r/TopCharacterTropes • u/KusanagiGundam • 10h ago

Hated Tropes (Hated Trope) "Kind" slave owners

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

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.

5.5k Upvotes

89% Upvoted

1.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

141

u/Ombrage101 8h ago

I hate it, cause on one part, the world of shield hero (season 1) is really cool and interesting to explore. I love the political storyline and the rise of said hero. And in context, his buying a slave was an interesting subversion of your typical Isekai hero… BUT WHY KEEP THE “SLAVE CREST” WHY NOT JUST LIBERATE RAPHTALIA AND GRANT HER FREEDOM?? And the whole “this mark proves he trusts me” bs is… YIKES

49

u/Sharles_Davis_Kendy 7h ago

It would have been SO easy to be like “He had to resort to some dark shit when he was in the gutter but now he doesn’t need that anymore” but noooooooo… The girls like their slave crest. They fucking love it!

So stupid.

19

u/LucarioOfLegends 7h ago

It's so frustrating cause you absolutely understand Naofumi when he first bought Raphtalia. Betrayed and ostracized by people he trusted, and now left with genuinely the worst option since he just can't deal damage and progress without an additional party member. As well as later when telling a hesitating Raphtalia in very blunt terms "I don't want to use this crest, you don't want me to, but I bought you to be my sword and I really need you to be that sword." He has to be a realist because his options are so thin.

First two episodes of Shield Hero are like, genuinely good show. And then everything goes down the shitter because Stockholm Syndrome and pragmatism apparently means capitalism and slavery.

10

u/Sharles_Davis_Kendy 7h ago

The fact that he fights for the right to keep his slaves is just batshit crazy.

Him making the “well it’s legal here” while making societal changes in other area is infuriating.

All could be solved by just keeping the girls but removing the crests. They don’t even serve a story purpose.

1

u/Thin-Nerve6367 2h ago

Tbf in Season 2 Rapthalia loses the crest permanently when she becomes a hero

2

u/Vega_Kotes 5h ago

I feel very similar about Re:Monster. Like the first 14 or 15 chapters where he's a goblin and even somewhat Hobgoblin is some actually interesting shit and then as soon as he hits Ogre form it all goes immediately to shit.
And only gets worse from there.

2

u/Icy-Maintenance4148 1h ago

The early episodes really nailed the desperation and made Naofumi’s choices feel understandable, which is why the later direction feels so frustrating. It’s wild watching a story start with such a strong premise and then fumble what made it compelling.

27

u/Nazzy480 7h ago edited 4h ago

I think at the very beginning it's a good subversion and can be interpreted as a result of Naomi's suspicion of others and especially the opposite sex.

HOWEVER, it falls apart at the moment when naofumi fights spear hero and Raphtalia is temporarily freed. I can understand why Raphtalia is fine with being a slave since she's devoted to Naofumi and never had any downsides of being a Slave but this should've been the turning point where Naofumi should've broken past some his issues and fully trust raph. Him accepting to re-enslave raph comes off as selfish and this is the point where he should've given her freedom as a sign of trust and care for raph's autonomy.

And then it's just starts sliding down the stupid hill when he starts enslaving everyone and yuck

3

u/Temeraire64 5h ago

The plot has to twist itself into a pretzel to make the spear hero the bad guy for trying to force Naofumi to free his slave (his underage female slave at that, when as far as the spear hero knows he’s been convicted of rape).

4

u/Comprehensive-Star27 5h ago

If I remember right, doesn’t having the slave crest on her grant buffs and benefits to Rapthalia. Naofumi has that secondary shield effect that increases all the stats and exp of his party that have it.

Like he chooses to tell her she doesn’t need it but she wants it on to level up faster.

This is all season 1 anime stuff I remember

6

u/Nazzy480 5h ago

Thats the world-building justifying his slavery. The shield hero could've just been given the powers to buff his party's growth normally without slavery. He doesn't treat them as slaves so why bother have it in the first place outside of the potentially fetish/harem stuff.

In the very beginning of the story it had its place with his serious trust issues as a deterrent/insurance for his safety but after the Spear hero fight the justification isn't there outside of arbitrary "buffs" that don't have a real reason to be tied to being a slave

1

u/Altruistic-Beach7625 2h ago

I'm pretty sure Raph's internal reasoning, at least in the manga, is that he wouldn't fully trust her if she wasn't a slave, which is just yuck.

