- Joined
- Mar 1, 2023
- Messages
- 299
A trope I rather like, particularly when things are cleared up at the end. Basically, due to some events, someone accuses the main character or a major character, or sets up some kind of situation so that it will look like that character has committed some kind of act that others would deem unforgivable. Either way, thanks to these deliberate malicious actions and the rapid spread of rumors, the character is treated like a monster, a creep, a criminal, etc. I've seen this most frequently with boys as part of some sort of romantic drama. For instance...
In My Life Turned Around, the main character's childhood friend/girlfriend was seduced and cheated on him, and became so dependent on the seducer that when the MC confronted them she not only dumped him but agreed to support rumors of him abusing and stalking her. Within a day everyone is treating him like trash. Story's ongoing, I'm just hoping when the truth comes out that the girl's friends and other people who bullied and rebuked him over and over will apologize for what they'd done.
In Ryuusa no Ori, the main character's childhood friend and girlfriend was tricked by an illusion into believing he'd cheated on her, and then dumped him for their fellow childhood friend. People had already been speaking ill of him for someone at the bottom of the school ranks dating the top ranked student, so they quickly turned on him. Sadly, the manga adaptation didn't last long enough to show the truth coming out.
Kaguya-sama has the famous bit with secondary character Ishigami. Ishigami had a huge crush on Kyouko but never pursued her, instead silently hoping she'd be happy with her boyfriend Ogino... until he caught Ogino cheating. He gathered evidence and threatened to out Ogino unless he dumped the other girls and became faithful to Kyouko. Ogino instead showed off some pictures he'd taken of Kyouko and offered to convince her to sleep with Ishigami (or hold her down so she couldn't fight back) if he kept quiet. Ishigami was beating Ogino up when Kyouko and other students came in. Ogino spun some BS lines about Ishigami stalking Kyouko and attacking him to win her favor, and everyone bought it (he also threatened to hurt Kyouko if Ishigami didn't keep quiet about the truth). By the time he made it to high school everyone was treating him like a dangerous predator who shouldn't have even been allowed into the school. Fortunately, this one did make it far enough to show at least part of the truth coming out (Tsubame kept most of the truth quiet in honor of Ishigami's wishes but spread "rumors" about how Ogino had cheated on Kyouko so that Ishigami's actions would be reinterpreted as anger for betraying her), and while there isn't much in the way of apologies or such it is made clear that everyone's opinions of him has changed and they've come to regret their past mistreatment of him.
While the above examples all involved romance in some way, it doesn't have to be the case. What matters is someone orchestrated it so that a major/main character is viewed as some kind of monster, and either the truth HAS come out or the story is continuing and it's likely that it WILL come out. But bonus if the story has indeed made it past that point, especially if it has been followed by at least some apologies for any bullying, accusations or other such hateful behavior.
In My Life Turned Around, the main character's childhood friend/girlfriend was seduced and cheated on him, and became so dependent on the seducer that when the MC confronted them she not only dumped him but agreed to support rumors of him abusing and stalking her. Within a day everyone is treating him like trash. Story's ongoing, I'm just hoping when the truth comes out that the girl's friends and other people who bullied and rebuked him over and over will apologize for what they'd done.
In Ryuusa no Ori, the main character's childhood friend and girlfriend was tricked by an illusion into believing he'd cheated on her, and then dumped him for their fellow childhood friend. People had already been speaking ill of him for someone at the bottom of the school ranks dating the top ranked student, so they quickly turned on him. Sadly, the manga adaptation didn't last long enough to show the truth coming out.
Kaguya-sama has the famous bit with secondary character Ishigami. Ishigami had a huge crush on Kyouko but never pursued her, instead silently hoping she'd be happy with her boyfriend Ogino... until he caught Ogino cheating. He gathered evidence and threatened to out Ogino unless he dumped the other girls and became faithful to Kyouko. Ogino instead showed off some pictures he'd taken of Kyouko and offered to convince her to sleep with Ishigami (or hold her down so she couldn't fight back) if he kept quiet. Ishigami was beating Ogino up when Kyouko and other students came in. Ogino spun some BS lines about Ishigami stalking Kyouko and attacking him to win her favor, and everyone bought it (he also threatened to hurt Kyouko if Ishigami didn't keep quiet about the truth). By the time he made it to high school everyone was treating him like a dangerous predator who shouldn't have even been allowed into the school. Fortunately, this one did make it far enough to show at least part of the truth coming out (Tsubame kept most of the truth quiet in honor of Ishigami's wishes but spread "rumors" about how Ogino had cheated on Kyouko so that Ishigami's actions would be reinterpreted as anger for betraying her), and while there isn't much in the way of apologies or such it is made clear that everyone's opinions of him has changed and they've come to regret their past mistreatment of him.
While the above examples all involved romance in some way, it doesn't have to be the case. What matters is someone orchestrated it so that a major/main character is viewed as some kind of monster, and either the truth HAS come out or the story is continuing and it's likely that it WILL come out. But bonus if the story has indeed made it past that point, especially if it has been followed by at least some apologies for any bullying, accusations or other such hateful behavior.
