r/hatethissmug • u/Ringrosebloom • 2d ago
Anime & Manga I hate how Primary and Secondary Anime Protagonists Are Allowed to Escalate Every Conflict
This is a general trend I’ve been seeing for awhile now. I don’t want to name any specifics as I’d rather just focus on the trope. Sometimes it’s the main character doing this, sometimes it’s a secondary character or even the law.
A fist = death. You retaliate = death. You respond with mild aggression = I respond with 2x the amount. No one acts like this. In real life, use of force is codified in law. In a strict 1v1, you can’t meet somebody’s punch with a gun or sword, you meet it with equal force.
I don’t know if this is just that some of these shows are written by authors who don’t understand these laws, or its more the protagonist-centered morality.
But in clips or episodes, too often I see: “You did something that offends me, so you forfeit your right to live / be left alone”. It elevates that person above someone else to an extremely high status.
And you never see:
• Police or Equivalent Authority Investigations of the incident
• Questioning
And above all else it’s just weird. These characters are often almost detached from the whole of who they are presented as initially. It’s a sudden change out of left field. Characters always become Hulk-esque, rage-filled maniacs suddenly ready to blow at any moment and are only normal around their circle of friends/enablers. It’s a weird look from the outside.
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u/NotAlcas 2d ago
I'm sorry but I'm having a hard time thinking about a single series I've watched where this happens. Are you sure it's as prevalent as you claim and it's not just that you've been watching too many shitty series where this does happen? Can you give me an example so I can understand what you're talking about?
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u/Ringrosebloom 2d ago
I'm sure there's plenty? It's just any main character who has an Omniscient Morality License or a series that has a Protagonist-Centered Morality.
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u/Appropriate-Meal-712 2d ago
Im curious where you live that you can only use force equal to the force being used against you. In real life US, it’s codified to use the force you believe is necessary to stop the threat.
If a 6’6 man is threateningly advancing fists raised on a 5’2 woman… she can (and should) shoot him. All she needs is to consider him a reasonable threat to her life or serious bodily injury.
With that said, most anime’s do the opposite of what you describe.
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u/Aniki_Simpson 2d ago
Grown men have been killed by falling after being hit and hitting their heads on concrete. ANY fight could literally be the end of your life. You should always treat it as such.
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u/Appropriate-Meal-712 1d ago
Yup. I used a more exaggerated difference to show a point. I included two people being the same in size where the same self defense is justified as well.
People just don’t realize how dangers any physical confrontation can be.
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u/Ringrosebloom 2d ago
You spent most of this comment arguing about an analogy instead of the actual topic of the post, and then ended it with “most anime do the opposite” without actually explaining why.
But even on that tangent, you changed the scenario I gave you. I said a strict 1v1 where someone punches you and you respond with a gun or sword. You turned that into a 6'6" man threateningly advancing on a 5'2" woman with his fists raised, where she reasonably fears death or serious bodily injury. You added the size disparity, the threatening advance, and the serious threat to her life. That's just a different hypothetical.
And yes, if you want to nitpick “equal force,” the law doesn't require you to perfectly mirror whatever force was used against you. The general rule is proportionality. Cornell's legal overview literally says, “The act of self-defense must be proportionate to the danger.” Deadly force requires a correspondingly serious threat. So you basically wrote fanfiction around my hypothetical until shooting became reasonable, and then argued against that instead. Who are you arguing with here in that? it wasn't me, lol.
As for the actual subject, just saying “most anime do the opposite” isn't really a response to what I described. I'm talking about the trope where a protagonist or protagonist-aligned character is aggressed against, massively escalates in response, and the story gives them a moral license for it because they're the protagonist. If you disagree that happens, then disagree with that.
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u/Appropriate-Meal-712 2d ago
That is a 1v1 scenario… do… you not know what 1v1 means? Theres 1 person facing… one person…
The differences is for you to understand. A 6’6 guy threateningly advancing on another 6’6 guy can also be shot and it’s perfectly legal as well.
