History Main / VengeanceFeelsEmpty

* ''Literature/AnitaDeMonteLaughsLast'': By the spring of 2000, the deceased Anita has spent several years doing her best to torment her husband [[spoiler:(who pushed her out a window to her death)]] by appearing to him in the form of a bat. She's just about to push him down a flight of stairs but changes her mind at the last minute for two reasons: she is done with the cycle of the two making each other miserable in their life together and and afterwards, and she knows they once loved each other.

** Even though Robert Baratheon killed the man who captured his beloved Lyanna in single combat, he seems to be unable to be satisfied with it - Lyanna died too and nothing can make up for that. He mentions that in his dreams "I kill him every night" but still finds no peace, which betrays the emptiness he feels even with having revenge.

* In ''Literature/TheAmazingAdventuresOfKavalierAndClay'', Joe Kavalier escaped Czechoslovakia prior to US entry into World War II and spent two years cultivating his rage over the Nazi occupation of Prague, resettlement of his family, [[spoiler: death of his father]] and finally, [[spoiler: death of his beloved brother by German U-Boat.]] Hell-bent on revenge, Joe joins the navy in hopes of [[spoiler: killing German soldiers]]. By way of [[spoiler: Antarctica]], he finally acheives his goal of [[spoiler: murdering a German]]. [[spoiler: However, the man was an innocent scientist]] and Joe's successful revenge made him feel like "the worst man in the world."

* In ''VideoGame/UnicornOverlord'', Virginia seeks to kill General Giethe rather than wait for him to be summoned back to Gran Corrine given that he murdered the Knights of the Rose, except for herself, Miriam, Fran, and Kitra. However, it becomes apparent that [[ButForMeItWasTuesday he doesn't even remember doing this]], and after Virginia kills him, she realizes it didn't make her feel better at all and chooses to leave the Liberation Army (but Alain and company convince her to stay).

* This is indeed how Kenai reacted in ''WesternAnimation/BrotherBear'' after he killed the bear he blamed for Sitka's death. He only screams out loudly to the skies after doing the deed. [[spoiler:When he learns the bear is really Koda's mother and that inadvertently leaves him orphaned]], [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone he is left with much guilt from it]].

* Subverted in ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth 2'', [[spoiler:Simon Keyes states that after revenge, everything becomes numb and you feel nothing. But to him, this is a ''good'' thing, because [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds his entire life has really sucked]] and now all of his pain has gone away.]]

* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': Vivienne Graham doesn't get any satisfaction out of using her new PhysicalGod form to kill [[spoiler:Alan Jonah in revenge for everything he did to her and [[SiblingTeam San]]]]. In Ghidorah's backstory before it [[SlowlySlippingIntoEvil completed its slide into evil]], it reacted similarly when it exterminated the [[spoiler:alien beings who [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil tortured it]], albeit mainly because their deaths didn't do anything to satiate the TerribleTicking they'd implanted in Ghidorah's heads]]. The penultimate chapter however makes it clear that whilst killing a mad little [[HumansAreInsects worm]] like [[spoiler:Jonah]] didn't bring Viv and San satisfaction, killing [[spoiler:Ghidorah (who has caused them both so, ''so'' much pain over the story)]] will be a different matter.

* ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'': [[Characters/MonsterVerseMarkRussell Mark Russell]] spends the first half of the movie (and the preceding five ''years'') holding an unhealthy AnimalNemesis hatred of Godzilla, because his son was a casualty of Godzilla's battle against the [=MUTOs=] in the previous movie. When Godzilla is [[spoiler:seemingly killed by the Oxygen Destroyer]] after he twice saved Mark and the Monarch brass from certain death (acts which the movie's {{novelization}} note caused Mark to begrudgingly find himself rooting for Godzilla), it's obvious that Mark isn't taking much if any joy in [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor getting what he asked for]], especially since Godzilla being taken out of the picture enables [[KillAllHumans Ghidorah]] to reign unopposed and begin eradicating humanity.

* {{Defied}} [[PlayedForLaughs For Laughs]] in the ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' episode "Irrational Treasure". [[Characters/GravityFallsDipperPines Dipper Pines]] and [[Characters/GravityFallsMabelPines Mabel Pines]] find out [[AlphaBitch Pacifica's]] familial prestige is a huge lie, giving them an opportunity to get back at her for making fun of Mabel. Mabel decides against it, but Dipper happily goes ahead anyway.

