View source for Ron the Death Eater

{{trope}}
[[File:rondeatheater 2878.jpg|link=Harry Potter (film)|frame]]

{{quote|''"Ok, Ron is acting really dumb...but it’s my story. Ron is my least fave character and I make him how I want him to be dumb cuz he is. Sorry for the inconvenience."''
|'''Author's note in a fic that is [[Missing Episode|no longer available]]'''}}

The result of shoehorning a good canon character into being a villain or making a villain significantly more evil than in canon is [[Ron the Death Eater]], the inverse of [[Draco in Leather Pants]].

This can be seen as a kind of [[Alternate Character Interpretation|deliberate]] [[Flanderization]]—Often, in creating Ron the Death Eater, a fanfic writer spins his canonical (non-evil) actions into evil acts, and every possible negative trait of the character is exaggerated until they become a [[Complete Monster]]. A measure of ruthlessness becomes complete and utter sociopathy, a tendency towards holding grudges becomes an obsessive hatred of anything they dislike, slight denseness becomes raging stupidity, et cetera.

This is often the result of a [[Draco in Leather Pants]], but it doesn't ''have'' to be—some characters inspire this sort of hatred on their own, either by their canon merits or by being a romantic rival [[Die for Our Ship|that interferes with the writer's]] [[One True Pairing]], especially if the subject is part of an [[Official Couple]].

In other cases, it seems like the target character, regardless of their original characterization, will simply default to one of two stock personalities, based entirely on their gender. Basically, male characters end up as drunken rapist assholes while female characters end up as manipulative vindictive bitches.

The fic may also have other characters who are canonically friends of the victim act as though he or she has always been an object of justified loathing, rather than going the "shocked at betrayal" approach. Or, even if these characters end up siding with the [[Draco in Leather Pants]], they are subject to some Ron The Death Eater-ness themselves by way of "I was stupid to love him and not you".

In a number of cases however this is deliberately invoked by fans who think a good character looks better [[Evil Is Cool|evil]]. This is quite common in doujinshi where an otherwise normal male character suddenly becomes a psychotic rapist or where a female character becomes a sadistic bitch who gets other girls raped.

Named for the tendency in ''[[Harry Potter]]'' [[fanfic]]s where Draco turns good and hooks up with Hermione to have [[The Lancer|Ron]]—who in [[Canon]] is a decent, upstanding sort of fellow firmly on the side of good (he might be occasionally crass, boorish, or foolish but his ethics are firmly sound) who happens to have a long-standing enmity with Draco—lose his mind and, often, join [[Big Bad|Lord Voldemort]] just for a chance at killing the sainted Malfoy.

A [[Sub-Trope]] of [[Demonization]].

Compare [[Die for Our Ship]] (which is a major [[Derailing Love Interests|cause of this trope]]), [[Historical Villain Upgrade]], and [[Adaptational Villainy]].

Contrast [[Draco in Leather Pants]].

{{noreallife|this is an [[Audience Reaction]] trope.}}

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