History Main / RageAgainstTheMentor

* Subverting/averting this was the plot for ''HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince''. Sure, [[TheDumbledore Dumbledore]] didn't spell it all out immediately, but he was giving Harry more help and equal treatment than several other vague mentors put together. If it hadn't been for his love of the XanatosGambit, he might have even revealed it all to Harry by book's end.

->'''Dumbledore:''' You will. Because you are not nearly as angry with me as you ought to be. If you are to attack me, as I know you are close to doing, I should like to have thoroughly earned it.

* [[{{Batman}} Every. Single. Freakin'. Robin.]] And most of the [[{{Batgirl}} Batgirls]] at some stage. Jason Todd, of course, is first on the leaderboard ("Why in God's name is [[JokerImmmunity he]] still alive?!").

* [[{{Batman}} Every. Single. Freakin'. Robin.]] And most of the batgirls at some stage. Todd of course is first on the leaderboard.

* Roy of ''OrderOfTheStick'' calls out the ghost of his father for giving him a crucial [[ProphecyTwist but extremely vague]] piece of advice that could have lead to a total PartyWipe had it been misinterpreted. His father justifies this by pointing out that if he ''had'' phrased it as a direct command, Roy would have refused to do it on principle. Given [[OedipusRex how Roy feels about this particular mentor in general]], he's probably right.

* Subverting/averting this was the plot for ''[[{{HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince}} Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince]]''. Sure, [[TheDumbledore Dumbledore]] didn't spell it all out immediately, but he was giving Harry more help and equal treatment than several other vague mentors put together. If it hadn't been for his love of the XanatosGambit, he might have even revealed it all to Harry by book's end.

* Fairly early on in David Eddings' ''Belgariad'', Belgarion rages against his 'Aunt' Polgara, whom he's recently discovered to actually be a centuries-old sorceress of nigh-unsurpassed wisdom and power, who quite clearly isn't ACTUALLY his aunt... Granted, there really IS a [[PhysicalGod lot]] [[ReturnOfTheKing of]] [[TheChosenOne rather]] [[LastOfHisKind significant]] [[RagsToRoyalty things]] she isn't telling him, for reasons that aren't really explained anywhere in the series itself (it's AllThereInTheManual, though, or in this case, the stand-alone ''Polgara The Sorceress'' faux-biographical tome), but he was still somewhat out of line, claiming that lives of 'ordinary people' like him were mere pawns and playthings to her. Especially considering that she's spend the last several centuries personally safeguarding [[RoyalBlood his line]]...

* The mysterious and highly ambiguous Deth in [[TheRiddleMasterOfHed the Riddle Master Trilogy]] by Patricia McKillip, who borders on being a {{Treacherous Advisor}}.
* DeusExMachina Mentor the Arisian is the target of wails of angst from one of his advanced students in ''Children of the Lens'', when she's told that the breeding programme she's the ultimate expression of makes her "...in some ways, even less human than I am myself...".
* In QuantumGravity, [[spoiler:Lila]] gets a bit of this against [[spoiler:Sarasilien]], when she finds out that he was lying to her about quite a lot, the tipping point being the fact that he lied about his ''name''. She gets over it as much as she can when he readily admits to lying to her and says that, though he cannot tell her everything, he can tell her when there is something he can't tell her.
* In the HungerGames, Katniss spends a lot of the third book angry with Haymitch.

* A stellar example of this appears in {{Babylon 5}}, in the third-season episode "Interludes and Examinations." After a season and a half of evasions and mysteries from DungeonMaster Kosh, Captain Sheridan snaps, and refuses to back down until Kosh gives them the help they need, ignoring all dire warnings and accusations of impudence. This example plays out with more subtlety than most, as neither Sheridan nor Kosh is definitively wrong in this confrontation: it's portrayed more as a conflict between two characters of strong will, who think they know what is best, and a case can be made for both of them. [[spoiler:And then Kosh dies.]] Ouch.

* {{Series/Merlin}}: Merlin seems to have had little enough patience with the Great Dragon throughout, but in the last episode, he turns on the Dragon for good [[spoiler:after learning that its sole motive in helping him was to secure its own release]].

* [[TheXFiles Mulder]] confronted Deep Throat about this in the first season finale. Of course, Deep Throat's motives were always open to interpretation.

* In the KnightsOfTheOldRepublic games, and other accompanying media, this is pretty much the catalyst for Jedi involvement in the Mandalorian War- and thus, the reason for the Jedi Civil War.
* In {{Kingdom Hearts}} 358/2 Days, it is Axel's evasiveness about Xion and Roxas' natures that [[spoiler: directly leads to Roxas' leaving the Organization.]] For the most part, Axel keeps the information under his hat because he believes it to be [[AwfulTruth something Roxas REALLY doesn't need to know]]. That doesn't stop it from undermining Roxas' trust in him, though.

