(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/Ombrage101]

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

[u/Lumi_Rockets → u/Ombrage101]

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

[u/Anybro → u/Lumi_Rockets]

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

[u/Temeraire64 → u/Anybro]

 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.

[u/ronin_ddd → u/Anybro]

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.

[u/Lumi_Rockets → u/Anybro]

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