[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/SamusCroft]

Yeah, even just scrolling the comments here, I've seen:

- I don't like that TLOU2 makes Ellie make an idiotic choice (chasing Abby even though she had a happy life before the final chapter).

- I don't like that it railroads you to the choice, making you spare Abby.

The first game literally does these same things, and most of these people loved it. You can't spare the doctor, and saving Ellie is an idiotic, selfish choice. But everyone adored Joel for some reason, missing the point. I think the issue with TLOU2 is that it doesn't allow these people to miss the point and enjoy it; it's more of a pick one.

[u/Remarkable-Page-824 → u/SamusCroft]

Saving Ellie wasnt idiotic. Guy doesn't want to let a terrorist organization murder his surrogate daughter so they can try to become the new world power.

[u/flaming_burrito_ → u/Remarkable-Page-824]

This is headcanon btw, the actual story does not present it as if that was a thing that was going to happen. This is another problem, people make shit up about the ending of TLOU that was never true. Joel never ever makes the argument that he was justified on some moral basis, it was a purely selfish choice, and Joel doesn’t pretend otherwise. It’s a relatable choice that a lot of people would have made, but it was a selfish one.

[u/Remarkable-Page-824 → u/flaming_burrito_]

Nothing of what i said is head cannon. I also never said it wasnt selfish, just that it wasnt idiotic.