![]() This one usually overlaps with Asshole Victim, since the second character understandably won't like the idea of being on the hook to a sleazy blackmailer for the rest of their life, and is likely to decide that getting rid of the blackmailer will cost them less in the long run than paying up. The most common motive for bad guys to go after innocent people, and also part of the reason that the FBI has the Witness Protection Program (in addition to protecting witnesses from retribution after they testify).Īnother, less sympathetic variation occurs when a character learns a guilty secret possessed by another character and decides it would be a profitable enterprise to blackmail the second character in exchange for their silence. If it isn't the hero getting persecuted, it will likely be someone the hero cares about, which will usually prompt either a bodyguard scenario as the hero tries to protect them against the bad guys, or a Roaring Rampage of Revenge if the loved one is killed. The ironic conclusion, of course, is that if the Big Bad had just relaxed and left the person alone, they'd have succeeded. ![]() In the process, they usually learn the "real" secret anyway by constantly coming into contact with said conspirators at every turn and eventually will find a way to bring the plan to ruin. ![]() There's a good chance the hero will eventually get sick of being relentlessly hounded/threatened/shot at by the conspirators and start fighting back. Since the witness now knows too much, the bad guy's entire scheme may come crashing down, so they aim to "silence" the witness in some manner, through bribery, blackmail, intimidation, or even " sealing his lips permanently".Ī common variant is that the person who purportedly knows too much is The Everyman who doesn't actually know anything at all (or at least, doesn't understand what knowledge they have) - but the overly paranoid conspirators believe that they do, thus leading to their campaign of persecution and intimidation. No matter who the bad guy was, somebody saw it all, heard it all, or somehow caught wind of what's going down (or what went down), and the bad guy in question has found out about the witness. Could be The Government, could be The Mafia or The Syndicate, could be General Ripper, a Corrupt Corporate Executive, or an Ancient Conspiracy. Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish, Game of ThronesĪn organization or bad guy is involved in something dirty, or just did something nasty.
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