Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[
▲[[caption-width-right:219:<small>"Now now, of course we think of you as a human being with real value, Faceless Soldier Number TK421. What ever would have made you think differently?"</small> ]]
{{quote|'''Nathaniel:''' I've always treated her like a queen, but lately I'm starting to feel there's this whole other side to her, like I don't even know her anymore.
'''Radio Therapist:''' I think you need to take her aside and find out how she really feels about you.
'''Narissa:''' Hello, worthless. Miss me?
|''[[Enchanted]]''}}
The [[Big Bad]] has a loyal minion who has been feeling... somewhat less than loyal recently. Maybe he met the heroes and [[Minion
Fortunately, the [[Big Bad]] is willing to help him come to a decision. He immediately starts doing [[Villainous Demotivator|everything]] in his [[Agony Beam|power]] to [[Cold
[[Bad Boss|Such evil overlords]] should be far more careful with their [[Villain Ball
Villains who think [[
[[Evil Cannot Comprehend Good]] is often, though not always, an element in their motivations. A particularly [[Magnetic Hero]] can usually tip the balance in his favor with a few kind words, or just by showing how he treats ''his'' [[True Companions|friends.]] Indeed, when the villain goes for [[Flaw Exploitation]], endangering his minions to force the hero to save them, or just leaving them in danger because he knows the hero will save them, the [[Foil|contrast]] is generally as vivid as it gets.
Not to be confused with [[Even Mooks Have Loved Ones]], where the minion considers betraying the boss for being cruel to their friends or relatives. Contrast [[Kill Me Now or Forever Stay Your Hand]]. Watch out for [[
'''SPOILERS''' for many [[Heel Face Turn
{{examples|Examples}}▼
== Anime & Manga ==▼
* In ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (Anime)|Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'', Fate doesn't truly give up on being a [[Love Martyr]] to Precia until Precia gives a speech about how useless and pointless Fate was. While she does a [[Heel Face Turn]], she doesn't give up on trying to redeem Precia.▼
* Bunbee in ''[[Yes Pretty Cure 5 (Anime)|Yes Pretty Cure 5]]'' does two Heel Neutral Turns when he realizes that his employers don't appreciate him, are blocking his dream of advancement and will likely send him to his death. {{spoiler|He finally does a full [[Heel Face Turn]] at the end.}}▼
* Kaoru in ''[[Flame of Recca (Manga)|Flame of Recca]]'' is an example. After Kurei breaks his promise with Kaoru and tortures Yanagi, Kaoru abandons him, and joins up with Recca several chapters later. Why? Because Yanagi was nice to him.▼
* ''[[Now and Then Here And There (Anime)|Now and Then Here And There]]''. Hamdo's not really is not helping his own case by continuously abusing his [[Hypercompetent Sidekick]] Abelia, even after {{spoiler|the last bastion of [[La Résistance]] has been crushed}}.▼
* ''[[Inuyasha (Manga)|Inuyasha]]'': Kagura got so sick of Naraku treating her like a slave she actively colluded with the good guys. Probably remembering the end that {{spoiler|Kagura}} came to, Kanna gave Naraku the metaphorical finger by {{spoiler|committing suicide as ordered, but without taking Inu-Yasha and his [[True Companions]] with her. [[Death Equals Redemption|She even gives Kagome advise on Naraku's weakness]] [[Subverted Trope|when one shard]] [[Eye Scream|hits her eye]].}}▼
* A variant in which the mistreated underlings turn ''evil'' happens in one filler episode of ''[[Naruto (Manga)|Naruto]]'', Kunihisa's helpers, whom he summons by throwing money (for example, throwing money at something he wants them to retrieve, or paying them to dress up as him in a crude imitation of the Shadow Clone Jutsu) turn on him and assist the people trying to kidnap him when he runs out of money. In canon, {{spoiler|Karin gives up on Sasuke after he shoots a Chidori Blade through her to get to Danzo, and abandons her for being weak}}.▼