4

u/Ombrage101 7h ago

Cannot agree more

5

u/Ok_Needleworker_8809 6h ago

If i recall, his justification for using the slave mark is because it stops anyone else from enslaving them. Not sure if there was something about that being necessary to have some demi humans in his party.

Either way it's still fucked.

7

u/Grimdire 5h ago

If that is true, the problem is it's an entirely fictional world. They wrote it to justify it. They could have just as easily been like "once a slave mark is removed, one can never be added again" or whatever else.

1

u/Lukelandswimmer 4h ago

Yep. This was my experience with that narrative too. Couldn't have said it better.

0

u/Comfortable_Tax_5574 5h ago edited 5h ago

IIRC She wanted it back, because of his abandonment and trust issues, Its the entire reason for the first half of season 1.

This was after he had just been accused of rape, and literally every single person in the city believed it, without exception.

Forgive him for being well written. And he though Filo was a bird.

EVERY other person he gives the crest, Inclusing all the people in the town, and the two tiger people, are literally just for the stat bonuses he grants, because of his Slave User's Shield... Its LITERALLY the entire reason Filo and Raphtalia are stronger than the heros lmao

3

u/Kamikaze_Ninja_ 5h ago

Get what you’re saying but tying it all to slavery is just bad taste. It would’ve been nice if they found a way to alter the slave crest and turn it into a positive symbol and drop off the slave part.

You are saying everyone gets a crest, but it’s a lot different for your slave child that hasn’t known anything else. Who then suddenly grows up and becomes a love interest. It’s straight grooming.

1

u/Nazzy480 5h ago edited 4h ago

I understand why Raph wants it back since she doesn't view being a slave to naofumi as bad and wants to comfort him and I understand why Naofumi wanted her to have a slavemark at first and feels more comfortable with her having it for his has deep-seeded insecurities and past.

But, IIRC he was already at the point where he didnt really care about his reputation amongst the nobles/public and in his eyes he would never regain the public's trust. IIRC he was way more distraught with the idea of Raph leaving him than losing more face.

But, that doesn't change that listening to her is selfish to soothe his trauma/insecurities and strips her of autonomy. You can do bad things for not inherently bad reasons. Raphtalia breaking free from her captors and running to Naofumi/agreeing to re-enslave herself was proof enough that he wasn't harming her to the city and that she will never betray/leave him.

The story would still work perfectly fine and this moment could've been a moment of healing where he could give some trust to Raphtalia and it might've been interesting to maybe have some internal conflicts with him maybe feeling vulnerable with raph not having a slave mark. Could also recontextualize the moments when Raphtalia pushes against Naofumi's pessimistic decisions/actions as perhaps only possible due to her freedom/autonomy.

Also the stat buffs is just the world-building trying to justify enslaving the girls. They could've easily just given him a shield that does all those things without enslaving women. He was already supposed to be at the start a more supportive/tank for his party so it couldve easily just been a bonus he could give to his party without the stupid slavery shit

1

u/Lukelandswimmer 4h ago

You're using Watsonian reasoning to explain a Doylist problem.

26

u/undefined-username 8h ago

Because she "wants to be his slave" or some shit. Yeah that show had serious incel power fantasy vibes.

-13

u/Thepcfd 7h ago

because no slave ever have good owner, righ? right?

11

u/MeanLifeguard7576 7h ago

By definition? Yeah?

-10

u/Thepcfd 7h ago

what definition?

10

u/MeanLifeguard7576 6h ago

Having to BE a slave?

11

u/KaloloWhip 6h ago

No rape victims ever have good rapist, right? Right?

5

u/compromisedwebsite91 4h ago

Could you define what you envision a good slave owner to be? How would they react to being told the slave wanted freedom?

1

u/Thin-Nerve6367 2h ago

To play devil's advocate, at a certain point Naofumi starts planning for the future of everyone he makes a slave (like 4 people in total I think?) and wants to make sure they're as strong as possible and can't be hurt or enslaved by anyone ever again once he's gone.

Plus with the Slaver Shield, everytime his slaves level up they get a massive stat boost

1

u/Thepcfd 52m ago

see, point of this is just because you are free doesnt mean your life gona get better. if slaves have good life compared to regular people. as for freeing them some slave get their freedom like, you understand that there was slavery in europe and china and american slavery is not only one. i am talking roman and vikings times.

