Corrupt the Cutie: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|<nowiki>#</nowiki>43: The more beautiful and pure a thing is, the more satisfying it is to corrupt it.|'''[[Rules of the Internet]]''' (Note: this rule is sometimes placed at #15, since only 4 of the Rules are standardized)}}

* In many other [[Shojo]] and [[Josei]] manga/anime (''specially'' in [[Josei]]), the [[The Ingenue|virginal]] [[Naive Everygirl|and]] [[The Ingenue|sweet]] female lead will be paired up with a handsome yet much more cynical male (who can go from merely [[Jerk Withwith a Heart of Gold]] to [[Bastard Boyfriend]] levels). He will tease/mock/insult/etc. her a lot about her innocence, then try drawing her more sensual or adventurous side afloat ([[Victim Falls For Rapist|sometimes to the extreme]]).

* Many [[Hentai]] series involve male characters molesting a woman [["It's Not Rape If You Enjoyed It"|until she finds herself enjoying it]]:

** Dawn of the Silver Dragon is perhaps the most triumphant example of this. The entire series is built upon a corrupt army turning the ''[[Crapsack World|entire population of their kingdom]]'' into [[All Women Are Lustful|depraved]] [[Sex Slave|sex slaves]] using a combination of [["It's Not Rape If You Enjoyed It"|rape]] and [[The Corruption]].

* Gilbert in ''[[Kaze to Ki no Uta (Manga)|Kaze to Ki no Uta]]'' is an especially tragic example of this.

* Wrath in [[Fullmetal Alchemist (Animeanime)|the 2003 anime version]] of ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (Mangamanga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' starts out as a kind and innocent kid who loves life, but after being corrupted by Envy and getting his memories back he becomes a sadistic psychopath. {{spoiler|He gets better eventually.}}

* In the ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'' manga, this adds a new dimension of creepy to the [[Humans Are Bastardsthe Real Monsters|genocidal]] [[Big Bad|Sensui]] and his dimension-warping [[The Dragon|Dragon ]] Itsuki, when Itsuki says he started hanging around Shinobu ''in the first place'' because he could see that the [[Tyke Bomb|boy's]] [[Black and White Morality|perfect]] [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?|blind]] [[Dissonant Serenity|innocence]] was just waiting to [[Go Mad Fromfrom the Revelation|be]] [[Split Personality|shattered]], and he wanted to be there to enjoy it.

* A particularly odd case of this would be Yamcha of ''[[DragonballDragon Ball]]'' fame as revisionist history seems to paint him as some kind of womanizer in recent video games and such. Despite being a rather [[Badass]] desert bandit (who rapidly underwent [[Badass Decay]]), he was a [[Shrinking Violet]] any time he was near a woman. Early on he got together with Bulma, a [[Clingy Jealous Girl]] who always accused Yamcha of cheating ''any time another girl even looked at him'' ([[Bishounen|which was admittedly, often]]), despite him not looking back at them. (Eventually, Bulma ended up with Vegeta, with their son Trunks describing the version of events he was told as Yamcha cheating first before she ended up with his father.)

* Implied to happen to Manami in ''[[Life (Mangamanga)|Life]]''. She starts out as being a bubbly, cute girl who befriends the outcasted protagonist, however after her boyfriend dumps her she spirals into a depression and becomes suicidal. She's taken in by a gang of boys who get her into sex, drugs, and alcohol.. And next time we see her she's become the antagonist of the manga, being an extremely manipulative [[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing]] with a [[Girl Posse]] who enjoys abusing people for her own needs.

* ''[[John Tucker Must Die]]'' has the main protagonist helping a group of girls get back at John Tucker and turning into the [[Alpha Bitch]] in the process.

* In a ''slightly'' rarer male version, Will Stronghold has a [[Corrupt the Cutie]] sequence in ''[[Sky High]]''. This being a feel-good family-oriented movie, he gets better.

* In ''[[Star Wars]]'', Anakin starts off as a [[Wide -Eyed Idealist]] little boy who's first thought is how he can endanger his own life just to help a group of strangers get off a planet. As he grows older, however, he becomes more and more ambitious in his desires for power and for love, partially egged on by [[Magnificent Bastard|Palpatine]]. As Palpatine plays him against his own Jedi brethren, who in turn play him against Palpatine, he marries in secret and his wife ends up pregnant. He then starts having visions of her death. The stress of the situation builds and builds until finally...

** Made even more painful by the fact that, from the moment sweet, selfless, loveable little Anakin is introduced in The Phantom Menace, [[Doomed Byby Canon|you know what he will become]].

* [[The Godfather (Film)|Michael Corleone]] starts out as the one member of his family who is ''definitely not'' going to have anything to do with the family business; he ends up succeeding his father as don. This doubles as a [[Break the Cutie]] because he also gradually loses everyone he loves, becomes totally disillusioned with his own actions and dies alone.

