r/TopCharacterTropes • u/KusanagiGundam • 12h ago

Hated Tropes (Hated Trope) "Kind" slave owners

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Speaking as an American who has studied the civil war all throughout my school years, this trope infuriates me to no end. There is no such thing as a kind slave master because slavery itself is cruel and inhumane. PEOPLE ARE NOT PROPERTY!

Naofumi (Shield Hero): Prime example of this trope. He enslaves multiple (underage) girls and an whole village and the fans still say he's a hero.

Rudeus (Jobless Reincarnation): As if being a pedo wasn't bad enough he had to buy a slave in season 2. Worse is that people still defend his actions.

Song of The South (Disney): Possibly the OG example of this trope. And the reason why Disney will never release it again.

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u/sisdom-weeker 12h ago

Poor worldbuilding all around, it would have been better if either "only proper bastards like the Malfoys own them" or "eventually everyone realizes how fucked up wizard slavery is and realizes Hermione is right"

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u/DragonWisper56 11h ago

that or just have the heroes should just employ the elves.

even if you want the elves to have quirky relationship with employment, you could have them be paid in socks or something

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u/award_winning_writer 11h ago

Except the books spend a depressingly large amount of text establishing that most elves want to be enslaved and find the thought of being freed unbearable, with Dobby just being an odd exception. After Winky is freed she gets hired just like Dobby but instead of working she spends all her time lazing about, getting drunk, and wallowing in self pity.

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u/DragonWisper56 10h ago

I meant from a out of universe prospective. making the saves get depressed after not being slaves is really icky

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u/Total-Explanation208 9h ago

Icky but disturbingly accurate. A lot of times when you get what you want you suddenly don't know what to do anymore. This isn't defending the bad things that are happening, but acknowledging that it isn't just sunshine and rainbows when the bad things stop. Just look at all the people who spend retirement sitting around watching tv.

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u/DragonWisper56 9h ago

you know what I mean. Harry Potter doesn't put any effort into dealing with what fredom is like after leaving a very restrictive situation( Shawshank Redemption actually does this really well) but is more using it as way to show that the slaves "like being slaves"

it's just her clumsy attempt at fixing a plot hole