History NeverMyFault / TheDCU

** ''Comicbook/{{Steel}}works'': A flashback to John Henry Irons quitting Amertek reveals that Charles Walker III, the BigBad of the series, was his boss, and was so desperate to hire him that he agreed to a contract where John could leave if he ever had a moral objection to what Amertek was doing, and all his designs were owned by himeslf, not the company. It then cuts to Walker in court, demanding to know what he pays his lawyers for if they can't break this contract, and them pointing out that they said the contract was a bad idea at the time, and he ignored them. He ignores this as well. The court case cost a lot of money and meant everyone learned what John Henry's problems with Amertek were, so Walker now blames him for the entire collapse of the company.

** The titular superhero has been known to act like this from time to time, whether because his general paranoia was getting the better of him, or his ManipulativeBastard tendencies were in overdrive, or because he thinks everyone else is failing to see the brilliance or tough but necessary measures of his plans.
** ComicBook/TheJoker himself is depicted like this in ''ComicBook/TheKillingJoke''. He spends the whole book claiming that society made him what he is by pushing him to have "one bad day" which drove him over the edge and forced him to become the insane Clown Prince of Crime. To prove his twisted theory, he shoots Barbara Gordon (permanently paralyzing her), kidnaps her father, then subjects him to a nightmarish carnival ride in which Gordon is forced to view images of his naked, crippled, bleeding daughter. The Joker then brags that Gordon has been driven mad just as he was, insisting that humanity overall is to blame for making him crazy... trouble is, [[HeroicWillpower Gordon is fine]], though understandably shaken up. Batman then points out that society had nothing to do with Joker's going nuts, instead claiming that it was his own fault for making terrible choices (like agreeing to commit a robbery, then bowing to the criminal gang's intimidation after he tried to back out when his wife and unborn child died in a freak accident) rather than anyone else's: "Maybe it was ''you'' all along." The Joker refuses to accept this.
** ComicBook/TwoFace also tends to use his coin and the random chance it represents to justify his own evil actions and fall into disgrace.

* ''ComicBook/TheFlash'': One of Eobard Thawne's defining traits is blaming his own failures on Barry Allen no matter how much InsaneTrollLogic he needs to do it. A more objective look would show that most of his misfortunes are the result of Thawne's propensity for murder, immorality, and his large entitlement complex, but he's still dedicated his entire life to getting revenge on Barry for "ruining [his] future".

** In ''ComicBook/GreenLanternRebirth'', Sinestro blames Hal for ousting him from Korugar, which Hal did because Sinestro conquered and ruled the planet with an iron fist.

** This is a major part of ComicBook/LexLuthor's character. Whenever he does something horribly immoral, he always finds a way to blame Superman or anyone else around him, refusing to believe he could ever make a mistake. He is unshakably convinced that he is always in the right.

** In ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', Superboy-Prime kills a multitude of people, but refuses to take responsibility. Coming from a world where he was the only superhero, and being parented by a [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] Superman, he thinks the DC universe is full of degenerates. In his mind, it's '''their''' fault that he's driven to kill. No one agrees with him.

** The [[EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity Guardians of the Universe]]. Ironically, they became the Guardians in the first place to become a species-wide TheAtoner example in reaction to [[GreaterScopeVillain Krona]], but they became this over time as they tried to protect the universe their own way. It became worse and worse over Creator/GeoffJohns' run on the series until it came to a head in ''ComicBook/RiseOfTheThirdArmy'', wherein they decide that the problems of the universe are caused by [[spoiler:emotion itself, and thus EmotionSuppression and removal of TheEvilsOfFreeWill will remove the problems]]. This is in the face of the fact that the problems of the previous two armies were their own fault. [[AIIsACrapshoot The Manhunters]] were created by them (and replaced by the extremely similar and also [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul eventually evil]] [[InternalAffairs Alpha Lantern Corps]]), and [[SpacePolice the Green Lantern Corps]] were led by misinformation and factors completely beyond their control, with their last "problem" being that one of them managed to [[spoiler:kill a rogue Guardian]]. To lay into this contrast, when a group of Oans who have not been in contact with the majority of the Guardians see them after millennia, they react in [[WhatTheHellHero horror]] to what has become of them.

* ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'':
** In ''ComicBook/GreenLanternRebirth'', Sinestro blames Hal for ousting him from Korugar, which Hal did because Sinestro conquered and ruled the planet with an iron fist.
** The [[EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity Guardians of the Universe]]. Ironically, they became the Guardians in the first place to become a species-wide TheAtoner example in reaction to [[GreaterScopeVillain Krona]], but they became this over time as they tried to protect the universe their own way. It became worse and worse over Creator/GeoffJohns' run on the series until it came to a head in ''ComicBook/RiseOfTheThirdArmy'', wherein they decide that the problems of the universe are caused by [[spoiler:emotion itself, and thus EmotionSuppression and removal of TheEvilsOfFreeWill will remove the problems]]. This is in the face of the fact that the problems of the previous two armies were their own fault. [[AIIsACrapshoot The Manhunters]] were created by them (and replaced by the extremely similar and also [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul eventually evil]] [[InternalAffairs Alpha Lantern Corps]]), and [[SpacePolice the Green Lantern Corps]] were led by misinformation and factors completely beyond their control, with their last "problem" being that one of them managed to [[spoiler:kill a rogue Guardian]]. To lay into this contrast, when a group of Oans who have not been in contact with the majority of the Guardians see them after millennia, they react in [[WhatTheHellHero horror]] to what has become of them.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Legends|DCComics}}'', the Star City police officer who shot another police officer trying to stop him from firing at Black Canary decides to blame her for the death instead of taking responsibility himself, most likely since he was under the mental influence of G. Gordon Godfrey.
* In ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', ComicBook/TheSpectre, free from any human host, is fooled by Eclipso into believing that MagicIsEvil, and as such brutally kills the Lords of Chaos and Order. Unfortunately, that proved ''way'' beyond what God could stomach, and immediately corralled the Spectre and shoved him back into a new host to remind him ''again'' of why he needs human perspective. Even as he is being dragged into his new home, the Spectre screams it's all Eclipso's fault and that he should not be punished.
* ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'':
** One day as Dirk Morgna and another worker delivered supplies to Regulus Regulus looked away from an unauthorized experiment to snap at them, whereupon it exploded, injuring Dirk and killing the worker. Upon being fired, Regulus blamed Dirk and used robots to attack him, shoving Dirk's unconscious body into a reactor, which is how Sun Boy gained his powers.
** ''ComicBook/TheEarthwarSaga'': When one team of Legionnaires take off for the Weber's World, Wildfire gets in the path of a Science Police aircar, almost causing it to crash into the ground. When Mon-El calls him out on it, Wildfire replies it was their fault for failing to keep their aircrafts in top condition.

* ''ComicBook/ThroneOfAtlantis'': Despite orchestrating the attack, Vulko holds Dr. Shin ultimately responsible for the invasion. He feels that his actions would not be necessary if not for Shin outing [[ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} Arthur]] to the world and setting the events in motion that have brought them to this point.

** ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'': One day as Dirk Morgna and another worker delivered supplies to Regulus Regulus looked away from an unauthorized experiment to snap at them, whereupon it exploded, injuring Dirk and killing the worker. Upon being fired, Regulus blamed Dirk and used robots to attack him, shoving Dirk's unconscious body into a reactor, which is how Sun Boy gained his powers.
** ''ComicBook/TheEarthwarSaga'': When one team of Legionnaires take off for the Weber's World, Wildfire gets in the path of a Science Police aircar, almost causing it to crash into the ground. When Mon-El calls him out on it, Wildfire replies it was their fault for failing to keep their aircrafts in top condition.

** In ''ComicBook/SupermanUpUpAndAway'', Clark calls Luthor out during their battle; after all his talk about how he could save the world if Superman wasn't around, he did nothing whatsoever in the whole year Superman was out of the action. Luthor, naturally, insists this is STILL all Superman's fault.
** In ''ComicBook/TheBlackRing'', Death asks Luthor if he would like to ask {{God}}'s forgiveness, if that were an option. Luthor visibly squirms at the very idea that he has done something he should ask forgiveness for, and somewhat feebly offers that he might like a chance to explain his motivations.

