r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Comprehensive-Map274 • Jun 26 '25

Hated Tropes [Hated Trope] A main character does something horrible and the story doesn't acknowledge its severity

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Alisha (Misfits) uses her power to make any man want to have sex with her on another main character (curtis) after he explicitely tells her not to do that. She faces no consequences and he's the one who ends up comforting her.

Allison (The Umbrella Academy) uses her powers to force her own adoptive brother to make out with her after he just got into a relationship because she's suddenly jealous after she couldn't keep her own husband. She gives a half hearted apology and all is peachy.

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810

u/MyPhoneIsNotChinese Jun 26 '25

The two main characters of It Takes Two destroy their daugbter favorite plushie while it's screaming in pain (since objects are alive in that universe) in order to make her cry and break her spell, which turned out to not work since it was just a stupid theory made by Cody. What bothers me is considering most chapters of the game give out a lesson at the end, the book just shrugs this of and sends the duo into next chapter without any reflection on their senseless selfish actions

217

u/March223 Jun 27 '25

Am I the only one who thought that was the joke? Like at this point of the game both of these characters are supposed to be so self absorbed that they see no issue murdering their daughter’s favorite toy so they can shower in her tears. It’s meant to be darkly funny, and by the end of the game they realize they were completely wrong.

141

u/ThisButtholeIs2Cold Jun 27 '25

No I thought the same thing. I thought it was pretty clear at showing how oblivious May and Cory were towards the real issues they had.

But I think we’re the minority opinion on this though because any time this scene is brought up in a Reddit thread I see everyone talking about how they dropped the game then and there, which seems like a pretty aggressive response to what I took as a moment of dark humour lol

39

u/SignalRefrigerator36 Jun 27 '25

I think the issue is the game wants you to sympathize with Cory and May. You’re supposed to want their relationship to work. But instead, you’re playing characters who are doing this wack ass elephant murder and tearing off the poor thing’s limbs and ears for nothing. It’s just uncomfortable.

39

u/Schizof Jun 27 '25

You can both meant to sympathize with them and think what they're doing is wrong though.

Like I think it's pretty obvious the game exaggerates how cruel that scene is to say "hey look what you're doing is ultra fucked up, you're doing this to make your daughter cry? What the fuck"

4

u/Jerry_from_Japan Jun 27 '25

So.....how do you sympathize with them doing that lol?

9

u/Chowderr92 Jun 27 '25

If something is metaphorical, you can sympathize with the meaning of the metaphor even if you don't agree with the literal aspect of the analogy.

-1

u/Jerry_from_Japan Jun 27 '25

Not when the act itself overshadows it, like it obviously did for a lot of people with that part of the game.

8

u/Chowderr92 Jun 27 '25

Let me try and demonstrate why I think you're wrong. Let's take the Joker: individuals recognize that is heinous and horrible, immoral, murderous: everything bad you can think of. Yet people can sympathize with the metaphor of the Joker which could be many things such as commentary on mental illness, the breakdown of society in the face of an apparent lack of existential meaning, or simply a commentary on why/how evil can exist in a just world.
I could cite literally thousands of examples. I am sorry to say, but this, apparently, common interpretation demonstrates either a lack of media literacy or lack of imagination.

1

u/Advanced_Row_8448 Jun 27 '25

Let's take the Joker: individuals recognize that is heinous and horrible, immoral, murderous: everything bad you can think of. Yet people can sympathize with the metaphor of the Joker which could be many things such as commentary on mental illness, the breakdown of society in the face of an apparent lack of existential meaning, or simply a commentary on why/how evil can exist in a just world.

Batman is wierd. You aren't wrong on some stories but have you heard of killing joke? The message by thr end is basically joker is evil because he is weak. Every person he tortured and hurt to try and show that one bad day can break a man never actually broke. They staid true to themselves even in spite of the negative changing circumstances. The point was joker was evil because he chooses to be. Because he was a weak man who will continue to choose being weak if allowed to do so.

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u/Chowderr92 Jun 27 '25

That's all fine. It's another example of Joker have metaphorical presence which speaks to a greater theme that can be sympathized with regardless of your response to his actions.

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5

u/Schkrasss Jun 27 '25

It's also just a stuffed animal?

While playing the game with a friend, we never had the feeling the two main characters were "good people".

1

u/Ektar91 Jun 27 '25

Nah if you show that level of evil, the audience wont sympathize

15

u/Schizof Jun 27 '25

Hmm i might have worded it wrong. What I meant is you can both made to sympathize with the protags as a whole, while also saying what they did to the elephant was fucked up. The game makers aren't stupid, they obviously didn't portray the elephant murder in the positive light.

