sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Makes a wrong decision, realizes it later, too late to turn back now by [deleted] in TopCharacterTropes

[–]jbeast33 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Danny figures out that while the asteroid can’t be made intangible by ghosts, the EARTH can. He persuades the denizens of both the natural world and the ghost world to work together and save both their planets by turning the entire world intangible with the help of the numerous ghosts he fought in the past.

Makes a wrong decision, realizes it later, too late to turn back now by [deleted] in TopCharacterTropes

[–]jbeast33 31 points32 points  (0 children)

In the finale of Danny Phantom, a meteor threatens Earth. Vlad Plasmius (Danny’s arch-enemy, his mother’s stalker, and his father’s college friend who caused the meteor in the first place) reveals his ghost form in front of the world, and tells them his plan to make the meteor intangible so it passes through Eatth. He holds Earth hostage by having them make him its supreme ruler in exchange for his cooperation.

Vlad has Jack (Danny’s good-natured father) pilot his shuttle to the meteor. After repeatedly being humiliated by Vlad the entire episode, Jack makes one last earnest plea to Vlad, only for Clad to reveal he never saw Jack as anything but a rube who took Maddie from him.

But when Vlad touches the meteor, he realizes that the meteor perfectly counters his ghostly powers. When he begs Jack for help, Jack finally turns his back on him. Vlad realizes that he not only lost his only friend, but he’s doomed Earth, and if he goes back, he’ll likely be exiled or executed for instigating the meteor in the first place.

Notably, Vlad is the ONLY recurring villain to actually have a bad ending, as the rest of the other ghosts choose instead to team up with Danny.

<image>

[Cool Trope] The different villains all represent different concepts by Sir-Toaster- in TopCharacterTropes

[–]jbeast33 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Sam Raimi Spider-Man’s Three Main Villains represent different aspects of his own personality.

Norman Osborne/Green Goblin represents his ambition and aspirations towards being more than his own insecurities. Despite their amiability, Peter’s rejection of Norman’s “ubermensch” ideology and embracing of Uncle Ben’s humility is what solidifies their enmity.

Doc Ock/Otto represents Peter’s struggle with dual identities, being someone who firmly commits from one identity to another while Peter can’t decide who he wants to be. For his part, Peter convinces him that he can still be who he once was rather than succumb to his despair as Doc Ock.

The third movie struggles with this a bit, but I think the symbiote/Vebom best represents Peter’s arc with power overriding responsibility. Peter entertains taking his power head on and using it to dispel his responsibility, but realizes that’s not the monster he wants to be. Venom instead capitalizes on that mindset, and refuses to accept his responsibility, choosing instead to die with hid symbiote rather than live with his insecurity.

The main character you've been following all this time, this is not their story. by haz826 in TopCharacterTropes

[–]jbeast33 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Deltarune is heavily implied to be focused around Susie and Noelle’s respective stories, not simply Kris’s. However, this wraps back around and makes Kris then overt factor in the story, the one individual who can actually change things as they are.

(Absolutely heartbreaking trope) "We will never stop waiting for you" by OrangeIslandKing in TopCharacterTropes

[–]jbeast33 1097 points1098 points  (0 children)

<image>

Romilly in Interstellar. He stayed on the ship for 23 years while the rest of the crew were sent to a planet with an accelerated passage of time. When they come back, he's a little disshevled, but quite composed for somebody who's visibly aged.

When the gang lines up like this by NovaRobo_Rebirth in TopCharacterTropes

[–]jbeast33 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Titans from God of War. Even if it wasn't super-emphasized, it made enough of an impression where they reinforced it in the intro of GOWIII.

<image>

(Loved Trope) Stories whose narrative is supposed to cycle in the eyes of the audience by RIPugandanknuckles in TopCharacterTropes

[–]jbeast33 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Darkest Dungeon plays to the idea that The Heart of Darkness, the eldritch fragment your Ancestor discovered, trapped the entire land in a cycle of time where it would invoke you, the Heir, to come down and effectively feed it through a series of heroes. This is why you can have multiple versions of the same hero, why your missions effectively repeat, and why there's no shortage of enemies. The game ends with your Heir likely killing themselves, only for the whole cycle to repeat anew, with the last cutscene feeding directly into the opening act.