** In ''ComicBook/AMindSwitchInTime'', one CorruptCorporateExecutive blames Superman for going bankrupted. How did he go bankrupted? His garment business was failing so he tried to burn his own company's headquarters down to commit insurance fraud, but Superman came along and extinguished the fire.

** In ''ComicBook/HowLuthorMetSuperboy'', a teenager Lex Luthor accidentally burns down his lab and convinces himself that Superboy started the fire out of jealousy. Later, he talks the Mayor into funding the building of innovative public works to improve Smallville -and fuel his ego-, but when his inventions malfunction, prompting Superboy to shut them down, Lex convinces himself that Superboy ruined them with the purpose of humiliating him, which [[StartOfDarkness begins Luthor's lifelong hatred of the boy who would eventually become Superman.]]

** ''ComicBook/TheSuperRevengeOfLexLuthor'': When Ardora discovers her husband Lex Luthor is a criminal, Luthor blames Superman for accidentally revealing it instead of himself for committing crimes or lying to his then-fiancée about his past life.

* ''Comicbook/{{Steel}}works'': A flashback to John Henry Irons quitting Amertek reveals that Charles Walker III, the BigBad of the series, was his boss, and was so desperate to hire him that he agreed to a contract where John could leave if he ever had a moral objection to what Amertek was doing, and all his designs were owned by himeslf, not the company. It then cuts to Walker in court, demanding to know what he pays his lawyers for if they can't break this contract, and them pointing out that they said the contract was a bad idea at the time, and he ignored them. He ignores this as well.

** In ''ComicBook/HowLuthorMetSuperboy'', a teenager Lex Luthor accidentally burns down his lab and convinces himself that Superboy started the fire out of jealousy. Later, he talks the Mayor into funding the building of innovative public works to improve Smallville -and fuel his ego-, but when his inventions malfunction, prompting Superboy to shut them down, Lex convinces himself that Superboy ruined them with the purpose of humiliating him.

* In ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', ComicBook/TheSpectre, free from any human host, is fooled by Eclipso into believing that MagicIsEvil, and as such brutally kills the Lords of Chaos and Order. Unfortunately, that proved ''way'' beyond what God could stomach, and immediately corralled the Spectre and shoved him back into a new host to remind him ''again''of why he needs human perspective. Even as he is being dragged into his new home, the Spectre screams it's all Eclipso's fault and that he should not be punished.

** In ''ComicBook/Robin1993'', Dodge decides to go from wannabe hero to a Robin targeting villain after he wakes up in the hospital because the prototype he stole malfunctioned and fused to him. In his mind it's Robin's fault he got hurt, even though Robin saved his life and those of the hostages Dodge had endangered in his self-centered arrogance and the injuries came from something Dodge stole before Robin had even heard of him.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':

* ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'': One day as Dirk Morgna and another worker delivered supplies to Regulus Regulus looked away from an unauthorized experiment to snap at them, whereupon it exploded, injuring Dirk and killing the worker. Upon being fired, Regulus blamed Dirk and used robots to attack him, shoving Dirk's unconscious body into a reactor, which is how Sun Boy/Inferno gained his powers.
* ''ComicBook/ThroneOfAtlantis'': Despite orchestrating the attack, Vulko holds Dr. Shin ultimately responsible for the invasion. He feels that his actions would not be necessary if not for Shin outing [[ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} Arthur]] to the world and setting the events in motion that have brought them to this point.

* Pre-Flashpoint, ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}}'s entire motivation for hating the ComicBook/TeenTitans and trying to kill them was that he blamed them for the loss of his family. In reality, Deathstroke himself was the one who drove them away with his life as an amoral mercenary. Averted in one storyline when he eventually realized he was a terrible father. He enacted a scheme to endear his remaining two children to the Teen Titans so they could have the family he couldn't give them. Brought up in ''Infinite Crisis''. Batman asks Deathstroke why he's abandoned his moral code, and Nightwing says it's because his children left him. Deathstroke rages that that was because of him, and it had '''always''' been because of him. He's promptly knocked out, and told to own up to his own mistakes.

