Editing Category:Karma Houdini

{{Quote|The greatest tragedy of all was that this [[Joseph Stalin|butcher of innocents]] would never be called to account for his crimes.|A classic Karma Houdini}}A "'''Karma Houdini'''" is someone who isn't adequately punished for their villainous actions, and escapes justice by "pulling a Houdini" (disappearing) from karma. Many [[:Category:Scapegoat|scapegoats]] have eventually become karma houdinis, due to how much they suffer which eventually covers up their actions in the future.

A Karma Houdini, in this context, can have one of the following scenarios to qualify:
*the villain simply died; in a ruler's case, while still in power. Examples include [[Joseph Stalin]], [[Mao Zedong]], [[Kim Il-sung]], [[Kim Jong-il]], [[Francisco Franco]], [[Fidel Castro]], [[Leopold II of Belgium]], [[Emperor Hirohito]], [[Vladimir Lenin]], and [[Josip Broz Tito]].
*the villain was deposed or put in a vulnerable position, but he/she escaped prosecution. Examples include [[Idi Amin]], [[Josef Mengele]], [[Augusto Pinochet]], [[Omar al-Bashir]], [[Robert Mugabe]], [[Richard Nixon]], and [[Pol Pot]].
*the villain never got caught and simply vanished. Examples include [[Jack the Ripper]], [[Pedro López]], [[Heinrich Müller]], the [[Zodiac Killer]], [[D. B. Cooper]], [[Delphine LaLaurie]], [[Mohammed Ali Hammadi]], [[Rudolf Lange]], and [[Scott Freeman]].
*the villain is still alive today, and is either in an invulnerable position or on the run. Examples include [[Abu Bakr al-Baghadi]], [[Ayman al-Zawahiri]], [[Joseph Kony]], [[Mengistu Haile Mariam]], [[Henry Kissinger]], [[Silvio Berlusconi]], [[David Duke]], [[Tony Perkins]], [[Issei Sagawa]], [[Brock Turner]], and [[Tom Metzger]].
* the villain committed suicide before he/she could be punished for his/her crimes. Examples include [[Adolf Hitler]], [[Eric Harris]], [[Dylan Klebold]], [[Jeffrey Epstein]], [[Adam Lanza]], [[Seung-Hui Cho]], [[Jim Jones]], [[Chris Benoit]], [[Kevin Loibl]], and [[Stephen Paddock]].


NOTE: no matter how painless the death or imprisonment is, deceased (unless they have died of natural causes) and imprisoned villains do not count as karma houdinis, with very few exceptions.
[[Category:Villains by status]]
[[Category:Successful]]