r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Outrageous_Gene_7652 • 20h ago

Characters A genuinely good hero gets crushed by responsibility and slowly goes insane

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Hal Jordan (Green Lantern): Civilian life in shambles, overworked superhero life, spiralling mental health for years and unable to cope with the fact that he was'nt able to save his city because he was on another mission, Hal loses his mind, literally trying to bring back the dead, killing the entire corp and later literally erasing space and time to rewrite the universe

Zero (To Be Hero X): Being the first hero of the world and being worshipped for being so since he was 10, Zero achieved Godhood as a 15 year old but ultimately the pressure got to him and he went mad at 17 and nearly caused the end of humanity.

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u/seahawk1977 19h ago

Arthas is Warcraft 3. He is tasked with finding out who is causing an undead plague. By the end he has been manipulated into becoming the Lich King.

1

u/SnooWalruses3948 18h ago

Hmm.. do you think he was crushed by responsibility?

I'm playing WC3 for the first time right now, and he seems to revel in it, regardless of the path it's putting him on.

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u/seahawk1977 17h ago

Just because he may revel in it at the time, doesn't mean he isn't getting crushed.

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u/SnooWalruses3948 16h ago

Different definitions for the word, maybe?

I'd consider "crushed by responsibility" to be someone who is slowly burnt down by the actual weight of it itself.

But I feel like your definition might be more "someone who is destroyed by their responsibilities".

I'd say that the latter is true for Arthas but not so much the former. He doesn't hesitate once to perform his duties, that's kind of the problem.

Sure, he has moments of doubt, but I'd say that's different to someone incapable of handling the responsibilities.

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u/seahawk1977 14h ago

Ah, I see your point and agree.