All throughout pop culture, there are plenty of examples of victims that are widely celebrated for effectively failing to get over their problems. Yes, we fantasize about the idea of beating up deserving criminals in a latex flying rodent costume, but would we love Batman half as much if Bruce Wayne's parents weren't murdered in an alleyway in front of his prepubescent eyes? No; that would just be some rich guy beating up the mentally ill. Nobody wants that, right? In real life, there are plenty of victims of many atrocities that deserve our help and empathy, but there are a far-too-large number of people who like to manipulate others into feeling sorry for them. Some people find it hard to admit that they play the victim, but here are a few who understand who they are, what they do, as well as shine a light onto why exactly they do it.

1. It's an understandable fear

2. Our life experiences help to shape the people we are, for better or worse

3. It can be pretty useful for getting out of trouble

4. Some are pretty remorseful over their habits

5. Others need help getting over their tendencies

6. Some have even been forced into the role by others' expectations

7. Sometimes, it's the easiest way to get your way

8. It can be a toxic, but effective, way of communicating

9. Sometimes, all we want is to be treated equally

10. Playing the victim can sometimes be the best way to deal with other difficult people

11. Sometimes, the victim is just misunderstood

12. It can even be a means of self-preservation

13. Epiphany

14. Nobody wants to feel like a bad person

15. It's important to recognise the patterns

16. Sometimes, it's just out of spite

17. There's always time to change your ways

18. Roleplay at its finest

19. Hopefully you've learned your lesson

Whether it's to manipulate others, gain sympathy or simply as a defence mechanism following traumatic times in our lives, the temptation to play the victim resides in all of us. You may not agree with all the motives listed above, but you might be able to empathise with these people dealing with life in the best way that they can.

While most of us will agree that cheating on your partner is the worst thing that you can do while in a relationship, one person who often gets away without as much of the blame as they deserve is the person who slept with someone they know is involved with someone else. And when this is a committed couple who have already said their vows, it's even worse. Sometimes, affairs are kept a secret, or if they come out then the couple moves on and repairs their relationship after betrayal. Yet a lot of the time it's too much and the marriage falls apart. But what do the homewreckers feel about playing this part in the end of a marriage? Here are a number of testimonies from people who have broken up a marriage, and some of their responses are not what you would expect.

1. What goes around come around

2. Having second thoughts

3. This is like a soap opera

4. Karma police

5. This was a rollercoaster

6. Unique logic

7. Could it help in some cases?

8. No turning back now...

9. A series of terrible decisions

10. Victim of lies

11. Without knowing

12. Unforeseen consequences

It looks like plenty of people who have broken up marriages have felt a lot of regrets afterwards, understandably. One thing I never considered was how bad it would feel to be the reason a marriage ended, having not known that the person you cheated with was married in the first place. It looks like a lack of honesty can only have bad consequences when it comes to relationships.

Infidelity is a pretty sore subject for most people. Whether you've been cheated on, or a friend has, or you've managed to stay clear of the drama altogether, it's unlikely the subject hasn't come up at some point. You have probably been paranoid about that one woman at work that keeps texting your boyfriend, or something much like it. But much worse than this betrayal of trust from your own significant other is when the treachery is two-fold. The idea of cheating with a friend's partner is unthinkable for most of us, but there are some people who have done it - and not all of them regret it.

1. At least you stopped?

2. Was it worth it?

3. New levels of betrayal

4. No regrets?

5. A bit late to the moral questions

6. Time machine?

7. That's risky...

8. Easy for you to say

9. That's one way to do it

10. Hope this goes no further

11. How is this even possible?

12. At least they're no longer together...

13. Oof

I think one of the most shocking things about this is how often people refer to others as being their "best friend" in the same sentence that they reveal how they're utterly betraying their trust. Maybe you're not so good a friend if you're doing something like this?

Let's face it, we're fascinated by what exists beyond the mortal coil — and apparently what comes just before!

People have been taking to Reddit to share some rather creepy deathbed confessions. From alleged murder to heartbreaking WW2 tales, here are 10 of the most haunting tales we've read...

(Credit: Unsplash)

1. A murderous grandmother

"My grandma confessed to murder on her deathbed," Reddit user NotAnEarthwormYet shared.

"Usually you’d think it was the pain relief, but she was such an eccentric it was actually believable.

"We traced all her ex-husbands, partners and any other likely candidates and fortunately, no one was missing, or died an untimely death. But sometimes I wonder..."

(Credit: Unsplash)

2. Minor transgressions and then some...

Reddit user creepygal69 shared the following deathbed confession: "I cared for an elderly neighbour who had Alzheimer’s and sometimes she seemed to want to unburden herself of secrets.

"In the months before she went into a nursing home, I heard a lot about very minor transgressions at work, feuds with other ladies at church and... some cousin f*cking."

Well, I don't think we want to hear any more about the last revelation...

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3. Mysterious "beings"

This Reddit user has a rather creepy tale about his late grandfather, which involves some rather sinister-sounding "beings"...