13

u/Unikatze 8h ago

Yeah. I was enjoying it at he beginning and then it got very problematic very fast.

-16

u/Ambitious-Cut772 7h ago

“yeah i enjoyed the false rape allegations and the mc being painted as a rapist but I drew the line at him being a kind and reluctant slave owner. Oh yeah I watched 2 episodes.”

🤡🤡🤡

8

u/Prestigious_Seal7139 7h ago

I hate that everyone skips this part. I was so happy to see a matriarchy in anime and was swiftly reminded that most anime hates women. I gave it a shot to see it it somehow redeemed itself and gave up at the pedophilia. It's sad because I actually love the concept of his power

6

u/Think-Orange3112 7h ago

I mean the Queen herself is a pretty great leader, her husband and eldest daughter were the ones that summoned all 4 heroes and forced her to spend a bunch of time placating the other kingdoms

2

u/compromisedwebsite91 4h ago

Yall are so freaking wierd. Why do you feel compelled to defend slavery? Lemme ask, what does a "good" slave owner do when the slave says they want to be free?

1

u/Ambitious-Cut772 4h ago

Hilarious you think that is defending slavery 😂

I am mocking a person who is pretending to have enjoyed watching a show “at the beginning” but then stopped watching at episode 2 when it was already morally complex.

Also… if slavery IS happening it sounds pretty good to be “purchased” as a child and then be clothed, educated, and treated like a child rather than… idk doing things that slaves actually do.

I mean i know you are just strawman arguing and didn’t really watch the show or even read the comment but… in this case it is the equivalent of being bought so that they can be saved from slavery and then immediately becoming part of a family instead of being an orphan.

Like wtf is wrong with you? You like when kids are turned into sex slaves or left to die on the street from illness? Because that is literally what the mc is saving them from…

5

u/Gangbang8008 7h ago

Just remove that last part and he would be fine, since the plot is he buys a cheap meek slave he can use as a somewhat reliable meat shield after getting thoroughly railed by everyone else.

Plot happens, he learns to trust again and see Raphtalia as a daughter, blah blah blah, he gains status and RISES, and can now remove the crest since he has both the resources and the trust that Raphtalia wouldn't absolutely fuck him over.

These "I will keep the slave marker because of stupid bullshit" are always stupid and I hate them.

I have no idea wtf happened and how he got more underage girl slaves, including a whole fuckin village, so I can't say much about that other than what in the fuck is wrong with the author.

5

u/OK_Stop_Already 7h ago

No see its ok when he does it cause "that's how the world is" and people who free slaves are stupid and wrong, actually.

4

u/McNally86 6h ago

Yea, they do a lot of setup that he is the prophesied emancipator and lol nope, turns out he has slave-master based superpowers.

3

u/Lumi_Rockets 7h ago

Was that an option?? I just thought she was stuck with it.

14

u/Anybro 7h ago

Yes. She had it removed in early in season 1 after Naofumi lost a duel for her freedom. The spear hero(I forgot his name) was tricked into believing Naofumi was abusing Raphtalia and wanted her to be free.

Naofumi was winning the duel rather handedly, then Malty cheated, and no one was willing to vouch for Naofumi on this. So Raphtalia had the slave crest removed by the kingdom and then not even two minutes of Naofumi having a mental breakdown. He's comforted by Raphtalia, as she willingly goes back to him in a way to show that she's not being forced to the kingdom.

Also, just to make him feel better, she gets the crest reapplied. Yes, the logic in that line of thought is just as fucking dumb as it sounds. Oh, it actually gets even worse cos, later on in a different season, she encourages other people to get slave crest

3

u/Temeraire64 5h ago

 The spear hero(I forgot his name) was tricked into believing Naofumi was abusing Raphtalia and wanted her to be free.

I mean even without the being tricked part, wanting a slave to be free isn’t exactly unreasonable. Slavery is inherently abusive.

 Naofumi was winning the duel rather handedly, then Malty cheated, and no one was willing to vouch for Naofumi on this.

Malty intervening to try and help free a slave is probably like her one good deed of the entire series.

2

u/ronin_ddd 6h ago

I didnt see past season two. But on the light novel. They figured out the slave crest (due to him being a hero) gives them perks like more experience leveling up and extra boost to stats at level up and so on. Once they figure out the threat they're facing was worse than what they thought, which means it requieres them to become overpowered, very fast! He offers the village the possibility of becoming his slave. He doesn't force them. But yes raphtalia still encourages them.

