A character trait is later recontextualized into something bad/tragic, it's always been there, we just never paid attention

[u/RedNUGGETLORD]

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

[u/LAditya_121]

https://giphy.com/gifs/wqnkRfvYEejx69bjun

Anakin's need for protecting what he loved eventually leads him to the dark side turning him into Darth Vader.

[u/AdjustedJester → u/LAditya_121]

there’s an incredible segment of an OSP video where they talk about how consistently characterized anakin is, always choosing to protect his loved ones at any cost, and how that desire to protect them leads him through his entire arc across all of the movies + clone wars

[u/StableSlight9168 → u/AdjustedJester]

Prequels had many issues but the underlying lore was always solid.

[u/HadokenShoryuken2 → u/StableSlight9168]

The Clone Wars TV show existing also retroactively makes the prequels way better too, since we spend way more time with Anakin, Obi-Wan, and the clone army, watching his gradual turn to darkness over time. Makes it hit way harder, especially when you add Ahsoka to the mix

[u/SilverMedal4Life → u/HadokenShoryuken2]

"Who will strike first and be branded a cold-blooded killer?"

Anakin sneaks up and stabs him from behind, a few notes from the Imperial March playing

"What? He was going to blow up the ship."