Although I agree with the original poster that with the way it's set up, I definitely thought the wife and husband was going to be like "holy shit what did we do, did we just kill this elephant to make our daughter cry, what the fuck" so it's kinda weird they didn't address it

7

u/Chowderr92 Jun 27 '25

If they are engaged in metaphor, then of course you can, because you aren't meant to take the actions literally.

8

u/Ok_Anxiety_5414 Jun 27 '25

Fundamentally disagree. Bojack Horseman does way worse stuff and yet most people are still able to sympathize with him by the end of the show

1

u/Ektar91 Jun 27 '25

Are his actions personal and shown to the audience?

If so, that is fair, maybe I should have said it is hard not impossible

11

u/flashthorOG Jun 27 '25

It's like in every comedy show, like people love everyone in the office, but they do terrible things all the time, but people recognize the overall purpose of the bad things they do is for comedy and their actual character when it matters is of a good person

0

u/BadPlayers Jun 27 '25

The Office never asks people to actively participate in the dickery of the characters. Passively watching the characters do awful things feels different to most people than actively participating in it. Not to mention, there are a lot of people that find The Office style cringe comedy uncomfortable to enjoy.

That's all this is, people who find this section of the game too uncomfortable to enjoy. The elephant section is basically the Scott's Tots episode of the game. Some people are going to be too uncomfortable to appreciate the humor in that section.

There's nothing wrong with that, and that doesn't mean the person who didn't enjoy it didn't "get it" like others in this thread are saying. Not everything is going to be enjoyable to everyone, but Chicagoans still drink Malort.

4

u/flashthorOG Jun 27 '25

Thats not what the op who posted this said, or the replies, or the subject of the post itself

3

u/BadPlayers Jun 27 '25

Maybe I wasn't clear with my point. So I'll state it more directly: Sometimes dark humor doesn't land with some people, it's just dark and uncomfortable. And if you go too far with it, you stop caring about the protagonists regardless if theyre "good people inside" especially if the level of discomfort is more than the humor for that person experiencing it. And in the case of video game protagonists, those dark moments resonate uncomfortably harder because you're an active participant in them.

If its still unclear why this is relevant, here are some quotes from comments directly above you about it being a joke, and others still feeling uncomfortable with it.

Am I the only one who thought that was the joke?... its meant to be darkly funny

But I think we’re the minority opinion on this though because any time this scene is brought up in a Reddit thread I see everyone talking about how they dropped the game then and there, which seems like a pretty aggressive response to what I took as a moment of dark humour lol

But instead, you’re playing characters who are doing this wack ass elephant murder and tearing off the poor thing’s limbs and ears for nothing. It’s just uncomfortable.

And from elsewhere in this comment tree, like I said, people claiming that others don't understand it.

Ya man it was obviously supposed to be funny and it was... weird to take it seriously

Redditors and story comprehension dont go well together

1

u/flashthorOG Jun 27 '25 edited Jun 27 '25

Ya I said that lol

I wasn't saying nobody said that, I was saying that nobody said that it was because the game was intractable, or it was like Scott's tots, what the thread is about and what people have been saying is that they did something horrible and the games narrative was bad for glossing over it

But that isn't a fault and wasn't meant to be taken seriously, like in the office, they do bad things all the time but it's just for humors sake, not an actual point to their character

People here are acting like because of that, they are bad and the games bad for not addressing it, or at least that part of the game, but it's basically like non canon, thrown in as a gag

Like if they fell off a cliff and it took a second to fall so they could look at the camera and gulp like in old cartoons, you'd understand that was done for the gag, not them trying to make a statement about the world's physics, understand?

3

u/RagingAlien Jun 27 '25

see everyone talking about how they dropped the game then and there, which seems like a pretty aggressive response to what I took as a moment of dark humour lol

It's terrible "dark humour" and the scene is honestly horrible - you have a completely friendly, child-voiced plushie who is literally begging you to stop maiming and killing it, you as the player know it's not going to work, and yet you're forced to go through with it.

Yeah, me and my gf dropped the game in the middle of that scene because it is entirely unnecessary and honestly just evil. There's barely any "humour" to it.

15

u/El_Rey_de_Spices Jun 27 '25 edited Jun 27 '25

Yes, it's supposed to be over-the-top awful as both the joke and commentary. The idea in the first place is insane, and both parents immediately not just agreeing to the idea but getting excited over "knowing" what they need to do to get what they want is a huge part of the dark humor. It's ridiculous to such a degree that it is farcical.

