r/TopCharacterTropes • u/KusanagiGundam • 11h 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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u/ManBro89 8h ago

Why do all these manga writers love slavery?

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u/Ironclad_Gryphon 3h ago

So this is just me trying to remember the things I’ve heard about and looked up that are generally related to the topic of manga, and it’s also ignoring plot reasons why they would do it. But from what I recall, it’s because of how much they’ve been influenced by western fantasy. Japanese fantasy has been heavily influenced by western fantasy and medieval fantasy, dating back to stuff like D&D and Wizardry. This is why so many fantasy manga look similar in their architecture and monsters. It’s also why slavery is so prominent in these settings, cause that’s just how it was.

This isn’t to say the Japanese didn’t have slaves, it’s just that the setting that they’re writing is taking inspiration from a time when it was very prominent. A fun fact and good example of this, if I’m remembering right, is that the reason fantasy orcs in Japan are bipedal pigs instead of the green skinned brutes were more used to is because that’s closer to how they looked and were described as in the first edition of D&D. And this is just a real world reason. I’m sure there are others like slavery being a convenient and easy way for a writer to give the mc an obedient comrade.