It shouldn't. It's kinda just "spoiled brat eventually gets punished", which has nothing to do with the idea we're working at.
Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure PurenessBelated Child Discipline can't be a Sub-Trope of Karma Houdini Warranty, but that's a discussion for Belated Child Discipline for another thread.
TroperWall / WikiMagic CleanupSo are we okay with Later Installment Karma for the new name?
One of these days, all of you will accept me as your supreme overlord.How would this trope work for media like video games where new patches come out and add story content? Does that count as a later installment? Thinking of Genshin Impact specifically.
Oissu!I guess that depends if the story in question is part of an overarching narrative or not. Basically, I would treat it like a TV show; if some Villain of the Week gets away in their debut episode and then gets karma in an unplanned Sequel Episode, it counts.
One of these days, all of you will accept me as your supreme overlord.Anyway, I guess I could get behind Later Installment Karma
Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure PurenessThere are different times when the warranty expires. Sometimes it is at the end of the series, sometimes it is after a few seasons/volumes. I could see the case for it used in their introductory episode if they had kept getting away with stuff until the end or stated to have gotten away with a lot in their backstory. Several of the suggested alternate names don't work for every example I have seen.
Working on The Fallen WorldExcept that’s just “villain doesn’t get punished until the end of the story”, which is completely normal and not notable. Under that definition, literally every villain who doesn’t get defeated immediately could count. This is only notable if the villain was a Karma Houdini at one point, and then after the fact, the author changed their mind and punished the villain in a later installment.
Edited by MasterN on Apr 28th 2024 at 1:27:02 AM
One of these days, all of you will accept me as your supreme overlord.I had a silly idea for a rename: Ret Karma. A combination of retcon and karma. So in a past installment, or even in an earlier series of events, a villain becomes a Karma Houdini. However, in the new installment the narrative recognizes the villain did not get comeuppance and so Laser-Guided Karma strikes true this time.
I think that will be confusing and make people think the karma needs to be retconned in.
Edited by PhiSat on May 8th 2024 at 8:30:08 AM
Oissu!Third.
Granted, I was thinking about when a prequel adds things that makes the characters fates more karmic might be a replacement for some KHW misuse. "Retroactive Karma" might be a name for that, but it's a different thing from KHW.
I have a question about this change. So, in Titanic, Cal gets some karma in that he loses both Rose and the Heart of the Ocean. That's a small dose of karma. He gets the full dose years later when he loses his money. Would that fall under Laser, or this one even though it's within the same work?
It's within the same work, that's karma as normal, only unusual in it happening off-screen.
Stories don't tell us monsters exist; we knew that already. They show us that monsters can be trademarked and milked for years.There's another usage that Karma Houdini Warranty sees a lot of, and that's when a Jerkass or other such antagonistic character, typically (though not always) from an episodic work where Status Quo Is God, practically always gets away with their wrongdoings until they finally suffer a major defeat at some point much later into the work's run. Should this be diverged into its own trope, or is it not unique enough from existing tropes to stand out on its own?
Edited by Lumberwood on May 18th 2024 at 5:48:17 AM
Sincerely, Lumberwood
Not sure if this is related to this discussion, but Belated Child Discipline has just been launched, and it cites itself as a subtrope to Karma Houdini Warranty. How would this rename and change in scope of this trope affect the other one?