"Hear my words boy. In the days of the first songs, Tulkun fought amongst themselves for territory and for revenge. But they came to believe that killing, no matter how justifiable, only brings more killing. So killing was forbidden. This is the Tulkun Way."
—Tonowari, Avatar: The Way of Water
"What you talk about is not justice. What you talk of is revenge. It never ends. My boy is gone. (in Spanish) You gangsters and your "justice." You're all the same."
— Manuel Varga, Better Call Saul
"And the hatred planted in those you leave alive will pass from one generation to the next until this world is engulfed in a war the cause of which none of those fighting will remember. It will never end, don't you see that? Hate only breeds hate and the Imperium cannot be built upon such bloody foundations."
— Primarch Rogal Dorn, speaking to Konrad Curze, Horus Heresy
"Oberyn wanted vengeance for Elia. Now the three of you want vengeance for him. I have four daughters, I remind you. Your sisters. My Elia is fourteen, almost a woman. Obella is twelve, on the brink of maidenhood. They worship you, as Dorea and Loreza worship them. If you should die, must El and Obella seek vengeance for you, then Dorea and Loree for them? Is that how it goes, round and round forever? I ask again, where does it end?"
— Ellaria Sand, A Song of Ice and Fire
"It all goes back and back, to our mothers and fathers and theirs before them. We are puppets dancing on the strings of those who came before us, and one day our own children will take up our strings and dance in our steads."
— Tyrion Lannister, A Song of Ice and Fire
Before setting out on the path of revenge, first dig two graves.
— Chinese proverb
All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.
— The Bible (King James Version), Matthew 26:52
"Isaac was my friend!" he cried, he begged them in his fear
But centuries of hatred have ears that cannot hear
An eye for an eye was all that filled their minds
And another eye for another eye, 'til everyone is blind
But centuries of hatred have ears that cannot hear
An eye for an eye was all that filled their minds
And another eye for another eye, 'til everyone is blind
— Tommy Sands, ''There Were Roses"
"Revenge is like a ghost. Its thirst cannot be quenched... until the last man standing has fallen."
— Vladimir Makarov, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
X: For every vengeance there is an equal and opposite revengeance. This is the one law of animated cartoon motion that also applies to the physical world at large. For that reason, we need the relief of watching it happen to a duck instead.
"Revenge is never good, it kills the soul and then poisons it too."
— Don Ramon, El Chavo del ocho
Justice belongs to those who claim it, but let the claimant beware lest he create new injustice by his claim and thus set the bloody pendulum of revenge into its inexorable motion.
— Gowachin aphorism, ConSentiency
"Maybe it had to be done... but vengeance begets vengeance!"
— Travis Touchdown, No More Heroes
"I said I'd avenge you killing my brother, didn't I? Well, who's been a brother to you? Travis... don't think you can kill without suffering consequences. To kill someone is not simply to end their life...one must risk their entire being to destroy another's. Up until now, you've had it easy...I've taken the curse you gave me, the shackles of revenge, and I'm throwing them back on you! Now, it's your turn to be burdened with another's death! It has destroyed me, and it will destroy you, too! THIS IS THE ULTIMATE VENGEANCE!"
— Skelter Helter, No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
"Did you honestly think you could take so many lives and never suffer retribution? Have you never even seen a kung-fu movie, spy flick or western? Shakespeare, for God's sake! Not only did you murder my father, but my two brothers as well! That is why I took your best friend's life. Make sense, Travis? It's called poetic justice."
— Jasper Batt Jr., No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
And in this mass-produced savagery, one truth is constant. With each shattered life, the same vow is uttered: "I will have revenge." And no assassin can ever walk away from that. He must draw his beam and stand against the madness.
— Opening Narration, No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
Superman: We're not talking about the government; we're talking about a shadow cabinet that's taken it upon themselves to eliminate us! They came after us, we have to hit them back hard!
The Flash: Grammy Flash used to say that the trouble with "an eye for an eye" is that everybody ends up blind.
