Catharsis Factor is supposed to be a YMMV trope about actions to relieve stress with—typically violent ones in video games. However, it's seen common misuse as an Audience Reaction for the satisfaction of an unsympathetic character (usually a Jerkass, Hate Sink, or Complete Monster) getting killed, arrested, or punished in some way for their transgressions.

Wick check: Link here. Of the 56 wicks checked:

• 5/56 (8.92%) are correct according to the trope description;
• 9/56 (16.07%) are semi-correct—an unsympathetic character in a video game getting their comeuppance;
• 22/56 (39.28%) are for an unsympathetic character being punished in a non-video game work;
• 3/56 (5.35%) are for a character not intended to be unsympathetic getting punished, or otherwise Take That, Scrappy!;
• 14/56 (25.0%) are combinations of the above, Zero-Context Examples, unclear usage, or other misuse;
• 3/56 (5.35%) are unsorted.

Solution: The solution here is easy. I propose redefining Catharsis Factor to an Audience Reaction for tension-relieving moments, which would broaden the trope to fit the common misuse. Catharsis Factor's Laconic page was even rewritten to my proposed definition at one point, so I'm thinking this is the best option. But what do you think?

• YMMV.Ace Combat 7 Skies Unknown:
  • The first half of Pipeline Destruction (Mission 8) has you launching an assault on an enemy oil field. As you destroy one oil tank, the explosion will cause a chain reaction to other nearby targets as well. The sight of enemy oil fields exploding in a massive inferno one after another is pretty cathartic. This also doubles as In-Universe Catharsis for Spare Squadron; coming right after the encounter with Mister X in the Yinshi Valley, Tabloid appreciates the simplicity of the operation, another Spare declares "This beats being stuck at the penal base!", and most of the radio chatter consists of various Spares enthusiastically commenting on the ensuing carnage—including one unnamed member cheering on Trigger if the player's dealt significant damage to the enemy facilities before Megastorm Inessa II rolls in.
    Spare Squadron: Yeah! That's the stuff, Trigger! Go ape on 'em!
  • The first half of Faceless Soldier (Mission 9) involves doing a "corridor flight" through mountain valleys with limited visibility due to cloud cover, special rules that cause players who rise above the clouds to get one-shotted if they don't go back under them within a few seconds, and an unclear path of traversal through the level resulting in some frustrating Trial-and-Error Gameplay. However, the second half of the mission is a glorious turn around involving a pleasantly challenging furball of a battle set to awesome music where the fractious 444th Squadron starts pulling together and kicking ass, and is extremely morale-boosting moment after several missions spent being degraded as disposable.
  • In Transfer Orders (Mission 10), you can shoot down Hate Sink Colonel D. McKinsey's plane Roper One despite it failing the mission if you do this. Here's the kicker though, not only the game itself awards you with 1,000 points, AWACS Bandog of all people sounds like he doesn't even care as he gives a rather deadpan reaction, making it all the more satisfying.
    AWACS Bandog: Roper One lost, along with the mission. Not that it was a load worth protecting.
  • In Fleet Destruction (Mission 11), there's nothing quite as satisfying as blowing out the support columns and watching the platforms topple over and fall into the sea, AND destroy any ships docked underneath them moments later. Even your allies comment on how wonderful it feels. One example is about killing a Hate Sink in an optional scenario that fails you the mission, but the rest seem fine.
• ThatOneBoss.Atlus — Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne has several, and not because of the Nintendo Hard difficulty of the game. In order of appearances:
  • Dante (or Raidou Kuzunoha XIV in the Chronicle Edition and the HD Remaster if the "Chronicle" version was chosen at the start. They're functionally identical.) is faced at the entrance to Mantra HQ, and he's a very well-rounded combatant who cannot be easily cheesed. He responds to your debuffs with a Dekunda of his own, he has party-wide attacks of the phys, elec and force variety, and his signature attack has a very high crit rate. He also uses his own version of Taunt that makes you more vulnerable to everything he has. He resists all forms of damage with no weakness and has the usual Contractual Boss Immunity. No gimmicks or tricks, just a straightforward battle a la Devil May Cry, which makes preparing for him all the more difficult. He becomes tediously nightmarish during his game at the Third Kalpa. The Player is forced to navigate a labyrinth with a series of switches that must be activated to proceed, all while avoiding encountering him. The problem is Dante will pursue you across the whole Kalpa while constantly shooting at you if you are in his line of sight and within a certain range. Each shot staggers you, and he fires at a high rate and with minimal breaks, so getting too close essentially means you are already caught. When he tags you, Dante will score a free hit on you, kicking you back to the beginning, and he will reset all the switches. Fitting, considering he basically went through some similar puzzle levels in his own game, but still unpleasant. It's a big Catharsis Factor when you finally get around to recruiting him at the bottom of the Labyrinth of Amala, and you get to use his exact powerful skill set to sweep enemy mobs. Recruiting That One Boss and using him against enemies. Seems valid.
• Awesome.Video Game Levels T To Z
  • The final level is two very different types of Catharsis Factor. After BT's Heroic Sacrifice, you get your hands on the Smart Pistol for the only time in the campaign, letting you tear through the IMC facility at top speed without bothering to aim. Then you get to call in your Titan, reinstall BT's core, and rip through the IMC forces with a gigantic Gatling gun, thanks to the Legion loadout being unlocked.
  • Special mention goes to the level near the end: Before you stands a climb up a tower with hundreds of demons and their ilk guarding the Final Boss you know how much of a pain you're in for as you wait for the loading screen to finish. When it finally finishes, Titus stands there, Jump Pack equipped, Thunderhammer in hand and doesn't say a word - because there's nothing left to say. There's the goal, enemies inbetween and all you have a Jump Pack and a Thunderhammer. It's all you need. Feel free to scream "FOR THE EMPEROR!" as you Ground Pound for the first time and revel in the Catharsis of righteous slaughter Both seem correct.
• Main.Finishing Move: The Dishwasher, an XBLA Hack and Slash game, has finishing moves ("Clean Kills" and "Messy Kills") as a key part of its gameplay flow. When an enemy's cybernetics start sparking, one or both of the grab or heavy attack buttons will appear over their head. Using the indicated attack will reward you with restored health or a skull magic...Though the player would probably do them anyways, as the finishers are both very violent and very cathartic. Seems valid.
• YMMV.Red Faction: Guerilla offers this in spades. There's no feeling quite like bringing down an EDF base with only your trusty sledgehammer- and gratuitous amounts of explosives. Armageddon offers up a bit more, though not nearly as much due to its linear storyline. You can't fault it for trying though, especially when it gives you the option of reassembling what you just blew up with the Nano Forge... so you can destroy it again. Seems valid.

