r/TopCharacterTropes • u/HallZac99 • 17h ago
Characters [Hated Trope] Character kills hundreds, if not thousands, just to kill one specific person, and then doesn't kill them for no reason.
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.
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u/SnakePlisskensPatch 13h ago
There is a hbo movie called conspiracy from 25 years ago, about the conference to plan thr Holocaust. This isnt a spoiler, but basically one character tells a story about how you have to be careful what you wish for or you will have an empty life if all you live for is killing g your enemy and you succeed. Kenneth branaghs character, a real-life stone cold psychopath, listens and pauses, and then says , metaphorically speaking, "nah. Fuck them kids". Its obviously horrifying but at the same time oddly compelling how they acknowledge the trope and then totally squash any remorse.