The Flash: Grammy Flash used to say that the trouble with "an eye for an eye" is that everybody ends up blind.
"ENOUGH!! There will be no more bloodshed today. I see now why your Alliance and Horde cannot stop fighting. Every reprisal is itself an act of aggression, and every act of aggression triggers immediate reprisal."
— Taran Zhu, World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria
"Humans rejected your father and taught him to hate... then he destroyed me and I was filled with hatred as well! It's a vicious cycle that never ends, Nadira!"
— Fraxx, Power Rangers Time Force
Obi-Wan Kenobi: (about Melida/Daan) There are so many dead. But there's no clear reason why they fight. Battle follows battle, each one conducted to avenge the one before. What is the real dispute?
Qui-Gon Jinn: Perhaps they have forgotten it. The hatred is bred in their bones. Now they fight over meters of territory, or to avenge a wrong that happened a hundred years before.
— Jedi Apprentice, "The Defenders of the Dead"
When our guard is down, I think we'll both agree
That violence breeds violence
That violence breeds violence
— "It Has To Be This Way", Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Kevin: And the really contagious memes can be even worse. For example: revenge. A guy sees his countrymen killed by terrorism, so he becomes a terrorist and retaliates... It's an infinite loop.
Raiden: I think it's the same thing with child soldiers. Kid's parents are killed by other kids, so they join the war next and start killing other people's parents. There's gotta be a way to break the cycle, though.
Raiden: I think it's the same thing with child soldiers. Kid's parents are killed by other kids, so they join the war next and start killing other people's parents. There's gotta be a way to break the cycle, though.
The Soviet Socialist Republic of Grzkjistan was a remote, harsh, mountainous, extremely tribal nation whose economy was based primarily on revenge. The Grzkjistanis spent their adult lives thinking up and carrying out elaborate plots to kill and maim each other in connection with bitter, centuries-old grudges, many of them involving goats.
"You just want cruelty to beget cruelty. You're not superior to people who were cruel to you. You're just a whole bunch of new cruel people. A whole bunch of new cruel people, being cruel to some other people, who'll end up being cruel to you. The only way anyone can live in peace is if they're prepared to forgive. Why don't you break the cycle?"
— The Doctor, Doctor Who
"You cannot continue to victimize someone else just because you yourself were a victim once - there has to be a limit."
— Edward Said
"Vengeance has consumed you. It's consuming them. I am done letting it consume me."
— T'Challa/Black Panther personally defying the trope, Captain America: Civil War
But beware
For when you quench your blood thirst
Others will seek their vengeance on you
And they won't rest until you're dead
For when you quench your blood thirst
Others will seek their vengeance on you
And they won't rest until you're dead
— Dethklok, "Murmaider"
"Blood leads only to blood, and violence begets violence. Nothing more. Revenge is simply another name for murder."
— Deghinsea, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
"Governor, somewhere along the line of history, this bloody chain-reaction has got to stop. A destroys B...B destroys C...C destroys A and is destroyed by D, who destroys E...and before anyone knows where they are there'll be nobody left to know anything...anywhere."
— Mendez, Battle for the Planet of the Apes
"... I was dragged into that twisted world and I lost my family!... I realized I was a walking contradiction. Now I am doing the same things a terrorist does. Instead of cutting the chains of violence, I made the choice to fight back. Because I believe that in order to prevent such tragedies from happening again the world needs to change from its very foundations... I'll accept my punishment for not stopping the killing... after I've changed the world."
— Lockon Stratos, Mobile Suit Gundam 00
Tyrion: How long does it go on?
Cersei: Until we've dealt with all our enemies.
Tyrion: Every time we deal with an enemy, we create two more.
Cersei: Then I suppose it will go on for quite a long time.
Cersei: Until we've dealt with all our enemies.
Tyrion: Every time we deal with an enemy, we create two more.
Cersei: Then I suppose it will go on for quite a long time.
"The war between Heaven and Hell is an ever-turning wheel of vengeance. Any atrocity you could name was committed in the name of avenging some previous act. The wheel won't stop turning until either one side is wiped out completely, or our mutual annihilation.