** The [[EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity Guardians of the Universe]]. Ironically, they became the Guardians in the first place to become a species-wide TheAtoner example in reaction to [[GreaterScopeVillain Krona]], but they became this over time as they tried to protect the universe their own way. It became worse and worse over Creator/GeoffJohns' run on the series until it came to a head in ''ComicBook/RiseOfTheThirdArmy'', wherein they decide that the problems of the universe are caused by [[spoiler:emotion itself, and thus EmotionSuppression and removal of TheEvilsOfFreeWill will remove the problems]]. This is in the face of the fact that the problems of the previous two armies were pretty much entirely their own fault. [[AIIsACrapshoot The Manhunters]] were created by them (and replaced by the extremely similar and also [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul eventually evil]] [[InternalAffairs Alpha Lantern Corps]]), and [[SpacePolice the Green Lantern Corps]] were led by misinformation and factors completely beyond their control, with their last "problem" being that one of them managed to [[spoiler:kill a rogue Guardian]]. To lay into this contrast, when a group of Oans who have not been in contact with the majority of the Guardians see them after millennia, they react in [[WhatTheHellHero horror]] to what has become of them.

** ''ComicBook/{{Wonder Woman|1987}}'' Vol 2. Hera refuses to take the blame for any of the things she does that upset her fellow goddesses. For instance she doesn't see how the Amazons' patrons could possibly think it's her fault she destroyed Themyscira; obviously the blame lies entirely with Zeus for upsetting her.

** Several moments in ''ComicBook/AllStarBatmanAndRobinTheBoyWonder'' have Goddamned Batman repeatedly blame Dick Grayson, age 12, for coming into his life and becoming his sidekick, completely ignoring the fact that he's the one who abducted the boy against his will in the first place.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Legends|DC}}'', the Star City police officer who shot another police officer trying to stop him from firing at Black Canary decides to blame her for the death instead of taking responsibility himself, most likely since he was under the mental influence of G. Gordon Godfrey.

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':

* ''ComicBook/TheSandman'': [[TheDevil Lucifer]] grumbles to the title character that [[HumansAreBastards humanity has been using him as a scapegoat throughout history.]]

* ''Franchise/GreenLantern'':

** In ''ComicBook/RobinSeries'', Dodge decides to go from wannabe hero to a Robin targeting villain after he wakes up in the hospital because the prototype he stole malfunctioned and fused to him. In his mind it's Robin's fault he got hurt, even though Robin saved his life and those of the hostages Dodge had endangered in his self-centered arrogance and the injuries came from something Dodge stole before Robin had even heard of him.

** In ''ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton'', Darkseid appears to disintegrate Supergirl, and blames Superman for it. What did Superman do? Having the gall to rescue his cousin when Darkseid kidnapped her and brainwashed her.

* In ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', [[TheDevil Lucifer]] grumbles to the title character that [[HumansAreBastards humanity has been using him as a scapegoat throughout history.]]

* ''ComicBook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}}'': One day as Dirk Morgna and another worker delivered supplies to Regulus Regulus looked away from an unauthorized experiment to snap at them, whereupon it exploded, injuring Dirk and killing the worker. Upon being fired, Regulus blamed Dirk and used robots to attack him, shoving Dirk's unconscious body into a reactor, which is how Sun Boy/Inferno gained his powers.

** In ''ComicBook/{{Robin|Series}}'' Dodge decides to go from wannabe hero to a Robin targeting villain after he wakes up in the hospital because the prototype he stole malfunctioned and fused to him. In his mind it's Robin's fault he got hurt, even though Robin saved his life and those of the hostages Dodge had endangered in his self-centered arrogance and the injuries came from something Dodge stole before Robin had even heard of him.

* In ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', [[TheDevil Lucifer]] grumbles to the title character that [[HumansAreBastards humanity has been using him as a scapegoat throughout history.]] He might even be [[SympathyForTheDevil sincere.]]