would love to see a hero decay where it’s the one who follows all the rules who goes too far instead of the rulebreaker
every day there is a new media where two people are fighting together for a system. they both come to realise the system is flawed, and while one of them tries to take the system down, the other decides it is still necessary and must be protected at all costs. why is it always the first one who becomes the villain? who is deeply sympathetic but goes too far in their quest for justice? i think for once it should be the second one who is trying so hard to protect the system they believe in that they slowly slip into tyranny
there is literally nothing narratively juicier than these two having once been friends. the lawful evil antagonist who feels all they do is justified because the rebel betrayed them, who has to prove it, has to follow every law to the letter, otherwise they lost the rebel for nothing. the chaotic good hero who once considered the tyrant the upright standard of moral order, who will never be able to stop questioning themself and their cause because they once trusted the tyrant’s judgement absolutely