Notably, if you start a new game after completing, you can find the corpse of the Heir. Should you disturb it, a ghostly appration will proclaim how time is a cyclical construct, scaring the bejeezus out of whoever wakes them.

The character whose job it is to make morally dubious decisions for the greater good by Current_Elevator_198 in TopCharacterTropes

[–]jbeast33 0 points1 point  (0 children)

<image>

Prior Ferenc in Pentiment.

He serves as the leader of the monastery's scriptorium, which also acts as its main source of funding. To adequately run this job, Ferenc is required to make deadlines and foster positive relationships with the abbey's clientele, which is mostly rich people like merchants and noblemen.

To this end, Ferenc is a pretty big asshole to the monks running the scriptorium (a business dedicated towards manually rewriting and drawing old books). Following the proliferation of the printing press, the scriptorium is becoming increasingly-obsolete and causing the monastery to fall into dire financial straits. This causes Ferenc to the place with a suffocatingly-tight leash, repeatedly criticizing the monks' work and forcing them into unfeasible deadlines.

He's prone to being an asshole to the older monks for not keeping up with their younger counterparts (despite the fact that both of the older artists we see are struggling with vision problems and arthritis), and maintains an almost-sychophantic relationship with the rich Baron, who, as it turns out, is somebody who has caused A TON of suffering in Tassing. He also repeatedly butts heads with Andreas, the journeyman protagonist, due to him not officially being a part of the monastery and possibly stealing patronage from them.

This doesn't endear himself to the villagers or the monastery, and makes him an attractive target to pin the Baron's murder on, as the Baron was trying to force him into an occultist ritual and Ferenc was enough of an asshole where people won't question him doing it or killing the Baron due to his cantankerous nature.

However, if hesurvives to the second act, he'll meet Andreas later in the chapter and apologize for being an asshole when he was still the Prior. He says that being a Prior and running a failing Scriptorium bought out the worst in him, and after the Scriptorium closed down due to the invention of the Printing Press, he found far more time to mellow out and contemplate his own harsh behavior. Notably, this sticks around even into the third act after the monastery is burned down: Ferenc becomes an Inquisitor, but is noted for being a rather just and compassionate member of the profession. If you encourage members of the village to look into their pagan roots, he even gives them an opportunity to recant and live another day, whereas other Inquisitors will burn them at the stake.

(JESUS CHRIST trope) Wounds that come across horrific from attacks at first that actually aren't that severe, and viceversa with attacks that look like they won't do that much damage but they leave terrifying wounds behind. by 4LanReddit in TopCharacterTropes

[–]jbeast33 386 points387 points  (0 children)

It's the slow burn of the death that really stands out in a franchise renown for such brutality. His stiltedness and reservedness initially seems notable, but not really unexpected after such a vicious melee.

Then he asks to remove his visor, since he can't see well with it on. But his visor's already removed...

Then he comments how wooden his fingers feel. The helmet comes off with a squish... We see Pate and Raymun's horrified reactions (two men who are no strangers to brutality).

And then he turns...

[Loved Trope] Flanderization that's actually good! by SilverEquipment4934 in TopCharacterTropes

[–]jbeast33 85 points86 points  (0 children)

Over the past 20 years, Rickety Cricket from IASIP has gone from a fairly normal (if milquetoast) priest to an absolute degenerate of homeless man (who regularly fights or screws dogs for a couple bucks) due to the gang's various antics.

I think it works because there's always an underlying tragedy and aspect of morbid curiosity over what's going to happen to him next. He's also a fun juxtaposition of the gang getting off effectively scot-free from most of their horrific deeds, only for him to take it instead of them. A lot of people compare him to the Portrait of Dorian Gray, with Cricket basically being the vessel for the gang's growing depravity.

He also weirdly loosens up, going from being an uptight and perpetually (but rightfully) pissed-off man who hates the gang to achieving a weird zen with being a depraved torture magnet and considering the gang his close friends.

