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
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u/Shin_Newman 21d ago
Throughout Shokugeki no Souma, Nakiri Erina is always praised as having super sense of taste called "God's Tongue" and has only eaten the most delicious dishes. At one point, Souma makes her a bowl of rice with tempura fried eggs, using cheap, discounted eggs; Hisako (Erina's aide), upon hearing that, freaks out because, again, Erina has always only eaten high quality food. That said, Souma's skills make it so that she can eat the whole bowl without problem.
But then comes the BLUE arc, with Erina's mother finally making an appearance, and it's revealed that the "God's Tongue" is something that only a few members of the Nakiri family had developed through generations, but every single one of them fell into despair because their sense of taste became too refined as they grew up, to the point they eventually vomited anything that was put in their mouth and died from either starvation or suicide. In the present, Erina's mother also has the "God's Tongue" and she has to use IV drips to get nutrients.