It's like trying to use blood to clean up blood."
It's like trying to use blood to clean up blood."
— Lakritz, Slightly Damned
Adam: Fleury. Tell me what you whispered to Janet, in the briefing, to get her to stop crying about Fran, you know, before all this, before we even got airborne. What'd you say to her?
Aunt: Tell me, what did your grandfather whisper in your ear before he died?
Adam: You remember?
Fleury: I told her we were gonna kill 'em all.
Grandson: "Don't fear them, my child. We are going to kill them all."
Aunt: Tell me, what did your grandfather whisper in your ear before he died?
Adam: You remember?
Fleury: I told her we were gonna kill 'em all.
Grandson: "Don't fear them, my child. We are going to kill them all."
"And?
If we win our independence?
Is that a guarantee of freedom for our descendants?
Or will the blood we shed begin an endless cycle
Of vengeance and death with no defendants?
If we win our independence?
Is that a guarantee of freedom for our descendants?
Or will the blood we shed begin an endless cycle
Of vengeance and death with no defendants?
— Hamilton, "My Shot"
"You reap what you sow, Artyom. Force answers force. War breeds war. And death only brings death. To break this vicious circle one must do more than just act without any thought or doubt."
— Khan, Metro 2033
Brooklyn: [looking upon shattered remains of humans] It's like the massacre at Castle Wyvern.
Goliath: Has Demona learned nothing?! Every life is precious.
Brooklyn: One of these could be Elisa.
Goliath: Never! We will put an end to Demona's evil once and for all.
Weird Sisters: Yes, she must be stopped, but remember your own words, Goliath. Every life is precious. Take care not to become what you fight against. Vengeance begets nothing but a vicious cycle of further vengeance.
Goliath: Has Demona learned nothing?! Every life is precious.
Brooklyn: One of these could be Elisa.
Goliath: Never! We will put an end to Demona's evil once and for all.
Weird Sisters: Yes, she must be stopped, but remember your own words, Goliath. Every life is precious. Take care not to become what you fight against. Vengeance begets nothing but a vicious cycle of further vengeance.
— Gargoyles, "City of Stone, Part Two"
"One guy's killed for killing another and then he's killed for killing him. How is that kind of twisted thinking ever gonna bring us peace? Well?"
— Cagalli Yula Athha, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED
"It's interesting how violence begets violence, don't you think?"
— Mayrikafsa, Red Moon Rising (Holt)
Tell me why break trust, why turn the past to dust
Seeking solace in the abyss
Tell me why create, a circle none can break
Why must you let go, the life you were bestowed
This I fear I'll never know
Never know
Seeking solace in the abyss
Tell me why create, a circle none can break
Why must you let go, the life you were bestowed
This I fear I'll never know
Never know
— Dragonsong, Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward
Human Twilight Sparkle: L-Leave my friends alone!
Gilda: Pisses you off, doesn't it? Seeing your comrades bleed? Pisses me off too. Want to guess how many comrades I've seen bleed and die fighting you Quincy!? Payback is a bitch and so am I.
Gilda: Pisses you off, doesn't it? Seeing your comrades bleed? Pisses me off too. Want to guess how many comrades I've seen bleed and die fighting you Quincy!? Payback is a bitch and so am I.
"We're both just ordinary men who have been driven to seek vengeance in the name of justice. And if one comes to call vengeance 'justice', such justice will only breed further vengeance... and trigger a vicious cycle of hatred."
— Pain, Naruto
"Bloodshed gives way to more bloodshed. Hatred breeds more hatred. Until all of the violence soaks into the land, carving rivers of blood. And no matter how many times it happens, they never learn. Humans are made up of violent, miserable fools."
— Lust, Fullmetal Alchemist
Briseis: You've lost your cousin. Now you've taken mine. When does it end?
Achilles: It never ends.
Achilles: It never ends.
