#Karma Houdini (trope)

[besttropeveershowdown]

The Most Annoying Trope Showdown: Round 1, Poll 9

All Just a Dream

The reveal that a certain plotline was all a dream.

Propaganda:

It immediately kills all stakes, breaks audience immersion, and basically makes the case 'you should never have been invested in that plotline'. An incredibly unsatisfying ending.

It's just so lazy and makes everything pointless! What changed? Everyone is exactly the same as before the story. Not to mention that's not how dreams work, unless you immediately write it down you're gonna forget the vast majority of the dream really quick, if you even remember it at all. And dreams are messy and don't make sense, they jump from location to location and don't follow a coherent plot. If a character is dreaming, it should be very obvious because they're so different from reality.

Karma Houdini

A character who has done bad things is never punished by the narrative for it.

Propaganda:

Insufferable!!

[inspectorspacetimerevisited]

The Inspector lands the BOOTH around Reynold, just long enough to tell him off for what he did to Emerald, telling the convict that he will die alone in that prison.

Only for Mrs. Drought to turn up out of nowhere to let Reynold free from his cell, meaning that the Inspector’s claim to know the young man’s fate was false.

[diorne]

ღ    𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭.    character tropes.

under the cut you will find # 021 tropes for developing your characters, linked with descriptions from tvtropes. this post was last updated on 19 february 2025.

ace ㅤㅤㅤ a  character  that  is  ridiculously  good  at  what  they  do.

acquired  situational  narcissism ㅤㅤㅤ a  character  who  received  their  fifteen  minutes  of  fame  and  let  it  go  to  their  head.

adaptational  heroism ㅤㅤㅤ a  character  that  overcomes  their  moral  wrongs  in  pursuit  of  doing  good.

adaptational  villainy ㅤㅤㅤ a  character  that  is  seduced  from  moral  good  by  evil  and  becomes  a  villain.

affably  evil ㅤㅤㅤ a  character  that  seems  absolutely  normal ,    yet  hides  a  dark  sinister  secret  ;    no  one  ever  expects  them  to  be  as  evil  as  they  are.

affection  –  absent  kid ㅤㅤㅤ a  character  that  didn’t  receive  affection  in  their  childhood ,    which  has  resulted  in  them  being  uncomfortable  with  displays  of  such.

agent  peacock ㅤㅤㅤ a  male  character  that  is  seen  as  badass ,    but  is  known  to  be  sensitive.

bishōnen ㅤㅤㅤ a  male  character  that  possesses  androgynous  /  feminine  physical  traits.

bitch  in  sheep’s  clothing ㅤㅤㅤ a  character  that  seems  cutesy  and  polite ,    but  is  cold  –  hearted  at  their  core.

chessmaster ㅤㅤㅤ a  character  that  can’t  help  but  manipulate  everyone  they  come  into  contact  with.

cloud  cuckoo  –  lander ㅤㅤㅤ a  character  with  their  head  in  the  clouds ,    tending  to  be  the  comic  relief.

creature  of  habit ㅤㅤㅤ a  character  that  likes  routine.

cry  for  the  devil ㅤㅤㅤ a  character ,    once  thought  to  be  irredeemable ,   suddenly  sympathetic  to  the  enemy.

descent  into  addiction ㅤㅤㅤ a  character  whose  story  arc  evolves  them  becoming  addicted  to  substances.

former  teen  rebel ㅤㅤㅤ a  character  who  was  rebellious  and  gothic  in  their  youth.

green  thumb ㅤㅤㅤ a  character  with  a  unique  connection  to  plants.

karma  houdini ㅤㅤㅤ a  character  that  always  manages  to  dodge  karma’s  kiss ,    no  matter  what  they’ve  done  to  deserve  it.

secret  diary ㅤㅤㅤ a  character  that  owns  and  keeps  a  secret  diary.

stepford  smiler ㅤㅤㅤ a  character  who  seems  optimistic ,    yet  masks  their  inner  turmoils  behind  a  façade.

sugar  and  ice ㅤㅤㅤ a  character  with  two  sides :    one  sweet  and  one  sour.

sunflower  disposition ㅤㅤㅤ a  character  with  an  overly  –  sunny  disposition.

