r/TopCharacterTropes • u/RedNUGGETLORD • 21d ago
Personality A character trait is later recontextualized into something bad/tragic, it's always been there, we just never paid attention
Deku's self sacrifice - My Hero Academia
Initially portrayed as purely heroic, it's later shown to be extremely detrimental when he refuses any aid from his friends, abandoning them to "protect them"(of course, leaving them also puts them in danger since he can no longer be there to save them if something goes wrong
The same quality that makes him a great hero, also leads him to nearly lose everything and get EVERYONE killed(since if this tired, weakened Deku did encounter AFO/Shigaraki, he would almost certainly die and have his powers taken)
Seiya Ryuuguuin's cautiousness - Overly Cautious Hero
The whole series is about how the main character is prepared for any circumstance to an insane degree(being the highest level half-way through, perfectly predicting that an ally would betray them through ridiculous jumps in logic, etc)
It turns out that the reason for this was that in a past life(unknown to him) he was extremely easy-going and unprepared for everything, always winning due to luck and skill, however, one day he ends up losing due to not finding out about a bosses weakness, this leads to the demon king murdering his friend, eating his Goddess, and then devouring his girlfriend and the child inside of her right in front of him. The Demon King then takes over the world and basically turns it into Berserk on steroids
Erens entire character - Attack on Titan
He hates the titans not because of what they've done(though that's a part of it), but because they've stolen his freedom, so when he learns that in reality, the Marleyans are the true enemies, the ones who have taken his and everyone elses freedom away, he does exactly what he said he was going to do, just to a different enemy
Erens philosophy is that anyone that tries to take his freedom deserves to have theirs taken away, Zeke becomes a slave because he tried to take away the Eldians ability to breed, the Marleyans lose the freedom of living because they tried to take his, it's always been a core character trait, but when he becomes to antagonist of the story in the last parts, this character trait of his is front and center
32
u/leif_son_of_quan 21d ago
Siffrins self-sacrifice and care for their friends - In stars and time
Initially Siffrin appears as heroic, they drop everything to help save the country from a coming apocalypse as soon as they hear of it, they always stay at the front of the party to keep the others safe from traps, he notices right away when someone is feeling down and cheers them up, he even lost his eye protecting a child from harm.
As the game goes on, it becomes more and more readily apparent that those traits stem in large parts from massive fear of abandonment and self-esteem issues to the point they barely see themselves as a real person. They are willing to suffer and die in the front because that means the people who actually matter are save, they are cheering people up and putting themselves in danger because they fear that if they aren't constantly being useful they will be abandoned, after all no one would be with such a worthless person if not for the value they provide to the team.