— Troy
Hiccup: Look, all I'm saying is, if anyone deserves [revenge], Viggo does. And we're the only ones that can exact it.
Stoick: Perhaps. But what comes after that? Viggo's revenge? Then our revenge on his revenge? It's pointless, Hiccup. Trust me. I know.
Stoick: Perhaps. But what comes after that? Viggo's revenge? Then our revenge on his revenge? It's pointless, Hiccup. Trust me. I know.
No, I don't want a battle from beginning to end
I don't want a cycle of recycled revenge
I don't wanna follow Death and all of his friends
I don't want a cycle of recycled revenge
I don't wanna follow Death and all of his friends
— "Death and All His Friends", Coldplay
"Then I saw it. I saw a mom who would die for her son. A man who would kill for his wife. A boy, angry and alone. Laid out in front of him, the bad path, I saw it. And the path was a circle, round and round. So I changed it."
— Young Joe, Looper
Quackity: When seeking revenge, it's quite easy to get caught up in the possible rewards even before you obtain them. But if revenge is failed, you will pay the price. That's why you have to know the objective of your revenge, and then you've gotta plan it out in your head, and then you gotta organize a buncha people to do the planning–
Slime: Is it worth it?
Quackity: ...what?
Slime: I've been watching for a long time... One person lashes out, then the other does... until they're both gone. From what I've seen, it feels like people don't stop taking that revenge. Is it ever worth it?
[Beat]
Quackity: ...no. No, it's not.
Slime: Is it worth it?
Quackity: ...what?
Slime: I've been watching for a long time... One person lashes out, then the other does... until they're both gone. From what I've seen, it feels like people don't stop taking that revenge. Is it ever worth it?
[Beat]
Quackity: ...no. No, it's not.
Techno: The thing is, Tubbo, y'know, you started a country, then I spawned Withers in it, then you dropped an anvil on my head, then I blew up your country, and all of these experiences have really taught me a valuable lesson about the cyclical nature of revenge. I mean... If we just keep– If we just keep, uh, fighting the people who– who wronged us first, it's just gonna be a neverending–
Tubbo: It's just gonna be an endless loop! You're so wise!
Techno: An endless cycle of revenge, until there's nothing left.
Tubbo: ...I am alright to get revenge now, right? 'Cause I'm really–
Techno: Yeah, that– that being said, LET'S GO KILL ERET, YEAAAAH!
Tubbo: It's just gonna be an endless loop! You're so wise!
Techno: An endless cycle of revenge, until there's nothing left.
Tubbo: ...I am alright to get revenge now, right? 'Cause I'm really–
Techno: Yeah, that– that being said, LET'S GO KILL ERET, YEAAAAH!
G'Kar: The Centauri started it!
Kosh (appearing as G'Kar's father): And will you continue? Until there are no more Narns and no more Centauri? If both sides are dead, no one will care which side deserves the blame. It no longer matters who started it, G'Kar. It only matters who is suffering.
Kosh (appearing as G'Kar's father): And will you continue? Until there are no more Narns and no more Centauri? If both sides are dead, no one will care which side deserves the blame. It no longer matters who started it, G'Kar. It only matters who is suffering.
Elizabeth spent all the days before the burial in ceaseless prayer. On her husband's tombstone she wrote: 'Father, forgive them; they know not what they do.' She understood the words of the Gospels heart and soul, and on the eve of the funeral she demanded to be taken to the prison where Kalyayev was being held. Brought into his cell, she asked, "Why did you kill my husband?"
"I killed Sergei Alexandrovich because he was a weapon of tyranny. I was taking revenge for the people."
"Do not listen to your pride. Repent, and I will beg the Sovereign for your life. I will ask him for you. I myself have already forgiven you."
On the eve of revolution, she had already found a way out; forgiveness! Forgive through the impossible pain and blood — and thereby stop it then, at the beginning — this bloody wheel. By her example, poor Ella appealed to society, calling upon the people to live in Christian faith.
"No!" replied Kalyayev. "I do not repent. I must die for my deed and I will. My death will be more useful to my cause than that of Sergei Alexandrovich."
