Sandbox / Karma Houdini Warranty Wick Check

On this page, we will be doing a wick check for Karma Houdini Warranty.

Why? Concerns were raised over the scope of the trope and if it has to happen in a later installment specifically. The description explicitly says it has to happen in another installment, implying they have to be a Karma Houdini by the end of at least one installment. But some of the examples are iffy on this. Quite a bit of them are about Big Bads or other villains in seasons or serial works that eventually get defeated in the end of the series, but I'd argue that if they're a season/series-spanning villain, that doesn't really qualify as it is expected they will only be defeated at the end. It also tends to be used for villains who got away with some crime in the backstory, only for karma to catch up to them in the main story, but I would argue that describes most villains, who typically have at least some form of evildoing in the past.

This check will see how many examples fit the "happens only in sequel" definition and how many don't.

Wicks Checked: 55/55

Correct Use: Villain Gets Karma in Sequel (8/55)

1. Characters.Mario And Luigi: (The Elite Trio) In Bowser's Inside Story, they escape punishment for betraying Bowser twice. In Dream Team, however, Mario deals them a thrashing in battle, and in Bowser Jr.'s Journey, they're forced to be the sparring partners (read: punching bags) of Bowser Jr. for life, much to their agony.
2. Characters.Zero Time Dilemma: (Akane Kurashiki) Despite masterminding a Deadly Game, committing several murders, and creating an Expendable Alternate Universe or two in which all of her friends got killed in the first game, she escaped unscathed. However, this time around she has no control over the game and promptly gets put through the wringer. Repeatedly. Even in the routes she survives, she usually winds up traumatized by Junpei's death or forced into a timeline in which she'll have to devote herself to creating the events of VLR and in which she knows Junpei will grow to resent and reject her.
3. Characters.Horizon Zero Dawn Ted Faro: Forbidden West reveals that Ted did eventually get his comeuppance for destroying the world and deleting APOLLO and its archives, by being mutated into a tumor-like abomination that is unable to move, and left to fester alone and in agony for over a thousand years within his bunker. As if all of that wasn't enough, all of that was by his own hand.
4. VideoGame.The Host 2020: After the Fallen Third spends the entire series either winning or getting away with devouring and "converting" innocent people, Caitlyn presumably manages to finally kill it by burning down the Tome of Eldritch Lore it is linked to.
5. Series.CSI:
   • A very long example: in the Season 1's "Too Tough To Die", Tony Thorpe rapes and beats up a woman so bad she is left braindead, but, as she's technically still alive, it's not murder so he only gets a few years. In season 9 when Sara comes back we find someone has pulled the plug on the victim. While Thorpe is suspected at first, it turns out he got in a gun fight and ended up paralysed from the waist down. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.
6. Characers.Mega Man Zero Weil: Is The Unfought in Zero 3, and despite his plans with Omega and the Mother Elf being foiled, he still rules Neo Arcadia in the end and proceeds to make the empire a living hell for its citizens. Only in the next game did Zero finally kill him.
7. Film.The Wicker Man 1973: The Wicker Tree provides some Offscreen Karma for Lord Summerisle and the community, with him being mentioned to have been burned in the Wicker Man and the blight to have carried on, exactly as Howie told them it would happen.
8. Characters.Kingdom Hearts Axel: Karma Houdini: Survives the events of Chain of Memories with no repercussions.
   • Karma Houdini Warranty: It all catches up to him in II, although it is really sad when it happens.

Misuse: Season/Series-Spanning Villain Defeat (10/55)

1. KicktheDog.Anime And Manga: Pokémon: The Series:

   • And for one last insult to injury, once J delivered Riolu to her client and collected her payment with Ash and co. in hot pursuit, she leaves in her airship, completely flipping the bird to her comeuppance. (For now, anyway...) Riolu was eventually rescued and returned to its home, with its original kidnappers jailed to boot, but still.

