Scapegoat

Ascapegoat is a villain who is punished much more than they would actually deserve. By definition, they are the polar opposite ofKarma Houdinis, and therefore, the two categories can never overlap.

Just being a "bad guy" and having bad intentions is rarely enough to suffer such a punishment, which must be given according to acts. Most villains turn others into scapegoats on purpose because that's what they do. Some villains, however, are submitted to retribution that can be very harsh, cruel, or even unfair, thus occasionally winning over the audience's sympathy to an extent, as their punishment outweighs the crimes they committed.

The very definition of a scapegoat is an individual framed for something done by someone else, although scapegoats also include:

1. Villains whose fates are so horrific that the audience (and sometimes even the heroes) feels pity for them (e.g.President Haltmann having his soul deleted, theWicked Witch of the West melting after getting water thrown onto her unintentionally,Arthur Reeves being driven insane by theJoker,Scuttlebutt being drowned in an underground river,Kraid being imprisoned, experimented on and tortured byRaven Beak,Jason Carver being ripped in half byVecna's gate,René Belloq having his entire head explode after looking into the Ark of the Covenant,Mika Misono is being bullied so harshly by other Trinity students who had nothing to do with the wrong she did,Prince Arctic being forced to disembowel himself,Vic Hoskins being mauled by Delta,Tai Lung being sent to the Spirit Realm and losing his chi to Kai,Penguin getting brutally stabbed in the throat byHarley Quinn,Daniel DeVorn being sacrificed toSCP-106,Mrs. Lovett getting thrown into a furnace to die a slow agonizing death,Ben Ravencroft being dragged by his witch ancestor into the latter's spellbook, when the latter's being re-banished,and said book being burned shortly afterwards, presumably killing him, or thesecondandthirdgeneration Robot Masters (excludingShadow Man) getting electrocuted and their powers being absorbed byRa Thor and Ra Moon.), yet some villains are so awful that not even their horrific death makes them scapegoats (e.g.Chief McBrusque drowning in the river alongside Scuttlebutt,Walder Frey's TV version having his throat slit after eating a pie made out of two of his sons or theHorned King being stripped down to the bone and then incinerated by the Black Cauldron).
2. Villains who are subjected to some horrendous torture as a way of karma that they did not deserve (e.g.Theon Greyjoy,Vergil,Jeff Fungus,Hexadecimal,Shadow Man, andPatolli).
3. Villains that have horrible lives that almost never improve or even get worse (e.g.Hansel & Gretel,Carrie White,Tyler Down,Jesse Pinkman,Lucy,Andrew Detmer,Jenny Humphrey andRampage).
4. Minions andRight-Hands that are often unfairly abused,betrayed and/or killed by their master, either for failure or because they've outlived their usefulness (e.g.Lefou byGaston LeGume,Zenet Surrow byGill,Lena Isis andJesse Glenn byKazarina andStoicaBad Cop byLord Business,Fidget byProfessor Ratigan,The Egg Bois bySir Pentious,Shredder byKrang, severalMakuta byMakuta Teridax because he does not need their competition for power,The Baker's Dozen byBig Jack Horner when all of them carelessly died in his journey to the Wishing Star,Shazam bySuperman after he realized that theRegime had gone too far,Lady Nagant byAll For One to punish her failure knowing she would reform,the book version of Peter Pettigrew byLord Voldemort due to the former showing remorse for his actions, orKamek who was mistreated byBowser before ultimately being thrown under the bus once the Mario Bros. get the Power Star), unless the minion or right-hand deserves it for committing heinous crimes (e.g.Brixton Lore byEteon Director,Lord Commander byInvictus,Hugo Strange byRa's Al Ghul,Nute Gunray byEmperor Palpatine because he was serving him out of greed rather than out of true loyalty,Shang Tsung byShao Kahn, andKrogan byDrago Bludvist because Krogan also mistreats his minions and kills them for their failures).
5. Tragic villains who, in the end, suffered more than they made others suffer or whose tragic past outweighs the extent of their crimes (e.g.Gollum,Rameses,Strange Supreme,Severus Snape,Joker (DC Black),Rolo Lamperouge,Saori Joumae,Aubrey Davis,Ethan BennitGyutaro,Spider-Carnage,Savitar,Mystique,Olly,Kratos andKiritsugu Emiya). However, it doesn't apply to villains whose heinous crimes outweigh their tragedies to be excused (e.g.Kai Chisaki,Captain Vidal,Doma,Montgomery de la Cruz,Mother Miranda,Dawn Bellwether,PAL,Randall Boggs,AM,Eri Nakamura, andLots-o'-Huggin' Bear).
6. Remorseful villains who wanted toredeem themselves, but their chance was either rejected or theydied before they could do so (e.g.Mike Ehrmantraut,Gríma Wormtongue,Siren,Kokushibou,Jordan Cross,Thor (God of War),Ethan Seed,Vince,Lee Na-yeon,Ben Ravencroft,Peter Pettigrew's original version, andJamal Elliot).
7. Incompetent villains, whose defeats (recurring or otherwise) are often humiliating and degrading and they did nothing to warrant it (e.g.Disney's Captain Hook,Dr. Neo Cortex,Plankton,Toiletnator,Master Kohga,DuBois' Men, andLord Betrayus).
