Topic on Talk:Cool Motive, Still A Crime

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I'd like to think that this time, Allthetropes has a fairly reasonable policy of screening posts from new people, speaking as a new person, and when we have disagreements we can talk about them here without anyone getting banned or feelings getting hurt.

From what you said, the original reason why the trope was rejected was because people used it as a loophole for complete monster. If we set clear criteria, then we can monitor the parameters as well as the entries. That way no one can try to squeeze in their loopholes.

My criteria would go thusly:

1) This trope can happen to a hero, villain, protagonist, antagonist or side character. They don't have to be evil, just a jerk that tries to justify their behavior.

2) A character in-universe has to call them out while knowing about their backstory. This can be Played for Laughs, like in the Calvin and Hobbes example, or Played for Drama like in Legend of Korra.

3) There are two pathways that can happen: Character Development or Ignored Epiphany. Tulip in Infinity Train realizes that she can't demonize her parents for their separation and divorce or pretend that her life was perfect. In contrast, Demona in Gargoyles is called out by the Fates for how she denies it's her own fault that she lost her clans as well as Goliath, and keeps blaming others. And there are grey areas in-between: BoJack does his worst deed after Todd calls him out in season three but then spends season 4 trying to redeem himself.

Thoughts?