* {{spoiler|Gemini}} in ''[[Fairy Tail (Manga)|Fairy Tail]]'' cannot kill Lucy after seeing how kind she is and how much she values her spirits. {{spoiler|Gemini}}'s former master wasn't ''quite'' as bad as other examples of celestial mages, but thought nothing of inflicting non-lethal damage on her own spirits to secure victory. Even what seemed like an inanimate object refused to hit her. At the end, they all join Lucy.▼
* A bit of a sick inversion happens in the ''[[Soul Eater (Manga)|Soul Eater]]'' manga. {{spoiler|After spending his-or-her entire life as his/her mother's personal, human Guinea pig, Chrona has effectively gone insane. Then her mother, Medusa, suddenly starts apologizing to her for everything she's done and even hugs her, calling her "her pride." The fact that Chrona has never seen Medusa act in a way besides "abusive mother," Chrona gets convinced that this is not the real Medusa, and completely butchers her. The end of the chapter implies that this is part of Medusa's plan.}}▼
{{Unmarked Spoilers}}
▲* In ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (
▲* Bunbee in ''[[Yes
▲* Kaoru in ''[[
▲* ''[[Now and Then, Here
▲* ''[[
▲* A variant in which the mistreated underlings turn ''evil'' happens in one filler episode of ''[[
▲* {{spoiler|Gemini}} in ''[[
▲* A bit of a sick inversion happens in the ''[[
== Comic Books ==
* There is an issue in the ''[[X Wing Series]]'' involving Sixtus from the page image, an elite member of Imperial Special Intelligence. He [[Combat
* Happens in ''[[Squadron Supreme]]''; when Hyperion's [[Evil Twin]] falls in love with Power Princess, he betrays [[The Chessmaster|Master Menace]].
* NPCs in the ''[[Knights of the Dinner Table]]''{{'}}s party frequently end up doing this... which leads the Knights to [[Comedic Sociopathy|view the mistreatment as justified]] [[Circular Reasoning|because the NPC ended up betraying them]].
== Fan Works ==
* In Shadow Dragon8685's ''[[
* In ''[[
==
* Colonel Cutter in ''[[
* ''[[Superman
* Luthor's deeply creepy treatment of his brainwashed replacement Superman in the ''[[Superman: Doomsday]]'' movie. It's a disturbing cross of [[Abusive Parents]] and really blatant [[Foe Yay]], and his eventual "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out of it" both inspires the betrayal and gives Cloneboy the hint to look inside his own skull for a lead-wrapped Krytonite bomb, and carve it out. Mind you, you can't say Cloney [[Heel Face Turn
* ''[[
** At the end of the original film, Scar's plea for mercy from Simba wasn't very convincing or effective, but his [[Karmic Death]] could have been averted if he [[The Dog Bites Back|hadn't slagged off the hyenas]] at the same time.
** In the sequel, the Outsiders from Simba's Pride's main reason for {{spoiler|defecting to Simba's Kingdom}} essentially amounted to {{spoiler|disgust towards Zira after she made the mistake of threatening her own daughter, Vitani with death if she didn't obey her command}}.
* In ''[[
* In ''[[The Incredibles]]'', when Mr. Incredible grabs Mirage and threatens her life, Syndrome [[Flaw Exploitation|calls his bluff]], knowing Mr. Incredible couldn't hurt a helpless woman. While he was spot on about Mr. Incredible, he completely failed to realize that Mirage would be upset at being treated as expendable, and might admire Mr. Incredible for his concern. She [[Even Evil Has Standards|already had doubts after Syndrome ordered missiles launched at a plane with children in it.]]
* ''[[The
* Diego from ''[[Ice Age]]''. Soto should have been more appreciative.
* Iago from [[Aladdin (Disney film)|''Aladdin: The Return of Jafar'']].
* [[Blondes Are Evil|
* In ''[[V for Vendetta]]'', after V offers Creedy the chance to betray Adam Sutler, Sutler almost comically goes out of his way to blame Creedy for everything, ensuring his upcoming betrayal.
