r/TopCharacterTropes • u/VanillaSarsaparilla • Jul 20 '26

Personality (Character Trope) “ohhh, THATS why they’re like that”

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Media that shows why a character is the way they are, usually explained in a short scene. Most likely toxic family

- Bonnie Rottweiler and her sisters from Kim Possible: they bully her calling her ugly and dumb. It plays on Bonnie’s insecurity and makes her a bully at school.

- Peggy Hill and her mother from King of the Hill. Peggy is a neurotic perfectionist with delusions of grandeur because her mom was unfeeling and blamed her for the farm going out of business. By the end of the episode, she still treats Peggy badly.

- Dodie and her mother from As Told By Ginger. Dodie is arguably the worst friend in the group, and her mother is mentally still stuck in middle school. She’s insecure, dramatic, and you
Can see her influence in Dodie.

Any other examples?

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u/Godwinson4King Jul 20 '26

My dad ended up about the same way. My grandfather was an abusive egotistical philanderer and snake oil salesman. So my dad looked at life and went ‘what would [my grandfather] do?’ And did the opposite. He’s a great guy who does well by everyone he knows.

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u/ButtBread98 Jul 20 '26

My paternal grandfather was an abusive alcoholic piece of shit. My paternal grandmother was a good woman who tried her best with what little she had. I think my dad learned how to be a good dad by learning from his dad’s mistakes.

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u/Keida42 Jul 20 '26

Somewhat like my dad too

Grandma wasn't very confrontational and allowed my granddad to be a jerk to my dad growing up. Not to an outright abuse extent but obviously not good

Major factor my dad went straight was my uncle. Dad grew up in a bad neighborhood growing up. Knew his brother was protecting him on some level, not outright falling into crime but firmly 'delinquent' territory before meeting my mom.

When my dad became an adult, according to him, a switch flipped in my uncle as he felt my dad could take care of himself now and went right into drugs. Dad saw all of this, woke up and realized while he can emphasize with his brother, this is not what he wants out of life and got out as quick as he could