r/TopCharacterTropes • • 11d ago

Hated Tropes An adaptation completely botches the original theme and message

Mulan(2020)-They give Mulan superpowers which is not only lame it goes against the message of the original about equality and struggle,plus they removes Shang because apparently having Mulan date her superior was "problematic" even though Shang genuienely respected Mulan and their rank was never brought up

I am Legend(2007)-You know why the story is called "I am legend"? SPOILER ALERT the protagonist is the actual monster,humanity is gone and the vampires have a actual society and the protagonist kills and terrorize them

Animal Farm(2026)-On the very slim chance that Andy Serkis ever sees this,here's the thing Andy,Animal Farm was not a children work it was not supposed to have a happy ending,you never heard of cautionary tales before?

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u/Mordetrox 11d ago edited 11d ago

The Wheel of Time series has a complicated magic system where each gender has a  different manifestation with different specialties, and the male half of the system had been horrifically disfigured in a way that anyone who uses it will eventually go mad, leading to societies where woman hold a lot more power as they're the only ones to use magic safely.

The chosen one prophesized to save the world is specifically a man, creating an interesting contradiction where he's supposed to save everyone but is also doomed to go mad. As such people are less eagerly awaiting his coming as they are fearing the coming of this incredibly powerful wizard who might level a country when he snaps. It leads to an incredibly hostile environment for our protagonist when he learns he's the chosen one and shapes much of the series.

But in the Amazon series they throw that out the window and make the chosen one unisex so they could have their stupid mystery box plot where they tease every important character as being potentially the chosen one to generate buzz on social media. This also involves neutering great moments from our protagonist so it's not too obvious, leaving him feeling like a complete wimp even if he hadn't spent the entire first season whining about his girlfriend (which also wasn't in the book). God these books deserved better.

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u/badpebble 11d ago

WoT is very progressive (apart from authorial focus on women's chests) and is set in a matriarchy as women are the only safe magic users. Men with magic go mad and kill people, so are rightfully accepted as deeply dangerous. Leaving women to all that political and magic power is massive, and the main character's rise is by definitions against their wishes. If you just want to handwaive the issues of sex dynamics, you shouldn't adapt WoT.

Taking key moments from Rand to give to the ladies doesn't rightfully empower the women, it cheapens the power because it seems pedestrian and easy, rather than something that only the Chosen One can do, and it weakens the MC and massively sets back his story in a way that they never recovered from.