Markup View

Author: hszmv1

Jun 2nd 2017 at 5:38:34 AM

I would say definitely not, as the crux of the trope is clearly not limited to school yard situations.  There's a good reason why informants on criminal gangs are given extra protection by law enforcement and negative actions against employees who whistleblow properly are counted as a form of discrimination in employment law.  Should definitely be broadened to a situation where the person is explicit told or punished for his or her informing (as opposed to HaveYouToldAnyoneElse, which can be set up so the audience knows the victim is informing the villain, but the victim does not... he could be unaware of the evil intention of his innocuous find).  More over, the informant must be a part of the operation he or she is informing on, with full knowledge of the intended actions and outcomes.  If they survive, they may become the TokenEvilTeammate.

*  In BreakingBad, Hector Salamanca is twice questioned by the DEA and twice proceeds to mock them rather than inform on any criminal operation.  In fact, in both instances, working with the DEA would have directly benefited Hector, as it would remove his enemies without damaging his family's own criminal actions.  Of course, Hector would then have to deal with his family having a known informant as a member, which is bad for a criminal enterprise.