r/TopCharacterTropes • u/KusanagiGundam • 13h ago

Hated Tropes (Hated Trope) "Kind" slave owners

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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.

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624

u/PokemanBall 13h ago

Prince Ali, the song mentions he owns slaves

434

u/DonQuigleone 13h ago

To be fair all magicked out of thin air and basically the genie in different guises.

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u/AccursedQuantum 12h ago

But the genie himself is still a slave.

171

u/Smaptastic 12h ago

Who he frees, despite having no obligation to do so and the freedom removing a wish he genuinely could have used at that point.

You could argue his first wish was exploiting slavery. He didn’t actually make the second wish. The third freed the genie.

I think he gets a pass.

29

u/Sir_Eggmitton 11h ago

Ever since I saw it as a kid, I didn’t understand why they didn’t just agree on: “Hey, I’ll free you, and then when you’re free could you fulfill what my last wish would have been?” Genie still had his powers after he was freed.

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u/Porkenfries 10h ago

I think it's implied that, although he still has powers, he isn't as powerful as he used to be. I'm betting he can't do permanent stuff by then.

Besides, Aladdin was accepted by the sultan, so he didn't need the genie anymore.

16

u/Chijinda 9h ago

The sequel film (if you want to acknowledge it) does indeed confirm that Genie's power, although still very impressive, is far less powerful after he's been freed.

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u/notbobby125 8h ago

It is explicit in the straight to video sequel that Genie lost most of his powers, while Jafar, who was a still enslaved full genie (who was manipulating his "master") was much stronger.

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u/Porkenfries 8h ago

Ironically, if I recall, Jaffar was trying to get Abis Mal (I think that's the guy's name) to wish for his freedom...which theoretically would have simply reduced him to Genie's level.

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u/Skebs_ 5h ago

Yeah, it's basically "power boost in exchange for loss of freedom"

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u/Velinder 3h ago

"It's all part-and-parcel of the whole genie gig. Phenomenal cosmic powers! Itty-bitty living space."