• YMMV.Final Fantasy Brave Exvius: A particular mission in Grandore Central Block is to finish Vlad's second form with Bahamut's Megaflare. If you are fully aware of the lore, you know that Bahamut was one of the Eight Sages of Hess which Vlad banished to Lapis. Having a fully maxed 3* Bahamut, with tons of Evoke damage geared, spitting Vlad, who is responsible for seven hundred years of misery, death and destruction in Paladia, out of commission by himself? Epic satisfaction.
• YMMV.Blaz Blue Central Fiction: Finally finding a way around Terumi's Joker Immunity and giving him the death he so richly deserves but has avoided for years? Delicious. Yuuki Terumi is a Complete Monster.
• Funny.Spyro Year Of The Dragon: Perhaps the funniest moment is getting your sweet revenge on Moneybags, chasing the greedy bear down and ramming/flaming the gems right out of him- repeatedly, no less. By the end, he's reduced to a panting wreck.
  • Before you do so, he tells you straight to your face that he plans on selling a Dragon Egg he found. Spyro is implied to be very, very ticked off, and Moneybags realizes just what's about to happen before he attempts to flee from him.
  • Meta example: this side-quest was inspired by Insomniac discovering, via questionnaires, that the playtesters of the game despised Moneybags, both for his attitude and his role as a Cash Gate. The Catharsis Factor was perfectly intentional. Moneybags is a Hate Sink.
• YMMV.Berserk And The Band Of The Hawk: For those who had been waiting for the Schedule Slip-prone manga to come to a conclusion, this game offered some therapy by letting them beat the crap out of Griffith/Femto for everything he did. And oh yeah: Casca's playable. Griffith/Femto is a Complete Monster.
• YMMV.The Clue Finders Reading Adventures Ages 912 Mystery Of The Missing Amulet: After being completely fooled the entire game, it's nothing but cathartic when it's Owen who stops Malicia's attack on the Cluefinders through LapTrap and his shiny reflective surface. Malicia is listed under Complete Monster.
• WMG.Dissidia Final Fantasy 2015:
  • I do not know if this would extent to being playable, because no one would want to, but if NPC-only boss exist, adding Argath might serve as a good Catharsis Factor, because come on, was FFXIV enough?
  • Aerith Gainsborough (FFVII): Might be interesting to see a White Mage style character go, and she's… not exactly demure as many flanderized her as, could work as some sort of 'support' (works well because it's team game). Plus, the Catharsis Factor of manually having her beat the crap outta Sephiroth instead of last time being programmed to always be shish-kebab'd by him.
• YMMV.Fire Emblem Mystery Of The Emblem: This is more or less the purpose of the first three chapters of the game, where Marth is forced to follow Lang's orders. At every turn, Lang displays his nature as cruel, craven, and unlikable, and on top of that, the situations he forces you into are seemingly designed to be annoying to play (particularly the infamous third chapter). When Jagen realizes the truth and hands Lang a "The Reason You Suck" Speech, and Lang flees like the coward he is, you're immediately aware: this guy has screwed you over, and now it's your job to hunt him down. The next few chapters are much more open and hand you some very powerful characters, freeing you up for a satisfying-as-hell asswhooping. Lang is a Dirty Coward, Jerkass, and Viler New Villain.
• YMMV.Tales Of Xillia 2 — Breather Boss:
  • The first fight with Rideaux comes off as this, especially after the brutally hard boss fights against Chronos and Catalyst Muzét immediately beforehand. He's utterly pathetic in comparison to those two, but it's probably intentional, as finally getting to smash his Jerkass face in is a huge Catharsis Factor, with the only possible challenge being a fairly high damage output, speed and frequently causing Bleed status which can be easily circumvented. Rideaux falls under Asshole Victim, Bad Boss, and Jerk with a Heart of Jerk; subtropes of Hate Sink.
• YMMV.Kingdom Hearts II:
  • For many fans, that would be the boss battle with Scar. Given he murdered Mufasa, lied to Simba and forced him into exile, and tried to force the lionesses into cannibalism by attacking and eating Sora, being able to fight Scar for all his crimes is a huge catharsis for fans of the film after waiting for eleven years.
  • Ever wanted to give Shan Yu his just desserts for ambushing the village and slaughtering tons of innocent people, including children? Well this game gives you the satisfaction to give him the beating he deserves.
  • Just in case you didn't get your fill of beating up the Disney villans that terrified you throughout childhood in I, this game gives you the opportunity to beat up Hades, Jafar, Oogie Boogie, and Ursula (sort of) again.

