Category:Destroyer of Innocence

"I cannot imagine the man young Bruce might have become had his childhood not been ripped from him at gunpoint."

- Alfred Pennyworth's description of how the murder of Bruce Wayne's parents affected his life.

A Destroyer of Innocence is a type of villain who is responsible for a "loss of innocence." A "loss of innocence" is when a sympathetic and (usually) somewhat defenseless character is broken or harmed in some way or similar; this often invokes great feelings of anger by audiences and marks a common Moral Event Horizon. It can also refer to an event that causes unprecedented outrage in society, such as child murder and terrorist attacks, which challenge our concepts of what people can do to each other.

Destroyers of Innocence are villains who effectively "destroy" the innocence of a story, setting, or character; they are often especially wicked beings who ruin lives and their crimes can never truly be reversed as it erases the concept of "innocence," though some rarer examples do not fully know they are responsible for this occuring. Generally, they tend to be considered Complete Monsters.

A Destroyer of Innocence is the evil opposite of a Protector of Innocence.

Examples of this type of villain are as follows:


 * 1) Any character who abuses/corrupts a child or someone with a child-like mentality. (Many "Fagin" types fall into this category)
 * 2) A character whom a protagonist has admired deeply in the past (even without their knowledge); upon learning of the character's true nature, the protagonist is visibly distressed. Examples of this are Charles Muntz from UP or Lilly D from The Haunting Hour.
 * 3) Characters who betray loved ones, family, or friends, especially if the betrayal is brutal in nature. (A good example would be Scar's betrayal of both Simba and Mufasa in The Lion King.)
 * 4) A character who masterminds a particularly shocking event (such as a terrorist attack or massacre) which in turn causes a deep and lasting "loss of innocence" in his or her setting. The event itself can also count if it has profoundly challenged people's perception on the world.
 * 5) A villain who apparently seems to be harmless or even innocent, but it is only one facet to hide its nature and can easily commit atrocities. (Eric Cartman lost his innocence since he killed Scott Tenorman's parents in the South Park episode "Scott Tenorman Must Die.")