[conarcoin]

There was an implied TV Tropes editor stan in the Hellsing fandom who arguably said on behalf of the neo nazi faction millenium it's antagonist The Major is a karma houdini because he wasn't imprisoned, even though death is far worse than your DC Comics and Marvel DC Comics luxury joker immunity treatment. The TV Tropes editor doesn't understand the Neo Nazi Millenium faction exposed itself out in the open with nazi attires murdering down innocent British civilians by the thousands in that fictional manga. Nothing is stopping from every anti fascist in that Hellsing manga across the world to bring further crackdowns on any Neo Nazi factions. TV Tropes editors are such villain apologists their Draco in Leather Pants page is just might as well by pure fluff explanation writing for villains they write about.

can i help you?

[bobbydagen24]

TBH the more I think about it the more Peppy just straight up seems like a Karma Houdini tbh.

For anyone unfamilair that's a story trope name for a character who does bad actions but receaves no consequences or very unsevere consequences for said actions and gets away with everything by the end of the story.

I mean in the first film he was a borderline negligent leader who despite living through the Bergen situation still lead his people in a way that left them woefully unprepared for the possibility of ever running into Bergens or any sort of threat again

( it makes him look especially bad given how Viva was shown to have prepared her group of Trolls for such an occasion )

and then when the snack pack are taken by Chef as a result of Peppy's bad leadership

well he wants to leave them to their fate and not even try and help them even tho it is kinda his fault that they are in this situation to begin with 😅😅

and of course in the second movie lies about other Troll Tribes existing and about the strings which are so important to their Tribe that it can literally end their music

or even be combined into a species enslaving weapon yet he didn't think Poppy should know any of this despite her being queen

and of course in the third film he lied about Viva's existence for Poppy's whole life.

now just to be clear I don't think that any of these acts in a vacuum would be unforgivable as they do each kinda have their reasons especially the Viva case given Grief can be complex

but all together they show a pretty consistent behaviour from him that makes him appear as a kinda bad untrustworthy person overall

whose actions at best betray his daughters trust in him and at worst actively puts their Tribe in Danger

and ngl him basically causing the snack pack to get taken but not wanting to take any steps to help them almost makes him look villainous tbh 😅😅

its sorta like he's made bad choices and betrayed people's trust in the movies time and time again and at most it gets mentioned by his daughters as a little Joke even when his actions have serous consequences

like they did in the first film yet the only person who paid the price for it was Creek 😔😔 which is why I've said before I kinda feel like narratively it'd have made more sense for Peppy to be the traitor

given the whole situation was down to his negligent leadership so it'd kinda make the act a tad worse and thus it'd be more justified him being killed along with Chef at the end of the film.

but maybe the third film could have just had a minor scene of Poppy actually confronting him over this stuff and while he isn't straight up made into a villain or anything

it could have been clear that he's lost Poppy's trust and respect and things aren't ever going to be the same between them again

which technically would have tied into the films family message in a certain way.

[spectralpixelsredone]

random trope post

Karma Houdini: By the end of Volume 8, Salem has achieved most of her goals despite being defeated by the heroes. Her success came at the cost of half her minions, with much of the work inadvertently done by the heroes, particularly in the fall of Atlas.

The Relics of Knowledge and Creation are now in her possession.

Beacon Academy is defunct.

Haven Academy is compromised and inoperative.

The Kingdom of Atlas is destroyed, severely disrupting the global Dust supply.

Ruby, the only known Silver-Eyed Warrior, is believed to be gone, reducing the threat to Salem's Grimm. Unbeknownst to Salem, Ruby has returned from the Ever After.

With the RWBY series in limbo or potentially canceled, Salem faces no final consequences for her actions. During the time skip in the Ever After and the Justice League crossover films, Salem capitalized on Team RWBY's absence to destroy Vale, further advancing her plans to annihilate Remnant. As of Volume 9, Salem has not faced her downfall in canon, making her a frequent subject of defeat and "Death by Adaptation" in fan works.