* This plays a large role in the backstory of ''Anime/VividStrike''. Rinne is tormented for several months by a trio of bullies, after they beat her up so badly and smashed her phone as her Mom was trying to contact her: which as it turned out was because Rinnes' much-beloved Grandfather was dying and he wanted to see her one last time:[[BewareTheQuietOnes caused Rinne to eventually snap]], the following day, she beats all three of them so bad that they have to be hospitalized. Rather than feel any sort of relief or closure, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone she is horrified by her actions]] [[spoiler:to the point that she spends 3 years suffering from extreme self-loathing]].

** Getter Robo plays with this multiple times. In the OG manga, Ryoma storms a martial arts tournament and assaults most of competitors and some of the martial arts committee as revenge for them shutting down his fathers dojo through WoundedGazelleGambit in an attempt to blacken his name as a violent martial artist. The catch though is, the weren't entirely in the wrong. While their methods were underhanded, Ryoma's father was indeed, a violent, brutal fighter who's methods aimed to severely injure, disfigure or even kill those he fought, believing mercy in battle to be a weakness. Ryoma's act of revenge only served to show how his fathers training instilled the same brutal, near murderous fighting style. To top it off, half the of reason was he believed that modern Martial Arts had become a soft form of performative dance rather than true fighting, so his motives were more villainous. To drive home the point, most of the victims of his assault were innocent, everyday people who likely didn't do anything to provoke the beating they received. it plays with also as after getting his revenge, it shows that while he's satisfied having avenge his father, what makes it hollow is learning just how soft martial arts has become and there is no one who can challenge him to a "real" fight. And finally, it happens in original 1st chapter of the manga, rather than later in the story, with the rest of the story actually moving beyond his WhatNowEnding by giving him a means to utilize his BloodKnight tendencies for a better purpose.

* ''VideoGame/BaldursGate3'': Karlach, one of your party members, has a history with [[ManipulativeBastard Gortash]], one of the three main villains of the game. She worked under him as a bodyguard of his until he [[DirtyBusiness sold her to the Hells,]] where she was given a mechanical heart that's begins overheating the moment she escapes the Hells and will someday kill her if she doesn't return. Karlach swears revenge on Gortash for his betrayal, but [[spoiler:when he's finally slain in battle, she will remark that him being dead changes nothing for her. He's no sorrier, he's just as mortal as the rest of them, and she will still have to die.]]

* ''VideoGame/Baldur'sGate3'': Karlach, one of your party members, has a history with [[ManipulativeBastard Gortash]], one of the three main villains of the game. She worked under him as a bodyguard of his until he [[DirtyBusiness sold her to the Hells,]] where she was given a mechanical heart that's begins overheating the moment she escapes the Hells and will someday kill her if she doesn't return. Karlach swears revenge on Gortash for his betrayal, but [[spoiler:when he's finally slain in battle, she will remark that him being dead changes nothing for her. He's no sorrier, he's just as mortal as the rest of them, and she will still have to die.]]

* ''VideoGame/BaldursGate3'': Karlach, one of your party members, has a history with Gortash, one of the [[ManipulativeBastard three main villains of the game]]. She worked under him as a bodyguard of his until he [[DirtyBusiness sold her to the Hells,]] where she was given a mechanical heart that's begins overheating the moment she escapes the Hells and will someday kill her if she doesn't return. Karlach swears revenge on Gortash for his betrayal, but [[spoiler:when he's finally slain in battle, she will remark that him being dead changes nothing for her. He's no sorrier, he's just as mortal as the rest of them, and she will still have to die.]]

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Since the sixth volume, Neopolitan has expressed her desire to get revenge for the death of Roman Torchwick at the hands of Ruby Rose. [[spoiler:When she finally succeeds at destroying Ruby in exactly the manner she wanted in the Ever After, a horrified Neo realises it doesn't make her feel any better. She has no purpose, nothing to live for, and is so empty that she is [[GrandTheftMe easy prey for possession]] by the Curious Cat.]]

