History Main / TheCorruptible

* ''AManForAllSeasons'' has Richard Rich, a young acquaintance of Sir Thomas More, who asks Thomas to use his influence to secure him a powerful position at the Royal Court. More, however, knows full well that Rich is corruptible, and instead recommends that Rich accept a job as a schoolteacher, where he won't be tempted. In the end, [[spoiler: Rich ''does'' get an important position- that of the attorney-general for Wales- given to him by More's rival and the {{villain}} of the piece, Thomas Cromwell. In exchange for the job, he [[MiscarriageOfJustice commits flagrant perjury]] that sends Sir Thomas More to the executioner.]]

Contrast BigBadFriend, where the character is evil all along, and TheMole, where the character is evil all along and works to undermine the rest of the team. The most likely member of a FiveManBand to be this is TheLancer, though sometimes TheHero has this, too. See also TokenEvilTeammate. The opposite of IncorruptiblePurePureness. A character with poor resistance to ''supernatural'' influence is WeakWilled, not TheCorruptible.

* Throughout the Heaven's Feel path of FateStayNight, there is constant fear of [[NiceGirl Sakura]] [[YamatoNadeshiko Matou]] succumbing to TheCorruption. [[spoiler:She eventually does, but only after resisting more than seems humanly possible.]]

->'''Richard Rich:''' I'm adrift. Help me.\\
'''Thomas More:''' How?\\
'''Richard Rich:''' Employ me.\\
'''Thomas More:''' No.\\
'''Richard Rich:''' Employ me!\\
'''Thomas More:''' No!\\
'''Richard Rich:''' I would be steadfast!\\
'''Thomas More:''' Richard, you couldn't answer for yourself ''even so far as tonight''.
-->-- ''AManForAllSeasons''

* In the ''CiaphasCain'' books, Cain's enemies always assume that he is the corruptible. Fortunately, they are wrong. (At least, so long as [[AntiMagic Jurgen's]] around, and [[SlaveToPR there's an audience armed with guns watching him]].)\\
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In "The Beguiling", Cain manages to resist a Slaaneshi sorceress's seduction attempts ''without'' Jurgen or an audience thanks to his powerful self-preservation instincts. [[DirtyCoward Coward]] [[CowardlyLion or not]], Cain knows that Chaos would ultimately destroy him on every level possible.

[[quoteright: 350:[[SoulEater http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/souleaterstein.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Stay good, [[SoulEater Dr. Stein]], stay good!]]

* Griffith from Berserk is a prime example of this trope. While not wholly "good," Griffith's strongest trait was his love and loyalty for his men. Eventually he sacrificed his men to a horde of demons in order to turn himself into a demon-god.

* Vice from the ''TacticsOgre'' series. He pulls a FaceHeelTurn on both routes at the end of the first chapter, regardless of what option the player chooses.

Contrast BigBadFriend, where the character is evil all along, and TheMole, where the character is evil all along and works to undermine the rest of the team. The most likely member of a FiveManBand to be this is TheLancer, though sometimes TheHero has this, too. See also TokenEvilTeammate. The opposite of IncorruptiblePurePureness.

* Jedi Knight Quinlan Vos of the Star Wars: Clone Wars comic series is a perfect example of this trope. He is constantly fighting his darker urges and experiences so many [[HeelFaceTurn Heel Face Turns]] that halfway through the series you have no idea what side he's on...and neither does he. He even has several climactic battles with his inner darkness while fighting an external darkness at the same time. The kicker? His master tells him that, even after his major victory over himself and the enemy, he is still not free from the DarkSide. He will ''always'' struggle. What makes him a hero? ''He never gives up the fight.''

* Riku from ''KingdomHearts''

Hmm, a member of the FiveManBand looks constantly kinda glum? Perhaps he [[LonersAreFreaks prefers to be alone when the rest of the party is celebrating]]? Perhaps at times he takes fighting a little too seriously? And is freaked out when you intrude on his privacy? Looks like you've got a case of the corruptible on your hands.

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* ''SoulEater'' has this for many characters, especially [[spoiler: Stein]] and [[spoiler: Crona]].
** It's also said that while everyone has some kind of insanity in them, some are more susceptible to {{The Corruption}} of Asura than others. Then again, Stein also said that those who had strong faith were ''less'' likely to be driven mad. [[spoiler:That one [[TheMole backfired]] [[MadnessMakeover quite]] amusingly.]]

* In the [[ZeldaManga Legend of Zelda: Four Swords manga,]] Shadow Link hoped Vio might be one of these. [[spoiler: Turns out, he wasn't.]]

* Not realising Anakin Skywalker was this caused many, ''many'' problems in ''StarWars''.
** Yoda makes the first part of the above statement false, but still didn't prevent the second part of the statement.

* In the ''CiaphasCain'' books, Cain's enemies always assume that he is the corruptible. Fortunately, they are wrong. (At least, so long as [[AntiMagic Jurgen's]] around, and [[SlaveToPR there's an audience armed with guns watching him]].)
** In "The Beguiling", Cain manages to resist a Slaaneshi sorceress's seduction attempts ''without'' Jurgen or an audience thanks to his powerful self-preservation instincts. [[DirtyCoward Coward]] [[CowardlyLion or not]], Cain knows that Chaos would ultimately destroy him on every level possible.

* Some Gospel passages in the [[TheBible New Testament]] have Judas be one of these, often questioning Jesus' teachings.

* In PoulAnderson's ''WorldWithoutStars'', the crew of a crashed starship must survive among the primitive natives of a planet mostly conquered by a race of telepaths. Before meeting a group of these telepaths in person, the protagonist specifically explains to the reader that telepathic powers aren't actually that dangerous because "you know your own nervous system better than anyone, and you're closer to it". And then it turns out that [[spoiler: one slightly odd member of the crew was the victim of a botched medical procedure on his brain which resulted in him essentially no longer being able to recognize himself.]] And so the telepaths are able to immediately convince him to switch sides.

->''"I'm all for second chances. Not so much for third ones."''
-->-- ''Garrus Vakarian'', MassEffect