39,327
edits
Rule of Empathy: Difference between revisions
m
Mass update links
m (categories and general cleanup) |
m (Mass update links) |
||
Line 6:
This in turn extends a kind of [[Popularity Power]] onto the protagonist/focused on character, giving them a better chance of success in their endeavors than would otherwise be expected. So, one ninja [[Conservation of Ninjutsu|can beat 10,000 ninjas]] because we've been following the one ninja the whole show; and we know [[Faceless Mooks|nothing]] about [[A Million Is a Statistic|any of the 10,000]]. On the other hand, when the villain comes, he's gonna put up an actual fight, because we know who he is, what he wants, and may even have developed sympathies for him as well.
The Rule Of Empathy works hand in hand with [[Plot Armor]]; while The Rule Of Empathy gives a greater chance of success [[Plot Armor]] makes surviving long enough to reach that goal easier. Interestingly, it is by no means linked to intelligence. A [[The McCoy|compassionate]] [[Idiot Ball|fool]] is [[Sorting Algorithm of Mortality|likelier to survive]] than a [[Death By Pragmatism|pragmatic]] [[Jerkass]]. This is also why the [[Littlest Cancer Patient]] cannot die of [[Death
Relatedly, it should be noted that the Rule Of Empathy is not an all-powerful charm that grants success and survival to sympathetic characters. It may well be used ''against'' the characters/audience with the likes of a [[Mauve Shirt]] being [[Killed Off for Real]], or to hook us into rooting for the [[Boring Failure Hero]]. As noted earlier, making a villain sympathetic is a sure way of making the audience deeply invested in a story. Sure, they're bad, but they're not ''[[Anti-Villain|all]]'' bad.
Line 12:
The Rule Of Empathy also informs viewers and characters ([[Author On Board|and at times authors]]) just how good or bad an action is within the context of the story. When a villain destroys a whole [[Throwaway Country]], we don't care because [[A Million Is a Statistic|we never saw those characters.]] But when they kill ''one'' character the audience or [[Protagonist-Centered Morality|hero empathizes with]], then they've crossed the [[Moral Event Horizon]].
The rule of empathy also has a dark side. There is a fate worse than being a "neutral" [[Innocent Bystander]] with no real attachment to the audience; characters who are notably '''un'''sympathetic will (with few [[Karma Houdini|exceptions]]) be in for a world of hurt. Whether it's because they [[Kick the Dog]] or do other heinous deeds that alienate them from ([[Draco in Leather Pants|most]]) viewer's sympathies, these characters will have a comeuppance at the hands of [[Laser-Guided Karma|something]] [[Call It Karma|similar to karma]], ranging from the [[Humiliation Conga]], being [[Hoist
Related to [[Woobie]] and all variations thereof.
Line 24:
== [[Anime]] & [[Manga]] ==
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' (a series which, to most fans, thrives on [[Narm Charm]]) tends to get this a lot.
** We're given some particularly good reasons to empathise with [[Dead Little Sister|Maximillion Crawford/Pegasus, who lost the woman he loved]] and has been trying to get her back ever since. Other villians such as Malik/Marik, who was forced into a role he didn't want to play his whole childhood and developed a huge bitterness towards the Pharaoh, Amelda/Alister, whose home country was destroyed by a war fought with weapons supplied by Kaiba Corp - you know, before Kaiba corp did games - and Bakura, whose {{spoiler|entire village was slaughtered to create the Millennium items}}, also engender a lot of empathy.
** Then there's Yugi who is just... he's like the poster child for Woobification. If you watch the unknown first season in particular, or read the manga, then you see that he starts out as nothing more than a [[The Woobie|punchbag for every bully in Domino High]]. Including bullies whom he ''stands up for'' and who later end up being his best friends.
** If you don't give even the slightest a damn about the pharaoh after what happens to Yugi in the Orichalcos arc, then you have no soul.
* An interesting example is Rosa from [[Umineko no Naku Koro
* The reason most of Kenji's gang and many minor characters in [[Twentieth Century Boys|20th Century Boys]] {{spoiler|survived while more than 90% of the world's population was wiped out.}}
* In ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', the [[Big Bad]] {{spoiler|turns an entire [[Throwaway Country]] into Philosopher's Stones.}} This is upgraded from a terrifying display of power to an [[Moral Event Horizon|unforgivably evil act]] when {{spoiler|we hear the voices of the souls of some of those people inside Hohenheim, and learn that they retained their consciousness and personalities even after being made into Philosopher's Stones. Their comments, especially their enthusiasm in using ''their souls'' to fuel Hohenheim's alchemy so he can defeat the [[Big Bad]], make them sympathetic to the audience.}}
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* This is one of the many, many tropes subverted by the beginning of [[Neil Gaiman]]'s ''[[
== Literature ==
Line 46:
* Common in [[Crime and Punishment Series]]. If she is pretty she didn't do it. This evidence is reinforced if she is slight of build and especially if they have a winning personality. She can never have done it.
* [[The Sarah Connor Chronicles|Cameron]] is a cold, emotionless, and [[Robot Girl|literal killing machine]] who at one point leaves a man and his sister who helped her to die because they don't matter to her anymore. That doesn't change the fact that she is a ''deeply'' sympathetic character who rapidly obtained [[Ensemble Darkhorse]] [[The Woobie|Woobie]] status because of both how interesting she was and all the crap she puts up with [[Iron Woobie|without complaint]] for the Connors.
* ''[[
* Please direct your attention to the [[Knight Rider]] episode (original series) ''Junkyard Dog'' which sees KITT dumped in an acid pit and literally gutted alive (it's the only time we ever see the nigh-indestructible Knight Industries Two Thousand calling for ''help''). The reactions of the team when he's hauled out, and KITT's resulting PTSD, are heartbreaking for fans; especially the reaction of Michael, who spends hours sitting around outside of the lab, like a nervous family member outside of an operating theatre, while the team is trying to repair him. And if the episode itself gets to you then for the love of god, ''don't read the script''.
** KITT tends to do this to people a lot. And given that KITT is essentially a ''sentient car'' that's saying something. All we have to get attached to is his personality.
* [[Amoral Attorney]] Jeff Winger [[Discussed Trope|delivers a lecture]] on this in the Pilot of [[Community]]. Ironically, it's a subversion of [[Pet the Dog]].
* In [[Star Trek:
{{quote| '''Riker''': For an android with no feeling he sure managed to evoke them in others. }}
** This is exactly what makes the episode with his daughter, Lal, such a [[Tear Jerker]] (double the empathy objects). He expresses regret (such as he is capable of feeling) that he cannot share in her feelings of love and she responds that she will try to feel it enough for both of them.
Line 56:
== [[Video Games]] ==
* In [[The Sims 3]], If a Sim with the Unlucky or Loser trait dies of anything but old age, the [[Don't Fear the Reaper|Grim Reaper]] will revive them on the grounds that he "feels sorry" for them, and [[Rule of Funny|that they provide too much amusement to be killed off]].
* Karst in ''[[
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* Pretty much the whole point of ''[[
* Discussed in ''[[Sinfest]]'', where [http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=3552 Baby Blue objects to a story with a sympathetic protagonist]; she gives Fuschia a physics textbook to read to the damned instead.
| |||