* The [[Marquis Dede Sade]]'s ''Philosophy in the Bedroom'' is a textbook example of this in action. Over the course of the novel, fifteen-year-old Eugénie is "educated" in the ways of the libertine by Madame de Saint-Ange, her brother Le Chevalier de Mirval, and their friend Dolmancé, who introduce her to all kinds of sexual practices, and she proves to be a fast learner. {{spoiler|In the final act, when Eugénie's mother, Madame de Mistival comes to rescue her from the libertines that have corrupted her, Eugénie and the libertines deal with her in truly sadistic fashion, with Eugénie herself taking an active part in the brutality visited upon her mother, and even declaring that she wants to kill her, before then proceeding to ''sew her genitals shut'' after Dolmancé has her raped by a guy with syphillis.}}

{{quote| "Wretched man!" I cried. "Have you forgotten the rosy hours of Mazenderan?"<br />

* Kes from ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' appeared headed this way, which somewhat contradicts the statements by the [[Powers That Be]] that they got rid of the character because "she was turning into Nurse Chapel" and they couldn't figure out what to do with her. Therefore her return several seasons later with a complete [[Face Heel Turn]] seemed completely bizarre to fans.

* Occurs in ''[[Lizzie McguireMcGuire]]'' to the titular character in one episode.

{{quote| '''Sam:''' ''Listen, Kelly is Woody's girlfriend. I'm sure you could have any woman you want.'' <br />

'''Henrí:''' ''I know, but Kelly is so innocent and naive. I love to change that.'' <br />

* This is the [[Evil Plan]] for the first six seasons of ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'', and Sam Winchester's ''entire life'' consists of a plot to do this to him. Prior to the series, a [[Deal Withwith the Devil]] before he's even born ensures he'll be infected with demon blood as a baby, and his mother is killed because the demon Azazel wants him. Friends, teachers, and others are demonically possessed throughout his life, and his girlfriend is murdered, just to keep him on the path to Azazel's plan for him. The first three seasons and the season break before four read like a saga of breaking Sam down--hedown—he was always categorized as 'selfish' vis-a-vis his family in that he wanted to go live a normal life for his own sake, but he was also [[The Heart]] and highly empathic and concerned with ''the right thing''.

** Then there's the long, long arc of Sam, his psychic powers, and the fear that he will '[[Face Heel Turn|go darkside]],' because as a family of [[The Hunter|hunters]] their default assumption is that anything supernatural is probably evil. [[Crapsack World|This assumption is usually justified.]] When Sam refuses to lead hell's army, demon Lilith steps into the [[Evil Power Vacuum]] to wreak havoc, [[Despair Event Horizon|killing his brother Dean in front of him]]. Sam thinks demon [[Evil Mentor|Ruby]] is teaching him to use powers fueled by [[Psycho Serum|demon blood]] to make him strong enough to kill Lilith and prevent the Apocalypse, so he follows her lead even though it alienates his resurrected brother and he [[This Is Your Brain Onon Evil|knows]] it's corrupting him, since he doesn't [[Driven to Suicide|doesn't expect to survive]].<br /><br />By the end of season four, he beats up his brother, who [[Berserk Button|called him a monster]], in order to return to Ruby and gain the power to kill Lilith, even letting Ruby drain a possessed woman for it. Even [[Light Is Not Good|the angels]] were manipulating him to this end. Unfortunately, it was all a [[Thanatos Gambit]], so [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|no ambiguity]] about whether [[I Did What I Had to Do|the ends justified the means]].

*** After Sam starts the [[Signs of the End Times|prelude to Apocalypse]] by [[Unwitting Pawn|killing]] [[Apocalypse Maiden|Lilith]], thus releasing [[Sealed Evil in Aa Can|Lucifer]] from his prison, Sam learns that the final goal for Azazel's [[Batman Gambit]] was actually to get him to say "yes" as Lucifer's chosen vessel so Lucifer could [[The End of the World Asas We Know It|raze the world]]. At the end of season five, {{spoiler|he finally does say "yes" [[Redemption Quest|just]] [[Must Make Amends|so he can]] [[Fighting From the Inside|take Lucifer]] [[Self-Sacrifice Scheme|back into his prison]] even though being locked in there with a vengeful Satan is a [[Fate Worse Than Death]], so}} the corruption [[Heroic Sacrifice|doesn't stick]].

** Many of Azazel's other chosen children, notably Ava, who started kind and very normal and very intentionally resembled Sam, and who went violently insane during the months she was trapped at Cold Oak.

** Castiel gets this season six. You could say Dean started the corruption in season four, but that's [[Humanity Is Infectious|a different kind]]. The Free Will Castiel came to value through helping Dean by choosing humanity over his [[The Evils of Free Will|brothers' goal]] to have [[Did Godzilla Just Punch Out Cthulhu|Michael and Lucifer fight]] doesn't offer the same moral certitude as he was used to as a warrior angel, and in season six, Castiel's soldier-like willingness to do anything for the cause {{spoiler|gets ''completely'' [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|out of hand]] so that he winds up [[Moral Event Horizon|offing his dearest lieutenants]] when they find out that he's working with a demon and trying to save the world by risking opening a door better left unopened [[Jumped Off the Slippery Slope|that might destroy the world]]. And then he [[Kick the Dog|drives Sam insane]] ''as a distraction''. He ''risked the fate of the world'' for this guy a couple of years ago. Then Castiel went [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|completely overboard]] and [[A God Am I|declared himself God]].}} He was wrong.

