(loved cynical trope) 'inverted karma' settings, where cruel and selfish characters are rewarded, and bad things happen to good people
To qualify as this trope the 'inverted karma' must be a consistent theme across all characters, rather than just one or two single examples.
**Chicago:** the two murderer protagonists successfully get away with their crimes and become celebrities, while their corrupt lawyer profits. roxie's kindhearted husband gets humiliated and the innocent hungarian woman is executed.
**Earth-2 (DC):** this dimension has the opposite morality of the normal DC universe: the bad guys always win in the end. the crime syndicate's petty authoritarian rule over Earth continues and heroes like alexander luthor are always doomed to fail.
**Burmese Days:** A much more realistic and political example, Burmese Days is George Orwell's satire of the british raj. Throughout the story almost every single native character suffers, and protagonist Flory, the only progressive British character, commits suicide. The only characters that get a happy ending are the openly racist British imperialists.
**Chicago:** the two murderer protagonists successfully get away with their crimes and become celebrities, while their corrupt lawyer profits. roxie's kindhearted husband gets humiliated and the innocent hungarian woman is executed.
**Earth-2 (DC):** this dimension has the opposite morality of the normal DC universe: the bad guys always win in the end. the crime syndicate's petty authoritarian rule over Earth continues and heroes like alexander luthor are always doomed to fail.
**Burmese Days:** A much more realistic and political example, Burmese Days is George Orwell's satire of the british raj. Throughout the story almost every single native character suffers, and protagonist Flory, the only progressive British character, commits suicide. The only characters that get a happy ending are the openly racist British imperialists.