• YMMV.Tyranny Of Dragons — Broken Base: There's some contention online over how good this campaign truly is, with very little middle ground. Those who like the campaign say that it appropriately builds up Tiamat as a threat and the Final Boss, making her into The Dreaded and a credible threat to the entire world. Also, Rise of Tiamat has the players taking on full-grown dragons and winning, making the campaign have a nice Catharsis Factor at watching the Cult of the Dragon fail. Those who dislike the campaign say that there's either too many characters or too many dangling plot hooks, and that the game balance isn't polished enough to make the difficulty consistent, especially because the module was written for the early release of Fifth Edition, causing many frustrating encounters. Regardless of whether one likes or dislikes Tyranny of Dragons, it really doesn't help that it came after Lost Mine of Phandelver, which is widely considered one of the best campaigns in all of Fifth Edition, and maybe one of the best in all of D&D, giving this campaign a tough reputation to try and live up to. The very few people who sit in the middle feel that the ideas and outline are good, but that it needs a lot of tweaking to make the module work as intended. They're a group rather than a character, but the Cult of the Dragon looks to be an Apocalypse Cult.
• YMMV.Norbit: Seeing Norbit finally stand up to Rasputia at the end in front of the entire town, and utterly destroying the Lattimores and Deion’s plot after looking like he failed, is very satisfying. Rasputia, the Latimore Brothers, and Deion are all listed under Jerkass.
• YMMV.Alessas Fantasies:
  • After everything Cynthia has done, watching them beg for mercy before Alessa tosses them to their doom feels pretty good.
  • Alessa avenging her family by killing Satan himself. Cynthia and Satan (the latter known as Nicholas here) are both listed under Complete Monster.
• YMMV.House Of Cards US: Season 3 has quite a bit of it, as Frank finds out being the President is no easy task when all the people you screwed over to get there are still working with you. It then continues on in season 4 when Hammerschmidt uncovers the tracks in Underwood's plot against Walker in seasons 1 and 2, publishing it, leaving Frank's power grip in serious jeopardy. Frank Underwood is a Complete Monster.
• YMMV.The Lodge — Moral Event Horizon: A huge chunk of the audience believed the children crossed it when it's revealed that they were gaslighting Grace throughout their entire stay in the lodge, while stealing her medication and possibly drugging her, and then letting her dog outside to freeze to death (albeit unintentionally). Many audience goers have come away believing the children to be more evil than Damien Thorn and that their fates in the end was a case of Catharsis Factor at work.
• Funny.The Boys 2019: Homelander is dealt with by The Boys in the stormdrain, with Billy unbinding Kenji's hands to bring the tunnel, the road above and a bus down on his head. Right after Homelander's taunting of Billy's wife. Doubles as an Awesome Moment. Homelander is listed under Jerkass on his character page.
• YMMV.Family Guy S 9 E 6 Brian Writes A Bestseller: While on Real Time with Bill Maher, Brian is all smug and confident about his book, but he is chewed out and criticized by Maher and his guests (comedian Dana Gould and journalist Arianna Huffington) and ends up peeing himself. Brian Griffin picks up the Jerkass Ball in this episode.
• YMMV.Platinum End: There's something tremendously satisfying about Metropoliman getting brutally shot to death by Mukaido. Metropoli Man falls under Bad Boss and Politically Incorrect Villain; subtropes of Hate Sink.
• YMMV.The Super Mario Bros Movie: Bowser launches an attack on the Mushroom Kingdom and tortures Toad in an attempt to force Princess Peach to marry him, and explicitly states he's going to sacrifice Luigi and all the other prisoners into the lava pool at the wedding. Thus, it is immensely satisfying when Mario and Luigi team up to beat the shit out of him, then Peach shrinks him with a Mini Mushroom, and he is imprisoned in a glass bottle.
• YMMV.Ghostbusters 2016: After the mayor pretending not to know about the ghosts and harassing the Ghostbusters into silence, it's a bit of Rooting for the Empire that Rowan through Kevin turns his government agent friends and the army into People Puppets, making them dance around 'cause it's cool. The Mayor is listed under Jerkass.
• YMMV.Pokemon Harmony And Chaos: Given how much of an unbearable Jerkass he is, it is extremely satisfying when Lightning Blitz gets hit with Laser-Guided Karma.
  • His first on-screen defeat in the series is when he loses to Doc in the Semi-Finals of the Grand Hoof Cup. After trash talking all his opponents, his arrogance costs him the battle when his Guardroid loses to its pre-evolved form Higear. Lightning angrily storms out of the stadium, not even bothering to stay for the rest of the tournament.
  • He goes through a Humiliation Conga for almost the entire Camp Everfree arc. He is forced to attend camp by his grandfather, despite him making it clear he doesn't want to be there at all. He misses out on every opportunity he tries to catch a powerful Pokémon, and is constantly being told off by everyone else and actually punished for his bad attitude, at one point even getting blasted by a Gyarados he bullied as a Magikarp.
  • When he challenges his grandfather, the previous Equestrian Champion Grand Hoof, to a full six-on-six battle to test his skills, he is subjected to a Curb-Stomp Battle. Even when his goal is just to knock out a single one of Grand's Pokémon, he still fails to reach that goal.
