History Main / TreacheryIsASpecialKindOfEvil

* The international relations between France and the United States became colder in the 2000s because the French government vehemently opposed to a new war in Iraq (especially one under phony pretenses), which the Bush administration spun as betrayal.

** Jaime Lannister, a knight of the Kingsguard, became famous for slaying [[TheCaligula King Aerys the Mad]]. From our perspective, that was a noble deed, especially considering the fact that the king planned to burn his capital down with all its citizens. However, as a member of the Kingsguard, Jaime swore to serve and protect his king, and, by killing him and saving countless lives, he committed a traitorous act. This made Jaime infamous and gave him the ignoble moniker of "TheKingslayer", even among former enemies of King Aerys.

* ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'': The Ninth Circle of Hell, Cocytus, is a vast frozen lake in which traitors are entombed. In the center of it all is Lucifer himself, trapped up to his waist, his wings beating in a futile attempt to free himself, but the winds freezing the water, and his three heads are chewing on Brutus and Cassius (who betrayed UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar), and Judas Iscariot (who betrayed Jesus). Cocytus is the ''lowest'' circle of hell (the highest contains virtuous pagans, good people who simply weren't baptized), thus according to Dante, there is no sin worse than betrayal.

* In the original (2000-2004) ''ComicBook/HarleyQuinn'' comics, Harley, while hardly a ''good'' person, is still [[AntiVillain fairly sympathetic]] for most of it. The event portrayed as her MoralEventHorizon happens at the end of the final story arc. [[spoiler:Basically, a little girl has a code to a vault [[ItMakesSenseInContext inscribed on her retina]] that a bunch of bad guys want. Due to how the "inscription" works, after the code is scanned out of her retina, she needs eye surgery within a few hours or will go blind for life. While Harley starts out claiming the girl means nothing to her, she starts to actually care about her and promises not to let her go blind. At the end, she [[FriendOrIdolDecision lets her go blind anyway and takes the money]].]] Even Harley realizes what a heinous thing she has done, as she [[spoiler:later meets the now-blind girl in the park and is very clearly TryingNotToCry TearsOfRemorse, and ultimately feels so guilty she [[TheAtoner returns to Arkham Asylum on purpose]]]].
* Throughout ''ComicBook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck'', Scrooge meets a fair share of nasty villains who are out for his blood and steal his riches, but he considers Flintheart Glomgold the worst of the lot because the latter had betrayed him by stealing his belongings and leaving him for dead in the African wilderness after Scrooge went out of his way to save his life and befriended him.
* The ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' have a very clear policy on traitors: if you betray the team, Nico Minoru will tear your damn heart out. Given that its founder betrayed the team and nearly got them all killed, this policy is probably understandable.

* ''Inferno'', part 1 of Dante's ''Literature/TheDivineComedy''. The Ninth Circle of Hell, Cocytus, is a vast frozen lake in which traitors are entombed. In the center of it all is Lucifer himself, trapped up to his waist, his wings beating in a futile attempt to free himself, but the winds freezing the water, and his three heads are chewing on Brutus and Cassius (who betrayed UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar), and Judas Iscariot (who betrayed Jesus). Cocytus is the ''lowest'' circle of hell (the highest contains virtuous pagans, good people who simply weren't baptized), thus according to Dante, there is no sin worse than betrayal.

* ''VideoGame/LikeADragonIshin'': The Shinsengumi as a whole share this mentality, and any attempt to betray or desert them is death. Ryoma finds out just how hard this "Iron Code" is enforced when he attempts to spare Akimoto, a deserter who had otherwise done nothing wrong, only for [[BewareTheNiceOnes Todo]] to execute him on the spot.

* In ''{{Series/Roots}}'', Chicken George trusts his masters to never hurt him and his family, so when Tom Moore threatens to kill them all after the Nat Turner rebellion, it wounds him deeply. Even worse, George finds out that he's actually Tom's son, and yet Tom still sells him away to England.

* ''Manga/FairyTail'': Being a series that runs on ThePowerOfFriendship, nothing quite establishes a villain's vileness like when they prove fully willing to betray their comrades for incredibly petty reasons. Best exemplified in the Nirvana Arc when [[ArcVillain Brain]] shoots Cobra, a loyal minion who was on the verge of killing Natsu despite having been taken off-guard, for the crime of taking too damn long to finish off "trash" and merely coming to the verge of defeat rather than dominating as expected. This betrayal especially hits home when Cobra [[{{Telepathy}} hears Brain's thoughts]] and realizes that he always viewed the rest of his loyal guild as disposable trash to be replaced at a good opportunity and then Brain ''laughs'' when he realizes he heard that. Natsu, who witnesses all of this, only views Cobra with pity as he collapses and calls out Brain on wasting his own allies and viewing them as puppets.

