Retired Monster: Difference between revisions

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There is the common stock character, the grizzled old guy with a wealth of experience who'll share his views with a travelling band or bold young rookie. There's no more adventuring for this old timer, he's seen it all, done some good, maybe done some bad but overall has earned the right to put his troubles behind him in his twilight years. He may be the [[Cool Old Guy]] or [[Old Master]]. Perhaps if life really got him down, he'll be a [[Grumpy Old Man]], and if someone manages to rub him up the old way you'll see he's a [[Badass Grandpa]] but it's unlikely since some haunting experience makes him disinclined to take up arms again.

 

{{examples}}

== Anime & Manga ==

* Despite settling down on Earth and attempting to save it on several occasions, Vegeta of ''[[Dragon Ball]] Z'' has never explicitly been shown to express any guilt, angst or shame for his decades long life of murder, tyranny and genocide.

* In [[Stephen King]]'s novella, ''Apt Pupil'', the teenage protagonist is fascinated by his old neighbor, who took part in Nazi atrocities. His increasing fascination with the old man slowly brings back the [[Complete Monster]] in him.

* Sergeant Bothari in The ''[[Vorkosigan Saga]]'' is a fairly sympathetic example of this, having a tramatic and abusive childhood which left him with no sense of self, instead mirroring however others wanted him to be. He had a truly horrible and abusive childhood, with the result that he ended up with no sense of self, and would be whatever others wanted him to be. Bothari is undisputably a sociopath, and when under the command of a sadistic officer, regularly followed orders to rape and torture prisoners. However, following a [[Sudden Principled Stand]], he ends up as a trusted bodyguard/ [[Psycho Sidekick]] of Cordelia and Aral Vorkosigan, as Cordelia is able to convince him to believe in an image of himself as an honorable soldier- and he doesn't really feel guilt for his past actions, as he sort of convinces himself that they didn't happen. His lack of true remorse is showcased ''The Warrior's Apprentice'', in an incident where Miles [[Dirty Business|had no choice]] but to let Bothari perform the [[Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique]] on an enemy soldier. Miles notes Bothari's unhealthy eagerness to obey this order, and Bothari proceeds to torture the man to death with sadistic glee.