Ambiguous Innocence: Difference between revisions

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{{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.

* In ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro Ni (Visual Novel)|Umineko no Naku Koro Ni]]'', this is used in some of the witches' personas. Eva-Beatrice gets a touch (although she's closer to a teenager, Eva screaming at her for murdering her husband had a lot of tones of this), but more notable was "pure and sweet" little Maria. So pure and sweet that she's rooting for everyone to [[Unusual Euphemism|go to the Golden Land]], and in one arc, even [[Self Made Orphan|murders her own mother]] upon deciding that her mother would never do such [[Abusive Parents|awful things]], and so Rosa must be being possessed by the evil witch.

* In ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro Ni (Visual Novel)|Umineko no Naku Koro Ni]]'', this is used in some of the witches' personas. Eva-Beatrice gets a touch (although she's closer to a teenager, Eva screaming at her for murdering her husband had a lot of tones of this), but more notable was "pure and sweet" little Maria. So pure and sweet that she's rooting for everyone to [[Unusual Euphemism|go to the Golden Land]], and in one arc, even [[Self-Made Orphan|murders her own mother]] upon deciding that her mother would never do such [[Abusive Parents|awful things]], and so Rosa must be being possessed by the evil witch.

* 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]].

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** [[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.

* In J.M. Barrie's ''[[Peter Pan]],'' the defining traits of children and fairies (and Peter Pan ''especially'') is that they are innocent ''and heartless''. Peter himself is an especially poignant case: being stuck in childhood means that he cannot learn from his experiences--or even remember them. At the ending of the traditional stage play, {{spoiler|when Wendy is starting to outgrow Neverland, she mentions that Tinkerbell is dead of old age (fairies don't live very long) and Peter asks, "Who's that?"}} Also note Peter's [[Angst What Angst|merriment and delight at killing pirates and indians.]]

* In J.M. Barrie's ''[[Peter Pan]],'' the defining traits of children and fairies (and Peter Pan ''especially'') is that they are innocent ''and heartless''. Peter himself is an especially poignant case: being stuck in childhood means that he cannot learn from his experiences--or even remember them. At the ending of the traditional stage play, {{spoiler|when Wendy is starting to outgrow Neverland, she mentions that Tinkerbell is dead of old age (fairies don't live very long) and Peter asks, "Who's that?"}} Also note Peter's [[Angst? What Angst?|merriment and delight at killing pirates and indians.]]

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

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** 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.

* Basically the entire point of ''[[Minus]].'', which combines this innocence with [[Goo Goo Godlike|omnipotence]], resulting in an [http://www.kiwisbybeat.com/minus1.html imaginative little girl] who can do anything she wants, from creating magical worlds of wonder to [[Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant|effortlessly bringing nightmares to life]], from creating a whole new afterlife to ending life as we know it.

* Basically the entire point of ''[[Minus]].'', which combines this innocence with [[Goo-Goo Godlike|omnipotence]], resulting in an [http://www.kiwisbybeat.com/minus1.html imaginative little girl] who can do anything she wants, from creating magical worlds of wonder to [[Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant|effortlessly bringing nightmares to life]], from creating a whole new afterlife to ending life as we know it.

* 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.

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[[Category:Morality Tropes]]

[[Category:Ambiguous Innocence]]

[[Category:Trope]]