  • He loses in the finals to the Balance Battle Tournament to Flash. This is especially satisfying since not only is it the first time they face off since their battle at the Hoofington Battle Tournament, it is the first time Flash has beaten Lightning at something and shows that his Pokémon have way better teamwork than Lightning's.
  • Finally, perhaps the biggest moment yet, during the finals of the Equestria League between him and Flash, Flash finally tells him to shut up after hearing him badmouth his Pokémon one too many times, Lightning ends up having a Villainous Breakdown when Flash won't lose already and the entire stadium starts cheering him on, Flash proceeds to mockingly taunt Lightning by calling him boring for using the same Breaking Speech over and over, and finally Lightning ends up losing the battle and having his entire worldview shattered.
• YMMV.Let The Darkness Bring Us Into The Light: Both readers and the author, genuinely enjoyed getting to see Jounouchi casually beat up Bakugou for terrorizing his friends in Chapter 10. And it gets "better" when Yami awakens after Bakugou explodes Izuku's leg resulting in the other self finishing off the bully with a "Mind Crush" attack. Bakugou looks to be a bigoted bully.
• YMMV.Rumble In The Bronx: After having spent nearly the entire film being harassed, battered, bloodied and nearly killed, Keung finally beating the crap out of the gang at their own hideout is immensely satisfying. The gang members are "brutal thugs", according to the Token Evil Teammate entry on the main page.
• YMMV.Sponge Bob Square Pants S 2 E 6 Grandmas Kisses Squidville: While Squidward getting his house destroyed by SpongeBob and Patrick is just another act of Squidward suffering from their well-intentioned buffoonery, the fact that this episode comes right after one where he actually does something wrong makes it feel all the more deserving. Squidward Tentacles picks up the Jerkass Ball and is a Karma Houdini in "Grandma's Kisses".
• YMMV.Enter The Arena As Your Avatar: After all the crap he's put everyone through, including forcing friends and family to fight each other AND turning the Arena into a warzone, Galeem gets quite a satisfying beatdown from the assembled cast.
  • Katre and Troa are two of Bolded1's most notorious villains. Even after their plot-mandated defeats, they were being used in attempts to get them killed off or utilized as pawns to dispose of other villains. But when Thor and Loki's plan went awry, and Set freed them from their power-restraining shackles, who's the first person they picked a fight with? Saitama. Seeing one man stand his ground against two (three!) characters who could send whole teams of opposing characters flying in their own times simultaneously and very nearly turn the tables on them can certainly be satisfying.
  • Glitchtrap's demise in their boss fight can be seen as this, considering who they're the Virtual Ghost of, and in their game they never truly face any comeuppance for their actions. Here, they get physically AND verbally torn to shreds by the assembled cast, one of whom is even the first soul he ever murdered, loses their power to the ghosts of all their victims, and just like before, they're Dragged Off to Hell. All this means that, aside from timeline shenanigans, they're Deader than Dead.
  • Hazama, who's easily one of the vilest villains to ever terrorize the Arena, finally gets his long-overdue and incredibly satisfying comeuppance by way of Fu's timeline shenanigans.
• Awesome.Way Of The Tiger: Grinding Manse's skinny neck into the ground until it snaps like a twig under your heel is incredibly gratifying after the comrades he's slain and the numerous times he can kill you in some horrific fashion in both this book and the prequel.
• YMMV.As Told By Ginger S 3 E 02 Wicked Game: Courtney exposing Miranda and Mipsy is quite cathartic for how their mean girl antics often went unpunished in the series. Miranda's "that was Ginger?" is a true Break the Haughty moment if there ever was one. Miranda and Mipsy are both Jerkasses and the former is also a Hate Sink.
• Awesome.Spectacular Seven: At the end of Volume III, Twilight gives her Racist Grandma Golden Light a "The Reason You Suck" Speech about how Golden Light is automatically assuming the worst about people. And considering that Twilight just fought against both Moondancer and Tempest, nearly getting burned to death as a result, and still managed to save the wedding, it comes with a Catharsis Factor, since it's also a "No More Holding Back" Speech.
  Twilight: Just because you can't see the real value in people doesn't mean we all have to stoop to your level!
  Golden Light: Excuse you?
  Twilight: No, excuse you! You've demeaned and made assumptions about everyone since you got here! Yes, this is a sword! I've been learning how to defend myself for situations like this! These 'hooligans' are not only my best friends, they're some of the best people in the world who accept me for who I am! Cadence is wise, caring, funny, loving and an all-around incredible person! She was the best babysitter and she's going to be an even better wife and sister-in-law! We just risked our lives to save this wedding and everyone here, so now, we're going to go have a beautiful ceremony, Shining and Cadence are finally going to get married, I'm going to dance with my girlfriend, and we're all going to have a good time after this horrible morning! Either stop your nagging and enjoy the wedding, or leave!
• YMMV.Hush: After all the horrible things he does and what a vile, sadistic monster he is, it's enormously gratifying to see Maddie kill The Man by stabbing him in the throat and to see his hubris and sadism give way to genuine fear. The Man is listed under Complete Monster.
• YMMV.Fargo:
  • Marge shooting Grimsrud in the leg. After all the people he's killed, it is a damn relief.
  • Jerry's arrest, while somewhat pitiable, is still what he deserves for his selfish and cowardly behavior.