[gemwing1988]

Heart, Soul & Mind — King Dice TV Tropes

Warning, this fanmade trope will contain spoilers for the Cuphead fanfiction, “Heart, Soul & Mind” and possibly the sequel, “Playing With Loaded Dice”. Please read with care and enjoy.

The manager of The Devil’s Casino and the secondary antagonist of Heart, Soul & Mind. A despite being referred as a good for nothing lackey by the Devil himself, King Dice remains loyal to Old Scratch and is willingly to partake in his wicked schemes to take over the Isles.

After his humiliating defeat at the hands of the Cup Brothers in the events of the game, Dice is left bitter and determined for some revenge best serves cold. But he’s also hoping for a consolation prize when our heroines and their friends wind up on the Isles, his eyes on Lexie…

Abhorrent Admirer: He up and decided to make himself Lexie’s unwanted suitor despite knowing she is already dating Liam. And Dice as abhorrent as he comes.

Actually Pretty Funny: Or in some case, actually pretty catchy as he happily snapped his fingers to the beat of Elvis Presley’s song, “Return to Sender” as it blasted out from the card the Dreamstones send to him and the Devil thanks to a spell Natty casted. He also commented that Lexie has great taste in music.

Amusing Injuries:

And Now You Must Marry Me:

Whatever he has to pass up as a heart, he has it set on making Lexie his wife and “Queen of Diamonds”.

He attempts to do this straight once he kidnapped Lexie in the sequel.

Ax-Crazy: In the sequel, “Playing With Loaded Dice”, he becomes severely unhinged when in possession of a crown once belonging to an evil king that makes him demonic and Drugged on Power.

Berserk Button: Aside from losing a bet, Dice develop another one in the form of Liam “getting in between him and his gal”.

Big Bad: In Playing With Loaded Dice due to the Devil’s absence.

Baddie Flattery:

Brainwashed and Crazy: Under influence of the evil crown he possessed in the sequel.

Co-Dragons: With Anubis. He might be the Devil’s right hand but Anubis is the Devil’s number one Bounty Hunter, both valuable to his assets in their own right.

Crazy Jealous Guy:

Dapper Pencil Moustache:

Deadpanned Snarker:

The Determinator: No one or nothing will stop him from getting what he wants and that’s Lexie’s hand in marriage.

Didn’t See This Coming:

Didn’t Think This Through:

Embarrassing Nickname: Katie likes to call him “cheese cube” just get under his skin.

Entitled to Have You: Despite knowing that Lexie is dating and eventually engaged to Liam, Dice is adamant of making her his gal, believing he has the best of everything a girl could want.

Even Evil Has Standards:

He might be sleazy but even he wouldn’t bring himself to spike a woman’s drink.

In the prequel, “Family Fiasco” written by @lexieluthor1998, neither Dice nor his boss would falsely call CPSI “Child Protection Service of Inkwell” to kidnap the Cup Brothers when Elder Kettle confronted them when the boys were indeed kidnapped.

Evil Cannot Comprehend Good:

Evil Gloating:

Evil is Petty:

Evil is Not a Toy: The mysterious figure he paid to find the two crowns warned him that overusing the power the evil king’s crown would make go mad with power and he would never break free from its influence. Dice really should have listened…

Faux Affably Evil:

Forceful Kiss: He is pretty much prone to plant one on Lexie every chance he gets.

The Ghost: Gets mentioned a couple of times in later fanfic series, especially when he’s compared to his TCS counterpart.

A God Am I!: When he turns Brainwashed and Crazy by the demonic crown in “Playing With Loaded Dice”.

Green Eyed Monster:

Green and Mean:

Humiliation Conga Line:

Hypocrite:

Idiot Ball:

I Have Your Wife:

I Have You Now, My Pretty: He doesn’t waste time having Lexie to himself with the flirting and Evil Gloating.

Karmic Butt Monkey: While he’s still a threat to the Dreamstones and their companions, he suffers a lot of karma in the Humiliation Conga Line variety.

