Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Difference between revisions
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(Eh, no, that guy was pretty screwed up from the beginning . Read "Mein Kampf", he isn't even trying to hide it.) |
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Jumping off the slippery slope is when a [[Anti-Hero|morally ambiguous character]] raises an ethical question by doing [[Shoot the Dog|morally ambiguous things]], but instead of answering those questions, the character [[Debate and Switch|closes the debate]] by going on to do something [[Moral Event Horizon|unquestionably and unforgivably evil]].
This is a condensed form of the [[Slippery Slope Fallacy]]
A form of [[Debate and Switch]], because they never ''really'' address the question of whether the original ambiguous action was acceptable or not. Also helps to [[Status Quo Is God|maintain the status quo]] by ensuring the main characters never question their own morality too closely. Compare [[Slowly Slipping Into Evil]] for a longer, more developed process of going from "ambiguous" to "evil".
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* Gerak in season 9 of ''[[Stargate SG-1]]''. At least he got a [[Redemption Equals Death|redemptive death]], though.
** The Ori could stray into this. At first it seems that, while their practices are primitive, their ultimate goals are noble enough, helping others to achieve ascension. Then it's revealed that this is all a lie, and the Ori are manipulating people's belief to gain more power.
*** The rogue NID. At first they're stealing alien technology with the purpose of using it to defend earth, making them into [[Knight Templar
* Similar to the ''[[Magnum Force]]'' example, season two of ''[[Murder One]]'' featured a storyline about Clifford Banks, a serial killer who tracked down and executed criminals who escaped justice, or had an unsuitably short prison sentence. He started out on this path through the murder of his retarded brother, he never kills innocent people, and throughout the arc a few people comment that "sometimes the streets need sweeping." Any moral ambiguity is then done away with by the lawyers finding out that Clifford actually killed his brother himself over his frustration about giving up his whole life to care for him, causing a mental breakdown that directed his guilt outwards onto other criminals.
* In the pilot episode of ''[[The Shield]]'', Vic Mackey partakes in numerous criminal acts including the use of excessive force during arrests, working with a drug dealer and beating a suspect with a phone book in order to make him talk. Then, at the end of the episode, he {{spoiler|shoots another police officer in the face to prevent him from gathering evidence against Vic's team}}.
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* ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade]]'' has an actual mechanic for this: acting like an inhuman, unprincipled bastard will make you more of an inhuman, unprincipled bastard.
** This applies to all World of Darkness games and is a large part of the new system.
** The old system was an aversion; the more humanity you lost, the harder it was to lose the next point, the more extreme your behavior would have to be. Only if you're determined to destroy your humanity (or your Gamemaster paves your path with [[Sadistic Choice
* Chaos in ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'' is grease on the Slippery Slope. As Chaos is a sentient form of [[The Dark Side]] by way of [[The Corruption]], this trope becomes rather understandable.
** Tau as well, when one considers that its for the greater good for sterilization policies, and special "helmets" for their bug allies.
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