* Throughout the movie version of ''[[Get Smart (
* In the movie version of ''[[
* ''[[Star Wars]]'': The Emperor. His long speeches at the end of ''Return of the Jedi'' did little to win Luke over to the Dark Side. Whether or not they affected Vader as well is debatable. Sith philosophy holds that the most powerful will lead, the second most powerful will follow, and everyone else dies.
* In ''[[Willow]]'', Sorsha's [[Mad
* Ms. Teschmacher rescuing [[Superman (
* Bladebeak in ''[[Quest for Camelot]]'' was never a true villain (and mistreated when he was on their side), so he ends up switching to the heroes' side. The movie doesn't exactly make this clear, though.
* ''[[Avatar (
* When ex-stuntman Bear (James Gandolfini) tries to quit working for drug dealer Bo Catlett (Delroy Lindo) in ''[[Get Shorty]]'', Bo threatens to frame him if he takes a fall. This prompts Bear to pull a [[Heel Face Turn]], ultimately killing Bo by pushing him over his balcony railing (which he'd had specially rigged to give way "like they do in the movies" for Chili.)
* ''[[James Bond (
* The uncut version of Peter Jackson's ''[[The Lord of the Rings (
* Hoggle in ''[[
== Literature ==
* In ''[[The Box of Delights]]'', [[Punch Clock Villain]] Joe is feeling uncomfortable with Abner Brown's plans, but is still trying to talk him around. Then Abner [[Kick the Dog|locks him in a cell and leaves him to die]]. When Joe is released, he rescues most of Abner's prisoners and ultimately contributes to his [[Karmic Death]].
* [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]]
** [[The Thrawn Trilogy|Mara Jade]] [[Star Wars
** There are several of these in the ''[[X Wing Series]]''. The captain of the Imperial Interdictor Cruiser protested when some of her crew were transferred out, the protest was ignored, and she and her entire crew went over to the Rebellion. Inyri Forge, who'd become the lover of a criminal who hated the Rogues, [[Bullet Holes and Revelations|killed him]] when he threatened one of them because while he'd respected her and forced others and herself to do the same, he hadn't risked himself to save her or shown concern over her welfare like the Rogues had, and she knew that he was not the kind of person she was raised to respect.
* In [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]]'s ''[[John Carter of Mars|Chessman of Mars]]'', I-Gos greatly admires courage and comes to see how Tara and Turan show such courage as he has not [[Good Old Ways|seen in centuries]]. And then his jeddak calls him "doddering fool"
* Inverted in ''[[
* In ''[[Harry Potter (
** {{spoiler|Snape became a spy for Dumbledore after Voldemort killed the woman Snape loved, even after Snape begged him not to.}}
** {{spoiler|Narcissa Malfoy helped Harry because she was more concerned with her son's survival than Voldemort's victory.}}
** {{spoiler|In a rare [[Face Heel Turn]] version,this is what causes Kreacher to betray Sirius to the Death Eaters.}}
* Odile in ''[[
* ''[[Sword of Truth]]''
** The D'harans have an en-masse version of this with the new Lord Rahl. Even though it was after Darken Rahl died, there were still all ''sorts'' of ways they could have helped him, including when he briefly came back from the dead.
** Altur'Rang has an en-masse one of these, deserting the Imperial Order to throw their lot in with Richard.
* In the ''[[Your Name]]'' side novel ''Another Side: Earthbound'', Toshiki speculates in-universe that this is the reason why despite currently enshrining the celestial ''kami'' Shitori no Kami, the Miyamizu Shrine also has affinity with terrestrial ''kami'' like those enshrined by Izumo Taisha: the Miyamizu might have once worshipped a rebel against the celestials until a disaster befell Itomori sometime in the past, which was interpreted as their old ''kami'' failing them and led to their changing allegiance.
== Live-Action TV ==
* On ''[[
* In the ''[[
* In the second season ''[[The Man
* It appears that this trope is being set up in ''[[General Hospital]]'' with FBI Agent Leeds and her hard-ass boss Raynor, especially with all the attention she's giving Spinelli. (Of course, the mobsters are the heroes in this story...)