• YMMV.Star Craft II Wings Of Liberty: Anyone can agree that hearing Mengsk spout out the words, “I will rule this sector or see it burnt to ashes around me!” on UNN is always enjoyable to hear considering the backlash that comes after it. Mengsk is listed under Dirty Coward and Smug Snake; subtropes of Hate Sink.
• YMMV.Transformers Animated: Anytime Sentinel Prime gets his skid plate tossed around is immensely satisfying, seeing how big of a Jerkass he is. The worse he suffers, the better.

• YMMV.Fable I: You can completely humiliate Thunder, if you so choose. Namely: you can kill his sister (who has the same condescending attitude), steal his wife, humiliate him in a fight, and then in the Lost Chapters, you have the choice between killing him for good measure or letting him live with his failures. I have no clue whether Thunder was intended be unsympathetic or not — I see him listed under Asshole Victim, but also Jerk with a Heart of Gold and The Scrappy.
• MythologyGag.Super Smash Bros Ultimate Spirits: Slippy Toad^note who, despite the name, is actually a frog is a green Greninja who is constantly running away while Fox does most of the fighting (but only Greninja needs to be beaten to win). The match is also timed. That's right, you are reenacting "Fox, get this guy off me!" — except this time, YOU are "this guy". Alternatively, Slippy can be summoned with the cores of Lin (a mechanic) and Winky (a frog). In World of Light, he can fix and pilot the broken Great Fox to traverse the space area. Slippy Toad is a heroic character; albeit a Base-Breaking Character and a case of Americans Hate Tingle.
• YMMV.Miraculous Ladybug: After years of them dancing around it, people were happy when the love square swap finally happened. Ladybug gaining a crush on Cat Noir and him losing his crush on her has been particularly well-received due to Cat's fans not liking how rude Ladybug used to be to him and were glad to see Cat Noir actually be done with her antics. Both are heroes and this is fan contention as opposed to anything deliberate.

