History PlayingWith / BrokenAce

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* '''Enforced''': "Well, Derek ''needs'' to have a flaw; otherwise how is Jason going to win his girl from him at the end?" "I know! Let's make him secretly a nutcase!"

* '''Exaggerated''': Derek's the [[MartyStu absolutely perfect guy]] -- but only because his [[AbusiveParents parents beat into him the idea that]] the very ''second'' he makes even the '''slightest''' mistake, the whole world will scorn him and turn their backs in an instant.

** Derek is BrilliantButLazy.

* '''Subverted''': Derek has big problems and fears, but [[AngstWhatAngst he pushes his problems aside]] while he focus more on being TheAce, believing that as long as he tries his best, nothing is impossible and like any other human being, no one's perfect.

* '''Implied''': By most indications, Derek is just TheAce. However, sometimes he seems a little upset.

* '''Justified''': Derek has a psychological compulsion to be the best at everything to the point of self-destruction.

%%* '''Implied''': ???

** Derek has a pretty impressive track record with [[{{Narcissist}} an ego to match]]...but [[TheFriendNobodyLikes gets little to no respect from everyone around him]] thanks to acting like a {{jerkass}}. Though he seems like an [[ArrogantKungFuGuy arrogant]] SmugSnake on the surface, he notably [[HeroicSelfDeprecation calls himself a screw up and expects himself to fail at everything]] whenever we get a glimpse of his internal monologue. Plus, the results of his JerkassFacade [[BreakTheHaughty really begin to take a toll on his psyche]].

** Derek has a pretty impressive track record with [[TheNarcissist an ego to match]]...but [[TheFriendNobodyLikes gets little to no respect from everyone around him]] thanks to acting like a {{jerkass}}. Though he seems like an [[ArrogantKungFuGuy arrogant]] SmugSnake on the surface, he notably [[HeroicSelfDeprecation calls himself a screw up and expects himself to fail at everything]] whenever we get a glimpse of his internal monologue. Plus, the results of his JerkassFacade [[BreakTheHaughty really begin to take a toll on his psyche]].

* '''Downplayed''': ???

** And that he turned around and gloated to her to cover his tracks, because the thought that someone knows he's not perfect was eating him alive. Turning his moment of weakness into a SarcasticConfession retroactively.

* '''Invoked''': Derek's parents intentionally mind-screw him while driving him to become TheAce.
* '''Exploited''': They do so so that whenever Derek decides to turn his back on them, they would be able to pull off a HannibalLecture as a defence.

* '''Deconstructed''': As it turns out, Derek is a fully capable and effective Hero in his own right, but due to the pressures of society's expectations of larger-than-life supermen -- not to mention their assumptions that he ''must'' have some hidden inadequacies, since ''everybody does'' -- he's over-thinking and overworking himself in the quest to become TheAce. Had he just striven for Heroism without trying to live up to the "role" society presented him, he could have excelled.
* '''Reconstructed''': Derek knows that his constant need to be the best and live up to high expectations will destroy him, but he pushes forward because his problems are bigger than him and YouCantFightFate.

* '''Invoked''': Derek's parents intentionally mind-screw him while driving him to become TheAce.

Back to BrokenAce.
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* '''Exaggerated''': Derek's the [[MartyStu absolutely perfect guy]] -- but only because his CompleteMonster [[AbusiveParents parents beat into him the idea that]] the very ''second'' he makes even the '''slightest''' mistake, the whole world will scorn him and turn their backs in an instant.

* '''Inverted''': Derek's a dim underachiever, but is the happiest and most innocent character in the show.

* '''Zig Zagged''': Derek confides in [[TheIngenue Sara]] that playing the ace is actually really stressful for him... only to turn around and secretly gloat about how that sob story left her completely wrapped around his little finger. However, it's later implied that he wasn't ''completely'' lying about the toll it takes...

* '''Averted''': Derek isn't presented as an Ace, or is completely mentally balanced.

* '''Exploited''': They do so so that whenever Derek decides to turn his back on them, they would be able to pull off a HannibelLecture as a defence.

* '''Invoked''': Derek's parents drove him to become TheAce without thinking or caring about the psychological effect it might have on him.

* '''Inverted''': Derek is TheAce.

* '''Plotted A Good Waste''': Probably not applicable.