* On an episode of ''[[Mission: Impossible (TV series)||Mission Impossible]]'', a mook played by Rafer Johnson shoots the main villain (Christopher George) once he realizes that the terrorist plot will result in his own death (as well as that of George, who has a terminal disease and thus doesn't care).
* ''[[
** Richard Woolsey started off as an [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]] on the series. Then he realized that [[Heel Realization|he was working for the bad guys]] when Robert Kinsey, firmly clutching his [[Villain Ball]], basically ''[[What an Idiot!|told him]]''.
** Also how Teal'C -- and Bra'tac, for that
* The season finale of ''Crime Story'' had mobster Ray Luca on top of the world running his organization's Vegas operation. This was somewhat boring for the career criminal so he ended up sleeping with a fellow mobster's wife and then raping his sidekick's girlfriend. This last act causes the sidekick to testify against him.
* This is how Damar eventually turns against [[Evil Empire|the Dominion]] in ''[[Star Trek
* In the 1998 ''[[Merlin
* ''[[
* In the second season of ''[[Boardwalk Empire]]'' Prosecutor Esther Randolph questions [[Dirty Cop]] Halloran in an attempt to get him to testify against his boss Eli and Eli's brother, [[Villain Protagonist|Nucky]]. Halloran doesn't say anything, but Eli knows that Halloran met with Randolph and suspects Halloran is getting ready to be her [[The Stool Pigeon|Stool Pigeon]], so Eli orders a crippling [[No
* In ''To Play the King'' (sequel to ''House of Cards''), Prime Minister Francis Urquhart implicitly reneges on his promise to appoint his hatchet man Tim Stamper to his cabinet. {{spoiler|Stamper tries to expose Urquhart as a murderer, in revenge, but Urquhart has him killed first.}}
== Puppet Shows ==
* ''[[The Muppet Movie]]'': Doc Hopper's henchman Max, when he realizes Hopper plans to kill Kermit.
== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[
== Theater ==
* The Duke of Buckingham in ''[[
== Video Games ==
* Mother Brain's speech to Robo in the Geno Dome in ''[[
* In ''[[Knights of the Old Republic (
* Cyril from ''[[Advance Wars]]: Days of Ruin''. Although he is a clone, he helps the heroes thwart the plans of the Big Bad, while losing his life in the process.
* ''[[
** Subverted in the first game. Warren was rather displeased with how badly the situation was faring on the criminal front, and always used the opportunity to anger King with his gung ho policy of trying to kill every opposing gang member. After the Saints cracked down on several of King's bribed cops, Warren betrays King... and gets killed trying to put his policy to work.
** Played straight in ''[[Saints Row:
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Kingdom Hearts (
* In ''[[
* ''[[Final Fantasy]]''
** In ''[[
** ''[[
** In ''[[
** ''[[
** His fellow high-level supersoldier [[Ax Crazy|Genesis]], the actual [[Big Bad]] of the prequel game, who finds out he was genetically engineered around the time he starts getting [[Clone Degeneration]], since Shinra canceled his program in favor of Project S, or something like that, and stuck the baby with a family that may or may not have been his original genetic donors. Fan opinion holds that he did not have a good home life.
** Also to a lesser extent [[The Big Guy|Angeal]], the nice one who was always talking about honor, who did go rogue because of the [[Awful Truth]] but didn't really do any harm to either side after going AWOL. He was actually raised by his mother Gillian, the scientist who self-experimented with Jenova cells to create Project G. She appears to have been a pretty good mother, despite his degenerative condition being all her fault, but her choice to suicide where he'd find her body and (she probably didn't intend this part) be mistaken for her murderer was pretty shitty. And probably inspired Angeal to, in turn, make his protege Zack kill him.