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You can commit war crimes. You can be a LoanShark. You can even [[KickTheDog kick puppies]] [[ForTheEvulz on vacation]], but if you betray someone who trusts you, you are the lowest form of creature there is. If this attitude is described from the victim's point of view rather than as the expected attitude of neutral observers, it would be EtTuBrute

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* ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda:'' Ryder first goes to [[WretchedHive Kadara]] looking for an angara who sold out the Moshae to the kett, figuring he can lead them to where they need to go next. Unfortunately, said angara's actions have been found out by Kadara's mob boss, Sloane Kelly, and she's planning to give him the "head, spike, walls" treatment (not because she cares about the Moshae herself, but the angara living in the port do). [[spoiler:Whether Ryder saves him or not is up to the player, but if they let him die, the Moshae is appalled, describing his actions as "inexcusable, not unforgivable".]]

* In ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'', Avicebron switches sides to the Red Faction, on the condition no harm is to come to his master. Chiron initially believes this is because of UndyingLoyalty. [[spoiler:However, Avicebron proves him wrong by using [[WouldHurtAChild said master]] as [[HumanResources the magical core of his colossal golem]]. An infuriated Chiron, incensed at the depths he's sunk to complete his dream, [[BoomHeadshot shoots an arrow straight into his forehead]].]] This act is considered so horrible that [[spoiler:Avicebron in his ''Videogame/FateGrandOrder'' incarnation considers it [[MyGreatestFailure one of the worst things he has done]]]].

* ''VideoGame/SlyCooperThievesInTime'': [[spoiler:[[BitchInSheepsClothing Penelope]]]] sells out the Cooper Gang to Le Paradox, and has plans on doing the same to him to gain control of his criminal empire, all out of greed. Both sides disown her, with Le Paradox [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves leaving her to die in 1301]], and a vengeful Cooper Gang [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge beating her to an inch of her life]] for treason and [[spoiler:exploiting Bentley's feelings]] before they, too, leave her behind to die. Penelope survives, but winds up [[HowTheMightyHaveFallen a disgraced fugitive]] who's HatedByAll.

* ''VideoGame/SlyCooperThievesInTime'': [[BitchInSheepsClothing Penelope]] sells out the Cooper Gang to Le Paradox, and has plans on doing the same to him to gain control of his criminal empire, all out of greed. Both sides disown her, with Le Paradox [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves leaving her to die in 1301]], and a vengeful Cooper Gang [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge beating her to an inch of her life]] for treason and [[spoiler:exploiting Bentley's feelings]] before they, too, leave her behind to die. Penelope survives, but winds up [[HowTheMightyHaveFallen a disgraced fugitive]] who's HatedByAll.

* During the hospital raid in ''Film/HardBoiled'', [[NobleDemon Mad Dog]] told Alan there are two people he hates the most; the cops, and creeps who betray their bosses. This was after he found out that Alan was an undercover cop, filling both criteria. Unfortunately, Johnny Wong, Mad Dog's own boss, proves to be a monster who he has to betray himself in order to stop a massacre, leading to Mad Dog's own death.

** Colonel Jessep ordered the Code Red on the victim, Willy Santiago, because he tried to exchange incriminating information against a transfer, but then automatically sacrifices those who loyally apply that order.

** Lieutenant-Colonel commits suicide because he can't bear his guilt and refuses to testify against his superior.

* During the hospital raid in ''Film/HardBoiled'', [[NobleDemon Mad Dog]] told Alan there are two people he hates the most; the cops, and creeps who betray their bosses. This was after he found out that Alan was an undercover cop, filling both criteria.

* In ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'', Avicebron switches sides to the Red Faction, on the condition no harm is to come to his master. Chiron initially believes this is because of UndyingLoyalty. [[spoiler:However, Avicebron proves him wrong by using [[WouldHurtAChild said master]] as [[HumanResources the magical core of his colossal golem]]. An infuriate Chiron, incensed at the depths he's sunk to complete his dream, [[BoomHeadshot shoots an arrow straight into his forehead]].]] This act is considered so horrible that [[spoiler:Avicebron in his ''Videogame/FateGrandOrder'' incarnation considers it [[MyGreatestFailure one of the worst things he has done]]]].

* ''Film/AbsolutePower'': Richmond's affair with a married woman and his subsequent murder of her would have been bad enough by itself, but she was also the wife of Walter Sullivan, a life-long mentor of his who played a key role in getting him into the Presidency. When Luther eventually reveals the truth about Richmond's crime to Sullivan, he is horrified by the level of betrayal he didn't think Richmond capable of [[spoiler:and personally visits him in the White House that same night to exact revenge]].

If even those who profit by the treachery treat the traitor this way, that is RewardedAsATraitorDeserves. Unless they betray them for self-serving reasons, making ''them'' the treacherous ones. A villain who makes a point to defy this will insist that IGaveMyWord. Contrast FindingJudas and RegretfulTraitor, which are different ways traitors are portrayed sympathetically (at least to the audience). See also TheOathbreaker for general cases of people breaking sworn promises, regardless of how they're treated for it, and RashPromise, which is often a means of teaching this moral.