*** Castiel in season seven {{spoiler|gets [[Drunk Onon the Dark Side]], goes on a [[Disproportionate Retribution|murderous rampage]] with the help of [[The Corruption]], has an [[Ignored Epiphany]] from Dean, becomes a [[Knight Templar]], and inadverently releases a horde of [[Eldritch Abominations]] on the world, pretty much justifying all Dean's efforts to talk him down or kill him if he couldn't.}}

* Attempted on Tsubaki by both "Maou" and Kyousuke in ''[[G Senjou no Maou (Visual Novel)|G Senjou no Maou]]''. {{spoiler|They don't exactly succeed, but Tsubaki is hardly innocent by the time the game ends. Kyousuke succeeds in the bad ending to her route.}}

* ''[[Diablo III]]'' has this. Okay, we have this cute girl named [[The Cutie|Leah]], who is arguably our main heroine whom the heroes helped all the way in the 3rd Act and thus finally sealing the last of the Seven Evils in that level. All is fine right? [[{{spoiler: |[[Big WrongWord Shout|WROOOOOOONG!]] After sealing that evil being Azmodam, [[Big Good|Tyrael]] wishes the destroy it but then Adria the Witch says that a proper ritual must be done. All of them (including Tyrael and our heroes) returned back to the town which turns out to be the most [[[[Tear Jerker]] |heartwrenching scenes of them all]]. [[Face Heel Turn|SheAdria betrays them all.]] She bound Tyrael down so that he could not move and then slams the [[Fate Worse Than Death|Black Soulstone into theLeah's chest of Leah and thus]] [[Big Bad|The Lord of Terror]] [[Demonic Possession|returns]]. came all the way.[[It GotGets Worse|He is not alone, allthe othersother 6six came along with him]] and thus ["[God of Evil|Thatamet got revived]]"]}}.

== WebcomicsWeb Comics ==

* The whole point of ''[[Demon Candy Parallel (Webcomic)|Demon Candy Parallel]]''. In a twist, it's the females doing the corrupting.

* Bubbles from ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'' does this... TWICE''twice''. Once when she wanted to prove that she was HARDCORE''hardcore''! The other was when a [[Identity Amnesia]] made her think she was Mojo Jojo (and a more effective one at that).

* Jimmy from ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]''. In one episode, Eddy teaches Jimmy just about everything he knows--andknows—and while Jimmy does revert back to normal at the end, he retains the knowledge he gained of trickery and whatnot and uses it against the Eds on several occasions.

* Katara of ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' heads down this path when she {{spoiler|has issues with the team's [[Heel Face Turn|new ally]] and goes on a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] to find her mother's killer with him to let out her bitter feelings.}} Thankfully, she gets better. But not before snapping at her friends and brother and nearly [[Thou Shalt Not Kill|murdering her target.]]

* One episode of ''[[Hey Arnold!]]'' has Arnold's grandpa Phil, complete the last three years of grade school that he missed out on due to the Great Depression putting him out of school. As he enters the 6th grade, he goes from a [[The Ditz|ditzy]] yet amiable and lovable grandpa to a <s>juvenillejuvenile</s> delinquent who, along with fellow 6th graders, tags dumpsters, sneaks into PG-13 movies despite being 81, and becomes a [[Jerkass]].

* Season 2 of ''[[Xiaolin Showdown (Animation)|Xiaolin Showdown]]'' had [[Magnificent Bastard|Chase Young]] did this to {{spoiler|Omi}}. First through type A and then by kidnapping Master Fung, leaving {{spoiler|Omi}} the only option [[To Hell and Back|to go into Ying Yang World to retrieve him]] and {{spoiler|[[Came Back Wrong|come back wrong]]}}.

* An episode of ''[[Ka BlamKaBlam!]]'''s ''Life with Loopy'' featured Larry working out to beat up a bully...and then the once warm-hearted kid we once new became a huge [[Jerkass]].

* Terra from ''[[Teen Titans (Animationanimation)|Teen Titans]]''. She's introduced as a character so likeable, [[Plug N Play Friends|it doesn't take the Titans more than an episode to invite her into joining the team.]] However, {{spoiler|she's persuaded by [[Magnificent Bastard|Slade]] into joining him, so she can gain full control over her powers. She becomes so captivated in trying to do so, while also holding a grudge against the Titans (hammered in by Slade no less), she goes as far as repeatedly attempting to kill her friends}}. Because of this, she's possibly the most [[Love It or Hate It|polarizing]] character in the series.

* In the two-part Season 2 premiere of ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'', ''all six'' are literally corrupted by Discord into inverse versions of the Element of Harmony they embody.

[[Category:HeelSubverted FaceInnocence IndexTropes]]