Karma Houdini Warranty: After several chapters of getting away with stealing Mugman’s soul, Dice faces his biggest comeuppance at the hands of the very same mug he had hurt when Mugman gets his soul back in the final battle.

Kick the Dog:

King In Name Only:

Laser-Guided Karma:

Lean and Mean:

Light is Not Good:

Malicious Misnaming: He enjoys calling Liam “shrimp”. He also calls Natty “pinky” because she wears a pink shirt.

Man of Wealth and Taste:

My God, What Have I Done?!: After he is defeated and the crown is destroyed, the heroes couldn’t resist telling him he had carelessly said some unsavoury things about the Devil as the crown had warped his mind. To say the least, he dreads to think how the Devil would react should he ever get hear about it.

Never My Fault:

Nice Job Fixing It, Villain!:

Not Brainwashed: Subverted. Despite warnings from the figure who sold him the crown, Dice willingly placed it on, granting him dreadful powers his imagination. At first he’s pretty much in control and knew what he’s doing but he eventually grows Drunk on Power and becomes much more unhinged akin to Magnifico’s path of full on villainy from Wish

Oh Crud!:

Purple is Powerful:

Red Eyes, Take Warning: More like green eyes, take warning. When his eyes turn jade green when he’s at his most despicable, better get ready for whatever he has in store.

Revenge:

He was eager to get some payback on the humiliation he had received after the Cup Brothers had busted him up in the events of the game, managing to nab Mugman’s soul.

Again, he doubles down in Playing With Loaded Dice.

The Rival:

To Liam when it concerns Lexie.

He often alternates between Katie and Natty.

Screams Like a Little Girl:

Sharp-Dressed Man:

Slimeball:

Smug Snake:

Stalker with a Crush:

Sudden Eye Colour Change:

This Is Gonna Suck:

Thinking Up Portals: Much like in the game when you visit the Die House, Dice is capable of conjuring plot holes beneath his feet and jump down into them to teleport from one place to another anytime he wants. He also has portals into his own little pocket dimension on occasions. Thinking Up Portals: Much like in the game when you visit the Die House, Dice is capable of conjuring plot holes beneath his feet and jump down into them to teleport from one place to another anytime he wants. He also has portals into his own little pocket dimension on occasions.

Trash Landing: Dice gets tossed into a dumpster full of trash Tom & Jerry-style thanks to Aya’s telekinesis.

Tyrant Takes the Helm: Since the Devil is imprisoned in the Astral Planes at the end of Heart, Mind and Soul, Dice takes stage as temporarily the Big Bad as the Big Bad after he takes brief ownership of a crown that contains demonic powers. Since it was in possession of an evil king, the crown warped Dice’s mind, corrupting him into a much more ruthless and more tyrant-like until it was destroyed after his defeat.

Underestimating the Hardcore:

Undying Loyalty: Despite the fact that the Devil called him a good for nothing lackey since the final showdown in the game, Dice still stays as his right hand man. He is genuinely horrified at what unsavoury things he must have said about the Devil under the influence of the crown in the sequel after he is defeated.

Villainous Crush: The moment he laid eyes on Lexie for the first when he and the Devil were observing her in the prologue, he was instantly smitten. And is heck bent on making her his gal.

Villain Takes an Interest: Upon seeing Lexie as the Devil was spying on her in the prologue, Dice was instantly smitten.

We Can Rule Together:

You Gotta Be Kidding Me!:

You Meddling Kids!:

[screamtm]

tropes/labels you'd like to see?

the alpha bitch, the town bicycle, the ice prince, the golden boy, the brainless beauty, the chameleon, the karma houdini, the black sheep, the chameleon, the love martyr, the activist, the tsundere, the kingmaker, the prodigy, & the flightless bird.

[llycaons]

the worst trope poll is really funny because some of the submissions are genuinely nauseating and some are just kind of annoying and some are like 'they make me sad :(' like I saw the karma houdini entry and laughed out loud

the idea that the JOB of the narrative is to dole out punishment and rewards as the heroes and villains 'deserve' is a hilariously childlike view of fiction and this is coming from someone who usually prefers happy endings. like. this is so stupid. a bad guy 'getting away with it' was banned by the fucking hayes code so these are the kinds of moral quandries the submitter is apparently dealing with 🙄 like sure you may not like it. but the WORST TROPE? EVER??

