@dArkus_Orion Honestly I am not surprised when I see nobles being abusive. I mean they are normally:
- Obsessed over the family "image" so if you don't fit to need to change until you fit it.
- Live in a class based society where non-nobles are usually only slightly higher than cattle/animals. Pretty sure most nobles could rape and kill a peasant in the town square and get away with it if they were high enough rank or had connections.
- The above can easily lead to a God-complex
- They tend to be stuck up on the idea of blood. If you do not have noble blood, or only have half noble blood (illegitimate) you are not really a noble. While outside the family you will be treated as a noble, inside the family you may be viewed as nothing more than a dressed up pig.
- They are rich and powerful most of the time. They can usually use this to get whatever they want. This can lead to a god complex too. Easy to think you can do anything if no one ever tells you no.
- While I've seen people talk about most the points above pretty often, what I don't see often is the fact that many nobles are likely under enormous stress. Especially the head of the house. They have to worry about training a proper successor, deal with political bullshit, potentially deal with their kids/relatives doing stupid shit and covering for them, they have the duties assigned to them by the king/emperor/grand poobah. (like being in charge of border defense against an enemy country or policing the realm), and also dealing with the affairs of the fief/land they own. Even if they don't care about the people living there I imagine there is still a lot of work. None of this excuses the dick moves though, it simply can explain why some may snap out/be stressed/on edge and thus act colder/abusive.
- Since they come from a lineage most times they have been raised/trained by the person that preceded them. If Grandpa was a sadistic prick and was cruel to their kid, combined with the above factors, the kid may end up being twisted and cruel to their kid and so one and so forth.
I think it is a factor of everything above that leads to most nobles coming off as dicks. but you also have nobles like the Salvatores who have all the above, but don't get corrupted by it.