• YMMV.Diabolik: Every time Diabolik goes after the criminals worse than him and wipes them out. Zero-Context Example.
• FridgeHorror.My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic Season 2: The reason why Twilight was okay with her friends after they got captured: they had a fight with Changelings that took the form of themselves; whose to say that Twilight didn't take out her frustration and hurt on the Changelings who disguised themselves as the people she would have been upset at the time? Looks like an in-universe example to me.
• YMMV.Half Life 2: When you get the boat with the pulse cannon and are finally able to destroy the chopper that's been harassing you constantly through the last several levels. This seems less like general gameplay and more like the common misuse — albeit with an annoying inanimate object rather than an unsympathetic character.
• GameBreaker.Role Playing — Fear & Hunger has multiple:
  • The Creamy Screamy deserves a mention here too, as when it's upgraded to the Will'o path (or at least added with a minimum of 88 Will'o points), the Will'o damage from the web-gun is so destructive that it is not only strong against Abductor components, it makes the Peltatum class abductor and its Satanic Chains a COMPLETE CAKEWALK, as one web-shot on ANY part of the Chain will instantly knock it down on the ground, giving you and your friends free hits to kill the little bastard down! Killing That One Boss and Demonic Spiders. I can't tell if the Peltatum class abductor is a fleshed-out, unsympathetic character or not.
• YMMV.Transformers Rise Of The Beasts: Fans had this reaction upon the release of the first trailer solely for hearing Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime. This is not without reason, however, given that the last time Cullen had voiced the character was in Bumblebee, almost 5 years prior to the release of Rise of the Beasts. This is just And the Fandom Rejoiced. Absolutely nothing to do CF.
• YMMV.Spyro Year Of The Dragon:
  • One of the first things you can do post-game is chase down Moneybags and kick the ever-loving crap out of him to get back the gems you've spent throughout the game.
  • The bunnies in Midday Gardens—there's a lot of them, they're often bundled close together, you can take them out in any number of ways, and they always react spectacularly. Because there are so many of them together, they're a great farming spot for 1-UP butterflies.
  • Defeating the Sorceress twice is also quite satisfying, especially after it's revealed she wanted to steal the dragon eggs so she could rip their wings off and use their magic to make her magic stronger.