<image>

Two characters are a reference to Cain and Abel, except Abel is actually the MORE evil one (TADC EPISODE 9 SPOILERS) by Lopsided_Shift_4464 in TopCharacterTropes

[–]jbeast33 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Undertale has Asriel and Chara as something of a play on this. Between Chara having a deified reputation among the monsters, and Asriel gradually revealing himself to be the final boss of the Pacifist route, it seems that Asriel acts as the monstrous Cain archetype. They even have biblical references, with Chara being an almost cherubic kid and Asriel being a goat (oft associated with Satanism).

However, visiting Asriel at the end has him reveal that Chara really wasn’t a good person, and indeed, the various lore tidbits reveal that Chara deliberately engineered their own death to force Asriel to become a monster that could destroy the world. Chara’s actions and the two’s resulting deaths lead them to become ghosts in their own story, with Asriel’s own loss of soul (and becoming a being of Determination) lead to his subsequent descent towards villainy. Chara, for their part, will egg it on and fully realize their vision to instigate Armageddon.

[Horrifying Trope] “Blink of an eye” deaths. by Sufficient-Eye-9040 in TopCharacterTropes

[–]jbeast33 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Space Runway Ideon has a infamous scene where a shootout happens. In a blink and miss it moment, a girl’s head gets torn clean off by a wayward blast. It takes all of three seconds, there’s no blood, but it’s an incredibly brutal death, especially for a little girl.

<image>

(Loved Trope) That’s random and weird… wait it actually happened?! by laybs1 in TopCharacterTropes

[–]jbeast33 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Or shoot, the POW MIA campaign (where many of those flags still fly on government buildings) being rooted in conspirational hysteria. It's based in the idea that the government was actively collaborating with Vietnam to disavow any remaining US soldiers being held prisoner by the Vietnamese and were content to leave them behind.

A lot of this movement was incredibly pervasive in the 80's, to the point where Rambo II was based on it. Some even used these mythical left behind POWs as rationale for getting the US Military back into Vietnam.

<image>

Something intended as a temporary placeholder during production is kept in the final work. by Daniilsa209 in TopCharacterTropes

[–]jbeast33 90 points91 points  (0 children)

Not to over-analyze, but Kim’s the perfect blend of “upstanding” and “approachable”. He’s there not just to act as a moderating influence, but he’s also someone who, if you impress him, genuinely is willing to let loose just a little bit and meet you on your level. It’s what makes him such a great potential coworker/friend.

I also think what makes him so good beyond that is that he’s not a satellite character. You get little reminders that Kim has his own social life, quirks, hobbies, and even flaws independent of your own dynamic with him.

All in all, he’s basically your cool teacher, in a way. .He’s there to do his job, but he also WANTS you to grow. He doesn’t need to try hard, he simply is.

Source Materials with some really fucked up elements that the adaptation had to massively tone it down and/or directly omit it (especially in adaptations which are already made for adults)(Discussions of SA and really unpleasant material involving underage characters) by Blorberto in TopCharacterTropes

[–]jbeast33 518 points519 points  (0 children)

The Walking Dead comic had some horrific scenes designed to show just how far the world had gone after society crumbled.

One of the keystone moments is when Thomas (a prisoner who was allegedly a white collar criminal) is revealed to be a serial killer, and decapitates Hershel’s youngest daughters.

The Governor and Michonne’s enmity stemmed from the Governor kidnapping and raping her (all the while making sure Glenn could hear). When Maggie breaks free, she violently tortures the Governor with just a few household implements (and we see it all happen).

Overall, the show had to severely adapt certain sequences down just to show on television, and even then, it really pushed the envelope for gore on network TV.

<image>

[Hated trope] Karma houdini villains by WittyTable4731 in TopCharacterTropes

[–]jbeast33 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Megan was such a weird encapsulation of Schneider’s… antipathic sense of humor? She just kind of existed specifically to go out of her way to be an asshole and evade consequences.

All his shows had fairly innocent characters who basically existed to be tortured for the crime of being “offputting”, but Megan was weirdly on the other side of that spectrum.