2. Recap.Rosario Plus Vampire S 2 E 9 Skiing And A Vampire: After spending the entire season stalking the Newspaper Club and causing mayhem with only the bare minimum of discipline, here it backfires in a cosmic sense when Kokoa's impatience and arrogance causes an avalanche that gets her and Tsukune trapped at the bottom of a ravine, forced to accept Tsukune's help when her lack of preparation leads to her potentially freezing.
3. Characters.Astra Lost In Space: (Others) Before the end of the series, it was revealed that he was the same man who murdered Seira before the events of the series. His intention was to seize the throne for himself for Noah Vix after the king resigns from power. Fortunately, the authorities caught wind of his crime. Said crime was not related to the illegal cloning project, but still.
4. Characters.Date A Live Isaac Ray Peram Westcott: After repeatedly getting away with all sorts of atrocities, he's finally put down like the rabid animal he is in volume 19.
5. Characters.UQ Holder The Life Makers Apostles: (The Mage of the Beginning) After giving the heroes so much trouble for most of the series, by the end she is defeated for good in the Final Battle.
6. Characters.Knights Of Sidonia: (Norio Kunato) Was established as a major jerkass, and did many nasty things without consequence, finally culminating in sabotaging Nagate during an especially dangerous and delicate mission against the Gauna. When the Crimson Hawk Moth shows up, he begins to not only realize that he was wrong, but that he actually feels sorry for it, and tries to atone. Nothing goes right for him, and he only succeeds in making things worse for everyone, including himself.
7. Characters.Harry Potter Lord Voldermort: Until the very end of the book and his attack on Lily Potter, he committed five murders in his youth, framed three others, and always escaped justice, with Dumbledore not able to find evidence of any of his wrongdoings beyond a lingering suspicion. By the time he became Voldemort, he was so powerful at subverting the Ministry and staying in hiding that the Ministry essentially conceded he had Karma Houdini Warranty, which he actually did.
8. Characters.Legend Of The Galactic Heroes: For much of the series, Trunicht manages to emerge relatively unscathed, seemingly eluding justice at every turn. It's not until Reuenthal finally has enough of him that he at last gets what's coming.
9. Star vs. the Forces of Evil: The Magic High Commission: Karma Houdini: Never gets punished for crystallizing Lekmet, which is already established as a serious offense. Ultimately, the Commission endlessly tolerating Rhombulus' carelessness avails him naught when all of them end up dead.
10. VillainousBreakdown.Live Action TV: After seven seasons of being the show's most notable Chessmaster, Littlefinger's Karma Houdini Warranty kicks in. He thinks he's set Sansa and Arya against each other with Sansa calling Arya to answer charges of treason. Instead, Sansa reveals Littlefinger is the one on trial as all his various misdeeds are laid out. Too late, Littlefinger realizes he has no allies here and he's been set up. He tries to win Sansa back only for her to throw his own words back on control and not showing mercy, driving Littlefinger to lose his cool. He literally gets on his knees to beg for mercy. Instead, Arya slices his throat and lets him die in the hall.

Misuse: Villain Defeated in Same Work that Introduces Them (20/55)

