Karma Houdini

Karma Houdinis (also known as Caillous) are characters who repeatedly commit wrongdoings and somehow get away with little-to-no comeuppance or karma. They are the polar opposite of butt-monkeys. No matter how much bad they do, or how much they deserve it, karma just seems to forget about them and instead punish the innocent butt-monkeys.

For a list of notable karma houdinis, see here.

Why This Trope Is A "Karma Houdini"

 * 1) Basically, this trope serves as hateful character development. Where the many characters you feel and express hatred or just, dislike for several loathsome and irredeemable traits and behaviors, always tend to get off scott-free from being the brunt of anything disasterous, stressful, anxiety-inducing or even lethal misfortunes they caused towards many people, and actually deserve what's coming to them. Far more than what the Butt-Monkeys go through on a daily basis, as there are many of which, that are even caused thanks to THESE guys ruining their lives and making them miserable with any ounce of thought or care!
 * 2) * The worst examples where this trope is tied into, includes the "Blackmail" or "Roommate Drama" tropes in cartoons or tv shows; the former being where the innocent characters get blackmailed by characters who in episode, did nothing to warrant the torture but the blackmailer gets a kick out of their suffering. As for the latter, the roommate dramas would involve having a roommate live in someone's house and treat their lifestyles like crap when they did nothing but provide shelter, as the innocent characters eventually stand up to the roommate and kick them for their mistreatment. In which, the blackmailers and the bad roommates both tend to be the Karma Houdinis of the story.
 * 3) The fact they always get away from retribution, can ruin the reputation and likeability of characters who commit horrible crimes and excessively avoid the punishments that they deserved to recieve. More often than not. they never, if ever, learn from their wrongdoings, and continue to do what's wrong unless somebody calls them out for it.
 * 4) Normally, and logically, it's more often frustrating, egregious, tiresome and aggravating than funny to watch the most sinful of characters at best, or otherwise unlikable characters at worst, get other innocent characters wrongfully punished for actions that they didn't cause at all, and these houdinis usually watch and treat their suffering like it's a prize for them to "deserve" any of it at all when in reality, they may have not have warranted any of it. All of which tends to make these houdinis easy to hate and despise. Especially if some of these guys are insufferable idiots.
 * 5) Avoiding karma on a daily basis, can also cause characters to become unintentionally unsympathetic, and make the viewer feel nothing but contempt for them and their despicable misdeeds (ex. Peter Griffin and Brian Griffin being the most infamous examples).
 * 6) It is usually shocking, apalling, or rather disturbing, to see these Karma Houdinis escaping their punishments, or even proper punishments as they continue making the same crimes and mistakes they already have been doing. Which often gets so bad that you or anyone with the right mind, would feel like having the urge and incentive to punish and repremiand them yourselves.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) There are certain Karma Houdinis in fiction, that at the very least, do get and recieve their rightful comeuppances and retributions for being excessively mean-spirited, evil, sadistic, manipulative, condescending, bossy, and rude towards many other characters that did nothing inherently wrong. Four and Evelyn Claythorne are two prime examples of this.
 * 2) Just because a character always gets off scot-free, doesn't necessarily mean we're meant to like them. Sometimes this trope fits very well for villains and antagonists as characters that exist for the characters (and sometimes the audience) to despise and root against them for their misdeeds, schemes and cruelty.
 * 3) As frustrating as the usage of this very trope tends to be, it doesn't necessarily make the story badly written unless the story or the episodes' writing feels forced, contrived, or even short-sighted depending on the how the writing of said story fell short, etc.