* ''KungFuPanda'': Tai Lung feels betrayed by Master Shifu that he wasn't chosen as the Dragon Warrior. There's a sizeable segment of MisaimedFandom that feel Tai Lung is a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds.

[[quoteright:350: [[KungFuPanda http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tailung_rage_7710.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Tell me how PROUD you are of me, Shifu!]]

* [[Batman Every. Single. Freakin'. Robin.]] And most of the batgirls at some stage. Todd of course is first on the leaderboard.

* [[strike: Speedy]] Red Arrow in ''[[Series/YoungJustice Young Justice]]'' vehemently called out Green Arrow and quits, seeing that the Justice League didn't respect him enough and treated him only as a sidekick. Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad did a minor one, where they threatened to do leave. The League relented and Young Justice was born.

* [[strike" Speedy]] Red Arrow in ''[[Series/YoungJustice Young Justice]]'' vehemently called out Green Arrow and quits, seeing that the Justice League didn't respect him enough and treated him only as a sidekick. Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad did a minor one, where they threatened to do leave. The League relented and Young Justice was born.

* {{Merlin}}: Merlin seems to have had little enough patience with the Great Dragon throughout, but in the last episode, he turns on the Dragon for good [[spoiler:after learning that its sole motive in helping him was to secure its own release]].

** Done again in BirthBySleep: [[spoiler: if Master Eraqus had simply told Terra that "Xehanort is evil and he's using Ven to further his plot" instead of outright attacking Ven while Terra watched, the two of them might not have had to fight each other, and unfortunately, this Rage Against the Mentor went [[{{Understatement}} a bit]] farther than most did.]] To his credit, he ''does'' seem to [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone realize]] he's made a mistake.

** Done again in BirthBySleep: [[spoiler: if Master Eraqus had simply told Terra that "Xehanort is evil and he's using Ven to further his plot" instead of outright attacking Ven while Terra watched, the two of them might not have had to fight each other.]]

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tailung_rage_7710.jpg]]

Curse that CrypticConversation-loving TricksterMentor! His insistence on being vague and mysterious to look "cool" is costing lives because PoorCommunicationKills. Well, the hero isn't going to stand for it! He's CallingTheOldManOut on his vagueness with cries of "I want answers ''now''!" or "You lied to me!"

Expect the aloof mentor to defend his arguments by saying YouAreNotReady, or that he told the hero "what he needed to know, not what he wanted to know", or even that "FromACertainPointOfView" he did tell the truth. But if the mentor doesn't immediately dish out some good {{backstory}} or {{Exposition}} after being called out, then his protégé will turn his back on the mentor for breaking his trust and (believe it or not) being incredibly disrespectful and irresponsible with the lives of others.

When the Mentor does this to their protégé, it's WhatTheHellHero

* ''Rocky'' In the first movie Balboa lashes out at Mickey, but they quickly make up and Mickey helps him "not be a bum".

* Harry Dresden does it to his mentor Ebenezer [=McCoy=] in ''TheDresdenFiles'', specifically in Blood Rites. The catalyst is the reaction [=McCoy=] and a mercenary named Kincaid have upon realizing that Dresden has recruited both of them for an attack on a bunch of Black Court vampires. Later, Harry confronts [=McCoy=], who tells him the truth about his job -- [[spoiler:that he's the Blackstaff, whose job is basically to do the White Council's dirty work. That pretty much means ignoring all of the principles and values the White Council upholds, and the resulting shock to Harry causes him to shun [=McCoy=] for at least three books. ]]

* DeusExMachina Mentor the Arisian is the target of wails of angst from one of his advanced students in ''Children of the Lens'', when she's told that the breeding programme she's the ultimate expression of makes her "...in some ways, even less human than I am myself...".

* [[TheXFiles Mulder]] confronted Deep Throat about this in the first season finale. Of course, Deep Throat's motives were always open to interpretation.

* Subverted/averted by Auron in ''FinalFantasyX'', who was always forthright about the nature of Sin. It was Tidus who didn't want to hear it or realize it, so Auron never went out of his way to cram it down Tidus' throat (though Auron did goad him with the knowledge to slowly force him to accept it).

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* In ''{{Monochrome Factor}}'', Akira's attempts to find out more about the Shin and kokuchi are frequently rebuffed by Shirogane until [[spoiler: Lulu reveals to Akira that Shirogane is a King of the Shadow and Akira forces Shirogane to reveal that he is King of the Rei, or light.]]

* In ''Monochrome Factor'', Akira's attempts to find out more about the Shin and kokuchi are frequently rebuffed by Shirogane until [[spoiler: Lulu reveals to Akira that Shirogane is a King of the Shadow and Akira forces Shirogane to reveal that he is King of the Rei, or light.]]

* ''All the President's Men.'' After Woodward and Bernstein screw something up and lose credibility, Woodward demands that his source (Deep Throat) start revealing real information.