Kalyayev was sentenced to death.
"I killed Sergei Alexandrovich because he was a weapon of tyranny. I was taking revenge for the people."
"Do not listen to your pride. Repent, and I will beg the Sovereign for your life. I will ask him for you. I myself have already forgiven you."
On the eve of revolution, she had already found a way out; forgiveness! Forgive through the impossible pain and blood — and thereby stop it then, at the beginning — this bloody wheel. By her example, poor Ella appealed to society, calling upon the people to live in Christian faith.
"No!" replied Kalyayev. "I do not repent. I must die for my deed and I will. My death will be more useful to my cause than that of Sergei Alexandrovich."
Kalyayev was sentenced to death.
— The Last Tsar
"Hi, you're Rick right? I'm Negan... and I do not appreciate you killing my men. Also when I sent my people to kill your people for killing my people, you killed more of my people. Not cool, not cool."
— Negan, The Walking Dead (2010)
"The world cannot render judgements based on a desire for revenge. That will only lead to a cycle of revenge, as well as the destruction of order and civilized society."
— Chevreuse, Genshin Impact
"I gotta be honest with you. If someone was to shoot me, kill me right now, my last words wouldn't be 'Peace'...they'd be 'Get those motherfuckers'."
— Ice T, "This Is Why We Ride"
Nick: Where are you, you bastard?
Billy: You want to send me a reward for finding that wallet of yours?
Nick: You tell me where the fuck you are, right now!
Billy: No, I'll tell you where the fuck you are. You're in my end of the fucking sewer, buddy. I say who lives. I say who dies. Now you better get that through your fucking skull, because there's no more warnings. I'm coming for some fucking family time.
Nick: No. You listen to me. You go near my family, and I will cut out your goddamn guts like I did your fucking friend. Do you hear me?
Billy: He wasn't my friend. He was my brother. And now I'm coming for the rest of your family. You just bought them a death sentence, motherfucker.
Billy: You want to send me a reward for finding that wallet of yours?
Nick: You tell me where the fuck you are, right now!
Billy: No, I'll tell you where the fuck you are. You're in my end of the fucking sewer, buddy. I say who lives. I say who dies. Now you better get that through your fucking skull, because there's no more warnings. I'm coming for some fucking family time.
Nick: No. You listen to me. You go near my family, and I will cut out your goddamn guts like I did your fucking friend. Do you hear me?
Billy: He wasn't my friend. He was my brother. And now I'm coming for the rest of your family. You just bought them a death sentence, motherfucker.
Murad: What are you waiting for?
Bryan: You have other sons?
Murad: Two.
Bryan: And if I kill you, they will come and seek revenge?
Murad: They will for sure.
Bryan: And I will kill them too. You can change that. You can go home, live your life, enjoy your sons, your grandsons.
Murad: And my other son, Marko, the son you killed... am I just supposed to forget it?
Bryan: No, you'll just have to live with it. Like the parents of all those kidnapped girls. Or you can die here.
Bryan: You have other sons?
Murad: Two.
Bryan: And if I kill you, they will come and seek revenge?
Murad: They will for sure.
Bryan: And I will kill them too. You can change that. You can go home, live your life, enjoy your sons, your grandsons.
Murad: And my other son, Marko, the son you killed... am I just supposed to forget it?
Bryan: No, you'll just have to live with it. Like the parents of all those kidnapped girls. Or you can die here.
— Taken 2
"We change. We have to. Or we spend the rest of our lives fighting the same battles."
— James T Kirk Star Trek Beyond
"Somewhere out there was the Ankh-Morpork army. And somewhere waiting was the Klatchian army. And thousands of men who might have quite liked one another had they met socially would thunder toward one another and start killing, and after that first rush you had all the excuses you needed to do it again and again."
— Jingo
"When the desire to kill and burn takes hold and reason is forgotten, we will not even remember what began the war in the first place."
— Rhaenys Targaryen House of the Dragon