[kamilekaplan]

Introducing The Honourable Kamile Aleyna Kaplan.

Special Advisor to the Prime Minister & Downing Street Chief of Staff. Political fixer. The Campaign Manager.

( melisa aslı pamuk, she/her, thirty three ) We just saw kamile kaplan entering 10 downing street. I heard through the grapevine that their loyalties lie with the government, and that they also go by the campaign manager. Be careful, they work as the downing street chief of staff & special advisor to the prime minister and are known to be vain, selfish, or secretive. However they’re also known to be diligent, organised, and protective.

CHARACTER PARALLELS: amy dunne (gone girl), helen of troy, anora mac tir (dragon age: origins), phillippa eilhart (the witcher games), miss scarlet (clue), saadia (skyrim), briala (dragon age: inquisition), vivian rutledge (the big sleep), arianne martell (asoiaf), delilah briarwood (critical role), malcolm tucker (the thick of it), humphrey appleby (yes, minister & yes, prime minister), lady macbeth (macbeth), elizabeth urquhart (house of cards uk), dominic cummings but he's a hot woman

TV TROPES: faux affably evil, manipulative bitch, opportunistic bastard, karma houdini, consummate liar, femme fatale, proud beauty, silk hiding steel, everyone has standards, ambition is evil, chronic backstabbing disorder, nice to the waiter, deadpan snarker, determinator, deadpan snarker, death glare, married to the job, pet the dog, tranquil fury

BIO.

STATS.

TIMELINE.

HEADCANONS.

PINTEREST.

PLAYLIST.

[randomthefox]

TV Tropes editor thinks the Zamasus from Dragon Ball Super are Karma Houdini because they died as a fusion. Ignoring they still carried the same objectives as that entity and were erased completely out of existence by Zeno by body and soul. What more does that idiot editor want?

interesting interpretation that being explicitly killed for their crimes is tantamount to "Getting off scotch free."

[besttropeveershowdown]

The Worst Trope Ever Showdown: Round 1, Side A

Can't Argue with Elves

A race that's always right.

Propaganda:

It's so annoying! What gives those smug elves/vampires/aliens/whatever the right to lord it over the common schmuck? Usually boils down to a "might makes right" ordeal writ large when a fictional species' "superiority" is based on some physical/magical advantage they have.

Karma Houdini

A character who has done bad things is never punished by the narrative for it.

Propaganda:

Insufferable!!

[inspectorspacetimerevisited]

Why is it that the Inspector never tracked down whomever sicced the Skeleton on unsuspecting passengers

during the events of ‘Skeleton on the Trans-Siberian Railway’?

[whiteashesblackfeathers]

i think carlisle should face zero consequences for beating up chicory its the good and moral thing to do

[timur-pannonicus]

Shitpost

Hypothetical anti: Azula is an irredeemable villain!

Me: Yes, and I want her to have a happy ending.

Anti: She can never make up for what she's done!

Me: Then she shouldn't even try, just focus on herself.

Anti: She caused so much suffering!

Me: And I want her to get away with it.

Anti: That's not how it works!

Me: But it can work, have you heard of the Karma Houdini trope?

---

Do I stand behind what I just said? Don't really know, I'm just feeling cheeky and a bit self deprecating and perhaps this will make someone laugh. In that case it was worth it.

I tagged this post as humor so please no heated debates, else I'll remove the post.

