Trope Talk: Betrayal

--SPOILER WARNING FOR GOD OF WAR: RAGNAROK-- sorry I didn't warn in the video!

Backstabs, frontstabs, sidestabs, minor stabs and grievous bodily stabbings. Today let's talk about betrayal, traitors revealed, and the complex subjectivity of loyalty!

EXAMPLES in order of first appearance: Avatar: The Last Airbender; Hellsing Ultimate; She-Ra and the Princesses of Power; The Hunchback of Notre Dame; Star Wars VII; Promare; Doctor Strange; Star Wars III; Star Wars VI; Dragon Age: Absolution; Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes; Justice League; Slayers NEXT; Death Note; Gargoyles; Squid Game; E∞ception; Frozen; Steven Universe; X-Men: Evolution; Teen Titans; Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure; God Of War: Ragnarok; Spider-Man (PS4); Mask of Zorro; Young Justice; Batman Beyond; Aquaman; The Legend of Vox Machina; The Count of Monte Cristo; The Incredibles; The Emperor's New Groove

Our content is intended for teenage audiences and up.

[TheKoalaTTV]

Curse this sudden but inevitable trope talk!

[johnniefinney]

The best part of betrayal is that it never comes from an enemy

[zenebean]

I love betrayals that are "that person was my best friend, but I was not theirs."
Realizing you aren't a priority the same way the other person is to you hurts like hell

[Pabloable]

“You can’t mourn the loss of something that never existed.” X to doubt. It usually isn’t played that way, but think about how *devastating* it would be to find out that, essentially, one of your closest friends never existed at all.

[stevehagen]

The real betrayal was from the friends we thought we made along the way

[javonyounger]

A big problem with Disney twist villains is that they basically switch an established character out for a new one in the thrid act. Atlantis actually does this well because the villain keeps his personality and shows the more sinister facets of his character.

[impulse]

11:34 who else's favorite example of the bad guys always being a step ahead even when it makes no sense is:
"Impossible! How did you get here before us?!" "You're right. By all accounts, it doesn't make sense."

[uaeoaeoeoi]

My favorite betrayal is the ones where it basically boils down to "I have been entirely straightforward and honest with you about my goals the entire time, I am frankly confused as to what else you could have possibly expected to happen here" especially when such a statement is made by the betrayer when called out on the betrayal.

[anyanP]

I think my favorite sub-trop of this is “a person who pretended to be on heroes’ side planned to betray them all along, but start caring for real”

[BioshadowX]

Zuko has several great betrayals but nothing will ever go harder than "You miscalculated. I love Zuko more than I fear you."
Also shout out to His Dark Materials and one of the most heartbreaking betrayals

[GamermanZendrelax]

An interesting thing about Adora turning away from the Horde is the subtext behind why Catra takes things so personally. When Adora sees Horde forces destroying that town, it breaks through years of indoctrination and gaslighting to make her realize they are, in fact, the baddies, which helps her to recontextualize the horrible things she saw while a member of the Horde. But Catra's always known the Horde were evil, because the abuse she'd been subjected to was much more overt and violent. All she can see is Adora turning on the Horde for this random town, but never doing so for Catra, which carries the implication that the abuse she'd received was in some way justified, or even good.

Small wonder she rejected any offers to leave the Horde for so long.

[smugsneasel]

That use of the clip of the Flash in Luthor's body not washing his hands to seem evil while you talk about "all kinds of horrible things that character do to maintain cover" was amazing.

[abloodcorpse]

Honestly, the Doc Ock betrayal is written so good, cause Doc Ock calls out Peter by name, and makes it clear he knew it was Peter all along, meaning that even though he knew it was Peter, he still did all of this to him without a second thought, proving to Peter that the Otto he thought he knew is truly gone.

[reapeashooter]

No worries. Brutus is my friend! He'd never do horrible things to me.

[thebooknerd]

I still can’t believe Yzma didn’t like Kronk’s spinach puffs. It broke my heart to see him hurt like that 😔

[TheViewer_]

4:41 The fact that the background shows Flash as Lex saying he's not going to wash his hands because he's evil is truly one of the most evil things you could do to not blow your cover

[schwarzerritter]

I love that you used Yzma saying she does not liking Kronk's cooking as one of the clips.

[danielhale]

"What happens when you break their trust?"
"Please don't"

That image is hilarious to me. Red, I love your presentation style! Thank you for excellent trope talks!

[OreoRanger]

In my drama class, two of my classmates performed "Love is an open door" but added multiple lines for Hans when Anna is leading.
A personal favorite was: "You are so easy to manipulate."

[enlongjones]

14:45 “You’re the face I saw when murder entered my heart” is one hell of a line.