"My grandfather who had not been a religious man throughout his life stated on the second to last day he was alive that in the prior few nights he was seeing beings in the bedroom with him [sic]," Reddit user, cat-slinger, explained.

"He could not discern what they were but one, in particular, made him very fearful."

(Credit: Alamy)

4. A haunting WW2 confession

Reddit user, papahet, shared the following — rather haunting — deathbed confession:

"My partner's grandfather never spoke about his WW2 service. He joined after lying about his name and age so we can't find any records. He would have been 16. We do know he was in the Pacific somewhere, and when he got back, his lie was exposed and because he was by then 18 he was drafted under his real name...and promptly arrested, he would do anything to not get sent back to fight! He got drunk, fought and self-harmed [sic].

"His adult life was spent mostly as an alcoholic and being a sh*t husband and father though in his later years he was able to make some good. Grandkids appearing softened him [sic].

"In his dying hours, he relived his time at war. Some things he said... 'Oh god they are here', '[They] are behind us sir', 'Stab him, stab him...f*cking stick him!', 'Help', 'Medic', 'All around'. And he also had a string of names he kept saying. Such a tortured, broken mind."

(Credit: Alamy)

5. 'He used to scream in the night with nightmares'

"On his deathbed, my grandad said he could see his men," Reddit user, Xenoph0bix, shared, in another WW2 related confession.

"He worked I think the radio on the airplanes and I think he was leader of his particular group that flew that plane (sorry I don’t know the correct names) [sic].

"One day they were shot down and crashed. All died in the fire but him. They found him wandering deliriously in the field after.

"They tried to make him go back up in another plane and he lost it, full-on PTSD. The b*stards dishonourably discharged him because he refused to fly again. He said he saw his men staring at him at the foot of the bed and that they were furious with him for not saving them... My mum says he used to scream in the night with nightmares."

(Credit: Unsplash)

6. A heartbreaking confession

Reddit user DanHero91 wrote about his time in hospital, saying, "The guy in the bed next to me just asked to stop taking his meds as he was ready to die.

"The last thing I heard him say was 'There's no one waiting for me at home, so I'm going where they are.'

"Wasn't really a shocking confession, just a lonely and heartbreaking one," he added.

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7. 'I wanted to ask her more... but I was afraid'

"I worked at a hospital in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a small town near Munich for the last 14 years. My job there is not fancy at all, I move people around, throw the trash out and occasionally I take care of some handy-like work (fix a leaking shower head and stuff like that)," lyes-about-expertise shared.

"As you can imagine, I get to see a lot of patients that come and go, some of them pass away (such is life, I guess). I remember a few instances of people confessing to me their biggest regrets."

The first deathbed confession the Reddit user shared revolved around notorious Nazi leader, Hitler: "An old polish woman, told me that she regretted 'not f*cking Hitler when she had the chance' (her words). I wanted to ask her about more context, but I was afraid to be honest."

We would be too!

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8. Another murderous confession

The same Reddit user shared another disturbing confession about an alleged hit and run.

"Another notable example was an old truck driver that used to work for an Easter Germany company," they shared.

"He told me that he once run over some kids with his truck, and was too afraid to stop and check if they were ok."

Creepy stuff!

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9. No regrets here

And the final confession lyes-about-expertise shared was about an elderly Polish lady who used to be a prostitute.

"Once another Polish lady told me that she used to be a prostitute during 2nd World War and that she slept with "very high up" people in the government," they explained.

"She told me that she did not regret that part of her life, but that she could not tell anyone and that was a heavy emotional drag. She also told me that she aborted more than five babies during that time."

(Credit: Unsplash)

10. A deathbed fantasy

"I spent a lot of time with my 90-something-year-old grandfather in his final months," this Reddit user shared, in a surprisingly funny confession.

"He was married to my grandmother for over 70 years and told me he never slept with any other woman. This was followed by him asking me what it was like to sleep with more than one person in your lifetime.

"He (partially paralyzed from a stroke, at the end of his life) also told me, as he was waking up from a nap, that he was just dreaming about having sex with Betty Grable."

Feature image credit: Unsplash

While common sense tells us that we should take the high road after being scorned, some of us are unable to get over someone or something that has done us wrong without getting our own back. Certainly, even if you haven't experienced it yourself, popular culture and society writ large continue to tell us that revenge does feel pretty great. And whether you want to blame it on some ugly facet of human nature or a lack of morality, I think it's safe to say that we have all, at one point or the other, been tempted to make someone who has done us wrong suffer. But not everyone has the ability to pull off an elaborate revenge plot and there are times where their attempts can completely backfire. Luckily for us, however, the resulting stories are pretty hilarious. I mean, just take a gander below...

1. This did not go to plan 

2. At least scope out the joint first! 

3. That's what you get... 

4. Oh dear 

5. This was a bit of an overreaction 

6. You can't win them all... 

7. This sounds painful 

8. A classic drunken mishap 

9. This did not end well, for anyone 

10. Just... why? 

11. They didn't think this one through 

12. Oh, c'mon! 

13. Things don't always go our way

14. I don't blame him...

Well, there you have it. If you want to get revenge on someone, you really should think it through first...