Tag: ethical dilemmas

Trope Tuesday: Eagle Squadron

You’ve got your standard mercenaries: hired guns who fight for money.  Then you’ve got your fighting for a homeland types: mercenaries (usually) who used to have a cause to fight for, but now all they’ve got is each other, and maybe the hope that someday they’ll find a new homeland to replace the one they’ve… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Eagle Squadron

X is for Xenocide

This post isn’t just about the third book in the Ender’s Game series–it’s about the genocide of an entire alien race, which is actually a fairly important trope in science fiction. Of all the evils of our modern era, perhaps the most heinous is the systematic extermination of an entire race or ethnicity.  These acts… Continue reading X is for Xenocide

Trope Tuesday: Honor Before Reason

If you can’t do something smart, what do you do? Something right–at least, when this trope is played straight. Characters who place honor before reason tend to be idealists, starry-eyed or otherwise.  It’s not that they’re stupid–at least, not always–but they do tend to be vulnerable to flaw exploitation.  If the Fettered can’t take a… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Honor Before Reason

Trope Tuesday: Freudian Trio

Last week, I blogged about the Three Faces of Eve trope.  But if we’re going to discuss power trios in any depth, we first need to examine the classic Freudian Trio, one of the most prevalent combos and, in some ways, a precursor to all others. As you might expect, the Freudian Trio borrows heavily from Sigmund… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Freudian Trio

Trope Tuesday: True Neutral

The True Neutral is something of an enigma.  They generally take no side, either because they have moved beyond good and evil, or because they simply don’t see good and evil the way we do.  Or because this isn’t their war and they just want to be left alone.  Or…well, let’s get to it. From the… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: True Neutral

Trope Tuesday: Lawful Good

Lawful Good is the character alignment that is the most unambiguously heroic.  These are the white hats, the caped crusaders, the knights in shining armor who fight for Truth, Justice, and the American way.  They might not always be smart, and they might not always be nice, but you can always count on them to do the… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Lawful Good

Trope Tuesday: Character Alignment

I love personality tests.  There’s something immensely satisfying about putting yourself on a grid that tells you something new and insightful about yourself and the people around you.  My personal favorite is the Meyers-Briggs test (I’m an ENTP), but I like playing around with others as well. Character alignment is what you get when you… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Character Alignment

Trope Tuesday: Scarpia Ultimatum

How far would you go to save the one you love?  Would you sacrifice your life?  Suffer an irreparable blow to your reputation?  Or would you sleep with your lover’s would-be killer? Scarpia Ultimatum is when the villain threatens to kill the hero (or, alternately, a basket full of kittens) unless the romantic interest gives him some… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Scarpia Ultimatum