• YMMV.Wasteland 3: Getting the Golden Ending where all the bad guys are punished while Colorado and Arizona both get saved is next-to-impossible if you don't take the proper steps, but goddamn is it satisfying. This is just Earn Your Happy Ending.
• YMMV.The Strange Thing About The Johnsons: Averted. Isaiah was a cruel fiend, but being murdered by Joan is still an incredibly traumatic moment for the latter. Also, Joan burns Sidney's memoir, preventing her husband from having any posthumous justice. YMMV tropes cannot be averted.
• YMMV.Elfen Lied:
  • While it leads to her Start of Darkness, witnessing Lucy gruesomely massacre her evil classmates for beating her dog to death is immensely satisfying.
  • After Bando's vicious Breaking Speech towards Nana in Episode 7, seeing her kick his ass with the same look that Lucy normally has is pretty therapeutic.

• YMMV.Final Fantasy XIV:
  • The end of 2.5 is a Wham Episode of the first order, but it does feature some genuine catharsis in-between the Player Punches. Watching Raubahn literally slice Teledji Adeleji in half for all of his scheming and backstabbing — including at an attempt on the sultana's life — is karmic justice for all of the trouble that Teledji has caused the Scions.
  • After watching Valens get away with a lot of vile things in the Sorrow of Werlyt storyline, seeing him get one-uped by Gaius then crushed to death by his own machinations makes for a satisfyingly karmic punishment.
  • The Melee DPS role quests in Endwalker require you to recruit the Company of Heroes once again to slay a powerful monster, just like when you consulted them to help fight Titan... and the Warrior of Light gets the option to tell them that they will not be throwing them a banquet in order to get their help like the last time. For those who disliked the Titan Arc due to its long series of fetch quests, it was very tempting to not automatically press that dialogue option.
  • For those who disliked the "Waking Sands" due to being a few minute walk away from the nearest warp point and the constant going back and forth between it and other zones, the quest when it gets invaded and the scions captured was this instead of the intended reaction.

• NinetiesAntiHero.Anime And Manga — Texhnolyze: Ichise is a coolheaded prize fighter who becomes one of these, granted a more subdued example along the lines of the aforementioned Killy, through the course of the show's twenty-two episodes. He becomes increasingly violent and psychotic after acquiring his cybernetic limbs, the eponymous Texhnolyze, both as he becomes more corrupted by the power he has to take out his pent up rage and also in response the increasingly dire circumstances as he and others become apathetic. In-universe example.
• YMMV.Pokemon Journeys The Series:
  • After decades of Ash being underestimated in and out of universe and his achievements downplayed, there is a genuine feeling of satisfaction listening to a stadium cheering Ash on with the call CHAMPION!, CHAMPION!, CHAMPION!.
  • While many fans still bitter about the Kalos League would have preferred to see Ash defeat him, Alain's first round defeat at the hands of Leon drew some catharsis from some segments of fans who never forgave Alain for defeating Ash in the Kalos League finals and his general undefeated streak and took a specific level of joy at seeing him defeated in a way similar to Trevor.
    • In another way, for the same fans who were bitter about the Kalos League finals, Ash's match versus Steven Stone ending with Ash's victory, could be seen as this since Steven is one of the only people that Alain could not defeat in the Mega Evolution specials.
  • Ash defeating Cynthia in the next round. Not only does this more than make up for Ash infamously losing the Sinnoh League to Tobias (as Cynthia is still likely much stronger than Tobias, even with his legendaries), but due to Cynthia being infamously seen by everyone as the single, hardest Champion fight from the main games, this really cements just how far Ash has come over the years. While this victory would quickly be overshadowed by Ash then going on to win the final match against Leon, this one win alone has officially redeemed every failure and black mark in his history as a trainer.
  • 25 years ago, Ash swore he would be the very best, like no one ever was. 25 years later, he managed to take down Leon in the most difficult battle of his career which will no doubt go down in history as his single-greatest crowning achievement. But with his trusted Pikachu by his side, he finally brought down the undefeatable, and his goal To Be a Master has been achieved. He is no longer Ash Ketchum, a kid from Pallet Town; he is Ash Ketchum: World Coronation Series Monarch!