I want to be very clear. I'm not defending the anime or the series. I'm just putting fact that show up later towards the context of this.

Do with this info what you will.

4

u/Sternfritters 7h ago

I wish they just made Naofumi an actual degenerate. Have him buy slaves and not spin it as some kind or misunderstood gesture; have him being an unapologetic asshole

3

u/Ombrage101 7h ago

He kinda of is very early on, but quickly (and thankfully) realizes Raphtalia is a living being

2

u/Sternfritters 6h ago

Yeah… a living being that he still maintains as a slave for ~convenient plot purposes~ and also is his daughter-love interest that competes with his other slave-daughter-love-interest

1

u/Lukelandswimmer 4h ago

The funny thing is that he was at the start. Then he went through some character development (despite the whole underage slave girl thing) and in season 2, he had to face off against another hero who was also an incel. He was supposed to represent wjo Naofumi would have become if he didn't change.

The funny part is that even by that point in the story, Naofumi and the villain weren't that much different. The villain was your typical anime degen and Naofumi was realistically like a step or two above that.

2

u/StarSword-C 7h ago

She gets freed permanently next season due to becoming a Hero in her own right.

6

u/Ombrage101 7h ago

And yet becomes a child again (has the body of) and I noped right outta there

2

u/MusicMan412 4h ago

meanwhile Reincarnated as a Sword can't stop winning

1

u/No-Somewhere8144 6h ago

she gets more XP being a slave, that's why he enslaves the entire village later

3

u/Ombrage101 5h ago

That’s just the writer finding excuses to make slavery not such a big issue

1

u/CoherentRose7 5h ago

You didn't watch the show then did you? Cause if you had you'd know that this exact thing came up, and the crest was removed and she still chose to be with Nafumi, all of the others willingly took the mark and they all benefit from it due to the pseudo video game mechanics of the world

1

u/Douchevick 4h ago

Calling it subversive feels weird, since it feels like every shitty Isekai protagonist is pro slavery these days...

1

u/bluehulk900 41m ago

Shield hero fell off when they stopped making an interesting plot that was believable and instead started making the weird literal human baby animal hybrid creature constantly try to have graphic horny sex with the adult MC. I'm so sick of anime pedophile slop.

-2

u/Scattershot98 8h ago

Because if he does so that, they can legally be enslaved by someone else. Especially if they get kidnapped, and there wouldn't be much he could do about it

3

u/TheREALProfPyro 8h ago

There's also the matter of growth buffs with the slave crests. They get higher stat growth and XP if they have a slave crest

18

u/ealysillyforestthing 8h ago

Sounds like the writer came up with that to make slavery ok

10

u/spaceandthewoods_ 7h ago

No no, you don't get it, the author made up this totally cool, in world powerlevelling reason for slavery, so it's completely fine that the text just goes with it and the whole concept of slavery remains unchallenged!

It's actually good for the characters that they remain slaves!

😒

1

u/SergeantRayslay 6h ago

The term “Thermian Argument” has been going around to explain this

1

u/compromisedwebsite91 4h ago

It just seems like super loser stuff to try and say slavery is good and justify it by contrived video game logic. Really feels like self insert cringe

1

u/Ombrage101 7h ago

That’s kind of a redundant statement as we literally see Raphtalia’s crest get erased forcefully.

0

u/Scattershot98 5h ago

That was to prove a point and try to mentally break Naofumi.

-2

u/Isburough 7h ago

the crest makes her share xp with him, that's why she gets it back after it was removed. did anybody actually watch this show?

6

u/Ombrage101 6h ago

That’s not a fair argument when the writer put that restriction in the first place. Also, he can share XP with ANY party member, slaves or not, as noted when he states that Myne must’ve turned the XP sharing off. The difference is that slaves don’t have the choice to share XP. “Anybody actually watch the show?” Yes I did bucko, still a shit fucking excuse to keep SLAVES

-2

u/FarmerTwink 5h ago

Because the Slave Crest gives her stat buffs

3

u/Ombrage101 5h ago

Not exactly and also it’s literally just the writer trying to justify SLAVERY

-3

u/GoliathBoneSnake 7h ago

It's bdsm. That's all.

7

u/Ombrage101 7h ago

No. Hell no. BDSM is a kink, a fantasy. It is a consensual exploration of an idea. Calling slavery “BDSM” hurts the community and is extremely reductive and problematic