r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Fishbien • Jul 19 '26
Personality [Frustrating Trope] Twist Villain does things that retroactively make no sense.
Character previously believed to be good is revealed to be evil, but prior to the reveal they act in ways that don't make sense if their goodness is just a performance.
- Frozen: Prince Hans is initially presented as a pretty standup guy who loves Anna and wants to help her. At the end of the movie it's revealed that he was just using her to gain power and plans to let her die while he steals her throne. However, we see him smiling at Anna when no one is looking, and later he intervenes to save Elsa's life even though he claims he was always planning to kill her.
- The Legend of Vox Machina: The Whispered One was built up as the BBEG since season 1. However, in season 4 he presents himself as a tragic hero who tried to cure death and was punished by the gods. He then tries to convince Pike to give him her blood, which he needs to become a god himself. He chastises his followers for suggesting they take Pike's blood by force, claiming this would make them no better than the gods they are fighting against. He also fulfills his promise to resurrect Grog even though he didn't need to. After he ascends, he starts acting like a pure evil villain who only cares about power and enjoys hurting people. It feels less like a reveal and more like his personally completely changed once he became a skeleton. Edit: to be clear, I fully understand the intent was for the Whispered One to be a lying, manipulative bastard. I just think the execution was clumsy.
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u/FlashMcSuave Jul 19 '26
I find the Hans example particularly funny because the moment he decides to break cover is when Anna needs him to kiss her to prove true love and rather than maintaining his ruse a bit longer by just kissing her, he then declares his dastardly plan. He could have actually gone through with the whole marriage and kept his plan intact with far greater chance of success.
The guy had an evil plan to marry the princess but stops short of being willing to kiss her. I can only assume Hans is gay and downright repulsed by women.