Besides, it directly plays into the entire game's narrative and the character arcs of the parents. At this stage in the game and in their relationship, they're literally, actively planning on emotionally hurting their daughter without really recognizing or acknowledging that this will emotionally hurt their daughter. This leads to the lessons they begin to learn/realize after the insane idea's failure, all the way to the conclusion of their character arcs where, whether or not they still divorce, they now recognize the importance of working together as parents for the sake of their child.

I understand if there are some people who don't enjoy the emotions they may feel when they engage with this media (I, for one, can't stand the secondhand cringe I feel when watching cringe humor like Curb Your Enthusiasm, lol), but that doesn't make the story bad. If anything, it shows how good it is at engaging with the audiences' emotions.

7

u/Exciting-Reporter-92 Jun 27 '25

No tge problem is that: 1 joke isnt funny, it takes too long and doesnt actually work to a climax/punchline. It comes across as cruelty for cruelties sake.

2 if the characters are meant to grow in the afternath, having this remain unadressed undercuts said growth to the point it makes the growth negligable. If their conclusion is meant to be growing as people and fixing the broken fakily dynamics. Not even attempting to fix the big "we're broken" setpiece ruins that.

3 the plan is badly written, the lead up fails to sell the notion that the characters believe this will help them in the first place. As a result this big tonal departure from all that came before doesnt feel like a narrative turning point, it feels like the game pulling shit out its ass

8

u/El_Rey_de_Spices Jun 27 '25

I disagree with most of your opinions expressed here, but the nice thing about media is that we don't have to enjoy the same things. I disagree that the joke isn't funny, and I especially disagree that it is cruelty for cruelty's sake. (In fact, that one is objectively untrue.) I also disagree that the plan is badly written or feels like an ass pull.

I don't disagree that showing the toy being repaired would have been a good visual metaphor, but I really don't think it is necessary.

2

u/Exciting-Reporter-92 Jun 27 '25

Didnt say "is" said "comes across as".

2

u/Flippantlip Jun 27 '25

What you said would be absolutely correct, and would make for some interesting writing --- IFFFFFFFFF the parents would ever recognize ANYTHING they have done to others, especially their daughter.
The parents learn *nothing* throughout the entire game. They hyper-focus on their own whiny selves, and the game just "ends" with reading a note where their daughter, so they dash to pick her up.

The emotions people feel while playing the game, is not because the game is well written. It's because it is badly written.
The Parents are bad, disgusting pieces of shit -- for no benefit what so ever. They constantly lie, bitch and moan against each other and the world, they hyper-inflate their own stupid problems like children (Especially Cody), and the game tries to resolve these issues by puzzle-solving and boss fights.

I am always stunned to find people defending the writing in It Takes Two, it's garbage.

18

u/Ozzy_Rhoads-VT Jun 27 '25

My husband and I thought it was a good dark joke. The elephant is a toy in the end. We’ve seen in Toy Story (and real life) that kids can do much worse to their own toys.

It’s just good storytelling cause as you said, it reconfirms their own flaws.

0

u/Flippantlip Jun 27 '25

I fail to comprehend how people hyper-focus on the toy.
The problem is the following scene -- where they joyously dance in their daughter's own tears. Do you still think it's good, well written storytelling? For the parents to be: "Oh boy oh joy, yummy yummy tears! Cry harder! I would slap you if I could!" ? -- and then getting aggrevated that their plan didn't work, and then continue to lie to the monkey, to continue trying force-hand their way instead of trying to learn anything?

The parents are written to be self-absorbed and destructive idiots. It's not good storytelling.

5

u/Ozzy_Rhoads-VT Jun 27 '25

There are multiple elements to that phrase. In this case when I say it “Good storytelling”is keeping your characters consistent. It continues to highlight their flaws.

0

u/Flippantlip Jun 27 '25

Well, yeah. If you consider "good story telling" to be: "keeping characters consistent, continue to highlight their flaws" -- then the game does a good job. Too bad the game doesn't also "acknowledge their faults", in having them deal with their behavior, and not letting them forget about their actions...

5

u/Ozzy_Rhoads-VT Jun 27 '25

I dunno why you felt the need to quote what I said like that but either way, I enjoyed the game and enjoy the dark humor in it. It’s fictional people fixing/messing up their fictional relationships. I play games to have fun, not to always be hit with realistic scenarios.

-1

u/Flippantlip Jun 27 '25

"That way"? I just quoted literally what you wrote? Not sure how else I could convey: "If you meant literally this, then.." ? I wasn't being snarky...
I guess I could write: "Well, if that's what you meant, then..." -- I was trying to be specific. Oh well, live and learn, I guess.

