Good point. Yeah, I didn't quite see it like that, but that is more relevant.
It's like in Westerns where the Good Guy stops someone beating his horse, and the Bad Guy shoots a priest in front of his family, it establishes a clear protagonist/antagonist.
So yes, the rape minor subplot is more of a "lets show this guy is clearly bad".
Assassins for hire can be (and often are) depicted sympathetically, although generally only if they don't actually kill people or are being redeemed. Eg. Pratchett has the assassins guild, but all the assassins actually shown seem to be (a) sympathetic characters who never actually kill anyone who doesn't obviously deserve it (b) morally ambiguous characters who die at the end (c) guild leaders who later turn out to be kinda slimeballs (d) faceless "assassins" who don't have any character but just exist to drive the plot.
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Date: 2012-09-03 01:04 pm (UTC)It's like in Westerns where the Good Guy stops someone beating his horse, and the Bad Guy shoots a priest in front of his family, it establishes a clear protagonist/antagonist.
So yes, the rape minor subplot is more of a "lets show this guy is clearly bad".
Assassins for hire can be (and often are) depicted sympathetically, although generally only if they don't actually kill people or are being redeemed. Eg. Pratchett has the assassins guild, but all the assassins actually shown seem to be (a) sympathetic characters who never actually kill anyone who doesn't obviously deserve it (b) morally ambiguous characters who die at the end (c) guild leaders who later turn out to be kinda slimeballs (d) faceless "assassins" who don't have any character but just exist to drive the plot.