1. Characters.Pokemon Sword And Shield: (Isle of Armor Rivals) Theirs runs out after the final, last, ultimate, third trial, as they are punished for their actions with looking after the dojo's Pokémon for six of months by themselves. This is downplayed since they expected a harsher punishment such as getting expelled.
2. VisualNovel.Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Edgeworth, especially in "Rise from the Ashes." As soon as he changes his ways and starts to seek the honest verdict, everything he did as the Demon Prosecutor comes back to haunt him. By the end of the first game he's clearly mentally and emotionally exhausted, not to mention consumed with self-doubt and self-disgust over what he's done. "Rise from the Ashes" didn't come out until long after the first game, but Edgeworth still got some punishment in said first game as noted here.
3. Film.The Craft: Nancy's finally catches up with her when she ends up powerless, insane and confined to a mental hospital.
4. DidntThinkThisThrough.Fan Works: Everything You Deserve: Chat Noir betrays Ladybug's trust and uses the combined Earrings and Ring to make a series of selfish Wishes. However, he fails to consider how poorly phrased his requests are, creating a Self-Inflicted Hell where he is, in fact, getting what he deserves.
5. Literature.Midnight Mass 2004: After getting off scot-free for raping children in life due to Joe being fingered as the molester, and later turning his former church into a sacrificial slaughterhouse, Palmeri is deservingly skewered on a wooden stake.
6. Recap.Midsomer Murders S 1 E 3: Implied. Simone gets off scot-free thanks to Sarah Lawton taking the blame for her and walks away with over three hundred thousand pounds of ransom money... leaving Sarah behind to spend the next twelve years in jail. At first, it looks like Simone really is going to get away with everything, but then Troy reveals to Sarah that her lover has shacked up with Vince Perry - her other accomplice in the murder - proving that Sarah was being manipulated all along. In the finale, Sarah calls Barnaby from prison, and it's implied that she provides him with the information that will get Simone arrested.
7. Characters.The Hunchback Of Notre Dame Disney Judge Claude Frollo: He killed Quasimodo's poor mother twenty years before the movie's main plot, and has committed way more atrocities after (and probably before) that. God finally has enough of Frollo and has him literally Dragged Off to Hell.
8. Characters.Xenoblade Chronicles 1: (Mumkhar) Throughout the first half of the game, he's able to cause many deaths without suffering retribution at the hands of those he's wronged, thanks to a combination of Mechon steel and a resistance to the Monado (and even when the Monado temporarily gets opportunities to damage him, he simply retreats). This warranty completely expires once the Monado gets upgraded to the Monado II, eliminating the previous immunity and he becomes the sword's first test dummy.
9. Manga.Voices In The Dark: It's ultimately revealed in "Earthbound" that the titular victims were those who had gotten away with serious crimes like rape, robbery, or murder. Some are remorseful, like Minoru, and others are silent, like Chief, but they can't evade the eventual punishment. They can't move, and have to hold their position for days and weeks, refusing help while the curse turns them to stone.
10. VideoGame.Eternal Darkness: Bittersweet Ending: Humanity is saved, Alex is able to bid her grandfather a proper goodbye, and all the restless souls the Ancients killed can now pass on in peace. However, while she puts up a strong front, Alex herself is clearly traumatized by everything that has happened and is currently all alone. Meanwhile, there are still two ancients at large, though this one can be changed by the player by completing the game two more times.
11. Characters.Chivarly Of A Failed Knight Hagun Academy: (Shizuya Kirihara) After getting away with tormenting and beating the crap out of Ikki in their Selection Match, Kirihara gets his first major comeuppance when Ikki overpowers him at the end of said match.
12. Characters.Jennifers Body: (Nikolai Wolf) He and his band get away with both starting the fire at the bar and their murder of Jennifer, becoming heroes in the public eye and boosting their success as a result. Then Needy comes calling, with the demonic powers their ritual had given Jennifer now inside of her, to kill them all as vengeance.