* Edgar from ''[[
* In ''[[
* Beldam in ''[[Paper Mario:
* According to the backstory of ''[[
* ''[[Metal Gear]]''
** Kyle Schneider and Dr. Drago Pettrovich Madnar's reasons for defecting to Zanzibar Land in ''[[Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake]]'' also fell into this trope. In regards to Kyle Schneider, he initially supported NATO/FOXHOUND in regards to taking down Outer Heaven, but after Outer Heaven was destroyed, he and his resistance were stabbed in the back so to speak when NATO commenced an air raid that completely and indiscriminately wiped out pretty much a lot of people, and he himself was also captured and experimented upon at NATO for an extraterrestrial special forces project. After traveling to the Mercenary War, he ended up joining Big Boss and Outer Heaven not just due to what NATO did to him, but also because unlike NATO, Big Boss actually saved his resistance as well as the rest of his soldiers. As for Madnar, after defecting to America from the Soviet Union, even abandoning his own daughter, his treatment by the American government and the Scientific Community was... not too good to put it simply. Aside from being ridiculed for his theories about Metal Gear, he also was frequently abused by his superiors and often treated with complete contempt, especially when they only wanted him to make stuff like SDI, NEDW, and brain bombs. Eventually, he had enough and joined Zanzibar Land.
** Although not a direct result of Outer Heaven, it is implied that Gray Fox's defection to Zanzibar Land, aside from [[My Master, Right or Wrong|his obvious loyalty to Big Boss]] and [[Blood Knight|his need for war]], also came from a Mistreatment Induced Betrayal. While watching the Calgary Winter Olympics in 1988, Gray Fox (living under the paper-thin alias of Frank Hunter [his last name, Jaegar, was German for Hunter]) he ended up falling in love with Gustava Heffner, a ice-skating competitor from Czechoslovakia, and they attempted to elope together, with her attempting to defect to America. Unfortunately, America rejected her request, which also made life a living hell for her and the rest of her family as she was stripped of her competition rights and she and her family was later hunted down. Suffice to say, Gray Fox was not too happy about this at all.
** ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty]]'' has a rather twisted double subversion: The President of the United States, James Johnson, secretly worked with the Sons of Liberty in their Big Shell takeover because he was never given any real power besides creating an illusion that the People actually voted for him under their free will, and wanted to have power similar to The Patriots. However, they presumably refused to grant him this. Unfortunately, this backfires on him when Solidus ends up keeping him alive just to reconfirm his vital signs, stating that "pawns cannot become players." It is also later revealed by Ocelot that even his reasons for defecting were in fact manipulated by The Patriots, and the script even mentions this.
** Ocelot is a slight subversion. At first, it seems as though he aids Snake in stopping Volgin because he became too disgusted with his former employer to continue working with him. However, it turns out that the real reason why he's aiding Snake is because {{spoiler|That was his mission given to him by the CIA, his true employers.}} Possibly played straight in Portable Ops, when he executes the CIA Director in cold blood, if one buys his statements about regaining what the DCI stole from them about The Boss.
** In ''Portable Ops'', Elisa defects to Naked Snake's side when she realizes that Gene is going to launch a nuke due to negotiations failing, since she feels that nukes should never be used after she was exposed to radiation from the Khystym Disaster. Ursula, although she took longer, also ended up turning against Gene (it is also implied that the reason why she didn't turn sooner is because she didn't discover her boss's true intentions until after she barely survived her battle with Snake. Cunningham also intended to go through with the Pentagon's plan of defacing the CIA's reputation due to their casting him aside when he was forced to amputate his leg, and also because of disgust towards them for selling The Boss out.
** Huey Emmerich initially worked for the Peace Sentinels under the belief that he could maintain true peace under deterrence and not have to launch a nuke even once. After discovering that Coldman, the leader of the Peace Sentinels, had actually planned to launch a nuke just to show the world its power, and presumably to get a step up in negotiations with the CIA (the organization he used to run as director until they eventually became so disgusted with him they ended up Kicking him Upstairs to Station Chief of Central America), he ended up going against him, and his chances of defecting from him increased substantially after Coldman pushed him down the stairs. Although not as clear, Strangelove was also implied to have undergone a similar Mistreatment Induced Betrayal. If the player managed to complete the quick-time event that cumulates in Snake swiping Strangelove's ID badge, she apparently allows Snake to keep the badge. The fact that the torture sessions afterwards do not show her with an ID badge at any point hints at Snake stealing her ID badge being canon, which means that she was actually helping Snake, the one person she hated the most due to his involvement in The Boss's death, escape and presumably take down Coldman's group.