** [[Characters/RickAndMortyRickSanchez Rick Sanchez]] spent decades searching the multiverse on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against his EvilDoppelganger that killed his [[ReplacementGoldfish original]] family. When he revisits his home universe in the Season 6 premiere "[[Recap/RickAndMortyS6E1Solaricks Solaricks]]", he's disgusted by how twisted his [[CrusadingWidow neverending quest]] made him and states he needs to finally let go, and even after coming face-to-face with his long-lost ArchEnemy, decides that protecting his new family is more important. However, in the season finale "[[Recap/RickAndMortyS6E10RicktionalMortpoonsRickmasMortcation Ricktional Mortpoon's Rickmas Mortcation]]", thanks to this encounter having given him a new lead in his quest, he's fallen right back into his old habits and is rather open over how miserable he is over it. [[spoiler:Ultimately in the season 7 episode "[[Recap/RickAndMortyS7E5Unmortricken Unmortricken]]", Rick manages to kill Rick Prime, but then [[WhatNowEnding finds himself without purpose]], going through a HeroicBSOD as reality sets in. Lampshaded by Evil Morty [[DeadpanSnarker knowingly asking Rick if he feels better, already aware of the answer]].]]

** This is contrasted in TheStinger with [[spoiler:[[BackForTheDead Slow Mobius]]' wife, who starts to go down the same path as Rick after Rick Prime killed her husband. However, she connects with another widow(er) and manages to make peace with what happened and start over with him as they both move on together, unlike Rick]].

[[folder:Visual Novel]]

** In the final confrontation, Joe has Iola's killer, a terrorist assassin, completely at his mercy, but can't bring himself to kill him in turn because [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim then he'd be no better]]. He actually attempts to [[SaveTheVillain pull the man back up]], only for the terrorist to try one more time to murder Joe, failing and falling to his death anyway as a result. Which leads to this:

** In the final confrontation, Joe has Iola's murderer, a terrorist assassin, completely at his mercy, but can't bring himself to kill him because [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim then he'd be no better]]. He actually attempts to [[SaveTheVillain pull the man back up]], only for the terrorist to try one more time to kill Joe, failing and falling to his death anyway as a result. Which leads to this:

* ''Manga/MariaNoDanzai'': An interesting example where the perpetrator appears to feel already that vengeance is empty, but it's continuing anyway. Mari Nagare was once a happily married woman with a loving relationship with her son, Kiritaka Nagare. Unfortunately, her son died, and the investigation told her and her husband that they believed he was driven to suicide by abusive parents. But when Mari Nagare read her son's diary, she learned the truth that a group of bullies inhumanely tortured Kiritaka, and he died in a prank gone wrong. Mari Nagare snapped and dedicated her life to getting revenge on her son's bullies by killing them. She divorced her husband, changed her name to her maiden name, Maria Akeboshi, cut off contact with her friends, got plastic surgery, and two years later. She got revenge on two of her son bullies so far, Tsubasa Kowase, who would drown his victims, so she drowned him to death, and Kumiru Shikimi, who laughed while her son was force-fed cockroaches, so she was thrown down the well and was eaten by insects. Mari, however, takes no joy in taking her revenge or killing her son's bullies, no matter how much they deserve it, just sitting down and feeling sad and empty after the bullies die. It's implied that either she always knew her revenge would be empty, or she realized later but continued because she wanted to avenge her son, and she'd already gone too far to get revenge.

** In the final confrontation, Joe has Iola's murderer, a terrorist assassin, completely at his mercy, but can't bring himself to kill him because [[IfYouKillHimYoullBeJustLikeHim then he'd be no better]]. He actually attempts to [[SaveTheVillain pull the man back up]], only for the terrorist to try one more time to kill Joe, failing and falling to his death anyway as a result. Which leads to this:

* Directly invoked by Fuu in ''Anime/SamuraiChamploo''. Near the end of the series, it's revealed that she's been searching for "the samurai who smells of sunflowers" [[spoiler:because he's her father, and she wants revenge on him for [[ParentalAbandonment abandoning her]] and her mother (who later died) when Fuu was young. However, when she finally ''does'' find him, he's on his deathbed from illness, and she laments how unfair the situation is because she'd get absolutely no satisfaction or closure from killing someone in this state. And even moreso when he tells Fuu that he always loved her and her mom and [[DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou only left them to keep them safe]].]]

** [[Characters/RickAndMortyRickSanchez Rick Sanchez]] spent decades searching the multiverse on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against his EvilDoppelganger that killed his [[ReplacementGoldfish original]] family. When he revisits his home universe in the Season 6 premiere "[[Recap/RickAndMortyS6E1Solaricks Solaricks]]" he's disgusted by how twisted his [[CrusadingWidow neverending quest]] made him and states he needs to finally let go, and even after coming face-to-face with his long-lost ArchEnemy, decides that protecting his new family is more important. However, in the season finale "[[Recap/RickAndMortyS6E10RicktionalMortpoonsRickmasMortcation Ricktional Mortpoon's Rickmas Mortcation]]", thanks to this encounter having given him a new lead in his quest, he's fallen right back into his old habits and is rather open over how miserable he is over it. [[spoiler:Ultimately in the season 7 episode "[[Recap/RickAndMortyS7E5Unmortricken Unmortricken]]", Rick manages to kill Rick Prime, but then [[WhatNowEnding finds himself without purpose]], going through a HeroicBSOD as reality sets in. Lampshaded by Evil Morty [[DeadpanSnarker knowingly asking Rick if he feels better, already aware of the answer]].]]

