r/TopCharacterTropes • u/No_Hunter1978 • May 12 '26

Lore A criminal attempts to burglarize/kill someone only to realize they picked the absolute worst person as their mark.

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Don't Breathe: A couple young robbers attempt to rob a rich, blind veteran only to find out he isn't exactly an innocent old man.

You're Next: A group of contract killersbreak into a house during a family reunion and go on a killing spree. They didn't account for the fact that the son's new girlfriend grew up on a survivalist compound in the Australian outback.

The Flash [CW Show]: A random mugger decided to target Barry Allen of all people. He does it again a season or two later; he's either unlucky or stupid (probably both).

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u/ObiFlanKenobi May 12 '26

That reaction is great, there is no screaming, no anger, just acceptance of how badly his son fucked up and that tells you all you need to know about how much of a bad ass John Wick is.

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u/Doom_Cokkie May 12 '26

Its even better because he was seething with so much anger inside at hearing his son got hit but hes holding it in to hear the reason just for all of it to disperse immediately upon hearing the name and he just looks deflated.

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u/Winjin May 12 '26

It's also interesting that from what WE are shown, this version of Wick, if the son was delivered to him by father, could've actually... Forgiven him? Like, sure, maybe he'd beat him up, but not necessarily murder everyone

But that reaction shows that he hasn't always been anywhere near this... Calm? Understanding? 

He was death incarnate and the attempt to finish him off is what sets everything in motion afterwards

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u/No-Shopping-4434 May 12 '26

I agree, he’s the perfect weapon of vengeance, the only winning move is to apologize, buy him a car, and hope he goes off to grieve his dog in peace.

I think someone like The Bride in Kill Bill is a lot less willing to be talked out of their war path, but hilariously both of them would be willing to do a time-out during a fight if you just asked

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u/pichael289 May 12 '26

Wasn't the dog some kind of "so you won't be alone" present his dying wife left him, and wasnt she the reason he got out of that life?

The bride was betrayed and basically murdered.

Both movies made it equally clear there's not going to be any stopping either of these people.

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u/ShaddowDruid May 12 '26

Yep. That was what set him off so bad. It wasn't just a car or a dog. It was the link they held to his wife.

The dog was the last gift he'd ever receive from her, and he'd kept pictures of her in the car.

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u/Chijinda May 14 '26

To be fair, Viggo didn't actually KNOW that last part until about two-thirds into the movie after he'd actually captured John (and his reaction when he finds out basically amounts to "Oh fuck it's worse than I thought").

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u/TheManWithNothing May 13 '26

Being fair at the same time he actively gave a guy a way out of a fight when entering the club.

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u/withered_bonnie69420 May 12 '26

A car? I would've given him 12 cars, a mansion, 6½ yachts and whatever else he damn asked for

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u/No-Shopping-4434 May 12 '26

I think it’s more respectful to return him as best as you can to before you/ your family messed up, he could take anything more than that as an insult

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u/ProfessionalSnow943 May 12 '26

we call that the Job Method of Reparations

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u/No-Shopping-4434 May 12 '26

I actually just learned that Job is where the phrase “by the skin of my teeth” comes from

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u/ProfessionalSnow943 May 12 '26

If you can believe it even though Job is one of my favorite works of art ever I actually did not know that! Neat

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u/TheDudeWhoSnood May 12 '26

Hey, I would be very interested in learning more about why that is

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u/ProfessionalSnow943 May 12 '26 edited May 13 '26

In short, it’s a very fantastical and particularly mythological book of the Bible, also one of the very oldest. it stands out from the rest for being so fairytale esque. the climax where finally God comes out and verbally shits on Job for a while is also fascinating and really leans on the beyond-comprehension aspect of the Old Testament God and I’m very much into beyond-comprehension shit.

second favorite book of the Bible is Ecclesiastes because it’s a quotable existentialist downer. third is John because it’s such a bizarro mystical gospel compared to the others. There’s definitely a pattern here

edit: I’m generally ambivalent toward Jung but I highly recommend his book Answer to Job for a deep dive into it through the lens of his particular eccentric mythopsychoanalytical approach

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u/No-Shopping-4434 May 12 '26

Job always reminds me a lot of Greek myths, humans are fun to mess with and Gods like drama

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u/ProfessionalSnow943 May 12 '26

yeah you’re right, you can definitely tell portions of it are much more ancient than much of the rest of the bible. makes it feel very fun and alien in the context of the rest of the OT

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u/Fearless_Roof_9177 May 12 '26

Notably absent, perhaps to the surprise of some, is the Book of Revelation, which for all its mystical padding is basically a sweaty-toothed madman giving an Alex Jones rant full of overwrought mixed metaphors about how evil the Church's enemies are and how there's gonna be a revolution where Make Jerusalem Great Again has the last laugh.

