Basic Trope: Anyone remotely related to the crime gets the same punishment as the actual perpretrator, even if they didn't do anything related to the crime.
- Straight: Bob's girlfriend Aerith is killed by her father because he thinks their relationship is "dishonourable". Bob goes on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge in which he kills Aerith's father Oliver (for killing her), her mother Maria (for failing to prevent the murder), Oliver's parents (for teaching him that Offing the Offspring isn't always unthinkable), Aerith's brothers Carl and Dave (for failing to stand up to Oliver and his "values"), her cousin Fred (because Oliver tricked him into sending Aerith into a trap)...
- Exaggerated: Bob kills everyone who happens to come from the same country as Aerith's family — even moderates and activists who work to prevent honour killings.
- Downplayed: Carl disowned Oliver in disgust after the murder, while Dave has No Sympathy for Aerith. Bob kills Dave and spares Carl.
- Justified: Oliver decides to shoot himself instead of going to prison. Bob, mad with grief and distraught that Oliver got away with it, wants to punish someone for Aerith's death.
- Inverted: Everyone in Aerith's family had conspired to have her killed, but Bob only kills Oliver, who actually pulled the trigger.
- Subverted: Bob poisons several members of Aerith's family. He later explains that the poisoned food was only meant for Oliver — the other deaths were accidental.
- Double Subverted: It turns out that he was lying in an attempt to get a lower sentence.
- Parodied: Bob is upset that Oliver ate the last cookie, and his "revenge" is forcing Oliver's family to watch a soap opera marathon.
- Zig Zagged: Bob definitely killed Oliver. Whether he also killed the rest of Aerith's family is left ambiguous.
- Averted: Bob kills Oliver, and that's it.
- Enforced: Bob was originally planned to only want revenge on Oliver, but then Oliver's actor wanted to leave the show earlier than expected. The writers still wanted to have Bob as a villain after Oliver got killed off, so they decided he'd expand his revenge plans.
- Lampshaded: "Bob, don't you think killing Aerith's cousin for being tricked by his uncle was a little excessive?"
- Invoked: Someone with a serious grudge against Aerith's family tells Bob that they're indirectly responsible for her murder, so they deserve to die just like Oliver.
- Exploited: Fred understands that Bob is likely to go after Aerith's close family. As he doesn't care much for them either, he just makes sure he is safe, and that he'll get their stuff and money if they die.
- Defied: Carl manages to talk down Bob by explaining that it's not his fault Aerith was killed.
- Discussed: After Bob kills Oliver, Carl talks to Dave about his fear that Bob might target them too.
- Conversed: "What's up with people on TV punishing people who had nothing to do with the crime in addition to the actual criminal?"
- Implied: After Aerith is killed by her father, her boyfriend Bob kills him as well as the rest of her family. Nothing else is known about these characters, so we can't say for sure that Bob was motivated by the Villain-by-Proxy Fallacy — for all we know, all of his victims may have wronged him in the past (with Aerith's murder just being the breaking point), or he just got bloodthirsty and killed them For the Evulz.
- Deconstructed: Bob's revenge murders start a Cycle of Revenge.
- Played For Laughs: Bob's revenge murders are Bloody Hilarious, and the remaining members of Aerith's family were assholes anyway.
- Played For Drama: Bob views himself as a villain by proxy for failing to notice the danger posed by Oliver.
- Played For Horror: The story focuses on Maria, who's frequently abused by Oliver. One day she comes home just in time to see him kill Aerith without being able to do anything to help her. Then Bob breaks into their home and kills Oliver. Maria is relieved to be rid of him and thinks she can finally start to rebuild her life... and then Bob brutally kills her too.
Back to Villain-by-Proxy Fallacy.
