it. The man reluctantly chooses his wife's life over the well-being of the children. [[spoiler:Becomes a ShootTheShaggyDogStory when the doctor eventually ''murders'' all of the children to cover his tracks, and the man's wife dies of shock when he confesses what he did. The only bright spot is that a hidden camera placed by a suspicious security guard exposed the doctor's crimes and he gets executed via lethal injection while whimpering in fear.]] The powers that be are sympathetic to the man's plight; though his sin denies him entry to Heaven, he is sent to Purgatory instead of Hell.

* Poor Isauro from ''WebComic/SidekickGirl'' is trapped as a henchman. A villain tricked him into essentially being an accessory to mass murder in Mexico. The villain's organization then made his green card contingent on working for them and only for them, so he will be deported back to Mexico and be executed for the crime if he doesn't.

* In the first season finale of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', Slade forces Robin to become his apprentice and turn on his comrades or else they will die.