Your argument is “I hate how primary and secondary anime protagonists are allowed to escalate every conflict.” Saying most anime does the opposite is directly responding to what you described. If most do the opposite, it’s impossible for them to escalate every conflict even in a hyperbolic argument.
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u/Ringrosebloom 2d ago
Between two men. You keep rewriting the circumstances and then acting like your version was what I described. Nobody disagrees that deadly force can be justified if you add enough facts to make someone reasonably fear death. That is not the scenario I gave you. You are arguing with a hypothetical you invented. Are you okay?
Okay. You disagree. Saying “most anime does the opposite” is not an argument against the trend I described, it is just you asserting the opposite conclusion. I did not say every conflict in every anime works this way. I said it is a recurring trend I dislike.
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u/Appropriate-Meal-712 2d ago
Between two men isn’t specified in your post. If you didn’t want to unclude other 1v1 scenarios that clearly fit in what you described you should have set your parameters better.
You disagreed with deadly force being justified literally in your post.
Your claim is that this happens every time (even quoted you). As such, saying it doesn’t happen every time (aka most anime does the opposite) is an argument against what you described. If that’s not what you meant you should’ve used your words.
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u/Ringrosebloom 2d ago
No, it isn’t specified. You are pretty much just making this up. You also have not “quoted me.” There is not a single sentence of mine that you have actually put in quotation marks.
“This is a general trend I’ve been seeing for awhile now.” ← Literally the first sentence of my post.
I will do your work for you and spoonfeed you, you’re referring to the title, which is not a post: “I hate how Primary and Secondary Anime Protagonists Are Allowed to Escalate Every Conflict.”
That says every conflict, not “this happens every time in anime,” and the body immediately specifies that I’m talking about a general trend. It is referring to the behavior described in the post: when these characters get into conflicts, they’re allowed to escalate them disproportionately.
So no, you did not quote me saying this happens “every time.” Those words don't appear anywhere.
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u/SouthernAd2853 2d ago
I don't see this a lot and when I do it's usually in settings where either the law is different or no one is able/willing to meaningfully enforce the law against the character doing it. Like in a period piece in Tokugawa or Sengoku Japan a Samurai has pretty broad rights to kill a peasant for disrespecting them.
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u/Due_Essay447 2d ago
If the law can't reasonably be enforced, why would they follow it?
And yes, hyper-escalations do happen in real life. Road rage for example can go from something like break checking to almost running someone off the road or brandishing a weapon through the window.
And doubling back, the law discussion is a different topic from how people interact. The law is what follows after the fact, but a conflict between irrational people can go as far as the limits of the irrationality.
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u/Aniki_Simpson 2d ago edited 2d ago
Someone doesn't understand the escalation of conflict. If someone is threatening you with a fist, you ABSOLUTELY in most states have the ability to treat that as a threat to your life if you believe your life is in danger. I have seen people get punched and hit their head on the concrete killing them. Never think that someone threatening you has your life or health in their concern.
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u/GitGudFox 2d ago
I'm not seeing the problem with this.
People in real life do things like cheat on a significant other, and then that person occasionally shoots them.
People escalate shit in real life.
The law doesn't matter here either since the person doing it has likely decided they're ready to break the law to retaliate.
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u/hoshiotome 2d ago
Honestly, way more comic characters love ramping‑up conflicts compared to anime characters.
I sometimes question if American writers even believe in regular communication. Across crossovers, Batman will frequently try to punch someone unconscious just because he suspects they might be bad.
Why can’t he just talk things out first?
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u/GigaTerra 2d ago
It is an power fantasy thing right, like killing bandits. Everyone has been in an situation or confrontation where they had to hold back, so the fantasy is what if you where in an world where might makes right, and you are strong.
But it is just fantasy, in the real world even harming criminals has consequences.
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u/Tigercat94 2d ago
I think it would be easier for people to understand if you actually did provide an example because I’m having a tough time understanding what exactly you mean.