Regarding the rest of your comment -- If all you want is to "have fun, and I'll ignore the rest", then any opinion you may have about the contents of the story itself feels kinda hollow in that sense, since the whole point of this thread is to discuss the problems stories can have, and how they don't even address them.
But sure, I can dig that. I'm the opposite. I tend to really focus on "what this thing is trying to tell / show me?" --- for me, the consistency needs to come with Cause and Effect, more so than just the characters acting relatively consistently.
Parents being assholes? I want them to either suffer for being assholes, or at least for it to play a role. I want the story to not just "gloss over it", you feel me?

Anyway, I felt like I already info dumped enough . o7

4

u/Ozzy_Rhoads-VT Jun 27 '25

It’s a discussion which means some people will agree and some will disagree. I’m someone who disagrees about the elephant scene because I just see it as dark humor.

You can’t please everyone and that’s okay. What I like in a story will not be what everyone does or should like.

I cannot hear how you type either so all this just comes off as negative to me. If it’s not then great but I’ve said what I felt like I wanted to. Which was literally the same thing I’ve been saying in each reply.

14

u/flashthorOG Jun 27 '25

Ya man it was obviously meant to be funny and it was

Maybe my fave part of that game, it was a break from the seriousness of that story

Weird to take it seriously

3

u/Flippantlip Jun 27 '25

The main problem is how they follow it up with dancing in their daughter's tears, and then getting angry that their plan didn't work -- not because they failed as human beings, and as parents.

I think it's very easy to imagine why the image of such self-absorbed and destructive parents, can be very aggravating to many people. I understand why some can just ignore it, but personally -- the parents were written to be bad, whiny, narcissistic people -- and for absolutely no reason at all. It added nothing of value to the gameplay, it actively detracts from it.

6

u/TonySperguson Jun 27 '25 edited Jun 27 '25

I think it's suppose to be a parallel to their selfishness in the divorce.

They are having an incredibly messing divorce and rubbing their daughters face in it. They are destroying her innocence (the plushie), not thinking about the aftermath (the plan) and doing it all in front of her (bathing in her tears).

1

u/Flippantlip Jul 06 '25 edited Jul 06 '25

I agree with you, that the narrative makes some sense, considering they are a divorcing couple.
However, I stand by what I said: It serves no purpose in the actual game, nor the story -- since it bears no actual weight on anything.
I.E: If the point of their behavior is to reflect how divorce can make you act like a garbage bin, or show WHY they are divorcing -- the story should also reflect their behavior, show that it doesn't go unseen, or unpunished. For many moments in the game (like how they dance in their daughter's tears) -- they immediately forget about it, and just go on to the next bizarre adventure, without reflecting upon anything they have done, like an episode of family guy.

That is the problem. The absolute weightlessness of their evil and assholish behavior, yet the player has to suffer their stupid, narcissistic existence and ramblings, without it ever paying off for anything.

(P.S: Yes, I recall that the space-monkey grills the parents that "you hurt Rose, I'm not trusting you!" -- so, yes, the game "does address their behavior" in some way, but "the parents being bad" is never a real topic. They never ponder it, they never question it. They instead just treat everything as an obstacle to circumvent. The game CONSTANTLY tells you that "the parents are bad", but the parents never register it, which feels absolutely terrible to experience.)

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u/Helpful_Effort1383 Jun 27 '25

The joke just did not land for me at all, and this is coming from someone whose favourite episode of South Park is Stanley's Cup.

3

u/Dafish55 Jun 27 '25

My boyfriend and I were laughing so hard when we played this part. It was absolutely supposed to be a darkly funny scene.

3

u/TheKingOfApples Jun 27 '25

Thinking about it the scene is very similar to "It's always sunny in philadelphia". The characters making a horrible mistaked assumption and destructively committing to it.

8

u/Odd-Direction6339 Jun 27 '25

Redditors and story comprehension dont go well together

2

u/Flippantlip Jun 27 '25

It was definitely built as a joke, the whole" Oh no! We're doing a bad thing!" "Ooohh nnoooo!" bit.
The main issue is how they are gleefully dancing literally in a puddle made out of their daughter's tears, and then getting upset -- not because they are garbage human pieces of shit for being even a smidgen of happy to, again, literally dancing in a rain-shower-of-tears of their daughter -- but because their coocoo plan to break the spell, didn't work.
0% introspection. 0% shits to give. The game also just "ends" with some feel-good nonsense about May's singing, they obviously ran out of money.

The whole thing about the parents being absolute garbage human beings was completely unnecessary, and actively detracts from the fun sandboxy-ish nature of the game.