Scapegoat

Scapegoats are heroes who are being subjected to upsetting situations. These heroes are often wrongfully mistreated and accused of being evil or somehow in the wrong even though they are trying to act in a benevolent manner. Often times heroes are turned into scapegoats by a villain or antagonist so as to get them out of the way of their goals. However, these characters are submitted to other circumstances that can be harsh, unfair, or even downright cruel, and because of this it could cause them to become a villain.

A scapegoat for a villain, though, is a villain who is punished much more than they would actually deserve. By definition, they are the polar opposite of Karma Houdinis, and therefore, the two categories can never overlap.

Just being a "bad guy" and having bad intentions is rarely enough to suffer such a punishment, which must be given according to acts. Most villains turn others into scapegoats on purpose because that's what they do. Some villains, however, are submitted to retribution that can be very harsh, cruel, or even unfair, thus occasionally winning over the audience's sympathy to an extent, as their punishment outweighs the crimes they committed.