Ambiguous Innocence: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

{{quote| '''Narration:''' "That innocence is what's scary." Was Natsumi right?}}

* The episode of ''[[Cowboy Bebop (Anime)|Cowboy Bebop]]'' "Pierrot le Fou" explores this, though not with a child. Instead, the "innocent" in question is the (adult) superhuman assassin named Mad Pierrot, who has the mind of a toddler and, as a result, is incredibly sadistic. He's also deathly afraid of cats, and breaks down crying for his mother after taking a minor wound for a thrown knife, having been protected from higher energy projectiles previously.

* Mao of ''[[Code Geass]]'' also has a form of this, since he grew up into a [[Psychopathic Manchild]].

* ''[[Virgin Ripper]]'': Nagi, a kitten who became a humanoid shinigami after he died but has since been traumatized into amnesia still has his soul-reaping claws (sword-blades on his hands a la [[One Piece (Manga)|Capt. Kuro]]). He loves his "mama" and won't hesitate to "make squishy" anyone who hurts her, including a pair of [[Black Lagoon (Manga)|Hansel and Gretal]] [[Expy|expys]].

** [[Ray Bradbury]] also explored this in one story, titled "The Fire Balloons". It is about a human missionary who wants to save the Martians' souls. He eventually discovers that their souls do not need saving. This is not presented as making the Martians bad so much as making humanity tragic because we are comparatively destined to sinfulness.

** Another example (and a variation) from ''Perelandra'' is the demon that possesses [[Visionary Villain|Weston]]. Ransom is aware right away that he is dealing with something undeniably evil. It isn't until later that he realizes with horror that the [[Uncanny Valley|"un-man"]] is completely innocent ''because'' it is [[Pure Is Not Good|pure]], unadulterated evil. It only uses intelligence as a weapon to [[Adam and Eve Plot|tempt the Green Lady]], but then defaults back into [[Kids Are Cruel|childlike]], spiteful cruelty, disembowling small animals and keeping Ransom awake by repeating his name over and over.

** It's also mentioned that when there are too many Lost Boys, or they started growing up, Peter "thinned them out."

* Several [[Terry Pratchett (Creator)|Terry Pratchett]] characters, including [[Psychopathic Manchild|Mr Teatime]] and [[Dumb Muscle|Banjo]] from ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Hogfather|Hogfather]]''. And [[Epileptic Trees|possibly Carrot]].

** It's not a sense of right and wrong they lack, but of different levels of wrong, or of [[I Did What I Had to Do]] in even obviously acceptable forms such as fighting back against aggression. They're completely good as long as they don't have to face any kind of adversity.

** They equate peace with good, so were quite cheerfully looking to find Torg to turn over to the invading demons to get them to leave. So good they are not, as they'll sell out anyone if it'll get them peace no matter what the horrible consequences for who they sell out.

* The eponymous character of ''[[Axe Cop (Webcomic)|Axe Cop]]'' is described by the comic's artist as "borderline psycho." ''Axe Cop'' is also written by a six year old. Draw your own conclusion.

 

[[Category:Morality Tropes]]

[[Category:Ambiguous Innocence]]