13. Monster.Anime And Manga A To F: Horie Takayuki is the primary murder victim of the Psychic Murder arc, but it is quickly revealed that Horie was more than deserving of the death blow he was dealt. Years ago the abusive chief of staff of the National Talent Development Center who seemingly created the project just to get government money, Horie would take in young children and put them through experiments to test their capacity for psychic abilities, horribly beating them if they fell short of expectations. In truth using the Center just to have children at his disposal for him to molest and act out his depraved urges on, Horie eventually murdered one of the children in his care and killed his partner to keep the death silent. Horie gets away with his crimes for years, hurting countless children and taking smug satisfaction in his acts.
14. Harriet the Spy: Harriet's teacher Miss Elson, who (perhaps unwittingly) bullies her as badly as (and in some cases worse than) the children. She is never caught by another adult and therefore never punished for her actions, though Harriet causing "bedlam" by putting a frog in Marion Hawthorne's desk sends her on the verge of a nervous breakdown. After all, it's kinda her job to keep order in class, and it looks bad that Harriet just walked away from the chaos and headed home. Later, Harriet embarrasses her as the newspaper editor by saying she lives in a "rat-hole" of an apartment and the school must not be paying her enough.
15. Characters.Infinity Train Blossoming Trail Chloe Cerise: Once the Darkest Day arc comes, Chloe gets hers as she's forced to witness an interview and several scenes where she acted like her spiteful self, with her being unable to talk at all lest she makes her situation worse. And since the interview is public, this means that all the Denizens who once saw her as a perfect little girl get to see the lengths of brutality and savagery she was willing to enact over a mere mistake. Character also listed under Designated Hero so not KH which must be intentional, also can't tell if this is an after the fact fix and if such would count for sequels.
16. Characters.Sly Cooper Villains: Revenge Before Reason: He hates the Cooper Family so much, he essentially invented robotics in the Stone Age and mastered immortality powered by his hatred for them. He then goes on to stalk and murder everyone in the Cooper Line, forgoing all opportunity to end it once and for all just to make a point. This eventually results in his downfall when Sly manages to take him down twice over.
17. Recap.Law And Order Special Victims Unit S 12 E 21 Reparations: Although unable to be prosecuted for raping Dwight's mother due to the statute of limitations on the case having long since expired, Grant ultimately pays the price for his bigotry and crimes in the end after watching his granddaughter both get arrested for committing perjury due to his manipulations and angrily disown him for using her trauma and vulnerability to try and sway her towards his racist views.
18. YMMV.Yellowjackets: Unintentionally Unsympathetic:
    • Shauna is intended to come across as a complicated, flawed protagonist. But in contrast to Natalie and Taissa, whose Freudian Excuse or Trauma Conga Lines more than justify their worse moments, Shauna is introduced sleeping with her best friend's boyfriend. When she's finally called on it by Jackie, her response is shamelessly manipulative, and she conspicuously avoids any comeuppance for it. As an adult, she suspects her husband is cheating and, rather than do the mature thing and confront him on it, she opts to have an affair of her own. And when she's exposed for her affair, it turns out that Jeff wasn't cheating and he freely offers to take the fall for her, meaning she dodges consequences yet again. The narrative almost seems to ignore Shauna's worse moments or treat them as lesser, whereas the others are repeatedly called on them. Not to mention that just when it seems as though her Karma Houdini Warranty is about to run out, she'll find a way to dodge consequences yet again. Also never an intentional KH.
19. Literature.Cards On The Table: All four suspects were believed by Shaitana to have previously gotten away with murder. One of them is killed by another, who is then arrested for that murder and the murder of Shaitana. A third suspect drowns accidentally while attempting to bump off someone that could incriminate them. The only one still alive and free at the end of the book is one who appears to actually be innocent of the crime for which Shaitana suspected them.
20. Film.Home Alone 1: Buzz initially gets away with taunting Kevin over pizza, which causes Kevin to bum rush him afterward. But he later gets his comeuppance in the form of Kevin destroying his room and using his life savings to buy food.

