Driven by Revenge



"Tradition be damned... I cannot forgive the Oboro for taking Moritsune away from me."

- Ageha to Hotsuma.

One of the very few things a person is driven to villainy to is revenge. When a villain feels wronged by someone or something, they wish to get their own kind of justice by getting back at the very things they believed had wronged them. Villains who seek vengeance usually plan to get it by killing the hero or the hero's loved ones or causing great destruction to not only the hero, but for others as well. There are many ways that can cause a villain to seek retribution against the hero or any other enemy.

Villains often seek revenge for several reasons:


 * Being defeated previously.
 * Being humiliated or disgraced.
 * Their backstory.
 * Feeling wronged.

Sometimes, the person seeking revenge is doing out of a subconscious sense of guilt and responsibility, or to cover up some other emotion like a survivor's guilt (which often explains any death seeking behavior). Sometimes they have placed revenge before reason. Bringing this out into the open can produce an interesting effect.

The character often finds that completing the revenge will leave his life feeling flat and empty. Revenge was never satisfactory, or now that it is over, he does not know what to do with himself. Sometimes, during the course of the pursuit of revenge, the avenger becomes just as bad as, if not worse than, the one who committed the initial awful deed to begin with. And sometimes, revenge doesn't end with the person who committed the crime — other people connected to the original villain may well decide to pursue vengeance against the original avenger, which may very well lead to a Cycle of Revenge.

Since revenge is one of the darker character motivations, villains, being a rather unforgiving lot, will often choose to take vengeance on those who have, in their eyes, wronged them, even if the "wrong" in question was something legitimately justified, such as stopping a villain's original evil plan and putting him behind bars or stopping an associate of his, which resulted in the associate's death. Villains in general are more likely to engage in disproportionate retribution than many heroes, and never usually care about what happens to innocents that get swept up in the mess — some such villains deliberately target innocents who are connected to the person they want revenge on, just to make the person suffer all the more. Others target anyone who has anything to do with a certain organization responsible for what led them on this rampage, regardless of whether or not those people were actually involved in the crime in question, or take it out on the descendants of those who wronged them to start with. Others will broaden their vendetta to cover more and more people until the vendetta essentially covers all of humanity. This can be tempered, or even overridden, if the character keeps it up; killing the man who killed your father can be noble if he continues to slaughter people wherever he goes, and your revenge can be viewed as the icing on the cake. Villains can often be seen drawing on the power of hatred in order to get their revenge as well.

On the other hand, revenge can also appear lighter in shade. If the provocation was extreme, and still more if the character is reacting quickly to circumstance, without time to think — as in the person strikes back — the effect can be mostly sympathetic. It can also be softened by the character's being partly motivated by the knowledge that the villain will go on committing such crime, and by taking care to ensure that only the guilty suffer, and suffer no more than they deserve.

Literature

 * Abigail Williams seeks revenge on Elizabeth Proctor for discharging her after she discovered that Abigail was having an affair with her husband, John Proctor.

Animation Films

 * Zira seeks revenge against Simba as she blames him for Scar's death, despite Scar being killed by his former hyena followers.
 * Hal Stewart/Tighten seeks revenge against Megamind for tricking him into believing he was destined to becoming a hero, as well as stealing Roxanne Ritchi from him.
 * Tai Lung seeks revenge against Shifu for denying him the title of the Dragon Warrior as he told him that was destined to be the Dragon warrior.
 * Syndrome seeks revenge on Mr. Incredible for not letting him be his sidekick. Later, Syndrome tries to get revenge on the entire Parr family for ruining his plans by kidnapping their youngest member, Jack-Jack.
 * Randall Boggs seeks revenge on Sulley for besting him at the Scare Games and getting himself humiliated by Roar Omega Roar.
 * Captain Gutt: forms a powerful grudge against Manny after the latter causes his ship to sink. Later Manny steals his replacement one, Gutt becomes so furious that he vows to destroy everything Manny holds dear before heading to the continent. Gutt beats Manny and the gang to the continent and takes Ellie and Peaches hostage. Manny exchanges himself for his families freedom, but Gutt goes back on his word, stating that Manny took everything he had from him, and the evil ape intended to do the same.
 * Shere Khan seeks revenge on Mowgli for humiliating him with his fear of fire.
 * Nigel seeks revenge on Blu for crippling and costing him his ability to fly.
 * Rex Danvergest: Originally Emmett from a dark future, wants revenge on his (so-called) friends for abandoning in the laundry dryer, by letting Ar-Mom-geddon happen.
 * Kai: Seeks revenge on his former friend, Oogway for "betraying" him (which Oogway never did) as Oogway changed his ways after being healed and learning the ways of chi by the pandas. Kai planned to destroy everything Oogway created in the mortal realm; his legacy, the Valley of Peace, the Dragon Warrior (Po), and kung fu.
 * Robert Callaghan
 * Cruella de Vil

Live Action Films

 * Armando Salazar seeks revenge on Jack Sparrow for leading to his death and resurrection as a ghost in the Devil's Triangle.
 * In director Sam Raimi's Spider Man trilogy, Harry Osborn seeks revenge on Peter Parker/Spider Man whom he blames for the death of his father Norman Osborn until he is informed of the true cause of his father's death by his butler in Spider Man 3.
 * Simon Gruber seeks revenge on John McClane for killing his brother, Hans.
 * Andrei Strasser seeks revenge on Joe the gorilla for biting his thumb and trigger finger off.
 * Harry & Marv seek revenge on Kevin McCallister for getting them beat up and humiliated with his booby traps.
 * Laura Barns/Billie227: Seeks revenge against her former friends for being responsible for posting a disgusting video of her which led to her videotaped suicide.

Television

 * In the second season of Arrow, Slade Wilson wishes to get revenge on Oliver Queen by destroying everything he loves as he blames Oliver for Shado's death.
 * Camille Leon seeks revenge on Kim Possible for leading to her arrest and defeat after Kim discovered that Camille was blaming celebrities for thefts that she committed.
 * Sideshow Bob wanted revenge on Bart Simpson for locking him and his family in jail for framing Krusty the Clown, trying to kill his Aunt Selma and all the other things he did to wreak havoc in Springfield.