Basic Trope: Someone who committed heinous deeds gets punished by "the deed itself" (the guilt over doing the deed or the loss that he/she experienced, etc).
- Straight: Bob steals a priceless artifact from a museum. After some time, the guilt eats at him so much that the security guard, Alice, decides not to turn him in when he comes in tears to return it.
- Exaggerated: Bob steals a priceless artifact, kills Alice the security guard, and leaves a sneering note on the broken case. After some time, the guilt eats at him to such a degree that he not only returns the artifact and turns himself in for killing Alice, but also he develops a habit of throwing himself into the way of every harm he can to protect others. Charlie, Alice's replacement, decides to get him therapy and a new identity because he thinks Bob has punished himself enough.
- Downplayed: Bob steals a priceless artifact from the museum. Over time, the guilt eats at him so much that he comes in tears to return it. Alice the guard decides not to turn him in... but she demands that he make a $2,000 "donation" to the museum to help make up the loss of revenue.
- Justified: ???
- Inverted: Bob donates a large sum of money to the museum and insists he not be rewarded for it, as he did it because Good Feels Good.
- Subverted: Bob is seen in flashback stealing the artifact. In the present day, he sneaks back into the museum, looking haggard and teary, and returns the artifact. Alice the guard looks at him sympathetically... and reaches for her handcuffs.
- Double Subverted: However, at the trial, Alice testifies that she thinks Bob should receive the minimal punishment, because he's clearly already been punished by the crime itself.
- Parodied: Bob steals... some dirt. He still feels horribly guilty and turns himself in.
- Zig-Zagged: Bob is seen in flashback stealing the artifact. In the present day, he sneaks back into the museum, looking haggard and teary, and returns the artifact. Alice the guard looks at him sympathetically... and reaches for her handcuffs. However, at the trial, she testifies that she thinks he's been punished enough and should receive the minimal penalty. Then it turns out Bob's Amoral Attorney threatened her before the trial... But he doesn't know that the stolen artifact is an Artifact of Doom. Alice knows, and she figures that people who steal it get what they deserve.
- Averted: Alice turns Bob in for his crime.
- Enforced: The execs insist that Bob's crime arc gets wrapped up this season, but the writers don't want him to look like a Karma Houdini.
- Lampshaded:Alice: I'd say the crime punished him enough.
- Invoked: Alice knows Bob stole the artifact, but doesn't want him to end up in jail, so she starts quietly guilting him in hopes he'll return the artifact out of guilt.
- Exploited: It's an Infraction Distraction ploy - Bob admits guilt to stealing the artifact in order to keep the spotlight on himself, while his buddies are able to steal something else more easily.
- Defied: ???
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Deconstructed: Alice may believe the guilt is punishment enough, but other officers point out that he STILL committed a crime, and she's failing her duties by letting him go free, so they arrest him in her stead. Alice is also punished by the higher-ups for knowingly refusing to apprehend a genuine criminal when she had all the time and good reason to do so.
We would punish you for wasting time reading The Punishment Is the Crime, but we figure the eye strain is punishment enough.
