broken-pedestal.source

all-the-tropes:broken-pedestal

Broken Pedestal

Laconic Playing With Quotes All Subpages Create New Never meet your heroes. " It's like going to heaven and finding God smoking crack! " — Riley Freeman , The Boondocks There are people who we idolize, and who change us forever. These mentors and idols teach us to use our full potential and do great things, and we love them for this. We will be forever loving of them; without them, we would be nothing. We metaphorically put them on a pedestal. And if you're a TV character, chances are high that they are the scum of the earth, or at least have come to be by the time you meet them again—especially if the audience has just heard about them for the first time. If you're in law enforcement, you can count not only on being forced to learn of their darkest secrets, but also on being the one who has to arrest them. Expect them to have abandoned their ideals, switched sides , or been Evil All Along . The hero is likely to recite one of the mentor's or idol's old quotes to show how far they have fallen or highlight their hypocrisy. Related to Beleaguered Childhood Friend and Big Bad Friend . Compare Fallen Hero , Warts and All . Contrast with Evil Mentor , who was Obviously Evil from the beginning. Not to be confused with Broken Base . Also contrast Rebuilt Pedestal , when a formerly Broken Pedestal is forgiven or exonerated. Examples of Broken Pedestal include:

reversal

revelation

escalation

relationship change

status change

resolution

setup

ominous

intimate

triumphant

adaptable

"Well Done, Son" Guy

Always Someone Better

Big Bad

Broken Base

Catgirl

Cool Big Sis

Evil Mentor

Face Heel Turn

Fallen Hero

Genre Savvy

Heroic BSOD

Heroic Sacrifice

Jerkass

Magnificent Bastard

Obviously Evil

Redemption Equals Death

Retcon

Schoolgirl Lesbians

Start of Darkness

Tear Jerker

The Ace

The Alcoholic

Training from Hell

Well-Intentioned Extremist

None recorded.

Actor: Which established person or faction could express this pattern?

Knowledge: What does that actor know or credibly believe at decision time?

Motive: Which established goal, fear, grievance, loyalty, or obligation supports it?

Trigger: What changed now, or what established pressure became intolerable?

Opportunity: When and where can the actor act despite player precautions?

Capacity: What authority, allies, access, health, time, and means are available?

Straight: express the pattern through the least unsupported effective action.

Inverted: reverse the expected beneficiary, direction, or apparent power relationship.

Subverted: establish the expectation, then let existing facts or precautions prevent its expected payoff.

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