8. Comedy andCartoon Villains who are defeated or punished in a slapstick manner, but brutally (e.g.Beast-Man,Bebop and Rocksteady,Harry and Marv,Kurokuma,Mr. Millet,General Reginald Skarr,Tom Cat, andthe 1996's version of Cruella De Vil).
9. Villains who are constantlyrevived and killed over again even if they didn't do anything that bad (e.g.Nutty,Waspinator,Jason Voorhees,Bowser, and theKoopalings).
10. Anti-villains who intend to do good and never resort to dirty tactics, but just go about it the wrong way (e.g.Rinne Sonogami,Penelope Graves,AUTO,the Brain,Dwayne LaFontant,Magneto, andSage).
11. Affably Evil villains who only wanted to get along with the heroes, or other particular characters, but are disrespected, scolded or badly admonished for doing so, even if they never did anything that particularly bad (e.g.Herb Overkill andBane).
12. Jerks or otherwise not very antagonistic villains who constantly have to put up with the protagonist's annoying behavior, stupidity, arrogance, etc. or just evil teachers with an unteachable student (e.g.Perfectionist).
13. Insecure villains who wanted to make friends in the first place, but people are too scared and/or disgusted by their looks, which drove them to villainy in the first place (e.g.Frankenstein's Monster,Salvatore Moreau,Tippy Tinkletrousers,King Poseidon,Killer Croc,The Grinch (2000), andNabnab).
14. Protective villains which in the past, they supposed to have a person that they care about, but when the person died, they became evil, and they decide to do anything for bringing them to life or to take them back so that they can be happy again (e.g.Oswald Whistler,Scarlet Witch, andNox).
15. Villains by Proxy who never wanted to be evil in the first place, yet still get punished for their crimes anyway (e.g.Jack Baker,Marguerite Baker,Cletus, Collin, and Keenie,Brute Boris,Dave,Roxanne Wolf andRob).
16. In Love villains who are regularly cheated or abused by their crush, yet keep protecting and taking care of them out of devotion (e.g.Harley Quinn who is abused bythe Joker,Dodge who is betrayed and deceived byKinsey Locke, orKiyomi Takada, who's more than a disposable pawn ofLight Yagami's plans).
17. Possessed/Brainwashed villains who instead of snapping out of their influences, had to be killed in the end (e.g.Quirinus Quirrell was possessed byLord Voldemort and had to be killed by Harry Potter's mother's sacrificial protection,Queen Sectonia was brainwashed due to looking into the dimensional mirror too much and had to be killed by Hypernova Kirby,Cujo was brainwashed due to being bitten by a rabid bat and had to be killed either with a baseball bat or the sheriff's gun by Don Trenton,Sean Fifield had to be burned after he got mutated and lost control of his own actions by the black goo, theAurora Unit 313 falling under terminal corruption by a Phazon virus to be used byDark Samus and Samus Aran had to destroy it,Eden Hawkins was possessed by a demonic entity and eventually dropped headfirst into a hole, completely unprovoked, byFrederick Gideon, andLarry Fitzgibbon was possessed by abutterfly and ended killed byVigilante with a machete).
18. Juvenile Delinquents who despite being too young, are still killed or imprisoned (e.g.Aggie Prenderghast,Lizard (Earth-65B),The Collector,Olly, andVictor Aguilar), unless they “deserve” it for committing heinous crimes (e.g.Zhan Tiri,Joffrey Baratheon andHenry Evans)
19. Villains who, in spite of doing absolutely nothing to warrant it, became adamned soul (e.g.Tai Lung,Laura Barns,Mrs. Mayberry, andKaecilius).
20. Villains who are just wildpredators acting by their natural instinct who, despite this, are killed or are brutally wounded regularly (e.g.Cretaceous and Maelstrom,SCP-096,Snowballs the Ice Monster,King Shark, andBlue Aardvark) unlike other Villains that take sadistic pleasure with their prey (e.g.It,Indominus rex,One-Eye,Sharptooth,Red Death,Dag, andThe Beldam).
21. Imprisoned villains who are incarcerated in horrible prisons which there is no exit, that they actually don't deserve (e.g.Morfin Gaunt who, despite he was a horrible man, didn't deserve to being imprisoned and die to Azkaban for a crime he did not commit).
22. Suicidal villains that committed suicide because they thought it was the solution, when in reality they didn't have to die (e.g.Misa Amane fallen from a building after hearing about Light's death,Private Gomer Pyle shoots himself in the mouth after killing Gunnery Sergeant Hartmann,Lamplighter immolated himself due the weight of his actions,Seojin Cheon, who understood her wrongdoings out of genuine remorse and decided it was too late for her redemption so she ended herself,Chuck McGill, who burned himself alive after being pushed out of HHM, destroying his relationship withJimmy McGill and having a mental breakdown, andScarlet Witch, who didn't need to die to destroy Darkhold, but still choose to because she has none of her love ones left.); many of these villains areTragic,Remorseful, orCowards, plussome of them sacrifice their lives in order to protect and/or save their loved ones (e.g.Humpty Alexander Dumpty andJesse Kane).

