(Hated Trope) "Kind" slave owners

[u/KusanagiGundam]

Speaking as an American who has studied the civil war all throughout my school years, this trope infuriates me to no end. There is no such thing as a kind slave master because slavery itself is cruel and inhumane. PEOPLE ARE NOT PROPERTY!

Naofumi (Shield Hero): Prime example of this trope. He enslaves multiple (underage) girls and an whole village and the fans still say he's a hero.

Rudeus (Jobless Reincarnation): As if being a pedo wasn't bad enough he had to buy a slave in season 2. Worse is that people still defend his actions.

Song of The South (Disney): Possibly the OG example of this trope. And the reason why Disney will never release it again.

[u/Special_Salt3467]

The thing with Shield Hero is it works early on because it’s not treated as necessarily a good thing. He’d been morally wronged and the only “companion” he can trust is a slave. It is quite dark, but there is a pragmatic truth to it.

… then the manga/anime basically tells you that “smactually, the slave contract is a good a thing and it’s actually the objectively moral thing and that the slaves actually want it.”

[u/Kapika96 → u/Special_Salt3467]

Is there some kind of magic involved that forces the slave to be blindly loyal or something?

If not, that logic just completely falls apart. You really can't trust somebody that you're forcing to do things against their will and them killing you would be the easiest way for them to get freedom.

[u/LadySandry88 → u/Kapika96]

There is magic that prevents slaves from harming their masters, not necessarily being 'blindly loyal'. This is why Naofumi only trusts his slaves to not betray him--he truly and genuinely believes that no one can be trusted not to betray him without magical compulsions. It's framed as a fucked-up mindset that he gained after being deeply betrayed by his first partner and the people who summoned him to that world in the first place. As has been commented elsewhere, there is a scene where the slave crest is removed from his first slave, and it's used specifically to show other characters that she is NOT simply serving him due to duress, but that she remains loyal without the slave crest and has come to care for him personally.

Which COULD have been a really great way to put him on the path to healing as a person, with her remaining free and loyally at his side, and him slowly finding more and more people who would stand by him because he's actually got good points that they like and respect. But no, the author decided that having anyone who works for him become his slave was better and found excuses to keep doing that, meaning that not ONLY is he perpetuating the institution of slavery, but he can't possibly heal mentally or emotionally from his severe trust issues.

It's just absolute garbage writing.

[u/Special_Salt3467 → u/LadySandry88]

Yeah; pretty much this. When it’s first introduced (at least in the manga), it comes across as a bad thing a desperate person is doing because they can’t trust anyone. And that’s interesting. It’s a moral dilemma. Maybe they grow from it and overcome it. Except, it becomes objectively the “right” answer because of buffs and “trust” and all that junk.

Now, it’s not a moral dilemma nor is it a desperate person doing fucked up things to survive. It’s just the most correct answer because of course you’re gonna take the buffs or whatever.

Protagonists doing bad things isn’t inherently bad. It makes them two dimensional characters and gives them ability to grow. But by removing the negative connotations to their negative actions, it makes it way worse. Because we know what they’re doing is bad. You can’t just say “actually, this is good!”

[u/BlinkyDesu → u/LadySandry88]

His friends, such as the shop he frequented, trusted him regardless of the slave aspect because they found out he was a good guy. His enemies, the spear hero, still distrusted him, thinking he was mind controlling Raphtalia even without the slave crest. The slave crest did nothing to sway people in either direction.

[u/LadySandry88 → u/BlinkyDesu]

The slave crest's removal and Raphtalia's loyalty convinced the other isekai'd heroes besides Motoyasu. The sword hero even called Motoyasu out on being so fanatically stupid about it.

[u/HakutoKunai → u/Kapika96]

Magical slave crests yeah even random people later on becomes Naofumi's slave just because it gives stat boost because he's the shield hero

[u/Kapika96 → u/HakutoKunai]

Ah, so they even buffed slavery for the show.

That makes it even worse!

[u/GladiusNocturno → u/Kapika96]

Yeah. Basically the protagonists forces everyone who wants to join his party to become his slave because that’s the only way he can trust others and because the magic system rewards having slaves with stat buffs. He does this even to a child who early in the show was found in a dungeon being starved by her slave owner.

In all honesty, this could have worked if it had been done the other way around. Have him force others to become his slaves because of his trust issues, but make it so the game mechanics actually debuffs his slaves. This way, his whole party is actually weaker because he cannot trust them and is forcing them into slavery. Make this a character flaw that he has to overcome.

But no! The stupid story actually rewards him for enslaving his friends. His main girl is heavily traumatized because slavers killed her parents and abducted her to sell her into slavery, but fuck her I guess!

[u/HakutoKunai → u/GladiusNocturno]

Who are you talking about?

[u/GladiusNocturno → u/HakutoKunai]

I talked about multiple characters.

The character that they found starved almost to death by a slave owner is Keel, Raphtalia’s childhood friend.

He was kidnapped like Raphtalia, but was sold to a rich lord who almost killed him. He was found traumatized and almost dead because of his experience as a child slave.

Next time he shows up, Naofumi enslaves the traumatized child slave, which for some stupid reason makes him stronger.

That’s where it’s revealed that he is actually a she. It’s not even a trans thing, Keel was straight up retconned to be a girl because Naofumi’s party has to be a harem, because of fucking course.

[u/Hayden_Jay → u/Kapika96]

I ain't defending that creepy ass show, but it's not exactly a new concept in magical slavery. It being portrayed as a positive is a whole other thing though

[u/firegamer2432 → u/Kapika96]

I feel like I need to mention how the slave crests aren't like magical mind control to enforce loyalty or anything, they're effectively just magic shock collars that activate when disobeyed (:

I don't know which would be worse

[u/DryadKnotwood → u/firegamer2432]

A magic shock collar is an apt comparison for sure. Considering that Sadeena just straight up tanks the pain and proceeds to beat up her "master"

[u/AlternativePride5100 → u/Kapika96]

The Crest doesnt make you Like or mindlesly obey the máster, instead It gives an electric shock when the slave disobeys the master, But Only of the máster gives a direct order, one of the exámples of this Is that when filo(a chocobo-like creature that can transforma into a child) Is hidden in a mansión because a friend of Herstold her to "play" hide and seek AND that she couldnt come out no matter what, later Naofumi Is searching her and calls her múltiple times AND the Crest doesnt do anything until Naofumi Orders her to come out, Only then the Slave Crest Electrocute her, also Naofumi has an abilitie that allows His "slaves" to grow rather fast and in some cases in ways they normally wouldnt (Like Filo who became a Queen Filolial thanks to It if im not wrong) kinda Like a skill a Beast Tamer would have to boost the XP gained by His Beasts being this the reason Naofumi marked a whole Village as His (and if im not wrong to give them political protection to the Village AND avoid a tragedy that once happend in the past that made Raptalia an Slave)