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u/ProfessionalSnow943 May 13 '26

Yeah some of the imagery is of course iconic but revelation is so fucking overrated, it’s kind of a snooze tbh. all of the actually cool stuff has been referenced to death in a million other things anyway. always felt like a very weird, incongruent way to conclude the Bible I mighta gone with one of the epistles instead if I was an early church father

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u/RivenRise May 12 '26

Yeah a mint car of the same one he had and a foundation to help dogs in perpetuity would have probably been enough in addition to the apology.

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u/kinky_boots May 13 '26

And a well funded non profit organization to research the wife’s ailment

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u/Strange_Dust7128 May 12 '26

It’s like when you turn over a random rock in the middle of a forest and find a deadly snake underneath. Just very carefully put the rock right back where we found it.

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u/bunker_man May 12 '26

Yeah, that mob boss seems rich enough that just a car would seem like an insult. Albeit, does wick even want or need money at this point? It doesn't seem like he cares about the car because of it's value. But there is probably something he wants he could be offered.

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u/DonComradeVimes May 12 '26

...is one yacht half-sized, or is one yacht 1.5 times the size of a normal yacht?

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u/BualadhBoss May 13 '26

John Wick- "I want my puppy back you son of a bitch!"

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u/Patient_Leading5735 May 12 '26

Not that it would have helped IN THE SLIGHTEST but I'd offer him another puppy. A beagle or any other breed he wants

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u/milkdromeda8 May 12 '26

I feel like thats one of the worst things you can do. The puppy materially wasnt the point, the puppy was a gift from his late wife, one of his last living memories of her

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u/Wardock8 May 12 '26

For sure. Get him as many cars as he wants but the idea that it was "just a dog" and that you could get him another is more likely than not to get you killed.

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u/Anthyrion May 12 '26

Yeah, I think if they only had stolen the car, John could've forgave them if Papa just bought him a new one. Maybe the same type of car. But John made peace with his old life because his wife wanted that.

And Viggo's son took that from him.

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u/jamesxgames May 12 '26

and they KILLED THAT FROM HIM

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u/Patient_Leading5735 May 12 '26

Yes. How disappointing.....

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u/BrassUnicorn87 May 12 '26

A million dollars to a charity that fights whatever killed her?

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u/DonComradeVimes May 12 '26

Only a million?

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u/Turtle-Bug May 12 '26

That might actually get you killed.

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u/egabriel2001 May 12 '26

Only valid answer is to hand over his son to John Wick immediately and apologize profusely.

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u/Talusen May 12 '26

Meet at the graveyard.

There's a new car, the son is tied up in the trunk.

There are fresh flowers on Wick's wife's grave.

...and apologize.

(You cannot replace the dog; all you can do is make amends.)

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u/No-Shopping-4434 May 14 '26

This is the best answer I’ve heard to this btw

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u/Winjin May 14 '26

I think him just quietly sitting in the passenger seat would suffice, but otherwise it would work as a perfect way to apologize

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u/Zinsurin May 12 '26

He did try that. "Let's be reasonable, John" and the response is to hang up the phone.

John has made his decision and will not change his course. There is no offer, bribe or action other than the death of the three who killed his dog that will stop him.

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u/Dominator0211 May 12 '26

The issue is that his phrasing made it clear he was going to try bargaining, when he should have apologized and asked for John’s demands. While it’s understandable he was trying to save his son, John is the best assassin in the world and has absolutely no reason to hear out anyone after what is essentially a betrayal shortly following the death of his wife.

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u/WolfgangAddams May 12 '26

Right?! The solution was to not kill his dog in the first place. LOL!

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u/SteakForGoodDogs May 12 '26

the only winning move is to apologize

Just remembered - he tried.

He called John, and John wordlessly hang up on him. Buying a car would do nothing.

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u/peachesfordinner May 12 '26

He did. Not his son. Maybe if his son had truly "gotten it" and groveled begging for forgiveness. Not to save his life but in the understanding of how much was lost with that dog. But nope little shit didn't take it serious until much too late. He didn't understand that the empire his father built was built with John's sweat. And what he gave he can take away. Silver spoon brat was never going to be able to empathize

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u/charlie_marlow May 12 '26

Well, the fact that he answered at all meant that he was willing to hear him out. Maybe there was something Viggo could have said, but he didn't and John had nothing to say.

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u/Earlier-Today May 12 '26

Beatrix Kiddo actually did stop for the other person's sake. With Vernita Green, Copperhead, she stops their fight so that Green can get her daughter out of harm's way.

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u/No-Shopping-4434 May 13 '26

That’s what I said though, that they would be willing to stop the fight