[anyaexe]

character inspiration: darlene alderson (mr. robot), georgina sparks (gossip girl), fox mulder (the x-files), chloe (don’t trust the b---- in apartment 23), villanelle (killing eve), maeby fünke (arrested development), beth harmon (the queen’s gambit), elaine benes (seinfeld), han solo (star wars), jade west (victorious), maddy perez (euphoria), kalinda sharma (the good wife)

{ DAVIKA HOORNE, 22, DEMI-GIRL, SHE/THEY } Is that CHARANYA ‘ANYA’ SAETANG? A JUNIOR originally from LONDON, UK, they decided to come to Ogden College to study COMPUTER SCIENCE on an ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIP. They’re DETERMINATOR on campus, but even they could get blamed for Greer’s disappearance.  user/asaetang/documents/folder/information/basic info.

full name: charanya saetang nickname: anya, annie, chara birthdate: 15 april 2000 birth place: highbury, islington, london, uk big six: aries sun, aries moon, aries rising, aries mercury, taurus venus, taurus mars gender: demi-girl orentiation: lesbian

user/asaetang/documents/folder/information/personality.

+ bright, vivacious, funny, determined, engaging, captivating, lively

- unrelenting, impulsive, confrontational, short-sighted, destructive, harsh

three skills: guessing passwords, picking locks, tying cherry stems with their tongue. primary trope: the determinator. secondary tropes: the gadfly, deadpan snarker, karma houdini, jerk with a heart of gold, moral myopia, big sister instinct, dark action girl, toxic friend influence, pet the dog, troll, wild card, unreliable narrator

user/asaetang/documents/folder/biography.

 anya came into the world a harbinger of chaos. not even ten minutes after her entrance into the world, and she’s flung out her tiny little arm, accidentally swiping a vase of flowers off the nearby hospital bedside table in the process. when recounting the story later, their parents speak of it as an omen. a sign of what was to come. as a child, they’re a handful. a force to be reckoned with. all balled fists and scrubbed knees, tantrums and clever tricks. there’s nothing particularly notable about their childhood. her parents love her, in spite of her stubborn streak, and the neighbourhood kids make up for the lack of any siblings. it’s all good, all so picturesque. but they’re so bored it hurts.

she’s in her early teens the first time she has unmonitored access to a computer. it’s quarter past midnight, and they have accidentally downloaded a virus onto their family computer. their first thought is this: fuck. their second is that there has to be some way to pick this thing apart. it’s seven in the morning by the time she dozes off, the piece of malware well and truly gone. 

from there, it’s history. she’s never been good at anything before, but she’s damn good at this computer business. write assembly language like it’s their mother tongue. able to spot a missing semicolon in a sea of nonsensical texts. small computer programs turn to looking for exploits on major websites. the boredom is dampened a little, muffled slightly, with each time she uses an sql injection to return data that should be encypted. with each little stupid thing they deal with online. but it’s still there, lurking at the back of her mind, like a tiger. ready to pounce. and she’d do anything to keep it at bay.

how_do_they_embody_their_trope.mp3

There’s no stopping the determinator, they set themselves a goal, and they strive tirelessly towards it, letting absolutely nothing get in their way. And what Anya wants, Anya gets. It doesn’t matter what it is, how ludicrous the idea might be, whether other people will get caught in the crossfire - once she’s set her mind on something, it’s final. It’s happening. Even in instances where this comes at a detriment to themselves, or to people they care about. Chaos follows in her wake, constantly at her heel like a well-trained dog. It’s not that they are intentionally looking to wreak havoc, it’s just an unfortunate consequence. After it has all burnt down, Anya rises from the ashes with a shrug and a grin, ready to do the same thing again. For someone who can retain so much information, it’s truly astonishing how little she’s able to learn from their own mistakes.

print(”relationship to greer”)

Considering how much of our lives currently play out online, it’s good to have someone on your side who knows how to navigate cyberspace. Someone who knows what buttons to press (quite literally, in this case). And that is exactly the role Anya filled for Greer. It was simple work, a grade average changed a couple of points here, a fake ID ordered there. Occasionally gaming the system to get people Greer didn’t like suspended on various social media platforms. Small things, things no one would notice. Nothing particularly intrusive. Anya never really considered the morality of the services they were providing. Truthfully, she couldn’t care less whether she was doing the right thing. After all, moral high grounds don’t measure up to a crisp bank note in your hand or a few moment spent in a quiet corner of the library, hunched over a poorly lit laptop screen with a pretty girl.