Notes[]

• Certain villains must be qualified for this category if they face at least three, four, or numerous defeats fromTV shows and/orvideo games (e.g.Bowser,Robbie Rotten,Ice King,Plankton,Dr. Neo Cortex, andZim). However, this rule doesn't apply to other villains that too far with their actions and/or are not On & Off (e.g.Ganondorf,Ridley,Andross,Joker, andFrieza)
• Just because a villain has sympathetic traits such as being tragic or insecurities, is honorable, affable, an anti-villain, an extremist, protective, grey zoned, on & off, mischievous, remorseful, incompetent, a villain by proxy, receives a fate that's played for sympathy or all doesn't automatically mean they're a scapegoat, as some of their villainy may outweigh their fates (e.g.El Macho,Barty Crouch Jr.,Henry J. Waternoose III,Sephiroth,Azula,several incarnations ofDr. Eggman,Zod,Prince Hans,Thanos,Twisted Alice,Bryce Walker,Tomura Shigaraki,Kingpin,Charles Muntz,Jonathan Irons,Graviton,Bill (Tarantinoverse),Eric Cartman,Zurg,Superman,Eveline,Koba,Simon Laurent,Makima,Tommy DeVito,Lord Shen,CatNap,Count Dooku,Eren Yeager,Lee Myung-gi, andMegatron (Aligned)).
• Likewise, while it's common for villains that are abused, killed or used as a pawn by villains that are much more evil to qualify as a scapegoat (e.g.Akaza,Giygas,Princess Hilda,Count Bleck,Mr. Tweedy,Spyglass Pirate), this is not always the case as some may go too far in their villainy (e.g.Patrick Hockstetter,Boss Wolf,Orin Scrivello,Percy Wetmore,Mukuro Ikusaba,Kai the Collector, andPreston Northwest).
• Just like their heroic counterpart, many start off as scapegoats due to their tragedies, but when some redeem themselves, they may rise above their tragedies and get better lives, preventing them from being scapegoats any longer (e.g.Noodle Burger Boy,Dagur the Deranged,Felonious Gru,AAARRRGGHH!!!,Philomela Sargant,Darth Vader, andHaggar).
• /!\ HIGHLY IMPORTANT NOTE:Pure Evil villains will qualify as they are in their normal senses, display no redeeming qualities and the acts they do are always taken seriously. Therefore, every defeat and/or death they get are equal to what they have done and their defeat or death, regardless of brutality, is warranted. Often, their actions are so loathsome and despicable, that the fate they've earned is well-deserved and nothing compared to what they did to their victims. That said, there are at times where they start out as a scapegoat due to abuse, torture, tragic, etc. (e.g.Freddy Krueger,The Ink Demon,Dio Brando,Porky Minch,King Boo,AM,Captain Vidal,Griffith,Roman Bridger,Red Skull,Cobra Commander,manyversions ofStarscream andLord Voldemort) before becomingdevoid of any sympathetic traits, and instead they will only go ontopawns,outcasts,deceased,presumed deceased,imprisoned,inconclusive,Karma Houdini, and/orbetrayed categories instead. There are very rare cases where Pure Evil villains are given horrific fates or terrible ends that look sympathetic at first glance, but the narrative implies that they ultimately deserved what happened to them (Diavolo,William Afton,Porky Minch,Henry Evans,Lord Voldemort, the Arkhamverse incarnations ofHugo Strange andJoker,Dr. Facilier, etc.)
• A villain does not automatically qualify as a scapegoat if their comeuppance is justified and well-earned, and their crimes far outweigh their feelings for sympathy, no matter how excessive their punishments were,EVEN IF THEY ARE NOT PURE EVIL (e.g.Ernesto de la Cruz,Envy,Gang Member,Fawful,Jafar,GastonLeGume,Oogie Boogie,Audrey II,The Chameleon,Big Jack Horner,Queen Nerissa,Madame Gasket,DOR-15,Hou-Ting,Malty S. Melromarc,Eddy's Brother,Captain Gutt,Chester V,Bradford Buzzard,theIllumination version of Bowser,Ursula,Steven Jacobs, andHopper).

This category is for characters who not only receive punishments that areBRUTAL andEXCESSIVE, but STILL had sympathetic and/or redeeming traits. So even if they are not pure evil, do not add villains who received brutal and/or excessive punishments but it still outweighed their feelings for sympathy due to the heinous crimes they have committed.

See Also[]

Scapegoats on the Heroes Wiki