* In ''[[
* [[The Dragon|Dusknoir]] and his Sableyes in [[Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers
== Web Comics ==
* ''[[
* Iron Jane in ''[[Everyday Heroes]]'' [http://www.webcomicsnation.com/eddurd/everydayheroes/series.php?view=single&ID=142800 turns against her team leader] {{spoiler|after she watches him kill her best friend}}.
* Black Mage of ''[[
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[X-Men: Evolution
* ''[[Transformers]]''
** ''[[
*** At the very end of the series, as the Dinobot clone remembers who he once was, Megatron's {{spoiler|murdering of Tigerhawk and general blowing up the Earth}} makes it much easier to embrace his past.
*** [[Word of God]] tells us that there was an episode that focused on Rattrap trying to load a copy of Dinobot's original programming onto the clone, does so successfully, but finds that since Dinobot is under the influence of Rampage's spark, he is still a predicon. This was scrapped because [[Executive Meddling]] found it too dark for a kids show. However, the [[Heel Face Turn]] comes when Rampage is finally destroyed, thus freeing up the "good" Dinobot.
*** Earlier on, Blackarachnia is convinced to switch sides after Megatron decides a good way to deal with the Maximals is to kill Optimus Prime, thereby negating their existence. Blackarachnia originally being a Maximal, this predictably results in her defecting.
** ''[[
** In ''[[
** Played with in ''[[
** Taken to extremes in ''[[
** ''[[
* ''[[
** Azula learns the hard way that [[Machiavelli Was Wrong]] when her "best friends" [[Et Tu, Brute?|betray her]].
** Zuko ''doesn't'' exactly pull this on Ozai; if Ozai had given him even a modicum of positive reinforcement he probably would never have [[Heel Face Turn|turned]], but when he actually does it Ozai is treating him okay (at least, for Ozai) and it's just a matter of principle. (That and knowing that Azula is going to use him as a scapegoat any time now.)
* Jinx in ''[[Teen Titans (
* Campion in the ''[[Watership Down]]'' TV series. After being saved by Hazel, he reluctantly decides he likes the Watership rabbits. This causes him a lot of personal conflict, as he doesn't want to be disloyal to his cheif. He becomes something of a [[Double Agent]] for the Watership rabbits, but still ends up [[Taking the Bullet]] for his Cheif, Woundwart in the end. [[First Law of Resurrection|Don't worry]], he gets better.
* In the ''[[Lilo
* In ''[[
* ''[[Frisky Dingo]]''
** Killface's constant abuse of his personal assistant Valerie causes her to turn against him, at which point she makes several failed attempts to kill him.
** Played with between Killface and Phil, who start out with a genial relationship. Phil sues Killface after he learns that the Annihilatrix has given him cancer, and that Killface [[Running Joke|doesn't have insurance]]. Killface responds by trying to poison him.
** Killface also views Val's quest for revenge as a betrayal. Considering the circumstances of her "employment", though...
* Tohru on ''[[
* In ''[[
* ''[[Lilo & Stitch: The Series|Lilo & Stitch]]'': Gantu is regularly abused by his boss Dr. Hamsterviel. When Experiment 625 (aka Reuben) decides to abandon the evil hamster, he questions if Gantu should remain at the mad scientist’s side when he himself decided not to, since Hamsterviel continued to treat him the same way after he busted him out of prison. Sure enough, Gantu decides that he and Reuben are friends, and helps him defeat Hamsterviel. And unfortunately for the hamster, Gantu decides that the mad scientist should stay in prison.
* In the ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]'' episode "The Worry Men", the Mad Hatter regrets calling his brainwashed henchmen "gutter trash" after the effect is broken and it becomes clear they took offense to it...
== Real Life ==
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[[Category:Index of Exact Trope Titles]]
[[Category:Evil Tropes]]
[[Category:Betrayal Tropes]]
[[Category:
[[Category:
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