Not to be confused with a literal Houdini-style escape by the villain to avoid justice, that's Villain: Exit, Stage Left, although the two certainly can (and often do) overlap. Think of the writer as God, with the power to punish or not punish a character who does evil. If a character, for example, murders someone and never gets caught, but a freak lightning strike kills them, they've still gotten their comeuppance even though the lightning had no connection to their crime. Otherwise, resist the urge to put it on an ongoing work's page.ĭon't mistake a lack of direct karma for this trope. (Unless they somehow managed to get into Heaven and are gleefully rubbing their current state in your face). they died peacefully in their sleep at an old age. Exceptions may be made in cases where Status Quo Is God, or when a character can be said to have permanently escaped, e.g.
Only if there are no more opportunities for Laser-Guided Karma to strike can a character be said to have successfully avoided any consequences for their actions. Note also: The work usually must be completed for a character to qualify as this trope. (In contrast, when someone is too evil to kill off, but may suffer other consequences, see Joker Immunity.) They may simply end up doing unnecessarily hurtful things, yet not suffer the repercussions. Note that a character doesn't necessarily need to be a full-time villain to qualify for this trope. Also see Idiot Houdini, when a person is forever protected from the results of their stupidity. Also compare with No Good Deed Goes Unpunished, where the good guy suffers as a result of doing the right thing.Ĭontrast the aforementioned Laser-Guided Karma (when the villain's comeuppance is swift and immediate), Karma Houdini Warranty (when it takes much longer) and Karmic Death (when it leads to the villain's death).
The extreme counterpart of the former trope, Cosmic Plaything, can be considered this trope's polar opposite. Compare Butt-Monkey, for which a character ends up having many disproportionately bad things happen to them throughout the story (and may also technically qualify for this trope, as hard as that sounds).
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