Trope Talk: Sins Of The Father

It's not QUITE revenge, but it's revenge-adjacent. Let's talk about a trope where nobody gets what they deserve! And thanks to patron James for requesting this video!
Shoutout to The Last Of Us II for giving me an absolutely iconic Cycle Of Vengeance example. I love it when stories are creative, but I love it more when they give me a completely by-the-book trope execution to use as an example forever.
(I know that example is one of the best modern illustrations of the trope, but that doesn't make this thumbnail any less patently absurd…)

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[LumosVeil]

This trope is literally:

"You took everything from me.."
"I don't even know who you are!"

[szrene]

Katara: how do i get vengence on those who wronged me?
Aang: the best vengence is letting go and living well
Katara: ...
Katara: Zuko

[TheFourthBlackReaper]

So it’s another expansion on;
“Cool motive, Still murder.”

[TehNoobiness]

It's always nice to remember that MLK Jr. was a pastor and could also cite theological explanations *specifically* to fuck with the people who were trying to pull "God said it's okay" on him.

[willphoenix]

Red: Another option, blood feuds between families!
Blue: _Sweats in War of the Roses_

[toondrake]

*“You will pay for the sins of your forefathers!”*

“I didn't have four fathers! I just had one father and I didn't know him that well!”

[Shywhitefox]

"Ok everyone, what did we learn today?"
"Kill the bloodline..."
"Kill the F***king bloodline!"

[DinsRune]

Red, you talked about a vengeance plot harming an innocent child by killing their parent, perpetuating the cycle of harm and vengeance, without referencing the best example of this: Kill Bill!


The Bride- a former assassin who was betrayed by her fellow assassins on her wedding night, losing her groom, her child, and several years of her life- goes on a revenge streak against the rest of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. The first of the other assassins we see on screen has, in the intervening years, also married and had a daughter, and is content to live quietly in the suburbs.

This does little to stop the Bride from killing the mother, ultimately right in front of the four-year-old little girl.

Rather than make excuses, or try to apologize or set things right, the Bride simply tells the little girl that, when she's grown up and if she wants to get even, the Bride will be waiting for her.

The cycle continues.

[starmaker]

the “my parent(s) has screw over a lot things and I’m basically the janitor” trope.

[karlgrimm]

"You gotta end the bloodline and prevent any revenge killing; I mean that's just evil 101" Queen of Fables

[wfbgenius]

There's another angle to the biblical 'sins of the father' deal; that it's not an instruction to punish children for their parents crimes, but a prediction of how your failings affect your children. For example, Jacob's mother favors him over his brother Esau and helps Jacob to Esau's detriment, so when Jacob has kids, he also picks a favorite, Joseph, treats him differently than his brothers, who are so upset that they sell him into slavery. The first parent does something bad, and their children copy them, and eventually it turns to evil. So, less vengeful god and more cycle of abuse.

[emmabyrne]

I'm pretty sure that Spinel is unique among the individuals who follow the sins of the father trope on Steven Universe, since I'm pretty sure she's the only one who actually recognizes Steven as being a different person. Jasper, the Diamonds, they- like most gems- didn't understand that Steven was a different being entirely

[theultimategodofgaming]

I heard a story about a boy who cried when his village was burned down. He spent his entire life training, and building an army to get revenge on the people who did it. When he went to their village and burned it down, however, he saw a boy crying.

[ckl]

"My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father, prepare to die." I didn't see any Princess Bride references, so I had to add one.

[kenji]

As someone who’s been dealing with heavy trauma, the moment I stopped wishing for some kind of justice and started just actively working to heal is a transformative one.

[RC-Sev]

"You want vengeance? Go out and find the man who did it, but I won't stand here and watch you kill thousands of innocents."

"There are no innocents! Not anymore. Anyone one of them could have stood up and said 'We won't behave like animals anymore!'"

-Castlevania, an amazing Netflix show

[professorpantherhardraad]

One of my favourite lines from the DiscWorld series is Death telling his granddaughter that Justice doesn't exist until humans make it so.
"Grind the universe into the finest powder and sieve it through the finest sieve and find me one atom of justice one molecule of mercy."
It's a dope line.

[taylor_green_]

There's an interesting instance of this in Kill Bill when The Bride kills the black lady in front of her daughter and says to the little girl "If you're still angry about this when you grow up, I'll be waiting for you". It's like she says "I'm executing my own vengeance, so I can't very well deny you yours against me"

[DXUnlimitedGamer]

Dio, this is basically Dio's grudge with the Joestar family.
Literally almost everything that happens up until Part 6 was either directly or indirectly caused by him

[themaddoctor]

I remember reading a story where a young man meets a knight who his father wronged, after a while of talking it turns out the knight didn't come for revenge but rather to make sure the young man wouldn't cause anyone pain like his father. In the end character A decided to simply make sure no suffering of others would be caused by character C because they were related to character B who is now dead.