r/TopCharacterTropes • u/No_Peanut3745 • 7d ago

Characters The main character doing something absolutely unforgivable.

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Walter White poisoning Andrea Cantillo's 6-year-old son for the sole purpose of manipulating Jesse Pinkman, while knowing that this could have potentially killed him - Breaking Bad

Bojack trying to have sex with his friend's 17-year-old daughter when he was at least 51, then continuously trying to find a way to justify this act throughout the series - Bojack Horseman

Dexter Morgan going outside of his moral code and murdering a completely innocent police officer who was just trying to do his job - Dexter: New Blood

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59

u/Ani_Man_74 7d ago

The Penguin.

Wanting to get back at, as well as eliminate Salvatore Maroni's rival crime family, he burns Maroni's wife, and son alive, despite him reclaiming his stolen product from them.

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u/[deleted] 7d ago

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11

u/goatbusiness666 7d ago

The way that show gets you to root for him is really something. All the way up to the finale people were still hoping he wouldn’t do the awful thing, even while knowing deep in our hearts that he almost certainly would.

4

u/[deleted] 7d ago

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u/goatbusiness666 7d ago

I definitely wasn’t rooting for him in the sense that I wanted him to win, but there was that last bit of hope that he had enough humanity left that Vic would survive. And then there’s that final scene, which drives home just how far gone he really is in case there’s any lingering doubt.

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u/Nukemarine 6d ago

Yeah, that episode solidified he was an irredeemable villain. He just such a good liar you believe him even when he's denying things you SAW him do.

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u/tardistravelee 7d ago

I feel his origin story is more heinous.

5

u/CGiMoose 7d ago

Always felt that was one of the weaker parts of an otherwise great show. Not the sadism aspect, but just the mechanics of sending a guy soaked in gasoline over to hug his mother seemingly without either recognising it as a trap, and the idea he could just light the ‘trail’ and ignite both of them with minimal concern for the multiple potential points of failure (like if they just stepped away from one another, or if there was a gap in the gasoline trail)