Misuse: Adaptational Karma (3/55)

1. Characters.Turtle Head: (Turtle Head) In the original game and the main mode of Unmasked, he is able to flee the police and get away with his crimes- even in the true endings, where Detective Mason has set up police everywhere, we never find out if he is ever captured. Not so much in the true end of Emma's Story, where thanks to Emma, Mason is finally able to nab him. This is more Adaptational Karma.
2. Haiku.Dandelions In The Wind:
   Exposed and expelled
   For admitting his past crimes
   Leaves Katsuki lost.
3. Fanfic.Losing Him: The Loud family, especially the sisters, receive comeuppance for their actions towards Lincoln and are treated as pariahs as a result.

Misuse: Retroactive Karma (only Houdini in prequels) (2/55)

1. Characters.Star Wars General Grievous: Throughout the first six seasons of The Clone Wars, Grievous always manages to escape with his life no matter what attempts any of the protagonists make to catch or kill him. His immunity finally expires halfway through Revenge of the Sith, which runs concurrently with the latter portion of Season 7 of The Clone Wars. Might be valid KHW in Legends continuity where he had appearance before ROTS released.
2. Characters.Assassins Creed Rogue: Ultimately a Downplayed Trope as unlike Haytham, Shay never suffers any direct consequences for his actions. In fact, he lives into old age training both his son and grandson to become Templars. The only blow he does suffer is Connor and Arno completely undermining and subverting his efforts to grant the Templars a stranglehold on Colonial America and France respectively. Would be valid retroactive karma if they lived to see their work undone, can't tell if case.

Other/Unsure (11/55)