* Getter Robo plays with this multiple times. In the OG manga, Ryoma storms a martial arts tournament and assaults most of competitors and some of the martial arts committee as revenge for them shutting down his fathers dojo through WoundedGazelleGambit in an attempt to blacken his name as a violent martial artist. The catch though is, the weren't entirely in the wrong. While their methods were underhanded, Ryoma's father was indeed, a violent, brutal fighter who's methods aimed to severely injure, disfigure or even kill those he fought, believing mercy in battle to be a weakness. Ryoma's act of revenge only served to show how his fathers training instilled the same brutal, near murderous fighting style. To top it off, half the of reason was he believed that modern Martial Arts had become a soft form of performative dance rather than true fighting, so his motives were more villainous. To drive home the point, most of the victims of his assault were innocent, everyday people who likely didn't do anything to provoke the beating they received. it plays with also as after getting his revenge, it shows that while he's satisfied having avenge his father, what makes it hollow is learning just how soft martial arts has become and there is no one who can challenge him to a "real" fight. And finally, it happens in original 1st chapter of the manga, rather than later in the story, with the rest of the story actually moving beyond his WhatNowEnding by giving him a means to utilize his BloodKnight tendencies for a better purpose.

** Even though Robert Baratheon killed the man who captured his beloved Lyanna in single combat, he seems to be unable to be satisfied with it - Lyanna died too and nothing can make up for that. He mentions in his dreams that "he kills him every night" but still finds no peace, which betrays the emptiness he feels even with having revenge.

* ''Series/Loki2021'': Sylvie's life goal is to put a blade into whoever has been running the TVA and forcing her into a life on the run since she was a little girl. Yet when she does, she simply cries having had to betray the first and only person she ever loved to get it and the death itself not bringing a satisfactory conclusion.

* In ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'', [[Characters/RickAndMortyRickSanchez Rick Sanchez]] spent decades searching the multiverse on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against his EvilDoppelganger that killed his [[ReplacementGoldfish original]] family. When he revisits his home universe in the Season 6 premiere "[[Recap/RickAndMortyS6E1Solaricks Solaricks]]" he's disgusted by how twisted his [[CrusadingWidow neverending quest]] made him, and even comes face-to-face with his long-lost ArchEnemy but decides that protecting his new family is more important and decides to finally let go. [[spoiler:However, in the season finale "[[Recap/RickAndMortyS6E10RicktionalMortpoonsRickmasMortcation Ricktional Mortpoon's Rickmas Mortcation]]" he's fallen right back into his old habits and is rather open over how miserable he is over it. Ultimately in the season 7 episode "[[Recap/RickAndMortyS7E5Unmortricken Unmortricken]]", Rick manages to kill Rick Prime, but then finds himself without purpose, going through a HeroicBSOD as reality sets in. Lampshaded by Evil Morty [[DeadpanSnarker knowingly asking Rick if he feels better, already aware of the answer]].]]
** This is contrasted in TheStinger with [[spoiler:[[BackForTheDead Slow Mobius]]' wife, who starts to go down the same path as Rick after Rick Prime killed her husband. However, she connects with another widow and manages to make peace with what happened and start over with him, moving on unlike Rick]].

* In ''VideoGame/StarWarsKnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', Carth obsessively focuses on destroying his former mentor, Saul Karath, after Karath defects to the Empire, glasses his home planet, and kills his wife. After Carth and the player kill Karath, Carth admits that it didn't bring him the peace he thought it would.
* If the Exile in ''VideoGame/StarWarsKnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'' kills the Jedi Masters as revenge for what they did to them Kreia will ask what it has brought them. The general tone of the Exile's possible responses indicating that their actions have brought them no sense of peace or fulfillment.
* In ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'', the Sith Inquisitor finds [[SpacePirates space pirate]] Andronikos Revel in the process of tracking down and murdering his mutinous crew. At several times during the story, he misses out on the chance to personally kill his betrayers, and is visibly distraught about this.