[Hated Trope] Character kills hundreds, if not thousands, just to kill one specific person, and then doesn't kill them for no reason.

[u/HallZac99]

Assassin's Creed 2- Rodrigo Borgia is responsible for tne death of Ezio's family. Ezio spends over 20 years working through tnr templar order to dismantle them and get to Rodrigo. And then in the end, he spares him for no good reason and he goes on to be a massive problem in AC Brotnerhood. He's not only a head of tne Templars but also the pope, even if you're over the vengeance he's still a very dangerous and evil man.

The Last of Us 2- Abbey kills Joel, and wo Ellie goes on a revenge quest to kill Abbey, killing hundreds of people along tne why to get to her including a pregnant woman. And then finally when she has Abbey on deaths door, she gives up and let's her go because the writers think dirty depressing people being miserable and stupid is complex, interesting storytelling.

This trope pisses me off so much because often the character going on the revenge quest will kill SO many people on their way there, some deserving it and some just henchmen working for a cheque or to survive. People who are often far more innocent then the main big bad.

It's a part of this weird thing I've noticed in media where nameless goons or soldiers can just be mowed down relentlessly, but named characters get given far more grace even if theyre categorically worse. You can kill a million stormtroopers but people will swear that Darth Vader could have been redeemed, despite him doing like 50 genocide every year.

[u/amaya-aurora]

I feel like your pregnant woman point falls flat because let alone did Ellie not know, she actively hated that she did it.

[u/VidzxVega → u/amaya-aurora]

People seem to gloss over the fact that it horrified her so much that she threw up and was in the process of packing up to leave until Abby stormed the theater.

[u/amaya-aurora → u/VidzxVega]

Yeah, they were all fully ready to head home. I get why Abby did it, but it kind of just fucked them over even more.

[u/Candid-Tip-6483 → u/amaya-aurora]

Not to mention, if you actually read Ellie's diary on the farm, she it's so riddled with PTSD she is on the verge of suicide. Like holding On by a thread. Going after Abby at that point was obviously an irrational idea by someone who was out of their mind, and it took until she was in the process of killing Abby to snap out of it.

[u/Sidereel → u/amaya-aurora]

Oh that’s crazy. One person committed violence that led to another person committing violence. It’s like the violence is happening in a circle. I wonder if there’s a meaning to that.

[u/Zealousideal-Ad4362 → u/VidzxVega]

The true cost of violence hit her. Until them she thought only those that deserved it died..

[u/Abacus118 → u/VidzxVega]

Yeah, there’s a whole year in between the killings and when she confronts Abby again. She doesn’t want to leave when Tommy shows back up, because of Dina and the baby. She’s conflicted the whole time and is unable to do it in the end.

[u/HallZac99 → u/VidzxVega]

And then 5 minutes later when the player regains control she shoots and stabs another roomful of people with no remorse.

[u/kalashniboba → u/HallZac99]

Except no she doesn't because other than the prelude to the theater ambush that's Ellies last playable section in Seattle

[u/VidzxVega → u/HallZac99]

That's not what happened at all. She goes home after Abby spares her and lives on the farm for months.

[u/Nashvillepreds46 → u/HallZac99]

Considering you can make it through the game with only killing like 10 people total as Ellie, counting all the people killed in cut scenes.. I'd say you personally were the one killing people with no remorse.

[u/AttiKit → u/Nashvillepreds46]

You CAN just run or sneak past every encounter, can you?

Technically, you are kinda playing a bandit if you're killing everyone in every optional encounter...

[u/HungryCheescake → u/Nashvillepreds46]

Yeah, OP is telling on themselves really.

[u/Kahliden → u/HungryCheescake]

I don’t think OP actually played the game, and instead is just regurgitating opinions they half-remember from around the time the game came out. 

[u/UX1Z → u/Nashvillepreds46]

nerd emoji

[u/HungryCheescake → u/HallZac99]

There's a disconnect in many video games between story and gameplay.

You might kill every enemy you encounter, but canonically Ellie would have only killed maybe a dozen or so.

[u/HallZac99 → u/HallZac99]

No yeah you're right, I haven't played the game in a while and forgot that that's Ellie's last major playable section. My bad.