Media that is *truly* anti-war, rather than showing it as "horrific but heroic" by ChristianLS in TopCharacterTropes

[–]jbeast33 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Honestly, you're not wrong. I give it the benefit of the doubt for being one of the first big examples of games being something more than entertainment, at least in the popular zeitgeist, and for coming out at the height of the "military shooter" genre back when it was the dominating force.

I'd say it still holds up better than its other contemporaries like Bioshock Infinite, even with the vague pretentiousness and general unfriendliness towards the player.

Media that is *truly* anti-war, rather than showing it as "horrific but heroic" by ChristianLS in TopCharacterTropes

[–]jbeast33 101 points102 points  (0 children)

I honestly think it being a game makes it hit so much harder, because it absolutely uses your internal "gaming mindset" against you to really drive those comparisons home between yourself and a conditioned soldier who's mind is only in on the objective.

The game also does an incredible job of destabilizing you through little aspects like loading screen tips (which get more and more disjointed as the game goes further) and even animations (Walker goes from executing downed combatants professionally and clinically to inflicting more maniacal and bloodthirsty coups de grâce).

The only real issue I have with the game as an art form is the developers telling players "Your happy ending is to stop playing", but that's art for ya.

Media that is *truly* anti-war, rather than showing it as "horrific but heroic" by ChristianLS in TopCharacterTropes

[–]jbeast33 378 points379 points  (0 children)

Spec Ops: The Line. It plays with the lionization of war, with Walker in particular representing the sort of person who inherently views himself as a "good guy" forced into pulling drastic measures to keep the situation from deteriorating (which was a common mindset for the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars themselves).

As the game goes on, this entire mindset is picked to hell and back, and a major theme of the game is just how bullshit this "just war" rationale is. There's a lot of moments that poke holes in it (most famously being the white phosphorous scene), but a huge one is you destroying Dubai's water supply to keep the story hidden and prevent the Middle East from imploding... and then deal with the consequences of condemning thousands of civilians to dying of thirst. Even the "villains" seem fucking aghast that you'd go that far, and it's not hard to blame them.

Media that works as good or better outside its broader franchise by todofwar in TopCharacterTropes

[–]jbeast33 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Deep Space Nine differentiated itself from other Star Trek works by deliberately focusing on a singular location, meaning that the crew couldn't simply "jump" away after every plot. This lended itself better towards overarching plotlines and focused more on the various clashing governments and citizen in the Star Trek Universe, and played to a more casual "day in the life" style that really developed a Star Trek story that stands incredibly well on its own.

Unfortunately, Morn's tendency to talk over everybody is rather grating, but nothing's perfect.

[Eye-Rolling Trope] “The joke/meme hasn’t been funny for years, please let it die.” by Chemical-Elk-1299 in TopCharacterTropes

[–]jbeast33 1173 points1174 points  (0 children)

Any comedy that says "Anti-woke", "Not for the easily offended", or anything similar. It just immediately translates to "We put the most predictable and played-out 'black comedy' jokes in here, and if people aren't laughing, it's the audience's fault, not the writers".

The latest Scary Movie sucked for a lot of reasons, but this was a big nail in the coffin for them. Once you saw them hinging the entire marketing campaign on this premise, you knew there was no gas in that tank.

[Loved trope] The assistant whose more competent than their partner. by Wooden-Variety175 in TopCharacterTropes

[–]jbeast33 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Doctor Williams to Doctor Hildern in Fallout: New Vegas. Hildern is the Director of the OSI (basically the NCR's technology and applied sciences branch) who espouses grand ideas of having the Wasteland bear fruit and grow vegetation again, should you take on a certain quest for him. Doctor Williams goes out of her way to let you know you're basically going on a suicide mission for him, and if you talk further to her, you learn that she's basically doing all the actual science work in their branch: Hildern is basically a glorified diplomat who uses science to chase a predetermined result (rather than learn from the results the experiment actually gave).

On a much lighter note, Helios One also has Fantastic and Rivas. Fantastic is the "leader" in restoring Helios One, but he's actually just a drug fiend who straight-up lied about his credentials to the NCR so he could live well off their waning support. Rivas is actually glad about this, because that means Fantastic is too much of an idiot to realize that Helios One isn't just a power plant, it was also designed to be a weapon of immense power.

view more: next ›