• YMMV.Resident Evil 7 Biohazard: The Not A Hero DLC provides this for players who have been waiting for Lucas Baker to get their just desserts for a long time.
  • The End of Zoe DLC, rather than have the slow and careful inventory management style of the rest of the game, has you play as an Awesome Boxing Battler hillbilly that punches the monsters to death and shows absolutely no fear through the entire story.

• Funny.Assassins Creed Valhalla: It turns out you can cheat at cairn stacking by putting an oil jar in the stacking area and stacking the rocks on top of that. And after you're done, you can shoot the jar to blow up the stack, letting you finally take revenge on what is considered one of the most annoying side activities in the game! Take That, Scrappy! on a Scrappy Mechanic instead of a character.

• YMMV.Avengers Infinity War:
  • Thor making a Dynamic Entry and driving Stormbreaker right into Thanos's chest at the climax of the film can feel wholly deserved after watching the Mad Titan lay waste to every hero in his way up until that point. Unfortunately, the attack doesn't prevent Thanos from carrying out his Badass Fingersnap, bringing on the Downer Ending, and getting away a Karma Houdini.
  • Just seeing Iron Man's team fighting alongside the Guardians is worth the price of admission all by itself. Then there's the fact that they come the closest to actually beating Thanos, even though they fail at the last minute. The fact that Iron Man then goes one-on-one with Thanos, holds his own for more than a few minutes, and actually makes him bleed is equally satisfying to watch.
  • The Children of Thanos are all such bastards that it's extremely satisfying whenever one of them is given a gruesome death scene.
  • As it turns out, The Red Skull suffered a fate worse than death. Seeing him so broken and a shell of his former self is very deeply satisfying after all the atrocities he committed in World War II.
  • Wanda jumping onto the battlefield and effortlessly wiping out half of Thanos's forces, as well as Okoye's fantastic Leaning on the Fourth Wall line:
    "Why was she up there all this time?"

• YMMV.Amphibia S 3 E 30 All In: Andrias' breakdown and the revelations about how he actually saved Marcy's life are so brutal to watch, it's almost impossible to derive any joy from his defeat. Darcy on the other hand... After all the sheer sadistic cruelty and smug gloating from Darcy, it is incredibly satisfying when Sasha finally manages to cut her connection to the Core. Darcy reacts with a glorious Villainous Breakdown before she passes out. The happy reunion between Sasha, Anne, and Marcy only makes it better. Conveys reaction that's more complex than can fit under existing YMMV items.
• YMMV.Tangerine:
  • Tino and Victor take no nonsense from Arthur or Erik. To avenge Luis, they storm the commemoration center and proceed to give Erik a black eye. For the first time in the book, someone actually got the jump on him. Tino and Victor are only angry that Paul tried to help him by jumping on a coach for trying to break up the fight, saying that he has more to lose than they do. He says that he couldn't let them take on Erik alone.
  • The neighbors find out what kind of monster Erik is, and learning he and Arthur were stealing their heirlooms. They go You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me! when the Fisher parents — Paul has opted to talk with Joey on the phone— try to convince them to not call the police. One man gives them a "The Reason You Suck" Speech and that this wasn't just "Boys will be boys."
  • Just as the Fisher parents convince everyone to not press charges for the burglaries, a police car comes roaring up to the curb. Two cops come out and swiftly arrest Arthur, reading the kid his rights. Arthur's father tries to defend him, but Paul shuts him up and says that he saw Arthur kill Luis, and that Erik gave the order. Erik is forced to admit this is true when Mr. Fisher asks, and the cop orders him to not leave his house.
  • When we learn why Paul's grandparents are estranged. They reveal they were furious on his behalf that the parents covered up that Erik poured paint in his eyes, and had wanted Erik to face some sort of punishment. When Mr. Fisher says it's fine for them to say I Told You So, the grandparents point out that this is an "I told you so" situation. Mrs. Fisher is forced to admit they're right on this.