1. Film.Top Gun Maverick: As Admiral of the US Pacific Fleet, Iceman has apparently been covering for Maverick's recklessness and insubordination for decades now. Once he dies, Maverick is pulled from the mission and grounded practically before the sod on Iceman's grave plot has time to settle. Maverick isn't exactly a villain, so I dunno how much this applies.
2. NeverMyFault.Fan Works: ThinkBeforeYouSpeak:
   • Katsuki is completely aghast at the concept of actually being punished for his Barbaric Bullying, and protests that the only reason he went so far during the training exercise is due to Deku's involvement. Midnight tells him outright that that's not the bulletproof argument he clearly thinks it is.
3. FranchiseOriginalSin.Sponge Bob Square Pants: Mr. Krabs in later seasons is infamous for his tendency to do underhanded, immoral, or even illegal things if it means turning a quick buck. However, even in the first three seasons he's shown to use tactics like animal abuse and emotional manipulation, forcing his employees to use an old, diseased patty and then selling SpongeBob's soul for 62 cents, or even enslaving his employees. The difference, though, is that whenever he crosses a line in the first few seasons, he is generally punished for it or at least realizes he's wrong and tries to make amends for what he did.^note To name a few examples from those three episodes, the jellyfish sting Mr. Krabs after SpongeBob releases them; he gets food poisoning and has to promise The Flying Dutchman to give up his greedy ways, then has a breakdown after Squidward chews him out for selling SpongeBob; and Squidward convinces SpongeBob to go on strike with him, and later unintentionally inspires him to tear down the Krusty Krab. In many later episodes, Krabs gets away with a slap on the wrist, if that. After many of his more controversial moments, most notoriously driving Plankton to attempted suicide in "One Coarse Meal", the show began to address this sin and give him comeuppance more often in later episodes. Series has Negative Continuity so this might still be iffy.
4. Characters.The Fairly Odd Parents Major: (Mr. and Mrs. Turner) Their neglect towards Timmy finally bites them hard in "Poltergeeks" when their ghost catching while using Timmy as bait ends with them hospitalized and losing all the money they earned earlier in the episode. Another episodic series with Negative Continuity.
5. Characters.Four Two Eight Shibuya Scramble: (Alphard) In the true ending, while being escorted through the airport by the CIA, she is ambushed by Canaan and ends up facing off against her in a Bolivian Army Ending. (Although the Canaan anime reveals she managed to get away and continue her operations as a terrorist.) Example is outright aversion.
6. JokerImmunity.Marvel Universe: Wolverine foe Omega Red enjoyed the full package of this trope throughout the 90's when he was at the height of his popularity. Come the 2000s, his Karma Houdini Warranty kicked in and he was Killed Off for Real, only for Death Is Cheap to kick in in the pages of X-Men: Gold. As of 2019 Red's got a full Joker package again and is even being sold to readers as a sympathetic character in the pages of Uncanny X-Force. Not sure if same series or sequel, or if it counts as it didn't stick.
7. LEGO Dimensions: In the original LEGO City Undercover game, the game’s true villain, billionaire Forrest Blackwell, was never caught despite planning to destroy LEGO City. In this game, however, his luck has run out. You can find and defeat him in the LEGO City world, and he is promptly arrested upon his defeat. Can't tell if sequel or Adaptational Karma, given the other crossovers in the work are fuzzy on their canon status.
8. Sandbox.Harry Potter Dolores Umbridge: Besides being captured by some centaurs and getting chased out of Hogwarts by Peeves when Fudge is forced to admit the truth about Voldemort's return, she gets away with most of her misdeeds in Order of the Phoenix. Never once does she get charged with the numerous cases of blatant child abuse, abuse of Veritaserum in the movie (which Snape told us in Goblet of Fire is a heavily-controlled substance) and even participating in an unprovoked attack on both Hagrid and McGonagall that left the latter in need of serious medical attention. Pottermore revealed the reason for this was that the Ministry was so busy reorganizing itself to fight Voldemort and the Death Eaters that it got overlooked. She does finally get her first major comeuppance in Deathly Hallows, though; In the movie version she is left at the mercy of Dementors she would use on muggle-born and half-blood wizards after the Golden Trio inflitrates the Ministry to get the Slytherin Locket. And J. K. Rowling confirms that after the end of Deathly Hallows, she received a life sentence in Azkaban for her war crimes.... though regrettably, that was after they banished the Dementors from the place. The first part being karma, only might count as KH in next book which reveals she's still in power. Also not sure if offscreen Word of God karma counts or if she falls under series wide villain.
9. Characters.Snowpiercer 2020 First: Karma Houdini:
   • Played with in Season 1 after Melanie commutes her sentence. She's able to go to the Night Car to listen to Audrey's performances and mingle with other passengers with no consequences for having Nikki, someone very close to Audrey herself, killed. The very next scene, on the other hand, shows her parents being ostracized by other First passengers for her actions.
     • Gets hit by Karma Houdini Warranty when her parents are killed in their attempted coup: without their protection and influence, she's quickly kicked off of First and left to fend for herself in Third, where everybody hates her.
   • Played completely straight in Season 3: even when Layton takes back the train and deposes Wilford, and then Melanie returns, LJ is left with her new cushy job as head of the Night Car, with zero repercussions for her active role in leaving Melanie behind or clearly being a Wilford loyalist until literally the very last moment. Granted, at the time everybody had much bigger problems than her to deal with.
     • Even in the finale, the Karma Houdini Warranty is played with at best: yes, Oz leaves her at the first chance he gets and she loses her new position in the Night Car, but even with Melanie back in charge, LJ faces no repercussions for helping Wilford escape confinement and worsen the crisis at hand. Sure, that might be because she dies before everything is settled and Melanie can do anything. But even if her death has shades of poetic justice, as seen below, it's an accident and not a consequence of any of her actions on the train.
10. Recap.Law And Order Special Victims Unit S 8 E 22 Screwed: Karma Houdini Warranty: The SVU unit's warranty expires in this episode. While they are protagonists that aggressively investigate sex crimes, most of them have done things throughout the show's run that are unethical at best, outright criminal at worst (Olivia sending money to her suspected rapist brother, Elliot getting his daughter off scot-free for a DUI, and Fin's suspicious activities while undercover are the most significant). These incidents allow Darius Parker, who killed a woman and her baby, to discredit their testimonies and escape any punishment whatsoever for a crime he definitely committed. All of the SVU (save Munch) get punished after the trial's conclusion for their behavior. Not villains so not sure if applicable. Deconstruction of Anti-Hero better fit?
11. SelfDemonstrating.Angelica Pickles: Karma Houdini: Well, I admit that I do sometimes get into trouble, but not usually! After all, I'm Angelica. ^note  Teen!Angelica: I probably shouldn't tell her that I remember something bad still happening to us a lot. Argues she did get several moments of karma throughout the series.

ZCEs (1/55)

1. GameOfThrones.Tropes A: Arc Words:
   • "The North remembers."